alizarine claws

A-England - The Legends

2012-01-31T23:24:00.008+01:00

Can we do them justice? Probably not. But let's try.

All shown alone, without base and top coats.

Princess Sabra, a k a Tristam Eyes. Any cat owner can tell why. It's the cat eye green we all adore. Three coats.

(Swatching companion.)

Dragon. Perfect green holo with a slight orange flash, which is unfortunately practically undetectable in these photos. Two coats.

Saint George. Deep emerald green, and a personal request from Adina (she does listen to the fanbase!). Two coats!

And while we're at it, although you've been able to read about the myths elsewhere and my post is terribly picture heavy already and I was going to exclude it, let me show you a few Saint Georges of my hometown of Stockholm. That guy is huge here.

Wooden sculpture from 1489, in Storkyrkan, in the most ancient part of Stockholm, called Gamla Stan (The Old Town).

And here is a replica made from bronze, placed only a few blocks away from the church, at Köpmantorget in Gamla Stan. This copy is exactly one hundred years old. Of course I had to find a photo where it's snow-covered - it's Sweden for heaven's sake.

In this case, Saint George, or Sankt Göran in Sweden, is actually Sten Sture the Elder, a regent often referred to as king, who once saved the city of Stockholm from the dragon - the Danish. This was during a period of time when Sweden strived for sovereignty from a pretty loose union with Denmark, ruled by the Danish king. This dude successfully managed to keep Russia out of Finland (which was at the time a part of Sweden), and eventually, after his death, the Swedish struggle made the country a nation after a serious amount of bloodshed. So, in short, Sankt Göran is the symbol of Swedish independence. However, he never managed to maneuver out the already widely used image of Saint Erik as the symbol of Stockholm (don't mess with our Eric the Holy!).

History lession finished, now, let's continue the bling.

Princess Tears. Two, or was it three?, coats. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a holo, it's a duochrome - no, it's a holo and a duochrome! The holo effect is among the stronger in the collection, and the sheen of pink and barely detectable green over it... And this shade surprised me in a positive way. I've seen violet holos before, but this is bottled magic.

Ascalon. Three coats, but two would have been enough. Like Princess Tears but with a charcoal base. Copy and paste superlatives from the description of Princess Tears here.

Bridal Veil. Two coats. Jet black subtle space in a bottle. I love spaces in bottles.

Order of the Garter. Three coats. The oddball of the collection - it's "just" a plain ol' shimmer. But a pretty one. This is a blue you'll have to see for yourselves, it's not as good in photos as it is in reality. I was positively surprised by this one too. Magnify the macro if you don't believe me!

Also, it matches my jar of snus.

This collection has been widely anticipated, and it doesn't disappoint. Personally, I actually like it even more than I first thought I would. Since I'm known to be much more of a duochrome lover than a holo ditto, the added duochrome pigments to a few of the shades made me a happy lacquerista. I have never been afraid of admitting to being an A-England fan, and my love for the brand continues with this release. Three green holos?! Yeah. And although I asked for Saint George, I'm actually leaning towards Dragon being my favourite of the three. And both Ascalon and Princess Tears are obvious favourites of mine.

Formula was good, as usual, though some are more sheer than others. Three coats of Order of the Garter could still show a bit of visible nail line, but that's okay. Ascalon and Princess Tears are a bit thick and needed some extra effort, but that's okay too.

The Legends will soon be available on the official A-England website, and in the meantime, if you missed out, read this interview with the fabulous and fanbase oriented brand proprietor Adina.

Swedish word of the day:
legendarisk -adjective legendary
These shades will be.

Depend spring 2012

2012-01-30T20:46:00.002+01:00

Late on this, but better that, than never, right? Here's what Swedish nail care brand Depend is offering us for spring, in terms of color. This collection contains 11 colors and a matte topcoat.

Unfortunately, low light is all Sweden has to offer this time of year, but the colors here are pretty accurate.

Let's take a look at the wheel, and we might just find something interesting. Or..?

Do you see that? Yes. Eight of these are mattes. Semi-matte, but still. Eight! Only three glossy shades to choose from.

Now, let's see what we can expect from the matte topcoat. Here over the three glossy shades.

Yeah. So...

Yeah. where do I begin? This is by far the most terrible collection I had to review. Let's talk about the colors first. I do realize that pastel like shades are back this spring, and yes, that's painful for me personally, but these shades... Some of them aren't even pretty in theory. 298, 302, and 303 (the latter referred to as "band-aid colored" by fellow Swedish blogger Nailtastic) stand out as the worst color lab mishaps of the year (and it's only just begun!). Let's be fair: some of the shades are good, 299 might even be really pretty, but none of the better shades are very inventive or fresh. And then there are good shades that have that semi-matte thing going on, and if you'd by any chance like your manicure glossy, that frost finish they're made from will be revealed.

The last time I reviewed a Depend collection with quite a large bulk of these semi-matte shades, my verdict was a lot more positive. There's a reason for that. I believe this is the third, or perhaps even fourth, collection where Depend includes this finish - and this time with a total of them that exceeds all the previous together. It's just too much. In the accompanying press release, they state that mattes are still going strong among nail trends, but the Depend peeps and I must be looking for way different sources. I'm sad that Depend didn't catch up on the again exploding flakie trend, like they did when they released 156 during the last flakie boom, and while pretty much every brand releases a shitload of flakies that make lacqueristas all over the world giddy, Depend releases ...eight more frost struck semi-mattes.

Let's skip to the matte topcoat. Again, while most brands released matte topcoats in 2009 and 2010, Depend does so in 2012. Together with a collection that consists to 70 % of matte shades. I don't follow their logic, but okay. So, what's it like, performance wise?

Well, those of you who were around before the new generation of matte topcoats may remember using certain ridge filling basecoats as substitutes. This is pretty much the exact same feeling Depend's matte topcoat will give you. It's thick, and slightly whitening, it alters the color underneath into a lighter shade. See the last photo, compare the colors to the un-mattified versions on the wheel above.

I don't like being this mean, but this is a terrible collection. Three okay (but frosty) shades in the matte division (294, 295, 301), a decent staple among the glossy ones (300), and one pretty shade (299) that could be worth picking up if you're short on good periwinkle cremes. Not even two greens saves anything. And there used to be a time when Depend did colors that I would stock up on, buy a large pile and forward to international friends, such as 156 (pink jelly flakie) and 170 (super greyed blue creme). They were fast on picking up the army green trend, to my personal content. But this... Let's hope for a better fall for this brand.

Swedish word of the day:
matt -adjective I matte II weak, dull
Too many mattes makes me weak...

Colors from OPI's Holland, part II

2012-01-29T20:54:00.003+01:00

Sunshine! And I woke up in time. Actually, honestly, my SO woke me up and said "It's sunny today, so if you need to swatch, you should!". Yeah. So... You should perhaps thank my SO for this post.

I took out three more OPI Holland colors, and these are the ones you'll get to see today.

I Have a Herring Problem, three coats. The sun washed the color out, but I took a bunch of pics in different lights, so you'll have an idea. And look at this bottle macro:

You can tell what's going on here, right? Yes, a lot. Dusty, slightly teal blue base with silver and gold shimmer, and some of those little black bits that enhances the dirty look in such an awesome way. This is my favourite polish of the collection, and almost a bit daring for an OPI. It somewhat corresponds to I Don't Give a Rotterdam!, but this color is even better.

Pedal Faster Suzi!, three coats. A cool, light pink with heavy silver shimmer - though the sun makes it look warmer here than it actually is. This is a pink I can get behind. Most of you know by now that I'm not really into the pink spectrum, but there is actually quite a big chance I'll wear this one. It's rather sheer though, so you'll need all three coats, and you may still detect some visible nail line. I just wish OPI would have made this one to correspond with I Don't Give a Rotterdam! and I Have a Herring Problem as well, thrown in some of those black bits. That would have rendered a really interesting and more unusual shade of pink.

Thanks a WindMillion, two coats. I wish I had done three, but most of you will be content with the two. Pretty straight forward medium, dusty green creme. It's not bad, it's just not that exciting. And you're reading a greens enthusiast here. I feel like this shade is a year or two too late, and would have fitted better in the Pirates of the Caribbean collection from last summer. I'll probably slap it on at some point, but it's not very high on my can't-wait-to-wear list.

All these were good to work with, though the shimmers are on the sheer side. Pedal Faster Suzi! had an undesirably long drying time, apart from that all three are of standard OPI formula.

I read somewhere that these will be out in stores on February 8th in the US, so if I hurry up a bit, you just may get to see the rest before that. Let's hope for some sun!

Swedish word of the day:
väderkvarn -noun windmill
Perhaps the English word for it is prettier.

China Glaze III: Shower Together

2012-01-26T17:03:00.003+01:00

Hello ISO-grain! And hello gorgeous, super bright aqua creme! The China Glaze theme week continues, today with Shower Together, from the 2008 ecollection.

Two coats. You can see the visible nail line, right? If you hate that, you should probably do three. I don't know if this polish is a tad jellyish in texture on purpose, but since I didn't mind it, I didn't strive for complete opacity. Here it's with topcoat on, but this baby is crazy shiny in itself. I love colors like these, so I'm happy with this manicure for a while. I'm almost dreading taking it off, if not for the sadness of losing the color, at least because I'm fearing stains. Maybe I should keep it on until it grows out.

Swedish word of the day:
miljömedvetenhet -noun environmental awareness
China Glaze apparently promotes it as well.

China Glaze II: Beatnik

2012-01-25T17:34:00.002+01:00

Only one photo today, because... Guess what? No sun. Actually, I know I've already failed this theme week a bit, but I blame this on the fact that I accidentally fell asleep after breakfast yesterday and woke up just before dusk, and the photo below is all I got of my new China Glaze manicure - this is Beatnik, from all the way back in 2003.

I did three coats, and the color is a warm grey with a sort of metallic pearly frosty finish. The finish isn't s horrible as it sounds, it's just hard to define. You may also label it a fine shimmer, I suppose, but it's not that kind of yucky frost we all love to hate, but still fine enough to create a very shiny look. In lower light it looks like yet another steely grey, but as soon as you get a better look at it, it's brownish enough to lean sorta taupe. I don't know, does it really matter? It's more than 8 years old (released in the fall 2003 collection Bohemian Chic), and I highly doubt anyone will be trying to hunt it down after seeing this photo of it.

Beatnik, I'm sorry I couldn't do you justice. On the other hand, you're not all that good. So I guess we're even.

Swedish word of the day:
konformitet -noun conformity
Not for the Beatniks.

China Glaze I: Lasso My Heart

2012-01-23T20:18:00.004+01:00

Theme week! Just when I thought the battle had been won by OPI, you voted China Glaze all the way to the top. And just to make this a little less predictable, you probably won't see many newly released China Glaze colors during this theme week. I'll begin with a shade from one of my favourite collections, which was released in 2008. From Rodeo Diva, I give you Lasso My Heart.

Look! Bleak, Swedish winter sun!

Three coats. Some of you would be content with only two, but ...you know. Me. This rosy color has a purple base, warmed up enough by the gold shimmer to knock it up to a slightly more pinkish hue. In some lights it's definitely purple, but in others it's almost ...grannylike. Rosy. A dark rose, sure, but still. This is what makes me hesitate if I really like this polish all that much, because, even though the color itself is stunning, I'm not sure it looks all that awesome on me.

My mind started to wander around in my stash, and I was trying to recall if I have anything else like Lasso My Heart. I don't, but here's a quick comparison to a couple of gold struck purple shades I have just to shed some light on its constitution.

In the absence of sun, how about some flash light? To the left is OPI Meet Me On the Star Ferry, and to the right is Peel Me a Gobi Grape from the same brand. Lasso My Heart of course in the middle. Not that any of these are all that close, but perhaps, if one's generous, one may conclude that Lasso My Heart is what you'd get if you crossed the two others. But that's being very forgiving.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first post of the China Glaze theme week - I hope to be back with more tomorrow!

Swedish words of the day:
mormor -noun [maternal] grandmother
and
farmor -noun [paternal] grandmother
Swedes try not to get them mixed up.

Northern Lights

2012-01-21T22:50:00.000+01:00

So, I have shown you INM Northern Lights before, but I gathered some more pictures of it in different combinations to post, just to get it over with - after all, I have used up about 1/3 of my bottle because it's just a feckin' awesome go-to sparkle top coat. I actually like the fast drying properties of it as well, not to mention the wear. If I put it over a color, with Nail Tek Citra as my base, it will last me through at least one work shift, and you know by now what I do for a living, right?

Regretfully, all these photos are shot at night. I have done most of my Northern Lights manicures before leaving for work, and ...you know by now what shift I do, right?

First, here's Northern Lights over OPI I Vant to Be a Lone Star.

First, the OPI here... I decided to use it with Northern Lights because the finish is so incredibly shitty. Frosty. I knew I'd never wear it with a regular clear topcoat. Secondly, the OPI again... Specifically, the name. I just don't get it. I. Don't. Get. It. What the hell is "Vant" a play on? Does it mean something? Suzi is just too American for us int'l peeps these days.

The next one is really fabulastic. I loved wearing it. Northern Lights over New York Summer Hot Atomic Red.

Hot Atomic Red is a jelly, and, of course, red, so the color appears quite differently in different lights. This photo is evidently shot with flash, but I took this manicure to work too, and I couldn't stop looking at it all the time because it changed so much, ranging from a pinkish hue to warm red. I love jellies, they are everything but boring!

Last, a bit of a shocker for you: the alizarine wearing a french!

Yep, it's true. I did a french manicure. Freehand. Honestly, my first successful freehand french. Not that I really did a lot of practising before... Originally, I just did a quick coating of Northern Lights, like I often do before going to work, but I just couldn't stand how stained my nails were, so I had to do something. I grabbed my bottle of Essie Marshmallow, and this is how it turned out. Not bad for someone who never does french manis. If I may say so myself. And I do. Unfortunately, you can still tell my nails were yellow.

Anyway, this is how much I love INM Northern Lights. I'll try not to post a gazillion more combinations, so I'm sorta hoping this is the last time you see it on this blog.

Oh, and the final vote is in. You're getting a China Glaze theme week soonish.

Swedish word of the day:
hallonsvamp -noun raspberry mushroom
Not as gross as it sounds - it's a popular type of Swedish candy, and it's in my mouth at this moment.

Super herpes

2012-01-18T18:41:00.000+01:00

This is a horrible post photo-wise. Still, I wanted to show you this carcinogenous herpes manicure. Teehee. I got the few OPI Nicki Minaj colors I ordered a while back, and this is what I did with Super Bass Shatter: anything but craziness is a no-no for me when I use crackles these days. I'm bored with just crackle on basic creme, and love applying them over glitters. The more insane, the better. So, on top of Color Club Backstage Pass, it's just as nasty as can be.

iPhone photo. Sorry about that, but none of my standard photos came out decent.

Like this one...

Anyway, I applied one very generous coat of Backstage Pass over a standard black creme, and then a coating of Super Bass Shatter, which is a plum leaning purple shimmer. Isn't it horrible? It's just that I feel shimmer crackles are so busy in themselves, so I have to make the look even more busy to justify using it.

If you by any chance would like to see Backstage Pass prior to the crackle application, here are a couple of photos:

It looks terrible alone like this. It's a cool idea, but it looks prettier in the bottle than it does on. I couldn't find any use for it other than in the crazy crackle manicure. Also, removing this was like getting rid of Satan without the help of Max von Sydow.

About the theme week poll (to the right in the side bar!), it now looks like OPI is winning by a landslide, so if you would like to see something else than a bulk of OPI posts, make sure to vote - you only have one day left!

Swedish expression of the day:
venerisk sjukdom venerial disease
You just never know when you might need this phrase.

Petite Darling FAIL

2012-01-17T18:40:00.000+01:00

Yeah, that says it all. Or at least most of it. One of my ebay aquirements, BL505 Ocean, from the Etude House series Petit Darling Nails. No sun. Sorry.

Did I do two or three coats? I can't remember. It could be two. But also three. Hmm. Anyway. Foil like sparkle in blue base. Pretty. Right? However... In the bottle it looks crazy multicrome, like these foil type shimmers tend to be. The bottle is gorgeous. Just look at the manufacturer's product photo:

But once the contents are on your nails ...no shift. None. Okay, I may be harsh now, I could perhaps see a tiny magenta shift in some extreme angle, but that took a lot of work. So, it's mostly a sparkly blue. Which is fine if that's what you're looking for.

Actually, it looks a whole lot like OPI DS Magic. The foil particles seem identical, but the blue base is a little deeper in the Etude house, perhaps slightly more opaque, which, of course, could be the problem here. In most side by side nail comparisons you won't be able to tell the difference, but when I tried them on white plastic, the differences were there. So, if you (unlike me) felt the duochrome effect of the OPI was too weak to bother with, then this Etude House is nothing for you. If you love sparkly blues, it is (the formula is fine!). And if you're a skilled and inventive ebay searcher, you may find it at bargain pricing.

Swedish expression of the day:
falsk marknadsföring false marketing
Yeah.

I know it's a shine of the times

2012-01-13T16:29:00.004+01:00

After being absent for this long, I think you deserve some flakies. I finally got a couple of the Essie Luxeffects, and one of them is Shine of the Times. It took me a while to choose what to layer it over, but finally decided on something blue. And that Something Blue is a new one from H&M.

The girl wearing the polish is not dead, but the Swedish weather (still) is. One thin coat of Shine of the Times over one generous coat of Something Blue. Two thick polishes that took some patience, I felt. I usually find the H&M formula easy to work with, but lately, they have been thicker and if I'm not mistaken, the brush is... Different somehow. Maybe it's just me. Shine of the Times is rather thick too, and since I didn't want it to cover the base color completely, it took some effort to spread it. But it's okay, because once the topcoat is on, it's just smashing. Right?

However, if you own Models Own Betty Blue, or any dupe for it, you will perhaps not need this H&M. They are pretty much identical color wise, although Betty Blue is a tad jellyish, while Something Blue is opaque.

When dealing with this particular Essie lacquer, I can't help singing this song:

Wow, this is some pure 80's hairband shizzle.

I'm considering doing a brand theme week again, simply to get rid of larger bulks of untrieds. If you feel like it, please take a second to vote for a brand you'd like to see more from, in the poll at the top of the side bar!

Swedish expression of the day:
tecken i tiden sign of the times
There are so many...

Kiwi

2012-01-05T16:57:00.003+01:00

Another quick one today as I'm (almost) completely devoted to following the events of the conference of my political party (and while writing this listening to the speeches simultaneously). I have another set of relatively crappy photos, as these northern lands provides nothing but darkness and gloom this time of year and therefore my photos consist of nothing but ISO grain. Depicted below is actually a creme, slightly jellyish, in fact, of the for me exotic Korean variety. This is Skin Food Kiwi.

I recall doing three coats of this one, and although being an unusually pretty shade of green (slightly puke-ish), it's hellish in application. Also, it chipped lightning fast. Still pretty, but not necessarily a good pick for anyone who suffers from easily chipping manicures.

Swedish word of the day:
nördig -adjective nerdy
Sometimes I am.

The best of 2011

2012-01-04T20:12:00.004+01:00

I think. Maybe. I had to go through my own blog for the entire year. Which wasn't all that much fun. And I sorta lost interest. But this is what I came up with for my favourites of 2011.

Ludurana Show.

IsaDora Black Galaxy.

Misa Phazers On Stunning.

Essence Gagalectric.

H&M Wanna Pepperoni.

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black.
Was this shizzle released in 2011..? Let's hope so.

OPI Grape... Set... Match.

Lippmann Collection Glitter in the Air.

H&M Peppermint Fusion.

Color Club Alias.

OPI Not Like the Movies.
Another one I'm not entirely certain was released in 2011. It could have been so in the end of 2010, but close enough, eh?

So... Yeah. That's all the crumbles I could find. Duo- and multichromes highly over-represented, apparently. And I surely forgot about one or two, or have a bunch of gorgeous ones that are still unphotographed, somewhere, hidden deeply in my untrieds drawers. And, not a single China Glaze made it onto my list. I wonder what that says about me. Or China Glaze. (I'll go hide from your rotten eggs now.)

Swedish word of the night:
kräsen -adjective picky
I know I am.

Typhoonish

2012-01-04T18:57:00.003+01:00

A quick one as I got absolutely zero good pictures of this beauty - Typhoon Lagoon from Brucci.

This one was really sheer, and I didn't layer it, which I in hindsight regret. I wore it just before Xmas, and honestly, I can't recall if I did three or four coats. All I remember was I did fairly generous coats as I discovered early on how sheer it was, and if I did only three, I should have done a fourth, as it still wasn't entirely opaque. Anyway, I had to go outside to get enough light to photograph it, and still 400 ISO was required, so it's all blurry and grainy, and to add on top of that: you know how my camera hates magenta! So the gorgeous magenta duochrome doesn't show very well in these photos. The sheer base is purple, and the shimmer shifts from blue or aqua to the magenta.

I wish I could show you Typhoon Lagoon in all its glory, but I can't, so I suggest you go check out One Inch Nails' post on the lacquer in question. This lady only has 36 Google followers and 53 RSS subscribers, which is a shame because she manages fantastic photos and has a set of claws that I would actually have intercourse with if possible - pardon the language.

Now I think I'll start working on the mandatory best of 2011 post, and until then... Feel free to say hi! (Because I've missed you.)

Swedish word of the day:
lagun -noun lagoon
So simple. So Swedish.

The best of the best in 2011

2012-01-02T18:09:00.000+01:00

Where did she go, you ask? I got the flu, then I worked some (simultaneously, of course), stayed sick and worked yet some more. I don't like the feeling of neglecting the blog, but I'll try to be a better writer and photographer in 2012!

Here's the post that I intended to post on new year's eve, but I forgot before I ran off to tuck my old ladies in - the three manicures I think I did best in 2011!

Jelly sandwich with New York Summer Phsyo with Essence Edward beneath the final coat of Phsyo. Original post, with more photos, here.

Kill it with fire! Flakie gradient with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over OPI Vodka & Caviar. Very hard one to be separated from once it wasn't all that fresh anymore. Original post here.

Buckled. Foil sandwich! The oxidized silver foil Your Royal Shine-ness from OPI, and beneath the thin top layer, a good coating of the large silver hexagonal glitter in Milani's Jewel FX Silver. Original post here.

I'll possibly be back with more yearly summaries soon.

Swedish word of the day:
bäst -adjective best
Yet another simple word with that weird umlaut.

Wanna peek inside my drawers..?

2011-12-15T21:53:00.005+01:00

Time for a new stash update, I think! Just so that you know what I'm going through every time I'm trying to pick a polish to re-manicure my nails. It's hell, let me tell you. This is what it looked like last time, little over a year ago, and this is now - sloppy but happy, as always with the alizarine.

Three Helmers these days. All drawers are labelled! It's just that thing, that I've moved stuff around without changing the labels... Also, I'm still a somewhat messy person. And this is still neat for me. I did some loose bottle tidying last week. And yes, my stash is still hidden away in my closet - my daughter calls it mom's nail polish room. If I ever get a bigger place, I'll have my own polish shangri-la room!

Stuff that holds honorary spots on top of the top Helmer. Some sets, some special ones, the silvery grey caps are my Nubar Moodies, the OPIs are my collection of Pawlish, and the old Nubar bottles are my jelly frankens. And more.

First Helmer, top drawer - weird angle because I'm really short - holds various treatments, tools and base and top coats. And, as you can see, my beloved no brand $0.99 cleanup pens. Yes, messy.

Second drawer: small collection of nail art stuff, and a gazillion wheels. I can barely close this drawer.

Thrird drawer: cardboard box holds frankens, by both myself and others, and in the back miscellaneous polishes to swap or give away, although I suspect some backup bottles made it there too.

Fourth drawer: untrieds drawer #1. Untried OPIs. Only. The untried China Glazes used to be in here too, but both brands didn't fit anymore...

Fifth drawer: untrieds drawer #2. Misc square-ish bottled brands. Essie, A England, Kiko, Viva La Diva, BB Couture (for men, evidently), LA Splash, LA Girl, Depend, Color Club, NYX Girls and Misa. Whew.

Sixth drawer: untrieds drawer #3. Misc brands with unconsistent bottle shapes. Yes, I'm sick like that. Lots of H&M, Wet n Wild, Sally Hansen, Claire's, Essence and Maybelline.

Second Helmer, top drawer: untrieds drawer #4. Misc, brands with five or fewer bottles. Yes, I'm THAT sick. Too many brands to count.

Second drawer: untrieds drawer #5. China Glaze, Sinful Colors, Models Own, Kleancolor, Nfu O, LA Color. All round bottled brands, it seems.

Third drawer: China Glaze. Packed. Need to get a second China Glaze drawer... Somewhere.

Fourth drawer: OPI. Full...

Fifth drawer: more OPI. Not yet full.

Sixth drawer: BB Couture and Nubar.

Third Helmer, top drawer: Nfu Oh, Orly, LA Girl, Kleancolor, Sinful Colors, New York Summer and some Mavala.

Second drawer: square bottle brands. Misa, Zoya, IsaDora, RBL.

Third drawer: more square bottles. Essie, Barielle, Color Club, Viva La Diva, and the box in the back holds those annoying, small Depend bottles (they just keep flying around if unboxed).

Fourth drawer: brands with unconsistent bottle shapes. Again! Yes, this is a recurring theme. Pretty much the same brands as in its equivalent untrieds drawer, with the addition of NYX and NYX Girls, because they keep changing the bottles.

Fifth drawer: miscellaneous brands that I own or have worn five or fewer from (yes! again!) - pricier brands. Though that's (apparently) very arbitrary.

Last drawer! Misc of five or fewer, less pricy brands. Evidently still as arbitrarily chosen as above.

That was all. Are you still alive?

As you can see, I really need a fourth Helmer. I'm going to make wishes to Santa this year. Also, I'm on the verge to reorganize. I have always been opposed to organizing by color, but now that I have way too many polishes, that seems like the smarter approach. What do you think? Do you stash by brand, color, or even bottle shape?

If you wish to see any of this a little more in-depth, like, a certain brand or color, like I have previously done with glitters and greens, just let me know and I'll see what my next stash documentation project will be. Just leave a comment.

Now I'm going to pass out.

Swedish word of the night:
överflöd -noun abundance
Obviously.

Admirable show

2011-12-15T18:22:00.003+01:00

Two Ludurana Aurora Boreal shades today! First one to be tried out, was Admirável. You know... Green. Plus I suspected Sminkan would perhaps like to see it. So here it is.

Three coats, but the color didn't really deepen between coats two and three. And no, no photos can do this color justice, because, like so many other great shades, it just doesn't photograph very well - at least not by any of my cameras. Damn you, shitty Canon equipment! So, what you don't see here, is the flash on top, that shows pinkish in daylight, and a pale gold in direct artificial light, such as fluorescent. Also, imagine all the colors you do see about a million times more vivid. This is possible the weakest multichrome of the collection, but it is still very much admirable. Wearing it is the only way to find out what all the colors are like! You'll have lots to do in every imaginable lighting situation, just watching how it changes. Summary: the photos suck, but I love this one.

Next, I give you Show! And look: SUN!

Two coats, this time over black. Show, on the other hand, might possibly be one of the strongest multichromes of the collection. As usual, the photos suck, but a little less than those depicting Amdirável. The main thing missing here, is the direct angle teal green flash. It's the most apparent in the third photo from the top, so take that image and add a slight more emerald tone to the center parts of the nails! Oh man. What's not to love about this one? Huh? HUH?! There's a good chance I'll marry this polish. Honestly.

Can you tell I got a bit excited here? I don't remember the last time I was this excited about an entire collection. And I'm not disappointed. Not yet. And I seriously doubt I will be. But, three shades to go - I hope to be posting them soon! Just gotta wear 'em first.

Swedish word of the day:
beundra -verb admire
I do admire these.

Saint Lucia's Day celebration

2011-12-14T21:46:00.003+01:00

No, I'm not going to write tons of drivel about how Scandinavians celebrate Saint Lucia, but I'll show you the manicure I wore! Well, honestly, I didn't celebrate all that much in the first place, I just went to see my daughter in her preschool Lucia procession - she was dressed as a gingerbread lady. However, as usual, I never pass on an opportunity to do a related manicure.

First, let's see the base color alone. I have swatched it for the blog before, but I didn't really do all that well, so here it is again, the China Glaze glassfleck classic White-Kwik-Silvr:

Cute, but four coats. It's okay though, since this old black label white actually dries somewhat faster than one would believe.

So, what did I do? Not all that much, really. I did my first half moon manicure. It took me a lot of time, but was overall okay. Saint Lucia wears a crown with candles, and it's sometimes it's made out of a wreath of green leaves, so I went with this year's holiday green sparkle from the same brand: Glittering Garland.

Still a little thick here, since it was newly applied. I would never have been able to do this free hand, so I used one single guide for eight of my nails, and one for my much wider thumb nails - I cut out a piece of a left over nail foil sticker and re-applied it to one nail at a time... I know, I know. It was a tiny bit messy, but it worked!

I also thought about adding Lucia's red ribbon as a funky french detail, but I'm happy to report that I never attempted to ruin the above manicure with it.

Swedish word of the day:
kvicksilver -noun mercury
Metallic chemical element number 80, also known as Hg.

Bottled Aurora

2011-12-06T23:36:00.004+01:00

Look what I got in the mail today! I got so excited that I even pulled my lightbox out.

Whooooa. That scream was me, having an eyegasm.

The long coveted multichrome part of the Aurora Boreal collection from Brazilian Ludurana.

Wheel swatches, not as good in a lightbox, unfortunately.

And over black:

I'll be wearing most of these soon, for sure. There are so many reasons to wear duo- and multichromes. One of them is that all the colors show well in poor light - Sweden this time of year in a nut shell!

Having Brazilian friends, such as Sarah from Them Pretty Colors, who kindly purchased these for me, is fabulous in so many ways! Although I hear these can also be bought from the Llarowe webshop, along with the holographic part of the collection.

Swedish word of the day:
norrsken -noun northern lights
Or Aurora Borealis in Latin.

Colors from OPI's Holland, part I

2011-12-05T15:47:00.003+01:00

Recovering from a not very sexy round of stomach flu, I peeped through the window and saw some sun. I had an idea. Maybe it wasn't a very good one, but now it's done. I swatched a few OPI Holland shades. Despite the sickness, the hands resembling those of a 90 year old (which would have been fine hadn't I been that - minus 59), and the cuticles from hell. I randomly pulled out three colors from the brown paper bag they came in (yes, lacquer is just as good as spirits!), and here they are. Well, at least 2 1/2 of them. All without base or top coats.

Dutch'Ya Just Love OPI? Two coats. Looking at the photos, I think I would have preferred three. My camera wanted to make it more plum than it is, but the photos have been corrected to some degree. It's more of a grape purple. The shimmer is very nice, though. It's represented in two more colors in the collection, but more on that at a later date.

Kiss Me On My Tulips. Two coats. Another color my camera hated, it turned it even brighter than it is. The photos have therefore been a bit desaturated. Nice, cute hot pink creme. I like those, but they're not all that inventive.

I Don't Give a Rotterdam! And here's the color you only get in half - by the time I was done painting, that damned Swedish winter sun had escaped. So, only shady photos here. Three coats. Rather sheer, dusty, periwinkle leaning blue with silver fleck shimmer and sparse black micro glitter. I love sparse black micro glitter! While most of these photos ended up terrible, the detailed photo is actually quite sharp, so you may always click to magnify it, if you so desire.

So, no more sun - no more swatches. In the meantime, just a quick opinion on the particular colors above. Formula is standard OPI, pigmentation also, fans will be pleased and haters gonna hate. Dutch'Ya Just Love OPI? is a very nice purple shade that I think many will love, and although it's not apparently close to any existing colors, it's not what I'd consider edgy. Neither is Kiss Me On My Tulips, which is a rather standard hot pink creme. On that subject, I hope we'll find some enlightment from someone who owns a bigger pinks stash than I do! The real winner here is I Don't Give a Rotterdam!, where OPI has finally incorporated those tiny black particles that sort of makes the overall color a bit more dirty - and I don't mean that sexually. This is a color I'd much rather move up to my homeland, as it's to me a whole lot more Swedish winter than it is Dutch spring. But let's not argue over that.

Apologies for the stubby first part of the review! I'm hoping that by the time that burning thing atop the sky graces Sweden with yet another visit, perhaps for more than an hour, my poor ring finger nail will be somewhat recovered from the rather severe damage it's been caused. I'm, as usual, a bit embarassed to show you these photos, since I know I can do better. If I get enough hate mail, maybe I re-swatch these colors some day. In the meantime, let's hope for sun and time off!

Swedish word of the day:
Nederländerna -noun The Netherlands
Same, but different.

OPI Nicki Minaj quickie

2011-11-30T19:53:00.003+01:00

Got some super sloppy OPI Nicki Minaj skittle swatches for ya. I applied these really quick on top of my existing manicure, while attending the press release for the Holland collection. It's dark in Stockholm now (as usual), so these photos are not great, but at least something.

All, except for Pink Friday, which I didn't bother with since it's just a basic bubblegum pink creme. Thumb to pinky: Fly, Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Did it on Em, Super Bass Shatter (on top of something completely different). I have added topcoat here, as these poor skittles went through quite the journey on my way home.

Metallic 4 Life. Love this one. It really is very metal. \m/ I had suspicions it would be similar to Tinsel Town from China Glaze's christmas collection, but it really is much different, much blacker, with larger hex glitter particles than in the China Glaze.

Save Me. Holo hair! Personally I'm not a fan of bar glitter, but for those of you who are, I think this will be a hit. The holo bars are suspended in a clear base along with smaller silver glitter. It's on top of a bronze base that has nothing to do with this collection though. Also, it makes me think of this song - not one by Nicki Minaj.

Did it on Em. This was another thing I started to suspect as I was heading home. The bottle evidently is not an OPI one, so if you have that particular one, maybe you can pass on this. I won't vouch that they are 100 % identical though, as I do not have the actual OPI bottle, just my one swatched nail. The OPI might be a tiny tad more yellow, but not noticable.

On to the subject of Pink Friday. I have a blurry cell phone pic that I've decided not to post, mostly because it might lead to trouble. It shows that my initial suspicions about this color were true. It was supposed to be a holographic one, just as we could hint in the first batch of press images that started surfacing on the internet. A very nice one, I might add - strong, linear holo with a well pigmented base. Somewhere along the road, someone did something... And what we get instead is a standard, bubblegum pink creme, like in the newer press images. This annoys me to the extent that I didn't even pick up the bottle to look closer at it, even less paint one of my nails with it. It's a shame, whatever the reason is, and I'm sad to say that OPI will lose sales revenue without it.

I couldn't to get any decent detailed photos of Super Bass Shatter, but you can admire a tiny bit of it in the top photo. Last, I want to add that Fly is actually not as much a standard teal creme as one might believe. It's really bright. I mean really. Bright enough to be rather difficult to capture correctly on camera, but at the same time it's a deep shade of aqua teal. It's much deeper than the top photo shows. I think lovers of these colors will love Fly as well.

Swedish word of the day:
hast -noun haste, hurry
Sometimes that's the state.

Somewhere out in space

2011-11-29T17:22:00.002+01:00

Attempting to break the silence with a massive glitter bomb! I haven't been proud of my nails lately, which partly explains the lack of new blog posts, and also why there are gigantic paw marks all over one of my nails in the photos below - let's just say there was an accident at work, involving a tumble dryer and, well, my nail.

The stubby ring finger nail in all its glory.

This is two coats of one of IsaDora's christmas offerings, Black Galaxy, topped off by two coats of a reasonably thick topcoat. It's absolutely gorgeous, but of course rather gritty. Especially apparent in the second photo, close to the cuticles, where the glitter tended to end up during application. I don't mind though, because it's not that bad on the rest of the nail, and the glitter makes it pretty forgivable. And sure we fancy us some holographic glitter in black!

If you're the least hesitant about my love for this type of glitter, see my space in a bottle comparison here. IsaDora's space bottle is the most reminiscent of China Glaze's Cosmic, but not at all as lumpy. I'm a fan of the IsaDora formula, and even if the wide brush was a tad more difficult to handle with all the glitter, I still like it more than I know some others do. As I'm writing this, I have worn the manicure above for about 48 hours, and I still don't have a single chip, just some slight tip wear on one of my thumb nails. This is good for an IsaDora polish on me. Still, I guess it's going off later tonight. Or tomorrow. Maybe.

Swedish word of the day:
Vintergatan -noun Milky Way
from
vinter -noun winter
and
gata -noun street
I like the Swedish name for our galaxy better, actually.

The poisonous bite

2011-11-24T20:12:00.004+01:00

Last time I tried a flakie gradient, it turned out pretty damn nice, so I decided to try it again. This time in a darker take on a manicure I did last christmas, to suit the occasion: I was doing something I don't do a lot - I went to the opera. Apparently I've seen this particular opera several times during my life, but it's been a bunch of years since last time I saw Bizet's Carmen. Now, Carmen was a fiery woman, so I decided on something vampy. I also decided that if Carmen had lived today, she would have been all about edgy stuff, so I added some edge. This is what happened.

Misa Love Bite with Nfu Oh 56 tips. The execution of this one turned out rather sloppy, as I was short on time before leaving home, so the bubbles you see all over ...were there. Also, every darn time I add an Nfu Oh flakie on top of a manicure, it shrinks. Add the severe smudges I inflicted on these poor nails courtesy of my jacket zipper... And by then I was rather happy that Sweden is a dark place this time of year, and that the opera house doesn't provide much more lighting than the outside world. Still, the manicure kind of rocked, don't you think? I call it Poison Bite.

Sminkan went all in on a vampy week last week, so if you're feeling those shades right now, go take a look (and scroll down, Sminkan is a heavy poster!). The manicure above was actually worn during, but I never managed to post it on time.

Swedish word of the day:
sjunga -verb sing
Some can do it.

Friendly cabochons

2011-11-22T16:13:00.001+01:00

Of course I'm no better than anyone else - trying to resist making my own nail polish cabochon jewelry was impossible. I have already posted about my epic cat's eye cabochon, made from Chanel Péridot, but why not post some more?

Making cabochons for friends is perhaps even more fun than making them for one self, because you can make them rather personal. I like giving stuff to my friends, and while some get mandatory manicures when they come over for a visit, not all wear nail paint. But most wear jewelry on some occasion, and by making them from polish, of course they can't forget about their friend Feline. ;) You may click to enlarge these photos.

This one was made for my former co-worker Gerd. She sports nubbinized, unpainted nails, like most nursing assistants are required to, but she did actually wear this cabochon pendant. Gerd likes outdoor activities, and loves strolling in the woods, so she got a magic forest green piece with flakies to remind of leaves. I have forgotten what I used, but I know for certain that Nfu Oh 56 and INM Northern Lights holographic topcoat were polishes involved.

This smooth blue holographic pendant was made for my friend and former neighbour Kajsa. She loves blue, and OPI DS Sapphire seemed perfect for her. I proved to be right, and she wanted to have her nails manicured with the same shade.

When asked about preferences, my friend and former forensic psychiatry tutor Malin chose a ring. Same oversize cabochon (I like using the 30x40 mm ones), with her favourite polish BB Couture Hermosa Surfer Girl. She received manicures with this particular lacquer more than once, and always asks for it, so making her a lasting ring seemed like the thing to do. The photos doesn't do this ring justice, but I think most of you by now know what Hermosa Surfer Girl looks like!

I still have a bunch of cabochons, settings and neck wires, so maybe, some day, when I find inspiration, I'll make more. But for now, I think I got most of the jewelry creation itch out of my system.

Swedish words of the day:
glas -noun glass
not to be confused with
glass -noun ice cream
Both works, though.

A few Viva La Diva fall shades

2011-11-17T22:05:00.001+01:00

Long overdue, here are a couple of this fall's Viva La Diva colors. First, 131 Fame.

Two coats. Viva La Diva's version of Chanel Graphite, a metallic grey with gold flecks. I don't have the Chanel to compare, but I'm fairly certain the particles of Fame are smaller than the ones of Graphite. Really weird formula. Could have been a one coater, but I didn't want to do a thick coat since I could sense it would cause bubbles, so I did two, which was tricky because the formula was reeeally thick. Very pigmented too, but yes, thick, gluey. I should have added thinner, but for some reason, I didn't. Despite this, I like this shade. For those of us who are not willing to spend the big bucks on the Chanel, and don't have access to Revlon Carbonite, this one could make a fair replacement.

You may have noticed that I've been in a layering mood lately, and this manicure had to endure being outshined, too. I put one coat of CND Crimson Sparkle over it. And yes, I should really get some more CND Effects before I bore you to death.

However, pretty. It reminds me of one of the first manicures I ever made a NOTD shot of (and I won't show you because it's terrible), which was OPI Brand New Skates with the Depend 156 flakie on top. Same color palette.

So, evidently Viva La Diva picked up on the metallic trend this fall, many shades in this collection were of such kind. I don't mind, especially when they are greyish or gunmetalish, so I tried on the more silvery grey 36 Empire, from the mini bottle part of the collection.

Three coats. Less opaque, evidently. Still a bit thick, like Viva La Diva polishes tend to be. Nice, shiny oxidized silver shade, not much more to say, except these colors always feel right to me and I love wearing them.

Also, I wanted to show you a quick shot of one set of the nail foil stickers Viva La Diva incorporated in this fall collection. Because I did a quick test, I chose the design I hated the most, in case I'd screw up while applying it.

I don't know about you, but personally, I hate checkers this way. Actually, the only environment I like them in, is 1920's bathroom flooring, or perhaps in hallways. I'd really like to give these a fair review, but I can't say I'm impressed. I could not stretch the stickers out enough to flatten them against my nails, and once I got them to lie flat in some aspect, they'd be completely screwed up on some other part of my nail.

After filing off the excess sticker, I was left with a raw, wrinkled edge. I hated everything about my foil sticker manicure, so I took it off within the hour. My nails were left rather damaged, and I tried both just peeling the stickers off, and soaking them with remover. I will not use Viva La Diva nail foil stickers on my finger nails again - maybe on my toes, sometime. Actually, they made me a bit hesitant to try foil stickers from any brand ever again.

However, I do think my nail shape isn't very beneficial when it comes to use of foil stickers. These would perhaps work better for someone who has more flat than curved nails.

So, the bottom line is, the Viva La Diva lacquers are pretty much what is expected from the brand in terms of formula and shade trend sensitivity; the stickers - not so good. But I'm still hoping someone else is having better luck with them than I did.

Swedish word of the day:
stålgrå -adjective steel grey
Always a nice shade for polish.

Starry Air

2011-11-16T17:40:00.000+01:00

Back to nail polish. This one has been seen quite a lot - but did you expect to see it on the claws of the alizarine? A pale, powdery, pastel pink with massive silver glitter. Yeah, you know, every ow and then, I fall headlessly for a pink. In fact, last month when I received my salary, this was the only polish I felt like buying at all: Revlon's already famous Starry Pink.

Sorry, couldn't help myself with the last photo. Three coats. Goes on a bit streaky, but it's manageable. I would never have made it with only two coats, though. Do you see the top photo? The little gleam of Swedish fall sun? That's pretty much all we get this time of year.

Then I thought of another pastel glitter polish I fell for, for similar reasons. One of those few exceptions I make for these colors. I thought: what if I combine the two..? Said and done. I added Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air on top. Two coats.

I actually did the layering during the day, but forgot to take photos of it, so flash was the only decent light I had access to when the idea of picking up the camera finally occured to me. Nevertheless, rather pretty. But dense. So many coats of pastel pigments. Like nail shields.

Swedish word of the day:
pastell -noun pastel
Just put the emphasis on the last syllable instead.