Five Top Trends of 2013: #3 Matte Glitter FT. Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Cookie Monster

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.

Five Top Trends of 2013: #2 Brights & Nudes

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...

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Christmas Sweaters!

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...

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Winter Foliage!

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...

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Gingerbread!

"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...

On the First Day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... Snowflakes!

(Seasons) greetings, lovelies, and welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge! I hope you enjoy what we have in store for you over the next few weeks. Kelly from Tuxarina and I have been brainstorming and stockpiling Christmas nail polishes like crazy. We will be posting on weekdays through the 21st, hopefully you will get some inspiration for your Christmas manis.

Day one starts us off with snowflakes. I wanted to capture the depth and layering of snowflakes as they fall at dusk- so New England. My base color is Revlon's Smoldering ( Butter London's Knackered dupe).

With a nail art brush and Finger Paints Paper Mache, I painted snowflakes alternating with coats of Smoldering and a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball sandwiched inbetween. I finished with a Sephora by OPI matte coat.

Please check out my amazing Challenge Companion, Kelly's blog! Share the comments, share the love...

On the second day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me- Santa!

Stay tuned...

 

Day Thirteen TDoHNC: Trick or Treat! Give me something good to eat!

It's the last day! Wow, talk about a month flying by. I don't know where October went and this time next week, I'll be in Florida, while Jes holds down the fort up here. Maybe Mojo will blog about hamster things in my absence...lol.

So, today's theme is favorite Halloween treat. I couldn't settle on just one, so I did a smorgasbord on my nails. I had a lot of fun. I used metallics and mattes. Neutrals and neons. I even used shaped tips on two nails and created my own stamp out of a pencil eraser. I threw caution to the wind with this one.

I began with a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City- the best silver one coat ever! For my candy corn I used Finger Paints Paper Mache and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and Sun Kissed. For the button candy, I used Finger Paints Paper Mache ( which I mattified for the paper look), Revlon Posh and the following Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Fuchsia Power, Mellow Yellow and The Real Teal. 

For the snowcaps, I used Sinful Colors in Nirvana ( with a matte top coat) and Stripe Rite in White. The pixi stix were done with Stripe Rite in White, Essie's Turquoise and Caicos, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power and Mellow Yellow. Finally, the chocolate bar was done in Sinful Colors in Nirvana ( with a matte top coat). The squares were stamped on with Revlon Graceful and highlighted in Stripe Rite in White.

And there you have it, the Thirteen Days of Halloween is over! I've completed my first challenge! Thanks to all the girls who have participated with me, it was so much fun. I really appreciate the support and feedback. As I said before- let me know when the next challenge starts- lol.
 

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace,Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J’s Nail Corner

 

To everyone else, I hope those affected by the Hurricane will recover soon- our thoughts are with you.  

Before I forget- Happy Halloween!

Day Twelve TDoHNC: Sugar Skulls, Spice and Everything Nice...

Here we are at day twelve and today's theme is skeletons. I love all of the la Dia de los Muertos ( Mexican Day of the Dead) imagery especially sugar skulls. I wanted to incorporate some of that feel into my nails today.  

I started by doing a skittle mani using Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Caribbean Coral, Sun Kissed, Mellow Yellow and Fuchsia Power and Revlon Posh.

I then did a coat of Nicole by OPI's Rainbow in the S-Kylie. I finished by adding the detail of bones and floral designs in Stripe Rite in white. The whole mani got topped off with a coat of OPI for Sephora Matte Top Coat.

This totally made me get out my Sugar Skulls jewelry from Tarina Tarantino. ( Love, love, love her stuff!) Our challenge is almost over but remember to check out all the coolness on the other ladies' blogs- always sure to impress!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace,Love, & Polish

Jennifer from LittleJ’s Nail Corner

 

Our conclusion, day thirteen...fave Halloween treats!

Day Eleven TDoHNC: Once in a (Full) Blue Moon

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Welcome to the final week of the Thirteen Days of Halloween Nail Art Challenge- this month has flown by! Day eleven brings us to the Full Moon. I love Fall nights, the air is so crisp and you can always seem to catch a whiff of someone’s fireplace. I truly think that this is the best part of the year in New England.

I think this mani captured some of the mystery of the Fall night. I started with a base of Revlon Fashionista (btw… this color is amazing with a matte top coat).

I dabbed on Finger Paints Paper Mache and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement to create the clouds and give them some depth. The moon was done using the same two colors. I then added some straight-up-no-name-Halloween-pumpkin-shaped-glow-in-the-dark polish on the moon (it’s as crapperific as it sounds). I thought I could take a pick with the moon glowing- it was a bit of an epic fail. 

I think this is one of the more painterly manis that I have done thus far- call it a tribute to all of Kelly’s sweet atmospheric nail effects so far. Speaking of, go on and check out the other ladies- they never fail to amaze!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace,Love, & Polish

Jennifer from LittleJ’s Nail Corner

Stay tuned, day twelve… skeletons!

Day Ten TDoHNC: Werewolves of London

Our second week concludes with day ten's theme- werewolves. Like yesterday I had a bit of fun with this challenge. I was inspired by the Warren Zevon track " Werewolves of London".  Any song that has lyrics such as " Little old lady got mutilated late last night..." definitely has that je ne sais pas.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Nirvana ( except on my ring finger where I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Caribbean Coral.

I added the details for the werewolves in Stripe Rite in white and Finger Paints Striper in Chart-Art-coal Black. I finished the Union Jack design with my white striper and Revlon Fashionista.

These nails may me happy and Jes refers to them as werehamsters ( Mojo approves).

As usual check out the spectacular blogs of the other ladies, I love seeing what they do every day!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner

Another weekend hiatus for the challenge, but my regular blogging will ensue.

Stay tuned for day eleven... full moons!

Day Nine TDoHNC: There Will Be Blood

I have to say that I have been dreading today- day nine, blood. I am not particularly inclined towards red. That's not entirely true, I mean back in the nineties I wore OPI's I'm Not Really A Waitress to my Freshman Winter Formal. I have to say today achieved two things a fun nail design and a red that I really like!

I could have gone for something gory and oozy but I just wasn't feeling that. I wanted fun, and excitement, and maybe a drink...lol. So, I channelled that into some party nails with a dripping blood French Manicure and a bit of freehand art in the shape of a Bloody Mary cocktail.

I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. Then with Julep Vivian I did a glitter coat. I love the shimmer and gold hex combo. On my four fingers, I dabbed on Julep Demi to get the dripped blood effect.

On my thumb, I drew the main part of the glass with Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. I added shading with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Julep Demi. I drew the stem and outlined the glass in Finger Paints Striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. The celery stalk and lime slice were painted with Revlon Posh, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Stripe Rite in white. I dabbed Julep Vivian around the glass to finish.

I love, love, love these nails. Makes me want to do some tiki bar nails at some point. Be sure to check out the other girls' blogs, they have been doing some awesome work!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner

 

Stay tuned day ten... werewolves! AHHHHWOOOOOOO!

Day Seven TDoHNC: (Frankenstein's) Monster Mash

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I was working at the kitchen table late last night, when my eyes beheld an eerie sight. For on my nails a monster had appeared to rise, and suddenly to my surprise, he did the mash. He did the monster mash- the monster mash. It was a graveyard smash!

Day seven has brought us the fearsome creature of Dr. Frankenstein. This was one of those days that I knew exactly what I was going to do- a French Manicure. A monsterific French, of course!

I started with a base of Revlon 571 Posh- the most gorgeous “go light green”, ever. I added the hair and face details with Finger Paints Striper in Ch-Art-coal Black and Stripe Rite in white. His "bolts" were done with a dot of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 013 Celeb City.

I really wanted the details to pop and to get the feel of monster flesh, so I brought out my favorite top coat- Sephora by OPI Matte Top Coat. I love how it really transforms the color.

Check out the other amazing and talented the ladies in the challenge. It’s the love from all of you that are keeping us rocking this day after day!

Kelly from Tuxarina

Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

Jennifer from Little J’s Nail Corner

Stay tuned, day eight… vampires! (Just for the record, there will be no glittering vampires coming from this corner…)

Day Three TDoHNC: Stray Cat Strut

"I got cat class and I got cat style..." 

It's day three already! So, today's nails are a bit unconventional. They are partially inspired by a post by Mr. Candiipants and also my desire to do a shaped nail. I achieved this look by adding a tip to my nail. 

I started by painting each of my nails a different color: 
Revlon 320 Graceful 
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 460 Wet Cement
Finger Paints Paper Mache
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 670 Midnight in NY
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 150 Sun Kissed

I added details using Stripe Rite in white and Finger Paints striper in Ch-ART-coal Black. 

I used either Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 340 Mint Sorbet or 360 Mellow Yellow on their eyes and filled in the nose and ears with Mary Kay VV22 Pink Sand/ Sable Rose. 

Overall I had a lot of fun doing these nails. You'll be seeing another shaped nail design very soon- they are a bit addictive. Please check out the blogs of the other amazing and talented participants. They are totally rocking this challenge! 

Kelly from Tuxarina

 Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish

 Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner

Stay tuned... day four..."I'll get you my pretty.." I mean, witches!

 

(Special thanks to Kelly and Jennifer for their support and feedback! You are the best!)

What polish is my pet, do you ask?

This is what happens when you use gel nail polish, you get creative when you can't change your polish for a post.

Also, Jes and I have a new addition to the family. He's an aquatic addition by the name of Helix. His color made me think of a polish I was loving a few years back. Voila! You get this post...

To me, Helix is so Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition in 15 DVD. Love, love, love that duo-chrome glitter. Looking at it makes me wonder if anyone used a few of these Hi-Definition shades ( plus a few other things) to franken a Clarins 230 dupe.  

Not to be left out of the fun, big brother Mojo also has a shade.  I actually picked up this color because it reminded me of him. One of my favorite neutrals, it looks amazing mattified. I've also rocked it with a Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball gradient. Without further adieu, I present Revlon's 320 Graceful.

So, what polish is your pet?