Musings of a City Girl

Essie

Color: Chastity

A few days ago I went over to Dashing Diva to get a manicure and tried Essie’s Chastity nail polish.  I love the bright bubble-gum pink shade that is glitter and shimmer free (who needs glitter with a color that bright?).  The color brings out the Barbie in all of us.

Polished Kissez,

DRB

Picture taken before Calgel manicure

After Calgel manicure with French 

My nails were in need of serious rescuing so I decided to invest in a Calgel manicure at Sakura Nail and Spa in the East Village. I constantly make my weak nails weaker by getting artificial nails to hide their weakness, creating a vicious cycle.

Check out the crack on the nail on my index finger in the before picture. I had to keep it wrapped in a band-aid to prevent it from getting caught on things. To fix the problem and help my nails grow without breaking I decided to get a Calgel manicure at Sakura Nail and Spa. 

Calgel is a UV Gel. These UV Gel manicures have been gaining popularity recently. Although they are pricier than a traditional manicure, the results are well worth it since the manicure can last for up to a month chip-free. The Calgel at Sakura is:

[...] a superior gel nail system that promotes nail health, making it the healthier alternative in nailcare. It also soaks off in just 15 minutes! Calgel won’t lift, peel, chip, go rubbery or damage your own nails with harsh acrylics or drills. Calgel doesn’t interfere with nailbed metabolism which is why it can actually strengthen your own nails giving you the nails you always dreamed about [...] the days of smudging, chipping and peeling nail polish are over!

The gel allows your nails to breathe, does not cause fungus, and strengthens at the same time. 

My visit to Sakura lasted about an hour and a half. The process consisted of a base coat gel, the nail color gel, a top coat gel and a regular top coat with a clear nail polish. Since I did a french manicure there needed to be two coats of the white gel applied to the tips after the base color. The nail technician did two nails at a time, alternating each hand under the UV light for the gel to set while she worked on the other hand.

The Calgel did not fix the crack in my nail. To address that the technician applied a silk wrap to the nail prior to applying the Calgel. She put on the wrap (that looks like a piece of tape) to half of the nail. Nail glue was then applied over the wrap. After the glue dried, she filed the wrap down until it was level with my nail and did not look like I had anything on.

A Calgel manicure costs $40 at Sakura Nail and Spa. I was charged an additional $20 for the french manicure for a total of $62.50 with tax. That may sound like a lot but after doing a cost benefit analysis, the math checked out in my book. Assuming that it lasts 4 weeks, it comes out to approximately $15.63 per week. Compared to my usual $14 manicure per week that chips within a day or two, $62.50 starts sounding like a good deal.

Sakura offers other cool designs besides a french manicure. You can see some of them over at nitro:licious, where I discovered Calgel. Wendy’s nails look ridic in that post (in a good way lol)! I would have gotten something funky like that but I had to take the professional route and stick to the french manicure.

I highly suggest making an appointment in advance if you are in the NYC area and want to try this since they are usually booked up. They are the only guys in town offering this technology that will help me break free from the chains of slavery from artificial nails.

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

Baby Both Girl (Limited Edition – Style Black Collection)

Description: Black with pinkish purple pearl

Finish: Frost

One Coat (no base coat or top coat)

Two Coats (no base coat or top coat)

Fabulous!

I am seriously in looove with Baby Goth Girl Nail Lacquer. I was looking forward to the Style Black Collection just for the nail polishes and I was not wrong. This season is not about boring nails. The fuchsia pearl, which actually looks like a burgundy color on the nails, in this polish will get my mother to stop asking me if I am in a cult this fall and winter ha ha ha. 

All you need is two thin coats of this polish to get a streak-free look. The fuchsia pearl in the black polish looks subtle on the nails. The polish in the bottle looks like it may be glittery but it does not look that way when it is applied.

The polish is currently out of stock on www.maccosmetics.com but it says that is coming soon. So keep your fingers crossed if you missed out on the first round.

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

Source

Seriously Hip (Limited Edition – Style Black Collection)

Description: Black with gold particle pearl

Finish: Frost

One Coat (no base coat or top coat)

Two Coats (no base coat or top coat)

Seriously Hip gives your nails that old gold look. The pearlized color in this nail lacquer  is more apparent when applied to the nails than in Baby Goth Girl. Gold is more of a contrast to black than purple.  

One coat  was a little streaky. Two coats gave me perfect coverage. MAC has definitely stepped it up in their Nail Lacquer department. The no more than two coats needed didn’t stop after the Jin Soon Choi for MAC Fall 2009 Collection. 

I plan on glitzing up this polish with some gold accessories. Looks like I won’t be wearing plain black nail polish this season.

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

Source

Lincoln Park After Dark – Suede

Description: Where Midnight Meets Purple

Finish: Suede

Swatches:

One coat (no base coat or top coat)

Two coats (no base coat or top coat)

I was surprised when I saw that OPI had launched a collection of polishes with a Suede finish. I discovered them while perusing the eBay store I mentioned in my previous Polished post that I discovered through fellow YouTuber lollipop26. The store sells OPI color nail polishes for $4.75 and is called Jolie Beauty Supply. Shipping costs $2.50 for an item. If you purchase multiple items they reduce some of the shipping costs for each additional item (visit site for more details). I purchased 3 nail polishes and shipping came up to a total of $5.50. The savings were substantial relative to what I would have paid at Ricky’s.

One coat of this polish was a little streaky and sheer. Two coats gave me an opaque streak-free finish. Like their matte polishes, the instructions say to not use a base coat or a top coat and the polish dries within seconds so it is perfect if you need to paint your nails in a hurry. The finish is matte (so there is no shine to it like a traditional polish) with shimmer to give it the suede effect. It does not really look like suede to me but it does add some dimension without shine.

Suede by OPI nail polishes, as mentioned in the tag accompanying the polish:

[...] does not wear as long as original OPI Nail Laquer.

This is certainly not an understatement, just like the matte polishes, since one day later the polish on several of my nails has already begun to chip. If you’re wearing this for a special event I recommend applying that same day as well.

Lincoln Park After Dark – Suede is another interesting nail polish that I will be wearing this Fall and Winter. The shimmer in this polish does not make as much of a statement as it’s matte cousin, so if you’re looking to make a splash choose a matte.

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

Source

Russian Navy – Matte

Description: Deep-Sea Indigo

Finish: Matte

Swatches:

One coat (no base coat or top coat)

Two coats (no base coat or top coat)

I could not wait to try a matte nail polish this season. I had been stalking a Ricky’s NYC for a while and when I finally saw the display, all the colors were gone except for the white shade called Alpine Snow (blah!). It would have cost me $15 there and thank goodness they didn’t have any of the colors I wanted to try because I remembered fellow YouTuber lollipop26′s video where she mentioned an eBay store that sells OPI color nail polishes for $4.75 called Jolie Beauty Supply. Shipping costs $2.50 for an item. If you purchase multiple items they reduce some of the shipping costs for each additional item (visit site for more details). I purchased 3 nail polishes and shipping came up to a total of $5.50. The savings were substantial relative to what I would have paid at Ricky’s.

Now onto what I think of the polish ha ha ha. One coat was almost perfect. The color was very opaque and went on virtually streak-free. If you’re a perfectionist like me you would go for a second coat just to make sure every thing is even and incase you missed a spot (I am not a pro lol). The instructions say to not use a base coat or a top coat and the polish dries within seconds so it is perfect if you need to paint your nails in a hurry. The finish is matte so there is no shine to it like a traditional polish.

Matte by OPI nail polishes, as mentioned in the tag accompanying the polish:

[...] does not wear as long as original OPI Nail Laquer.

This is certainly not an understatement since one day later the polish on one of my nails has already begun to chip. If you’re wearing this for a special event I recommend applying that same day.

Russian Navy – Matte is a fun change for me from the usual metallic and/or glossy navy nail polishes I like to wear in the Fall and Winter. I am daring when it comes to nail lacquers so this trendy finish is right up my alley.

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

Source

Mixed Metals

I was inspired to try this look on my nails once I spotted it in the September issue of InStyle magazine. You can achieve the “mixed metals” look  with nail foils.

Visit www.instyle.com to see how to get this and other of their must-have manicures at home.

Check out screen shots of how to achieve the mixed metals look below (click on the image twice (one here and once in the gallery) to view full size): (more…)

Beyond Jealous (Limited Edition: Jin Soon Choi for MAC Fall 2009)

Description: Blackened blue green

Finish: Cream

Swatches:

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Cool Reserve (Limited Edition: Jin Soon Choi for MAC Fall 2009)

Description: Dirty grey lavender

Finish: Cream

Swatches:

(more…)

MAC is killing us with all of these collections! Launching this Thursday, August 27th, 2009, at MAC stores/counters is Jin Soon Choi for MAC for Fall 2009. 

Jin Soon Choi for MAC for Fall 2009 is a collection of 6 limited edition polishes:

Rich, Dark, Delicious – Rich blackened brown (Cream)

For Fun – Rich purple (Cream)

Dry Martini – Khaki olive green (Cream)

Beyond Jealous – Blackened blue green (Cream)

Cool Reserve – Mid-tone grey lavender (Cream)

Dance All Night – Brick red (Cream)

Check out swatches here.

This collection contains the trendy greens and plums that everyone will be rockin’ this season. Also in the mix are the standard red and brown we usually see this time of year. Word on the street is that the formula for these Nail Lacquers is a little different. They  are more pigmented and you don’t need a ton of coats to get good coverage like other MAC Nail Lacquers.

I’m jonesing for Beyond Jealous and Cool Reserve. Do any of these catch your eye? Vote in the poll below:

Glossy Kissez,

DRBrooklyn730

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