Sunday, 6 February 2011
Dawn...or AKA Daddy's Little Girl
Friday, 9 July 2010
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
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Catrice Caramé Collection

Caramé conjures up visions of an evening stroll over an oriental bazaar: it’s still very warm, despite the late hour. The air is laden with the smell of oriental spices. Dusk slowly lays its blanket of peace and quiet over the vibrant, pulsating bustle of the market between Persian tapestry, blackened bronze jewellery and expressive Indian fabrics.
Today I'll be showing you 3 out of 4 polishes that belong to the newest Limited Edition collection by Catrice: The Catrice Caramé Collection. Of course I wanted to cover all four, but I couldn't find them all :-(.

Catrice - Bronzed Brown
Pretty shimmery brown. I'm not a big fan of browns, but this one isn't that bad. I applied 2 coats and experienced no issues at all. I probably won't wear this one often though, since I have no outfit to match it with ;-).

Catrice - Oriental Orange
I wouldn't really call this a true orange, more an orange-y red. Nothing unique of course, but I can appreciate a good red when I see one. The thing I love about Oriental Orange, is the finish, it's a jelly. Jellies are usually extremely shiny, and this one is just like that.
But there's often one big downside when it comes to jellies: they're sheer. I had to apply 4 coats and I still had a visible nail line.. It goes one very smooth and nicely though!

Catrice - Spiced Bronze
This one's kinda fun. Spiced Bronze really lives up to its name, it's a bronze with a little bit of edge to it. Pretty cool. I applied 2 coats but after seeing the pictures I think it could've used a third. No other problems whatsoever.
The polish that's missing is Berry Bazaar, a pretty berry creme or jelly. If I find it I'll make sure it will be added to this post.
Overall conclusion
The formula of these is pretty good, they weren't as thick as some of the nail polishes from their core line. No bubbling, dragging or any other funky stuff, while it's pretty hot out here. The colors aren't really my cup of tea, but that just boils down to personal taste. I do think they did a very good job visualizing the theme they were going for. The price tag is a huge plus too, they only cost 2,49 EUR or 3.15 USD each and are now in stores!

Enter the giveaway by Catrice
If you're interested in winning this collection (entire collection, not just the nail polish), Catrice is giving away 30 sets! You'll only have to fill in the form here.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Eyeko - Coral Polish


Wow. That's what I thought after I put this polish on. Wow. I don't really own anything THIS bright, and I think this polished unleashed a secret longing for colors like these, haha. I'm not sure whether this is considered a true neon, but it sure is BRIGHT. I do have some coral-y colors, but I certainly don't own anything similar. I think I'll be wearing shades like this a lot this summer!
Besides the color, I'm in love with the packaging of Eyeko polishes, every color has it's own designed label, cute huh?
The only thing that bothered me a bit, was the application. It's definitely on the thick side. It took 3 layers to even everything out. But if you add some thinner, it's pretty much perfect! I wore this polish for about two days, and experienced some chipping on my thumbs.

Eyeko polishes cost £3.50 (€4.- or $5.40) for 8.5ml. Eyeko products can be bought online at www.eyeko.com. Their shipping is extremely cheap: either free (if you're in the UK or Europe) or $5.40 for all international orders.
This polish was sent to me for review by Eyeko
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Catrice Limited Edition: The Oceana Collection!
Niet alle kleuren in deze collectie horen bij het thema vind ik maar wat maakt het uit. Wat wel leuk is, is dat deze collectie twee matte lakjes heeft en dat de kwaliteit erg goed is!
Op naar de swatches.
Pebble Beach, a zachte lichtgrijs. Dit is mijn favoriet uit deze collectie! De finish is meer satijnachtig dan mat maar dat past bij deze kleur ook wel heel erg goed. Dit is twee laagjes en de dekking was erg goed. De formule was prettig om mee te werken omdat deze niet, in tegenstelling tot sommige andere matte lakjes, haast op het kwastje al droog is.
Sea Of Green. Deze mooie turquoise is ook weer meer satijnachtig dan mat en is een goede tweede favoriet. Mooi! Ook deze was dekkend in twee laagjes en droogde eenmaal op de nagel redelijk snel. Dat is altijd erg prettig aan matte lakken. Bij cremes vind ik een satijnachtige finish ook mooier dan echt mat.
Ik hoor om me heen dat dit een matte versie van I Sea You van Catrice zou zijn maar dat is zoals je ziet niet het geval! Om de vergelijking qua kleur goed te kunnen maken heb ik over beide een topcoat gedaan. Op mijn wijsvinger en ringvinger zit I Sea You en op mijn middelvinger en pink Sea Of Green. Zoals je ziet is Sea Of Green donkerder dan I Sea You.
De volgende is Blue Out To Sea. Een donkerblauwe shimmer. Niet heel uniek maar wel mooi. De kobaltblauwe shimmer geeft deze lak net even wat meer diepte.
De laatste is Ocean Sunset. Ik zal er maar gelijk bij vertellen dat deze foto absoluut niet kleurecht is. Als ik alleen deze wilde laten zien had ik de foto niet geplaatst maar omdat ik de hele collectie laat zien wilde ik hem er toch bij doen. Deze lak is niet oranje maar echt brandweerwagenrood! Een prachtige rode jelly die ook weer niet heel uniek is maar als je nog geen rode jelly hebt dan is dit een erg prettige!
Op de foto draag ik twee laagjes zonder basecoat of topcoat.
Dat was het weer voor vandaag! Bedankt voor het kijken en dat jullie zo geduldig met me zijn geweest toen ik afwezig was.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Coral Comparison featuring OPI, Essence, P2 & Catrice


Hi guys! After swatching Catrice's I Scream Peach! the other day, I really felt like doing a comparison! I picked out four colors to compare: Essence - What do U think?, Catrice - I Scream Peach!, P2 - Flamboyant and OPI - Shootout at the O.K. Coral. As you can see, these are somewhat similar in the bottle.

On the nail, they are quite different, well two of them are. What do U think and I Scream Peach! are almost identical, I think the latter is a teeny tiny bit darker. Like I mentioned, these are really close dupes of Chanel's Orange Fizz!
The formula of these are really similar too, they're both cremes and they both need 3 coats. The one by Essence is more smooth when it comes to application.
P2 Flamboyant is darker and more vibrant, a bolder color. The finish of this one is kinda where a creme and a jelly meet. It took me 4 coats to get rid of the evil VNL, but other than that, application was perfectly fine.
OPI's Shootout at the O.K. is really different from the others, it is slightly duochrome, alternating between orange and pink. The formula of this one is really good, still needing 3 coats, but applies like a dream.
I think coral is a difficult color though, I love how summer-y it looks, but I do think colors like these tend to look better on someone with a tan, and obviously I don't have one haha. Will you be wearing coral this summer?
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
- Michèle
Monday, 5 April 2010
Catrice Let's Talk About Barrie!

Let's Talk About Barrie is een mooie berry-kleurige jelly. Prachtige kleur! Niet te rood, niet te roze, ik ben er helemaal weg van!
Ik had drie laagjes nodig om deze helemaal dekkend te krijgen maar als je geen problemen hebt met een beetje VNL (Engelse afkorting voor zichtbare nagellijn of visible nail line) dan is twee laagjes genoeg om een mooie finish te krijgen. Ik had met deze geen problemen met de formule. De lak werkte erg prettig, wat te verwachten is van een jelly.
Let's Talk About Barrie is a very nice berry-coloured jelly. Beautiful colour! Not too red, not too pink, I absolutely love it!
It took tree coats to be perfectly opaque but if you don't mind a little VNL (visible nail line) two are enough to get a nice finish. I've had no trouble with this one formula-wise. The consistency was very nice to work with as can be expected from a jelly.

Ik laat mijn linkerhand zien omdat mijn rechter een aantal flinke chips had na anderhalve dag dragen. Ik ben wel aardig hard geweest voor mijn nagels maar het is alsnog een beetje een teleurstelling. Ik heb ook wat vreemde krimp gehad op sommige vingers zoals je op mijn ringvinger kan zien maar daarvan geef ik Diamont de schuld.
Ik heb ook besloten om in het vervolg verticale foto's te posten in plaats van horizontale. Ik weet dat een aantal van jullie liever horizontale zien maar blogger cropt die foto's op een vreemde manier waardoor mijn handen en nagels er vreemd smal en uitgerekt en dat vinnik nie loik dus ik ga verticaal!
Reminder: Als je deze kleur wilt winnen schrijf je dan in voor mijn giveaway!
I'm showing you my left hand because my right had a couple of bad chips after only a day and a half of wear. I've been pretty rough on my hands but it's still a bit disappointing. I've also had some weird shrinking on some fingers as you can see on my ring finger but I blame Diamont for that.
I've also decided I'm going to post vertical pics from now on instead of horizontal ones. I know some of you told me you prefer horizontal but somehow those pics are cropped a a weird way which makes my hands and nails look weirdly thin and stretched and me no likey so I'm going vertical from now on!
Reminder: If you want to win this colour you should enter my giveaway!
-EDIT-
Ik ben vergeten om een puppy update te doen!
Wij denken er serieus over na om het bonte reutje te houden dat rechtsboven met zijn kont uit de groep steekt en mijn zus wil twee teefjes houden. Hopelijk vinden we op tijd baasjes voor de overige pups maar dat zal wel lukken. Wie wil er nou niet zo'n hummel? ;)
I forgot to do a puppy update!
We're seriously thinking about keeping the white and black male pup that sticks his butt out of the group on the top right and my sister want's to keep two of the bitches. I hope we can find new owners for the rest of them but that shouldn't be a problem. Who wouldn't want to have one of these? ;)

Thursday, 4 March 2010
OPI - My Espana favorites & Upcoming Shrek Collection!

Hi guys! How is everyone? I'm a bit sick today but thankfully I had already prepared this post yesterday, so I only had to push the Publish button (well, and write this of course) :-D.
I wanted to show you my favorites from the Espana collection by OPI. This collection came out last fall, and I was pleasantly suprised! The colors that came out were wonderful, I liked almost every polish out of this collection. I'm sure you've all seen them by now but I wanted to show you two favorites of mine..

The first one, and my ultimate favorite, is Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. This is a stunning blackened dark green. It has a jelly-like finish so It's incredibly shiny, even on it's own. The application was pretty good, the first coat went on really sheer but the 2nd coat makes up for that. I applied 3 coats, to get an opaque result.

The other color I absolutely adore, is Pamplona Purmple. It's a beautiful purple creme, with an amazing application. 2 quick coats and you're good to go!
After OPI's Absolutely Alice and the Hong Kong collection, they're already working on a new one: The Shrek After Forever collection.

I can't wait to try these! What do you think?
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
H&M - Chicks Envy Me

Hi guys! Did you all enter my giveaway yet? I wanted to show you another polish that's included in the first set I'm giving away: Chicks Envy Me by H&M. Normally I'm not a red wearing type of girl, but this one is really something else.
First of all, it looks so different from what I'd expected, it's more coral/orang-y red instead of a plain orange. Another surprise: it's not a creme, it's a jelly. Can it get any better, you might ask? Yes! It's on fire! It's so bright, I'd say it's a neon. If I had lived in the 50ies and I happened to be a hot smoldering pinup (a girl can dream, right), I wouldn't go anywhere without this sizzling bottle of nail polish.
So what's the catch? There is none! The formula was wonderful, like with most H&M nail polishes, and it only took 3 coats, which is pretty damn good for a bright jelly. Also: clean up is not a problem with this red! Normally red will flow everywhere if you try this, but not with this polish. If you think you can handle this flaming bottle of fire, go get it or check out my giveaway!
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Big on blue!


Hi guys! Did everybody enjoy the game? I'm totally clueless when it comes to American sports, lol. I'm quite busy since I'm moving so I'm hoping I'll find time to update my blog the next few days. *Crosses fingers*.
Anyway, Yesterday my mom, Romika, did a fun purple comparison, which really is her color. So I decided I'd do a blue one! As you can see the pinkie doesn't fit in with the rest, but it looked a lot darker in the bottle.
Here's what you're looking at:
Index: Nfu Oh - 280 - 3 coats
Middle: OPI - Dating a Royal - 3 coats
Ring: Herome W.I.C - Frankfurt - 2 coats
Pinkie: Claire's - Blue Fash (isn't labeled but this is what the receipt said) - 4 coats
As you can see the OPI and Nfu Oh are so close! I'd say they're almost a dupe. Almost, because Nfu Oh is the tiniest bit brighter, not that any 'normal' person would notice... ;-). The formula of the two is pretty much the same (being okay!), but Dating a Royal is a little bit more sheer.

These are all jellies, don't you just love that? The Herome nail polish is bordering on creme though, but it does own some of those great jelly characteristics. I love how this one is a more sophisticated, serious shade of blue. The one by Claire's took 4 coats for it to be opaque, that's not how we roll right!? For a full manicure I decided on the Nfu Oh. I love it! What's your favorite of the bunch?
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Gosh - Blue Monday


Hi everyone! It's thursday already, only one more day till the weekend! I've been quite busy and since I work from 9 to 18h, I rarely get to see daylight this time of year. I'm feeling quite the vampire. But Edward is nowhere to be found, alas. Anyway! This was trying to tell you the reason why today's pictures have been produced in our little ministudio :-D.

This is another jelly based shimmer/glitter polish by Gosh. Blue Monday is a medium blue and the formula was pretty much the same as Gasoline, very smooth, but it requires at least 3 coats and a topcoat to create that rich sparkly look. I like it! What do you think?
PS. Another Dutchie, with thepretty name Michelle ;-), started a blog a few days ago. Please don't forget to take a look at her Lacquerfiles!
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Gosh - Gasoline


Oooh no! It's monday already! Time goes by way too fast, or the weekends are ridiculously too short ;-). I hope you had a good one! I couldn't resist playing with the lightbox again as you can see! :-D.
Onto the nail polish! Meet Gosh's Gasoline, a pretty purple jelly based shimmer/glitter. I adore the color of this one, the jelly base is darkmagenta, but the shimmer is a blueish purple, which really adds more contrast.


As you can see the color really depends on the lighting! The formula was pretty good, like with all the Gosh polishes I own. However, I did find this polish to be too sheer. I applied 3 coats and left it at that, but it would've been prettier with 4.
On another note: I received a lot of tags, thank you guys!! I think it's really sweet and appreciate it a lot! However, I don't think I have the time this week to address them all and wouldn't know which one to choose since I got four different ones, so hope you'll forgive me..:-(
Thanks for reading and till next time!
Saturday, 30 January 2010
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!
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
New Collection: Catrice Nude Sensation
Ik moet zeggen dat ik een beetje teleurgesteld ben door deze collectie. Catrice heeft normaal gesproken aardig goede nagellakken maar deze waren veel te doorzichtig en streperig.
English: I saw these this morning and I had to pick them up because I don't own any nude polishes.
I must say I was a bit dissapointed by this collection. Catrice usually has some pretty good polishes but there were way to sheer and streaky.

01 Nude Cream. Een melkwitte jelly. Ik heb vier laagjes gedaan en er zijn nog steeds kale plekken maar ik weiger meer dan vier laagjes te lakken van welke lak dan ook.
English: 01 Nude Cream. A milky white jelly. I did four coats and I still have bald spots but I refuse to do more than 4 coats with any polish.

02 Soft Coral. Een doorzichtige babyroze. Ik vind de kleur wel mooi ondanks dat het niet iets is dat ik normaal gesproken draag. Ook nu had ik weer vier laagjes nodig en ze zou nog wel een of twee laagjes kunnen gebruiken.
English: 02 Soft Coral. A sheer baby pink. I like the colour on this one even though it's not something I would normally wear. Again I needed four coats and it could have used one or two more to cover streaks and bald spots.

03 Coral Pink. Dit is inderdaad een koraalroze! Ik weet niet wie besloten heeft dat koraal een goede nude zou zijn maar als iets op mijn lichaam deze kleur had zou ik me ernstig zorgen maken... Eerlijk gezegd vind ik deze echt afschuwelijk bij mijn huidskleur.
Deze had drie laagjes nodig en was wat makkelijker te lakken dan de andere twee. Misschien omdat ze meer pigment heeft?
English: 03 Coral Pink. Oh it's coral alright! I don't know who decided coral would make a good nude but I would be seriously concerned if anything on my body had this colour... Honestly I think this one looks hideous on me.
This is three coats and this one applied a lot better. Maybe this has more pigment?

04 Nude Beige. De naam zegt het al. Ze hebben het beste voor het laatst bewaard bij deze collectie. Deze vind ik erg mooi! Dit is drie laagjes. De applicatie was wederom een stuk beter dan de eerste twee. Mooi gelijkmatige laagjes en niet zo streperig.
Ik had wel een vergelijking willen doen met al deze lakjes maar ik heb alleen iets in mijn collectie dat een beetje op Nude Beige lijkt.
English: 04 Nude Beige. The name says it all. They saved the best for last with this collection. I really like this one! This is three coats. Application was a lot better than the first two. Nice even coats with minimal streaking.
I would have done a comparison of all colours in this collection if I had any but I only had something simmilar to Nude Beige in my collection.

Nude Beige op wijsvinger en ringvinger, Orly Country Club Khaki op middelvinger en pink.
Vergeleken met Nude Beige lijkt de Orly echt een grijs terwijl dat helemaal niet het geval is als je haar op zichzelf ziet.
English: Nude Beige on index and ring finger, Orly Country Club Khaki on middle finger and pinky.
Compared to Nude Beige the Orly looks positively grey which isn't the case at all if you see it on it's own.
Samenvattend: deze kleuren zijn niets voor mij en ik ben blij dat ik daar achter ben gekomen met nagellak van €1,99 in plaats van Essies van €14,-. Ach, ik kan ze altijd nog frankenen.
Bovendien is het best raar dat ze een kleur als koraalroze er wél in stoppen maar dat er geen nude voor donkere mensen in zit. Niemand is koraalroze Catrice! Maar meer dan de helft van deze wereld heeft een andere kleur dan deze lichte kleuren.
Dus ja, baggercollectie.
English: All in all, these colours are not for me and I'm glad I found that out with €1,99 polishes instead of €14,- Essies. I guess I could always franken the lot.
To top that off it's pretty strange that they do add a colour like coral but not a nude for dark-skinned people. Nobody's skin is coral Catrice! But more than half the population of this world has a different colour that these pasty polishes.
So yeah, sucky collection.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
The Lady Is A Tramp!
English: Hot Damn! This might be the brightest red I have ever seen!

Under The Mistletoe is helaas de enige lak uit de Essence All I Want Collectie die ik heb kunnen vinden bij mijn tripje naar Duitsland vorige week maar wat een vondst! Knalrode jelly met rode shimmer die ik alleen kan omschrijven met de afgezaagde term 'lit from within'.
Dit is twee laagjes met een topcoat. Niet volledig dekkend maar dat hoeft met een jelly ook niet. Alleen jammer dat ik hiervoor een donkere nagellak geswatcht heb en de restjes daarvan nog zichtbaar zijn onder mijn nagels.
English: Under The Mistletoe is unfortunately the only polish from the Essence All I Want Collection I was able to find on my trip to Germany last week but what a find! Bright red jelly with a red shimmer that I can only discribe with the corny phrase 'lit from within'.
This is two coats with a topcoat. Not completely opaque but that's OK with a jelly. Unfortunately I swatched a dark polish before this and the remainders of that are still visible under my nails.

Oja, de titel? Dat is iets wat mijn oma zonder twijfel gevonden zou hebben van deze nagellak. ;)
English: Oh yeah, the title? That is totally something my grandmother would have said about this polish. ;)

Ik vind haar mooi! Maar ik weet niet of ik genoeg lef heb om deze buiten de deur te dragen. Oma heeft ons goed getraind. ;)
English: I like her! But I'm not sure if I have the guts to wear it outside. Grandmom trained us well. ;)

Zou jij haar dragen? Bedankt voor het kijken!
English: Would you wear her? Thanks for looking!