This is a repost of one I did back in April. For ages it had been nagging at me that my photos of Parlez-Vous OPI weren’t colour accurate so it was time to try it again.

This is my absolute go-to polish for when I jsut don’t know what to wear. I’ve been feeling a bit stressed recently with so many nice polishes and not really knowing which one to choose (not really an earth shattering “problem” I know, but still…) next that I wanted a day or two of wearing an old favourite that never disappoints.

This is a fantastic colour, and one I have had to order a backup bottle of as I can see myself using this one up.

A perfect consistency, this was opaque within two coats and with the all new and exciting Seche Vite, dry in ten minutes. Although I think this one would dry fairly fast anyway.

If you eagle-eyed readers spot a bit of tip wear that is because I put it on on Saturday and have been bashing away on the keyboard like a loon since then. It’s such a good consistency that you wouldn’t notice if you did a quick tip touch-up though.

This is conservative for work but with enough of a twist that you still feel a bit contraversial. I’ve had loads of positive comments on it as this is about the fourth or fifth time I’ve worn it – felt it was also appropriate enough for a business meeting. Win, win!

All in all this is another one I highly recommend. Tres bien, OPI!

Singer, actress and dancer Mya, who just concluded her run on ABC’s hit TV show “Dancing With The Stars,” (DWTS) will star on January’s New Year’s cover of BE! (Beauty Entertainment) Magazine. Mya is the third Hollywood celebrity to grace the cover of Beauty Entertainment Magazine, Salon City’s new monthly print, digital and online publication that debuted this fall. Mya was photographed exclusively for BE!’s cover and inside feature by Hollywood’s Keith Munyan, known for his ability to capture the beauty, energy and excitement of a star like Mya. BE! Magazine’s style director, Christopher Mannor, orchestrated the shoot and brought together L.A.’s finest session artists to create a new look for Mya.

Set to debut in the U.S. on December 26 is MAC’s Warm and Cozy collection, a full release that evokes comfort and warmth during the icy months of winter. Think chunky cable-knit sweaters, fuzzy slippers, wool scarves, flannel sheets, and fireplaces, and you’ll have an idea of what inspired this collection.

Items focus on creamy color in soft hues (like neutrals and pale pinks), with a few doses of earthy brown scattered about. It’s also chock-full of  “repairing” products, like lip conditioners, balms, and rich lotions to comfort and hydrate winter-parched skin.

Winter is a tough time of year for a lot of us (especially if you live anywhere in the Northern U.S.), so why not make it a little brighter with a few items from this release?

Keep reading for full product shots and more details.

Eyeshadow ($14.50), top row, L-R: Chamomile, Modelette; bottom row, L-R: Milled Cider, Embark.

Shadestick ($16.50), from left: Nurture, Relaxed, Cuddle, Warm & Cozy

Tinted Lip Conditioner ($14.50) in Close for Comfort, Feelin’ Good

Mineralize Skinfinish ($27) in By Candlelight (left) and Comfort (right)

Lipstick ($14), from left: Spiced Tea, Warm Me Up, and Siss
Lip Glass ($14), from left: 2N, Feeling Dreamy, 3N, and Light That Fire!

Lip Conditioner tube ($13.50), Lip Conditioner stick ($13.50), Nail Lacquer ($12) in Blissed Out, Dim the Lights

Mineralize All-Over Lotion ($29.50), Care Blends Essential Oils ($19.50 each) in Sweet Orange & Lavender and Grapefruit & Chamomile

A few thoughts on the collection:

• I’m loving Close for Comfort Tinted Lip Balm.
• Shadesticks in these colors serve as great bases for additional shadows; they’re perfect for layering.
• A lot of people get the winter blues, with the short days and bitter-cold air. I like that MAC added 2 essential oils to this collection in an effort to energize, soothe, and boost spirits.
• I like they took the post-holiday slump into mind. Around that time of year, everyone starts clearing out holiday decorations, and the new year is a time when people start thinking ahead and starting fresh. It’s a renewal, in a sense, and I love that MAC has pared down and minimalized the colors and textures of this collection to reflect that.

Final verdict: Very impressed with this collection. The timing, the colors, the textures, and the concept behind it all meld seamlessly. The idea behind it really resonates with me.

What do you think? Will you be hitting up the MAC counter to stock up for winter?

Nu har jag bestämt vilka naglar jag tänker ha över jul! Och kanske över nyår också! Får se hur länge de håller! Hittade en grymt duktig tjej på youtube och fått massa inspiration av henne! Naglarna som jag tänker försöka göra ser ut så här:

Nu är frågan vilken färg jag ska använda?! De jag funderar på är blå , lila,  röd eller grön! Fundera dock på att kanske ha guld istället för vitt som dekor färg! Vad tycker ni? O_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gnKM2DC8VI
För er som är intresserade av naglar! <3

This is my all time favorite nail polish by Jessica, more a summer colour but I love it! It’s such a fabulous shade which is very unusual for me because I hate pink. In fact I never even chose this myself, I was introduced by a family member and have a been hooked ever since.  If you’re looking for a yummy, fun and funky colour try this out.

I’m a huge fan of Jessica, the colours are amazing and long lasting, the brush is lovely and soft and glides really well for that streak free finish. Not many people have heard of Jessica, I really recommend trying it out.

The picture doesnt actually give it much justice its a lot more lustrous than the image.

Jessica ‘Happy Hour’ nail polish – £8.95

butter LONDON is a natural nailcare company operating on a theory they call “Three Free,” meaning all of their nailpolishes are free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP – all unnatural stuff that traditionally is used in nailpolish. The brand’s creator moved to the U.S. from England in 2005 to create the brand, and many of the colors and their names are inspired by the U.K.

The polishes are simply gorgeous. My favorite fall pick is British Racing Green, a hunter green that was used on several fall ‘09 designer runways. For autumn, I also adore La Moss, a wine-soaked burgundy, and Queen Vic, which butter describes as red-wine-meets-cranberry.

Since I’m a sucker for pink, I can’t resist Dolly Bird and London Underground. (After all, pink is perfect at any time of year!)

In addition to polishes in to-die-for colors, butter LONDON offers cuticle treatments, hand creams, and a range of foot treatment products, including Stiletto Stick, a push-up solid that treats rough heels.

Be sure to visit their website, if only to check out the artsy nature-inspired illustrations.

Every time I try one of these Nubar Chocolate Truffles I think  “oooh I like this more than the one before”.

Cherry Cordial is definitely my favourite out of the ones I have tried so far. The word in the blogosphere is that Nubar make some of the best duochromes out there, and if Cherry Cordial is anything to go by, I am certainly inclined to agree.

Once again, application of this was perfect. This was two coats and it just flowed on to the nail with no fuss, bubbling, and zero clean-up. Really, you can’t ask for more than that.

As for the colour – I have no idea how to describe this. It doesn’t exactly sing Cherries to me but to be honest I’m not overly bothered by this. Even if you are someone who expects the contents of a bottle to perfectly match the name of it, you won’t be disappointed by this.

The consistency is fabulous and I love the way in which it can’t make up its mind as to what colour it wants to be. One moment it is brown, definitely brown, then the next moment it is gold, with a hint of pink. Then, unbelievably, it takes on a green hue. Amazing.

I know I haven’t finished reviewing the collection yet but the other Chocolate Truffles are going to have to go some to better this one. Love it!

Cherry Cordial, and the rest of Nubar’s Chocolate Truffle collection can be purchased from Beauty Shed for £8.00

Not content with wallowing about in a swimming pool with Michael Portillo for the cameras*,  fame has found me again!

Models Own have launched a fab new blog and have featured the review I wrote of their Gold Digger polish. See it here! And give their blog some love – it’s great.

*If you’re a new reader who doesn’t know about this “experience”, click here.

Pearly Queen is a new polish from Models Own, and one that was sent to me for review. This reminds me of one of the first nail varnishes I ever had as a small girl as it is pretty and relatively sheer and so, rebel that I am, got away with wearing it at school.

This works best as a layering topcoat. I don’t think there is any way that you could build this up to being an opaque polish as you’d need to do so many layers that yo’d just end up with a gungy and soft tip. I layered this over Mod About You and think it looks great.

A quick coat of Pearly Queen would be enough to give any straightforward creme polish a great pearlescent finish. It is predominantly a creamy sheer but with tones of pink and green, depending on which way you hold your hand. The green was practically impossible to capture on camera so you might have to take my word for that one.

The logical thing to me was to try it over a pink, but I really want to try it over a pastel blue and/or a green to see how it looks. 

Application was fine – as I said, it is sheer, so it doesn’t have the Models Own trademark pigmentation but as long as you are expecting this, and want to use it as more of a shimmery topcoat, then you certainly won’t be disappointed. This was two coats over an existing manicure. A layer of Seche Vite and it was good to go in a few minutes.

So – my verdict is that whilst this isn’t one that I would reach for regularly myself, I think a lot of people would really like this. It is perfect for a work-appropriate sheer, or to layer over other colours to create a nice effect that is shiny, with depth, and flashes of different colours.

Pearly Queen can be purchased directly from the Models Own website, and costs £5.00.

and i’m naming it …. green with envy.

green with envy

i have to admit that originally i was hoping to make something more bluish than this, but one thing led to another and here we have a green. i still like the end result

ingredients.. plus the end result on the far right

my recipe for this :
a 1/5 bottle of clear nailpolish, in this case i used revlon double twist
+/- 1/4 tsp of turquoise pigment ( i didn’t really use a measurement spoon )
10 drops of barry m in spring green
30 drops of barry m in turquoise
25 drops of china glaze in turned up turqouise

all i did was put on the ingredients on the revlon bottle which only 1/5 full, and shook well.

at first, i was very reluctant to use CG turned up turquoise, as it was green and i was looking for blue. but the “concoction” was very sheer without it, so i finally gave in and put turned up turquoise into the mixture. and voila.. now we have a green that looks like it has a jelly finish from afar, but it is actually shimmery. it has silver shimmers with a hint of gold sheen from the pigment. it is also very glossy, no top coat needed, since (d’oh!) i already used a clear top coat as a base. texture is still a bit sheer, two coats providing a medium coverage, showing a hint of nail lines if you look closely, three coats full coverage.

i put on two coats at first, but i wasn’t too happy with the result, and put on another layer. then, my hair got in the way and it streaked some of my still-wet nails, and i had to put on another layer. it was too thick and took ages to dry i should’ve settled with two layers.

side by side with turned up turquoise, franken appears more bluish *maksa*
two coats each

Good Evening ladies… and gentlemen?

I didn’t get to show you all a picture of my pink disco ball nails yesterday so I thought I would put some pics up today. I’m at work so I used the webcam here.. hopefully the quality isn’t too bad!!!

brand: Milani

name: disco lights – 89.

Personally, I love this polish. I feel so girly and glamorous wearing it. It’s fun and festive – I can definitely see my nails looking like this on new years eve. I think it cost me $7.oo from Loblaws but I wouldn’t put money on it. I’ll try and note the price when I buy new ones from now on. The overwhelming amount of glitter catches the eye more than usual, so if you are looking for a conversation starter, or a bit of extra attention, this is the polish for you. The only negative? (Well, it might only be a negative for me due to my astounding short attention span,) It gets distracting. I would not recommend it to someone like me if you have to study for a midterm. I found myself constantly moving my eyes away from the page and instead to my nails holding the page in place. But like I said, shouldn’t be a problem if you aren’t easily distracted, and I am sure after I wear it a couple more times the novelty of the shade will wear off a bit.. for me at least. On the bright- or should I say glittery – side, there’s no need for jewelery with these over the top nails!

thebigbadwolff’s final verdict: polish fit for a princess

xxoo

Pics from: Ghetto Fabulous Nails and Nails Mag

This is of course a base of Barielle Out-Gray-Geous, konaded with plate konaded with plate 64 and Barielle U-Concrete-Me.

This is not good. I was trying for something subtle with the two different gray finishes, but I don’t like the plate, I think. It just looks…sloppy.

I know, I’m late, but better late than never, right?

Anywho, this week it’s Maybelline New York Express Finish in Mocha Blast. I luvs it!

Want to get updates on new posts? Subscribe today; don’t worry, it’s free! (Just click here).

——

~Mocha Writer

So I found a theme! It is the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen. Every other WP theme I’ve tried has been modifiable, but only through editing the PHP and CSS files. And I can do that…but I’m uncomfortable making large changes to someone else’s code, it would take forever unless I built it from scratch myself and knew where everything was and how it was specified…and yeah actually, that would still take forever!

But then I found Atahualpa. Crazy name, but OMIGOODNESS. There are options to edit the theme directly from the WP admin panel. Like, a LOT of options. In fact it’s so thorough that so far, I haven’t found anything that I want to change and can’t. I have not once had to edit a php or CSS file (and I don’t think I would anyway, I suspect making random changes under the hood could really screw this up). It is amazing and awesome. LOOK AT THIS!!!!!

OK, so in nail news, I went to Rite Aid today to pick up a few things. Since when did Rite Aid start selling Sinful Colors? I thought that was a Walgreen’s brand.

I guess I was in a sort of neutral  color mood, huh?

• Wet n Wild Craze in Shield and Goldmine
• Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud
• Wet n Wild Flirt Gumdrop

And also I saw these and couldn’t resist because I can’t figure out how they could possibly work, or even really what they’re supposed to do. And fromt he small amount of testing I’ve done with them so far…my suspicion was right, they’re crap.

Oh, and I am so all over the Zoya Green Friday promotion this week. If Zoya continues to give me free stuff, I might go broke, though.

]]> http://sugarsocial.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/i-got-minxed/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:30:02 +0000 SugarSocial http://sugarsocial.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/i-got-minxed/

I recently visited a Philadelphia nail studio for a quick manicure. After I was all buffed and filed, I heard the owner say to another customer, “The new Minx shipment is in!” I almost died.

I’ve written about been Minx before, and I’ve been itching to try it, but have had trouble finding a nail salon in the area that offers it. If you haven’t heard about Minx yet, it’s the trendy new alternative to polish that has already made devoted fans of Katy Perry, Fergie, Beyonce, Rihanna, and countless other celebrities.

Keep reading to learn how it was done (and view more pics).

Nail coverings are arranged on a clear plastic sheet, like stickers. (I found out after I had my Minx applied that the nail should be completely dry, and technically, soaks and hand massages are not part of a standard Minx manicure; I just made up my mind after this was already done, so don’t worry if they don’t give you those traditional manicure add-ons.) A nail tech trained in Minx application cuts each of the individual stickers to fit your nails, and presses them on. Your hands then rest under an ultrahot Minx-branded lamp, where the stickers melt onto your nail (without losing their shape or pattern). The nail tech then files off excess with a special plastic-looking Minx file (so as not to damage the nail coverings), leaving you with a customized manicure.

For my session, it was $40 for a manicure; a Minx pedicure was $60, and a full mani/pedi was $90. With this service, I got all of the basics of a standard manicure, like buffing, hand massage, cuticle oil, etc., so my nails were in tip-top shape before Minx was applied. The whole process took about an hour.

And the best part: the patterns! They are pure fun. I was torn between leopard, black-and-white houndstooth, and preppy pink and green plaid. Obviously, leopard won. (Although I really wanted the metallic leopard, but the salon didn’t have them in stock.)

To help you decide whether or not to get Minx’ed, here is a breakdown.

PROS:

• Awesome patterns.
• No chipping!
• Lasts longer than a traditional manicure.
• Fun to peel off.
• Since it’s still so new, you’ve got a pretty good shot of being the only one you know sporting Minx.
• It’ll get you lots of attention (if you’re into that kind of thing).

CONS:

• Expensive.
• It was supposed to last 2 weeks; the coverings lost their stickiness after 9 days.
• Time-consuming to have applied.
• Since it covers the whole nail, you can’t do touch-ups as you could with regular polish.
• Your nails will grow as you wear Minx, so you’ll see a bit of a gap between the cuticles and the edges of the Minx coverings.

Overall, it was a fun diversion from a standard mani. I absolutely LOVED the results because they were so crazy and totally suited my personality. I love the customization available with Minx; you can pick a pattern or style to suit your individual mood. I got comments everywhere I went (people loved them!), from my friends and co-workers to the sales associate at J.Crew. (And yes, I do work in an office and I did wear them to work.)

Although I loved it, I probably won’t get it again anytime soon since it is so expensive. But they are unique and fun; it’s a manicure fit for a sexy minx.

Minx available at Christie’s Nails and Tanning, 4436 Main St., Philadelphia, PA, 215.508.1224.
Visit minxnails.com for a list of participating salons in your area, or call Minx directly at: 760.757.6469 [MINX].

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• When I was a kid, my mom let me build a terrarium in this gigantic round glass vase she had. It had tiny plastic deer, soft moss, mini trees, everything! We had to set it on the floor one day and I accidentally kicked it, and was ruined for terrariums ever since. I don’t think I could do anything too terrible to this tiny gem!

via

• I didn’t think the chrome look for nails was truly possible. Having tried every silver polish making the claim and being sorely disasppointed, Wendy B shared an out-of-the-box approach to getting cybertastic nails! The directory on the site will let you know who in your area provides the service. I’m definitely hitting up one of the Richmond locations soon!

This lace effect is killing me as well!

• Back in the day, I used to want to be covered in tattoos. I had big serious painful gorgeous plans. Then… I changed my mind. Imagine that. I still managed to get two. One is an Olivia pin up girl on my stomach in flesh tones which is finally fading away after 12 years. The coloring I wanted was so light that no one could make it stick. It would heal and when it peeled, the ink came right out with it. So yeah, over 8 hours of pain for nothing. I couldn’t take it anymore and went to the renowned but expensive Timothy Hoyer (when he was still in RVA and had Alive Gallery). He made it happen in no time. The other tattoo is peonies at the top of my back (done by one of my best friends Scott at True Tattoo). I have been wanting to add a slew of exotic flowers and ivy to my back with a bit curling down my shoulders and up my neck but I vacillate between being ready to make the appointment or totally bailing and making an appointment for laser removal. That’s no way to be when you’re about to permanently mark yourself. Either way… the point of this whole revealing rant was to show you this neat thing I found. It’s some application that will add ivy to your pictures. I haven’t tried it yet but here you go. If only tattoos were that easy.

one day maybe

• Oh! I love me some CERN and they just started the Large Hadron Collider, had some first collisions and Earth didn’t explode! Here are some pics right before they got to banging those atoms! Oh, and I really want a print of particle tracks for my wall. Geek! Anyone know where I could get that done?

•  She’s been blogging for 3 years but I just discovered Kristopher Dukes and I think I’ve found my personal style idol/hero. She hates patterned clothing, loves nude heels, loves simple elegant clothing and sticks with what works, is a product fiend, appreciates well designed luxury, wreaks of sex, called satin elastic ankle pants a year ago, and she is unapologetically superficial in a brutally honest (and sometimes offensive) way. Obviously she has a much larger well-earned income than myself but it’s fun to live vicariously through others sometimes and it’s nice to read down to earth, quick-witted critiques on so many glamorous things I would love to have. Her post format is great – a particular thing broken down into what she already has, what she would rather have, and what she hates. Love it.

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• I looked at my Google Reader the other day and was wondering why the heck I was subscribing to blogs that I couldn’t relate to in any way whatsoever. I’m not going to name names but my life isn’t sparkly and full of rainbows and unicorns. I don’t wear hot pink, nor do I have a constant positive spin on life. I also don’t like wondering where the hell a 25 year-old is getting all that damned mysterious money to waste on total crap. All that being said… I do like a good voyeuristic romp once in a while so I will probably revisit these blogs every blue moon. I just don’t want to see them or the tweets every day. Because I’m going to vomit.
• My hair is taking forever to grow out from my scene boy cut. It’s finally past my shoulders but it’s all sorts of crazy layers and then I gave up on the blunt bangs and they’re growing out at well. So how to you begin to take care of split ends when it’s a mess? I guess I’m going to have to get out the tiny scissors.

I wish

Bläh! Målade nyss naglarna och är sjukt missnöjd! Måste skaffa pensel…
Orkar dock inte måla om dom nu, kanske göra det ikväll eller imrgon! Tänkte slänga ut 200 kr på smink  imorogn och funderar på om det inte är värt att slänga ut 25 kr på ett till nagellack också? Medans jag ändå är i farten menar ja.. Hmm. Fårgan är då vilken färg jag sska köpa? Något grönt kanske?

WOWZA….. these are fabulous, I love the crystals on the cap, very festive indeed. These are limited edition Nails Inc and are £15 each. Shiny and sparkly isnt really normally my thing, but I kind of melted and gave in after seeing these, they are way too cool!!

Colours from the left- Henrietta Street, Bow Street and Warwick Avenue. (How cool are the names?) Again another great christmas stocking filler.

คลิกที่รูปเพื่อดูรีวิว

พรุ่งนี้จะไปงานเปิดตัว Eye Love It ร้านขายคอนแทคเลนส์แฟชั่นของเพื่อน Dress Code คือสีดำและสีม่วง วันนี้เลยทาเล็บใหม่ สีดำธรรมดาก็เบื่อแล้ว สีดำ matte ก็เซอร์ไปหน่อย ก็เลยเลือกสีนี้มาทาค่ะ

MAC # Night Fall

สีนี้เป็นสีดำเงา เมททาลิค มีวิ๊งเล็กๆสีเงิน ถ้าอยู่ในแดดจ้าจะออกเป็นสีเทาเข้มมากกว่าดำเพราะมันว๊าบมาก

ทา 2 ชั้น ถ่ายด้วยแฟลช

ยาทาเล็บของ MAC จะทายากนิดนึง เวลาทาจะมีรอยแปรงเป็นเส้นๆ ต้องมือเบาหน่อย ในรูปนี้เห็นเส้นชัดเพราะสาดแฟลชใส่ แต่ถ้าดูปกติก็จะมองไม่เห็นค่ะ

แสงไฟในห้อง: ทา 2 ชั้น เคลือบ 1 ชั้น

ตัวนี้ซื้อมาหลายปีแล้ว (3-4 ปี) เนื้อก็ยังทาได้ดีอยู่ไม่เหนียวหรือแข็ง สีนี้เป็นสีถาวรของ MAC ราคา 550 บาท สีเข้มๆแนวเมทัลลิคของ MAC มีสวยอยู่หลายสีเลยค่ะ ใครชอบยาทาเล็บสีดำเป็นพิเศษเราเคยรีวิวไว้แล้วหลายแบบ คลิกที่นี่เลย

Kiss!

Queen B