Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Urban Decay Meets Hautelook!
The website:
Hautelook
UPDATE: reader JP remembered what I forgot! Use code HL2010 for $10 off a $25 purchase! (before shipping)
Thanks JP!!
5-Star Nails
Day 92
Get it? One star on each nail = 5 stars (per hand, of course ;)) I'm such a dork.
I just got AMOUR Rain Glitter in the mail yesterday, and it's so pretty and sparkly, I HAD to use it!! :)

blurred so you can get an idea of the sparkle-factor, which doesn't even come close to actual bling....

To achieve the look of the stars, I used AMOUR Rain Glitter Polish as a base, ONLY 2 COATS was this sparkly!! I topped the glitter with one coat of Seche Vite top coat to make the glitter less bumpy. Next, I used star stickers- like the gold stars that teachers use, which I bought at the dollar store, I stuck them in whatever direction I felt like on the nail after the glitter was dry, and then painted over them with two coats of OPI for Sephora What's a Tire Jack? Matte, making sure in between coats that the stars stickers were staying stuck to the nail. While the matte was still a little wet, I pulled off the stickers, and c'est voila! sparkly party 5-star nails! :-D
I'm pretty much diggin' the texture that the glitter underneath the matte gives...almost like an eggshell finish!! :)
Chainmail Charm
Tijdens het wachten kan ik jullie gelijk vertellen over twee nieuwe Nederlandse bloggers! We kunnen inmiddels wel een clubje beginnen en dan noemen we het de Boerenkool Brigade!
Michèle en Romika, die ook al een gastoptreden hadden bij mij met nail-art foto's van de playdate, zijn beide een blog begonnen.
Michèle vind je hier en Romika is hier te vinden. Je moet absoluut even gaan kijken want moeder en dochter hebben prachtige nagels!
English: While I'm writing this I'm waiting for the sun to break through the coulds like it did every morning for about an hour for the past week. I love my lightbox, but I think pictures in the sun are better. Especially with holo's! And what I want to show you today is Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm.
While we are waiting I'll take the opportunity to tell you about two new Dutch bloggers! We almost have enough to start a club and we could call it the Boerenkool Brigade! (Lame joke, Boerenkool is typical oldfashioned Dutch food, sort of a hotch potch with kale, mashed potatoes, smoked sausage and bacon)
Michèle and Romika, who also had a guest performance here with nail-art pics from the play date, both started a blog!
You can find Michèle here, and Romika here. Check them out because mother and daughter have beautiful nails!
Een grijzere, bruinere en zachtere versie van de favoriet van de nagellakwereld, OPI My Private Jet. Ik ben niet zo gek op MPJ, ze is te hard voor me. Daarbij scoort CC punten omdat ze meer blubberig is. ;)
English: A greyer, browner and softer version of the longtime favourite of the polish community OPI My Private Jet. I'm not crazy about MPJ, it's to harsh for me. Plus, CC scores points for being more blubbery. ;)
In het ene licht is ze grijs, in het andere licht bruin en hoewel de holo erg aanwezig is verstopt deze zich soms even om je vervolgens omver te blazen als je beter kijkt.
English: In some lights she's grey, in other light she's brown and although the holo is very present it sometimes hides a bit only to sweep you off your feet when you take a closer look.
Dit is drie laagjes met een topcoat. Ja, ik zei topcoat! Ik weet dat sommige mensen zeggen dat je geen topcoat met holo's moet gebruiken omdat ze het holo-effect aantasten maar in mijn ervaring hangt dat volledig af van de formule van de nagellak. Er zijn holo's zoals de Nfu Oh holo's die een beetje droog en zanderig zijn, alsof iemand meel in de nagellak heeft gegooid. Deze drogen ook semi-mat. Dat is de formule die niet tegen een topcoat kan en als je wel een topcoat gebruikt gaat het holo-effect grotendeels verloren. Op holo's met een gladde finish die lakken als euh, nagellak, heeft topcoat bijna geen effect.
English: This is three coats with a topcoat. Yes I said topcoat! I know some people say you shouldn't use a topcoat with holo's because it kills the effect but I've found it depends on the formula of the polish. There are holo's like the Nfu Oh holos which seem a bit dry or sandy, like someone poured flour in the polish, and those also dry semi-matte. That is the formula that doesn't play well with a topcoat and if you do use a topcoat you will lose a lot of the holo-effect. Holo's that have a smooth finish and polish like, eh, polish are hardly effected by a topcoat.
Gisteren was mijn lakdag maar we hadden bezoek dus ik kwam er niet aan toe. Ik hoop dus dat ik morgen een nieuwe post heb maar dat ligt een beetje aan hoe laat ik dan thuis ben.
English: Yesterday was my polish day but we had company so I didn't get a chance to do that. I hope to have a new post for you tomorrow but that depends on what time we get home.
Thess vroeg om meer foto's en minder geklets. lol Minder geklets zal niet echt mogelijk zijn met mij dus dan maar meer foto's!
Bedankt voor het kijken!
English: Thess requested more pics and less talk. lol Less talking isn't going to be possible with me so I posted more pics!
Thanks for looking!
-edit-
Ik ben helemaal vergeten om iedereen die mij gevonden heeft via Getcha Nails Did te verwelkomen! Bedankt dat je me vermeld hebt Brooke!
English: I totally forgot to welcome everyone that found me through Getcha Nails Did! Thanks for mentioning me!
Mail Call!
Ik had het al verteld maar Cindy van BB Couture heeft aangeboden mij een aantal nagellakken te sturen voor een review en vandaag kwam de postbode ze brengen!
De doos doet me denken aan een grabbelton, zou dat iets typisch Nederlands zijn?
English: I told you before Cindy from BB Couture offered to send me a couple of polishes for a review and today the mailman came to bring them to me!
The box reminds me of an old childrens game where you stuff a barrel full of junk, put a couple of goodies in there and let children grope for them. Is that a typical Dutch thing or do you know it?
English: And this was inside:
Twee lakjes uit de nieuwe Men's Collection en twee mooie dames.
English: Two polishes from the new Men's Collection and two lovely ladies.
Maar de postbode had nog meer!
English: But the mailman had more!
Mijn RBL's!
English: My RBL's!
Hoe blij ik ook ben dat ze er zijn, ik ben nog veel blijer met de kans om nieuwe nagellak te reviewen dus ik verklaar de rest van de week hierbij tot BB Couture Week!
English: As happy as I am with them, I'm much happier with the chance to review new polishes so I hereby declare the rest of the week to be BB Couture Week!
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Zoya Reverie Review - Part I
Art of Beauty was sp kind to send me new Zoya collection for review. As always i am sharing with you my honest impression of this new collection .
When i just look at the promo pictures of reverie it make me feel like the spring is really already around the corner. New Juicy and vibrant colors ,trendy duo-chromatic effect, and perfect formula - all of this is brilliantly combined by Zoya in this collection . I did fall in love with the colors from my first look, especially when i saw all this beauty in real. it felt like someone just read my mind and came up with exact colors that i was looking for to refresh my nail polish collection and prepare my nail drawer for spring .
By the way, any idea about what i used as a background for this picture ? :)

1) Lana - it looks very orange in the bottle, but once on nails it is much more pinkish and the chimer in it makes it even a little cooper looking.


2) Gwin - this one is a good candidate for the perfect orange. It is very vibrant and really nice shade of orange with the touch of pink. In fact very opaque, will work awesome for gradients and as a base for the fruity nail art

3)Happi - This is probably my favorite color from all this collection. this rose shimmer looks very fresh and vibrant. And it has a 1000 different looks . Love it!!!!


The rest i ll post tomorrow, so stay tuned for more beautiful colors from Zoya Reverie collection
Murdered Out
Day 91
Ok, so for those wondering WTF?! my title means, it means black on black- sometimes flat black, and is almost always used to refer to a car- black paint, black tint, black rims, black emblems, etc. I'm a dork, I know. I did it last night, but woke up and it was completely messed up, so I waited til after work so I could do it again before I posted it, so sorry for the delay, but nothing but the best for y'all! :)

I used OPI for Sephora What's a Tire Jack? Matte as a base, with Zoya Pinta applied with Konad Plate m65, with the moons masked off with dot labels. For the moon, I just used Seche Vite top coat to freehand the curve.
Tealishious!
English: I totally understand why Nfu Oh doesn't name their polishes. This polish is to cool to be bothered with silly little details like names!
Ongelooflijk perfecte donkere groen blauwe lak. Als ik haar naast Misa Toxic Seduction houd is het haast exact dezelfde kleur maar op mijn nagels zie ik toch ook een duidelijke blauwe ondertoon die de Misa niet heeft. Ik zou dit een teal noemen terwijl Toxic Seduction voor mij wel echt een groen is.
English: Incredible perfect green blue polish. When I hold it next to Misa Toxic seduction it's almost the exact same colour but on my nails there is a distinct blue undetone that the Misa lacks. I would call this a teal while Toxic Seduction is a definite green.
Ik heb wat nieuws geprobeerd de afgelopen week. Ik heb op een avond alle swatches gelakt en gefotografeerd voor de hele week zodat ik de rest van de week de lak kon dragen die ik wilde zonder me zorgen te maken over mijn dagelijkse posts. Deze lak heb ik zes! dagen gedragen (een nieuw record voor mij!) en ze heeft me geen moment verveeld! Dat verklaard ook gelijk de gebruikssporen op de foto want ik heb voor de foto geen nieuw laagje topcoat aangebracht. Ik heb een paar krasjes en minimale slijtage aan de tips maar dat is alles. Ik ben erg onder de indruk!
Ik geloof dat dit nieuwe systeem me wel bevalt. Zoals je ziet is mijn huid er veel beter aan toe nu.
English: I've been trying something new the past week. I did all the swatches and photos for the whole week in one night so I could wear whatever polish I liked for the rest of the week without having to worry about my daily posts. I've worn this polish for six! days (a new record for me!) and she didn't bore me once! This also explains the wear and tear in the pic because I didn't re-apply a fresh coat of topcoat for this picture. There are only a few scratches and minimal tipwear but that's it. I'm very impressed!
I think I like this new system. As you can see my skin is a lot calmer now.
The next part is a heads-up for my Dutch readers about a Diamond Cosmetics and Essie sale Dutch webshop.
See you tomorrow!
Voor mijn Nederlandse lezers is het volgende nieuws wel interessant: www.boozyshop.nl heeft een uitverkoop!
Je krijgt 10% korting op de Holliday en Autumn collectie van Diamond Cosmetics! De Holiday Collection bestaat uit de volgende kleuren: Blue Diamonds (blauw holografisch), Diamond's Diamonds (wit holografisch), Ruby's & Diamonds (Rode holo!) en Amethyst &Diamonds (Paarse holo!) waarvan je op verschillende blogs wel swatches kan vinden. Hoe tof kan een Holiday collectie zijn?!
En ook 10% korting op de Diamonds Cosmetics Autumn Collection waarin pareltjes zitten als Plum Pie In The Sky (prachtige blauw-paars of blurple!) en Never-So-Evergreen (donkergroene shimmer)! De andere kleuren zijn Angelic, The Naughty Intern (lol, die naam!), Sweet as Sugar en So Berry Sweet. Helaas geen foto's maar je moet ze echt even checken op Scrangie of Nailgal.
En zelfs 50% korting op Essie Smoothies, de hand- en bodylotions van Essie in de geuren Pomegranate and Mango, Blueberry and Banana, Pear and Fig en een geurloze variant.
En Boozyshop krijgt aankomende week ook de Essie Spring Collection 2010 binnen.

Met deze collectie gaat Essie weer terug naar haar roots na een paar zeer geslaagde uitstapjes naar meer edgy kleuren. Essie is nu eenmaal het merk van de zachtroze sheers en dat doen ze erg goed! Ik hoop alleen wel dat we in de toekomst nog meer spannende kleuren van ze kunnen verwachten want hoeveel zachtroze kan een mens verdragen?
Hoewel, k bedenk me nu dat ik volgens mij niet eens een zachtroze in mijn collectie heb dus misschien ga ik hier toch wat van oppikken!
En nu heb ik honger! Ik ga een smoothie maken. Tot morgen!
Monday, 11 January 2010
BeYu - #381 - Glitter & Duochrome combined!
Today I'm sporting another Christmas present... there's no better gift in my book! ;-) Isn't she pretty? Meet BeYu #381, a blue-based duochrome. It's not a very obvious duochrome like the Nubars, but it is definitely there! It flashes purple and turquoise. The glitter could've been more chunky, but hey, duochrome AND glitter in one bottle? You don't hear me complain..
I believe BeYu is a German brand which is only available in Europe. They have a nice color selection and the formula is quite alright actually! The downside is: they're quite pricy. A bottle contains only 8ml and costs around 5.95 euro (around USD 8,60), so yeah, not so nice.
My nails are finally getting longer and at one length again :-D. A while ago I broke two of them and it took forever to grow them out, especially when you're telling them to grow every minute of the day :'). Well.. that's it for today, see you soon!
Thank You For Not Smoking
Day 90
Guten Tag, folks! :-P Today's nails are for a very good friend of mine who recently decided to...get this... QUIT SMOKING. Congrats to him on dropping the habit, however cranky he may be. :-P *JK* He's in a lovely mood, all the time...every second, yes, that's it. I tried water marbling a pale blue over a dark color in hopes that it'd look like wisps of smoke, which it SORT of does, but not as well as I had hoped. While I think that smoking is an icky habit (minus old dudes smoking pipes- those are ok because they smell amazing), I think that cigarette smoke is quite possibly one of the prettiest things ever, how it twists and turns and has that lovely bluish silver hue. Pretty. *sigh*

yes... that's Nicorette, I managed to pry some from his hands long enough to take the picture. ;)
I used American Apparel Passport Blue as a base, with Diamond Cosmetics Giddy water marbled on the four fingers, China Glaze White on White for the cigarette, Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in 06 Sun Kissed for the filter end, and China Glaze Salsa over China Glaze White on White for the Ø sign. ;) It turned out ok, just not how I was hoping, but what can ya do about it at 12:30 a.m.?
YAY FOR QUITTING SMOKING!!! :) (Too many people I love have been affected by smoking, and the hell it causes) :(