Meet The Beatles!

Ok, so yesterday I did John Lennon nails in honor of his birthday today, and while I was thinking about those nails, I decided that I REEAAALLLLY wanted to do the Beatles nails that I have had on my list to do! I've always been a huge Beatles fan, amongst other 'oldies' tunes... in fact, I pretty much listened only to oldies stations until I was about 16 or 17! I love ALL of the Beatles albums, but Abbey Road is definitely my favorite, and my favorite Beatle is Paul, even though Ringo is pretty funny to watch. Favorite Beatles song? Has to be 'A Day in the Life', I love that song, in fact, it's one of my favorite songs of any group/artist! Also LOVE the Jeff Beck version, do yourself a favor and check it out, it's badasstastical. Anyway, I digress...to the nails! I think I need longer nails though (even though they're borderline too long already) so I can fit the ENTIRE Beatles logo on them without squishing- or cutting off part of the 'B'.

I used American Apparel Summer Peach as a base on the band member nails, American Apparel Hassid for the outline and hair, Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the eyes and teeth. For the Paul nail, I used Zoya Yummy for his collar, and Pure Ice Wild Thing for the background, for Ringo, I used Zoya Robyn in the background, for John, I used Essie Foot Loose in the background, and for George, I used CND Electric Orange for the background. For 'The Beatles' logo, I used American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the logo. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

And somebody spoke and I went into a dream...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sexay Scarlet Funky French....

While looking through my stash, I realized just how many reds I have. This used to be my go to color. Well this bright red stuck out, and since I had yet to try it, I did. It's by Wet N' Wild, and it's called Scarlet Red. This was only 2 coats, and great application.

Then of course, I wanted to see what some black tips would look like. For some reason this mani reminds me of a great pair of night out on the town, stilettos.

Okay, after looking back in my pics, I have done this color combo before, LOL. Here is one I did, that hasn't been posted yet

I used Forever 21's Red, so much prettier in real life.

and here it is with s black tip























Note To Self: Do different combos!! : P

Guiltfree Glam: B3F FTW!

"What is B3F?" is a question I find almost daily in my inbox, so for today I've got a little writeup on the matter. I always redirect everyone to this awesome post by All Lacquered Up, since I'm no chemist AT ALL, but the requests kept coming, so bear with me. I won't get into all the bad stuff certain ingredients can do, as I don't want to have people panicking!

B3F wha?

What are B3F or Big 3 Free nail polishes anyway? These are polishes that are free from Formaldehyde, DBP & Toluene. Formaldehyde in its pure form is a colorless gas. Formaldehyde is anti bacterial and acts as an anti dissolvant and improves adhesion. DBP or Dibutyl phthalate is used as a plasticizer which should keep surfaces smooth and unbreakable. Toluene is a substance that keeps your polish liquid.

Why?

Each of these ingredients have certain dangers attached to them. There is still debate over whether these are actually harmful: usually these ingredients only trip you up when you're exposed to huge amounts during a longer period of time or when they are being incinerated. However, long term consequences are still unknown and there are many people who suffer from allergic reactions from these substances. Formaldehyde is hardly used these days, except in hardeners/strengtheners. You might want to give those a body check. A product from Formaldehyde, called Formaldehyde Resin, is more often used nowadays, I'm not entirely sure about that one, but it's considered safe by the FDA. If you're allergic to Formaldehyde you might be allergic to the resin as well though.

Just a marketing tool?

I know a lot of people don't care at all, but better safe than sorry goes a long way. I know I don't want to to cause unnecessary harm to my health. Why risk it if there are plenty alternatives - especially when you're pregnant or breastfeeding! Maybe the fuzz is a little overblown and I do think a lot of brands are using this as a clever marketing tool, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.
A lot of older polishes are not B3F, but I can't wrap my head around the fact that companies still choose to produce nail polish the oblivious way. For example: Models Own polishes are still crammed with Toluene. Why?! I know producing non B3F polish is a lot cheaper than its healthy alternative, but the price of Models Own polishes ($8 each, where Nubar costs &7.49 & Zoya $7 each) hardly reflects that. It does take some companies a while to get their new formula to work, but practice makes perfect right?

Brands

You can check the labels to see whether your nail polish is B3F, but brands like Nubar, Zoya, SpaRitual, Orly, Chanel, RBL, Lippmann, Revlon, Del Sol (as pictured above), newer Misa, China Glaze and OPI are definitely B3F. However, some of these still contain Formaldehyde Resin.

I hope this was helpful and thanks so much for stopping by!
- With love, Michèle

Sources: Cosmeticsinfo.org, Wikipedia

Borghese Stellar Notte

I'm proud to say that this was actually my very first Borghese. I was hesitant to buy any, simply because I just can't stand the old style looking bottles. I'm a modern girl, and these just don't fit. Until I saw this duochromed girl in a display. I just love having color options from 1 polish. This is purple, blue, teal and a hint of green, which I had a hard time capturing.