China Glaze – Midtown Magic

If there’s one thing that I NEVER do, it’s wear chipped nail polish. I rarely have bare nails, but I will always rock naked nails before I wear them chipped. My late Grandma Ruthy (who always wore long acrylics with a french manicure) always told me that having nicely polished nails was a great way of making a good impression. I distinctly remember traveling with her on an airplane when I was about ten years old, and she told me that I needed to do my nails before we left for the airport. She was clearly of the generation when looking nice to travel was important. (She would probably be appalled at the myriad of sweatpants and hoodies (not to mention a serious lack of makeup) that I have worn on airplanes.  I honestly think that her bit of mani-advice has always stuck with me, and I get a little peeved when I see ladies with terribly chipped nails. What is the point of wearing a hot outfit when it looks like your nails have been rubbed against a cheese grater? I always remove and repaint when my mani is past its prime…except for this past week. Oy.

When I started my new teaching job, I had no idea how absolutely exhausted I would be. Each night, as I looked down at my increasingly ragged looking polish, I vowed to remove it before I went to sleep. But, as I couldn’t stay awake past 9:45 any night this week (when did I become 76 years old?!), the nail polish remover sat untouched on my nightstand. The worst part? I was wearing DARK polish, and we ALL know that dark polish shows the most wear and tear and looks particularly ‘janky’ when it starts to chip. I definitely wanted to review this shade, but I didn’t have a minute to photograph it until the tips had already started to wear and my cuticles started to peel. So, friends, be kind about this photo. I recognize the fact that this mani is subpar, but it’s all my exhausted self could handle. Let’s get to the review, shall we?

China Glaze - Midtown Magic

This China Glaze shade is called Midtown Magic, and it is from the most recent Metro collection. When I saw it on the shelf, I immediately had to pick it up and hold it up to the light. I was immediately intrigued by how confusing this color is! Is it brown? Is it plum? Is it black? I literally couldn’t tell. I could see that it was chock-full of gold, copper, and olive micro-glitter. I had to buy it JUST so I could take it home and invesitgate what color it is! As you can see, this color could go a few ways, and I was dead set on figuring it out.

 

 

China Glaze - Midtown Magic

Here’s the thing…I still don’t get this color. All of that gold and olive glitter that you see in the bottle seems to disappear on the nail, and the only shimmer that shines through is a coppery red micro-glitter. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a copper shimmer. But not when it’s completely unexpected and it overpowers the shimmer I  was expecting! When I was applying this polish, the base was a plum(ish) jelly. After two coats, however, it’s basically black. In reeeeaaaallllllyyyyy good light, it’s a deep (we’re talking DEEP) brown, but unless you are carefully inspecting this polish, it’s black with red/copper shimmer. If I spent all day in the sun, I might love this polish. In the sun, it really shines. But indoors, the shimmer is minimal and the color is black. Midtown Magic is perfect for halloween but not a shade I would wear just for fun. It is definitely fall appropriate, but as a lover of dark polish, this is not one of my favorites. (Sorry, China Glaze.)

I think this color should be titled Midtown MYSTERY because after a week of wearing it (even chipped), I am still not quite sure what color I was wearing. It is an absolute enigma. I don’t understand it. In China Glaze’s defense however, the application of this polish was flawless. Like all of the other China Glaze’s I have used, the formula applies smooth and even (it is totally self-leveling) and it covers completely in two coats. In the end, though, this might be one of those colors that sinks to the bottom of my nail polish drawer. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Does anyone own Midtown Magic? What color do YOU think it is?

Antique Rose Design Tutorial

Hello fellow mani-maniacs! It has officially been a whole week since I last posted, and while my goal is to post WAY more often than that, this week was not a great week for painting my nails. Let me explain.

As the summer was winding down, it became increasingly obvious that my chances of finding an elusive music teaching job in the great city of Columbus were very slim. After a short quarter-life crisis, I accepted the fact that this year might be one of those years in life where I work odd-jobs to pay my rent and buy some time until something better came along. After applying to a few restaurants and a few nannying gigs, I found myself a job at a local daycare. Was I less than ecstatic to change poopy diapers and wipe snot from 2 year old’s faces? Yes. Was I going to be able to pay my rent by doing so? Yes. And so, I began my job at said daycare this past Monday. I actually really enjoyed the ladies I was co-‘teaching’ (babysitting) with, and I figured that even though this wasn’t the most stimulating job in the world, I could do it. My nails were still rocking OPI Roadhouse Blues, and I was getting excited to try out a new shade.

However, on Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from a local private school asking me for an interview. I scheduled my interview for Wednesday, and I had to remove my beloved navy polish (you never know what an employer will feel about blue nails…). Then I had ANOTHER job interview for another great job on Thursday! I guess when it rains, it pours!! My nails were nude for 4 days in a row which, if you know me, is almost unheard of. On Thursday night (September 1st), I received the beautiful call offering me a full time teaching position. Who woulda thunk that I’d find a job in September!? Certainly not me. On Friday, I quit my job at the daycare (5 days was enough snot and poop to last me a lifetime…that’s for sure), and I start teaching SOON! 🙂

Obviously, my boyfriend and I went out on Friday night to celebrate my awesome luck. After a summer of healthy eating, I celebrated with some wings, a burger, sweet potato fries, and some delicious new fall beers. Even more exciting than this celebration was my celebratory trip to Sally Beauty on Saturday morning. Here’s where it REALLY gets exciting!

I picked up some new tools and brushes for some new nail art and designs that I’ve been thinking up, and I also snagged a few China Glaze shades from their newest fall Metro collection. This collection is pretty similar to OPI’s Touring America collection, and it even shares a few of the almost-exact same shades. It does have some amazing glitters and shimmers, though…which rules. (Things I love: GLITTER NAIL POLISH!)

The first shade I grabbed from the display was Westside Warrior – a great military green which is totally on-trend this season. It is nearly identical to OPI’s Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window (which is either a joke about about farting in the car or being pulled over…and judging by the green color…I’m going to go with the fart joke), but it is 3 bucks cheaper! I love the military trend, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Being that it’s Labor day today, I decided to take a few hours to clean the house and get organized. It’s only about 60 degrees today, so I decided to break out my awesome fall scarves (which is clearly the best part about fall…aside from the leaves changing and pumpkin spice lattes, of course). While arranging my scarves in my drawer, I came across one of my favorite scarves which got my nail-art wheels a’turning!

This scarf from Urban Outfitters is seriously awesome. I looked at it, looked at my new China Glaze polish…and everything clicked! I decided to give this antique rose design a whirl, and here’s how to do it:

 

 

Antique Rose palette from left to right: China Glaze Westside Warrior, Essie Pretty Edgy, Sally Hansen Green With Envy, Essie Tart Deco, Revlon Berry Rich, and Sally Hansen White Tip.

Antique Rose Design

1. Begin by painting nails with two coats of China Glaze Westside Warrior.

2. With a small brush (I used a very fine nail brush from Sally Beauty), paint a few scattered circles/ovals using Essie Tart Deco. These circles do NOT have to be perfect. In fact, they look more like roses if they are a little more ‘blob-ish’ and not totally opaque.

3. With the same nail brush, use Revlon Berry Rich to add some darker pink to the roses. I tried to make two swipes in the shape of a half-circle: one starting in the middle of the rose, and one tracing half of the outside of the rose.

4. With Sally Hansen White Tip, take the brush and add whatever white accents (in circular motions) to the roses that you like. To be honest, I was not precise at all. I just made some swipes of white and when it looked right, I stopped. Sometimes, I re-dipped my brush in the pinks and added some more. This is not a science…the more swipes, the more I think it looks like petals…so go crazy! Also, if you can layer the colors before they dry, they marble and mix really easily. Working fast is definitely helpful.

5. I mixed together Essie Pretty Edgy and Sally Hansen Green with Envy to create the color for my leaves. I didn’t have a green that I thought would look nice, so I made my own. If you have a green that would work, go for it! Using the same brush, I just dabbed some small ovals of green on each side of my roses, and Voila!

6. Top it all off with a coat of Seche Vite (or any top coat) and you’re finished!

Here is the final design next to the scarf that inspired it! I LOVE this look, and I think it’s a really cute way to lighten up the dark green trend. You can obviously use any base color and rose colors you like! This is more of an autumny take on the antique rose design, but there’s definitely ways to summer-it-up!

Do you have any great flowery nail art/design ideas?

Also, in honor of the beginning of college football and the Buckeyes’ first BIG win, I’ll leave you with this goofy bit of Scarlet-and-Grey inspired nail art. I was just testing out my new dotting tool, and I thought this was a fun way to get in the Buckeye spirit! (If you’re freaked out by feet, don’t scroll down.)

(My toes look a little crazy – but that’s because it’s actually really difficult to get a good angle of your toes when you’re taking the picture.) Until next time, GO BUCKS!!!!

Buckeye Toes!