Tom Ford Nail Lacquer Fall Shades

I was browsing Bergdorf Goodman's site admiring Tom Ford's nail polish range that will be hitting stores on November 1, but I can't imagine paying $30 for a nail polish, especially when it is 12 mL - smaller than OPI, Zoya, and even Chanel.  That being said, I love all of the colors and these are the ones I thought were exceptionally gorgeous:

African Violet

Ginger Fire

Viper

Indian Pink

Bordeaux Lust (I will always love a vampy red)

photo credit: bergdorfgoodman.com

Orly review

Wow it's been about a month since I've said anything.  But in that month I have switched my base coat (for nails) to Orly's Nail Defense and not only have I seen a HUGE improvement in the health of my nails, this stuff really makes polish stick! I would say it is just as good as their Bonder, but with the added bonus of being a nail strengthener.  Instead of lasting five days, my manicures now last a full week.  Also, most of my nails have stopped peeling (except two on my right hand), and the only time I broke the side of my nail was during the set-up and clean-up of an event.  Since I loved this base coat so much, I went out and bought Sec'n Dry because I am almost out of Seche Vite and you know how it gets unusable when it gets toward the bottom of the bottle.  I've used it twice so far and I would say that Sec'n Dry doesn't dry as fast, but it is still a great top coat that lasts a long time and does dry fairly quickly. 

photo credit: orlybeauty.com

In sum, after using CND Stickey, CND Toughen Up, Orly Bonder and Zoya Anchor, I think that Nail Defense in the best in terms of staying power and healing troublesome nails.  If you have been having trouble with weak nails or not getting your polish to stay for a long time, give this product a try - it is available at local drug stores and places like Target.

Tips and Toes

 Going on vacation and wondering which colors to paint your nails and toes? I personally don't like matching my fingernail color to my toes, so here are some nice color combinations.  The top three go with the theme of this blog - shades of purple and blue.

I painted all of these on a white fake nail, with 2 coats and no top coat, except where noted. 

Dark purple creme and bright pastel blue creme: Ginger + Liz "Hold the Drama" and Zoya "Robyn"

Slightly dark purple creme and sparkly dark blue: Zoya "Lael" and on the right, one coat of OPI "Yoga-ta Get This Blue!" plus one coat butter London "Henley Regatta"

Bright pastel purple and teal-toned blue: Zoya "Perrie" and butter London "Artful Dodger"

Dark purple shimmer and raspberry-tinged red creme: Chanel "Vendetta" and  Rococo "Trash Creme"

Dark bright pink creme and primary blue creme: Milani "Punchiest Punch" and Mattése  "Neon 14 Lighting Blue" (I used three coats and this dries matte so I added a top coat)

Mousey grey with lavender undertones and soft hot pink: OPI for Sephora "Metro Chic" and Zoya "Tobey"

Creamsicle orange and bright hot pink: Zoya "Jancyn" and Zoya "Ali" (this dries matte so I added a top coat)

Sparkly tropical green and shimmery true orange: Zoya "Midori" and Sinful Colors "#33 Courtney Orange"

Starry Night nails

Jezebel linked this awesome tutorial for Van Gogh inspired nail art



Of course the one color I don't have in my 50+ polish collection is yellow, lol.  So I guess I won't be trying this one!

 Some other easy art inspirations:

Joan Miró:

Salvado Dalí:

the Mae West lips couch may make a cool half-moon mani

Claude Monet:

Jackson Pollock:

Pablo Picasso:

Henri Matisse:

photo credits: joanmiro.com, art.com, and bbc.co.uk

Mini Reviews - The Bads

Covergirl Lash Blast  Volume - After hearing so many raves about Lash Blast, I bought this after my beloved Korres ProVitamin B5 & Rice Bran mascara kicked the bucket.  My lashes looked good, but it was nothing spectacular.  It also flaked like crazy and smelled like an awful chemical mess! I think Korres spoiled me for life...

Scotch Naturals WaterColors Nail Polish - Fantastic colors, but the formula sucks.  The colors I bought were: Flying Scotsman, a gorgeous almost-black blue, Hot Toddy, a dark true brown, and Ceasefire, a color in between pea green and army green.  My problems are that the colors separate in the bottle, it chips easily, and the paint is watery and bubbly.  The formula is water-based so this is probably why.  All that being said, they are wearable, though I would not recommend using the instructions given.  The card that came with my package said that I could use the colors with no base or top coat, after moisturizing the nails with jojoba oil and washing my hands.  Yeah... my nails looked great up until I showered the following morning! Please use a top coat and base coat like you do with other nail polishes.

Kate Somerville Clearing Mask - I don't think that this is anything special.  It doesn't do anything bad, but I can't say it is better at handling my skin issues than the masks from Dr. Eckstein or Dr. Hauschka.


photos lifted from drugstore.com, scotchnaturals.com, and spacenk.com

I am playing catch-up with my fav blogs! Can we please discuss Scrangie's Ruffian eclipse manis?  Here is the original:

They are divine!  I've been wanting  to try this manicure since I saw it. She mentioned having her Konad tools around, so I guess she used one of the french manicure plates, but in the opposite direction.  Here is a tutorial video for Konads.  Considering I cannot paint or even draw a straight line, I may need to look into buying some of these.

OMGOMGOMGOMG

Check out how these nail polishes are stored- in dollhouses!! How cute! Style.com's Beauty Counter blog posted a link to this post from Dia de Beauté.  According to Beauty Counter, Adriana Barra has these in her store with an on-site manicurist.   And I am loving the colors she has!! I spy Model's Own (never heard of this one), Deborah Lippman, Chanel, Paul & Joe, butter London, Dior, I think Illamasqua, Essie, MAC, and some more. 

Check out all of Dia de Beauté's nail polish posts under the category "unhas"

woo hoo! I found a new blog to love :-)

Ok, did some digging and Model's Own is available at ASOS.  

the pictures are from diadebeaute.com

Nail Polishes

Quick post on some polish pics I have snapped on my Blackberry. 

Zoya "Envy" - GORGEOUSSS blackish-green.  One of my many from this year's annual Zoya swap program.

Zoya"Perrie" - One of my favorites from the S/S 2010 collection.  Oddly, I can best describe the "Flash" collection as "neon pastel"

And this is what I wore this week, OPI for Sepora "Metro Chic" - Yep I got this during the craze a few years back! Odd picture, but it is actually fairly  accurate on my computer screen and on my phone - it some lights it looks grey (middle finger) and in other lights it looks dusty purple (pinky). 

I just changed colors tonight - now I am wearing Ginger + Liz "Hold the Drama" I will try to remember to snap a pic tomorrow.  I am terrible at painting my nails so I wait until the next day when the polish peels off of my cuticles! 

Camel and Khaki for Fall/Winter 2010

I've heard rumblings that camel is the new black, but that will never be true.  For the fall and winter seasons, wearing all black will always be IT.  If you wear camel head to toe, you will look like a jackass:

Review: butter London Artfull Dodger

Love! Artfull Dodger is a gorgeous teal shade, unlike everything else I have.  It is of a thin consistency, but it has a lot of pigmentation.  What you see there was achieved with two coats.  I have 5 polishes from bL, and I would say that this is my second favorite after La Moss, a vampy red.  When shopping for butter London lacquers,  check out amazon.com or drugstore.com for accurate color pictures. 

Review: Zoya Ultra Glitter in Nova

Let’s just get one thing out of the way – ZOMG GLITTTER!!1!!!1

The short of it:

• It’s not just glitter, it is ULTRA glitter 
• Amazing staying power 
• Three coats for great opacity 
• Glitter is suspended in a sheer, colored liquid

The long of it:

Zoya produces nail polishes that are free of the toxic chemicals toluene, camphor, formaldehyde and DBP (dibutyl phthalate).  I have to talk about the staying power of Nova first.  I usually get tip wear after the first two days – not only do I work with a computer for my day job, but I don’t use gloves while washing dishes (I know, I know).  Anyway, 5 days later and there is barely a sign that I have worn this polish for more than a day.  I painted it on four nails, and they are in slightly better condition than my pinky nails.  Fab.  The glitter is a cool, dark pink suspended in an orchid-colored sheer base.  The base makes the glitter pop, and it doesn’t take ANYTHING away from the color.  Some glitter formulas just mean some colored glitter in some clear liquid, which can leave your nails looking sparse if not used over a coat of a colored polish.  Not this Ultra Glitter, darling!  It packs a punch with three coats (I usually use two for all other polishes). 

Two enthusiastic, sparkly thumbs up!  Let’s hope they expand this line like they expanded the Velvet Matte line. 

Nail Polish Week

When it comes to beauty products, “I can resist anything but nail polish.”  Nail polish is my biggest downfall for a few reasons: it is a (relatively) cheap cosmetic product, doesn’t require any of my limited time getting ready in the morning, and it is an effective pick-me-up.

Soon after Zoya twittered about a promotion this Friday I got an e-mail from butter London!  Yikes, my two favorite brands! During their Green Friday (for 24 hours from 5p.m. November 26), Zoya will send you six complimentary greens polishes with a $20 purchase and use of promo code "GREENFRIDAY". Hot!  With over 200 colors from which to choose, it shouldn’t be hard to pick out $20's worth! Compliments fly at me left and right when I wear Midori, the only green polish that I own.  If you haven’t been privy to the 30% code for butter London in the November issue of Lucky mag, butter London sent out a 30% code to its e-mail subscribers.  "VIP1109" will get you 30% off your entire purchase until November 29.  The Lucky mag code is "luckybreaks11" and expires on November 30. Butter London’s formula is absolutely fantastic – it dries quickly and is true to the bottle color.  I have my eye on Minger and HRH, and La Moss is my vamp color of choice, so I do need to get another bottle! In all honesty, I can actually resist nail polish this time around – I really and truly have too many.  But about that special my nail salon e-mailed to me for this week only… well that’s another story!

Midori and Artfull Dodger are pictured.