Isn't Sheeee, Pretty In Pink (Creme)

I'm not a girly pink loving kind of girl. I give that title to my girl Nikki who is pink personified. However, this summer in addition to my major orange fetish, I'm all about a glossy pink nail. But I'm not talking about baby pinks or sheers here. No it's all about bright, bold, hot pink cremes. Creme finishes give these vibrant hues a chic spin that keeps them from being too garish.

And I'm not the only one feeling this trend. Celebs like Lindsay Lohan, Vanessa Mannillo and Miley Cyrus have all been caught rocking the pink. And even though the hamsters on Big Brother 10 have only been streaming live for a couple days now, one of the contestants, Keesha, has already delved into the nail polish stash to pinkify her nails.

Images: Splash News, Big Brother Caps and Faded Youth Blog

If you want to join the Pretty In Pink-ness here are the shades I recommend. For a slightly softer pink that still makes a splash try: Wet N Wild Dreamy Poppy, Essie Movers & Shakers, OPI Elephantastic Pink, Essie Guilty Pleasures, Orly Butterflies, Nubar Camelot Blossom


And if you want to go for full-on bright, in-your-face fuchsia look for CND Hot Pop Pink, Zoya Jewell, OPI That's Hot Pink, NARS Schiap, Lippmann Angel Eyes and Nubar Geisha Blaze. (Note: Geisha Blaze & Angel Eyes have extremely subtle shimmer but it doesn't show on the nail)



Now the trick in pulling this look off is perfect application. Any bubbles, dents or ridges will only be magnified with a creme so prep is the most important step. If you aren't going to a salon (I don't) make sure you buff out any flaws and use a great ridge filling base coat, like Seche, to give the lacquer a smooth application surface.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's never too late to make a difference. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month but that doesn't mean that it's all over tomorrow. We need to promote prevention and research, all year long. You can still help find a cure by supporting these manufacturers' efforts.

Dashing Diva supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For every bottle of pink Dashing Diva nail polish you buy, we will donate 50% of the profits to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Pictured are seven of Dashing Diva's most popular pink polishes. (l-r)Petal Pushing Petunia, Dizzy Pinky Lizzie, Daisy Pink, Falmingo Fay, Pink Martini Marni, Pink Lollipop Lola, Prima Donna Pink

nubar announces the Collection for the Cure for 2008. A collection of four nubar nail products which are great for everyday wear. Two beautiful pink shades, Pink Cami and Je’Taime, a foundation base coat and Diamond Seal & Shine. 10% of the retail price of the Collection for the Cure will go towards St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and the City of Hope. nubar offers products that are free of harmful ingredients such as; Toluene, Formaldehyde or DBP (Phthalate). Your purchase is a commitment to help support education, outreach, research and all of our critical programs throughout the country.

Show your support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Pink of Hearts, a new OPI Nail Lacquer created exclusively to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure in its promise to end breast cancer forever. In 2007, OPI will make a donation of $25,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.*

Join Essie in their Pink Is Powerful campaign. The shade, Pink Is Powerful, is a pale, shimmery sheer pink intended to inspire hope. 10% of the profits from Pink Is Powerful will be donated to the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund throughout the month of October.



In addition, Essie is offering this limited edition Pink Is Powerful Minis set. The set includes 1/8 oz. bottles of Sensitivity Base Coat, Pink is Powerful Limited Edition Colour, Pink Glove Service Colour and Good to Go! Topcoat. Essie will donate $1 for each set sold to the Women's Cancer Research Fund.

Nubar's Making the Movie Scene

NUBAR NAIL PRODUCTS WILL PLAY A STARRING ROLE IN
“HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU”

A relationship between nubar Products and Hollywood’s hot film “He’s Just Not That Into You” has developed. Lead Man Brent Rice selected nubar for the nail salon scene. Production started early September in Los Angeles.

The film fictionalizes the popular 2004 self-improvement book “He’s Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys” that was co-written by stand-up comedian Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. The cast of “He’s Just Not That Into You” includes Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Long, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper and Ginnifer Goodwin. Barrymore is producing the film through her Flower Films company. According to IMDB.com, the film will be set in Baltimore and will be showing in theatres some time in 2009.

image and info: Nubar

Nubar Halloween Nail Art Pen Kit

The Trick or Treat Creativity kit from Nubar is perfect for your Halloween nail art needs. Like say, if you wanted to enter a certain CONTEST.

The set includes nail art pens in pumpkin orange, jet black creme and sunny lemon yellow and a bottle of Diamond Seal & Shine Top Coat. The tiny brushes on these nail art pens are perfect for detailing.
Ok now don't laugh too hard but, I decided to try out the kit on a nail art wheel to see how easy they are to use. I've never attempted this type of detail before and even though my first try (seen below) isn't exactly award worthy, it was fun to do. I suggest buying some blank press on nails or tips at your local drugstore or beauty supply to practice on.

Nubar Support The Cure

via nubar PR:
nubar, "The Healthy Alternative for Beautiful Nails” announces the Support for the Cure Collection for 2007. A collection of four nubar nail products which are great for everyday wear. Two beautiful pink shades, Pink Cami and J’Taime, a foundation base coat and Diamond Seal & Shine. 10% of the retail price of the Support for the Cure Collection will go towards St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and the City of Hope. nubar offers products that are free of harmful ingredients such as; Toluene, Formaldehyde or DBP (Phthalate). Your purchase is a commitment to help support education, outreach, research and all of our critical programs throughout the country.
With Breast Cancer Awareness Month only a few weeks away, I thought this was a good time to review nubar's contribution to the many pink products you can buy to help find a cure. While I normally frown on sets that include base and top coats because I'd rather have more colors, nubar's Foundation Base Coat and Diamond Seal & Shine Topcoat are so fantastic that I love having back up bottles of both. If you haven't tried them, you really should.

J'taime is a frosty pale bubblegum pink. The metallic shimmer did make application a bit tricky. If you have too much polish on your brush you can end up with brush strokes and pooling. Just make sure to wipe off the brush well and you'll have no problem. What you see below is two coats (a very thin 1st coat and thicker 2nd) with no topcoat.

Shade

Sunlight

Pink Cami is a sheer baby pink with silver and green shimmer. The green shimmer really doesn't show up in these pictures but in person it's very unique. Like Zoya, nubar has a really amazing Big 3 Free formula that applies smooth and even.

Shade

Sunlight

Nubar Nail Lacquer

Based in LA and named after founder Noubar Abrahamian, Nubar nail polish is "The Healthy Alternative for Beautiful Nails."

I received a sampling of Nubar shades to test out and I'm very pleased with the quality of their formula.

Precarious Lavender and Unfaithful Red are part of the Liquid Metals collection and while I tend not to like metallic finishes because they show brush marks, I was pleasantly surprised when I put Unfaithful Red on my tips (see below). The brush stroke marks were extremely slight and probably something only I could see. The polish itself is a bit goopy and I did have to redo my first nail until I figured out the right amount of polish to have on my brush but after that, it applied beautifully.

Red Ruby Glitz is part of the Trendy 1 Nail Lacquers which includes the fabulous Grass Green Glitter. Unfortunately, this one fell short for me. It's a red glaze with glitter and too sheer for my taste. I used 3 coats on the nail wheel below and it was still semi-sheer. It just doesn't compare to my beloved China Glaze Ruby Pumps.

Mali-Blue & Pasadena Purple are also part of the Trendy 1 Nail Lacquers collection and are both well pigmented shimmers. Mali-Blue is my favorite shade of the bunch. Being a blue lover it was pretty much a given that I'd be drawn to Mali-Blue and the bright royal hue will look fab this summer. Pasadena Purple is grapey purple that would make a great addition to most collections. I do have similar shades though so it's not a must have for me.

Finally Indigo Illusion from the Trendy 2 Nail Lacquers collection is a truly unique shade that may not be everyone's cup of tea but certainly got my attention. It's a hard shade to describe. Blue, green, purple, it changes depending on the light. If you like that sort of duochrome thing, I suggest you see it for yourself.

Speaking with Nubar's Terry Akins, an extremely knowledgeable manicurist, she suggested that using base and top coats that contain the Big 3 chemicals with a more natural product, like Nubar, will affect it's wearability. So I did the Unfaithful Red mani below using Nubar's Foundation Base Coat and Diamond Seal & Shine top coat.

The base coat dried quickly and gave me a nice even surface to apply the lacquer. The top coat dried very fast considering that it's not a speed dry product, like Poshe or Seche Vite. I was able to function after about ten minutes. The only downside for me was the wear. My polish hardly ever chips and after a couple days, I not only had tip wear but a couple of chips on my tips. So even though I am impressed with the lacquer as a whole, based on one mani, their treatments aren't winning me over. But, I will give them another shot and report back.