Mani Monday: Super Bossa Nova

One of my all time favorite colors is Essie's Super Bossa Nova. It's a bright magenta with just a hint of shimmer that totally puts me in the mood for warmer weather. Things have finally warmed up here in Chicago, and I hope it's here to stay, at least for a while! Really, Chicago, we would all deeply appreciate it.

Mani Monday: Zoya Mia

This is one of the polishes I picked up in Zoya's New Year, New Hue promotion that they ran a few weeks ago. Mia is a dusty pink creme with excellent opacity in two coats. It's a bit darker than I was looking for, but I think it's a nice transitional shade from late winter into spring. Yes, I am pretending it's late winter.

What shades do you like to wear at this time of the year?

Mani Monday: Spun in Luxe

As soon as I saw this color, I knew that I had to give it a try. In the bottle, Essie Spun in Luxe from the Cashmere Matte collection appears navy with a distinct blue glimmer throughout. With the satin-matte texture promised by this formula, I thought it might turn out to be one of the more interesting colors in my collection. Unfortunately, as you can see, the shimmer doesn't really come out at all, and it ends up looking much flatter than it does in the bottle. I'm really disappointed, as this is easily something I could have accomplished with a regular navy and a bottle of matte topcoat (I do really like Essie's Matte About You).

I guess it can't be non-stop hits all the time, but I do wish this had lived up to its potential, as it could have been a winter mainstay for me.

Welcome to the 90s

As someone who grew up in the 90s, I occasionally get super nostalgic for the terrible unisex fashion of my early childhood. Loosely inspired by all those insane tracksuits that populated our lives at that time, for this I used a base of Revlon Colorstay 025 Seashell with random brushstrokes of Orly Neon Heat and Julep Linden. I'm really quite pleased with it, though the Orly is showing up way more magenta and less neon in this picture than it looks in real life.

I've been finding that I like to use Julep polishes as accent colors more often than a full nail color, which is somewhat puzzling. I'm considering canceling my Maven subscription just because I haven't been particularly inspired by the color choices the past few months. Are any of you Mavens? What do you think? If you're not and you'd like to become one, feel free to use my referral link.

300: Revenge of the Blog

Guyssssssss, this is my 300th blog post! Did you think this post was going to be about that awful movie franchise? Then you obviously just found your way here recently. And have probably already departed.

As usual, I digress.

I know it's January here, I know, and I also know that means it'll be real cold for a real long time still. BUT, the magazines have gotten to me, and thoughts of spring nail trends keep popping into my head. Am I practically begging that goddamn groundhog to see its shadow on February 2nd with these thoughts? Probably. But I'm not stupid enough to believe a hibernating ball of fur can keep winter in Chicago from lasting until April. On to nail polish!

Via popsugar.com

As always, pastels will have their time. I love a good chalky green, but I feel petal pink and pale blue turning into a small obsession. Not at the same time, though. I made that mistake once and it looked like a baby shower on my hands. This gradient manicure from the Nanette Lepore Spring 2015 show definitely makes the list of nail looks to try in the coming weeks.

Short nails seem to be coming back around. Fine with me. I don't need any more painful hangnails.

Via popsugar.com

I'm also loving a double tipped French manicure. From the Sophie Theallet Spring 2015 show, I think the sheer base on this makes the whole look so chic, I absolutely cannot wait to try it. There's something about the delicate little pops of color on the nail tip that turn this into a can't-look-away design.

So that's what I'm most excited to jump into as we move through the endless Chicago winter. What nail looks will you take a stab at as we march toward spring (get it? March, spring? ha ha ha)?

Just Another Mani Monday #4

Hey, hey, hey, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty medium myself. Been having some mighty awful migraines lately, which sure doesn't make me feel like staring at a computer screen to write posts. You know, though, that I've always got my nails all lacquered up. Look good, feel good, right?

I'm trying, anyway.

Julep Winnie came in the Fa La La Trio from Julep for Holiday 2015. Since I love the shit out of Christmas and shiny things, this set begged me to get it. Seriously, it would have been wrong to leave it. So I got it. Winnie is described on the site as a "rose gold metallic" and I think that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Application was totally cool, good opacity in two coats. The only reason my pointer finger looks janky is because It's gonna be great as an accessory for the holiday season, and even better than a piece of jewelry since it's much harder to lose your nails than you bling when you've had a bit too much champagne (not impossible, though, I would say). On that note, enjoy your Monday.

Just Another Mani Monday #2

OPIxPeanuts Good Grief! As nice a yellow polish as I've ever seen, not to mention I'm a big fan of Charlie Brown and the whole gang. I picked this up in the miniatures collection they produced, but I'd love to pick up a full size of this truly enjoyable yellow. I used three coats, which is a bit much, but as far as yellow polish goes, I found this to be the easiest apply of any I've tried in recent memory. Now if only I could figure out where this is on sale! Good Grief!