Nails

Dior Vernis Nail Enamel in Liquorice without flash

I’d been starting to forget how much I love purple when I remembered Dior Vernice Nail Enamel in Liquorice ($19).

It came out as a Nordstrom exclusive early in the summer. With its deep, rich plum and flecks of shimmery gold, it was everything I look for in a nail polish suitable for all occasions.

Dior Vernis Nail Enamel in Liquorice with flash

Unfortunately, ye mighty makeup gods chose to make it a limited edition, perhaps to toy with our emotions, and it’s already pretty scarce.

Nordies already took it down from their site, but I’ve had some luck finding discontinued limited edition products at Nordstrom by asking counter people to check around for me. If you’re unable to track it down, don’t fret. Try Sally Hansen’s Salon Nail Lacquer in Alchemy ($6) instead. It contains a little less gold (maybe that’s why it costs so much less, lol!) but has a very similar color.

Liquorice is an elegant, dynamic shade with a hint of pimp daddy thrown in for good measure. Depending on the light, the color pivots from a dark eggplant to a warm burgundy-gold. I can totally see myself behind the wheel of an old El Camino painted in Liquorice. Add some chrome rims and I’d be hella ridin’ dirty.

I just got back from a quick run. The leaves are beginning to fall, and pretty soon at this time I’ll be jogging in the dark. Lovely… I’m gonna miss the longer days.

Now I’m eating a brownie and watching the new 90210 on TV for the first time. I’m feeling the urge to paint my toes. 🙂

Whatcha doin’ tonight?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Fall is my favorite time of year in San Francisco. It rarely gets either cold or hot in the city, with the Bay keeping the climate pretty much the same year ’round, but the brief summer we do get usually occurs in what would normally be the fall, which means t-shirts in October and sometimes even November.

It’s when autumn colors drench the city — grey buildings contrast against streets carpeted with maroon autumn leaves, as buttery autumn sunlight weaves through the high rises downtown. I love it.

I suppose my love for the city in fall explains why I’ve fallen for Sally Hansen‘s new nail collection, inspired by 10 fall colors created in collaboration with clothing designer Tracy Reese. The industrial grey, black and blue shades contrast well with maroons and neutrals, as do the streets of my favorite city in the fall.

• Alchemy – deep plum with subtle purple and gold shimmer
• Cruel Heart – maroon with subtle gold flecks
• Divinity – pale beige with grey flecks
• Moonstone – white shimmer
• Night Lily – maroon matte
• Raven’s Wing – black with big silver glitter
• The Good Earth – dark chocolate brown with subtle gold flecks
• Torrid Bloom – matte hot pink
• Quartz Cameleon – pale peachy- pink beige with subtle gold flecks
• Stormy Blue – dark grey blue shimmer

At $6, these drugstore polishes are a downright steal! You get a little bit less product than you would from a Lippmann Collection shade (0.45 oz for a bottle of Sally Hansen versus 0.50 oz for a Lippmann Collection bottle), but you’re paying half the price. These colors are also durable like Lippmann polishes, clinging like that ex-boyfriend you wish would just go away.

I painted my nails with three layers for these pics, and five days later they had nary a chip. And that’s without topcoat, yo. If your nails take a beating like mine do, then definitely put one of these in your basket on your next trip to Rite Aid or the House of Tar-ghay. Update: These Sally Hansen colors will hit the shelves in September. 🙂

Torrid Bloom

Night Lily

Cruel Heart

Alchemy

Chameleon

Moonstone

Night Divinity

The Good Earth

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Watching old black and white movies on TV the other night, I felt compelled to add some color to my life. I applied three coats of Lippmann Collection’s Lady Marmalade nail polish ($15), a shimmery coral pink.

I think it’s a playful, youthful shade, even though the name is also the very grownup hook of a song that goes “Voulez-vouz coucher avec moi, ces soir.”

Maybe the Lippmann folks chose the name based upon how the shade looks in the bottle — like a scandalous red — but on my nails it’s a warm-toned strawberry pink, something Elle Woods would have worn before she left for Harvard.

Despite having the trademark Lippmann polish durability and thickness, Lady Marmalade is a bit sheer in comparison to Lippmann’s matte polishes. It took me three layers to really make the color pop.

Once applied, nail polish shades can look completely different depending on your skin tone and the opacity of your fingernails, so even though Lady Marmalade looks more strawberry pink than coral on my nails, you may see more of its coral and gold tones.
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I know I can’t be the only one out there drooling over the upcoming Chanel Robertson Boulevard limited edition nail polishes; the neon-bright shades in pink, purple, orange and yellow remind me of 1960’s pop art. I think they’ll look groovy on fingers and toes, but at $25 apiece, they sure aren’t budget friendly.

Let’s consider an option. If you’re lusting after Chanel’s upcoming Robertson Boulevard colors like I am, then Essie’s super hot Neon collection (just released this month) may help. I have yet to see the Robertson Boulevard colors in person (I’m basing this on the promo photos), so I can’t say exactly how close these Essie colors are to their apparent Robertson Boulevard equivalents, but the shades in both collections sure look close to me based on Chanel’s promo shots. And at a reasonable $8 apiece, you could buy all four Essie Neon shades for a total cost just a few dollars more than a single one of the Robertson Boulevard colors.

Essie’s Neon Collection…

Short Shorts – hot pink matte
Mini Shorts – neon highlighter orange matte
Shorty Pants – banana yellow matte
Bermuda Shorts – bright violet matte

What do ya think of the names? Aren’t they fun? I sort of wish Essie had included a shade called Booty Shorts, ha!

My favorite out of the four shades has to be Shorty Pants, the bright yellow. It reminds me of a perfectly ripe banana (sans brown spots).

All of the colors, with the exception of Mini Shorts, have that thick, high shine, classic finish Essie is known for. Mini Shorts doesn’t seem to be quite as shiny as the other shades are, and I’m not sure why that is, but a high shine top coat like Seche Vite should bring the shine up to par.

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