Cheerier than the usual ‘greige’ shade that’s been so hot is this light chocolate milk colored polish by essie called jazz. It’s a perfect fall color because it isn’t cheery and candy-coated like the shades of pink we wear all summer, but it isn’t too dark like the shades of merlot our toes sport all winter long.  Although I do love the way a deeper shade looks on my fingers, I usually go for a lighter one that looks less obvious when the inevitable wear-off occurs.

It’s not a part of their fall collection (which you can check out HERE) but it’s still in theme with the whole lavender, chocolate brown, taupe, and berry shades that seem to be the thing right now.

I found mine at Ulta, but you can get yours online at essieshop.com right HERE

Shellac. It’s the hot new nail treatment everyone has been buzzing about. It has single handedly sent women back into salons and spas to get their nails and toes polished in shiny shades that will stay perfect for 2 weeks.

At first glance, the polishes look like any other, here’s what the display looks like with the available Shellac colors.

A little bit closer, the polishes and the bottles colors are pretty much identical.

Shellac is a polish hybrid that’s applied like a polish but stays on like a gel does. A CND nail professional will apply the polish to your nails and set it under a UV lamp for a few minutes. Once your hand is removed from the lamp, there is zero dry time. Your polish is set for the full two weeks without the risk of dulling, smudging, or chipping.

So it totally ruins your nails to remove it right? No way. After the two weeks, your nail professional will put little pads soaked with a solution over each nail for 10 minutes and  just wipe the color away. No drilling or filing needed so your nails stay strong and pristine. 

Here’s the manicure day one with the color in Strawberry Smoothie.

Here’s another shot of the color exactly one week later.

And after 2 weeks. You can see the color grow out a little at the cuticle but the color is still super shiny and there isn’t any chipping.

It’s sandal season, so who doesn’t want a perfect mirror-finish pedicure on your toes for two weeks? Shellac is pretty amazing, give it a try and let me know what you think. 

In Denver, I see Stacy Highland, but you can locate a salon near you that offers Shellac HERE.

Stumble It!

Orly is dipping their toes into more modern waters these days by using different colors and finishes for each new collection. For summer I like to wear something really eye-catching on my toes, so I wear these Foil FX metallic polishes with a foil finish to really sparkle in the sun.

You can see the complete collection HERE

Stumble It!

At the Long Beach Expo yesterday I caught up with Orly and SpaRitual to check out what they had in store for spring. Everyone was so helpful and sweet- which is great because I really like both lines so it’s always a nice surprise when the people at the company match up with how you view the line itself. That makes sense right?

Here are their spring collections along with a few other shades that caught my eye.

Believe (available now) is the new spring lineup for SpaRitual which includes 6 vibrant shades of crémes with one shimmer, Hope Springs Eternal (pink at right) that might be the first bright pink polish I’ve liked in a long time. On the left is Shoot for the Stars, I’m a sucker for anything purple.

Clearly, the star of the collection is Yes, I can, a leafy almost frog green that would look great on any skin tone. I got to see it on, it was eye-catching but not obnoxious or overdone. Jade who? This green is the new statement shade of the summer.

I couldn’t resist Spellbound, it looked like ruby red slippers. It’s mesmerizing. Perfect on toes that peek out of dressy sandals and flip-flops alike.

Orly chose all crémes for Sweet (out in April), their spring lineup of 6 candy colored pastels-with-a-kick that are sure to be a hit. Of course I wanted Lemonade, the airy yellow that was completely sold out (along with the rest of the line), but I managed to wrangle one of two Lollipops (below) that they had left. I can see why it cleared out so quick, I’d use every single color. It’s the ultimate in girly fun.

Here’s the complete lineup, left to right: Pixy Stix, Lollipop, Lemonade, Gumdrop, Cotton Candy, and Snowcone.

I know the collection isn’t new, but Metal Chic, their matte metallic trio, was new to me. I wasn’t sure what to think of matte polish at first, but I really like it. I’ve seen matte polishes look a little drab, but the addition of metallic sparkle made an edgy statement that’s easier to wear than you’d think.

I’m wearing Iron Butterfly (above left).

Keep in mind that bold polish look best on shorter nails. Updating your nail colors is a cheap and easy way to keep your look current and add a little splash of color when you need it.

Stumble It!