Archive for July, 2009
Discounts and Freebies from Lancome & Zoya
Hey Fanatics! I just wanted to give you a heads up regarding a couple promotions going on.
First up, Zoya wants to hit 5,000 Twitter followers by August 3rd (Monday). If they do, they will reveal a special Tweet Buy code for all their followers. Use the code on August 4th or 5th to receive 3 FREE polishes (Ali, America and Paz), no additional purchase necessary. CLICK HERE to follow them. 
Next, Lancome Boutiques are offering a 20% Friends and Family discount. So all of you that live near a Lancome Boutique, print off this image and take it with you to indulge in some discounted Lancome goodness. Perhaps my pics of Declaring Indigo shade Indigo Paris will tempt you.
Finally, tomorrow the last day to enter my Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition Giveaway. CLICK HERE to enter.
The ALU Archives – Icing by Claire’s Money Talks & I Married Blue
The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.
I can’t believe that in the two and a half years I’ve been writing ALU that I’ve NEVER mentioned Icing polishes! If you’re unfamiliar, Icing is a chain of accessory stores owned by Claire’s. I honestly never shopped there until some MUA nail board girls discovered their line of nail polish. They have a wide range of colors and come out with limited edition seasonal collections quite often. AND they’re pretty cheap. You can usually find them on some kind of sale.
Unfortunately, since we moved a couple years ago I haven’t had immediate access to an Icing so it’s been a while since I added to my stash. Obviously I’m not up on the latest colors but I have a couple of my faves to show you. Check them out!
According to my bottles Icing polishes are 3-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) but I would check the labels before buying, just to be sure. The formula is on the thinner side so even dark colors usually take three coats for even coverage but it flows smoothly on the nail and dries glossy.
Money Talks is a blackened forest green shimmer with silver micro-glitter floating throughout. It was packaged in a set a couple holidays back so I’m not sure if it’s still able to be found.
I Married Blue was an open stock color I picked up during one of their sales. It’s definitely in the burple family more than navy. It has a pearl/shimmer that looks a bit magenta in the bottle that I attribute to its slight purple leaning.
I realize the bottles look VERY similar to China Glaze and I know people have wondered if they’re by the same company but I think the similarities stop at the bottle shape. Icing polishes are produced in Illinois while China Glaze is based in California.
You can only find Icing polishes at their stores and this bottle size retails for $3.50 but there’s usually some kind of deal going on. You find an Icing near you using their store locator.
Where are my Icing lovers? What are your favorite shades? Seen anything new and fun that I should make the trip out east for?
Guess Who’s Wearing China Glaze?
 Can you guess which celebrity sported black, gold flecked tips? Find out after the jump! |
If you’re following China Glaze on Twitter you probably knew the answer. That’s right, China Glaze is tweeting now and sharing all sorts of fun nail pics, celeb nail scoop AND holding contests. Last week, they posted this behind the scenes pic of Rihanna wearing China Glaze Liquid Leather taken by Celebrity Manicurist Kimmie Kyees. Remember when I interviewed Kimmie last year after she gave Rihanna her famous Japanese Koi tips for the Grammys? If not, read more about her HERE.
For more great China Glaze nail gossip, follow them on Twitter.
Oh and I mentioned Contests, didn’t I? Every day from now through August 4th China Glaze is giving away a set of Retro Diva polishes to a follower who tweets “@ChinaGlaze I want 2 win a ChG Retro Diva Collection.”
So seriously, what are you waiting for? Join Twitter already. All your fave nail people are there!
image credit: Kimmie Kyees via China Glaze
Orly Nail Rescue Saved Me. It Can Save Your Nails Too!
 I’ve told you about my DDS (Danny Devito Syndrome) in the past and it reared its ugly head just before my trip to Vegas. You see, my thumb nail split and peeled which fed into my tendency to pick at things. So of course I peeled back the split layer and made things worse. Even with a ridge filling base coat I could see the unevenness in my thumb nail. Not to mention the fact that one wrong move would have just torn that piece off. That’s when Orly Nail Rescue came into my life.
I met with a rep from Orly at Cosmoprof and we were discussing treatment products. She told me of her love for Tough Cookie (I’ll be testing it soon) and I told her about my nail issue. She immediately grabbed for a Nail Rescue kit, saying it would literally save my nail. Considering that I get these kinds of splits often, I figured it was worth a shot. See the results, after the jump! |
It’s an easy 3 step system that left my nail with a flawless surface. Included in the kit is a bottle of Nail Glue, Nail Repair Powder and a Buffer. As demonstrated in the image below you just Brush, Dip and Smooth! Step 2: Immediately dip your nail into the Nail Repair Powder. Orly’s Nail Rescue Kit is available online at OrlyBeauty.com ($9) or Head2ToeBeauty.com ($4.95) and in stores at Sally Beauty Supply ($6.99). What’s your favorite method for repairing broken nails? Have you tried Nail Rescue? Share!
As you can see in the “before” pic (left), the tear was pretty big and left me with a flimsy piece of nail that was barely hanging on. I know a lot of people use nail glue and patches or pieces of tea bag to fix breaks but Orly Nail Rescue seems much simpler to me.
Step 1: Clean the nail bed and brush the nail glue over the entire nail, avoiding cuticles. Tip - If you are fixing an uneven area, like I did, you’ll want to repeat this process using the glue on the lower section ONLY to even the nail surface.
Make sure you brush off the excess powder.
Step 3: Buff the nail surface smooth. This was my first attempt and I did repeat the steps to even out the broken layer. As you can see, it’s not a beautiful look but it’s smooth, even and ready for polish while you grow out the breakage.
You can’t even tell my nail is broken!
Removal: Soaking in acetone will remove the hardened powder which means you MUST use a non-acetone remover when taking off your polish.
Katy Perry’s Flower Power Nails
ALU Fanatic Angelica shared (via Facebook) this post from Perez Hilton about Katy Perry‘s latest tattoo. Of course us nail girls will immediately notice her colorful, frisky tips.
Katy posted that image on Twitter via TwitPic where she originally shared a snap of her mani a little over a week ago (below). See, that’s the fun of Twitter folks. If you haven’t embraced it, get on board. If for no other reason than to win some polish from yours truly.
A quick search of the Minx website confirmed that Katy is indeed wearing the popular nail stickers. As you may recall, I tried out Minx last December and while I enjoyed the look, I had issues with lifting not long after. But if you inspect Katy’s pic from today (above), her nails have grown out some yet the Minx are intact. Makes me wonder if they’ve improved the product since then or if it was just a bad application by my nail tech.
What do you think Fanatics? Are you over Minx? Loving Minx? How are we feeling about Katy’s nails? Has anyone had great success wearing Minx on their fingers? I’ve heard raves about them on toes. Sound off!
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
