Polished: A Note On Nail Art

Hello, spoiled pretty readers!

I adore good nail art. The Internet is full of great examples - chevron stripes, zombie faces, manicures in Tiffany blue with white detail to look like gift boxes - the examples are endless.

Personally, I always wanted to achieve half-moon nails at home. A beauty idol of mine, Dita Von Teese, often rocks a perfect half-moon manicure with ruby red and bare nail.

For my first attempt, I painted the bottom half of my nails silver, and went for purple on the top portion of the nail. It was so ugly, I destroyed the photographic evidence.

For my second and final attempt, I went for bare nails on the bottom portion, and red on the rest of the nail. I applied stickers meant for french manicures on the bottom of my nail, and painted over them. You are supposed to wait until the polish is completely dry to remove the stickers. I didn't exactly trust that, so I removed the stickers when the polish was still slightly tacky.

Some stickers left a well-defined line behind, some were crooked, and more still looked like I hadn't even used stickers at all. Ugh.

I came to the conclusion that I am far too much of a perfectionist to ever be happy with do-it-yourself nail art on my own nails. I applaud those of you who have the patience and artistic ability to do it, I am just not one of those people. So, I am going to stick to what I am good at - basic manicures!
 
-Alyssa

Polished: Estee Lauder Pure Color Nail Lacquer in Enchanted Garnet

I was really excited to get this color from Daneen to try. Estee Lauder is a brand that I don't often think of, but they have been putting out cosmetics in rich, exciting colors - and this polish is no exception! In the bottle, Enchanted Garnet is a clear, shiny red. My excitement faded as I started to apply the polish. The consistency is just off - it was sticky to apply, and dried in translucent layers that showed any and all flaws in my nails. I really wanted to like this polish, but I was disappointed. My search for the perfect blood red continues!

-Alyssa

Polished: Milani Fresh Teal

Whenever I am in a drug store, I end up wandering down the beauty aisles just in case there is something new that I need. Milani is one of my go-to drug store brands, as they always have a nice range of fun colors. Last week, Fresh Teal jumped out at me.

Pretty much every magazine listed teal as a trend color for the fall, and this is a great one. It is bright and fun without being too neon or obnoxious. I also really like Milani's brush - it is thin enough to get right into the corners of the nail without running over onto your cuticles. I'm not usually one to attempt any sort of nail art, but I feel like this polish would pair perfectly with polka dots or a stripe of of OPI's That's Berry Daring. And at $4.49 a bottle, this is a great way to try out a trend color in an affordable way.

-Alyssa

Polished: How To Remove Glitter Nail Polish

I love glitter nail polish. It is sparkly and fun and statement-making and just so nice to look at while I type all day. I do not love removing said glitter nail polish. I usually apply 2-3 coats to get maximum sparkle impact, but then am stuck scrubbing and scraping it off when I decide it is time for a new manicure. Personally, I do not think it is right to spend more time removing nail polish than it took to apply it in the first place.

Enter my glitter fairy godmother at a nearby beauty store. I had a bottle of Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance in my hand – it is a gorgeous color, but I was complaining about what a pain it is to remove glitter nail polish.

She suggested placing a nail-polish remover soaked cotton ball on the polished nail, wrapping the tip of your finger and cotton ball in aluminum foil, waiting a few minutes, and the glitter would come right off.

I was skeptical but intrigued. After Google-ing “nail polish remover + aluminum foil interactions” and deciding that this method would not make my fingers fall off, I gave it a try.

HOLY CRAP, did it work. I made myself little alien fingers, waited about 5 minutes, and voila! The nail polish came almost completely off, and the leftover edges came off after another swipe. I am beyond excited to have a foolproof way to remove my most glittery polish!

-Alyssa

Polished: Nails Inc. Fitzroy Square 3D Glitter

Hello, readers!

My name is Alyssa, and I am lucky enough to be one of Daneen’s coworkers. As you may have noticed, I like a good manicure (looky here and here).

Since Daneen literally has her hands full with one-year-old Westley, I get the chance to bring you the latest nail news.

Recently, a batch of nails inc. colors came into the office, and I was immediately taken with nails inc. Fitzroy Square 3D glitter, which is described as clear with green glitter and chunky teal glitter. Swoon. Though I work in a business casual office, envelope-pushing nail polish is acceptable, so I knew this was my next manicure.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of glitter that this polish contains. Most glitter nail polish has a few flecks with mostly clear, but this was saturated, which was great. Here is what three coats looks like...

This polish is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I got a lot of compliments on it. I absolutely recommend this polish for anyone looking for a little sparkle!

nails inc. is available at Sephora, for $9.50 a bottle.

-Alyssa