Nail Polish - 4/5 - A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care | A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care

Need for Speed: New Quick Drying Nail Polishes

Today's modern polishes promise to dry faster than a speeding bullet, but which ones actually save the day? Top manicurists have known about pro top coats for years - those specially formulated clear coats that left lacquer intact for an extended wear manicure. Compatible with nearly every brand, topcoats like Read more

Verb Detangle+Defrizz Conditioning Leave-In Mist Review

To be completely up front about things, I hate washing my hair because it's a nightmare to comb afterwards.  It’s much like that of a 6 year old little girl. It tangles like nobody’s business and is a nightmare to comb after washing. It’s so bad that my hairdresser Read more

Delfin Spa Cellulite Reduction Apparel and Anti-Cellulite Lotion Review

Everyone deals with cellulite. And no one is a fan of it. We've written about coffee ground products like Gail's DIY Coffee Scrub or isola Jamaican Coffee & Sugar Scrub, that are said to help minimize the appearance of cellulite due to the caffeine. Now there is another product system Read more

Mom: Get Glamorous Twitter Party

This year we're mixing things up with our Mom: Get Glamorous contest! We're adding a Twitter party, where some of the great brands participating in the contest are also giving away products during our party. Come join us on May 15, 2013 from 1pm-2pm EST and tweet with @TheMakeupGirl @ClumpsofMascara Read more

5th Annual Mom: Get Glamorous Contest

// // Are you ready for our 5th annual Mom: Get Glamorous contest? This year I am partnering with Lianne of The Makeup Girl, Brittany from Clumps of Mascara, Christine from 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic and Bryce from The Luxury Spot to find the most deserving mom to award Read more

Nail Polish

Grown Up Grunge and Aristocratic Fantasies at Jenni Kayne

At Jenni Kayne AW11, the inspiration for the collection was the idea of an urban woman who would have been in her 20′s  in the 90′s, revisiting her childhood home in the country…simple but luxurious clothing with a lot of  “noble” fabrics like fur, silk and feathers.

Makeup artist Lynn Desnoyers for MAC created a look that was both glamorous and polished but had an easiness to it that reflected both the richness and easiness of the collection.  The look consisted of a very strong magenta lip, peach toned blush for a fresh but contoured cheek, “pantyhose colors” on the eyes, brown mascara on just the top lashes and creamy foundation set with powder.  She wanted every detail to look completely honed…her fantasy of  “New York aristocracy.”

Read more

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, Fashion Week Beauty, Makeup, Nail Polish Leave a comment

Look Lovely in Lavender Makeup Shades this Spring!

Normally I wouldn’t go recommend something quite so cliche as wearing uber-festive pastel makeup shades just to get into the pre-spring mood, but how can I resist rounding up a selection of appropriately-hued beauty buys when San Francisco keeps getting blessed with prematurely springy weather? Let’s face it — lavender is just waiting to be embraced, so you might as well jump on the beauty trend now before it grows overdone and stale!

Think of the shade as considerably easier to wear than full-on purple, yet a bit trickier than your average plum; the idea is to go for soft and pretty, not Grandma-”chic” or garish, which can be tough with such an Easter egg color. But just because the color is traditionally mild doesn’t mean it can’t edge things up — try Deborah Lippmann nail lacquer in Wicked Game, a smoky gray-lavender, or opt for a lavender version of the smoky eye, courtesy of Maybelline Smokes quads, for a cool take on the pretty shade!

Pictured above: Topshop Lip Polish in Lavender, Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Wicked Game, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Lavender, Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow in Camisole, and Maybelline Expert Wear Eyeshadow Quad in Lavender Smokes.

- Alex Gambardella

*Guest beauty post for A Girl’s Gotta Spa! from my friends at TheFind.com.

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Discount, eye shadow, eyeliner, Makeup, Nail Polish 1 Comment

Review: Nail Fraud Nail Decals

I haven’t yet found a nail salon here in Northeast PA that does Minx and I have been dying to try out the new pattern nail designs that all of my girlfriends are sporting. Nail Fraud to the rescue! Not really “fraud” but the brand new nail color solution company that creates nail decals that can add some personality to your beauty routine, and if you are Italian like me, let your hands do the talking.

I received “Wild Thing” leopard nail decals which come in a pack of 20, although mine are white with brown spots (the image on the website shows tan with brown spots). I was excited to try something new, and only had Avon’s Instant Manicure and Incoco’s Applique’s to compare them to.

So are they easy to use and do they last? Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Nail Polish 3 Comments

Protect While You Polish With Dr.’s Remedy Nail Polish

As a girl with weak, brittle, sad nails, my nail polish fetish is a bit, well… under utilized. That’s why I can totally appreciate polish that boasts nail-boosting qualities to help strengthen and protect them from breakage, not only helping me grow my nails to their long, healthy potential, but also giving me more of an excuse to paint my stumpy excuses for nails! Dr.’s Remedy brand, founded by podiatrist Dr. Cirlincione, didn’t necessarily have the most novel idea by deciding to create a polish using natural ingredients that’s free of harsh chemicals, but the fact that the brand boasts the benefits of a non-toxic, nutrient-enriched polish along with the staying power, color saturation, and variety of shades of our favorite salon brands is a pretty impressive feat!  Read more
Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Discount, Nail Polish Leave a comment

Review: Zoya Nail Polish Wonderful Collection Fall 2010

101_0462I have a love affair with Zoya and there is no hiding it. If you are a fan of A Girl’s Gotta Spa! (sm) on Facebook, you know I often post pictures of nail polish and swoon over Zoya colors and products (Don’t believe me? See my review of their Color Lock System!) And they have wowed me again with their cream collection for fall 2010 called Wonderful (they also have metallics in their Wicked Collection.) By far, my favorite color in Wonderful is “Kelly.” (pictured)

Kelly is described as a paynes gray cream, but as you can see from the picture, it is more of a swirl of gray mixed with black and small hints of purple. I love it because depending on how the light hits it, it appears to change color. Which reminds me, do you remember those t-shirts in the late 80′s, early 90′s that changed color depending on your body heat? I forgot what they were called (if you remember post it in the comments!) but I loved them. This nail polish reminded me of them and maybe that’s why I enjoyed wearing it even more.  Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Nail Polish 2 Comments

Sephora by OPI Chic Prints for Nails Bring Minx To The Forefront!

Minx, a breakthrough system for creating long-lasting nail patterns, has been a huge celebrity favorite for awhile. However, despite its growing popularity, it’s still been hard to find a salon that actually offers Minx… and once you do find one, chances are they charge a pretty penny for the service. Not to say that isn’t worth it, but still — for people who have been waiting for Minx to become more available for us beauty-loving non-celebrities, it can be a long, frustrating wait full of boring normal manicures and smudged Nail Art Pen disasters.   Read more
Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Discount, Nail Polish 3 Comments

Butter London JELLY Nailcolor Collection

Butter London touts gorgeous shades of nail lacquers, all with an added bonus. Every one of Butter London’s nail colors are ” 3 Free”. This means that they contain NO Formaldehyde, NO toluene, and NO DBP (Phthales). And in this case less is more of a good thing! The company was founded by British entrepreneur Sasha Muir with a vision of combining high fashion and health into the premier British fashion brand, Butter London. You’ll find lots of lovely fashion forward shades with cheeky British-inspired names like “British Racing Green”, “Artful Dodger”, and “Old Blighty” to name a few.  Read more
Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Discount, Nail Polish 1 Comment

Which Nail Polish is Good for Vacation?

Robyn_ZoyaThe warmer weather is here, which means no more hiding our hands in gloves and instead finding some great nail polishes to show off our jazz hands. And just in case you haven’t noticed, nail polish has now trumped lipstick as the recession staple. So when I received a question about nail polish recently, I thought it was a good break from some of the hair care questions the blog has been receiving lately.

“What are your suggestions for a good vacation nail polish? (My swimsuits are aqua and navy.) Kathryn, Rhode Island”

This is a great question because honestly how many of you have applied your most favorite polish only to have it chip a few days into your time away? I guess if you are going for the Chris Isaac/Helena Christensen “Wicked Game” video look then you are all good, otherwise it is very frustrating.

First, before recommending a color, I strongly suggest Zoya Nail Polish’s Color Lock system. I cannot sing the praises of it enough and I use it with other brands because it is THAT good. Do I dare say I could potentially guarantee that your nail polish will last longer if you use it? I think I just did.  Read more

Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Nail Polish 5 Comments

Orly Nail Lacquer in Rage

Orly_Foil_FXI like shiny things. A nice clean, shiny car. Healthy, shiny hair. Big, shiny diamond jewelry (definitely like.) And I love shiny nail polish. So I was pretty excited when I heard about Orly’s Foil FX Color Collection for Spring/Summer. Foil FX lacquers are meant to give a texturized foil effect to your nails, best of all, they claim high shine. I was sent Rage, a metallic pink toned polish. Right up my alley.  Read more
Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Nail Polish 6 Comments

Think Pink with Essie’s “Mademoiselle” Sheer Polish

During January I like to decompress and detox from the holidays and convert to my ‘no makeup’ makeup look – think NARS’ “Orgasm” collection. I also detox with fresh juices, let my skin breathe and wear a pretty ‘neutral’ shade of pink on my nails. A neutral shade of pink wears longer because it doesn’t show chips as dramatically as a dark nail color and you can do touch-ups yourself with a bit of room for mistakes since the color is sheer.  Read more
Posted on by Shannon Nelson in beauty, Beauty Discount, Nail Polish Leave a comment