Archive for May, 2007
Buckle Up with Essie
Thanks to the good people at Essie, I was able to test out their summer collection, Buckle Up! An interesting mix consisting of signature Essie shades like pink and coral thrown together with clean white, purple and silver, this collection has me torn. While this is a departure from collections of the past filled with pinks, sheers, nudes and reds, I just can’t love all “out of the box” colors like I hoped.
The standout shade for me is Huckle Buckle. Even though it’s on the sheer side, it becomes opaque with 3 coats. It’s a smokey grape with pink shimmer that gives the color depth. The shimmer reminds me of the polish I made last winter using MAC Entremauve pigment (pictured below). The pink shimmer in the pigment didn’t show up on my skin, only on the nail. While Huckle Buckle is a lighter color, and Entremauve has more blue in it, they both have that amazing hint of pink.
I tried on the pinks and coral shades first. As I expected, they applied beautifully, were well pigmented and only needed 2 coats to be opaque. The “oops” in the picture below are operator error and not the fault of the polish.
Chastity is a cool toned pink creme. Leaning towards lavender, it’s a very mod shade in my opinion. It wasn’t streaky and has a great glossy finish.
It’s A Cinch reminds me of my favorite pink Essie, Ball-timore. They have similar finishes and belong in that soft bubblegum pink category. It’s A Cinch is a bit warmer in spite of the silvery shimmer. This is my 2nd favorite shade in the collection.
Click It Or Ticket! is very similar to It’s A Cinch in finish and shade. They’re almost hard to tell apart in bad lighting. Click It Or Ticket! is a warm coral with what looks like a beige shimmer.
Chastity, It’s A Cinch and Click It Or Ticket!
After having such great success in applying the first half of the Buckle Up! collection, I was excited to try what I consider the “fun colors.” I can’t help it, I love the unusual shades. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Aside from the lovely Huckle Buckle, the other two just didn’t cut it.
Below The Belt was so streaky. It took 3 coats to get it even and by that point it was getting gloppy. Even the color itself couldn’t save this polish. It’s chalky, white-out white but not in an attractive mod way. As much as I’m loving white polish this summer, I just can’t love this one. It looks a tad creamy in the swatch pic below because the sun was setting by the time I shot it.
Loophole could have been and should have been a great metallic silver. The finish and application are what mucked it up for me. It has the same problem most metallic polishes have, it shows brush marks. But, that wasn’t Loophole’s only issue. It’s too thick, making it difficult to brush on evenly. I ended up with pooling even after I removed my first application. The shade is a fab brushed silver and I’m sure if you have patience and a steady hand, it could be a winner. It just wasn’t for me.
Q & A
Ok everyone, it’s time to help out a fellow fanatic. I got this email recently and I’m hoping that our collective wisdom can help this reader out.
Leah writes:
I am looking for a deep red/wine polish color. In the mid 90′s I had my nails done with an OPI color that was named something like “Parisian Cafe.” I LOVED it and tried to find it at the time but it must have been an older color. Since then I have been looking with no success for a similar color. I recently started wearing polish again and I have tried OPI’s “Got the Blues for Red” and “Edinburgandy” which are more “Bingo Cherry-ish” than the deep blood/wine red that I want. I also don’t like “Not a Waitress Anymore” or any of the other fun-but not sophisticated colors (I feel). I have access to OPI, Essie, Creative Nail Design and Zoya as well as drugstore brands but I am also open to purchasing online if you have a strong suggestion.
After consulting with the oh so knowledgeable OPI Queen, Webwoman, and checking Suze’s OPI database, I couldn’t find a color called “Parisian Cafe.”
In following up with Leah, she gave me a bit more info on what she’s looking for:
Essie Wicked comes close to what I want and at some point I will go try Chanel’s Vamp. I’m not crazy about the application of the Essie polish. They are both a bit “blackish” and a little less red than I want but they both have that deep wine red that I was looking for.
So let’s throw some suggestions out for Leah. What deep wine red cremes do you think she’d love?
Weekly Beauty Read
The best in beauty this week from the Beauty Blog Network
A Touch of Blusher – Beautiful Lips (And Teeth?!) with Blue Lip Glosses
Beauty and Fashion Tech – Beauty and Fashion Tech Reviews Neutrogena Moisture Shine Lip Products
Beauty and Personality Grooming – Combat prickly heat with these remedies
Canadian Beauty – Henna reviews Clinique’s continuous rescue moisturizer
Elke Von Freudenberg [ Blog ] – Elke meets the famous Billy B. at the makeup show. Oh, and sits in on his workshop as well.
Hello Dollface – Lancome goodness!
Let’s talk about beauty and health – Simple solutions for better skin
Product Girl – Highlighted upcoming MAC Cosmetics collections all week long
The Perfume Bee – Welcome to My Salon: An Interview with Fragrant Fripperies’ Patty Geissler
Let’s Get Ready for Sandal Season
I always look forward to breaking out my summer sandals and saying buh-bye to closed toe shoes. And even though I give myself regular pedicures, maintenance becomes even more important in summer. The constant exposure and rubbing can turn even the softest soles and skin into a cracked dry mess.
We are officially one month away from the start of summer so I figured it was time for my tips and tricks for at home pedis and keeping them fresh.
Perfect the at home pedicure:
- I never clip my toenails. I always file them. I find that toenails tend to split under the pressure of clippers. The only time I clip is after a shower when nails are soft and pliable.
- Shape the nail straight across to avoid ingrowns.
- Soak and cleanse your feet then use a cuticle remover and pusher to remove excess skin. I prefer Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover and a stainless pusher that is half spoon, half nail cleaner like the one sold here.
- Use a manicure brush to remove any residue or dirt from on top of or under the nail.
- Use a body scrub to remove any dead skin from feet. I like St. Ives Apricot Scrub. I find it’s too rough for my face but great on my body.
- Finally, grab your foot file and go to town on those calluses. Don’t make your skin raw or red, just a good sanding. I know some people prefer Diamancel files but I’m a budget gal so I pick up the cheapie ones at Sally Beauty.
- Now at this point, a lot of people would do a mask or moisturize or do a paraffin dip. I prefer to wait until after I apply polish to do any of those steps. I don’t want any oils on the nail bed so I wait. I just swipe the nail with a bit of vinegar and get to painting.
- Just like with my nails, I apply a base coat, 2 coats of polish and a top coat. I tend to use the combo of Creative Stickey base coat and Super Shiney top coat with Qtica 1/2 Time Drying Accelerator drops. It’s what works best for me.
- After my nails are dry I slap on some foot cream. I really love this product from a small online company called Sweet Melissa Natural Body Care. Her peppermint foot cream is amazing. Very rich and filled with shea butter. I’ve been ordering from her for a couple years now and haven’t found a cream I like more.
- Correct any painting errors with this excellent tip I got from Christine, the 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic; Use a cheap angled eyeliner brush dipped in polish remover. So much better than worrying about fibers from cotton balls or Q-tips ruining your paint job.
So now that you have pretty pampered tootsies, how do you keep them from becoming scaly dried out hooves? These are my maintenance tricks.
- Keep your foot file in your shower and use it daily after your feet have been softened by the shower water. It only takes a minute and keeps your heels soft and pretty all summer long.
- Let your significant other make fun of you for coming to bed with socks on in the summer. Your feet need a rest after hoofing around all day. Slather on some foot cream and slip on a pair of cotton socks to keep the scaly skin at bay.
- Apply an AHA cuticle cream, like Creative Cuticle Eraser, to your toes and avoid that crusty white skin that pops up around your nail bed.
- Invest in a pair of gel socks or booties. Foot cream and cotton socks are great but 30 minutes in a pair of gel booties will make your feet feel amazing. I lucked into picking up a pair at Bath & Body Works during their Big Sale for 75% off. Kohl’s department stores always seem to be having a sale on the Earth Therapeutic’s booties or check a bed and bath type store.
Nubar Nail Lacquer
Based in LA and named after founder Noubar Abrahamian, Nubar nail polish is “The Healthy Alternative for Beautiful Nails.”
I received a sampling of Nubar shades to test out and I’m very pleased with the quality of their formula.
Precarious Lavender and Unfaithful Red are part of the Liquid Metals collection and while I tend not to like metallic finishes because they show brush marks, I was pleasantly surprised when I put Unfaithful Red on my tips (see below). The brush stroke marks were extremely slight and probably something only I could see. The polish itself is a bit goopy and I did have to redo my first nail until I figured out the right amount of polish to have on my brush but after that, it applied beautifully.
Red Ruby Glitz is part of the Trendy 1 Nail Lacquers which includes the fabulous Grass Green Glitter. Unfortunately, this one fell short for me. It’s a red glaze with glitter and too sheer for my taste. I used 3 coats on the nail wheel below and it was still semi-sheer. It just doesn’t compare to my beloved China Glaze Ruby Pumps.
Mali-Blue & Pasadena Purple are also part of the Trendy 1 Nail Lacquers collection and are both well pigmented shimmers. Mali-Blue is my favorite shade of the bunch. Being a blue lover it was pretty much a given that I’d be drawn to Mali-Blue and the bright royal hue will look fab this summer. Pasadena Purple is grapey purple that would make a great addition to most collections. I do have similar shades though so it’s not a must have for me.
Finally Indigo Illusion from the Trendy 2 Nail Lacquers collection is a truly unique shade that may not be everyone’s cup of tea but certainly got my attention. It’s a hard shade to describe. Blue, green, purple, it changes depending on the light. If you like that sort of duochrome thing, I suggest you see it for yourself.
Speaking with Nubar’s Terry Akins, an extremely knowledgeable manicurist, she suggested that using base and top coats that contain the Big 3 chemicals with a more natural product, like Nubar, will affect it’s wearability. So I did the Unfaithful Red mani below using Nubar’s Foundation Base Coat and Diamond Seal & Shine top coat.
The base coat dried quickly and gave me a nice even surface to apply the lacquer. The top coat dried very fast considering that it’s not a speed dry product, like Poshe or Seche Vite. I was able to function after about ten minutes. The only downside for me was the wear. My polish hardly ever chips and after a couple days, I not only had tip wear but a couple of chips on my tips. So even though I am impressed with the lacquer as a whole, based on one mani, their treatments aren’t winning me over. But, I will give them another shot and report back.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
