Sephora by OPI Betsey Johnson Scented Nail Lacquer

Is there anything more gorgeous for spring than sporting bright hot pink lacquered nails?  My current obsession is this Betsey Johnson It's My Pink scented (!!!) nail polish for Sephora.  It is a must for any Betsey fans as this shade appears in a TON of Ms. Johnson's designs!  Annnnd once it's dry, the polish smells like her new fragrance Too Too.  It's a clever spin and smells fun and frivolous, but the scent is very, very subtle.  It's not going to overpower any regular perfume, but it does linger for several days.  I'll definitely be wearing this through August!  Betsey Johnson's It's My Pink is a perfect 2012 trend for spring and summer!

This nail polish also inspired me to dust off some of my old Betseyville by Betsey Johnson purses!  I'm looking forward to carrying them again.

Matching my nails to my handbag with this tiger print satchel!

This amazing and kitschy patent telephone purse was one of the first indulgences I bought with my very own paycheck back in...2007?  My best friend thought I was nuts but I still love this bag!

Do you own any Betsey Johnson creations?  What nail polishes are you loving lately?

Never Enough Sparkle: Sephora by OPI Spark-tacular Top Coat!

 

One of my vices at the moment happens to be crazy glitter bomb nail polishes.  Regular readers should know, I yammer on about it enough!  And I found Sephora By OPI's Spark-tacular! glitter top coat too magnificent and sparkly to pass up.  It's a little difficult to tell from the picture, but this polish contains small and chunky bits of silver, gold, pink, and blue glitter.

Such a grand polish required some experimentation, so I painted each nail a different color and used the Spark-tacular! top coat over each.  Here's how it turned out!

 

Thumb: Orly Opal Hope

Index: Essie Trophy Wife

Middle:  Essie Big Spender

Ring: Zoya Jem

Pinky:  Essie Your Hut Or Mine

I love how the glitter top coat looked over all the polishes, but my favorites to layer it over are Zoya Jem and Orly Opal Hope.  Which do you like best?  What else would look cool underneath this Spark-tacular! top coat?

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...!

A quickie list of the products I'm obsessing over lately:

1. Josie Maran Bare Naked Makeup Removing Wipes: I'm very much an advocate of everyday luxuries and these magical cleansing cloths are the epitome of luxe.  The cloths are thick, smell amazing, take off everything, and are super moisturizing; they contain Josie's signature ingredient, argan oil.  Plus, a portion of sales from each package is donated to help protect polar bears.  What's not to love?

2. Rose scented everything
I'm extremely drawn to rose scents as of late and couldn't resist purchasing this Rose Body Oil from Dr. Hauschka.  It absorbs into your skin much more quickly than lotion, so instead of feeling oiled up and greasy, you just feel soft and moisturized.  It's glorious.  I also couldn't pass up this Persian Rose roll on perfume by Pacifica.  It smells exactly like a rose garden at first, then quietly fades to reveal soft violet and myrrh notes.  It's very elegant and subtle.

3. Glitter manicures
I'm layering Sephora's Only Gold For Me gold glitter topcoat over every single nail polish I own lately.  Even other glitter polishes.  My nails have been looking like a disco party!  The gold topcoat looks especially great over this moody wine shade from Spa Ritual, Spice of Life; I got tons of compliments on it!


Your turn!  What beauty products are you loving and can't get enough of lately?  Spill it!

Fall 2011 Nail Polish: Zoya Jem

As soon as I saw Jem in one of Zoya's September magazine ads, I knew I had to have it.  It's a stunning deep plum with hot pink and gold microglitter.  In the bottle it looks more fuchsia and gold, but on my nails the effect is definitely vampy.  It's not quite what I expected, but I love love love it.  In certain light the microglitter is barely noticeable and the deep plum looks almost black, but in bright light at certain angles the glitter shines beautifully.  I wish the gold was a little more visible on my nails, but otherwise it's perfect.

My best friend Jessica is loving Jem's burgundy counterpart, a deep dark red with bright red microglitter from OPI.  I love that we're both sporting vampy glitter nails!

What nail polish are you loving for fall?

Shiny, Happy...Nail Polish: Butter London Rosie Lee

Oooh.  Let's all take a moment to appreciate this stunning pink glitter-bomb of a nail polish from Butter London.  This beauty is Rosie Lee, and silly as it may sound, even just looking at the bottle makes me happy!  The packaging is gorgeous and the color even more so.  At $14 it was a bit more than what I'd usually spend on nail polish (around $8 for OPI & Essie bodes a little better), but Rosie Lee was a shade I just couldn't pass up!  Sparkly pink nails are like a party all the time, don't you think?  It's the nail polish equivalent of rose colored glasses!

Excuse the shoddy paint job, I got a little enthusiastic and couldn't wait to get this on my nails.  It took three coats to get opacity but it's lovely!  I wonder how it would look layered over other colors?  Any ideas?

Fall 2011 Trend: Blue Period

NARS Fall 2011 Campaign

 It seems a little strange to start thinking about fall trends already, but if turquoise was a hot color for summer, this fall's color is a deeper blue.  More primary than midnight, this sapphire shade is popping up everywhere!  Only fitting, as sapphire is September's birthstone and the primary blue evokes back-to-school art supplies.  Perhaps it also has a bit to do with Kate's iconic engagement ring?

Wearing blue has benefits: it makes your eyes look brighter and your teeth looker whiter!  Throw on Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes" and check out these true blue picks to stay on-trend this fall!

NARS released the fabulous bright blue shade Outremer for fall 2011; models for the campaign show you how to keep it modern and artistic (see first picture, above).  Other great blue shadows include Sugarpill's Afterparty, a metallic blue, and MAC's frosty Corn Flower pigment.  If blue eyeshadow is a bit much, try Urban Decay's 24/7 Eyeliner pencil in Deviant, a bright electric blue for a hint of color on your eyelids.  For the most subtle eye brightening trick, try a blue mascara like this one called Blue Noir from Buxom Lash!

Another simple way to wear the blue trend?  Nail polish, naturally!  Essie Mesmerize is a gorgeous primary blue and Sephora by OPI Midnight Mambo amps it up with chunky bits of glitter.

The easiest trick of all is Benefit's California Kissin' lip gloss; it has the slightest aqua sheen to make your teeth look extra white! 

Finally, pretty up your vanity with one of these beautifully blue packaged products.  Van Cleef & Arpels's Midnight in Paris perfume is decorated like the night sky and is one of the most gorgeous bottles I've ever seen.  And don;t forget your complexion!  This enzyme mask from Ole Henriksen is loaded with antioxidant rich blue-and-blackberries to keep skin young and glowing. 

So what do you think?  Will you participate in fall's blue makeup trend?  Which product would you most likely wear?  Let me know!

Quick and Easy Nail Art

 

It began, as these things usually do, with late-night boredom.  Unable to sleep, I began painting my nails with Trophy Wife, this amazing blue green nail polish from Essie that I'm currently obsessed with.  The name makes me laugh and the color is gorgeous!  Then I spotted a bottle of sparkly silver glitter bomb nail polish that I impulsively bought trying to dupe Chanel Graphite.  It didn't work of course and I had promptly forgotten about it, but when I saw it on my nightstand I decided to try some nail art and painted the tips of my nails with the silver glitter polish in a modified French manicure style.  I just free-handed it; I think the glitter bit would have turned out much better and neater if I had used those French manicure nail guides instead.  But overall, I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Hot Summer Nail Polishes

It's not officially summer till you've got a bright new manicure!  Here are some hot colors to paint your nails in the upcoming months.  What shades have I missed?  Which is your favorite?

1.  OPI Strawberry Margarita ($6)

This bright hot coral shade just screams "summer" to me, I can't get enough!

2.  Essie Smooth Sailing ($8)
A gorgeous pearlized lavender blue from Essie's latest summer collection.  This color is so calm and perfect.

3.  Pop Beauty Nail Glam Turquoise ($10)
Last year powder blue was a huge trend, this year it's turquoise.  I love it!  Grab some turquoise eyeliner and do your eyes to match!

4.  Deborah Lippmann Between The Sheets ($16)
Neon purple in a bottle!  It has enough fuchsia to keep it from looking too goth.

5.  OPI Silver Shatter ($8)
The piece de resistance!  It's like Black Shatter, only...silver!  Perfect for summer.  I can't wait to get this on my nails.  Layer it over Between The Sheets, Smooth Sailing, or even mix it with Black Shatter to see what happens.  Experiment!

6.  Essie Well Red ($8)
You need a gorgeous vampy red no matter what season!  Essie has the best.

7.  Pop Beauty Nail Glam Orange ($10)
Orange always turns up as a hot color for summer, and this year is no exception.  Orange has also recently been spotted on lips and eyes!  This neon shade keeps it unique. 

8.  Deborah Lippmann Yellow Brick Road ($16)
Yellow is another super trendy shade this summer.  It was all over the runways at Chanel and is now appearing everywhere else!  This will look best with a tan and is bright enough so the druggist won't try to sell you anti-fungal cream (always a plus!).

Summer Nails, Summer Necklace

I recently purchased Sephora by OPI's Only Gold For Me topcoat.  Only Gold For Me is unique and different in that it has large round pieces of glitter in addition to smaller traditional glittery bits.  It was released for the holidays and has been out for quite a while, but it looks just as lovely on your nails for summer as it does for holiday parties!  I like to layer it over everything, and right now I especially adore it over OPI's Strawberry Margarita shade. 

 
I also really like pairing makeup and nail polish looks with jewelry and other accessories!  Like if I'm wearing a scarf with shades of purple, I'll apply a little purple eyeliner, or match my red lipstick to my red shoes.  Do any of you do this, too?  If not, try it sometime!  It's a modern, more fun equivalent of matching your handbag to your shoes (does anybody even bother with that anymore?)!

The most perfect necklace to pair with a pink and gold manicure is this stunning Birds of Paradise statement piece from Stella & Dot.  Could anything be more quintessentially summer?!  I love it!

 

If you'd like to purchase your own Birds of Paradise necklace, or any other gorgeous Stella & Dot piece, shoot at an email to Lori Anne at shopgirl367 (at) live (dot) com!  They have some truly fantastic collections.  Look for more jewelry/makeup pairings when the new fall pieces debut in July!

What else would be cool to pair with pink and gold nails?  I'm thinking maybe a gold clutch purse worthy of Studio 54, hot pink heeled sandals, or a delicious fruity cocktail (poolside, of course)!  What would you wear or carry?  What are some of your favorite beauty/accessory combinations?  Let me know!

Nail Polishes: Orly Space Cadet and Sephora by OPI Mash-Up

I'm obsessed with the complexity of these two metallic nail polishes.  I could stare at them for hours, watching all the subtle shimmery color changes.  Both are iridescent and reflect a gorgeous variety of shades. 


Orly Space Cadet ($10) looks exactly like it sounds: futuristic, bold, the nail polish equivalent of "Major Tom" by the Shiny Toy Guns.  In bright light it reflects fuchsia, bright gold, and deep green from different angles.  In low light the color is more violet.

Sephora by OPI in Mash-Up ($9.50) is from the new Glee collection and is Space Cadet's lighter counterpart.  I don't watch Glee, but I secretly kind of enjoy their mash up songs, especially this one.  Mash-Up reflects silver, hot pink, mint green, and even faintly gold toward the edges.

Photographing the complex iridescence of these colors was pretty difficult, but you can see it a little better in the pictures of the individual polish bottles.  Sephora's website describes Mash-Up as "opalescent grey", but it's SO much more than that.  Space Cadet is, too.  Which one would you wear most?

Think Pink!

Just like Kay Thompson (who wrote the Eloise books!) in this amazing and ridiculously over-the-top clip from Funny Face, I'm thinking pink these days. And mostly I want pink nails and pink lips.




I kicked off my obsession by purchasing OPI's Do You Think I'm Tex-y? from the 2011 Texas-inspired line of spring and summer nail polishes.  This polish features a brand new effect OPI just launched called "sorbet".  It's glossy and more opaque than jelly nail polishes, but still has a faint translucent sheen even with two or three coats.  This shade is gorgeous!  It looks deep fuschia in the bottle but is brighter and more sheer on my nails.  Five other polishes from the Texas collection feature the sorbet effect if pink isn't your thing.  Again, my sad camera doesn't do the color justice, so I'm borrowing this lovely perfect picture from Nailstah.

I then went on the hunt for a new pink lip color to match my new pink nails.  After swatching what seemed like every single pink lipstick in the entire Sephora store, I finally settled on Dior Addict Lipcolor in Hollywood Rose.  The formula is what really sold me.  It's incredible.  I am so sick of matte lipstick right now; Dior Addict feels like glossy lip balm but somehow has the lasting power of a matte lipstick!  It's saturated color while still remaining translucent, like OPI's sorbet concept in a lipstick.  Hollywood Rose is a beautiful berry pink shade that pairs perfectly with my nails (and Daphne eyeshadow!).      

Runner-up pink lip colors were Dior Addict Lipcolor in Show, Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Pink, and Make Up For Ever #34. 

Up for Grabs: Black Shatter!



A few weeks ago, OPI's much-hyped collaboration with Katy Perry arrived in stores.  Jewel tones and glitter are the mainstays of the collection just like in K.P.'s videos (and wigs!), but one nail polish stood out among the rest.  Yep, I'm talking about Black Shatter, and I'm giving one away!

In case you need a refresher from my previous post, you apply Black Shatter over any nail color you choose.  As it dries, the black polish will crackle to reveal the color underneath!  I was blown away by this concept and so were a lot of readers.  Now here's your chance to win your very own bottle!

To be considered for the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name and tell me what color polish you'd wear underneath Black Shatter.  The lucky winner will be drawn at random and announced Monday evening, so make sure to check back here.  You've got all weekend to think it over, good luck!


UPDATE:  Congratulations to Kubu, you won!  Thanks to everyone who entered the contest, I loved reading your responses!  Look for more contests in the future!

My Nails Look Like Lace. Yours Can Too!

I adore lace and ever since I saw a woman with a lace manicure, I've wanted one too!  Unfortunately that meant hours spent meticulously cutting out bits of lace in the exact shape of my nails (not fun), or spending lots of cash at a manicurist.  Until  now, that is.  Enter Sally Hansen's Salon Effects nail polish strips.  Each little package is like getting your very own salon manicure in a box!

I was unimpressed with Sephora's pricier Chic Prints nail polish strips, so I honestly wasn't expecting much out of Sally Hansen's.  But they are brilliant!  For only $8.50 at WalMart (!!!), you get sixteen stick-on nail polish strips, a cuticle stick, and a nail file/buffer.  It did take some time to apply each sticker to my nails and shape them properly.  I wouldn't make the effort for a solid color, but for a lace effect (or leopard, or houndstooth) it's definitely worth it.  The stickers are made of real nail polish and stay on forever.  You'll get tired of it before it starts to chip, but if not, that's why there are extra strips included!  Out of every product I've tested to write about for Applied Glamour, Sally Hansen's Salon Effects is by far my favorite.  Quite a statement, no?

Katy Perry for OPI

Mrs. Russell Brand has collaborated with OPI to bring us five new nail polish shades!  As you can see below, most of them are standard glittery fare and rich, bold shades you'd probably expect from Katy Perry.  From left to right:  Last Friday Night, Not Like the Movies, The One that Got Away, Teenage Dream, and Black Shatter.

The real standout from this collection is Black Shatter.  I adore black polish on other women's nails and not so much my own, but this black polish is particularly unique in that it dries to create a "shatter" effect (as the name implies).  You apply it over any nail color and the black will crackle in different ways to reveal the polish underneath.  This looks SO cool, I can't wait to test it out for myself.  Luckily, the wait is nearly over:  Katy Perry's nail collection will arrive at Ulta stores January 23rd!

To see the shatter effect in action plus the rest of the colors, check out this video from OPI:

OPI's Little Teasers set



 You may recall my glowing review of The Nail Polish That Makes Everything Instantly Better, OPI's duochrome shimmer The Show Must Go On.  I set out to purchase my very own bottle of that gorgeous pinky-orange glittery shade, but had difficulty finding it.  I did, however, come across a special package OPI created with four mini nail lacquers from the Burlesque collection cleverly titled Little Teasers.  The bottles are perfectly sized at one-eighth of an ounce and the short brush is great for control and precision.  Best of all, it includes The Show Must Go On (as seen in the above pictures, third from left)!  The other three polishes are Rising Star (a glittery solid gold), Take the Stage (glittery warm orange), and Ali's Big Break (glittery true red).  The above pictures still don't really do the colors justice, though.  Rest assured, they are lovely! 

Ali's Big Break is a perfect candy apple red.  The glitter in this polish is much more subtle and not so much "in your face" sparkle overload, which I really like.

Rising Star is a light gold glitter.  I have mixed feelings about this one, but then, anything other than red or pink on my nails usually feels "off" to me.  It's likely just a matter of preference.  I think this would look especially amazing on medium or dark skintones, but I'm not sure how much wear I'll get out of it.  Again, it's probably just my color preference.

I was pleasantly surprised by Take the Stage!  I expected this glittery orange to be my least favorite of the four, but I love it!  It looks more coppery than orange and will look particularly gorgeous in the fall.   

None of the other polishes replaced my enthusiasm for The Show Must Go On, though.  That color is truly unique and unfortunately is difficult to capture in photographs.    

What are your favorite nail polishes?  Have you been able to pull off a nail color you thought you'd hate?

The Nail Polish That Makes Everything Instantly Better

I try to update my blog every 2-3 days and usually write entries about a week in advance.  However, this schedule has been derailed due to illness and a few other upheavals as of late.  Luckily, I'm feeling well enough to tell you about the amazing manicure I got a few hours before I came down with the worst virus of my life (also luckily, the two events were unrelated).  I may be sick, but my nails look like a party!

This probably won't surprise anyone, but I'm partial to red nail polish and rarely wear anything else.  I was at the nail salon and all ready to request OPI's I'm Not Really a Waitress, but then another bottle caught my eye.  It was a sparkly, orange-y pink duo-chrome shade from OPI called The Show Must Go On and inspired by the new movie Burlesque (which you HAVE to go see).  I haven't worn glitter on my nails since I was eleven, but this was way too festive and fun to resist.  It's probably the most gorgeous and unique color I've ever tried, and I fully plan to purchase my very own bottle to use whenever I want.  Unfortunately, my camera isn't doing the color justice so I'm borrowing this one from clever polish blog Nailin' It. 

If you're in the Birmingham area and are in need of a manicure, try the new Canterbury Nails in Cahaba Village.  The salon is beautifully decorated and the staff is excellent.