* Doo polishing *

Indigo Illusion with Mermaid scales

2012-01-31T20:58:00.000+02:00

Decided to do something quick and something that wouldn't hide the hues of Indigo Illusion but accentuates them. So painted a sort of S with clear super-glue-like old top coat (Rimmel) and dipped the nails into hexa-glitter.

Indoor pics because it´s freeeezing outside. But here you can see the purple also.

Discoball / Mermaid scales ... :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Indigo Illusion by Nubar

2012-01-29T13:16:00.002+02:00

Since Models Own Beetlejuices have been out I've been hungry for some duochromes. Still got no Beetlejuices but to ease my crave I got 2 Nubar duochromes. Here is Indigo Illusion with 3 coats. I

Very very tricky to capture the purple but it is there between green and grey.

If I wasn't into nail polish - seen thousands of shades - I probably wouldn't appreciate this one. I think many around me don't understand this color at all. It's a striking contrast to the bold reds, happy pinks and glamorous golds. Very special color ♥. I think it needs to be paired with some nail art so other non-nailfanatics will appreciate it's beauty too :)

So on to planning some nail art... Hope you're having a great weekend!

Absolute Nubar Love

2012-01-24T21:31:00.000+02:00

I've had a speciifique Nubar wishlist that has been untouched for a looong time. Thanks to my sister I started browsing Beauty Bay while they had free international shipping, finding Nubar among the brands they sell. For a reasonable price too.

I've dreamed of these for so long... From left to right: Hyacinth Sparkle, Blue Hydrangea, Absolute, Indigo Illusion and Wildlife. The two latter are duochromes and they are supposed to help me with my crave for Models Own Beetlejuices :P

The Absolute queen of the bunch is blue holo in the center. I put it on straight away. Applies nicely but requires at least three coats. Me wearing three in the first pic. I knew it would take more layers than I've used to, willing to do that for this polish gladly. Put Diamont top coat by Nubar over it and it was completely touchable within half an hour.

Now that I got a queen for my blue polishes I can finally get over my blue season?

Rocky Bronze with a pattern

2012-01-22T20:54:00.000+02:00

Rocky Bronze started to show some tipwear so I wanted to spice it up before changing to a new polish... Decided to practise on dragging, this time with golden nail art pen and a toothpick.

Nothing too precise but adding the pattern really lit up the gold in the base polish! There's no top coat in the pics so it looks a bit harsh. I didn't think I'd wear it the next day so didn't bother sealing it - but here I am still typing with them.

Hope you've had a great weekend :)

Rocky Bronze by Kicks

2012-01-18T16:34:00.000+02:00

There was a time when I´d wear only brown or wine red nail polish. They´d stain the nails for sure but were something else than just regular reds that were everywhere. Now for the past decade or so when there´s been lots and lots of colors to choose from I´ve been neglecting browns (all but holos). But this one stopped me. To date this is the prettiest brown I've seen. Meet Rocky Bronze by Kicks.

Kicks released their own make up line with nail polish back in autumn and it's been quite hard to hunt down swatches of these lacquers. I fell for Rocky Bronze the first time I glanced at it at Don´t touch my tiara . It's really rich brown with what appears to be cool toned gold and red shimmer. Applies really well and covers with every stroke. The shine is amazing!

This might look beautiful mattified but I love the shine too much to grab a matte top yet.

In the pics just 2 coats of color. No top coat. Because my nails are very curvy and the shine is blinding in this polish the pics don´t really capture all the awesomeness.

It makes me crave for chocolate :P

Prize surprise

2012-01-17T21:42:00.002+02:00

In December I participated in a nail art competition at Pastelliunelmia. I didn´t win the grand prize but was lucky enough to get a surprise package in a draw. This is what sweet Lumi sent to me:

Closer look for fimo wheel, bows, hearts and striping tape...

I've never had a striping tape before but always wanted to try it!

Lovely earrings (my eldest daughter is soo begging me to let her wear them!)

There's something for every girl in the house: look at those panda fimos in the wheel!

...and flowers and Hello Kitties... Thank you for a great surprise once again Lumi :)

It's been too long since the last time I decorated the nails properly. These give me new kicks to do something wilder than two toned mani :D But one more polish-only manicure for this month coming up. It's a polish so pretty that once I got it on I couldn't hide it under anything... Pics up tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

More Blues with Glitter Graffiti

2012-01-12T23:25:00.000+02:00

May I present to you: all the daylight I could catch lol. It was snowing heavily today so it looked gloomy all around. Still a few weeks until the sun is truly back in business. Anyway this is Mad Blue by Isadora over Matte Velvet #105 by Golden Rose.

This is the combo indoors before putting on shiny top coat. I thought I'd like it matte but it´s so striking when shiny - like real ice cracking. The Golden Rose polish has nice shimmer to it which really pops out with top coat on the outdoor pictures.

The graffiti effect was immeadiate: in a minute all the cracks were visible. Really impressive. I generally don't like wide brushes but with this one it had to be wide to keep up with the pace of cracking!

I've been on a buying mode for a while, mostly clothes but some polish too. Some great holos coming my way hopefully next week... Here are the ones bought back in December: Golden Rose Matte Velvet #105 (teal) and #106 (red), Golden Rose Holographic color #107 (leans to blue). I didn't plan on buying them chronologically nor lining them up like that, just a coincidence!

Next to them are Isadora Graffiti Mad Blue, Constance Carroll UK Diamond Gloss Fairy Dust (which I sported for nearly 2 weeks here) . The last one in the row is Nivea Calcium Power in #13 Pearly White, my hubby bought it to me yesterday. It states "shock resistant" on the bottle. Wonder what that means :D

Thanks for stopping by!

Post # 300: Blog Awards

2012-01-12T14:37:00.001+02:00

Here are some awards (along with some questions/answers) that have been waiting since 2011. This is the cutest award I've seen! I wonder who designed it? I got it from Ashesela, thank you!

For this award you:

1. Link back to the person who awarded you
2. Answer the award questions
3. Tell something about yourself that you haven't told anyone on your blog yet
4. Award as many blogs as you think are worthy of this award
5. Make sure to let those you gave this award to know that you awarded them.

The Award Questions:

1. What is your go to makeup product?
- Nail polish for sure. Most of the time I have no other makeup on.

2. What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?
- I don't know about trends that much... But last year I started eyeing on mustard-yellow on clothes! I guess it was all those e-tailers newsletters that got me into that?

3. What is your favorite dessert?
- There are too many... mainly all the cakes and pies.

4. Favourite color?
- Would be easier to name a favorite color combination.. No, that's too tough also!

5. What is your middle name?
- skipping this one, sorry

6. What was the last song that you listened to?
- From the radio Elämän nälkä by Pave Maijanen. (YouTube, Spotify)

7. Cats or dogs?
- Cats

Something about myself that you don't know:
I watch a lot of movies but no tv :P

This one is also from last year. Thank you Dutchnailpolish and Ashesela!

Two rules: 7 things about myself and award to 15 other bloggers

I've been blogging since August 2009.
I've been blogging for 2,5 years soon!
Infact this is my blog post #300. (Didn't plan this :D)
A number so small is due to having almost half a year of silence in 2010 for being so busy in other areas of life.
Also due to changing my nail looks only about once a week.
Still I'm amazed I've written so many entries!
I've posted most of the nail looks I've wore these past two years here (at least the ones that were not just single colored or duplicates of my other looks).

And more coming soon. It's snowing outside so I doubt I'll get great pics but I try to shoot some to share my current ice-manicure...

For both of these awards I tag:

Tuning into New Year

2012-01-11T23:31:00.000+02:00

I've had a slow start for doing my nails this year, wearing just one manicure from last year to these days. I actually wore these nails (above) for 12 days straight! I have to give all the credit to Pure Gold (by Nivea, previously seen here) and Fairy Dust #311 (Constance Carrol UK) for sticking along through 12 days straight - days which started with the biggest challenge nails can face: a day in a spa! I was sure swimming would damage the nails some way but no - not even a crack in the nail polish. For the record I didn't wear any other top coat over the glitter. Going against all the rules in the book I wore no base coat either. And the nails were like new for 10 days. I wanted to see how long it would last, didn't change the look until it started to chip (after 11 days...).

The Diamond Gloss Fairy Dust was my hubby's choice for a souvenir from the spa: The very first time he selected a nail polish for me.... Nice good old glitter and the words "quick dry and chip resistant" proved to be more than accurate!

Santa visited us on Christmas Eve and brought me new cosmetics. All these are from a special Elf who must have been following my blog very closely. Look, Lemony Flutter! How did she know I wanted to try it? Read my mind or my comments on some other blogs? :D

From left to right Kicks Make Up: Rocky Bronze, Lady Blue, Terracotta Dust, Parisian Masquerade. Ooh I only need the Evening at the Chateau Marmont now.

I made my first manicure for this year just hours ago. Played with some new stuff (not through with blues yet...). Trying to catch some natural light tomorrow for pics :)

2011 on my nails

2011-12-30T19:55:00.000+02:00

I've planned on making a recap like this but never got to it before. Now seeing so many other bloggers do it inspired me to glance back and dig up some looks. Interesting to see some patterns in my actions - one of which is that I bought lots of new lacquers this year and the old ones were left to sit in their storage box. Others being: blue, holographic,

I didn't plan to concentrate on new nail polishes in this entry - but most of these colors were purchased in 2011. I've included links to the original posts.

In 2011 I reached for blue colors more than ever. Starting from Bluebelle by Models Own at the very beginning of the year and going to holo layering experiments with O.P.I. Last Friday Night (Katy Perry).

Then on to true blue holos with 2Nite by CG and also Tristam by A-england which was a bit of a dissapointment for me (see it here). Holographic polishes were always on my mind...

...So I got more holos. Here are Fashion Addict by Color Club and Green by Glitter Gal. Both going straight to my favorites!

I had so many new colors to try and get familiar with, I didn´t do nail art so often as I´ve used to in the past. There were two definite trends on my looks, first one involving french tips. I've always loved my dots and held dear toothpicks that give me just the right-sized round marks. Somewhere along the way I really fell for pearl look on the smile line.

My two favorites with a "string of pearls" were Willow Nails for Easter and Cherry Blossom Nails.

The second trend for me on 2011 was dark base with some definition:

Clover nails matte was my favorite dark look. A simple proof of how you can be inspired by something/someone and give it your own twist to accomplish something quite different. I also found that this Matte Finish by Rimmel performs far better on me than any other matte top coat I've tried.

This is my favorite look this year I think. It's effortless to make and to wear, and to pair with any outfit. Most of you seem to like it too, for this black french manicure quickly became my most popular post this year :)

This year has also brought many new readers through Google Friend Connect and Bloglovin' and through some sweet bloggers' blog rolls . As I'm typing this I just noticed there are 800 of you via GFC, wow! I want to thank you all, old and new friends, for keeping this blog as a friendly place with your sweet and uplifting comments. Thank you for being a positive inspiration!

Did you have other favorites from my nail looks this year?

Any special wishes for 2012?

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T05:33:00.000+02:00

I wish you all Happy Holidays!

Iloista Joulunaikaa kaikille!

Another Set of Winter Nails

2011-12-14T11:34:00.000+02:00

I know almost everyone is anxiously waiting for Christmas but for me this month seems to fly by too fast. Just ten days left! There's so much to do before Christmas Eve: cooking, baking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping... We haven't even made the greeting cards yet. And I'd really like to do more nail looks for the season. This year the snow came so late it really was hard to tune in to the spirit. But now the snow is here, to stay I hope. I wore these on Independence Day (6th of Dec.)

The colors of our flag and of our winter with blue and white. Basic french tip with white, then wide side swipe with Metallic Blue by GOSH filled with white glitter flakes. First time I used this metallic and it applied really smoothly! It was opaque and streak-free in just one coat. White line following the shape of the side swipe and row of dots lining the tip are with pearl white nail art pen by Migi.

The sun is up just a few hours a day and the days are cloudy so the pictures don't talk so loud, sorry. I wish you could see the pretty light blue rhinestones - they are like shining ice on snow.

This is a "pair" to my latest Holly manicure with similar funky french shape. I sent them together to the nail art contest, this one representing winter.

I just realized the Christmas Tree day of the 24 Days of Christamas challenge was yesterday but I really want to do that mani, so on to that next. Taking a break from blue manicures and turning to green and red :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Day 12: Holly

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000+02:00

I jump in the 24 Day Challenge with Holly theme. I sent this one over at Pastelliunelmia. for a nail art competition (Finnish only). Wish me luck :) I would've loved to do day 8 with candy canes but will have to come back to that later. Here's how I pictured the theme: french with a twist, Emerald Sparkle by China Glaze and red bright rhinestones.

Please don't freak out my white-appearing fingers, not frozen - just the indoor lighting.

I painted classic french tip with Black Passion by GOSH and made a side swipe with Emerald Sparkle across it. Black Passion seemed like a good pair for it doesn't steal too much attention but neither dulls it down for it has it's own charismatic shimmer (see it plain here). With black nail art liner I sketched the edge like pointy leaf. Rhinestones are glued with long lasting clear polish by Rimmel.

Usually I´m a bit shy pairing up say rhinestones and sport jacket... But this time the combo didn´t bother me at all. French tip with some bare nail is somehow so classic it doesn't argue with normal wear. Though I know some may not agree. I remember a time when I felt too dressed up when I was going to sauna with red nails. Now I feel too naked if I don't have some paint on :D

Have a happy week. Don't stress too much over Christmas :)

24 Days of Christmas

2011-12-02T14:42:00.000+02:00

Wanted to let you know about a challenge at Paint that Nail : 24 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge. Join the fun! The more inspiration for the season the merrier.

1. Snowfall (lumisade)
2. Snowflakes (lumihiutaleet)
3. Icicles (jääpuikot)
4. Snowman (lumiukko)
5. Snowman face (lumiukon pää)
6. Penguins (pingviinit)
7. Gingerbread Man (piparkakku-ukko)
8. Candy Canes (karkkikepit)
9. Red/green (punavihreä)
10. Poinsettias (joulutähdet)
11. Wreathes (seppele)
12. Holly (orjanlaakeri-koriste)
13. Christmas tree (joulukuusi)
14. Ornaments (koristeet)
15. Presents (lahjapaketit)
16. Lights (jouluvalot)
17. Tinsel/garland (joulunauha)
18. Stockings (joulusukat)
19. Santa hats (tonttulakit)
20. Sleigh or sled (pukin reki)
21. Reindeer (Rudolf) (porot)
22. Elf (tonttu)
23. Santa (pukki)
24. Favorite manicure (oma suosikki)

I did a similar theme-month back in 2009 (some of the looks I'm not so proud of but live and learn :D). It´s really fun and I wish to do it again when I have more time on my hands (literally). Maybe next year?

The list serves as a great inspiration in its own right. I think I'll make at least candy canes and holly out of this list. Here are my recent snowflake nails shot outside, call it day 2 now :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcakes are for Sweeties

2011-11-29T15:00:00.000+02:00

My daughter's cupcake nails - for people's right to express themselves on their nails :)

Referring to Don't Touch My Cupcake! by Trincess

Snowflakes on Ice

2011-11-28T18:35:00.000+02:00

I've been gradually building this snowflake look over the weekend. I first removed the old polish on Friday and made the maintenance care with buffing and all and put the base coat. Then on Saturday I painted a coat of Baby Blues and on Sunday finished it with second coat of it + added Ticklish Toes by Wild and Crazy for the shimmer. Today I finished the look with rubber 3D stickers and a coat of Nubar Diamont. Have to squeeze in the nail care whereever I can before the baby calls for attention again LOL

Here's a close up on the nails. I really like these stickers for they seem thick enough to last on the nail yet they are bendy enough to follow the shape of the nail. After the top coat I pushed the few bubbles it had with a toothpick. Got to thank toothpicks for making me fall in love with nail art in the first place and sticking with it through the rough spots :)

This is actually the same color I used on the icicles but it looks so differend with shimmer and indoors when the warm toned lighting hits it.

I guess I am in a blue mood looking back the past few manicures! When I went through my subscriptions I noticed his has been a blue Monday for many: for example Bregje sported a beautiful dark konadicure on Oooh, Shinies! and Nihrida added another blue polish to my wishlist with a brand I´d never heard before on her blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crowned tips with Tristam

2011-11-19T17:30:00.000+02:00

This was my second play date with Tristam by A-england. The first one ended up with ugly sheet marks... So to minimize the possible damage I painted just the tips this time around. That way I could get away with just one coat of polish. "Crown your hands and feet" it says on the bottle, hence kind of crowned french it was. As a base I used Angel Touch (Enkelin kosketus) by Lumene Quick & Chic.

The holo is very beautiful in this. But that´s about all the good words I can put up for this. First time I used it I put on two coats and waited hours before going to sleep. No other polish has let me down like this. When I woke up in the morning the surface was so uneven I could barely look at it let alone take pictures. It looked like deep blue mess.

Painting just the tips this time was a safe way since the consistency is very runny. It doesn't really resemble lacquer at all. It´s so thin it drips down the brush... In a way it enables nail art very well - you take a few drops on a plate and take some on the dotting tool and the drops don't dry too fast so you have time to complete the whole set of nails with it. But it doesn't cover all that well. It's pretty with one coat if you don't look too close - from the backside against the light it looks a bit like water coloring. There you can see the thickness (or lack of it) from the shadow it makes. It looks nice and shiny on the surface now but I feel half-done when I know the color is not even.

I expected so much more from all the raves I've read. I don't have time to paint great many layers and hold my hands up in the air waiting for it to dry. Maybe I got a bad bottle, who knows, but for a polish in this price range I feel really let down. I have to be honest, this is my biggest disappointement to date.

Good news is we just got our first snow! The weather's not cold enough to let it cover the ground but I managed to shoot some evidence before it melted away :)

Have a fun weekend!

Waiting for Snow

2011-11-15T15:30:00.000+02:00

The first snow should come this week. It's been such warm few months it's hard to believe Christmas season has begun (in stores). To get in the mood I wanted icicles on the nails. I decided to do a reverse version of my fire nails (seen here) and switched to cool toned colors and upside down design.

The only rays of light I caught...

I used Baby Blues by Models Own for the base color, intense blue from Nail Star for the icicles, lined them with Enamel Art 1000 multi-glitter, filled them in with Twilight Matte by Nubar and finally laid a coat of Rimmel Matte finish to even it all up.

Here´s a close-up. I really like the effect Nubar Twilight Matte brought. Now I think maybe some shimmer on the base would've been more pretty than a plain background. Still glad I tried Baby Blues mattified. It looks so flawless it´s hard to believe I put just one coat of it on each nail!

Last night I had a dream where I was to participate in oral examination. As an extra task I was asked to present my nails. They were appalled for there were stains from dark polish on the back of my nails. I don't remember having nail-dreams before. Dreaming of nail polishes, sure. But nail designs being reviewed, no. In a dream I also had to read two poems but for the other one I had only ques for words and no real poem to read. I was sure I had failed and told everyone I'd take the test again next month with a new nail design LOL

I've been wearing this look for almost full 5 days without a crack. I'm really not sure what it is that makes polish last on me for so long?!

Have a great week!

New Layout and Dynamic View

2011-11-07T21:56:00.000+02:00

I've been going though new layout options in Blogger and ended up really loving "Dynamic View" - especially Magazine-view. However, it is so dynamic there are no options for sidebars. So I couldn't fit GFC or Bloglovin or any other means of subscribing in it. So I'm back with the old template. Back with a new banner and an updated color theme :)

While playing with Blogger I found that you can visit any blog in a dynamic view. Just try it: add view/magazine after the home url-address. Like in my case http://doo-polishing.blogspot.com/view/magazine. I love how professional it looks. It lets the pictures do talking. Note that this requires latest version of a browser you´re using.

I added this dynamic view-link on the tabs too. There you can select from seven options which way you want to view it. The default view is my favorite: Magazine (see the pic above). You get the main idea of all the latest posts in a single view and can click each post to read more. Snapshot brings you all the pics published on the blog, on the same page. Sidebar lets you in on all the articles in a single view on the left sidebar. Flipcard shows all the posts as clickable thumbnails. There are also Classic, Mosaic and Timeslide views. I think I will be using these views when I visit new blogs, to get a better overall idea of them :)

Have you tried dynamic views? What do you think about them?

CC She's So Glam and update

2011-11-03T16:10:00.000+02:00

Long time no pink! I reached for my box of un-used and grabbed She's So Glam by Color Club and butterfly nail sticker from my latest haul. I used 3 coats to get even finish, which is a lot for me. Top coat needed for a quicker drying (Diamont by Nubar). True candy pink color, very girly and fun. Not my favorite application-wise.

I wanted something simple over it so I just dotted a row with pearl white and put a pretty rubber sticker on one nail. I love dotting with pearl white because it reflects light so nice.

Here's a clutch bag my daughter made for me today. I wanted to pose with it right away :)

I´m working on changes on the layout of the blog. Don´t be alarmed if things look a bit strange while you visit. I´ll add more pages (tabs) under the banner, more refined tags etc. I'm not a big fan of having to click each post open separately but this new template does the pictures more justice. I hope you like it too.

Thanks for stopping by :)

ELF Mint Cream + with holo on top!

2011-11-01T15:09:00.000+02:00

Here's Mint Cream by ELF , my second favorite from ELF nail lacquers. It's thick and pigmented like Coral, but this one is plain creme with no shimmer. Really lovely, fresh and bright on its own. Two coats provide perfect coverage. Here shown alone with no top coat.

However I longed for some shimmer. With all the great self-made holographic polishes out there lately I decided to fill in the void in my holo collection with trying a mint-holo! Glitter Gal's Light as a Feather (supposed to be a white holographic polish) was very sheer so it seemed like a good idea to layer it over a pigmented polish.

Here it is under (very limited) natural light. It toned down some brightness - though not as much as I feared - and replaced it with fine holo shimmer. There is no sun to speak of, so I had to use a flash to capture it better:

It´s so unfair the Glitter Gal is the most expensive polish I've bought (compared to the tiny size of it) and now it could be my way to holy holoness! I'd love to try this over anything but I fear I'll use it up and I must save it for when the sun comes back. That means months of waiting...

I´ve never tried holo top coats but for what I've seen on swatches the holo is much coarser on them and doesn't really translate the finish into a holographic one. So I'm more than happy with what I got with pairing up these two :)

Orange Fizz for Halloween

2011-10-30T19:18:00.000+02:00

The only orange I own(ed) for Halloween... Orange Fizz by Wet 'n' Wild . I haven't been wearing this one a lot: very thick and creamy. Also I think it looks nicer on shorter nails. Now that I chopped off quite a bit of length from the tips I feel more comfortable wearing this kind of colors.

The days are so dark, it's getting so gloomy... The grass looks nice and green in this pic but it actually is covered by brown leaves. I wish the snow would come already. I want to sit back and enjoy spicy hot drinks and paint my nails in spicy hot colors...

Have a great week,

trick or treat :)

Dracula dresses up for Halloween

2011-10-29T16:32:00.001+03:00

Here's a look I sketched for Halloween a while back. I'd almost misplaced the pics, it was so long ago I took them! I made this originally for Migi Nail Art contest but decided against sending them. I thought the design was too plain. The shimmering blue color itself is fab as you can see above. But when you were told to use only Migi products and my colors were so not even close to Halloween... Copper had to substitute for orange and the result was quite blah. Spiders, webs, you've seen it all before.

So I came up with a story:

You'd think Count Dracula was pleased it was Halloween: time for evil spirits and all. But no. This vampire lord was sad. Sad because everyone else could dress up as they pleased and he just had to be himself, all the time, all year around. This time, he decided, he'd dress up too! He wanted to be something very differend from his very presence - so he dressed himself as pumpkin.

Hence the "orange" suit here ^^

I'm wearing orange nails right now but can't seem to get decent pictures of them. No sun, no light. I'll upload them later if I get a good shot.

Have a great weekend!

31 Day Challenge in retrospective! - Colors

2011-10-13T11:49:00.002+03:00

This is such a cool nail art challenge. I really enjoy reading other bloggers inputs, for example on Chalkboard nails. I just don't know who started it? If you do, let me know in the comments - I'd love to give credits. First ten days are about colors, the next ten about patterns and last ten about inspiration.

I change my manicure just a few times in a month, so it would take me like a year to complete it... But I was curious to see if my blog is as versatile. Also so many readers have joined the blog since last year so how about some reminiscing?

I dug up my old looks, to fill the first parts of the challenge in retrospective!

Please click the links to get to each post:

Day 1 Red: My favorite red, also on my most popular posts Contempo by Nubar

Day 2 Orange: My (holo) franken back from July

Day 3 Yellow: Yellow Sparkle by Nivea

Day 4 Green: Lime Time by Wet'n'Wild

Day 5 Blue: This one was so hard to pick... I have so many favorite blues I've wore! But I'm really proud of my Tiffany Blue franken from last summer.

Day 6 Violet: I made a comparison manicure with Lilac Dream by La Femme Beauty and Lilac by Eyeko last January that I ended up wearing for days - was so cute! See it here

Day 7 Black and white: As a frenchie on the tips .

Day 8 Metallic: My twist on Ruffian manicure last year with Millennium by China Glaze

Day 9 Rainbow: Cutie Rainbow nail art also from 2010 here.

Day 10 Gradient: My favorite gradient to date, from December 2009 here .

Now I see I have too few orange manicures (that can be changed easily, come Halloween...) and really too many blues to keep it under the same label as green! Will have to start to re-organize my tags soon...

Thanks for stopping by :)

Autumn Nails II with CC Alias sparkled up

2011-10-11T16:49:00.002+03:00

Alias by Color Club was a big dissapointment for me. I expected to see a range of colors with this: green flash, gold and red sparkle, smoothly sifting and twinkling... After seeing these swatches by The Polished Perfectionist I was sure to find them from this bottle.

No matter how I turned my hand against the light, away from the light, on the shadows, turning more lights on, chasing sun... It just stayed purple. Dark and gloomy purple. Sometimes looking more black than purple. And it's sheer. This is what I got after 4 coats and dozens of photos:

Something that leans to dark green... somewhere in there... The sparkle is nice though.

But I want to be able to see some magic live and not just on the macro-shots :(

I desperately wanted more color, so I grabbed a bottle of Rainbow, a beautiful flakie by GOSH (see it over black here) and applied it over the whole nail. For the tips I still wanted green so I went for It's not Rocket Science by Orly (that I used just recently the same way).

Now that's more like it! This kind of show I wanted on my nails!

Now it reminds me of a grass with fallen golden leaves and a night sky just before dark. Interesting to look at from any angle - even on a rainy day such as this :)

Bright Lights with Glitter Gal Green holo

2011-10-08T16:52:00.001+03:00

I got my first Glitter Gal - green 3D/holo. It doesn't amazingly differ from the regular silver holos I've used (CG OMG, Color Club WTR) but enough to melt my heart :)

The holo effect is really strong in this. It applies beautifully - but seemed to take more time to dry than the above mentioned silver holos I have. Along with it I got "white" Light as a Feather 3D/holo by Glitter Gal and Tristam by A-England.

Tristam was a bit of a dissapointment to me. The effect on the nail was next to nothing.After I applied it (tested on just a few nails, no pics this time) hours before bedtime, I woke up with sheet marks... The rainbow is still there in the bottle.

Inspiration to these nails came not only from this haul but also from this song "Bright Lights". Moreover, from the background setting on this live performance - the curtains and lights. Plus I really wanted to get this guy singing in my blog. This is one of the few modern songs that get me all emotional. The singer is Finnish Idol Koop Arponen.

Have a great weekend!

Never too busy to shop...

2011-10-05T20:10:00.002+03:00

When time is short to paint the nails, shop some more stuff... I do. I got me some Color Club polishes that have been on my wishlist, from CesarShop's sale. Here are Alias, Love 'em Leave 'em and She's Sooo glam.

Someone might say I have too many pinks but this one has been on my wishlist for a long time. She's like a friend, seeing her so many times on other blogs and writing her name down on my wishlists... When the sale came I had to ask her to stay with me.

Here's also Alias from another angle. I don't wear dark polish often but next time I do there's something exciting to try because of this.

Love 'em... I knew I needed but seeing it live really stunned me. I tried it quickly over my thumb nail and it's absolutely amazing. No pictures I've seen do justice to it.

Here are rubber 3d nail art stickers...

I might have to start making pedicures more frequently too to use up all the nail art stuff that´s piling up... Here are cool nail tattoos I got as a freebie with the order:

I also got something from ELF sale... There was no Jade still, so I took the only polishes I didn't already have and still wanted to get - along with a random selection of Shimmering Facial Whips and eyeliners. Here are Dark Navy and Glitter Glam

I do have manicures planned, not going to let the bottles collect dust. I promised myself not to buy any more polishes before I can organize their storage. Still one more holo haul ahead...

Besides the holo action which will end up on my nails next, there's also a halloween design I've been working on (for a video).

See you soon with some nail art :)

Nail art in 4 mins

2011-09-27T15:25:00.003+03:00

This is the quickest not-polish-only manicure I've made. I've been really busy and walking around with plain base for some time - but why, when I have all the tools I need to decorate them in a heartbeat, right?

These are the new nail decals I ordered from Sanna Tara Nail Art (finnish webstore).

Click to view them larger. I used the white ones on the bottom row, from the sheet with red flowers and blue leaves.

I didn't want to use too many of them at once, so I chose to put one sticker per nail. Then I used a dotting tool to add more details in white polish. The base color is Nivea Turbo colour in Pure Gold - it dries in 45 seconds! This is two coats of it. Here´s my older take on Pure Gold just for the tips. I finished it all off with Diamont top coat by Nubar.

Took less than 4 minutes in total to make these from clear base to decos - dried and ready :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

ELF nail polish haul - Coral

2011-09-01T15:11:00.001+03:00

I made my first order on Eyeslipsfac e.co.u k last month while they had free international shipping.

The color samples on the site are quite inaccurate so I searched through the web for swatches of their nail lacquers. Browsing through many funny elfs (creatures) on Flickr and other domains I found a swatch of a nail color I'd definitely order: Coral.

It's just as pretty as on the prettiest swatches I found: a gorgeous pink with gold sheen. I hear it's been compared to the legendary NARS Orgasm -blush.

Very pigmented and covers well with just one coat, dries fast. That being said, needs precision in application or otherwise leaves nasty streaks. One clear coat smooths it out well though.

Here on the row the whole lot: Coral, Gum Pink, Pearl, Mint Cream, Smoky Brown, Dark Glitter Purple (was supposed to be Metal Madness but received this - customer service replied that the real one is on it's way) and then Purple Dream. I swatched them quickly on the wheel and they seemed to be as opaque as the coral one. Will be seen how they behave on my nails. For another upside these varnishes are free of Toluene, Formaldehyde, and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) :)

Worth 1,50 GBP a piece, don't you think?

Pink and Green Funky French Nails

2011-08-30T21:07:00.000+03:00

Inspired by food... Well not exactly, but by food packaging. To me the lime green and pink looked pretty and fresh together so I decided to combine them in my nails... I didn´t have matching green but grabbed a neon green instead. In these photos it looks much lighter than it actually is.

Here's the packaging (frozen vegetables) and the stuff I used. A dotting tool for the flowers and a needle to drag them as well as to make the tiny dots. In skilled hands with stamping set this package would inspire very beautiful manicures I'm sure. Mine is more of a quick sample. I had been wearing this base polish for a week on it's own so this design was to get the last out of it before changing to another color.

A bit of a brighter side for a change!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Autumn Nails with CC and Orly

2011-08-11T01:03:00.000+03:00

Pairing up these two, It´s Not Rocket Science by Orly and Wild and Willing by Color Club, was on my mind already when I placed an order for them. They both remind me of Autumn and look good with gold.

This design was by far the hardest ever to capture on camera due to duochrome effect! But the close up shows the shades without too many reflections.

I used diamond shaped golden glitter applied with clear top coat and a dotting tool. Not being too precise with the rows but placing them to line the tip. Really easy design but the gorgeous polishes make it interesting to look at from every angle.

I really feel like the summer's coming to an end. The schools start next week, it´s been raining more than in months, the grass is not growing anymore, the blackcurrants and other berries are ripe, the nights are getting darker... The most alarming sign of autumn is that I need socks. I love being bare feet, love to wear sandals. Now it's getting so much colder I need to put on the socks straight after the shower.

I will miss summer and being free from (most) schedules. Now the weekends start to get more meaning again, which is nice in a way.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Not Rocket Science by Orly + Matte version with GOSH

2011-08-08T19:30:00.001+03:00

This polish has been waiting for me to wear it for nearly two months now. I thought this would be fitting to late-summer manicures, when sun is still high but you can smell the end of summer already. It's Not Rocket Science by Orly here with 3 thin coats.

It's surprisingly light to wear allthough it's packed with golden sparkle. A really gorgeous color on it´s own. But not the kind that would suit my skintone very well. I think this is one of those polishes that looks better on me when the light tanning has faded and I'm more pale.

I placed an order to a finnish web boutique Sokos last month and got me some cosmetics from their summer sale. I did took a pic of the haul but somehow accidentally deleted the pics! I actually thought I had transferred them already to my PC... But I'll show the products as I try them on. The chocolate bar I got for free has been eaten of course LOL This Matte Top Coat by GOSH was in the lot as well as some other polishes and lip glosses.

This matte top coat was quite slow to dry compared to the ones I own from Orly and Rimmel but the finish is flawless. It's always fun to mattify sparkling polishes and this one translates beautifully to matte finish.

Which version do you prefer: shiny or matte?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Suomeksi lisäys: Sokoksen verkkokaupassa oli kesäalessa GOSHin lakkoja ja tämä mattapäällyslakka on yksi niistä joita sai alle 3 eurolla. Vaikutti kyllä olevan hintansa väärti; iso pullo ja moitteeton lopputulos, vaikka hitaanlaisesti kuivuikin kynsillä.

Pretty in Platinum by Color Club + Tutti Frutti by Maybelline Colorama

2011-08-04T09:29:00.000+03:00

I needed a new "canvas" polish for layer plays so I tossed this Pretty in Platinum in my previous order from TD. I used to layer plain white and white shimmer for this kind of pearly base before I ran out of the latter. Now 2 coats of PiP will do it :)

My eldest daughter wanted to surprise me with a bottle of polish: Tutti Frutti by Maybelline Colorama. To please her I layered it with PiP - which I'd been wearing for a few days already - and it all ended up looking very princess-y. It´s true I wouldn't have bought this polish myself but she was so thoughtful to buy it, making sure it's something I don't already have LOL

This is two coats of PiP with two coats of Tutti Frutti. You can see the pale pink and glitter better here in the shadow. The color is like soft lilac. I used this same sweet combo on my pedicure too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Blanket Nails

2011-07-26T12:26:00.001+03:00

Here's a look inspired by this soft colored baby blanket. I used Claire's pastels for the patches. The base color is Ancient Jade which was a dead-on match to the blankett base. I sponged lilac, yellow, blue and apricot as patches with eyeshadow applicator and "stitched" with pearl white nail art pen.

The finish is soft like baby powder due to sponging. I didn't want to put glossy top coat over it. Might add a matte top later.

It's a quick free-hand look so to some extent it reminds me of kids watercoloring LOL

Back to more defined and vibrant style next time :)

Ancient Jade by Orly

2011-07-25T11:37:00.000+03:00

I'm slowly but surely going through the lacquers I ordered last month (pic here). I already had many colors similar to Ancient Jade but wanted to try it anyway. Prior to this I had only finishing products by Orly.

The coverage in this is very good. If my nails were shorter one carefully applied coat would've been enough! Here's two coats.

It's really creamy. It doesn´t make the nails feel hard but rather like after you've put hand cream on! Somewhat elastic... Almost like it was conditioning... which apparently it's not. It is big 3 free though (no DBP, toluene or formaldehyde).

It has nice gloss, dries fast and the tone is truely set for summer. Definitely makes me want to try more lacquers from Orly :)

Top 10 Makeup products / Nail art blogs

2011-07-23T16:05:00.000+03:00

I got a TOP 10 award from Annie of Polish This! a while back. Kiitos Annie!

I haven´t really talked much about other makeup besides nail polish for a while so this was a fun tag to do :)

The Top 10 award rules are:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

My favorite foundations are from US based mineral companies:
1. Lumiere Flawless Finish Pictured here the shade I use + a colorless base that can be used to lighten the shade (winter time).
2. The other brand is Lauress in Elemental finish. I´ve gone through many brands and these are by far my favorites. I don´t use any other base products, I get good coverage with these - thanks to the great kabukis also (don't count them in my top 10, they´re just tools :P).

I hate getting lipstick to my teeth so I prefer to use lip gloss. My favorites are:

3. Eyeko Fat Balm in Strawberry. Just the right amount of tint for my taste in an everyday look.
4. Lumiere Lumi Lips in Holy Grail. I have many sample sized Lumi Lips but this is the most wearable color for me.
5. and a very old Maybelline Liquid Diamonds - the text has faded but I think it was called Strawberry Fields?? It's a really natural and sweet color with a bit of golden shimmer when I want a hint of extra glam.

After listing these I felt like placing an order for some new lip products. It would be safe to toss that old Maybelline away anyway :D

6. Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in 002 Absolute Brown (waterproof). It's almost finished and I need to find me a new eye liner. Might try Graffiti liner by Eyeko next (the black one seems to be the Ambassador-gift this week! For code: E13919)
7. Sensai 38 mascara. I use mascara so rarely I still haven't opened the one from Eyeko.
8. Lumiere cream shadow in Immortal. I can't find it from the site anymore. I hope it's not discontinued since it's a really gorgeous metallic champagne-like shade for any occasion...

9. Lumiere M-pressed blush in Guava. I like this little container so much - you can turn it over and find a tiny mirror under the other lid! I have sooo many mineral blushes but this one is easy to toss in the bag so I use it most often.
10. Lauress Gem Ligths in Charisma, described as "creamy apricot" (an "eyebright" but I use it on my cheeks too).

I'll make another list of my favorite nail products later. Otherwise this list would've been mostly nail related LOL

Now I get to choose who I'll tag... This is a great opportunity to share some less-known, very inspirational nail art blogs. Be sure to check them out :)
(blogs in no particular order):

* Precious Polish
* I found myself in Wonderland
* My Dream Nails
* Shiny Nail Art
* Sinikilpikonna
* The Nail Addict
* Trading Up
* Flye´s Nail Art
* Everyday is NAILDAY
* Unhas Artisticas Nill

Perfect set of nails

2011-07-21T14:55:00.008+03:00

This July I haven't had much time for blogging... I've been admiring this perfect set of tiny nails :)

I welcomed our baby girl to the world with these new-to-me girls by Zoya - going in to labour with Charla on my toes and Phoebe on my fingernails. No pics of that, don´t worry LOL Charla made it through the challenge very well but Phoebe started chipping off quite fast. Very understandable for it being a matte finish.

Here´s the cutie I get to wake up next to now - several times a night LOL

I'm not about to put the blog on the hold - I actually have more "free" time now on my maternity leave than I had while still working. I might have to reach for fast-drying top coats more often... but I won´t stop playing with colors. Such fun to be able to see my toes again and reach to them for a fun pedicure too!

Thank you for your lovely comments. I see some new faces here on GFC too - welcome all :)

Black n yellow flower nails...

2011-06-27T20:05:00.000+03:00

Something fun and crazy for a change... I couldn't remember the last time I wore yellow polish so it´s about a time to put it in use. With plenty of dots!

I have very few yellows so to achieve bright look I made this is into a layer play with Twilight by Wild and Crazy Colors - the same I used on the Flame nails - and Yellow Sparkle by Nivea (<- layered with white on that post).

Then I painted the tip black and added 5-dotted circles. White on the tips is pure white but on the flowers I used Cool Breeze by Nubar. I topped the dots on the tips with it finally too. Can´t remember when - if ever - I've used so many layers of paint, counting from the base to the nail art! But the drying time wasn´t an issue when in fact I painted the base yesterday and did the tips and dots today.

It's far from the looks I've been wearing lately but I kind of like the playful result - even when it lacks the glam-effect :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Fashion Addict by Color Club

2011-06-24T12:56:00.001+03:00

It´s been a long time since I wore any nail art... Sometimes with new polishes like this one, Fashion Addict by Color Club, I get so stunned I can´t think of ways to improve it.

I thought of leopard spots and all but I like it's other modest side too which presents itself in the shadow: then it's very delicate lilac with shimmer (the "new version").

I've had this polish on my shopping list for the longest time but somehow never took it to the counters with me. Now I think this will become one of those colors I want to have an extra bottle with me!

This might be a good bridal look too: it's equally beautiful on short and long nails. It has enough shimmer to not to seem dull on the shadows but is classy at the same time.

Happy Midsummer´s Eve!

Hauskaa Juhannusaikaa kaikille :)

Cosmic by Eyeko with CND effects - even cooler!

2011-06-17T14:08:00.000+03:00

I decided not to change my polish until I receive the new polishes - so I've been wearing Cosmic polish for a straight week now! With black on I wanted to try CND Effects right away over it. This is Ice Blue Shimmer.

It doesn't hide the holo but adds some mystery to "the space"! /click to view them bigger/

The tipwear is obvious at this point (7 days) so I had to do some major cropping to keep the pics neat. But from the close ups you see the effects best anyway :)

It's really like staring into space... In direct sunlight black original stays glossy and gorgeous where "the effected one" looks almost metallic!

Which version to you is more cosmic?

Shimmer for the Summer with TD haul

2011-06-16T18:07:00.000+03:00

I expect to create lots of effects with these new lovelies from Transdesign...

I've never had Orly polish before, only top coats (Matte Top, Magnifique) and Ridge Filler (didn't like). The colors just never called out that much for me although I love the design of the bottle with the very handy cap. CND effects are new products for me too. Color Club I know and trust and they have great color selection... and price :)

Color Club: Wicked Sweet, Wink wink twinkle, Wild and Willing, Pretty in Platinum and Fashion Addict.

Fashion Addict has been on my wishlist for the longest time and it's sooo gorgeous! I did my daughter's nails with it as soon as I opened the package - but she smudged them before the shots so I'll post proper pics later. Pretty in Platinum comes to replace LCN 265 which I've used up.

The rest: Creative CND effects with Sapphire Sparkle and Ice Blue Shimmer. I thought I'd use them to tweak some warm toned polishes cooler.

By Orly Ancient Jade and It's not Rocket Science. I really needed the latter after seeing so many great swatches. Ancient Jade was just something I tossed in at the last moment to make my shopping bag look more summery - had to have one soft shade too LOL

Now I have 2 Zoyas on their way to me (can't wait!). After that I'll have to start building up a new wishlist! There's just one polish I really really need to get this summer after these: Blue Hydrangea by Nubar. Then I'll start shopping clothes and shoes to match - I definitely need more blue in my closet ^^

Thanks for stopping by!

Some effects coming up before the weekend :)

Cosmic Polish by Eyeko

2011-06-10T18:10:00.000+03:00

It felt strange applying black polish while it's so hot and bright outside... but I really wanted to try this one out. And this is like no other black; this one enjoys to shine along with the sun. It's my new Cosmic Polish by Eyeko.

It contains holographic microglitter that really creates an illusion of a space. Inside or on the shadow it looks like fine silver shimmer on black.

I applied 2 coats. No top coat here but I'll add a layer later because I can feel the glitter on the surface and I want it to stay glossy.

This has been on my wishlist for a long time and when they had an offer of one free nail polish with a new order I jumped at the chance and got this with Liptastik lip pen. Out of all the Eyeko polishes I still want Vampira. Good to have a shopping list ready for the next time...

This week over at Eyeko they'll offer free Coral nail polish (check it out here) with every order over 18e / $20 with a code E13919.
With free shipping to Europe, and worldwide free shipping on orders over $55 :)

Have a relaxing weekend!

Quick Dots

2011-06-07T13:25:00.000+03:00

Here's a quick dotted look over the Orange franken. I wanted something simple to go along with my brown/white summer dress before facing the heat wave (it's so warm, finally!!!). Lined dots was the first thing that came to my mind. Done with nail art pens, Nail Star brown and Enamel Art 1000 white.

Here's a shadow pic where you can see how "burned" the tone is with less light. Sadly topcoat killed some of the holoness and it now looks more of golden shimmer...

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

Orange (holo) franken

2011-06-06T18:57:00.001+03:00

Another franken to Doo's inofficial Summer Collection... I realized I don't want to ship just one bottle to my sister. I know she's been into orange nail polish lately so why not try an orange holoish color too to ship to her?

I like this one better than the Light Coral one. The holo is more defined for there's no extra glitter or shimmer on the colored polish I used this time. The consistency too is way better! Though after making this I tweaked the Light Coral too a bit by adding more holo so they are more like twins and the other one is not outshined LOL

This is with no top coat.

I used Orange Fizz by Wet'n'Wild (you can see how bright it is here) and for the holo Worth The Risque by Color Club. Nothing else!

This is more of a late summer color I think. The shade is a bit of a burned orange so would probably look good with some tan. Can't wait for my sister to wear it. She has completely differend undertones and I know she wears orange well.

I might have to complete this "mini collection" with a third franken now that I started... I just can't think of what kind of polish should that be... Do you have any suggestions?

Light Coral (holo) franken

2011-06-05T20:38:00.000+03:00

Here's one for my sister ;) I thought I'd make a franken for her: one that would suit her skintone, a holographic one because I've had a holo-fever for the past few days myself.

The whole frankening has been on my mind since I saw the competition announcement and then the entries of frankening contest on More Nail Polish blog. Amazing entries, go and cast your votes! I still haven't been able to pick my favorite - there are just too many great ones :)

I whipped this up this morning. Not as striking as the entries on More Nail Polish but I thought my sister would like this...

I used neutral Blushing by Creative, orange shimmer polish Capricorn by Wild and Crazy and then silver holo Worth the Risque by Color Club. I wasn't sure how it all would translate on the nail so I was maybe even too careful with the holo. Could have added more holo, but then again the base is so subtle it blends in quite a lot.

Here is two coats of the franken,with a top coat (Orly) to even up the thick texture provided by old Blushing.

Not the best color for my skintone but I bet this is going to look great on my sister. She had coral polish the last time we met and I still regret not taking pictures of her hands!

She got more nail polish to her make up collection yesterday from her special one and I immeadiately ordered swatch pictures from her. This is my bribe to her that she really swatches them for me LOL

Hope you've had a great weekend!

See you soon with some nail art :)

Cherry Blossom nails

2011-05-31T19:32:00.003+03:00

Hello again, it's been one busy month! I'm always surprised of how short a month May is - the trees burst out to leaves and suddenly it's summer with schools ending and everyone making holiday plans. Seems like just yesterday we had mountains of snow where the grass now grows green, waiting for a trim...

This is a sister look to my Willow nails - Cherry blossom nails :)

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. The final kick to try it was when I saw this pretty radio on Clas Ohlson catalog (my hand on the catalog page, not on the actual radio):

It seemed like a good fresh look for my daughter's graduation (from kindergarten LOL).

There are plenty of beautiful takes on cherry blossoms out on the nail community and most combine a cool base with rosy blossoms. See for example a gorgeous Cherry Blossom Sakura Tree - YouTube tutorial by Love4Nails here.

My choice of base was For Audrey by China Glaze. The flowers are done with acrylic paint (mix of red and white). The branches and lining dots are same as in Willow nails: brown by Nail Star, pearly white by Migi.

I do like this combo though my nails are soon too long for straight french tips. The free edge is a bit over half of all the length now!

See you back soon!
Thanks for all the new and old readers for stopping by :)

Busy Mother's Day nails

2011-05-08T10:10:00.001+03:00

Happy Mother's Day to all moms! Did you get your morning coffee to your bed? I was the first one awake so I got up to check new updates from Blogger... Then I tried to sneak in back to bed but my youngest wouldn't give me a blanket anymore! I wasn't tired anyway but had to get "out of the way" so the rest of the family could prepare the breakfast table to "surprise me". So I grabbed my polishes and went to the back room polishing :)

(picture indoors)

The idea I had didn't transfer as glamorously as I thought it would... First off I thought I took toothpicks (for the glitters) with me to my "hideaway" but I ended up taking only q-tips! And the top coat I grabbed for attaching the glitters was a fast dry! So... I had to be quick and I was clumsy with the glitters. I would've liked them to follow the edge of the polish more frequently.

I wanted to combine a holo and a matte black and spice it up with the glitters. The base is OMG by China Glaze, with a black stripe in the middle with Nero by GOSH. The matte top coat is by Rimmel.

(outdoors)

Outside you can see the holo and sparkle. Hard to capture it with all the bling when some spots look more white and silver in the sunshine.

All done in about 15 minutes... I was afraid it might look too much like fish scales with the hasty application and all but it's not as bad as I feared. Still I liked the idea more than the end result. Will try this combo with a differend pattern and more time someday. Maybe a black side-swipe across the holo, so it breaks down the form a bit better. And I'll definitely use the toothpicks for lining the glitters LOL

(by my son, for Mom's Day when he was 7)

Have a beautiful day!

Creative #182 Blushing (with some memories)

2011-05-03T20:19:00.000+03:00

I wanted to wear opaque nude polish for a change so I pulled out the old Creative polish called Blushing - probably the oldest polish I have! Last time I wore it was for my job interview (got the job and been working since :)).

Back then I thought the shade was too brown for me and lightened it a bit with a milky white (see here). Now I'm more pale and I like the color more. I'm thinking the next time I organize my polish bottles I should go for seasonal categories: what suits me on Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. For this polish I was almost ready to let go and now I'm really liking it in these early days of Summer :)

I should tell you the first time I got really interested on nails was after I saw a commercial of some detergent with model wearing total "mannequin hands"-look. I was probably 11 years old. Luckily my mom had some nude shade of Lumene on her stash and I used the bottle to the last drop. I thought it was cool to mask the nails totally from the tips. Years following I wore mostly brown polishes but there were some dark purples too.

When my nails were coated I also forgot to bite them - a bad habit of mine since the childhood. When my nails got longer I got more bold with colors. One summer I used up a bottle of very very bright neon green, I must have been 13 or something. Then I had nails as long as I have now and people found it hard to believe they were not fake nails. That green had satin finish so it really made my nails look alien LOL

Now I wear brown (and neon green!!) very rarely - and when I do I get the urge to pimp them quite fast... After the day turned into night I did spice the Blushing up with glitter bomb too... Layered here with Orange Ocean by Sinful Colors.

Glad you stopped by!

Double french for May Day

2011-05-02T17:25:00.001+03:00

Towards the summer with more color... This was my manicure for May Day.

I wanted happy, feminine colors so I chose Lilac Dream by La Femme Beauty and a pastel yellow by Claire's + a fimo slice to complement them. Just free-handed the stripes so they are not as precise as they could be. One stroke of each color, then a second coat of them both.

Rimmel Maxx Wear as a top coat with 2 layers to get the fimos stay put. I was afraid they'd come loose during the night but all was well still in the morning :)

We had a quiet weekend although the May Day (and especially it's eve) is a day of celebrations... I did take kids for a cruise along the coastline to see how the ice has gone off the sea... The water looks colder than ice (and almost is!) but all signs of summer are in the air: birds are chirping like crazy and you can almost smell the grass starting to grow... :)

I hope you had a great weekend!

See you next time with a more toned down mani...

Black lightning crackle

2011-04-29T15:14:00.001+03:00

This is the first time I do a whole-nail crackle pattern. I tried various applying techniques on the same set of nails so I could evaluate the effect. The crackle polish is by Kelier from Born Pretty. I've worn this crackle before here with CG Millennium.

Here's the base: Seafoam Green mood polish by Nubar. Not so dazzling by itself... Just when I've gotten rid of the stains on my nails and I'm happy to have healthy "nude" color I go and put this over them! I've worn it once before - almost a year to date, here. My son said: "Mom, how quickly can you take off that color...". I initially planned to "plant" some flowers over it but decided to cover it up to the max after his words LOL

So here's the Kelier crackle effect. I applied it fairly soon after the third coat of Seafoam green.

The index finger with 3 quick vertical strokes, the middle finger after 2 curvy strokes (and touch ups on the sides), ringfinger with two generous vertical strokes and finally the pinky with 3 strokes that I painted like J (starting from the bottom, curving down and then upwards).

I like the middle finger best: it resembles a lightning most of all these. The others are more like plaids. I smoothed the surface with 2 generous coats of Rimmel Max Wear topcoat.

I like the effect but on my length of nails I think I prefer the french tip -crackle. This is a bit too dark overall look, especially for springtime...

For the start of May I'll change up to something brighter. I have some new nail art stuff to play with.. :)

Have a great start for your weekend!

2Nite by China Glaze

2011-04-29T03:20:00.000+03:00

This is one beauty I've never worn on this blog on its own, to my shame! I did a pattern with it over black when I first got it, see: Black and holo . But somehow never wore it like this here.

The pic above is indirect light and below it reveals the true magic...

On the bottle it's so modest it hardly calls out to but once you put it on you can't take your eyes of it! Next time I start to doubt it I'll browse back to these shots.

These pictures were taken before Easter and it already seems my nails are a lot longer now. Got to love the Spring!

Currently I have a crackled mani on - quite basic but to me a new experience to have a whole-nail crackle look. I will post pics later today ...but now I guess I should get some more sleep before the morning (it's over 3 a.m. here... and this is not a scheduled post LOL).

See you soon with a darker look :)

Willow nails for Easter

2011-04-22T19:10:00.000+03:00

Here's my Easter look. I wanted pussy willows again, but this time as a detail on a french tip. Last year I did the branch on the whole nail, see here: Pussy Willow for Palm Sunday

It's more of an interpretation than exact match LOL

Also it would be more fitting (for the season) on a yellow base. I did consider that, but I wanted sweet pink for a change. It's been so long since the last time I had pink on my nails!

Here's what I used over the base coat: Pastel Pink by Model's Own, brown by Nail Star, pearly white by Migi.

This is very pretty pastel shade but terrible to apply... I don't usually put on top coat, but this time I went over the color base twice with top coat (Rimmel) to get it smoother. After that I started the nail art.

The white dots are with the tip Migi nail art pen has, no additional dotting tool. It provides just enough color to form even dots (not blots). I've had that pearly white for over a year now and its still performing like it was new - the consistency is like it was before and the needle is still working.

The needle on the Nail Star on the other hand is not working anymore but I did use its own brush to make a stroke. I also had to thin the brown polish a bit with acetone-free nail polish remover for it had gone quite sticky since the last time I used it.

Have a relaxing long weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

3d nail art pens (pt 2) Guest artist - all by and on her hand

2011-04-19T13:11:00.002+03:00

Here's a work of my very own little artist. On her, by her. I only did the base for which she selected For Audrey by China Glaze. She fell in love with the 3D nail art pens and I let her give it a go.

All by free hand :) It's not as messy as with nail polish stripers. These don't pour out of the tube while holding the tip downwards. Also it's quite easy to fix the errors while not dry, like in using acrylic paint!

Here are her designs from left to right: a bow, a butterfly, a heart and a flower. Pretty and simple. I'm surprised how neat they are! She's only 10. As I told you before the patterns dry slower than regular polish, for it has quite a thick pasty/ gel-like consistency. That actually makes it ideal for the beginners - it doesn't just run out of the tube but requires a bit of a squeeze.

These were good to touch in about 30 minutes but should not be made right before bedtime or putting on gloves; The color doesn't stain while still soft but the surface can get bumpy if it's not completely dry. If you want that smooth and sculptured effect then give them enough time.

Here's a link to the product description once more: Born Pretty.com

She also wanted to do her toes like "All Sorts liquorice" - but for that polish would've been better choice! She learned that the hard way when changing the pedi and trying to rub the thick coats of color off LOL

Have a great week!

3D nail art pens (pt 1)

2011-04-18T17:57:00.000+03:00

I'm slowly warming up to 3D patterns on my nails. Although I admire so many nail bloggers /tubers for their kawaii style skills I've been quite light handed with glitter and cuteness. Now that I got my first fimos I also wanted to try 3D nail art pens. We'll see how crazy I get with all these as the summer approaches..!

These are the 3D pens with 12 colors on the lot - no need for UV-light or anything, just paint on and let air dry. I was a bit skeptical about that: if it's thick enough to look like a sculpted detail, how could it dry fast... The drying time indeed is looong compared to nail art polish but the effect is so cool I didn't mind waiting. It's not like it takes half a day anyway but not as quick as with a coat of polish obviously.

These were sent to me from Born pretty when they kindly asked if I'd like to review some of their products. Click here for the product description on their site.

Oh and if you're wondering about the bikini-girl on the package: my daughter put the sticker on there (and I couldn't get it off anymore), it's not a brand thing LOL

While trying these out I had to have something conservative to wear the next day. I picked a neutral base color and started my tryout with traditional flowers.

The colors come in plastic tubes with plastic tips, consistency being quite pasty, so the application was easy. With a polish + a dotting tool or a nail art striper I tend to get some spider legs around the dots no matter how careful I try to be. But with this one it was most like painting with a pen really. You just squeeze to get more color, it doesn't drip out like some nail art polishes do.

The neutral base is Palisade by Nubar. One of the greys I bought a while back, the most blue-toned of the lot. This polish didn't win me over. It's thick and dull. But with right nail art I'm sure it comes alive just well. Now it's just what I needed for a modest look :)

Interested in seeing some more cuter looks with it?

I'll bring you more experimental 3d nail art soon enough ;)

Fimos for nail art

2011-04-17T20:15:00.001+03:00

I finally gave in and got me some fimos... Here are the canes I ordered (from eBay).

I mostly wanted fruits for summer manicures. When you order you don't get to choose which ones you get but I'm happy with the canes I got. There were only two doubles on the lot.

I'm a bit worried about how to fit them on my nails since my nails do curve quite a lot.

But just when I was thinking maybe fimos are not ideal for me and my shape, then Tartofraises uploaded this totally delicious design Tarte aux fraises Nail art! Yes, that's what fimos are all about - having fun with it, not worrying about whether they pop out too much. They are meant to pop out a lot LOL

Here's the row of canes I got, and below is a fruit wheel of ready-to-go fimo slices I ordered just before.

I might like the canes better, since they feel softer. I assume they are more easily forced to curve on the nail than the dried slices on the wheel. But that remains to be seen.

I just hope I can cut as neat slices as in this wheel!

Here are all the floral fimos I got. I like the black one on the center the most and the blue one next to it is also something that inspires me right away.

Here are the many butterflies I got as well as the rest of the lot - see that cute teddy bear on the center? I'm glad these canes can be cut to many slices. Those teddies are going on the nails of many little girls here... :)

Lime Time again!

2011-04-17T08:39:00.002+03:00

I wanted something more colorful for a change. I was unsure if I'd ever worn this color before (because it's so funky...) and so I did a search on my blog: to my surprise I have worn it and for the same reason I went for it this time - May is approaching!!

This is Lime Time by Wet'n'Wild. You can see my last year's whole nail manicure & read about the "lemon time" it represents to me by clicking here :)

Here it's just on the tips so I went with only one coat. It's more yellow and less of a green when in just one coat. The base is Ticklish Toes by Wild and Crazy. Which reminds me, it's time to start to pay attention to my feet also. Too bad I can't currently bend so well so all the detailed nail art on toes is out of the question atm :)

I just had to get to pose with this beautiful Narcissus on the evening light... vain? me? no! LOL

I'll be back with my new fimos soon. My nails are so curvy I have to figure out a way to place them neatly on the nail. But the fimos sure are cute!

Have a great weekend!

(btw. I hate it how grainy the new pics look now! They're perfect on my files. Why is it that sometimes the quality stays the same and sometimes it's just unbearable when uploaded to Blogger? )

Clover Nails matte

2011-04-03T09:05:00.002+03:00

Yesterday I was a bit dissapointed with the close pics of the clover mani, so I decided to lay a topcoat over it. It was shiny already so I thought why not try it matte... Here's the mani with Rimmel Matte Finish.

It evens out the rough edges of the leaves and adds a new perspective to the glitter base.

Which one do you prefer: the shiny or matte?

Clover Nails and some nail art inspiration

2011-04-02T19:57:00.003+03:00

More breath of spring, though our garden is still full of snow... I planned to paint some flowers on the nails but ended up doing lucky four leaf clovers instead. Somehow I'm hooked on blue-green nail looks at the moment :)

My source of inspiration was this post by Vanessa from Guilty little Pleasures: Spring NOTD (<-click).

She got her idea from Robin Moses - I'm sure you've heard of this lady already but if you haven't then head out to her YouTube channel here: robinmosesnailart .

Anyway... I love it when people share their ideas to feed other's creativity. And in my case, I end up doing simplified versions of nail art I see/imagine because - let's face it - I'm no pro and I'll never be one. But it's fun all the way :)

I wanted a dark base but also some good sparkle. So here's what I used: black GOSH lacquer called Nero - very opaque, one coat was enough! Then "cool" toned glitter by Wild and Crazy called Sand Turtle.

For clovers I used jade green polish by Depend called #054. They are freehanded, dotted & dragged with a good old toothpick...

The pics are bit of a blur due to glitter and shine. It looks more 3d in real life. I'm really happy with my clovers although the design is less colorful from what I planned it to be. After I'd painted the clovers I just couldn't imagine adding any more color to it, it's just so me right now. Doolish?

Have a great weekend!

Blue Monarch Butterfly nails

2011-03-27T18:14:00.001+03:00

To celebrate the start of Summer (daylight saving time) I wanted a piece of summer on my nails too. I headed out to YouTube to find an inspiration on buttefly designs. There I found this tutorial by cardiographing:

As you can see, I changed the design a bit and changed up the colors to fit the still cool (cold!) weather we have here.

I wanted to have a subtle color shifting as well as some shimmer on it. So I sponged 3 differend polishes on the nail to get it more vibrant. I do love the effect if I might say so myself :)

For the base color I sponged medium blue from Nail Star nail art pen. Then I sponged on some Boho from Hot Looks - which I recently used on its own here. Finally I added just lightly Depend #221 for extra shimmer and some minty tone - see how it looks plain here.

For the details I used both Nail Star and Enamel Art 1000 2-way nail art pens. The black parts are asymmetrical on purpose.

Everything I used is cheap stuff - dirt cheap actually. In Finland you can't get a bottle of China Glaze for the price of all this lot. And the end result is somewhat as striking as in using more expensive holographic nail polish. Oh how I love the magic of layering polish :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Make a change! Earth Hour today at 8:30 p.m.

2011-03-26T16:52:00.003+02:00

Are you participating on this year's Earth Hour?

"Earth Hour 2011 will take place on Saturday 26 March at 8.30PM (local time, EVERYWHERE). This Earth Hour we want you to go beyond the hour, so after the lights go back on think about what else you can do to make a difference. Together our actions add up."

LINKS:
http://www.earthhour.org/
http://www.wwf.org/

I'd especially encourage you to visit this site: http://www.breathingearth.net/
It's a real-time simulation of the CO2 emissions, birth rates and death rates of every single country in the world on a map. It's really shocking. How much can the Earth take?

I'm not the most environmentally councious person I know. For one, I've started a family to an overcrowded world. But I try to make little changes and I try to educate my children to do the same. I slipped further from the environmental thinking when I started working outside the home and that saddens me a lot. It was much easier to make choices when I had more time for them. I used a car next to never, when now I think I have to drive everywhere to be on time.

My promise is to drive a car less.
To take out my bicycle much more.
It's a start.

My other promise is to think more globally and act more locally. Why would I buy a banana when I can buy a domestic carrot or something... We are too accustomed to buy what we're offered but don't think of the cost to the nature. I don't even know why I drink coffee. I don't like the taste of it that much. Bananas are nice but most of the time they are packed and shipped when they're still raw and they're expected to ripen on the way. No taste of sunshine then and it does lessen the nutritional value. Yet banana's we eat here in Finland take up 17 square meters of land on rainforests! And the coffee we - a relatively small nation - consume takes up to 315 square meters of the rainforests. And palm oil, which is used in many soaps etc. destroy 1518 square meters of tropical forests. Each year! These calculations don't even include the emissions it produces to ship the goods here to the Northern Europe... And I won't even start talking about the furniture made of tropical hardwoods.

(source: http://www.wwf.fi/wwf/www/uploads/pdf/sademetsa_kotonasi_netti.pdf)

Earth Hour tänään klo 20:30. Sammuta valot, tee hyvä päätös ja pidä siitä kiinni :)

Tuossa ylempänä on muutama linkki teemaan liittyen. Etenkin suosittelen käymään sivulla http://www.breathingearth.net/ , joka simuloi maailmantilannetta hetki hetkeltä: syntyvät, kuolevat, teollisuuden päästöt...

Jokainen meistä voi tehdä omanlaisensa päätöksen. Itse aion vähentää autoilua ja lisätä polkupyöräilyä. Nyt säiden parantuessa ja valon lisääntyessä siitä on helpompi myös pitää kiinni.

Toinen lupaukseni koskee tiedostavampaa ruokashoppailua: miksi valitsisin eksoottisen banaanin, jos voin valita kotimaisemman vaihtoehdon? Miksi oikein juon kahvia joka päivä, kun oikeastaan en sen mausta edes pidä niin paljoa... Tuossa yllä on linkki WWF:n pdf-tiedostoon sademetsän suojelemisesta. Miten kummassa me täällä kaukana hyödynnämme myös maailmanlaajuisia luonnonvaroja yhtään sitä tiedostamatta - kun ei sitä tietoa liiaksi todellakaan tarjota, kaikkivaltiaiden bisnesihmisten kaupatessa omia tuotteitaan. Ja luomu on kallista.

Bonuslupauksena vielä vakuutan, että jos voitan tänään lotossa niin siirryn täysin luomuruokaan ;)

Laitetaan siis valot ja koneet kiinni klo 20:30 maailmanlaajuisena kannanottona ympäristöasioille - loton ehtii katsoa tunnin jälkeenkin :D

Kiitos vierailustasi!

Hot Looks: Boho

2011-03-26T01:36:00.001+02:00

I wasn't going to buy any more nail polish this month, but this color won me over... I'd never heard of this brand before - it says "Hot Looks - Collection 2000" on the bottle and it was verrry cheap. I knew it'd be sheer but it also said fast dry so I went for it :)

This is #14 Boho. It's more green toned on the nails than it is on the bottle but minty and fresh just the same. I used 3 coats here and it really dried fast. Didn't smell very good though.

Somehow I didn't connect with the color when it was on the nails. Something was missing. I just saw Brooke wearing quite a similar tone on her blog here and she was equally puzzled with her Sally Hansen color.

Since I've been neglecting multi-colored nails for the past month I thought I'd spice up this look with a little funky french. That, and the notion that the polish was so sheer it left the nail line visible on the tip.

Here I used Knight's Armor by Nubar and silver nail art polish by Kiss. I'm still not impressed by the look but I got quite many compliments on it. It does look better on-the-move than in still pictures but it still leaves me thirsty for something more. It's too refreshment-like I guess :D

Here's the rest of the family I got. Yup, had to go for three again: #4 Charisma, #14 Boho and #12 Minx. They are very sheer except for Minx but I think I for layering they may be good. They were very affordable. Charisma reminds me of the kind of polishes my mum had when I was a kid: a sheer coral that looks nice on tanned toes but doesn't really show up that much on the nail.

* Nämä lakat löysin Seppälästä, alle 2 euron hintaan. Aiemmin en ollut törmännytkään tähän merkkiin. *

Every time I try to re-arrange my polish stash it seems I end up shopping more... I've bought way too many new bottles this March! But, luckily, my little sis got bitten by a nail bug last weekend so maybe she'll give home to some of the polish I don't use so often ;)

My New Nubar Nail Polishes (quite neutral)

2011-03-24T15:54:00.000+02:00

I ordered these Nubars from a sale at Looksdesign.fi. I've wanted to buy some neutrals from the Fortress collection but could never really make up my mind of which greys to get... So I only had Knight's Armor last summer (see me wearing it here).

So now that they were sold for 3 euros I jumped in and went for 3 greys at once!

Here they are from left to right: Barricade, Palisade, Marble Tower. Then without seeing swatches I selected Cool Breeze and Chocolate Coffee Bean.

Cool Breeze proved to be your average cream shimmer, quite nice for layering I assume.

I thought the Chocolate Coffee Bean would finally be my true chocolate brown. I mean, the name certainly has some very dark brown hints! But to my great surprise it reminded neither chocolate, coffee nor a bean - it leaned to purple and had flashes of green also!

I'm not sure what to make of these. But now I at least have enough neutrals for a building base for some more vibrant nail art...

The first one I laid on my nails was Barricade here.

The application was really really streaky. It's very opaque but I had to lay a second coat to even out the surface. It's very hard to get even and I would never pic this polish for a quick mani. But I think the tone is nice :)

DIY On-the-go Feet Relief

2011-03-21T17:42:00.002+02:00

(Suomeksi alempana) I thought I'd share an easy foot scrub receipe with you. It helped me a ton last week while I was out of town. I stayed the night in a cheap non-service Omena hotel. There are a small fridge, a micro-wave oven and an electric kettle in the room. As no breakfast is served, along with the gadgets there are bags of tea, instant coffee, creamer and brown sugar.

After a long and exhausting (although also inspiring) shopping spree, in quite high heels, my feet were killing me. I knew I wanted to drink some tea in the evening so I bought honey to go along with it. Then I thought I'd treat my feet with something refreshing too. I love to play with food...

You know caffeine is very refreshing also topically applied (it's also supposed to help with sellulite). Honey is moisturizing, and sugar is gritty enough to be used in a scrub. So I went ahead and combined them: instant coffee, brown sugar and honey for a gritty paste to apply to my feet. Then scrubbed it on and left it for a while. I rinsed it off altering between very warm and very cold water. And my feet were all new again.

A simple DIY/MIY scrub but it couldn't have been more uplifting in that situation had it contained some mint or other refreshments... And it had all the fun of creating something new, breaking the routines :)

-------

Tässäpä pikainen tee-se-itse helpotus ostosreissun päätteeksi oireileville jaloille, viime viikolla testattu ja uudistavaksi koettu. Tarvitaan: pikakahvijauhetta, ruskeaa sokeria ja tursaus hunajaa. Muu paitsi hunaja tuli suoraan Omena hotellin huonevarustelusta.

Hellä hieronta jaloille tällä kuorivalla ja piristävällä sörsselillä, ja perään suihkuttelua vuoroin kylmällä ja kuumalla vedellä, niin jalat oli kuin uudet. Sittenpä alkoivat kädet tuntua raskaammilta kuin jalat! Onneksi siihen vaivaan auttoi uusilla kynsilakoilla leikkiminen :)

Depend #221 - straight up and mattified

2011-03-20T14:46:00.001+02:00

One thing (only thing?) I don't like about Depend is that they have just numbers instead of real catchy names on their polishes! This one is called #221. I'd rename it as "Mediterranean breeze" or something like that... It's one gorgeous spring shade. The color is turquoise that leans strongly to blue and it has very pretty silver shimmer in it.

I'm wearing just 1 coat over a base coat. It's really opaque, so you might need a bit of patience to get it right with one coat without getting it too thick.

You can see some tipwear the past 3 days have done. No obvious chipping, but my nails seem to be like that. Nail polish chips on me very rarely.

The shimmer #221 has reminded me of the one O.P.I.'s Russian Navy Suede has so I started wondering what it'd look like without the shine. After wearing it for a few days straight I mattified it with Orly's Matte Top. Here's the mattified version in semi-shade:

Comparing this to the original I prefer the mattified... It's a bit more classy looking? The shimmer becomes more noticeable and doesn't fade in the shine. Also as a matte it is more baby blueish which I like very much.

Have a great weekend :)

Depend haul

2011-03-20T11:44:00.000+02:00

I was expecting to receive a lot of Nubar's by the end of the week - but when they didn't show up and I was really waiting to get to try some new colors I headed to Kicks. There is no Kicks store nearby so I don't go there often. Everytime I go I get the "most kicks" from Depend nail polish because no other brand can beat their price (3 euros). This time I bought 4 colors + 1 base coat.

I also jumped at the chance to get some more gentle nail polish removers. These are supposed to be eco-friendly and when trying to decide on which I'd get I thought I might as well buy both to compare them. I already have 2 bottles of acetone-free nail polish removers from other brands so I'll get to reviewing them side by side some time soon.

Here are the colors from left to right next to Optimal Start -basecoat: Depend #210 (yellow), #223 (silver foil), #221 (turquoise with silver shimmer) and #054 (jade green).

I'll be back with one of them on me soon :)

Silver holo + Last Friday Night = light blue holo

2011-03-16T15:06:00.001+02:00

Yippee, I finally got me a light blue holo! By layering Last Friday Night (O.P.I. Katy Perry collection) and a good old Worth the Risque by Color Club.

It's there, some blue is there! though not that obvious... But if you compare it to plain silver holo that shows up almost whitish under direct sunlight. Here's just Worth the Risque over clear basecoat:

Here's the LFN+WTR combo in a shade:

Pretty? You know, this idea came out of total lazyness... I was waiting for my latest nail polish order (of Nubar's) to arrive today. So I just painted the tips with silver holo yesterday, no need for anything too fancy for I'd take it off today anyway.

When the new lot didn't come with the mailman, I thought I'd spice up the holo... and maybe try to make a light blue out of it ...since I've been lemming those Catherine Arley holo's that nail polish community crazes about. Now I'm quite satisfied with this result. Some real competition for the combination of beautiful sunlight and snowy scenary :)

Have a lovely day!

Lumiere is Having a Sale!

2011-03-11T09:14:00.007+02:00

Time to stock up some Khandies (see my review here) for quick manicures ... ;)

Now I think I might try Footsies too for pedicures! And some more Lumi Lips -glosses...

At Lumiere Cosmetics

Piece of cake

2011-03-10T19:07:00.000+02:00

Here's a piece that doesn't look half as good as it tastes. It's a banana cake, something very different from what I usually bake. Not very Finnish either LOL. Funnily enough I baked it only hours before Lumi posted these fab banananails with a piece of her banana cake on her blog <- click to get there

I promised her to share this recipe so here it goes in Finnish... I don't master the cookery vocabulary enough to translate it to English (with all the measurements being different etc.), sorry. Let's just say it tasted a lot like Christmas; with gingerbread spice and cinnamon. Here served with ice cream and whipped cream.

Tämä resepti on MeNaiset-lehdestä pienin muutoksin.

BANAANIKAKKU

Ensin vuorataan pieni kapea leipävuoka ( n .25cm) leivinpaperilla. Tein tuplana hieman isompaan uunivuokaan itse. Sinne sekaan:

1/4 dl ruokokidesokeria +3 rkl voita nokareina (itse laitoin tavallista hienoa sokeria)
1-2 banaania viipaloituna, limittäin siihen päälle

Sekoitetaan yhteen (ei vatkausta):
1 dl öljyä
3/4 dl ruokosokeria
3/4 dl ruokokidesokeria (laitoin vain vajaa pari dl tavallista hienoa sokeria...)
1 1/2 dl vehnäjauhoja
1 1/2 dl grahamjauhoja (ei ollut grahamia, käytin kauraleseitä...)
1 tl leivinjauhetta
2 tl vaniljasokeria (jätin pois kun en tykkää, on niin kitkerä maku jos menee liikaa)

1 tl kanelia
1/4 tl pomeranssinkuorta
1/4 tl inkivääriä
( laitoin pari tl jotain piparkakkumaustesekoitusta jossa näitä kaikkia )

1 muna
1 dl maitoa (laitoin n. 0.5 dl valmista suodatinkahvia jota oli pannussa kylmänä + 0.5 dl maitoa)

tarjoiluun jäätelöä

UUNISSA 175 ASTEESSA 35-40 MIN.

Kakku kumotaan jäähtymään ja poistetaan leivinpaperi... Tosin minun kakkuni oli vielä niin kivan pehmoista ja bantsut pinnassa, että en kumonnut ollenkaan, nostin vain leivinpaperin päällä pois vuoasta. Lopputulos, jossa tosiaan ihanan pehmoinen rakenne ja karamellisoitunut pinta:

Holo + flakie = hot

2011-03-09T18:39:00.001+02:00

Wearing the pink flakie bling on my nails I suddenly remembered I have one photosession with Deep Red Ocean yet to share with you!

This is holographic polish #120 by Golden Rose with a layer of Deep Red Ocean of Sinful Colors. I did post some indoor pics long ago (here) - but forgot about the shots which are taken outside.

These are actually build with 1 coat of holo + just one coat of Deep Red Ocean. On the indoor pics (the link above) I laid another coat of the flakie.

I wonder if it's the more "mature" tone of the base polish (compared to First Kiss) - or just a bit longer tips on my nails - which make this look more serious compared to the previous flakie-look...

Imagine this with orange holographic polish - like real lava flow...

I wonder - in contrast - how cool it would look like with a blue holographic polish and blue flakie over it... Might have to try it like that too at some point :)

EDIT. I just realised these pics were taken almost last year almost to the date! 10th of March. How weird is that, a flakie fewer time every March?? LOL

First Kiss in Deep Red Ocean for Women's Day

2011-03-08T16:55:00.000+02:00

Barbie-girl look for Women's Day... Here's First Kiss by Misa (see it plain here) with a coat of Deep Red Ocean by Sinful Colors over it.

Not easy to capture on camera but gold, silver and blue flakes just fight over to be seen. First Kiss is just as playful with it's blue sheen. This is my only Misa but I'd like to own more if there only were more swatches around to choose the shades.

I was also trying to organize my stuff and took a quick pic of the nail art pen chaos. I know, I really should treat them with more respect than just toss them on the tool box... But there's just no easy way to store them since they don't stay upright like proper nail polish does. There's also a top shelf for this box where I keep my brushes. I used to store the rhinestones and other accessories in this tool box too before there were too many nail art wheels to fit in it. I should buy smaller boxes to fit inside this one so I could sort all the nail art pens by color.

Treat yourself nice today. I hear in some countries (like in Russia) you get a day off work today - we don't have that in Finland although the flags are up for us. In fact most of the women I've met and chatted today don't even know the flag is up for them/us today!

Happy Women's Day!

Quick Minty Comparison

2011-03-07T11:50:00.000+02:00

After Vintage and Silky Mint I thought I'd line up my "minty" shades for a closer comparison.

Turned out that Silky Mint by GOSH is by far my greenest "minty". For Audrey by China Glaze is the bluest I have. Next to it is my neon-minty franken (see me wear it here). Eyeko's Vintage is there in the middle of the range. The two between Eyeko and GOSH are my old old frankens - in a need for a little thinning too.

Now next to the neon-franken they all seem a bit dull - in reality they're not dull but the franken is super bright :)

About me as a (Nail) Blogger

2011-03-05T21:20:00.000+02:00

Here's a fun tag from Sonne's blog http://sonnela.blogspot.com/
Something I haven't written about before, maybe, and somethings you've probably figured out already...

1. I paint my real, natural nails. Sometimes I use a nail wheel to show some design or color combo / comparison but quite rarely. I had long nails way before I started playing around with colors. And these are my real nails, in good and bad :)

2. Sometimes my friends and my family get to be my nail art guinea pigs too.

3. I like to keep the designs simple. I know I'm no artist but an enthusiastic amateur. But I like what I do - I like to experiment and find some creativity out of vanity.

4. My first experience of nail art came in YouTube. I still find YouTube the best source to find new ideas - in addition to great blogs of course :)

5. I think tapping a keyboard is beneficial to my nails (blood circulation etc.) - but deadly to my keyboard... click bigger, original post about it here)

6. I've never been on a professional manicure. I don't think I've ever let anyone paint my nails! Among my friends I've always been the one most interested in painting nails.

7. Even if I don't feel like putting make up on, I usually wear nail polish. If I'm not wearing any polish you know something's wrong - I'm too busy or stressed out to make up my mind on color or something. Painted nails - on me - are a sign of a balanced mind. As vain as it may sound...

8. I only paint my nails (with base color) 1-2 times a week. I like to think that's one reason that keeps them strong - not using remover too often. I do change the look of the manicure though! I might add some design on them during the week or use some other polish for layering or at very least refresh the color with a top coat.

9. I have a strange habit of buying my polish in 3s. It's hard for me to leave a store with just one or even two bottles... Often it's three or nothing. If I buy online the practicality overshadows my trio-obsession: then I'll try to fit as many bottles as I can for an affordable shipping...

10. Nail polish not only makes me happy on my own nails - it brings smile on my face when I see someone else wearing a pretty polish too. Unfortunately, many women (in Finland) "abuse" nail polish in not using enough layers to get an opaque look - and then they blame polish instead of using a bit more time to paint them twice. In any case, if I'm not in too-shy mood, I like to compliment the stylish nails on others :)

11. I don't follow the trends but I like to try new things. It was a funny coincidence I got interested in crackle polish just before they became a trend last year. I guess if you're interested in many things you can't avoid being trendy at some point - favorite color or style etc., as original as it may be.

12. I don't usually buy whole collections of nail polish. I have only 2 collections actually: Katy Perry collection (minis) by O.P.I and Night Sky Collection by Nubar.

13. I don't have just one nail polish brand I swear by.

14. I follow many many nail blogs as well as nail art channels on YouTube. Sometimes I comment, sometimes I just admire.... Sometimes I read, sometimes I'm just in a mood to browse through inspirational nail pictures.

15. Without Internet I wouldn't be as bold with my own nails. I have been addicted to nail polish years before getting to know the blogosphere - but I would've never bought rhinestones and other decorational stuff without knowing there are other people as "crazy" as me! I wouldn't have made international transactions on nail polish if there weren't someone leading the way to the online beauty stores. The blog community has really widened up my views on nail art in every way.

16. Sometimes I find it funny how people IRL compliment on for example my crackled nails in awe - when we here in our blogs are like "this look is so boring because it's everywhere..." :D

17. Not many people know I write a blog. Even fewer know it's about nails and cosmetics... I like to think that the ones that are interested in nail art and who like this little blog will find it sooner or later.

18. I haven't held any giveaways and probably never will. I trust that my choice doesn't offend those who really read this blog. I love to see new people popping in my blog without alterior motives. I don't promote my blog. You nice people who are reading this are here for the right reasons and that's what keeps me going. No numbers could change that. Being in a good company is all that counts :)

19. Most of my readers are from the United States and only recently there've been more Finnish readers. In Finland we learn English in schools so I think any Finn is able to read my blog even if I mostly blog in English. If someone asks for a translation I'll be happy to provide a summary in Finnish or even Swedish. But I think most of the time pictures tell the story without language boundaries anyway?

20. I do follow blogs in languages I'm not fluent in - this particular subject, nail art, is mostly a visual delight and words aren't always necessary. Some girls are really talented with their photos as well as with their polish brushes. It's a form of color therapy to go through the blogger subscriptions, always uplifting.

On to the new challenges :)

Vintage polish by Eyeko vs. Silky Mint by GOSH

2011-03-05T12:29:00.004+02:00

Here's a super-quickie comparison between Vintage Polish by Eyeko and Silky Mint by GOSH.

The colors are captured very accurately here thanks to the new camera. On Vintage it says "jade green". Here (on index finger) you can see GOSH is a tad greener than Vintage (on middle finger).

Also, with GOSH I could get away with 1 less coat of polish to get it opaque. With Eyeko it took 3 coats, with GOSH 2 coats. No top coat on either of them. Both apply neatly. Eyeko's weartime (see my pics) was excellent.

Here's a full set of fingers with Silky Mint:

Although Eyeko's nail polish bottles are narrow - and it seems it's only half as wide as GOSH - it still holds a bit more polish! I was very surprised to see that, I assumed the other way around...Eyeko 8.5 ml, GOSH 8 ml. For the grip and application I appreciate narrow cap more - but I can see how manufacturers like to present some bottles as containing more by playing around with the design: wide caps, glass-within-a-glass bottle... In comparison I like honesty more.

If you're craving for some Eyeko, you can use my code for the free gift with a purchase on "Ambassador Code": E13919 . With free shipping on all orders over $55 WORLDWIDE:
http://www.eyeko.com/index.php

Thanks for stopping by :)

Vintage polish by Eyeko

2011-03-05T00:27:00.002+02:00

Finally I got to photograph this polish, these nails... I've been wearing Eyeko's Vintage for 5 days now... So here's a swatch where you can also see the damage - almost none! - that past days have done to the wear. But bare in mind it's not in its full glory obviously after all this time. You can see it hasn't flaked off or anything, but became a bit more see-through (the very tips)?

I always paint the nail down to the cuticle so you can also see some growth there :)

This is Vintage with 3 coats. No top coat at any point of these 5 days... And I've been washing my hands quite religiously due to a condition I've been in...

The reason it took me so long to get the pics was I've been feeling very ill this past week. I got a stomach flu with all its fun and actually had to go to a hospital to get rehydrated. The worst part was the heartburn (pyrosis) it caused - I almost felt like giving up on breathing because it hurt so much! Once the pain was treated I could almost dance. Amazing feeling to be able to breath and talk without the ache (although I still couldn't eat for another day after that). The worst pain I know in addition to a toothache.

Excuse my weary complexion. Feeling sick really took some toll on me. But I'm all better now. The sun is shining outside too and brighter looks coming up soon :D

Feeling very low, with messy hair, these nails were the only bright feature in me. Lucky thing it was uplifting color like this I happened to wear LOL

While taking these pics I realized I hadn't shown you Silky Mint by Gosh yet? It's a bit similar... I'll make a quick comparison between the two next :)

Treats for my sweets - true nail candy Khandies!

2011-02-27T11:42:00.003+02:00

Have you heard of "Khandies"? I stumbled upon them by accident really, while stocking up mineral makeup from Lumiere Cosmetics. Lumiere have this great section on their site called "Gift with Purchase". My total ended up being over 30 dollars so I got to choose a set of these mysterious khandies for free. They are these tiny balls wrapped like sweets and they smell too good...

For my free gift I chose Dessert Mix with Carrot Cake, Italian Biscotti and Pumpkin Cheesecake. There's a warning on the package - and I really needed to be reminded of it because the scent was so delicious:

"Remember, these may look yummy, but they are not for the tummy!"

What you do with khandies you first wash your hands with lukewarm water, then you take one ball (or cut a piece of it - it'll last many uses) and massage it on your hands. It has sugar and natural oils in it: the sugar gently softens the skin and the oils lock in the moisture. After a minute or two you rinse your hands, pat them dry and won't believe how soft your hands are!

INCI: Sucrose, Coco butter, Mango Seed Butter, Rice Bran Oil,
Apricot and or Soy Wax, Coconut Milk Powder, Fragrance Oils

On the site khandies are also sold separately (1 usd per treat or 8 usd per ten treats): here. The variety of scents is wide - There's even a scent called "black" for men. I don't yet know how it's like but I suspect it could smell a bit like leather..?

Here's the rest of the lot:The big jars on the background are mineral makeup foundations - one for me and one for my mom in Flawless Face -finish. The small jar is a gel liner for eyes in Magnetism. I also got Try me! -sample baggie (choose any 5 colors) for 0.01 dollars... It's sold under "Specials". I chose some new-to-me foundation options and blush shades to try :)

Now that my hands are all pampered I'll have to paint the nails in some soft shade... Pics coming up a bit later...

Piglet Nails with Happy Pink

2011-02-15T19:45:00.000+02:00

Yet another pink look for the season of love... This is my free-style Piglet on a base I'd yet to try: a glossy Happy Pink by H&M nail polish.

The lighter color on the tip is #8 Angel Touch by Lumene - it softened up as well as added shimmer to the base color just enough to make it a bit "frosty" looking. The defining line is painted with Nail Star nail art color. The stars are from this wheel I bought from eBay quite a while ago and I used Rimmel Wear Maxx top coat to attach them.

It took me about 3 coats to get Happy Pink this opaque. On it's own it's really glossy - a jelly finish then?

I've been wearing it on my toes for weeks now because it looks so delicious :P

Yeah the Piglet is not very pro - but the pinkiness on this look just screamed for more Oink oink to lessen the princess-effect and over-sweetness :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Glittery Valentine's with Katy Perry and a Teenage Dream

2011-02-13T14:07:00.001+02:00

Here's my look for the Valentine's Day - I got the O.P.I's Katy Perry lacquers just in time for this :)

I've been wearing China Glaze's Millennium with various combos for the past week, so I thought that would be a great base to start layering with Teenage Dream. The holographic LOVE on the ringfinger is a sticker (see here).

Glitttterrrrr.... The ringfinger is actually more me than the whole glittered nail but I had to try and seen how it looks as a whole manicure. It looks really cool from the distance, the whole sparkle and bling.

As you probably noticed, I've had to file down length on my nails quite a bit. I'm trying to get used to seeing them this short. But in any case it makes the french tips look more subtle than with very long nails. Have to try to appreciate the change :)

Here's the look with more sun outdoors...

Here's my whole new Katy Perry Collection. I only got the mini kit. I've actually never owned mini-O.P.I.'s before. They're so cute! I ordered these from Asos.com almost by accident... I didn't plan to buy this kit, but then I couldn't make myself to order just one pair of boots so I started browsing the beauty section... and then went on to Scrangie's to see her swatches of them and fell in love...

Nämä Katy Perryt on vaatekauppa Asokselta. En ihan ymmärrä, miksi osa lakoista on lentokiellossa Suomeen (kuten Illamasqua ja yksittäiset isot OPIt!), mutta osaa voi tilata. Onneksi satuin klikkailemaan kynsilakkaosastoa ja näissä kuitenkin oli tilausmahdollisuus. Sain sitten kenkätilauksen oheen vähän uutuuslakkaakin :)

Have a great weekend
and
a sweet upcoming Valentine's Day!

Kelier Crackle with CG Millennium

2011-02-12T15:55:00.000+02:00

My first black crackle polish, yeah finally! I first tried to get my hands on black crackle polish a bit over a year ago - then I could only find a white one. "Back then" there were no other crackle brands available than the one on Transdesign - remember? It's a funny thing it became a trend later in 2010 and now there seems to be practically no brand without a crackle polish!

I got this Kelier black crackle polish for a review from Bornprettystore.com . I do like the results :)

As you've probably read from elsewhere too, the density of cracks depends on the dry time and thickness of both the base color and the crackle polish. This look here is made with a one slowly applied stripe of black crackle polish over recently polished nails. No top coat.

I'm excited to try out differend kind of patterns to use with this black crackle... Maybe I should try black crackle french with it also. See my white frenchies here: first try with pink and white and second try with blue and white.

Other new products to get familiar with coming up soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pastel Birthday Nails

2011-01-30T00:04:00.000+02:00

Some fantasy nails for a change: one of my girls had a birthday and it inspired me to use the softest of shades :)

The base is Lemon Fizz by China Glaze. Accent colors are Baby Blue by Models Own and this pink nail art pen by Nail Star (the big lot I got from eBay).

The motives from left to right: a smiling cloud, just an abstract pattern, on my middle finger that's hearts and dots and next to it an ixe cream cone.

And the cream cake I baked for the big day :)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Lilac Polish by Eyeko

2011-01-27T10:39:00.000+02:00

Here's the sweet Lilac Polish from Eyeko. I paired it with Lilac Dream by La Femme Beauty to compare the two. You've seen that one previously here: Lilac Dream for Mom's Day. As you can see, Eyeko's lilac is more cold toned. I have it on my midfinger and pinky.

Both are quite opaque: it took me one thick coat - or two thinner coats on some fingers - to achieve this :)
I just thought of swatching these together but I liked the combo too much to take it off! It reminds me of a blueberry smoothie... :P

New Haul - pastel colors!

2011-01-26T18:03:00.004+02:00

(Suomea alempana) It's been a long time since the last time I bought new polishes. So... Here they are in three's, as usual. I don't know why I can't seem to by them in pairs or something, instead LOL!

First I placed an order to Eyeko . My very first Eyeko order and Eyeko nail polish as well. I saw Fat Balms on someone's blog and thought they might be my kind of lip products - and they are :)
I'll swatch them a bit later on my wrist if you like (no modelling lips here, sorry). This is 3-pack with "Cult classics": Mint, Strawberry and Raspberry.

The other products on the pic are from "Eyeko Vip Set" . It includes the Vintage polish and Petite polish, Magic mascara, Graffiti eyeliner and London lips. And also a pretty cotton bag with the logo. Now I got 2 strawberry Fat Balms for there was one in this Vip set also - but it's my favorite one out of the 3-pack so I'm not quite sure if I'll give it to a friend or keep it as a backup :)

Here are the cute nail polish bottles. I think I'm all tuned to the Spring, for I've been lemming for Vampira for very very long time and yet I picked these pretty soft tones to the basket. The middle one is Lilac polish - at the time I placed the order it was offered as an "Offer of the week" for free.

You can always find the featured gift product on the main page for orders over £15 / $18 / e15. And free shipping for orders over £35 $55 Wordwide!

I got an Embassador Code from them, one that grants you a free gift: E13919

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Ensimmäinen tilaukseni Eyekolta - nämä tuotteet on niin suloisia pakkausta ja tuoksua myöden! Toimitus tuli Briteistä nopsasti alle viikossa ja ilman toimituskuluja. Kaupanpäällisinä tuli tuo Lilac -lakka.

Tykkään kun eurooppalaisissakin kaupoissa alkaa olla PayPal-maksu, koska jotenkin se tuntuu parhaalta tavalta hoitaa maksut ulkomaille.

Tosiaan tuo ilmainen postitus on ihana houkutin tehdä pienempikin tilaus kerralla, ja tullimaksujahan ei tässä tarvitse miettiä ollenkaan kun EU-aluetta on. Viikon kaupanpäällinen on se toinen houkutin tehdä tilauksia vaikka tiheämpäänkin. Sain Embassador koodin, jota käyttämällä saa tilaukseen ilmaisen lahjan: E13919

Vain yhdestä asiasta valittaisin: tuotevalikoima saisi olla vielä laajempi. Mutta kynsilakoissa on mielenkiintoisia sävyjä kokeiltavaksi. Toivelistallani on tällä hetkellä ainakin Vampira, Rain ja Posh.

These are my new Models Owns Pastel pink and Baby blue + a Wet'n'Wild Rain Check. Bought from a local clothing store Seppälä, which is my favorite nail polish source.

With the MO's I got the free buffer file. The file doesn't feel good on my hand; it's hard to get a good grip of it. I guess I'm just used to more flat buffers.

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Seppälästä sai nämä ostaessani aina 2 Models Own lakan ostaja tuon buffer-viilan kaupan päälle. En itse ihastunut tämän "taikaviilan" muotoon, tuntui jotenkin kömpelöltä käyttää. Onneksi se oli ilmainen niin ei yhtään harmita, tulipa kokeiltua tämäkin :)

After the black tips I wore on the last post, I wore just regular white french tips. Not even a decent photo of them, they were quite boring. I kept on searching for my Konad set to give them a good stamping for a change but I seem to have misplaced my stamper! I did find the plates though. Have to clean up the closets and gather all the nail stuff together again. They seem to be everywhere but in the tool box I have for them... But luckily now I have these new nail colors to play with again. And one day, I will get a group pic of my stash.

See you with Eyeko-nails tomorrow :)

Black french manicure

2011-01-15T17:42:00.001+02:00

It's been a long time since I wore french tips. But this is what I came up with for this week. It's black and white design with Migi Nail Art pens: pointed stripes and rows of dots that get smaller towards the tip. For the base colour over the whole nail I laid a coat of Ticklish Toes, a whitish, very wintery shimmer by Wild and Crazy.

I like designs that look differend from another angle. These look like stripes when you see them from the "pinkie" and dotted when you look them from the thumb forward...

When I'd done this and looked it through the camera lens I thought there was something familiar to it. I had to go through my YouTube "french nails with a twist" playlist to figure out who might have inspired them...

This is what I found. It's not that similar, I mean the tip in the video is v-shaped and the colors are differend, the angle of stripes is not aimed as pointy and the dots compliment the stripes - not the tip form as in my version. Also the number of stripes is fewer as well as the dots obviously. I think it has inspired me although I wasn't aware of it while painting. It's interesting how the things we idolize do have an impact on us whether we acknowledge it or not.

The video above is by The Queen Eileen and you can find her great nail art channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheQueenEileen

Here's a shot of my nails from the front. When I look down on them I see mostly dots whereas other see the striped side :)

I did wear them for the first half of the week and got many compliments. For the rest of the week I've been wearing regular white french tips. I hope the sun decides to show up tomorrow so I can take pics of that look too.

Have a great weekend!

Black Velvet by Mavala

2011-01-09T11:35:00.001+02:00

Here's Black Velvet by Mavala, the polish I used as a base for Bluebelle in my previous mani.

As you can tell it's a very very dark almost-black color with a flash of purple. This is 2 coats of color if not just 1, so it's very opaque. Application is easy which is good, because if it ends up on the skin it's quite a smudge. It's also super shiny. I have no top coat on these. The accent stripe is Pure Gold by Nivea. These photos are taken back in August or sometime around it, when sun was still with us...

If the bottle looks small - well it is - but my nails were quite long back then too. I remember cutting a bit down after these pics.

In this thumb pic you can see the color through the bottle. A bit more of that purple on the nail would be great. I should try this one mattified - it could lend more of that underlying shimmer when the shine is blocked?

Have a great weekend :)

Bluebelle by Models Own (over dark base)

2011-01-06T09:49:00.000+02:00

I couldn't wait to show you this! It's a blue glitter from Models Own - my very first Models Own - called Bluebelle.

You know I have no patience for laying 3-4 coats to have a good coverage, so I first painted the nails dark with Black Velvet by Mavala and then added a coat of Bluebelle.

Just one coat dark base + one coat Bluebelle and look at it!

Reminds me of space with twinkling stars... enchanting...

I must admit I was afraid it would be just another glitter blur. But the glitter is just fine enough to spread nicely on the nail without losing it's magical reflecting effect. It's not grainy. Diamont Top Coat by Nubar over the whole nail for the finish.

I usually worry about removing glitter polish, especially a dark one like this. But I don't this time. Nor am I in any hurry to do that :D

I just realised I have yet to post pics of plain Black Velvet by Mavala. I remember shooting them after Summer. I'll get back to them when I locate them from the files... :)

3 x Rimmel for Mattified Pink Mani

2011-01-05T08:20:00.000+02:00

I got three Rimmel products at once, for the third one was free. So I wanted to combine all my new Rimmels to this look: 5in1 Base Coat, Portobello Pink and Matte Finish.

I like the base coat, although it's quite thin. My nail surface is not very uneven so I don't even need a ridgefiller. But time will tell how this works as a protection against yellowing which is my main concern. I have many many top coats but I've never really asked much from the base coat (Sometimes I skip using it completely, shhhhh...).

I was surprised how well the matte effect blocked the shine. I expected a more satin look like with Orly's Matte Top - but this Matte Finish was better in my opinion. At least in this combo.

I don't remember having a matte pink look before so it's a nice change. The dark pics don't do it justice so I'll spare you from more pictures this time. Here are the other Rimmels though:

Thanks for stopping by!

Go Crazy over Portobello Pink

2011-01-04T16:14:00.006+02:00

That is: Portobello Pink by Rimmel as a base color, Go Crazy by Lumene Natural Code as a highlight color. The Lumene is so sheer it shows as golden green on pink. And the pink shows as more neon due to green accent - though it's not really neon.

I just wiped the stripes with Go Crazy's own brush, starting from the sides and angling the brush to paint more narrow line towards the center. Not the most original idea as a pattern yeah, but a new color combo to use it in make it fresh. I've used it black on white and black on orange designs before, in safari-like combos. I like the effect in this as it reminds me of a bright garden with golden-green leaves...

I thought of a way to soften up the look a bit with new stuff I bought with these colors... I'll show you with the pics in the next post :)

Portobello Pink by Rimmel + other new polishes

2011-01-03T15:46:00.001+02:00

Lately I haven't been shopping much cosmetics. Nor even clothes. Now I'm feeling a new buzz again so let's see what happens...

Anyway, if I was to buy some polish it had to be pink, right? This one is Portobello Pink by Rimmel.

This polish is really opaque and for drying in 60 seconds it's a beauty. The wide brush is not my favorite kind, but the consistancy in this is so good I find it easier to use than O.P.I.'s wide brush.

It's a sweet color but in a berry-kind-of-way: not too "sugary" in my opinion. I should show my pinks side by side some time to give a better comparison.

Here are the rest of the haul: H&M nail polish, Models Own Bluebelle (my first and only one), Lumene Natural Code: 12 Go Crazy and 16 Go Glittery

In my next post I'll show you which one of these I'm going to use as an accent color on Portobello Pink :)

Batman Nails + Another Idol

2011-01-02T20:21:00.002+02:00

Here are my Halloween nails in a cartoon spirit: A Batman-logo made with Migi nail art pens black and shimmering gold. And the funky wig I bought to give my kids a scare: they really thought I had cut and dyed my (naturally long and brown) hair!

Mostly my girls were excited about the look for their big idol is Stephanie from Lazy Town. You know Lazy Town, with Sportacus?

Surely you know Sportacus?? My idol, a man in a mission - in real life too :)

I just think he should make a workout video for the mom's too...

Tomorrow more on the same color theme: one haul from months back with Portobello Pink :)

New Migis for Contest Prize

2011-01-02T09:27:00.000+02:00

Few months back I was too busy to even check my blogmail (yahoo) let alone keep up with others' posts on blogs and YouTube. Imagine my surprise when I checked my mail in a hurry (and a bit kranky) - and there was a note from Migi declaring I had won a free set of Migi Nail Art pens for submitting this picture for their Holiday contest:

Yahoo! "Contest winners" vid on YouTube: here

For the prize I selected Migi Set #100, "Shimmer" gold set with 8-colors. The turquoise and gold were most appealing to me. Though I do wish to own a "Pastel" set #104 one day too...

The picture from:
Select Marketing

I already had regular black, regular white, pearly white and pink nail art pens by Migi. They were also sent me for free during their YouTube campaign last yea... errr... in 2009 :)

I didn't have the screwable rings before this set, so I had just 4 "half-pens". Now with the rings it's much nicer to use them, more steady for the hand when making details. Still it's great you can unscrew them and toss one in the pocket. The size of the tube and width of the brush make them a great quick fix: a Migi fits into the smallest purse for the night out.

I made my Halloween manicure using the gold one with black. I'll be posting mani pics a bit later when I dig them out from the files.

So good to be back :)

New beginnings

2011-01-01T09:58:00.007+02:00

Happy New Year everyone! I'm happy to find so many readers here with me though I've been neglecting this blog since the summer. It's been one crazy autumn I tell you that!

One word for the past year: busy.
Thankful for: health
Best thing about 2010: moving on with the studies in August, although it meant... (read on)
Regrets: having so little time for my family, neglecting my friends, living the past months in a buzy bubble
Hopes for 2011: better scheduling -> less stress -> more fun and laughter -> health and happiness.

If I can't keep up with the ridiculous pace I've set for myself I hope I have the strength to slow it down before my body puts a stop to it (like it did back in October).
Promises: take a better care of myself and others, being here now instead of focusing tightly on the future

I enjoy blogging very very much and I can't wait to get back on the tracks posting new pics. I've been storing some during these past few months though the Nordic light (or the lack of it) has been very uninspiring ...and no blooming garden of course due to snow and cold... But I'll be back with them soon and the sun is getting higher each day.

It'll be a fine new year :)