M.I.S.S. Michelle's Beauty Picks of the Week: LA Colors’ Intense Bright Polish Sets

Up until last week, I was sporting long, pointed, florescent nails that I absolutely ADORED. Unfortunately, one broke, then another, then another, so it was time to bid them farewell, (they were my natural nails), so they are now short and chic instead. I love the look of neon nails, but can’t justify spending more than a few bucks on this trend, so I was super excited to score this week’s RECESSION BUSTER PICK: LA Colors Intense Bright Polish Set in High Voltage, for only $3 at my local flea market. The coverage is great (smooth, even), considering it’s inexpensive nail polish, however there is some slight staining of the nail, but this occurs across the board with darker nail shades regardless of brand. The High Voltage set comes with four polishes in: electric blue, hot pink, lime green, and purple, all of which have a slight shimmer to them. The Explosive set also featured in LA Colors’ Intense line is wonderful as well, and comes with teal, magenta, orange and purple polishes having a flat finish. You can’t beat the pricing on these little babies, ($1.50 each)!!!

LA Colors Intense Bright Polish Set shown in High Voltage

REVIEW:
Cost: $6 for a 4 Piece Set
Value: Excellent
Accessibility: Moderate
Where to Buy: CherryCulture.com, NonpareilBoutique.com, Local Flea Markets

Enjoy and stay posted for more beauty tips and picks to come next week!

M.I.S.S. Healthy Bites: Pro Nails

Whether you get them did, do it yourself, or rock them natural, your nails need care that can’t be polished on.  Kid Sister’s song, Pro Nails, might not focus on a healthy diet, but keep her song as a reminder of what to eat to keep your digits lookin’ fly: PRO-TEIN.  Protein, which you can get from meat, dairy, eggs, nuts, legumes, and whole grains, is not only good for healthy hair, skin, and muscles.  Pack the protein on your plate and your nails will also benefit from it.  After all, nails are made of keratin, the same type of protein found in your hair and skin.  Protein deficiency could lead to fragile nails, and nothing can ruin your day like a broken nail.  Vegetarian?  Read the post on protein to get some ideas of how to get it without meat.

Aside from protein, consuming calcium will promote nail growth.  Nails grow at a rate of about 0.1 millimeter a day, so get your calcium on the daily.  No need to chug glasses of milk, because dark leafy greens contain calcium as well.  Try spinach, chard, kale, and even broccoli to get the mineral that not only strengthens nails, but also bones and teeth.

From just looking at your nails, you can get a gauge on how healthy you are.  Nails that are strong and smooth usually determine that you’re getting the nutrients that you need, but nails that are dry, brittle, or even discolored could indicate that you need to make some changes in your diet.  For instance, if you find little white specs on your nails, it could mean that you’re not getting enough zinc.  A glass of milk or hard boiled egg will help balance that out, as well as give you protein and calcium.  Eating healthy does so much for your body.

Read the full story

OPI x Paige Denim: Bright Pairs

O.P.I are much loved by ladies the world over, especially over here at M.I.S.S. With over 200 colours to select from, their huge array of professional, long lasting and chip resisting nail polishes keep luring us in. And, they have done it yet again with their latest range, ‘Bright Pair’.

O.P.I. have just launched their brand new nail lacquer collection in collaboration with Paige Premium Denim – 6 pairs of coloured denim with 6 nail polish hues to match!

You all know fashion and nails-did practically goes hand in hand over here at M.I.S.S. Don’t act like you haven’t taken notice of the monthly M.I.S.S Playmate Calendar: Nails-did to perfectly match the kicks each and every month, courtesy of the oh-so-talented Miss Liz Baca? Yeah, you’ve noticed all right! The M.I.S.S. ladies have had their nails game on lock since the very beginning, going on to inspire many, myself included (Hand painted Leopard Print nails killed it for me!). It is no wonder that we are super excited for the Bright Pair Nail Lacquer range, how often do you see a denim x nails collaboration like this? Never!

This is what all you mean nails chicks have been waiting for. It is difficult to find perfectly matching goods, be it nail polish to match your kicks, tee or now, even your denim. O.P.I Bright Pairs gives you the easy route: pick a pair of coloured Paige Premium Denim, be it the 5-pocket Mariposa shorts, or, the Skyline Ankle Peg, and then select the exact hue from O.P.I Brights range and you are good to go! You will not be disappointed with the standout bright shades of orange, red, pink, purple, blue, or brown within this range. Head over to the O.P.I. website now, and you can even virtually paint you nails to see which colour suits your skin tone!

The icing on the cake of this limited edition O.P.I. collaboration has to be the names of the nail lacquers. O.P.I. are known for the clever and creative naming of each shade of polish, and they have not failed with this range. With fitting names such as, ‘In My Back Pocket’, ‘On the Same Paige’, ‘Shorts Story’, and ‘A Grape Fit’, painting one’s nails is all the more fun. This is most definitely a M.I.S.S. certified nail lacquer collaboration!

Read the full story

After the success of their first nail polish collabo, Uslu Airlines brings us a fresh line with German designer Bernhard Willhelm. Known for his eclectic mix of clashing colours and prints the designer has drawn inspiration from his latest menswear collection.

As with previous releases, the shades are again named after airport destinations – all based and named after the ski worldcup theme of Bernhard Willhelm’s last mens’ collection: Innsbruck (olive for INN), Grenoble (blue for GNB) and St. Moritz (orange for SMV).

Sophisticated yet fun, they’re not the bright candy colours we’re used to seeing coming up to spring, but will still make for a smoking mani. Available from Colette and Uslu Airlines.

Kiss the winter and recession sadness goodbye, and kick start spring with the OPI for Sephora Digital Diva Collection! I’m not sure how these guys keep coming up with new nail colours – but they’ve pulled it off again with this range of high-voltage pinks, electric oranges and corals. There’s six to choose from with names like Hi Def, I’m Wired and Techno Girl - and the collection is (as always) non-animal tested and environmentally friendly.

If you can’t choose just one, just about any combo of these would make for good two-tone mani. These are making me wish we weren’t heading into winter here in Australia, but if I can get a bit of this nail candy it will make it that little bit more bearable!

Just $9 each, all guaranteed to make your nails pop! Available exclusively at Sephora.

“It’s a recession, duh baby, where you been?”
“I been at the drugstore fool.”

Yesssssssss, that’s right, I have been at the drugstore, and I’ve been scoping out less expensive alternatives to some of my favorite beauty products, and my latest and greatest find, and also this week’s RECESSION BUSTER PICK, is Sally’s Hansen’s Hard as Nails (original formula in clear).

Read the full story

I LOVE painting my nails. The act of applying lacquer to my tender talons, dressing them up like pretty daggers or embellishing them like little Mondrian paintings is perversely empowering and wickedly fun – however, the price of reality really sets in, especially when the average cost of a designer nail polish is around $20 – and is essentially what pays for well thought out color palettes, clever naming, glamorous packaging, and arduous marketing campaigns. In this weakened economy, $20 has to stretch further than it’s ever had to for most of us, so this week’s picks and tip: Recession Claws I - I Got Zoya for Ya, are some ways you can nail down your beauty dollars.

RECESSION BUSTER TIP: My homegirl at D-Cupcake, who is one hell of a nail polish guru, tipped me off about a nail polish exchange Zoya is doing through their website. Zoya has a HUGE line of relatively inexpensive, long-lasting, eco-friendly nail polishes (they do not use Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP – chemicals linked to cancer, organ damage, and birth defects), and come in a variety of colors and finishes. So basically, when you spend $3 to ship an old nail polish to Zoya, they will send you a Zoya nail polish of your choice (a $6.50 value). You can sign up for their nail polish exchange here.

Read the full story

I was checking out the Mishka Bloglin last night, and wa wa wi wa, this nail job caught my attention! I love any and all of the Eyeball related stuff the twisted and fantastical guys at Mishka do, but these nails are some next level. Read more about it on their blog!

For Rika’s latest Let’s Talk Nails post for MissbehaveMag, she shares with us 5 sets of HOT HOT nails, including the above, from Maureen from Philly, inspired by the Number 2 pencil in the M.I.S.S. Crew September Calender! Yay Maureen!

You can send Rika flicks of your nails at nails@missbehavemag.com!

Head over to the Let’s Talk Nails post to see more and talk nails!

This week’s tip is how to give a fast and easy manicure and pedicure. In between nail salon visits, I give myself a manicure and pedicure every week and a half or so, and the whole process, which includes last week’s tip, Two Minute Cuticle Prep, and drying time, takes about one hour.
Read the full story