Crank it up with Crackle: Barry M Instant Nail Effects - Black Magic

Hi Guys! As you might have noticed Crackle is huge these days: Crackle is back! There are quite some brands releasing crackle top coats at the moment, IsaDora, BYS, P2, OPI, Barry M and I think I'm still forgetting a bunch. Last year I ordered a Krackpolish from TransDesign and it did Jack. So don't order that one! But today I'll be showing you a crackling top coat that actually works: Instant Nail Effects by Barry M! There is a reason I'm posting this today, it's Halloween! And don't you think this polish makes you look like someone who just crawled out of their coffin? Muahaha.

Be quick

What I like about this matte black top coat is the fact you can see it work, it dries and crackles FAST. In fact, it starts cracking while you apply it, so you'll have to be rather quick. There is no need or time to apply it perfectly, just slap it on and you'll be fine. You'll only need one thin layer and make sure you don't overlap, because it messes with the crackle. It doesn't really work well will all kinds of top coats though. I found it works best if you apply your base color, use a quick drying top coat, let it dry and then apply the Crackle. And that way the matte effect stays intact!

Barry M Instant Nail Effects applied over 4 colors by Catrice: Clayton My Hero, Sold Out Forever, I Scream Peach! and London's Weather Forecast.

Play with Color!

As you can see the crackle comes in big chunks, almost making it look like the print of a giraffe. Seems like the new crackle is more like this, Black Shatter by OPI has a very similar effect, but if you like the dense crackle from back in the day I suggest looking into the one by BYS!
I applied Instant Nail Effects on top of several colors, and it looks very hot against a contrasting color, but I like the more subtle effect it gives on a closer color as well! I've seen this Barry M top coat applied over gold, and it looked smoking hot.

Overall

If you really like this Crackle effect I'd definitely recommend this top coat. It applies alright, but you do have to be quick. I love the fact it dries matte, it definitely adds to the deconstructed look! The price is alright too, depending on where you buy it, it will cost you around £3.99 / $6.40 / €4.60 for 10ml.

Where to buy

I noticed it's out of stock everywhere, but as soon as they'll restock you can buy Barry M Instant Nail Effects directly from their website or from Alice and Jo's Havesentials.
ETA: If you're Dutch you can check out this shop: www.beautyfocus.nl

Opposites attract! Guest blog on Grazia Daily

Guestblog over at Grazia Daily!

Hi guys! A while ago I was asked to write a little post for Grazia Daily. Lauren posts a lot of cool nail news this section called Grazia Daily Nail, including her own manicures. I'm extremely honored they have asked me! I made two manicures for them, which you can see in this post. If you want to know more about these please check out the blogpost over at Grazia Daily

Color Club - Revvvolution

My Private Chainmail Revvvolution

Bon Giorno! Hope everyone is doing well! Just like the last holo I posted, this one was bought to fill a void left by some other tauntingly HTF polish. Yep, you've guessed that right! OPI My Private Jet original. I own two different kinds of My Private Jet, but neither of them come even close to the real thing: the hottest black holo evar!? There are some alternatives out there: Diamond Cosmetics' Chainmail Charm and another one you see here: Color Club's Revvvolution.

High hopes

Ok. I'll say it. I actually was a bit disappointed when I wore this for the first time. I don't know, the holographic effect was less pronounced then I had expected. It is pretty gorgeous nonetheless. So if you're not expecting MPJ, it would definitely work!

Application

The more Color Club polishes I try, the more I'm stunned by their application. Everything just goes on so easy, a delight to work with. Revvvolution is pretty opaque, so I only needed 2 layers. And did you know it does a pretty good job at stamping as well?

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon!
- Michèle

Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers

Celebrating!

Hi guys! What's up? Today may not really be the time for vampy colors, since it's an excruciatingly hot summer day, but today is the day I've been blogging for six months so I wanted something festive! Only six months, it seems so long already!

Glitter

I think this polish is just fabulous! Red Ruby Slippers by Deborah Lippmann is a black jelly base with a mix of small and big hexadecimal hexagonal red glitter. Absolutely divine. It's like China Glaze's Lubu Heels on steroids!

Application

Polishes like these are never the easiest to apply though. You really have to be careful when it comes to the placement of the glitter, it can be all over the place! I actually had to use a stick to immediately push the glitter back in, away from the cuticle, while it was still wet. Normally I like to layer wet over wet, but this one needs a little bit of drying time between layers. But it's so stunning to look at, that I'm gladly taking this for granted!
You can wear this at two coats, but I applied 3. It does dry bumpy and not so glossy, so you definitely want to bring out the top coat. I applied 3 layers of Nubar Diamont to create a smooth glossy surface.

Deborah Lippmann polishes cost between $16-$20 for 15ml each. You can order them online at deborahlippmann.com

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you next time!
- Michèle

Matte vs Glossy Ideas

Hi everyone! The weather is not playing along today, it's sooo dark that swatching is utterly useless. So that's why I came up with this little blogpost. Maybe you remember the above picture? I'm not a big nail art fan, but I'm a sucker for subtle stuff. I used a Konad image plate (M57) and stamped a top coat on a matte base, and I really liked the look of this combination.

You don't necessarily need Konad to combine matte and glossy, you'll only need a matte nail polish (or matte top coat) and a shiny top coat or clear polish.

more examples

I came up with some examples, that might be boring for many, but I'm eager to try out myself. If you've got some nice suggestions, please do share!

Matte base with glossy tip	Glossy base with matte tip	Moon mani on matte base	Moon mani on glossy base	Slim glossy tip on matte base
Glossy Ruffian on matte base	Diagonal half	Glossy dots with dotting tool on matte base	Glossy anchor, either stamp or freehand	Glossy stripes, with a striper on matte base

Of course the options are endless! And you can choose any color you wish!

Well dear readers, this was it for today, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the last day of the weekend!
- Michele

ManGlaze - Matte-Astrophe

Hello everyone, today is a dark day for all metalheads out there, therefore I found a ManGlaze mani to be quite appropriate. I've used a dark shimmery color by Allesandro as the base, unfortunately I cannot find a name or number on the bottle so it will remain anonymus for now. It is quite pretty, well at least that's what I think, and I'll definitely show it to you soon!

On top of this I applied ManGlaze's Matte-Astrophe. I've did a real short review on it the other day, in my Matte Top Coats comparison post. In short: awesome application, thin, smooth and not streaky! Dries to a gorgeous matte finish in appr. 30 seconds. The wear is pretty decent too, it stays quite matte and doesn't really chip. And oh, have you seen the artwork on the bottle? Damn hot.

Now, you've might already noticed the insane crackle effect. Some people told me they never experience this coolness, but I think I've got it figured out. If you apply Matte-Astrophe on top of a fully dried polish, it's bound to dry more like a regular matte top coat. If you want to get the crackle going, try applying it over wet, not fully dried, nail polish. Just sit back and watch the magic happen.

What do you think of this Crackle effect? Hot or not?

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio
\m/

ManGlaze - Matte is Murder

>

Hi everyone! Last week I received my order from ManGlaze, I was so excited! I have been drooling over their polishes for months now, so I decided it was okay to give in ;-). ManGlaze is actually one of the, if not THE, very first company to sell matte nail polish. Of course a lot of brands followed, but there's not another single brand out there with the same attitude and edge that I love so much. Oh and the nail polish is pretty damn good too. I got all 4 polishes, Matte is Murder, Fuggen Ugly, Matte-Astrophe (clear matte top coat) and Hot Mess (bling matte top coat). Eventually I will show you all of these and I will compare the matte top coat with some other matte top coats I have. But today I will show you Matte is Murder. Meat Matte is Murder is a bad ass black matte with a nice shimmer to it. The shimmer has a turquoise hue, absolutely stunning. The formula was really good compared to all the matte polishes I've tried so far. I only applied 2 coats, and this polish actually allows you to go over the same area multiple times, without ending up with a streaky mess. Drying time was pretty awesome too, just a couple of minutes and you're good to go. I haven't been able to test how good or bad the wear is yet, but I'll come back and edit this post when I find out more.

I actually took this pic a week earlier, so my nails are a bit longer here

If you get bored with the matte look you can always add top coat, the shimmer really comes to live, so pretty. I decided to make a ruffian with some top coat to show you what it looks like.

You can order ManGlaze polishes online at www.manglaze.com and they do ship internationally!

Well dear readers, this was it, thanks for stopping by!
- Michèle

Eyeko - Vampira polish

Hi guys! Long time no see! My absence was caused by my crappy laptop's decision to call it a day. My hard drive completely froze and never really recovered, so all of my pre-made swatches are gone, down the drain :-(.

Luckily I do have this one for you today: Vampira polish by Eyeko. Eyeko has just released five new trendy shades including a taupe, pastel pink, coral and this black and red glitter polish. The packaging is very cool. Every shade has their own designed label, absolutely adorable.

Vampira Polish (for gothic nails) is the star of the collection, hands down.
I *love* this black base filled with bright red glitter. I think it's pretty hot, I could totally picture Elena from The Vampire Diaries wearing this. Not Bella though: "I've been tortured, Alice painted my toenails!". Aaaanyway, Eyeko sure knows how to please a vampire infatuated girl like me.

The application was alright, definitely the best out of all the Eyeko polishes I've tried so far. It only needs 2 coats for complete opacity. It is a bit on the thick side though, so I would recommend adding some thinner for easier application. The finish is rather dull as well, you'll absolutely need a top coat to make it lust-worthy glossy.

Eyeko polishes cost £3.50 (€4.- or $5.40) for 8.5ml, which I don't find to be that cheap actually. However, for a unique color like this I wouldn't mind making an exception. On the other hand: their shipping is extremely cheap: either free (if you're in the UK or Europe) or $5.40 for all international orders.

This was it for today, thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

- Michèle

EDIT: I compared this polish with China Glaze - Lubu Heels (14ml for $2.99) this weekend, and they're are really similar, the glitter in Vampira Polish is brighter though.

This polish was sent to me for review by Eyeko

Lacquered Leopard

Hi guys! How is everyone doing? I'm enjoying my last night of the weekend: it's almost monday again! Since my last post was about animals I felt like creating this beastly look ;-). You all know I'm no Konad girl, but I do think subtle Konadicures are something I could get used to, they're cool.

I started of with H&M's Moonless Night, a black shimmery two-coater, I promise I'll show it to you some other time!
After that I applied one coat of Matte Magic by China Glaze. I don't own many different matte top coats to compare it with, but I think it's pretty good. I love how it transforms your polish into real matte hotness, instead of a cowardly satin finish.

For stamping I used plate M57 and plain old, nothing out of the extraordinary, top coat. It's probably due to the fact I'm boring, but I love how simple and subtle it looks. Leopard prints often border on tacky, but a little goes a long way, I'd say!

Thanks for reading and I wish you a great week!

Psst, yes this photo is mirrored, my fingers always pointing in the same direction bore me, lol.

Ruffian Inspired Manicure & The most awesome gift

There's this amazing manicure that I've been seeing around. The Ruffian Inspired or reversed moon mani as it's called. Since I adore moon mani's (Dita von Teese, wow), I wanted to try it! Also, I promised the lovely ladies from the Dutch boards to do a full mani, so here it is!

I've seen so many pretty ones already on the blogs, mine is a bit boring, but I like it nonetheless. It may look a bit better on shorter nails though, what do you think?
The colors I've used are China Glaze Millennium and OPI - Lincoln Park After dark matte. Only one coat of each! I never use the matte because I was so disappointed when I found out how dark it was, it's nothing like the original shade! However I think it fits well in this manicure. I'm definitely going to do this again, but with other colors.

I also wanted to show you a gift my best friend gave me today! He also got me 3 gorgeous nail polishes, but you'll see them making an appearance on my blog soon enough ;-). Look at this cute little monkey! I absolutely adore it. What (the hell) is it, you might ask? It's a nail polish dryer! When you put your hands on the banana button, the monkey will blow air at you. It's so damn cute, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. If you're reading this: dank je wel!!

You can obtain this cute little fellow at www.freefalluk.com

This was it for today, dear readers! Take care and till next time.

Gosh - Rainbow

Hi everyone! How is everybody doing? I hope great :-). Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time today so this will be a very short post, sorry about that!

Let's jump straight to the nail polish: Gosh Rainbow has got to be one of the finest nail polishes Gosh created. It's a top coat filled with orange-green duochrome flakies. Imagine all the combinations you can make with this! My favorite combination has to be with black though. I layered it on top of BeYu's #318, a lovely, easy to handle, black creme. I applied 2 coats of black and only one coat of Gosh Rainbow. The finish of Rainbow is really smooth, not bumpy or gritty at all. Don't you just love the way the colors change?

Oh before I forget: I get a lot of questions about how I paint my nails, especially around the cuticle area. Expect a post about this very soon!

I've got to run now, take care and till next time!

Koh - Black Stars

Hi! Is everyone enjoying their weekend? I hope so! Yesterday I decided I wanted to spend a gift voucher I got for Christmas. Normally I really don't like spending a lot of money on nail polish, but gift certificates kinda take that guilty feeling away :-D. I got 2 nail polishes by Koh, a Dutch brand that many actually don't like. And this is probably due to the higher price (14 euros a bottle) and the weird formula. I didn't like it at first either but I learned that I need to use a different top coat and all is well. They do have an amazing color selection, so it's getting harder for me not to like them ;-).

Today I'm wearing Black Stars, which reminds me a bit of the $OPI 212, but I think Koh's version is more vivid. The black base is a jelly and consists out of multi colored glitter and some duochrome flakies! I think you probably either love or hate this polish, it's definitely a bit weird :-D. It's so festive and hysterical, I wish I had this last New Year's eve!

Oh btw, my dearest stepdad made us a lightbox, since the weather wasn't playing along, so I had to try it out and change pictures! The normal closeup macro's didn't turn out that great, I think the lights may be too bright or the camera isn't cooperating, but pics from further away were kinda nice!

Wire Stripper!

Mijn anonieme handmodel had niet zoveel zin om nog een keer zijn nagels te laten lakken dus ik laat deze zelf wel zien. ;)

English: My anonymous hand model didn't really feel like having his nails polished again so I'll show you this one myself. ;)



Wire Stripper is een zwart-bruine basis met een brons/koperkleurige shimmer die hem een haast metalige look geeft.

English: Wire Stripper has a blackened brown base with a bronze/copper coloured shimmer which gives it an almost metallic look.


Applicatie was wederom erg goed. Ook deze is dekkend in twee laagjes. Iets anders dat me opgevallen is wat niet vaak genoemd wordt is dat deze allemaal erg makkelijk te verwijderen zijn. Ze glijden met een klein beetje remover zo van je nagels af.

English: Application was again very good. This one is also opaque in two coats. Another thing I noticed and which is often neglected in reviews is that these all are very easy to remove. You only need a little bit of remover to let them glide of your nails.




De laatste in mijn serie BB Couture lakken dus dit lijkt me een mooi moment om een algemeen oordeel te geven. Ik ben erg onder de indruk! Het zijn niet de goedkoopste lakken maar ze zijn hun prijs ook dubbel en dwars waard. De dekking erg over het algemeen erg goed, ze lakken fijn en er zitten erg mooie kleuren bij. Ik ben zeker van plan om er een aantal aan te schaffen in de toekomst.

English: This was the last one in my BB Couture series so this seems like a good time to give a general verdict. I'm impressed! They are a bit pricey but they are worth every penny. Coverage is very good in general, application is a breeze and they have some beautiful colours. I'm definitely planning on buying more in the future.






Verder wil ik ook nog even gebruik maken van deze mogelijkheid om iedereen nog eens op de Hand Of Hope Collection van BB Couture te wijzen waarvan 25% van ieder verkocht flesje naar Haïti gaat. Je kan de hele set aanschaffen voor $54 of enkele flesjes voor (volgens mij) $9 bij Overall Beauty. Door op de foto hieronder te klikken ga je rechtstreeks naar de site.

English: I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out the Hands Of Hope Collection one more time. Of every sold bottle 25% will go directly towards helping Haïti. You can buy the entire set for $54 or one or more bottles for (I think) $9 a piece at Overall Beauty. Click on the pic below to go to the site.

From The Vault: Sheet Music!

Een oudje vandaag want ik kreeg BB Couture Ravager niet mooi op de foto in mijn lightbox en er is absoluut geen zon vandaag.

English: An oldie today because I couldn't get BB Couture Ravager to photograph nicely in my lightbox and there is absolutely no sun today.




Eerst heb ik mijn nagels gelakt met een witte Kiss nagellak waarvan ik de naam niet meer weet.

English: First I polished my nails with a white Kiss polish that I can't remember the name of.




Daarna ik gestempeld heb met Konad Special Polish Zwart en plate M73, heb een topcoat opgedaan en om het af te maken een laagje China Glaze Matte Magic om het meer op papier te laten lijken.
Ik ben er wel blij mee! Jammer van dat vieze haartje op de foto. :')

English: Then I stamped with Konad Special Polish Black and plate M73, applied a topcoat and finished with a coat of China Glaze Matte Magic to make it look more paper-like.
I like this one! If only there wasn't this nasty little hair in the pic. :')



Bedankt voor het kijken! Ik zal binnenkort de andere BB Coutures laten zien.

English: Thanks for looking! I'll be back with more BB Couture soon!