The first nail-focused beauty blog

We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll, We’re Gonna Bop, We’re Gonna BOWL…

By on February 4, 2011
in Green, Models Own, OPI, Purple, Revlon, Sally Hansen
Let’s bowl, let’s bowl, let’s rock-’n-roll.
Hey, come on, let’s get this show on the road.
Let’s bowl, let’s bowl, let’s rock-’n-roll.
‘Cause the stakes are high, and the winner takes all!
- “Score Tonight” from Grease 2

If you’ve seen the documentary My Date With Drew you know that the director/subject of the film believes that people can be divided into two categories; those who love Grease 2 and everyone else.  Drew Barrymore, the director Brian Herzlinger and I all fall into the Grease 2 loving category.  One of the most infectious songs in the cheese-tastic flick is “Score Tonight” which involves a night at a bowling alley.

This past fall I officially became a bowling addict when the boyfriend and I joined a league with some friends.  Every Thursday night you can find me making a fool of myself on the lanes and a few weeks ago I made the committment to get my own ball.

Of course, no ordinary bowling ball would do.  It had to express my colorful style.  When I saw this lime & lavender Brunswick Slingshot it was all over.  Purple and green?? Are you kidding??  It’s like they made it for me and me alone!

Now what kind of nail girl would I be if I didn’t don a manicure inspired by my new ball? Check it out!


I wanted to match the main colors in the ball as closely as possible so I played with different lime greens and burples (bluish purple), layering to find the perfect combinations.  Sally Hansen Sea And Be Seen was too blue and Revlon Not So Blue-berry was too purple but combined the color was spot on.  OPI Call My Cell-ery was ideal for the glittery lime but it’s so sheer that it needed an opaque base color. Models Own Lime Green fulfilled that need.

I originally thought of doing gradations on all my fingers but the Revlon was too opaque over the lime green combo to make that happen. In the end I alternated fingers with the two layering combinations. The multi-colored manicure actually worked better because when I put my fingers in the ball, only my ring and pinkie fingers show so both combinations can be seen.

When I was toying with the gradation concept I tested it on my thumb nail using the sheer OPI Call My Cell-ery to create the gradient over the Sally Hansen/Revlon combo. I loved the look so much that I decided to polish both thumbs with the gradation just to change it up a bit. The overall look is totally over the top but I love it.  For more details on the gradation manicure technique check out my gradation mani using the CND Night Factory Duo & butter LONDON Stroppy.

I think I ended up with a pretty good match, wouldn’t you say?

Every week as I’m driving to bowling I get this song stuck in my head and now with this manicure on my fingers every time I stare down at my hands it pops back in my brain. If I’m going to be infected with this earworm, I may as well share it. Enjoy!

Want to replicate the look? OPI Call My Cell-ery is a discontinued shade from the original Brights collection but I did see some for sale on eBay. Sally Hansen Sea And Be Seen was released this past summer and is available in drugstores nationwide. Revlon Not So Blue-berry was part of a limited summer collection of scented polishes (the scent penetrates top coat).  Revlon recently released new scented polishes and there’s a purple, I just haven’t seen it in person to know if it’s a match.  Models Own Lime Green retails for $8/ea and can be found on UrbanOutfitters.com and ModelsOwnIt.com.

What do you think of my bowling ball inspired manicure? Do you have suggestions for other manis that would look good with it? Do I have any fellow bowling Fanatics out there?

Disclosure: Product samples were furnished by Sally Hansen and Models Own. I purchased the Revlon & OPI polishes myself. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

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There Are 42 Brilliant Comments

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  1. KimmyDarling says:

    OMG I *hate* bowling because there is literally nothing I am worse at doing, but I LOVE GREASE 2!!!!

    Love,
    Cool Rider Darling

  2. Tori says:

    Too cute! One question for you: how do you protect your thumb nail when bowling? Whenever I bowl (which I also love!) I absolutely trash my thumb nail. Any suggestions? Thanks :)

    • All Lacquered Up says:

      I have to keep it short or else it ends up getting broken on the sides. Otherwise I have no issues. It’s never affected my polish.

      • Tori says:

        That’s what happens to me too. I’ll just have to keep it shorter I guess, so it doesn’t crack on the sides. Maybe then the polish will better withstand the rigors! :)

      • jessa says:

        i’m a sore loser and i suck so bad at bowling therefore i hate it but i HATE IT even more because it either breaks my nails/ruins my polish/ or both. love this combo tho!

  3. LesleyKat says:

    LOVE!!!!! If I bowled I would totes match. :)

  4. Amy says:

    That is awesome.

  5. Nikki says:

    Water marbling would have looked great! I like the gradient :)

  6. BL says:

    The blue/green gradation makes me think of the Blue Marble. Swirl a little white on that and wear it for Earth Day!

  7. Valerie says:

    Grease 2! As if I needed another reason to love your blog!

  8. I don’t wish to come in contact with a human being that doesn’t like Grease 2. So cheesy, so fantastic, and yes, I did fall off a ladder when I was eight trying to recreate the Cool Rider scene.

    Oh yeah, nail polish. That is an awesome ball and that’s such a cute mani! The colors look really nice together!

  9. borrricua says:

    I think a water marble design would match your ball nicely :)

  10. Oh this is fantastic! Love the gradient nail and love love love that OPI green shade! And you matched the bowling ball spot on:)

  11. sara says:

    Man, I haven’t been bowling in ages (since before the twins were born), but if I ever go again, I might have to match my ball. I could use ChG Lubu Heels because my ball is black and red and sparkly and swirly and I love it. I got black and red so I would think of my Bearcats whenever I use it. :)

  12. Lauren says:

    I love your thumbs, I love your ball and I love grease 2!

  13. Jennifer K. says:

    That is an awesome mani! And though I can’t stand bowling, I LOVE Grease 2!

  14. Molly says:

    A group of friends and I got into bowling too! We used to go every wednesday night on dollar night as a mid-work week break.
    I got my own ball but it’s not a professional one, as it is a Hello Kitty ball, lol.

    I love the ball matching mani. I’m glad to know other adults do things like this too. (No slight against you, I just used to get self conscious for liking Hello Kitty, nail polish, etc. and wasn’t very open about certain interests of mine. Now it’s more common to still like stuff that we liked as kids.)

    • All Lacquered Up says:

      I looked at some of the fun balls like Hello Kitty as well but went with the pro shop recommendaton instead.

  15. Michele says:

    Oooh, I love that ball. Totally looks like one I would pick out. I haven’t been bowling in about a year but now I really want to go again. I have to keep my thumb nails really short too when I go otherwise they just break on me.

    I love Grease 2 also! More so than the first one really.

  16. flipflopgal says:

    Nails turned out great & so fun to match the ball :) The gradient is a neat twist that I would love to try. Never seen Grease 2 but loved the original!! Might have to check out the sequel.

  17. Sara says:

    I have always loved Grease 2 as well! I always felt it better than the original Grease.

    I personally want a pink polish that looks like these Pink Lady bowling balls in the clip too. *Haha*

  18. Amanda says:

    OMG Grease 2 is so awful that it’s a work of art. My favorite song was always the “Let’s Do it for Our Country” one. So catchy and ridiculous!

  19. Emily says:

    I think what I like even more than the manicure is your equality ring! Awesome!

  20. Love the colors. This is great. Thanks.

  21. Ofelia says:

    omg! the gradient is so sick!

  22. I know I saw at least one other comment, but I have to say that after seeing your ball, it definitely would have been awesome to see water marbling. …but maybe that’s just a bit Too matchy-matchy? :)
    But still, the fading turned out great!… and yeah. those colors are almost dupes of the hues on your bowling ball! lol.. you should do a close up comparison .. hehehe

  23. Ter G. says:

    Thx for sharing the awesome mani & for the trip down memory lane…I wanna watch Grease 2 now! I wonder if Michelle is proud of her work in it!

  24. Melissa says:

    You can get clear balls with stuff embedded inside. You should get a clear ball and have them embed a nail polish bottle inside!!!!

  25. Faith Dunning says:

    Love the ball, Love the mani, LOVE the combo!!! Totally my style, too!

  26. Shannon says:

    You’re so cute and creative!!! Thanks for posting this!

  27. Chris says:

    I love your nail combo! I haven’t bowled in years. I remember being too weak to really lift the ball. LOL.

  28. Trish says:

    So after this post last night I spent 2 hours today hunting down Grease and Grease 2 locally, so I can be sick and curl up in bed with them.

    I had dreams with Grease 2 in it last night! I HAD TO!

    I love your nails too :P

  29. Emmy says:

    I am the worst bowler ever! But I do play good pool and I have a pool cue that is purple and green! It spoke to me, I had to have it and when my ex-husband left, he tried to take my pool cue. It did NOT happen! LOL, I love your ball and matching mani! I want to try the gradation tonight =)

  30. Kellie says:

    I want a coooooool rider. A cool, cool, cool, cool rider.

    I LOVE that movie!! :):)

  31. chrome-arty says:

    Damn. There goes that song in my head for DAYS.

  32. jen says:

    HA! You’ve inspired me! My aunt wants to go bowling for our combined birthday. I also have my own ball. It is white, teal, and purple. I may have to do a marble for our girls night out to match my ball. ;)

  33. This is such a pretty nail combo! Loving the ball as well! What was your score? I know it was high with the matching names :-)

  34. Frankenstyna says:

    I was hoping for a marble design, but this is very cute too! LOVE the color combos on your ball and nails!

  35. Gwen says:

    Awesome mani! You did a great job matching it with your ball :)

  36. Tamara says:

    love the mani idea…it’s something i do all the time (although I’ve never tried the gradient idea, so might have to try that soon)

    I have a question…I’ve seen the revlon polishes where it says they are scented when dried, but never been able to test that…has anyone used them and if so what’s the scent like? is it different for each polish?

    I used to have 2 top coat that were scented like strawberries and blueberries and definitely miss those…so if i could find scented polish that was nice, I would definitely have to try it

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