Happy Independence Day! Let's Have Some Nail Art!

I have to laugh... I was talking twitter last night (I know, I said that already, but I've been up all night. Give me a break!) and someone asked me how long I've been blogging. I went to check my history, thinking my one year blogaversary was coming up this month. Instead, I had a surprise...

My one year blogaversary was actually on June 23! I've been blogging over a year, and didn't even know it! So, let me just say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here! There's no way I'd have managed to keep this going without all of you reading and commenting. You make it worthwhile, and that's why you're getting two bits of bloggy goodness today!

So, let's look at some fourth of July nail art, shall we? I didn't do anything overly spectacular, but I did do designs I'd be happy to wear. I started out with something fun, something glittery...

Glitter Glory is a simple design using only three polishes. I chose a white base so that my colors would pop, and I wouldn't have to worry about painting a stripe later. Once my base color was dry, I put in diagonal sections of red glitter and blue glitter. A top coat of Seche Vite and we were done!

 Spangles and Stripes is a simple, almost nautical theme. Again, I started with a white base. This time, I painted a thick red horizontal stripe at the top of the nail and a thick blue stripe toward the base of the nail. In between I added a stripe of silver glitter, just because I really love glitter. Add top coat and it's done! This could be cute alternating the top color, as well!

 

Finally, I did a design inspired by all the fireworks that will be seen tonight. Normally I would have used a black base for this, but instead I chose to use a very deep blue shimmer polish for the background. It still feels like night without being utterly black. I then chose a central point on the nail and began pulling thin stripes of polish out in a star pattern. I alternated blue, reg, and silver glitter for this, hoping to mimic fireworks. I think I overworked it a bit too much, though. Ah well, they can't all be winners, right? 

To re-find my center point, I added a single white rhinestone in the center of the burst to signify the explosion at the center of a firework. It's not what I was hoping for, but it's still wearable, I think. What do you think?

And now that I've posted both my crackle experiences and my July 4th manicures, I think I'm going to curl up in my bed, try to get some sleep, and hope I can avoid the hottest part of the day. Currently it's 11:50am with a temperature of 90 and a heat index of 111. NO BUENO, people!!! NO BUENO!

Til next time, my lovelies!

Some polishes may have been provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Deborah Lippmann Fall 2011 Polishes

Oh my stars, Deborah Lippmann has done it again. I just got an email about the DL Fall 2011 collection, and wow, it's a keeper! Seriously, just look at these photos...

First, there's the regular colors: richly pigmented polishes that definitely have fall written all over them! I can almost smell the crisp autumn air already! This includes a special polish done in collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

Click the above image to see it full size!

The press release had this to say about the fall polishes:

Fall
Billionaire: moody hunter green (creme)
Brick House: shimmering rust (shimmer)
Single Ladies: flirtatious red (creme)
Stormy Weather: an edgy granite (crème) is a collaboration with fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez.

PRICE: $16 (each)

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com

Then there's the glitter collection, and may I just say WOW! I am seriously drooling to get these on my fingers! How delicious are these?

You really want to click this to see those glitters more closely!

You see it, right? Are these AMAZING or what?! I cannot wait. I absolutely cannot wait!! Forget You was plucked straight out of my dreams! This is the Nordstrom Anniversary Set, and I'm almost holding my breath for these!

Nordstrom Anniversary Set

Happy Birthday: a party in a bottle (glitter)

Forget You: party all night (glitter)

Candy Shop: bubblegum pink (glitter)

PRICE: $42 (set)

WHERE TO FIND IT: Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and online at www.deborahlippmann.com

Oh yea, this one's definitely a keeper! Look for swatches as soon as I can put them up! And be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll be showing my fourth of July designs! They're cute as a button- you won't want to miss these!

Deborah Lippmann polishes rock my stripey socks!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Doctor's Remedy Enriched Polishes

When people find out I'm a beauty blogger, they tend to ask questions. How do you get started, how do you figure out what to write about, how do people know to find your blog... there are a lot of questions. But the one I seem to get most often is about my nails. People are convinced nail polish is bad for your nails, and maybe even bad for your health!

You can imagine how excited I got when I learned about Dr.'s Remedy Enriched Nail Polish: a nail polish line made by doctors! It's not only free of the typical nasties (DBT, toluene, and formaldehyde) but it's also enriched with natural ingredients to help make your nails stronger and healthier! I know, it's crazy!


OK, they're doctors, but what do they know about color? Are we going to be stuck with the same old traditional colors that everyone has? I have a serious color addiction! Enriched is nice, but if it's just nudes and pinks, I'd definitely have to pass...

Thankfully, as you can see, there are lots of absolutely gorgeous shades- pinks and mauves, of course, and reds to die for, but also some really fun edgy colors like heather grey, royal blue, and stunning violet! I feel comfortable saying there's something for everyone here!

So, my next question was about the quality of the polishes: how well do they wear, how pigmented are they, etc. Happily I wasn't disappointed at all. I tried three polishes, and they were all absolutely wonderful. If you were to apply a single thicker coat, they would all be one coaters! Instead, I put on two thin coats for each of these photos.

First off is Heather Grey. Honestly, this color doesn't work at all with my skin tone, but that's the only complaint I have. It's beautifully pigmented and applies like an absolute dream. This is that gorgeous cement color that's so popular at the moment.

Then I tried the Dark Brown. Omg, this color is utterly delicious! When I first saw this color, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. but WOW did that change once I put it on! This deep rich chocolate color can look almost violet in some lights, or almost black in others. So freaking gorgeous!!

And finally, I got to try Ruby Red, an absolutely stunning shimmery red that makes me want to dance! This red is, like the others, super-pigmented and easy to apply. I imagine wearing this under a layer of ruby-red glitter, as if I were wearing Dorothy's ruby slippers on my nails.

Also, when I say that? It's good. I have my own ruby slippers I wear every chance I get. I think everyone should have a pair of ruby slippers!!

The final verdict? I have no idea if these polishes are any healthier for your nails than the ones at your local big box store, but they're really gorgeous and I love them lots!! They're perfect for painting your nails, for doing nail art, for mixing and blending... they're just perfect!

Also, don't forget to tune in next week, because I've got a treat for you! Next week is animal print week, a full week of gorgeous nail art inspired by animal prints! Zebra, tiger, leopard, cheetah... if you like the animal prints, you'll love these!

Til next time!

Polishes provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

One More Experimental Nail, A Halloween Treat!

Good news! I spoke with my doctor and I've got meds now that should help me sleep tonight. I love my doctor and her office staff. They get back to me in a reasonable amount of time, they work with me and they're always super nice. I got really lucky to get into this clinic.

So, one more sparse post and tomorrow may be a post-less day due to RL constraints. Then I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things with the blog. I've got some fabulous photos to share with everyone if only I can stay awake and focus long enough to prep & post them! Thanks for being patient with me!

I did this sample nail a few days ago while I was feeling in a halloween-y mood. I wanted something purple because... well, because I've been almost obsessed with purple lately, and the "blood" matched nicely. Because it was such a cute manicure I decided to name it something cute- My Bloody Eggplant! Sort of like My Bloody Valentine, only with eggplant!

Hey, I haven't slept in days. Cut me some slack already! =P

Because the flash photos sort of blocked the images, I wanted to take another set of photos to show the design that much more clearly. As you can see, the blood drips seem three dimensional, with a nice shadow underneath the edges. I absolutely love the way this nail has come out! I may need to do an entire set of nails in this style.

So what do you think? Would you wear them? Let me know in the comments!

Another Layering Experiment- Adding Sparkle to Mme Moriarty!

What can I say, I am a layering addict. There's something fun and exciting about taking a beautiful color and giving it a different feel. It's almost like changing a look with accessories. I love it!

I'm not sure what made me reach for BPAL's Mme Moriarty, but I was really in the mood for a deep red. You don't get much better red than this if you're wanting blood red! But even though this is the ultimate blood red for me, I wanted a bit of sparkle as well.

I reached for the Revlon Glimmer Gloss. Honestly, winning kittypolishnbag's first giveaway gave me so many fun options for layering, and the glimmer glosses have quickly become some of my favorite polishes! They can take a polish from WOW to HOLY COW!!

They haven't failed me yet, and this was no exception! Instead of turning Mme Moriarty into an all out glitterbomb, Grapefruit Glimmer instead added a subtle hint of ... well, glimmer! In most angles there was just a deep, rich glossy red that absolutely worked well with my skin tone. But then I'd move and the light would catch the glimmer particles just right, and suddenly you realize that there's more to this than you thought...

It's understated, almost like having a secret. I know that sounds strange... how can you have a secret on your nails when everyone can see them! But this is a bit of a reward for those who take the time to pay a bit more attention to things. The world is filled with things that seem simple and straightforward at first glance. It's not until you take the time to slow down and actually examine them more closely that they yield their secrets, their interesting little uniquenesses.

So, consider this my reminder that we spend too much time taking the world for granted. Consider this a call to action- take a moment today to slow down and look at what's around you. You may find that something you've never noticed before is fascinating, and all you had to do was pay attention to it!

BPAL has NAILPOLISH now!! Really!

For years, I've watched my friends geek out over BPAL. They get to into it, and it's almost like they've joined a cult with its own language, its own practices. They organize everything into spreadsheets, imps and wish lists, things to keep and things to trade, and elaborate discussions of dry down and top notes and things that I just don't understand. It's smelly stuff, how could it be that awesome?

I stayed away from the mania contently, without feeling the pull. It was easy, because I knew I didn't have the money to get involved, so I'd just watch amusedly from afar, never getting too close lest I be sucked in. That is, I stayed away easily until last week.

Last week, BPAL reached out and grabbed my heart in a sudden, unexpected gesture, and my life will never be the same again. After seeing Magic Maid's post all about the new BPAL Claw Polish, I found myself drawn in against my control. They looked so lush, so beautiful. I found myself at the Black Phoenix Trading Post looking at each polish and its description, swooning. I sent an email to them, congratulating them on their new line, expressing my pleasure at seeing them have such a lovely, expressive line of colors for their first nail polishes, and a request to be aded to their PR list for future information.

I was surprised to hear back from an absolutely wonderful person named Puddin. We had a fun email exchange, but most of all he told me to expect a little package from them. I was ecstatic! But when it got here, I was absolutely dumbfounded! That lovely man had sent me 9 polishes from the line that seemed absolutely perfectly chosen for me. I'm not sure how he did it, just that he did, and I couldn't wait to swatch them all... I interrupted the post I was making just to swatch and photo. Finally, I'm ready to post the results!

First I painted them onto my nails in a sort of blood-related skittles mani. It actually worked well, showing the relation of the colors and how they're subtly different from each other. Photographing these was almost impossible, because flash severely altered the colors, but shooting manual made the colors have an incredibly orange cast to them. However, with a bit of photoshop I was able to rescue the manual shots into something that's almost accurate.

These polishes are decadent. I mean that... they go on silky smooth, creamy as ... the creamiest thing imaginable. I struggle for words. The colors are divinely pigmented, ranging from the deep dark blood-colored Blood Countess, to the dried-blood shade of Lady Macbeth, and ending with the color of fresh arterial spray in Mme Moriarty. These shots aren't 100% accurate- Mme Moriarty truly is the color of fresh blood, deep red and thick and absolutely beautiful on the skin. Sed Non Satiata is a more pink shade, described by BPAL as being "Lust captured: pulsating deep burgundy." They're all absolutely gorgeous creme polishes that I am thrilled to have.

Moving on, there is the other four, which are less blood oriented: Maiden is a very sheer, pale pink that would probably be good for french manicures or for people who want a touch a color, but not a lot. Opium poppy is a vivid  pink for those who love color, a bright hot pink that commands attention. Bordello is my favorite- a silver shimmer in this deep pink that is simply stunning on the nail. One coat of this is sufficient, but I chose to do two coats for every polish. The last polish on this hand is Midnight on the Midway, a plum frost that is my least favorite of the bunch. It's not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, it simply appears slightly dated compared to the other shades. However, it's still lush and beautiful, covering generously with one coat.

The final polish in the bunch is Embalming Fluid, a gorgeous lime green in the bottle that applies sheer and glittery over any polish you put it over. Unfortunately, I seem to have neglected to get any photos of it!! I'll hopefully remedy that soon, and do an update on it.

Of course, by this point, there was only one thing to do:  I had to test the stampability of these polishes! I used my new method of stamping onto a white sticker that I then apply onto the bottle, so that I know just how well it stamps without having to jump into my spreadsheet to check it! My husband and I came up with the perfect word for these- STAMPLES! As you can see, they're all extremely good for stamping except for Maiden and Embalming Fluid, which left the page basically blank and are simply too sheer to stamp with.

I highly recommend enlarging this one to see the stample details!

And so we reach the conclusion of my epic swatchathon. These polishes are available at the BPAL Trading Post for $9 each, are big 3 free, and in my opinion are at least equal in quality with my Deborah Lippman polishes. Add in the amazing customer service and you cannot go wrong with any of these polishes. I think they are absolutely amazing, and I ended up wearing Bordello as my nail of the day for a full week! It stayed on until I took a very leisurely hour-long bath, which soaked the polish off several of my nails. But any polish would have done the same, so I'm not complaining about that at all!

So- if you're at all interested in these shades (and I do so hope that you are), when you head over to the Trading Post, be sure to tell Puddin you read about them here!