New – Illamasqua’s Paranormal collection
On Tuesday, April 23rd, I attended a preview of Illamasqua’s new exciting collection, Paranormal, which features unexpected textures and formulas. US Nail Ambassador and Nail Artist Fleury Rose and Brand Ambassador and Makeup Artist Josh Heald, were on hand to introduce the innovative products set to launch at Sephora and Sephora.com on April 30th.
Never before have I experienced a makeup collection that ignites the physical senses, and provides the opportunity for play and experimentation. Below is a sampling of some of the otherworldly products that will be available.
New Paranormal UV Nail Varnish Ltd Edition $17.00
3 new nail varnishes (Paranormal Bright Green Ouija; Paranormal Bright Pink and Paranormal Bright Violet Geist) offer a vivid burst of color. When combined with Illamasqua’s new top coat, Paranormal Clear/Glow, the polishes glow under UV Black Light, serving as undercover nail art, invisible to the naked eye until the sun goes down and your nails begin to illuminate.
New Paranormal Palette $46.50
The unique eye shadow palette features four shades: Paranormal: Vivid Cerise Aura and Warm Coppe; Possession: Cool green Trance and Soft Violet. The texture of the shadows is unusual and surprising – it feels soft and rubbery, similar to play dough. The formula is water-resistant and can be applied to create a soft barely-there look, or layered for a bold pop of color.
New Gleam in Supernatural $26.00
This iridescent highlighter is available in one universal shade, Supernatural – Warm Bronze, and is faltering on all skin tones. Lighter skins can use it to fake a golden glow, and darker skin beauties can use it to highlight different areas of the face including under the eye brows and the cupid’s bow.
Learn more about the collection: www.Illamasqua.com/paranormal
Green Nail Design for St. Patrick’s Day
Jamberry nail wraps are a fun way to spice up your style with innovative and creative designs. With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, we decided to test out one of the green and white designs as an ode to the holiday.
Final nail look using Jamberry nail designs
Here’s how to add some spunk to your nails:
1. Clear nails of all polish with nail polish remover; buff and smooth with a nail file. The Jamberry instructions suggest that you again clean your nails with nail polish remover, but you can skip this part. As long as your nails are dry and oil free, you should be fine.
2. Find your nail size. Instead of going in the order the nail wraps are on the sheet, size your nails up individually under the plastic to find the closest fit. Not all packages come with the same sizes. Some packages come with round and square nail beds.
Tools you need to get the job done
3. Once your size is selected, heat with a blow dryer for 10-15 seconds. It should become warm and flexible.
4. Place sticker on nail and firmly smooth over entire nail.
5. Cut sticker to your nail length and file to your nail shape.
6. Heat again with blow dryer and press firmly to seal.
7. Done! Now you are ready for the parade!
If you don’t file properly, you will have sharp edges, as seen here.
Although we thought our nails came out looking amazing and received tons of compliments, there is a slight learning curve that comes with using the nail wraps. Here are some helpful notes:
1-Make sure you really smooth the sticker at the tip of the nail. Failure to do this will lift the sticker off the nail.
2-It is tiring to do the first hand, but after the first 5 fingers, it becomes easy to do, so don’t give up!
3-By day two, the top nail film started coming off the sticker. Therefore, it’s our opinion that these nails are more suited for one-time events such as weddings, dates or fun events like the one featured for this posting: St. Patricks’ Day!
Note: we received the nail wrap used for this article in a gift bag at the Duane Street Bloggers Lounge in February 2013
Post by Delia and Jolevette
Illamasqua Limited Edition Speckled Nail Varnish
A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Illamasqua’s limited edition Speckled Nail Varnish. The varnish was inspired by irregular markings on fragile bird eggs, and allows you to create professional multi-dimensional nail art with just a few swipes.
Price: $16
Where to buy: Sephora.com, Sephora stores and Sephora at JCPenny stores. The Freckle shade is available exclusively at JCPenny.
What I like: The creamy consistency of the polish glides on smoothly and is virtually mistake-proof. It only took one coat for me to achieve a high-fashion nail look. The color lasted about 3 days before one nail started to chip; but after a quick touch-up, my nails were back to looking fabulous.
The effect: Pastel and Neutral base colors are contrasted with black speckles of different sizes. Depending on how many coats you apply, some of the speckles appear more defined, as other seem muted behind the color, creating a multi-dimensional pattern.
I tested Speckled Nail Varnish in Scarce, a pastel pink with black speckles.
The limited editon colors are available in Freckle (brown), Scarce (pink), Mottle (green), Speckle (purple) and Fragile (blue).
Discourse: I received this product for free at a press event
Sephora by OPI Cherry Blossom Nail Design
This post was actually a family affair. My sister re-created the OPI Cherry Blossom Nail Design originally curated by nail-artist Sophy Robson, and my mom was our hand model.
Sephora recommends that you use the color Havana Dreams for this look, but we tried Natural Environ-Mint ($9.50), which is a very similar pale-blue color, and it worked perfectly! Havana Dreams is just slightly darker and is described as sheer pale sky blue. Natural Environ-Mint is a little lighter and is described as opaque celadon blue. You can use whichever one you want, or even your own favorite light blue nail polish.
My mom modeling Natural Environ-Mint.
This is Sephora’s version of the Cherry Blossom Nail design:
After following the steps, this is how ours turned out:
Below are the steps you have to follow in order to re-create the nail design, which turned out to be a fairly easy process that only took a few minutes.
Get the Look:
1. Apply two coats of SEPHORA by OPI Nail Colour in Havana Dreams, and let dry.
2. Layer on SEPHORA BY OPI Nail Treatment – 3 in 1 Base, Top, & Strengthener, and let dry.
3. Place SEPHORA by OPI Nail Art Gems on the nails, as in the picture. Cut some of the Nail Art Gems in half and place them along the edges if desired.
4. Use a fine-tipped synthetic-bristled brush (like SEPHORA COLLECTION Professionnel Pointed Liner/Eyeliner Brush #17) to draw lines for branches with SEPHORA by OPI Nail Colour in What’s a Tire Jack?.
5. Seal with another coat of SEPHORA by OPI Nail Treatment – 3 in 1 Base, Top & Strengthener.
This was so simple, so give it a try. You can view all the other nail art designs here»
