Nail Tricks and Treats

By Melanie Parker

This Halloween there are quite a few nail polish options out there for a fun and festive look. Black nail polish crossed over from witchy to posh around the time CHANEL released Black Satin. Since then, vampy dark hues have been on the forefront of color trends for nails, but they seem especially fitting in October, as does orange lacquers.

I have a few seasonal tricks in my bag, the first of which involves the delightful pumpkin spice foil-finished OPI Music Hall Curtain Call, which was released as part of the Holiday 2006 collection. It is my go-to harvest hue because I just can't get enough of that foil finish. This year, I decided to pair it with a stark black crème polish. I used the Konad stamping technique with an all over paisley pattern from the M60 plate. Konad stamping is easy and fun. This particular pattern got a lot of compliments because it almost looks like a detailed henna decoration.

The next trick is something OPI whipped up all on its own. The OPI Suede collection, released this Fall, takes popular colors from its existing collection and gave them a suede finish. The suede finish is a cross between a foil and a matte finish in its native state. The instructions warn that it will not last as long as a the original salon formula, and that you should not wear it with top coat, drying products, or lotions. I choose the sueded version of Lincoln Park After Dark. It's a ghost of the original dark plum crème polish. In fact, it reminds me of a frosty purple eye shadow. You know, the one that looks intriguing in the pan, but is a little too light and shiny on your lids, so then you wet your brush, re-apply it, and like magic it transforms into a deeper,sexier version of itself and you have a smokey eye? It's exactly like that. Use this suede to give yourself some smokey nails.

Although I should note that the suede polishes take longer to remove. The plum lifted off like an original color, but then I was left with a silver foil finish on my nails that I really had to work at and saturate with remover to thoroughly clean my nails of any traces of this tricky polish. And like the matte polishes reviewed recently, these colors do double duty and you can transform the suedes into a dazzling, brighter, shimmering nail polish with a top coat.

Another polish that reminds me of Halloween is Nicole's Black Cat-cha Later. It's a deep black base with red shimmer. It's sleek and sexy.

China Glaze gives us quite a treat with the limited edition Fortune Teller this year. This color became hard to find pretty quickly due to seasonal production and the fact that the black glaze uniquely suspends a variety of sizes of orange glitter. The glitter ranges from micro specks to larger hexagon-shapes. Because I don't like a bumpy texture on my nails when I am putting in my contacts, I used this sparingly over the previous Nicole manicure. Just one coat of Fortune Teller gave me great coverage. Up close, the cluster of glitter reminded me of a star field. When I was using my hands later, I noticed that the glitter glowed and faded in the light like the embers of a bonfire as it moved. I LOVE the dancing light quality that the various sizes of glitter provide. One can only hope that one day China Glaze will come out with various sizes of pink glitter suspended in black glaze like this. I don't need a crystal ball to predict that it would be an immediate sell out!

Disclaimer: All products featured in the review were purchased.
Review by Melanie Parker