Happy New Year!

Hey everyone! Long time no see - nothing happened, I just work a lot. I don't feel like posting because I'm that busy, hopefully I'll start to regain my motivation soon. One thing I do want to do is to wish all my readers a great start of the new year.


Because this is a nail blog, bonus pic! I'm wearing Ciaté Golden Globe. What are you wearing this evening? Have you decided to go for something festive or something more toned down?

Right now I'm going back to the party. Everyone - be safe, watch your fingers and don't drink too much.

Happy New Year, make it a good one!
Michelle

China Glaze and Konad

Hey guys! I have a green from China Glaze and it is absolutely gorgeous, everyone should own it and seriously I'm not joking! The gorgeous green I'm talking about is Gussied Up Green from the Rodeo Diva collection that was launched for fall 2008. This one is still available at most etailers. The point of my saying this is that when you're in the need of a dark green shimmer you should get this one because really it's too good not to buy.


Gussied Up Green is a gooooooooorgeous (sorry for using that word too much, it does fit the polish so I'm gonna use it this whole post) blackened green shimmer. When it hits the sunlight, as you can see above, the shimmer is so pretty (and gorgeous!).


I did some Konad over it, using 2030 and a Bundle Monster Plate (BM21) for the pattern. Now as I've mentioned before, 2030 is my kind of gold and I love it dearly. I really need to get myself a new bottle because mine is almost empty and I can't imagine ending up without a bottle of 2030.

2030 is part of the Khrome Collection and like all other polishes of this collection, 2030 is great for stamping. If you're looking for a decent stamping polish that isn't from Konad these are the best.


In case you're wondering why I'm all that cheery and happy, I'm receiving a package from the H&M today and I'm about to wet myself because the shoes I've ordered are amazing. This however doesn't affect my liking of Gussied Up Green, it's gorgeous. Really, it is!

What's your opinion of Gussied Up Green and the Khromes as stamping polishes?
Michelle

Barry M Instant Nail Effects, part two

Good evening everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine - I am, I'm really hoping for the weekend to kick in and I'm secretly excited for the 'storm' tomorrow and Friday. I'm the kind of person that really enjoys stormy weather, the sound of rain and the wind blowing really hard - I'll go outside trying to 'lean' against the wind. But enough of my strange characteristics and let's go on with my blogpost.

I'm showing you the Barry M Instant Nail Effects, and yes, you've seen this one earlier but I did a combination that I think is really awesome.


First I wanted to use China Glaze Millennium as my base colour but I couldn't find it anywhere so I decided to go for the gold. According to Michèle gold really rocked, and yes, it does!

The base colour I've used is China Glaze 2030, the greatest gold polish I've ever seen. This gold is cool so my skin doesn't look like I've been with my hands in boiling hot water for 10 minutes. I used two coats for 2030 because I always think the first coat looks a little bit, I don't know, streaky? Showing every little flaw on your nails? I guess both these things. It really doesn't matter though, this one dries fast and having your nails painted with gold is just totally awesome.


I was thinking of getting gold Minx, I bet I'd feel totally awesome walking around with those shiny gold nails. Unfortunately I'm not going to do that now due to my cleaning job but whenever I have the opportunity of taking them I'm so going to!

I bought this one at Alice & Jo's Havesentials for €5,10 (about $6,70). Alice & Jo's also offers other colours of crackle polish by the brand Mia Secret. Barry M Instant Nail Effects can also be purchased from the official Barry M site.

Take care guys, thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Ciaté - Twilight

Hey guys! Ciaté has to be one of my favourite brands. Not only am I always happy with the formula, I also like the different shades of polish they offer and of course, how can I not mention it, their super cute bottles. Some people say they are expensive and I know 13.5 ml for £9.00 isn't a bargain but the price isn't bad for what Ciaté gives you. Besides, it's always fun to spoil yourself, right? :-)

I've also got myself the Ciaté Speed Coat for testing and so far I'm happy with it so I'll let you know how it all works out. For now I want to show you one of their newer shades.


Ciaté Twilight is released for fall/winter 2010. They didn't create a whole new collection for us, besides Twilight they've also released Fade to Greige, but the two shades are both very nice so you won't hear me complain!

Twilight is a black creme filled with golden flecks and really small multicoloured shimmer. The golden flecks are more pronounced in the bottle but are also very visible on your nail. The multicoloured shimmer is very subtle and is shown best in sunlight.


I needed two coats for Twilight to be opaque. What I also really liked is that the flecks aren't gritty so your nail surface feels smooth and you won't need a really thick top coat to top it off. Speaking of top coat, I'm not wearing any in my swatches and the polish doesn't look dull.

Drying time was good and so was the application. I really like the Ciaté brushes, they're not too long or short and are really easy to use.


Here I've mattified Twilight with the Catrice Matt top coat. I think it looks awesome! The small flecks look like they're on fire and that makes a really nice contrast with the matte black. Overall you can say I'm definitely not disappointed with this one!

How do you feel about the new Ciaté shades?
Michelle

New from Pieces?

Hey everyone! On Friday I also went into town and stumbled upon polishes from Pieces I had never ever seen before so to me they are new. But are they really new as in omg-new-release-wow-wow-wow!-new? I don't know, so if you can enlighten me, please do.


I picked up three colours: Ms Jagger Green, Metropolitan Sky Blue and Golden Chokolate. The last one is the one I'm showing you today!


Golden Chokolate (why are they spelling it with a K? I don't like that, I want the K to be a C!) is a dark brown based polish, absolutely packed with golden shimmer. On the picture above, that is made in normal daylight, you can see the shimmer peeping through a little but this is not that impressive when you've seen it being hit by the sun.


Voila. It's awesome, it's so glowy and such a rich colour. I think this is perfect for fall and winter! Application was pretty good, I liked the formula because it wasn't thin or thick: exactly in the middle, just how I like it. I needed three coats for this one to be opaque. The only thing I dislike, the same as I told you about Wet n Wild, is that the caps and brushes are small. I like my brushes to be long and have a cap that I can hold on to. It's not impossible to polish with these caps but it tends to bring a little more irritation haha.


I bought the three polishes at the Pieces store for €6.95. The polishes cost €2.95 each so when you want to buy more I'd buy three. It's a little cheaper. :o) It's not expensive, they offer a nice variety of colours and I don't have issues with the application so it does no harm when you want to try.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the lazy sunday!
Michelle

Two Pretties make a good Pair

Morning people! Today I want to show you two polishes from the new China Glaze Holiday Collection called 'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice. I really wanted Party Hearty from the beginning because I love these kinds of glitter but when I saw Jolly Holly I just couldn't say no. It's green and it's gorgeous, everyone would've said yes!


This is Jolly Holly, an amazing green shimmery polish. The shimmer is blue and gold and it's awesome! Application was really good and it was also opaque after one coat. ONE COAT!


Jolly Holly topped with one coat of Party Hearty, no top coat. Party Hearty is such a funky glitter! I can see small silver and gold glitter and they've also put larger red and green glitter in it, all in a clear base. Application wise it was good, I don't like to polish my nails with glitters but this one wasn't that uncontrollable.

The 2010 Holiday Collection from China Glaze also offers you some sweet gift sets that are available at Trans Design and will be at Enchantra. How do you feel about this new Holiday collection?

Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle

Mmmmorbid

Morning guys! I hope everyone's fine. Today will be a super quick post, even I am surprised about it because normally I like to blabber a lot, but I only want to show you my NOTD. :-)


Before I painted my nails I applied Nailtek II and my base colour is Wet n Wild Morbid. I got this one in a swap some time ago and it's definitely one of my favourite greens. It's a blackened shimmery green that never bores me. It needs two coats and it applies good, the only issue I have are the caps and short brush - but that's something personal.

After that I took out my Konad Imageplate M57 and picked out the lacy leopard design. I used China Glaze 2030 as my stamping polish, I need another bottle because this one is my all time favourite. After stamping everything was sealed with China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

Well, that's it for today. Take care and thanks for stopping by!
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

China Glaze Awakening Collection

Hey everyone! Sweet Karrie got me the China Glaze Awakening set, their collection for Halloween 2010. I'm a little late to the party but I still want to show you guys because overall I think it's a fun collection. Besides, we have one month to go before it's Halloween! :-) This Halloween, China Glaze brings us three 'ghoulish glitters' and this set also includes the China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. All swatches are three coats and topped off with the Fast Forward top coat.


Mummy May I, fuchsia glitter in a dark purple jelly base. It reminded me of Wet n Wild Night Prowl but that base is black. Mummy May I's base looks black but it really is a little softer. It's not unique but it's definitely fun to have!


I immediately knew I would love Zombie Zest. It's a swampy green jelly with gold, blue and green glitter. The glitter is very fine and dense, creating a great effect when you're wearing this pretty. This is a dupe for one of my favourite polishes of all time, SpaRitual Optical Illusion, and Orly It's Not Rocket Science.


This is Ick-A-Bod-Y, a dark green jelly packed with loads of orange glitter. I was really excited for this shade because of the combination - green base with orange glitter - and even though my expectations weren't reached, I'm definitely not disappointed! You can see the green base peeking through the glitters - awesome! - but I'd love to see a little more base. I'm too picky, sorry.

Application wasn't great, the polishes were a little droopy and Ick-A-Bod-Y was too thick for my taste. It isn't unmanageable but you want to be in a 'zen' mode when applying. Zombie Zest is the only one with finer glitter, for the other ones I'd really use a thicker top coat. Speaking of top coat, I am very satisfied with the Fast Forward. It gives me a smooth finish and dries fast, very nice!

Do you own these and how do you feel about them?
Michelle

Sally Hansen - Hidden Treasure

Hi all! It's Saturday, time to relax and enjoy the first day of the weekend. Yesterday I received my first (early) birthday present from my parents, they gave me a bunch of new polishes and I'm hoping I can show you one tomorrow because I know I can't resist playing with them today!

For today I want to show you a polish that I own for a little while and got it in a swap. I was very happy when this one arrived because it really was a 'hidden treasure' for some of us!


This is Hidden Treasure over Diamond Cosmetics I'm Raven About You. I used two coats of Hidden Treasure because I wanted this to look really in your face and I think that is a succes! ;-) Hidden Treasure is a clear base with orange, gold and green duochrome flakies. Application is okay, I really don't know how to feel about the brush because it's big and wide. Working with it isn't hard but it looks so... strange? Probably some kind of pet peeve.

I love it, the colours give me a really great autumn feel. It's great how the flakies shift colours! I've also mattified it and this is how it looks:


Pretty neat eh! Looks a bit like burning coals and even better, the duochrome effect isn't gone! Hidden Treasure is very pretty and if you can't find this one, there are plenty of other polishes that are dupes or really darn close, f.e. Gosh Rainbow, Nubar 2010 and Kinetics Daisies and Paislies.

How do you feel about these kind of flakies? Like or not?
Michelle

Nfu.Oh #51

Morning guys! Today I want to show you a polish that is widely praised, Nfu.Oh #51.


Nfu.Oh #51 is a purple based polish filled with pretty flakies. This polish has many faces: the flakies change from red to green to blue to gold and so on. You can see a little bit of this action in the bottle - and a teeny tiny bit on my nails.

On it's own #51 is a brighter purple. I like it but I think it looks better when layered over a darker polish. I've layered #51 over Collistar Viola Glitter, awesome combination! I used two coats of Viola Glitter and one coat of #51 (wish I did two, the pictures are a little mwehhh when it comes to the gorgeousness of the polish).


Now, the fun part. My birthday is coming up and I love Nfu.Oh as a brand so I want to share some of the fun with you guys! :-) I'm giving away one brand new bottle of Nfu.Oh #51. If you want to win this, here are the rules:
- You have to be a follower of my blog (I check)
- Fill in the form below!

This giveaway is closed!

Good luck everyone and thanks for visiting! :-)
Michelle

U.M.A. - Arctic Blue

Morning guys! When this post goes up I'll be working for the first day in a long while and I hope I enjoy haha.

U.M.A. stands for United Makeup Artists and is a brand we stumbled upon during one of our German shopping trips. We've never heard of the brand but looking at the bottles (cute!) we decided to buy a few. Unfortunately I can't remember the price but I believe it was pretty fair, otherwise I'd never buy a mini size polish. I think it has the same size as the OPI mini's, which is 3.75ml but U.M.A. doesn't have it listed so I'm really not sure. U.M.A. polishes are B3F, huge plus for me! I never understand why companies still use those crap chemicals because in my mind it isn't necessary to use them at all.


I've layered Arctic Blue over China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le. Arctic Blue is very sheer and I didn't see why I should try to build it so I didn't. I already used three coats over Secret Peri-Wink-Le, so go figure haha.

Arctic Blue is, despite being super sheer, quite pretty. It has a sheer lavender base that is stuffed with greenish and blueish golden glitters, giving this polish a gorgeous depth in the bottle. On the nails it translates to gold glitters and giving Secret Peri-Wink-Le a lavender sheen. It's pretty but dang, I want this polish to be opaque!

For more information about U.M.A. you can check out their website. They also offer nail art pens, stamping kits and nail art supplies such as beads and stickers, very fun. I do remember though I found these nail art stuff a little too expensive, I can't remember prices though. I believe this brand is only available in Germany but if that isn't so, please let me know!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your Tuesday!
Michelle

Diamond Cosmetics - Never So Ever Green

Hey everyone! You probably know I looooove greens and today I want to show you one of my favourites. This is not only one of my favourite greens but this polish also hits the top 10 list high!


Never So Ever Green is a gorgeous mossy green with gold shimmer. It's not only gorgeous, it's also easy to apply and opaque in two coats. Definitely a polish I grab when I haven't got enough time for a full mani.


See the sparkle? It's sooo pretty! There's nothing to add more to be honest, except that I think this is an addition for everyone's stash.

The polishes from Diamond Cosmetics are available on their website but can also be bought on the Dutch webshop Boozyshop. Boozyshop ships internationally so if you are interested in buying there you can always contact the owner.

Thanks for stopping by! :-)
Michelle

Striped - Blue!

Good morning everyone! Last Sunday I showed you a striped manicure and today I'm showing you another one but with different colours. I'm liking this one a lot more but that might be because blue is my favourite colour.

I used MAC Blue India as my base colour, a gorgeous dusty blue. After that I made stripes with China Glaze For Audrey, 2030 and Atlantis. I think these colours combine very well together and this has to be one of my favourite manicures ever. What can I say? - I just really like stripes (and blue!). 

How do you feel about striped manicures like this?

Messy Konad

Good morning all! Today I want to show you a Konad design that I consider messy. I don’t know what else to call it – paint dribbling down my nails seems not the right explanation.

See what I mean? It’s just messy. I like it!

My base colour is ManGlaze Matte is Murder, the best matte black nail polish everrrr and I’ve stamped with China Glaze 2030. The plate I used is Konad plate M70.

How do you feel about ‘messy’ designs like this?

Crushed Shells

Hello everyone! I’m about to bore you with a little story about crushed shells so I’m warning you – if you’re not interested, scroll down to see the pictures.

A few months ago I ordered ice chips at Dollar Nail Art. They looked gorgeous and would be amazingly great on a manicure if only I knew what to do with it. When receiving my samples package from Viva la Nails I found out that there were crushed shells in it. Crushed shells, you ask? Yes, crushed shells. Tiny bits of coloured shells.

And that is when my brain started to get crazy. If I can’t work with ice chips, I can’t work with crushed shells! After trying to create a manicure with ice chips and completely failing with it I didn’t see that much of future for the crushed shells. But I tried and this is the kind of – weird – result.

My crushed shells are the colour lime, super funky if you ask me. My base colour is OPI Gargantuan Green Grape and I’ve stamped with China Glaze 2030 and Konad plate M57. I only stamped half of my nail (exception is the ring finger) and placed the crushed shells under the stamped part. I don’t know why I also used the crushed shells on my ring finger but I did and I don’t like it haha.

The crushed shells DO have a nice effect. Check out my pinky in detail:

Funny right? It’s constantly showing this glance. Please note that Viva La Nails says you can’t use the crushed shells on natural nails (only in gel or acrylic techniques or on nail extensions). I don’t know why this is because these stayed on fine and nothing happened. If you know why, please explain!

Thanks for stopping by!

SpaRitual - Optical Illusion

Hi everyone! Not so long ago I got my first SpaRitual polish. I picked Optical Illusion for this precious moment of receiving a brand you've never tried. It didn't disappoint me at all - it's gorgeous! Therefore here's a warning: a little bit of picture spamming from my side, at least more than I normally do.

I don't own anything that looks like this, it's unique and gorgeous. Optical Illusion has an olive green base and is packed with gold, green and blue glitters. The gold pops out and sometimes you see a blue flash gliding over your nail. It's not an illusion but it's darn cool! Applying this was great - the brush and cap are easy to handle and with thin coats this polish was opaque in three coats. Drying time was quite fast. This one is definitely something!

Would you wear a funky looking green like this or would you pass?

Zoya - Reece

Hi all! I wanted to show you something else after some badly chipped polish. So here's something I did before but wanted to do again and take better pictures of it.

Reece in daylight, three coats

Reece is a deep rose pink with gold shimmer and a gold/green flash from Zoya's Reverie collection (2010). It's pretty and the changes between gold and green is nice to see. However, having an absolute dislike for pinks this isn't my kind of polish.

I've seen a lot of comments and messages that Reece is a dupe of China Glaze's Strawberry Fields. It isn't, see:

Left: Strawberry Fields, Right: Reece

I think it's pretty clear. Reece is lighter and more rosy, has the gold/green flash and no glass fleck shimmer. Application wise I like Strawberry Fields a little better because Reece is thinner, it can flood into your cuticles and we all know that's a pain to remove with a brush.

Which one do you like most?

Chanel - Illusion D'Or

Good afternoon all! I've been super busy the past two days. I had a really nice date with Daphne and Michèle on friday, we spent our day shopping in Arnhem. I had a great day so thanks ladies! Yesterday I went to Muse and it was really a good show. Today I feel like I'm eighty years old so I really need to get some rest and relax time!

Today I'm showing you Chanel Illusion D'Or, one of my favourites in my collection. Illusion D'Or is from the Noir Et Or Paris-Shanghai Collection and it's a very special polish in my collection. I don't own anything like it. Illusion D'Or is a clear based glittery gold with bigger gold and iridescent purple flake glitters. I'd never wear this polish on it's own so I was in doubt buying it, but I'm glad I did! It spices up every polish and especially my favourite shades: blue and green! Today I've layered this one over black.

Close up: Illusion D'Or in the bottle and over black

I own multiple Chanel polishes and they're all a bit off in their application. However, this one applies really easy and dries fast and smooth. In case you're wondering: this isn't your awful chunky glitter polish! One coat of this pretty layered over something else is enough, it covers good.

Illusion D'Or over black

How do you feel about Illusion D'Or? Do you own it and think it's really special or just blah?

Have a great day!

China Glaze - Strawberry Fields

Hi dear reader! The polish I'm showing you today has been swatched earlier on my blog but I wanted to swatch it again - in the beginning of this blog I wasn't aware my camera had other settings than the standard one. ;) So here it is again: China Glaze Strawberry Fields!

Strawberry Fields, three coats in daylight

Strawberry Fields is from the Summer Days collection (2009) and is a medium pink with golden glass fleck shimmer. I don't like pink, really, but this baby I'll wear with pleasure. The golden glass fleck shimmer makes it so special! Application was good. Not runny, not too thick and easy to apply evenly.

What is your favourite pink?