Blue Morning, Blue Nail Day

Today seemed the right time to play with “non-suit” colours. I don’t have any face-to-face meetings this week

Give your nails the blues with Blue Jean Baby nail polish by Cacique.

and Monday has a host of conference calls.

With that in mind, I dove into my box of new/untried colours and found the batch of hues I found on sale at Lane Bryant – they’re much more fun when on sale – and right there, smiling up at me, was Blue Jean Baby. Yes! Perfect. Nailed it.

The polish has little flecks of silverish-grey, giving it a true denim feel and just a bit of sheen. Not overly metallic but enough to take it away from what could have been a very flat matte. Nicely done, Cacique.

The photo below is taken with a different camera, yet shows the highlights and detail better.

Blue Jean Baby

Every day should be Glitter Day!

Glitzy!

Every now and then (OK, most of the time), I ask my husband to pick my polish colours for me out of the vast array of pretty polishes. Mostly, it’s a hold over from when the kids were small and delighted in choosing what colours they’d like to see Mommy wear. *Sigh* remember those days?

As today is our anniversary, it seemed fitting that I not rearrange the bottles so the hues I am most in the mood for were front and center. I didn’t mention what colour suit I would be wearing at an event tomorrow or even pull out 3 bottles asking which he’d prefer. Today, it was all on him – I gave up control.

Sweetly shiny

With the same boyish grin that he had later that day when presenting me with flowers at the salon he chose OPI’s glamorous You Glitter Be Good To Me. “You should be glittery” he said. Eying the 2012 Breast Cancer Awareness offering, I told him that while it looked opaque in the bottle truthfully the polish was very sheer with flecks of those incredible pinks and magenta. Without missing a beat, he selected Congeniality Is My Middle Name for two under coats. Smart man!

While these are slightly older selections, the combination is an exciting fresh update. I feel like a pretty, pretty princess without being too gloopy (it’s a word!). I also feel that it has a certain elegance befitting of my age – you know, 29 and holding.

Elf Sent Colours

Nail pens from Santa’s elves

I’m a very lucky girl! Santa spoke to my Canadian family elves (this is even funnier if you realize that I am Jewish) and Missy Head Elf took some time from her amazing schedule and sent off a lovely gifty package. As you might have guessed among the heartfelt items there were also goodies for my nails and toes.

I was very excited to see Kiss’ Nail Artist pens. These fine point pens arrived in a two pack – one white, one black. I’ve been waiting to give these a whirl forever but just haven’t gotten around to picking them up yet. It was as if Missy Head Elf was a mind reader!

To make it even better, she – I mean the Elf – added in some nail art decals. Those were highly appreciated since I have not picked any up in the longest time and love the delicate little options they provide.

Polar Purple, Grapevine, Sssssexy

I saved the best for last, nail colours!

From left to right we have:

• Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color, Polar Purple 
• CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss, Grapevine 310
• Essie sssssexy

 

I just know that 2013 is going to be a stunning year to kick off with all these terrific lacquers and add-ons!

Playing With My Holiday Gifts

The best part of new things is that they’re new things. And what do we do with our new things? We play with them!

With 5 new polishes in my recent gift of SEPHORA by OPI Perfect Reds in hand I trudged off to the fabulous Lucy of MB Nails. I was all excited to see try them out. My husband even got in on the game and picked out 2 colours for me to chose from – this is a hold over from when the kids were small and would select my colours to wear – turns out that I had to wear them both.

OPI – Be-Claus I Said So

Above you’ll see Lucy modeling Be-Claus I Said So which turned out to be super sheer. I’m not really into sheer polish this time of year so we opted to lay a foundation of two coats of Curve-Aceous, then top with 2 more of the Be-Claus I Said So.

No signature flower this time but the combination of OPI Curve-Aceous and Be Clause I Said So is Glitter-licious

Curve-Aceous for my happy toes!

Santa brings Perfect Reds

Isn’t it always so great when you open a gift and it’s spot on, YOU? My daughter donned her Santa suit and gifted me with OPI’s Perfect Reds: Fiercely Fabulous (opaque poppy red)- And a Cherry On Top (opaque vivid maraschino)- Be-Claus I Said So (clear with medium and chunky red glitter)- Curve-Aceous (opaque metallic cool candy apple)- Mr. Right Now (opaque classic wine)

Fiercely Fabulous, And a Cherry On Top, Be-Claus I Said So, Curve-Aceous, Mr. Right Now

Holiday Glamour

OPI
Seasons Screenings

 

I don’t know about you, but during the holidays I tend to turn to my old favorites – call them nail traditions.

IMHO, nothing screams rich holiday glam like OPI’s Seasons Screenings. The deep metallic red almost seems to be made of cranberries and spice.

I did a little Google detective work and found that you can still find this wonderfully rich Hollywood look.
Click for OPI’s Season’s Screenings.

Brisbane Bronze for you, mate?

Brisbane Bronze – OPI

This shimmery bronze might not be too easy to find. I stumbled on this warm bronze from the Spring Summer 2007 OPI Australia Collection at my nail salon.

Why just a photo of my happy toes? Because the pretty, pretty polish did not stand the test of time on my hands.

Faithful followers know that I generally have 3 coats of polish to get the full depth of the colour. This time I opted to go for only 2 since it covered so well. Unfortunately, the age of the polish changed the properties and it just didn’t seem to dry. 3 hours after application the last 2 of my unsmudged nails met their untimely end giving me a full set of 10 digits that I’d rather not show off.

Would I suggest this color? Yes, I loved the look and received many compliments on the first day of wear. But never again, will I opt for a polish of unknown origin and age.

*Note – I’ve seen a few reviews that panned this hue. Each woman stated she was Asian and it was horrible with their skin tone. Another good argument for working with your personal colour palette in addition to finding colours you love. Remember what Mom used to say? Wear the colour, don’t let the colour wear you!