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FROM: The Beauty Department

What's Your Fail-Safe Polish Combination?

10:12 AM, August 06 2009 by Cristina Mueller
Essie manicure.jpgI paint my nails as often as I watch my Netflix movies--which is to say, almost never, and only then out of a sense of guilt (I know I should watch The General, but...). Then, suddenly, last week, I decided to get a manicure—and it made me want to be the sort of lady who wears high heels and pretty dresses and regularly balances her checkbook: A layer of Essie Ballet Slippers, then a layer of Essie Limo-Scene, then shiny shiny topcoat. I loved it—totally classic in every sense. It almost made me want to watch The General.

So: What polishes do you combine?

More from Luckymag.com:
UK Beauty Obsession! Eyeko Nail Polishes
Civilian Product Rave: OPI No Room for the Blues
Nail Trick I Can't Believe I Didn't Know
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FROM: The Beauty Department

UK Beauty Obsession! Eyeko Nail Polishes

9:04 AM, July 29 2009 by Cat Marnell
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I'm obsessed with all things trendy and British; bonus points if they're beauty-related (Windle Salon! Cult Beauty Blog! Louise Galvin!) Obviously, then, these nail polishes from UK cosmetics company Eyeko just friggin' kill me. Aren't they adorable? Look at that Sex Pistols-inspired hot pink! Sigh. I love them. If you do too, the company ships to the US (check out the rest of their products; the entire line is SO cool). Oh, and each polish is only $5.50. Anglo-beautyphiles: unite! And tell us what you love in the comments section!

-Cat Marnell, associate beauty editor

More from Luckymag.com:
On the hunt for: Gosh Cosmetics
Civilian Product Rave: OPI No Room for the Blues
Nail Trick I Can't Believe I Didn't Know
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FROM: The Beauty Department

On the hunt for: Gosh Cosmetics

3:40 PM, July 17 2009 by Cristina Mueller
Gosh cosmetics.jpgReader ersatzkat in our comments section:

"I found a drugstore brand called Gosh while vacationing in Dublin this spring--lovely eyeliners, not super-cheap but reasonable and cool colors."

... And I was off: It's a well-documented fact that I love a foreign beauty product, and so I fell into a rabbit hole of Web searching and learned that the line is actually Danish and makes all manner of awesomely unsmudgeable eyeliners (among MANY other things—nail polish, blush, primer, etc.). Even better, there's a North America website, with e-commerce: Word on the street (the Makeup Alley Street) is that the Velvet Touch waterproof liner is killer. Ten bucks—not bad.

So, readers: Any other Gosh* favorites?

*Simone speculates that perhaps the Danes pronounce it "Gauche"?

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor
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FROM: The Beauty Department

Fun, in a Flower Child Way: Compact Nail Kits

12:00 PM, July 15 2009 by Cat Marnell
2009_07_nailkit.jpgMy artist friend Allison Hills designed these cute wallet-size nail kits, $18 each at naturallife.net. They're the perfect weekend-bag-organizing item--wonderfully compact, full of pockets, and, like Allison, adorable and charmingly hippie-ish.

-Jennifer Scruby, contributing editor
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FROM: The Beauty Department

Civilian Product Rave: OPI No Room for the Blues

12:00 PM, July 09 2009 by Cat Marnell
Reader Jenna Schott of Merrick, NY writes:
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I was apprehensive about trying out the blue nail polish trend that I keep reading about (for fear of looking like a ten year old!), but then I was at a nail salon and saw OPI No Room for the Blues! It’s the most perfect shade--opaque medium blue that looks great on short nails and really pops. I feel like it spices up my boring work outfits, and people keep asking me what shade I’m wearing. So, I say step outside of your nail polish boundaries and embrace the blues!

Want to get the word out about a fantastic product on our blog? E-mail us at beautydept@luckymag.com

(Want more summer beauty? Check out our favorite look-tanner-in-an-instant products here!)
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FROM: The Beauty Department

BEAUTY ETIQUETTE 101

9:00 AM, July 03 2009 by Cristina Mueller
The other day I overheard the accessories department having a heated conversation about clipping fingernails in public; they are categorically against it—they're pretty much just plain repulsed by it—and I am inclined to agree. Definitely a privacy-of-one's-home kinda grooming deal, no?A

--Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor
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FROM: The Beauty Department

FEET. I DON'T LIKE THEM. THERE YOU HAVE IT.

12:00 PM, June 25 2009 by Cristina Mueller
cristina.jpgDon't you think there's something inherently weird about toes? Think about them. Think about them as tiny, chunky fingers gone wrong. 

THAT SAID, there is but one nail polish that makes me look at my feet
Butter London.jpgand actively LIKE them: Butter London Fash Pack. The color is exactly as they say on the website--"putty meets mushroom"--and it is perfectly neutral and awesome-looking. It is my platonic ideal of a polish color.

So: YOUR favorite polish shade? In your response, please avoid using the words "feet," "toes," or the phrase "tiny, chunky fingers."

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor

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FROM: The Beauty Department

NAIL TRICK I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T KNOW!

6:00 AM, May 07 2009 by Lucky Staffers
Follow your regular basecoat/color/topcoat procedure and... finish with a drop of oil. It not only protects your polish, but also makes it dry faster and last longer AND conditions your nails and cuticles in the bargain. There are specific nail oils for this sort of thing (Essie Instant Dry Oil is made for the job), but any oil you have around the house (olive, vegetable, sesame) will work. It's totally simple, nearly free and makes a huge difference!

Also, if you have to put on close-toed shoes but want to protect your hours-old pedicure: Coat your nails in oil, stick a plastic bag on your feet, and then put on your socks and shoes.
 
** Tip courtesy of Shirley, the brilliant manicurist at the Warren Tricomi Salon at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach --


—Jennifer Scruby, contributing editor
 
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FROM: The Beauty Department

Insane Chicness I Wish I Could Put in the Magazine But It's Too Late!

12:01 AM, March 25 2009 by Jean Godfrey-June

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This collection of limited-edition nail polishes from Chanel thrills me to death, for a number of reasons. #1: The names: Or de Russie, Feu de Russie, and Nuit de Russie.*  "I die," to quote Cat Marnell. #2: They're deep are dark and sophisticated enough to make me not hate that they're metallic. #3: Best colors ever.

* Russian glamour is just more glamorous than any other sort. The onion-domes! The gilt all over everything! The dachas with the perfect blue-trimmed windows!  All this from a nail polish!

—Jean Godfrey-June, beauty director

Chanel Customer Service: 800-550-0005

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FROM: The Beauty Department

Beauty News Roundup: '90s Edition

12:01 AM, March 02 2009 by Cat Marnell
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We're extra-thrilled that figure skater/gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi is the new spokesperson for Nicole by OPI (a Lucky favorite, natch)—a great contract with a great company.

There's a new limited-edition CK One bottle, set on a Lucite base with a removable mini-speaker inside. We don't quite get the tech-y part, but it sounds cool— like something a lanky, cooler-than-you person would know how to use. In other words, typical Calvin Klein genius. In 1994, he made CK One one of the most iconically cool fragrances ever, and made everyone involved cool: even allegedly tri-nippled Marky Mark (oh yeah, and that Kate Moss person). With this relaunch, he's doing it again and we want this cool bottle-stereo thing desperately; if you do too, click here.

Gap launched unisex fragrances that year, too: Grass, Earth, Day, and (the most questionably "unisex" ) Heaven. Everyone was obsessed; then all mourned, My So-Called Life cancellation-like, when Gap discontinued all but the latter. The old ones are on eBay, but whatever: Close, Gap's first-ever just-for-women fragrance (besides, one might argue, HEAVEN) is out in April. We're counting on it to smell typical-of-Gap incredible; it also comes in a bottle that looks like Eva from Wall-E, which for some reason really does it for us.

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