polish-lounge.com

hot camouflage stamping

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:26:00 +0000

originally I wanted to make a real camouflage look stamping, but none of my stampingplates had the right design. so I came up with this military modification:

I used konad m50, konad black and rbl no more war.

rbl no more war vs. illamasqua hectic

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:19:00 +0000

they both are olive green, they both are creme, and yet…

index/ring: hectic, middle/pinkie: no more war

no more war is darker and warmer than hectic, more yellow toned. the formula was rather similar, both two coaters.

I like them both and they work with my skintone.

rbl no more war

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:12:00 +0000

if you are a soldier or have plans to join the army, you should really get this polish ^^

daylight

flashlight

no more war is a deep warm olive green creme. it’s beautiful! and it really is the perfect military green.

the formula was good, better than scrangie and grunge. I used poshe over it, and there was almost no shrinkage. nothing much else to say.

I have compared this to illamasqua hectic, I’m gonna show you this tomorrow. I also did a super hot stamping, coming up soon ;-)

rbl scrangie vs. bb couture venice party

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:05:00 +0000

first time I saw scrangie on scrangie’s blog it totally reminded me of bb couture’s venice party. but now that I got them both in my hands I have to say that I was mistaken.

here are the pictures that originally made me think they could be very similar:

venice party

scrangie © www.scrangie.com

you see how similar they look? you will see on the next pictures, how close venice party is to scrangie’s scrangie pic:

index/ring: venice party, middle/pinkie: scrangie

I’m sorry to disappoint everyone who was hoping for a scrangie dupe, but this one is absolutely not. I don’t even need to explain the difference, because it’s pretty obvious. again, I’m wondering, if my scrangie version differs from scrangie’s, because the pictures look so different.

in the last post I was telling you, that I couldn’t use the fast drying tc on scrangie, because it was shrinking. I applied the two polishes yesterday evening without using tc and waited for 3hrs before I went to bed. this is how it looked this morning (all fingers did).

you see, that’s why it’s essential to me that a polish can be combined with a fast drying tc o_O

rbl scrangie

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:37:00 +0000

I was really curious to see this one in person. this shade was created by scrangie, a fellow blogger. scrangie’s intention was to create a polish that mimics a beetle’s wings.

scrangie is a redtoned purple base with a green iridescent shimmer. I know scrangie describes it as bluetoned, but you will see on my pics that it’s rather redtoned (to me). however the polish looks a bit different on my pics than on hers. and on my nails it looks like on my pictures. maybe she applied more than 2 coats, or maybe the formula is different (which I don’t think).

I really like this shade. it’s very unique and beautiful. but – I don’t like the formula. it’s very thin and blotchy. the first time I applied it, 2 days ago, I used my poshe quick drying tc. this is how it looked 2hrs later:

you see the shrinkage? even worse next morning:

as much as I like this color, it’s a no-go that I can’t use my fast drying tc on it, because being a mum of a 1 year old means, you really don’t have the time to wait some hours for your polish to get dry.

I’m not sure if the polish still is available, because it was part of a limited blogger edition.

rescue beauty lounge grunge

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:53:00 +0000

this is one of the 5 first rbl polishes I got. I’m going to post those one by one, because I’m still doing the china glaze gel treatment, and shouldn’t be using any polish at all. ^^

oh yes, maybe you will notice that the pictures have a better quality because I got a new canon reflex camera for my 30th birthday jan. 6.

grunge is a medium taupe with a subtle silver or light blue shimmer. this is one of the polishes that changes color depending on lighting. it appears rose, lilac, brown, grey or beige. I’d call it a mixture of opi tickle my france-y and orly country club khaki. but the shimmer makes it unique.

the formula was not as good as expected. it was thick but still runny. the brush was a bit stiff. I used 2 coats.

l’oreal resist & shine black gloss part 3

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:45:00 +0000

remember, back in october, when I showed you some swatches of the new black gloss collection polishes? there was a red one here and 2 purples here.

I think, they relaunched it now! I found a new display at dm, and there were 2 new shades. remember when I complained, that one of the shades, black khaki, was not available in austria? now it is! and there was yet another new shade!

737 black khaki – ok, I must admit that I had expected much more of this one. it’s not what I would call khaki green, it’s more of a yellowtoned brown shimmer in a black base. it’s too yellow for my skintone. what a shame :-(

731 black blue (?) – this one is new in the collection and it’s freaking gorgeous! it’s a deep blue shimmer in a black base. I think it’s close to OPI yoga-ta get this blue! but it’s not the same shade of blue.

application of both was great, very creamy and pretty opaque with one coat. on the pics I did 2 coats for more depth.

along with those 2 shades came the red and the purples, but they dropped the brown. if you missed those polishes last time I suggest you go and get them now!

update on china glaze calcium gel fortifier:

I’ve been using it for almost 3 weeks now, and rarely used on polish. I don’t feel it has done any improvement to my nails yet. this is a picture of the 3 right hand fingers than keep breaking and chipping.

they still are, and I can hardly keep them in shape. so I guess I will not recommend this product, but there’s still 2 weeks to go. we will see.

news from ocnailart

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:44:00 +0000

I just got a mail from kathleen, the owner of ocnailart.com. there will be some changes concerning the free international shipping: from jan 15th there will be free shipping on orders over $ 40,- (instead of $ 20,-), due to the increased usps postal rates. the 30% discount is still valid and open-ended. visit her onlineshop and use code loungie during checkout, to get this discount. don’t hesitate to contact her or me, if you have any questions.

giveaway winner and nye picspam

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:18:00 +0000

happy new year everyone!

I will start this post with some picspam from yesterday, as promised I made som pics of the lead-pouring and our dinner.

do you know raclette? I love it, it’s our special new year’s eve dinner tradition. our raclette grill has a hot stone (? it’s a stone plate you grill meat on) at the top and some little pans underneath, were you can put potatoes and vegetables and melt some cheese. it’s so delicious, and I always overeat! I will upload some more pictures and maybe some recipes on my cooking lounge in a few days.

after midnight we did the lead-pouring (I hope it’s the right term), here’s how this works:

put the tin (?) figurine on the spoon

melt it

pour it into cold water

and then predict your future:

I got a broken anchor, not sure what that means, an anchor stands for travelling and help.

those are the broken parts, a torch (long life, that’s good!), a shepherd’s staff (hm), and I think the right one is a fish? (good luck in gambling).

that’s what my husband got: I think it’s a ship (a journey into the unknown).

so, he’s got the ship, and I got the broken anchor. what do you think that means?!

that’s my daughter, trying to make a noise with the noisemaker, but she kept putting the wrong end into her mouth *o*

giveaway winner

thank’s for all your entries! the gifts were all awful and you have my deepest sympathy *lol*

I tried to put myself in your shoes, and there were 3 gifts/situations, which I think were the worst. the winner is:

Bianka

who got a box of special chocolate from her (now ex)boyfriend, after telling him a few weeks before, that she hated this sort of chocolate. and it was the only gift she got from him. I know how it feels, when someone you love and who is supposed to love you back, just doesn’t listen to what you say or feel!

Bianka, bitte schicke mir eine mail an polishlounge(at)yahoo.de mit deinem namen und deiner adresse. herzlichen glückwunsch!

edit: guten rutsch and a happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:12:00 +0000

we’re actually staying at home tonight, there’s nothing much to do with a 1 year old. but I don’t mind at all, I love having a yummy dinner and watching the new year’s eve tv programm! traditionally we eat fondue or raclette, drink champagne and watch “dinner for one” right before midnight. then we open the window and watch the fireworks. I just hope my baby can sleep and will not wake up from all the noise outside.

later on we do some lead-pouring (actually I think it’s tin). you put some tin on a spoon and hold it into a flame. when it’s melted you pour it into cold water and try to predict your future from the resulting shape (which mostly looks like a penis ;-) if we do this tonight I’m gonna show you a picture!)

another tradition is to jump off a chair at midnight or bite the head off a biscuit fish. and you give each other lucky charms.

my today’s manicure is rather simple, I applied a “screaming color” illamasqua obsess and stamped on a bunch of good luck symbols. I added opi text you text me as a topcoat.

I wish you all a very blessed and happy

new year 2010. may it be the best year

ever!

and don’t forget to enter the after x-mas giveaway, which ends in a few hours!

edit: I forgot this: have fun!

china glaze calcium gel fortifier

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:20:00 +0000

I really had great nails lately. good shape, good condition, no stains. just great. but all of a sudden they started chipping, breaking and getting stained again! and I’m not sure, why. I guess I have to blame one or another polish for staining, but I don’t know which :-S and I think the nails are that weak because the last mm of fake nail underground are growing out now. and the manicurist really buffed these areas very heavily. and I’m sad to say, that I think the square shape is not ideal for my nails, because the edges just kept breaking one after one.

I ordered the china glaze calcium gel fortifier some time ago, and I waited for the time to try this.

here’s what the box says:

fortifier base coat helps thin, weak nails grow long and strong.

application: apply two coats to clean, bare nails. repeat every four days for four weeks. for best results, do not apply laquer.

it doesn’t say if you have to remove the old layers before you apply the new, but I guess so.

the gel looks very glossy on the nail, like a glossy top coat. and it dries instantly! but: it has an orange tone and makes the stained nails look even more yellow. I feel very uncomfortably with that look. and after two days the gel started chipping, it just popped off the nails. I then applied another coat, but it still looked bedraggled.

I started using the gel on christmas day and I will use it four weeks. I’ll only apply colored polish on special occasions, to get the best result. I will keep you informed ;-)

on this pic you can see the horrible condition of the nail tips. I already applied the gel here:

after I took this picture the edges kept breaking and chipping, so I had to file them really short :-(

if you know this product feel free to share your experience in a comment!

after x-mas giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:21:00 +0000

so, how was your christmas? was it nice, quite and merry? or did you party? we were at my parents’ on christmas eve, here in austria we usually celebrate christmas on christmas eve, with dinner and unwrapping gifts. we got some fishy appetizers, roasted goose with red cabbage and caramelized potatoes and rice pudding. we get this meal every year, and I love it!

I got some nice gifts, a graph tablet for my pc and an electric manicure set, which I will show you soon. I got a celine dion christmas cd, my mother thought I liked her music. well, no… I also got a gift coupon from my husband, and I hate that, because he NEVER redeems it! so in fact he presented me with a piece of paper.

and this brings me to my today’s giveaway: I’m sure, all of you once got something really baaad for christmas. and I want to know:

what was the worst thing you ever got?

tell me in a comment, and I will select the worst gift ever ;-) and as a consolation you will get these 3 awesome s-he glitter polishes from me! enter until dec. 31, midnight austrian time!

merry christmas manicure, belated weddingsday manicure and some fun stuff for you!

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:01:00 +0000

merry christmas

to all of you,

my dearest readers!

finally the day has come. and today’s special manicure was inspired by one of my favorite christmas images – angel wings. it’s not so much, that I believe in angels, I just like the image and the vibes.

I used opi merry midnight, the new christmas image plate t34 + konad silver. and I placed 1 rhinestone on each ringfinger.

I think the pics are pretty good, this polish is difficult to capture, but there was some sunlight today.

I haven’t had time to show you my wedding day manicure yet, our wedding day was on dec. 21st. (winter solstice). I used opi ds coronation, m65 and konad dark red. I love this stamping polish, it’s a very deep jelly red that looks fabulous on lighter base colors. I love the way the glitter shines through the stamping!

and here’s the fun part:

1: I’ll be having an after christmas giveaway for you, I think I’m gonna post this tomorrow, so stay tuned!

2: klaatu42 from youtube, who I am a big fan of, has made an awesome christmas carol video, hope you like it as much as I did, enjoy!

4th advent manicure – snowy midnight

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:12:00 +0000

yesterday it was snowing all day long! I love winter, and I love snow! but I hate it, when it turns into mud the minute it hits the ground. and in big cities like vienna this happens very quickly.

we went christmas-shopping yesterday, which is kind of suicidal on the last saturday before christmas, because the whole town is doing the same. add some slippery roads and annoyed drivers and you get what we got *lol*

nevertheless I enjoyed the christmassy weather and I decided to do a snowy manicure with some rhinestones and one of my favorite polishes.

for this I used 1 coat of misa a sin worth committing and 1 coat of opi ds glamour which is one of the gorgeoustestest holopolishes one the whole planet! I used a lot of snowflaky rhinestones which I affixed with a thick coat of topcoat. pictures were taken in different lighting.

essence all I want – under the mistletoe + candy cane 2nd attempt

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:38:00 +0000

this polish is part of the current essence le all I want. there are 3 other shades, pinks and purples, nothing special to me. but I decided to go for this red, because I don’t have many reds, mostly darker and vampy shades. the picture looks a bit odd, because I had to adjust the color in photoshop, but now it’s rather color true. I guess, reds are even worse to take pictures of than purples.

under the mistletoe is a medium red with red shimmer. I can’t decide whether it’s cool or warm, it has hints of both orange and blue. application was good, and it was opaque with 2 coats. I think it’s to red for me, I guess, that’s why I don’t have any shades like this in my collection ^^ but it’s good for christmas manicure pimping ;-)

so here we have the second candy cane manicure attempt:

stamped with m65 and konad white.

next I removed the “bead chain” (I could have done this before on the stamp, but I wanted to see how this looks)

and added some red glitter with a nailart glitter pen.

now that's what I call a festive look!

quickie: s-he 384 + 450

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:42:00 +0000

I’ve had both of those for quite some time, but this is the first time I tried them.

this first picture is 450 layered on 384:

384 is a deep purple with blue and pink shimmer. and it’s a pain! it’s sticky and blotchy, and it makes bubbles! it could have been really pretty though. what a shame :-( I think this is one of the f/w 09 collection, but I’m not sure.

450 is aquablue glitter in a clear base. I needed 4 coats to make it opaque. the glitter is very fine, almost microglitter. I love the color, it is perfect for winter, don’t you think? I used topcoat on the picture. this is part of the core range.

3rd advent manicure – candy cane marbling

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:12:00 +0000

I tried to create a candy cane looking water marbling nailart, with white, red and green stripes. it didn’t turn out as I had expected, but I think it’s cute. I also added some stampings in between. but I guess, I will have to do another candy cane nailart before christmas, just to satisfy myself ^^

as a base I used s-he 306 (white) and s-he 440 (white with glass flecks), marbling with 440, orly enchanted forest and opi smitten with mittens.

smitten with mittens is not the perfect christmas red, it’s a bit too bluetoned. but it was fun marbling with glitterpolish, it turned out differently than creme polish marbling. you can see the different effects on the nails, the green is a normal creme polish, and the red has kind of a sharper outline.

I stamped with m12 and t34.

stamping: 70ies retro look

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:00:00 +0000

so I was wearing orange on the left and white on the right hand. but no time to do a complete new manicure.

you know, that’s what I love about stampings. they are quickly done and can adjust the look, even if it’s 2 completely different colors.

so let’s get back to the seventies!

as you can guess I used yesterdays essence polishes as a base. I used konad m65 and konad white and dark orange for stamping. and that’s it ;-)

essence le – secrets of the past - part 2 (and my cats)

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:48:00 +0000

I did it ;-) I got the other 2 polishes of the essence le. they were on sale for 90 cent. how could I not have bought them?!

flowerfields is a fresh neon orange. the polish was runny and not as opaque as the brown and teal. I used 2 coats, but you can still see the tips shining trough. it’s nice but totally inappropriate for this season. it’s more a summer color, the only orange thing I can think of at christmas time are oranges and tangerines. and I think there’s a similar color in the core range.

glittering daylight is not glittering at all. it’s an off white creme, and it’s sheer. I had hoped it would be as opaque as the other polishes in the collection, but after 3 thick coats it’s still blotchy. it’s a bit thicker than the others and I like it, because it’s off white - it looks better on my skintone than bright white. but I never do more than 3 coats, so I guess I’m not gonna use this very often.

chinda wanted to see some pics of my cats, so for all cat lovers here they are:

gismo – he’s small and slim, cute, cuddly and jealous. and he’s peeing on my furniture in the bedroom, nasty cat!

gumbie is much bigger and a little bit fat ;-) he loves eating and is a little chicken-hearted when he doesn’t know people or the doorbell rings.

they are actually twins, but I think they had different fathers ^^

one more tag

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:20:00 +0000

I just found out that I got tagged one more time by dizzynails. she already tagged me in sep. I have to share 10 facts about me, and I think I already did that before?! again, if you want to share this, please feel tagged by me ;-)

I suck at being tagged. I never realize ;-)
I love digital scrapbooking, I’m designing a calendar for my dad for christmas and I made something for my mum aswell. my dsb blog is the loving lounge
I love casting shows on TV
I’ve had a pain in my left shoulder for years, still have
I speak 3 and understand 7 languages
I love bathing but don’t have a tub
my favorite holiday is new years eve
I love the novels of marion zimmer bradley
I watched every episode of charmed and satc and have them all on dvd
I don’t like my job

one word tag

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:56:00 +0000

I’ve been tagged by amarena with this one word answer thing. I had to copy the sentences and add one word as answer. I have to tag 10 other bloggers, but I’ll just tag everyone, who wants to join this ;-)

now let’s see:

1. Where is your phone? couch

2. Your hair? messy

3. Your Mom? danish

4. Your Dad? hospital

5. Your favorite meal? none

6. Your last dream? sharks

7. What do you like to drink? water

8. Your dream? happiness

9. In what room are you? corridor

10. Your hobby? polish

11. What are you afraid of? dentist

12. Last travel? 2007

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something you are not? liar

15. Muffins? yummi

16. Wishlist? unrealizable

17. Where did you grow up? home ;-)

18. Last thing you did? TV

19. What are you wearing? pajama

20. Your television? flat

21. Your pet(s)? 2 cats

22. Your friends? few

23. Your life? chaos

24. Your temper? explosive

25. Do you miss someone? myself

26. Your car? none

27. Something you don't bring with you? cash

28. Your favorite shop? none

29. Your favorite color? teal

30. Last time you laughed? yesterday

31. Last time you cried? yesterday

32. Your best friend? none

33. A place where you can go again and again? toilet ;-)

34. Facebook? annoying

35. Favorite place to eat? dinnertable

essence le – secrets of the past

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:21:00 +0000

this is another essence le I didn’t really care about. the colors are very retro, nothing special at first sight. but yesterday I found them on sale and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to get them anyways ^^

I only got 2 of them though and I kind of regret leaving the other 2 in the store. maybe I’ll pick them up next time.

here we go:

meet you in budapest: this is a very nice dark teal creme, right in between green and blue. I have a lot of teals, but this one is the most perfect, so I’m happy I decided to buy this.

matryoshka doll: a dark brown creme, very muddy. first I thought it’s similar to jacques, but it’s not. this one is much darker and deeper. I really like this one, and the funny thing is, that my mum just gave me my old, originally russian matryoshka dolls (we used to call them babushka), which I loved to play with many many years ago!

the formula on these was good, a bit runny, but still opaque. I used 2 coats and a topcoat on the pics. brush as always.

BB couture - erotic night

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:34:00 +0000

yesterday I found this polish in my stash, I totally forgot about this! I ordered it along with some other bb couture polishes some time ago.

erotic night is a vampy jelly pink, (or redtoned purple. maybe a pinktoned red. or berry. lol I always have troubles describing this kind of color!) with a subtle shimmer. I used 3 coats, because the finish kept being blotchy. I really like this color, from a distance it’s almost black and the cool tone makes my skin look “snow whity” ;-)

but: I used poshè fast drying topcoat, and this caused what-is-known-as “shrinkage”. I have to say, that I never really had troubles with poshè except in combination with bb couture. and I use it all the time! so the next picture was taken the next morning:

the funny thing is, that the polish is shrinking on the cuticle side, not the tip.

2nd advent manicure – vintage christmas

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:26:00 +0000

today it’s not only the 2nd advent sunday, it’s also “nikolo”, which is a kind of santa clause tradition here in austria. st. nikolaus (santa) and “krampus” (santa’s little helper) come to visit the kids and give them nikolosackerl (bags with candy, fruits and nuts) if they were bad, they get a birching and get a bag of coals ;-) actually krampus has his own special day on dec. 5.this is a very long tradition, esp. in the rural communities, called “perchtenlauf”. perchten and krampus are not exactly the same, if you are interested in the tradition, take a peek at wikipedia, it’s a little complicated to explain in 2 sentences…

http://www.salzburger-bergadvent.at/

my todays manicure has a vintage touch, I used 2 coats of illamasqua hectic over black, a matte top coat and china glaze the ten man. I stamped with P16 and konad silver.

china glaze spring 2010 – up & away

noreply@blogger.com (loungie) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:32:00 +0000

up, up and away, my beautiful, my beautiful ballooooon…

CHINA GLAZE TAKES YOUR MOOD TO HELIUM HEIGHTS
Introducing the All-New Up & Away Collection
Los Angeles, CA − December 2009 − China Glaze®, the nail lacquer collection with celebrity fans such as Rihanna, Nicole Kidman and Rosario Dawson launches twelve, new polishes that are uplifting and spirit-boosting…introducing the Up & Away Collection.
Popping with optimistic brights and sweet pastels, China Glaze takes you Up & Away with a collection that provides seamless and even coverage in each rich, crème formulation. Free of DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde, the Up & Away collection is fabulously-fun and oozes with creamy color happiness.
The collection includes:
Grape Pop – bright plum

Sugar High – petal pink

Something Sweet – cotton candy

Light As Air – periwinkle

Heli - Yum – raspberry

Flyin’ High – teal

Four Leaf Clover – kelly green

Re-Fresh Mint – spearmint

Peachy Keen – nectar

High Hopes – guava

Happy Go Lucky – sunshine yellow

Lemon Fizz – banana

Celebrate this spring with a splash of color and give your nails a dose of “happy” with these uplifting colors!

what a bunch of fresh and happy colors coming up next spring! I especially like the greens in it! can’t wait to see those irl!
edit: I just saw, that scrangie already got her free samples. lucky girl ;-)

and for those of you, who don’t know the song – here it is ;-)