Essie Mesmerize

Essie Mesmerize is a deep medium blue creme.  What a great name for a nail polish, although I would imagine a holographic or duochrome nail polish to be more mesmerizing.  Anyway, this baby dried extremely glossy, almost like a jelly.  This works great for both summer and autumn, IMO.  This is two coats.  I’d say the first picture is the most color-accurate.

~ Allison ~

NYC Inspired Nail Art – Checkered Yellow Cab

Hey everyone, I was inspired to do some NYC-flavored nail art this afternoon.  It’s been pouring all day so I’m holed up inside, taking it easy and staying dry.  Be kind – this is my first nail art ever.

Here’s what I started with, but I felt it needed something.

So I freehanded some black french tips using Wet N Wild Black Creme.

The yellow is Prevail Taxi! Taxi! appropriately enough.  I used three coats which was enough to even out any streaks and create an opaque surface. My camera could not handle this shade of yellow at all.  Although it appears neon here it’s really much warmer, the actual color of an NYC Yellow Cab.   Anywho, I’m not certain that the Prevail brand is sold outside of NYC @ Duane Reade.  Does anyone know?

For the checkerboard nail I began with two coats of Sally Hansen XTreme Wear White Out, a basic white creme.  After allowing 15 minutes for dry time I drew a checkerboard pattern in Sharpie.  I used a very thin one to sketch out the squares, and a slightly thicker one to fill in the black squares.  I was skeptical that this method would look passable, but I think it does.  You can only tell I used marker if you’re studying my nail really closely.  My pattern was close-to-perfect but did smear a bit on one side, where some excess topcoat settled.  Next time I’ll use a very thin coat.  Also, I learned the hard way to let those black tips dry completely before adding your topcoat.  I rushed a little and my middle finger’s yellow got smeared.

Does freehanding French tips sound too intimidating?  I used to feel that way.  But I discovered a very easy method for getting straight French tips.  I load my brush with polish and anchor my hand on a flat surface, with the brush pointing sideways and slightly downward.  Then I put my nail under the brush, far corner first, and rotate til the entire tip has been painted.  The brush remains stationary and only the nail moves.  This way I get a straight, even line every time.  I’ve mastered this technique when I’m painting on my left (non-dominant) hand, but I need much more practice painting on my right hand.  You would think two different people manicured each of my hands, lol!  Therefore my right hand doesn’t make appearances on this blog.

Hope you enjoy this fun mani!  Do you prefer it with or without the black tips?

~ Allison ~

OPI Simmer and Shimmer, Fingerpaints Vintage Velvet

Last night I popped into CVS last night to pick up some last minute hurricane supplies, along with three-fourths of the rest of New Yorkers.  Of course, with my CLIF bars, batteries, and beef jerky in hand I couldn’t resist wandering by the cosmetics section.  Although this CVS rarely updates their OPI’s they happened to have Simmer and Shimmer from OPI’s Burlesque collection.

This was my existing mani – Vintage Velvet from Fingerpaints Fall 2011.  Love this subdued greyish teal so much.  It’s just the right balance between teal and hunter green, in my opinion.  I would love a vintage velvet blazer in this color.  And yes, I tried a little Cracked Concrete China Glaze crackle as an accent nail but that didn’t show up too well.

Then I glitterfied it!  This blue-toned glitter dried in a flash and covered completely in two coats (on top of my existing color – not sure how it would fare on a bare nail).

Closeup you can see the rainbow colored glitter, even though blue is predominant.

Then I shattered it!  Used China Glaze here but any other black crackle would do the same thing.  Any glitter under crackle = beyootiful.  I used a goodly coat of Seche Vite on top to even out the surface and add glossiness.

Hope my peeps in the East Coast will stay safe this weekend and weather Hurricane Irene without event.  Hopefully I won’t have to paint my nails by candlelight!

~ Allison ~

My First Franken!

I am very pleased to share my first franken creation with you.  As my polish collection grows, I can’t help but realize there are certain colors I’m lusting for that just don’t seem to exist.  Being of the DIY mindset I figure why not make them myself?  To get acquainted with the world of frankening I turned to a fantastic tutorial by Dr. Frankenpolish.  She calls this franken Angel Tears.

Welcome to my franken lab.

I followed the tutorial pretty faithfully.  Although I didn’t have the same clear red that she did, I used an old L’Oreal Jet Set Shine color called Very Cherry.  Maybe because of that substitution my finished polish came out looking too brown, so I added about 20 drops of a Sally Hansen creme, Cherry Red, to bring the balance back to deep red.

On the nail it is a gorgeous burgundy or blood red jelly, with suspended green shimmer that can be seen in any light.

I’m delighted how this turned out!  All the components mixed together effortlessly.  I’ll give you a mixing hint: if you don’t have BB’s laying around to plop into your frankens, use beads!  I added two small, round, stone beads that are the same size as the BB’s, and they work great as far as I can tell.

Like most jellies, Angel Tears required some patience to build up opacity.  I used 4 thin coats here, but you could maybe use only 3 if you lay it on thickly.  A coat of Seche Vite added crazy shine and helped it to dry.  P.S. I would give this polish the slightly grosser name of Bloody Borealis 🙂   Now, I’m really tempted to go dump out all my old unwanted polishes and make a franken army!

What do you think – would you try your hand at this franken?

~ Allison ~

Maybelline Cool Couture

The very first nail polish my mother allowed me to get, when I was 7 years old and begging her in the grocery store, was a bright candy pink Maybelline.  (It was lots of fun until I spilled it all over my bedroom floor.  Oopsie!)  Tangents about childhood aside, I haven’t bought any Maybellines since because they seem to stick with pinks and reds – a color range I find snooze-worthy.  Cool Couture is an exception!  This is a limited edition shade from the Express Finish line.  I find it hard to describe this chic fall color.  The best I can do is call it a dark slate grey – appearing as an almost-black teal in low light – with a fine, hidden, yet electric turquoise shimmer.  I couldn’t wait to see if that shimmer translated onto the nail!

The shimmer certainly visible in strong light.  I took the picture above in direct sunlight.

In weaker light you can see how it seems more slate grey – and that turquoise shimmer is much more subdued.

Now, the bottle proclaims this a “50 second” nail polish.  I beg to differ.  When I brushed it on a teeeeensy bit too thin it dragged horribly and started drying right away.  Then the slightly thicker coats took several minutes to dry.  A few minutes isn’t bad, but it’s not 50 seconds.  This lacquer easily migrated into my cuticles so cleanup was not too successful, as you can see.  I used 2 coats here which ended up providing good coverage.  I got a small chip on my tip after 1 day.

Methinks I will definitely hold on to Cool Couture and give it another try, because I think it’s too interesting of a color to give up.  Can you think of any dupes?  I’m at a loss…

Have you had any luck with any of the Maybelline polishes?

~ Allison ~