It's day four of my 2013 trend forecast, and of course I had allude to "that" literary title of the year. (Love to love it or love to hate it...) All that aside, gray is a trend that is not going any where soon. As seen most recently on Michelle Obama and Eva Longoria, gray continues to be a super hot neutral.
As the title suggests, this is a nod to the almost grays, the not-quite steels, and the barely charcoals. They might be almost blues, kinda greens, or straight up glitters. No matter what they are take charge and sexy as hell.
The mani I am featuring is a very much a steel blue gray, in some lights it's almost pure silver. Blue Rhapsody is from Essie's Mirror Metallic Collection. This color is a stunner that looks like an icy, snowy New Hampshire morning. My nail art is a total throwback to when I used to get my nails done in high school. I would get them painted in Creative Nail Designs' Iced Cappuccino with the double black stripe like you see here.
Here are some almost ( or not quite) grays in creme, metallic, glitter and everything in between...
OPI's On Her Majesty's Secret Service
OPI's Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine
OPI's I Don't Give A Rotterdam
LVX's Legendaire
Lynnderella's 50 Shades of May-Be
Revlon's Smoldering
Butter London's Dodgy Barnett
What almost grays are you treasuring?
Stay tuned tomorrow for the final trend of the new year and my top ten from 2012...
Day three brings a trend that started to take root in indie collections in 2012. I see it moving towards mainstream polishes in 2013. I'm talking about matte glitter. It's eye catching without being flashy, and complex without being busy. Matte glitter can work during the daytime when shiny, holographic, or reflective glitters scream cocktail time. (Not that there is anything wrong with that... lol)
I love the fact that any glitter can be "mattefied" with a decent matte top coat, but a true matte glitter has a distinctive graphic look. The matte effect will continue to be ever present in 2013, with basic glitter and its variants like OPI's Liquid Sand and Zoya's Pixie Dust.
Since our Indie goddesses brought this look to the forefront, I am featuring one of those lacquers in my mani. I also wanted to use this because I featured it in a Christmas mani, but want to show you how versatile this polish really is. Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Cookie Monster is a smorgasbord of cobalt blue, black, and white matte glitter. I can't say it enough, this polish applies like a dream. No fishing for glitter and absolutely no curling makes this a fave in my book. I wanted something bold and nothing that I have seen from other bloggers ( white or cream undies) or I have done before ( blue duochrome- Julep's Ivy- undies). Also, it was an awesome excuse to do a trigger manicure. (Like I need one.) I used Revlon's Posh and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. This makes me think of Rubik's Cubes, 8-bit video games, Popsicles, Crayola crayons and all that is awesome eighties nostalgia. Love it. A lot.
Some glorious mattes that deserve an honorable mention:
Polish Revolution's A Better Tomorrow
JENSations' Pinata
Mack Gives Back's Whip It
Happy Hands' Flowers on the Highway
Pretty & Polished's Elvis' Pink Cadillac
Nailventurous' Floam
Jindie Nails' Megapixels
Let me know if any of these matte beauties have made it into your collection!
Stay tuned tomorrow for another trend for the new year....
(Cannot wait for Pam's Valentine's Day collection!!! Mojo is very excited, too... or he wants a yogurt bite...)
Whimsical Ideas by Pam are available to order via e-mail. Please refer to Pam's purchase instructions on her Facebook page.
Welcome back to my trend forecast for 2013! Once again a shout out to the Daily Varnish for the inspiration for this post series...
So, first and foremost brights are not exclusively neons, but super saturated hues. I do not think we are done with full rich shades any time soon. I think the tendency to contrast with them will be in full force. Julep is leading the nail pack with their January Maven releases- a collection of ( in their case) neons and nudes. It's very Resort Collection inspired and super fun.
My mom, Marina, who has always been my fashion consultant and all around beauty diva has been rocking this trend already. She has amazing nails and loves french manis. She has rocked french based nudes with such splashy shades as Revlon's Sassy, an acidic lime green, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Back to the Fuchsia.
I wanted to showcase this trend a little differently. I love all the graphic nail art out there! Its great that we have so many talented nail pros in the forefront these days. I love the work of Madeline Poole. She has done manicures for Ke$ha, Kelly Osborne, Kreayshawn, and many other celebs in various fashion trades. Her style is not for wallflowers...
So, here is a Madeline Poole inspired brights and nudes mani. Jes loves this! He thinks it's super graphic and clean. I used Julep's Otte, Daphne, Delaunay, Harper, and Niecy. I also threw in Revlon's Graceful for good measure. The color that I am most excited about is... Essie's Mint Candy Apple! (I guess you could say this was one of my lemmings). I sharpened it up with some white lines in Stripe Rite. I got my nails done, time to go on a winter cruise to somewhere warm....lol.
Here are some brights and nudes combos that definitely deserve mention...
OPI's Don't Pretzel My Buttons and OPI's Don't Talk Bach to Me
Essie's Where's My Chauffeur and Essie's Beyond Cozy
LVX's Midori and LVX's Ecru
Julep's Bette and Julep's Ava
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Caribbean Coral
Zoya's Pandora and Zoya's Zuza
OPI's A Roll In the Hauge and OPI's Did You 'ear About Van Gogh?
Do you have a fave brights and nudes combo that you are dying to try out?
Stay tuned tomorrow, for the next trend for the new year...
This post was partially planned, partially spontaneous, and completely inspired by Alli over at The Daily Varnish. (If you haven't checked them out, go over there right now.) This is the blog that truly got me to jump in the game. Alli and Katie do a fabulous job of keeping up on the latest colors, nail trends, color combinations, and product lines out there. Also, I think it's pretty amazing how they respond to every comment. Lately, they have been doing a bit of a year in review and also have been forecasting what 2013 may hold. Specifically, there was a post on the five trends of 2013- of course I had something to say about that...
So in honor of the New Year, five trends in five nights...
First up, Pantone's color of the year is Emerald, and I think we will be coming up green in 2013! Hallelujah! Finally a year with out an orange-based tone. First Honeysuckle, then Tangerine Tango, I get it corals are fun- but I love cool colors! Regarding Emerald, Pantone says, "Lively, Radiant. Lush... A Color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony."
Now since it is me- and I am not one for exactness- I am taking this to embrace all rich shades of green this season. My featured mani is OPI's Live and Let Die ( Yes, a Skyfall lacquer- not a gelcolor! Who is shocked?) Live and Let Die is a gorgeous almost-black hunter green with gold and emerald microglitter dancing along the surface. In order to ring in the New Year, I decided to break open a silver Julep Glitter Pot for my accent nail. In order to tame the glitter grit, I used about 4 coats of clear top coat. In the end it feels like OPI's Liquid Sand without paying $8.50 a bottle.
Other gorgeous greens ( or exotic emeralds, if you please...) that are worth mentioning:
Illamasqua's Viridian
China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle
Essie's Mojito Madness
Essie's Stylenomics
Revlon's Posh
OPI's Here Today Aragon Tomorrow
OPI's Jade is the New Black
Of course there are many more...which is your favorite green to rock in 2013?
Stay tuned tomorrow, for the next trend for the new year...
Leave it to me to finish a challenge and dive into a contest! I was just complaining to Kelly at Tuxarina that I was going through manicure withdrawal...lol. So in order to switch it up a bit, here are some non-Christmas nails...
XOXO Alexis Leigh is celebrating the first anniversary of her blog (aka the Blogiversary). She has partnered with LVX to put on an amazing contest that will grant the winner a choice of six shades from any of LVX's collections. To check out more about XOXO Alexis Leigh's contest and site go on over and visit. You will love her site, I promise!
My mani is inspired by LVX's winter collection. ( After you are done checking out Alexis' site, get on over to LVX... amazing!!!) I modeled my nails after the runway looks that inspired the colors. My thumb is a lace overlay done with Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Midnight In NY and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement as a nod to Dark Matter. My index finger is a tribute to Creamfields, Julep's Ellie and dots done with pale pink flocking powder. My middle finger is inspired by Tribute, Julep's Ivy and Finger Paints striper in Ch-Art-coal black. My ring finger is based on Luxe, a patchwork of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City and Wet Cement, Sephora by OPI's matte finish and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Midnight In NY. Finally, my pinky is inspired by Alchemy, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I and Julep's Otte.
I hope Alexis, Christa, and Branka at LVX, love this as much as I do! I can totally see a full manicure of any of these looks.
Go on and check out all the entries and Happy Blogiversary, Alexis! (Wish me luck...)
Here we are at the conclusion of another absolutely amazing challenge! A few months ago, I was still in the phase of "should I even attempt my own blog". During that time, I was looking at all the 31 day challenges and at some impeccable nail art by Sarah at Chalkboard Nails, Amy Grace at the Polished Perfectionist, Alice at One Nail to Rule them All, Kelly at Tuxarina, and Heather at Peace, Love, and Polish. Since then, I have been very fortunate to start the blog and even get to participate along side Kelly and Heather. I always appreciate their support. Thanks, girls!
Granted, I am not an old pro yet by any means, I can definitely see how through practice and sheer will (lol) you can pick up more skills. Also, I can see how easily you can get addicted to polish. I have quadrupled my stash since September. I've come to totally embrace Indie Polish and can't wait to buy and swatch more in the New Year. It has been awesome to share my love the polishes that Christina at Spy Princess and Pam at Whimsical Ideas make. Also, they are both awesome ladies! (Thanks for the shout outs on Facebook & Twitter!) So, this is a bit of a Christmas love fest... oh well. I am following in my own spirit of "Share the Comments, Share the Love."
So on to the favorite part of the post... the manicure! I have to say, I was at a bit of an impasse. I had a base color that I wanted to use, but I didn't know how it was going to fit in. Leave it to Jes to solve that... The color in question is Nicole by OPI's A Gold Winter's Night ( A Kardashian Kolors holiday release). It's a combination of rose gold microglitter, gold and teal bar glitter that is full coverage in 2-3 coats. It's actually quite lovely. It's kind of like the gold version of OPI's Save Me ( I rocked that over Essie's Marshmallow for a fun summer pedi.) He looked at it and said it either looks like tinsel or a vintage aluminum Christmas tree. Voila! Perfect base for Christmas lights!
For the light cord, I used Stripe Rite in white and Finger Paints Ch-Art-coal Black. With regards to the light bulbs themselves I used Sinful Colors Jungle and Be My Valentine and Essie's Blue Rhapsody (I just bought a few Essie's last night and will swatch soon!).
So there you have it... the challenge is complete! I hope this has given you a lot of ideas for your Christmas nails.
Kelly has been so much fun to work with and get to know more during the challenge. Her nails are like art work, so go over to Tuxarina and show the love!
I plan on posting one more time before Christmas... so see you then!
It's day eleven and it's going to look like an eighties infomercial up in here... (You remember that guy who used to sell all those products in those loud sweaters? lol) Today is Christmas Sweaters and I had some fun with this. Granted at the end of the day I came out somewhere between ugly sweater, Fair Isle Pattern, and mittens, but it's all good.
In order to do the pattern I used the following colors: Julep's Otte (butterscotch creme) & Delaunay (chili pepper red creme) , Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet (seafoam creme), and Revlon's Posh (grass green creme) and Fashionista (navy creme).
The details were done with Stripe Rite in white and Sinful Colors striper in Jungle and Be My Valentine. Over all it was fast and simple to do, it was just about keeping the lines crisp.
I can't believe we have one day left! Time has flown by! Please be sure to check out Kelly at Tuxarina's Christmas sweater nails.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Christmas lights!
Stay tuned...
Welcome to day ten- I can't believe it! This challenge has been flying by and I have been extremely happy with my manicures and super impressed with Kelly's as well. I know we have both had a lot of fun. My snow globe theme is a tribute to my favorite Floridians, Mom & Dad. They read my blog every morning at breakfast.
I started my mani with a base coat of Essie's Turquoise & Caicos. On my four fingers, I painted the tips in another December release, Julep's Harper- a mermaid blue full cover glitter in a turquoise transparent base. I coated the bottom half with Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in Snow Globe. I then did a stripe with Stripe Rite in White.
On my thumb, I used Stripe Rite in White for the snow globe and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and Fuchsia Power for the Flamingo. I used Sinful Colors in Jungle for the palm tree and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Caribbean Coral for the oranges. I then added some Harper to the background and coated the snow globe are with Snow Globe- of course!
I have to say, I have managed to get through a Christmas Challenge with out an onslaught of red and green... Please check out Kelly's take on the snow globe theme at Tuxarina- I know it will be amazing!
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Christmas Sweaters!
Stay tuned!
It's day nine of the challenge and its another delicious post! Today's theme is Christmas cookies, and I have to admit that I didn't get as adventurous as I wanted to. Instead I used a couple of my favorite colors and really hoped that you could tell that these were cookies...lol
I have to say that a favorite Christmas activity of mine is baking with my mom. We typically end up making an awesome variety of Greek pastries. Sooo good! Since she is in Florida we are both baking solo this year :( Technically, she's baking and I have been working way too much.
Now on to the mani... I started with a coat of Julep's Julia, a beautiful purple-gold microglitter. I then made cookie shapes with Sinful Colors in Nirvana.
I then added details with Stripe Rite in white, Sinful Colors stripers in Jungle and Be My Valentine to form my gingerbread, sugar cookies and linzertorte cookies. I brushed on a bit of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball for some shine. To give a bit of pop, I added Spy Princess Coronation to the background. ( I just put a coat of Coronation over my pedi of Tomorrow Never Dies....Awesome!)
Time to check out Kelly's Christmas Cookies & Treats manicure over at Tuxarina. I know she has something awesome in store today...
Spy Princess is available at Etsy.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snow Globes!
Stay tuned...
Once again (Seasons) greetings, and welcome to day eight of the Christmas Challenge! Today's theme leaves (ha ha) a lot of room for interpretation- Winter Foliage. Garlands, wreaths, pine boughs, and holly are just some of the themes I considered for today. My decision to do mistletoe was made when a friend bought me a holiday nail polish for my birthday. I took further inspiration from Susan's lovely birthday gift to me- a Betsey Johnson Glitter Lips bangle.
Without further adieu I present you the most Valentine's Day Christmas manicure ever... I started with a coat of Finger Paints Paper Mache to create a solid base for the featured color. I then painted two coats of Wet N Wild's Can-Can You Hang the Mistletoe- a gorgeous neon pink glitter jelly.
On my thumb, I painted the leaves of the mistletoe with Sinful Colors striper in Jungle and Revlon's Posh. I used a dotting tool and Paper Mache for the berries. On my remaining fingers, with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power I drew lip patterns.
Check out my fabulous Challenge partner, Kelly, at Tuxarina to see her foliage mani. Share the comments, share the love!
On the ninth day of Christmas, my nail are gave to me... Christmas cookies & treats! ( Yum!!!)
Stay tuned...
I can't believe it- a nail art free post! It has been ages! So, I am out of my element with this manicure- bear with me... Yes, I am wearing red. You have heard me say before that I wore I'm Not Really A Waitress back in the '90s. I don't really count Julep's Demi and Delaunay wears during the Challenge as "wearing red" because it "was about the art, man." Here I am, willingly wearing red to be in the spirit of the Holidays and all of that.
There is an ulterior motive to this crimson conundrum, it's an OPI Skyfall Collection gelcolor! I have posted on Goldeneye, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (I love that damn polish), and Tomorrow Never Dies. I do plan on completing the swatch of this whole gelcolor collection (even if it means that I have to wear a shade of red- specifically maroon- again).
I have to admit that it is a perfect Christmas color. It is a tart cherry red with a smattering of gold and red microglitter. Once again, the gel finish gives it that glorious "jelly" finish with an incredible shine and the application is flawless.
So, when it comes to gel, OPI, "Nobody Does it Better*." You even made me love a red...
*The theme song for The Spy Who Loved Me as sung by Carly Simon. ( Couldn't leave you with out a bit of Bond Trivia...)
"Not my gumdrop buttons!"
I can't believe it is Friday and a whole week of the nail challenge is complete! And yes, I stared the post with a quote from Gingy (of Shrek fame). I have had a lot of fun and learned a few new techniques along the way. My new brushes haven't hurt either (thanks, Jes, did I mention that you are the best ever?) Making gingerbread cookies and constructing a gingerbread house are things I do every holiday season, so I was loving today's theme. I contemplated picking up I Love NP's Ginger Spice Latte (forgot about buying until it was too late) or Lynnderella's Gingerbread Hearts ($24.00 for a seasonal polish...eek.) I ended up using my own tried and trues in the end, but I like how it came out.
Since I warned you, you knew you were going to be seeing some kind of trigger mani again- well a trigger-french hybrid, technically. I started with a base coat of Sinful Colors Nirvana- a soft brown creme. I then did a coat of Nicole by OPI's Rainbow in the S-Kylie (I'll be featuring one of the NOPI Kardashian Kolors Holiday collection next week.) With a dotting tool and Finger Paints Paper Mache, I created the icing drips.
With Revlon's Graceful and a nail brush, I painted a gingerbread man and house on my index finger and thumb. I added the details with Stripe Rite in White and then added Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball. I topped the whole mani with Sephora by OPI's matte coat.
Before I forget, welcome to all my new followers and visitors! Remember share the comments and share the love! It's time for you to go check out my partner-in-nail art-crime, Kelly at Tuxarina. I am loving her fab and fancy holiday nails!
I will be resuming normal posting this weekend and then on Monday....
On the eighth day of Christmas, my nail are gave to me... winter foliage! (love me some foliage...)
Stay tuned...
We are already at the halfway point of the challenge- day six! I promise that there are a few more theme related glitters in store, continued bad ass nail art and of course- since it's me- a couple more trigger manicures for this holiday season. ( Remember- I warned you in advance.)
I have to confess, I did my tree nails three times. At first I had a more conventional hunter green tree formed entirely out of dots with silver and gold ornaments and star glitter. Fail. Then I went to a 1950's white and pastel Christmas with a lavender background and a feathery white tree with glitter. Fail. It wasn't that they came out terribly, I just didn't feel like they were me. So I walked away from my nail stuff, got Mojo, and thought about Christmas. And trees.
And this is how inspiration struck... I started running all these images of Christmas trees through my head from the iconic ( tree at Rockefeller Center) to the personal ( trees from childhood and when Jes and I first got married). Then I literally heard a voice in my mind of a little gruff voiced girl named Peppermint Patty saying "Hey, Chuck!" Oh yes, you know where this is going... Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree. The best holiday special featuring deficient holiday foliage EVER! ( I'll also take a minute to send a virtual kiss to my Dad, who happens to be named Chuck. Hope the palm trees are sparkly & bright in Florida...)
On to the mani... I don't know what it's called when you accent your pinky and thumb only, but that is what I did. Let me know if you come up with a cool name. I started with a base of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City. On my accent nails I used Stripe Rite in white and Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine to illustrate the tree and ornaments. The blanket was done in Essie's Turquoise & Caicos. ( I need to get more Essie, but can't commit to a shade...)
On my ring, middle, and index fingers I am featuring another of Julep's December release full coverage glitters- Colbie. This is a chunky peridot green glitter that has a smooth application.
Now that you have taken a trip down inspiration lane with me... go check out my Challenge Companion, Kelly at Tuxarina. You will be impressed!
On the seventh day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Gingerbread!
Stay tuned...
Welcome to a festive day five! Today's theme is a bit of a variation on a theme of my Breakfast at Elena's mani. I liked the look of the presents and wanted to kick it up a notch.
Speaking of presents, as a part of my birthday gift Jesse stocked me up with nail supplies- a 20 piece nail art brush/ dotting tool set and a new UV dryer for my gels. Nice. Now to see what Christmas will bring... ( I have my fingers crossed for some Whimsical Ideas by Pam, Spy Princess, or OPI gelcolors)
I used two of my tried and true one coat metallics today- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I and Celeb City. I have said this before, but I love a fun, flashy polish that is a one-coat. Woo hoo! Gold polishes are a little bit tough, sometimes they come off as way too yellow or brassy. Golden-I is a nice rich shade, I definitely recommend it and it will only set you back about $3.00.
For the ribbons, I used Sinful Colors stripers in Jungle and Be My Valentine and Stripe Rite in white. For the tag I used Finger Paints Paper Mache and a thin tipped black paint pen for the lettering.
Most importantly, I hope you have been checking out Kelly's awesome designs at Tuxarina.
Thank you so much to everyone for the love this week! Almost 400 page views since Monday- wow! Please feel free to comment, I enjoy the feedback.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Christmas Trees!
Stay tuned...
I can't believe we are in day four of the challenge already! I have to say even though I love Halloween, I have really enjoyed the Christmas themes. Also, I think the more you do something the better you get at it. As promised today is another "two-fer", a theme and a review.
Today I bring to you another smashing stunner from Whimsical Ideas by Pam- Cookie Monster. This polish is the most amazing shade of blue ( for all of you art buffs I think this is totally International Klein Blue). It consists of multi sized cobalt matte hexes, white matte hexes, and black matte hexes. Like Peppermint Schtick, this formula was smooth and applied like a dream! This polish works well over light and dark base colors. I highly recommend any of Pam's lovely Whimsical shades.
For my mani today, I went with the seldom used accent thumb. I have smallish nails, and when I want to do something detailed I need all of the nail real estate I can get. My base coat for this mani is Ivy, a new Julep December release. It's a gorgeous cobalt/indigo duochrome micro shimmer. I topped it with two coats of Cookie Monster. Amazing.
For my snowman I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the body and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City and Sinful Colors striper in Jungle for the hat. I finshed the details with Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine and Finger Paints striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. I finished the mani off with a Sephora by OPI matte coat. (Pam highly recommends Cookie Monster plus matte.)
Once again, thank you to Pam, Kismet, and the "Whimsical Lovelies" for their support! Please check out Pam's site and purchase often!
Please check out the talented Miss Kelly at Tuxarina. She has been rocking this challenge so far and I am so excited to be doing this with her!
On the fifth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... presents!
Stay tuned...
