Starting to think about my Valentine’s mani, and China Glaze is on my mind. 🙂
From the left: Dance Baby, Sexy Silhouette and Seduce Me ($7 each).
by Karen 5 Comments
Starting to think about my Valentine’s mani, and China Glaze is on my mind. 🙂
From the left: Dance Baby, Sexy Silhouette and Seduce Me ($7 each).
by Karen 25 Comments
I’ve been keeping a secret from you.
No, I’m not a billionaire or a costumed vigilante…although I bet Tabs would look so cute in his little sidekick outfit!
Here it is: I’m a rock star.
Or rather, I would like to be.
Cat’s out of the bag! Yep, one of my resolutions this year was to channel my inner rock star, and no, I don’t mean by fronting a band. 🙂 I mean someone who’s confident and bold enough to tear it up in front of thousands of people on stage. Someone with wicked style, too, like my own lead singer in a one-woman band. The Gwen Stefani of Novato, California.
But wait — it gets cheesier! To remind myself to “embrace my inner rock star,” I leave a lot of Post-Its around the house…
by Karen 14 Comments
Yes, I just used China Glaze as a verb.
That’s the new Electropop collection. Swatches coming soon!
by Karen 39 Comments
Yes, ma’am, I’m still in a metallic mani mode, also known as a mixed metal mani state of mind. Why? Because it’s magnetic! — not literally, of course — but I think there is something bewitching about nails that look like shiny baubles shimmering in silver and gold. Perhaps it’s because they remind me of disco balls, or perhaps it’s an ancient urge more primitive and primal than that.
This particular metal mani, a silver and gold ombre affair, is a manifestation of this MAC purse from holiday 2007, and how its tweed pattern melts from silver to gold (LOVE!).
Since the look required a number layers, I grabbed two polishes that I knew would dry quickly, a silvery glitter from Essie called Set in Stones, and a golden glitter from China Glaze called Blonde Bombshell. Of course, you could substitute other silver and gold glitters from your personal stash.
After applying a base coat to prime and even out the surface of my nails, I applied three (!) coats of Essie Set in Stones to build up the glittery silver backdrop that covers the surface of each nail. To ramp up the bling even more, you could always apply four. 🙂
Next, to initiate Project Ombre Effect, I applied Blonde Bombshell, beginning at the base of each nail, and tapering as I moved toward the tip.
Then, I added one extra layer to intensify the transitional effect where the gold meets the silver, concentrating a little more glitter at the base of each nail.
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by Karen 28 Comments
Earlier this year when I met with Rob, a personal stylist at Nordstrom, one of the things we chatted about was metal — that is, mixing metal accessories.
I was drooling over a pair of shoes with silver accents at the time and wondered about incorporating gold and silver jewelry into the outfit. Rob said, “Sure!” He thought that mixing silver and gold was a cool and modern way to update a look.
I remembered Rob’s metallic moxie this week while trying to figure out something fun to do with my nails. I wanted something festive that wasn’t red and green, so I figured, how about silver and gold? 🙂
It’s a little quirky, but that’s one of the things I like about it, and I can see myself wearing this with various shiny baubles all year round.
First, I painted my nails with a clear base coat to create a nice, smooth surface for the following steps. Next, I applied two layers of the color I chose for the silver background, Icicle by China Glaze.
Once Icicle dried, I reached for my stickers — punch-hole reinforcement stickers, the office supply kind (I got these at Target) — and applied them about halfway down each nail.
Here, “careful” and “gentle” are the operative words. I was careful to gently position and press the stickers into place, making sure they were firmly in position. I learned the hard way (screwed something like this up once before) that it’s also a good idea to wait a few extra minutes before applying the stickers to make sure that the background color is completely dry; if it’s wet at all, the stickers might peel part of the background color when they’re removed.
With the stickers stuck, I painted the portion of each nail above them with two coats of my golden shade, Champagne Bubbles by China Glaze.
by Karen 36 Comments
It’s like Friday Night Lights up in here!
I’ve been bitten by the football nail art bug… It must have happened right before last week’s Niner’s game, and now, because I couldn’t leave my East Bay girls hanging, this one’s for the Raider Nation! 🙂
by Karen 25 Comments
I stopped by a UPS Store to mail a package last week and received an unexpected compliment from the guy working the counter. He pointed at my glittery red and gold ombre manicure and said, “Atta girl! You’re wearing 49er colors.”
He said that his wife, a long-time Niners fan, would probably love to wear a mani like that on game day and asked if it was hard to do.
“Not at all,” I replied, and I walked him through the process as he prepped my package.
FYI: Talking nails with a big, burly UPS guy is weirdly entertaining. About halfway through the process, his eyes took on the same glazed, confused look that El Hub gets when I try to explain why it makes perfect sense for me to own 15 pairs of black shoes…
That’s when I suggested that the guy have his wife visit MBB. 🙂
If you’re a sports fan, Thanksgiving also means football! — a fun excuse to 1) paint your nails in support of your team and 2) give everyone around you something sparkly to look at while they heap mashed potatoes on their plate (YUM!).
To match the 49ers, I used red and gold shades from China Glaze and Lippmann.
Polishes from the left: China Glaze Champagne Bubbles, Lippmann Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?, and China Glaze Ring in the Red
So, Mr. UPS guy, this one’s for you and your wife! 🙂
Let’s start by applying a clear base coat to even out the surface of the nail, and then brush on three layers of your background color, in my case golden Champagne Bubbles by China Glaze.
by Karen 25 Comments
Oops! I just misspelled my Google search term. I meant to type “YouTube kittens,” but I accidentally typed “Ryan Gosling abs.”
Don’t you hate it when that happens? 🙂
The Internet can be so distracting. It’s easy to get so busy Googling important things like Ryan’s abs that you miss the really important stuff, like all of the glittery nail polishes appearing this season.
The stuff’s been showing up everywhere! — but after a certain point, it all starts to blend together, like house music at a three-day rave (duh-chuh-duh-chuh-duh-chuh!).
No worries. Eye Candy, the latest collection from China Glaze, can simplify the process of finding a glitter polish that’s both flashy and classy. The six-piece collection was inspired by Marilyn Monroe and utilizes a special variety of glitter called GLITTER (in all caps).
GLITTER is basically exactly like glitter, only sparklier, and because of it these polishes sport so much sparkle that they look like they’re about to explode! But at the same time, they’re bright, light, and to me don’t seem garish.
NOTE: There’s really no such thing as GLITTER. I just made it up.
China Glaze says that the “innovative glitter technology” they cooked up for these creates a “3-D effect.”
That’s marketing-speak for “these polishes are flashy and all up in your grill!” With that said, they might not appeal to ladies on a strict mani/pedi diet of Essie Ballet Slippers.
All six Eye Candy shades showcase glitter in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors in a clear formula. My favorite? — flashy Marry a Millionaire, which sets thin, confetti-like strips in green and teal against a backdrop of purple micro-glitter.
Hot, hot, hot!
I swatched Millionaire and its siblings this afternoon using two layers, and without a base or top coat.
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