From olive to hunter, military inspired designs and colors dominated the Fall 2011 runway shows. Those shades came straight off the models and into nail polish bottles in a number of the fall collections.

Over the next couple weeks I’ll be walking you through the big nail polish trends for the season, showing you the newest shades to hit the market and the old school colors you may already own that will get your nail style ready for fall.

The New Class (Fall 2011 Release) – all polishes are shown using two coats

Laying down: MAC Fatigues & Deborah Lippmann Billionaire. Standing: China Glaze Westside Warrior, Color Club Artsy Crafty, Finger Paints Military Green, Butter London Wallis, OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window & Cult Nails In A Trance. Top Row: Zoya Yara & Zoya Dree

Butter London Wallis ($14, butterLondon.com, Beauty.com, ULTA, Nordstrom) is a metallic olive green that leans heavily towards gold. The base is a dark olive but the green-gold flakes floating on the surface give this colors a foil-like finish.

China Glaze Westside Warrior ($3, Head2ToeBeauty, TransDesign. $6, Sally Beauty) reminds me of castelvetrano olives. I only recently discovered these buttery gems through a friend and I’m obsessed. My only complaint with Westside Warrior is that the formula wasn’t up to par. It was pigmented but a little goopy and hard to work with.

Color Club Artsy Crafty ($8, ShopColorClub.com) is a lush forest green with a greyed underbelly that gives it some grit.

Cult Nails In A Trance ($10, CultNails.com) is a browned olive green shimmer. The satiny finish and old world charm hearkens back to medieval tapestries or royal gowns.

Deborah Lippmann Billionaire ($16, DeborahLippmann.com, Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom) is the darkest of the fall green offerings. It’s as if you took a vivid hunter green and drabbed it out with a touch of brown and black. The color was used at the Lela Rose F/W 2011 show and it’s got this great jelly consistency that is packed with pigment.

Finger Paints Military Green ($4.99, SallyBeauty.com) honestly looks terrible in the bottle. It was kind of yellowish, like baby poo or something but on the nail, LOVE! It’s reminiscent of Essie Sew Psyched or Chanel Khaki Vert and applies flawlessly on the nail.

MAC Fatigues ($15, MACCosmetics.com) is part of the MAC Me Over! collection and what I love about it is that it’s not as yellow based as the other colors in this category. It’s more cool tone friendly.

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window ($8.50,OPI.com for locations) is a vivid olive hue. I know the words feel wrong together but I’ve been calling it a bright drab. The name is the only thing that bothers me. Even though, at my core, I’m a 12 year old boy with a love for potty humor, mixing that with something in the beauty world doesn’t sit right with me.

Zoya Dree ($8, Zoya.com) is the darkened version of OPI Uh-Oh. They definitely live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school and may even share some classes together.

Zoya Yara ($8, Zoya.com) – Okay so I have this sweater that I refuse to get rid of even though it’s so out of style it’s not even funny. The reason I keep it, it looks exactly like Yara! It’s this yellow-based green knit hoodie that has small golden threads woven throughout. Now that I have a polish to match it, why would I donate it?

The OG’s – The “Original (Military) Greens” in my stash

Not all of these shades are still available but if you have them in your nail wardrobe, now is the time to rock ‘em.

Laying down: NARS Mash & Rescue Beauty Lounge No More War Standing: Essie Sew Psyched, Chanel Khaki Vert, American Apparel Hunter, Zoya Gemma, Rescue Beauty Lounge Diddy Mow, Illamasqua Hectic, NARS Platoon

Best colors to pair with Military Greens – Berry, gold, pewter, camel

Thoughts on the Military Green nail color trend? Did your faves make the cut? Which new colors do you plan to pick up? Are there any readily available shades that I missed that we should know about?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for butter LONDON, China Glaze, Color Club, Cult Nails, Deborah Lippmann, Finger Paints, MAC, OPI and Zoya. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. This week marks the launch of the MAC Surf Baby collection. It is already for sale on MAC’s website and releases in store this Thursday, May 26th. Much like florals and pastels are heavily associated with Spring, beach themed collections go hand-in-hand with Summer. Summer 2007 brought the China Glaze Surf collection, 2008 the OPI Retro Fun In The Sun and 2010 saw RBL Surf’s Up. This year MAC is heading to the beach with one of their classic themed summer collections with packaging to match and they didn’t leave the nail polish out of the fun. Surf Baby includes two new nail polish colors, Ocean Dip and Hangin’ Loose and I have the former to share with you today.

Formula & Application: MAC Nail Lacquers are 4-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin).  The tall cylindrical glass bottles are topped with a round, rubberized cap and a thick, stiff, round brush. The MAC brush can be your best friend or worst enemy. It allows for perfect polish placement but if you press too hard you’ll end up with patchiness or drag marks, so polish with a light touch.

Ocean Dip has a thin, squishy texture that is well packed with pigment. The lacquer flows easily on the nail and self levels. If the brush wasn’t stepping on its toes, it would only need two coats. I managed to get away with two coats on two of my nails but I had to use three coats on my ring finger due to dragging issues caused by the brush.

MAC Ocean Dip is a bright turquoise creme. It’s pretty straight-forward in its coloring in that it doesn’t have any grey or murkiness in its base color yet it isn’t screaming neon. This one leans more green than your typical turquoise without crossing over into teal territory.

To give you an idea of where it falls in the nail polish color spectrum I pulled its closest living relatives from my stash; Essie Greenport, Models Own Slate Green and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sea Breeze. In the bottle I expected Sea Breeze to be a pretty close match if not an exact dupe but as you’ll see below, that’s exactly why you have to try on polish before making a verdict.

As it turns out Greenport doesn’t even belong in the same category as the other three polishes. It’s so much lighter and less pigmented than the rest. Sea Breeze is almost a one coater and ends up drying brighter, lighter and a bit more green than Ocean Dip. Models Own Slate Green has too much gray in its base to be a dupe. I would say that Sea Breeze is probably the closer sibling but there are no Ocean Dip twins to be found in my collection.

Bottom Line: Although I totally expected Ocean Dip to be just another turquoise, with multiple more accessible substitutes, it ended up being a unique color to my collection. If MAC’s brush wasn’t frustration on a stick it would get two thumbs up from me. I continue to hope the brush will be replaced someday soon. I would say unless you already own SH Sea Breeze, which was sadly a limited edition shade, and you can get over the brush, the color is worth having.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: I’m a sucker for MAC’s branded bottles and the color is a beaut so it’s sticking around in my STASH.

MAC Ocean Dip and the rest of the Surf Baby collection is available May 26th, 2011 at MAC counters nationwide and NOW online at MACCosmetics.com. MAC nail polish retails for $15/ea for a .34oz bottle.

Thoughts on Ocean Dip? Are you planning to succumb to the allure of the Surf Baby collection? What is your favorite MAC nail polish? Out of curiosity, those of you who don’t buy MAC polish, would you change your mind if the brush was better?

Disclosure: A product sample was provided by MAC. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with MAC polishes for a long time now.  At first it was issues with the formula but that has greatly improved. I used to say that MAC was only good for dark & sparkly polishes but since the formula change that’s no longer the case. Now my major point of contention is with the brush. Can we start some sort of petition to change that horrible stiff brush? I propose MAC switch to the brush in the mini bottles from their Tartan Holiday collection as it was truly fabulous! The current brush is hindering fabulous colors, like MAC Biker Blue, from achieving their true potential.

Formula & Application: MAC Nail Lacquers are 4-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin).  The tall cylindrical glass bottles are topped with a round, rubberized cap and a thick, stiff, round brush. The MAC brush can be your best friend or worst enemy. It allows for perfect polish placement but if you press too hard you’ll end up with patchiness or drag marks, so polish with a light touch.

The consistency of Biker Blue is nice and thin but well pigmented. It flows flawlessly on the nail and would only need two coats if it wasn’t for the brush causing dragging. I barely touched the nail with the brush but it still impedes application. I ended up needing three coats but that shouldn’t be the case. MAC PLEASE CHANGE THE BRUSH!!

MAC Biker Blue is a denim navy blue sparkler. It was released as part of the MAC Jeanius collection, thus the bit of dusty green in its base. It keeps it from being a true navy. The royal blue micro-glitter is apparent in most light but thankfully dries smooth.

When I first applied it, I thought I was looking at a dupe for Barielle Blackened Bleu from the All Lacquered Up Collection but the base of Biker Blue is decidedly blue whereas Blackened Bleu’s is black with teal micro-glitter.  The closest I came to finding a twin is the discontinued Revlon Street Wear Midnight.  The only major difference is the silver glitter in Midnight.

Bottom Line: I love the color and the finish but it’s not uber unique.  While I don’t have a dead-on dupe for it, I have enough sparkly blues to tide me over (hello RBL Under The Stars). I think that damn brush is keeping me from giving this one the thumbs up because I really do love MAC’s retooled formula and the wear time I get from their polishes.

365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: Unless someone knows of a way I can change out the brush on this polish, it’s a SHARE. Yes, I could dump it into an empty bottle but the brushes in my franken bottles aren’t much better.

MAC Biker Blue has been moved to the “Goodbyes” section of MACCosmetics.com so if you want this color, you best get on it. Availability at MAC counters will vary. MAC Nail Lacquers retail for $14/ea for a .34oz bottle.

Thoughts on Biker Blue? Did you pick it up when the collection launched? Who agrees that we should petition MAC for a new brush? Or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

Disclosure: A product sample was provide by MAC. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

The recently launched MAC Wonder Woman collection brought out the little girl and “nail artist” in me.  That’s right Fanatics, you didn’t misread the title, I said “nail artist.”  You can check my forehead for a fever all you like but I’m perfectly healthy AND loving my Wonder Woman themed foray into the nail art. I’m sure my fellow Gen-Xers will happily stroll down memory lane with me to the days of Wonder Woman Underoos and raven haired beauty, Lynda Carter, flying into living rooms nationwide in her invisible airplane.  At just four years old my Wonder Woman doll was my most prized possession next to my Donny Osmond doll, purple socks and all, of course.  Way before my Barbie obsession took hold, I was imagining myself lassoing evildoers to confess their crimes. The MAC Wonder Woman collection includes two new Nail Lacquers in WW’s signature colors; red (Obey Me) and blue (Spirit of Truth).  As easy as it would be for me to just wear the colors as a mani/pedi combo or a multi-colored manicure I decided to take it one step further, inspired by one of my fave nail art lovers, Nail Art Junkie’s Keri B.

Keri B is a regular at Sakura Nail Spa in NYC and she’s a faithful CalGel wearer.  She continues to top herself with each design concept she conceives with the artists at Sakura.  She wore some killer plaid for MAC’s A Tartan Tale launch and when MAC Fabulous Felines came out she went all “cat lady” crazy, something the furball mother in me can appreciate.

Now as you know I am normally not big into the whole nail art thing but when I saw Keri’s Wonder Woman nails, I was transfixed.  The gilded red moons, the blue and silver stars that mimic WW’s costume, the iconic Wonder Woman logo.  It all wowed me.  To the point that I decided to test out my amateur (at best) nail art skills to represent this collection.

I’ve had Milani’s Nail Art polishes for a while now but never had a reason to pull them out.  This was the perfect occasion. I used Black Sketch and Art of Gold to create the designs.  The Milani Nail Art polishes come in an easy to grip bottle with a thin nail art brush instead of your stand round polish brush.  While Black Sketch, a black creme, was very easy to work with, Art of Gold was chunky which made it perfect for filling in designs but not for drawing straight lines.

Spirit of Truth reminds me a lot of China Glaze First Mate in that it’s a cross between royal blue and navy.  The two colors are very similar.  To the point that owning one is all you really need.  The application of SoT was perfection.  The pigmentation was spot on.  I barely needed a second coat.  It’s one of those “had me at hello” kind of polishes.  The fact that MAC branded the bottles makes me love it even more.

I chose to do a multi-colored manicure for my base apply Spirit of Truth to my left hand with my Obey Me polished ring finger serving as the accent nail.  I painted the more intricate Wonder Woman symbol on this hand since my polishing skills aren’t as strong with my non-dominant hand.

Using Keri B’s photo as a guide (and practicing on a nail art wheel prior) I first painted the black outline of the WW symbol using Black Sketch and then filled in the design with Art of Gold.  Now because of AoG’s chunky nature it bleed onto the black a bit so I went back and redefined the lines after.  I started with the middle “W” but I placed it too high on the nail so when I painted the top one, the lines got a bit blurred. It’s far from perfect but I’m kind of mesmerized by it and can’t stop staring at my nails with pride.

Obey Me is a candy apple red creme.  It’s pretty straightforward and like Spirit of Truth is flowed flawlessly on the nail.  The formula for both these polishes is exquisite.

On this hand I applied Obey Me on four nails with Spirit of Truth on the ring finger accent nail.  I knew I couldn’t pull off a ton of little stars so I went for one big star instead.  What a disaster that turned out to be.

I can barely draw a respectable star with a pencil and paper so I don’t know WHY I thought I could draw one on my nail with my non-dominant hand with a chunky polish.  I tried to outline the star with Black Sketch to try and make the star shape more balanced but it can only do so much.  Clearly I’m not proud of how it turned out but I’m giving myself an A for effort.

Bottom Line: MAC did us right in this collection. They branded the bottles, which they should in every collection of this type (Venomous Villains I’m looking at you), they gave us beautiful colors that would make Wonder Woman proud and they delivered a formula worthy of the price point. Color me smitten!

The MAC Wonder Woman Collection is currently available online at MACCosmetics.com and at MAC counters nationwide. MAC Wonder Woman Nail Lacquers retail for $15/ea for a .34oz bottle.

Thoughts on the Wonder Woman polishes?  What do you think of my attempt at nail art?  Any tips on how to paint a star or do detail work with your non-dominant hand?  Did you get anything else from Wonder Woman?  I’m loving the fuchsia & red glosses.

Product samples were provided by MAC and Milani. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

image credit: Nail Art Junkie courtesy of Keri B.

Sunday was Day 4 of Fashion Week and I was off and running at the crack covering a show at 8am.  I’m so not a morning person but for nails, I make it happen.  On this day CND worked with two talented female designers, Malandrino and Behnaz Sarafpour .  While I wasn’t able to see the Malandrino show, based on the tweets from my fave fashion bloggers, every piece was covet worthy. New York urbanites and Parisians alike will delight in today’s CND manicures which honor the sophisticated, jet-setting woman From a pale, purple tinged grey nail to graphic, futuristic French manicures based on shoes, we see two classic looks made modern.

At Behnaz Sarafpour, CND’s Wanda Ruiz created Manolo Manicures inspired by two styles of namesake custom-designed shoes by Manolo Blahnik for the show using clear French tips and Blackjack; and other tips with Blackjack smile lines and Putty on the base of the nail. These modern twists on a classic 40′s French manicure accentuated romantic, messy buns and shiny nude lips. Nails popped in a presentation with gorgeous black leather and lace, and timeless tweed.

I spoke with MAC VP of Makeup Artistry Gordon Espinet about the makeup look at Behnaz. Gordon is not only brilliant and talented, he’s an absolute pleasure to interview. He is economical in his word choice yet he paints a vivid picture, interjecting his own take on the look he creates for a designer. It’s not just about references, it’s about taking that look and translating it to where we are today in beauty.

Gordon says there is a movement back to luxury. That “luxury” had become somewhat of a naughty word, for obvious reasons, but that it seems okay to say again. We’re in a time where 60s and 70s references abound; icons like Brigitte Bardot and Twiggy. He’s seeing a lot of eyeliner and neutrals. That it’s really about looking sophisticated, super glamorous and elegant.

At Behnaz he used new cream shadows, applying a peach highlight, patina beige on the outer half of the lid and vanilla on the inner corner. He said it’s not about them looking like done up women. It’s about having that sexy radiance that only luxury can give you. The winged liner in this look is almost like a little girl would wear. More innocent. Brigitte Bardot versus Audrey Hepburn.

The Behnaz Sarafpour Twitter account shared one of the two Manolo Blahnik shoes she collaborated on. These inspired the clear French tips.

At Malandrino, smokey eyes and tousled curls were accentuated by CND’s Angi Wingle’s Urban Haze manicure. Nail color was custom blended using base shades of Silver Chrome and Brilliant White with drops of Asphalt, Putty, Desert Suede, Eclectic Purple and Bicycle Yellow. The Parisian chic finished look was satinized with Super Matte for asphalt gray with purple haze overlay to accessorize sumptuous furs, wide brimmed and dandy hats, and elegant, femme fatale silhouettes.

Maybelline New York Makeup Artist Gato Zamora described the look at Malandrino as, “A Parisian girl, very young, very fresh in the 70s with a touch of sophistication.”  He shared that the secret of the look is to create a very smooth, healthy canvas using the new Maybelline Fit Me Foundation.  The luminous complexion paired with sweet juicy lips contrast the very dark eyes that are smoky with a pop of purple in the middle. To create the eye he used Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow in Purple Icon.

On a side note, I picked up a bottle of Fit Me Foundation after reading a raves from my beauty Twitter friends and it really is fantastic.  It applies so smooth like a tinted moisturizer but gives great coverage.

The custom nail color was hand mixed on site. CND’s Angi Wingle frankened 5-6 different options for the designer to choose from not long before I arrived.  Her and the rest of the CND team were still mixing up bottles to use only a couple hours before showtime.  Rather than mix up a traditional lavender, to pair with the purple pop on the eye, Angi smoked it out to make it modern.

The result is a greyed lavender in the same vein of my latest obsession, Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant. Only despite what the images may portray, CND’s Urban Haze leans more grey than purple in person.  Angi described it as a “purple haze cement” color. She said they softened the color with a coat of Super Matte top coat to add a satin finish.  She notes that she’s seeing a lot of use of Super Matte and suggests that nails are moving from accessories to fabric.  That a glossy nail is an accessory, like jewelry, but a satin finish gives it a fabric texture.

Given my love of Insouciant, is it any surprise that the Urban Haze manicure is my favorite look of the day? It’s definitely a mix I want to recreate. If you want the chance to make your own bottle at home, leave a comment telling me which of the two CND looks you like best. One winner will receive one bottle each of Silver Chrome, Brilliant White Asphalt, Putty, Desert Suede, Eclectic Purple, Bicycle Yellow and Super Matte.

Entries will be accepted until Midnight EST, today February 15th. Leave a comment and make sure you include your email address in the comment form, but not the actual body of the comment (for privacy reasons).

Also, I spoke with Angi Wingle and when the fashion week crazy is over, she’s going to find a way to minimize the mix so you can recreate Urban Haze at home without as many polishes. Stay tuned for updates.

The hotly anticipated MAC Venomous Villains Collection is about to hit shelves and I have a feeling that it will be an even bigger hit than any of MAC’s previous collaborations simply because of the worldwide love for Disney.  Yes, Barbie and Hello Kitty both have huge fan bases but the mouse trumps them all.

The collection, broken into four parts, is based on famous Disney animated villains; Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Evil Queen from Snow White, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.  Each mini collection reflects the look of that character with Disney providing the actual Pantone shades used in animation to help MAC design the color palettes.

Of course a collection like this must include nail color and three new shades have been included in the Maleficent set. Three foil, duo-chrome glitters named Bad Fairy, Formidable! and Mean & Green.

When asked about creating the color palettes for each character Jennifer Balbier, VP of Product Development, said that Maleficent’s look is “more surreal.”  Stating that, “she was pure fantasy for us.  That’s where we put in a lot of crazy purples, blackened shades and beautiful pearlized nails.”

Formula & Application: MAC Nail Lacquers are 4-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) with a thick, stiff, round brush.  The MAC brush can be your best friend or worst enemy.  It allows for perfect polish placement but if you press too hard you’ll end up with patchiness or drag marks, so polish with a light touch.

All of these lacquers have a semi-sheer base packed with foil glitter that reflects two colors giving a duo-chrome effect.  Because of the lack of opacity in the base you need a good three coats to get full coverage.  I find that with MAC polishes applying two thin coats and then one medium-thick coat works best.

Bad Fairy is the unique flower in this bunch.  You may have heard that the other two polishes in the VV collection have twins in the Orly Cosmic FX collection but Bad Fairy does not.  The base color is a rosy magenta with glitter that flashes a warm golden red.

Formidable! has a deep plum base with teal blue sparkle.  Like its Orly counterpart it has that glammed out bruise look to it.  If any of you remember Urban Decay Bruise, this is a blinged out version.

Orly Galaxy Girl looks a little less shimmery than Formidable! due to the camera angle but trust me, they are indistinguishable in person.

Mean & Green has a murky sea green base filled with multi-faceted shimmer that flashes rose, gold, copper and pink depending on how the light hits it.  The base color adds a greenish glow at the edges.  As you know, its Orly doppelganger Space Cadet was my fave from that collection so this one gets high praise from me as well even if the pictures don’t do it justice.

Can you see the differences between Mean & Green and Orly Space Cadet?  Neither can I.  They both apply the same and have the same amount of teal peeking through the glitter particles.

Bottom Line: I really wish MAC has decorated the polish bottles in this collection like they did for Hello Kitty.  That would have made these polishes uber-collectible in spite of their Orly dupes.  Regardless I doubt these polishes will last long once they go on sale.  However, since they didn’t brand the polishes with Maleficent, if you already own the Orly twins there’s no need to buy them from MAC.  Bad Fairy, on the other hand, is a total must-have if you’re into the foil nail look.

MAC Venomous Villains Collection launches on September 30th, 2010 at MAC counters nationwide.  MACCosmetics.com should have the collection up on Tuesday and I know that the MAC Pro website already has the collection on sale.  MAC Nail Lacquers retail for $13/ea for a .34oz bottle.

Thoughts on the Venomous Villains polishes?  Are you loving or hating the foil finish polishes?  Will you still buy the MAC polishes even if you have the Orly’s simply because they’re part of a Disney themed collection?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by MAC.  For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Fashion’s Night Out, as Nancy from Beauty411 would say, was a cluster!  I chose to go to SoHo and I think every other person on the planet was there.  Seriously, cars couldn’t get down the street because people were standing twenty deep outside a store just to get a glimpse of a celebrity. With over 900 events at stores all over New York City, trying to figure out a game plan was a challenge to say the least.  Of course I KNEW I was going to the new Chanel SoHo Boutique, how could I not, but the rest of the night was up in the air. With my friend, and roommate, Nancy at my side we trekked all over SoHo marveling at the crowds and accidentally stumbling across one of my Top 29 events of the night.  Read on to find out all about my Fashion’s Night Out adventure with Chanel, Essie and MAC.

I started the night with a visit to the Lincoln Center tents to see Essie and Celebrity Manicurist Elle. Essie was providing manicures, using some of her most popular shades, in celebration of FNO. Can you guess the polishes the guests could choose from? Ballet Slippers, natch, Mink Muffs, Sole Mate and Fishnet Stockings.  Essie and Elle will be back at the tents today providing manicures as well.

Next stop the Chanel SoHo store. We thought getting there a little before 6pm was the best plan of action but apparently everyone else thought to get there WAY in advance. When we arrived there was already a line wrapped around the store and halfway down the block. It was insane. The thing is, I think a lot of people were unsure of what was happening at the boutique and expected something outside of what Chanel was offering. I heard one person mention that she wanted a pedicure, um that’s not going to happen, and another thought some big celebrity was making an appearance.  Above all, everyone seemed to be interested in getting their hands on the Khaki and SoHo story colors.

Fortunately the line moved pretty fast once the store opened.  Once they reached capacity, guests were only allowed in as customers left but it still didn’t take too long.  As we stepped inside the door, my eyes bee-lined to a row of Chanel high top tables set up with manicure supplies and Chanel Khaki polishes, the Nail Bars.  Customers could get a polish change by signing up for a Nail Bar appointment.  The whole operation seemed pretty efficient.

Of course being that I already had the Khakis in my possession, I was all about setting my eyes on the CHANEL SoHo Story polishes. The line just to see the collection was nuts but I had the good fortune of having a PR person from Chanel at my side to snag a set of polishes for me to check out. Thankfully she also allowed me to snap photos since photography isn’t permitted in the Chanel Boutiques.

Chanel Strong & Steel (boutique lighting)

Chanel Strong & Steel (flash)

As you can see, Strong looks very different depending on the lighting but I would say its a red grape shimmer. I wasn’t able to swatch it on my nails so I can’t really judge it but in the bottle I’m not wowed. Same goes for Steel. I’m way more into Khaki Vert than either of these but that’s just me. I do have the polishes waiting for me at home though and maybe seeing them on the nail will change my mind.

Here’s a shot of me and Nancy from Beauty 411 at the SoHo Boutique.  Nancy was on a post-purchase high after picking up a new Chanel wallet.  She’s proof that people really do shop on Fashion’s Night Out.  It’s not just about the freebies and celeb sightings.

I was really hoping I’d get to see Chanel’s Celebrity Manicurist Tom Bachik but he was delayed, I assume due to the crazy traffic. Though I did get to visit with Wendy from Nitrolicious and manicurist Julie Kandalec. You may remember me mentioning Julie in the past. She’s from my hometown and has been doing editorial/runway work in NYC & LA. She’s actually taking the leap and moving from Cleveland to NYC soon so it was fun to catch up and talk about her plans.

After our visit to Chanel we wandered somewhat aimlessly looking for a store without a crazy line that had something fun going on. We somehow ended up at the entrance to MAC Pro SoHo and I freaked when I realized I would have the chance to see comedienne Sarah Silverman perform. Nance and I managed to snag a viewing spot right in front of the stage so we had the perfect spot to see this funny lady’s stand-up set.

Sarah was performing to celebrate the launch of MAC Fabulous Felines and to promote the release of her new book Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee.  How the two are related, I have no clue but seriously you guys, I LO-OVE Sarah Silverman.  She’s dirty, raunchy and beyond hilarious.  Have you seen her in The Aristocrats?  She kind of made sitting through that movie tolerable.  Well her and Bob Saget.  And her Jewish jokes crack me up.  I don’t really claim any religion but half of my family is Jewish (the other is Catholic, scandalous) so even though I can’t totally relate, I get her humor.

Can we talk for just one sec about how hot Sarah looks?  I mean, for real!  The dress, the shoes, the long bob, the makeup… she seriously wowed me in person.

After her 15 minute set, including a song using the c-word more times than I could count, she signed copies of her book for 100 fans. Cool, right? We also got to see some of our fave MAC ladies, Heather & Erin and spotted Vice President of Makeup Artistry Gordon Espinet.

Upon leaving MAC we were kind of over FNO.  Our feet were killing us, we hadn’t eaten and the crowds were unbearable.  The bad part, we had no clue which way to go to get to the subway.  As we wandered the streets we came across a madhouse of people surrounding the Piperlime store where Rachel Zoe was making an appearance.  I swear, you would think baby Jesus was inside.  Everyone was screaming Rachel as though she was actually outside and camera flashes were lighting up the street like fireworks.  It was insane.  She’s a PERSON not a god.  I’m not gonna lie, I’d love to meet her but let’s take it down a notch people.  She’s not going to make you look like Demi Moore.  She’s not a wizard.

At that point, I was so over it all.  Grabbing a slice of pizza and putting on my pajamas was all I cared about.  We eventually found our way back to the subway and our hotel.  Though I couldn’t help but wonder if Fashion’s Night Out actually did what it set out to accomplish.  Did people actually buy more to help stimulate the fashion economy?  Or were they just out for the treats and celebrities? From what I’ve read, it wasn’t as much of a success as last year.  Based on seeing a lack of shopping bags I’d have to agree.  Maybe instead of focusing on events, stores should offer more discounts along the lines of Black Friday.  Just sayin.

Ruffian is not just a clothing line, it’s now part of the lacquer lexicon.  Last season’s ridiculously popular moon manicure from the Ruffian FW runway with its matte blue base and chrome gold moon set the nail world a flutter.  Dubbed the Ruffian Manicure, numerous blogs have shared their take of CND’s creation.  I especially loved Lacquerized’s matte & glossy version (she posted a fab step-by-step). Fast forward to Spring/Summer ’11.  Ruffian and CND have done it again.  This season they go for a very French full moon manicure that includes colored tips as well.  I remember spying a similar look using pastels on the Christian Dior couture runway in 2007 which I believe CND created as well.

The Look

I spoke with CND’s Amanda Fontanarrosa who told me that Ruffian, who have made the moon manicure their signature nail style, wanted a very sleek, elegant, 40′s vintage-inspired nail.  The base is a custom blend that you can recreate using one coat of CND Putty with one coat of CND Washed Down White on top.  The moon and tip are polished with CND Blackjack but Amanda suggested using a coffee or bronze shade to switch up the look.  To make the look completely signature a Ruffian logo was screened on the ring finger nails.

Designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais pay amazing attention to the small details and were very specific about how deep they wanted the smile line on the nails.  In a typical French manicure the line is pretty straight across which flattens and widens the nail.  These smiles go right into the corners to create the illusion of a more sleek, elegant nail.

Creating A Moon Manicure

Moons are extremely intimidating to me and something I have yet to master.  The key to a moon manicure is good brush control, something I clearly lack.  Every time I’ve tried a moon, shaky is the best way to describe my lines.  Amanda recommends doing a little tiny swipe from one side to the other.  Don’t go for full coverage, just make a clean line and then fill in.  A nail art brush/polish will make it easier to work on the smaller nails.

I asked Amanda if it’s possible to create a moon without the polish hitting the skin and it seems that no matter how skilled you are, mistakes like that will still happen.  She recommends massaging cuticle oil, like Solar Oil, into the skin prior to polishing to make it easier to remove any errors.  It’s actually a great tip that should be added to any manicure routine.  Let’s face it, unless you are an extremely precise polisher, we all get lacquer on our skin from time to time.  Applying oil prior to polishing makes cleanup effortless.  It’s actually something I’ve incorporated into my own routine ever since I tried the water marble technique.

Makeup by James Kaliardos for MAC

One thing I love about interviewing James Kaliardos is that he always has such great references for his looks. It’s not just descriptors like fresh, beachy, gothic, etc. Those are fine and all James really drives his style of beauty home with specific imagery. For Ruffian he described the look as being, “like Marlene Dietrich in the Sahara, Lauren Hutton traveling to Africa. It’s very World War II fighting for America as an ex-patriot. So it’s kind of this idea of this woman leaving her own country and adapting the culture of a new country. Sort of nomadic, a voyager. Taking her glamour wherever she goes. Sandy, dune-y, gold-y.” I mean, can you even? James says he sees gold being a big trend in makeup for spring.

As we watched him place a set of lashes to his model someone asked for tips about applying false eyelashes. James laughed and said, “good luck” and then suggested using individual lashes. He marveled at the fact that women used to do a full face of makeup including lashes on the regular.  Honestly, I do too.  I have a hard enough time doing my makeup daily for Fashion Week.

For a full breakdown of the MAC products used for this look, check back.  I will update as soon as I get the list.

What do you think of this season’s Ruffian manicure? Is it something you’ll want to recreate? Do you like the moon manicure look? Who has some great tips for painting moons?

MAC Nail Trend F/W 10 officially launches today at MAC counters nationwide.  The polishes went up on the MAC website Tuesday and surprisingly they have not sold out.  Perhaps due to the craze over Fabulous Felines. Speaking of Fabulous Felines, if you’re like me and totally intimidated by liquid liner I highly suggest you try the Superslick Liquid Eye Liners in this collection.  I swear on my Helmers that they’re so easy to apply, I just may give up my pots of Fluidline and I’ve been using them for YEARS. On to the reason you’re all here.  I wanted to give you some color comparisons before the Nail Trend colors sold out so thank you to everyone who submitted swatch suggestions.

Application tip: I mentioned in my initial review that I experienced some patchiness due to the stiffness of the brush.  I found that if I load up the brush with a little extra polish than normal and gently stroke the brush held horizontal to the nail, I get less dragging.  Use a very light touch.

The two main requests I had regarding Earthly Harmony were Sephora by OPI Under My Trench Coat and China Glaze Ingrid.  Look how brown Ingrid appears when photographed next to Earthly Harmony.  Crazy, right?  While Under My Trench is lighter and a bit warmer than Earthly Harmony they are much closer in color to each other than Ingrid.

Originally I thought Imperial Flower looked like China Glaze Orange Marmalade but I had the polishes confused in my mind.  It was the other orange glass fleck from China Glaze I was thinking of, Orange-Pacific.  OP is a smidge darker, much more sparkly and leans a bit more red.

Those of you who suggested butter LONDON British Racing Green as a substitute for MAC Jade Dragon were definitely on the right path.  In the bottle I thought you all were crazy but on the nail, they’re not that far off.  The shimmer in BRG is small and evenly dispersed while Jade’s is more like a little sister to glass fleck. It’s more subdued but still multi-sized.  Color-wise Jade Dragon is more green and a bit more intense.  OPI Cuckoo For This Color is nothing like the other two.

Ming Blue has no real substitute in my collection and none of the suggested comparisons made sense next to it so I chose to show two popular OPI’s that are in the same color family to give you a good reference point.  OPI Dating A Royal has a similar, though lighter, base color and Yoga-ta Get This Blue has similar shimmer though it’s darker and leans more towards navy.

Rain of Flowers stumped me.  Even though I’m not a fan of this color because of how dark it is, finding comparisons wasn’t easy.  The base is a deep red grape but the shimmer makes it look blue.  The color would be stunning if it wasn’t so dark.  I may try mixing in some white polish to see if that makes it a winner.

I saw a request for OPI Ink and I mentioned I thought it might be an opaque Illamasqua Boo!.  We were both wrong.  I layered Boo! over Illamasqua Baptiste since it’s a reddish purple and it’s so off.  OPI Ink is way too light with too much blue in its base.

Bottom Line: While I found no true dupes for the Nail Trend colors, you may consider passing on Jade Dragon, even though I wouldn’t, if you own British Racing Green. The finish is definitely different and the colors aren’t identical but unless you are a green fanatic you might not find it necessary to life like I do. Ming Blue is still a definite must and Earthly Harmony is a great funky neutral for fall.

MAC Nail Trend F/W 10 created in collaboration with Jin Soon is on sale now in the US and launches Internationally in October. MAC polishes retail for $13/ea for a .34oz bottle and can be purchased online from MACCosmetics.com.

I hope these comparisons were helpful.  If you have any additional color questions, feel free to email me or post them in the comments below.

Have I helped convince you to purchase a color or has this saved your wallet from unnecessary expense?  What Nail Trend colors are on your shopping list? And if you already ordered, what did you get?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to me by MAC.  For more info view my Disclosure Policy.

Jin Soon does it again! Following up her slam dunk sell-out collaboration with MAC last fall, they have teamed up again on Nail Trend F/W 10. If you aren’t familiar with the genius that is Jin Soon check out The Nail Files interview I posted last year. She’s major in the editorial world and really on her game with color as evidenced by the nail polishes she created with MAC. Mistress of the art of the sophisticated nail, Jin Soon was inspired this season by the sensual pleasures of the Forbidden City for Nail Trend F/W ’10 – colours taken from the sculptures, tiles, architecture, fabrics, and decorative papers of Imperial China. Jin synthesized this vision to arrive at a collection in exotic and ravishing combinations of orange, blue, taupe, green, purple and, of course, lacquer red.

Application and Formula: MAC polishes are 4-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin). The brush is firm and short and the cap is rubberized giving a sturdy grip. Normally I love the brush on MAC polishes but for some reason with this collection the stiffness caused a bit of patchiness with the darkest color.

I think my friend Heather Park said it best when she described the finish of the polishes as resembling “car paint.”  The bottles are very deceptive as the micro fine glitter gives the impression that this will be one big glitter ball but it’s not that kind of party.

As I mentioned in my review of the Alice & Olivia lacquers, MAC’s formula has impressed me lately and for the most part this collection follows suit but there are a few problems as I noted in the individual color review.

I must advise that you be careful with removal.  With the exception of Earthly Harmony and Imperial Flower, they all stained my fingers in spite of putting cuticle oil on my skin prior.

Jade Dragon – um can we pause for just a second and stare at this beauty?  I mean really, this color is ridiculous.  The shimmer is subtle but captivating, the shade of green is a vivid evergreen and it glides on in a flawless two coats.  I honestly wasn’t expecting much from Jade Dragon.  As much as I love greens I’ve become a bit jaded, no pun intended, and find it hard to be truly wowed but this one reeled me in.  I’m telling you, go swatch this at your MAC counter the day it comes out and you won’t be able to walk away without it.  If you do, I seriously question your judgment.

Rain of Flowers is a deep purple that looks more indigo when dried.  The mass amounts of blue micro-glitter are to blame.  In the bottle I thought this would be the opaque version of Illamasqua Boo but it let me down.  It’s really dark and even though up close and in bright light you can see the shimmer it looks like a vampy creme from far away.  My other issue is that it went on patchy thanks to the stiff brush so I needed three coats.  No bueno!

Ming Blue is inspired by the shade of a Ming vase.  Okay don’t judge me but I play Farmville on Facebook and the first thing I thought of when I saw this was the morning glory flowers you can plant in the game.  I said don’t judge.  Anyway, this color is achingly gorgeous with its flecks aqua shimmer.

Earthly Harmony fits in well with the whole neutral trend happening right now.  This warm taupe with bronzey gold shimmer reminds me of SOPI Under My Trench Coat.  I’ll have to dig that one out and see for myself. I must say that I was impressed that in spite of its creamy light base, this one flowed easily and provided full coverage in two coats.

Concubine is a sexy dark cherry red with light red sparkle.  The base has a jelly-ish feel and look to it so this one applied a bit on the sheer side.  I’m showing it with only two coats which looks just about perfect outside of a touch of VNL (visible nail line).  I must admit that while I get that the name fits in with the theme, I’m not really on board with it due to the negative connotation associated with the word.

Imperial Flower is a bright juicy orange with some red-orange leanings due to the red shimmer.  It’s like a more subdued version of China Glaze Orange Marmalade.  I love this type of shade for summer but it doesn’t necessarily say fall to me.  Like Concubine, this color had some VNL issues but the jelly look makes up for it.

Bottom Line: With so many brands embracing the glitter this fall it’s somewhat refreshing to see a collection with exciting colors that are little more low key on the finish. I know a lot of you are anti-glitter for many reason so this is a way to add some glam without going all out.

Obviously Jade Dragon has my heart and it’s an ALU must-have but Ming Blue and Earthly Harmony are definitely worth checking out.  Rain of Flowers gets a pass from me and while Concubine and Imperial Flower aren’t uber-unique I don’t doubt they will sell out.

MAC Nail Trend F/W 2010 launches on August 26th, 2010 in the US and October 2010 Internationally.  The polishes will be available at MAC counters nationwide and online at MACCosmetics.com, Nordstrom.com and Bloomingdales.com.  They typically appear online a couple days before the official launch date.  MAC Nail Trend polishes retail for $13/ea.

Thoughts on the collection?  Which colors do you intend to pick up?  What do you think of the finish?  Any comparison requests?

I know I’m behind on the whole comparison thing but you all had so many great suggestions, it’s hard to get through them all.  I’ll try to post the MAC ones before they go on sale.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by MAC. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.