Blaq Vixen Beauty

Rihanna sure does love her burgundy/maroon gel manicures, doesn't she? Celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees uses gel on [Rihanna] all of the time because it stays "flawless" and is "perfect" since she is always traveling.

For her appearance on American Idol and later at Coachella, Rihanna decided to go with a "moon manicure with just a little drama." So Kyees turned to two products - Ez Flow Buff Gelez and IBD Red Velvet Gelac (which Rihanna exclaimed was "gorgeous" when Kyees showed her the color).

First, Kyees applied a layer of Buff (a subtle, shimmery nude gel polish) and then added a coat of Red Velvet (a deep shimmery maroon gel polish) on top. Rihanna wore statement rings to compliment her gel manicure.

What do you think of this combo? Check out Rihanna's performance on American Idol below:

Models wore Dashing Diva's Concrete Playground at the Nicholas K Spring 2011 presentation during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Studio at Lincoln Center. Celebrity nail technician Patricia Yankee specially mixed a khaki brown and mint green color. Along with the special mixes, Nicholas K went with Concrete Playground (a heather gray polish - shown in collage), Astor Place (classic slate creme) and Tibi Couture (lilac).

At the Cushnie et Ochs presentation at Lincoln Center on September 9, celebrity nail technician Pattie Yankee dipped nails in gold metallic to complement the dripping effect of the clothing that designers Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs were emulating. The nails were painted with a basic clear base coat and then a gold foil was applied by rubbing it straight onto the nail. To recreate this look at home, try Dashing Diva Stick-It-Good Base Coat. 

At the Yoana Baraschi presentation at Lincoln Center on September 11th, celebrity nail technician Pattie Yankee used East River View (nude apricot) for a feminine polished look for hands. For toes, Pattie kept with Yoana’s vision of a fierce and free-spirited woman by using Bitter-Sweet, (deep chocolate brown) and New York Slice, a creamy orange red coral.

Arriving at a post BET Awards party, Keri Hilson was the third celebrity to be treated to a manicure by celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees. She is wearing the OPI Axxium Gel Lacquer with silver glitter tips. On her ring finger, Kyees glued black Swarovski crystals and topped it off with a black glitter tip. For Keri's pedicure, Kyees used "Sally Hansen in 220," which could possibly be Cafe Au Lait.

This look could be easily requested at your local nail salon. In fact, my mom and sister have had the pleasure of experimenting with the different glitter gel tip combinations available at J. Nails here in San Antonio.

TWITTER---Celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees was also responsible for Cassie's peachy nude nails. She painted China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Great Barrier Beige all over the nail. For an unexpected twist, she capped each nail with Orly Luxe Silver French Tips. For Cassie's pedicure, she used a combination of Essie Nail Polish in Waltz (on top) and Orly Nail Lacquer in White Out on the tips.

More Orly...

To get Cassie's bralet and high waisted pants ensemble, check out Get Whit It!

Photos courtesy of Latina and MTV Style.

Editor's Note: Picture not available at this time.

Queen Latifah's look at the American Idol Gives Back Event reminded me of a similar look she wore at her birthday party last year - very sexy and rock star glamorous. Celebrity makeup artist Monifah Mortis (who also did Queen's makeup for this year's BET Honors) said, "I wanted her beauty look to be sexy and funky, and translate to the young audience that was tuned in to last night’s show. Since Queen had an understated hairstyle, I wanted to have fun with her makeup and really glam it up."

face. "Since Queen had an understated hairstyle, I wanted to have fun with her makeup and really glam it up. For her face, Queen already had a gorgeous tan so to accentuate it I applied COVERGIRL Queen Collection Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer (Brown Bronze) to give her an extra healthy glow."

eyes. "To really communicate that rock star glam look, I created a colorful smoky eye on Queen with a dark green cream base. I then applied a light layer of a black cream shadow like COVERGIRL Smoky ShadowBlast in Onyx Smoke to really smoke it out and give her eye a smoldering look. To further accentuate her eyes, I added a tiny amount of purple cream shadow in the corner of her eyes like COVERGIRL Smoky ShadowBlast in Purple Plume to make them pop on camera. I then finished her eye look with two coats of COVERGIRL LashBlast Fusion mascara for dramatic lashes with length and volume."

cheeks. "To add some contouring and depth around Queen’s temples and cheekbones, I used COVERGIRL QueenCollection Natural Hue Minerals Pressed Powder in Ebony."

lips. "To complete Queen’s edgy American Idol look, I custom-blended a brownish rosy lip color and then applied a sheer layer of COVERGIRL ShineBlast Lip Gloss in Glimmer for a shimmery, high-shine lip look.”

nails. Celebrity manicurist Lisa Logan used the Ginger + Liz shade "New Money" on Queen Latifah. I wish I had a picture of her manicure but I'll keep searching. New Money is described as a "bluish teal green creme lacquer."

photo: source