Something Silver and Something Blue

Hi all!

A little while ago, I showed you Orly Snowcone. I decided to do a little nailart on it as well, which I will show you today.

Orly Snowcone with China Glaze Millennium, pink strass from dollarnailart and hex glitter from Viva La Nails. Somehow, the combination of this makes Snowcone look very pale and washed out. It looked really pretty when I was wearing it on my nails! I got the idea of the 'muted french' from a site Michelle showed me, but since I can't find the link, I can't credit them.. I will add it if I find it!

A little closeup of one of my nails. It's a bit over the top but I like it! Again, my pictures do this no justice. The pink in the strass works really well with Snowcone's pastel blue look :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Mimi

Hi all!

Today I have the last of my Zoya Sparkles for you; Mimi.

Zoya Mimi, three coats in daylight. Mimi is a gorgeous medium purple glass flecked polish. It's a little redder in real life, but I think the color is the best I could do with my camera :)

Application is good, the same as with the other sparkles. The polish is a little thin but easy to work with and the polish dries quickly. Glass flecked Zoya's look lovely when they are mattified, so here we go!

Zoya Mimi, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You. Whoa, another winner! I loved the look of Ivanka and Charla when they were mattified and Mimi doesn't disappoint either.

What do you think of Mimi? What's your favorite from the Zoya Sparkle Collection?

Thanks for stopping by!

OCC Blackboard

Hi all!

A couple of months ago, a lovely NB'er contacted me on MUA and asked if I would like to swap. Of course I would! We both became a little enthousiastic and sent a lot of polish to the other side of the ocean. Unfortunately, the part of the swap that was supposed to arrive in The Netherlands at my address, stranded at customs and was sent back to my swappee after 2 months laying there. Thank god she received them back and she has been so kind to send them in little batches so the polishes will finally be mine!

I got the first package in last week and it contained several of my biggest lemmings, like this beauty. I've been lemming OCC Blackboard ever since I saw Scrangie's swatches but I couldn't get a hold of it since OCC couldn't ship polish overseas. But finally, after loooong looooong months, this baby is mine and I love it!

Err, anyway, let's take a look at zeh prettieh!

OCC Blackboard, two coats in daylight and under my desk lamp (second picture). Blackboard is a gorgeous chalkboard green, slightly dusty creme. Ooooh I love it! It reminds me of school when I was little lol.

Application was great! It almost applied itself and since the polish is so pigmented it's almost a onecoater. If I used a thicker coat, I'm sure I wouldn't have needed the second coat. Drying time was great, dry in just a couple of minutes, without the use of a quickdry topcoat.

OCC Blacboard stamped with imageplate S10 and Konad white. This polish was just screaming for some white stamping to create the illusion of drawings on it with chalk. I love it! Blackboard certainly didn't disappoint me after lemming it for so long :)

What do you think of this beauty?

Lace Illusion

Hi all!

While browsing, I stumbled on a design on the Orly website. It's called 'animal' - although I don't know where the animal reference comes from - and it can be found here. I decided to copy the idea with a couple of changes :) Let's take a look!

I used H&M Love At First Sight as a base, which is opaque in two coats. I randomly placed black scribbles with China Glaze Ink (I need to get myself a bottle of black creme.. Grr) and scribbled a little more with RBL Stormy. In the original design, lace was places on top of the scribbly look, but since I don't have any lace to put on my nails, I decided to go with Konad imageplate M57. I stamped the image with Konad special polish in Black Pearl and voila!

I really love the look of this and I think I will do this again to wear it as a full manicure. Maybe I can even try this with slightly different colors, but I think you'd better not go with colors that are too bright..

What do you think of this lace illusion manicure?

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze The Ten Man

Hi all!

How are you doing today? I have one of the China Glaze Wizard Of Ooh Ahz Returns collection again for you; The Ten Man this time.

China Glaze The Ten Man, four coats in daylight. The Ten Man is a frosty silver with tiny silver glitters in it. Very interesting finish! The Ten Man is not really my cup of tea since I'm not really into frosts, but I like the twist with the glitters.

Application was a bit tricky. The polish was a bit runny which caused some cuticle flooding. When I saw that, I tried to be more careful and keep more distance between the polish and my cuticle and everything went alright. Opacity isn't that great; four coats to be opaque and I still have some spots where you can see my nail line.

To spice it up, I did a little konad.

China Glaze The Ten Man stamped with China Glaze Adore and imageplate M60. It's a pretty subtle konad, which I like :) I'm sorry about the quality of this picture but in my better pictures, the konad didn't show up that well so I decided to go with this one.

What do you think of The Ten Man?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nubar Knight's Armor

Hi all!

Today I have a polish for you that I borrowed from Michèle (thanks hun!); Nubar Knight's Armor. I actually ordered it myself, but while I was ordering, it went out of stock. Meh. Anyway, I could play with it a bit so here it is!

Nubar Knight's Armor, two coats in daylight. Knight's Armor has square silver glitter in a black base. It looks alright when applied like this. I expected the glitters to give the polish more dimension, but it doesn't. So, of course, I slapped a coat of matte topcoat on it to see how that would look.

Nubar Knight's Armor, two coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. That's better! Somehow the matte topcoats adds depth to it and I'm digging this.

Appliction of Knight's Armor is good. The glitters won't slide everywhere when you're applying it, which is a big plus! The polish dries quickly and was dry before I could take pictures.

That's is for today, dear reader, thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Charla And Holiday Announcement

Hi all!

Today I have Zoya Charla for you from the Sparkle Collection for 2010. Most people I know think this is the stunner of the collection. I disagree, Ivanka is way prettier in my opinion, but Charla sure is pretty!

Zoya Charla, three coats in daylight. Charla is a blue green glass flecked polish. It flashes a bit of gold and is more green than my pictures show it, but it's really really gorgeous. I am actually wearing this on my toes right now :D

Application is good. The polish is a little on the thin side, so I needed three coats for opacity but my pictures still show a little visible nail line. Drying time is good.

Such a lovely sparkle must be mattified.

Zoya Charla, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Whoa, me likey!

I also want to tell you that in exactly 12 hours time, I will be on a plane to Spain. I have prepared posts that will be posted automatically, so you won't have to miss daily posts. These will be a little shorter than you are used to though.. However, because I'm on a holiday, I will not be able to come online and answer any of your comments, questions or emails. I can't respond to any messages about my blogsale either, so please bear with me. I will try to be up and running as soon as possible when I get back, but in the meantime I hope you'll have patience with me :)

For those of you who will go on a holiday soon, I hope you have a great holiday! And thank you all for your understanding :)

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI Funky Dunkey

Hi all!

Today I have the pretty purple from the Shrek collection by OPI for you. I already used this polish in my First Watermarble.

OPI Funky Dunkey, two coats in daylight. Funky Dunkey is a medium -grape- purple creme. This was just two coats, which applied easily.

The polish is really pigmented, making it perfectly opaque in two coats. Dryingtime was good as well. The polish was dry in minutes without a quickdry topcoat so I was pleased with that!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pieces Il Postino

Hi all,

Today I have another polish from Pieces for you. I reviewed three other polishes earlier, but recently I picked up this one. It's called Il Postino and according to Wikipedia, Il Postino means 'the mailman'. This is an Italian movie from 1994 which won an Oscar and several BAFTA's.

Pieces Il Postino, five coats in indirect daylight. Whoa, five coats! Il Postino is a tomato red jelly that still shows some VNL with five coats. I couldn't force myself to add another coat, so I left it at this.

Application was alright. The polish has a jelly structure so it's a bit runny, but the brush makes it easy to handle. Opacity.. Well, let's say that's not so good. I personally do not like VNL at all so that's a downside for me. However, I do like the color a lot! I don't own many red jellies.. Now that I think of it, do I even own one other red jelly? I can't think of one!

Drying time was good, considering the fact that I used five coats. It was dry when I was taking my pictures so that's a big plus!

Pieces nailpolish can be bought at Pieces stores (I bought mine at Pieces Kalverstraat in Amsterdam) for € 2,95 a bottle or € 6,95 for three bottles.

Thanks for stopping by!

My First Watermarble

Hi all!

So today I decided to try something new - well, it was new to me. I've never watermarbled before but it looks so pretty when I see it on nails, so I decided to try it.

I grabbed a plastic cup, room temperature water, a orangewood stick, some paper, tape and of course polish. I picked Orly Lollipop and OPI Funky Dunkey for my first time of marbling. I painted my nails in white polish (H&M Love At First Sight), because I was planning on doing a white/purple marble, but changed my mind. Anyway, this is the result of some watermarbling!

I think I did do alright for a first time of watermarbling! The colors play nicely together, it's balanced. I should practice on aiming in the cup though lol!

I've been following Colette's blog - My Simple Little Pleasures for a while now and I love her tutorials. This is the queen of marbling people! I used her method for taping while I was marbling so I wouldn't have to spend ages cleaning up the polish from halfway down my finger.

See? I could just peel of the tape while I was done. Colette has a great tutorial on the taping as well, so check that out if you don't want to clean up your whole finger afterwards ;) I've heard that oiling with cuticle oil will work too to make your cleanup easier, but since this was my first time, I haven't tried that.

What do you think of my marble?

Thanks for stopping by!

Orly Snowcone

Hi all!

Today I have Orly Snowcone for you. It's part of the Orly Sweet collection that contains six sweet colors, and I bought all of them.. And I love all of them! Anyway, this is Snowcone :)

Orly Snowcone, three coats in daylight. Snowcone is a lovely shade of pastel-ish blue. It's a soothing color, it makes me calm, just as Cashmere Cardigan does.

Application was good. The polish went on smoothly. While I was prepared to have issues with the polish being streaky, this one didn't have the typical pastel problems. It was dry in no time so that was great as well!

Thanks for stopping by!

Holographic Gone Chic

Hi all!

Those of you who follow me on twitter, might have seen a little preview of this since I uploaded a sneak peek of this manicure yesterday, but if not; I have a konadicure for you! I really like it, I'm loving these kind of patterns. Anyway, enough with the babbeling, on to the pics!

Color Club Worth The Risque, stamped with Color Club Wild At Heart and Bundle Monster imageplate BM20. Worth The Risque is a silver holographic polish, and you have to believe me when I say the holo shows up more in real life.

The Bundle Monster plates are really nice, but they do have one downside. Because there are more images on one plate, the images are smaller. This is a full nail plate, but I had to stamp all my fingernails at least twice - even my pinkie! But the design is lovely and double stamping worked out in the end :)

And, because I like this so much, two more bonus pics!

It's too bad that the holo in Wild At Heart won't show up when you stamp with it though, it would have been awesome if this showed you holo on holo effect!

What do you think of this konadicure?

Thanks for stopping by!

Cowardly Lyin' - And a Leopard Mani

Hi all,

While organizing my helmer, I stumbled onto a lot of polishes that I haven't shown you yet. Today's polish is no exception - I bought the complete China Glaze Wizard of Ooh Ahz Returns collection at the end of 2009. We're talking 6+ months ago! Yikes. And I have only used one of them.. Anyway, this isn't really my color (I bought it loooong before I realized golds are not for me) but I thought I'd show you anyway :)

China Glaze Cowardly Lyin', four coats in daylight. Cowardly Lyin' is a frosty gold packed with tiny golden glitter. The polish isn't as yellow as my picture shows it, it's a little more 'faded'. I like the idea of this one, however, golds and frosts are not really my thing. Cowardly Lyin' doesn't clash with my skintone as much as most other golds do, so this is good.

Application on this one was good. I needed four coats for opacity (and still VNL in my pics.. Damn you macro!) but all coats dried quickly although it's about 30C around here. Well done China Glaze!

Since this is not really my color, I thought I'd spice it up a bit.. This ain't no coward!

China Glaze Cowardly Lyin', four coats, stamped with Konad special polish in Black Pearl, imageplate M57 and OPI Suzi Says Da! to fill in the spots. I think it looks alright :) I'm not really into the whole leopard print thing, but I think this looks quite nice.

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Posh

Hi all!

Today I have one of the Matte Velvets for you from Zoya.

Zoya Posh, two coats in daylight. Posh is a rich red matte with a slight berry undertone, making it not your usual red. I say it's matte, but it's actually more of a satin finish. I don't know if the finish is supposed to be like this, because my other Matte Velvet polishes are more matte than this.. Anyway, Posh is a gorgeous shade of red and I can see myself wearing this a lot!

I made Posh glossy as well, to show you a full picture of this polish.

Zoya Posh, two coats with topcoat in daylight. See the sparklies that show up? Really nice effect with the topcoat on it.

Application was good, especially since it's a matte. Some mattes have issues with application because you can't stroke your brush twice over one spot, otherwise you'll get bald spots. This one doesn't have any of it. Posh is really pigmented; I think you can make this a one coater if you apply a thicker coat of polish.

What do you think of Zoya Posh? If you own it, did I get a bad bottle or is yours the same?

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Awakening and Fight Like A Woman Collections

Hi all,

I got these in the mail and I thought I'd share them with you :) They're both really limited internationally, so if you want any of these, you'd better be quick!

AWAKEN YOUR HALLOWEEN SPIRITS WITH GLAMOURISHLY GOULISH NAILS

China Glaze Introduces Three Limited Edition Halloween Polishes

Los Angeles, CA – (July 2010): Sink your claws into these three ghoulish glitters from China Glaze, perfect for a night of fright! Uniquely alluring and unlike any other Halloween colors before them, this collection is sure to entice. Colors in the promotion include:

• Zombie Zest: A mossy green shade with gold flecks of micro glitter.
• Ick-A-Body: A dark green base chock full of orange glitter.
• Mummy May I: Vampy, wine colored purple with flecks of hot pink glitter.

The 18 piece display will be available at Sally’s Beauty Supply Stores only and the 4 piece with free Fast Forward Top Coat will be available at all other beauty and nail supply outlets, stores and e-tailers.

Scrangie already has swatches up of the Awakening Collection: See Scrangie's swatches

Find Strength in the Power of Pink

China Glaze Nail Lacquer Gets the Gloves Ready to Join in the
Fight Against Breast Cancer

Los Angeles, Calif. (July 2010) – Join China Glaze Nail Lacquer this October in the battle against breast cancer, one nail at a time! The professional line of nail lacquers brings on the fight with three powerful pinks. Inspired by the women who fight everyday and those that support them in their battle, these fabulous shades are sure to help you defeat the toughest opponents with style and class. China Glaze representative Rachel Schafer voiced that “in an industry dominated by women, for women, it is important that we strive to work together towards finding a cure.”

The three colors in “Fight Like A Woman” include:

Encouragement – A baby pink shimmer that brings on the cheer

Endurance – Power through the punches with this raspberry shimmer

Empowerment – Stand up tall with this cotton-candy crème on your nails

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization dedicated to the science of cancer and promoting international collaboration in cancer research.

The “Fight Like A Woman” Collection will be available at professional beauty supply stores and select salons this September. Availability will be very limited internationally.

Paint Splatters Everywhere

Hi all!

Today I have something for you that I LOVE so much that I can't make myself to take it off.

Two coats of H&M Love At First Sight, a white creme, stamped with China Glaze Joy, Harmony, Cherish and Adore with Konad imageplate M21. The Romantiques are awesome for stamping and their contrast with the white base is great. I stamped the splatters randomly on my nails, trying to do a variety in colors on my nails.

The Romantiques are really colorful and the combination of these with Love At First Sight makes me stare at my hands all the time. I feel a bit silly about this haha.

What do you think of this Konadicure?

Thanks for stopping by!

Misa What I Like About You Collection For Fall 2010

Hi all!

I just got this in the mail!

(click to enlarge)

This is what Misa has to say about their collection for Fall 2010:


Fall 2010: What I Like About You Collection

Quirky Smile: Something about his lilted smile lets you know he’s interested... and this shimmering Prussian blue is no less attention-grabbing. However, this rich shade invites you into deeper territory—what’s lurking beneath? In this case, you’ll discover a polish that evokes stormy skies and churning seas, a perfect metaphor for love’s mixed emotions.

Like It Like That: You can’t avoid feeling upbeat when a relationship is going just right, or when gazing at nails that are the perfect shade. Just try to block this candy apple green out of your mind; when you like it like that, why deny yourself the pleasure?

Spinning Out of Control: Sometimes you just can’t control yourself—and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Embrace that euphoric feeling with a brooding cobalt blue-violet that says, “Don’t stop this merry-go-round; I’m enjoying the ride!”

It’s You!: Searching for the perfect mate is like searching for the perfect nail polish shade: When you find it, you know right away. Like a perfect-match partner, this multilayered iridescent hue offers the best of both worlds: a smoldering forest green shot through with copper ribbons that glimmer and twinkle perfectly in candlelight.

Perfect Kiss: Don’t blush! When you recognize a good moment, grab what’s yours: the perfect kiss. A well-planted smooch can provide material for days of daydreaming, and this vibrant fuchsia is equally fantasy-inspiring. An eye-catching color like this one will have any man’s lips quivering uncontrollably.

When U Say My Name: Chances are, your man has plenty to say, but nothing is sweeter than when he whispers your name while in a sweet embrace. Blissfully sink into the moment while donning this sultry rust, and don’t be afraid to demand, “Say it again!”

These will be available to ship from July 19th 2010. That's only two days from now!

I will add more info when I receive it :)

Pieces Nail Polish Giveaway

Hi all!

Last weekend I reached 300 followers, yay!! I want to thank you for visiting my blog and reading it, it means a lot to me :) So, to thank my readers, I decided to do a giveaway.

Last week, I reviewed Pieces Nail Polish and I was very pleased with the colors and the quality of the polish. You can find my swatches here: Pieces Nail Polish.

The prizes! Cookie Dough, It's a Camouflage and Lavender Haze. All bottles are brand new. One lucky winner will win these three bottles.

Since I want to keep it simple, there are only three rules:
1. You have to be a follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect (publicly). If you follow me under another name, please tell me this name so I can link you. I will check!
2. Leave your emailaddress in a comment at this post. This, together with 1., will be 1 entry.
3. You can earn an extra entry by tweeting or blogging about this giveway. Be sure to leave me a link, so I can check. This will gain you an extra entry.

There's a maximum of three entries per person - please leave your entries in one comment. Everyone can enter, since this giveaway is open internationally. This giveaway will run till 31 July 2010. I will draw a winner using The Hat and announce the winner here, on my blog.

Good luck!

Catrice Bronzed Brown

Hi all!

Today I have a polish for you from the Caramé collection that Catrice recently released. I picked up only one of the colors since I don't think I will be wearing the other colors.. I picked up Bronzed Brown and I don't regret it :)

Catrice Bronzed Brown, two coats in daylight. The color is slightly darker (more accurate in the next picture). Bronzed Brown is a gorgeous medium brown with bronze shimmer.

I needed only two coats for opacity and they went on very smoothly. Catrice has quite a nice brush so it's easy to work with. Drying time was good.


Catrice Bronzed Brown, two coats in daylight. This picture is more color accurate. Isn't she a pretty brown?

I thought my nails matched pretty nicely with my outfit a couple of days ago :)



Catrice can be bought at Kruidvat stores in The Netherlands and they cost € 2,49 a bottle (8ml).

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison Wednesday

Hi all!

I've had a couple of requests for comparisons and I found some polishes in my stash that were a lot alike, so Comparison Wednesday it is! I apologize for the variety in backgrounds, but some colors wouldn't be accurate on a white background and some didn't like the black background. I did the best I could with it since lighting wasn't really coorperating either..

Anyway, I have no less than four comparisons for you today! Here's a little overview.

Some colors are way darker irl, but again, that's due to the background..

Left Misa Dirty Sexy Money, right Catrice I Sea You! The colors are a little too dark, but you can see that they're pretty much identical. Dirty Sexy Money is a tad bit more blue, but I don't think you could tell these apart when I wore them together as a mani.

Left Color Club Electronica, right Nfu Oh 117. Both are deep purples with red and blue shimmer particles, but Electronica is a bit darker so I'd say these are no dupes of eachother. They are siblings though, so if you own one of these two, you probably won't need the other.

Left OPI Dating A Royal and Essie Mesmerize on the right. I would call both of them medium blues, but they are no dupes. I've read somewhere that these are deadon dupes, but they're obviously not. Dating A Royal is more intense, colorwise, than Mesmerize. The latter is a bit brighter. No, these are not dupes. If you're not really into blues, you probably won't need both though.

This one is not as faded and light as my picture let's it appear, but I couldn't get a proper shot. I will try again later this week and add a better picture when I managed to take a more accurate picture.. Anyway, left is Orly Prince Charming and right is Essie Mink Muffs. Both are taup-ey cremes, but Mink Muffs is more pigmented and is warmer than Prince Charming. Mink Muffs and Prince Charming are not dupes of eachother.

Left RBL No More War, right Pieces It's a Camouflage. They are both in the army green category, but that's all they have alike. No More War is way darker and greener than It's a Camouflage so no dupes here either.

I hope this was helpful :) Again, if you have suggestions for a comparison, please let me know and I'll see if I can do one for you!

Thanks for stopping by!