Hold the Phone!

A couple of days ago, I posted a picture of an iPhone case that I made for my phone...well, today's nails are inspired by the fabric I used to make that case! I swear, I have a ton of manicures in mind right now- all inspired by fabric prints! How awesome is that?

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with China Glaze Flyin' High for the teal paisley, China Glaze Salsa for the red paisley, L.A. Girl Army Green for the olive paisley, and Pure Ice Wild Thing for the chartreuse paisley. Outlined all of them with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme and topped them all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

I hope all of you had a great long holiday weekend!! :) (and here's to Tuesday not feeling like a Monday *crosses fingers*)

ARTDECO - 275 - Sparkling Lilac

ARTDECO Crikey. Monday already. Everybody ready for a brand new week? Today I'm showing you another German gem I couldn't resist picking up: Sparkling Lilac (275) by ARTDECO. ARTDECO is a German brand but is sold throughout Europe and even Brazil and other exotic and faraway countries. In The Netherlands you can find this brand at Douglas stores. This exceptional sparkly thing belongs to Glamour Noblesse Makeup Collection, ARTDECO's collection for last winter. In the bottle it's quite duochrome-y and this definitely shows up on the nail in certain lights. This is a glass flecked polish, not glitter, so no bumpy finish! I think it's super cool. The finish is actually reminding me a lot of those smashing new Zoyas.

Formula

What about 275's application? Less spectacular than its looks. The formula is a bit on the viscous side, but nothing unmanageable (yay for thinner). I applied 3 coats, 2 was almost enough though! Since I accidentally threw out my receipts that day, I'm not sure what the price tag is, but if I remember correctly ARTDECO polishes cost 5-7 EUR, which is not very cheap for 6ml.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
- Michèle

Lady Liberty

So the day celebrating our freedom is upon us, July 4, the 4th of July, Independence Day. I hope that today while you were having your hot dogs, drinking your beers, and spending time with family and friends, that you thought of those fighting and risking their lives to afford us the freedoms that we so often take for granted. For today's nails, I did good ole' Lady Liberty herself, otherwise known as The Statue of Liberty. Now, I have to say that I'm not very happy with how these turned out, because I was rushing, and I really didn't have time to redo them, so I hope that they're alright!

I used Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud as a base, with China Glaze Salsa for the red stripes of the flag, Pure Ice French Kiss for the blue of the flag, American Apparel Hassid for the flag outline, Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud as a base for the statue, topped with OPI Damone Roberts 1968, and shaded with a mixture of OPI Damone Roberts 1968 and Nubar Forest. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

And, since it's the 4th of July, the neighbors were shooting off mortars, sooooo you get firework pictures!! :)

BOOM!

Kiko Cosmetics

Kiko Cosmetics

Hi everyone! Happy 4th of July to a lot of you! Today I'm discussing a nail polish by a brand that until recently was an undiscovered treasure: Kiko. Kiko Cosmetics is originally an Italian brand but you can now find their products in Germany and Spain as well. On our trip to Germany we visited a Kiko store. Little beats the heartbeat skip, color me impressed. The store and products look really sophisticated, almost Mac-like, yup! But... everything is extremely low budget! I stupidly forgot to hold on to the receipt, but we're talking only a few euros per product here.

I only got a nail polish and a baked eye shadow at the time, call me dazed and confused. I'm about to kick myself in the face for not buying more.

Kiko - 300 - Pearly Malachite Green

According to the label the polish doesn't have a name, but the website tells me it's called "Pearly Malachite Green". It's not really green though, I'd think I'd best describe it as a slight duochrome-y tealish blue with a turquoise shimmer. If you look closely you can even see tiny pieces of glitter dispersed throughout the polish. It is a bit frosty, but not to the point where it's bothering me. Application was a piece of cake, 3 thin layers and you're ready to rock this awesome color.
Kiko Nail Polish does not contain aggressive ingredients such as Toluene, Camphor, DBP, Formaldehyde or Styrene Acrylate. And everything by Kiko is cruelty free!

Kiko - Colour Sphere Eyeshadow To illustrate how pretty their products are I decided to show you this Colour Sphere Eyeshadow. This is a baked eyeshadow, you can use it either dry or wet. The pigmentation is really good and they have quite a color selection. Oh why didn't I buy more?! Click on the quick swatch on the left to see the bigger version.

What are your thoughts on this brand?

Visit www.kikocosmetics.com

Hot DOG!

So, here in America, the Fourth of July holiday weekend is upon us, and what does that mean? HOT DOGS!!! :-D So today, since it's the 3rd, I thought I'd honor hot dogs as part of this weekend's time honored traditions. :) Mmmmm.... tube-shaped meat slurry.

On the Thumb, we have the traditional ketchup and mustard, the index finger is for one of my personal favorite hot dogs, even though I didn't remember to paint sauerkraut on it, it is a Yesterdog Lucy (best hot dogs ever, you West Michigan folks know what I'm talkin' about.) I guess since I forgot to paint the 'kraut, it's technically just a Cheddardog. :) The middle finger (don't read into this- I love your city!!) is the infamous Chicago dog, with radioactive green relish, sport peppers, tomatoes, onions, a pickle, mustard, and celery salt all with a hot dog in a poppyseed bun. :) For The ring finger and pinky are again, just typical hot dogs that people eat all the time. :)

As a base for all, I used American Apparel Palm Springs, with Zoya Flowie sponged lightly on top, and then American Apparel Cotton near the edge of the middle of the bun. For the hot dog, I used Orly Pink Chocolate, and for the ketchup on all that have ketchup, I used A Beautiful Life Poison, and for the mustard on all, I used American Apparel Palm Manila. For the relish, I used CND Green Scene with a few dots of ULTA Limelight on top to highlight. For the chili, I mixed A Beautiful Life Poison with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, then topped it with 'cheese' made of a mixture of Zoya Jancyn and American Apparel Manila. For the Chicago dog nail, I used a mixture of ULTA Limelight and American Apparel Manila for the sport peppers, American Apparel Hassid for the poppyseeds, American Apparel Cotton for the onions, ULTA Limelight for the pickle, and Essie Alligator Purse for the tomatoes.

Bon appetit! :)

China Glaze - Watermelon Rind

Summer Days Hi guys! I know this isn't the most recently released polish out there, but I think Watermelon Rind is so stunning I needed to post it. China Glaze's Watermelon Rind belongs to the Summer Days collection that came out in 2009. Ever since I laid eyes on swatches of this gorgeous thing I knew I had to have it. As you might have noticed I don't post a lot of China Glaze, simply because I was disappointed in some of their polishes. But I can wholeheartedly say, that this one didn't! Formula This glass flecked polish has a jelly texture, it needs 3 coats for perfect coverage and that's not half bad for a jelly. And It applied really well. Normally I wouldn't think teal would make such a perfect color for summer, but this one looks kinda... juicy. And fresh. It's perfect. What's your favorite polish this summer?

Bridal nails - Pearls and ribbons.

For a lovely bride. :)

Bridal nails - Pearls and ribbons.

For a lovely bride. :)

Wicked Website: Wah Nails

Hi guys! This morning I wanted to share another great website with you: Wah Nails.

Hooked

I once stumbled upon a great nail art design, turned out it was theirs and ever since I'm hooked! (The design I did.). This website belongs to a nail salon based in London, established in 2009. They do seriously incredible nail art and even Minx and Shellac. They also do work for Top Shop and work at events! How cool is that.
If you're someone that likes to get their nails done and you're in the area, I wouldn't hesitate for a bit and go see them.

Crazy inspiration

But, if you like to do your own nails, their website has tons and tons of inspiration. They post every creation on their site, I spent hours browsing in awe. The amazing (freehand!) designs they do are very creative and edgy, worth checking out for sure!

visit wah-nails.com

On a Bender

Today's nails were inspired by a movie that came out yesterday; The Last Airbender. Now, I haven't seen the cartoon other than once or twice in passing, and I probably won't go to the movie, but reader Michelle C. asked that I do an Avatar: The Last Airbender themed manicure, so this is for her! :) I used the icons that represent water, earth, air, and fire for the index, middle, ring, and pinky, then for the thumb, I used the arrow tattoo on the main character's head. (or at least part of it)

I used:

Thumb: Head with arrow tattoo

MAC Abalone Shell as a base, with a mixture of Nubar Stronghold, American Apparel Peacock, and American Apparel Mount Royal for the tattoo part.

Index: Water

Orly Gumdrop as a base, with a mix of American Apparel Peacock and American Apparel Mount Royal for the icon.

Middle: Earth

American Apparel Palm Springs as a base, with Zoya Dea for the icon.

Ring: Air

butterLONDON Billy No Mates as a base, with a mix of Zoya Jancyn and Nubar Stronghold for the icon.

Pinky: Fire

A mix of Essie Alligator Purse and American Apparel Palm Springs for the base, with a mix of Essie Alligator Purse and American Apparel Hassid for the icon.

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

Hope you approve, Michelle! :)

Also, since I get a lot of people asking what I use for my designs, I took a picture of the brush that I use, which I got at Sally Beauty Supply.