Happy Holidays!!!

AND HERE IT IS!!!! My holiday polish for 2010.  It's Simmer &Shimmer by OPI in their Burlesque line.  I love it!!  It's a glitter and it is so sparkly.  I had to put three coats on to get it opaque.  The bumpyness of the glitter does kind of bug me but I don't have the proper top coat to fix it.  Also it chips easily. oh well.  I can't stop staring at it.  It it mainly made up of flecks of light blue and silver.  But it also has pink, red, gold, and green flecks.  So awesome.  It reminds me of snowflakes and confetti and champagne, and Christmas lights!!  Perfect holiday polish!

All that glitters

So I went up to Ulta to buy some nail polish. When I got to the check out counter they told me that since I spent over a certain amount I got a free bottle of nail polish from the OPI Ulta exclusive Holiday line.

sweet  

I have decided to wear it on my toes for Christmas.  Since I was already planning on wearing Glitzerland I decided to layer them.  Glitzerland is on the bottom and the new polish OPI Gift of Gold is on top.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  All I see is glitter.  I don't know if the layering made a difference, but I like knowing it's there.  Also, Gift of Gold is a gold glitter, but it has flecks of red and silver, which if you look very carefully at the big toe you can make it out.  It's wonderful!!  So sparkly.

Gift of Gold

Glitzerland

Ghosts of Christmas Past Part II

Here is the color I went out and bought after I decided I did not like the Emerald City by Sally Hansen.  It's surprising how my tastes change since this year I think I actually prefer the green.  Again this is a shimmery polish so it leaves brush strokes.  It's still pretty though.  A very neutral wintry polish.  It could be worn all through winter, not just on the holidays.  The name of this polish is Silver Screen by Revlon.  Before I got into OPI, Revlon was my go-to brand of choice.  They have pretty bottles and always seemed to have the colors I was looking for.  That is until I wanted to branch out a bit and realized OPI made many more colors.

Speaking of many colors. There is a new Ulta store in town, which for you locals I would highly recommend checking out.  It looks like a chain store so you can probably find it elsewhere too.  Anyway, it has beauty products galore.  They range from higher end brands down to the kinds you find at your local Walgreens.  Anyway, they now have the largest selection of nail polish in town. It's heaven. I went up there last week and got the color I'm going to wear for Christmas this year.  Yes, it's from the Burlesque line by OPI.  I won't say which one.  But it is one of the glitters.  I don't think I've worn glitter on my nails since I was in elementary school.  If then.  We'll see how it goes.

Ghosts of Christmas Past Part I

This green nail polish, Emerald City  by Sally Hansen, was a polish I bought last year for the holiday season.  I felt like red was too traditional a color of nail polish to really qualify for holiday status.  So I bought this green.  I have to say it turned out better this year.  It has a shimmer to it, which leaves brush strokes, so you have to be really careful.  Last year I must have been horrible at putting it on because I thought it looked like cartoon boogers on my nails.  This year not so bad.  Anyway, so last year I immediately took it off and went out to buy a different color. Which I will show in my next post.  I thought that this early holiday season would be a good time to show my older holiday colors.  For this year I hope to get one of the OPI Burlesque glitters.  If not I have Glitzerland which is part of this year's winter collection and will suffice.

Glitzerland

Black, black, black is the color

Not of my true love's hair, but of my nails!!!!

This is one of my oldest nail polishes.  I put it on Saturday and as you can see it's already flaking.  I bought this back before black nail polish was THE color to wear.  Which, if you remember, was a few years ago, so this nail polish is OLD!  I think it may have been during my "I'm a pre-teen and I do what want!" phase around the same time I got blue lipstick.  Yes, that is right, Blue lipstick.  Anyway, I probably should buy a new one.  It's nice to have a good black nail polish on hand; it's like an edgier form of classy.  And this one is definitely losing it's quality (I don't think it had much to start with).  But it works in case I need it, for there are many other colors out there that I would like to have other than black.

A ray of sunshine!

Here it is OPI's The "It" color.  A wonderful yellow-orange polish.  I put it on the Monday before Thanksgiving.  (yes I realize I'm a little behind on posting this, my apologies).  I'm not a huge fan of this color, though that is mainly due to the way it looks on my hands.  I have blue undertones and this yellow seems to bring them out, which combined with my long bony fingers, makes them look goblin-ey.  However I did think it was very appropriate for Thanksgiving as it took on the color of squash in some lights.  Also this might be a great color to wear around mid-March when the long northern winter is starting to take it's toll on attitudes.



Soon, I'll be putting on a new polish.  I've let this one go to the point where I'm misbehaving by chipping it off.  So to save my nails I need to remove it and put on a new one.  I've been thinking of going through all the polishes I already own and then documenting them here, with the exception of the colors I've already done of course. So I won't be buying any new ones in the near future....well maybe one of the burlesque ones...sparkles.

Healthy

When I took off the suede nail polish I was pleasantly surprised.  Look!  My nails are healthy!  I've been reluctant to clip and file them and put on a new color.  Usually I wear nail polish because if I don't my nails peel and I pick at them and then they break and tear and it really is horrible.  Wearing nail polish and changing colors regularly keeps them from misbehaving.  I wonder if it is the cuticle cream that's helping.  Probably.  Don't worry though I will be wearing a new color soon.  I always go back to the polish.  Next up! OPI's The "It" Color.

This is one of the nail polishes I bought off Amazon.  It's OPI's We'll Always have Paris Suede.  I've been wanting to try the suedes ever since I heard of them.  Though they came out over year ago and aren't really in style anymore. This polish is okay, but not my favorite.  I really like the texture it gives.  It's a matte but with a shimmer and when it's fresh it does look like suede.  However when they say it doesn't last as long as regular polish they're not kidding.  Mine began chipping the next day.  It dries really fast though, so if you want a quick polish with a luxurious feel for a night out this will do the trick.  I would pair it with suede boots and jeans.  Or maybe a satiny cocktail dress!


Also ordering from amazon was not as awesome as I thought it would be.  At first glance the polish looks like it's only $2 but in reality, once you add shipping and other fees (it doesn't qualify for the super saver shippin btw), it comes out to be only a few cents cheaper than at the store.  BUT! If you really want a color you can't find in the store, this is a great option!!

oooOOOO!!!! Sparkly.

Well, I have a job interview tomorrow so....that's right I changed my nail polish!!


I went with a lighter shade for the interview.  I showed the bottle of this a few posts ago.  It's OPI"s Glitzerland from their new Swiss Fall/Winter 2010 collection.  I like it a lot.  It is very sparkly without being too distracting.

You're probably wondering why I would opt for a lighter nail polish after I just gave that long diatribe about how dark nail polish is totally appropriate for work and can be very cute.  Well here's the reason:  In a job interview you want your interviewer to be concentrating on what you are saying and on your skills at communicating and on your experience in the job area.  You do not want them wondering "wow, she really has dark nail polish on," because every time you move your hands your dark nail polish will draw their eye to your finger nails.  This is fine and all in other situations but it's like the reason you don't show lots of cleavage at a job interview.  You don't want to pose distractions.

There are a few exceptions.  One:  if you love dark nail polish and you wear it all the time and you absolutely refuse to wear anything else, then by all means wear it to the interview.  You are not being yourself if you don't.  And being yourself in an interview is more important than the distractions.  A second exception is if the polish suits the job.  Some restaurants nowadays esp. themed restaurants are hiring wait staff with tatoos and piercings, multi-colored hair, etc. dark nail polish included. Or perhaps a designer type job.  You're use of a bold color could show that you aren't afraid to put yourself out there.

The important thing is to research the company you are interviewing for to see what they may be looking for and then plan accordingly.  If you are unsure, conservative is always the better choice.

Note:  Conservative can still be fun.  Notice the sparkly nail polish I chose for tomorrow!!!

Short and sweet

I'm feeling kind of babbley tonight so my blog post will probably be nothing like the title suggests.

I've been kind of lazy about taking this nail polish off. That's OPI's Here Today Aragon Tomorrow for those who were unaware.  Two reasons really.  First I've been feeling really procrastinate-y this week. And secondly I really like this color.  Sometimes it looks really green and other times it looks so black I wonder where the green went?

Anyway, wearing this very dark nail polish made me think I should right about how to wear dark nail polish.  I know what you are thinking.  What do you mean how to wear it?  You just slap it on your nails and there ya go!  Wrong.  The most important thing about wearing dark nail polish is the length of your nails.  Now if you are going for a witchy look then by all means wear them super long.  However if your goal is to have cute fun nails that you can wear to work then it is of the utmost importance that you keep them short short short.  I like to cut mine as short as I can without hurting myself and then file them smooth.  This way no matter if you are wearing the darkest inkiest black, your nails will still have a happiness to them and they won't look moody and vengeful.

Actually I think short nails works best with most colors.  It is a little strange that I feel this way now.  I played piano and viola growing up and my teachers were always after me to cut my nails keep them short.  (If your wondering why, it is a lot easier to play an instrument with uber short nails, little tip).  Now that I no longer have teachers I like to keep them short.  This is also partly due to the fact that they now peel like crazy and if I keep them short they don't peel.  But also because I think nail polish is prettier on short nails.

Now I know a lot of people out there would disagree with me, but so far I have yet to see a colored nail that is long and not creepy.  Of course there are happy medium lengths, which I don't think look creepy on other people but I personally don't prefer.  I have very long fingers if you didn't notice and they really take care of any length I might want.

There are a few exceptions.  French manicure.  A tip painted on a nail that isn't long enough for one just looks silly, like your faking it.  Which you probably are.  Anyway.  Also bare nails.  If I'm not painting my nails I like to grow them out a little bit.  They are prettier this way with a little white showing.  If they are too short and bare then they look bitten and this is never good.

So now you know why nail length is so important.  My husband is ordering things on Amazon and I think this would be a great time to order some nail polish.  Did you know you could order nail polish on Amazon?  I may have mentioned this already.  Well, you can and I'm gonna.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Today I put on the Here Today Aragon Tomorrow by OPI.  I love it.  As I said before I have been trying to find this nail polish for awhile.  It is very dark.  If I hadn't put it on myself I would have a hard time believing it is actually green.  WHICH of course is why I love it.
I do seem to have this problem though.  The ring finger on my right hand never seems to get through a nail painting without getting a nick or a scratch or a finger print or lint or something.  Don't know how this happens.  I'm always very careful and I never seem to have this problem with any other fingers.  I guess it's just the rebellious finger.

Used the cuticle cream today.  WONDEFUL!! It's like crack for you nails.

Shimmer shimmer

Glitzerland

Shopping day!!  Got some new clothes yay!  but even more exciting I got new nail polish!!  I bought one of the colors from the new OPI Swiss collection.  Glitzerland. It's a shimmery pale gold.  SOO excited to try it.  Also I bought Burt's Bees cuticle cream.  Always wanted to try this and it is supposed to be super good for your nails.  We'll see how it goes.

My dark secret

So today my mom called my from her salon after getting her hair cut, to tell me that they had OPI nail polish on sale for $2 a bottle!!  YAY!  Then she asked me which colors I wanted and bought them all for me.  I love you mom, you're awesome!!!  They are from the left:  Here Today Aragon Tomorrow a beautiful dark dark green which I have been looking for forever. Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees another very dark color but more of a grey teal.  Siberian Nights a dark purple cream and Eiffel for this color a dark purple shimmer.  As you can see by the not very good picture, these colors are all very close to black.  My mom tried to get a bright color, but I really have to see the brighter colors in the bottle before I buy them.  Some I love and some I hate.  However I love all colors that look black but aren't.  It's like my little secret.  Is she wearing black nail polish?  I think she is.  Shhh...no I'm not.  teehee.

To pass the time

HELLO THERE!!  Well even though I'm super excited about the new nail polishes, I have yet to buy them.  So! until then I decided to paint on one of my recent favorites.  You Don't Know Jacques, by, of course, OPI.  I love this color.  It's dark yet it's warm.  It is this wonderful grey with hints of brown and purple.  I really feel it's a springtime color.  I know I know it's fall, and jewel tones are back!  But I felt why not be reminded of spring time right before the big cold.  I apologize for the pictures.  The lighting just isn't that good and I'm working with a point-and-shoot camera.  I wanted to show how dark nail polish colors aren't just for goths.  You most certainly do not have to wear dark somber colors even if your nails are dark and somber.  In fact I would advise against it.  The beauty of nail polish is that it goes with everything!  Really it does, you have to believe me.  Anyway, I think this color goes well with a white and yellow floral sun dress I have with pink satiny shoes.  No pictures of the shoes sadly.  Until next time!! Hopefully then I will have some of the new colors.  YAY!




Doings

Recently my life has been in a bit of a tumoil.  It has only settled down within the last few weeks.  Last May I got married to my wonderful and handsome husband.  It so happened that our wedding was one week after our college graduation.  Not to mention that while running around in a tizzy trying to get everything for the wedding planned out and while completing our finals for our classes we were also plannin to go abroad to China to teach English.  After the wedding things calmed for a bit, but a month or so into the summer we discovered that for reasons I won't go into, we would not be able to go to China.  So at this point we have no jobs, no apartment (or rather we had to move out in the end of august since they had already leased the place) and only two months before we were going to desperately need those things.  So the scramble began again.  We searched for a new abode like maniacs.  I don't even know now how many we looked at.  Finally found a beautiful one at a wonderful price!  While we were busy with all the moving, which by the way was up three flights of narrow stairs in the heat (thanks friends!!), we also were finding jobs.  I signed up at a temp agency through which I am now employed and my husband got  a job as a copy writer which he started on Wednesday.  So things are coming together...
This is the reason though that I have not posted a new nail polish.  For one I have been waiting excitedly for my pay check to arrive.  And secondly for my body to adjust to this new waking schedule.  6 am is still too early I say. 
Now that I've divulged a little bit about myself, I want to express how giddy I am about the new nail polish collections OPI has put out.  Swiss is their new fall line and while I can't afford the whole set, nor do I really want them all, there are at least four colors I would love to try!!  Also they just came out with Burlesque, which is apparentely connected to a new movie with Cher and Christina Aguilera. Lots of sparkly nail polishes.  I saw some like these with the Alice in Wonderland line, but in the past I've never really liked glitter in my nail polish.  It always feels so bumby and then the glitter doesn't fill in the nail well.  But I think I might try one.  Ever since I tried OPI I've loved how well their polishes work so maybe this time...?



P.S. Amazon sells OPI nail polish for like a quarter of the price you pay in a salon.  WONDERFUL!!!!!!!

Olive Oil and the rest

So I tried soaking my fingers in olive oil at the beginning of my at home manicure.  WONDERFUL!!  My fingers felt so smooth and my cuticles pushed back with little resistance. (BTW, cutting a Q-tip in half and using the none fuzzy end for this works well enough if you don't have the special tool, an orange stick I believe it's called though I don't know).  My fingers still feel soft today even after doing dishes!  Would definitely recommend.  Then I clipped, filed, and buffed my nails and painted them in Baguette Me Not by OPI.  I like this color.  It's orangey and subdued enough for fall yet still has enough of a pink shade to remind you of summer, plus I like the name ( I usually do).  Not sure what my next try will be but I like to wear my nail polish until it starts to chip pretty heavily.

The Beginning

Nail polish is an interest and hobby of mine.  And with this blog I hope to share it with others.  I would not say I am obsessed with nail polish, simply that I enjoy trying new colors and new techniques to keep my nails healthy. I love how wearing a new color of nail polish can brighten my day or make me feel like I have a new outfit when I don't.  My first goal is to improve the quality of my nails, as I have let them get dried out.  They break and peal like nothing else.  I heard that you can soak your nails in olive oil if they are too dry.  I think I will try this.  Also an anti-peeling polish should be in order.  Will post the results afterwards.