Manicure of the Week

Now that fall is decidedly in the air, I've switched to darker nail colors. I have a real issue with nail polishes chipping given how often I wash my hands, but I've discovered that layering a glitterly polish over top helps extend the wear time of my manicure. Plus it just looks so gosh darn pretty. This week I'm wearing Sephora by OPI A Little Dangerous (a deep shimmery eggplanty purple) with Sephora by OPI Only Gold For Me (clear with chunky and micro gold sparkled suspended inside) over top. I've already gotten a number of compliments and will definitely be repeating this combination.

Lancome Exotique Kiss

It was so nice out today (almost 70) that I decided to give myself one last summery manicure before opting for fall's ubiquitous vampy shades. This nail polish, part of Lancome's Le Vernis line ($18), came out this summer with the Tropiques Muse collection. It's a stunning pinky coral heavily laden with gold shimmer and sparkle. It's a tad too sheer for my liking but is striking when the sun hits it. If you can still find this one, perhaps at the DF&CCO, snatch it up!

New to Me Nail Polishes for Fall

I have a love-hate relationship with nail polish. I really prefer to have my finger and toe nails polished at all times, but can't stand the chipping! My typical-for-New-York-City apartment has no dishwasher *gasp* which forces me to wash dishes by hand, and because I'm always on the subway/touching icky NYC things, I'm constantly washing my hands, all of which is murder on a manicure. I've tried every base and top coat, OPI Chip Skip, wearing gloves when doing the dishes and more, all to no avail. I can only get polish to last 2-3 days and so I've decided to forgo professional manicures (and pedicures) and do them myself! I've amassed quite a nail polish collection since I made that fateful decision, and here are two I picked up for fall.
The polish on the left is the Sephora by OPI nail polish ($9) created exclusively for the opening of the new Times Square Sephora and only sold in New York City stores and online. The shade is unique and right on-trend for the season. It's a deep charcoal black with multi-colored sparkles and copper shimmer. Two coats makes the polish totally opaque, the glitter keeps it from being goth and the copper shimmer adds a bit of sophistication that keeps the glitter from being teenybopper. I've never seen another color like this before and it's worth getting even if you'll only wear it on your toes! Click on the image for a close up of the color.

The polish on the left is Jan by Illamasqua ($14), the UK brand known for drama. Their nail polishes have developed a cult-like following for their fresh shades and different formula. The polish goes on quite thick and somewhat streaky, but it is almost self-leveling. You start doing the first coat and thick "this looks awful" and by the time you go back for a second the polish is even and looks great! Very neat! Jan is a grayed pink or light smoky lavender. It's not the typical buff pink, but not so outrageous that it would be unprofessional in an office. The lasting power was just average for me, but your mileage may vary as I've read others rave about how long-lasting the Illamasqua polishes are.

Glass Half Full?

For fall, J.CREW (which I adore) is carrying two shades of Essie nail polish ($8) at select stores (the J.CREW website says that they are a catalog/jcrew.com only item but my local store on 45th and Madison is carrying them). I picked up the shade called Eternal Optimist (both because I liked the color and I appreciate the irony of me, a decidedly glass half empty type, owning a polish with that name). Eternal Optimist is a perfect fall shade--it's a nude color which is very on-trend, but it isn't a taupey nude that can prove so unflattering in real life as opposed to in glossy magazines. There is a good dose of warm pink with a bit of putty that makes this both a wearable and a fashionable shade. (The other shade is called One of a Kind and is an orangey red).

Manicure of the Week

This week I have a combination of Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in Stormy Blue topped with Sephora by OPI Just a Fairy-Tail. Unfortunately the Sephora doesn't photograph well--it's a sheerish silvery holographic shimmer. The combination is beautiful in the sun!

Manicure of the Week

I picked up OPI for Sephora's Iris I was Thinner ($9) last week and finally got around to applying it. It's a total Grimace purple shade. Shimmer-free and opaque with two coats, this is adorable for summer on short nails and like most of this brand's polishes, applies easily. This is going on my toes as soon as OPI's My Chihuahua Bites starts to chip!

Manicure of the Week

Actually, this is my second manicure of the week. On Saturday I applied Paul & Joe 04 Provence and was so bored of the shimmery pink-beige-nude that today when I picked up L'Oreal Mango-Get-Em on the way home from the gym I couldn't wait to repolish! I love a bright color on short nails in the warm weather and this shade is summer in a bottle! It's a bright mango melon with no shimmer. The formula is stick and streaky and it has quite possibly one of the worst, most unweildy brushes I've ever used, but it dried fast and I love the shade. It's available for $4.99 on drugstore.com, and that's the same price I just paid at CVS.

Manicure of the Week

This is Priti Firecandle Nail Polish from my Spirit Beauty Lounge order. It's a just-shy-of-bright-neon pink with a subtle opalescent blue shimmer. The camera flash really picks up on the blue making the polish appear a bit more purple than it really is and unfortunately Blogger really washes them out. . This nail polish went on nicely and dried quickly. Hopefully it lasts since I love that the line is non-toxic and big-3 free. $12.50 a bottle makes it a bigger splurge than Essie or OPI but not as great an investment as Rococo Nail Apparel.

No Flash:

Flash:
Close Up:

My Spirit Beauty Lounge Order

I first learned about Spirit Beauty Lounge from some of the wonderful posters on Emakemeup's Grapevine. Spirit Beauty Lounge was offering 15% off over the Memorial Day Weekend and I took advantage and placed an order!

I love organic and natural beauty lines and am so excited to have found this amazing purveyor of chic, organic and natural products! The site carries a range of brands including Vapour Beauty, RMS Beauty, Alima, Intelligent Nutrients, Revolution Organics, Priti, Yarok and more. One of the coolest offerings is the ability to purchase samples of any 9 products, makeup included, for $15. Everything came beautifully wrapped, tied with pretty pink bows, and they included many extra free samples.
Free Samples:

The first item I ordered is Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Radiant Blush in Intrigue, a shimmery peachy pink blush stick shot through with gold shimmer. The ingredients are 70& organic, the other 30% being minerals, pigments, and vitamins not available as certified organic. This is a beautiful product that you can feel good about putting on your skin.

It may sound silly but even the box this comes in is lovely--right down to the hot pink lining. The tube is a shimmery blue plastic. The product itself has a very dewy texture and the blush is not heavily pigmented and blends well. All of the products have a light passion fruit scent but I don't find it overwhelming and it dissipated almost immediately once applied. These are $28 each. I really look forward to trying more from this line.
Here is Intrigue in the stick:
And swatched:
Next up is Priti Nail Polish in Firecandle. Priti polishes ($12.50) are non-toxic and free of toluene, formaldehyde and DPBs. Firecandle is a bright hot pink with shimmer, perfect for summer!
The color up close:
I also ordered a Sweet Beauty Lip Balm in Taste. These all natural skin and body products are infused with real fine chocolate and blended with superfoods and antioxidants. Taste ($5.50) is said to have a hint of color but goes on virtually clear. As you can see in the swatch, there is barely any pigment. It smells absolutely delicious and the good-for-you-ingredients mean you don't have to feel bad if you give in and lick some off of your lips!

Ingredients:
Beeswax, Babassu Seed Oil, Sweet Cherry Oil, Organic Fair Trade Certified Chocolate, Aloe Vera Oil, Avocado Oil, Meadowfoam Oil, Cranberry Seed Oil, Black and Red Raspberry Seed Oil, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Cocoa Absolute, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin E T-50
Swatched:
Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Eye Shadow in Paris ($9.00) is a super shimmery sandy golden taupe. I need another eye shadow like I need a hole in my head but this one really is beautiful and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it.

I was so excited to order my customized sample kit! Clockwise from top upper left I received:
Vapour Beauty Elixir Lip Gloss in Sultry (now totally on my wishlist. It's gorgeous), RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in Promise, Vapour Beauty Mesmerize Eye Color in Flash, Organic Apoteke Detox Mask, Vapour Beauty Siren Lipstick in Hint, Vapour Beauty Stratus Instant Skin Perfector, RMS Beauty Living Luminizer and Vapour Beauty Solar Bronzer in Mirage. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can get a better view of the colors.

Look how adorably they all came packaged:

The final item I ordered is the only one that disappointed. Aromatherapy Personals Anxiety Relief sounded fabulous--a nourishing elixir you roll on pulse points containing essential oils known to help reduce anxiety and promote inner calm, including lavender, chamomile, rosewood and sweet orange. I find that Origins Peace of Mind helps with my migraines and also with work-related stress, and this aromatherapeutic equivalent of Xanax seemed like just the thing to tuck into my purse for those moments when it seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Here's the problem: for the whole aromatherapy thing to work, you have to be able to actually smell the product! This scent fades away almost immediately rendering it totally ineffective. At $17 I was expecting more and can't recommend this. I don't know if I received one from a bad batch or if all of the different blends have this issue. For now I guess I'll just open it up and try to smell it from the bottle in trying times!

Overall I'm super pleased with my Spirit Beauty Lounge experience and totally recommend them. My order was placed over a holiday weekend and shipped right out on Monday. The offer free shipping on orders over $100 and I received a coupon when I signed up to receive their emails.

A Few Quick Corals

Hello, all! I know that I've been somewhat MIA this week. Work has been so stressful that I've just been coming home and basically crashing! I'm hoping that the long weekend will do me a world of good, but you can't start summer without a manicure and pedicure! To me corals just scream summer, and these are the ones I'm really loving lately.

Sephora by OPI How Cute is That- this is a pinkish coral with a pink pearl.

SPARITUAL Miss World looks pink in the bottle but has a definite coral undertone.

Essie Carousel Coral is a gorgeous melon. It makes a great pedicure coral on my pale skin but would definitely offset deeper tones nicely.

OPI My Chihuahua Bites is a hot coral color. It's the perfect shade for those who admire this season's neon nail trned but aren't quite ready to go that bold.

Manicure of the Week

If you've been reading my Manicure of the Week posts since the beginning, this shade might look familiar since it's appeared here previously. Nonetheless, I love it so much it bears repeating! This is Rococo Nail Apparel in Dollar, an opaque, highly metallic silver with shimmer. It goes on easily, lasts decently well, is Big 3 free and a somewhat ridiculous $16.50 (yes, the price has gone up since the line debuted). This shade is in the Molten Lava formula and I think that give s a pretty good indication of how the polish appears in the bottle and on the nails. You can purchase Rococo at SpaceNK in the US and UK. I haven't seen it sold anywhere else and recommend checking it out since the line features many unique shades.

Manicure of the Week

I haven't done one of these in a long time since my nails have not been in the best shape. Even though I had to take the pictures on my iPhone since my new digital camera won't arrive for about a week, I find this color so interesting I couldn't help but share! I normally stick to softer nail shades, but after seeing repeated raves for the color I caved and picked it up!

This is Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in Read My Palm, a light jade green. The first coat was a bit sheer and streaky but the second coat made the polish opaque and uniform. I'm still undecided on whether I really love it or not and it garnered mixed reactions at the office (with my 20-something coworkers being fans and the older set thinking it ridiculous). As I said it's a different look for me, but I was in the mood for a change! I'm a pretty classic, conservative dresser (mostly J.Crew) and this is an easy, subtle way to be a bit rebellious.

What do you think of the color? Fun for a change or a definite don't?

Manicure of the Week

This week I used my brand new OPI for Sephora Nail Polish in Set the Mood, which Sephora describes as "metallic dark pink" but I think is closer to a warm iridescent pinky plum. When I bought it I kept thinking what a pretty and unusual color it is, but after going through my nail polish collection I'm finding it quite similar to Zoya Pru. I also bought a new base and top coat in the hopes of extending my manicures past 48 hours! I opted for Creative Nail Design Sticky Base Coat and Duri Miracote Super Fast Dry Through Top Coat at the recommendation of the salesperson at the beauty supply store. Has anyone tried either of these?

Go. Buy. This. Polish.

Here is my manicure of the week. This nail polish was under $3 I believe at Duane Reade and is beyond stunning. It's a pale lilac with holographic microshimmer that I cannot stop staring at. And this is taken with a flash--you should see it in the sunlight! Prevail Nail Lacquer in Concrete Jungle--prettiest polish ever. Click on the image to enlarge and see some of the detail.

Paul and Joe Manicure of the Week

I've been trying to let my nails "breathe" for the last week or so because they're in pretty bad shape--breaking, peeling and brittle. I have no science to back me up but for some reason I really think that's the damage was cause by all of the glitter-laden polishes I've been wearing lately. After a week of bare nails and judicious applications of cuticle oil, I think they're on the mend.

Paul and Joe Nail Enamel 04 (Provence) is a super pretty, very sheer, iridescent shimmery nude pink with a hint of mauve. It has the same perfumey smell as the Lipstick mixed with the characteristic nail polish scent. (Since I've never heard anyone mention the odor of the nail polish or lipstick before, I'm beginning to wonder if the ability to detect the signature Paul and Joe scent is a recessive trait similar to the ability of one to smell the bitter almond of cyanide. But I digress...)

This is 3 coats as the shade is sheer, but builds nicely. It went on smoothly and evenly. At $14 it isn't the most cost-effective polish, but it if wears well I'd definitely consider purchasing additional shades, especially since the bottle is so gosh darn cute! Overall, this is a nice, natural look.

Paul and Joe Mini Haul!

I think I've been reading Lina's amazing blog, The Beauty Look Book, too much because I've never had any interest in Paul and Joe, and yet all of a sudden I was overcome with a desire to buy some! I headed over to Bergdorf Goodman this evening and some goodies came home with me!

I normally just walk up to a display, swatch my usual neutral-to-warm fare and go with those items, but today when the makeup artist asked if I'd like her to select some colors for me I agreed and ended up with some things just a teeny tiny but outside my comfort zone, which is a good thing! I picked up Face Color in 16 Canyon ($24), Nail Enamel in 4 Provence ($14), Lipstick N in 17 Bunch of Grapes ($20) and Eye Liner in 02 Dark Brown ($16).

The Face Color is one of the new shades and when I had a tough time deciding between this one and 15 Re-belle, the makeup artist nudged me towards this one. I'm still not sure which one would be optimal (Re-Belle looked so pretty--a pale peach pared with a mauve shimmer that bled to create a soft, girly frosted nude pink) and the artist applied the product with a very heavy hand. Right now Canyon looks quite bronzey and warm on me but I'm sure it will look different when I put it on myself with a lighter touch. (Just to note, the shades are accurate in the pictures I took yet always appear duller once uploaded to blogger. The shade is deeper and a bit brighter in real life).
The Nail Enamel is an iridescent pinky nude shimmer with mauve tones. I think it will require 3 coats to really show up.
I definitely do not need another eye liner but this one, despite being officially named Dark Brown, is a softer taupey brown. The pencil felt creamy and didn't drag when I swatched it. It's a softer look than the dark brown I wore into the makeover.
I was a little surprised when the makeup artist started pulling plummy tones for lips since I definitely gravitate towards warm nude pinks and peachy pinks, but this sheer nudey plum looked nice with my green eyes! I almost opted for the warmer 20 Milk Chocolate but deferred to the artist in an attempt to try something new! Interestingly, the tester lipstick had no scent, but the one I purchased has a definite perfumey smell. I found this to be the case with my one other Paul and Joe Lipstick (the discontinued 40 Pain D'Epice) but I consistently read reviews stating that these are odorless! I thought Pain D'Epice might have been uniquely scented but either I'm on the makeup version of Candid Camera or these lipsticks are perfumed! If you're particularly sensitive to scented lipsticks I'd avoid these (just in case I'm not crazy!).

The makeup artist also used Eye Color Palette CS Ingenue 001 on me though I did not purchase it since in the store I felt like I could duplicate the shades with items existing in my collection. Now that I'm home I think I might end up ordering it anyway! It's going on my wish list for sure! The trio is $38 and contains a soft pearly ecru, shimmery taupe and shimmery charcoal brown shade that can be used to line. This picture is from Dermstore.com, a site that carries the Paul and Joe line for those without local access. This is also a good time to stock up if you're loyal to the brand's single eye shadows--the makeup artist today informed me that all singles will be discontinued.
So how did I do on my first foray into Paul and Joe? Aside from the palette, what else do I need from the line? I did come across a promo picture for the Spring line from the brand's Facebook page and the cream blushes look interesting...
I have to yet again publicly complain about the lighting at Bergdorf Goodman. The Beauty Level in in the basement and little has been done to light the space well. It's downright dim in there which makes it very difficult to judge colors! I highly recommend taking a hand mirror upstairs to the main level if you're concerned about color matching, especially with foundations or concealers!

Rococo Nail Apparel R2D2

I purchased Rococo Nail Apparel in Dollar back in December, telling myself that a $17 nail polish was a one-time-only treat. Lo and behold, I found myself buying yet another Rococo polish last week. Space NK was out of the shade I wanted, the brand new R2D2, and offered to ship it to me free of charge from another store. I received it today and along with the polish, they included an adorable little bag full of samples! A very nice touch, especially considering that it was a relatively small purchase and the shipping was free.

R2D2 is part of the line's new Star Wars collection. This shade is a very unusual molten metallic glittery taupey champagne. I've never seen another shade quite like this one--it's absolutely dazzling when the light hits it which unfortunately seems to be impossible to capture with a camera. I love that R2D2 is kind of funky and trendy and yet at the same time perfectly acceptable for work, even in a conservative environment. If this shade lasts as well as Dollar does, I'll be a happy camper! (I also highly recommend the Space NK on the Upper West Side. Fabulous customer service).