Sunday in the (Madison Square) Park

Madison Square Park is one of my favorite parks in the city because it's always full of life yet still very relaxing. Oh, and there's a Shake Shack ;)

Inspired by the (2) color look that has taken off recently, this weekend I rocked a multi-colored manicure with China Glaze Shower Together (the blue) and Grape Pop (the purple). I really had no idea my scarf matched my nails until I saw these pictures ;)

Have you worn a multi-colored manicure this spring? What colors did you use?

Click through for a few more pictures and an adorable photo bomb...

Best of Both Worlds: Glitter Gradient Sandwich

While experimenting with the glitter gradient look, it hit me - why not a glitter gradient sandwich?

The recipe for this dreamy manicure is:

• Start with an opaque, pigmented pastel (My pick: OPI Do You Lilac It?)
• Dab on a chunky multi-colored glitter - details below! (My pick: Milani Gems)
• Top with two coats of a sheer milky polish (My pick: OPI So Many Clowns... So Little Time)

When picking a polish for your base color, keep in mind that the sheer polish will lighten the color up.

Quick glitter gradient tutorial:
Tap the tip of a spongy eyeshadow applicator against your nail polish brush so that it picks up some glitter. Don't drench your sponge in polish. Starting at the top of your nail, dab the glitter on and move back toward your cuticle. You can go as far as you want - the glitter should thin out as you go. If you didn't get enough glitter on your sponge the first time, go back and add some more. Keep playing around until you're happy with how it looks!

I hope you try this look, there are so many possible variations! Do leave your link in the comments or send me a Tweet if you try it out :)

Striking Gold with Deborah Lippmann "Here Comes the Queen"

About an hour and a half north of New York City is the Woodbury Commons Premium Outlets. With 220 stores including Chanel, Burberry, and Tory Burch, it's quite the mecca of outlet shopping. The car-less New Yorker that I am usually hops on the Metro North but this time found a sweet two-for-one deal (Groupon? Living Social?) on the Hampton Luxery Liner..

Outlet shopping, as you know, can be hit or miss. Imagine my surprise when I saw this beautiful little box of awesome all by its lonesome in the Juicy Couture outlet! Simply put, I struck gold ;)

Juicy Couture partnered with Deborah Lippman and Troy Surratt to create this set that was sold last holiday season. The wondrous gold polish is called Here Comes the Queen, which is SUCH a Juicy Couture and Deborah Lippmann name. The champagne bottle is actually a lip gloss called 24 Karat Couture.

Check out the epic markdown...

On the way home on the bus, I opened the box and HELLO the top of the polish bottle is bedazzled!

Here Comes the Queen is a stunning Deborah Lippmann creation of gold flakies and tiny, glowing gold glitter. While there are many tones of gold, Here Comes the Queen is as close to gold-bar colored gold as it gets :) Coverage is perfect and application is a breeze. Compared to swatches I've seen of Essie As Gold As It Gets, Here Comes the Queen is more dense and the flakies are larger.

Here is one coat of Here Comes the Queen over Wet and Wild Black Crème (the black) and China Glaze Stella (the purple).

Did you watch Gold Rush on TLC last winter? I was totally addicted. Here Comes the Queen reminded me of how the gold looked in the bottom of the pans :) Using "panning for gold" as the inspiration, here is Here Comes the Queen over China Glaze Concrete Catwalk. Glitter gradient instructions here :)

Just for fun, I tried Here Comes the Queen over Butter LONDON Black Knight to test the consistency (you can see I went a little heavy on my ring finger) but the combo was so incredible I had to share it with you!

If you're totally in love with Here Comes the Queen, it is LE however there are a few listings on eBay that are well under the original $48 price tag.

Product(s) in this post were provided for review. Read my disclosure policy here.

Butter LONDON "Black Knight" Makes the Dark Side Look Good

The dark side of polish, that is! Butter LONDON's incredible "glitter fusion" Black Knight is a multicolored glitter polish magically suspended in a black jelly base. Black Knight could have been inspired by the city lights reflecting in the river, don't you think?

The first time I wore Black Knight, I needed (3) coats of it to be opaque. Yikes. However, I understand that the black needs to have a jelly consistency so that the beautiful magenta and turquoise glitter can shine through and doesn't get buried. The easy solution is to wear black underwear (tee hee hee). My choice is Wet & Wild Black Crème because not only is it a very deep black, it is a one coat wonder. With a black base, I only needed (1) coat of Black Knight.

Black and really dark nail polish looks trendy and chic, but only when it's applied flawlessly. I'm overly careful and terrified of cuticle pooling which is how I ended up with the giant gaps :/ Oh well, practice makes perfect!

Black Knight is a gritty polish and swallowed (2) coats of Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. Nom nom nom.

Butter LONDON polishes are $14. In New York City, my favorite retailers of Butter polishes are C.O. Bigelow, Ricky's, and Windsor Pharmacy. There are many more! Here is a list of retailers in New York City that carry Butter nail polish. If you want to buy Black Knight online, I recommend Nordstrom because they offer free shipping :)

This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

New Gotham Polish Logo Revealed :)

I've been hard at work on a logo to represent Gotham Polish for over several months now and am very happy to at last share it with you! With the idea in my head, I've been striving to precisely realize the design. Seeing it up as the new banner on Gotham Polish is a great accomplishment :) I do hope you like it!

Inspired By: SwellMayde Neon Envelope Clutch

Do you know Aimee from SwellMayde? She's not only a fashion guru - she's a DIY genius! Aimee blogs about how to recreate the latest trends in fashion, accessories, and jewelry yourself for a fraction of the cost - and the best part is, you can't tell her DIYs apart from the 'real thing' :)

I was lucky enough to win one of Aimee's originals! This neon yellow snakeskin clutch is the perfect size to hold an iPad or a notebook (I mean a real, paper notebook... with lines? That you write in? Nevermind.)

Aimee's clutch was the inspiration behind the nails :) Using the snake skin print on Bundle Monster plate BM-215, I stamped Sally Hansen Wet Cement with China Glaze Concrete Catwalk . The base color of the accent nail is American Apparel Neon Yellow (another prize! from April of Concrete and Nail Polish).

Be sure to follow Aimee's blog: http://www.swellmayde.com Did you add any neon to your spring/summer wardrobe yet?

Product(s) in this post were provided for review. Read my disclosure policy here.

Nail Polish Trends in New York City

Fellow nail polish blogger Carly from Lacquered Lover and I were interviewed by Ghada Vanderpool for an article on stylehunter.com about spring nail trends in New York City. I'm not at all surprised how similar Carly and my answers are ;) Read the full article here. Can you guess what polishes Carly and I are wearing?

What nail polish trends are big right now in your part of the world?

Cherry Blossoms and Holo

What more could you ask for on a sunny, spring day? ;)

Seeing the cherry trees in bloom at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden has been on my wish list for quite some time. The beautiful pink cherry trees - called 'Kazan' cherry trees - were just about in full bloom. Walking under the canopy of pink blossoms was surreal and like something out of a dream.

OPI DS Signature is a baby pink polish with intense linear holo. I found this at Beauty 35 last May and at the time, thought $12 was a lot to spend on an OPI but am happy now I didn't pass it up.

 

If only the cherry blossoms could stay around all spring...

Where to Find NARS Nail Polish in New York City

reflections in the window of 413 Bleecker... and a little Photoshop magic :)

Have you seen previews of the new Thakoon NARS nail polishes? Those amazing colors - especially Bleecker Street and web exclusive Lal Mirchi - have been on my mind for days, so it's definitely the perfect time to post the shopping guide for NARS nail polish!

NARS nail polishes are available at the following locations in New York City:

NARS Flagship Boutique
413 Bleeker St

Barney's
660 Madison Ave

Bloomingdale's
1000 3rd Ave (between 59th and 60th St)
504 Broadway (Soho - between Broome and Spring St)

Bluemercury
Union Square: 865 Broadway
Upper East Side: 1311 3rd Ave
Upper West Side: 2305 Broadway

C.O. Bigelow
414 6th Ave (between 8th and 9th St)

Henri Bendel
712 5th Ave (between 55th and 56th St)

Lord & Taylor
424 5th Ave (between 38th and 39th St)

Saks Fifth Avenue
611 5th Ave (between 49th and 50th St)

Sephora
Various - see store locator

Space NK
1000 3rd Ave (inside Bloomindales)
968 Lexington Ave (between 70th and 71st)
217 Columbus Ave (corner of 70th)

Zitomer Pharmacy
969 Madison Ave, #1

*Last updated 04/15/12

Where to Shop Map
What is this all about? Introducing the Where to Shop by Brand Guide

Essie's Mint Candy Apple is Spring in a Bottle

Lady Liberty is always in style

If I had to pick one polish in my collection that best represents spring in a bottle, Essie's Mint Candy Apple would have to be it. I adore the color and the name although I'm not sure what a Mint Candy Apple is or what it would taste like.

Mint Candy Apple debuted in Essie's 2009 winter collection "Sweet Time of Year". While I've seen swatches that do look more green, this is a pastel turquoise polish. It is exactly the same color as my toothpaste (which tastes like mint!) or the packaging of winter green gum.

The formula is nothing special - it's actually quite terrible. The texture reminds me white out (admit it. you used to paint your nails with white out in school!) and I always end up with some raggedy lines around my cuticles. The first coat goes on a mess and be careful with the second because you probably will create new bald spots. Yikes. But once it's on... gosh is this an amazing color. If anyone knows of a true dupe with a great consistency, please let me know and I will buy forty back-ups.

Mint Candy Apple is part of the permanent collection. In New York City, Essie can be purchased at many locations including Beauty 35, Bed Bath and Beyond, Cosmetic Market, and Duane Reade.

New Joe Fresh Flagship has Nail Polish, including 'Twilight!'

There's a new Joe Fresh in town - and it's a flagship! Not only is the store massive and beautiful (the windows are spectacularly huge), they have a fully stocked beauty section.

The most exciting part - they had the fan favorite black flaky polish Twilight in stock! While you're there, check out the new spring colors like Starry - a lovely scattered holo.

Visit the new Joe Fresh Flagship at 510 5th Ave (corner of 43rd Street).

China Glaze Prismatic Chroma Glitters

Los Angeles, CA - (March 2012): Array your nails in a myriad of color this spring with China Glaze®’s limited edition Prismatic nail polish collection!  Inspired by the colors formed by the refraction of light through a prism, Prismatic by China Glaze® combines glitter and holographic particles to create the ultimate eye-catching, 3-dimensional manicure. 

The Prismatic polishes certainly pack in a rainbow of colors! While they may not be truly "holographic", China Glaze created six (slightly) duochrome glitter polishes speckled with larger pieces of glitter in pinks, greens, blues, and oranges.

The three polishes I received for review each had the same formula - densely packed with glitter, easy to control, and provided even coverage. Bravo, China Glaze, for creating another glitter collection that is a breeze to use (now, if only they were a breeze to remove... le sigh). For complete opacity, I used three thin coats over a base coat (Butter's Nail Foundation).

Ray-Diant is a "greenish-gold shimmer filled with specks of silver, pink, green, orange and blue". To my eye, it looks like a pale gold more than a greenish-gold. I love how the rainbow of large glitter pieces are so visible and don't get buried!

Polarized is described as a "silver metallic sheen sprinkled with yellow, pink, orange and green glitters". This looks slightly pinkish, doesn't it? Like Ray-Diant, I love how the multi-colored glitters complement this polish.

Optical Illusion is described as "aqua green glimmers with a hint of purple filled with pink, yellow, silver, orange and green flecks". This polish had the strongest duochrome of these three - it's a subtle flash of purple, but the effect adds to the complexity of this shade.

I'm very excited about these glitters because they seem PERFECT for creating a glitter gradient!

China Glaze® Prismatic will be available April 2012.  Individual shades retail for $8 MSRP.

In New York City, the best chance of finding the latest China Glaze collection is at Ulta in Rego Park or Sally Beauty in Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island. Click here for a list of China Glaze retailers in NYC.

Product(s) in this post were provided for review. Read my disclosure policy here.

Field Trip: Beauty Plus Salon

While wandering around one weekend, I randomly stumbled on a pretty great beauty supply store. Beauty Plus Salon is on the west side of Manhattan between 96th and 97th St. This place sells a good variety of the staples - OPI, Essie, base coats, top coats, polish removers - but what makes this one a winner is that they sell China Glaze. If you've been reading Gotham Polish or live in NYC, you probably have picked up on the fact that while we have many beauty supply stores like this, very few sell China Glaze. Each sighting is something to celebrate :)

No HTFs but you may find an older colors on your wish list

The Metro Collection display gives you an idea of when I took this picture

Visit Beauty Plus Salon at 2568 Broadway between 96th and 97th St. It's quite close to the 96th St subway station (1, 2, and 3 trains).