Essence: Right, Girl with Bundle Monster stamp

Hi guys!

It's been a while but I have a manicure I wanted to share with you all. Recently I finally gave in and bought the Bundle Monster plates from www.bundlemonster.com and I'm glad I did! I used an image from plate BM-222 and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme for the design.



Please excuse the tipwear. I'd been wearing this mani for a couple of days before I took the pics.

This polish is from the Essence Multi Dimension line and is called Right, Girl. It's a medium red with red and gold shimmer. The gold shimmer is not very visible on the nail but it's a nice shade anyway.



I don't own many reds (or pinks) but lately I find myself reaching for them more often so I've been expanding my pink and red stash. Do you wear reds and pinks a lot? What are your favorites?

Thanks for looking and until next time!

xoxo Kirsten

Ciaté - Silhouette

From the vault

Hi guys! How are you all doing? Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy. Thankfully I found some older pictures of a gorgeous polish on my hard drive, so let me introduce you to one of Ciaté's prettiest vampy shades: Silhouette.

Ciaté always hits my soft spot, the bottle is too cute, the little ribbon, the font, I love it all. British sophistication for sure! The color is quite dark, a very rich and warm dark brownish red. It looks quite brown in the bottle, but it's leaning towards red once on the nail. The color acts a bit like a chameleon, because it shifts between red, brown and even a bit purple, depending on the lighting. I can't get over how glowy it is, so pretty.

Application

Application was pretty easy, two quick smooth coats without any trouble. I did experience some bubbling, but only on my thumbs, how weird is that? This polish has decent staying power too, I remember wearing it for at least 4 days without chipping, I did add a layer of David top coat, and then I took it off.

Ciaté polishes cost £9.00 for a bottle containing 13.5ml. You can order them from www.ciate.co.uk

OPI Burlesque Collection: Teas-y Does It!

Last week I got a surprise package in the mail. Two gorgeous OPI polishes from the new Burlesque Collection! With this Burlesque Collection, OPI ties in with Sony release of “Burlesque” – Christina Aguilera’s film debut in which she plays an ambitious small-town girl with a big voice who finds success in a neo-burlesque club reminiscent of the nightclub in Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret.” Featuring an all-star cast including Cher!

Not sure if I'll go see the movie but the collection contains some very nice polishes. OPI went the glitter-route again and they do it so well!

As some of you might know from reading several Dutch nail blogs the Netherlands are always a little slow when it comes to new collections. It's not unheard of for new collections to come out up to two months later here. From what I understand, the Burlesque Collection is already available in the US but in the Netherlands it will be available from the beginning of November.

Enough talk, let's go to the pictures!

Teas-y Does It! is a vampy bordeaux polish. In the bottle the base is a sort of bordeaux and brown color with a very murky and smokey feel to it. It's filled with tiny foily flakes that flash purple, copper, gold and in some lights almost green. It seems to almost be a duochrome.

On the nail, I'm sorry to say, that multi-dimensional look doesn't quite show. You really need decent sunlight to admire this one in all it's glory. That said, it is a very pretty polish and one of my favorites from this collection. I'll definitely wear this one again!

It took me three coats to get it opaque but with careful polishing you might get away with two. Drying time is great! It was dry to the touch before I was ready to apply topcoat.Removal was also a breeze contrary to what I was expecting considering the flakies in the polish.

This polish will be available through the usual channels at the usual price. For the Netherlands this means it will be €13,95 and it will be sold at salons, Sephora, and more exclusive drugstores. For stores near you please check: www.opi.nl or www.opi.com

That's it for now! Tomorrow I'll show you Simmer and Shimmer from the same collection in a breast-cancer awareness manicure. Thanks for looking!

Misa Winter Collection 2010/2011: Spark My Interest - swatches & review

Misa Spark My Interest

"Whether you’re hitting the clubs in South Beach or sipping martinis in a Manhattan high-rise, you’ll need nails that glimmer as bright as the surrounding lights. Misa Cosmetics’ latest collection, Spark My Interest, pays homage to the glitz and glamour of nightlife and romantic intrigue—because nighttime nails should never fade into the background. The six brilliant hues are saturated with shine, thanks to the thousands of glittering particles packed into each polish, guaranteeing that nails remain the center of attention all summer long."

Hi guys! Today I have a review for you on Misa's latest 6-piece collection for winter called Spark My Interest. With polish names including a lot of "spark", "bling" and "glitz", I suspected a lot of shimmer and glitter, but were my high expectations met? Read on to find out!

Date Nights to the Twilight

Let's kick this off with my favorite of the collection, I really do love purple and it's the least conventional color in this collection. Date Nights to the Twilight is a foily shimmery medium purple, not too blue, not too red, somewhere in the middle. Very pretty.

Red Pumps at the Nordstrom

A metallic red. My camera didn't really pick up the detail in this polish, because it's a lot more interesting in real life. I threw in a macro shot so you'll get the idea. I don't really like metallic reds, especially in this particular shade. According to the press release this would be a sparkly ruby red, and it isn't. I hate to say it.. but this one looks a bit.. cheap?

Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink

Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink is a very pretty dark berry, plum-y color that does remind me of a good wine. I love the shimmer in this one, it's not as flat looking, not as glowy as I wished it would be, but still pretty nice and very fit for a sophisticated look.

Glitz, Glamour, Smile for the Camera

Just like Date Nights to the Twilight, this is more of a foil than anything. The press release said glam glitter, but hmmmm. This one is a pretty fuchsia, quite a fun color, and probably flattering to a lot of skintones! Foils tend to have great application so that's a huge plus.

Spark My Heart, that's a Start

This isn't just a pink, Spark My Heart, That's a Start, is more of a coral pink with a pink flash. This one is where a foil meats the metallic finish I think. I'd say pretty interesting for a pink. Somehow I can't remember the name of this polish correctly, in my head I keep naming it "Kickstart My Heart" like the Mötley Crüe song, ha!

Pink Bling On My Ring

According to the press release Pink Bling On My Ring is a shocking hot-pink glitter. And again... it's not. It's not very shocking, definitely not a glitter either. I wish it was though, because this almost looks a bit frosty? Definitely a nice shade of pink though, not too boring.

Overall

This is a difficult review for me, I absolutely love Misa, I fell madly in love with their latest fall collection, Toxic Seduction is one of my all time favorites! I love their bottles and their awesome application. And all of these polishes are no exception to this rule, they're all top notch quality. ALL of these were near one-coaters. I applied two layers for the pictures though, but if you're careful enough you can get away with one. They apply so well. They glide on, dry fast and smooth, it's really bordering perfection.

But! I don't know if it's just me, this doesn't look much like winter. Have you noticed this line in the press release: "remain the center of attention all summer long.". All summer long? ....Mhmm. These do look pretty to me, especially Date Nights to the Twilight and Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink, but they indeed look like fun, playful summer colors.
After Misa's fall collection - What I Like About You - everyone's expectations immediately sky rocketed. For winter I would have expected more drama, more glitter, more depth, more variety. Winter/Holiday collections are often the most extravagant show stoppers of the year. If colors like these are your thing, I'd definitely buy these, they're pure quality. But for me, this isn't really cutting it..

Boozyshop

The products in this post were provided to me for review by Boozyshop. Boozyshop is an awesome Dutch webshop, that sells a lot of great brands like Diamond Cosmetics, Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics, Misa, Color Club, Orly and a whole lot more! (makeup too). They carry the entire Misa line and they cost 6.95 EUR each for a bottle of 15ml. Boozyshop ships throughout most of Europe, if you're not sure they ship to your country, don't hesitate to contact the owner Maaike, because she's incredibly helpful! Misa is also available on eBay and other etailers like TD or Head2Toe.

Revlon A/W Enamel: Ruby Ribbon

To accompany this Dutch rainy fall-esque weather I've got one of Revlon's shades for fall for you. Revlon is releasing two new shades this fall/winter, called Emerald City and Ruby Ribbon. I'm guessing it's a Dorothy theme? Both shades are intense colored mattes with shimmer. Emerald City is a gorgeous emerald green, unfortunately this one won't be available in the Benelux.

Ruby Ribbon

Ruby Ribbon is a gorgeous ruby red matte with shimmer. It dried a lot darker than I would've guessed by looking at the bottle, but it's absolutely pretty. It's a very classic color, nothing too wild, but it reminds me a lot of the elegance from the 1940s. I would definitely top it off with some pin curls if I knew how to make them!

Application

This is my first Revlon ever and I was quite surprised! Especially mattes can be tough to apply, but not this one. It wasn't too thick or thin, it had the right consistency and it went on without any problems. It did took 3 coats for complete opacity. I can't say much about the wear because I only wore it for two days, but I it survived without getting too much tip wear.
Ruby Ribbon dries more to a satin than a truly matte finish. Personally I enjoy those flat mattes a bit more, but I'm loving this one nonetheless. The drying time isn't as fast as some other mattes I have, but at the same time, this is probably what's making application a piece of cake.

Revlon Autumn/Winter Nail Enamel will be available in September, retail price will be 8,95 EUR. Available at Drogisterij.net.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
- Michèle

The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for review. For more information please read my disclaimer.

Baroque Chic

I'm a winter-person. I love tweed, warm woolen sweaters and mittens. Waking up to see ice flowers on the bedroom window and staying in bed just a little longer, curled up under the blankets. Cooking typical (Dutch) winter foods like stews, hotch potch and pea soup. Taking a long walk when the first snow falls, even if it's in the middle of the night. Or should I say especially in the middle of the night? The world is a magical place when it's covered in a white layer. Everything is so peaceful and quiet.

I'm a longing for winter and I'm getting a bit sick of all the happy pastels and glittery goodness so for todays nails I used Catrice The Devil Wears Red; a nice near-black red vampy polish. I'm told TDWR is a dupe for Chanel Rouge Noir. I don't have that one so I don't know how close it is but it's a beautiful vampy nonetheless.

I've been painting my nails at night with poor lighting again (will I ever learn?) and I woke up this morning to discover a couple of spots that weren't covered completely so I decided to cover them up with a little Konad.

I used Konad plate M71 and China Glaze 2030 from the Khrome Collection for stamping. Most chrome polishes are great for stamping and this one is no exception! The result is always very crisp and clean and the shine is amazing.

Remember you can buy all your Konad supplies and China Glaze and other polishes from www.enchantra.eu at a 15% discount with the code DTCHNLBLG! They ship to most of Europe.

Incoco - The New Revolution In Nail Polish?

INCOCO. The Revolution in Nail Polish.

The world of nail polish as you know it is about to change forever! Finally there's an answer to the spills and smears of messy nail polish bottles: Incoco Self-stick 100% Nail Polish strips.

No other product can provide base coat, color coat and top coat in a single dry self=stick nail polish strip. In minutes, you can have a professional manicure that lasts up to 14 days

Incoco offers strips in many different colors and finishes and today I'm showing you Ruby Shoes, pretty, isn't it!?

How it's done

Incoco has really nice instructions up on their website, so if you're interested in this technique please check it out here. It can be tricky at first, but after you're done with a few nails you'll get the hang of it. You start off with a clean, buffed nail (ridges will show) and select the size that best fits your nail. Each strip actually has 2 sizes, one at each end. After that you just remove the top clear film, and peel the color strip from the backing paper. All you have to do is place the color strip on your nail against the cuticles. Smoothen up any wrinkles it might have, pull it over the tip of your nail and tear the excess off. If needed you can use the included file to smoothen up the edges.

If you're worried these might stain your nails, each color strips consist out of base coat, color and a top coat, I experienced no staining after wearing these for a full week. They're also b3f, which is a huge plus.

Wear

Yes a full week, no chipping, almost no tip wear, no scratches, dents whatever. I'm really impressed, I'm pretty sure I could've worn them for another week, but I had some new growth so I took it off. You can remove these with the special Polish Removal Cloth that's included. This is actually a piece of felt with Acetone based remover. I haven't tried it on any other color besides Ruby Shoes, but removal was okay, not as bad as I thought it would be considered the glitter! I've also tried using my regular non acetone remover and that worked fine as well.

Conclusion

I really like these! The thing that really appeals to me is the wear, Im thinking I'll be wearing these when I go on vacation, no worries about chipped nail polish, yay! Other advantages are: easily and quickly done, no smell, no drying time and an immaculate looking manicure. It can be a bit challenging to find all the right sizes for your nails. For me the biggest disadvantage is the price. The Ruby Shoes costs $7.99 for 2 strips (= 1 manicure), a bit much when you compare this to a bottle of nail polish. But, if you're looking for a manicure that lasts a long time, with little effort, these are awesome.

Visit the Incoco Website

The products in this post were provided to me by Incoco for consideration - for more information please read my disclaimer

New Eyeko polishes

Hi there! Eyeko came out with two new polishes called Rain and Saucy and they were kind enough to send me some for review. I actually wore Saucy yesterday but didn't get around to posting it so I'm showing you both today.

If you read my blog regularly you might have noticed I'm not really a red fan and I hate to swoon over a polish I received for review like this because it seems disingenuous but this really is the perfect red. It actually made my heart skip a beat when I opened the package. It's THAT beautiful! I may have found a HG red creme; something I never expected to find because red is just not me. Judge for yourself...

 Hi left hand!

*Swoon* Isn't it gorgeous?! I know other bloggers said it was a one-coater for them but I definitely needed two coats to get it nice and even. Not that I mind though, I'm not fond of one-coaters anyway. I always do a second coat with polishes like that unless I want to layer it.

I really enjoyed wearing this polish as it is but still couldn't leave it alone so yesterday afternoon I stamped it with a patern from an Essence plate to give it a bit of an Asian look. I can't tell you the number for the plate because I bought four different plates and they were only marked #1 and #2. This one had a #1 on it but because I had two different #1 plates I named this one #1A.

I'm really happy with how this turned out! It made me want to dress my hair up with chopsticks and eat Chinese food. Which of course I did. I made Kung Pao chicken for diner. Yum!

Today I'm wearing Rain. A blue-toned grey with a secret silver shimmer that is visible in the bottle but not so much on my nails. Weird because I've seen pictures from other that clearly show the subtle shimmer.

I had a bit more trouble with this one. Not horrible but like most pastels and lighter colours it has a tendency to get goopy so after the second coat I added a couple of drops of thinner to fix that.

Because I love my new nubbins so much and the Konad full-nail plates finally fit, I decided to stamp this one with a patern from plate M74. I've never been able to use this plate because it annoys me when slanted paterns don't cover half my nails but now they do.

I might keep this on for more than one day but if not I have a lilac-purple-white plaid mani planned for tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

Oh and if you hate me for writing this post in English only, feel free to yell at me in the comments. It's too hot to translate posts right now and I always have to cut half off my posts to prevent the dreaded wall 'o text when I write them bilingual so I'm giving English-only a try. It might even be permanent depending on your much or how little I get yelled at.

Eyeko is sold for  £3.50 a piece at www.eyeko.com but you can also buy sets. Check out their site for more info.

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

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.

Sailor Stripes

Sailor Stripes

Hi everyone! Last night I was browsing the internet and stumbled upon such a cute nail art design. It didn't see whose idea it was, so unfortunately I cannot give credits where due, but I loved it!
I know this isn't the most subtle design, but strangely enough it isn't bothering me, at all. I was afraid it'd be really difficult to recreate, being a major nail art n00b, but to my surprise, it wasn't!

Edit: thanks to Ashley I now know who to credit! The design is by Wah Nails. Definitely check out their other designs, they're fantastic!

Products I used: The polishes I used were H&M's Love at First Sight, Eyeko's Coral Polish and a black striper by Nailstar. I used the white creme by H&M for the base color, and I was really pleased with this polish. Where a lot of white nail polishes are streaky and sheer, this one is really opaque. It was a bit thick though, but it only took me 2 layers to get an even result. I also used Eyeko's Coral Polish, on which I wrote a review here. The color in the pictures isn't that accurate, because I had to resort to a different camera today!

Now, the striper is really good. I've tried other stripers in the past, but this one has the best brush, ever. It's really long and tapered, which makes creating straight lines quite easy. It also has a pen, which makes freehand drawing easier as well.

Well dear readers, I hope you liked this post! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Product information

Eyeko products are available at www.eyeko.com, Nail Star stripers can be found on eBay and H&M cosmetics can be found at some H&M stores in Europe.

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.

Check out this cute packaging!

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

Catrice Limited Edition: The Oceana Collection!

Catrice heeft ons niet alleen een geweldige core line gegeven maar ze blijven ook nog steeds erg mooie (en erg beperkte) limited editions uitbrengen. De meest recente is Oceana.

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.

Catrice did not only bring us an amazing new core line, they also continue to make very nice (very) limited editions. The most recent one is Oceana.

Not all the colours in the collection make sense to me but who cares. What matters is that this collection has two mattes and the quality of the polishes is great!

So, on to the 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.

Pebble Beach, a soft, light grey. This is my favourite from this collection! The finish is more satin than matte but that suits really well with this colour. I used two coats in this pic but the formula was very opaque. It's also easy to work with because, unlike other mattes I've worked with, it doesn't dry before it's properly on your nail.

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.

Sea Of Green. This nice turquoise that also dries to a satin finish instead of matte. It's a close second to my favourite. Pretty! This one was also opaque in two coats and once on the nail, it dried pretty fast. I like that about mattes. With cremes I also prefer satin finishes over true matte.

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.

Word around the blogs is this is a matte version of I Sea You by Catrice but as you can see it is not! To be able to compare the colours correctly I added a topcoat to both of them. I Sea You is on my index and ring finger, Sea Of Green on my middle finger and pinky. As you can see, Sea Of Green is darker compared to 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.

Next up is Blue Out To Sea. A dark blue shimmer. Not terribly unique but still pretty. The cobalt blue shimmer gives this polish a little more depth. 

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.

Last is Ocean Sunset. I'll say straight away that this pic is far from true to colour. If I just wanted to show you this one polish I wouldn't have even posted it but because I'm showing the whole collection I wanted to include it. This polish isn't orange but vibrant fire-engine red! A gorgeous red jelly that also isn't terribly unique but if you don't own a red jelly yet this one is very nice to work with!

I'm wearing two coats without basecoat or topcoat.

And that's it for today! Thank you for watching and for being so patient with me during my absence.

H&M Red Nail & A little bit more on nail polish

Hi everyone! Today I'm wearing something very traditional, but I'm liking it nonetheless! There's just something about pinup red that I absolutely love. There's not much to say about this particular nail polish by H&M, it's red. And surprisingly they called it 'Red Nail' ;-). But: the formula is outstanding, this jelly just glides on and it only needs 2 coats for complete opacity!

Red nail polish is incredibly timeless, I'm always mesmerized when I see a pinup or Hollywood actress from the 40ies wearing it. I decided to look into the history of nail polish, and decided to share with you what I found!

For example, did you know that nail polish can be traced back to at least 3000 BC? Polish originated at that time in China. The early mixture was a hodgepodge of bees’ wax, gelatin, gum arabic, and egg whites. The Chinese also added the petals of flowers such as roses and orchids, and alum to their polish. During that same time, upper class members in Egypt wore nail polish similar in texture to lacquer paint. The paint signified money and prosperity. I wonder what color Cleopatra preferred?
Rita Hayworth	During the Chou Dynasty, around 600 BC, the royal colors were metallic gold and silver. Nail polish was only meant for people of the Chinese upper class. If the lower class attempted to wear nail polish, they could be punished by death. The polish at the time was colored with natural pigments. I bet they would have drooled over the Orly Fx's ;-). Modern nail varnish was invented in the 1920's. Charles Revson formed the Charles Revson company with his brother and Charles Lachman, a chemist. They employed a French make-up artist, Michelle Renard, who wondered if the new technology used for painting cars could be used for the nails. She managed to create a modern lacquer made of the same nitrocellulose disolved in solvent, that was used on cars (except not the same strength).
The Charles Revson company became Revlon (they added the L in the middle of the name for the other co-founder Lachman). The first Revlon nail polish went on sale in 1932.
But if it wasn't for Hollywood, nail polish wouldn't have become so big. Colour movies had just arrived, and audiences could see their favourite actresses wearing the exotic reds and mauves of the Revlon company. Painting your nails and buying the matching lipstick gave you a bit of Hollywood glamour even if your clothes were cheap. Other cosmetic houses soon followed and added nail polish to their ranges too. By 1940, long red fingernails became very popular, due to Hollywood starlets and pinups, especially to actress Rita Hayworth, I just love her. Since then, red nails remained on top, either long or short. Funnily enough, prostitutes were the first ones wearing it before it became mainstream! I'm not sure what to think of that haha.	Bette Davis
Source: all over the place ;-D

So now you know a little bit about the history of nail polish! I hope it didn't bore you to death, haha!

Thanks for stopping by and I want to wish you all a great weekend!