Nails

The Day in Beauty Vol. 18: Bath & Body Works Honolulu Sun Body Lotion, Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro Polish in Splish Splash, and Birthday Vibes!

June 11th, 2016 by Karen 36 Comments

honey lavender latte final — Happy weekend, my friend!

Hey, girl, haaaay! Happy Saturday. I hope you’re doing well. Hello from sunny Novato, Californ-eye-aye. I’m still in celebratory mode because…

birthday cake — Thursday was my birthday!

Thursday was my birthday, and it was a great one, not that I did anything too ambitious, but we did leave the cave (huzzah!) and brave the outside world for the afternoon with my Babylove (a.k.a. Connor Claire).

Connor actually took me out to lunch (her dad helped, of course). We went to the town of Petaluma a few miles north of us in Sonoma County to a place called Della Fattoria. It’s a really cute Napa-style place right on the downtown boulevard with long wooden tables, communal seating and Italian-inspired California cuisine, and they have this otherworldly fresh-baked bread and a glorious dessert case filled with things that look like homemade Hostess Cupcakes and Ho Hos…but we didn’t have dessert because there was a Baskin-Robbins pistachio almond ice cream cake waiting for me at home.

Anyway, though, at lunch, I had a honey lavender latte for the first time ever, and if you do anything in this life, please, please have a honey lavender latte… SO delicious. You get the sweetness from the honey and the floral notes from the lavender, and I know it might sound weird because, you know, lavender is used in a lot of bath products, but no. They’re really good!

And I also had a cup of broccoli cheddar soup and a spring panzanella salad with crisp, fresh peas; asparagus; various leafy greens; chicken and these HUGE croutons… I’m drooling just thinking about that salad now. If you’re ever in Petaluma, I highly recommend it.

El Hub's dish, a turkey bacon sandwich — El Hub’s turkey bacon sandwich

So yeah, nice birthday. Super mellow. After lunch we just did a little window shopping around downtown Petaluma, then headed back home for ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (with Connor supervising…because she can’t quite sing happy birthday yet, LOL!).

And the birthday wasn’t the only milestone this week. Connor had one, too, because she’s starting to hold her head up when we do tummy time now, which is very exciting.

connor holding head up — Sweet babylove!

I can’t wait till she starts crawling, but at the same time I’m a little scared, because then she’ll be mobile and, like, I don’t even know how I’m even going to keep up with her.

As for new developments on the beauty front, I got this lotion last week…

bath body works honolulu sun — Bath & Body Works Honolulu Sun Body Lotion and Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro in Splish Splash

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Dior Vernis Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kits for Summer 2016

June 1st, 2016 by Anna Oh 13 Comments

Right now, I seriously can’t help smiling every time I look down at my nails. 🙂

I’ve had negative time for my nails since starting night classes, but the new Dior Polka Dots Colour & Dots Manicure Kits ($31 each; three limited edition color combos available) remind me what a fun manicure can do to brighten my mood. Every time I’m driving or typing, I feel more put together!

I usually do my own nail painting, and I’ll stick to a few classic colors, rotating every two weeks or so, but I get bored of these same colors real fast. So, with these Polka Dots not only do I get two beautiful shades of the best polish formula (IMO), there are many ways to wear them together — or alone! If you can’t already tell, I’m completely smitten.

dior polka dots manicure — 002 Confettis and 003 Plumetis

As part of the 2016 Dior Summer Milky Dots Collection, each manicure kit comes with two 0.23-oz. bottles and a sexy “Dior” branded dotting tool. The dotting tool has also been a pleasant surprise. Now I can easily draw with my other polishes too.

The color combos — in classic Dior fashion — are elegantly intriguing; my favorite being 002 Confettis. The light orange shade is really doing it for me…and I WILL be using it alone in the near future! I’ve had no issues with the lighter color showing up on the darker color either.

Dior nail polishes have an outstanding formula. They have a medium consistency and apply opaque with two coats using a wide brush. One of them, Junon, is one of the longest lasting polishes in my collection.

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What I’ve Been Using to Rehabilitate My Nails After Quitting Gel Manicures

May 30th, 2016 by Marcella Yakalis 14 Comments

help nails gel manicures — Clockwise from the top: Lauren B Beauty Polishing Handscrub ($20, 2 oz.), SpaNature Hand and Body Lotion ($11.55, 28 oz.), Ciate London Mini Nail Treatment in Knight in Shining Armour and Nail Gym ($10.50, 0.17 oz.), and Nail Magic Hardener and Conditioner ($6.50, 0.25 oz.)

As some of you might remember, not too long ago, I wrote a short piece about trying to quit gel manicures. Well, shortly after, I did it! I took them off myself at home…and it was terrible, and I don’t mean terrible in terms of how my nails were feeling before I took them off. I mean terrible in terms of “My nails actually hurt for several days afterward, and it has taken over a month for them to show any visible signs of improvement.”

To recap, here’s a (rather bad, admittedly) photo of what my nails looked like immediately after I removed my gels about a month ago.

Be warned, it isn’t pretty.

Since that fateful night, I’ve tried to take good care of my nails to help them recover. I was in Sally Beauty Supply just after removing the gels and asked an employee to recommend a product to rehab nails after removing gels, and she recommended Nail Magic Hardener and Conditioner.

She told me to use it for two full weeks with nothing else on my nails, and then after that to keep using it as a base coat, which I’ve done.

After the initial two weeks, my nails weren’t feeling all that much better, so I also added some other products to my gel manicure repair arsenal, including these mini treatments from Ciate London below…

help nails gel manicure — Ciate London Knight in Shining Armour (left), Ciate London Nail Gym (right), and Nail Magic Hardener and Conditioner (top)

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Play It Tropicool and Go Back to the Fuchsia With Salon Perfect Neon Pop! Summer 2016

May 26th, 2016 by Jessica Revitte 8 Comments

Do you remember when I used to paint my nails all the time?

Yeah, me neither. I miss it. I miss having the free time to sit down, manicure, buff, base, color and top coat my nails on the regular.

There just isn’t enough time, and that’s okay. I embrace the people and things that have taken the place of those at-home manicures, and it just means that the opportunities I do have to actually polish my nails are that much more special.

Queue the Salon Perfect Summer 2016 Neon Pop! Collection. These 12 sweet and sour shades (eight shown below) will get you ready for your next afternoon by the pool. At only $3.98 a Pop! (see what I did there?), you can collect ’em all. The challenge will be deciding which one you want to wear first. (Or maybe that’s just me, because I’m like “YAS! Finally, free time to paint my nails!”)

I love the Neon Pop! line’s versatility. A lot of the neon polishes I’ve tried are streaky and consistently dry down to a matte finish that doesn’t last long. They’re also usually only available in warm tones. But Salon Perfect seems to have all that sorted out.

Here are pics of eight Neon Pop! shades alongside their trusty companions — a bottle of Crystal Clear top coat and a white shade called Sugar Cube. To really make the neon-ness of these Pop! shades jump off your nails, apply them atop a white polish, in lieu of a traditional base coat (same idea works for colorful eyeshadows), and then to keep them from chipping too soon or from drying down matte, add a sturdy top coat.

My personal favorite neons (and nail polishes in general) are cool toned, which is why I like the Neon Pop! greens, blues and purples. I’ve been all about calypso teal Mer-Made of Money, which goes five full days for me with a base and top coat before chipping. That’s unheard of for a neon!

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The Essie Resort 2016 Collection Will Get Your Fingers and Toes Ready for Summer!

May 13th, 2016 by Jen Clark 19 Comments

I feel the need to talk about some nail polish today, so let’s talk about this cute collection, Essie Resort 2016.

If you knew me a couple of years ago, you probably would have known about my ridiculous polish addiction. Like, the addiction was real. I had a shelf covered with hundreds — yes, hundreds — of bottles.

I’ve since downsized to my current nail polish collection, but those were the days… I would paint my nails a different color almost every day of the week, not even kidding. I even got really good at design, but alas, babies came and time got short, and sleep became more important.

I am so, so ashamed to admit that I’ve only painted my nails maybe once over the last six months (!). That is just ree-dic and so unlike me, so when my best friend texted me the other day to go get my nails done with her, I jumped at the chance.

I also did something really different — I got acrylics! — and had them do the almond shape. I’ve always admired almond shaped nails but never thought to try them myself. Turns out, I LOVE them! There’s just something so feminine about long nails, although I am having the hardest time typing this post. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

In honor of my new nails, I’m wearing the new Essie Resort Collection for 2016.

All of these colors are so up my alley. I’ve never, ever been one to shy away from bright colors. In fact, they’re what I gravitate toward, and these are gorgeous! And actually pretty unique!

Normally when I get new nail polish colors the ones I decide to get aren’t too special compared to the polishes I already have, but some of these are unique and unlike anything I own.

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Graduation Day Done Right: Hair, Makeup and Nail Tips for a Long-Lasting, Camera Ready Look to Take You From the Ceremony, to Your Post-Grad Family Fetes, to the Big Festivities at Night #sponsored

May 4th, 2016 by Karen 22 Comments

This post was sponsored by imPRESS Gel Manicures. Designed for every mood, every moment. Check out imPRESSmanicure.com for more colors and designs!

Aren’t graduations the best? They’re one of my favorite milestone events, because not only do they commemorate a major life success, but they also herald the start of a new adventure.

I dunno… I just love that feeling of endless possibilities. It’s like, “the future’s so bright, you gotta wear shades.” (Extra big ups if you actually get that reference.)

If you’re graduating this year, first, congrats, babe! Second, when you get to the end of the ceremony and everybody is throwing their caps up into the air, please throw yours as high as you can! — because I never got to do it at my graduation ceremonies (don’t know why, but it wasn’t allowed). And this way I can live vicariously through you.

Third, we gotta talk pre-grad hair, makeup and nails (of course), because graduation days, in my experience, tend to be looong.

There are the pre-parties (more on these in a sec), then the actual ceremony, then the post-ceremony celebrations, and then, if you’re a champ, the post-post-celebration parties at night.

That all adds up to a long day and a long night, and seeing as how everyone’s a photographer these days (hello, camera phones!), it doesn’t hurt to be camera ready for all of it.

First, let’s start with your makeup. 🙂

Makeup

One word: primer. Before you paint that face, prime that skin.

Makeup primers work a little like paint primer…except they’re for your skin and not the walls. They fill in uneven areas so that any products you apply on top of them — like your concealer, your foundation, etc. — look smoother and last longer.

I’ve taken roughly 10 gajillion pictures for le blog (give or take), and I think primer makes a HUGE difference, especially when it comes to face products like foundation and concealer.

Primers also help your makeup apply more evenly, so you don’t get any of those funky patches where your blush or your eyeshadow look darker in some spots than others.

But the main reason I suggest wearing primer on graduation day is longevity. That’s primer’s superhero power — the ability to grab makeup and not let go — so if you’re having a long day, which then goes into a long night, your makeup stays intact longer and doesn’t fade as quickly.

I’d do a face primer, and then also an additional eye primer for your lids. For face primers, I love the Make Up For Ever Step 1 Primers ($37), because a little goes a long way, so I don’t have to use very much (which means that it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing an extra layer of spackle), and they help my makeup last a good 12-14 hours.

I use the Smoothing Primer For Large Pores & Fine Lines on my combination skin, but if you have oily skin, try their Mattifying Primer.

For eye primer, NARS Pro-Prime Smudge-Proof ($26) is the best one out there in my opinion. It will hold onto your eye makeup like Tabs clutches his Chanel purse filled with cat treats! — and it won’t let go until you wash it off.

Here are a few more grad day makeup tips…

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Palm Beach Awaits With the Essie Spring 2016 Collection

April 29th, 2016 by Adia Goss 10 Comments

The Palm Beach-themed nail polishes in the Essie Spring 2016 nail polish collection have all the right moves for a tropical vacation, and I’m loving every shade! When I think of springtime colors, pastel shades come to mind, so I like that there are some super-saturated, unexpected colors in this six-piece release.

High Class Affair, the peachy nude, is my favorite of the collection. I love that it’s neutral but has juuust enough blush to be interesting.

I really think bright pink Lounge Lover would also be beautiful as a blush or a lipstick (Essie, are you listening?).

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Gel Habits Die Hard: Quitting My Gel Manicure Habit

April 6th, 2016 by Marcella Yakalis 22 Comments

gel nails, acrylics, nail polish — Baby’s first gel: a candy apple red (right) and my sister’s acrylics (left)

Last March, on a visit to see my sister, I asked if we could get a manicure together. Now, she gets gel acrylics, and while I’d only gotten a manicure maybe twice in my whole life, something made me really want one that day.

“Sure,” she responded, “I’m due for a fill!”

This began my obsession with gel manicures, which has continued to this day. Unfortunately, a year is all it has taken to potentially ruin my nails.

When I was around eleven, my mom was still getting acrylic nails. She loved going, and I loved how they looked. I also loved going with her and watching the whole process, seeing everything come off, and then watching the nail technician rebuild a perfect manicure right before my eyes. I felt the same sense of wonder when I started getting my own nails done as an adult.

A few years into acrylics, however, my mom got a horrible fungal infection under one nail, and she had to stop getting them altogether after that. That fact alone made me fear fake nails.

I got a regular manicure for a formal dance, acrylics for prom (which I promptly bit off a few days later) and, for some strange reason, decided that I needed gel acrylics in 2011. I got them filled twice before giving up on them, though, and it took my nails weeks to recover.

I was working in retail and wanted to have nice nails, but this was at the lawn and garden department of my local Walmart. It was hard to maintain them while I was literally playing around in the dirt.

My nails have always been thin and have a tendency to peel and crack. When they get even a little on the long side, they bend forward awkwardly, which leads me to believe I might be a victim of eggshell nails.

Over the past year, they’ve gotten better, as far as the peeling goes, due in part, I believe, to the fact that I quit smoking, started eating better, and I started taking collagen regularly. Nail problems can result from any number of things, like your diet (which, for me, despite my best attempts, isn’t always the best) or any medications you take.

Yet despite these problems, I’ve always loved doing my nails. As a kid, I had such an obsession with nail polish that I would paint my nails, but then take the polish off the next day to paint them a different color.

I can’t say this was exactly good for my nails…but it was fun. As an adult, I’ve been pickier. I’ve learned how to make my manicures last at least a week with gel top coats and by doing my best to preserve my hard work.

But the magic of real gel manicures hooked me. On my nails, they would often last almost a month, and it was worth the investment for something that wouldn’t chip or flake the moment I got my hands wet. For a while, they even seemed to make my nails stronger.

Some of my friends warned me against them and insisted that even though they were still my real nails, the gel process would cause problems (there are lots of arguments both for and against gel manicures).

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I actually started seeing, and feeling, the repercussions of “the lamp.”

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