Queensday nailart.
Just a quickie for you today showing off what I am wearing on my nails right now in honor of Koninginnedag. (Click the word to read more about this Dutch National Holiday)
For the base I’ve used OPI A Roll in the Hague as it is of course the most perfect orange for this occasion.
On the tips to halfway down my nail I’ve dabbed some Orange You Unique by the amazing Amy of Nailventurous which I’ve incidentally designed the labels for so go check them out!
When it was dry and topcoated I stamped a black crown over it with black Konad special polish so the golden crown I stamped over it with Passion by China Glaze after that stood out a bit more.
Have a fabulous Queensday everyone who celebrates it!
Did you do something special too for this day?
Alright, I’ve given in! Here’s my Easter manicure!
I didn’t think I would do it, honestly I don’t care much about Easter nail art. All the Easter eggs, bunnies and crosses in pastel shades usually do not do it for me but when my mom asked me if I wasn’t going to do any Easter themed nails I took it as a bit of a challenge to find something I like that does have a bit of an Easter feel to it.
So I came up with these:
Excuse the dry cuticles, I’m working on those, believe me! I know what’s causing them too, you see, I’m just too stubborn or actually too impatient to stop using Acetone free remover, so every time I take off my polish I dry out my cuticles a tad more and I have to use my OPI Avoplex things again to get them a bit more presentable again… A never ending cycle really. You know how it goes I’m sure…
Anyway what I used for this mani is the following:
Orly Nailtrition – The basecoat
China Glaze‘s For Audrey – The base color
Konad‘s Wine Red stamping polish for the dots as I couldn’t find my brown.
A Sponge Bob Stamping plate for the dots (Click here to go to the Ebay page to buy it):
And of course a royal coat of Seche Vite to protect it all and after that I was done. That’s all there is to it really and it makes for a cute, really wearable Easter manicure.
Did you do an Easter manicure as well this year? If so, what did you do?
Posted in 2012, Basecoat, Black, Blue, Brown, China Glaze, Clear, Cream, Crème, Holiday Season, Konad, Mint, Nail Art, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, O.P.I., Opaque, Orly, Seche Vite, Spring, Stamping, Stamping system, Teal, Theme, Topcoat | 
7 CommentsUnder the Sea themed manicure – Spongebob!
I’m part of a Facebook group called Adventures in Stamping that was created by Debbie of The Crumpet fame. As you’ve probably already guessed by the name; it’s a stamping group where we stamp on Sundays by a theme that was picked by the group at the beginning of the week..
This week the theme was Under the Sea. And because I didn’t want to do the whole Fish and Blue water thing, as I had a feeling those would be picked a lot already, I decided it was time to go with one of my favorite men of all time. Spongebob!
As a basecoat I’ve used Sally Hansen – Triple Strong, my current go to basecoat which has been making my nails a lot stronger than they’ve been for a while now.
When that had dried I painted my nails with Essence color & go – Mellow Yellow, which is the perfect soft yellow for Mr Squarepants there.
After that using image plate Qa2 that I got off of eBay a while ago I stamped the little holes in the sponge with O.P.I. – Over the Taupe.
I used the small end of my double sided stamper to make sure I was able to position everything perfectly.
Then it was time to stamp on the teeth and eyewhites, for that I used Konad’s white stamping polish. Then came the trickiest part, lining up the white shapes I had just stamped with black lines. Believe me, it took me a moment but eventually I got it!
The pupils and the tongue had to be painted in by hand, I used a dotting tool for that.
The red logo, tongue and one of the flowers are Essence Color & Go – Fame Fatal
The black that I used for the pupils is Essence Color & Go – Black is Back
And the orange flowers are O.P.I.’s - Heeeere’s Jack! that comes from their 2008 Halloween mini’s set.
When I got everything in position I used my loyal Seche Vite topcoat and he’s been living on my fingers for a day now. I can’t stop smiling when I see him, I hope you guys are as amused by him as I am!
I hope to be sharing more of our challenges in here, and who knows, if you enjoy stamping I’ll see you at the group on Facebook someday?
Have you tried a cartoon character on your fingernails yet?
And would you wear this guy on your nails?
Posted in 2012, Basecoat, Black, Brown, Cream, eBay, Essence, Flowers, Konad, Links, Manicure, Nail Art, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Opaque, Orange, Red, Sally Hansen, Seche Vite, Stamping, Stamping system, Theme, Topcoat, White, Yellow | 8 CommentsIntroducing the Konad Q1 plate.
I recently found out about a rare plate that Konad supposedly produced a while ago and I decided to hunt it down on eBay. I’m a big stamping plate collector and I love how they all help you achieve a different look for your nails. This particular plate I feel has a little rockchick or even rock chic look to it because the little swallows have an old style tattoo vibe and when I see a little lightening bolt I can’t help but think of Kat von D.
The little stars, the rainbow and the all over cupcake, sweets and icecream cone print give it a more happy vibe, something Gwen Stefani or Nicky Minaj could totally rock. You just can’t go wrong with a nice leopard print, especially when it’s teamed up with some awesome looking shreds!
What do you think of this one? Had you heard about it or seen it yet? Or do you own it already and are you not impressed, let me know, I’m curious!
Posted in Animal Print, Haul, Hot, Konad, Rainbow, Shopping, Stamping, Stamping system, Stars, Trend | 13 CommentsThe Nailpolish tag!
I was recently tagged by the lovely Natascha of Beautytas.nl with this little quiz about my love for polish… Here we go:
How many polishes do you have? - About 250, I’ve honestly lost count and I like it that way! {It’s called denial I think}
What’s the most owned brand? - China Glaze, OPI is a close second.
What’s the most common color in your stash? – Purple, but I also have a lot of greens.
Are there colors or finishes you do not own? – I recently found out about sherbet, which is a finish that lies between jelly and cream. I don’t own that yet, but I don’t think I need it really. And colorwise I think I really do have everything and if not it’s on the way (like a black, dark green and bronze holo by Glittergal <3)
Is there a polish you wear the most, write share the color and the brand with us! - Not really to be honest, I have so many that I don’t often get to wear a polish more often than once. There’s a polish that I am very impressed with right now though; Greta by the Make-Up Store. It’s THE holo-est holo I’ve ever seen <3
What polish should you have tossed out ages ago but haven’t? - Honestly none. I love them all and polish rarely goes off, even if it looks like it, if you shake it for a bit it’s usually as good as new. And if not it probably just needs a few drops of polish thinner. {As her best friend and friendly editor, I say there is a polish she needs to get rid of, but I think getting rid of any polish breaks her heart so she holds on for dear life. There is a polish that she wore when she came to visit me in the US that needs to go. She put a Del Sol polish over a base coat color she had on and it ended up looking like something you’d find in a babies diaper and made her look very sickly. I say toss it, but I know she’d cry. We just agree to disagree on this one because I don’t want to make her cry *wink* – Angel.}
Do you use Base- and topcoat? - Religiously. It doesn’t only protect and sometimes even nurtures your nails, but it also makes your manicure last much longer.
Would you rather stamp your nail art on or are you a fan of doing it freehand? - I like a mix of both really. Stamping if I’m in a hurry, freehand if I want something more unique.
Do you like shimmers and glitters or are you more into a cream finish? - I love shimmers, I love a nice even cream, but I’m not so much into glitter because they’re just such a hassle to get off again even if you do it with a nice trick.
Do you feel naked without nail polish? - Sadly, yes I seriously do!
What polish are you wearing at the moment? – Blagger by Butter London. A gorgeous rich blue cream that reminds me of the blue of Dr Who’s Tardis. Yes I’m a nerd and I’m proud of it! *Grins*
Thank you for the tag Natascha, I had fun filling this one out!
Posted in 2011, Angel, Basecoat, Beauty, China Glaze, Cream, Del Sol, Glitter, Glitter Gal, Green, Holographic, Konad, Links, Make Up Store, Nail Hardener, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nude, O.P.I., Purple, Seche Vite, Shopping, Stamping, Stamping system, Style, Topcoat, UV activated nailpolish | 4 CommentsNew Konad Image Plates M84 & M85
Today I have a little exciting news snippet for all the nail art stamping lovers out there!
Earlier today I found out via Twitter that Konad is releasing two new M series image plates; by the end of September. A little quick Google search led me to these product pictures of image plates M84 & M85:
What do you think? Are you planning to get one of these?
Posted in 2011, Konad, Nail Art, Nailpolish, Nails, Preview, September, Stamping, Stamping system | 5 CommentsCiaté twitter contest winner!
I rarely win anything, the only thing I actually remember winning is a juicebox in school many many years ago, that’s about it really.
And now, about a week ago, by tweeting a little message I won a nailcare package provided by HetCosmeticahuis.nl of the British high-end nailpolish brand Ciaté! Can you imagine, a nailpolish nut like me, winning nailpolish and all kinds of awesome other items? I was over the moon I tell you!
Right away I got a sweet private message from Cosmetica Huis telling me I could pick a color and they’d send out the package right away.
That was a tough one, Ciaté has 40 seriously amazing colors. I first wanted to go for my standard go to color; purple. However, I found myself looking at all the wonderful colors this brand has and I opted for a cream style green called ‘Stiletto’. I like green on my nails, somehow it seems to go really well with my pale skin tone and I didn’t have a nice rich sap green like this yet. I already spotted a nice dupe for this color – Starboard from the Anchors Away collection by China Glaze – but since I don’t own this color either I decided to go for the Ciaté one.
Read on to see what my experience with this brand was and of course to see more pictures…
The package arrived two days later and I was just really pleasantly surprised because not only did I win the polish; I had also won a rhinestone wheel with the most adorable little 1mm multicolored rhinestones, a nailpolish remover in a glass bottle which had an adorable matching bow, a nail file and cuticle care cream!
I started with a nice coat of my favorite nail hardener by Orly called ‘Naitrition’ which I’ve mentioned on this blog before then put on two coats of Stiletto. One coat was a bit too sheer for my taste, but two coats did the trick. I liked the brush, it has 250 hairs and it’s slightly oval so it takes good care of your coverage.
The bottle promises that it contains a long lasting full coverage nail enamel so I was going to test this out for sure.
I was sad to discover that a few bits of the polish had chipped off 
by the end of the first day. All of them were along the free edge of my nails, though not all nails were affected and I wondered if it could be the fault of the basecoat I had used. Maybe I should use a Ciaté base coat or possibly not just a nail hardener.
Four days after that sad discovery the chips were, of course, still there. I did not cover them to see what would happen and honestly, no more had appeared and the chips that did occur before hadn’t become any larger. So all in all, I am very very happy about the staying power of this polish and I think that if I had used a different basecoat and topcoat I would have had completely perfect nails through day five.
During the time I wore my polish I started to use the nice jar of Miss Rich Nail Growth Promoting Balm with Biotin that came with the package. On the jar it says the following: “An active Balm enriched with Biotin for its nail strengthening properties. Contains Shea Butter infused with Apricot Kernel, Jojoba and Kukui Oil. These natural ingredients deeply condition and protect nails and cuticles from free 
radicals.” It smells very sweet but it is not overwhelming. So far I’ve really enjoyed the cream but I since I already religiously use my L’Occitane handcreams daily I didn’t feel it was making my hands any softer than they were already so I feel I can’t review this honestly. It is lovely though, nothing wrong with it at all.
When I decided to take off the polish I used the special remover that came with the prize package. Now let me tell you, next to the pretty polish this is my favorite product of the package. You see, when I first got it I spotted that on the front of the bottle it says White Chocolate Gentle and Nourishing Nail Polish Remover which of course made me, a big fan of 
anything chocolate, very curious. It even says so on the bottle: “A gentle nourishing nail polish remover with a non-drying formulation enriched with Panthenol (vitamin B5) and Vitamin E. Delicately fragranced with White chocolate essence.” So I untwisted the cap and took a whiff of it and made a face because, yuck, it smelled just as strong and non chocolaty like all the other regular removers I have used before. I put it aside and kind of forgot about it until I thought it was time to take off the polish. I decided to use the Ciaté remover and poured a little bit of it in a tiny cap and stuck my finger in it to soak off the polish like I always do. After about thirty seconds I was able to whipe it all off my nailplate with a tissue with one whipe and oh my goodness, there it was – once my finger dried – the gorgeous scent of creamy, yummy, delicious chocolate! I had only tried one other scented nail polish remover before that smelled this good and that’s the strawberry one by Konad. However, this one, ladies and gentlemen, takes the cake! If you ever want to spoil yourself you need to order this nailpolish remover as soon as you can!
Besides all these things I also got a lovely wheel filled with 1 mm rhinestones in all kinds of pretty colors and a nailfile for soft/weak nails that I have yet to try.
All in all my first experience with the Ciaté brand, AND the hetcosmeticahuis.nl webshop was quite a pleasant one! I am looking forward to buying some polish colors and more nailcare products by this company. It might take a while before I do this because this is a high end brand and their products are quite pricey as you can see here in the list of products I received in this give-away:
- €15,49 Miss Rich Nail Growth Promoting Balm with Biotin
- €17,99 White Chocolate Gentle and Nourishing Nail Polish Remover
- €11,99 Ciaté – Stiletto – 13.5ml – Creme
- € 3,99 Ciaté – File for soft/weak nails
Alas the rhinestone wheel that I also received with the set is not for sale at the shop so I cannot tell you how much it costs or where you can order it.
If you did buy something I’d love to know what and if you liked it as much as I did.
Posted in Apricot Kernel, Basecoat, Biotin, China Glaze, Chocolate, Ciaté, Competition, Cream, Give-Away, Green, Jojoba Oil, Konad, Kukui Oil, L'Occitane, Nail care, Nail file, Nail Hardener, Nail polish remover, Nailpolish, Nails, Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Review, Rhinestones, Scent, Shea Butter, Topcoat, Twitter, Vitamin E, Webshop | 9 Comments
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