P&P's Top Polish Picks for 2011

So much polish, so little time. I wanted to choose 11 top polish picks for 2011 but I couldn't narrow it past 14.  Please keep in mind that all of these were purchased by me in 2011- this does not mean that 2011 was their debut year.

Here are my top polish picks for 2011 (not in any particular order):

Essie in Coat Azure

A perfect blue. Heavenly.

L'Oreal in Manderine

Perfect coral color. Girly and sassy. (Can you believe I got this for $1 at Dollar Tree?)

Revlon in Grape Icy

The perfect purple. And its scented.

I have to give an honorable mention to L'Oreal in Viva Violet for also having a fab purple. 

Ginger + Liz in Swagger

I mean, come on. The name speaks for itself.

Essie In Power Clutch

What can I say? This is just a freakin dope-ass gray!

Black Tie Nails

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend the Mayor's Masked Ball by a client. The black tie event was held at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. This is an annual event to benefit the United Negro College Fund hosted by the Mayor of the City of Atlanta that began with the Honorable Andrew Young. Supposedly all of the who's who of Atlanta was in the house. 

The weirdest part of the night, in my opinion, was the entertainment. Guess who it was? Seriously, you will never guess. Now you know that Atlanta is like a mecca for entertainment, right. Well, the featured artist was...Keith Sweat...-_-.....yeah I don't even feel like commenting on that because that was just plain ridiculous to me. So just chuckle amongst yourselves. 

Lulu Townsend Gretchen Shoe

Anyway, of course I wore black. A long black dress that I found at Dillards at the VERY last minute- tres sexy. I also found some really hot shoes at DSW at the last minute as well (which Im excited about because I can also wear them to a January wedding that I'm in). Check out the pic.

The crazy thing is that I didn't take one picture at the event. Although I did tweet like crazy for as long as I could before my phone died.

More importantly, I was rocking the cu-utest sparkly red polish- Color Club in Santa's Cinnamon. Not only was it extra spicy but it also smelled like cinnamon!!! Now I have never been a red chick but this polish is hot. What do you think?

A definite keeper that I will wear again. I can't think of any other red that I would say that about...I may rock this again on NYE- haven't decided yet.

This was actually my first time using Color Club which I found at the Sally's in Morrow, GA (by Southlake). The funny thing was after leaving Sally's I went to Ross where I found a whole collection of Color Club polish which of course I bought. So more Color Club reviews coming soon...Besos, P&P.

A Great Wedding Color...And More Polish Finds

So the last time I went to Sally's, I stumbled upon several Orly nail polishes that were on clearance. One of the colors was Pink Whisper. This is a great wedding manicure shade for those of you who are looking for a traditional, demure color for your hands. I know that some are looking for more colorful shades but I know when I got married my preference was towards those nude or light shades. Check it out:

Indoor

Polish Change: ORLY Spark

So as much as I did not want to take off the OPI DS Reserve that I fell in love with, I decided, alas, it was time to move on. Yes, time for another polish change.This time, I wanted to do something a little less traditional that would be fab for the spring. During my trip to Sally's last week, I picked up three colors from Orly- two of which were non-traditional (for me anyway) springtime shades. The one that I decided to try today is called "Spark." In the bottle it looked so sunny and perfect for the beautiful day that we are experiencing in Atlanta right now.

Let me start off by saying that I was a little, well actually a lot, spoiled by the ease of application of the polish from the OPI Designer Series. So I had to readjust to the Orly polish and manage my expectations. I mean let's be real, there is a difference between a polish that costs $12.50 and one that costs $5.99... So I applied two coats of "Spark" to my nails (on top of my basecoat, of course). Honestly, although the color is definitely bright and springy, I probably could've used one more coat of Spark just to make it even more seamless and even. Then I applied my usual top coat. Here are the results:

Outdoor shot in the sunlight. Looks good, right? Peep how Orly Spark matches the flower (aka weeds) in my lawn.

Indoor shot. I wanted you to see the polish indoors. I took this pic without a flash. 

It looks tame in both pics- its NOT. Don't be fooled. This nail polish is straight YELLOW- like Crayola.  If that's your thing, great, work it out, perla. Not really mine, but Im going to rock it for a couple of days to see what kind of feedback I receive. I am going to look for a bit more tame shade of yellow and get back to you all. Let me know if you have any recommendations...For the record, my nine year old loves the polish color. What do you think?...Besos, P&P.

Midday Moscato: Something For My Sorors

From time to time, I may have a post that I title "Midday Moscato." No, its not literally about the oh so refreshingly sweet wine that many enjoy as an afterwork libation (every day is a celebration, right?). It is merely a metaphor for a little relaxation in the middle of the day- a fabulous diversion. These posts are a midday "pick-me-up." It may be about a beautiful pearl piece that I stumbled across, some fab shade of polish that I picked up or even a fabulous young woman that I want to recognize. Just some middday fun....

So here's the first Midday Moscato- Are you looking for that just perfect shade of pink for your fingers? And the prettiest shade of green for your spring toes? With warm weather and loads of sunshine approaching, many are looking for new shades to break the monotony of the same old polish colors. Well, I have found the perfect pink and green combination for spring:

Pink- Two-Hour Lunch by Orly. I love the name of this polish. Don't we all want to take those?  

Green- Tree Hugger by China Glaze. So I was a bit surprised by the name because it soooo does not remind me of a tree...much more like an apple (wink). Anyway, check out the pic below. And don't forget, if you go to Sally's and buy both of these, you can get another one FREE. Yay FREE!...Besos, P&P.

Too Young For Red

I planned to do a post related to polish and kids- just not this soon. But one of my fab sorors commented on "Perfectly Polished" saying that she recently had a conversation with her friends about that very subject. So here goes...Let me start by saying that I definitely wasn't the biggest nail polish fan growing up. I was way too rough on my hands playing basketball and volleyball. So it was not often that you saw any form of polish on my nails. However, it was made crystal clear to me by my mother that the color red was off limits and only for adults. It was like red said something about a person that was way too mature for a child. Like red was an invitation to something of which a child could take no part. Obviously red nails make a grown (and sexy) statement. What that exact statement is though, honestly I'm still not sure even though I won't let my daughter wear red either... Maybe I should ask my mom, she should know, after all she was the queen of reds...

So yesterday, my daughter and  I went to Sally's to pick up some polish (P&P PSA: Sally's has buy 2 get 1 free on all nailpolish including China Glaze and Orly!). So I told her that she could pick any color that she wanted for her "Spring Break Nails." She started looking at a variety of pinks- didn't even glance at the reds LOL. But she then moved on to brighter,  non-traditional colors like yellow, green and blue. Honestly, I knew that she was going to head that way- she's definitely a trendsetter. So was I surprised when she decided to put back the pink-hued nail polish to choose a royal blue shade called "Frostbite" by China Glaze? Not really... Would I have liked her to choose a different shade? Ummm, yeah!.. Did I try to talk her out of it? Absolutely!...But then I took a step back and reminded myself of three things: 1) It's Spring Break. Let the kid have some FUN!; 2) Let her express her individuality and trendsetter spirit; and 3) It's not RED. LOL...Besos, P&P.