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
Did you know nail polish was invented for men? Chinese Emperors and Egyptian pharaos were the first to cover their nails with polish! Nowadays we're seeing more and more guys getting mani's, pedi's and wearing nail polish. Be it male models, footballplayers, rockstars, actors, YouTube make up gurus, your neighbor, you name it... it's definitely up and coming!
Badass brands like ManGlaze and BB Couture even came up with nail polish lines aimed at men.
How do you feel about this? Something just for metaldudes, or is it for everyone? Would you date someone who likes to wear nail polish?
I myself wouldn't mind it for one bit! Isn't it a tad weird that we all strive for the equality of men and women, but men wearing nail polish or make up is still something that's being frowned upon?
If you happen to be a guy who likes to wear nail polish, please let us know your story!
image credits: The Sartorialist & onlineticketsusa (Marilyn Manson) & coveralia (Dave Navarro)
Hi guys! After all the bling bling and gloss sometimes you just want to take it down a notch. Personally, I love my mattes, they just seem to add that little extra attitude when glossy nail polish just doesn't cut it. My favorite brand in mattes is ManGlaze, and I've showed some of their products already, but today it is Fuggen Ugly that gets all the attention. Don't you just love the name?
This grey matte nail polish with its pretty shimmer, dries in a heartbeat, but still allows several brushstrokes without causing a big streakfest. I applied 3 coats and it all dried pretty smoothly. Fuggen Ugly's finish isn't as matte as Matte Is Murder's, but it still remains far from being satin. Another great thing I keep mentioning is their fab artwork, every bottle is a little piece of art!
At the moment Fuggen Ugly is sold out, but ManGlaze is bringing back a new and improved (more matte!) Fuggen Ugly, so keep an eye on their Twitter for more updates!
Fuggen Ugly costs $6.66 (\m/) online or $13 in stores.
Hi everyone! Today I'm writing about how to do a Ruffian. I've got this request from the lovely Natasja so here it is!
This manicure is created by Creative Nail Design (CND) especially for the NYFW Ruffian Fashion show. Since then everybody has been calling this manicure the Ruffian, or Ruffian inspired, manicure.
Although it has been around for a few months now, I still think it's hot! It's like the revamped funky french if you ask me.
I've seen different techniques on how to do this, but I do this in a very simple way. A lot of people use french tip guides or other stickers to create that curve, but I always make a huge mess when I even look at guides. I actually just apply the ruffian like I would with a normal manicure, I just start higher up.
I made pictures first but they all came out blurry, so I decided to draw them!
 1. Start off with a clean nail, apply base coat. |  2. Apply the base color of your choice. This is how I do it. |  3. Place a drop of polish at the center of the nail, a bit above where you want to start the ruffian. |  4. Carefully push the drop downwards, to where you want the ruffian to go. |  5. Now move your brush upwards making a straight line till the end of the nail. |
 6. Go back to the base of the ruffian and swipe the polish along the curve of the nail. |  7. Keep dragging the polish until the whole side of the nail is covered. |  8. Repeat step 6, but do this on the other side of the nail. |  9. Repeat step 7, but do this on the other side of the nail. |  10. You're all done! Finish with a (quick drying) top coat. |
Thanks so much for stopping by!
- Michèle
Creating a monster? These big EMPTY juggs have a wide mouth. Naturally, they'd come in pairs but then we thought why not 3 juggs? Our dumbest idea yet is the biggest industry innovation since ...matte nail polish. Sexy monster by Australian artist Tegan Coddington!
3 for $3.33 + S/H (Web exclusive. Not available in stores)
That's what the ManGlaze website says about their juggs. Don't you just love this concept, or their wit? If you don't know what a Franken or Frankening is: Frankening a nail polish means your creating your own custom nail polish mixing other existing colors or pigments. A lot of people clean out old bottles especially for this, but that's such a drag! ManGlaze has a solution for this, their Frankening Juggs! You get these in a set of 3, mixing balls included!
First: the artwork is AMAZING. I don't know any nail polish brand with labels this awesome. And wait, do I see the Iron Maiden font there? Love. The label also allows you to write down the name you've made up for your own custom color and the ingredients you used. So cool!
Second: The bottles have a very wide opening which really comes in handy when you're pouring all kinds of stuff into it. Don't fill 'm up completely, because the mixing needs some room. When you're done simply close the lid and shake! Now this is where things get a little tricky though. Since the opening is very wide the nail polish automatically adheres to the cap, so when you open your jugg make sure you don't have a lot of nail polish dripping down, because it can get messy. The only solution to this would be making a smaller neck, but then the whole mixing process wouldn't be as easy. The brush is a bit stiff, but nothing unmanageable. (and apparently all new bottles already have an improved brush!)
I would have attached a picture of the Franken I made, if it didn't fail that miserably. It just wouldn't dry! That leaves me with this tip: if you're Frankening with different types of nail polish, good old toxic nail polish combined with b3f nail polish, it's possible to run into problems like this!
Anyway, if you're ordering ManGlaze polish, make sure to get these too, they just rock so much!
Do you Franken?
Hi guys! My giveaway ended last night, so the last few hours were spent going through entries, sorting them out in a spreadsheet. There were so many, I was so overwhelmed, thank you ALL so much for entering and the neverending support!
I used www.random.org to determine the winner and I'm pretty sure you're very curious to see who the winner is...
... I can tell you one thing, the winner won 2 awesome nail polishes by ManGlaze: Matte is Murder and Fuggen Fugly. Second, the winner is a she, and she lives in a country where a lot of my readers come from...
...Brazil! So who is it then?! With no further ado, I present to you the lucky winner:
Congratulations Karla Scoparo! I will be e-mailing you for your address shortly :-)
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/
Hi guys! If you love matte nail polish, you're bound to love matte top coats. I love these because you can transform any polish into a hot matte finish. There are many to chose from, even with different finishes, so let's compare the few I have!
As you can probably tell there are some differences between the four. Let's break it down a bit:
 | P2 - Matte Top Coat (€1,55 / $1,95 for 8ml / .27 Fl. Oz.) This one has the most satin finish of the bunch. The substance is a bit cloudy, which you definitely can tell by looking at the nail. You could say it dulls the color a bit. Application is pretty smooth! This top coat is not that easily available since P2 is a German brand, but it is relatively the cheapest of the four. Drying time: slowest of the four, definitely needs a couple of minutes. Wear: Chipped after 3 days. |
 | ManGlaze - Matte-Astrophe (€10,43 / $13,13 for ?) Like everything ManGlaze, this one is special! Matte-Astrophe has a crackle effect (not always), which you either love or hate. (Most likely to happen when you apply the top coat when your nail polish isn't fully dry yet). Application is seriously the best, smooth, thin and not streaky. Mattest of the bunch. Drying time: pretty quick, 30-60 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges. |
 | China Glaze - Matte Magic (€5,16 / $6,50 for 9,6ml / .325 Fl. Oz.) Matte Magic has a truly flat finish, no shine or effect. This one's a bit thick though, which affects the application. Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 1 or 2 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges. |
 | Essie - Matte About You (€7,94 / $10,- for 15ml / .5 Fl. Oz.) This one goes on super smooth, isn't thick and isn't as cloudy as Matte Magic. The color wasn't affected as much either, which is a big plus! Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges. Common problem: after a while it's possible you'll find white specks in the polish. |
| Please note, wear can be different for everyone, depending on body chemistry and activities during the day | |
If I had to pick only one, I'd choose Essie's Matte About You. Matte Magic is a bit too thick for my taste and the one by P2 is way too satin. I love love love Matte-Astrophe though, but I'm not always in the mood for crazy crackle ;-).
So Matte About You it is, application and wear is really good. And, not totally unimportant, it respects the original color the most. Funnily enough I don't own this one myself yet, Daphne from www.nailswatches.com lend me hers, so I was able to this comparison, thank you Daph!!
So, when I'm running out of Matte Magic, I'm going to order Essie MAY myself.
If you're happen to be Dutch, I have some good news for you! Hema just released their own matte top coat, I'm so excited. Unfortunately I couldn't find it in the stores I've been too, but I've seen swatches, and it sure looks promising.
Well this was it already, thanks so much for reading and have a great day -
Michèle
  | Yes you read that right :-). I was enjoying my ManGlaze polishes so much, I just felt the need to share some of the ManGlaze awesomeness with you! Unfortunately I cannot buy everyone nail polish so I'll be giving away Matte is Murder (click here for swatch & review) and Fuggen Ugly to one lucky winner. The rules? Pretty simple:
I won't be sending out this package myself, I will order straight from the ManGlaze website and make sure it gets delivered at your address. Yay for laziness! ;-) |
>  | 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.
|
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
