Some nail polishes are dramatic. Some are boring. Some are chaos agents disguised as innocent pastel dreams. Kiara Sky’s Lunar or Later is… complicated. On first impression, she is beautiful. A soft, milky, barely-there pink that whispers classy French tip energy instead of screaming fresh acrylic set at the mall. When applied correctly, it gives that elusive “my nails but better” look. The kind that says, Yes, I drink water and moisturize my cuticles and definitely have my life together. Which is hilarious, because I absolutely do not. The Application Experience: A Journey Here’s the thing: Lunar or Later is gloopy and streaky, like it can’t quite decide what consistency it
Category: Nails
The Unvarnished Truth: Black Magic Woman by Deborah Lippmann
Picture this: you open the bottle and it’s not just black. It’s black with moods. It’s black with depth. It’s black that wants to be dramatic and mysterious, but also maybe a little fun at parties. Black Magic Woman is a black-grey base with that delicate holographic glitter that doesn’t look like you shredded a disco ball on your nails. No. It’s like tiny rainbows trapped in charcoal smoke. The kind of polish that makes you catch your reflection in every surface and think, Ohhhh. Application — So This Happened This polish goes on like a smooth, moody twilight sky. Not streaky. Not patchy. It applies in that perfect middle-ground where
The Unvarnished Truth: Kicking Off with Holo Taco’s Lemon Spritzer
Here’s the deal: I own too much nail polish. Like, museum-exhibit levels. One day, future historians will crack open my closet and write dissertations titled “Why Did This Woman Need Seventeen Shades of Slightly-Different Purple?”Instead of hiding my stash in shame, I’m flipping the script. Welcome to The Unvarnished Truth — my new series where I test out polishes from my collection and tell you exactly what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s just aggressively mediocre. No fluff, no filters, just straight-up polish honesty. And we’re kicking things off with a bubbly little number: Holo Taco’s Lemon Spritzer. Meet Lemon Spritzer This polish is basically
The Return of the Nail Fail
I had a brilliant idea. I was going to do nail art that wasn’t based on anything. I would just gather up a mess of nail polishes and paint whatever came to mind. Freeform design, colors, and the knowledge that you can’t screw up a picture that was never meant to be a picture. Except you can. When you combine strange shapes, polka dots, and a glitter nail tip you get… A Toxic Toadstool! Doesn’t it look stupidly unappetizing? This is far worse than I ever could’ve imagined! Or as someone else kindly pointed out… It sort of looks like
Five Favorite Things – September 2019
Slip Silk Pillowcase – I can’t get over how great this is. Helps your skin and hair just by falling asleep on it?! Yes, please! This is definitely pricier than other silk pillowcases on the market, but I promise you I can feel the difference in quality. This is far ahead of its other competitors. GHD Platinum Hair Straightener – I wrote about this as being one of those ridiculously priced beauty gadgets that I spent money on but… I really like it. It makes my hair look almost healthy. AND, it straightens better and faster than any other flatiron
Venus in Furs by Deborah Lippmann
I can’t tell you how long I dithered over how to describe the color of this nail polish. At first I thought “This is so what a vampire who’s part of the Volturi clan would wear!” But then I looked at the first coat of nail polish and thought “Blueberries! Blueberries that have been squished!” The squish then triggered a memory of an I Love Lucy episode where her and Ethel are stomping on grapes to make wine which of course led me to think, “No, these nails are the color of red wine!” Which now has me wanting to
Nail Art Disaster. Again.
I was a little too ambitious today. I was going to go ALL OUT. No, really, I was going to use ALL the polishes *and* even figure out how to stick on those Swarovski-esque jewels to my fingers. I did one nail and decided I was DONE being fancy. It was waaaay too much work. Besides, my one nail looks like a clown put on all of it’s costume jewelry then showed up to a black tie event. It stands out, but in a bad way. Like, “watch out, Kristen just took that OMG tacky skirt out of her closet
Black Magic Woman by Deborah Lippmann
This bottle, when you look at it, presents itself as your average glittery gray/black bottle of polish, BUT IT IS SO MUCH COOLER THAN THAT. This is the aptly named “Black Magic Woman” because trust me when I say that this is sorcery in a nail polish formula. It initially comes off as a dark gunmetal grey but then light hits it and let me tell you, it comes to LIFE. It shimmers with an opalescent beauty that shows off all the colors of the rainbow. It’s like a very low key holographic effect that doesn’t demand your attention, but
The Dermstore Sale
I know everyone has gone crazy with the Sephora sale, but I cared more about the 25% off that was happening at the Dermstore website. I congratulate myself on not turning the whole store upside down and crashing the website, because I dearly wanted EVERYTHING, but I held myself to five items. FIVE! Paula’s Choice Skin Revealing Body Lotion 10% AHA – I have super dry itchy legs and I’m hoping this lotion will exfoliate, hydrate, and help in the removal of dead skin. I have a body brush that aids in these things but honestly? I canuse all the
Hot Child in the City by Deborah Lippmann
This nail polish is BRIGHT. It will light up the night and your nails when you put it on. It’s a fluorescent orange with a coral tint thrown in to keep it classy. It’s versatile enough that it looks totally cute in the summer and workable in the fall. It also screams for attention so if you are into loud colors then this might be up your alley. One thing to note, this did go on a wee bit streaky on first application so two coats is definitely required to get an even nail color. I would also like to