Contempo by Nubar: plain + layered with Rainbow-flakie

Here's Contempo, from my first Nubar order. It's from 2009 Modern Matte collection. Looks like fine satin, I love the deep tone of it!

I've been lemming for Posh by Zoya (still don't have any Zoya's) and I thought this might be close to it although brighter. Now I find that this really looks more like the Posh pics than real Contempo swatches I've seen! This is deeper, to me it leans more to blue than orange as others say it would. That's strange but I guess that in this case I'm lucky :D

Sorry for the darker indoor pics, it was raining outside. But in these pics you can see the satin sheen well. Then I felt like spicing it up for the next day, girls night out in Saturday...

...with Rainbow by GOSH. Don't you just love the sunlight! Next to this I'm on the verge of erasing the plain pics, for they are so gloomy!

^Here you see Contempo shiny with Rainbow in a broad daylight. Still not really bright but definitely merrier and a bit cherrier.

I'll be back with my new nail art wheels soon.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Eurovision Song Contest - My ROCK fav's

Congratulations Germany on winning the ESC 2010!

This year was a bit boring for me I must admit. I would've liked to hear more dynamic performances, but in most cases in Eurovision Song Contest dynamic equals comic (or plain annoying). Fun is good, definitely, but to live on in my playlist there has to be a real kick in the song/act.

There have been great rock acts in the ESC, starting from Lordi of course ;) and spanning to my favorite this year; here's Turkey with We Could Be the Same:



Turkey had a great rock band entry in 2008 too! With Deli by Mor Ve Ötesi:



Switzerland's last year's entry by Lovebugs has been on my playlist in heavy rotation ever since I first heard it. Here's Highest Heights:



Iceland had charismatic metal man Eirikur Hauksson to represent them in 2007 (was it really so many years ago?!!). Here's the entry in original language, which to me has more passion and depth than the english translation. The name of the song as spelled in YouTube is Ég Les Í Lófa Þínum:



For a happy and joyous finish, here's a song that annoyed me really really bad back in the days. But now I can't help but smile while watching and listening to this. That guy is sooo upbeat he surely would catch his star being so high!

It's been ten years since this finished 3rd and it feels like yesterday! Does that make me old? Gosh I feel old.. Latvia with My Star by Brainstorm:



Hope you're having a great weekend!

Now that I got ESC fever out of my system, I'll be back with nail related stuff a bit later :)

ESC 2010: My favorite drop-outs

It's that time of the year. I saw Nihrida's Eurovision Song Contest post and thought I'd step out of lacquer fumes for a moment to pay my tribute to the contest. Being a ESC-fan who never misses the show and digs up the national selection broadcasts aswell, I thought I'd post3 of my favorite ESC songs this year - the ones that didn't make it to Norway to take part in the contest. The ones that didn't pass the national selections but won my heart.

If you're unfamiliar with Eurovision Song Contest but would like to know more about this fantastic event, click to the Wikipedia-page here.

This year my favorite of the Finnish songs was Annankadun kulmassa by Heli Kajo. I love the innocent round eyes and overly stiff legs, the whole doll look. And it was the best tune we had in a very poor bunch of entries:



Norway happened to have a very similar concept than the one above, with a doll-like girl being head over (high!) heels in love with some guy. Instead of just looking cute she chose to throw herself in the silly role. Just look at her go! I love the expressions she makes. This is Venke Knutson with Jealous 'Cause I Love You:



From the hosting country came also my favorite of the year, from all the entries I've heard so far. It's so 80s in a way. The melody makes a wind in my heart or something, in a similar way that for example Big in Japan by Alphaville does. You should know I'm more into using real instruments, strong drums and guitars. Rock is my genre. I couldn't stand techno when it started to dominate the charts in 90's, pushing off the real bands. If a synth-pop song makes my heart whistle then there's something magical about it. This is Bjorn Johan Muri with Yes Man:



That singer too seems innocent. They all do! Now it seems I'm all fed up with artists who try to seduce the whole audience (kids included!) with wearing as little as possible and licking their lips.

Remember Bosnia & Herzegovina's Pokusaj in 2008? Now that was something that should've won, real musical talent in making the song, with a great performance and passion. And those innocent eyes LOL That's a perfect act in my opinion. And it only placed 10th! Let's add it as a bonus track:

Thanks for stopping by :)

Spring! manikyr

Winter ran away with leaving just few bald spots on the grass. That was the inspiration for this design over Nubar M112 . It does look better live than in pics though :D

Here's the bunch I used from left to right: Sand Turtle, a glitter by Wild and Crazy. Nubar M112 as a base of course. I tried to define the tips with Stylish Gold by H&M. White traces with white MissMe and a toothpick.

Here the tips with Stylish Gold. This kind of effect I was looking for from this moodie... On the pinkie, if you look really closely where the tip is not entirely painted, you can see something resembling a seafoam green - as it's supposed to look on the tips. The mood effect doesn't show up live though, only in this one pic I first could see it!

When I got the tips somewhat defined, I topped it all with glitter to make it look like a morning dew. And then finally made the traces of "winter leaving through the fresh grass" by dragging white polish with a toothpick -> the last pic.


This is not my typical manicure to any extent, as is not the base color in itself. But it's growing on me. I like the lightness of it, something delicate about it. And the glitter makes me feel comfortable with this combo. Not too bling to wear at work but still nice.

I've got some nail art stuff coming my way,
hopefully tomorrow...

See you back soon :)

Mini haul with my first Moodies (Nubar)

Well I hadn't really seen pretty pics of Nubar's Moodies. But as international nail lacquer shopping's been made so hard lately, and these were available here in Finland on www.looksdesign.fi , I went ahead and placed a blind order.

Here from left to right:
NMC333 - Contempo, which is described as matte classic red,
M112 - Seafoam Green to Honeycomb mood polish
NRG5 - Sapphire from Royal Gems collection
M118 - Grey Sparkle to Silver Crystal mood polish
The little jar contains mylar flakes in Platinum

I first put on the "seafoam green" M112. Is it just me or does this look more gold than seafoam green? I wonder if I got the right bottle. There's no label on the bottom. It did apply neatly but it's very sheer. I think this is 2-3 coats.

I couldn't get it to change the "mood" with cold nor warm water. It does show a bit of transition on the tips due to sheerness though.

This is not really my kind of color but suits the season, with leaves suddenly blooming everywhere! I'll dress it up nicely and it'll be ok. Left like this I feel a bit naked.


^Here's the same Nubar M112 in 4 coats outside, warm.

Between the latest post and this one, the summer has come in full blast. It's still hard to believe how quickly it changed from winter to summer. A colleague of mine, visiting from Central Europe for a few weeks, told me in awe that now she's witnessed the green bomb!

The branches on our birches grew out big green leaves over one weekend. I've never seen such a speedy growth. Temperatures were record high that weekend (14th of May onwards). On Friday we still had snow on backyard, and on Monday it was green everywhere. Kids have been super happy walking bare footed and picking flowers, and especially running through the summer rain.

I'll be back with some nail art,
have a great day!

Vintage flowers and polka dots

Here's my entry to PHD's Nail Art Challenge . I wanted to keep it feminine and simple but also include polka dots, so I decided to paint both sides. Base color is Deep Blue Sea by Wild and Crazy colors. Inner tip painted with white by Miss Me with dots of Deep Blue Sea. Flowers are with that same white, by dragging 5 dots towards the center. Silver glitter in the middle of the flowers.

To get my both hands on the pic I used the timer for the first time. It's crazy trying to balance the camera between the knees and keep the nails on focus LOL

These last few days have been really nice and sunny, summer is finally here! And this mani kept up with some serious gardening yesterday, without a chip on either side! No top coat here so I'll say it made it through the challenge :)

More sun means better pics and clearer vids. It'll get me to finally do the nail art pen review I've been planning on for ages. So I'll get to it this May.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deep Blue Sea by Wild and Crazy

As you might know there's a nail art challenge on PHD (Polish Hoarder Disorder) with Vintage theme. Still time to send your pics in today!

I wanted to use teal, but this Deep Blue Sea was closest to teal I have. I don't remember ever having this on my manicure. I'm glad I can now put it to use. This is with 2 coats, no top coat.


This polish, layered with blue glitter polish, makes a Dorothy Who impression quite well. I love the way this applies. And I love the price on Wild and Crazy polishes. My favorite affordable brand to be sold around here.

I'll show you the vintage mani tomorrow,
with some dots of course :)

----
Tämä on niitä Seppälässä myytäviä, alle 3 euron Wild and Crazy lakkoja. Suomessa myytävistä lakoista paras hinta-laatusuhde minun mielestäni. Edullista, mutta hyvälaatuista, ja värivalikoimaa on niin vihreään kuin siniseenkin suuntaan mukavasti.

Uusia kausivärejä tähän sarjaan ei taida tiheään tulla?

Yllä linkki PHD-blogiin, jossa vintage-aiheinen kilpa meneillään. Päivitän omasta entrystäni kuvat huomenna.

Aurinkoista kesäpäivää!

Lilac Dream for Mom's Day

Today we celebrate Mother's Day. I bought this polish sort of as a gift for myself. Just one, can you believe it? I had only one bottle of polish as I hit the counter - instead of 3-6!

Creamy, dreamy lilac has been on my wishlist for a long time. As online-shopping has been made so hard lately, due to tight security regulations, I decided to grab the bottle from a local store. This is Lilac Dream by La Femme Beauty from Seppälä.

I would've liked to buy a new base coat as well, but it's funny how they don't seem to sell any in my nearest Seppälä - though there are dozens of nail colors to choose from and many kinds of nail files and decals etc.

The consistency on this polish (and other La Femme's I have) is of a thicker side but the color is dreamy indeed. This is with 2 coats of color, no top coat.

I gave it lots of love with the hearts I made with dot-to-dot technique: 3 dots of white with a toothpick on each heart, then added dots of silver to line them. Thought they fit the theme :)

The card on the background was for my grandmother. Kids drew their own cards too, to me they are the cutest ones. Every year they have this huge stash of drawings they've saved to give me on Mother's Day or to their dad on Father's Day. And they write poems. I'll translate the one my son wrote (doesn't rhyme in Finnish either):

Mother, in the wind she believes
Always sends out rainbows
In the work kisses other men
"oh no!" says Daddy.

Note: I never kiss other men, that's just the punch line he added - maybe because he didn't want the poem come out too wussy :D

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day for all the moms :)

Lumene Night Party / Öiset juhlat

Here's a quick in-between-manis swatch of Night Party #75 by Lumene I recently got from a clearance bin.

It had these beautiful flakes, but as base is burgundy-brown the flakes don't quite pop up. This is with one coat and no top coat. As you can see it's not very shiny on its own. It's clearly not a Spring shade but I'll be storing this for the Fall. For now I'm anxious to wear brights and pastels :)

Next I'll bring here a lilac dream...

Puzzle Bubble Bros - For Audrey

For Audrey by China Glaze is such a pretty color I should wear it more often. Now I had a special reason to grab it, for I've been staring a color like that for too many hours...

See, in between my work and workouts I've been shooting these bubble-mushrooms to clear my head, on Puzzle Bubble Bros. Those pilars on the bottom of the page look like nails - don't they? So basically I was brainwashed to do some dots on my nails, with green-blue color.

I thought For Audrey would be a close-enough match since I've missed wearing it. The dots are made with blending a dab of For Audrey with 3-4 dabs of white.

I've never done dots this big before so I had no tool for it either. A map pin proved to be a fine dotting tool. It took more patience to make big dots, for the nail is curvy and you'd have to rock the tool a bit.

It might be easier to paint the nail with the lighter shade first, then cover those areas (2 whole dots lined in the middle, 1 half on each side) with a sticker or such, and then paint over with For Audrey. Then after it's all dry, remove the stickers to reveal the bubbles.

I like the way it came out as is with dotter, but doing my right hand has rarely been this challenging. Next time I might use the sticker-method with that hand.

Have a lovely week :)

April activities (and sweet May)

I was slow on blogging last month but I have a very good excuse. To update how it's been with my gym membership: Yes, I've used it to the full. And truely needed that break in the evenings, for the hectic time I've had at work. The classes I attended in April:

- Stripdance x 1
- Belly dancing x 2
- Zumba x 1
- Swimming x 2
- Pilates x 2
- Les Mills Body balance x 1
- Deep stretching x 4
- Other workout lessons x 5

I've enjoyed the lessons very much. The people are great and easy-going, the music is uplifting - though the songs on the background start to repeat each other and my taste in music is less pop ... But I've had fun and I continue to attend the classes.

I've always loved Pilates and that's my favorite of the menu. Too bad my work schedule has come in the way of participating in Pilates every week, but from now on I'll just make plans around the lesson so I won't miss it!

Les Mills Body balance is something I'm trying to squeeze in more too. It was so relaxing at the end, I was ready to fall asleep! And the stretching, some great moves I can try and use while watching movies at home etc. Zumba is still challenging for me, but I'll get the hang of it. Belly dancing is so much fun and it's great to have a real teacher instead of just watching video-tutorials of it.

In addition, I would've rode a bike to work regularly - but it was stolen a few weeks ago :( It was old, cheap, not very comfortable to ride on.... but it was mine, and convenient. Hope who ever got it really needs it and won't just ditch it to the gutter. I did report it to the police but I doubt they'll ever find it. This month I'll buy me a new one, one that lures me to take a ride even on those rainy days :)

Now I'd have to cut down on some sweets to really fit into my beachwear. But it's hard for all the birthdays coming up in the family... Sweet May! ...All the cakes I'll have to make... and how could I not have a taste, how else would I know if it's any good... :P

Hope you've had a relaxing weekend.
Next I have a bubbly design to show you!

Lime Time - Wet'n'Wild

Happy 1st of May! Here in Finland we celebrate the start of Summer today. A quote from Wikipedia:

"In Finland, Walpurgis day (Vappu) is, along with New Year's Eve and Juhannus, the biggest carnival-style festival held in the streets of Finland's towns and cities. The celebration, which begins on the evening of April 30 and continues to May 1, typically centres on copious consumption of sparkling wine and other alcoholic beverages. Student traditions, particularly those of the engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of "Vappu". Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional upper-class feast has been appropriated by university students. .." (read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night )

For some it has deep political meanings, marches and speeches are being held. For my family Vappu is just another reason to eat seasonal treats ;)

To brighten up the day this is 2 coats of Lime Time by Wet'n'Wild. You can see the first coat peaking near the nail bed more yellow-toned. It's not as obvious IRL but for me is a bit distracting in these pics. I like the color, not too olive but not too yellow either.

I bought this last Fall and haven't had a mood to wear it since, not quite a winter shade...


... But now it's really a lime time - or lemon time actually!

For Vappu we have this homemade mead, constisting of lemon and brown sugar and syrup, made bubbly with yeast. The alcohol content in sima is very very mild, and kids can have a glass too.

Sima (below) looks like mud water but really is sweet and goes well with warm, sugary doughnuts - another Vappu-treat. And you've got to have balloons for the celebration :)

Time to go and bake more doughnuts, we ate the latest batch already...
Enjoy the party!