Me and My Sheers

Hi dear reader!

I don't like sheers. I pretty much hate them. I hate it when you see my tips through the polish and the fact I must take out another polish that matches the colour so I can wear it. Sorry for ranting.

Recently I placed an order at Transdesign. I just popped a few polishes in the cart - didn't bother to look at swatches of them because I love it all and had to fill some space. The package arrived, in a happy mood I unpacked the package and took off the wrapping paper and there it was: HORROR! I seriously ordered three sheers. THREE.

Michelle, Michelle, what were you thinking?! Not looking at swatches before ordering, you crazy?! Anyway I tried them and these are the results:



OPI - Maliblue, three coats. This light toned green reminds me of a cucumber. I guess I'd be totally in love with this shade if it wasn't so sheer! I definitly need a good layering polish for this one.



Orly - Sky Blue-Pink, four coats. It's a very sheer blue with flashes of red. I didn't see no pink it in, only red.



OPI - Sea Ya Later, Sailor!, three coats. It a pretty blue for sure!

What have I learned? I need to see swatches before randomly selecting my polishes. If any of you got good tips for layering polishes please let me know, it's a shame not wearing these pretties.

Sweet dreams for later!
Michelle

Tiny Two Sets Giveaway

Hi dear reader!

I've got some goodies to give! You're all very sweet and supportive and I want to thank you guys for that.



The first set includes Sleek - Mud Pie, Essence nail hardener, yellow topaz rhinestones and two sorts of golden stars.



The second set includes two Art de Lautrec polishes( 01B and 13B), gold laser lace and hyacinth coloured rhinestones.

The details:
1. Be a follower of my blog.
2. This giveaway is open international!
3. You can earn extra entries by: reposting this on your blog, follow me on twitter and tweet about it.
4. You can enter till the 10th of april, 11:59 pm CET.
5. I'll use the Hat program to decide the winner!

Don't forget to include your emailadress and your set preference in the comment!

Good luck and thanks again!
Michelle

Lady Gaga Inspired Nails

Hi dear reader!
I got something fun for you today! You all remember the Gaga Nails in Pokerface, right? The black polished, heavily studded pretties? Here's what they looked like:



I created this today! It's been in my mind creating nail art inspired by Gaga for a while now because she wears the most prettiest nail art in her videos. I received my rhinestones yesterday from DNA and today is my free day, so I had something to do. :)



I used:
- CG Liquid Leather as my base colour
- Essence dotter for placing my rhinestones
- Ruby Red and Crystal rhinestones
- Essence topcoat as my replacement for glue ;)
- David topcoat to make it all shiny!

Here's how it turned out:







Okay, it's kind of... Blingy? Definitly fun to wear at a party but I'd never wear it on a normal day. I had the most CRAZY experience with David, he made my polish all bubbly! :(

Who or what is your inspiration for creating nail art?

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

NOTD: Bella's Choice

Hi dear reader!
How are you doing? Looking forward to the weekend? My weekend starts tomorrow and I'm celebrating with a date! I'm seeing Daph and Michèle tomorrow, we're going for a nailpolish hunt. Very exciting! :)

I'm showing you H&M's Bella's Choice today, an amazing colour that Michèle and Romika brought me. It's soooo pretty! I'm totally in love with it. :) In case you're wondering: this shade is a little bit darker than CG's For Audrey.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Glamour Mani

Hi dear reader!
I'm busy so here's a mani I created for a contest. The theme is glamour and even though it could be more glamourous, I still like it. :)



I used American Apparel - Passport Blue as my base colour and frenched it with China Glaze - Millenium. The rhinestones are from the Essence Nail Jewels.

Where do you think of when you hear the word glamour?
Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics Review

Hi dear reader!
I received three polishes of Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics. These were sent to me by Alice & Jo's. They received these polishes as samples and they asked me for an opinion about them.



All lined up! Here you see Pop My Cherry, Man Chaser and Virginal Pink. I love the names Cheeky Monkey gives to their polishes, they crack me up.



There is a little motivational card attached to each polish. They make me smile and I have to say that I agree with them! Very cute!



First up is Virginal Pink, a sweet, light coloured pink. I'm not sure how virginal looks like in colour but I guess this comes close haha. I'm wearing four coats in the picture, yes, four! This polish wasn't covering at all and applying it was awful: too thin and streaky.

I know this polish is ment to be a little sheer, but I dislike sheers and I wanted to build it. Didn't work, too bad.



Here you see Pop My Cherry. Jelly goodness! Unlike Virginal Pink this applied amazingly good and for a moment I was in polish heaven. I'm wearing three coats in the picture. Pop My Cherry is a really bright, vibrant red, and it's super shiny.

I tested this polish in the weekend and I must say that I was impressed. Normally I change my mani every day (chipping and tipwear - I'm too clumsy for long nails) but I wore this one two days. No tipwear, no chipping. Wow. (Sad how impressed I am when other people wear their mani's for 3 days or more, haha!)



Last but not least: Man Chaser. I love this one, seriously I do. I'm not a pink fan but this... It has blue shimmer in it and that makes this pink special! This polish was also great to apply, not too thick or thin. I'm wearing three coats.

What to say? I'm not disappointed by these polishes except for Virginal Pink, but hey, there's a rotten apple in every collection right? ;) If you're interested in Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics you can always have a look on their site. Please pay attention to the polish names, they're funny!

Oh, and in case you were wondering: I had a file accident, that's why I'm having a bloody line on my pinky.

That's it for now, happy polishing today!
Michelle

Going Green

Good afternoon dear reader!
So today is St. Patrick's Day,something I don't know and celebrate but I did choose a green polish to wear today. So secretly, this is a half St. Paddy's mani. :')



I'm wearing Orly's Enchanted Forest. This is a shade of green that actually reminds me of a forest - dark and calm. Over that I used Konad's plate M59 and Konad's special Pastel Green stamping polish. Those ties are too cute for me though I really like it when green. If this was pink I'd never wear it. To top the whole thing off I used tiny rhinestones which change colour every time the light falls on them.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

OPI - Espresso Your Style!

Hi dear reader!
How was the start of the week for you? Mine was a regular schoolday and I didn't have time to swatch something or doing anything creative so here's a mani I swatched in the weekend: OPI's Espresso Your Style!



I was craving for this colour soooo bad. I mean, look at the lovely golden dark brown shade! The golden shimmer makes this polish so rich, and, in my opinion quite unique because I've never layed my hands on a pretty brown like this.

This picture is shot in artificial light because there is a lack of sun again in the Netherlands, too bad I'm a sucker with artificial lighting so therefore this picture looks a bit.. vague. I'll definitly swatch this one again when the sun is shining. It applied good and I love the wide brush. I'm wearing three layers in the picture.

Well, lovely ladies, that's it for today!
Michelle

Oh no! It's a Nail Art Contest!

Hi dear reader!
I just got a great idea.. I'm hosting a nail art contest!

Contest rules:
1. The contest is open international, so everyone can join.
2. Comment on this post so I know you're joining.
3. Follow the theme!
4. You can use Konad/Fauxnad and stickers, as long as it looks darn cool! ;)
5. There are going to be two winners. The first winner will be chosen by my followers, I'll open a poll for that. I'll choose the second winner.
6. Don't post your entry on your blog or elsewhere, I want them to be private until I post them all on my blog.

The theme: Bugs!

With bugs I mean everything buggy: creepy crawlers, pretty butterflies, a shield of a beetle.. Whatever you can think about!

On march 31 I'm closing this contest. Entries can be send to: lacquerfiles@gmail.com
I want you to send me an email with one picture of your creation together with the name you placed a comment with and your emailadress so I know where it comes from. After that I'll create a poll and blogpost and there's one week voting time. I'll notify the winners by email.

The prize
I'm not revealing.. yet! I can tell you that the prize contains nail art stuff, and the rest you'll see. :)

If you have any questions you can send me an email or notify me on blogger. I'd be thrilled if you lovely people will spread to word, so please do! ;) I wish all the contestants the best of luck and I can't wait for all the pretty creations!

xoxo
Michelle

Fiiiire!

Hi dear reader!
After a long couple of days without any inspiration I found myself listening to Johnny Cash and creating a fire mani. I used Orly - Poison Candy apple as my base colour and I mattified it with China Glaze - Matte Magic. For the flames I used CG - Lemon Fizz, Essence - Bad Girl and OPI - Magnifico Mexico. I used CG's Snow Globe to spice it up a little.

There's not much to tell really, except I feel like having a polish block. :') I'm trying to do some ruffians today but I keep failing or they're not the way I want them to be. And the sun is gone which sucks!

I hope you do have a sunny day! ;)
Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Spring Mani's Part 2!

Hi dear reader!
As promised, the second part of my spring mani's! Above you see my dots design. I used Models Own - Beth's Blue as my base colour. With the dottingtool I placed two colours of dots on my nails, both Models Own polishes: Lemon Meringue and Lilac Dream.



My funky french! ;) This is Models Own - Lemon Meringue for the base and Feeling Blue for the french. The gems are from Essence, they have a cute nail jewel line.



Last, my mani that is based on a watermelon! Essie - Mint Candy Apple is used as my base colour. I created the lines using a really thin paintbrush and the following polishes: Essence - Not Just Cute, Diamond Cosmetics - Sparkling Sherry, Ciaté - Stiletto and Models Own - Slate Green.

I saved the best for last I think, these are really my favourite mani's out of the whole bunch. Especially the watermelon is my favourite.

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Spring Mani's Part 1!

Hi dear reader!
Finally I have some time for posting a nice and longer post again! The Dutch nailboard I visit a lot had a theme for thread #100 and that was spring. I had so much fun making these spring mani's!

Above you see my strawberry nails. I used Barry M - Matt White as the base colour, OPI - OPI Red for the strawberries and Models Own -Slate Green and Ciaté - Stiletto for the leafs. I used a really thin brush but unfortunatly they look a little... Hmm, not as neat as I wanted. But strawberries are spring and summer food and I think this mani is pretty cute.



For my next mani I used a sponge. First I painted my nails with China Glaze's Something Sweet. I used Zoya - Reece for the first layer of sponged polish, then I topped China Glaze - 2030 over that and for the finish I used Art de Lautrec - 01B. I used the Konad gold dots from my Bling manicure to give this a little extra. I don't know how I feel about this one but like Michèle said, they look a bit like tiny petit fours. The one you get when it's easter. ;)




And last for today, but certainly not least: my flower mani. The base colour is Models Own - Lilac Dream and I used Essence's Nail Jewels for the gem flowers. The dots are created with my dottingtool and OPI's Dim Sum Plum.

Well, that's it. Do you have any fun spring mani's?
I'll post the second part tomorrow, thanks for visiting!
Michelle

NOTD: Models Own - Lilac Dream

Hi reader!
I'm so busy at my internship I didn't have any time for swatching or creating a proper blog post so here's another NOTD! I'm wearing Models Own Lilac Dream. It's definitly pretty and suitable for spring! These days the sun has been shining a lot and makes me want to wear those pastels!

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

NOTD: China Glaze - Stellar

Hi dear reader!
I'm so busy with school and my internship so therefore this post is a quicky. I'm testing my Orly Bonder and I'm wearing China Glaze Stellar so I'm hoping this will stay on till monday.. Fingers crossed!

Stellar is a very pretty glitter polish. The base colour is beige/light brown and it's fully packed with bronze and silver glitter. Really dense! Too bad the sun was gone this afternoon, but this is how it looks in sunlight:



Pretty darn sweet, eh!

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend!
Michelle

Ciaté: Gold with extra Bling

Hi dear reader!
I received my Ciaté order today from ABC Beauty. The bottles are soooo cute, I love the tiny bows on them! I tried the gold polish, Ladylike Luxe, first because I'm definitly not fond of gold and most the time it looks really weird on me.

The polish applied very nice and it has a nice brush. Not as wide as the OPI brush but not as small as a China Glaze brush: perfect in between. :) You see three coats of Ladylike Luxe on the picture.

It's a nice shimmery gold and I know that lots of people will be very happy with it but things don't change and I'm still not fond of it. I think I would be if this would look good on me, but it doesn't. Too bad. This will end up in the swap box for sure! To make it even worse I put on some gem stickers I got as a thank you gift with another order and I had a huge laugh. It's so not me! I might wear my leopard stockings and my over the knee leather boots to go with it, not forgetting some crazy golden hoolahoop earrings - on my way to the towns fair! :') No no no, I'm joking.

Ready???



Haha. That's all I'm showing you today, I'm working on some spring mani's!
Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Essence Cute as Hell Collection

Hi dear reader!
Today I received two packages: one from Models Own, and one I've been dying to get my hands on: the Essence Cute as Hell collection! This collection isn't available in the Netherlands, but is in Germany, so Jeannette of the Swatchaholic was so sweet and send me these! Thank you so much! Of course I had to swatch these immediatly after getting them.



First up is Bad Girl. This is a soft orange, the picture makes it look too bright because it isn't. It's very pretty but I don't think I'll wear this too often since orange isn't my favourite colour. ;)



Then we have Naughty but Nice. It's a pastel yellow and I don't think there's anything naughty about it, it's just a very sweet spring colour. I think it looks like China Glaze Lemon Fizz (that I will receive very soon) and it looks a little like Models Own Lemon Meringue (see Michèle's blog: Lacquerized). I might so some comparing later.



Here you see Not Just Cute, my second favourite polish of the collection. I almost never wear pinks, they're not my colour of choice, but this one is so sweet!



And last, but not least: Date Me! I'm so crazy about purples and this lavender colour makes my mouth water! I know, it looks a bit blue in the picture, but it's really a tad darker and a little more purple toned.

Overall I'm very happy with this collection, I'm all in the pastel trend, love it. I've applied three coats of each (except for Date Me!) and I must say: they apply very nicely. Too bad Essence is only selling this in Germany!

How do you feel about pastels?
Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Funky French with Suzi

Hi dear reader!
I'm hoping that there is as much sun there as there is here! I almost want to jump up and sing, the sun is making me so happy! I created a funky french today because I found myself some tape! I can do it by hand but I wanted to try the tape. And let me tell you: how easy it seems with tape, there's also glue that comes with it. So the next time I'll just do it by hand.

I used OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui as my base colour and Dating a Royal for the french. Then I made a small stripe under DaR with CG's Dorothy Who? I'm such a sucker for blue!

Have a nice, sunny day!
Michelle

With sun comes... Holo!

Hi dear reader!
I was so amazed to see the sun, I just had to polish my nails with a holo. I chose China Glaze - OMG for today of the OMG collection. The thing I like about the China Glaze holo's is that they aren't in your face holo. I like those holo's on other people, not me! I'm not going to tell more; you've probably seen and heard it all, so let's go to the pictures.



Whieee! It's so funky.



Okay, I know, this one looks like the first picture but I was so happy with the sun shining that I must place this one too.



Up close!

What's your favourite holo?
Have a nice day!
Michelle