CND Effects Sapphire Sparkle - Beetle Sparks

CND Colour & Effects

This may be one of the polishes I've used and loved the most, ever! It's not a regular polish, it's actually a top coat you can use for impressive layering.

Sapphire Sparkle is part of CND's Colour & Effects line and my most favorite of them all, just look at the dazzling duochrome finish: the color shifts from purple, pink to turquoise and blue. These colors just seem to compliment each other so well.
The great thing about these is that you have a multitude of options, you can pretty much layer your way to oblivion with these amazing top coats.

Sapphire Sparkle layered over Misa's 'A sin worth commiting'

Sapphire Sparkle particularly looks great on top of darker hues, like black, grey, taupe, green and blue. Of course you can try anything you'd like. This time I've decided on Misa's 'A sin worth comitting', a beautiful shimmer-y blue with flawless application. Doesn't this combination remind you of the Purple Coleoptera or Beetle?

Application

The application of these CND Effects does not disappoint: they apply smooth and easy. Because of their dense pigmentation, just one layer will suffice. They also dry extremely well and fast, which I find important, as I mostly use these to spice up an older manicure without adding another layer of top coat.

Since Sapphire Sparkle consists out of glass flecks, instead of glitter, you'll get an extremely smooth surface. And removal is super easy!

You can buy CND Colour & Effects polishes for $5.50 each, online at www.transdesign.com, or you can use the CND Store Locator.

Beetle picture via TrekNature

Zoya Smoke & Mirrors GIVEAWAY! 6 WINNERS!

Zoya Nail polish is sponsoring a giveaway to 

6 lucky readers of 'The Daily Nail!'

Check out the contest here!

Contest deadline is Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 11:59 PM PST

Bridal nails - gel and acrylic.

Some bridal nails I did recently...


This is marbelling with gel colours. Kinda simple but I love the colour combination.


Acrylic extension with gel colours. Peach pink tips with painted roses and lace.

Gel nails. Simple french nails with painted black ribbons (inspired by Clara) and a full bling ring finger.

Gel nails. A clean set of nails for her wedding photoshoot.

Acrylic extension with gel colours. Loving the lace design here. Very pretty!

All the lace, crystals and flowers but definitely not over the top. :D

Clear acrylic extension. Painted the lace details on the tips.

Acrylic extension with gel colours. The white and dusty pink colour combi looks very country style.

Acrylic extension with silver glitter tips. White embossed flowers and crystals make it look very bridal!

Acrylic extension with gel colour. Simple with painted roses, pearls and crystals!

Gel nails. Classic french lace and red roses painted on white tips. Nice.

Bridal nails - gel and acrylic.

Some bridal nails I did recently...


This is marbelling with gel colours. Kinda simple but I love the colour combination.


Acrylic extension with gel colours. Peach pink tips with painted roses and lace.

Gel nails. Simple french nails with painted black ribbons (inspired by Clara) and a full bling ring finger.

Gel nails. A clean set of nails for her wedding photoshoot.

Acrylic extension with gel colours. Loving the lace design here. Very pretty!

All the lace, crystals and flowers but definitely not over the top. :D

Clear acrylic extension. Painted the lace details on the tips.

Acrylic extension with gel colours. The white and dusty pink colour combi looks very country style.

Acrylic extension with silver glitter tips. White embossed flowers and crystals make it look very bridal!

Acrylic extension with gel colour. Simple with painted roses, pearls and crystals!

Gel nails. Classic french lace and red roses painted on white tips. Nice.

Review: Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat

Top coat overload

I know, there is a plethora of quick drying top coats out there, it's hard to choose! I've tried a few: Seche Vite, Out the Door, Poshe, OPI RapiDry, China Glaze Fast Forward, Nubar Diamont, you name it. They all have one thing in common: there's something about them I just don't like. Serious shrinkage, lack of shine and luster, toxic, horrible smell, lousy formula etc etc.

The last couple of months I have been using a top coat that isn't getting that much love yet: the Revlon Quick Dry top coat. It claims to set in 60 seconds to a 'hard lustrous finish' and to protect polish from nicks and chips. And what a great find it is!

Formula

One of the best aspects of this top coat is the formula. It's not thick, rather thin actually, but this allows smooth application, without brush strokes or dragging the colour around. There is NO shrinkage like we get with Seche Vite, but it does have Seche Vite's awesome shininess. The drying time is a fraction slower than Seche's, but the polish still dries within a minute to the touch. Not rock hard in 60 seconds as it claims, but it's still fast enough for me. Revlon Quick Dry top coat doesn't get goopy quickly either.
My polish doesn't chip that much as it is usually, and Revlon is doing a pretty good job to keep it that way!

Cruelty Free & non-toxic

Revlon is cruelty free and non-toxic, which is all good in my book! I've received my initial bottle for review purposes, but as I'm on my 3rd bottle as we speak, consider me hooked!

Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat costs 8.95 EUR or appr. 5.75 USD for 14.7ml/0.5 Fl.Oz. Available at your local drugstore (DA Drogist in The Netherlands) or online at www.revlon.com

Essence - (S)Lime up!

Weird

I like them, weird colors. Unusual colors never seem to bore me, and they're sure something else amidst the usual pinks and reds. But there are times when weird just isn't flattering anymore. At least, that's how I feel about this lime creme by Essence called Lime Up! They sure love exclamation marks over at Cosnova.

It was to be expected I wouldn't be gung-ho on this color, since I couldn't embrace OPI's 'Who The Shrek Are You?' either. As you probably already know, these two colors are very much alike. They're not dupes though: Lime Up! is a bit on the lighter and less muted side than its more expensive semi twin. This color probably is a lot more flattering on those with darker skin than mine. I believe Lime Up! came out last fall and is now part of the core Colour & Go collection by Essence.

Application

The application was actually pretty good though, definitely not as bad as some other Essence polishes I've tried. I applied three coats and experienced no problems like bubbling or streakiness whatsoever. I've worn this color for four days without any signs of chipping or even tipwear. Quite impressive for a budget brand, I'd say! But four days of wearing this slimy color were more than enough, if you ask me.

Essence Colour & Go polishes cost 1.25 EUR or 0.99 USD for 5ml.

Well, I Declare!

Happy Fourth of July to my US readers!

I love doing holiday themed nails, so I knew that I was going to do a design for today. I wanted to do something different than the stars and stripes, so I did my interpretation of the Declaration of Independence! Did you know that

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

has been called 'one of the best-known sentences in the English language"?

I've always been a history nerd. Yes, I was that kid (the only one) in the biography section of the library checking out historical biographies, presidential biographies, etc. for fun rather than for homework. Though my favorite president to read about then (and now) was Abraham Lincoln, I still loved burying my nose in an ancient hardcover about Washington, Jefferson, pretty much name it. Fascinating stuff, really.

Anyway, to the nails. I sponged them to look like aged parchment, then painted certain recognizable words on each hand.

I used: American Apparel California Trooper as a base, then sponged China Glaze Classic Camel in spots, then sponged a mixture of China Glaze Classic Camel and American Apparel California Trooper over that, then sponged a little bit of CND Blackjack over that and on the tip edges.

And as a bonus, a picture of my guilty boyfriend. He attempted to make me watch Star Wars by turning it on the TV when I was getting ready, so when I came back out, I was half-watching it while I was putting on my shoes, that is, until I saw R2-D2 and realized what was on, and stopped watching it. To explain this, I am 30 years old and have never watched any of the Star Wars movies, and I intend to keep it that way. :)

Who me?!  Never. I had no idea that there was a Star Wars marathon on TV!

Have a happy and SAFE Fourth of July everyone!!  Keep all your fingers!

Mum's first french

Sorry for the lack of updates! This time of the year is one of the busiest moments for most early childhood teachers out there. Portfolios and parent teacher's meetings were haunting me for the past week! But I'm glad everything went well and parents are very satisfied with their children's learning under my care. (:

That aside, here's a long overdue picture of my mum's first french manicure experience. I was disappointed with the french that I did for her. Partly was cause it was done at 11 in the night with bad lighting (mum's thinking of changing the lighting in the living room) and the white that I used was extremely thick! Gonna spam it with Seche's restore.

The base colour that I used was OPI's Passion - a famous base colour for french. It's a very light pinkish colour, making your nails look very natural for french manicure application. I used OPI's Alpine Snow for the tips before drawing the flower outline with black acrylic paint. Lastly, I layered it with OPI's I Juggle Men before topping the center of the flower with a pink rhinestone.

Though the french was disappointing, I absolutely loved the flower. Looks extremely elegant and perfect for weddings in fact! Would love to do this design on someone's fingers. If you're interested, do contact me at valerie.gmh@gmail.com I may give a big discount for this design since it's something I really wanna try! (:

Chanel Mimosa

Les Fleurs d'été

Yesterday I finally managed to pick up Mimosa, Chanel's trophy polish for this summer. I haven't been watching the newest nail polish collections closely the last couple of months, however I did have my eye on this yellow show stopper.

Mimosa is part of Chanel's summer collection called 'Les Fleurs d'été' and is limited edition. Mimosa, named after the champagne drink, is a very bright, bold yellow that really does manage to remind me of sun, flowers and summer. There's no way around it, yellow is hot this season.

As we're used to by now, Mimosa has that secret shimmer you'll only notice in bright lighting or sunny weather. It doesn't really bother me, but it's something to keep in mind if you happen to be fond of this finish.

Application

Chanel polishes are truly hit or miss when it comes to application. Yellow polishes are infamous for this as it is, and Mimosa is no exception to this rule. After three sheer, streaky coats it finally looked somewhat even. I'm not sure what's causing these very different formulations; Paradoxal and the Khaki's applied like a dream, but Nouvelle Vague, Riva and Mimosa were a little disappointing. Especially considering their price!

I can't say much about the wear, since I haven't been wearing it long enough.

Chanel Mimosa costs 22 EUR or 25 USD and is available online at Chanel.com

Summer Chic mani

Hey guys! Today I wanted to show you yet another funky french, lol. The oh so sweet Kim from Color Club sent me a bunch of fun new nail art items to try, and this was one of them. Now, I love these little things, but really only like to use them on my accent finger when I do funky french manis. They are so cute, but too many, IMO, can be overkill. So I went for what I am calling, a Summer Chic mani :) The little orange slices are just adorable!!!

I also love the fact that these are so thin. I've used others that were on the thicker side, and were just too big and bulky.

I started with my go to base of Professional 10 #415 Pinky Promise. I get mine from CVS. Then after a coat of SV and about 10 minutes, and taped my nails off, and did black tips. I hen did one more coat of SV, and when it was dry, and added a tiny drop of nail glue on my ring finger, and set the orange slice over top.