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.

I'm Officially Grown! (Shout Out to My Mom)

So I finally did it! After almost 35 years of life, I am finally rocking a shade of red on my nails!

You may remember in my post, Too Young For Red, (if you didn't see it, click here) that I mentioned that I have never worn red polish. Being raised that red polish is for grown ups, I definitely had an aversion to the color. And even when I finally reached adulthood, I still steered clear of red. I still don't know why though. Maybe I've been trying to stay young- naaahhh I'm way too grown and sexy for that... Or maybe it's that I've been trying to avoid being like my mother and her perfectly polished red nails that she rocked as I was growing up... Yeah, that's probably more like it. I don't know about you but for many years I tried my best not to be like my mother. I think many daughters can probably relate to that statement. But as I get older, I realize that being like her is not all that bad. In fact, my mom was pretty fly back then...and still is....

So even though when I saw her on Saturday at my daughter's softball game, she was rocking the ever so soft OPI in Privacy Please, I dedicate this post to my mother who back in the 80's was the Queen of Red. Here's to you, Mom! Orly in Moonlit Madness (yeah, Im not really sure what it has to do with red, either).

Indoor:

Outdoor:

 

This is like a cranberry red with a shine to it. Surprisingly, I like it. What do you think?

I think red is a power color- it says you mean business. But it also says I'm a lady. I guess that's what my mother understood back in the day. I love that dichotomy since power and being a lady are traditionally not supposed to go together.  I have a new respect for red. Red says "Boss Lady"...and  I love, love, love that....And my mom is dope for recognizing that back in the day.

BTW I picked this up at Sally's for $1.99 on clearance along with three Orly other shades- Honeymoon in Style, Razzle and Pink Whisper!! So excited!...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. 

Perfectly Polished

Since I was a child, I can remember my mother's hands. I always thought that she had model hands. Her nails were always perfectly manicured. They were beautifully shaped and always red. Not too long but the perfect length. And she always did them herself.  I remember that she had this straw-looking basket that almost looked like a sombrero where she kept all of her nail polishes. Back then, I felt that she had every shade of red possible. Man, that basket was filled with BRUCCI reds (What's up, NYC! LOL). She would always tell me to make sure that my nails were clean and an appropriate length. She said that you could always tell a lady by their hands...Now twenty years later, my mother let's someone else do her nails and she wears more neutral tones on her hands but she will still pull out a nail file or a nail clipper on me, in an instant, if she feels that my nails need some manicuring. LOL.

I am a mother now myself with a beautiful nine year old daughter. I want her to also realize the importance of hands as a young woman. So this blog will also follow my journey of maintaining those lady-like hands that I so admired as I was growing up…and providing some tips and favorites along the way… Hopefully, my daughter will have fond memories of my perfectly polished hands...I need to work on getting a sombrero nail polish holder though… Besos, P&P.