First some background.  I have a new obsession (to add on to my existing obsession to handbags and shoes): nail polish.  Blame it Rihanna, but I’m all over the “interesting nail polish color” thing.

So, I was looking for a nice (non-neon) yellow polish and did my usual Google search.  I found that Chanel has a new “pop-art” shade collection called “Robertson Boutique“, which includes ‘LA Sunrise‘, a gorgeous shimmery yellow.

I like Chanel’s nail polishes.  I’d had Black Satin and Ballerina for a while now and loved those so I figured what the hell, why not on LA Sunrise.  Well, at $25.00/bottle, um, no thanks (sidebar: some sellers on eBay want upwards of $40.00!!! What are they smoking?!  I got my Black Satin and Ballerina from a duty-free shop while traveling so trust and believe I did NOT pay $25 bucks–tee hee!  Sadly, I just learned that Chanel has pulled all beauty items, except fragrances, from all duty-free locations.  Le sigh.. another reason to for me to dislike top-tier design houses.  But I digress.)

So while searching soft yellow polishes, I landed on The Polish Addict.

Girls, I love this blog!  I bookmarked it immediately.  Written by “Pretear” (a law student–you go girl!) she offers an extremely well-written informative blog on nothing but nail polish and has fantastic pictures/swatches to go along with her commentary.  Her pics are fab and can I just say I LOOOOOOOOOVE her nails!!?!

Image: Courtesy of thepolishaddict.com

I was so inspired by Pretear’s nails that I even wrote to her to ask her if her nails were wrapped and/or if she had any nail advice to share (I have the weakest nails known to man) and she told me her nails are 100% natural and that she just keeps them polished at all times and uses glass nail files (I didn’t even know glass nail files EXISTED!  I got me one yesterday *smile* hee hee!).  Pretear also mentioned cuticle oils (which I always use too) and handcreme (I’m lotion obsessed already

All in all, if you love nail polish as much as I do, or even if you’re curious about certain shades check The Polish Addict out.  You won’t regret it.  (Polished) pinky swear!

p.s. Oh, in the end I decided to buy Yellow Fever and Bikini Bottom by Rescue Beauty Lounge ($18.00/bottle).  It came in the mail today!  Will post about it this week   Stay tuned!

(Thanks Pretear!)

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Image: Newscom

I’m TOTALLY going to try to copy this look next time I go to an event where high-fashion is in order. I love this.

And those sandals? F-I-Y-A-HHHHHH! Well done, Charlize. Well done.

So you know this calls for a Same Look for Less, right? Uh huh. You know it. Let’s do this!

bebe ruched corset – $59.00 USD (other colors available)
ASOS skinny twill trousers – appx. $50.00 USD
FlyJane.net Jeweled Party Heels – $49.90 USD
Piperlime Big Buddha ‘Kayla’ clutch – $35.00 USD

Accessories: click pic above for more details…

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Rihanna’s been rocking a fabu neon teal color on her nails–here she was Saturday night at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice awards (March 29th):

…and at a concert performance in Chicago earlier last week:

Loves it.

Want the same look? You can buy Nubar‘s “Get Hot Tech” kit for $39.95 USD

What I love about Nubar’s products is that they are formaldehyde FREE, toluene FREE and DBP Phthalate FREE. Therefore you get to look cute and do something fab for the environment–that is what being a Hot Mama is all about, n’est pas?

(Nail kit pic courtesy of Nubar )

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Spring is only two days away ladies!!   Are you excited yet? (I’ll get excited once ALL the snow is gone, I’m not convinced Winter is going anywhere yet on my side of the globe but you can never be too prepared, right?)

I love love love OPI’s nail polishes in general and have talked about them before, however this time, I want to show you some of the new colors for Spring/Summer 2008 from their new ‘India’ Collection.

Noteworthy is that they have a white/grey shade called “Moon Over Mumbai“.  Me likey.

Hmm..remember how we discussed how white nails could be the next big thing in nails for 2008? Uh huh, I keep telling you–stick with me Hot Mamas and I’ll have you  ahead of the game *wink, wink*

I’m also feeling “MonSooner or Later” (tee hee)

and “I’m India Mood for Love” (gotta love how someone actually sat down and thought long and hard about these names–LOL!)

What’s cool is that you can do a virtual try-on of any shade from any collection on their OPI Studio site.  Give it a shot.  It’s fun.

Now…which shade will I wear on my hands and feet for my trip to Bermuda next month? (3 weeks to go! Wooo hoooo!)?

Aw, hell, why not be a true diva and wear a different shade for each day of my trip?

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We currently have every celebrity and their mama (this mama included) wearing black nail polish, but I guess the direct opposite was bound to happen.

What do you gals think? I think it looks fresh. And no, I don’t mean ‘fresh’ in the 1988 sense. I mean, in a fresh-for-spring-enough-of-the-dark-colors, fresh. As in refreshing. Get it?

I dunno, I think I like it. But then sometimes I think it just looks like someone took a bottle of White-Out and went to town…

What say you? Yea or Nay?

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I don’t know what it is about dark colors that attracts me so much. I know I’ve told you all in the past (a few times) that I love the whole rocker-chick thing, and I know I’ve told you all in my Dove video post that as a native New Yorker, I have an insane amount of black clothing from my days as a worker bee in Manhattan. But I love it.

Come the Fall, besides pulling out all of my dark sweaters and clothing, I start going crazy looking at dark nail polish colors. Such was the case today. I was doing some shopping for baby wipes for my son (lol) at my local supermarket and…of course I had to casually stroooolllllll past the beauty/make-up aisle (would I be a true beauty & style blogger if I DIDN’T?!) and be still my beating heart, I was overcome by all of the different cosmetic companies that are selling black and dark hued nail colors now.

In past years, you could really only find super dark/black nail polish around Halloween time and it would be terrible cheap quality. Either that or you shelled ridiculous amounts for Chanel’s always sold-out, Noir Ceramic or Black Satin. Even if you were to find it on eBay, there’s always some fool trying to sell these Chanel colors at a ridiculous prices (last year bottles were being sold at $100.00 plus!) Puh-leeze!!!

No more. It seems all the major cosmetic companies (L’Oreal, Maybelline, Rimmel, OPI, Sally Hansen, etc.) have caught on and offer black, darkest red/burgendies, and the new hotness, darkest blue and purple/plum hues.

I’ve done the deep red/burgundy nail thing in previous years. For Fall/Winter 2007, I’m all over purples. I just purchased Sally Hansen’s NO CHIP 10 Day Nail Colour in ‘Plum Pretty’.

When I tell you this purple is so rich and so sexy… has just the sliiiiightest hint of glitter and sheen…nothing gaudy, just very faint sheen. It’s just… well, ’sexy’ was the right word. It’ll be the perfect last touch to my outfit next weekend.

People’s ‘Off The Rack’ blog gave some tips last fall on how to wear dark/black nail polish so that it’s done just right. I agree with every point. Here’s what they wrote:

“1. Black polish looks best on short, square nails. Go too long or too pointy, and you look more like Elvira than fashionista.

2. Chips in dark polish are much more apparent. A protective top coat…will help keeping your digits look perfect. (Pascalle says: PLEASE REMEMBER THIS!!! Chips in the color will make your nails look trashy! Like, well, Britney Spears’ nails. You knowww what I mean…)

3. To get the color consistent across your nail, try 2-3 coats over a good basecoat…One coat will end up looking too streaky.

4. If you don’t feel like breaking the bank for the Chanel Black polish, try getting the look for less …(Pascalle says: Duh! Like I always tell y’all to do. Just not toooo cheap in this case.)

5. If black is a little too dramatic for you, try a dark red or a deep plum (Pascalle says: Seeeeee?)

So run to your local pharmacy and see what fun colors you can find. If your not comfortable in going all the way (heh heh heh) just go for a slightly darker hue than you’d normally buy. You’ll feel vampy, but not trampy (hey! that was cute!) Trust me on this one. *Wink*

Updated to add:  OOH!  Check out 3 awesome colors from OPI’s new Fall/Winter 2007 “Russian” collection!

Siberian Nights

Russian Navy

Midnight in Moscow 

Catherine The Grape (lol)

(Click here to see the full collection.)

C’mon tell me: Would you wear dark-hued nail polish?

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Forget about how weak the performance was. Forget the outfit (or lack thereof). I’d even say forget the horrendous hair weave/extensions/whatever THAT was. Here’s when my ‘WTF Moment’ hit me. It’s when I saw this:

Um… Didn’t care enough to hide that for your ‘WORLD WIDE TELEVISED (so-called) COMEBACK‘, huh?  *Thinks about it* Meh, never mind. This is the chick that thinks going outside only wearing tops looks good.

That’s it. That’s all. Thank you.

Pic source: Faded Youth

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We’re right smack dab in the middle of summer and already we see sneak peeks for Fall ‘07 lines all over the place, and we hear the kids groaning at the ‘Back To School’ commercials that are already on TV (they start earlier and earlier every year, don’t they?) but not to worry, you still have time to wear your lovely summer colors (at least, until Labor Day weekend – LOL! Hey, its not my rule, its the Fashion Gods that say so…)

Now’s the time to shop for summer stuff anyway because most of the stuff everywhere is on sale (and I mean everywhere: online, at your local malls, etc.) I want to focus on a color that’s been catching my eye since the spring: Coral. It’s a juicy color, perfect for the season, and goes well all skin-tones. The perfect thing to wear a coral anything with, is a crisp pair of white pants/shorts. Just talking about shopping gets me all excited and happy so let’s get to shopping, ladies!

My fav find is this lovely dress by Max and Cleo by BCBG that I found at Overstock.com (for only $64.99 USD!)

That dress would be the hotness with some flat gladiator sandals in gold, non? *Eyeing wallet…* Hmm…

How ’bout some coral jewelry (all found at Overstock.com also):

If you’re not into the coral fashion, you can always just put some coral colored nail polish on the hands and feet (mani’ed and pedi’ed, of course)! Check out OPI’s “Los Cabos Coral” as part of their Mexico line:

Happy Shopping gals…

Do you have any fav Coral finds out there? If so, I wanna hear alllllll about it!

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OPI’s Psychedelic Summer 2007 collection is fun. Don’t let the title of the collection throw you off. These colors are great for the beach. Namely, “Strawberry Fields” and “Tangerine Dream”

Essie’s Summer ‘07 collection is my fav thus far. Their collection for the summer is called “Buckle Up” which of course means the polish color names will be of the vehicular persuasion. I love, love, love the juicy looking “Click It or Ticket”

You got the “chromy” Loophole

and “Huckle and Buckle”

A new nail color line I just discovered today on People Magazine’s “Off the Rack” fashion/beauty blog is by celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann, titled, VINYL Deborah Lippmann. The colors are named after various songs (duh, hence the collection title, VINYL!) Bath & Body Works is selling the line exclusively. Check these out:

How fun are these colors? And at $8.00 a bottle, the price is right (sale! By 2 get 2 FREE on the Bath & Body Works website!)

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