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.)