maniCURATIVE: June Manicure

I haven't done a maniCURATIVE post in ages, because I've been sticking to the same routine for the past eight months or so: Once a month, I head over to Mary's Nail Salon (1457 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216), where the fabulous Annie gives me a gel manicure.

I am so happy to have found a place steps away from my home where I can get a gel manicure that literally lasts me over a month!!

This month I opted for Annie to hook me up with Gelish's Sea Foam, which is one of the two go-to colors I always get.  For July, I am thinking of being more adventurous and I want to try something new. What color do you think I should try? Pink? Red? Purple?

For those of you in the NYC, making the trip to Mary's is definitely worth the train ride. Be sure to ask for Annie!

maniCURATIVE: Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

I've been dying to do a maniCURATIVE posts for ages, and thought now would be the perfect time to do one on Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips, which I use at least once a month and love to pieces!!! So....... let's get started! Here's what I used:

Step One: Opi Ridge Filler Base Coat (I'm using this for the first time, since my favorite base coat, Essie Fill the Gap! seems to have dropped off the map!)

Step Two: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips (In  Haute and Naughty .. plus a surprise!)

Step Three:Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

The first thing I do is assemble everything I need on one surface. I lay the strips out for easy access, which makes it easy to grab and use when I'm ready to.

Haute and Naughty (pictured above) is not the only shade I ended up using, but since the second color was a last minute decision, I didn't have it ready on hand.

Anyway, I started with applying a single layer of the base coat, O.P.I's Ridge Filling Base Coat... I like so far. It dries very fast, which is always a plus!

Once the Base Coat is completely dried, I find the best sized strip to fit my nail bed. Once the best one has been selected, I peel the clear protective plastic cover.

Then I peel the nail polish strip itself from the backing paper.

I'm now ready to apply. So placing the strip against my cuticle line, I slowly press the strip to my nail, rubbing and smoothing the strip along my nail, to ensure it will bond to my nails.

Once the strip is secured to the nail beds, I gently run it across the tips of my nails and when I'm confident the strip is exactly the way I want it, I gently pull the excess strip away. If this is your first time using the strips and you're afraid of going overboard, feel free to use the handy file included with the kit to file away the excess.

Once the first nail is done, I repeat the process on the other nails. At this point, I decided it might be fun to try two different shades, so in addition to Haute and Naughty, I also used Mod About You on the ring fingers of my hands.

I thought that the pattern would be a nice pop of color in contrast with the dark and dramatic shade.

Once all the strips have been applied, this is what it looks liked...

Now, the last steps is to fill away any jagged pieces or excess to smooth and apply the top coat. I love Seche Vite because it is super fast drying, which means in a few minutes... I'm done!!

Have you tried Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips before? What has been your experience? What is your favorite shades?

maniCURATIVE: Essie Sew Psyched

It's a new year, and it's about that time I brought you another maniCURATIVE post, and boy am I in LOVE with my newest nail color, Essie's Sew Psyched!!

Described as "a cashmere-soft sage pewter", this color is the perfect shade for me.. it's funky enough to grab my attention, but subtle enough to wear to a job interview without having the interviewer go "What the...!?!?" LOL

I didn't venture away from my usual nail polish regimen, but here's what I used:

Step One: Essie Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: Essie Sew Psyched
Step Three: Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat

The remarkable thing about the results is that these next few pics were snapped a WEEK after initially painting my nails this color!! I was way too lazy to do them over... Yes I know, bad, blogger, bad! LOL

All in all, I think the color is holding up pretty well. And I am SUPER HARD on my nails, between typing and strumming my guitar almost every day!

Sew Psyched, while not being the most lisp-friendly nail color name, (And I do have a lisp, if you haven't noticed from my sporadic You Tube videos!) it certainly gets a thumbs up from yours truly!

maniCURATIVE: Black & Grey River Rock Inspired Nails

It's been awhile since I've brought you a maniCURATIVE post, I know. I've been pretty lazy when it comes to my nails, and haven't done something that made me especially excited lately.... until recently.

On a whim, I decided to use my two recent nail polish purchases together, and upon surveying the finished product, I was instantaneously reminded of river rocks, which I've always found quite lovely. I love the shades of black and grey.

Here's what I used:

Step One: Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gray by Gray and
Avon Matte Nail Enamel in Black as Night
Step Three: Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat

I start with applying a coat of my go-to base coat to my clean, buffed nails. The Salon Hansen Complete Salon Manicure has a base and top coat included, but I still added my own, because I know it will work.

I applied two coats of Gray by Gray to every nail, except my ring finger and thumbnail....

On those nails, I applied two coats of Black as Night and let them get slightly dry.

To finish it up I apply a coat of my handy dandy Seche Vite Top Coat and let it dry completely.

What do you think? I've been watching loads of video tutorials for nail designs on YouTube, so this may not be the last nail post for the year... be on the look out! :)

maniCURATIVE: China Glaze's Crackle Glaze: Crushed Candy

When I spotted China Glaze's Crackle Glaze in multiple colors, I almost jumped for joy! I quickly snatched up the Crushed Candy Crackle Glaze and went home, excited to try out a look I like to call Naked Crackle (dirty...LOL)!

Here's what I used:

Step One: Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Crushed Candy
Step Three: Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat

The first step was to apply a coat of my Essie Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat and let it dry completely for a few moments.

Next, I applied a thin layer of the Crackle Glaze to my nails. As it dried, the crackles started to form.

I followed it up with a coat of Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat and once that was dry, I was done!!

I like the overall results... its a simple but unique bit of color, and I was especially super-psyched about how fast it took for the whole thing to be done!!

Crackle Glaze comes in a myriad of different colors... have you tried them yet?

maniCURATIVE: Milani NEON Collection: Dude Blue

I admit that I've been a bit of a nail polish snob lately, opting for my staples O.P.I., China Glaze and Essie, ignoring the color choices available at my local drug store. I've been dying to try O.P.I./Sephora's Glee Collection color, Slushied for a hot minute now, but I haven't been able to make it over to Sephora after work to snatch it up.

Last week, I was at Duane Reade Downtown Brooklyn, when I spotted Milani's Specialty Neon Nail Lacquers in a display and thought that Dude Blue looked an awful lot like a slightly darker version Slushied.



For $4.99.. I decided it wouldn't be too much of a risk to try it out, so I laid my cash down on the counter and headed home to start my weekend rituals, part of which involved changing my nail color for the upcoming week.

OMG... what can I say about Dude Blue?!?!? I am SO IN LOVE with this color!!!! It's like having a mini mood elevator attached to your hands 24/7. Just looking at my nails made me smile! I got a TON of compliments on the color... and I really really dug the look of shock on people's faces when I told them the brand! LOL



This was my nails last Monday...(I was a bit dorky about the fact that my nails matched my straw.. which I am sure those of you who follow me on Twitter know! lol). Sorry for the picture quality, it was a cell phone shot while at work!



Here are my nails the following Friday (another crappy cell phone picture! lol) I am super duper hard on my nails (I type all day at work and type for hours when I get home doing blog stuff, tweeting and other things), so I generally get TONS of chips by the end of the week. I was astonished at how little the damage was for a Drugstore Nail Polish Brand!!! At the end of the week, I couldn't wait to reapply (Nicer pictures approaching! lol).



Step One: Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: Milani NEON Collection: Dude Blue
Step Three: Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat

(Side Note: I am SOOOOOO "Not so Much..." about No Chips Ahead Chip Free Top Coat - Plainly put: it stinks!!! It causes bubbles all over your nails which is always such a bummer!)







Here is Dude Blue just dried on my nails!! I recently snatched up some of O.P.I & Katy Perry's Shatter polish, so later this week I plan on adding it to my ring finger and thumb (Gotta rock my Blackberry Bling whenever possible) so be sure to check out the Miss Moon's Musings FaceBook Page for updated pictures.

Do you need some "Dude Blue" in your life!?!?!? Well you're in luck, because today THREE is definitely a magic number!!!

I have three bottles of Dude Blue for the first three of my Followers that leave a comment with their email address! Best of Luck!!

maniCURATIVE: Essie's Resort 2010 Collection - Turquoise & Caicos

cu·ra·tive (kyr-tv) adj.
1. Serving or tending to cure.
2. Of or relating to the cure of disease.

ma·ni·cu·ra·tive (mn-kyr-tv) n.
1. A cosmetic treatment of the fingernails, designed to lift your spirits and cure what ails you.
2. The newest from Miss Moon's Musings, dedicated to nail polish color.



I've been silently stalking this color since last year, concealing my drool whenever I'd spot it on some of my favorite bloggers. Primarily because rocking blue nails is not so daring and unique for me.

I gave in a few weeks ago, when I spotted the shade at a Duane Reade in Manhattan (Okay, why is it that some DR's are GREAT for cosmetics, and others are completely whack!?!?!?) and I scooped it up in record speed!!!!! Seeing as this past Sunday marked the Spring Equinox, I thought it was a fitting occasion to try out the new color for the week!!



Step One: Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: Essie Resort 2010 Collection - Turquoise and Caicos (#720)
Step Three: No Chips Ahead Chip Free Top Coat

I am not a card-carrying member of "Team Essie", btw.... I've been using Fill the Gap! for months now and its the dopest base coat I've ever used!! I'm trying out No Chips Ahead for the first time, hoping that it will work just as well.

Here are the results:


Here's the just applied & drying (haven't cleaned it up yet...lol!) color. I must say that this color is unlike any shade of blue I've worn before... and frankly, I'm LOVING IT!!! I am digging that the color is this vibrant by natural light only!

To get this color, I used two coats of color and two coats of top coat... I am thinking for now on, I will only use a single coat of the top coat, as I did experience some slight bubbling along the surface of my nails... which is a major drag. Only time will tell if I experience any chips. I will be sure to post an update.



For a Miss Moon's Musing Video Extra to this post, be sure to check out my YouTube channel!!! Are you in dire need of a maniCURATIVE?!?!? What's YOUR go-to color for Spring?