Yes, I am one of those people who devoured The Hunger Games trilogy so when I saw that Lionsgate and China Glaze have officially launched their nail polish line inspired by the colors of the fictitious Capitol, I had to share. It didn’t happen without a little bit of drama though! You’ll also notice that the colors at the core are influenced by the twelve districts of Panem (not just the Capitol):

Luxe and Lush – District 1 (Luxury)
Stone Cold – District 2 (Masonry)
Riveting – District 3 (Technology)
Hook and Line – District 4 (Fishing)
Electrify – District 5 (Power)
Fast Track – District 6 (Transportation)
Mahogany Magic – District 7 (Lumber)
Dress Me Up – District 8 (Textiles)
Harvest Moon – District 9 (Grain)
Foie Gras – District 10 (Livestock)
Agro – District 11 (Agriculture)
Smoke and Ashes – District 12 (Mining)

Cliff notes: If you have no idea what I’m talking about, BASICALLY The Hunger Games is about a post-apocolyptic world where whatever’s left of it is called Panem. Panem is broken down into 12 districts and the Capitol is the governing city. They have an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each of districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive. And the main character Katniss pretty much kicks ass. And yeah, at times they make her wear nailpolish before doing so.

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Following my obsession with Sally Hansen Effects Real Nail Polish which is kind of like the DIY alternative to Minx (but in my experience, stays on even better and is a lot more affordable), the peel-and-apply nail strips just came out with their exclusive prints for the holidays and they are just as festive as they are pretty. I nabbed their “Plaid About You” red and black print for myself and adore it!

It took me ten minutes to apply it before heading out to meet my friends for brunch (this is when no-dry time comes in handy!). My friends loved the design, which also happened to match the red lipstick I was rocking that morning — Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Vesuvio! Thought it was a good way to ring in December and the holiday season…and it unexpectedly re-invigorated the 15-year-old-Nirvana-listening-flannel-obsessed-Shyema. Someone cue Smells like Teen Spirit!

What do you think? The new prints also include Peppermint Twist (red and white candy stripe), Snow Bunny (white with red snowflakes), Prep’s Cool (black and silver argyle), and Winter Funderland (black, silver and blue glitter) and costs $10 for a kit of 16 polish strips, a cuticle stick, and mini file-buffer.

Tip: Use the pointy side of the cuticle stick to evenly shape the ends near your cuticle!! You’ll be a pro in no time. You can pick one up at any drugstore/mass retailers!

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Last week, Glamour magazine invited me to a very special event: breakfast and manicures with Essie nail polish creator, Essie Weingarten! It goes without saying, Essie is a leader in the nail polish industry — it’s practically impossible to walk into any salon without her polishes lining the shelves. And Hello, Allure was Kate Middleton’s polish of choice for the Royal Wedding! I myself have found some of my favorites in her collection — Tart Deco and Fiji for summer, Wicked for winter, and the French Affair collection?! J’adore…

So I went downtown to TenOverTen salon (another place I’ve been meaning to check out FOREVER!), and met the lovely girls at Glamour who introduced me first to Essie’s new Winter/Holiday 2011 line: Bling it On!

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By Nicci Jordan Hubert

The people at Duri must know their audience; the arrival of autumn means leaving the icy cocktails of summer and once again embracing the comforting flavors of red wine and darker, richer imbibements. I treated myself to a mani/pedi with two of these colors: Cabernet Sauvignon for my toes and Bloody Mary for my fingernails. Gorgeous and rich hues, perfect for the season. What are your favorites?

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I have been trying to elude falling sick for a few days now. I stayed positive, telling myself the sneezing fits wouldn’t grow into anything more. Yeah, I was wrong. I woke up at 7 AM yesterday morning with this huge lump in my throat that forced me out of bed and kept me awake terribly early before work.

I have been pretty grateful for not even being able to remember the last time I was sick. {Side note: Did anyone watch Unbreakable? I always reference that part when Bruce Willis’ character starts to see that he’s different and he traces it back from not remembering when he was sick, and actually realizes he was NEVER sick before, and thus a superhero. Not that I’ve never had a fever before, but this is my favorite hint that maybe I’m becoming a superhero }. So yes, I couldn’t go back to sleep and was still in denial so I decided I was going to make myself feel better – by painting my nails. Obvi.

I found this gorgeous teal nailpolish that was in my Spa Week gift bag from the night before, LCN’s Azure Blue and painted a few coats that dried rather quickly. I felt like it had almost a gel-like finish to it too.

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Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating today! Hope you all are stuffing yo’ faces. Now, I kind of caught wind of this a tad embarrassingly late, but has anyone else seen Minx’s Ramadan Collection? I’m not kidding:

Can’t say I’ve seen a company help rock a religious month that hard. The nails say “Ramadan Kareem” (literal meaning is ‘Ramadan is Generous’ but it’s just a way of saying Happy Ramadan essentially). Now, they just need to make Eid Mubarak (“Blessed Eid”) nails. It kinda tickles me. Probably most ironic is some Muslim women would choose not to don nail polish-anything when they pray (and that’s 5x a day). Either way, I think it’s a cute gesture. And that gold on black Arabic script looks pretty cool.

So, yeah. File that under Ramadan 2012. Or not.

x
Shy

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