NOTD: Seafoam Chic

In the spirit of warm weather colors, today’s NOTD is reminiscent of dazzling sunlight on seafoam.  Although I feel that pale greens have been done to death ever since Chanel Jade, this one has that touch of blue, making it more summery than springlike.  And then there’s the fact that I’ve never been able to say no to a pretty green polish.

Sinful Open Seas is pulling more blue in the picture below than it appears in real life, but it’s captured the effect quite well (elegant, elongated fingers).  Paint on two coats, and you have the perfect accessory for a white button-down and denim shorts.

If the color looks familiar to you, it’s because this is a well-done dupe of OPI Mermaid’s Tears.  I may or may not have driven to 8 different CVS locations just to track this down.  What?  I was on a quest.

Both collections were LE, so I doubt you’ll be able to find them at present (is this evil of me?), but there should be similar colors floating around the drugstores this time of year.

What’s your favorite summer polish color?  Wearing anything on your nails today?

MM

NOTD: Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time

Today’s nails are courtesy of the lovely Jian, who sent me this little bottle of magnetic Boots polish all the way from the UK.  Thank you Jian!

The polish (creatively named Blue) was plenty opaque, but I applied it over a coat of Zoya Pinta, just to add more depth.

At first glance, this manicure bears little resemblance to Bronzino’s Mannerist painting.  Actually, that’s the polite way of putting it.  But if you squint really hard (and employ a healthy dose of imagination), you might notice that my nails slightly resemble the blue drapery in the background, yes?  Perhaps you are waiting for me to say that I thought for a very long time about what to name this manicure, and then did my usual if-it-doesn’t-work-make-it-work-thing.  No, I actually took one look at the finished manicure and immediately thought of Bronzino.  Then again, we all know my mind doesn’t work normally about 80% of the time, so maybe you can see where I’m coming from.

On a side note (this should actually be the main note, but I am feeling contrary today), I love this polish.  I’m normally not one for dark blues, but the magnetic stripes make it look so rich and glowy.  And if you’re interested, Scrangie has an excellent guide on magnetic polish application here, which I suggest you read before giving this a try.

Have you tried magnetic polishes before?  I’m hoping these will replace the crackle polish trend, which I am sorry to say I never liked much.

MM

NOTD: Colorito

Although I often complain about polishes that require more than 2 coats, I have no problem whatsoever with extra coats when they are shiny.  Maybe I was a magpie in another life, or maybe I was Thorin Oakenshield.  Who knows?

This manicure started off as a single coat of Sinful Colors Open Seas, a beautifully dusty green creme that appears to be a dupe of OPI Mermaid’s Tears.  It’s simple and chic alone, but when have I ever worn a (non-red) polish alone?

One sheered out coat of China Glaze Tinsel, globbed on bits of Covergirl Disco Dazzle, and a crowning layer of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure later, I ended up with what might be my favorite manicure to date.  At extreme angles, the flakes glow a deep green, but most of the time, they show up as a smattering of warm orange particles.  It was difficult for me to capture the true base color here, as well as the shine.  The last two images really show the spellbinding glitter, but the color accuracy is…nonexistent.

Like marmalade sun hitting a grassy knoll, or sunset on the shallows of a pristine lake.  Hazy light on dewdrops.  Apparently, I get misty-eyed and poetic over nail polish.

NOTD: Beauty Blogger

During the first half of my day, I pretty much forget that I’m a beauty blogger.  Sure, it’s always in the back of my head, but it’s not the first thing I’m thinking about while trying to absorb pages of Art History reading.  And because I do try to keep my blogging life (when you refer to your blog as your baby, I think it’s safe to tack ‘life’ onto the end) reasonably separate from my personal life, it hardly ever intrudes on my school day.

There are, however, those golden moments when you realize that it is not, in fact, normal to own an entire arsenal of makeup.  Or those stares people give you, after you’ve taken precisely one look at their nails, and excitedly identified the brand and shade.

If you’re a longtime Makeup Morsels reader, you might remember the last time this happened to me (July 9, 2011, to be precise.  I can’t believe I’m linking this because the polish application was just so dang bad).  I saw Chanel Black Pearl gleaming merrily on my classmate’s nails (she knows me as high school student by day, not beauty blogger by night), pointed dramatically, and gasped is that Chanel Black Pearl?

Looking back, I definitely should have been prepared for the what is the matter with you look she leveled my way.  What I was not expecting was that today, half a year later, she

NOTD Picture Time

Hopefully, the Lipstick Bandits won’t kick me out of their merry crew for saying this, but there are some things that rank higher than lipstick on my priorities list.

Like college, for example.

And much as I would love to do a proper post, I’m focusing on a supplement today.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to throw millions of (ok, a few) NOTD pictures at you.  Enjoy the avalanche of nail polish spam!

Sinful Nail Junkie over Zoya Envy.  One of my favorite combinations, I’ll probably repeat this one for the holidays.  

Covergirl Disco Dazzle over