Dior Aventure Polish

I love these poppy-red colors! OPI's On Collins Ave is also very similar. If you can believe it, this is one coat of Dior Aventure topped with Dior Gel Top Coat.

Christian Louboutin "Simple Nude" Nail Polish

Hello everyone! Today is a dreary spring day but here is my latest nail polish. I am posting because there are only a few people who have swatched this color on their blog; maybe this will help someone say "yay" or "nay" to buying it for themselves.

"Simple Nude" is a yellow-based camel color. It is not the most flattering neutral on me; I tend to favor more red-based colors. This polish is a creme that is pretty opaque. Here is 2 coats, over Rimmel London's top/base coat. After 2 coats were completely dry (overnight) I used Dior Gel top coat.

Christian Louboutin shoes come in many shades of "nude" which is appropriate since all of our skin tones are different. The nail polishes also come in a handful of "nude" colors. As you can see, "Simple Nude" closely matches one of CL's "nude" shoes in tone and shine!

No matter if your skin color is light or dark, if it has yellow undertones, this polish could be a great and flattering choice! 

Cozy Fall Layers

Burberry Brit quilted jacket, purple cardigan by Charter Club, blouse by Missoni x Target, pants from Ann Taylor, Cole Haan heels, Botkier handbag, Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, Zoya Casey nail polish

Finally a nice day to take photos! Sorry it's been so long. Here is a very layered outfit for a morning in the 30s. I love this dark-plum, jellyish nail polish, but it doesn't love me, it chips pretty quickly.

Mostly Black Some White

Tank jersey dress by Firth, tie-neck blouse by Nine West, Eric Michael Nemo espadrilles, old white bracelet, Swatch watch, onyx heart necklace from Tiffany & Co., Nicole by OPI polish

I wore this tie-neck blouse over a casual midi-length dress to make it office-appropriate. Inspired by my white nails, I added a plastic bracelet, just a few touches to lighten up all the black I was wearing. My ring is a gift from my sister-in-law, who took a spoon from her mother's silver and had it made into a ring. It's fabulously heavy; I love wearing personal items.

How Cute Is That Swatch

For Christmas I got the Sephora by OPI Glimmer Wonderland 18-piece mini polish set from my Mom. Here is one of the polishes "How Cute Is That". It is a pink salmon color, pretty bright and perfect for summer. Good opacity, this is two coats.

New Tall Boots and Clashing Blues

denim jacket by DKNY Jeans, shirtdress by Calvin Klein, boots by Enzo Angiolini, scarf unknown, Milani Chocolate Sprinkles nail polish

Fall is here, and my closet is full of brown clothing and shoes! Here are a couple of taupe items: a CK shirtdress, and my new tall boots (thanks Mom!). Even my nails are brown (though much darker), beautiful Chocolate Sprinkles with amazing glitter in them. I highly recommend you pick it up,  I am on Day 3 with minimal tip wear. 

OPI Danke-Shiny Red Perfection!

Behold, the newest polish in my arsenal: OPI Danke-Shiny Red! This is a perfect nail polish. It is opaque in ONE COAT. The finish GLOWS. The color is rich and metallic. It is flattering on my skin. A perfect Fall and Winter red. It stands alone, outshining the reddest Coca-Cola can and the most metallic Mini Cooper steering wheel.

I was hoping it was a dupe for OPI's Red-y To Strike! from Halloween 2008, but this is not as warm as that red, though it shares the same finish and opacity.

Cult Nails Scandalous Polish

Cult Nails Scandalous

After seeing this beautiful polish swatched on this post on Also Known As blog, I had to have it. However it looks different on me! I still love it. It is a jelly-ish, pale orange polish. This is 4 coats topped with Seche Vite. It actually reminds me of Chanel's Orange Fizz, or its dupe, Essence What Do U Think? I had the Essence polish (which is a tiny bottle!). It recently went bad on me, so I consider this its replacement. 

Wear on this polish is amazing. I am on day 3 and only have a bit of tip wear, even after a weekend of kitten rescue, cleaning, and cooking.

Do you know what polish didn't fare well? Butter London's Disco Biscuit. I was SO disappointed in this polish, I didn't even take photos for the blog. It's a beautiful jelly glitter color, but it was chipping within a day, even after the most careful manicure. Then because it chipped, I had to remove it, which was a huge pain and takes like 20 minutes of scrubbing to get it off. I just swapped it on Makeup Alley's site, I couldn't bear to look at it any more.


By the way, did you know throwing away nail polish in the trash is illegal? I am about to get rid of 10 dried-up polishes, but the chemicals in them make them a special disposal case. Each state/county has hazardous waste disposal drop-off sites, so do a search for one in your area. That is what I am doing!

Nicole by OPI - Others Pale by Kim-Parison Polish

Nicole by OPI - Others Pale by Kim-parison swatch

I am on a jelly nail polish hunt. I am looking for amazing jelly polishes, I love their squishy textures. Over the weekend, I bought Butter London's Disco Biscuit, so the next post will be about that one.


This is a white jelly, but it took four coats, topped with Seche Vite, and still a bit streaky. It's not a pure white, there's a touch of pink in it. Still, I like it, very elegant on my short nails.


Do you have a favorite jelly polish (not Essie, not blue, green, or purple)? Please share in the comments!

Tangerine Nails and Tomato Pants

Butter London "Jaffa" nail polish, Nixon watch, necklace and white lucite bracelet from Etsy, striped cardigan by Ella Moss, navy slingback heels from Ann Taylor

I want to introduce everyone to my newest nail polish purchase, Butter London's Jaffa polish. Though it may look red in the photos, I assure you, it's very close to Pantone's 2012 color of the year, Tangerine Tango. Once I put it on, I built the rest of my outfit around it. 

Wearing a watch and one bracelet is as close to an "arm party" (copyrighted term by The Man Repeller) as I get! I am more of a minimalist. If you are looking for unique jewelry and accessories, my friends, may I suggest you take a look over at Etsy? You can find that perfectly-colored piece that may be missing from your jewelry box. And you can probably find it for really cheap. 

Red, white, and blue? I say, let's be patriotic all year 'round. Have a great day, my friends.

A Bright Cuff

leather and enamel cuff by Leighelena, OPI 20 Candles on my Cake nail polish

In the "Always Sophisticated" category, I couldn't wait until summer, or even spring, to wear my new pineapple-hued bracelet, which I purchased from Endless.com. I much prefer wide cuffs to dangly fine bracelets. And here's a glimpse of discontinued nail polish, whose bottle is nearly empty (and the polish is getting a little goopy). I love this warm red creme, so if you have any suggestions for similarly-colored nail lacquer, please let me know!

Rimmel London Hot Cocoa Polish

Rimmel London - Hot Cocoa nail polish

Here's a wonderful neutral polish that kinda reminds me of OPI Kreme de la Kremlin, which I also wear in the winter. This is a little more rosy. Don't cats make the best swatch backdrops?

Zoya Casey Nail Polish

Zoya Casey nail polish, Free people cardigan, shirt by Calvin Klein

Here's a little vampy nail polish for your viewing pleasure! And yes, I picked my outfit out to match it.

Casey starts out pretty sheer and plummy. Also a bit streaky. But by the time I hit three coats, it looked pretty good.

72 Degrees in Mid November

maroon shirt by Calvin Klein, bib necklace unknown, skirt from Ann Taylor, Circa Joan & David riding boots, OPI Romeo & Joliet nail polish

Sorry that top photo is a bit blurry! A nice outfit on such an amazingly warm day. Enjoy it, my friends!

Orange Nails are the Best!

(This post is scheduled to appear at 8:00 AM Friday.)

I have a weakness for orange nail polish in the summer. (And in the fall too, but it's a different tone of orange.) For this manicure, I painted two coats of Essence's What Do U Think, then topped it with Nars "Big O". Seche Vite is my topcoat of choice, and voila! Behold the beautiful, orangey, shimmery happiness above!

I'm Not Really A Flight Attendant

blue sweater by Calvin Klein, denim-navy pencil skirt by Calvin Klein, scarf by Liz Claiborne, Circa Joan and David heels

Pencil skirt + scarf = flight attendant! At least in my mind. My outfit was inspired by a new Zoya polish I got, Harley. It's a silvery grey that has a bit of lavender in it too. I like the color but I'm not sure how it looks with my skin tone. The sweater is the closest item I have to it, and it makes me feel better.

Dressing to Match My Nail Polish AGAIN!

Revlon Perplex nail polish, ruffled tank from Nordstroms, wrap cardigan by Splendid

Hello my friends, and welcome to another Dressing to Match my Nail Polish post. I can't help it. I put on a new polish and I want to coordinate with it! This polish is a dupe for Fall 2010's Chanel Paradoxal. It has the flat color of a taupe, but it is a dusty greyish purple. This is two coats topped with Seche Vite top coat. And it matches my Splendid cardi perfectly. Click for larger photos!

Top 7 Household Items That Will Wreck Your Manicure

Long after your manicure dries, there are items that lie in wait around your home. Their goal, by design, is to chip or dent your nails, no matter how many coats you have so carefully applied. But I will expose them, so that maybe you can avoid these common predators! May I present to you, in no particular order, the Items That Will Wreck Your Manicure.

Pour Spout on Dishwasher Detergent.
This sharp, steel monstrosity is guaranteed to send the lacquer chips flying. This also goes for the container of Morton Salt in my kitchen. Couldn’t it have been designed to be opened via a nice, curved, plastic pulltab?

Stickers.
New shoes, new dishes, and salad dressing/ketchup bottles come with stickers you have to scrape off. We have Goo-Gone but I’m afraid it, too, would wreck my nails.

Bottle of Conditioner.
See this snap-top bottle? It’s practically designed to be opened with your nails. It’s really difficult to open with the fleshy part of your thumb. The bummer is, once you chip a nail with this, water will get under your chip, if you’re in the shower. It’s a manicure-breaker.

Pant Buttons.
It’s not the unbuttoning that can dent and smush your nails. It’s the rebuttoning. Some days I wish my jeans would snap closed.

Spice Jars.
I should wait for a day when my nails are unpainted, then go through all my spice jars and remove the plastic thingy with the holes for “sprinking”. I only use measuring spoons, and to do that, you need to remove the plastic thingy with your fingernails. Knives are too thick to fit in the crevice, and if you use a knife to try to pry the plastic thingy off, you end up flinging spice all over the kitchen. At least that’s what happens to me.

Lobster-Claw Clasps.
A day I paint my nails is a day when I fear wearing a necklace. If the initial opening of the clasp (and holding it open with my fingernail) doesn’t wreck my manicure, then the fiddling around behind my neck, blindly trying to hook it on the other end, will.

Pop Cans.
I drink a lot of Coke. From cans. That pop-top requires you to slide your fingers under it and lift. I can’t tell you how many times this has dented or chipped my nails!

These items are the enemy of the well-polished woman. Are there items around your house that ruin your manicure, my friends? Please tell us in the comments!
lobster clasp photo from alibaba.com