Finally - Zoya Spakle

Zoya Sparkle is a a collection made of unique and very sparkle colors that are just so exciting and beautiful, so here are some pictures and some nail designs with those lacquers.

Nidhi
Gilda
Alegra
Charla
Ivanka
Mimi

Splat!

Happy monday!!! It's *bleepin* hot here today in sunny Las Vegas, and definitely doesn't feel like April should. :-D Today's design is simple again, I got home late after the show last night, and was too tired to do anything intricate, but I still dig the color combo- Flip Flop Fantasy is positively retina-searing, the picture doesn't do it justice! :) I'm sitting at my desk right now having a 'Flip Flop Fantasy'... wishing I was at home sitting in the shade wearing flip flops, my comfy jeans, and a t-shirt!! No such luck, it's a work day! The play last night was fantastic, and if any of you should get the chance to see 'Confessions of a Mormon Boy', I'd highly recommend it. It's hilarious, entertaining, charming, and heart-wrenching all wrapped into one story.



I used China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy as a base, with MAC Showy applied by dipping the end of a straw in the bottle of polish, then aiming it at the nail, and forcefully blowing air through the straw to splatter it. I topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Flippety flop! (I think it's about nap time for this redhead- why can't we have siestas here in the US?)

More gel nails...

I've been doing lots and lots of gel nails lately. It's the trend now I guess? 

Pink tips and crystals and ready made roses. This shade of pink gel color is my most popular pink! 

This is not overly sweet. I like!

Gel overlay on her natural nails. A proper overlay must not be too thin or too thick, and of cos the structure and surface of the gel nail must not be bumpy. It took me some time to understand the importance of this, and also how to create a smooth surface gel nail cos gel is not easy to control. This is also a reason why I feel that going to a nail school is important. Check out my school, Pink Room, if you're keen to learn.

Summer colors. Crushed shells inlay.

Blue, green and yellow crushed shells. Refreshing!

More gel nails...

I've been doing lots and lots of gel nails lately. It's the trend now I guess? 

Pink tips and crystals and ready made roses. This shade of pink gel color is my most popular pink! 

This is not overly sweet. I like!

Gel overlay on her natural nails. A proper overlay must not be too thin or too thick, and of cos the structure and surface of the gel nail must not be bumpy. It took me some time to understand the importance of this, and also how to create a smooth surface gel nail cos gel is not easy to control. This is also a reason why I feel that going to a nail school is important. Check out my school, Pink Room, if you're keen to learn.

Summer colors. Crushed shells inlay.

Blue, green and yellow crushed shells. Refreshing!

Hand made ribbons

Hand made ribbons in baby pink glitter. I love it. 

Hand made ribbons

Hand made ribbons in baby pink glitter. I love it. 

It's Sprung!

Ok, so it's over 80°F here in Vegas, I dare say that Spring has SPRUNG! Today's nail design was a simple one, I had very little time after class before I went to the International Beauty Show to do anything terribly inspiring, but I still like how it turned out!! I used one of the new polishes from my haul yesterday from a brand I've never used/heard of before- Dare to Wear by Lechat, I have to say, the polish is great, it applied wonderfully, and was opaque in 2 coats. :) (and CHEAP- since it was a discontinued color, it was $1.25 at the show. :-D Happy nail blogger here!! I also got to check out the new Shellac from CND, the lovely Kristina applied it to two of my nails. I'll post more details tomorrow about it!! :)



I used Dare to Wear Inspiring Surroundings as a base, with China Glaze DV8 applied with Konad Plate s9, and topped off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Ta-Ta for now.. I'm off to see Confessions of a Mormon Boy at the ONYX Theater here in Vegas. :-D Have a great night!! :)

Dino-MITE!!

Heidy-ho, neighbors! :) Today was a great day!! I participated in Corporate Challenge earlier (a Las Vegas competition between a bunch of corporations where we compete in sports, card games, etc), today's event was Kart Racing. Too bad Mike S. came in 7th, or we might have placed. :-P (Yes, Mike, that was another jab, lol) ANYWAY. lol Another fun thing I got to do today is go to the International Beauty Show! I'd never been to it before, so it was like being a kid in a candy shop... a tad overwhelming, but awesome. It was cool to see people like Nick Arrojo cutting hair a few feet away (and yes, I put in my phone number to be a hair model!! lol). I also loved going around to see all the nail booths, Nubar, CND, China Glaze, Minx, CalGel, etc. There are so many fun techniques- and I swear when I get my project done, I REALLY wanna try CalGel, it looks super rad... and I'm thinking that Shellac is going to be a must-have for this summer on my toes!!! Anyway- I'm hoping to have time to go back tomorrow, and I'll definitely be writing more about what I found, bought, saw, etc. in the next few days! :)

On to the nails... a girl named Danielle in my culinary class suggested that I do Dinosaurs.. I totally thought it was a kick ass idea, so I did it!! It's a T-Rex on my thumb, and dino footprints across the other nails! :)



I used MAC Abalone Shell as a base for the footprint nails, with Essie Mink Muffs and Zoya Dea sponged lightly on top, as well as for the footprints. For the T-Rex nail, I used Orly Snowcone for the background, L.A.Girl Army Green for the T-Rex, Nubar Forest for the shading and part of the lines, American Apparel Hassid for the eye, and the outlines, and Green Scene for the leaves at the bottom. I used Essie Matte About You on the footprint nails, and 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat on the dino nail.

RAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!

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

Behind a Mask

Happy Friday, everyone!! :) Today's nail design was inspired by an episode of Weeds in which the character Ignacio is a Lucha Libre wrestler who goes by the name Perro Insano (insane dog). I think the masks are funny, and colorful and fun, so I thought they'd make an interesting nail design! :) On a more personal note, the root canal saga comes to an end today- I get the final filling!! WOOO!! (this is the third installment/appt in the saga).



I used Urban Outfitters Matte Nude 3 for all of the exposed skin and American Apparel Hassid for anything black.

Left thumb:

Essie Mint Candy Apple for the base, with Pure Ice French Kiss for the darker blue and Zoya Trixie
for the silver.

Left index:

American Apparel Manila as a base, with American Apparel Downtown L.A. for the red.

Left Middle:

American Apparel Downtown L.A. as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the black.

Left Ring:

Green Scene as a base, with American Apparel Downtown L.A. for the red.

Left Pinky:

Sinful Colors Let's Talkas a base, with China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the outlines (for some reason the purple underneath dyed EVERY other color I put on this nail. (even through seche vite)



Right Thumb:

American Apparel Cotton as a base with American Apparel Hassid for the black.

Right index:

Pure Ice French Kiss as a base, with Orly Snowcone for the light blue, and Zoya Trixie for the outlines of silver.

Right Middle:

Zoya Trixie as a base with China Glaze DV8 and American Apparel Hassid for the lines.

Right RIng:

Electric Orange as a base, with American Apparel Downtown L.A. for the flames, outlined by China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection.

Right Pinky:

American Apparel Hassid as a base, with Sally Hansen All the White Stuff for the white outlines.

Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.