Anne Hathaway's Oscar Nails

On the Oscar’s night last night, Anne Hathaway – the hostess with the mostest – donned many gorgeous looks on the red carpet and on stage. One thing that stayed consistent was her nails. No matter what color her outfit, her manicure coordinated with all.

Early on the red carpet, Deb used retired lacquer Kiss from a Rose, a bold merlot crème. It looked really amazing with her red Valentino dress. In Deborah's words "Not your typical red nail for Annie!"

Celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann painted Anne’s tips and toes in her new shade called Naked, a clean bare beige hue that complemented her porcelain skin as well as all of her outfits that she wore on stage.

Naked is available for $16 at www.deborahlippmann.com.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Image credit: Stylist, Lippmann PR.

China Glaze Crackle Giveaway ***CLOSED***

Here's your chance to win two of the China Glaze crackle glazes, Lightening Bolt and Fault Line!

How to enter:

Comment on this post and tell me three things:

• Your email address;
• How you subscribe to "Also Known As..." (i.e. Google Friend Connect, email, BlogLovin');
• Your favorite hard-to-find nail polish.

Open internationally, ends  Sunday March 6th, 6 pm MST. Only enter once please, multiple entries will be discarded. Good luck my pretties!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

China Glaze Crackle collection

China Glaze is the first US company to come out with different color crackle polish this year and everyone has been excited about their arrival in stores. I for one am not super crazy about this trend, but I have to admit the color combination possibilities are fun and exciting.

I used Black Mesh over Nicole Gold Bigger, because I really love black and gold together. Black Mesh crackles easily and fast, it probably cracks the most out of all the colors. I used different types of application to get different looks here.

Crushed Candy is one of my favorite colors, inspired Tiffany blue turquoise, and I am so glad China Glaze made it into a crackle. I imagine I will be playing with this baby a lot. I put this over Nicole I've Got Bieber Fever, a stunning plum. I went straight with a regular vertical application for this mani.

I thought Lightening Bolt would be my favorite crackle, but it seemed to crackle the least. I think I'll have to fiddle with it more. It is fun though. I'm wearing it here over Cult Nails Quench.

Broken Hearted is a super fun pink crackle. I am happy to own this and can't wait to use it over more great colors for some summery manicures this year. I'm wearing it here over Nicole My Lifesaver.

Cracked Concrete is a beautiful grey, very close to Recycle. I think this is a surprise color to turn into a crackle but I am glad they did. I think a brighter color would make a better combination with it though, haha. I used Nicole I'm a Belieber.

Fault Line is the most beautiful color in the crackle set, it reminds me of Coconut Kiss. It's the only crackle with shimmer. This is also my favorite mani so far that I've done with a crackle. I used a "braid" pattern of application and it makes super cool cracks, very random. I used it over Nicole's "Baby" Blue.

I think that the China Glaze's formula is superior to OPI's shatter polish, specifically Black Mesh. It is thinner and doesn't clump up as much as the shatter polish does, for me at least. However, the crackles seem to smell worse than the shatter. I am interested to see how the shatter polishes are in the new colors for OPI, coming soon.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo


These were provided for review.

MAC Wonder Women lacquers

I'm not usually pulled in by packaging alone, but I just fell in love with the look of the Wonder Women collection from MAC. The nail polishes are pretty basic, blue and red but the red topped bottles with the Wonder Woman log just reeled me in. I had to have them!

Obey Me is a fab name for a polish, and this red is a great red. Pigmented wonderfully and formulated perfectly. Two coats.

Spirit of Truth is an all American navy blue, also with amazing pigmentation. The formula is pretty typical MAC cream. Two coats.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

NARS Desperado

I don't have a lot of NARS nail polishes but I do enjoy the ones I do have. Desperado is the first one I've been excited about in a long time, well the first new one. We all remember the excitement when Zulu was re-released. This polish is an antique brass looking metallic. It says to me spicy mustard, if it was a metallic nail polish that is. It's almost caramel, with a bit more yellow to it.

The formula was typical for a watery metallic, I had a bit of cuticle pull but nothing that wasn't remedied easily. It wasn't streaky which was nice. I was pissed that my topcoat gave me tip pull, damn it. Seche Vite has been my top coat of choice for a while now, I haven't bought a bottle of it in a long time but for some reason I got one so I pretty much should use it yeah.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Butter London Billy No Mates

Hello hello my dear friends! Hope your weekend is treating you well and that you are staying nice and warm. I have been packaging and wrapping my brains out, thanks to my blog sale, which is still on-going if you are interested :)

Today I have to show you butter London's Billy No Mates polish. It's an odd color, just the type that reels me in helplessly. It's a grey with a terribly slight bit of blue. I imagine this type of color to be seen in a seersucker suit on a man who owns a Nantucket beach house. Weird I know, but sometimes I let my imagination get the best of me ;)

The application was less than perfect, a bit thick and streaky. This is three coats :P It is a great color though. And you know I luvs me some bL bottles.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Cult Nails Iconic

This is by far my favorite Cult Nails lacquer yet. I have high hopes for Maria's company if she keeps putting out polishes like this baby! Iconic is a deep berry magenta with tons of gold shimmer and irregular red flakes. I was actually on the fence about this polish when I first saw promo images, I was thinking the berry and red would clash but it really doesn't. They compliment each other wonderfully! And the gold shimmer really just ties it all in. It doesn't hurt that I think it looks pretty darn good with my skin tone too ;)

This mani is with a top coat but it's very shiny by itself too. It is a little thicker than I'd like in a perfect world, but I think most flakey polishes are a bit temperamental. You should jump at the chance to get this polish, I'm telling you it's stunning in person!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Healing Gems

Milani has put out a polish that is a dupe of one of my favorites from a much more expensive brand. Gems is styled along the same lines as Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday minus the pink glitter. I decided to use it as a gradient on top of the lacquer I reviewed earlier today for you, Dr. Remedy Healing Heather Grey.

I think this glitter polish is a bit gummier than it's richer doppleganger but other than that it's just as fab and luxe! You can get Milanis from most CVS stores or online at MilaniCosmetics.com for about $5.

EDIT: I've been told that the new batch of Gems will have the pink glitter in it :)

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

These were sent for review.

Spring Cleaning - Blog Sale

Hey everyone! In case you haven't seen it, I recently put up a "Swap/Sell" page on the ol' blog. It links to a spreadsheet of polishes that I need to clear out! Please take a look and see if anything catches your eye :) Email me at kg [at] kelliegonzo.com with requests.

I'm open to swapping suggestions, as I do have a long wishlist but prices are also listed. I prefer PayPal only, shipping is $2.50 + $.50 per additional item (until it becomes cheaper to send in a flat rate box) for the US. International folks are also welcome, with shipping rates depending on your location. Thanks and happy shopping!

P.S. You can see my feedback score on MakeupAlley if you wish, I'm very trustworthy :D

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Dr. Remedy Winter Wonder-Nails collection

Hey everyone! Hope your week is going well :) I am enjoying the sunshine and wishing that daylight savings would approach faster so that I would have more time after work to take some nail polish photos haha.

A new brand of nail polish fell my way recently and myself being a bit skeptical but not cynical decided to give the lacquers a spin on my tips. Dr. Remedy's polishes are marketed as being "healthy", meaning they are hypo-allergenic and include anti-fungal ingredients. Two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel started the brand to appeal to folks looking for a healthier alternative, especially people with allergies.

I couldn't decide if this brand of polish was all together too much different from any other big 3 free polish that is on the market today honestly, but I'm no chemist or doctor. However, it does contain tea tree oil which I know is great for your nails and garlic extract which helps nails to grow faster and stronger. I've had great success with garlic nail treatments before so I like that aspect.

The colors I got to try are from the Winter Wonder-Nails collection, a little late to be showing Winter colors, but whatev. Healing Heather Grey is a nice cool grey crème, very similar to Zoya's Dove. This is two coats. It was thin but surprisingly opaque.

Desire Dark Brown is described as a "cocoa meets hot fudge" brown, and I'll go with that. It's not super on the warm side, but it leans slightly red. This wasn't my favorite color on me but it was a nice safe lacquer. Three coats.

Revive Ruby Red was my favorite of the three shades. It is a berry red crimson shimmer with a slight glow. This polish applied very smoothly and was opaque in one coat but I used two for consistency.

Dr. Remedy polish sells for $16 a bottle online at http://www.remedynails.com and I believe in select salons, I assume located in New York. I honestly was more than satisfied with my experience with the polishes that I tried but the color range leaves something to be desired. I just wouldn't go out of my way to order something for that much money in a shade that I could probably pick out in any collection on the market. The only unique thing this brand has going for it is the "Dr." aspect, which I imagine if matters very much to a person, they will shill out the time and bucks for a bottle or two.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

These were sent for review.

OPI Femme De Cirque Sneak Peek

Four new shades will join the OPI SoftShades collection in April with the introduction of Femme De Cirque.

I Juggle...Men - iridescent shimmer coat

So Many Clowns, So Little Time - creamy nude pink

In the Spot-Light Pink - pop of pink

Step Right Up! - light pink

These should be out around April! I personally love nudes, soft shimmers, and light pinks so I'm excited for these babies!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Nubar Spring Garden collection Sneak Peek

The Spring Garden Collection

Take a leisurely stroll down the Earthen path through The Spring Garden, the scent of Pink Lily in the air. The fresh colors of early Spring abound, with the soft green of the Baby Sprout, gentle shade of Blue Hydrangea, delicate Yellow Primrose, silky Purple Aster, fresh White Peony, and the lively Honeysuckle, each enhanced with the elegant sparkle of Dewdrop.

Always free of formaldehyde, phthalate and toluene, the nail lacquers in nubar's The Spring Garden Collection are:

Pink Lily – vibrant pink creme

Earthen – subdued earthen grey creme

Baby Sprout – soft pastel green

Blue Hydrangea – muted pastel blue

White Peony – ivory creme

Yellow Primrose – delicate pale yellow

Purple Aster – dusty pastel purple

Honeysuckle – cheerful honeysuckle

Dewdrop – fine glitter top coat

nubar nail lacquers feature an ergonomically designed cap and a 299 bristle brush built for comfort and performance.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

3 Misa Wishes

I decided to buy some of the Misa Wishes collection sight unseen. For a polish blogger, this is unheard of. Shows you just how much I love Misa ;) Turns out, I had no reason to worry, the colors I chose were beautiful, in typical Misa fashion.

The first is Never Say Never, and despite having the nasty habit of giving me a Justin Bieber earworm, makes me quite happy to look at. It's a shimmery granite grey whiteish color with a special finish. In fact, all the Wishes polishes have a unique finish that I've never seen before. It's not shiny but it's not matte, not quite satin either. It's like soft? Almost like frosted glass. It's very hard to describe. This is two coats, which for a pale color is really awesome.

Touch the Rainbow is a frosted glass blue ethereal polish. This one surprised me, as before I said, not knowing what to expect, the color is quite slight but still very present. It's a whisper of a tint, but the blue is still there. This is also two coats. These covered remarkably well.

Genie in this Bottle is by far my favorite out of the three I chose, an opalescent pinky purple shimmer floating in a frosted pale purple base, so angelic! This is also two coats. These polishes were a bit thicker but not hard to paint on or streaky, just thick enough to get opaque. Very nice!

What do you think? I love this understated Spring collection! So unexpected! I purchased these from www.head2toebeauty.com and they are also available on www.transdesign.com and www.misacosmetics.com now.

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

Cult Nails Living Water

This is the second lacquer in the Cult Nails family of color. Maria had a contest to create a color and this was the winner, inspired by her reader Tierny. Living Water is a deep blue jelly polish with green glitter inspired by the phosphorescent sea-water. This is two coats.

You can get Cult Nails at www.cultnails.com for $10 each. I love Maria and her polish!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

BB Couture Spam

I have tons of BB Couture polishes that I haven't shown to you all, and believe me they are gorgeous. I figured that now was as good of a time as any!
Napa Valley Red is from the Vampy Varnish collection, designed by my awesome friend Kelly from Vampy Varnish. It's a dark red jelly swimming with red glitter. Gorgeous, of course vampy and simply stunning! This is two coats.

See more BB Couture spam after the jump!

OPI Texas Collection: The Cremes & Shimmers

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend has been great, better than mine anyway. I haven't been able to shake this cold & flu bug, once again. I'm getting awful tired of this winter crap, I'll tell you that much.

Finally, I would love to show you all the second (non-sorbet) half of the OPI Texas collection for this Spring. I've been lemming most of these shades since we saw the press photos late last year and now they are officially mine, yay! There is not one single polish in the bunch that I do not love, and that baby is saying something!

The most flashy and "look at me" polish in the bunch is called Austin-tatious Turquoise. This little baby is so hot, it's flying off the shelves and is already sold out online at a lot of our favorite e-tailers! The gorgeous combination of blue and green shimmer pigments just floats in this semi-sheer lacquer with a hint of pink and purple duochrome. I applied four coats to make this opaque and I couldn't stop staring at my nails! This is a mega winner in my book.

Suzi Loves Cowboys is an awesome dark chocolate brown jelly crème that flows as easily on the nail as you'd hope. Two coats make this opaque and so creamy dreamy beautiful! And guess what...I love cowboys too :D

It's Totally Fort-Worth It is a shimmery lavender grey shade with itsy bitsy dots of iridenscent glitter in it. The same type of glitz that was in the Katy Perry shade Not Like the Movies, but it shows up more in this base I think because of the one color opposed to NLtM's duochrome. I love this gorgeous understated shimmer, so pretty at three coats.

Don't Mess with OPI is a sexy dusty green that reminds me of a cactus, perfection in this collection! Another smooth jelly crème, this just flows on your nails with no problems at all. Two coats here.

San Tan-tonio is another awesome jelly crème with a honey tan color. This is a really great neutral, it reminds me of gorgeous buckskin horses or nice suede cowboy hats. Two coats for this guy!

I Vant to be A-lone Star is a stunning pale sky blue shimmer. This color seems to be hot for spring! I adore the subtlety of this gorgeous lacquer. Two coats.

Now that we've seen all twelve, what do you have to say about the Texas lacquers? Texas girls, do these shades do your state justice? I have to talk them up, because as I said before, not one single shade gave me trouble or made me turn up my nose. I love them all!  The formulas and dry times on them were particularly noteworthy. Great job OPI!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

These were sent for review.