Barry M - Coral

Morning guys! Today I want to show you another polish from the Barry M gift set. There were a lot of questions about which ones were limited edtions and I've asked Barry M but I haven't got a reply yet so this one continues to be a mystery, at least for now.


Like the pink I tried first, the coral creme is also a bright one. Application wise I liked the pink polish better, this one flooded my cuticles because it was very thin. First coat was very sheer and I was pretty afraid I was going to end up with visible nail lines but after applying three coats it was opaque.

I like this shade. A few months back I couldn't see myself wearing these shades but I'm starting to enjoy them very much. I'm glad this one was in the package!


I also did a little Konad but you can see this more as a little experimenting. I'm not sure if I like the tips but the design is nice. I used H&M Love at First Sight as my stamping polish and Konad Imageplate M60 for the design.

How do you feel about corals? Yay or nay?
Take care!
Michelle

Flower Power!

Good morning to all! I hope everyone's doing fine. A while back I posted a flower manicure, actually I posted a few, but this one was made with the stickers I got from Karrie and now I have another sticker version for you. I don't know why but I'm really into flowers lately and because I haven't got a lot of time nail art stickers are my new best friends.


First I painted my nails with Color Club Who Are You Wearing. Once that was dry I started to apply stripes with my striper brush and two Ciaté Polishes: Main Stage and Talent Scout. I only used Talent Scout for two stripes, giving it kind of a twist. The stickers are provided to me by Sparkly Nails.

Sparkly Nails is a British web shop that offers a lot of nail art products. These stickers I got look really nice but there's one thing to remember when applying these: they are thin. That means they fold over easy and with easy I mean EASY. I ruined three flowers before I finally thought of picking my gemstone stick, so I could apply the stickers with that. Ha, success! If you don't have a stick like that you can also use a toothpick but remember, even when you're using this you still have to be very gentle with them.


I'm a sucker for these cute sticker sheets, I never come across these in stores. They seem to have a better quality than the ones I normally get, even though they're harder to apply. I haven't topped these with a top coat and they stayed on for two days. You might think that's not long but I've worked with them (cleaning job) so actually I was pretty surprised, they did survived while my hands were in the water for two days. Right now these stickers are available for £1.80 per sheet, or £4.50 for three sheets. Sparkly Nails ships worldwide.

Have a nice weekend and take care!
Michelle

The products in this post are provided for consideration.
For more information please read my disclaimer.

CND Colour and Sparkle!

Good morning everyone! A few days ago I received some more CND colours and effects (yep.. definitely some kind of temporary obsession) and today I want to show you a combination that I like very much.


First I applied one of the CND Colours. This one is Eclectic Purple, not that special but very pretty. It's a medium purple creme that applied very smooth and was opaque in two coats. I don't know why I don't see a lot of things about these CND colours because the ones I own apply great! They're pigmented, smooth and sooo easy to work with.


After Eclectic Purple dried I applied the effect. I picked Raspberry Sparkle! Just like the other sparkles, Raspberry Sparkle contains fine, dense reddish pink glitters. Sometimes it looks a little like it's shifting towards gold. Absolutely awesome!


I can't wait to layer this one over a dark green like OPI Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow. Maybe I should do some kind of layer inspiration post when I got the time. If you want to order some CND effects but don't know which one, you definitely should have a look here at the Edge of Sanity.

Want to know where you can buy the CND effects? They have a handy shop locater on their site. The CND polishes are also available on Trans Design.

Well, what do you think? I love the effects and I'm smacking myself in the face for not getting Sugar Sparkle. I can't find it now and I WANT IT. >:]

Enjoy your day and thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Catrice Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! & Matt Top Coat

Hi all! A little more than one week ago I posted about new Catrice products that will be available in November and today I want to show you two additions of their nail assortment. Catrice releases three new colours and also brings out a top coat to mattify your polish - very exciting because I love matte and I needed a new one so this one came right on time!


This is Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans!, an instant favourite for me. It's a deep dark blue creme with light blue glitter. The glitters aren't super noticeable, they do jump out when the sun shines, but in other light it's very subtle. I also feel that the blue is somewhat dusty, it's not that in your face blue.

Application was fine, the formula was a little thicker than I'm used to when it comes to Catrice polishes but it didn't bother me. Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! is well pigmented, I needed two coats and it was all opaque (and even!). The polish dries quickly but I do think it needs a top coat, it got a little dull after it dried. I feel that Catrice has brought another fab polish to their line and the price, €2.49, makes it too good not to buy it.


Of course I had to try the new Matt top coat over this one. It works good! The brush did pick up colour so when you're done using you should clean the brush but man, for a price of €1.99 with this result I couldn't care less about cleaning brushes. I did a little comparison for you:


I've compared the Catrice Matt top coat with the one I used before, China Glaze Matte Magic. As you can see Matte Magic leaves me with white flecks on my nails. All my matte top coats did that after a certain point, even when I clean everything after using, so I will have to wait out and see if the Catrice does that but so far it has behaved itself.

Catrice Matt and China Glaze Matte Magic give the same result, there's no need for us Dutchies (and Europeans) to buy the more expensive polishes now! Comparing the prizes is kind of ridiculous: Catrice gives you 12ml for €1.99 and China Glaze gives you 9.6ml for ± €4.50 to €7.00 (note: when ordered in the US and web shop prizes. I haven't included shipping costs.) Soooo, if the Catrice keeps me happy for the upcoming months I'll definitely repurchase it because now I'm fully satisfied with it.

So, what's your take on the new Catrice polishes? Happy with this addition?
Michelle

The products in this post are provided for consideration.
For more information please read my disclaimer.

Eyeko - Military Polish

Good afternoon all! Today I will show you the last one of the new Eyeko polishes.

Military Polish is something I can describe best as a mix between green and brown. On your nails it is darker than it looks like in the bottle, the only exception to this is when your nails hit the sun. I can imagine people being disappointed about it because in some light your nails will look nearly black, that's how dark this shade is.


Application was okay. First coat was streaky but the second coat made up for it and also made it fully opaque. The polish is quite pigmented and a little on the thick side. One thing that bugged me is that while applying the polish it looked like there was sand in the polish, giving me tiny gritty spots on my nails. My friend also had that, and she has a different bottle, so what's up with that? Drying time was pretty fast and it leaves you with a very glossy finish.

If you're mad about (army)greens I'd get this one, otherwise I'd just leave it. The formula could've been better and I wish the colour on your nails was like the colour in the bottle! The colour is too dark now for my taste. I got mine from the Eyeko website for €4.00. A bottle contains 8.5ml.

How do you feel about military shades? Any thoughts about this one from Eyeko?
Michelle

CND: The Look. Fall/Winter 2010

Good morning everybody! I was so excited when I saw these two new polishes pop up on my computer screen I decided to order these right away. This set for fall and winter contains two gorgeous polishes, Urban Oasis (colour) and Teal Sparkle (effect). Remember me raving about the two CND effects I tried earlier? I was also telling you that I really wanted to try out their normal polishes and finally, the time has come!


This is Urban Oasis, a teal creme. Not only am I a sucker for teal shades, I'm also a sucker for one coaters. And that's what Urban Oasis is - a one coater. The formula on this one was really good, it has a good consistency and it glides on the nail like butter. I am definitely not disappointed with the first colour I've tried from CND.


Here is Teal Sparkle topped over Urban Oasis. Teal Sparkle is meant to be worn over Urban Oasis for getting 'the Look'. Well, I must say that I'm liking this look very much. Teal Sparkle has fine, dense glitters that show teal, turquoise and gold on the nail and applies, like the other effects I've tried, very good. This will leave you with a smooth nail surface instead of a gritty one and that's a huge plus for me (and others who will start picking nails when the nail surface is not even).


My opinion on these? Get them! Urban Oasis is a pretty shade and Teal Sparkle is gorgeous plus you can use it on every polish you want. I can see myself using this one a lot! Now, excuse me because I'm going to drool over some more CND effects.

Thanks for visiting and have a nice day!
Michelle

I love you, Blue

Good evening all! Today I wanted to do some stripes but as you all know I always come up with the same stripe design. The lines are always vertical. Not that I mind, not at all, but sometimes I feel so cheesy doing the same thing over and over again. That's why I decided to do something different with my beloved striped design: I got myself striped, diagonal and in my favourite colour. Now how's that for a change?! ;-)


My base colour is Zoya Robyn, a polish that is in my closet for a loooong time. I finally picked it out today and wasn't disappointed! It's a very pretty bright blue creme and it applied good. I'm wearing three coats. After that I took out OPI Absolutely Alice, the famous blue and gold glitter polish, and started putting on stripes on my nails. These stripes are made freehand with a striper brush - everyone should own one! They are very handy when you want to put stripes on your nails.


I topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. It evened out this manicure quite good so I was happy with that, I hate it when I feel uneven bits on my nails.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Ciaté - Snatch

Hello readers! How are you doing today? I hope everyone is well! :-) Today I want to show you Snatch by Ciaté. Ciaté is one of my favourite nail polish brands. Every single polish I've tried so far, from creme to glitter, rocks my socks off. I was very pleased when I received this pretty in the mail!


Snatch is a very bright tomato red creme, and when I say very bright I mean very bright. This is the kind of red that I call 'porn red' - though this one doesn't feel tacky on me.

Application was good, the formula had the perfect thickness. Not too thick and certainly not too thin. Snatch dried fast and super glossy so there's no need for a top coat (f.e. when you're in a hurry). I needed two coats for Snatch to be opaque.

I get bored easily. I wanted to do a wear test and after two days I started to get the itches and I changed the manicure.


Told you it was a red that screams for a fishnet pattern. ;-) I used Konad Imageplate M57 and OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees as my stamping polish. I topped it with a top coat. First I wanted to use a regular black creme for this but it looks wayyyy better when sparkly.

And that wasn't where the fun stopped!


I added China Glaze Matte Magic. The suede stays glittery and Snatch is matte. It looks absolutely awesome and the design seems so well fit for the colour. I will wear this again.

Ciaté is available on their website. They ship internationally so it's definitely worth of having a peek. A bottle of Ciaté contains 13.5ml polish and costs £9.00.

Have you tried polishes from Ciaté and what is your experience with them?
Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

The product in this post is provided by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration.
For more information please read my disclaimer.

New Limited Eyeko Releases

Hi everyone! Eyeko recently released two new limited edition shades and today I'll show you these. Eyeko polishes come in 8.5 ml and every polish bottle has its own unique design. We're starting with the Saucy Polish for Naughty Nails.

Saucy polish reminds me of fire trucks and tomatoes. I'm loving this shade of red. It's bright and vibrant, not muted at all and still it's a very wearable shade. Application was good, the formula is a little thick but this didn't turn me off. I actually kind of liked it! The great thing about applying it is that the polish comes on evenly and it doesn't give you the visible streaky brush strokes. In the picture I'm wearing two coats because of visible nail line (thanks, macro) but this a one coater - very pigmented.

Let's move on to the second polish, Rain Polish for City Nails.

A nice muted greyish blue with shimmer. The shimmer isn't that noticeable in normal light, when your nails catch the sunlight it will show more. This was a little thinner and it took me more effort to get this one on even. The polish is also very pigmented but because it's a little thinner I needed two coats of opaqueness. 

My thoughts on these two? Saucy Polish has surprised me the most. I, not being a red polish lover, would wear this one quite a lot because it is so vibrant and pretty. Rain Polish is also a very nice one. I guess you could say I'm really pleased with these two!

These polishes are sent to me by Eyeko. Their polish costs 3,50 pounds individually but  they also offer cute polish sets so be sure to take a look!

Kinetics - My Blue Heaven

Hi guys! How are you all doing? Today I'll be showing you a polish from Kinetics. I've tried Kinetics before and was really happy with the formula so I got only more excited when trying this one.

My Blue Heaven is a dusty medium blue creme and it's already one of my favourites. Who can resist a polish like this?! The formula didn't disappoint me either: it went on very smooth and after two coats it was opaque. Normally I don't grab two (or more) coaters when I'm in a hurry but I think I'll grab this one for sure.

This polish was sent to me for a review by Alice & Jo's, a Dutch web shop that sells Kinetics for €5,79. They ship internationally and if you have any questions you can always contact them. They also carry other brands such as Art de Lautrec and Sleek so it's definitely worth of having a peek.

Have a great day!

Ice cream

Hi dear reader! Since yesterday the temperature has gone up here and I'm really enjoying the sun. The weatherman tells us it'll stay this week and that is great because I'm attending Pearl Jam (and more) on sunday. These concerts will be in the open air and I really can't use rain then! This warm weather also makes me crave ice cream. My favourite is yoghurt.

I've used H&M Love at First Sight as my base colour. I'm really happy with this white because it covers so good but it does get pretty thick so I need to thin it - yes, after one week. Ah well, anything for a good covering white polish. The sauce is Ciaté Main Stage, a gorgeous berry colour, and the sprinkles are Orly Snowcone and Lemonade.

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Ciaté - Vintage

Hi dear reader!

Today will be a short post because I only want to show you my favourite grey of the moment: Ciaté Vintage. Vintage is a dark grey creme and applies fine. The formula is a little thick so be careful while polishing - streakyness could attack you any time! It is opaque in one coat but I used two coats in the picture - had to even out the polish.

Ciaté Vintage, 2 coats with top coat in daylight

Verrrrrry pretty! It's a little darker in real life, it looks like concrete. :o)

What's your favourite grey?

Stamping with Suedes

Good afternoon dear reader!

How are you all doing on this sunny friday? I'm feeling kind of blah, having a headache but luckily I've had all my appointments for today so I can relax now. A couple of days ago I stamped with a suede polish for the first time and I really liked the result. I never thought of stamping with suedes because of the drying time but yes, it is possible!

Suede Stamping in sunlight

As my base colour I chose China Glaze - Secret Peri-Wink-Le from the Operation Colour Collection (fall 2008). It's a dusty periwinkle blue creme that applied fine. I'm wearing three coats in the picture. For stamping I pulled out one of OPI's suedes: Russian Navy, a gorgeous shimmery navy blue. Suedes dry very fast so you have to be quick while working with these. I'm really liking the effect of stamping with a suede, it definitely brings a twist to the normal Konad designs. I used plate M70, I love the full plate flower design.

Have a good start of your weekend!

Michelle

OPI - Damone Roberts 1968

Hi dear reader!

So you've all heard of OPI having a rerelease of the limited Damone Roberts and I just had to have it. I love greens so when Ange from Scandalously Polished tweeted she had a few, I responded and a week later it was mine! Damone Roberts is the eyebrow king in Hollywood (I didn't know) and this shade is based on the wall colors of his salon (another thing I didn't know).

It's a pastel mint green creme and I do like these shades, but it didn't get me all hyper and dancing around the room. It is a nice addition to the collection though. :) Application was fine, not the best I had from OPI but it was managable. I'm wearing three coats in the picture. I used my silver Essence striper and light green rhinestones to pimp up this baby - I needed a little nail art in my life.

Thanks for visiting and have a nice day!
Michelle

Ciaté Paintpots Festival Fever Part 2

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Who the Shrek Are You?

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:

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!

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:

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

Illamasqua - Nudge

Hi dear reader!

Yesterday I told you I received Illamasqua's Nudge from Laquermanic's tiny giveway, today I decided to swatch it!



Mine! >:]



Nudge is a really pretty blue. It isn't a pastel, it's too bright to be one. Nudge actually reminds me of Stimerol chewing gum, a blue that looks a little chemic haha. I compared this one to China Glaze's For Audrey but FA is a little dustier and darker. Nudge applied very smooth and for one minute I was in polish heaven.



I'm a sucker for blue and this is my new blue love.

Have a nice day!
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