2010 China Glaze Awakening Swatches.........

So I was SOOOOO excited to get home today because I had an order waiting for me!!
The main item, is the 2010 China Glaze Awakening collection for Halloween. This collection is AMAZING, the glitter is so pretty!
These swatches are all 2 coats w/ 1 coat of SV.

The 1st one is Mummy May I. Its a Black Jelly base with medium sized bright purple glitter!

Then there is Zombie Zest. This appears to be an olive green base with lime green/yellow glitter.

Ick-A-Bod-Y is the most Halloween looking polish IMO. It too is a black jelly base with medium sized orange glitter!

Review: Orly Bonder

A while ago I asked everyone to let me know their base coat recommendations. Nailtek Foundation II and Orly Bonder were the ones that stood out from the crowd. I had the chance to order Bonder so I went at it. I've been using it for some months now so I figured a little review wouldn't hurt!

According to Orly:

"This exclusive rubberized bond grips polish to the nail surface for adhesion that lasts. Prevents nail color from peeling, chipping or wearing off for up to two weeks."

let's see about that!

Extending wear, good application, creating a smooth canvas, protecting my nails from peeling and staining, are all things I find really important when it comes to a base coat. And I have to say...

...Orly Bonder scores very well if you takes these criteria into consideration.
Orly claims that manicures will last up to 2 weeks, which I find a bit daring to say. This all depends on your body chemistry, nail polish and top coat you will use, and don't forget about your daily activities. I noticed I can wear manicures around 4 or 5 days when I use Bonder, which is quite impressive, to me. But nowhere 2 weeks! It also applies easy peasy, and it dries pretty fast, allowing me to apply my first layer of nail polish almost immediately.

Is it all that?

Bonder leaves a rubber-y layer on your nail, I guess this helps a lot when it comes to chipping, since it adheres very well. I've heard some people experienced peeling and splitting nails, but I haven't, and I've been using it for a few months now.
But, yes there comes the but, preventing stained nails is a huge factor to determine wether I really like a base coat or not. Well, Bonder isn't that good at this. I've noticed that my nails stain horribly when I use nail polish with a lot of red in it, somehow Bonder isn't capable of fighting these devilish red pigments off.

Conclusion

I grew quite fond of my Orly Bonder. I love the way it applies, the rubber cap, the brush, the way it prevents chipping.. But that staining has got to go! So for now, this is definitely one of my favorites, but I'm still on the lookout for that one base coat that will steal my heart forever. I might give Nailtek Foundation II a spin after finishing this one. How do you feel about this base coat?

Orly Bonder costs 7 USD for 18ml (prices may vary depending on where you buy). You can get Orly Bonder from Boozyshop (starting tomorrow) or find a store near you using the Orly Store locator.

My favorite manis from the past. I'm playing catch-up!

Okay so I wanted to share a few of my past nail designs. So here they are. Please feel free to ask about any one of them. There are a lot I know, but I have been a member of MUA for a while now, and took pictures for my NOTD on there, so now I am playing catch up for you guys. Starting from now, I will be posting my daily manis, designs & step by steps on how I do them.

Making a Splash

Since yesterday's nails were so, well...GREY, I thought today I'd make some colorful ones!! I tried a technique of using a crumpled paper towel to apply the colors other than the base color. I I think (if you squint) it looks sort of like the shadow on the bottom of a pool of the ripples on the surface of the water. Perfect for a day like today, which was absolutely gorgeous. (uncharacteristic for a Vegas summer- it never even hit 90°!)

I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos as a base, with Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Bone Chilling White, and Orly Bailamos sponged over it. I also used Orly Bailamos for the 'moon', then edged it with aqua colored crystals. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Tonight was the last night of bowling league *sad face*, but here is a picture of my team- we took 10th place (out of 18). GO TEAM (Our name was 'I Can't Believe It's Not Gutter') Gotta love that not just one, but TWO of my other bowling buddies chose ME to give bunny ears. What kind of crap is that?! :-P

Team 'I Can't Believe It's Not Gutter' (Alicia, Bill, Joanna, and Me)

A few of the new Borghese Swatches

Okay so I am VERY excited to finally start my blog. I have tons of older swatches and mani designs that I would love to share with you in the future, but for now we shall start with the new Borghese polishes I bought this past weekend from Ulta. I only got 3 of them, but I can say, it's all love!

The 1st one I got is Mediterraneo Sea. It's a deep teal base with silver, purple & bright teal glitter.

The 2nd one I have to share is Vigneto Berry. This is an amzing semi dark magenta with bright pink glitter in it.

Last but not least is Ipnotico Gold. This is an AMZING gold polish with gold glitter in it. This polish can look so different in all types of light!

Grey Matters

Recently, I was putting polishes away in my Helmer cabinets, and noticed how many greys I have. I don't know, there is something about greys that I really love, and today, I thought that I'd do a monochromatic nail design utilizing a few of them.

I used butter LONDON Billy No Mates as a base, with Sally Hansen Professional Lavender Cloud for the white stripe, Orly Mirror, Mirror for the miedium grey stripe, Essence Pointbreak for the darker grey stripe, and American Apparel Hassid for the thin black stripe. I topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

I was recently asked if I ever use a base coat, and the answer to that is YES! I always have. I guess I just never list it because it changes between a few. I have used Nubar, Essie, Seche, Seche Ridge-filling, Seche Natural, Barielle, and I think that might be it. Since I don't wear polish long enough to worry about chipping and tip wear, I don't feel right recommending a basecoat that might or might not be good, because I don't fully test their limits. I feel OK with mentioning the Seche Vite top coat because it makes my project possible, if I didn't have it, I would 99% of the time post pictures of lumpy smudged and dented nails. :-D Hope this answers any questions or concerns. :) If not, let me know, I'd be happy to answer you!

And the cross-stitch project I was working on a couple of weeks ago, I finally got back around to finishing the stitching. :) I got the pattern from Skull-a-Day–Day 258, it was designed by Noah Scalin.

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.