Deck the Nails: The New Black Glimmer Twins

Maybe it's just me, but I think there's something so elegant about black nails against a little black dress. I recently performed in a concert that required an LBD, which gave me the perfect excuse to pull out this pretty pair of polishes:

Photo Credit: Sephora

They're minatures! How precious is that?!

The black base coat is a deep, rich black that dries to a patent leather-like finish, and looks gorgeous on its own. The sparkling top coat is a sheer black with loads of silver stardust glitter. Layered over the base, you get this:

I added the gold accent nail (Sephora by O.P.I. Looks Like Rain Dear) to break up the black, and also to avoid having the sweet little Deacon at my church ask me if I'd slammed my fingers in the door...again...

Woo...slightly closer up!

Oddly enough, the first chip I got was from slamming my finger in a door. True story. Aside from that, I was able to wear this for about three days with only the slightest wear around the tips. No noticeable chipping occurred until the fourth day, but it would have been easily taken care of if I'd had the time or the inclination. I'm re-painting them Friday, so really, what's the point?

I hope you've been enjoying this series. I'll, hopefully, have another installment next week. Have a great Wednesday!

November Favorites

It's December? When did that happen? Well, I guess that means it's time for November Favorites. Enjoy!

Eyes:
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Silver Spoon
I got this as a Sephora freebie (and a darn nice one! It's full-sized!), and it works beautifully as a base for silvery eye shadows. The shadows stick better and the colors really pop. It's also gorgeous on its own, with a very metallic, almost wet-look finish. It's a showstopper. Unfortunately, the only place I can find it now is Amazon, so grab it while you can. I've given mine a workout this season!

Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Verve
This is one of those silvery shadows that looks phenomenal over the Benefit, and this color combination has become a go-to for me this month. Verve is an oyster color, and can be found individually, in Naked 2, and also in the Rollergirl palette.

Lips:
Buxom Big & Healthy Lipstick in Bombay
I've had this one for a while, but recently rediscovered it. Now, I don't know why I haven't been wearing it more! The Buxom lipsticks are true multi-taskers, working as liner, long-wearing color, and plumper. Alone, their almost matte, but can be worn under a gloss and still retain excellent staying power. Bombay is a warm rose.

MAC Lipstick in Shy Girl
It's an oldie but a goodie! Shy Girl is a creamy coral nude beige creamsheen, and makes a great nude lip color for pale chickies like me. It does have a pinky-orange cast, so I recommend it for use with rose golds and peaches.

Face:
NARS Blush in Super Orgasm
Maybe it's just me, but this seems slightly pinker than the original version of the cult favorite. I normally don't wear this one, seeing as it's a glitterbomb on your cheeks. However, it's the holiday season, and if you can't wear glitter now, then when can you?! I've been dusting it on all month, and it just makes me feel all holly and jolly on the inside.

Benefit Watts Up
When wearing a glitterbomb on your cheeks, you kind of have to take it easy on the highlighter. This just leaves a beautiful champagne sheen that doesn't overpower your look.

Nails:
Urban Decay in Fame
Why, oh why don't I appreciate things when they're readily available? This is a stunning pinky-gold taupe that looks fabulous with chunky sweaters and all things Fall. The formula is smooth and easy to work with, and the finish is a semi-opaque (you can still see a little nail through it) satin. It's long-wearing and chip-resistent, and available on Amazon. Good luck!

Sephora by O.P.I. in Looks Like Rain Dear
I was torn between this and the Zoya Daul, but Looks Like Rain Dear wins out for versatility. You can wear it alone, as an accent nail, or even as part of a funky French manicure, if you're into that sort of thing.  

Hair:
Ion Daily Solutions Dry Shampoo
When I renewed my Sally Club Card, I got to try a free Ion product, so I chose this one. I've been looking for a good dry shampoo for ages, and thought there was no better time to try one than when I didn't have to actually pay for it. This works pretty darn well. It volumizes, reduces oil, and smells fresh. It does leave a slight white cast, but that brushes out easily, so don't freak out when you see it.

Bumble & Bumble Prep
I spray this on individual sections as I hot roll, and it really helps extend the life of the curl without adding extra weight. I hate when my hairspray stiffens my curls, and this practically eliminates the need for spray. It's pricey, but worth it for special occasions. Also, if you already have products in your hair, you can spray this on to reactivate them.

Deck the Nails: Sephora by O.P.I. Looks Like Rain Dear

This may not be a new nail polish, but it's new to me, and I thought it would be perfect for the holidays.

Direct Sunlight

Shade

This shade is called "Looks Like Rain Dear" by Sephora by OPI, and is described as an opaque gold with fine and chunky glitter. I call it one stop shopping. In one nail polish, you get the equivalent of a solid base coat, fine glitter polish, and a holographic sparkle top coat. This would make for a fabulous accent nail, but is neutral enough to be used as a primary polish. The above pictures show approximately two and a half coats: two full coats, and then a light coat applied just to the tips to seal them. I didn't bother with a clear top coat, and the manicure still lasted for about three days before slightly chipping.

My only gripe is the formula. It's extremely runny, so I suggest multiple light coats to ward off a mess. You could probably reach full opacity in one coat--which would be awesome--but the polish is too liquidy to allow it. Still, the pale champagne color is so gorgeous, it's worth the fuss. $9.50, Sephora.

Final Verdict: 8 out of 10. This stunner is a little too pricey to be that runny.

They Say It's Your Birthday (Na Na Na Na): June Favorites

Y'all seemed to enjoy last month's favorites post, so I thought I'd try it again for June (the month of my birth, in case you were wondering about the title). Instead of picking a high-end and drugstore product for each category, I decided to go with exactly what I've gravitated toward recently, which still resulted in a pretty decent mix of price points, I think. Let's take a look!

Eyes

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/Liner in Sippin' n' Dippin'
(Please, God, tell me that the name refers to sassparillas and swimmin' in the ol' creek, and not to moonshine and chewing tobacco. Please?) I love cream shadows for Summer because they just melt into the skin and look so natural and dewy. The last thing I want is a lot of heavy, caked-on makeup when it's 300-degrees outside. This shade is a gorgeous soft, golden peach with an iridescent sheen. It's stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Freelove
This is also a golden peach, but one that's much more vibrant. On the rare occasion that I do want a powder shadow, this is a beautiful one. It's so pigmented that you don't need much. I like to use it as the lid color for a smoky eye. It adds an unexpected pop of color that keeps the look interesting and seasonal.

Lips

Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Balm in Copacabana
This, and the next product, stays in my purse these days. The color is that perfect "my lips, only better" nude, and there's just a hint of holographic sparkle to create the appearance of added fullness. It's lovely, and the packaging couldn't be cuter or more purse friendly. There's even a mirror in the lid!

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Rose
It's too hot for lipstick, but sometimes I need a little color. This adds a beautiful rose tint without being heavy or sticky. It's also unbelievably moisturizing, and I adore the packaging. The lid screws on, so there's no worry of ending up with a purse full of rose tinted ickiness.

Face

E.L.F. Tinted Moisturizer
It's light, pretty, covers decently, smells nice, contains SPF, and costs three bucks. Seriously, why would I use anything else?

Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder
This bronzer warms up my skin without adding shimmer. It's been around forever, so I'm sure I have nothing to say that hasn't been said. I keep it on my counter, and have another in my film makeup kit.

This picture sucks. I apologize. New phone, new camera, new pixel rate to deal with. Anyhoo, I'm wearing ALL of the favorites in this picture, with the exception of the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment. I wish you could see the eyeshadow better, but at least you can see that bright peach isn't as scary as it sounds. Also, my eyebrows actually look decent, for once. So, at least, there's that.

Nails

Sephora by O.P.I. in It's Bouquet With Me
I know I must have mentioned this one before, because it's one of my all-time favorites. The polish has a lilac base with a mixture of holographic chunky glitter and silver micro-glitter. Wear it alone; wear it as a top coat; it's just really, really pretty.

China Glaze Hunger Games in Foie Gras
Yes, I'm still on my Hunger Games polish kick. No, I have not seen the movie or read any of the books, yet. Sue me. This polish is a super-cool, almost lavendar-toned brown. I know, brown's not the first color that comes to mind for Summer, but it really works! I layered It's Bouquet With Me over the top of one nail, as an accent, and I'm really loving the way it looks. It went perfectly with a flowy lavendar sundress I wore to a formal Summer wedding.

This is Foie Gras with It's Bouquet With Me layered over the accent nail. Sure, there are a couple of chips here and there, but I've been wearing it since Saturday, and it's now Tuesday. That's not bad, folks. Not bad, at all.

Body

Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter
I got this last year, and it's earned a prominent spot on my counter. When you first apply this, the cream feels very dry, and I know I wondered how on Earth it was going to moisturize anything. As it sinks in, though, you notice a definite difference in the texture of your skin. You feel more supple and smooth, and any sign of ashy or scaly skin is gone. On top of that, the scent is a slightly spicy vanilla-coconut that just screams, "beach party".

Bath and Body Works Select-A-Shimmer in Be Enchanted
I fell in love with this scent at Thanksgiving, when I received a bottle of the bath gel in the Bath and Body Works Black Friday bag. Since then, it's pretty much the only bath gel I use, so I was thrilled to add this body lotion into the mix. Half of the tube is lotion, and the other half is shimmer gel. A little dial at the top lets you adjust how much shimmer you want mixed into your lotion. I keep mine set at 50/50, which gives just enough sparkle to diffuse the light and make my skin appear more toned, but isn't so much as to blind folks when I'm in direct sunlight. The fragrance is a sweet, but not sickly, pomegranate. Gorgeous.

One Of These Nails Is Not Like the Others...

Alrighty! So, here's the deal with yesterday. A while back, I came across this article on TotalBeauty about nail art after thirty. Seeing how I am *cough, cough* in my *cough* thirties *cough*, it seemed like something I should check out. Of course, this is the one that caught my attention:

Photo Credit: TotalBeauty

Besides the obvious glitter attraction, this look was also one of the easiest looks in the article. How hard could it be to just glitter one or two nails? I had a concert performance coming up, so I thought I'd try a little subtle sparkle for the occasion. The article mentioned highlighting your texting fingers, so I painted all of my nails a creamy nude, then topped off my pointer fingers and thumbs with gold micro-glitter. In theory, a lovely combination. In practice...well...



Yeah...it just looks like I got bored and stopped glittering halfway through...



It's a little too subtle methinks. Plus, by painting two adjacent nails, the look is less "highlighted" and more "did you forget to do the rest?" It's not bad, and I wasn't embarrassed to wear the polish for a few days. In fact, if you're interested in the colors I used, they're Finger Paints' Natural Talent (nude cream) and Clear Top Coat, with Sephora by O.P.I. in Wild About Shimmer as the highlight.

 

As I said, not terrible. Also, I am not a hand model.

I might add that I'm not a fan of the Finger Paints polishes. Natural Talent streaked like crazy and required several coats to even out, and the clear top coat was so liquid that I had almost zero control over it.

Left to Right: Finger Paints Clear Top Coat, Finger Paints Natural Talent, and Sephora by O.P.I. Wild About Shimmer

So, after a few days, I decided that I could do better. This time, I went in the complete opposite direction, and opted for a bright, chunky glitter to accent pale, barely there nails. I also picked only one nail per hand to highlight--in this case, the fingers that usually play host to jewelry: my left ring finger and my right index.

Don't you love my new throw pillow? It makes such a lovely backdrop for cruddy cellphone pictures.

The polishes I chose this time around were Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color in Champagne Toast as the base, with Sephora by O.P.I. in It's Bouquet With Me (sheer violet with chunky silver and holographic glitter) to highlight, and the same Finger Paints Clear Top Coat to finish.

Beige throw pillow is the new barn wood. Left to Right: Finger Paints Clear Top Coat, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color in Champagne Toast, and Sephora by O.P.I. in It's Bouquet With Me.

I'm kind of digging this attempt, though now the colors are a little too different. I think this would work well with a violet cream on the non-glittered nails. Next time I try this, I'm going to try a nice beige (like O.P.I. Cozu-melted in the Sun) and top off the chosen nails with a copper glitter (like Sephora by O.P.I. Traffic Stopper Copper).

I keep seeing a blacked-out tooth here. Is it just me?

This is a deceptively simple nail trend. Sure, anyone can glitter just one nail, but it takes an artist's eye for color or a lot of trial and error to figure out exactly which polishes to use. Still, it's a fun trend to play with, and definitely one worth trying out. Good luck, and let me know how it goes in the comments!