Nicole by OPI — Selena Gomez Collection, Part One

Baby cats! I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I wish I could tell you that my life consists only of swatching polishes, hanging with my cats and eating bon bons all day, but sadly that is not the case. Although I do eat a lot of bon bons. I got swamped with my Real Job recently, but I've come up with some good ideas to make sure I don't go dark for as long as I did, ever again!

There are nailz to paint. Collections to ewww and ahhh over. Let us begin!

So, Selena Gomez. You may have heard of her. Bless her heart, she was one of those poor Disney girls and is slowly blossoming into a quite a nice young lady. Her songs are fun, she carries herself well and hasn't gone down La Lohan Lane, so she's a-okay in my book.

In keeping with its younger demographic, Nicole by OPI teamed up with Selena to create 14 shades for her very own collection. Some celebrity nail polish partnerships make me scratch my head (note that I have never covered a Kardashian Kollection — and never will) but this one makes total sense. Selena experiments with nail color for events all the time.

Her collection is, holistically, one of the prettiest ones I've seen; we've got glitter, we've got brights, we've got pastels... shimmers, creams... well done, Gomez, well done.

Check back tomorrow to read my review of Stars at Night and Heavenly Angel!

missedyou, Francesca

The Très Chic Upside-Down French Mani

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If something as simple as Jennifer Lopez's manicure makes headlines, does that mean she's still relevant?

The answer is yes, evidently.

To be fair, it's possible that J.Lo's upside-down French manicure (also called a "reverse French manicure") isn't getting press just because it's gracing the fingers of La Lopez. It's getting attention because it looks good. Period.

And guess what, guys! With the right colors, a steady hand and some patience, this look is yours.

Upside-Down French Mani How-To

I used OPI Alpine Snow (my favorite white ever) and a color called Naked from Urban Decay's new NAKED Nail Set. This is the first color from that set I've tried, and this reverse French manicure was the perfect way to wear it. UD Naked is quite close to my skin tone, so having the sliver of white gave this look a pop of color and helped the manicure feel fresh and chic.

1. I shaped my nails and buffed them.
2. I painted two thin coats of OPI Alpine Snow and allowed them to dry for about 15 minutes. If the white base color is too wet, you'll mess things up and get some swirl action going on as you apply your top color.
3. Next, I painted UD Naked on — by hand. The key was having just the right amount of polish at the end of the brush; not so much it's going to drip, but enough so that you see half-a-drop gathering. It's that drop that will spread evenly as you carefully press the brush to your nail, apply a little pressure, and let the bristles gently fan out so that they create a good, smooth crescent.
4. Once you have the top of the crescent created, swipe the brush down toward the sides of your nails to continue the nice curve you created with the crescent. Make sure you keep consistent with the space you're leaving on each nail. Maybe a little less on your pinky, maybe a little more on your thumb.
5. Apply a second coat (carefully!) of your top color, enforcing & perfecting the crescent-y curve.
6. Top coat it and voila! C'est magnifique.

I had a lot of fun sporting the upside-down French and definitely plan on trying a new color combo soon. If white & nude is too safe for you, go wild! Creamy charcoal gray paired with hot pink would be awesome. What about blue on blue? The possibilities are endless; the only rule of thumb is making sure your top color can fully cover up your base color in two coats.

aurevior, Francesca

P.S. I leave you with (arguably) some of J.Lo's finest work.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/dly6p4Fu5TE]

WANTED: CHANEL Nail Lacquer iPhone Case

So deep is my fear of dropping (read: destroying) my phone that I don't even entertain the idea of getting a cute case. Sure, there were the days when I had Ye Old Nokia and I jazzed it up with a sparkling rhinestone keypad (for real) and a matte-neon pink case. My mom almost threw it away because she thought it was an old childhood toy I'd unearthed from storage. What I mean is, that's how coooool it looked.

But these days? A phone accident is a critical issue. I can't bring myself to take risks on a case that offers beautiful form without well-padded function. And yet...

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RESIST THESE?

These cases are just... It's genius. Absolutely awesome. Please, one of you, one of my brave, devil-may-care readers who says to hell with safety, pleeeease get a Chanel Nail Lacquer Case. Be gutsy, be glam... and then tell me all about it! I'll live vicariously through your new acquisition.

They're on Etsy for $14.86 from a shop called Casetop. Now if only the shop offered a Chanel Ciel de Nuit case. Now we're talkin'.

Do any of you guys find this as tempting as I do?

xxo, Francesca

Be My Guest: Laura — "A to Zebra" Zigs the Wrong Way :(

where does one start... well, for one - i'm a HUGE fan of Essie. i probably own 50 bottles of it (a conservative estimate).

so, when i read about their nail stickers coming out i was ecstatic. i went to a walgreens and there were the "essie sleek sticks"... lined up perfectly. waiting. almost taunting. i must have examined the options and held them next to my naked nails, imagining the transformation, for at least 20 minutes.

finally, a decision - A to Zebra. it served up everything i'm after in a non-traditional (re: not your regular, boring, single color) look. with a matte base and glossy zebra stripes, who could not want these nailz?!

when i checked out, the sales clerk (obviously not a polish fan) made a remark that i might as well go get a manicure for $10.89. i scoffed and quickly assured her that this would be no regular mani. this was going to be different and last much longer.

when i got home i immediately started in on the process. pretty simple as things go and i was thrilled with the idea of not having to deal with dry time (it was a friday night after all).

i applied the first sticker and followed the directions to file the excess down and away from my nail. it worked. but... and there it was. a big but: instant tip wear. (gasp!)

i thought to myself, self - it's your first time with these, try again. so i did, nine more times. i wish i could say that my nails only got better but alas, i cannot. tip wear, to varying degrees, on every nail. #sadface

it wasn't so bad as to be noticeable to anyone who would look at them but any nail polish-loving gal would be as upset about the finished look as was i. a disappointment.

i imagined them lasting all week and showing them off on monday morning to the other girls in the office. yeah right, these nails weren't gonna make it past sunday afternoon at the rate they started to peel back.

also, good to note here that if you're a "picker" these nails aren't for you. the sticker started to grab onto little hairs and fuzz and then i'd get even more upset. *bigsigh

so, even though a very cute boy said how he liked the "squiggly lines" on my nails… i don't know that i'd drop another $10.89 for a one night out, kinda interesting mani.

i say that now, but maybe i'll give them another go if i hear some positive stories. ladies? anyone?

just another sad reminder that all that glitters isn't gold.

- LALA

"Wizard Hat" Mani

The last time I went to my nail supply shop, I saw some crazy colored star-shaped nail accents that I couldn't resist. They came in pastel pink, mint and yellow, each pack containing five stars. I was in the mood for something whimsical, so stars it was! I had a bottle of OPI Tomorrow Never Dies from the Skyfall collection, a gorgeous metallic indigo and I had some silver glitter on hand, and thus a plan was born.

I applied two coats of OPI. Next, I used a toothpick to apply silver glitter in a purposeful way. Some of my nails feature real constellations; others are just well-strewn "stars." The final touch was adding the pastel yellow stars. I used a generous dab of Seche Vite and let the stars set, then applied a nice, thick coat of Seche Vite, completely covering the stars to make sure everything stayed put. I also wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be any edges along the stars for my hair to snag on. Blegh.

Since the stars are kind of kitchsy and cutesy, the resulting look was a little child-like and reminded me of Good Night Moon... or a wizard.

That said, I got a huge kick out of having such a playful manicure. The best part of the mani was touching the stars on my nails. They felt a little alien, but I was down with the weirdness.

Have you guys ever tried any super-sized nail decals?

ohmystars! Francesca

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ThHz9wlBeLU]