American Apparel - Mouse

Monday, May 31, 2010
Good afternoon dear readers!

How was your weekend? I didn't do anything special but I did wore this polish for the first time ever! I feel a bit dumb because it has been sitting in my Helmer for ages and I almost forgot I had it. Whoops.

American Apparel Mouse Taupe Light Creme

This is Mouse by American Apparel, a greyish taupe creme. The formula of this one was much better than her sister, Office (which is also sitting in my Helmer for ages - might have to swatch that one pretty soon!), but the drying time was longer than I'm used to. I'm wearing three coats and the picture is made in daylight. I picked up a pink flower from Essence Nail Jewels just because I like how these shades and pink go together.

That's it for now, have a great day!
Michelle

Ciaté Paintpots Festival Fever Part 2

Sunday, May 30, 2010
Hi dear reader!

As promised, the second part of the Ciaté Festival Fever swatches. This part includes my two favourites. Enough with the talking and let's head on to the pictures!

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Talent Scout Purple

This is Talent Scout, a cool toned darker purple creme. This one is a pretty close one to China Glaze's Grape Pop. I love purple cremes like this! The application was good. I'm wearing two coats in the picture.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Ciaté Headliner Medium Blue Creme Satin Finish

Oohhh yes! BLUE! This is Headliner, a dustier medium blue creme. This is a very bright colour and dries, like Access All Areas, satin. I've used top coat in this picture and you see me wearing two coats of this pretty. Like above, the application was good but since this one dries satin it's more easy to see little uneven spots - that's something to remember.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Ditch the Heels Bright Medium Green Creme

And my all time favourite: Ditch the Heels. This is an amazing bright medium green creme, not that bright to say it's neon, not too soft to call it a pastel. It's in the middle. I'm wearing three coats in the picture and application was goooood. Not runny, not thick, just how I like it! P2's Artful is a close dupe to this one, only a tad darker but not that noticable.

My opinion on the collection? I think that three shades definitly stand out, the other three are nice and pretty but are also very common. The formula of all these polishes is good and I think that Ciaté did a nice job with this collection.

Now, you've seen the whole collection - how do you feel about it?
Michelle

Ciaté Paintpots Festival Fever Part 1

Saturday, May 29, 2010
Hi dear reader!

I've never showed you these Ciaté's but because of this great sunny day I decided to take them out! You probably know the cute bow bottles, the one thing I fell for when buying my first Ciaté. Festival Fever is Ciaté's 2010 spring/summer collection.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Fun Fair Pastel Pink Creme

First up is Ciaté Fun Fair, a nice pink pastel creme. The picture is taken in daylight and it's showing a little more pale than it really is, it's pinker in real life. I'm wearing three coats. This might be the first pink I'd wear more than once! Application was fine though the polish was a little too thin for my taste, it was a little runny.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Acces All Areas Bright Medium Peach Creme Satin Finish

And then there's Ciaté Access All Areas, a very bright, medium peach coloured creme. Like a neon, it dries satin and it's totally in your face. On the picture I'm wearing three coats. I'm not fond of neon polishes or colours like this so it isn't my thing but I think this is a special one in the collection. I'd even call it a must have if you're mad about these bright peachy colours.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Acces All Areas Glossy

I really like it more glossy. This is Access All Areas with my Nubar Diamont top coat. Application was better than Fun Fair, less runny. If you love this colour you can always check out my giveaway here, open till May 31.

Ciaté Festival Fever Spring Summer 2010 Main Stage Medium Berry Creme

And last for today, Ciaté Main Stage. This is a medium berry creme that applied the best of the three I showed you today. The formula is good. The picture shows you two coats, I do think it'll cover in one coat but I'm a thin coat polisher. ;)

I'll show you the other three tomorrow. Fun Fair and Main Stage aren't that special but they're both nice colours. I'd be very surprised if there weren't any dupes to find for these. What is your take on these three colours? Do they scream spring and summer to you?

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Diamond Cosmetics - Decadence

Friday, May 28, 2010
Hi dear reader!

I've been receiving a few good packages these last few days and I had so much trouble chosing what to wear! One of my orders was one at Boozyshop, a Dutch webshop where us Dutchies can get the Diamond Cosmetics polishes. I love the DC's I own so there's always room for a little more!

Diamond Cosmetics Decadence Boozyshop Brown Gold Foil Shimmer Polish

Meet Decadence! Decadence is a very pretty rich brown shade packed with shimmer: it's almost foily. The shade of the brown makes me think of chocolate and the shimmer in it gives it this amazing sparkle. To be honest, most DC shimmers are amazing. They really know how to work it! Application was good but I've never had any troubles with DC polishes. The cap of the bottle is easy to handle and the texture of the polish is smooth, making it easy to apply.

What is your favourite DC polish?
Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Peacock Nails

Monday, May 24, 2010
Hi dear reader!

I've made this mani a few weeks ago for the nail art contest over at Daph's blog. For my inspiration I used two pictures of a peacock; one with the feather detail and one full. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, especially after working on it with a whole awful lot of polishes.

I can't remember all the polishes I've used but the base colour is OPI's Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow. For the feathers I took out OPI's Over the Taupe. The different tones of green are OPI's Who the Shrek Are You? and Fiercely Fiona, China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle and a nameless Maybelline. The blues I've used are OPI's DS Fantasy, DS Sapphire and What's With the Cattitude and China Glaze's Sexy in the City. I topped it with Chanel's Illusion D'Or.

For the peacock itself I started out with OPI's Fiercely Fiona and create a little depth with Who the Shrek Are You?, China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle and the nameless Maybelline. The blue is, like the feathers, OPI DS Fantasy. The peacock's beak is China Glaze 2030. In the feathers is also a hint of brown: OPI's Over the Taupe and Espresso Your Style! Again, this one is made glittery with Chanels Illusion D'Or and China Glaze's Golden Enchantment. I used a tiny paintbrush when applying the different polishes.

The result:

Peacock Nails Nail Art Design

I'm liking the outcome! This was a first for me, creating the peacock using different shades and I think it worked out pretty well. And of course I'm happy I can show you now haha!

Have a great sunny day!
Michelle

Time to Vote!

Sunday, May 23, 2010
Hi dear reader!

I haven't post that much lately because I'm too busy with other stuff. But the good news: I have some great nails to show you! These are the entries for my Nail Art Contest 2.0:


This cute manicure is created by Noortje! She used a Kiko polish as base and sponged the tips with polishes from the China Glaze Up & Away Collection.


Michelle created this. She used four different butterfly stamps and made a cherry blossom tree on her thumb.


Thriszha was feeling very creative and made these spring nails!


Lena created cherry blossoms on her nails.


And last but not least: Diana! She created a spring mani with her own waterslide decals of Piglett!

These are the entries, now you can vote! You can only vote for one person and if you're voting please do so by leaving a comment under this post. On May 31 I'll count all the votes and let you all know who won this contest.

Thanks for participating ladies, and good luck!
Michelle

Cuticle Care Time!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Hi dear reader!

Today I wanted to talk about cuticles, a very important part of basic nail care. Taking care of your cuticles leads to stronger, healthier nails and you’ll stay far away from awful nails problems such as infections. I’ve been reading tons of articles about cuticle care and I’ve found tons of tips and tricks – some better than the other – so here’s my part of sharing the best with you.

Eh.. What?Cuticle Care Nails
Your nails (2) are made of keratin, that is a hard type of protein and they serve as a protector for your fingertips. The cuticle (4) is a piece of skin that overlaps the hard nail and touches the ‘white moon’ (3) of your nail. The role of the cuticle is basically protecting the new, soft keratin – created in the root of the nail (5) – as it emerges onto the nail. I can hear you thinking – soft keratin? My nails are hard! That’s right, if the protein ages, it hardens. Feel your free tip (1): It’s hard!

Cutting the Cuticles
I admit, I have used the cuticle clipper. I bet a lot of people did! To be honest, it’s not that strange when professional manicurists work with them or when you can find them in your manicure kit. And it’s so tempting to use them when your cuticles look dry and ragged! Health experts have one thing to say about this: do not cut your cuticles.

If you do cut your cuticles in the wrong way the protective barrier can break and provide an entrance for germs like fungus and bacteria. Once these germs enter it is very likely you’ll walk around with a cuticle infection pretty soon and that’s something you definitely want to avoid. There are other ways to make them happy!

Happy Cuticles
Now, getting yourself some happy cuticles isn’t that hard. It doesn’t take much time and it’s definitely worth it: a pretty manicure looks darn crappy with ragged cuticles. There’s one tip that comes back every time: soaking your hands once a week in a bowl of water and olive oil. Now, I’ve tried that. I took a regular sized bowl and put a few drops of olive oil in it. The warm water came from the tap and there I sat, 15 minutes waiting time (tip: put on a tv-show, I bored myself out). After 15 minutes I took them out and used my cuticle pusher to gently push them back. Dried my hands and kapow! Gorgeous, soft cuticles and hands. Even my nails looked healthier and were rosy pink – and still are.

Cuticle Remover
The next best thing is cuticle remover. I own two: Nfu.Oh’s Cuticle Remover and Avoplex Cuticle Exfoliating Cuticle Treatment. Nfu.Oh wins this battle so easily because it works quicker and it removes more dead tissue, though Avoplex has the best smell ever. But that’s a different story. The point of cuticle remover is loosen up those cuticles and removing the dead and hard skin.
Cuticle Care NailsYou apply the remover to your cuticles, wait a little and then use the cuticle pusher. Take the blunt end and push the cuticles in a circular motion so the dead skin comes off. You don’t have to buy a cuticle exfoliater, you can always create one yourself: mix oil and sugar into a small bowl of water. Massage the scrub into the cuticles for 30 seconds using a circular motion.

Cuticle Creams & Oils
The skin on the cuticles is delicate and needs some more care than your regular hand cream can provide: it really needs some heavier moisturizer for clearing that job. The ones that I prefer contain glycerin, shea butter or sunflower oil. These moisturizers do wonders! Cuticle Care NailsYou can also use cuticle oil, this gives an intense hydration but I’ve read that this shouldn’t be used to often because the cuticle can get used to this deep hydration and it’ll make it almost impossible hydrating with something else in the future. I don’t know if this is true – but if you want to prevent this there are plenty of amazing cuticle creams available. Recs: Lush Lemony Flutter, P2 Apricot Cuticle Cream and Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. If you have an amazing product yourself, please share!

Hand Creams
Now that the cuticles look great you want them to stay that way, so keep moisturizing your babies. Use hand cream daily, after your hands have come into contact with water or just when you feel like.
Cuticle Care NailsIf you feel like your hands could use some more moisturizing, you can always apply a thick layer of hand cream before you sleep and use cotton gloves so the cream won’t dry out during the night. Also good for preventing nasty stains on the bed! ;) My favourite hand creams are P2’s Ultra Intense Hand Butter and Nivea’s Intensief Voedende Crème (intensive moisturizer) but there are plenty more that moisturize good.

Finding one you like is testing, testing, testing. Man, I think I’ve tried 15 before one finally met my standards!

Hopefully you’ve learned a little more or found out things you didn’t know. If you have any tips or recommendations I (and probably lots of others) would like to know, so please share!

Have a great day!
Michelle

OPI DS Fantasy

Sunday, May 16, 2010
Hi dear reader!

How was the weekend? I haven't done much the last couple of days, totally didn't feel like coming out of bed so guess where my hotspot was? Right, in bed.

Today I want to show you a polish I bought a while ago. It's Fantasy from OPI's Designer Series and it's a gorgeous shade of dark blue. Since I'm a sucker for blues I like them all but you have to believe me when I say this is stunning! Fantasy isn't that holographic like the others from the Designer Series but it does has lots of subtle multicoloured glitter in it that creates this amazing depth. It's like the holo wants to burst out but doesn't.

Application was great. I really dislike paying a lot of cash for polishes but this one was worth every penny. It applies smooth and is opaque in one layer. I used two layers - but that was more because I am a neurotic polisher.

I also applied three colours of rhinestones on each nail. I like rhinestones.

OPI Designer Series Fantasy Blue Shimmer Rhinestones Nail Art

Fantasy in dimmed sunlight

OPI Designer Series Fantasy Blue Shimmer Rhinestones Nail Art

Fantasy in sunlight

Removing was fine, no staining here! I am a sucker for blues bit this one is seriously a gem in my blue collection. I love it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Van Gogh's Starry Night

Thursday, May 13, 2010
Hi dear reader!

You probably know that the Netherlands is famous for the legalization of softdrugs, the red light district, tulips, wooden shoes and windmills. But there are also some truly great artists coming from the Netherlands. Think of Mondriaan, Rembrandt, Rietveld and van Gogh.

I've used one of my favourite paintings of van Gogh for the nail art I'm showing you today!

De Sterrennacht (Starry Night)

Here is my version:

Sterrennacht Van Gogh Starry Night Nail Art Design

Sterrennacht Van Gogh Starry Night Nail Art Design

Sterrennacht Van Gogh Starry Night Nail Art Design

I've used American Apparel's Passport Blue as my base colour. Glided on perfectly, it was a two coater. The colours I've used for the blue accents in the sky are OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui, Ciaté Power Dressing and MAC's Blue India. I've mixed them up with China Glaze's White Out to create a little more depth in the art. The tower is China Glaze's Liquid Leather and the moon and stars are created with Orly's Lemonade.

I've used one paint brush for this and blurred out a few bits with polish remover. Using remover makes the stars get a little bit of a glare around them. Other than that it was just mixing it all and trying to see how it ended but I'm pretty happy with the result!

What is your favourite painting?
Have a nice day!
Michelle

Helmer Giveaway!

Monday, May 10, 2010
Hi dear reader!

Noooo I'm not giving away my Helmer! :D I was cleaning it and noticed I have a lot of polishes I never use. And that sucks because I hate polishes dusting away! Therefore I decided to create this giveaway that includes six of my untouched polishes - okay I've touched one haha. Anyway, this is what you can win:

10-05

China Glaze Lemon Fizz, a pastel yellow creme
Barry M Green Glitter, a clear base packed with green glitters
Catrice London's Weather Forecast, a grey shimmer
OPI Dim Sum Plum, a fuchsia creme
Ciaté Paint Pots Access All Areas, a bright peachy creme
Herome W.I.C. Honolulu, a medium blue creme

The rules are easypeasy:
1. You have to be a follower of my blog
2. Leave a comment that includes your emailadress
3. This contest is open to anyone - it doesn't matter where you live
4. You can earn a second entry for spreading the word on twitter/blog/whatever. If you do so please let me know by posting the link in your comment.
5. You can enter till May 31 11.59 PM CET.
6. I'll use random.org to pick the winner!

Wellllll good luck lovelies!
Michelle

My Favourite Products

Sunday, May 9, 2010
Hi dear reader!

I wanted to make a blogpost about my new amazing hand butter but after taking pictures of it I decided I wanted to share my favourite products with you. One warning though: this post is long and pic heavy! ;)

Acetone Free Polish Remover

Polish remover

Okay, so there are a bunch of nail polish removers available out there but the best for me are the ones that are acetone free. Using remover that contains acetone gives me superdry cuticles and that makes me bite them. So that's a no go. On the picture you see P2's Soft Nailpolish Remover that contains Thai green coconut oil (yeaaaa...). It smells really good and, what's funny, it has a push button so now I can't spill my remover on my laptop that easily haha.

Cuticle Remover

Cuticle remover

Yay! This is the best cuticle remover I've ever used. It does what it promises! I apply this once a week, starting at my right pinky and work to my left pinky. After that I use my cuticle pusher to get rid of the excess skin. Works like a charm!

Files

Files

I haven't used the P2 file yet but a file like this is great for removing ridges on your nails. Do keep in mind you only use a buffer file once a month and don't buff the nail surface too strongly because it reduces the thickness of the nail. The other file is my travelsize Herome Glass File. I always file my nails with a glass file to prevent my nails for tearing easy on me. Some glass files are cheap but after using these for a few weeks the surface of the file becomes smooth and they don't work proper anymore. Mine was pretty expensive for a small file but it lasts looooong. Btw I'm not telling you cheaper glass files don't work, only my experience with the cheaper ones isn't that good. :)

Cuticle Treatments

Cuticle Care

In the back you see my cuticle and nail oils. One is a drugstore brand and the other one is from Herome. They both work fine but the Herome has such a sweet smell, it smells like oranges! I use cuticle oil once a day. In the front is my new cuticle cream from P2 with a delicious apricot smell and to be honest I love this already. It's really soft and hydrates my cuticles really good.

Base Coats

Base coats

Orly Bonder definitly kicked the OPI ridgefiller and base coat off their thrones. With Bonder my polish chips a lot less quicker and my nailpolish chipped really quick. I've heard that Bonder can give you staining (orange/yellow nails) but this never happened here so I'll keep using this baby.

Top Coats

Top coats

Currently I have three top coats I use the most. I want my top coats to dry quick and these three are the ones that do: OPI RapiDry, 'David' and Nubar Diamont. I've used Seche Vite but that one gave me shrinkage and I could peel the polish right off so I threw it in a corner. Nubar Diamont is the one I mostly use for chunky glitter polishes, OPI for cremes and David for the rest. They all work fine but OPI dries the fast. I don't know why I have this special use for my top coats, I'm a little crazy I think.

Hand lotion

Hand lotion

This is my favourite hand lotion. I always have three of them open: one in my bedroom, one downstairs and one in my purse. After washing my hands I use my hand lotion and my hands feel soft again. This one is the best I've tried and I'm sticking to this one for now. It does contain Macademia nut oil - if you're allergic to nuts this probably is a no go.

My Awesome New Hand Butter

Handbutter

Here it is. The product that started this post. This is P2's Ultra Intense Hand Butter with shea butter, white tea essence and sunflower oil. It smells really good. The cream is less thick than Lemony Flutter (also a great thing). I use this when I'm going to bed, I apply it quite thick on my hands and when I wake up the next morning I have superduper healthy looking cuticles and amazingly soft hands. This truly is my NEW LOVE. I love it more than Lemony Flutter. I love it more than sex. Okay no, that was a joke but this hand butter is really really good and I recommend everyone that has acces to the P2 brand to buy it and try it!

There, you have it. My favourites! What are your favourites?
Michelle

Striping Tape Part 2

Saturday, May 8, 2010
Hi dear reader!

How was the start of your weekend? Mine started with a nail polish hunt in Germany, Oberhausen to be exact. I've spent my day in CentrO with Michèle and Daph and scored some nice goodies!

I've also tried something else with the striping tape. I've got a few tips and after spending a little time with it, this is the result:

OPI Ogre-the-Top-Blue Shrek Forever After Collection 2010 Striping Tape Dollar Nail Art Silver Striping Tape Nail Art Baby Pearls Nail art Design

The base colour is OPI's Ogre-the-Top-Blue and the striping tape is from Dollar Nail Art. I've also placed one baby pearl in the centre of each nail because I like baby pearls haha. My second try worked out a lot better but it's still not perfect. I'm a terrible picky person and I'd hate it when the striping tape is cut off too short, so now it's a little too long for my nails. I'm still trying to succeed having the perfect length of tape on my nails!

About Ogre-the-Top-Blue: perfect bright medium blue. Application was fine - at least better than Shrek and Fiona! Those were very streaky and I needed four (!) coats to even it all out. I'm wearing three coats in the picture. I'm also having a top coat issue, my OPI RapiDry gets all bubbly. :(

That's it for today. Have a great weekend!
Michelle

Who the Shrek Are You?

Thursday, May 6, 2010
Hi dear reader!

Today I'm going to post a picture of a polish that absolutely stole my heart. It's OPI (omfg!!!) and I received it a few days ago. I'm not going to talk about it because everyone does that now so here's a picture:

OPI Who the Shrek Are You? Shrek Forever After Collection Shrek Colour creme

Whooohhh, pretty! I wanted to do some nail art on it but I couldn't pick a colour to go with it so that's something for later. And that's it for today - nothing to tell, just wanted to share. :)

Have a nice day!
Michelle

Swoopdawoop!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Hi dear reader!

Happy fifth of May! In the Netherlands we celebrate the end of the second world war and there are festivities and concerts in the whole country.

Today I'm rocking a swoop mani. I did one before using three colours but I wanted to do it slightly different and used more. All polishes I used are from Models Own. The base colour is Beth's Blue, a gorgeous pale blue, I used three coats. After that I used Slate Green, a dustier green, creating a half circle. The colour in the green circle and the half circle is Feeling Blue, a brighter blue. After that I used Emerald City for the bling!

The dots are created with my friend the dottingtool and Lilac Dream. I also used Tickled Pink for my dots and again for some bling: Magenta Divine.

This is what I got:

Swoops

Last time I wrote about MO's Mixed Up, I didn't like the application of it. I can tell you that it's really different with the creme polishes, they apply really smooth!

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Striping Tape?

Sunday, May 2, 2010
Hi dear reader!

Today I want to talk to you about striping tape. The tape I own comes from Dollar Nail Art - Natasja didn't used it so I took it because I wanted to try so bad. Everytime I see art with striping tape my heartbeat races, it can look soooooo good!

I've read about this on numerous sites and they all told me it was easy peasy. So I thought nothing could go wrong with clumsy me! Guess again... It's not because I'm clumsy or impatient, it's the tape that ruins it all! I seriously needed three coats of top coat to make it stick and after that it still looked kind of weird. Here's the result:

Stripingtape

I used China Glaze - Liquid Leather as my basic black and the gems come from the Essence Nail Jewels set. It looks okay. The striping tape looks pretty good after the trouble I had from it but the gems are a little too much for me.

Do you have any experience with striping tape? Any tips or suggestions?
Have a nice evening!
Michelle
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