Sunday, December 25, 2011

Holiday sparkle!


Merry Christmas to all and to all a sparkly night!

So, the holidays are upon us, we're wrapping, gifting, eating, drinking, merry-ing, food-coma-ing, visiting, relaxing (hopefully), resting, and overall festive-ing, and maybe catching the 24-hour "A Christmas Story" marathon on TBS.

What is a holiday without a little (or a lot) of sparkle?

I am staying with my sister & brother-in-law and we decorated their beautiful tree the other night.  Love the sparkly lights, the red ornaments, and the sparkly snowflakes.



I am always in awe of tree ornaments; how they sparkle and shine, and pick up reflections of light from each other, the lights on the tree and from each other.


I took the sparkle inspiration into my holiday nail polish...  A base coat of OPI Dulce De Leche, 4 nails with an overcoat of OPI Mad as a Hatter, and 1 nail on each hand with an overcoat of Fresh Frog of Bel Air.  Sparkly wonderfulness!

I did my niece's nails too - base coat of a light pink with overcoats of Mad as a Hatter, Teenage Dream, and Crown Me Already (all by OPI).  Love the little sparklers!

Picked up some sparkly loot too from Santa!  LOVE!!!

Love this coin purse - full of silvery sparkly goodness (thanks to my brother-in-law)!

Love this gold sparkly wallet / clutch from Deux Luxe (thanks to my sister)!

And, who can't use a glow in the dark pink LED little flashlight (thanks Dad)!

And, I love these little freshwater pearl & swarovski crystal earrings (thanks to my boyfriend)!

I hope Santa stopped at your homes to deliver packages filled with joy and that you and your families had a very merry and joy-filled holiday full of plenty of sparkle and shine!

Until next time... whichever holiday you celebrate, I hope you shine and twinkle and sparkle, have visions of sugar-plums dancing in your heads!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Adventures in Nail Polish - Part 3

So, today was new mani day!

I'm a sucker for sparkles, obviously.  I'm also a sucker for sparkly Christmas decorations.  I was at a holiday soiree over the weekend at a good friend's house, and was in awe over her beautiful Christmas tree and all of it's sparkly ornaments.

So, this afternoon, I was digging through my nail polish drawer (yes, my nail polish has it's own drawer), and I pulled out a metallic silver, a silver glitter, and a multi-color glitter.  They reminded me of the glittery ornaments on my friend's tree.  Had to try it out.

I used 2 coats of Wet 'n Wild Silvivor (below left).  A coat of OPI Crown Me Already (below right) definitely a favorite of mine.  And on one nail on each hand, I added a coat of OPI Mad as a Hatter (below center).












The result?  Glitter-tastic sparkly ornamental nails!  Love!!!















If you've ever used glitter polish, you know what a pain it is to get off - takes forever.  A few tips I've found on-line to make it easier advise to soak a cotton pad in nail polish remover, and then wrap it around your nail for a few minutes to let it soak in.  This site says to wrap your nails (with the remover-soaked pad) in tin foil to make it easier.  I can attest that it IS easier to get off if you soak your nails in polish remover.  One of the nice ladies at my neighborhood nail spa did it on my toes once and it really worked.

Another method that I will probably try soon is one I saw recently in a magazine (I think it was Lucky)...  Instead of using cotton pads or balls, use felt.  Apparently the felt has more oomph to it that grabs the glitter better than cotton pads...  I'll try it out and let you know the outcome.

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Sparkle Love joined twitter (see block on the right).  I'll tweet from time to time when something sparkly catches my eye...  If you tweet or follow others on twitter, give me a whirl - sparklelovesf.   Thanks!

Happy holidays to all!  I hope you have safe travels, fun times, and lots of sparkle!

Until next time...  How will you add sparkly ornaments to your everyday life?

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Adventures in Nail Polish - Part 2

So, it's new mani-pedi time! 

I remembered I had a gift certificate for a pedicure from my Cousin from a few years ago, and decided to use it this weekend.  Pedi was only ok (at LaBelle Day Spa in Palo Alto).  Not something I'd fork out $50 for.  Obviously I enjoyed it, but like my local neighborhood joint (Rainbow Nails in Noe Valley) more, and their pedis are only $25.

On my toes, I wanted something festive for the holidays.  I saw a super cute pair of red & gold flats that I really liked that served as my inspiration for my toes.  I bought a few years ago OPI's Ruby for Rudolph and decided to use that with some gold sparkles on top.


 
I did my own mani last night. 

On most of my nails, I used OPI's Dulce de Leche (below left) with Teenage Dream (below right) on top.  Dulce de Leche is such a lovely color on it's own.  Has some nice shine, and really blends in well with my skin tone.  It isn't overly flashy.  Teenage Dream is just dreamy!  Love the light pink-ish base and the sparkles in 2 sizes.



On one nail on each hand, I used Sally Hansen's Guilty Pleasure (below left) with Rock Candy (below right) on top.  Love the Guilty Pleasure on it's own - a nice antiquey-looking warm gold.  Rock Candy is a peachy-looking base with a little bit of glitter in it.  When using the Rock Candy, I was slightly disappointed in the amount of glitter - it is very sparse.  But over Guilty Pleasure and next to other nails with Teenage Dream on them, the subtlety is actually quite nice.
Here is the finished mani product.  I'm really loving it!



 Until next time.  Sparkle your nails off!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Want this, get that - Sparkle for every budget

So, I love shows / articles / things where professionals show you how to get a look you want 2 ways - one super expensive, and one more budget conscious. 

I'm getting into the High-Low project on HGTV (click here).  Designer Sabrina Soto shows people a super-high-end room design, then re-creates it on the homeowners' actual budget. 

The other day I was picking up a few things at Target, and saw a display in the handbag section of these beautiful sequin purses that were extremely budget friendly.  I knew I'd seen similar bags elsewhere.

I also spied some super cute glitter flats that looked strikingly similar to my Stuart Weitzman flats at a substantially lower cost.

This got me thinking - I know there are similar sparkles that fit into just about anyone's budget...

So, here we are - I've found a bunch of sparkly things that I love and one or two alternatives that won't break the bank.

To the left is a beautiful Michael Kors black sequin bag.  Price tag $368.

If that doesn't meet your budget, how about this similar bag from Target on the right?  Price tag $24.99.





If black isn't what you're looking for, they both come in gold / blush as well.

The Michael Kors version is to the left.  Price tag $368

The Target version is to the right.  Price tag $24.99





How about a super cute cross-body bag?

On the right is a gun-metal gray sequin cross-body from Coach (Occasion sequin flap crossbody).  Price tag $198.

On the left is a similar cross-body bag from Target.  This one comes in gold as well.  Price tag for each? $16.99.




Interested in some sparkly flats?

On the right are some stunners from Stuart Weitzman.  Price tag $275.  I have these in silver and absolutely LOVE them.

Need a pair that is a little friendlier to your pocketbook?  Try these on the left from Target.  Price tag $19.99.

How about a sparkly little jacket?

This stunner on the left is from Anthropologie.  Price Tag $138.

This cutie on the right is from Urban Outfitters.  Price Tag $89.

The little bomber jacket below is also from Urban Outfitters.  $89.


In the market for a long-sleeve sparkly top?  

The one on the left is from Rachel Zoe.  Price tag $350.

The one on the right is from J.Crew.  Price tag $69.50.

Mad for sequin hot shorts?  Here are 3 sparklies that might suit your fancy.

On the left is a lovely pair by Halston Heritage.  Price tag $260.  On the right is another pair by Express.  Price tag $59.50  And, below is a pair by Urban Outfitters.  Price tag $138.


What about a stunning sparkly top?  Here are three that I'm loving.

First, on the left, a striped T from J.Crew.  Price tag a whopping $499.99 (and that's the sale price - yikes!). 

I found two significantly less priced alternatives.  On the right, from Express, price tag $49.90.

And below, from Old Navy, price tag $34.94.  Old Navy has some diamonds in the ruff - this is one of them.  Beware though, this top is sheer - you'll need to wear something underneath.
 
And, here are three similar white-ish sparsely sequined tops that I like.  First, on the left, from Anthropologie.  Price tag $158. Also comes in a lovely green.
Second, on the right, a tank from Gap.  Price tag $54.95 (also comes in black).

And, lastly, below, a top from Urban Outfitters.  Price tag $69.  This one also comes in navy.


Want a silver sparkly scarf?

On the left is from Anthropologie - $188.

On the right is from Express - $34.90.
How about a wristlet / clutch?

On the right is from Kohls - $41.30 on sale now.

On the left is from Coach - $78. (Poppy sequins small wristlet).


There are lots and lots of lovely items out there that fall well within anyone's budget.  Just try doing a search for "sequin" or "glitter" on your favorite sites and see what comes up.

Here are the search results for "sequin" on a few sites that I frequent, and some new ones introduced to me by my sister:
There's never a shortage of sequin out there!!!
Keep on sparkling!

Until next time...