It's Raining Red Hot Nails Up In Here

We all need a red nail polish. Some of need more red nail polishes than others. Because, as you likely know if you are reading this, every red is different. Some lean towards the orange end of the spectrum. Some are more blue. Some are dark, dramatic & vampy, and some are sheer and yummy jellies. Somehow, Deborah Lippmann It's Raining Men manages to straddle all of these categories and make itself The Perfect Red. Don't get me wrong. It's not The Only Red, as I don't believe that exists. There are many Perfect Reds, and quite often how a particular shade of red works on one depends on skin tone and personal style.

Check out the geranium in the background...glowing red!

These days, I am enjoying a cheery red. A nice yummy bright red, with a little orange to brighten it up for warmer weather, but with enough blue in it that it doesn't wash me out. Pure orange is not a good colour for me, but a rich Chinese red or vermillion has just enough orange to make the red pop and give it a glow. The closest dupe for this colour would be OPI Red My Fortune Cookie but Lippmann It's Raining Men is just a wee bit bluer. A base of Lippmann Rehydrating Base coat, two coats of It's Raining Men and finish off the mani with a coat of Lippmann Addicted To Speed and voila! A shiny juicy red! 

What is sexier than a red mani or red pedi? A deep vampy shade comes close I suppose, but for now, I am vamping around in my deliciously bright red It's Raining Men...

Murale Wants To Spoil You!

Gratuitous Estee Lauder Paulina ad image, around 1980

Yes, you! That's right, the amazing & generous folks over at Murale want to spoil you with a stunning gift basket of goodies! What's inside, you may ask? You may want to have a seat, dear readers, before continuing...

The Murale Contest Gift Basket contains:

Michael Kors EdT Spray

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair - all skintypes

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye - all skintypes

Estee Lauder Pure Color Shimmer Gloss 

Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer - Forget You

Smashbox Be Discovered Cream Cheek Trio

Smashbox Be Discovered Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner & Brush

Smashbox Shades of Fame Eye Palette & Brush

Total Value: $378

Note that these are full sized products! So click this LINK RIGHT HERE and enter- STAT!



This contest is open to Canadian residents only.

Who Is The Boss? Essie's 2012 Wedding Collection, that's who.

I am seriously in love with Essie's 2012 Wedding Collection. There are four gorgeous colours, and I had a hard time choosing one for today's manicure. Who Is The Boss stood out today with its dreamy dusty silvery green colour. I LOVE it. I say silver only because of the impression it gives- this is a cream colour without a hint of shimmer or frost. I can already tell this will be a staple, and may even be the stand-in for the Unicorn of Dusty Teals, Essie Absolutely Shore. Yes, it's that awesome. Formula of Who Is The Boss is outstanding and gave me opaque non streaky coverage in 2 coats. It reminds me of the exquisite Essie Sand Tropez that was basically the perfect formula. I was rushing a little bit so this could be a neater mani, but you get the idea.

from left: Who Is The Boss, Love & Acceptance, Like To Be Bad, Instant Hot

Verdict? Love. If you can find this collection anywhere, grab it!

I'm Tripping Over This Nail Polish

Deborah Lippmann knows the way into my wallet heart. Her perfect formulas, amazing brushes and fantastic colours always speak to me. They basically say "buy me". So I do! One of her brights is quickly becoming a favourite of mine for a perfect retro red-coral shade that is worthy of a Mad Men manicure. Megan Draper has been sporting some gorgeous corals lately and I am happy to emulate that gorgeous woman. We can dream, right?

Indirect light...

In direct sunlight- super bright!

Coral is fun and punchy, and a nice light version of the classic red nail. Red works year round but after a long winter, I feel the need to really lighten things up. This is one of those hard to photograph colours. On her website, the bottle pictured makes the colour look pink. Some online photos make it look hot pink or red. So I will stick with my photos and let you be the judge when you see it in real life.  The formula is a cream/jelly hybrid, as you can see in the photo, two coats allow a bit of VNL (visible nail line) to peek through. Verdict? Love. Daytripper is going to get a lot of love from me this summer. Zou Bisou Bisou!

Essie Play Date is Fun & Purple-y!

I love purple nail polish, and Essie Play Date is my new fave. It's somehow a warm purple with lilac, but it's not a cool lavender tone. It's punchy and playful and believe it or not, goes with everything. Love it!

It's brighter in person- very hard colour to photograph! Love....

Officially Hooked On Glitter: I Blame Deborah Lippmann

Glitter nail polish is something I love in the bottle, like a gorgeous piece of sparkly jewellery. But I always tend to balk at wearing them. Not sure why. I've had a bottle of the beautiful Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop for awhile, sitting unworn in my collection. I decide I'm going to wear it, then chicken out and put on a sheer pink.

Candy Shop in sunlight plus some fun with my iPhone...

Well yesterday I finally cracked open the bottle to wear it. And I love it. I should have known this would happen, as the exact same thing happened with Lippmann Boom Boom Pow. At first I think "holy crap I am way too old for so much sparkle what was I thinking I need to take this off" but then it becomes "omg this is the neatest stuff ever and I love it so much I want to wear it every day". Lippmann's glitters are like that- they somehow manage to look elegant- which is the word I would use to describe her whole line, if I had to choose only one. Fun, playful, gorgeous and luxe and elegant. Candy Shop is the sweetest milky pink jelly base chock full of different shaped mulicoloured glitter. This is two coats of Candy Shop with Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat under neath and Addicted To Speed quick dry top coat. 

Verdict? Love. I never want to take it off.

Sally Hansen Sea - Pale Green Perfection

I have been on the search for a paled out sage green nailpolish. Essie has one called Absolutely Shore which I have not been able to find in a store, and being the instant gratification person that I am, I haven't ordered online yet either. So when I wandered into Walgreens recently in Florida and saw the lovely Sea in a Sally Hansen display, I had to have it. It is part of their Smooth & Perfect Color + Care line, which are frankly lovely and enticingly pastel, and perfect for this season pale toned trends.

In full sunlight

I used 3 coats, and frankly I love that it is semi sheer. When light colours are too opaque I find they look chalky and thick on my nails. It applies well once you get used to the wide and slightly unwieldy brush. Although it does cover the nail in one swoop once I got the hang of it. Wear was quite good with tip wear after 3 days but I was swimming every day and applying sunscreen, so I can forgive that. This one looks airy and breezy- the name Sea suits it perfectly. Pale sea foam green is my new fave neutral. Sally Hansen Sea will get tons of wear this spring/summer.

In natural light 

Essie Sand Tropez...In Which I Find Yet Another Perfect Nude

Oh how I love the nude nail polish. Makes hands look clean and neat, and also manages to elongate fingers and add a little bit of elegance to everything you do. My two faves to date are Deborah Lippmann Naked (probably the best nude nail polish in the world) and Fashion- they are what I would call warm nudes, each being perfect for medium and light skin tones. I have another Essie nude, Jazz, that, while not quite as warm as the Lippmanns, is warm as it has a slight pinkish tone.



In natural light. Pardon dry cuticles.



Sand Tropez is a true beige with a creamy (and I mean delicioulsy creamy) grey undertone. Loves it! I keep looking at my hands and wondering why it took me so long to get this. Nude nail polishes are like red nailpolishes. And shoes. And perfumes. You can never have too many....

This is me on the sand in St Tropez. Well, actually Brigitte Bardot.

OPI Pink Friday Makes Me Think Pink

The bombastic Nicki Minaj recently put out a collection of colours with OPI. They are all pretty amazing but I really liked the Barbie pink colour, Pink Friday, which is named after her debut album. 

It's cute, fun and cheerful and just makes me happy to look at- maybe because its yet another teaser for the divine ice cream pastels coming this spring. I've really been loving opaque lighter colours on my nails these days and Pink Friday is good pink fun. Two normal coats is all it took for total coverage. The formula is one of OPI's best- just thick enough to give perfect coverage yet thin enough to dry relatively quickly without a quick dry top coat.

Nicki Minaj has created quite a sensation. Whether or not you like hip hop is simply a matter of taste, but there is no question this woman is force to be reckoned with. Hip hop is about as male dominated as one could get but she came and she conquered. She beat out Jay Z & Kanye West for Best Hip Hop Album at the American Music Awards which is no small feat. I like her spirit and her chutzpah and the world can use more butt kicking women like her.

If you don’t take control of your career, guess what? You’ll be stuck in the sunset watching the sunrise, I am the sunrise ~ Nicki Minaj

Learning To Be Glam at Essie's School of Hard Rocks

Essie School of Hard Rocks is another colour from the Cocktail Bling collection, my other one being the delicious indigo blue Baubing For Baubles. This one is a nifty teal colour, with a grey-ish somewhat dusty tone to it. It is non-traditional for sure, yet somehow the muted tone keeps it from looking too funky. I really like this and find it goes with just about everything. As with all Essie polishes, it is smooth & creamy and applies like a dream. These shots are 2 coats on top of my soon-to-be-reviewed miraculous ridge filler base coat (stay tuned) and Lippmann Top Speed top coat.

I have a few greens now- Lippmann Billionaire, which is quite dark, and Chanel Khaki Vert. They are all quite different and I love them all. Now I think I need a light sage or pistachio green to go with the Spring weather that will be coming...eventually....

Out of direct light...

In direct light. Actual colour somewhere in between....

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Essie St Lucia Lilac is So Very Pretty

When were finally packing up to come home from holidays, it was time for a fresh mani. I'd been reading about pastels for spring over here so when I found this sweet little Essie double pack with sweet mini bottles of Essie St Lucia Lilac and Jazz. I knew it had to be mine. I've been obsessing about Essie Absolutely Shore for awhile, and seeing as how I have yet to find it in an actual store & it's not available online....If any of you know of a dupe for it let me know! Da Bush from Fall 2011 looks like a contender and my search continues. So pastel nails are my new thing. Not even halfway through January and I am already feeling Spring 2012....

St Lucia Lilac is a soft powdery lavender/lilac shade and Jazz is a nude shade. Although, different enough from my other nudes that I don't feel it is, ahem, redundant. I guess I'd say it has a grey tone to it vs pink. Can't wait to try it. I can't find these little boxed sets online anywhere but I found mine at Walgreens. There were a couple sets with two minis as "Essie's Favorites" or something similar...

Top right: Jazz, top left: St Lucia Lilac, Bottom: Jazz, DL Naked, DL Fashion

Holiday Party Nails!

Well tis the season to be festive and, well, sparkly! My daughter is a constant manicure inspiration and my recent manis have been feeling downright dull in comparison to her works of art on tips. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and into the glitter! Deborah Lippmann has a delicious selection of glitters that attract my eye like a magpie every time I pass the counter. 

In bright daylight

In my living room stepping away from the window light....

I am a lover of all things golden so Boom Boom Pow was a natural! I've had this gorgeous silky YSL Gold (#139) polish kicking around since last year but never gave it a wear. Emilie busted it out for  this gorgeous manicure and suddenly it occurred to me that it would layer beautifully with Boom Boom Pow....and it did! Boom Boom Pow is a gorgeous gold glitter with flecks of actual real gold dust. Sign me up!

A quick Twitter poll helped me choose my pedi colour- even though it was a tie! Open toe shoes mean toes must also look pretty! I was torn between a vampy red and a true red and in the end, OPI Red My Fortune Cookie seemed like a natural choice. It is a gorgeous bright red with a coral undertone of sorts. Hard to explain but so beautiful in winter or summer. Love.

I don't usually like toe shots but don't the colours look purty together?

So now I just have to dust off the hot rollers & I'm ready to party! How about you? What is your party mani-pedi?

EDIT: This manicure went 6 days before showing even the slightest tip wear. And, after I got over my initial sparkle shock, I fell head over in heels for Lippmann glitter and decided I could wear a glittery mani anytime, anywhere. LOVE. So I promptly went out & purchased Some Enchanted Evening, which my Lippmann goddess, Elena assures me looks gorgeous over Naked. Boo-ya!