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 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

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

How to Sort of Do Nail Art

In my quest to figure out how to bedeck my nails in a chic fashion, I have stumbled on “What Not to Do” and now I’m in the realm of “Sorta Kinda Am Figuring This Crap Out.” First, start off with a simple design. Something that only requires blobs and streaks. Turns out cheetah print is basically that. Nailed it! Second, if you don’t have the *exact* color match for the look you’re going for… Just use whatever you want and say you’re doing a unique version. Since I have neither a beige, white or black… I just went ahead

How to Not Do Nail Art

When it comes to nail art, I suck. Badly. Unfortunately, I have this strong desire to have artsy, flashy nails. But I’m cheap, so I don’t want to *pay* to have them look good. I want to do it myself and save my money for things like lipgloss, chocolate and travel. The problem though is that when you’re a FAILURE at nail art, it makes life a wee bit difficult on the nail front. I don’t quite know what to do yet, but I feel like I’m making headway on what *NOT* to do and that has to count for