Thursday, March 31, 2011

I love sparkles and nail polish!

So, my sparkle obsession extends to many places, including nail polish.

One of the things I love to do is get pedicures.  I like pretty toes, I like sitting in those comfy pedicure chairs, I like soaking my toes in warm water, I like catching up on magazine reading, hence, I love a pedicure.  

I tend to be drawn to fuschia polishes - 2 of my faves are Chanel Boa and Splendeur.  Boa is discontinued now, but here is a swatch of Splendeur.

Recently, though, I've been obsessed with glitter nail polish.  Glitter polish is a pain to remove though.  But I don't care - I love it!!!!

I was recently introduced to a miracle manicure (of course by my sister) - a gel manicure that is basically baked onto your nails with a UV light after every coat.  You leave the salon with 100% dry nails - no nicks, smudges, or smears will screw up your nails.   These miracle manicures last several weeks with no chips.  The downside - they are hard to get off (involves soaking fingers in acetone and scraping the polish off).  Not the greatest thing for your nails.  But, regardless, they look fantastic and last a really long time.  

My 3 forays into the gel manis all involved sparkles...


# 1 at Christmastime - gun metal gray with sparkles (thanks to my sister who got this combination first.  I copied her.  She has great taste).

#2 in January - dark burgundy with silver sparkles!

#3 in February - super light pink with sparkles.  Pedicure isn't gel, but was OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise with a little Bring on the Bling (gold sparkles) over.






Totally LOVE sparkles!

Sister's newest pedi - sparkly stripes.  LOVE!












 
OK - on to some other polish that I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

OPI Sparklicious.  Multi-colored sparkles.












OPI Mad as a hatter - also multi-colored sparkles.  I have this one and love it layered over a bright color, or just all alone.
 OPI Bring on the Bling.  Very bling, indeed.
OPI  Teenage Dream.  Haven't seen this in person yet, but I'm loving it!!!
A selection of Deborah Lippmann sparkly colors.  Pretty much love them all.











And, my latest pedicure - a little less sparkle than before, but still subtle sparkles aplenty!  OPI Miami Beet with This Little Piggy pink sparkles over.  I'm loving it big time.









Saw this in a magazine and was really intrigued.  Stick on nail polish.  Could such a thing work?  Would such a thing last?  My friend Sparkles (fitting nickname for this blog and post), tried a zebra print stick on polish for her b-day - looked amazing and she said it lasted for a while.  It wasn't Sally Hansen though...  Regardless, I was curious about this Sally Hansen stuff, so picked some up at my local Walgreens.  Haven't used it yet, but will relish in all of its sparkly glory.  Comes in lots of colors & options:
For those do-it-your-selfers out there, check out these sites that show you how to make your own glitter nail polish (there are lots more out there, but these will give you the general idea):

A little sparkle or a lot of sparkle - looking at my polished fingers or ties and seeing some shiny happiness staring back at me makes me smile.  So, sparkle on!

Monday, March 28, 2011

I love sparkles and shoes!

So, I love all things sparkly.  I love shoes.  So, by process of deduction, I must love sparkly shoes.  Yes, yes, I do!

Here are some of my favorites...


Christian Louboutin gold, sky-high beauties.  If I could walk in these and not fall over, and if I had lots of extra cash lying around, these would have a home in my closet.
Another pair of absolutely gloriously sparkly Christian Louboutins.  Again, if I had piles of cash, and wouldn't end up in a cast from a broken ankle, these would be mine, mine, mine!









Kate Spade pretty sparkly, pink, bow sling backs.











Found these on-line, don't remember the maker, but they are gloriously sparkly!  LOVE!










Stuart Weitzman gold sparklers.  These totally remind me of the jars of gold glitter I used as a kid when doing arts & crafts.  I've been glitter crazy probably my whole life.












Some more Stuart Weitzman glitter-tastic shoes.  This time, flats.  I can totally wear flats.  I want.








Pour la Victorie flats.  Pink.  Sparkly.  Need I say more?  Love.















Toms.  $53.95.  Nordstrom (click here).  I've been pondering these for a while.  Wasn't convinced I'd wear them all that much.  Saw a girl walking down 24th Street in Noe Valley the other day with these on.  LOVE them!  She rocked them with dark jeans, white t-shirt, and black cardi.  I think these might find a home in my closet sometime soon.





These little lovelies actually did come home with me (or were actually shipped to me), thanks to the super sleuthing of my sister who sent me the link to them.  Steve Madden.  Under $100.  A heel I can actually walk in.








For those DYI-ers out there, found this site that teaches you how to make your own sparkly shoes a la Louboutin.  Not sure I'd go so far as to make the faux red sole, but the overall process is intriguing.  Check it out here.

Sparkles.  Glitter.  Heels.  Flats.  Casual.  Dressy.  Everything is better with a little sparkle, a little glitter, a little shine.  Just like we crave the sunshine after a long period of rainy, cold, dreary weather.  I crave a little sparkle in my life.

Shine on!