It Feels Like Fall

Hi all!

Is the weather acting like it's fall there as well? It sure has around here. It has cooled off and we had lots and lots of rain. Yesterday was alright, we even had three beams of sunlights. It felt like fall, so I thought a color that made me think of fall was 'in order'.

I ordered this one in the time that I thought everything would look great with my skintone. A couple of months back, I realized that not everything looks good on me and since golds made my hands look like lobster claws, this baby stayed an untried ever since I got it in last December. I expected it to make my hands look red and ugly and I didn't really like the color in the bottle.. Untill I put it on.

China Glaze Golden Spurs, three coats in daylight. Golden Spurs is a golden shimmer that has a hint of brown to it.. I think. I can't put my finger on it. And I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by this little gem! It might not look spectacular to you, but it's one of the few gold-ish shades that I can wear without getting ugly red claws. I really likt it! It feels like a very wearable color, even in an office environment.

Application on this was good. The polish was just the right structure for me and was easy to apply. Drying time was good as well. I waited 10 minutes before stamping on it and it was dry when I started stamping.

China Glaze Golden Spurs, stamped with Wet n Wild Black Creme and Bundle Monster Imageplate BM11. Fall means leaves falling off the trees to me, so I immediately thought of the leavespattern on one of my Bundle Monster Plates. It turned out alright! It would have been better when I used a dark brown polish so the contrast wouldn't be so harsh, but I like it nontheless.

Do you own polish that reminds you of fall?

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!

The Tomato Test

Hi all!

I can hear you thinking: "The Tomato Test"? Yes, that is the correct title for this post! Let me give you a short introduction to the idea behind this post.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the Bundle Monste imageplates in. They come in a set of 21 plates and are available via amazon. The plates have some great designs so I'm really happy to have these. However, while I was removing the foil that was on the plates, I literally sliced my finger open. Anyway.. This is the first part of my Bundle Monster Imageplates review :)

This post is picture heavy!

The Bundle Monster imageplates. These are just 5 out of the 21 plates. They have a great variety in designs and that's something I really like.

Bundle Monster imageplate on the left, Konad imageplate on the right. The plates are the same size, but Konad imageplates hold 5 images and Bundle Monster holds 6. Because of that, the images on the Bundle Monster plates are slightly smaller so that might be something to think of for the ladies with longer or wider nails.

We're getting to the core of this review. See the edges of this plate? They're really really sharp. To demonstrate this, let's meet todays assistant..

Mister Tomato. I will demonstrate the sharpness of the Konad and Bundle Monster imageplates with help of my lovely red assistant.

First up is the Konad imageplate. I will press the plate on the tomato and after that I will roll the plate back and forth over one side of the tomato.

You can see the impact of the imageplate on the tomato. There's some damage, but not much. You can see the trail the plate has left over my assistant..

Next up is the Bundle Monster imageplate. I will do the same as I did with the Konad imageplate; press it on the tomato and roll the plate back and forth over it.

Oi, that doesn't look really good, does it? Thankfully I can show you this on the tomato instead of on my own finger. The imageplate is as sharp as a knife! Damn, no wonder I sliced my finger open.

And this is what Mister Tomato looks like after the Bundle Monster plate was through with it. Ouch..

My conclusion; these imageplates have lovely images, but please please please be careful while working with these. I cut myself while getting the foil off, so I my advice is to hold the plate in the center of the plate while you're removing the plastic. Don't hold the plate around the edges, although it may be more comfortable (if you still have undamaged fingers, that is).

Besides that, my advice is to not let your children or other young kids play with these plates. If you decide to stamp images from these plates on the nails of children, do not leave them unattended. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that these plates can be very dangerous.

Have fun, but be careful as well :)

Thanks for stopping by!

It's A Sad Day Today

Hi all,

Today is a sad day. Our 16 year old cat was put to sleep today by the vet. The poor thing was ill for the last couple of months and we tried every possible treatment for the sneezing disease that he was diagnosed with, but today we discovered that it wasn't the real thing that was going on. Our little man had a tumor in his little head that caused chronic nose bleeds and because of the bleeding, he got weaker every day. It's better for him this way, but it's so, so sad to lose the pal I've had for 16 years.

Rest in peace, Mistie, my dear little nerdy friend.

I was planning on doing a happy mani today because I launched my new blog layout, but I decided to do something a little less festive for today.

Diamond Cosmetics Cherry Tobacco, two coats in daylight. Cherry Tobacco is a vampy brown with glowing shimmer and it screams fall to me.

Application was good, no problems with drying time either so I was pleasantly surprised since this was one of those polishes that was sitting in my Helmer since like forever. And if it feels like fall.. We'll put some fall on the nails.


Diamond Cosmetics Cherry Tobacco stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM04 and China Glaze Millennium. Millennium works really really well on these kind of shades and I just love the contrast between the brown and the silver.

A Closeup of Cherry Tobacco stamped with Millennium.

These kind of manicures just fascinate me although there isn't even glitter, holo or duochrome to keep me satisfied..

Thanks for stopping by

Zoya Alegra

Hi all!

Did you miss me? Our internet provider decided to cut us off internet, television and phone last wednesday, so I haven't been able to get back online ever since.. I'm at my boyfriend's house at the moment so I'm able to upload and write some posts. Internet will be off till at least monday, but I'll try to upload a couple of posts so you still have enough to read and look at.

However, I don't know if I have time to answer all emails and respond to your comments.. I hope you will understand :)

Recently I got the entire Zoya Sparkles Collection in and I don't have any regret that I bought all six polishes. They're all beautiful and today you will see the first of six: Zoya Alegra.

Zoya Alegra, three coats in daylight. The weather was really bad when I did this one, so please bear with me. Alegra is a bright fuchsia sparkle; not really glitter, not really shimmer either. I'd say the finish is somewhere in between large shimmer and glass flecked. It's really pretty! As always - when there's an interesting finish to look at - a closeup shot:

Pretty huh? Zoya really does know how to do sparkles.

This polish was just screaming at me to be mattified, so of course I put a coat of Essie Matte About You over it.

Zoya Alegra, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Woah! Damn. It glows! look at it!

Pfew.. This is the kind of pink that I can actually see myself wearing every week, either sparkly or matte.

And to finish it off, I did a small konadicure with one of my Bundle monster plates.

Zoya Alegra, three coats stamped with Bundle monster plate BM05 and China Glaze Millennium. I didn't want to put too much over it because it looks so pretty.. (the color is a lot brighter than shown in this picture!)

Application was good. The polish is a bit runny and thin, but it was easy to apply. Drying time was good, even with three coats of polish. I think you could do with two coats for opacity, but I did three out of habit. I love the sparkles..

Stay tuned for more swatches of the Zoya Sparkles Collection!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I haven't had the time to count the votes in the nailart contest yet because I couldn't get online till now.. I hope I will be able to post the winner somewhere this weekend. I won't forget to announce the winner!

Kitty Ate All The Fish

Hi all!

So today I have a konadicure for you! Well it's not really Konad, but it's stamping alright :) I only have half of my Bundle Monster plates, but these are already a lot of fun.

Kitty Ate All The Fish! I used OPI Princesses Rule! as a basecolor (two coats) and stamped it with Konad Special polish in Black Pearl and China Glaze Awaken. I used Bundle Monster imageplate BM04 for the images. I really like how this one turned out! What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Essie Decadent Diva

Hi all!

How are you doing today? The working week is in half and I believe there's a ton of sunshine on the way in the weekend (25 C this weekend!) so that's something to look forward to! I'm feeling a little better than I felt yesterday and monday, but still not the old me.. It should be fine in a couple of days though. Anyway, today I have one of my latest acquisitions for you: Essie Decadent Diva! I made this post a long one, so beware ;)

Essie Decadent Diva, three coats in daylight. Decadent Diva is a gorgeous brown shimmer. In my opinion, this is a true stunner. The shimmer in Decacent Diva is a lighter sort of brown and cherry colored, which makes it look like it glows on your nails. I love it!

Decadent Diva is a part of the 2007 Essie Glamour Girl Collection and is in my opinion by far the best color in this collection. I bought this polish without being sure that I would like it, but I sure do.

Application was a bit tricky since the structure of the polish is a bit watery at first, but all evens out in two coats. I did three because of the macro settings on my camera. Drying time was alright, not too quick even though I waited a bit between coats.

Since the polish had a glowy vibe over it, it was screaming "Mattify me!", so of course, I did.

Essie Decadent Diva with a coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Essie MAY makes Decadent Diva look purely matte, without it looking flat. I actually really like this..

But of course, making this polish matte wasn't enough.. I had to stamp something on it! I decided to use one of my new Bundle Monster plates that I got in just a couple of days ago.

Essie Decadent Diva with one coat of Essie MAY, stamped with China Glaze Millennium and Bundle Monster plate BM15. Whew, that's a whole lot! I LOVE this image! I didn't notice it when I was ordering, but I saw it when I got the plates in.. Look at the details of the tail of the peacock! Isn't that amazing? Let's see it closeup:

Whoa, I think I found a new favorite stamping image! Millennium makes a great contrast between the base color and the image. Yes, this combination is a winner for me!

What do you think of Essie Decadent Diva - Do you like her more when she's shiny or when she's matte? And what do you think of the Bundle Monster image? Do you own them yourself?

Thanks for stopping by!