NOTD: 17 November 2011

Okay, so this was really 8 November 2011, but whatever.  I was looking for a way to wear my Sephora by OPI Be-Claus I Said So which is a red glitter in a clear base, so I decided to put it with OPI Wocka Wocka! from the Muppets collection.  I forgot to take bottle pictures, but I'll be individually reviewing each shade and will link those reviews to this post at a later date.


I used a base of OPI Natural Nail, 1 coat of Wocka Wocka!, 1 coat of Be-Claus I Said So and a top of Seche Vite.

Full on sun does this no justice.  It looks lumpy and kind of weird.

Shade is so much better!  I love the large and small red glitter reflecting over the red base.  I couldn't stop staring at my nails for 2 days straight.

Indirect sun and again you can see how the larger glitter is reflected weird - almost like strawberry seeds or something.

The indoors with the flash makes the polish look harsh again, but I really really love this combination.  I'm debating on wearing this for my next pedicure or just going my normal China Glaze Ruby Pumps...

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Miranda Kerr: Get The Look

Please enjoy the following press release from Y! Public Relations!

Last night's 4th Annual Film Benefit at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC brought out A-listers such as Blake Lively, Emma Stone and Olivia, Wilde, however, no one looked quite as radiant as Victoria's Secret super model Miranda Kerr.  Miranda's look was created by makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift and is the perfect combination of classy and modern …

Here are Rose-Marie's tips & tricks for recreating the look: 

Step 1: Start with a luminous base - Rose–Marie combined her RMS Beauty "Un" Cover-Up with a touch of the RMS Living Luminizer to create a flawless glow.

Step 2: Eyes - Rose–Marie used the RMS Cream Eye Shadow in Lunar over the whole lid and highlighted the corner of Miranda's eye (right at the water line by the tear ducts) with luminizer.  She curled her lashes and added a touch of mascara.  Finally, Rose-Marie darkened the brows to make them really stand out.  

Step 3: Lips & Cheeks -  Rose-Marie used the newly reformulated RMS Lip2Cheek in Rapture on both Miranda's lips and a touch over the apple of her cheeks.  

Step 4: Final bit of glow – To complete the look, Rose-Marie added a touch of luminizer over Miranda's color bones and shoulders to attract the light and create the illusion that her skin was glowing.  

China Glaze Snow Globe

China Glaze Snow Globe is a repromote glitter from the Specialty Collection (also called Glitters & Cremes) that came out in 2009.  It's been featured in the Winter 2011 Let It Snow collection.  This has a mix of different colored and different hexagonal sized iridescent glitter pieces.


I used my previous Noir manicure (thank you nubar!) and just added one coat of Snow Globe.  As you can see, I'm back to cloudy days.  I topped the manicure with Seche Vite.

One coat just isn't really enough - the glitter didn't really spread like I'd want it to.

Indoors with the flash pretty much swallows up all the glitter.

I decided to add a coat of ManGlaze #Matte Astrophe to see if it would bring out the glitter more and can we say mission accomplished?  I think this is my favorite view of this glitter.

China Glaze can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Noir

When I first met Noubar Abrahamian, founder of nubar, while at Cosmoprof 2011, my first words were "Hi, I'm Krystal and I've actually never tried your polish before."  Facepalm.  Not the best introduction I've ever done.  I had Katie Cazorla standing next to me and she looked at me and cracked up.  Mr. Abrahamian is a very firm but soft-spoken man and he just turned and started filling a bag up with his polishes and smiled at me.  I think my face was about 10 shades of red.


One of the colors he put in my back was Noir, "one of our basics".  Noir is a basic black that dries to a bit of a rubbery finish.  I'm calling it "plastic" because it looked a lot like the ORLY Plastix collection to me.


For a simple black manicure, I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even and 2 coats of polish.  When I'm layering something on top of Noir, I just use one coat.

Unfortunately, I have nothing but clouds right now.  I'm not sure if you can fully see the plastic type finish (or rubbery) but it's not as shiny as when you'd add a top coat.

I should have held a different bottle to show where my nails end, but as you can see this is a very opaque color.  It's a great black for me since I ran out of my CND Blackjack and haven't made a purchase yet.  I use it for pretty much every layering I do.


nubar can be purchased on their website for about $7.50 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter although their Twitter has been a bit bare lately.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

CND High Voltage Hands

More Spring 2012 coming your way!  Please enjoy the following press release from CND!

High Voltage Hands

CND Rings in 15 Years of Fashion with Spring 2012 Runway Nail Trends

15 years ago, CND pioneered the concept of manicures as runway accessories at New York Fashion Week. This season, CND worked with 21 designers including 3.1 Phillip Lim, Monique Lhuillier and Altuzarra.

"For Spring 2012, manicures are no holds barred - take your nails to the edge with rock star psychedelic designs, sci-fi illuminated finishes, and retro mod brights," says CND founder, Jan Arnold.

NEW ROCK N' ROLL

From the opening power-chord to the throb of the bass, sport outlaw glamour and pure adrenaline-blasted nails. Glam rock mani attitude bursts with sharp shapes, color, expression and creativity! Rihanna meets Grace Jones with manicures in hyper-sensory brights and dazzling sparkle to match hi-tech fabrics in spandex, polyurethane, stretch canvas and metal organza. Get the "Mic Check Mani," as seen at Nicole Miller, with a checkered pattern of CND Colours in Raspberry Parfait and Inkwell. Slick Ice Blue Shimmer Effect over the entire nail for an iridescent finish. Rock a poisonously bright ombré, like the"Lethal Love" nails from Jen Kao, by using CND Colours in Inkwell and Anchor Blue. To achieve the fierce medium to long almond shaped nails seen at many shows on the runway, try CND Liquid & Powder or Brisa™ Gel enhancements.

ORGANI-TECH

Like the sci-fi classic, "The Twilight Zone," this season's manicure is more than immediately meets the eye. Paired with metallic weaves, opalescent chiffon, pleated muslin and paper-light poplin fabrics, seemingly natural nails are infused with radioactive texture in wrinkled cellophane, lattice airbrushing, holograms or transparent glass shards. This other worldly dichotomy takes a neutral or nude backdrop and illuminates with embellishment, like the "Lucite Lace" manicure from Joy Cioci, which was created by air brushing white lattice designs on a clear tip. At Wayne, white nails were feathered with bold CND Colour in Blackjack brushstrokes to shape "Birds of Prey" inspired manicures.

MOD SQUAD   

The swingin' sixties are back! Grab your plaid cropped jacket, tweed pencil skirt and a potent daytime martini to go with retro bright nails in offbeat orange, yellow and persimmon. Recreate the bold and daring "Orange Crush Mani" from Milly with saturated CND Colour in Electric Orange, or opt for a "Murky Mustard" look from Karen Walker by mixing CND Colour in Bicycle Yellow with seven drops of Blackjack. For true power nails, try fiery coral CND Colour in Poppyfield, as seen at Wes Gordon.

CND Colour retails for $9.00 per bottle, Effects retail for $11.00 per bottle, and Base and Top Coats retail for $8.50 each. For CND Colour & Effects e-tailers or regional salon and spa availability, please visit cnd.com.

To read Jan Arnold's daily backstage blog, visit  http://cndfashionweek.com/Spring2012 and check out CND's Fashion Week Tumblr at  http://cndfashion.tumblr.com/ .