Posts tagged nails

China Glaze Hunger Games / Capitol Colours

Brand new colors from China Glaze, will come to stores early March just before the release of The Hunger Games. The new collection is called Capitol Colours and each polish is a representation of a certain aspect of the story. You’ll be able to find the collection at Sally Beauty Supply and ULTA Beauty.

In my case, I think Electrify and Smoke & Ashes will be perfect for my collection!

 

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Agro

china_glaze_hunger_games_agro

 

Dress Me Up

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Electrify

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Fast Track

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Foie Gras

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Harvest Moon

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Hook & Line

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Luxe & Lush

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Mahogany Magic

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Riveting

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Smoke & Ashes

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Stone Cold

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‘Tis the Season for Glitter Polish

When it comes to nails, this season is all about bold colors and tons of Glitter! Release your inner tween and get your glitter on! Check out these season’s collections.

Sephora by OPI
Glimmer Wonderland Collection

Inspired by all things bright and sparkly, SEPHORA by OPI’s Glimmer Wonderland Collection captures the energy of the holiday season. These shimmering, color-rich shades are like “the instant glam you get from a sequin party dress or sparkly accessory you throw on to glam yourself up!”

sephora_opi_glimmer_wonderland

The collection has the following colors: Be-Claus I Said So (clear with medium & chunky red glitter), Sugar Plum Fairies Gone Wild (clear with medium & chunky purple glitter), Don’t Be Eggnogious (clear with medium & chunky copper glitter), Good Tidings We Bling (glittery top coat), New Years Red-Solution (opaque metallic golden red), Stop Stocking Me (opaque metallic golden plum), Chest-Nuts About You (opaque pink champagne with fine glitter), Keep Me On My Mistletoes (opaque champagne gold with fine glitter), Countdown To The Kiss (opaque royal blue with medium glitter), Naughty Is The New Nice (opaque ice blue with fine silver glitter).

 

OPI

The Muppets Collection

This collection has to do with the upcoming movie and it’s full of glitter. The one that entices me in this collection is the frog green glittery one, which would be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day in March.

 

OPI-Muppets

 

The collection includes: Fresh Frog of Bel-Air (clear with green glitter), Rainbow Connection (clear with multi-colored glitter), Warm & Fozzie (warm copper), Designer De Better (metallic bronze), Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It! (red glittery), Excuse Moi! (pink glitter), Meep-Meep-Meep (deep fuschia), Animal-istic (wild red), Gone Gonzo! (blue glitter), Divine Swine (magenta glitter), Wocka Wocka (deep berry) and Pepe’s Purple Passion (best purple ever!)

 

Orly
Holiday Soiree

Say Oui to dramatic glamour in brilliant jewel tones with Holiday Soireé.This holiday season shimmers and sparkles with deep rich hues and a hint of naughtiness.

 

orly_holiday_soiree

The collection includes: Androgynie (glittery black), Ma Cherie (red berry), Oui (glittery pink/purple), Au Champagne (glittery champagne), Le Chateu (navy blue) and Ingenue (glittery copper).

 

Nails, Inc
Holographic Nails

Now this is not neccesarily special for the holidays, but the pattern is so unique I decided to add them.

A duo of stunning theatrical-effect nail polishes.

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The duos are: The Donmar Collection (Chelsea plum black polish, with Donmar Overglaze top coat which contains hand-cut, irregular particles in red and green), The Wyndham Collection (Kensignton teal black polish, with Wyndham Overglaze top coat which contains hand-cut, irregular clear particles) and The Old Vic Collection (patent black Black Taxi polish and The Old Vic Overglaze top coat with UV blue holographic particles)

 

As an update to this post….I went ahead and bought OPI’s Fresh Frog of Bel Air….I adore it!!

 

opi_fresh_frog_bel_air

Nails, Inc. Top Coats

Thanks to the new Magnetic Nail Polish, the company Nails, Inc. grabbed my attention and it has held it since! I’ve tried two additional items from the Nails, Inc. product line: a regular top coat and a glitter top coat. Here’s what I thought of them:

Special Effects Electric Lane Holographic Glitter Top Coat

nails_inc_holographic_glitter

 

This nail polish is very unique, each brush stroke adds very fine glitter, without looking tacky or like it belongs on a tween. I noticed it tended to matte vibrant colors; but it looks just right on very light or dark polish.

Add it to your bare nails and they will look amazing, it gives a very clean look, subtle but also gets them noticed. One or two coats are just right, but a third coat brings out the holographic effect a lot more. Even though this polish is a top coat I don’t like the glitter’s rough feel, so I add a clear top coat to smooth it out.

This is a perfect polish for the Holiday Season. Right now I’m using it on top of a snowflake design and it looks amazing, very professional.

Kensington Caviar Top Coat

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There are several reasons why this is my new favorite top coat. The main one is their claim that the polish dries in 45 seconds, I used a timer to check for myself and I found it’s completely true. In some cases it completely dries out in 30 seconds, I haven’t used my polish fast-drying spray in weeks!

Another reason I prefer this top coat is that I noticed it helps me “set” my nail art, making the design smoother, as well as very glossy and chip resistant. Using quality nail polish will make your nails look like they’re professionally “done” even if you did it yourself in your pajamas while watching TV.

Magnetic Polish by Nails, Inc

I have to hand it to Sephora, they did a good job building up the excitment for Nails, Inc new product, the Magnetic Polish.

magnetic_nail_polish

I first saw the introduction video from the Sephora YouTube Channel and after that I started hounding the store with calls and popping in the store every time I was nearby. Finally the product arrived and I got it!

Right now the following two colors are available for purchase

Trafalgar Square (chrome)

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Houses of Parliament (purple)

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And the new color, soon to be available, Whitehall Teal (teal)

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The whole excitement is because this is something new in nail polish, and the name says it all, it’s Magnetic, it uses a special magnet in order to create a ripple 3D type effect on the nails that cannot be replicated with a brush. This is really the easiest way to do nail art by yourself; no need of extra tools or even a steady hand. Just apply one coat, let it dry, apply a second coat, use the magnet and see the magic in seconds!

This video explains a little more how to apply it:

When applied with a base and top coat, the polish will remain without chipping for at least 5 days if not more. One thing is for sure, now that Nails, Inc is in my radar I’ll be trying their other polish and will tell you the results, one I’m particularly interested in is the Kensington Caviar Top Coat. And finally here’s a pic of my nails taken with my favorite model.

ellie_mendez_wearing_magnetic_polish

Fall 2011 Nail Polish Colors

This season’s colors are all about bold jeweled tones, all inspired by fashion, designers and determined to make your nails pop, no matter the length, these colors will get them (and you) noticed.

OPI
Designer Series Collection

Ultimate Glamour. Extraordinary Brilliance.

DS Temptation, DS Bold, DS Radiance, DS Extravangance

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DS Magic, DS Mystery, DS Reserve, DS Reflection

 

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DS Opulence, DS Classic, DS Glow, DS Top Coat

 

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Sephora by OPI
Garden of Good & Evil Collection

Inspired by the rich jewel-tones, exotic feather accessories, and cascading silk gowns featured on fall runways, SEPHORA by OPI’s Garden of Good & Evil collection is as high fashion and extravagant as the trends that inspired them.

Designer Fig Leaf (metallic olive green), My Personal Serpent (dark teal), What’s Your Poison (glittery cranberry red), Eve-y On the Eyes (metallic grape), Sin-cerely Violet (metallic lilac), Frankly I Don’t Give A-Dam (light gray),  Tempted by Teal (metallic teal)
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Orly
Birds of a Feather

Take flight with ORLY’s Birds of a Feather color collection. A rich collection of shimmering iridescents and deep cremes reminiscent of a beautiful flock of bird feathers.

Fowl Play, Lucky Duck, Nite Owl, Peachy Parrot, Sea Gurl, Sweet Peacock

 

orly_birds of feather_2011orly_fall_2011

Nails, Inc. London
Colour Collection – Autumn

A set of four professionally formulated, catwalk-inspired nail colors.

Charing Cross (classic red), Fenchurch Street (warm caramel), Paddington (dark smoky gray), St. Pancras (burgundy wine)

 

nails_inc_fall_2011

 

OPI: I Love DKMS

I had another post ready for this week, but I just read an article on Vogue and wanted to shared it with our Style Bust readers. An article called “The Fighter” on the August 2011 edition of Vogue.

From the article I learned that Katharina Harf’s mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia when Katharina was thirteen. The family got working and within a year recruited 68,000 people who got swabbed looking for a donor match. Even though Harf’s mother passed away, she still continues the efforts by being the co-founder and executive vice-president of DKMS Americas. DKMS is the German acronym for German Marrow Donor Center, which is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world.
Vogue_OPI_DKMS
The way to become a donor is by visiting DKMS Americas site, you register and get do-it-yourself cheek swab kit. You will collect your own sample and send it for the lab for tissue typing. It is very difficult to match donors, maybe you will be called to donate, maybe you won’t but by registering and getting swabbed you may be potentially saving a life.

To honor and further the cause, OPI has come out with I Love DKMS, a limited edition nail polish duo in cherry red and shimmery, sheer white at $8.50. Proceeds will benefit DKMS’s efforts to register new donors. This polish is available in select Ulta locations, but I wasn’t able to find the color online or through the OPI website, so if you find a location drop us a comment!

More OPI Shatter and Nail Art

Not long ago I posted about OPI’s Shatter nail polish (OPI: Black Shatter for Katy Perry and Serena Williams), the cool thing about this type of nail polish is that it shatters as it dries creating a very unique look. It was great, but only came in black; not anymore, OPI is now offering six new colors that Shatter and give you the coolest look.

 

opi_shatter_1opi_shatter_2

Another great thing for your nails created by OPI for Sephora is Nail Art by Sophy Robson. It gives you a step-by-step guide and videos on how to create the coolest nail styles. All the materials you need to create the looks can be purchased at Sephora.

 

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opi_sephora_distressed_metal

opi_sephora_glitterati

opi_sephora_punk_cheetah

opi_sephora_purple_moon

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After checking out the looks and the how-to videos I was so excited I just had to try them, so using the nail polishes I already have in my collection I re-created Wild Giraffe and Punk Cheetah. Of course they don’t look as great as the do on the pictures, but I liked them. I used my cat as background for my nails.

 

punk cheetah

wild giraffe

 

The Nail Art Guide is very easy to follow and now I’m looking forward on trying the Cherry Blossom look.

 

Shatter and Shellac

First I want to give an update about Black Shatter from OPI. I bought the Serena Williams Glam Slam online and as soon as it arrived I tried it on.

OPI_Serena_Williams

The product works exactly as it should, it was very easy to apply and the effect came out immediately. Each nail had a different pattern and expect the polish to feel bumpy because of the shatter effect. As always I used a base and top coat and the polish lasted for about 5 days without chipping.

I tried Black Shatter with other polishes, even though it does work well, it looks better when you use the glittery polish underneath like the ones in the Katy Perry line.

opi_shatter_katy_perry

And talking about unique nail polishes, I recently had a manicure at this really cool and tiny nail salon called The Nail Bar @6th in downtown San Diego where they specialize in natural mani/pedi. They used coffee to soak the hands and feet and sugar as a scrub, the results were great!

In this salon I was introduced to Shellac, a registered trademark of CND, sold only to licensed professionals so your best bet is to find a nail saloon that offers it. The unique thing about Shellac is that it a hybrid between gel and nail polish and lasts up to 14 days without chipping or fading.

shellac_before_after

The process of getting the Shellac can last up to 30 minutes since the manicurist applies coat after coat of the specialized polish and needs to let your nails cure in a UV lamp between each coat. Salons are encouraged to charge extra for this service, but for a busy woman, this can be worth it since you won’t have to worry for 2 weeks at least.

The end result will be nails with a very thick coat, which will actually protect your natural nail and encourage growth. To remove the Shellac it is encouraged to do it at the nail salon, but you can probably do it at home following these instructions I found on YouTube.

shellac_cnd

Personally I liked it, but its not my thing to have one color too long. I’m addicted to changing my nail polish colors at least twice a week and after one week I took the Shellac off. So I can’t really say if the 2 weeks on my hands is real, but I can say that I had the appointment 3 weeks ago and the Shellac on my toes still looks perfect.

I probably will use it again when I go on vacation or a business trip just so I don’t have to worry about the maintenance and can concentrate on the important stuff (fill in the blank as you wish).

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