I don’t know what’s so special about black nail polish but apparently Anna Paquin is being as secretive about her nail color at last night’s Emmy Awards as she was about her wedding to Stephen Moyer. The True Blood star requested that Celebrity Green Nail Stylist Jenna Hipp be sworn to secrecy! If you ask me, that is just plain silly.  I get wanting your personal life kept private but NAIL POLISH??  Sookie, get over yourself! 

In her defense, Jenna did say that Anna was an absolute pleasure to work with.  Even though I couldn’t get her to spill Anna’s nail color she did say that, “Anna was full of smiles and very hospitable! She and Steven even served me fresh lemonade!” My guess, this is her publicist’s call but it’s still lame sauce.

However, Jenna did clue me in that she layered two black colors to achieve extra depth and shine. If you want to copy Anna’s look, I suggest you try CND Oilslick, a green based black with China Glaze Liquid Leather, a brown based black on top.  The different bases will give you a more true black and the jelly-esque nature of Liquid Leather will add a cool, squishy looking texture.

Another option is to add just a whisper of shimmer using Sinful Black on Black, my go-to black creme, over Zoya Raven with its subtle silver pearl.  The silvery specks will just barely peek through.

You know, Sookie and Bill are my least favorite characters on True Blood and something as silly as not releasing a nail color doesn’t help their cause.  What are your thoughts on this? Regardless of the top secret nail drama, Jenna gave Anna an amazing manicure and her hair and makeup were flawless.  The dress left something to be desired for me.

Birthday girl Lea Michele ruled the Emmy red carpet in a stunning navy Oscar De La Renta gown.  The Glee star, who IMO should have won for Best Actress, glowed from head to toe.  She is my pick for best dressed of the night and in some shots I’ve seen, she strongly resembled Penelope Cruz.  After all they do both love Mr. De La Renta’s frocks. Lea’s glam squad was comprised of Makeup Artist Melanie Inglessis for NARS, Hair Stylist Mark Townsend for Dove and Manicurist Deborah Lippmann.  Melanie Inglessis used NARS new Pure Matte Lipstick in Tashkent and while I was leery about the whole matte lip trend taking us back to 90s, it looks beautiful on Lea. Pairing dramatic winged eye liner with nude lips and full, tousled hair, Lea’s nails were painted a deep, dark hue to match her dress.  Can you guess what polish Deborah used?

Lady Sings The Blues from the Deborah Lippmann Anniversary All That Jazz set was used on both fingers and toes but in two very different ways. Deb told me that to keep the fingers more subtle she, “polished thinner layer[s] and kept the sequins off.” However on the toes she went for full on glam doing two regular coats of the polish. It’s just a shame we weren’t able to see that due to the length of Lea’s dress. Behind The Scenes Scoop: Lea is the first celebrity Deb used LStB on.  And because it was her birthday, Deb sang a bluesy version of Happy Birthday to Lea and presented her with a bottle of Happy Birthday nail polish.

Lady Sings The Blues is a deep navy with silver and blue square micro-glitter and cornflower blue octagonal sequins.  The base color is a semi-sheer jelly, similar to Across The Universe only I found it to be more pigmented.  Unlike AtU I only needed two coats of LStB for full coverage.  The swatch below is of two coats applied normally with no dotting to place the sequins.

Lady Sings The Blues is only available in the Deborah Lippmann All That Jazz set which is now available online at DeborahLippmann.com and also at Nordstrom.com and Nordstrom stores nationwide. The set retails for $40 (a $14 savings) and includes the pink glitter Some Enchanted Evening and raspberry glitter Razzle Dazzle.

Who agrees with me that Lea should have won last night?  I would have been delighted to see either her or Amy Poehler take home the statue.  Like Edie Falco said, she’s not funny though she is brilliant at playing a character with no redeeming qualities on Nurse Jackie.

On the beauty/fashion side of things, where did Lea rank in your best/worst dressed lists?  Do you like the matchy-matchy dress/nail look or think she should have gone with something contrasting?  While I normally coordinate my nails to my look I can’t help but love the dark nail on her.

Disclosure: I purchased the All That Jazz set myself.  For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Let me start by saying that I love January Jones playing the least likely candidate for mother-of-the-year on Mad Men and I think she’s a beautiful woman BUT what was going on with her dress last night at the Emmys? I’m not generally a fan of the short in the front, long in the back look but when you add in the fish scale pattern it looks a little too mermaid-esque for my taste.  Regardless, her nails were on point!

Celebrity Manicurist Deborah Lippmann worked with January to give her a dark, dramatic manicure.  She shaped January’s nails into elongated ovals, Deb’s favorite shape, and painted them a deep plum hue.

Deb’s color of choice, Dark Side of the Moon from her eponymous line of nail polish.

What do you think of January’s look from the Emmys? Do you agree with her nail color selection?

Deborah Lippmann Dark Side of the Moon retails for $16/ea and can be purchased online at DeborahLippmann.com, Nordstrom.com and Beauty.com.

Unfortunately, all the stylists in the world can’t prevent every celebrity fashion/beauty misstep. And there were a few last night.

If you’ve been a reader since the beginning, you know that I’m a fan of Helen Mirren and have praised her fashion forward nails in the past. New readers, click here. Much to my dismay, I just can’t give a thumbs up to the lavender tips. It’s just too much. Though I’m overjoyed for her Emmy win. She’s had an amazing year.
There’s no denying that Patricia Heaton has an incredible body and fantastic sense of humor. And I usually love her fashion choices but for me, that raisin nail shade detracts from the overall look.

I don’t even know what to say about this other than, who the hell is Phoebe Price and why couldn’t I escape seeing pictures of her everywhere? Phoebe, go back to the drawing board and try try again.

photos: Getty Images

As much as Seacrest bugs me with his multi-media domination, I continue to tune into E! News because of Giuliana. I was so bitter when they removed her as co-anchor a few years ago. At least the powers that be regained their senses and put her back where she belongs. Again this is a case of pale nails that work. I know Giuliana isn’t afraid of color so when she sports a light tip, it’s on purpose. With her daring detailed dress, flowing hair and massive amount of hand and wrist bling, it would look out of balance to wear a dark polish.
photos: Getty Images

Joely Fisher did pale nails right. Paired with her pale yellow gown, bronzed skin and chestnut locks, her short subtle tips allow the attention to be focused on her radiant face.
photos: Getty Images

I’ve seen a few different shots of this dress and the color looks different in each one. I would have loved to see it in person. Because I love Heidi Klum, I refuse to believe that she would purposely wear clashing polish and lip shades with her dress. Even during her interview with Giuliana on E!, the dress seemed to change from purple to crimson before my eyes.

photos: Getty Images

I have to be honest, I’m not a fan of this look. The hair doesn’t fit with the style of the dress and the combination of red lips, red nails and a red bag seem like too much for me. This is a case of black, white and pops of red not working. I think Eva La Rue is a beautiful woman and I love that she was able to break out of daytime into primetime but I’ve seen her look better.

photos: Getty Images

Could Kate Walsh be any more stunning? Ok so the hair is a little odd and some may find the scarlet dress, nails and lips a bit too matchy matchy but the woman is gorgeous. Now that I’m over my imaginary feud with her character for breaking up Derek and Meredith, I am completely smitten with Addison Montgomery and dread watching Grey’s without her. Not that I don’t want Private Practice to succeed but I’d much rather see her at Seattle Grace. My Tivo would certainly thank me for the extra space.

photos: Getty Images

Has Christina Aguilera admitted to being preggers yet? Try as she might, she can’t deny it much longer. Regardless, she killed in black and white. Very Gwen Stefani/Old Hollywood. Like Katherine Heigel, the red lips and nails totally work for her.

photos: Getty Images