Tagged: Guest Blogger

Hailing from the UK, I am very proud of some of our “home-grown” brands, of which Illamasqua is one. I’ve been interested in the company and its products ever since its birth in 2009, and have been lucky enough to attend various masterclasses, events and product launches. Indeed, I even had one of Illamasqua’s own make-up artists (the fabulous Halimah Haque) do my wedding make-up last year.

At the moment, everyone over here is getting pretty excited about the impending Spring/Summer 2011 collection (Toxic Nature), which will be previewed in the first week of March. It’s always exciting to see what Alex Box is going to come up with next, and from what I’ve heard of the new collection, we aren’t going to be disappointed. But in the meantime, let me show you one of my favourite items from the core collection.

Purple Smoke is an eye quad that I actually purchased at the IMATS expo last month. I love, love, love purples. In fact, show me a beauty blogger who says they don’t love purple, and I’ll show you a fibber. Although I’ll pretty much wear any old shade that takes my mood, I return to these colours more than anything else. More interesting than taupes and browns, and (just about!) subtle enough for work.

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Morning everyone!

Today I have a guest post by Joanne Crandell. Joanne isn’t a blogger, per se, but she does post a lot on a make up forum that was started last January called Majyk. Her user name is PearlDiva.

Joanne has a different perspective on nail polish that I thought was interesting. Read on!

Being a woman of an interesting age, I have seen fashion come and go. Low rise jeans? I wore them in the 70′s when they were called hip huggers. Leggings? As much as I love the 80′s, I will pass on those. Just because you can wear something does not mean you should.

When it comes to nail polish colors, there is no age restriction. I will admit, after age 40 I stuck to 2 colors. Taupe in the winter/fall, pearl white in the summer/spring. Then I discovered the wonder world of nail polish blogs, like Vampy Varnish. The pictures drew in me. I discovered brands I never knew existed. The colors, what wonderful colors!

I dipped my toe, all 10 and my fingers too, into greens, blues, and let us not forget glitters. I polka dotted my nails and did funky french manis. Lo and behold, I got compliments! Lots and lots of them.

Nail polish lets me have fun and express myself. It is the one fashion area I can go a little wild with and not feel like I am trying to be an age I am not.

My favorite remover is Zoya Remover+. I have used straight acetone, used the drugstore brands, nothing compares to Zoya. Not only does it dissolve the polish fast, it does not dry out my cuticles. It is the best to take glitter polish off. The pump bottle is another plus. You pump what you need, there is no waste. The bottle never leaks. It is very well designed.

The best top coat in my opinion is China Glaze Fast Forward. It dries lightening fast, definitely the fastest drying top coat ever! It gives a high shine too.

As far as polish, my top two favs are Zoya and China Glaze. They are not the most expensive nor are they the cheapest, but they proved to be the most durable for me. I don’t limit myself to those two brands. I am a big fan of Nubar, Nfu Oh, OPI, Orgasm and Lippmann. If there is a color I like, I don’t care about the brand.

Here is my holiday mani.

China Glaze Atlantis and Moulin Rouge. Atlantis reminds me of a Christmas tree with lights. Fast Forward Top Coat really brings the glitter to life.

If you have been unsure about using some colors, maybe the new year is the perfect time to try something different.

I bet you get a lot of compliments!

Three things about Joanne:

• She is an mod on the forum majykal.com
• She is a nail polish addict
• She lives in MD with her dog Sadie, who does not wear nail polish

So what do you guys think about “older” women wearing glittery or vampy nail polish? Let us know!

Thanks Joanne!

-VV

Good morning all!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas!

Today I have a guest post from blogger Krissy from Krissy’s One Stop Beauty Shop.

Sinful Colors is one of my favorite drug store nail polishes.  I used the super milky neon pink Dream On as the main base color to make sure I wouldn’t have any clear spaces.  I then used 3 coats on Sinful Colors Frenzy on top of Dream On.  At $2.00 a bottle, I’ll admit that I’m in love with this combination even more. Frenzy has a clear base with purple and blue micro glitter which reminds me a of cute disco ball.

Sinful Colors in Dream On (left) and Frenzy (right)

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Good morning all!

Today I have a guest review from blogger Kasey from Bay Area Style File. She will be chatting about CalGel nails and showing some great photos of her manicures. Enjoy!

I first discovered CalGel by chance. I was looking at the August 2009 issue of Marie Claire where new nail innovations was a topic. Of course I had tried Minx and matte nail polish so the next natural step for me was to try CalGel. Amazingly the only shop with a certified technician as well as a certified trainer (Keina Kataoka) was Bisou Nail Lounge (right in my backyard in Oakland, CA).

Now what is CalGel? Well it’s made of organic compounds formulated to the texture of smooth honey, it doesn’t require any electric filing, doesn’t use any nail clips for removal, and your nails can “breathe” eliminating the fungus and infection associated with acrylics. Since I’ve had CalGel nails (August 2009) and I haven’t experienced any of the lifting/peeling/chipping associated with acrylics.

The application process is pretty simple: first your nails are lightly buffed (by hand); then a thin coat of a clear CalGel is applied (like applying nail polish); nails are then “cured” under a UV light. After that point you can be done or you can get creative by adding colored CalGel, glitter, rhinestones, pearls, and even dried flowers, there are really no limits.  CalGel starts around $45 dollars (depending on the shop in your area) for a clear overlay, and goes up depending on what you add on ( rhinestones, glitter etc). CalGel can last up to 4 weeks and they have to be rebalanced (CalGel talk for a fill) after that time.

Here are some of Kasey’s amazing CalGel manicures.

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