Jezebel: Nail Polish

How To Give Yourself Paint-Splattered Jackson Pollock Nails

Jenna Sauers — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:05:00 EDT

Why not freshen up your nail game — and/or document your Jackson Pollock/Abstract Expressionism fandom — with this DIY manicure that mimics the effect of spattered paint? Like all the best things in life, it looks a hell of a lot more complicated than it actually is. All that stands between you and getting just the right amount of streaky spatter on your fingertips is a little nail polish and a drinking straw.

Where Do Ridiculous Nail Polish Names Come From?

Margaret Hartmann — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:57:00 EDT

If you're biting your nails while you're reading this, you'd better knock it off, because a manicure is now the hottest way to express your style. Between 2009 and 2010, nail polish sales increased 11.9%, leading experts to declare that polish has replaced lipstick as the bullshit economic indicator for the recession. Now since stars including Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian (and basically every other female celebrity) have been spotted with manicures, the L.A. Times decided it's time for a trend piece, and an investigation into why we keep investing in new shades that are barely distinguishable to the ones we already own. More »

How To Make A Manicure Last

Jenna Sauers — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:45:00 EDT

I guess it's no real secret that I'm into doing my nails. Having manicured hands stops me from biting my nails, for one thing, and I am lucky enough to be in a profession where I can rock all kinds of weird nail art. That wasn't always the case; I sometimes think that my interest in nails is just one more after-effect of having first a high school and then a job where anything but clear polish was verboten — kind of like how I still don't own a single pair of brown leather shoes because those were the shoes I had to wear, with white socks, every weekday from ages 12-17. That and as a writer I spend a lot of time looking at my hands, I suppose. More »

Worth It: A Top Coat That Saves Your Manicure

Jenna Sauers — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:35:00 EDT

Much unlike many a magazine editor who recommends you buy all sorts of crap that they most likely got for free, your Jezebel staff doesn't get jack shit (other than books, unsolicited). And that's how it should be. But on our own time, in our personal lives, we still buy stuff. So this is Worth It, our daily recommendation of random things that we've actually spent our own money on. These are the things we buy regularly or really like, things we'd actually tell our friends about. And now we're telling you. More »

Muppets Nail Polish, Because Why The Hell Not?

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:30:00 EDT

It seems we're going to be inundated with Muppets movie-related products this fall, and now that includes nail polish. We're definitely not complaining, because the new line of O.P.I. polish, featuring the colors Excuse Moi, Rainbow Connection, and Gone Gonzo, looks pretty fun. We're a little surprised that there's only one Kermit-inspired shade (Fresh Frog of Bel Air), but then we all know the perils of being green. More »

How To Do A 30s-Style Moon Manicure

Jenna Sauers — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:00:00 EDT

Back in the era of Deco and Depression and FDR, ladies who did paint their fingernails didn't generally paint their fingernails the whole way. Wouldn't you like to know their secrets? More »

Paint Your Nails To Look Like Van Gogh’s 'Starry Night'

Whitney Jefferson — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:40:00 EDT

Do your high-art nails require so much more than a regular manicure? Perhaps you should take a look at this tutorial, which despite looking like it could take hours of practice to master, will transform your fingertips into one of Van Gogh's masterpieces. More »

Formaldehyde Officially On Carcinogen List, Brazilian Blowouts Officially Dangerous

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EDT

On June 10, the US government issued a report on carcinogens, and formaldehyde was officially added to the list. For the most part, formaldehyde is used as embalming fluid used in the funeral industry, and CNN reports, "it is also a large component of the 'new car smell' — composed of fumes emanating from carpets, upholstery, plastics and glues used in new cars." But the chemical is also present in two products women use often: nail polish and Brazilian blowout treatments. More »

How To Paint Your Nails With Stripes

Jenna Sauers — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:45:00 EDT

Brightly colored stripes were all over the spring collections — Jil Sander, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Céline all played with parallel lines — but a dress or a top by any of the aforementioned isn't exactly within my freelance writer's budget. Also — no offense to MObama — I strongly suspect I'd feel like a tool wearing most of those things in a year. So...I set myself the challenge of incorporating stripes into my look in a far cheaper, and reassuringly temporary, way. Striped nails! Here's how I did it. More »

Boy's Pink Nailpolish Throws Nation Into Crisis

Sadie Stein — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT

This is the image that (according to Fox news) has necessitated therapy for a child and is emblematic of our society's gender confusion. More »

Glee OPI Polish Lets You Sport "Celibacy Club" Nails

Margaret Hartmann — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:15:00 EST

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Sephora by OPI is releasing a line of Glee nail polishes, which includes a "glittering diamond top coat" called "Celibacy Club." Why bring teen chastity into it when the names "Cheerios Cherry" or even "Rachel Berry" are available? More »

Teal Or No Teal

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST

Aukland, NZ, December 26: A punter looks on during the Boxing Day Race carnival at Ellerslie Racecourse. These pictures always make me wish I had a fancy hat wardrobe, except I look weird in hats.

Nail Polish Names Are Endlessly Amusing

Irin Carmon — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:10:00 EST

This weekend, I noticed the following polish on offer, not long after spying Rimmel's "Latino" lipstick. The cosmetics industry has officially run out of ideas, confirmed richly by the Internet. More »

Teen Dreamboat Launches Glittery Nail Polish Line

Katy Kelleher — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:51:00 EDT

We know just what to buy your pre-teen niece this holiday season to make her squee: Justin Bieber nail polish. The collection is called "One Less Lonely Girl" and will be available at Walmart. More »

Beauty 101: Your Nail Questions, Answered

Hortense Smith — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:10:00 EDT

This week, our Beauty 101 series is focusing on all aspects of nail care, from cuticle woes to nail biting habits to polish problems. You had questions, and your fellow commenters have the answers: More »

Beauty 101: "I've Never Been Able To Paint My Nails"

Hortense Smith — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:30:00 EDT

As a lifelong nail biter who just kicked the habit (for now) about 5 months ago, I sympathize with many of the questions in this week's Beauty 101 post, which focuses on all sorts of nail fails: More »

Polish Your Beauty Routine With Jizz

Katy Kelleher — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:20:00 EDT

To follow up on Dickweed (shown) the girls at BleachBlack have announced their second nail polish: Jizz. It is a surprisingly pretty pearly, milky white. Unfortunately, the $12.95 price tag might make you gag. [Refinery 29] More »

Shrek Fashion: Being An Ogre Is So Hot Right Now

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EDT

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Green is cool this summer — or so Dreamworks wants us to think: The Shrek characters star in a fancy VMan fashion spread shot by photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Also weird? Shrek-inspired nail polish (image after the jump). [VMan] More »

Does American Apparel's New Nail Polish Contain Hazardous Material? (Updated)

Irin Carmon — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST

American Apparel has quietly pulled its new, custom-made nail polish from the shelves, telling employees there were "quality issues with the glassware," but adding that it's now considered "hazardous material" and can no longer be shipped. What's going on? More »

Justice Sotomayor's Red Nail Polish Is "A Symbol of Her Latina Culture?"

LatoyaPeterson — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST

Mimi Valdés (editor of Latina magazine) and Gloria J. Baily (director of Diversity at a university) agree in Forbes Woman that Sotomayor's nail polish color choice stems from ethnic pride. [Forbes Woman] More »

The Garden Of Eden Had A Nail Salon?

Hortense Smith — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:45:00 EDT

This rather suggestive nail polish ad is causing a bit of a stir over at Scrangie, a nail polish blog, with commenters taking both sides as to whether the ad is humorous or offensive. What do you think? [Scrangie] More »

Nailed

Anna Holmes — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:40:00 EDT

Says Hortense: "What would the OPI name be? "I'm Not Really Freddy Krueger?" [Vintage Ads] More »

Crimes & Misdemeanors

Maria — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:45:00 EDT

A 12-year-old girl in England was detained and questioned by police for more than an hour after she put a splash of nail polish on her thumbnail in a drugstore. The girl was "caught" by a security guard who called the police who told the girl she could be forcibly restrained because she was over the age of 10, even though she made no attempts to escape or resist her detainment. Eventually, the girl's parents had to pick her up and pay for the Revlon peach-colored polish. How many actual robberies, and assorted other crimes happened during the time it took to detain this girl? [Telegraph] More »

"Secretaries, look!" begins a typewriter...

dodai — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:45:00 EST

"Secretaries, look!" begins a typewriter ad from around 1955. "Look how Underwood and Underwood alone helps your keep fingernails and hands lovely to look at, lovely to touch!" The first feature: "exclusive half-moon keys." The shape means "fingernails never touch the keys. No more worry about short unfashionable fingernails, chipped nail polish!" And that's not all: "Try Underwood's new chip-resistant nail polish, Underwood's Red, free! Beauty consultants styled it just for secretaries. A brilliant red, it stays on and on. Type us a letter on office stationery asking for it." How badly do you wish this were still available so that you could test-drive it? (Click picture to see a larger version.) [Vintage Ads] More »