BellaSugar

Trend Alert: Chrome Nails

BellaSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:00:56 PDT

Leave it to Rihanna, the queen bee of nail polish, to take an opaque, shimmery metallic color to the next level. Chrome is more of a powerful gold-and-silver version of its true silver sister gunmetal and it is also much darker than pale gray.

I still can't quite believe that metallic nails are still this much of a sensation. Even LC can't get enough of glittery metallic nails! Below are a couple of rocker-cool chrome polish suggestions for Summer. Enjoy!

Essie Steel-ing the Scene ($8) is a bronzey-pewter (effectively a chrome) shade of nail polish that contains flecks and packs a lot of punch. For those of you who are too shy to wear this on your nails, it makes for a great toenail color.

Tropez Super Pearl Nail Enamel in Black Pearl ($1.99) is a deep, opaque gray that looks amazing with one sheer coat of Tini Beauty's Gold Haze Topper as a topcoat. The result is a metallic, high-shine glossy finish - and the best part is that it's a unique color!

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Trend Alert: Grenadine-Colored Beauty Products

BellaSugar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:00:11 PDT

Grenadine is a sugary, pomegranate-colored syrup often used in cocktails to give them a sweet flavor and a pink tint. It's a popular mixer that has been around for ages, so it's really no surprise why cosmetic companies are inspired by its allure. Here are a few new Summer 2008 grenadine beauty products for you to check out.

Chanel Sheer Lip Colouring Pencil ($27) is a bright, yet sheer poppy (coralish-red) colored lip liner that glides on creamy and stays moist. It's great to wear alone (I like mine with a clear gloss on top, so it looks more like a stain) or under a lipstick to create depth and definition. Also, I love that it comes with its own sharpener.

Nailtini Grenadine Nail Lacquer ($12) is a bright pink DBP-, toluene-, and formaldehyde-free nail polish that can be layered with either a black- or white-base coat to make nails lighter or darker. I love this concept and the fact that Nailtini polishes dry so quickly. To check out more cocktail-inspired shades from this line, click here.

L'Oreal Infallible Lip Color in Grenadine ($7.99) is a shiny brick brownish-red lip color that is intended to last all day long without having to be reapplied. It involves a two-step process - first you apply a slick color and wait for it to dry and then you apply a clear topcoat. Check out pictures of my lips to judge for yourself if this is something you'd be into.

Bella Brand: 'Tini Beauty

BellaSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:00:08 PDT

At the end of 2004, Southern Californian Michelle Olsen decided to launch her own beauty brand that has evolved into what we now know as 'Tini Beauty. The concept was inspired by Michelle's love of cocktails and has its own unique twist - everything is layerable. Much how like you can blend your own ingredients to create your own signature drink, all of the items can be mixed and matched to customize your nail and lip colors.

Nailtini contains nail lacquers in 22 colors, two mixer shades in white and black (which can be used as a base coat to lighten or darken the polish), nine toppers, and a base coat. Also, new for Summer is the Margarita collection, which contains three shades of Rita (Classic, Mango, and Strawberry) and Sugar Rum (sparkling clear) topper.

Liptini contains 12 lipsticks, 11 topper glosses, 10 lip and cheek stains, five shimmer stains, and six mixer pencils that can you can apply as a base to help alter any of the lip colors. The most interesting to me are Banana Flip, a bight yellow creamy pencil that can warm up or cool down a lip tone and Ice Water, a lip balm in a pencil form that makes any of the lip products appear more sheer. I think this idea is fun and is something that you and your girlfriends could play around with together. Do you think you'd be interested in becoming a makeup mixologist?

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Forget the Flowers - Add Terrariums to Your Wedding Instead!

Guest Writer — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:00:41 PDT

Most brides are looking for beautiful ways to enhance their wedding's decor and to help it stand out from the crowd, and that's why terrariums are a great option for creating a beautiful, unusual impression on your big day. We talked to Katy Maslow and Michelle Inciarrano, owners of the Brooklyn-based company Twig Terrariums and authors of the new book Tiny World Terrariums about how - and why - terrariums are a great decorating choice.

Keep reading to see what Katy and Michelle have to say about making terrariums work as centerpieces or wedding favors at your celebration, as well as DIY tips for creating them yourself! Take it away, Katy and Michelle!

All book photos courtesy of Robert Wright

What Can You Buy With One Day's Worth of Salary?

OnSugar Blog — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:13:44 PDT

Do you ever think about how much you make each day and how much that really buys? This post from Beauty and the Budget really got me thinking.

What can you buy with one day's worth of your salary? Right now, I make about $76 a day, before taxes, which really isn't much. That means that on Monday, when I made an after-work Rite-Aid makeup run, I practically worked an entire day for a tiny tube of RoC Eye Cream ($21.99 at Ulta), a small bottle of Olay Total Effects Anti-Aging Moisturizer ($18.69 at Ulta), Maybelline Colossal Mascara ($6.99 at Ulta), and a can of Salon Grafix Invisible Dry Spray Shampoo ($5.99 at Ulta). Plus I bought an Apple Pecan Salad from Wendy's ($6.99) for lunch. All my money was spent in one day. I really wanted to kick myself when I came to that realization. It was like a spiritual financial wakening.

Of course, I believe I invested wisely in a great eye cream and an anti-aging moisturizer (all of which I am hoping will last at least four to five months), but I'm still disappointed that my money disappeared in a day. I could have put that money toward new contact lenses or my next oil change.

On a much lighter note, let's have a little fun with this topic. To make it easy, let's say you make $10 an hour. That's $80 a day for a full 40-hour workweek. You're definitely on a budget at that rate, especially if you're supporting yourself. Let's look at all your spending options, and tell me which item you're most likely to go for!

What We're Sweet On: A Customizable Crème

Jessica Cruel — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:05:00 PDT

Caudalie was thinking of every woman when releasing its Vinosource range, which includes four different types of moisturizers: very dry, dry, combination, and sensitive. We tried the gel-crème Moisturizing Sorbet ($38) for sensitive skin, which is a lot like putting cucumber-scented whipped cream on your face (and that's a good thing). The lightweight formulation makes it perfect if you have a product-heavy beauty routine, and a pea-sized drop can cover the face and neck.

Rife with nourishing ingredients from grapes, including organic grape water, grape oil, and antioxidant-rich grape seed polyphenols, the the sorbet also contains vinolevure, a tiny molecule that can hold up to 100 times its weight in water. Now, that's moisture! One try and you'll covet this product like a fine vintage wine.

Beauty Debate: Synthetic vs. Authentic Brushes

Michelle Phan — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:04:00 PDT

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can choose the right makeup brush:

Hi everyone,

There are some key differences between synthetic and authentic hair makeup brushes, not just in terms of where the hair originates, but in terms of how the hair functions. It's a really fascinating topic and one that I've spent a lot of time working on lately. So in this post, I want to put all ethical debates on the subject aside, and focus strictly on the fundamental difference between these two different kinds of brush hairs, because I think it's something that not a lot of people know about.

Discover rice water's beauty benefits (recipes included)

The main difference between a brush made with synthetic hair and a brush made with real hair is its ability to pick up pigment. Brushes made with real, authentic hair pick up pigment and distribute it in fewer motions than brushes made with synthetic hair. That's because the hair follicle of an actual living thing has tiny little porous holes in it. So when you have a bunch of these hairs brought together and you try to pick up a powder or a substance, the tiny porous holes can actually hold onto and cling onto the pigment. It just picks it up that much better because there are these little spaces where it can be absorbed. Then, once you apply it, it kind of shakes off of the bristles. To learn more about synthetics, keep reading.

Outdoor Faves: Wonderful Wisteria

Elka Karl — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:30:22 PDT

Wisteria is an absolutely romantic plant, and one that would add instant ambiance to any home. It's an incredibly versatile plant, too, and can grow from a relatively tiny spot - such as a four-foot-square patch of soil in a city sidewalk - and then curl upward for several stories. Of course, it will also train itself to stretch across long pergolas in a backyard or city park. To grow your own wisteria, remember to keep the plant well mulched every Spring and to prune back the new growth immediately after flowering every Summer. Keep clicking to see some beautiful ways to decorate your outdoor space with this gorgeous plant.

11 Fun and Useful Photoshop Tips and Effects to Try

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:31:34 PDT

Now that you've polished up your photography skills, it's time to take your photos to the next level by having some fun with Photoshop. Editing and tweaking your pics isn't considered cheating - it helps bring out the beauty in your images, and keeps things interesting. Here, I'll cover ten fun and useful Photoshop tips and effects that you can use every day, or when you want to add some pizzaz to your pics.

Get Photoshop for free - Don't have Photoshop? No prob! Get Photoshop Express for free!
Take in some free tutorials - Get the low down on Photoshop basics free of charge.
Get rid of blemishes - Who doesn't want clear skin? Make it a reality with this tip that ditches the zits.

See the rest of the tips, and learn about some sweet and simple effects you can add to your images after the break.

Geek Shot: Musical Interiors

Kelly Schwarze — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:12:02 PDT

Where's that we're visiting? An elegant take on futuristic city life with skyscrapers rivaling today's most prestigious architectural wonders? That "street" is actually a pipe organ, part of a new advertising campaign for the Berlin Philharmonic.

With art direction by photographer Bjoern Ewers, the advertisements are macro photographs highlighting the inner beauty of instruments, no sound required. Beyond the pipe organ, the Philharmonic's ad campaign includes views from the interior of a violin, cello, and flute. We'd love to make like the characters of The Secret World of Arrietty for a day and curl up inside these tiny confines.