Fashion/Beauty Tuesday: Essie - Judith Ripka Diamond Dust Nail Lacquer

Last week I went to High Tea at the fabulous Peninsula Hotel. I had a wonderful time, great tea, great food and great conversation with my friend Lesa. I blogged about it in my "Tea With Rae," post. By far it was one of the best Teas I have experienced. I have to admit, the Peninsula goes the extra mile. On some select Fridays they have an informal fashion show. Lesa and I lucked out. The Judith Ripka and Luca Luca models floated around showing off fabulous jewelry and clothing, and handing out goodie bags to every single table.

The goodie bag had generous gift certificates from both Judith Ripka and Luca Luca. It also included a bottle of nail lacquer. I didn't think much of it at first, I just casually looked at the package. But to my surprise, it was a limited edition nail lacquer from Essie and Judith Ripka with genuine diamond dust. Yep, I said diamond dust! But how about this, the Essie Loves Diamonds polish is not only infused with genuine diamond dust but there are three bottles of this polish floating around the country with a 1kt diamond, emerald and sapphire. For Real!. It took everything I had not to dump the entire bottle of polish to see if I was a lucky winner. But I'll wait  until the polish is almost gone. Why waste diamond dust. And for me, the suspense is half the fun.

On the surface, this polish reminded me of Essie's traditional nude colors, but this is not your typical polish, remember it is infused with diamond dust. So yesterday I went to have a manicure with this fancy nail lacquer. I have to admit, it does have a glow about it that is not typical of Essie nudes. But there is no glitter or anything like that. It is a classic nude with a pop. And I have fallen in love!

My favorite nail color, Sugar Daddy has officially been dethroned by the Love Diamonds polish, "Put A Ripka Ring On It". First of all, the shine is unbelievable. But more than that, it is a perfect blend between Essie nude colors like Mademoiselle, which tends to be more sheer, and the chalky colors like Angel Food.

Over all, this polish is #DivaApproved. I'm going to stock up because it is a limited edition and who knows when they will run out. Just a warning, they are double the price of other Essie polishes, but I figure the more polish I buy the greater I increase my chance to win that 1kt diamond, emerald and sapphire at the bottom of one of these bottles!

Don't forget to check out Friday's Blog "Tea With Rae," and enter the raffle to have tea with me at the Peninsula Hotel. Also Tea With Rae Logo
 T-Shirts are available. 

Chicago Spa Week

My closest friends and all of my followers on Twitter know that I have been sick to my stomach, literally: diarrhea, severe nausea and no appetite for a week now. Even the smell of food makes me sick. It has been one long week. I'm not sure if I have food poisoning or some kind of stomach virus. But whatever the case, it has been no joke. And even today, I'm only a tad better, but I'll take a little over nothing any day. My reality is this, my immune system is compromised and with AIDS, common things that most people get over quickly, take a lot longer for me to get over.

Needless to say, I was in need of a break. So when I received a late invitation on Monday to a bloggers Spa Event hosted by Single Edition and Chicago Spa Week at the fabulous Joseph Michael's Salon and Spa around the corner from my house, I didn't give it a second thought. Well, actually I did, the diarrhea started up again about two hours before the event, but I shrugged it off and kept it moving. Miss a free spa event kicking off Chicago Spa Week? Are you kidding me? Let AIDS take away all of my joy? I don't think so! It was a wonderful event and I'm glad that I had a chance to hang out with my blogger friends Nikia, Raijean, Kim and Patrice and also meet some new bloggers in the city.

Yesterday was Beauty Tuesday on my blog and I don't know what I was thinking about... #fail. I wrote about the Chicago AIDS Walk and likewise I failed at taking any pictures at the event. I'm glad that my blogger friends did. Feel free to check out their links. I have been off my game. But still, I didn't want my readers to miss the last two days of Chicago Spa Week. All week long, many of Chicago's premiere salons give discount services for as low as $50.00 for spa treatments from facials to massages.

I simply loved the services at Joseph Michael's. I started out with a chair message. Oh My God! When he finished I was so relaxed that I had to sit for a while to regain myself. It was a great start to a wonderful event. 

Afterward, when I regained myself, I got my nails done. The colors these days and just beautiful and I was tempted, but in the end my boring self went with what I know for sure, Essie Sugar Daddy. But Raijean is never afraid of color or glitter. Her nails were simply fabulous in the OPI Shrek Collection. Check out her review of the collection.

And Kim went with in Essie Lilacism. It was equally as pretty. I loved her nails so much that she loaned me her bottle to try the color out at home. I'll report back when I get my nerve up.

In addition to nails and messages, they offered us brow and lip waxes and make-up applications. And have no doubt, a room full of mostly fashion and beauty bloggers took full advantage of all the services.

The owner of Joseph Michael's was an absolute sweetheart. He was the the hostess with the mostest and the staff equally as friendly. And let me not forget the food. Unlimited wine, sushi, cheese and crackers, and dessert to die for. But my stomach was not having it. So I munched on crackers all night but there could have been worse things. I had a wonderful time and at least it took my mind off the fact that I was so sick if only for a few hours. And Kim even won a raffle prize. Single Edition and Chicago Spa Week clearly know how to throw a fabulous party!

I encourage you to take advantage of Chicago Spa Week September 13-18. There are two more days to  indulge in services such as massages, facials and scrubs at Chicago's premiere salons. Many of the services are $50.00. I highly recommend Joseph Michael's Salon and Spa. The Spa is eye pleasing and the staff is both skilled and delightful.

Sugar Daddy..

I was delighted when Patrice Grell Yursik, beauty blogger guru Afrobella, invited me to her spa manicure party celebrating her birthday. I didn't give it a second thought. I responded immediately. I had heard that the Allyu Spa was all that and a bag of chips and I was not going to let modesty get in the way. This invite was priceless, a room of Chicago's top bloggers at a top Chicago spa. It was a lovely day of laughter, fun and relaxation.

Luvvie and I had been spending hours on the launch of my blog so this respite was needed for both of us. Food Blogger Coco prepared an arrangement of exotic spreads and cheeses that made the palette say, “Yeah boy.”

We settled in and the manicurist called us into the spa room three at a time. I knew already what I wanted, Essie Sugar Daddy. What else? When it was my turn I marched to the room and straight to the nail color display. To my surprise, they didn't have Essie, or OPI? Some brand called Sassy. Huh?? “This is not looking good,” I groaned. I bit my bottom lip and smiled it off. Brittany was sitting at a table and I peeked over at the purple nail polish sitting next to her. “Cuuuute,” I declared, but was not interested. I’m a nude girl forever! But the nude colors were extremely limited compared to Essie and I started to feel disappointed. I went from rack to rack as the nail tech looked on apologetically. “Maybe I should try something different,” I said to hide my disappointment and every one quickly agreed. I guess my Diva was getting thin, so I snatched up something I knew for sure, “red,” and quickly sat down. I watched as the manicurist painted Brittany’s nails, the purple was looking kinda cute I admitted. I turned to Karen and she was getting the same color. With only one difference, one single nail of a different color. “Hmmm interesting,” I thought. “But a bit too much for me.”

They both were staring urging me to step out of my box. “It’s only one time,” Karen said. Brittany chimed in, “It’ll be cute.” The peer pressure was so thick I could cut it with a knife. “What the hell,” I declared. “It is kinda cute.” And before I knew it, I had switched colors. As the tech polished my nails, I mumbled to myself. “What the hell are you doing?” I had resolved that this was a wasted manicure. The first coat did not impress me one bit, so I turned away. I became disgusted at myself because I was not one to cave into peer pressure. Now I sat waiting for my wonderful Spa day to end in disaster. The nail tech brought me back to reality when she said she was finished. I took a long good look at my nails and a smile came over my face. They were soooo pretty and the color was hot! “WOW, they really are pretty,” I declared. I marched back into the other room and proudly showed off my nails. I was happy with myself for trying something new. And truth be told, I know that Brittany and Karen have my best interest at heart. They just wanted me to be happy.

In the end why get worked up over such a small thing. It taught me a lesson: be as open in my life about the small things as I am about the big ones. My advice to all the Diva's out there. COLOR is in!! It looks like candy on your nails and that can’t be a bad thing. Don’t be afraid to step out of the box. I will probably never give up nude, but I will mix it up. What the hell, you only live once!