Nails by Asami

See You in Hawaii!

2011-08-30T18:11:00.000-04:00

Hey, gang! I just wanted to give you a heads up that I will be traveling, moving, and then settling in all over again, this time to Hawaii. I super hate Pennsylvania so I'm really glad to be getting out of here. Alfredo and I have decided to break up; over the last year or so we've completely fallen out of love and even though we're still best friends, we'd rather move on than stay together comfortable but unhappy. It would be the easy thing to do to just continue living together like great roommates who aren't in love anymore, but we both deserve better than that and we're finally admitting that we're not actually all that compatible.

Nobody's heartbroken, nobody's angry, and really nobody is even all that upset, so please none of that, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear it," business. It's getting old and it's putting a damper on all my excitement. Anyway, in terms of the blog, I WILL be returning to blogging, it is still a very much loved hobby of mine, but I need to ask you for another hiatus while I put my life back together. Alfredo and I have been a couple for literally our entire adult lives, so it's going to be a huge adjustment for both of us. I'll be relaunching my blog and I'm really looking forward to that, I have a ton of ideas for posts and I'll let you know as soon as it's ready to go! :-)

Much love,
Asami.

May 2011 Update

2011-06-01T13:14:00.003-04:00

It's nice to be back! Things are a little under construction at the moment as I've been working on a redesign of my blog. Thanks for sticking with me in the meantime and feel free to address the question in the video if you're thinking of starting your own nail blog.

Makeup Bag Tag

2011-03-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Sephora shared some amusing photos on Facebook today in an album titled, "The Big Reveal," displaying the contents of staff member makeup bags. I got a kick out of this for some reason; there's something so tag-like about it, so "what's in my purse" that I thought it would be a fun little thing to post myself.

(In my "What's in My Purse" video there aren't any makeup items other than a backup neutral lip balm and a tiny pot of Mineral Veil. This is because what I carry with me is constantly changing. I wear a different lip product everyday, adding it to my bag, and when my makeup bag gets full I put everything back and start all over. Items like eyeshadow or foundation I apply before I leave the house and have no reason to bring with me.)

What's shown in the photo is everything that was in my makeup bag at the time I decided to post this.

1. Badger Cuticle Care.
2. Korres Lip Butter in "Quince."
3. Nivea "A Kiss of Smoothness" Hydrating Lip Care.
4. Philosophy Candy Cane Lip Shine.
5. Buxom Lips in "Trixie."
6. Clinique Almost Lipstick in "Black Honey."
7. Eyeko London Lips in "Mayfair."
8. Kolinsky Lip Brush.
9. Eyeko Fat Balm in "Strawberry." (Swatches.)
10. Shiseido Maquillage in "PK386."
11. Maybelline Japan Water Shine Lipstick in "216."

If you have been tagged and would like to participate, simply snap a photo of your makeup bag contents, list the items and finish by tagging a few fellow bloggers of your choice. This tag is about what you're carrying with you right now, not necessarily what your favorites are.

China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover"

2011-03-16T16:11:00.000-04:00

There are a handful of nail polishes that I associate with certain holidays or events, be it because of their name like, "Happy Birthday" or simply because I wear the same nail polish every single year like, "Don't Toy with Me!" and in my mind they become fastened together.

One of these polishes for me is China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover." I consider it to be the quintessential St. Patrick's Day nail polish.

"Four Leaf Clover" could not be more perfectly named, and it's so fitting to say on St. Patrick's day whenever somebody asks you what polish you're wearing. It's bright and eye-catching enough that no one would dare pinch you for a lack of green.

Pictured is two coats.

It's such a bold, intensely pigmented kelly green that "Four Leaf Clover" is actually quite notorious in the nail blogging world for being incredibly temperamental to photograph. Because this polish contains so much vivid pigment I always double basecoat with this shade, (something I also do for all reds regardless of brand just to prevent any staining that might occur from wearing such intense color.)

Kelly green always looks beautiful with gold, especially for St. Patrick's Day, so in place of a regular topcoat I chose to use Sephora by OPI's "Only Gold for Me" sheer topper instead. I love sheer toppers and "Only Gold for Me" is one of my absolute favorites. My nails look like a generous scattering of leprechaun gold over some lush, spring grass.

What polish are you wearing for St. Patrick's day?

Handwriting Tag

2011-03-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

I was unofficially tagged by Kellie Gonzo to post a very interesting tag centered around handwriting.

If you have been tagged by me, here is what to write:

[1] Who tagged you?
[2] What is your name and the name of your blog?
[3] Write the following sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
[4] Write your favorite quote.
[5] What is your favorite book?
[6] What is your favorite television show?
[7] What are some bands or musicians you especially enjoy?
[8] Please tag some bloggers of your choice.

I have always harbored a tremendous and intense love for pens, stationary supplies, journals, daily planners, handwritten letters and the art of handwriting so this tag greatly appealed to me. Please let me know if you take this tag as I would love to see your handwriting as well!

Adorée "Malibu Beach"

2011-03-12T14:47:00.000-05:00

You know those polishes that look bland or uninteresting in the bottle, but for some reason or another you get a hold of one, and once you try it on you end up surprising yourself by absolutely loving it?

Adorée "Malibu Beach" is definitely one of those polishes for me, and I'm sure this has happened to every nail blogger at some point. I considered it a "boring" polish and only put it on to swatch, but as soon as I had it on my fingertips I couldn't help but love its simple and clean effect. I have absolutely no idea why, as I don't usually wear a lot of nude polishes, but I'm so infatuated with "Malibu Beach" and I feel like you guys are going to think I'm crazy for it.

I don't know! I can't explain it! It's totally "mannequin hands," so work appropriate, so plain and understated but I just love it. I just do.

"Malibu Beach" is truly a jelly version of Eyeko "Nude Polish" and I think we all know how I feel about jellies. (i.e. wholly insatiable craving.)

Adorée polishes are available from Esther's Nail Center for $6. Thank you very much to Thresa for sending me "Malibu Beach" to swatch; I will definitely be wearing this one often.

Peach polishes are normally a questionable color for me but because "Malibu Beach" is so deeply muted it ends up working well with my skintone. I know it's not the most exiting color in the world, and honestly it still looks dull to me in the bottle, and I can't believe I'm even saying this myself, but out of all the Adorée polishes I own this one is totally my favorite.

This is officially my new "palette cleanser" for when I'm feeling completely oversaturated by bright, bold or glitter-heavy shades.

Eyeko "Big Eyes" Mascara

2011-03-03T03:45:00.000-05:00

I've been very concerned with conditioning my lashes this past year and it's nice to show off their length with a fresh new mascara!

Eyeko "Big Eyes" Mascara is packaged in a squeezable tube as opposed to a solid tube, which is nice because it allows you to mix up the product a bit and fully coat the brush. As your mascara ages, it's nice to be able to access every last bit of the product with packaging like this. (When it comes to eyeshadow primer, I actually prefer Too Faced "Eyeshadow Insurance" to Urban Decay "Primer Potion" for this exact same reason.)

I would like to say thank you very much to Sophie for providing me with this mascara so I could give it a try. I love testing out new things, especially makeup.

Here is a close-up so you can get a good look at the texture and color of "Big Eyes."

The formula contains vitamin B to help prevent dryness and lash breakage, which in turn promotes growth.

After wearing this mascara for the past fourteen hours I think the best thing about it is that I had absolutely no issues with flaking or smudging. It definitely holds up very well.

The wand is small, which I like, as large wands make it difficult for me to reach tiny corner lashes or lower lashes.

Here are my lashes after having applied Eyeko "Big Eyes."

I love the staying power of "Big Eyes" most, and the fact that it does not smudge. I do consider combing through with a lash comb necessary however, in order to separate clumps. It is a very deep black which I am fond of, and I like the inclusion of vitamin B. All in all, as long as you have a lash comb, it's a mascara very much worth wearing and it's lengthening abilities are quite significant!

Eyeko Fat Balms "Strawberry" & "Cherry"

2011-03-03T03:40:00.000-05:00

I’m sharing swatches of the two Eyeko Fat Balms I own today. They were recently reformulated to include SPF 15 and a few new colors were unveiled so I purchased two several weeks ago. I’m a huge lip product junkie so when a brand comes out with a new lipstick, tinted lip balm or lipgloss I’m immediately interested!

I bought Strawberry and Cherry.

These are $10 each and are namesake-scented. I tend to like tinted lip balms more than lipsticks as they are more moisturizing.

Here are the Fat Balms on bare skin. I love Strawberry the most; it’s a lovely color tint that looks really natural on and it also happens to be their best seller.

Cherry ended up being surprisingly pigmented, so if you’re timid about getting into bold red lipstick it would be a great product to start you off in that direction.

(My bare lips with no added color for comparison.)

Strawberry, my favorite!

Cherry, very pigmented for a lip balm! It's sort of an "almost lipstick."

Eyeko has two different three-for-two sets of Fat Balms here and here, so if you wanted three different colors you could save $10. (I would have gone that route but unfortunately the two I wanted the most were in opposite sets.)

Do you like tinted lip balms too?

Adorée "Dill Pickle"

2011-02-19T01:40:00.000-05:00

Dill pickle, really! Don't you just love that?

Adorée "Dill Pickle" is a light yellow-toned green with a slight chrome finish. Pictured is four coats as this polish is quite sheer. You could certainly wear this polish translucent at one coat if you prefer, but I generally favor building polishes up to full opacity.

Adorée polishes are available from Esther's Nail Center for $6. Thank you very much to Thresa for sending me "Dill Pickle" to swatch.

Do you own any polishes that have especially unusual names like "Dill Pickle?"

White Lace French Tips

2011-02-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

I was in the mood to wear something simple and delicate recently, something with a touch of doily-like detailing but still very classic.

I ended up applying a traditional white French manicure with an added suggestion of white lace to make the transition from nude to white less severe.

Begin by applying your white tips in whatever method you prefer; (my personal favorite are Nailene's Perfect Tips French manicure guideline stickers.) Next, simply draw on your half-loops with a nail art pen or acrylic craft paint, (I used Delta Ceramcoat,) and a tiny paintbrush. This is a continuous "m" motion that touches the line where your tips begin. It is fast and easy once you get started.

Using a dotting tool or makeshift dotting tool such as an unbent paperclip, dip into your acrylic craft paint or white nail polish and add a line of dots above your lace detailing.

Finish with the French manicure topper of your choice, (I used Zoya "Jane,") and a coat of topcoat to protect your design.

From a distance this design appears to be very detailed but application is actually quite simple. Consider using black instead of white for a "black lace" look if you prefer.

The best thing about subtle nail art like this is that white French manicures are always work appropriate, even if you have added a bit of delicate embellishment.

Liquid Palisade

2010-12-02T07:15:00.000-05:00

Thank you very much to Jacqueline of Liquid Palisade for providing me with the bottle I used in this tutorial. Liquid Palisade costs $22 and can be purchased directly from their website.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Manicure

2010-11-18T04:58:00.001-05:00

I read the first Harry Potter book when I was eleven years old, which means Harry Potter has been a significant part of my life for the last twelve years. Fortunately this last film is being split into two because of the length of the book so I won't have to get all post-Potter depression about the end of an era for another six months or so.

Hedwig, the Harry Potter logo, a wand casting a spell and a lightning bolt.

I initially had different plans for the owl nail, but I decided to simplify him to make this Harry Potter nail art as approachable as possible. (If you follow me on Twitter then you know what I mean.) This ended up working to my advantage as simplified, I was able to apply one on my opposite hand for a more cohesive manicure.

On my other hand is another wand, Hedwig again for balance, and a symbol that you'll recognize if you're familiar with the Deathly Hallows.

Are you excited for the movie?

Hello Kitty Manicure

2010-11-13T00:39:00.000-05:00

I love Sanrio and water decals!

Kristine from Polished Love Affair sent me the cutest Hello Kitty water decals recently! As soon as they arrived I took off the polish I had on so I could wear a cute Hello Kitty manicure instead. Thank you so much, Kristine! I love them!

I love water decals so much more than regular nail stickers, because they never have a raised or visible edge. They're almost like temporary tattoos for your nails! Some nail stickers can bubble up or refuse to conform to especially rounded nails, but water decals never have that problem.

If you have never tried water decals before and aren't sure how to apply them, I do have a Water Decal Tutorial posted that will give you an idea of how they work.

Kristine also sent me this super cute Hello Kitty nail polish along with the stickers, oh my gosh! I didn't even know they made Hello Kitty nail polish! I just had to use it at the same time as the water decals!

These are the water decals I used; I saved a lot for later too.

I thought the red hearts might not show up very well over the red polish, so I added one of my favorite sheer toppers, Zoya's "Vegas Freeze" to give the background a bit of shimmer to set it apart from the red hearts. It worked out great and if you don't have any sheer toppers yet, this is one of my favorites.

Have you tried water decals before? If so, do you prefer them to nail stickers like I do?

Sephora by OPI "Only Gold for Me" & "Flurry Up!"

2010-11-05T01:26:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share some swatches of two topcoats I've really been loving lately, Sephora by OPI's "Only Gold for Me" and "Flurry Up!"

I'm a tremendous fan of what I like to call "sheer toppers" for interesting French manicures or just to spice up plain cremes. When I get a sheer topper like this I always feel like my nail polish collection is instantly larger because of all the new combinations I can make.

When "Only Gold for Me" came out I kept obsessively checking my Sephora but it was always sold out! I asked for it so many times and eventually ended up just ordering it off their website. While I was ordering I saw they had just released a silver version, "Flurry Up!" so I got that one too.

I think these two topcoats look good over anything, even mattified. (A touch of "Flurry Up!" over Lippmann's "Lady Sings the Blues," mattified.)

Here is "Flurry Up!" over Orly "Snowcone."

This is "Only Gold for Me" over Zoya "Erika." (This shot shows just how much larger the hexagonal pieces are than standard glitter, which both polishes also contain.)

If you were really feeling Deborah Lippmann's "Some Enchanted Evening" either of these would be a great alternative because the hexagonal pieces are the same but these are much cheaper than Lippmann polishes. Plus silver and gold will go with more background colors than pink.

These are billed as topcoats so you don't need to put an additional topcoat over, they dry smooth to the touch so I just wear them as is. I spot ordinary sheer glitters all the time but these large hexagonal pieces stand out much more than standard glitter. They're large metallic embellishments and I really love them both. What do you think of these?

Totoro Nails

2010-10-31T13:54:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Alice I was recently inspired to make some Totoro nails! She posted the cutest Totoro manicure and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it out for myself.

The cute Totoro face is Alice's design. The second is a chibi white Totoro, (they are much smaller than regular Totoro.) The third are "Makkuro Kurosuke" and they are sort of like Japanese dust bunnies.

As always, I used acrylic craft paint to make these designs. I attached a gemstone to Totoro's leaf-hat for a little sparkle. The grey polish I used is Diamond Cosmetics "Concrete Jungle."

The green I used for this one is OPI's "Jade is the New Black." I love this polish, it's such a gorgeous color!

These little guys are my favorite of the three designs. I used black acrylic craft paint and dotted the tip of my brush around the edges to make them look suitably fluffy. You can never catch a Makkuro Kurosuke because if you try, you will squish it and find only soot in your hands.

For all three of these Totoro designs I used acrylic paint from Born Pretty nail art store. The box set pictured comes with 14 colors; I used the dark green, white and black for my Totoro nails. This was my first time using these paints so I'm still testing them out.

The gemstones I used to add a little sparkle are also from the same nail art store. I used the dark green and light green gemstones you can see in the wheel.

Thank you very much to Born Pretty for providing me with the products I used to create these nails. (They were a lot of fun to make and I would have put them on my own hands but Alfredo-husband and I are celebrating our five year marriagaversary tomorrow, (Nov. 1st) so I'll be saving this particular design for later. We're going out for dinner so Totoro won't really go with my outfit, haha!)

Have you seen the film "Tonari no Totoro" (My Neighbor Totoro) before?

Pokemon Nails

2010-10-26T01:25:00.001-04:00

Hooray, Pokemon!

The Pokeball is not overly difficult to create; just paint your full nail in red, add white to the bottom half and a round spot in the center. When it dries you can use a nail art pen, paintbrush or even a fine-point Sharpie to draw on separation lines.

Anytime you're applying nail art that's a bit absurd or excessive I recommend keeping several of your nails in plain color. For me, I did one Pokeball and one Pikachu on each hand and that's it; leaving the rest plain.

Had I applied a different Pokemon to each and every finger I think the theme would have become overdone. I love nail art, obviously, but it's just a general rule of mine to try and keep it as "wearable" as possible.

For the Pikachu face, start out with a yellow creme base and simply draw on eyes, cheeks, a nose and mouth with whatever supplies you prefer. (I used a thin paintbrush and acrylic craft paint.) These are basic shapes that come together to form something falsely complex; as long as you can draw circles and a small wave this is actually very accessible.

By applying his basic face only and leaving out his pointy ears we're playing towards the natural shape of our nails and simplifying the design so the look is more approachable but still retains its recognizability.

This Piplup and Charmander were some bonus designs I made but didn't apply because they would have introduced new colors to my current scheme, (which I wanted to keep as simplified as possible.)

This one is a bonus Snorlax.

A bonus Jigglypuff.

This was an exceptionally fun look to wear for a few days!

Do you have a favorite Pokemon?

Pac-Man Nails

2010-10-24T11:16:00.000-04:00

Pac-Man nails today!

This little guy was made using Incoco dry nail polish strips using the same technique I showed in my Pumpkin Face tutorial video.

(The cherries were done in the same way. They are perfect circles because I used a hole-punch.)

Pac-Man was made with acrylic craft paint, as were the blue border lines.

Halloween Mix & Match 2010

2010-10-14T20:06:00.000-04:00

I have a small collection of Halloween mix and match designs for you today; two of which are Nightmare Before Christmas inspired.

This is the first Jack Skellington nail, being his angry or mischievous face. I used black acrylic paint and a small paintbrush over white nail polish.

This is the second Jack Skellington nail, being his happy or neutral face. Going into this you might think you'd have to apply the white around the tiny face shapes but it's actually much easier to just fill in a white circle completely, and then draw on the eyes, nose and mouth after. I used acrylic craft paint but there are several alternate choices you could use instead, such as a fine Sharpie or nail art pen.

This one I will probably wear myself for Halloween. It's a creeping spiderweb applied over a glitter nail polish. Choose any color you like for the background, but glitter peeking through the web is what makes this one visually interesting. You could use a nail art pen to apply your web lines, or acrylic craft paint like I did.

I often see spiderweb nail art being perfectly symmetrical. While snowflakes should be of course, when I see webs in real life they're often a bit wonky or crooked here and there. Things like wind or shifting leaves tend to bunch up certain areas together or a stuck insect might mess up part of the web, so try and imitate that in your design by making a few lines curved and a few straight, as it makes for a more unique finished product.

Just some cute, simple ghosts. Again, paint on your white shape first and then draw on your black details after.

Do you have a favorite of these four Halloween designs?

Claire's Mood Polishes

2010-10-05T17:58:00.000-04:00

Taking a little break from Halloween looks, I wanted to show you something that I think is really cool, Claire's Mood Polishes.

They are temperature-responsive nail polishes that either switch between two colors depending on the temperature of your nails, or if your nails are long enough they will settle into an effortless gradient.

I bought two to test them out, and I liked them so much I stopped by a different Claire's and picked up several more. They are $5 each, but at both Claire's I went to they were buy-one-get-one-half-off so they didn't actually end up costing full price.

Every single one of the swatches in this post is three coats; these polishes are not opaque enough to get away with two. These polishes have a satin-matte finish and behave as such, meaning they dry very quickly and can be a bit on the thick side as mattes usually are. All pictured swatches have topcoat over to make them fully glossy.

The first one, "Flirty/Shy" is my favorite because I really love blue nail polishes and I thought the color difference on this one showed up well. In a hot bath or holding a hot cup of coffee, my nails were the lighter blue shade you see near my cuticles. Walking outside in the morning or feeling chilly, my nails were the deep navy blue you see on my tips.

Because my nails have length that extends past my fingertips, this is how the polish would appear most of the time and it's the way I like it best. I love gradient manicures but I can't stand the feel of five or six layers of polish on the tips of my nails just to build up to a different color; that's why I enjoy Claire's Mood polishes so much. It's the easiest gradient look in the world and it requires no effort on your part.

This one is "Awesome/Silly" and it's a sweet pink with a nice tip color. I trimmed my nails a bit for this one so you could see that even if your nails aren't drastically long, you can still get enough tip-color change that it's noticeable. Basically whatever length extends past your fingertips is the amount of gradient you will get.

I'm absolutely smitten with these polishes. I hope Claire's makes more because it's definitely the coolest nail-related product I've come across in a long time.

Double swatches now. My pinky and index are "Happy/Earthy" which is a bright, neon green. It's quite like a highlighter green and it would definitely catch a lot of attention. As you can see, the warm color near my cuticles is much more yellow and intense than the sticker label on the bottle appears.

My middle and index fingers are "Peaceful/Confident" which is a gorgeous teal that I really like.

My pinky and index here are "Fabulous/Funky" and this one is my least favorite of the bunch. It's a fun, bright hot pink but there was barely any color difference at all. Still a lovely color of course, but I was hoping for more. If you are in the market for a couple of these, I would recommend passing on "Fabulous/Funky" and getting one of the more interesting shades instead.

My middle and index are "Excited/Bored" and this one surprised me. From the dull label sticker I thought I'd dislike the warm color, (it looks like a pale putty,) but on it's actually a lovely peach. The sticker of this color is the most misleading of all the polishes. This one is my second favorite so don't let the label scare you away.

"Calm/Wild" is the only shimmer of the current Mood collection. The best thing about this one is that unlike all the other shades which change between a light and dark version of the same color, this one actually changes between two separate colors, pink and purple.

I believe this one is the most popular as I've seen it swatched most frequently.

Now, about the polishes as a whole. I think they are amazing and really interesting; I love the easy gradient effect, but the downside to that is you must have nails of a certain length in order to achieve the look. They are still fun to wear if you have short nails, as you will see the color change back and forth throughout the day but I think the best thing about them is the way they can settle into two colors on the nail.

Formula wise, they are Claire's house brand. Meaning it's not OPI, Essie, China Glaze, Orly, or Zoya quality nail polish. You must absolutely wear a good basecoat and topcoat with these or they will chip on you surprisingly quickly.

The good news is that with a basecoat and topcoat, I was able to wear these for three days with no chips so they're not unworkable; I'm just letting you know that basecoat and topcoat are not optional by any means.

They behave as mattes so as I said earlier in this post, they can be a bit thick and they dry very quickly. At two coats you will still have a few sheer spots so three coats is necessary. All that aside, I am totally and completely willing to look past formula issues because I think the concept is fascinating and I love the look. It's fun to see your nails change color when you step outside or hold a hot drink and the buy-one-get-one-half-off deal was a pleasant surprise as I definitely still would have bought these at full price.

More please, Claire's. I will buy them.

Pepo the Halloween Spider

2010-10-04T15:30:00.000-04:00

Pepo the Halloween Spider makes an appearance for his first ever video tutorial. Pepo likes to eat mustard.

I've received an alarming amount of requests to show "how I apply nail polish" so I've included that in the beginning of this particular look. I'm sorry if the first few minutes are boring; please feel free to skip ahead if basic nail polish application is not of interest to you. I will be creating a more in-depth tutorial on polish application specifically, but since Halloween looks only come around once a year it is not my current priority.

Thanks for watching! Pepo loves you!

Pumpkin Face Halloween Nails

2010-10-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

It's October; time for Halloween nail art!

Watch the video below for an step-by-step demonstration of how apply this cute jack-o-lantern design.

This is the look I wore last year for Halloween and I really liked it so I wanted to make a video for the design. Thanks for watching!

Deborah Lippmann "All That Jazz"

2010-09-29T08:03:00.000-04:00

I had a very lucky day recently! Deborah Lippmann had a giveaway on her Twitter page not too long ago; the 2000th follower would win her new limited edition set, "All That Jazz."

I've been gawking at everyone's gorgeous swatches of "Across the Universe" but at $16-$20 each, Lippmann polishes were always a bit out of my price range. When I saw swatches of "Lady Sings the Blues" I had to cage the lemming monster because it is only available as part of a $40 set. Imagine my surprise and delight when I heard the news that I was the fortunate 2000th Twitter follower!

My new polishes arrived yesterday and I'm wearing "Lady Sings the Blues" right now as I type. It is phenomenal! Blues are my favorite polishes and this is my very first hexagonal polish. "Lady Sings the Blues" is everything I wanted it to be and I feel so lucky to own it!

Here is the beautiful trio in its original packaging. It is available from Nordstrom or from Deborah Lippmann's website.

"Razzle Dazzle" is a rich near-black jelly with endless amounts of raspberry-colored glitter. Pictured is three coats. I think this will make for a beautiful holiday polish and I really enjoy the substantial bottle weight and flawless brush, (but I would expect nothing less at such an expensive cost.)

The downside is this one stained my nails pink right through my basecoat! If you do get this set, make sure you double basecoat for "Razzle Dazzle."

I love the jelly base and I'm glad the glitter is not a common red, but rather raspberry as that makes it unique to my collection.

"Some Enchanted Evening" is going to be a very useful shade for me; it looks gorgeous worn sheer but also makes for a fascinating layering polish. This will also be a pleasure to use as an interesting French manicure topper, and you already know how fond I am of those. This is definitely my second favorite of the set for its versatility.

My pinkie and ring finger are one coat each. This surprised me as I'm not normally fond of sheer looks but I actually found this one very flattering. It contains hexagonal pieces which I am not used to; perhaps that is why I find this one interesting enough to wear on its own.

Also, if you look closely at the bottle in the photo above, you will see that sometimes the pink glitter can flash a bit of red at certain angles. It's a subtle effect but something I did notice on the nail. My middle finger and index are "Some Enchanted Evening" layered over two different creme shades to show you how this will work as a layering polish.

The star of the collection, in my opinion.

"Lady Sings the Blues" is magnificent. Pictured is only two coats which delighted me as I initially thought it might be one of those sheer glitters where you have to layer it up to four coats to reach full opacity.

It contains hexagonal pieces like I mentioned, but also traditional small glitter as well. In low lighting the polish can look almost black like in the example above, but in bright lighting or sunlight it will show as true royal blue.

(I also wanted to show you how even though it contains these large hexagonal pieces, it does not have a chunky or rough finish. Not to mention that it will of course be even smoother than pictured once you add topcoat.)

Thank you very much to Deborah Lippmann for having a Twitter giveaway so I could have the opportunity to own these beautiful polishes!

Do you like "Lady Sings the Blues" as much as I do? What do you think of the other two?

My Favorite Fall Nail Polishes

2010-09-28T04:55:00.000-04:00

A video in which I share my favorite polishes for the current fall season.

Vintage Half-Moon Manicure

2010-09-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

I've made my first ever guest post! It's at The Product Pasha and the look is a vintage half-moon manicure. It's a video tutorial and I show you three different ways to achieve the look so you can choose whichever is easiest for you.

This version is Essie "Bordeaux" over a pearly-white Japanese polish and the deep blue pictured is Orly's "Star of Bombay."

How to Spot a Fake Coach Handbag

2010-09-14T06:47:00.001-04:00

All of my tips and tricks for recognizing a counterfeit Coach bag for what it is. Just for fun, guys. Thanks for watching!