Oooh, Shinies!

Just a little update

2013-05-06T08:12:00.001+02:00

Hi all, normally I try to keep personal stuff off my blog, but after getting a sweet mail from one of my readers (thanks a lot Nancy!) I figured to give a little update. I've been going through a bad depression lately, and during that I also found out that my cat Bindi's cancer has returned just a few months after her first surgery, which gave me an incredibly shitty decision to make as well. There are some treatment options, but some I'd never go for because I think it takes things too far and isn't in the best interest of the cat anymore, especially for a cat like Bindi. So the only option left would be another surgery, however, it's a very aggressive form of cancer that often returns and Bindi took the last surgery so bad. That month of healing was the worst month I ever had with her, and feeling that horrible thing again so shortly after she healed was just... meh :( I hoped it was scar tissue at first, like my other cat Sue had after her surgery (she's been clean for almost 2 years now!), but that went away and this started growing instead. The vet confirmed my fears, it was indeed a new tumor, so the cancer already came back about 3 months after her surgery. The vet can't give any guarantees for another surgery of course, and has been very clear with me about my options. We already discussed last time that I wouldn't go for further treatment if it would come back, but it's so short after which was unexpected and it's my first cat, she's my little girl, you know? Saying no treatment is the same as saying that she'll die in a while :( But with keeping in mind what kind of cat she is, I've decided to give her the best time I can give her instead of forcing her through the huge amounts of stress and pain a surgery would give. Hopefully it means no more scary cages and scary vet visits for her, just the best time she can have without being scared and stressed, and with lots of love and happy times. Needless to say, she's gonna get even more spoiled than usual ♥ I guess I don't need to explain further how being depressed and finding out the cancer returned took away all the interest for polish for a while, but I'll be back!

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Cadillacquer swatches - part I

2013-04-19T15:37:00.001+02:00

Hey guys, Madeleine from Cadillacquer came out with a new collection and today I have the first bunch of them for you. First thing I noticed was that several of them have a gorgeous shimmer on top of the glitter :) I'm gonna keep it short further, not feeling well, but I hope you'll enjoy the polishes!
The description of them comes from Cadillacquer and all swatches are with top coat.

Restless

Restless

Restless has a light turquoise aqua base with fine holo glitter, different sized brown glitter, small dark fuchsia red and different sized matte turquoise glitter.

This was 3 thin coats, 2 medium ones would've worked too. It applied a bit goopy, and I think I'd prefer the basecolor less pigmented, because the first layer of glitters is completely hidden now. But as usual with Madeleine's polishes, I had no problem getting glitter on my nails, these are packed with them!

Restless

Once More, With Feeling

Once More, With Feeling

Once More, With Feeling has a blue base with a strong red/pink shimmer and different sized white and pastel pink squares.

This was 3 thin coats, but again, 2 medium ones would've been fine too. I didn't wait long enough in between coats, hence the globs onthe tips of some nails >.< Gorgeous shimmer!

Once More, With Feeling

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home has a soft pastel white base with different colored fine flakies and pastel pink, blue, green and yellow glitter.

3 thin coats, the first coat applied a bit thin and I didn't get much glitter on my nails, but the coats after fixed that. The basecolor varies a bit depending on the light, as you can see. Soft and Spring-y.

No Place Like Home

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are has a smoky green/grey base with a strong yellow sparkle shimmer, iridescent glitter, different colored flakies and small silver glitter.

My favorite of these, the basecolor combined with the shimmer is already pretty, but then there's the glitter and flakies! Once again, 3 thin/2 medium coats needed.

Where The Wild Things Are

I think this 2nd collection clearly shows that it's from Cadillacquer as well, Madeleine really has her own style and knows well how to combine different colors of glitter. And I think the shimmer in a different color is a great addition!

You can find Cadillacquer on Facebook, and you can buy the polishes on Etsy.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Kiko Sugar Mat Poppy Red

2013-04-14T11:20:00.000+02:00

Hey all, as I said when I showed Kiko Burgundy, the other Sugar Mat polish that I got is one that I really love! But when I swatched it, I found out that it's one of those colors that my camera just doesn't handle so well. So the daylight pics are too orange, the lamp pics are too bright red. The real color is somewhere in the middle!

Kiko Sugar Mat 640 Poppy Red

Kiko Sugar Mat 640 Poppy Red - daylight

Kiko Sugar Mat 640 Poppy Red - lamplight

Kiko Sugar Mat 640 Poppy Red - daylight

Kiko Sugar Mat 640 Poppy Red - lamplight

I'm bummered that I couldn't capture the true color well, but I guess this still shows that it's a real beauty :) I'm absolutely loving these Kiko Sugar Mat polishes! It's maybe a good thing that I can't buy Kiko here, cause I know I wouldn't be able to resist them =)

Have a lovely Sunday ♥

China Glaze Texture - Preview

2013-04-13T16:10:00.001+02:00

GETTING DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY

China Glaze® Introduces Texture: the Newest Technology in Nail Lacquer

Los Angeles (April 2013): China Glaze® introduces Texture, a unique new lacquer that applies as a crème but dries with a 3D texture effect. Unlike traditional nail art techniques that require multiple steps, Texture only requires one step—painting the nail. Texture dries matte, but can be combined with China Glaze® Fast Forward Top Coat for a glossy effect. With a finish similar to that of a sugared rim, Texture is the perfect accessory for a beach day, night-on-the-town, or special rendezvous.

In The Rough— light lime-green with textured grit

Itty, Bitty & Gritty— melon with textured grit

Of Coarse!— bright, cobalt-blue with textured grit

Unrefined— bright pink with textured grit

Bump & Grind— hot pinkish-red with textured grit

Toe-tally Textured— tangerine-orange with textured grit

The China Glaze® Texture collection will be available in May 2013 at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, please visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Facebook (@ChinaGlaze), Twitter (@ChinaGlazeOfficial) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/chinaglaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries

For 42 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Andrea, Ardell, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, It’s So Easy, Jeris-Lustray, LASH BeLONG, Nail Tek, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Poshe, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.

__________________________

What do you think of these? I do like textured polishes, but I'm not really feeling them in just 1 color. I haven't seen these irl though, but I think the texture combined with sparkly bits is what works more for me!

Design Glassware by Mont Blue

2013-04-12T14:09:00.000+02:00

Hey all! Mont Blue kindly send me some of their products, so today I'm not showing nails, but nail related products instead. Here are the products I received:

Now as you might know, clipping your nails isn't a good idea, your nails are made out of layers (which you can clearly see when they chip) and clipping them puts pressure on these layers. So filing is already nicer for your nails, but personally, I don't touch my nails with anything but glass files, because these are much more gentle for your nails than other files. And ever since I use glass files only, my nails have improved a lot!

One of the things I hear at times (and have experienced myself as well), is that a glass file loses it's grittiness fast. But if you have a good quality file, that won't happen at all! So I think it's a good idea to invest in a good quality file. They will last you for years, you can just rinse them off after using or even disinfect them if you want. I have 2 that I've been using for a few years now, but one of the first things I noticed with these Mont Blue files, is that they're finer than the ones I used so far. That doesn't mean you can't take off length fast, because you still can, but I think it's even nicer for your nails with a fine grit and it gives a smoother result. I will do a How To on my nail care routine sometime, and will tell more about my filing as well then, but for now, let's have a closer look at the ones I got :)

First up is this file (MC-M09 which costs €10,-) from their Crystal line. The file is 13,5cm long and the top has Swarovski crystals on it, and the file comes in a soft, velvety protective cover. You can use the file on both sides and you can clearly see where the file part ends.

The next file is one of their mini glass nail files (W-S02 which is €8,-). This file is 9cm long and also comes in a soft, velvet case. The back doesn't have Swarovski crystals, but it looks nice on that side as well, there's no glue visible or anything like that. This file is useable on both sides as well. It's a great size to keep in your bag, to fix your nails while travelling. The case isn't hard, but because it's so small (adorable even, haha), I don't think there's much risk of breaking it while in your bag :)

This hard case nail file costs €9,- and it's perfect for travelling as well. It's 12,5cm long, useable on both sides and the hard case will protect it from breaking, while still giving you a nice size file and a good grip.

Lastly, this slanted tweezers (CT-01.1 which costs €12,-) has a soft feel to the black, and has Swarovski crystals on both sides. The matte black combined with the crystals really makes it looks luxury! I will be using this for my eyebrows, but tweezers are also handy for nailart, to help pick up fine things.

I haven't used the files much yet, but so far I really like the quality of them, these will be the files I'll be using from now on! And I'm also impressed by the huge amount of colors and styles they offer! As you maybe noticed, I didn't link to the actual product that I received but to the whole category where it was from, because they have so many colors and options on them. For example, if you don't like crystals, they have gorgeous gradient files or files with an animal prints as well. Or maybe you prefer a file with studs? :)

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

PUEEN 2013 plate set pic heavy

2013-04-09T16:33:00.000+02:00

Hey guys! You know I love stamping so needless to say, I got very excited when I received the PUEEN 2013 plates! Of course I photographed them all and tried them out, and here they are =)

This set of 25 plates comes with each plate in a seperate packing and a protective blue film on top. The back has a protective cover as well, and the sides of the plates aren't sharp at all. The blue plastic at the front comes off easily, and here's what's below it!

Are these awesome or what! I'm especially loving all the geometric and floral designs, and I didn't have a fine laced image yet (plate 02), so yay for that one! And I don't often wear hearts on my nails, but I am loving the ones on plate 16, they're so cute ^^ I also like that it's a set with just full nail images and some smaller images to fill up the plates (150 images in total), I have a whole bunch of French image plates that I never use, so I'm glad this set doesn't have any of those!

The images are all curved at the top, which means you can stamp them with a free half moon as well. But if you prefer not to, they're large enough to still cover your nails (assuming the average imagesize fits on your nails). Of course I added them to the image below as well, as you can see they're average sized images, and that happens to be the size that I prefer to work with the most as well :)

Picking just 1 image for my first try wasn't easy, haha. But I managed, and went for another gradient stamping. Unfortunately this one turned out way too subtle, I used 4 colors which were too close together, so it's not so obvious that it goes from green to blue. But the plate worked like a charm, and these kind of images are great for a gradient I think, so I'll give that another go sometime with one of these plates!

Catrice Pebble Beach with Kiko 623 Blue, 624 Sky Blue, 625 Emerald , 626 Lawn Green and PUEEN plate 07.

If you're not sure how stamping works, have a look here! You can buy the PUEEN 2013 set for $18.99 on Amazon. What do you think of them? :)

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Shimmer Jasmine, Mary & Leslie

2013-04-06T16:43:00.001+02:00

Heyhey, the other day I received a whole bunch of Shimmer's glittery goodness. If you love glitters, read on! :) These polishes have an insane amount of different colored, mainly smaller glitters, and they combine into real glitterbombs. I wasn't sure how to swatch these polishes, on their own, layered, layered on different colors, or as sponged glitter tips. I'd wear them on the tips I think, simply because these polishes feel so perfect for that! But I decided to just go for the polish on itself for my swatches, as you can see, they cover well enough for that too! Today I have the first 3 for you, I used 3 coats of each polish and 1 coat of top coat. To get a really smooth effect I'd use another coat, but they don't look bad without top coat either. I'll have to try them matte sometime as well! They applied easy, I applied the first coat gently, after that I could just polish them on as always, no dabbing or fishing needed.

Jasmine

Jasmine - lamplight

Jasmine is a green/blue glitter polish with a clear base. It's packed with glitter in copper, gold, red, silver and holographic. It also has different colors of green and blue glitters. I might miss some colors here, but these are just that crazy! The glitters are in various shapes and sizes, the copper and golden ones are the largest.

Jasmine - daylight

Jasmine - lamplight

Here's a bottleshot, see what I mean? I think this photo looks a bit too blue, but I'm sure you get the idea of the amount of glitters in these. If you would think of all the colors together it might sound way over the top, but I think that combined like this, they just work really well together! Jasmine is also my favorite of these 3, I like the oceany feel of it :)

Jasmine

Leslie

Leslie - daylight

Leslie´s main colors are purple and blue in a clear base. I also spot red, holographic, lighter blue and I think silver & pink as well, again in various shapes and sizes. The largest being blue hexagonal glitters.

Leslie - lamplight

Leslie - daylight

Mary

Mary - daylight

Oh Mary... where to begin! Mary is a berry-red colored base, packed with red, holographic, black and silver glitter. It looks like it has pink as well, and it also has a blue/purple flash in it, but that might just be some holo bits showing like that. I think :P The largest glitters are black and holographic, but this one has various sizes holo glitter.

Mary - lamplight

Mary - daylight

You can buy Shimmer Polish on the website or on Etsy, and you can also find Shimmer on Facebook.

Thanks for looking and take care ♥

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Gradient stamping

2013-04-04T16:37:00.000+02:00

Hey all, I haven't stamped in some time now, but I was eager to try out the Kiko Mirror polishes, and I couldn't pick just 1 color out of the whole bunch! So I picked 3 instead, and went for gradient stamping. I applied 3 small stripes of polish on the image, and used my scraper twice over it, to create a nice gradient on the image. I cleaned the plate for each nail, and oh how I love the result! The stamping didn't go perfect though, I always need to get back into it a bit if I haven't stamped in a while, but this time I didn't care because I'm loving it so much. However, I did use a nail art brush to fix some flaws on the lines, but the jagged lines on my indexfinger, meh, too bad! Maybe stamping less often makes me less picky about the result or some, haha. Anyway, here's how it turned out! ♥

China Glaze Sweet Hook with Kiko 618 Orchid Pink, 620 Lavender, 621 Violet and Konad plate m69.

The brush I used to fix some lines came from a set of brushes (and one small dotting tool) which BornPrettyStore send me for review. I think this set offers a great variety in brushes, flat, angled, pointy, fan, long, you name it. All brushes except the fan brushes have protective plastic on the top, which comes off easily and can be reapplied. I think it's a nice set, and if you're not used to brushes (like me) and would like to try different ones, this set offers you plenty of choice.
To fix my stamping I used a medium long straight brush and dipped it in the polish that I scraped off the plate and onto my placemat, which worked nice :)

You can buy this set at BornPrettyStore for $5,96 and contains 15 pieces, with coupon code ABJ61 you'll get another 10% off.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Giveaway: $20 to spend at BornPrettyStore!

2013-04-03T12:28:00.000+02:00

Thanks to the lovely people at BornPrettyStore, I'm holding a giveaway where 1 person will win item(s) of choice worth $20 from BornPrettyStore!

*** This giveaway is closed ***

Here's some extra information:
- The giveaway is open internationally.
- There will be one winner.
- The winner will be contacted within 24 hours after the giveaway closes, and then has 48 hours to reply.
- After the winner has replied, I will send the winner's contact information to BornPrettyStore, who will take it from there.
- BornPrettyStore will ship the chosen item(s) worth $20 directly to the winner.
- You can only enter by using the Rafflecopter widget below, entries in comments do not count.
- Please note, with Google Friend Connect I mean the following option on the right bar of my blog, not on Google+ (I don't use G+).

Good luck all! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kiko Sugar Mat Burgundy

2013-04-01T12:00:00.000+02:00

Heyhey, hope you all had a nice Easter! Thanks to Sam ♥ from Fashion Polish I got my hands on some Kiko polishes, I didn't have that brand yet but when Sam showed the Mirror collection, I knew I needed them. I think that it looks like quite a boring collection at first sight, they're just metallics afterall, but you know I love stamping with metallics! And some of my all-time favorite stamping polishes, the China Glaze Romantiques and Khromes, are slowly getting more and more empty, so these would be excellent. I got almost the entire collection, I skipped the silver and gold because I don't use those often and have several shades like that (and yeah, it was very tempting to just get them all, haha).
But what I also got were 2 Sugar Mat polishes, those are textured and there were 2 that jumped out for me. The one I'm showing today is a real pretty already, but the other one, oh-em-gee I love it, so you'll see that one soon too!

Kiko Sugar Mat 645 Burgundy

Kiko Sugar Mat 645 Burgundy - lamplight

Kiko Sugar Mat 645 Burgundy - daylight


Kiko Sugar Mat 645 Burgundy - daylight

I think these Kiko textured polishes are prettier than most of what I've seen from other brands so far! Somehow matte and textured polish often makes your skin look all mat and soft as well, and I like the contrast with the texture. Textured polish felt a bit odd at first, but I quickly got used to them, and they're handy when you're in a hurry as well. They dry fast and cleanup is easy too, you might think these are more like glitters in cleanup and removal but luckily that's not the case. I used 2 coats here by the way, no top coat obviously. I like it so much that I haven't even thought of using TC!

What do you think of this one?

Collage of the Month: March

2013-04-01T08:00:00.000+02:00

Swatches with Les Bijoux de Chooxe jewelry

2013-03-30T11:44:00.000+01:00

Hey all, a while ago Marine from Les Bijoux de Chooxe contacted me if I wanted to review some of her jewelry, and I thought it could be fun to do manis inspired by jewelry, so I said yes. However, I've been quite tired lately and as you maybe noticed, there's not a lot of nail art happening right now. So instead I picked some polish to go with the rings she send me (might I add, my new swatch sticks were brilliant for this), and will just show them like that.

These are the items she picked for me, but Marine has all kinds of jewelry, not just rings, and she also has some polished jewelry. Especially the flower ring gave all kinds of ideas, but maybe that'll come some other time.

Catrice Bronzed Brown.

Catrice Royal Petrol.

Aphrodite Lacquers Terre.

I'm sorry I couldn't make more work of this post now, but I hope you liked these swatches with her cute jewelry as well!

You can buy Les Bijoux de Chooxe jewelry in her store, and you can also find LBdC on Facebook.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Not In This Galaxy & a little comparison

2013-03-28T12:10:00.001+01:00

My last Hologlam polish is Not In This Galaxy, and it's one I doubted about. The Hologlam collection has several polishes that looked gorgeous, but I knew I wouldn't wear some of them much, so I told my inner hoarder to calm down and only got 3 of the collection (for now at least, lol). I wasn't sure about NITG, because I thought it might look too much like TTYL (from the OMG collection) in color and I'd always go for TTYL with the stronger holo then. But I decided to go for this one as my final choice, if it would be alike TTYL I could at least show you and maybe help choosing if you're doubting as well!

Anyway, first things first, here's Not In My Galaxy, 2 easy coats without base/topcoat. The sun wasn't as bright when I made these, so it's a bit more holo than my pics show. I'm pretty sure that you'll see all 3 Hologlams again when it's Summer! :)

Not In This Galaxy - lamplight

My lamp really pulls out the pink side of this polish!

Not In This Galaxy - lamplight

And here's a slightly sunny pic to show the peachy side better :)

Not In This Galaxy

Here's a little comparison I did with 2 polishes from older China Glaze holographic collections, TTYL from the OMG collection and Don't Be A Square from the Kaleidoscope collection. (For my swatches of these 2, you can have a look here for TTYL and here for DBAS.) The last one is obviously a more scattered holo, but I wanted to add it as well because the color is quite similar to NITG.

Don't Be A Square - Not In This Galaxy - TTYL

As you can see in the bottle already, NITG is a lot less holo. Nothing that we didn't know already, but I still found it quite a difference! The color of NITG is a bit in between the other 2, but on the nail the color is closest to DBAS, while TTYL is clearly more peachy.

Don't Be A Square - Not In This Galaxy - TTYL

I barely had sunlight to show the difference in holo, but my lamp shows that a lot better already.

Don't Be A Square - Not In This Galaxy - TTYL - Not In This Galaxy

I think NITG is a pretty peachy-pink holo, but I do prefer TTYL and DBAS. Although I can't wait to see NITG in full sun, I bet it'll look great too! :) What do you think of it?

Thanks for looking ♥

The New Black Miami Vice & Waves

2013-03-26T15:42:00.000+01:00

Hi guys :) The New Black kindly send me some of their sets for review, and today I have the first 2 for you. All their polishes come in sets that easily combine to create things like an ombre mani. The first set that I swatched the other day is one of those, it's the set called Waves from their Original Ombre line, and it's a set of 5 polishes in blue/green/teal colors.

Waves

Waves

If I think of an ombre mani, I think of 5 polishes that are the same in finish, and just vary slightly in color from light to dark. TNB takes it a step further, and combines different finishes and varies more in color as well! As you can see, the color on my thumb leans a lot more blue, while the color on my pinkie is green. Those 2 are cremes and applied in 2 coats, the 2 shimmers and the glitter needed 3 coats. I thought the lightest color would be a bit streaky, as such pale cremes can be, but I had no problems with it at all. I did use top coat here, because the glitter dried a bit gritty.

The color on my middlefinger looks similar to my ringfinger, but it's not. It's actually a very bright & pretty green shimmer! It's so bright that it even dries a bit matte, so almost neon, and with that, it's unfortunately instantly beyond my camera.

Waves

The 2nd set that I'm showing today is the Miami Vice set, from the Subculture Contemporary Neons line.

Miami Vice

All TNB sets come in a package like this.

Miami Vice

What did I say again about bright colors being way beyond my camera? Bleh, here's another one, it's a bright, peachy pink color and boy do I love it! I just wish my camera could handle such colors :( I tried making pictures in the sun as well, but those looked like a failed duochrome on my nails, lol! The pink applied in 2 coats, and it's again a color that I kinda expected to be somewhat streaky, but it wasn't.

Besides the pink, this set also has a fine gold glitter in a clear base. As you can see, it covers quite well if you'd want that, but I grabbed a sponge and went for glittery tips instead, finished with top coat.

Miami Vice

What I like about these sets is that they give an easy way for people to find a nice match, TNB has plenty choice to pick a set that has the colors and finish that you like. They apply smooth, and especially with the pink one that I tried today I noticed that they dry fast as well. The sets also inspire to get creative, I used the Waves set as an ombre, but I instantly thought of gradients, dotted gradients and taped manis! The Miami Vice set would look nice with a golden accent nail as well, and they also have Youtube vids to show what you could do with some sets. And the colors of the sets just work well together! I wouldn't have thought of combining that pink with gold glitter, but I really love that combo! ♥

But I have to be honest here, there's some things that I like less as well. The polishes don't have names or numbers (or well, the Waves all have the same number), which isn't so handy when you have a bunch. They only sell the polishes in sets, which means if you run out of one and would want it again, you'd have to buy a whole new set. Now normally you maybe wouldn't empty a bottle as fast, but these are minis and a bottle contains only 4ml. That brings me to my last point, and that's the price. I often don't comment on the price, because people have different opinions on what they want to spend on a polish, but personally, I find these quite expensive for minis.

You can buy the sets on The New Black site, and do keep an eye on their European Facebook as well, they had quite a few giveaways so far! The Original Ombre sets cost €29,95, the Subculture Contemporary Neons sets cost €13,95.

Thanks for looking! :)

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Strap On Your Moonboots

2013-03-25T11:51:00.002+01:00

Hey all, here's my second pick from the Hologlams, and it's another one of the collection that I think is more unique in color. I can't wait to wear these polishes in bright Summer sun! My swatches are 2 coats, no base/top coat, and I forgot to mention it with When Stars Collide, but they apply really well!

Strap On Your Moonboots - sunlight

Strap On Your Moonboots - lamplight

Strap On Your Moonboots - sunlight

I tried my best to capture the holo, but I'm sure you'll see this one more often on my blog as well. Isn't it pretty? :)

Take care!

Framed with diamonds

2013-03-24T14:41:00.000+01:00

Hi guys! Today I did a mani with BornPrettyStore diamond shaped glitters. My original plan was to make half moons with the glitter, which I tried the other day, but then the polish started bubbling. Luckily I don't have that often, it's so annoying! But I did like the combo of the red and beige, so I gave that polish another go today. Instead of the half moons I ended up framing my nails instead. I think the hexagonal glitters might be a bit easier to apply straight, but I liked how this turned out too!

Essence Iced Latte with BornPrettyStore diamond shaped glitters.

To give you an idea of the size of the pots, here's the pot next to a pot of hexagonal glitters that I showed here. As you can see, it's a lot bigger and I already thought I could never run out of the smaller pots! You could even dip your wet nails in if you'd like, that might give a nice result too.
I applied them with a metal nail art tool (it came in a set which I'll show more of some other time) and that went easier than with a toothpick or rosewood stick, because the metal was easier to wipe clean in between (I had tiny bits of cotton pad get stuck to the wooden sticks before). I'll definitely use that from now on for the application of loose glitter :)

These glitters cost $2,38 per jar, I chose color #7. The nail design set that also had the metal tool costs $5,96 and contains 15 pieces. And with coupon code ABJ61 you'll get another 10% off!

What do you think of this framed look? :)

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

When Stars Collide

2013-03-22T11:40:00.000+01:00

My picks from the China Glaze Hologlam collection arrived yesterday and it was a bit sunny, no need to explain what I did next, right? ^^ The collection isn't as holographic as a lot of people hoped for, but personally, I can appreciate a holo that's less in-your-face as well, and these are just that! And I couldn't resist this beautiful color, I think it's one of the most unique colors in the collection and I didn't have anything alike yet. So here's When Stars Collide!

I used 2 coats of polish, no base and top coat. I'd normally wear holos with an aqua base, to help with the application and make the holo stand out even more, but I'm sure not everyone has such a basecoat so I swatched without now as well. Oh, and I couldn't pick just a few photos, but it's holo, so you'll forgive me I think :)

When Stars Collide - sunlight

When Stars Collide - lamplight

What do you think of this polish? And did you get any of the Hologlams or do you prefer stronger holos?

Thanks for stopping bye, have a nice weekend!

Stash on sticks part II

2013-03-21T19:11:00.002+01:00

Hi all, here's the rest of the finished swatchsticks. Again a bit blurry pics and polish showing too dark, but I hope it'll give an idea anyway, I wasn't in the mood to do it all again >.< Oh, and here's a tip if you're also gonna swatch like this, don't do the first sorting at night. I finished my white/grey/black fan already and found another grey between the purples, and that wasn't the only flaw I found, oops! But either way, it's such a big improvement to the wheels already! And after swatching all of that I've seen so many pretty polishes I want to wear again! So enough of the sticks for now, next time you'll see real nails again here :)

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI joins Bond 007 - Preview

2013-03-21T10:45:00.000+01:00

Polish Galore!

OPI Joins Bond 007 to Release Six New Revolutionary Liquid Sand™ Nail Lacquers Inspired by 50 Years of James Bond

OPI announces the launch of Bond Girls, a collection of six new Liquid Sand™ nail lacquers featuring a textured, matte finish infused with reflective sparkle fitting the allure surrounding the Bond Girls. In hues of white, pink, blue, purple, gold and coral, Bond Girls offers a range of shimmering shades with the distinctive Liquid Sand finish.

“OPI is extremely excited to partner again with EON Productions,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI co-founder & Artistic Director. “Following the success of the holiday promotion with the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, it’s been a thrill to create colors for the women who’ve captured Bond’s attention over the last five decades.

“The six shades are named after some of the most iconic – and my favorite – Bond girls, including: Solitaire, Pussy Galore, Tiffany Case, Vesper, Honey Ryder and Jinx,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “Worn without top coat, these Liquid Sand lacquers give nails a pebbled, matte finish worthy of the captivating ‘Bond Girls’ name.”

Bond Girls by OPI features six Liquid Sand nail lacquers:

Solitaire

This diamond-sparkling white is totally engaging.

Pussy Galore

This light feminine pink has the purrrfect amount of shimmer.

Tiffany Case

A classic light blue worth investigating.

Vesper

A mysterious and intriguing deep purple.

Honey Ryder

Take a ryde on the wild side in this shimmery gold.

Jinx

This mesmerizing matte coral has lucky sparkle.

OPI Liquid Sand lacquers should always be worn without top coat.

Bond Girls by OPI nail lacquers feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. These six new shades will be available beginning May 2013 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Chatters, JCP Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each nail lacquer.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

###

ABOUT OPI

As the world leader in the professional nail care industry, OPI is committed to providing high-quality products and services to both salons and their customers, along with a focus on industry safety and innovation. Known for its exceptional formula, fashionable colors and iconic names, OPI’s heavily-pigmented lacquers are super rich, long-lasting and chip-resistant – offering an affordable luxury to consumers. OPI nail lacquer is available in over 200 shades. Each lacquer features OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application. Currently, OPI is available in over 100 countries and retails a full line of professional items, including nail treatments, finishing products, lotions, manicure/pedicure products, files, tools, gels and acrylics.

About Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family. Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising. EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films. The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-three films produced since 1962. Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli succeeded Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE, QUANTUM OF SOLACE and SKYFALL.

Stash on sticks part I

2013-03-20T15:31:00.000+01:00

Hi guys! I'm almost done now with swatching everything, all that's left is my stamping polish and the polish that arrived after I printed out all the names. So those will come when I have a bunch, then I'll add them to the sticks. I made some quick pics of my sorted sticks, they're not sorted perfectly (seriously, there's too much polish that changes color depending on the light!) but it'll do for now. And I'm happy with the result so far! :)

Here's how the finished fans look. I didn't use the screws that came with them, because I have 2 slightly different kinds of sticks and it just didn't fit as I'd like. I had a look at metal ring binders, found the ones I want, but they were too thick. So the search continues, and in the meantime, I went for cable ties. I used 2 through each set of sticks and closed them at the ends, this way I could make each fan as big as I'd like. And they're not as annoying to remove either, in case I want to add colors, I can just cut 1 loose and pull it out, put in a new one with the new sticks in between, then pull the rest of the first one out and apply the 2nd and close the 2 new ties. Am I still making sense? :P It's not perfect, but it'll do for now!

Anyway, here's the first bunch of stash pics. I'm sorry for the quality of some pics, I was in a rush and didn't check the pics before adding the sticks to their fan. Especially the darker polish looks a bit too dark here and there!

I got some questions to my previous post about stash organizing, I'll get to those but I'm a bit busy atm :) Hope you enjoyed this quick look at my polish, take care!

China Glaze App

2013-03-19T18:19:00.001+01:00

BRING NEW MEANING TO LIVING IN COLOR WITH CHINA GLAZE® APP FOR iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®

Leading nail polish brand launches new app on the App Store

Los Angeles (March 19, 2013) – Swatch it, watch it, match it! China Glaze® brings the world of nail color to life with the launch of the NEW China Glaze® App for iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®. The free app offers multiple features perfect for every nail polish enthusiast, and utilizes the latest cutting edge technology to transport users into China Glaze®’s colorful universe.

Nail polish enthusiasts will love the multiple features of the new China Glaze® App.

The new China Glaze® App offers a first of its kind “Match A Color” feature, where users can truly “Live In Colour” from the palm of their hands. “Match A Color” was created with the latest technology to allow users to take a photo of anything they desire with their iPhone®, iPad ® or iPod® touch and then browse through multiple options, from exact shade matches to related textures from the brand’s expansive treasury of over 300 colors. This must-have feature allows nail polish enthusiasts to find polish-spiration anywhere at anytime. That hot pink bag you were eyeing? Yep, there’s a China Glaze® polish for that.

In “Try It On,” users will find themselves in a China Glaze® fitting room, where they can select shades from the China Glaze® closet to try on customizable virtual nails. Users can determine which shade looks best on them by adjusting the nail length and skin tone to match their own hand, and save desired shades to the device’s camera roll for easy reference.

Sharing is caring, and in the colorful world of China Glaze®, “What’s Haute” is the place to see what’s hot. Connect here with the brand to see real-time updates of new collections, nail trends and “how-to” video feeds from the official China Glaze® YouTube Channel. All features on the China Glaze® App allows users to share their favorite shades with their social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Did you say your friend really liked the shade Re-Fresh Mint you were wearing yesterday? Send the color straight to her Facebook page, or @her on Instagram.

Nail professionals, the China Glaze® app has something for you, as well. Salons and nail pros can register for product updates and to be listed in the Salon Locator feature, currently in development for future updates. Also in the works are features to expand the China Glaze® app into a true community, including Discussion Boards, Wish Lists and more.

The China Glaze® App is available for free download from the App Store on iPhone®, iPad® or iPod® touch or at www.AppStore.com.

China Glaze® is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze® nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze® on Facebook (facebook.com/chinaglazeofficial), Twitter (@chinaglaze), Instagram (@chinaglazeofficial) and Pinterest (@chinaglaze).

China Glaze® is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries

How I organize my stash

2013-03-16T15:05:00.000+01:00

Heyhey, right now I'm about halfway through swatching my entire stash on my new swatch sticks, and I know some of you were interested in that, so I figured to share how I organize it all :)

Like a lot of you, I'm keeping my stash in Helmers from Ikea. These things come in white, red and silver, are €29,95 and perfect for storing polish! A Helmer can hold around 400-600 bottles, you can drive them around which I find handy at times, but you can also remove the wheels and stack them on top of each other. The downsides are that a drawer can fall out if you slide it all the way out (it's handy that you can remove the drawers but support the drawer when going for that polish in the back!), and that the drawers make the polish slide around. I'm using anti slip mats which I cut to the right size (for the Dutch, stores like Big Bazar have them cheap). And if you find the Helmers boring, they can easily be fixed, for example with big stickers.

I sort my drawers by brand, I've tried to sort it more specific but it becomes a mess sooner or later anyway. I do have a separate drawer with polishes that work for stamping, and those aren't sorted. Indie polishes go together as well, and brands that I have less of are in a drawer together.

As you can see on the left here, with some bottles it's still easy to see the color of the polish, but as Catrice shows on the right, some bottles ain't handy at all! I know some people store their bottles upside down, but I'd never risk that in case polish leaks in the cap. I used to have stickers on top of my bottles with the polish painted on it, but then the weather got really warm and I ended up with colorful circles all over the place and sticky caps, yuk! So I decided to do it different and just polish on top of such bottles, which makes life a lot easier :) Every time I'm done swatching a polish now, I use a dotting tool and just apply a bit to the cap.

I always used nail wheels to swatch my polish on, but there's just too many things that I didn't like about them:
- If you get rid of a polish, it's still on the wheels.
- If you polish them by color (which I did at start), you can't just add another color in between later on.
- If you no longer want them sorted by color (or brand, finish, ...), you'd have to redo it all.
- You can't easily label them, I used to write numbers on them and wrote the matching polishes down, but then you end up with a lot of paper and it becomes a hassle.
- If you want to hold wheels together to look for combinations, it's not so handy if the colors you're looking for are on the same wheel.
- And well, try to find that one specific color in a mess like this!

If you do choose wheels, they come in different shapes and clear or white. I'd always go for the clear ones, to clearly show things like jellies and layering polishes.

I decided to replace my wheels with sticks, I've wanted those for a while now but I needed quite a few sets to cover my stash, and the few times that I looked for them on eBay, I didn't find them all that cheap. But this time I did find them, I payed slightly over €2,- for each set of 50 sticks, including the screw and shipping :) If you're looking for sticks or wheels, I'd suggest to go to eBay and search worldwide for things like 'nail practice wheel' or 'nail art sticks', I haven't found any place cheaper than eBay yet. Please note though, that swatch sticks can also come in different shapes, I ended up with 2 slightly different shapes.

Now these clearly ain't 50 sticks yet, but just to give you an idea of how a fan will look once it's finished:

I'm just not sure how to sort them yet! Layering polish will go together, stamping polish goes together, but then? Holos between the rest or also separate? Glitters? And those berry colors, go red or purple? Argh, lol! Yeah, I'm not sure yet, but luckily it's now easy to change my mind later on =)

Sticks (or wheels) aren't just handy to sort your stash on, they're great to help with combining as well, I love them especially for stamping combos! All the polish that works for stamping will be swatched twice, once to go between the normal bunch, once to go together on a separate stamping fan.

And here's how I'm doing it! I typed all the names of polish (I don't have a document with all the polish like some people have, so that was quite a task, lol), printed them, cut and tape them to a stick. I went with the brandname in bold and the polish name, but you can of course add whatever you like, like amount of coats needed. You could also print the text on stickers, simply write them on the sticks, or use a label maker instead. I use old cutting boards so I can easy move the sticks while they're drying, a dotting tool with some kitchen paper to dot caps if needed, and cups with roughly sorted, dried sticks.

I am polishing on top of the sticks, you can polish on the bottom as well, which I think is easier because of the curved, smooth surface. However, I have quite a few matte/textured polishes, and I'd rather have that shown on top, and I also think that the top might get scratched sometime if I polish at the bottom, which I wouldn't like.
I am using top coat on my sticks as well (old bottles TC that I never use anyway), because some polishes slightly change color, or simply come to life with TC, and I prefer seeing them how they'd look on my nails. Holographic polish and other polish that I would normally wear without TC or sandwiched, I also swatch without it. For crackles, I start with TC and apply the crackle on top, then TC again.

Right, time to continue swatching, enjoy your weekend!

Google Reader stops

2013-03-15T15:13:00.000+01:00

Hi guys! Here's an off-topic post, I was wondering why I got so many new followers with Bloglovin', turns out Google Reader will stop on July 1st. Oops, missed that completely! It wouldn't surprise me if they will stop with Google Friend Connect as well sometime, and it seems more of you think that way, and decided to follow me with Bloglovin' instead. Thank you! ♥

If you also wish to follow blogs through Bloglovin', you can import all of them at once, it's easy! If you're not sure how that works, just follow the red arrows here :)

You can of course also follow me through any of the other options shown in the menu on the right, however, please note that I do not use Google+. I sometimes get new followers but my page isn't updated at all (something about messy G+ and needing seperate pages for my site and myself, and tbh I got tired of trying to figure it all out >.<).

Have a great weekend all!

No nails today

2013-03-13T11:54:00.001+01:00

Or well, no real nails that is, my swatchsticks arrived this morning! So here's what I'll be doing today instead. I'll probably do a post about how I organize my stash sometime as well :)

4 Aphrodite Lacquers - Review

2013-03-11T12:25:00.000+01:00

Hi guys! Rebecca from Aphrodite Lacquers send me 4 more polishes of her Romes and Jules collection, and today I have the swatches for you. I'm not feeling great, so I'll keep it short and let the pictures do the talking :) Here they are!

Misadventure

Misadventure

Blue base with various sizes and colors round, square and hexagonal glitter, and tiny holographic sparkle as well. 3 coats with top coat.

Misadventure

Montagues

Montagues

Round pink glitters and different sized hexagonal glitters in blue, green and purple in a black base. The colors are much brighter irl! I wasn't sure if I would get this fully opaque (although I must say I didn't try it yet either *edit, you can get it opaque with 3 coats*), so I layered it straight away. 1 medium thick coat on black, finished with top coat.

Montagues

Such Sweet Sorrow

Such Sweet Sorrow

This looks like a pink version of Misadventure, it's a pink base with various sizes and colors round, square and hexagonal glitter, and it also has the tiny holographic glitter. 3 coats with top coat.

Such Sweet Sorrow

Wherefore Art Thou

Wherefore Art Thou

A pale, light pink base with a subtle pink shimmer (more visible irl) and various sizes & colors round, square and hexagonal glitter. This one has larger as well as smaller hexagonal holographic glitters. 3 coats with top coat.

Wherefore Art Thou

And here are some bottleshots, I just looove looking at these kind of glitter polishes in their bottle! They're more vivid than my photos show though, so beautiful! I'll have to try them in jewelry sometime as well :)

They all applied nice, the first coat didn't give much glitter on the nail if I just polished (instead of dabbing it on more), but after that they build up easily on that first coat. And as you could see with Montagues, they work great as layering polish as well.

You can buy these polishes in Aphrodite Lacquer's Etsy shop, and you can find AL on Facebook as well.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

Oooh, Shinies!

Just a little update

Cadillacquer swatches - part I

Kiko Sugar Mat Poppy Red

China Glaze Texture - Preview

Design Glassware by Mont Blue

PUEEN 2013 plate set *pic heavy*

Shimmer Jasmine, Mary & Leslie

Gradient stamping

Giveaway: $20 to spend at BornPrettyStore!

Kiko Sugar Mat Burgundy

Collage of the Month: March

Swatches with Les Bijoux de Chooxe jewelry

Not In This Galaxy & a little comparison

The New Black Miami Vice & Waves

Strap On Your Moonboots

Framed with diamonds

When Stars Collide

Stash on sticks part II

OPI joins Bond 007 - Preview

OPI Joins Bond 007 to Release Six New Revolutionary Liquid Sand™ Nail Lacquers Inspired by 50 Years of James Bond

Stash on sticks part I

China Glaze App

How I organize my stash

Google Reader stops

No nails today

4 Aphrodite Lacquers - Review

PUEEN 2013 plate set pic heavy