A Butterfly Moment and Pink Yet Lavender from OPI Mariah Carey Collection

I bought these two shades because they look good together but I think I'll get a lot more wear out of the golden nude-pink shade (A Butterfly Moment). I found Pink Yet Lavender to be a very standard chunky, multi-color glitter shade and I'm sure I could find a close match for much less. But I wanted to try them together in a glitter gradient and I like the way it came out—this will definitely be my New Year's Eve mani!

Sephora by OPI What Film Noir You In?

If you're in the mood for vibrant gemtones here's a shimmery fuschia that will make your nails glow for the holidays. While I was looking at the Sephora by OPI display in the store I saw a picture of this shade layered over another shade I recently posted about here, Here's Lilac In' At You, Kid. I would never have thought of doing this but I gave it a try at home and I'm very happy with the results! Thanks Sephora!

Sephora by OPI It's All About Me

My favorite nail model Aryana is back and here she is wearing the smoking hot pink shade It's All About Me. Sephora describes it as muted hot pink—I would describe it as a classic Barbie pink.  Loving this for Valentine's Day or just for any day!

Emerald Green Accessories

Sigh of relief...tangerine is over. Pantone has chosen the shade Pantone 17-5641 Emerald as its color of the year for 2013. I would describe the shade as somewhere between kelly green, teal and gorgeous. Expect the color to be ubiquitous in spring collections everywhere. Meanwhile you can start the trend early with these emerald accessories.

Pictured on right:

Polished Plane Earrings

$32 at anthropologie.com

Below, from top:

Lodis Swivel iPad Case

$98 at nordstrom.com

elago iPhone case

$9.99 at amazon.com

Cole Haan Jitney Electronic Wristlet

$78 at zappos.com

Retro Nails: Revlon Raisin Rage

Just in case I haven't mentioned it before I think Revlon is the queen of red nail polish. This shade was introduced over seventeen years ago as part of the Fall 1995 color collection. I'd say it's had a pretty good run since it was only discontinued recently.  Raisin Rage is no longer listed on Revlon's website, but I just found a bunch of them at a local dollar store, and you can still buy the shade at buymebeauty.com (a site that specializes in discontinued makeup) as well as amazon.com. The matching lipstick hasn't been discontinued, so you can pick that up anywhere.

Check out Cindy Crawford rocking the shade in the vintage print ad below. The shade itself is a very deep brownish/burgundy red, or as Revlon described it: "RAISIN! Not Plum, Not Chocolate. Simply the most irresistible color in-between." 

I agree this nail polish shade is quite irresistible and totally worth snapping up a bottle for yourself before it's gone forever!  

New Sally Hansen French Tip Nail Polish Strips

Here's a new collection from SH—these are a combination of traditional and "fun" French manicures. From left, the shades are: 

Pink Macaroon (pink glitter tip) 

Silver Lining (silver glitter tip) 

Gold Cabaret (gold glitter tip) 

Noir Boudoir (black tip) 

Polka Party (white tip with hot pink polka dots) 

French Twist (classic French with pink base) 

Excusez Moi (classic French with nude base)

Check out the pictures below for a closer look....

Sephora Nail Bling Nail Polish Strips in Brocade Parade

Sephora's Nail Bling nail polish strips are actually a cheaper alternative to Sally Hansen—priced at $7.00 vs. Sally's $9.99. I also like the quality and design selection. 

For this mani I used China Glaze Aqauadelic as a base coat. Since Brocade is not a completely opaque design you can layer it over another shade. I recommend a light, bright shade like the one I chose, since a darker shade may not show through.

Sephora by OPI Here's Lilac In' At You, Kid

Yes, that is actually the name of this cool violet shade. Instead of trying to describe it myself I'll go with Sephora's description: opaque chrome blue-violet with two-tone effect. 

The sun really brings out the beauty of this shade. 

More Big Fun at Big Lots: Cosmo Girl Nail Striper Set

My Big Lots mani bonanza continues. On my most recent trip I picked up this set of 4 nail stripers in a perfect combination of shades—white, silver glitter, black and hot pink. So 80's retro! Also perfect for my little nieces. Just $5

 

More Big Fun at Big Lots: Revlon Mistletoe, Revlon Ignite

Here's my third purchase (so far...) of the Revlon 2 for $2 sets. This package included Mistletoe, pictured on the left. I would describe this shade as a deep carbon gray with olive gold shimmer. Kind of a dark twist on green for Christmas—I like it! The shade was paired with Ignite (pictured below), the only dark metallic orange shade of nail polish I've ever seen. What a score! Now if I had only found this set before Halloween.....

More Big Fun at Big Lots: Revlon Craving Coral, Revlon Really Rosy

Here's the second set of Revlon nail polishes I scored for just $2 at Big Lots. I liked the contrast between the bright coral and demure rose shade so much that I decided they could only be worn together.

Big Fun at Big Lots: Revlon Ruby Ribbon, Revlon Tangerine

I had a blast picking up mani supplies at Big Lots this week. They have a great selection, just in time for stocking stuffers. My biggest scores were these two-packs of mostly limited edition and discontinued shades of Revlon nail polish, just $2 each. They had so much to choose from I had a hard time limiting myself to three packages! 

Pictured on the left: Ruby Ribbon is a burgundy with streaks of silver. The finish is called Matte Suede. What a gorgeous color and a nice change of pace from the super glossy manis I often wear! Tangerine (pictured below) is a bright orange shade that I'm still pondering.....but I'll find a use for it eventually.

More Deep and Dark Halloween Nails: From OPI's 007 Skyfall Collection

Here's what I'll be wearing for Halloween week. This deep blue/silver shade with holographic shimmer is called On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I can't wait to pick up a few more from this gorgeous collection. Click on this link to check out all the shades (also pictured below) for just $5.55 each on amazon.

Retro Nails: Revlon Red

Here's another classic red nail polish shade from the makeup company that knows reds—Revlon Red was introduced in 1988 which makes it just shy of 25 years old. I profiled another of Revlon's classic reds—Cherries in the Snow—back in April. By comparison this shade is a truer red without any pink undertones. 

Christy Turlington wore the shade well in the vintage print ad pictured below. Sadly, the matching lipstick is no longer available.

Glamour Magazine 1988 Print Ad

Nail Art: Japanese Garden

Here's part two of my foray into nail decals this weekend. LA Colors Wired provided the deep royal blue background for these red and pink floral decals from Kiss. 

Nail Art: Gold Embossed Burgundy

After a failed experiment with Revlon's nail stencils (I'm returning them to CVS pronto—impossible to use!!), I still had my heart set on floral designs. I turned to a simpler option—Kiss Nail Artist decals. I used the Confetti shade Glam 'N Up for this burgundy background. No more stenciling for me—I love the more intricate look of these gold decals!

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips Christmas and Winter Designs

I saw this display at Bed Bath & Beyond today. Overall these are not as much fun and Christmas-y as last year's holiday collection. My picks are Simply D-Vine and Shiny New Year. The others...yawn. SH needs to step up their game with nail polish strips being such a hot item right now—there is so much more competition than there was at this time last year! I'll be keeping an eye out for more holiday designs—I'm counting on Kiss to have some good ones!

Christmas Nail Bling

Too early for Christmas nails? I think not. I'm not sure if this Nail Bling pattern (called Midnight Kiss) was meant to look like Christmas lights but that's what I saw when I picked them up at Sally Beauty Supply. These decals go on clear, so I used them over two coats of Nina Ultra Pro in the cream-colored shade Molten Opal, also available at Sally. For New Year's Eve, Nail Bling offers a black-based alternative to this design called Cosmic Lights. Also there are some super-cute Halloween designs on Sally's website (I didn't see them in the store.) Here's the link.

Deep and Dark Halloween Nails

I've never been a big fan of straight black nail polish. Where's the subtlety? Instead I prefer to go for an almost black like this midnight blue shade (L'Oreal's The Mystic's Fortune). Or a blue/black with a glittery twist (L'Oreal's The Queen's Ambition, pictured below). Both are limited edition shades from the Project Runway collection.

Caramel Apple and Candy Apple Red Nails

Fall makes me think of county fairs with candy apples and caramel apples. I tried to duplicate both for these manis. To get the glasslike look of a candy apple I alternated thick layers of essie's appropriately named Jelly Apple with a glossy topcoat.

I didn't think it would be so easy to find a caramel colored nail shade, but on my first stop (at Bed Bath and Beyond) I was lucky enough to find L'Oreal's Hudson Sunset from their limited edition New York Nudes collection. The apple red is Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. Admittedly there's no apple shape but I think I got the shades right, so those of you with more artistic talents than mine can create your own caramel apple mani.

Nail of the Week: Matte/Gloss

Revlon's new shade Surf is a great muted blue option for Fall. To add some dimension I used the topcoats NYC Matte Me Crazy and China Glaze Patent Leather.

New Sally Hansen Snake Print Nail Polish Strips

I saw this new collection at Target today—the four designs are exclusive to Target. Very cool—I like Queen Cobra for Fall and Venom Vixen for Halloween. 

Jelly Manicure – Zoya Katherine layered with Zoya Paloma

These two sheer jelly shades from Zoya's Fall 2012 Gloss Collection are beautiful on their own. Paloma is a bright, not quite hot pink. Katherine is a deep plum. When layered together (I alternated with 2 coats of each), I like the deep fuschia result. The collection also includes a beautiful teal shade called Frida.

Zoya Paloma (left), Zoya Katherine (left)

Halloween Nails: Monster Tracks

This is my second successful attempt at repurposing Sally Hansen's pedicure strips for a mani. The shade name is Shake, Rattle and Roll. I'm not sure exactly what the pattern is supposed to be—it looks somewhere between animal paw print and snakeskin. But the color combination (black, purple and green) and the monster-like print make this an ideal Halloween mani shade.

Halloween Nails: Bloody Red Wine

This shade makes me think of vampires and blood. Surprisingly, it's from the Milani Neon collection. In my opinion it doesn't exactly belong there since it's not a bright neon color. The bottle color and shade name (Rad Purple) are a bit misleading as well. When I tried it on it looked blood red so I put it aside for my Halloween collection. It really is a gorgeous, gothy red/wine shade. It does have a matte finish so a glossy topcoat is essential.

Halloween Nails: Bride of Frankenstein

My Halloween posts from last year have been getting a lot of attention lately, so I guess it's not too early for more Halloween nail art.

Here's my follow up to last year's Frankenstein mani (link). Refer to that post for the techniques I used for drawing the eyes, mouth and hair. The nails I used are fake—I wanted them extra long to give the bride longer hair—they're Kiss brand Natural Square Long. The purple base coat is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails No Hard Feelings. For the earrings I used Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Showgirl Chic.

Halloween Nail Polish Strips from Sally Hansen and Kiss

Just spotted both of these displays at my local Kmart today. Too cute! From the SH collection I especially like Patch-o-Lanterns. From the Kiss collection I love them all—these are really detailed! I will definitely grab a bunch of these as Halloween gets closer.

Weekend Fun: Hot Pink Crackle

It's been a while since I've "crackled". Not a great look for my day job, but for a holiday weekend with perfect summer weather, bring on the hot pink crackle! For this mani I used Pure Ice Hot Couture over a creamy white base (Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Mousseline.)

Nail of the Day: Blackened Green

I bought this elf shade at Target today. It's a beautiful black with green shimmer. There's no shade name—apparently elf doesn't name their nail polish shades. Anyway it's on a brand new endcap display that looks like a limited edition collection.

Sweet Handbags for Fall: Fossil Key-Per-Canvas Tote in Floral

I set out to find a floral print that would work for fall and I found this coated canvas one. I'm a big fan of Fossil handbags because they are all about durability and convenience (plenty of pockets, adjustable straps, etc), not to mention uniqueness of style. $138 at Macys

Sweet Handbags for Fall: Juicy Couture Darcy Shoulder Bag in Eaton Plaid

This bag combines wool with a patent leather trim. The classic blue plaid pattern gives it a clean, grownup schoolgirl look. I really love this bag for fall—especially for somebody with a black-heavy wardrobe. $228 at juicycouture.com  

Sweet Handbags for Fall: Kate Spade Shawna in Abstract Signature Bow

The simple art deco bow pattern is so chic and the shade combination is perfect. This one piece will automatically updgrade any outfit. $288 at katespade.com.  

Sweet Handbags for Fall: Miu Miu Matelasse Frame Tote

Here's my first and highest-priced handbag pick for fall. The knit-like texture of this leather bag makes it look so luxurious. I also like the neutral color—it will go with just about everything. $1,950 at Bergdorf Goodman.