Cirque Colors Metropolis Collection Swatches: November & December

Cirque's Metropolis collection, a series of creme nail polishes inspired by New York City, continues to grow! There are new polishes added to the line every month, and today's swatches cover the November and December releases. You can check out the September and October releases in my previous post.

Kickerbocker is a deep chocolate brown creme. It's very dark, almost black. Two coats.

Tavern On the Teal is a dark teal shade. It's slightly more green than my swatch shows here. Two coats.

The Devil Wears Cirque is a rich red creme. I love the name on this one so much. Two coats.

I don't have any complaints about the formula on these; they were all easy to apply, smooth, and glossy. The shades do feel very New York chic, though maybe I'm projecting a little too because of the collection name. "NYFW" does still reign supreme as my favorite Metropolis shade, though I do love the richness of Tavern on the Teal now, too.

The Metropolis collection is available now on CirqueColors.com, where each shade retails for $13.

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Cirque Colors Metropolis Collection Swatches: September and October (Glossy & Matte)

Cirque's newest offering is their Metropolis collection: a series of creme nail polishes inspired by New York City. There are new polishes added to the line every month, and today's swatches cover the September and October releases. These polishes are all normal glossy cremes, but since I'm obsessed with all things matte, I wanted to share the shades with a matte topcoat as well. I think they all translate beautifully to matte.

NYFW was the release in September. It's a gorgeous, rich deep cobalt shade. It's a little darker than some of the other cobalts in my range. The formula was great and it covered nicely at two coats.

I've used Essie Matte About You as the matte topper in the second swatch.

Concrete Jungle is a concrete grey creme. Nice formula, covered evenly in two coats. This is a great and versatile shade, and would be a great manicure choice to complement any fall wardrobe!

La Vie Boheme is a black cherry creme. I wore this one as a full manicure, and I kept trying to pin the name of the color throughout the day... Was it plum? Was it raisin? Then finally... BLACK CHERRY! It was the perfect descriptor, to me. It's a very deep shade, looks very dark on the hand, but never so dark as to look black. Two coats.

The Metropolis collection is available now on CirqueColors.com, where each shade retails for $13. Be sure to keep an eye out for the November release, which should be hitting blogs soon!

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Chunky Sweater Nails Inspired by Very Emily

Today is the final day of the 31 Day Challenge! This month both flew by and went very slowly. Isn't it weird how time does that? The final prompt is "honor nails you love" and I've chosen Very Emily's knitted nail art design. I'm not a knitter myself, but I have been known to enjoy a good sweater! I'm totally enamored with the combination of soft shades and patterns in Emily's work; it feels very "winter luxe" to me.

Nail polishes used:
Contrary Polish Frozen
Cirque Carpe Diem
Cirque Au
Sonoma Nail Art Wine Country Wedding

The knit stitched and the "ball of yarn" nails were painted freehand. For the accent nail I stacked a gold leaf with a white glitter. Gold leaf just felt like the right choice last night. Maybe it was that "winter luxe" feeling I was getting.

On a related note, I want to do the stitching pattern in a million more color combinations! How cute does it look?

Previous nails I've honored:

• Rebecca Likes Nails' Candy Print
• Mr. Candiipants' Koi Fish
• Nailside's Abstract 80's Design

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Blue Dripping Chevron Nail Art

Blue! More inspirational to me than green was yesterday. I've painted some dripping chevron nail art, inspired by a pattern I saw on Pinterest. Of course, I had to modify the colors a bit to put them in line with today's 31 Day Challenge theme, but I just had to keep the metallic gold accent from the original piece. It's the right addition to break up the all blue palette.

Polishes used:
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Cirque Colors NYFW
Zoya Sailor
Deborah Lippmann Video Killed the Radio Star
LVX Laguna
Priti NYC Chrysanthos (gold)
Glisten and Glow HK Girl (topcoat)
Essie Matte About You (matte topcoat)

This look was simple to do but pretty time consuming. Each chevron was painted freehand with a small nail art brush, and then at the end, I extended a few of the chevron points into drips. I sealed everything in with glossy topcoat and then, after that was mostly dry, finished off the manicure with a matte topcoat.

 More blue for you!

• Barielle Blackened Bleu
• Blue and white china pattern
• Blue V tape manciure

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Baptisia and Bones

Sometimes the simple combinations are the most delightful. This manicure combines a rich, moody Cirque polish with a large, flashy nail charm from Hex Nail Jewelry.

Cirque Baptisia is a deep, rich indigo shimmer with small flashes of silver sparkle. I used two coats for the coverage shown, and the formula was smooth. In the shade, you can really see the flecks of silver, while in the sunlight the deep shimmer of the base is more prominent.

I also added a fishbones charm from Hex Nail Jewelry. Nail charms seem to be used most often in complex nail art manicures, but I also like adding one to simple manicures on as a sort of "accent nail." It's sealed in with topcoat for additional protection.

These last two photos show Baptisia in direct light -- see how the shimmer of the base is more prominent?

Have you tried nail charms yet? Do you like to wear them simply or as an addition to a nail art manicure?

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Pop Punk Skittlette with Glittery Skull and Distressed Accents

Back in 2002, Avril Lavigne's song "Sk8er Boi" ruled my world. Can you believe that song came out over a DECADE ago? I don't know about you guys, but I was all about that unbearably catchy tune. Maybe not the most poetic single, but I don't mind admitting that I rocked out to that many times as my mom drove me to the mall.

Avril came into the style spotlight for her heavy eyeliner and stick straight hair, plus a propensity for clothing and jewelry that incorporated symbols like skulls and stars. The glittery skull and distressed accent nails in this manicure, plus the combination of rich purple and black, really make me think of the Pop Punk Princess.

Products used:
Indigo Bananas Moonlight (Clair de Lune)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs
American Apparel Hassid
Joby Skull Glitter Nail Art Decal
Cirque Vectors

I was very excited to play with the silver flake polish by Indigo Bananas (psst...the shop also has a rose gold version). It was less dense than I expected, needing four coats for the opacity here, but it didn't get thick on the nail so I didn't mind so much. It is really beautiful and reflective.

The glittery skull decal came as a part of a sheet with gold, black, and additional silver glitter skulls. I was really impressed with these. They're way easy to use; just make sure you let your base dry before you stick it on. A great accent and it looks really clean.

The ring finger was done using my distressed nail art technique. Cirque's black glitter polish, Vectors, provides a similar effect but with a little bit more geometry.

I think Avril would have been all over this manicure back in her heyday. A little punk, a little glam... Anyone else have "Sk8er Boi" stuck in their head?

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Super Bowl XLVIII

As I'm sure you're aware, today is Super Bowl XLVIII. I had to do some nail art for the occasion, but as I don't really have a team preference today (maybe slightly leaning towards the Broncos), I thought I'd take the opportunity to work on some freehand lettering and paint the Roman numerals.

The base of this manicure is Nicole by OPI Yoga-Then-Yogurt.
I freehand painted the letters with American Apparel Hassid.
The thumb is sporting Cirque Vectors (as are all the nails on my right hand).

I'm really happy with the way the letters came out, and I only ended up redoing one nail the whole time!

Hope everyone has fun this afternoon!

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Punk Vectors - Texture and Glitter Combo

You probably know of my deep-rooted and unending love for texture polishes, but one area of the trend that I haven't really dove into yet is creme textures. These polishes are a single flat color with no sparkle, glitter, or shimmer, but with the same texture effect that you know and love. Opinions seem to be pretty mixed on these; many people just don't like the finished effect. I thought I'd give them a fair shot and incorporate one into an edgy, punky manicure to see if I could make it work.

The yellow-green texture polish I've used here is Deborah Lippmann I Wanna Be Sedated (Amazon, Deborah Lippmann). I gotta give props to Deb for taking a risk, not only in making a creme texture but for also making it in such an weird color. I keep going back and forth between loving how interesting this shade is and being unsure about how it actually looks on me. As far as application, it went on easily, needing just two coats.

On the two outside nails I've used three coats of Dandy Nails Bound to Fall as the base. This polish is a beautiful medium-dark grey with a flecked appearance. As far as grey polishes go, this one is a winner! Then I added one coat of Cirque Vectors over the top. Vectors has different shapes and sizes of black matte glitter plus just a touch of sparkle. It's really great and the glitter is plentiful.

I finished the look with two coats of American Apparel Hassid to my thumb to create the grounding black accent.

I love when a manicure makes me think twice. This ugly-pretty texture might be a bit too much on its own, but I do like the way it works in with the other elements of this manicure.

What do you think: too weird for you or just edgy enough?

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Party Perfect: Black and Gold Nail Art Ideas

I have been wearing a lot of black and gold manicures lately, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to highlight one of my favorite party pairings. Black and gold make a stunning combination: chic and glam, strong and bright, deep and dimensional. They're the perfect pair for all of your holiday soirees, and, great news, you can stretch them out through New Years!

I've got five looks to share with you today, plus I'll give you some quick breakdowns on how to achieve them yourself. Some are harder than others, but even beginner nail artists will find something to try here! Don't be shy... get your glam on!

The Polka Dot
Polka dot nail art is easy to achieve and a great place to start if you are just getting into nail art. All you will need is a tool to dot with! I used a nail art dotting tool, but DIY options include a dull lead pencil or the rubber tip of a bent-open bobby pin. Dip the tool into black polish and dot it onto your nail in an alternating pattern. Finish with topcoat. Instantly adorable!

Polishes shown: China Glaze Mingle With Kringle, China Glaze Liquid Leather

The Distressed Effect
Maybe you're not a traditional "glam girl" but you still want to rock some awesome, easy nail art at your holiday parties! My distressed effect tutorial will show you how to achieve this punky, grungy look that has all the edge of crackle but with added control and a more refined finish.

Polishes shown: OPI Goldeneye, American Apparel Hassid

The Cuticle Glitter Gradient
There are two ways to do a glitter gradient: from your nail tip and from your cuticle. I personally prefer the look of the cuticle glitter gradient, but both of them are sure to give you a chic and on-trend manicure. I like to put a drop of glitter near my cuticle, wipe off the brush entirely, and then gently drag the glitter out towards the end of my nails. You can add more glitter at the base of the nail to boost the gradient effect, too. Beginners will have an easier time doing this effect if they use a denser glitter, like the one I've used here!

Polishes shown: Cirque Ica Valley, Color Club Where's the Soiree?

The "I'm Feeling Ambitious" Foil/Gel Combo
Nail foils let you achieve brilliant, mirror like effects, but most regular topcoats will crinkle the foil and ruin the effect. But did you know that sealing foil inside of gel can help keep the chrome finish intact? For this manicure, I started by applying and curing a black gel polish. Then, I painted a ruffian shape with nail foil glue, let the glue turn clear, and applied sheets of gold foil over the glue. After letting the glue and foil dry a bit longer, I finished the manicure with one final layer of gel topcoat. Instantly blinding!

Polishes shown: Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish in Black Tie Optional, Sally Hansen Salon Gel Starter Kit
Foil used: Gold Spectrum from Dollar Nail Art, nail foil glue

The Stamped Manicure
Nail art stamping definitely has a learning curve, but it produces some amazing results. If you are unfamiliar with how to stamp, check out my stamping tutorial! It's an older post but the process hasn't changed since then. Layer gold swirls over black for an elegant effect!

Polishes shown: American Apparel Hassid, Essie Good As Gold
Stamped with: Nailz Craze plate NC02, Konad stamper

Which of these effects do you like best? Are you a fan of black and gold together?
Share your black and gold manicures with me on Instagram using the hashtag #hellochalkboardnails! 

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