Beautopia Nails

Fluoro Pink and Cobalt Color Blocking Nail Art

beautopia — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:41:21 EDT

This month's Nail It! magazine had a really cool spread about this color combo; fluorescent pink, cobalt and white, and I was immediately a fan. The pink isn't just any neon pink, it's that light, bright neon Pepto pink that seems pretty hard to find. I used Essie Punchy Pink, which is one of my favorite neons, though between us, it chips like Hell. I used it along with Zoya Purity and Ulta Whatever Floats Your Moat, a cobalt I recently acquired. You could also use something similar like Revlon Royal, OPI Eurso Euro or even a more vibrant shade like Essie Butler Please. Either way, color blocking with these colors just makes it even more eye-catching. I painted the nails white, then added a pink triangle to the moons, then did an angular, exaggerated french with the blue, then one it was pretty dry, I added a white stripe down the center. Pretty simple, but if you're hand-painting maybe a little time consuming. If I did it again, I'd go find those utterly brilliant chevron-shaped french nail guides and use those. Why do these things always occur to me once they're no longer useful? Sigh...

Click to see the inspiration for this manicure...

CND Shellac Nail Art - Mermaid Chic, Two Ways

beautopia — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:23:31 EDT

Recently, CND released five new Shellac shades for Spring, one of which was Limeade. I used it, along with Hotski to Tchotchke, nail foils, additives, and studs to make these two very related Spring Break nail looks.

For the one above, I used Limeade, nail art foil in Lime Glitter and Capri Blue metal studs from dollarnailart.com on the green nails, Hotski to Tchotchke and Pacific Blue foil on the teal nails.

Below I used the same combinations with the addition of a third type of nail. For the tie-dye effect nails I used CND Shellac Cream Puff plus Blue and Yellow additives.

I was really pleased with both of these, they looked very mermaid-y, and they wore super well. The above ones are actually my nails, and I wore them for nearly two weeks on vacation. The suncreen, sand and salt water would have destroyed my nails and any regular polish, but the Shellac was still shiny when I got home. It was kind of crazy.

Pick Up The Party Line! Nail Art

beautopia — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:08:01 EDT

It's been a few weeks since I did much nail art on myself, I've just been so pre-occupied. But I decided to use some of the Zoya Beach colors I got during the recent sale, and since Summer is nearing it's close, I wanted something very summery and fun, but not terribly time consuming. So, here's Pick Up The Party Line, a random mishmash of lines; straight, wavy, spattery, and crisscrossy. Those last two are officially words now ;P A quick note on the nail shape, they finally got long enough to start shaping back into almonds. I had a few breaks over the last couple months and had chopped them down and let them re-grow in squares and I just now got them into this vaguely almond shape. Can't wait till they get a bit longer again!

Products used:

OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
It's So Easy striper in blue
Zoya Shelby, Arizona, Tracie and Lara
Seche Vite

Click for another photo...

Zoya Carly

beautopia — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 19:12:46 EDT

Zoya Carly - $8 - zoya.com -

Just a reminder: there is still a sale at Zoya for BOGOFREE Beach & Surf polishes with the code SUMMER7 and will run through tomorrow as well. It's a great time to get some fun, bright polishes to enjoy the last month or so of summer with.

Carly is one of the Surf polishes, so it's part of the BOGOFREE going on right now. It's berry-magenta with an intense color payoff and a very dense foil finish. It sort of reminds me of China Glaze Steppin Out, which has been discontinued for a looooong time. Wow, that photo is so old, it really takes me back, lol. Carly is a great polish, and if you're taking advantage of the BOGOFREE, I highly recommend adding it to your cart, along with Zuza which also very excellent.

If you're interested in seeing some other Zoyas (that aren't part of the BOGOFREE) to add to your order, check out some of my Zoya swatches!

Springy Tribal Mix Nail Art

beautopia — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:01:55 EDT

I recently got a backup bottle of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, one of my favorite summer polishes of all time, and something weird happened. My new bottle is a lot lighter and less warm in tone than my older bottle. I do love the color of the new bottle too, and I thought it looked awesome next to Aquadelic and Electric Pineapple so I did a springy tribal look.

Products used:

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Aquadelic and Electric Pineapple
Sally Hanson Salon Lavender Cloud
Wet n Wild Black Creme
Seche Vite topcoat

Avon Summer 2010 Nail Color Swatches - Luxe Lavender, Urban Grey and Vintage Blue

beautopia — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:38:41 EDT

Avon Nail Color - $5 at avon.com

Avon has three new shades for summer; Luxe Lavender, Vintage Blue and Urban Grey! I'm a big fan of Avon's polishes because they're cheap, often are on sale for even cheaper, and the formula is great. The color range is a bit lacking compared to other brands, and they're not as edgy with their shades, but when they do it right, they really do it right. I really liked the recent release of two gorgeous greens; Jade and Olive Green, so I was excited to hear about even more new colors. Really at first only Urban Grey really called out to me, but since they were (and as of the time of this post they still are) $2.99 on sale, so I grabbed the other two as well to show you guys and to hopefully compare to other polishes. The lavender and blue aren't the most unique polishes out there, but they're solid pastels and are worth looking at if your collection of pastels is lacking.

Click to view the swatches...

Sephora by OPI - Havana Nights Mini Collection Review

beautopia — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:50:20 EDT

Sephora by OPI Havana Nights Mini Collection - $18 at sephora.com

There are some great and not-so-great things about this set I want to share with you. I'm going to start with the bad, just to get it out of the way, then we'll get on to the good stuff. Regular ol' OPI full-size bottles will run you $8.50 retail, and the Sephora by OPI polishes will only set you back an extra fifty cents at $9. No biggie there, right? Well, then you look at the difference in price between this 4-piece mini set versus a 4-piece mini set of the regular OPI. The SOPI set of minis will set you back $18, whereas you can cop a OPI mini collection, with bottles the same size, for a low price ranging online from about $10-12. Why the huge yawning chasm between mini collection price points? I dunno, but it's ridiculous in this girl's humble opinion. At the least, I'd expect to see mini versions of all six polishes from the Havana Nights collection in this box for the extra six or eight bucks, am I right? This frustrates me, but let's move on, shall we?

These four polishes are all very nice in their own right, if not entirely unique. The Sephora by OPI formula is quite nice and these minis are no exception. At just the right balance between thick and thin, and they apply beautifully into the bargain. If you'd like to see the swatches and my thoughts, please check out the jump.

Click for more...

Winter Mint Can Help Beat the Heat - Minty Beauty Picks for Summer

beautopia — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:09:45 EDT

During the Winter holidays, we see so many candy cane scented goodies, but unfortunately when they're minty body products, the cooling sensation that comes along with them are just too much for many in continental climates. Stepping out of a hot shower into a cold bathroom is bad enough; slathering on a cooling lotion borders on masochistic no matter how festive you may smell. I find that I hoard my Winter mint favorites for summer, when the temperature starts to creep up. Here's a list of some great minty choices to keep you feeling fresh this summer!

Click to read on!

Milani Neon Nail Lacquer in Fresh Teal

beautopia — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:00:30 EDT

Milani Neon Nail Lacquer in Fresh Teal - about $4 in most drugstores

So, I originally decided to ignore the new Milani Neons and 3Ds because as per other bloggers' photos, while beautiful the polishes looked dupeable or "done" to me. I still feel the same about all of them except for Fresh Teal. I gave the display another cursory look, and mentally tried to match them all up with polishes I already had. When I came to Fresh Teal, I drew a blank. I went through all my similar polishes mentally; "what could be dupable?"... Color Club Wild Child? no, too light. China Glaze Four Leaf Clover? nope, that one's more green. I went through at least six more in my head and came up with nil. So I bought it. I'm really glad because the color and application surprised the heck outta me.

Click for more photos, comparisons, and the rest of the review

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Haute Chocolate

beautopia — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:10:30 EDT

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - around $8 in drugstores

Recently, I picked up two of this new-ish formula of polish from Sally Hansen, the first being Gray by Gray, which I love. I also picked up this amazing copper because I'd just read this post from KellieGonzo where she told us about two polishes she didn't love. One of them was a LA Colors color called Copper. Though she didn't love it, I realized I needed a rich copper polish in my life, so I lucked into seeing this sitting beside Gray by Gray in a Walgreen's dislplay. The shade was called Haute Chocolate, obviously, so my mind started wandering. "I wonder if this is the same as the Haute Chocolate from the last Salon range?... I wonder how this compares to Romeo & Joliet..." etc... I don't care if you'd call it copper, rust, or chocolate; I love this polish. Like Gray by Gray, I found that the formula of this polish was incredibly similar to that of Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes; namely smooth and pigmented enough for one-coat perfection. The color is definitely a deep copper with some rusty tendencies in the shimmer. The finish isn't really frosty, though in the flash photos it does appear to have that leaning. In person, though, it's a smooth subtle shimmer that glistens a bit in the sun and is rich and mysterious in the shade. You'd probably think that it would be ideal for Fall, and you'd be right, but this would also be an amazing accompaniment to Summer bronzes and on deeply tanned skin.

Click for more photos