Archive for November, 2008
Celebrity Nail Watch – Julia Allison
Julia who? That’s the exact question I was asking just a few months back when my pal Amber from Beauty Blogging Junkie excitedly shared a link to her interview with Julia (a fab read btw). The former Editor-At-Large for Star Magazine, Julia Allison was a “talking head” on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc. Currently she writes a weekly dating column for Time Out New York and lifecasts on NonSociety.com, the website she co-founded with her friends.
Thanks to Amber’s article, complete with a link to Julia’s lifecast, I’m now obsessed with following her daily happenings on my feed reader. She’s beyond stunning, wizard smart and dresses like Blair Waldorf. What’s not to love? Oh and I’m also convinced that I need a shih tzu puppy like her precious Lilly (pictured above).
Anywho, in the interview Julia discussed her beloved beauty products and application tricks. When the topic of nails came about, she mentioned her favorite brands (Essie, Sally Hansen, Rimmel) and that she wears fakes. Oh the horror! You girls know how I feel about that. I’m all natural baby! Now even though I’m opposed, I get it. When you’re on TV and being photographed regularly, having nice nails is essential and not everyone has the time for a mani each week. Though that is not in ANY way an endorsement for acrylics on my part.
I have to give the girl props though. Julia loves herself a bright, funky nail. I was scrolling back through her lifecast archives when I came across a couple of her past nail looks. Yay, I’ve found another green lover!! How can you not adore her?
Being my nosey self and a green fanatic, I tried get in touch with Ms. Julia to find out what she was wearing. FAIL!! Sad that I would never know the name of that lovely green shade, I was delighted and surprised to see a picture of her fridge (pictured below), filled with nothing but nail polish and water, show up on the NonSociety talk show, TMI Weekly. Lo and behold the mystery green revealed!
I spy Nars Schiap, Essie Shorty Pants, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Marine Scene and Sinful San Francisco. What do ya know? Sinful Colors are loved by people outside the nail fanatic world. Good times!
Well Ms. Julia, you may be too busy to email me back but your fabulous nail style is worthy of an All Lacquered Up Celebrity Nail Watch. No matter what Mary Rambin says, I love that you aren’t just a sheer/pink/nude wearing gal.
images: Nonsociety.com and TMIWeekly.com
Weekly Beauty Read 11/16/08
Here you go my lovelies, the best reads of the week from my pals at the Beauty Blog Network
The Makeup Divas reviews a unique facial product and a truly blissful body treat from The Body Deli.
A Touch of Blusher takes you through highlights from the last 12 months.
Beauty Anonymous is interested in checking out the MAC Hello Kitty Collection.
Beautiful Makeup Search is giving away over $400 in beauty products in her BeautyFix Giveaway. Have you entered yet?
Aging Beautiful has a review of the must-have neck cream from Dr.Perricone, called PerriconeMD Firming Neck Therapy.
Beauty Junkie in SF is loving Bioelements Equalizer used on the set of her favorites TV shows. It makes her feel fresh and glamorous at the same time.
Lilan from The Daily Cookie loves Bobbi Brown’s new Copper Diamond Collection and recreates the look with Bobbi’s Velvet Plum Eye Palette.
Raging Rouge is loving Cremesheen lipstick by MAC.
Girl Gloss found a new favorite lip gloss in the Cargo Blu_ray High Definition Lip Gloss Quad.
Beauty411 takes a look at MAC’s Passions of Red Holiday Collection!
Elke shares her reviews of Beautyfix.com latest product offerings.
The Beauty Blog Network welcomes it’s newest member!
ThisThatBeauty and Sephora help you spend $25 or less on holiday gift giving
Toya of The Life of A Ladybug invites you to join the Old Favorites Challenge!
All Lacquered Up discovers Barielle’s newest nail polish collection, Fall Affair, including a gorgeous GREEN shimmer.
The girls over at Beauty in Real Life have 5 copies of celebrity makeup artist, Carmindy’s latest book to giveaway. Click here to get all the info!
Glossypink reveals an eyeliner that’s especially pretty for brown eyes!
Christina Loves… learning about technology in her beauty products!
Makeup Moxie feels a new obsession coming on — Blush: The Search for the Next Great Makeup Artist.
Dior Holiday 2008 – Black Diamonds
On my recent trip to NYC one of the stops on our “beauty tour” of the city was the LVMH offices for a visit with Dior Beauty. We were treated to a viewing of the current and upcoming Dior collections and, of course, I was most intrigued by the Vernis nail lacquer. I don’t have pics to share of the spring and summer colors but I can say I spotted a few winners coming our way (think bold for summer).
One of the gifts of creating this blog has been discovering brands that are new to me, testing polishes I normally wouldn’t encounter. Dior is certainly one of those brands. It’s not that I live in a bubble in the middle of nowhere but I never really considered prestige or department store lines when shopping for polish. I figured they were an add-on item and assumed the quality would be no match for salon lines. Well, you know what they about ass-uming.
Similar to brands like Chanel, YSL and N.Y.C. the chrome cover pulls off Dior bottles to reveal a “CD” embossed, slightly rounded, ribbed cap. The brush is flat (think OPI or NYX) but extremely firm making application precise and accurate. It was the easiest application I’ve had with a new brand in a long time. No trial runs necessary. The lacquer just flows on the nail and dries relatively quick while still maintaining its glossiness. Though I did my five day wear test with one nail minus top coat and it was chip city! So no forgetting the Seche Vite when I wear Dior.
Black Sequins has been getting tons of celebrity buzz. In fact Jennifer Lopez, who is known for wearing a neutral nail, donned the black sparkler for Elle Magazine’s Women In Hollywood Tribute. Similar to Sephora by OPI Never Enough Shoes minus the gold flecks, Black Sequins’ jet black base is so pigmented that even the silver micro-glitter that’s peppered throughout doesn’t lighten its appearance. Plus, it dries smooth. Bonus!
Pure Diamonds looks just as the name implies, like crushed diamonds on your nails. It’s so glitzy, it’s almost iridescent. The only issue is opacity. I needed three coats to get there which would make this a good option for sheer lovers who want just a thin coat of icing on their nails. Or you could use it for layering to bling out your favorite creme.
Poison Blue stirred up all sorts of craziness when it debuted last year (and quickly sold out). You know how I feel about blues so I was disappointed that I never got my hands on it then but, when I heard that Dior was bringing it back for holiday, I jumped at the chance to test it out. Regardless of any semblance of shimmer you may see in the bottle, for all intents and purposes, Poison Blue is a dark blue creme. As I learned from the masterminds at CND, shimmer can be used for depth and reflectiveness yet still dry as a creme.
Of course I had to test this one against its rival, Chanel Blue Satin, and what I found is that Blue Satin is darker, more black based yet its shimmer actually does show up in bright light. Poison Blue has a much lighter base that is similar to Lippmann Rehab, resulting in a less blackened final result.
Unfortunately, finding all three polishes in the same place won’t happen. Each polish is carried by different retailers and sells for $19. Black Sequins is exclusive to Sephora and still available on Sephora.com (direct product link). I found Poison Blue on Dillards.com which means you should be able to buy it at your local department store Dior counter while Pure Diamonds is carried at specialty stores like Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
image credit: WireImage
Shades by Barielle – Fall Affair for Fall/Winter 2008
Did you know that Barielle makes nail polish? I certainly didn’t. Not until I met celebrity manicurist and Barielle spokesperson, Elle (kids, she’s worked on everyone, EVERYONE!). Known for their top notch nail treatments, Barielle has joined the color game with Shades by Barielle, a line of 3-Free, fashion forward lacquers. For Fall/Winter 2008, Elle created Fall Affair, a collection of six shades she pulled straight from the runways.
Can I just say that I’m beyond impressed with these polishes? They are superbly pigmented, 3 Free, yet not thick and goopy, and they last! Like even after five days of wear with my go-to top/base combo of Seche Base & Vite, the signs of wear were minimal. Not to mention, the formula just flows on the nail. It spreads out to create a perfect even finish. Oh and they dry so quick, that even without top coat, I could touch my nail beds after a few minutes.
Now I’m not gonna lie, the first time I applied Date Night (green), it went on kind of streaky and uneven but after talking with Elle, she helped me tweak my application technique. For the longest time, I’ve put quite a bit of polish on my brush, started in the middle of my nail and pushed the blob down towards my cuticle. WRONG-O! By putting a little less polish on my brush, starting at the cuticle, holding the brush almost parallel with my nail and pressing just enough to fan out the bristles, I was able to achieve the perfect 3-stroke application. Thanks Elle! MWAH!
Sneak-A-Peek is a silvery-gray shimmer that is so pigmented, I hardly needed two coats. For a color that light, that’s major. It’s a great icy shade for winter and an excellent call for those of you unable to take the plunge and try full-on gray.
Misbehaving Mistress is so unique, I don’t really know how to describe it but I know that I LOVE it. It’s kind of graphite but with taupe mixed in. To me, it’s the love child of OPI You Don’t Know Jacques and CND Black Platinum. And even though it’s dubbed a metallic by Barielle, it certainly doesn’t apply like one. There’s no brush stroke issues to be found.
Date Night – Seriously, just when I thought there wasn’t another swoon worthy green to be made… along comes Date Night. A beyond fabulous jeweled emerald green. If China Glaze Emerald Sparkle is my ultimate green glitter and Rescue Beauty Lounge Recycle is my ultimate green creme, this is my ULTIMATE GREEN SHIMMER. This kicks OPI Rainforest ass and I don’t say that lightly. It’s so pigmented and vibrant yet not overly bright like Emerald City from Sally Hansen. It’s deeper but not blackened, like Zoya Suvi, so you know it’s green yet it’s still elegant and trendy. I went through two storage boxes of green polish and can’t find one that holds a candle to the pigmentation and depth of this shade. There is no dupe! Buy it, buy it now!!
Hidden Hideaway is a sultry, blackened plum. It doesn’t have a red base but the warm golden shimmer warms it up a bit. This is an “almost black” eggplant shade but as you can see in the pictures, you can still tell it’s a purple. 
Secret Encounter plays on that berry trend that is happening in makeup this fall. This deep magenta has the same warm shimmer as Hidden Hideaway which makes you think it’s a duo-chrome in the bottle but it’s not. 
Two Timing has this comforting, warm, autumnal feel, like metallic fall leaves. It’s burnt yet not blackened, very Turkey Day if you ask me. I’d call it a bronzey orange or worn copper. And again, it’s considered a metallic but because of its smooth application it’s more like a metallic-shimmer crossover. A shimallic? A metmer? What do you think?
The Fall Affair collection from Shades by Barielle retails for $8/ea and is available now on Barielle.com or at one of the 1,500+ CVS stores that now carry the brand. Call for availability.
Shu Uemura for Holiday 2008
After my Givenchy post from last week, I’ve been on a major purple kick. Next to green, it’s my favorite nail color. I know I’ve been all about about grays this fall but it’s a passing fancy. Purple has a perm place in my heart.
So while shopping with a gal pal at my local Nordies a couple weeks ago, I was stopped in my purple lovin’ tracks at the sight of Shu Uemura’s Mika holiday collection. Famed Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa worked with Shu Uemura to create a vibrant, beautifully packaged collection with an AH-MAZING burple (blue purple) polish.
Tanzanite Aquarium was described as blue by a Shu rep but I think it falls somewhere in between blue and purple, thus the use of burple above. Not only is it a gorgeous shade but it’s packed with holographic micro-glitter as well. It doesn’t create a holographic effect on the nail, just multicolored sparkles in the light. In fact I’d call it a blued version of China Glaze Grape Crush, which is much more red based and warm toned.
The application was smooth and easy. The brush is long, dense and firm yet it splays out nicely to give even coverage. Two coats achieved bottle color but the micro-glitter gives a slightly bumpy finish so I recommend using a thick quick drying top coat like Seche Vite or Poshe. Oh and it wears like a dream. Seriously, this formula is like iron. I went chip free for six days with very little tip wear.
Fun fact: During a recent visit to the Shu Uemura offices, I learned that their polish bottle’s unique shape was designed to fit between your fingers while you polish. No need for a bottle holder here.
The Mika holiday collection is on counters now and available online at ShuUemura-USA.com. The collection’s nail lacquers, Tanzanite Aquarium and Sparkling Garnet Aquarium, retail for $16 US.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
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