Perfection is Possible

Just when you thought it was safe to say, who’s next in nail color, Dolce & Gabbana had the answer with their new shades. I received them some time ago and I must say, they are a hit. They polish well, go on smooth and last over 7 days without chipping. This is one designer nail polish that hits the mark. I forgot to mention, the packaging looks very expensive and elegant. The bottles allow you to use all of the polish. Unlike some bottles where, once they drop past a certain point, the brush no longer reaches the bottom. Dolce is on the right track all around. Thank you

What’s old is new and what’s new is…Revlon’s Parumerie lightly scented nail polishes. Revlon has brought back an old idea of scented nail polish and revamped it. The bottles have a little sex appeal, that makes them great for displaying (which is what I plan on doing with them) Not sure, of how much of fan I would be for scented nail polish. It is said to last up to 24 hours, but mixing that scent with perfumes and lotions…ehhhhhh, I don’t know about that one. You can layer the colors which will also layer the scents. Would you want your nail polish to have a scent? Would you try these? At the price of $5.99 each it could be worth a shot. Does Revlon have a long road ahead with this old but new idea? Would love to know your thoughts.

Minnie Mouse has always been a lil girls friend and sometimes a big girls friend too. This young lady wanted Minnie Mouse theme nails. Of course I had to google an image to copy, because, I could not remember what she looked like. I was hoping she didn’t want an actual design of Minnie. She opted for (Thank God) symbols that represent Minnie Mouse. The polka dots and bow are both classic Minnie Mouse and very easy for me to do. Besides her constant movement, I think I did a pretty good job. Challenge your inner Minnie and try it on your nails. All you need are a dotting tool, red, white and black polish and your on your way. Good Luck

Peter Som’s collection was a take on land meet sea. Colorful prints that he does so well, consisted of blues and greens. Patterns of waves gave you the surf’s up concept that felt refreshing and ready for the spring. The nail look was the reverse french. During the test, Peter Som knew exactly what he wanted. The half moon, reverse french gives that soft curve effect that was present in his designs.  I used the custom colors created for his show by Zoya. A cool blue and cool green named Alexa and Edie

From the nails to the shoes, Mr. Som had it together.

After a lot of thought, I decided to switch my blog from blogger to WordPress. It has been a little challenging but it’s finally here. Bare with me as I am still learning how to move around the site. 

I’ll start with a picture of my work seen on one of my celeb clients. She wears black nail polish well, but she also wears everything well 

follow me on my new site and learn all about nails beauty and anything under the sun!

Continue reading “My first post on my new blog site.”

One of those moments when you say “why didn’t I think of that”. Cuccio has created a nail polish bottle with a light under the cap.  WOW!! I plan on trying this out to see if it really helps with seeing and applying better. A manicurist biggest challenge is light. We work in such poor lighting at times and this was a great idea. These lighted cap bottles come from Cuccio’s  neon collection. Not sure on the price per bottle but you can get a display of 16 for $109.00. Visit again to see my thoughts on this new idea. I hope it really works. They may have something here and all brands could follow.

It always nice to meet new people, you never know how they can bring others into your life. I was introduce to a new brand of polish emerging from the U.K. It has made to the U.S. and is in my hands. 🙂  That’s pretty special.  OFTA stands for Only fingers and Toes and it is a premium nail polish that is 5 free. I was lucky enough to sample there 60 color collection. I always get excited when my doorman gives me a box of polish but when I opened this box, I saw the best thing in the world any manicurist would love. The carrying case full of OFTA nail colors was the ideal case for carrying around tons of polish. Not only were the bottles pretty, but they were individual placed in a wonderful, light weight clear case with a handle. OFTA, bravo!! the colors are awesome and the case is just as awesome. I can not wait to carry them around.  Take a look at my new nail polish and case.  🙂 Thank you, Thank you Thank you!

Stay tune for updates on this polish behavior.

Textured nail polish was the trend this year but in my opinion one brand did it better than the others. Zoya’s Pixie Dust has taken off to the moon!  The colors are great and indestructible. This polish stays on for 2 weeks or until you decide to remove it. That’s how great it is. They have 3 collections in their line up with the newest fall collection on line now. It has the most gorgeous colors and I’m not just saying that because one of them was named after me. 🙂 They have the perfect sparkle that makes it fun but yet reserve at the same time. I introduced the pixie dust collection last year to a client who hasn’t changed her nail color in 7 years. She would never try anything I suggested until the day pixie dust came into her life. I tested a few colors and she instantly fell in love with Nyx, shown below. From that moment on, she has not stop wearing it. She introduced it to her other upper east side friends and they  have become very fond of pixie dust too. They had no idea it existed and were very curious on where to find it. So, http://www.zoya.com should be getting a few more hits from my upper east siders

Check out how beautiful the fall sampler colors are. (photos from Zoya.com)

Red, White and Blue are the normal request for 4th of July nails, but not this year. I think blue has become such a popular color this year that everyone has just been addicted to the blues. Blues happen to be my favorite nail color a long with pastel pinks and chalky pinks. Zoya makes some of the best blues to date.

This is Pixie Dust Liberty . Photo was taken with a professional camera and I love the way it came out.

This is Zoya’s Song nail color. A vibrant blue that works well for the 4th of July.

Bling it on with these great nail tips already blinged out for you. All you have to do is apply and you have instant nail art on all 10 nails. I was on my usual Sephora runs and saw these and thought they were great.

They are made with Swarovski elements crystals so you are getting the real deal in stones. Its an easy way to spruce up your manicure on short notice.

I’m always challenged by clients about nail polish and their lasting abilities. So, I decided to document how long Zoya’s Kara nail polish lasted on this busy working mother of 2. See for yourself.

Top picture freshly done with base coat, 2 coats of color polish, top coat and drying drops

14 days later and her polish is in tact except for some minor chipping on the pinkie and ring finger. She never top coated her nails or wore gloves. It helps to have a good manicurist too 🙂

Do I believe all nail polishes are not created equal? Absolutely!!  But, to be fair I will also document different brands and you can tell me if all nail polishes are created equal. I think you will be surprised at the answer.

From Salon complete manicure to Inst-Dri to Xtreme wear, Sally Hansen seems to have it all. I was invited to a preview for all of their nail polish lines and found that they much more to offer. Cuticle oil enriched with vitamin e, fast drying drops and a hand creme that I really enjoyed. Sally Hansen has been around for decades, and at times, being an editorial manicurist you sometime forget about the drug store brands and what they have to offer. I am very glad that Sally Hansen’s Pr team invited me to view their products. I can certainly use them and give them some spot lights on my photo shoots. They gifted everyone who attended bags of polish and nail essentials. When I got home I had a great time playing in all of my goodies. The colors are vibrant and apply pretty well. The hand creme was my favorite on long with the cuticle oil. The next time you’re in a drug store, stop by the Sally Hansen display and take a look at their line. Not bad for some old timers. 🙂

Nars is a very nice make up line. I was gifted this eye shadow palette and lip pencil from Nars. Pink is one of my favorite colors in nail polish and this pink lip pencil is now one of my favorites too. Its smooth and very easy to apply. I haven’t tried the eye shadows yet but they are on my list. If you have not tried any Nars products go to your local Sephora (beauty heaven) and test them out. You will not be disappointed.

Dual eye Shado(new)- Bouthan

Pink Lip Pencil (exclusive)- 413BLKR

This is a great idea. I only use one file per person and this would be the perfect answer to not carrying around tons of files. You can use one file and peel off the top one to expose a new one, how clever Revlon. They come in 3 different colors, green, blue and black and the price is pretty good at $4.49. They can be found at your local drugstores. Off to Duane Reade I go.

Drum roll please…

It was inevitable that the man himself would come up with a nail polish. I mean, Chanel ,YSL, Dior and Tom Ford all have nail polish lines so why not. The polish line doesn’t drop until the fall but here is sneak peak of what to look for. The bottles are gorgeous as in true Marc Jacob style. The brush isn’t to polish friendly because if short but the bottle alone makes you want to get it if only to just look at. The color was shown in his runway show on Valentines day and what better color to use than red! Clear was used on the hands, while the feet were adorned with the red…Sizzle and shine baby!

The fashion show, once again was the best one of the week. Marc Jacobs always out does himself. Not your ordinary up and down the runway but a really big production that always wows the guest.  Take a look at the rehearsal and the space that this show is held in. HUGE!!!!!

Zoya’s Pixie Dust hit the runway rk’s fashion week. Instead of using one color, I layered 3 colors to create a custom color of blue pixie dust for the Timo Weiland show

The three colors used from the collection were Godiva, with Dahlia and Nyx as the final color on top. The outcome was a hit with the designer and the stylist. This was pixie’s dust first debut down the runway. It has a matte finish, so top coat or base coat were not used. Pixie dust can be mixed with each other, but doesn’t play nicely with other color polishes.

You can find Pixie Dust at www.zoya.com and you can become a pixie dust fairy.at New Yo

We all have our ways on how we select colors for our manicures. You have a color in mind so when you get to your appointment you already know what you want or maybe you saw a color in an ad or on a friends nails that you want to try or sometimes you go in blind and just go with the flow. Most of the time when you go with the flow you end up picking a color that matches what you are wearing. I know, sounds strange but it’s so true. If your wearing green, you gravitate to green. If your wearing blue you go for the blue. But, CutieKTNY has a method all of her own. She has been getting her nails done a very long time and knows what she wants, but she has her own way of getting to that point. My favorite 9 year old who is now my favorite 12 year old has it down to a science…so to speak  LOL. Take a look.This is how she decides. She takes all the colors she likes and paints one on each nail and through a process of elimination she decides.

And here is the final result

How do you decide your color? I’m sure it isn’t half as entertaining as CutieKTNY.  🙂

Introducing Zoya’s Pixie Dust Starting from top left: Dahlia, Chyna, Godiva, Vespa, Nyx and London.

It’s textured, matte and sparkling. Looks like sand on the beach but with color, more sparkle and finer.

Textured nails are this years trend for you manicure and Zoya has met the challenge with flying colors.

Application of Pixie Dust is a little easier because you don’t need a base or top coat. Apply 1-3 coats and let each coat dry in between layers to a matte finish to get the textured effect. It could take up to 10 minutes to dry completely but once dry they have a long lasting matte finish.

Let your inner fairy in to your nail collection and go to Zoya.com for your Pixie Dust!

The Golden Globes added a mani cam to their red carpet. Check out some of the nail idea that the celebs wore for this star studded event.

Adele

Jennifer Lopez

Anne Hathaway

Zoey Deschanel

Sometimes things happen and you have to use other resources. While at my day at the office, a certain blue was needed. The color that was needed spilled out and was wasted. What was a manicurist to do? If you’re an experience manicurist there would be no problem. You could mix colors together and make the color you need or you could put your thinking cap on and use other resources. The eye shadow used for the make up was the perfect color needed for the nails. I asked the make up artist if I could borrow her creme shadow and went to work. After, getting the perfect consistency and color, I was able to apply this color just like nail polish. Viola! the final product looks like nail polish add top coat and the job is done without missing a beat. I’m not the best manicurist but this works!

One of my dear clients and friend is always showing me nail ideas that she would like to have. Of course I never believe her but this time she surprised me. Searching through her instagram page she found this polka dot nail art with a kitty cat face. It looked pretty simple so we sat down and went to work. She was very happy with the finish prodcut but, I know her daughter may not be so happy, since she wasn’t there to get her nails done too. This was pretty easy so I’m sure she can give her daughter a greats simulation.  🙂

Perfection is Possible

As some of you know my day at the office varies from day-to-day and from job to job. It is pretty fun and always different every day. On this day, Ciate was the brand and idea of choice for this rocker ex gossip girl. I posted it on my instagram and decided to post it here too. You can get this look by purchasing a Ciate kit. It is very simple, fun to do and looks great. It will last you about 2 days so make it worth it. 🙂

Good luck and have fun.

O.P.I. and Mariah Carey’s collaboration with nail polish, turned out to be one of their best yet. The liquid sand, which I told you about in a previous post has lasting abilities. The photo you see is 10 days old and counting. No chipping  and barely any wear besides the nails growing out from the polish. If she wasn’t getting tired of this color she could go another week. Now that’s what I called a good manicure worth every dime. Where O.P.I. nail colors lack in staying ability, they have hit the mark with the liquid sand. Now, if only they could make the regular colors stay that long!

Sephora is a beauty heaven. Anything from make up, perfume, cosmetic brushes, facial products and nail polish can be found at Sephora. I visited one of the newer locations while I had some idle time to spare and why did I do that. I ended up playing in polish for almost an hour…as if I don’t play in polish everyday of my life. It was the most fun I had in a beauty store with nail polish. In drug stores, you can not open the polish to test, so how much fun is that? Well, in Sephora every brand, and every color has their own tester for you to try. You can give yourself a full manicure as they have remover, top and base coats, lotions and pusher to push those cuticles back. They even have a tester nail on a roll of clear paper so that you can test the color on the paper nail instead of your own (works great if your nails are already polished). The variety of colors was amazing. They have their own “X” brand polish that appeared to be pretty good. Nails Inc. was my favorite of all the brands. I always like their polish and got a chance to play in all the colors and their textured colors.

They even have a tutorial station that shows you videos on how to do designs on your own nails. It was a very cute idea. I actually sat there and watched all 4 videos. )

here are the clear paper nails that you can polish to get an idea of the color.

Nails Inc. glitter nails….one of my favorites. I want them all!!

My beauty day at Sephora was the highlight of my day. I took a spin around the entire store and played in the make up section and purchased a few items. I can’t wait to go back and spend some more idle time. 🙂

Spring bling in the pastel kind of way. Zoya, who does a cream and shimmer with each collection, has us all a buzz this spring. With names like Julie, Gie Gie Piaf and Blu the nails this spring will not go unnoticed. I love  pastel colors, especially for my pedicures, so I am ultra excited about this collection. It looks like it will be a softer side this spring going into summer. I want to use them now, but I think I will wait a few more weeks before I indulge. 🙂

I’m back!! I have been gone for a while due to computer issues but now I am back in business. So much has happen in the nail world and this should be fun catching up. Happy New Year to all my nailista’s. I’m going to give my predictions on the world of nails.

It looks like texture is going to be a big hit this year. It started with Ciate, caviar nails and the suede nails by O.P.I. and now the textured nail is a main attraction. With instagram and pinterest being the go to for anything nail, I’m sure you have seen it all.

O.P.I. has liquid Sand.!

The look of sand in a bottle of nail polish. Nice idea. It goes on matte and feels like sand on your nail. This is 4 days old so the lasting power is pretty good. Nails will take a notice with this look as textured nails are going to be big in 2013.

Essie did the hammered looking  nail

Although you can not feel the texture, the look is certainly there. Taking a play off the magnetic craze, Essie changed the game with the pattern. This polish you use a top coat so your manicure will last much longer. You get the textured look without the touch and feel part of it all.

What a year it will be in the nail world. So many creative ideas hitting the scene with nail art still being a big hit. I can’t wait to blog about it all.

Pastels will be the pallet for spring. Soft coloring with slight shimmer and heavy creams. Seche Vite started with their fall line which you can see in my earlier post. They are lasting and one coat and go on with such ease. Take a look at what spring will look like for Seche Vite.

May be modest

Timeless Style

Prim and polished

Simplicity

Simple yet significant

Casually Cool

Seche Vite is sold at www.folica.com  Try them out for yourself. I know you will like them as much as I do.

you can also get China Glaze for the spring and spring right into action with these bold colors. China Glaze and Seche belong to the same parent company. What a great friendship.

China Glaze Tranzitions Nail Lacquer with hardeners is taking the nail world by storm. You get the effect of 2 colors in one bottle. No more using 2 different colors for contrast. You get 2 in one bottle with this new Tranzitions collection. Made of 6 colors from blue, pinks and greens, you can have a great time trying these out. When you cover with top coat, it automatically turns the color darker.  The hardeners are also an added plus. You get beauty and strength in one bottle. What more can a polishnista ask for…not much. Thank you China Glaze for making this that much easier.

I will try them all for you to see. Stay tune.

Perfection is Possible!!

…and it still looks good. I needed to use Incoco on a photo shoot and tried it out before hand. The nails on the right are 10 days later. Only thing you see is new growth. No chipping of lifting . I did dishes, did nails, use polish remover and cleaned and this is the after affect. Easy to apply, dries instantly and looks good. Incoco is a winner on all accounts. Give it a try if you haven’t already.

perfection is possible!

Look what I got. I love nail goodies. Ciate has a mini bar kit for their caviar line. Ciate Caviar mini bar is perfect for the holidays. They come in 4 mini colors and 4 mini caviar beads in different colors. Easy for travel and easy for me to take on set. You can find Ciate in Sephora across the country. Get your set and have a ball. I’m going to go play in my mini caviar beads now.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays

after                              before

Seche Vite nail polish gets 5 stars!!  Here is the proof. The picture on the right was done 9 days ago. The picture on the left is what is looks like today after the 9 days. Barely any chipping and still in tack. You can not get not better than this. It doesn’t hurt that I probably give a pretty good polish too :).

But, if you were curious to know how well the Seche Vite color polishes hold here is your answer. They did extremely well. I will be using them again and again. Spring and Summer is coming up and can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Good job Seche Vite!!!

Perfection is Possible!

I posted this on Instagram and Twitter and didn’t want to leave my blog out. China glaze glitters are the right amount of glitter. It’s more like a glitter dusting. Very fine so it is not so over powering. You could wear this glitter polish to the office because it’s so adult like. I love glitter polish and all for different reasons. I love this one because its gorgeous without the big chunks of glitter. Looks smooth and sexy and can be worn with anything, anywhere. Good job China Glaze. You have a new fan.