Polish Tip: Easy Polish Removal

Have you ever had a lot of difficulty removing a polish from your nails? Did you notice that a glitter polish takes about half an hour to remove from your nails? I learned this tip from the girls over at MUA's Nail Board and just had to share it with you!

Pictured above are my nail removal tools. I love the polish remover pots from Cutex, you can easily swirl your fingers around in the enclosed sponge to remove your polish. For every day removal they work great! They even come in "glitter" versions, which have a slightly more robust sponge.

For difficult to remove polish I resort to felt and Acetone. A piece of crafting felt can be easily cut into smaller squares, I like about 3 inches by 4 inches to remove polish from 10 fingers. Use with a bit of acetone and you'll find that you can remove almost anything! The felt is much better at removing any polish than a cotton pad, and when you can get 6 pieces out of a 20 cent piece of felt you'll realize that this is also a much cheaper option.

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Polish of the Day: Essie Funships

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Polish of the Day: OPI California Raspberry

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Polish of the Day: Essie Viva la Vespa

Today's color of the day is a little bit controversial. Essie recently re-released two of their most popular and hard to find discontinued colors, Viva la Vespa and Starry Starry Nights. VLV is this beautiful purple, which I love. Starry Starry Nights is a dark blue with silver shimmer (which I recently picked up for Ellery if Nancy is reading this!).

Nailies like myself and my friends over at MUA's nailboard were very excited about the re-releases, but many were angry about the pricing. They were priced at twice normal retail! If you can find them, I do think that these colors are worth the extra cash. Some are lucky enough to be near supplies that sell at wholesale to the public (like me). Otherwise, I'd check out stores like ULTA and Trade Secret if you're looking for a bottle!

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Polish of the Day: Orly Razzle

I was on a prolonged search for the perfect dark pink with a slight berry leaning and nice shimmer last summer. After about 20 or 30 polishes I finally found the winner, it was this Orly!

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Polish of the Day: Essie Raspberry

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Polish Tip: Easy Clean-Up

See those items? They are my secret to a perfect manicure and pedicure!

I don't always have the steadiest of hands, though you might think I do after seeing so many swatches of polishes this month! While it is definitely true that with practice I am much better at applying nail polish, I still slop over onto a cuticle every now and then.

I've tried the clean up pens, dipping an orange stick in acetone, even Q-Tips. For me, all of those options either did not remove enough polish, were not precise enough or left trails of cotton in my polish. So, I started using a brush like the one pictured here, a stiff angled brush meant to be used with eyeliner. The brush is stiff enough to remove polish, but is very precise and can even easily fit underneath my nail tip for improved clean-up. I simply dip it into the dampen dish (that little glass cup) that I've filled with Acetone, but be careful to not get too much acetone in the brush. Brush off excess polish, and it can help to have a piece of cotton around to wipe the brush on.

That's it! Perfect nails quick and easy! I will sometimes clean up between coats of polish, but often I only need to do so at the very end of application.

I bought my brush at Target, you really do not need an expensive brush for this tip to work. Just don't buy a painted brush since the Acetone will melt the paint on the handle (which happened with my Sonia Kashuk brush).

The dampen dish is from a nail supply, but you can check Sally's Beauty Supply or head to Head 2 Toe Beauty to order one of your own!

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Polish of the Day: OPI Strawberry Fields

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Polish of the Day: Essie Escapades

"Red, red-coral" really means that my search for a coral that my pale, cool toned skin looks good with! Finally the hunt is over!

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Polish of the Day: China Glaze Rose Among Thorns

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Polish of the Day: Essie Guilty Pleasures

"Pink strawberry bliss" seems like a pretty accurate description!

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Pedicure Tips from Nailtiques

Many of my nail kit staples come from Nailtiques, so I was really excited to get these pedicure tips from them! Many of these tips (such as adding the Oil Therapy to water to help soften your feet) I never would have thought of on my own! I've added a few comments of my own, those are in italics.

Nailtiques Oil Therapy is a vitamin-enriched formula that replenishes your skin's natural oils. A few drops can add needed moisture to dry-flaking nails and moisturize parched cuticles.

TIP: Add a few drops of this Nailtiques Oil Therapy to hot water to soften feet before exfoliation. Once you've scrubbed, reapply Nailtiques Oil Therapy to unpolished nails and buff away unwanted ridges.

Nailtiques' two sided Cushioned Sponge File does double-duty for pedicures. Use the green side to shape nails and the pink side to smooth any ridges.
I think that getting rid of those ridges really helps quite a bit in making that home pedicure look professional!

Nailtiques Avocado Foot Crème is perfect for conditioning dry and calloused areas.

TIP: Cut the toes off your favorite athletic socks and slip them on after moisturizing. The cloth will massage the moisturizer into your feet, leaving while your toes free to be polished.
Preparing your feet the night before will make finishing that pedicure the next morning fast and easy! I like to go to bed with the lotion softening my feet.

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Polish of the Day: Essie Movers & Shakers

"Sassy, bold pink" is another very flattering mid-tone pink. I would love to see this on my friend WeeDita from the MUA Nailboard!

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Polish of the Day: Essie My Place or Yours

"A sophisticated pink rosé" to me really is a very pretty mid-tone pink. A perfect pedi color!

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Polish of the Day: OPI Can You Dig It

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Nailtiques Oil Therapy

While it might seem that there are a lot of cuticle oils on the market, I can definitely say that they are not all created equal. Most seem to leave an oily film on my nails. Even worse, they dull my polish and do not hydrate my cuticles, which is why the oil was put there in the first place! If you can find one that sinks into your cuticles and doesn't mess up your mani then a decent smell is just an added bonus!

Well, one product that I'm really loving right now is Nailtiques Oil Therapy. This cuticle oil is really a collection of 10 different natural oils, with a faint apricot smell. It has a brush just like a nail polish, making it very easy to apply! Simply brush on, then rub in. It really does sink right in, really hydrating your cuticles. It actually does stay a bit on your mani, but rather than dulling it I ended up super shiny.

In fact, this oil has quite a few other uses besides cuticle hydration! When a light layer is applied over my polish I noticed that my drying time was cut almost in half! Really! This is also a great option for particularly rough skin areas, such as elbows and ankles. I've been using this on an old blister on my heel (darn those cute new shoes!) which has now softened up quite nicely due to this product.

Ingredients:
Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Helianhus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Prunus Persica (Peach) Kernel Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) kernel Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Jugians Regia (Walnut) Seed oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Tocopherol, Ascorbic Acid, Fragrance, Red 17

Nailtiques Oil Therapy

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OPI ULTA Exclusive Red Polishes

For the past few days I've been very good at wearing reds, and I'm finding myself reaching over and over to wear one of this year's OPI ULTA exclusive colors. Available this year at ULTA only (though I will admit that I've found ULTA OPI's before in Nail Supplies years after they are released), these shades tend to sell out quickly so run to get yours! They are available in both full and mini sizes. I bought mine nearly a month ago, and I got a full set for my sister as well. (There you go Nikki, they are coming your way in a few weeks!)

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December: The Month of Red

In celebration of the holiday season, and to celebrate our love of red polish, my friend WeeDita* and I have decided that for the entire month of December we will wear red polish! Some on the nail board are joining us, and we invite you to join us as well! I'll update you on our progress and even post some pictures of our favorite picks here!

The rules are simple:
• Everyday, you must have red nailpolish on
• The red can be your manicure or your pedicure
• The red must be more red than any other color. For example, it can't be pink, but it can be red with a berry leaning to it
• You don't need to change every day, and it is ok to repeat colors

Judging from the size of my red nail polish stash, I don't need to worry about repeats! Most of my reds are pictured here, but I have quite a few more to pick from! The only problem now is picking out which color to start with today!


We're not the only one's sporting red nails this year, here's Jordan Sparks at the AMAs wearing one of the MUA Nail Board's favorite reds, OPI's St. Petersburgundy, from this fall's Russian collection.

Makeup Alley's Nail Board
Jordan's image courtesy of Totalbeauty.com
* Obviously, not her real name, but she is incredibly sweet!

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SpaSensials Moisturizing & Deep Conditioning Treatment for Hands and Feet

I have to admit that I'm becoming more and more of a germ-phobic person. I suppose that you would be too if you had my job, but that phobia is beginning to spill over into many of the choices I make in my "normal" life. Now, while I'm not lathering myself up in anti-bacterial gel every 5 minutes (there are some in the infectious diseases community that think this just selects for resistent bacteria), I am someone who tries to make good choices. One of those choices has been to not buy those gel gloves and socks that are in every store this time of year. I just look at those socks, imagine the sweat and heat building up, and the pseudomonas and staph multiplying like crazy... Yeah, not a pretty picture! I'm not putting my hands and feet into anything like that.

So, until now I've had to make do with very time consuming treatments. For my feet I've been using Neutrogena's Norwegian Formula Foot Cream under socks overnight. On my hands I'll occasionally use my Paraffin Wax home treatment and my favorite hand cream, Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve. While these treatments work, they take a lot of time and planning. I have to leave socks on overnight, the parrafin bath takes 4 hours to warm up and melt the wax, and the hand cream is great but not very intensive. Sometimes a girl just wants to be pampered but without the time commitment. Or, perhaps you have an event you need to wear your strappy heels to, but your heels are dry and cracked and you only have a few hours until the event...

Well, there's a new product line that is perfect to solve those problems! SpaSensials are disposable socks and gloves that have been infused with a deep conditioning treatment. All you need is 15 minutes! Just slip these on, continue to do whatever you're doing (though they are a bit slippery, please don't walk on tile and you likely won't want to do much with your hands). You can stop at 15 minutes, or leave these on longer if you want. Just throw them away when you're done! They are made out of paper-like material that reminds me a lot of some of the disposable things we use in the hospital, and they won't stand up to repeated uses.

So, do they work? I tried out both products for 15 minutes. The socks gave me soft feet that were similar to the way my feet feel when I've used my foot cream a few days in a row (a rare event, I usually only do this once every few weeks). The gloves gave me the same moisturized feeling I get from a paraffin wax treatment. I'm not going to stop using my lotions and paraffin wax bath. However, I think these are great when you don't have time to do your other usual treatments. They're also perfect for all of the holiday parties that you're sure to be rushing off to this year!

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OPI Holiday 2007- The Hollywoods!

This year many of the fall nailpolish collections were a big dissapointment to me. As a polish addict (I spend a lot of time over on the MUA nail board and I own well over 100 polishes), I was hoping for some rich reds and jewel tones that would work for my cool toned skin. Instead, nearly every collection was warm, and made my hands look like they were dead!

Well, here comes OPI to the rescue with their Holiday Collection! Cool girls rejoice, there are a lot of great options for us in the collection!

With this collection, it appears that OPI has listened to the complaints of consumers regarding the issues with their new "Big 3 Chemical Free" formulas. In the past, the formula has been very hit or miss, with some colors very runny and hard to apply due to pooling and others so thick and gloppy that you need to thin the bottle with about a teaspoon of thinner! This collection is very consistent in the viscosity of the polish. Though the polish is on the thinner side, I know that many of the ladies on the nail board are very happy with this. Personally, I did have a little bit of pooling issues off to the side of my nails, but this was easily overcome with thinner coats.

The Reds
The reds in this collection are all huge standouts. They have fantastic shimmer and they are all very richly colored. I bought all of the reds, and although I can't find my pics of No Autographs, Please, Here they all are for your viewing pleasure. The pics I selected are as true to life as I could get them (I take about 20-30 pics for each shade and spend a long time picking out the perfect picture). I love all of these shades on me with the exception of Wine Me and Dine Me, which has beautiful coppery shimmer. This color is simply too warmly toned for me, but would be perfect on my mom and sister!




The Dazzling Darks and Neutrals
Some of the shades in this part of the collection will definitely turn out to be all-time favorites of mine, and I know that I'll need to buy "back-up" bottles of several of these shades! I only bought 4 shades from this part of the collection.

Who are you Wearing is a very interesting color. It's a blue/purple shade that changes color depending upon the light and how many shades you have applied. It's perfect for the trendy girl this fall that wants to do the dark blue nails that are so popular, but not be wearing Russian Navy like everyone else!

My Big Break is a very pretty mid-tone purple. I don't know of another shade that could be considered a close match. It reminds me mostly of Essie's China Doll in it's tone.

Have you seen my Limo is a very pretty dark purple with green shimmer/flash. It reminds me quite a bit of Elizabeth Arden's Chelsea Heather (one of my favorite shades), but many shades darker. For a similar green on your polishes you can try to layer OPI's Fireflies over any polish!

Finally, Hollywood Blonde is a very pretty pink/gold tone. It is very shimmery, and reminds me of a toned-down Designer Series polish. It took 3 coats to opacity, but in the end it was well worth it! It would be easily layered over a ridge filler to improve coverage.




This collection was due to hit stores on October 4th, but hasn't been seen in very many brick and mortar stores yet. I bought mine at a nail supply store.

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