From the Vault - Pupa Crackle

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since my last post but Blogger was being stupid and didn't want me to log in again :/ I still haven't found a permanent solution, but I can now finally update again. ANYWAY... I've decided to post most of my backlog pics; I have so many that I haven't posted yet! Anyhoo, this is the silver/purple Pupa Crackle set that I picked up in store in December of 2010.


Silver/white base color, two coats and one coat of purple crackle. This picture doesn't really show you how pretty the silver polish is; its filled with shimmer and just really really shiny! I love how the matte purple crackle contrasts with this.

I've worn this several times over the past months and I still love it. I've also worn it over Orly Shine and China Glaze Something Sweet and I have to say, it's awesome on those colors as well!

I know there are tons of different crackles out there right now, and I'm sure there are dupes for both of these colors, but I absolutely love this set and I will use it many more times :)

Silver and Black Konad

Hi all,

A quickie today, so many things to do! I'm reorganizing my room a bit, giving it a more "home-y" feel.. I have to sort out a whole box filled with old friendship books (from when I was like, 7?), old agenda's, prizes/certificates that I got from diving and a ton more. I think it's enough to keep me busy all morning ;)

For today I have a konadicure that I did last week and since I really like silver and black combinations, I thought I'd share.


Barielle Night Moves stamped with Wet n Wild Black Creme and imageplate M64. Silver and Black is a golden combination with me, and so is this one. I had a little bit of trouble transferring the stamp good enough to get straight lines, but I still like how it turned out!

My original post about Barielle Night Moves can be found here.

Do you have any 'golden combinations', either in colors or maybe even polishes that you like to combine together? I'm always in for some new inspiration!

Barielle Night Moves

Hi all,

Today I have a awesome silver polish for you that I felt I *needed* after seeing swatches from Angie and I don't regret ordering this baby at all.


Barielle Night Moves, three coats in daylight. Night Moves is a stunning silver foil. I don't think it's the most unique polish out there, but it sure as hell is an eyecatcher!


I needed three coats for opacity, since the formula was a little on the thin side, but they were easy to apply and builded up to this stunning silver. I can't wait to wear this when the sun is out more, I think it might be able to turn some heads in sunlight hehe.


Barielle can be bought at www.barielle.com and at Ulta. They're having a 20% off sale on the website til 28th of November. They also still have the '2 + 1 free' deal and there's a free shipping deal when you buy for $ 50 or more. Pretty awesome deal if you ask me!

Barielle Date Night

Hi all,

Today I have one of the Barielles for you that I bought in the sale recently: Date Night.

Barielle Date Night, two coats in direct daylight. Date Night is a gorgeous deep green shimmer that doesn't look black in low lighting (yay!). It's gorgeous and it's really pigmented as well. I used two coats to even my sloppy polishing, but if you work neatly you can call this a onecoater!

As you can see, it's just the slightest bit brush strokey so you want to be careful while applying the polish.

The formula is smooth as butter and practically applied itself :)

In low lights, it looks darker and 'mossier' (is that a word?) so I immediately thought of Slytherin - well hey, I'm a Harry Potter fan! I decided to do an accent nail to wear with this mani.


Barielle Date Night stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M28 in indirect daylight. The color shifts to a darker shade of green, me likez!

I'm a bit lost for words, I really don't know what to say.. I'm tried and I don't know why. Thank goodness the clock goes back one hour tonight, so that's an extra hour of sleep! Yay! (I'm writing this on Saturday night hehe)

Hope you have a great Halloween!

Silver and Black Houndstooth

Hi all,

A couple of days ago (it might already have been last week - time flies!) I did a pretty nice Konad - if I may say so myself - and I wanted to share! I like the contrast in this one, it really makes it pop.


Color Club What A Drag stamped with Wet n Wild Black Creme and imageplate M63. It pops! And it's so easy to do. I'm gonna keep the color combination in mind; I really like it. And can you believe I had not used this design before? This is the first time! Jeez, gotta grab my plates a little more, cuz it's cool.. *stops rambling*

You can read my original post about What A Drag here.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Color Club What A Drag

Hi all,

A quickie today, because I'm not feeling too well - I think I'm coming down with something so I'm gonna go to bed and hope it will go away.

Color Club What A Drag, two coats in daylight. What A Drag is a silver foil, plain and simple. It's been in my helmer since like forever, but I finally pulled it out and tried it on. It went on a bit streaky and the polish seems to have ittybitty bumbs in the structure so it doesn't go on that smoothly.

The color and finish are really shiny though, so that's a big plus. I haven't compared this one to Orly Shine yet, but I think they're pretty much the same :)

Stamping On Orly Shine

Hi all!

Today I have a little Konadicure that I did a little while ago. Everyone always says that the Orly Foil FX collection is great for stamping, but I did it the other way around this time; I used Orly Shine as a base for this one.

Orly Shine, three coats, stamped with Barielle Pin Up and konad imageplate M60. I like the effect! The red really complements the silver base. It's not straight red, it has a strong hint of pink in it while stamping.


Hmm, nice!

Don't forget to send in your Harry Potter designs for the nailart contest I'm hosting! You still have a week to send in your design(s). To read more about the contest, please click here to read the original post.

A product in this post was sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

PS: I am so way behind on answering my emails. I'm so sorry! I try to catch up with them, but everytime I try to get through the pile of emails something comes in between or I just don't have enough time. I'm working on it, so if you're waiting on a reply to your email, please bear with me! Thanks :)

Orly Shine

Hi all!

It's weekend! Whoohoo! I have to study quite a bit since I'm behind on my Spanish course, but hey, it's still weekend :) Today I have a polish for you that I originally ordered for stamping only, but I'm digging it more when I'm just wearing it on my nails: Orly Shine.

Orly Shine, three coats in daylight. Shine is a gorgeous silver foil, that's not totally unique but I can't really see the brushstrokes, so ding ding ding we have a winner! Usually, I don't like these kind of foils on me because they tend to be frosty and/or brushstrokey, but this one just shines it's ass off on my nails. I love it!

Application was somewhere between alright and good, since the polish is on the thin side. I like it when polish is a little thicker, but I could easily manage it with the brush and needed three coats for opacity. When you go over the polish too often with your brush, you'll drag some of the polish with it, so be careful :)

Drying time was good; I didn't use any topcoat on it but it was dry within minutes.

I think this would look awesome on my toes as well. It's just so.. Shiny! I love it that it makes my hands look super tanned, hehe.

And now I'm thinking.. To I *need* Rage and Luxe as well?

Essie After Sex

Hi all!

Have you ever bought a polish mostly for the name alone? Well, I have to admit that I had to have this one just for the name. Ain't that silly? I also have a polish with my name.. And I don't even like the color! Anyway, I'm drifting off. I actually like the color of this one so it didn't even turn out that bad :)

Essie After Sex, three coats in daylight. After Sex is a medium red shimmer with a bit of a pearly finish. It's not so strong, so you'll probably only see it when the light hits the nail. I think it's a pretty red, but nothing unique to be honest :)

Application was alright. Essie's brush is quite small and I don't really like working with it. The formula on this one was alright; it was a bit streaky at first but it all evened out in three coats.

It's a pretty color, but it was a bit boring to me, so I pulled out some konad and got stamping.

Essie After Sex stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M64. I used a silver strass stone from dollarnailart on every nail to bling up the design. Although I stamped a bit wonky, I like how this turned out! Can you believe it was the first time using this design, after buying the complete plate for this design only? I've had this plate for months!

That do you think of After Sex? Did you ever buy a polish because of the name? Tell me all about it!

Essie Lapis Of Luxury

Hi all!

Essie launched their Resort Collection this year and I picked up a few pretties. I couldn't leave Lapis Of Luxury out! Let's take a look at the blue of this collection.

Essie Lapis Of Luxury, three coats in daylight. Lapis Of Luxury is a pastel-ish light blue creme. In my eye, it's not a true pastel, but it's not a true light blue either. It's somewhere in between. I feel a little hint of periwinkle in there somewhere too..

It's such a soothing color. It's one of those colors that would never look boring on my nails, not to me at least.

Application was good. The Essie brush is a little thin for my liking, but easy to work with. The polish went on a bit streaky at the first coat, but all evened out in three coats to opacity. Drying time was good - the polish was dry when I took pictures of it.

Since I love the combination between these kind of colors and silver, I did a little stamping.

Essie Lapis Of Luxury, three coats, stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M73. M73 still has my favorite design and I use it when I can :) I love the contrast in these, although it would have looked even better when Lapis Of Luxury was a tad darker.

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Dorothy Who?

Hi all!

Already two days ahead in August.. Whew, time really goes by quickly! Today I have a polish for you that many nail ladies loved from the beginning, but it was in my Helmer for over 6 months before I finally decided to try it. Yikes! Anyway, I tried it and have to admit I was a little disappointed. I will explain why, let's take a look at the pictures first :)

China Glaze Dorothy Who?, five coats in daylight. Dorothy Who? is a gorgeous medium blue glittery polish. It's not truly glitter since it's not bumpy and it appears that the glitters sunk a little in the blue base, so I'd say this is a lighter blue glitter sunk in a blue jelly base. Awesome color, but the opacity of this polish has me worried. It took me five coats to get to this but I still can see a little visible nail line.

Application was easy, the China Glaze brush is a little on the thin side but that's an advantage when you're working with jellylike finishes. Dryingtime was alright.

I did a little konad with a design that I haven't used before:

China Glaze Dorothy Who? stamped with China Glaze Millennium and imageplate M70. The silver stamping gives Dorothy Who even more depth! I like it!

What do you think of Dorothy Who? How many coats do you need for opacity? *worried*

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

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!

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!

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 Nidhi

Hi all!

Is the weather there as good as it is here? It's getting hot and sunny in The Netherlands! Today I have another Zoya Sparkle for you: Zoya Nidhi.

Zoya Nidhi, three coats in daylight. Nidhi is the oddball in the Sparkle Collection; it has a different finish than the other five polishes. It's still super pretty though! Nidhi is a tomato red glass flecked polish with silver, red, lime and yellow particles. This is three coats, but I guess you could go with two coats as well.

Application was as good as the other sparkles. The texture is a bit on the thin side but easy to work with. Drying time was good.

Since I made the other Sparkles matte, here's Nidhi mattified:

Zoya Nidhi, three coats with one coat of Essie Matte About You in daylight. Pretty, but not as pretty as the other sparkles! Please excuse the white chip on my nails, my Matte About You seems to have issues..

And of course I did a little (because I don't want to cover up the prettyness of Nidhi) Konad.

Zoya Nidhi, three coats stamped with imageplate M77 and China Glaze Millennium. It's a little stamp, and I have to say that I like it! I have never used this plate before and I've had it for a while..

What do you think of Nidhi?

Also, I've been working behind the scenes on my blog. You might not see it now, but you will see major changes on my blog in the near future. I've worked on it for the past four or five days, yesterday even over 11 hours to make everything perfect. I think it will keep me off the streets since I want everything perfect, but I hope you will enjoy all the effort I put in it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Date Pic! Plus Another China Glaze Konadicure

Hi all!

Yesterday was my pie eating date with Michèle and Michelle, although we didn't really eat pie.. We did eat sushi though! Anyway we went shopping and even with the rainy weather, I had a lovely day, so thanks ladies!

Of course, I snapped a pic of our hands together :D

Michèle is wearing Catrice Lost in Mud, Michelle is wearing Orly Rage and I am wearing China Glaze Recycle, stamped with China Glaze Millennium.

Here's a closer pic from my mani on day two of wear:

China Glaze Recycle, stamped with imageplate M73 and China Glaze Millennium. China Glaze Recycle is three coats, though 2 could have been sufficient for opacity if I didn't have so much trouble with the formula. It went on like crap, I couldn't handle it.. Recycle is a grey creme and I honestly can't see what all the fuss is about; it's a pretty color but the application was a big turnoff for me. I like this combination with Konad though!

Ladies, I had a wonderful day and I hope you did too! Enjoy your new pretties ;)

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!

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!