oooh la la

quite a number of years ago, when my casting job had me traveling round the world, i developed a duty-free Chanel make up habit.  i had developed a duty-free candy habit in my youth traveling back and forth between England and the States, so this was just a logical age driven upgrade.  i became psychotically obsessed with a nail polish called Opaline.  i knew it would not last, so i amassed a RIDICULOUS amount of bottles of the stuff, and i have exactly one left.  i was starting to feel some pangs of fear as to what would happen when it ran out because as high and low as i have searched, i have never found anything like it.  these days, Chanel has cornered the market on the "must have" color every season.  it's like they put crack in the nail polish.  here and there i succumb to the siren call.  i rocked the Khakis all fall, and will keep Khaki Rose in my regular line up.  for spring - i felt the pull pretty hard for the Black Pearl.    a) the gunmetal holographic opalescent color is BEYOND.  b) i happen to love black pearls and c) it appeals wildly to my captain jack sparrow pirate sensibilities.  and so off i went to welcome it into my home.   in doing so i got blindsided in the most extraordinary way.  another spring color -- Pearl Drop -- is literally the closest thing i have ever seen to my old flame Opaline.  my heart started beating and i got a little woozy (again, i really think there might be crack in these formulas)   my treasure chest will once again be filled with pearl delights.

cheap date

i have a dangerous fixation with drugstores. in any foreign country i have ever visited in my life - i go to a drug store at least once a day. and i end up with a suitcase full of lotions and potions and shampoos and things. the most entertaining was Berlin where i did not at ALL speak or understand the language - so i totally went by the vibe of the packaging. it could have ended badly but overall i did fine.

even here in the States i loves me a good drugstore run. bored and restless on a cold afternoon? nothing a jaunt to the drugstore can't fix. now - i wish with all my heart it were Boots, the UK chain that is hands down the BEST. DRUG. STORE. EVER. but alas, it is not. still works in a pinch. i walk around on days like this for a good long time and look at all the new delights the world of drugstore has to offer. it brings me an odd sense of peace.

on today's run i gave in finally to the grey/black polish idea that i have been avoiding thus far. i have caught myself eyeing many a girl's mani recently, so i figured i might as well go for it. in an effort to be "responsible" i decided to try the Wet&Wild version for a whopping 99 cents. it's called Heavy Metal and it has a little teeny bit of sparkle to it. looks black in the bottle - but it's kind of a crazy grey/blue/black on the nails, and i am smitten. best 99 cents i have spent in quite some time!!!

not a christmas miracle, but still pretty adorable

this little holiday set of nail varnishes tickles my fancy. partially because i am more than slightly obsessed with NARS cosmetics. they just kill it every time. gorgeous color, high pigmentation, and amazing quality. loves it. and the other part -- i am a sucker for little sets of things. they just make me happy for some reason. put a few things together and call them a set and i get all tickly inside. i'm diggin on all the colors in here too - there is a lot to be said for that, because there's usually one dud in the bunch - but this just looks like an all around fiesta of happy. not surprisingly, they're selling it at Bendels. which, not surprisingly, is where i shall head to do some holiday shopping. (already have some cute little things picked out for the nieces!!) odd bird that i may be - i find the holiday shopping infinitely more fun than the holiday... ah well, another story for another day...

are you gellin?

i believe i have mentioned before my issue with picking at my nail polish... it drives me nuts, because i actually love having my nails all pretty and done looking. but it's like i'm physically incapable of keeping my picky little hands off myself - within 24 hours my freshly painted nails are usually naked again, and a pile of shredded refuse sits on the coffee table in front of me.

now, i don't want to jinx myself here by talking about this too early on ... so i'm going to give it the "wait and see" caveat... here goes...

i kind of love when the fashion mags do the "best of" beauty product blurbs. they name it all sorts of different catchy things - but the bottom line is it's "the best of's". usually voted on by both the readers and the beauty editors - so you get a bit of the real deal. one of the new items that i noticed popping up this year is the use of gel in manicures. (right here i wish i had Sheldon, from Big Bang Theory, to elaborate on exactly what consitutes "gel".) i became quite intrigued. then a few weeks back, i went with my friend Heidi to get toes done, and noticed a sign in the nail salon for the gel manicure. further intrigued. cut to yesterday, after not one but two picked apart, self-done manicures within 48 hours, i decided to seek professional help. i hopped across the street to the Dashing Diva nail joint, and asked for the gel manicure. she asked me which kind - but the options seemed a bit overwhelming since i had only had one coffee that day, so i said "the basic". i watched in fascination as the woman put layers of goops on my nails, one of which was nail gel, followed by the polish i chose. (it's a bit tricky to choose, since the results last a long time - so one must pick wisely... and if it succeeds, i may just bring in one of my own fave polishes for the next one). but i should not get ahead of myself, should i? the gel manicure will allegedly last me up to 2 weeks - so as mentioned above, "we'll see" - but a full 24 hours later, i have not picked at it... stay tuned for the adventures of Picky mcGee's gel fix.

cheap fun on a sunday afternoon

i'm not sure if it's a good thing that i am so easily amused... i'm going to go with "yes".

this past weekend, my love and i decided to take advantage of the end of summer weekend feel that was in the air. took a nice long leisurely walk and browsed. people watched. popped into my favorite little local boutique BOC. (yep i have posted about it...) saw some fun fun fun jewelry there - but that will be another post. THIS is about my fingernails.

crossed the street from BOC and wandered into Ricky's. no real agenda - just felt like maybe picking up a cheap thrill to entertain myself for the afternoon. and oh baby did i ever. quick back story - (j., mel and karen will all testify under oath this is true) i am incapable of keeping on nail polish - only on my fingers. toes, we're good to go for as long as it lasts. finger nails? i give it 24 hours at best. i put it on (see post about Brucci polish - i love it - i do, i love it) and i admire how pretty it looks and how much more "finished" my hands look. then, invariably, a small chink appears. and i begin to pick. next thing i know, there are little peels of polish all around my general area. after i did my nails to look all pretty for the show i went to see on Thurs., i went to the Yankees game Fri. (walk off 3 run HR. AWESOME) and under the bright lights, i observed not only A-Rod's fine physique, but also a chip in my polish. and so i spent most of the game picking it all off. sorry to the guys who clean the stadium. that weird pile of sparkly brownish red stuff? yeah that's me.

my god i digress... SO - inside Ricky's i see a box of 100 fake nails. "that might keep me from picking at myself" i thought. $5.99 DONE. then i see this bottle of Essie mattifying top coat. i have been a bit curious about this whole matte nails trend. and i think "k - Sunday afternoon test drive". DONE. (i did also pick up a cheap-o brand of over-the-knee socks with skulls at the top. cute and silly and fun)

flash forward - 4 or 5 episodes of How I Met Your Mother later - and intensive decision making on the test color - (and because i'm a perfectionist, a rather exhaustive process of filing fake nails to look like my own) BOOM. color on - a nice burgundy. matte stuff? put it on like a top coat... i test one nail - sweep it on... it just looks like top coat, but... wait for it.... MATTE perfection. i fall in love with nail one and keep going... now, i know it's less than 24 hours, so i can't claim glory just yet. but i am LOVING what this looks like. (i still love my super shiny toes. that won't change) so if you're in the market for a cheap entertaining weekend - matte nails baby.

NAILed

haha. cracking myself up.

in the vein of cheap thrills... i was at the drug store the other day and bought my replacement "favorite of all time toenail polish" and as i painted the toes this morning i thought to myself, what a wonderful thing that this little bottle of stuff, that cost $2.99 - yes, that's right TWO NINETY NINE can make me feel so pretty and so happy. then i decided to paint my fingernails, as i am i going to see my friend's play in the Fringe Festival this evening. (i styled the female lead!!!) so i whipped out the box o'polish - and there in the corner was this little dude i had forgotten about - an AWESOME color for pre-fall... and again, the $2.99 thrill brand. so i must share.

Brucci nail polish. they actually call the product"nail hardener". simply amazing. the color range is to die for - and they always get on the trends right away - and have pretty much an exact match to the Chanel color du jour. i don't know if they have them everywhere - but for those of you who are NY'ers - they sell it at every Duane Reade. this product rocks my little world. let it rock yours for 3 bucks. rock it a few times, baby.

(ps - in case you're wondering - Golden Red on toes - CLASSIC. i remember to this day, at the airport about 8 years ago with my gorgeous friend Karen, whom i worked with and traveled the world with at the time - we were in line to check in, and she looked down and said "your toes are much fancier than mine. you have lady toes". and my dears - Golden Red... and the pre-fall, hell i'll wear it all fall and winter, finger color i'm a bit in love with? Ava's Ave. no idea what it means. don't care. it's a brownish tinted burgandy with gold flecks. love love love.)