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...
