Summer challenge – Sea Shells
Recently I’ve joined a group on facebook that has a fabulous summer challenge where they have a list of manicures you do on a certain day if you choose to join in on the fun. And yesterday the theme was Sea Shells.
Due to my internet being down most of the day yesterday and this morning I wasn’t able to post this in time but here it is today!
People came up with the most amazing ideas, some used actual crushed seashells on their nails, others painted them on with acrylic paint. I love seeing this kind of creativity! My favorite set were the ones done by a good friend of mine, Laurie of Dressed up Digits who recreated the look of Abalone on her nails using a glitter gradient and stamping. You can see her nails here.
For this manicure I decided to stamp. I of course started with my Duri Rejuvacote to which I owe these long nails (for me this is long, I’ve never had them this length before) I first painted my nails using China Glaze’s Lavender Lingo (which isn’t a Lavender at all but a very soft baby pink) and topcoated them with Seche Vite. I always do this before I stamp because it will help you fix any stamping mistakes a lot easier as carefully wiping off your stamp with acetone will not ruin the basecolor right away but will give you a second chance to stamp. I picked pink because it reminds me of the pink inside some shells have and because it looks really classy with gold I think.
When that was dry I used my Fab Ur Nails Gold stamping polish and Dashica Beauty Shops Big SdP-L stamping plate which has these beautiful shells on there for the image over it.
Over that I put another layer of topcoat and here we are, a sea shells inspired manicure :)
Are you in any challenge groups for nails or make up?
Posted in 2012, Challenge, China Glaze, Cream, Crème, Duri, Gold, Lilac, Links, Pastel, Pink, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Stamping, Stamping system, Summer | 
2 CommentsMani update – Neon-ized it!
Do you ever have this problem of enjoying the time consuming nailart you’ve done but just are not feeling the colors anymore?
That’s the problem I had with my Monochromatic Manicure. I just needed some color after rocking the black and white for a few days. So what I decided to do is give in to the current neon and gradient craze and sponge some of my neons over this to make it look more summery. Because neons are usually quite sheer it would show the pattern still so I wouldn’t feel like I had wasted my time drawing all kinds of stuff on my nails when I’d only wear the manicure for a few days.
This is what they ended up looking like:
And this is what I used to achieve the effect. Please ignore the condition of my neon yellow, I know it looks miserable but it was in a bag along with a few polishes that broke when I flew back from vacation last year and I haven’t taken the time to clean that one up just yet…
Pictured are:
- China Glaze – Purple Panic
- Essence nail art twins – Gabriella
- Kiko – 336
- China Glaze – In the limelight
- China Glaze – Celtic Sun
- A cut up make up sponge
Have you tried gradient nails yet? If so, what colors did you use?
Posted in 2012, Acrylic, Acrylic paint, Black, Blue, China Glaze, Duri, Essence, Fashion, Fuchsia, Gradient, Green, Hot, July, Kiko, Manicure, Nail Art, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Neon, O.P.I., Pink, Purple, Rainbow, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Sheer, Sponged, Style, Summer, Trend, White, Yellow | 4 CommentsI’m feeling Nail-Venturous week, day 2: Humble Bee.
Today I’m going to show you another beauty in the Nail-Venturous family. One that is actually quite dear to me, not just because I created the label for this but also because I, just like my mom, have a weakness for bumble bees. I am not sure exactly how or when it started but just love their little fluffy appearance and the way they just make their way through the garden sampling all the flowers looking like they’re way too big to be able to fly. Adorable!
If you know a little bit about Amy’s creations you will know I’m talking about Humble Bee. She herself describes this lovely creation as follows: Humble Bee has yellow glitter and ultrafine and medium size black glitter in a clear base. It has semi-complete coverage in two coats. With topcoat or gelous, Humble Bee can have a shiny finish. However, this polish dries with a matte finish, and the glitter itself does not really sparkle. This polish also looks great as a layering polish. This polish tends to be a tad thick, but application should be easy. This product is 3 free, and comes in a 15ml/.5 oz full size bottle.
I think it’s time I stopped talking and just showed you the pictures of this fabulous polish. The micro glitter in this reminds me of Floam, another gorgeous and very sought after polish by Nail-Venturous Lacquers that I will be featuring later this week, and to me the black, bigger, glitter just really make it stand out.
In these pictures I’m wearing one layer of Humble Bee over a layer of Fiercely Fiona out of the O.P.I. Shrek collection. Underneath that I of course started with a basecoat and I topped it all off with Seche Vite to give the nails some extra shine and protection. By the way, I think that if I had added another layer the base color wouldn’t have been necessary, but since I’m really cherishing this polish I decided to take it easy and to just use one layer.
What do you think? Is this your cup of tea or are you not into these kind of polishes at all?
Posted in 2012, 3 Free, Basecoat, Black, Duri, I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous, Indie nailpolish, Indie polish, June, Links, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nailventurous, O.P.I., Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Swatches, Topcoat, Yellow | 1 CommentI’m feeling Nail-Venturous week, day 1: The Shimmer Effect, Corrupted and Flying Blue Jay.
This week I’m going to be celebrating the nail polishes I have that are made by Amy of I’m Feeling Nail-Venturous. Not because it’s her birthday, not because it’s almost my birthday. I’m doing this because she has some amazing polishes and I am very proud of the fact that I’ve designed the labels of the polishes that are being sold through Ninja Polish. You may know her work through a quirky polish that is currently taking the nail polish world by storm called Floam, which I shall be featuring later this week, but now onto the first three Nail-Venturous Lacquers that deserve a spotlight as well.
The polishes I am featuring today come from Amy’s own Etsy shop which is currently closed. Follow her Facebook page for updates though, you never know when she might return with an amazing new batch of polishes. They do not have my label but that of course doesn’t take away from how awesome these polishes are.
Take a look at the beautiful polish here on the top left. It’s called the Shimmer Effect and I was attracted to it right away, not just because it’s purple, but also because there is such a richness in other colors in there. There’s silver, green, light blue, orange/gold. It is simply stunning. And it sadly is a bit hard to capture but there’s a green pearly sheen over it as well that is just so unique. The official description is this: The Shimmer Effect has a purple base loaded with shimmer. It also has tiny square glitter as well as ultra fine green glitter. This polish has full coverage in two coats. This product is 3 free, and comes in a 15ml/.5 oz full size bottle.
In the picture I’ve applied two coats of polish over Rejuvacote, so no base color underneath to make this baby opaque, that’s how gorgeously pigmented it is, I was very impressed! It also applies easily and I did not have any trouble distributing the glitter evenly over my nails. Because it’s so full of glitter the surface of the nails will be slightly bumpy once it dries so I recommend you use a nice thick glossy topcoat over this polish to really bring out the colors and smooth out the surface.
Up next, pictured here on the right, is a polish called Corrupted. It’s a nice dark blue that I decided to apply over a blue polish, not because it will not be opaque after a few layers, but because I did not want to use a lot of layers so this polish will last me a while.
I first used a basecoat and a layer of Sinful Colors Neptune before applying Corrupted and just look how it shines, isn’t this pretty? Amy describes this polish as follows: Corrupted has a dark blue jelly base with ultra fine blue and gold glitter. It also has blue and white diamond shaped glitter, blue and turquoise small glitter, and gold shredded glitter. This product is 3 free, and comes in a 15ml/.5 oz full size bottle.
Again, as with all glitters really, you should really wear a nice thick glossy topcoat with this to bring out the glitters even more and to keep your polish from chipping.
Now, last but not least, here on the left is Flying Blue Jay, this polish is quite different from the other two as it doesn’t have any reflective glitter but only whites in different sizes and some blue micro glitter. This is what creator Amy has to say about it: Flying Blue Jay has a dark blue jelly base with various sizes of white glitter and ultra fine blue and white glitter. This polish is 3 free, and comes in a 15ml full size bottle.
I think this is a very unique polish, something I’ve not seen before in other brands. Amy also has another polish that kind of looks like this but it is a black base with white glitter called Voodoo Doll which I shall be showing you later this week.
I started, again, with a base of Rejuvacote and a layer of Sinful Colors Neptune before putting this color on in two layers. I think this one out of the three featured today is the hardest polish to apply. Well, no correction, it is easy to apply as the color applies smoothly, but you need to fiddle around a bit to place the big glitter as they will not go on evenly if you don’t. Does that ruin the polish for me? Heck no, it’s a stunning vibrant blue that only stands out more with the white glitter that shows through the color. You are guaranteed to get compliments wearing any of today’s polishes though, mark my words!
Glitter polishes usually are not my favorite but man I do have to admit to having a weakness for these three because wow, look at the colors and the glitter combinations, Amy clearly knows what she is doing and has an eye for color and texture and I admire her immensely for that.
What do you think of these three featured today? Do you have a polish by Nail-Venturous Lacquers yet? Or is this possibly the first time you’ve heard about indie (independent) nail polishes?
Posted in 2012, Blue, Clear, Duri, Franken, Franken Polish, Frankenpolish, Glitter, Gold, Green, Hot, I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous, Indie nailpolish, Indie polish, June, Lilac, Links, Manicure, Mauve, Metallic, Midnight Blue, Multicolored glitter, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nailventurous, Ninja Polish, Opaque, Orange, Purple, Rejuvacote, Review, Seche Vite, Style, Swatches, Topcoat, Trend, Webshop | 6 CommentsNails of the day follow up!
I’ve decided to add some stamping to the previous nails using Dashica XL SdP image plate 8.
I am really enjoying this a lot right now. I hope you like it too!
Posted in 2012, Blue, China Glaze, Cream, Crème, Duri, Fashion, Gradient, Links, Manicure, Mattésse Elite, May, Mint, Nail Art, Nail Hardener, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Nicole by O.P.I., Opaque, Petrol, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Sponged, Stamping, Stamping system, Stars, Style, Summer, Topcoat, Trend, White | 6 CommentsNail of the day: Mint to teal gradient
Just a very quick drive by posting of my nail of the day which is a gradient I did using China Glaze – For Audrey as a base color and along with that I used Sinful Colors – Why Not, Mattésse Elite – Vig(Thank you again Marissa for sending me that set! They’re stunning!) and Nicole By O.P.I.’s Khloe had a little Lam-Lam to sponge over it leaving me with a nice fresh looking gradient. I hope you like it!
Have you tried gradient nails yet? Or is this not your thing at all?
Posted in 2012, Blue, Cream, Crème, Duri, Fashion, Gradient, Manicure, Mattésse Elite, May, Mint, Nail Art, Nail Hardener, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Nicole by O.P.I., O.P.I., Petrol, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Sponged, Style, Summer, Teal, Topcoat, Trend | 4 CommentsGradient Friday!
I’d like to take this moment and share my nails of the week with you, these are gradient nails that I made using O.P.I. polishes and a little make up sponge. It looks complicated but it really is quite simple. If you want I’ll soon do a tutorial to show you exactly how to do this type of nailart that will surely blow many people’s minds this summer. For now I’ll just show you some pictures.
Okay onto the manicures. This, besides the sponge, is what I used for the one pictured on the right.
I used Alpine Snow, a pure white, as a base. It’s important to use a light opaque base when you use light colors to sponge as the sponged colors go on very sheer. Over that I sponged (from the bottom left to the top right) Need Sunglasses, A Roll in the Hague, Red Lights Ahead… Where?. Dim Sum Plum, Funky Dunkey and last but not least I put on a thin coat of DS Shimmer to give it the subtle holographic effect. And really that’s all there is to it! I know I’m making it sound like it’s a piece of cake, but really it is!
Now I enjoyed this manicure so much that when I finally had to take it off later that week due to chipping I whipped up another gradient manicure by just using 5 polishes instead of 7.
This next one I made by using a clean make up sponge and first painting my nails white again with OPI’s Alpine Snow, and letting that dry, before I painted my sponge for the gradient (as you can see in the little picture on the bottom right of that little collage on the left there.) I went from yellow to green to deep blue using Need Sunglasses, Jade Is The New Black and Roadhouse Blues, all colors by O.P.I. I topped them again with OPI DS Shimmer to give them that nice holographic shimmer and after that they were good to go.
I feel there are a lot more gradients in my future and I want to try one with metallics soon.
But for now I leave you with the gradients of a few good friends of mine who all did their own version of a gradient this week for Gradient Friday.
I hope you’ll pay them a visit and check out their work.
And of course let me know what you thought, did you have a favorite, and will you be trying this technique for yourself soon?
Posted in 2012, Blue, Cream, Crème, Duri, Fashion, Fuchsia, Green, Links, May, Nail Art, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails of the week, O.P.I., Orange, Purple, Red, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Topcoat, Trend, White, Yellow | 22 CommentsGo Grey in May for National Brain Tumor Awareness Month.
Being a member of a few facebook groups dedicated to either Nail Polish or Nail Art I noticed that quite a few of the members started to create manicures to support the Go Grey in May Campaign. I became fascinated and curious and did some research before I decided that I also must “Go Grey this May” to support this great cause and raise awareness.
May is National Brain Tumor Awareness Month in the United States. During the month of May, the Brain Tumor Awareness Organization encourages raising awareness through a variety of campaigns and activities. Each campaign or activity will serve as an education and outreach opportunity, a fundraising opportunity, a fitness event, a healing program/exhibit, a community initiative, a support group project or any combination that suits you and/or your group.
People often ask me what’s on my nails and sometimes even why, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to wear grey, a color that I otherwise rarely wear because it makes my hands look more red than they are due to the cool tint this color naturally has.
For this manicure I put on a nice base of Rejuvacote by Duri, my new favorite nailhardener and basecoat, and two coats of China Glaze – Recycle, a lovely opaque and creamy grey.
Over that I layered two coats of a holographic topcoat I created myself by putting a little bit of Spectraflair pigment into a regular topcoat and I decanted a little bit of China Glaze’s amazing Sexagon into the topcoat as well to make sure the spectraflair had some suspension.
After that was dry I added a nice topcoat, Seche Vite in my case, and there you have it, grey nails with a little bit of a holographic pop that will surely make heads turn on a sunny day.
What do you think, will you be going Grey in May and help spread awareness for this cause?
For more information on the campaign please visit: www.braintumorawareness.org
Posted in 2012, Awareness, China Glaze, Duri, For a good cause, Grey, Holographic, May, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, Rejuvacote, Seche Vite, Silver, Spectraflair, Topcoat | 5 CommentsAlright, 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 Comments
Julep Helena has stolen my heart!
Today I have a post about one of my new loves. I was able to get my hands on these two polishes through a swap with my friend Gaby.
She had another one of them both and was looking for someone to trade with. I happily jumped in on that opportunity because Helena was a color I had my eye on for a little while now and I am sending her some Barry M‘s in return.
Julep isn’t a company I’ve had any experience with before and to be honest I wasn’t very interested in at all because for us Dutch people it is quite hard to come by and the polishes are quite pricey… that was until I saw fair Helena. It was love at first sight for me and I just had to have her. You see, I have a thing for very saturated colors lately, you know the kind; those colors that just scream summertime. It must be the cold weather because only a little while ago I was more into muted tones.
Now on to more information about this polish. This is what is said about it on Julep’s own page:
Ultra-saturated fuchsia. Looks great on all skin tones. A favorite of Seattle Magazine’s beauty editors. Professional quality “4-free” nail polish formulation, developed without carcinogens such as formaldehyde or formaldehyde resin, toluene and DBP. Shine on! $1 will be donated to organizations that support women through our Powered by Girlfriends program.
Well they’re certainly not lying there, this color does seem to look great on all skin tones! I’ve been Googling swatches before I decided I really wanted this and it seriously just delivers every single time on every skin tone.
Helena is a fuchsia, so it’s not pink and it’s not purple but stuck somewhere in between. And I’ve got to tell you the coverage is fabulous due to the heavy pigmentation. Is it worth the $14 though? I am honestly not sure. I haven’t worn this for more than two days (without any tipwear or chipping so that’s good) but is it worth the $14 they ask for it on the site? I haven’t quite decided yet… Let me show you the other polishes I have in my collection that could be a good dupe of it, first I will show you the polishes in the bottle:
As you can see the sizes of the bottles differ quite a bit so here they are from left to right with how much polish they contain and how much they retail for:
- Sinful Colors – Dream On = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz – $2 to $4
- Julep – Helena = 8 ml/.27 fl oz – $14
- O.P.I. – Don’t know… Beets me! = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz - $7 to $12.
- O.P.I. – Dim Sum Plum = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz – $7 to $12.
Dream on by Sinful Colors, the cheapest one of the four polishes pictured here and is the one that, to me, looks the most like Helena. Not just in color but also in texture after application.
It’s hard to capture the colors right by the way, especially when you are wearing it on your fingernails as you can see on the picture here on the right. But hey at least I gave it a shot right?
I believe Dream on has a hint more blue to it and doesn’t apply as evenly. The manicure you see here by the way has two layers of each polish over a basecoat. I did not apply a topcoat just so you can see how glossy the O.P.I. polishes are on their own while Helena and Dream on both dry to a semi matte that reminds me of the rubberized finish the recent Illamasqua Theater of the Nameless polishes have.
Now, my points for Helena. All in all I give this polish the following rating:
– For staying power so far, I can’t say much of it yet of course but so far, so really good!
- For color, it’s just a fabulous bright, intense eye catching color, I love it!
- For coverage, one layer is enough to be opaque but I used two for a bit more depth in the color.
- For price, $14 dollars is a LOT of money compared to Sinful Colors’ near dupe of $2!
- For amount. I would have loved to have more. It is only 8 ml/.27 fl oz compared to Sinful Colors’ 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz
So a couple of good scores but a few bad ones as well I’m afraid… But that doesn’t change the way I feel about this color at all, I am very very smitten still, it’s a stunning almost unique color and I am very certain that a lot of people feel the same way after applying it or even seeing it in the bottle.
And now a quickie about the Julep Fast Dry Topcoat that beautiful Helena came with it. I do like it for doing its job, it dries quickly as the name implies but man it smells! Never have I smelled anything like it before and I wonder what it is that is actually causing this. The description on their site is as follows:
Formulated to provide a glossy finish that prevents yellowing and protects nail color with fast-drying shine. For best results, use with Julep Basecoat or Julep Nail Therapy and Julep Nail Vernis. Professional quality “4-free” nail polish formulation, developed without carcinogens such as formaldehyde or formaldehyde resin, toluene and DBP. Shine on! $1 will be donated to organizations that support women through our Powered by Girlfriends program.
I wondered at first that because the polish is “4 free” it would have that smell, but Helena smells perfectly fine so it might be the component that prevents the polish from yellowing or makes it dry faster than regular polish. Well, I don’t know what it is but I know that I really don’t like it and I switched over to my ever loyal Seche Vite to finish the job. Yes, Seche Vite smells strongly too but the scent is familiar and gone again pretty quickly so it’s easy to handle I guess…
Okay, on to the ratings for the topcoat:
– For staying power. It dries quickly too as promised.
- For color, it’s a topcoat, no color.
- For coverage, it applies quickly and easily.
- For price, $14 dollars is a LOT of money compared to other topcoats. Seche Vite sells for $5.40 on Amazon and that contains 14ml/.5 fl oz, so yeah…
- For amount. Again, it is only 8 ml/.27 fl oz
Now what do you think of this brand, have you tried the Julep brand before or is the availability and quite possibly the price holding you back? And do you have anything like this color and love it as much as I do?
Posted in 2011, 2012, Basecoat, Fuchsia, Hot, Julep, Nailpolish, Neon, O.P.I., Pink, Purple, Seche Vite, Sinful Colors, Topcoat | 3 CommentsTime to Christmas it up in here!
This is my current festive manicure, what do you ladies (and possible gentlemen) think of it?
It’s a layer of Sally Hansen’s Triple Strong as a base. Over that I have OPI’s An Affair in Red Square with a little layer of Beyu’s 209 over it for some extra depth. I’ve stamped an all over image with white Konad stamping polish on top of it for some holiday cheer. It’s an image from the BIG SdP K plate. One of the many Dashica Beauty Shop plates that I have. Over that I’ve dabbed some foil glue in the spots where I wanted my rhinestones to be and after putting those on I’ve used Seche Vite topcoat to seal it all. If you have not tried Seche Vite I seriously urge you to try it. It is the best topcoat I’ve tried. It dries gorgeously shiny and fast. And it keeps my manicure going for at least a week if applied correctly.
What do you think? I rarely wear red on my nails so it takes some getting used to for me and I might just switch when it’s Christmas, to something else and more sophisticated like Chanel Graphite. But for now it’s certainly helping me get in the holiday spirit!
Are you wearing any special holiday manicures this year?
Posted in 2011, Basecoat, Chanel, Clear, Crimson, December, Foil, Foil Glue, Holiday Season, Manicure, Nail Art, Nail Hardener, Nail of the Day, Nail Polish, Nailpolish, Nails, Nails of the week, O.P.I., Red, Sally Hansen, Seche Vite, Shimmer, Stamping, Stamping system, Topcoat, White, Winter | 7 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 CommentsBoy, do I hate waiting for goodies…
I especially hate waiting for the mail when I just know there are two fabulous packages on the way!
This week I am expecting my first Beautyblender, I know it’s been taking the beauty scene by storm for a while now and that I’m very late in getting one. Really, I’m not exaggerating when I say that it took me several months before I finally decided on ordering it when I am normally quite the impulse buyer.
You see, I rarely use foundation, but when you combine this product with your cream foundation, it gives you a beautiful airbrush finish. This was really the selling point for me and I can’t wait to give it a try on the days that my skin is letting me down.
Besides the Beautyblender I’m also getting Orly’s “Nails for Males” which is a matte finish nail hardener. Now, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but I’ve noticed that if I use a matte topcoat as a basecoat under my nailpolish that the polish seems to stay on a little better. I’m guessing this is because the polish has a ‘more rough and possibly porous’ surface to grab onto.
I normally use “Nailtricion” by the same brand under my regular polish. This has already made my nails a lot stronger so I am excited to try Nails for Males to see if this is an even better product for me to use. I will keep you posted on the results!
Both of these items are products that I have ordered from Boozyshop.
This is a website that I haven’t ordered from before, but I have heard so many good things about it. Therefore, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. It was hard for me just to order these two things to be honest as Boozyshop has so many fantastic brands to choose from, they have Essie, China Glaze, Seche Vite, all the brands us nailistas know and love. So if you ever feel like you want to spend a bit of money shopping online for beauty products, check out this site for sure. The site is available in Dutch and English and is not yet ready for orders out side of Belgium or the Netherlands. That does not mean you cannot order if you happen to live in a different country. All you need to do is send them an email and they’ll make it happen for you. How is that for fabulous customer service?
June holds my birthday month and as a present, my parents bought me 5 of the SdP Big Image Plates & a white double sided stamper from Dashica Beautyshop. I am very excited about these because I am very into complete coverage nail stamping products. You just can’t go wrong with those really. This is another package that should arrive this week as well and I am looking forward to doing a more in depth post on these plates!
By they way, this was also the first time for me ordering from this particular webshop and so far it has been such a pleasant one. Shirley, the owner of the shop has been in contact with me through email and has been really helpful trying to get the plates to me as soon as possible as I had pre-ordered them. You should certainly have a look at her webshop yourself and see what you think.
I’ll review the products of course when I have them and have gotten the chance to try them out.
Also, I believe I should say that I have not been in any way sponsored or asked to do this post by the aforementioned shops. I just chose to give them a shout out in case you would like to order something I mentioned and because they’ve given me great service.
Posted in Beauty, Beautyblender, China Glaze, Essie, Haul, Links, Matte, Nailpolish, Nails, Seche Vite, Shopping, Stamping system, Webshop | Leave a comment
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Where I buy:
International and Indie brands
at GREAT prices!
Dutch webshop that sells Orly and other lovely brands.
Dutch webshop that sells Cult Nails, Butter London, China Glaze etc.
Dutch stockist that also sells to the general public.
Dutch Webshop that sells China Glaze, Glitter Gal and a lot more good stuff.
