Friday, February 15, 2013

Seventeen Cosmetics 70 with 3D stickers


Hello 8D

I finally got around to doing something I've been looking forward to for quite a while, which is this:
 

First let me share a bit of info about the polish. It's Seventeen Cosmetics #70, and it's probably my favorite polish of theirs ever. It's like a hematite gray with tons of silver shimmer. Here's what it looks like without a top coat:



I love everything about it, it applies like a dream and it's even not that hard to wipe off, despite the amount of shimmery particles it's got. Here are a few more shots from different angles:



Then the next day I realized I've got a really great collection of nail stickers and I haven't used any in over a year! Here's the sheet I used for this manicure:



To be honest I completely forgot where I got them from, but I really wish I could get some more. You can never have enough 3D nail stickers :D
These are really excellent, they stay put even without a top coat, but I did add a couple of coats just to be sure. My nails are all very rounded, especially towards the tips, but unlike a lot of other stickers these don't peel up at the edges at all. Even better, they're really easy to take off too, all you need is your regular nail polish remover.
Here's the finished manicure, first with no top coat:


And now with the top coat:




That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for reading : )

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Flormar layering: taupe and blue

Hello :D

You know those really sheer iridescent polishes with a grayish-yellowy base to them?

Flormar Plus Quartz - 071

Yeah.

Can I call these duochrome polishes? I don't know. Anyway I used to hate them with a passion, but when I realized they look amazing on top of other polishes, I changed my mind! To be honest I don't even remember what I was thinking when I bought this, but I'm glad I did. I've had it for a year or maybe even two, and as you can see, I've used up a ton.

I also don't remember how I decided it would be a good idea to layer it over taupe:


 Flormar - 413

I don't really get a lot of compliments for this combination to be honest, but I don't mind because I really like it a lot :D This is one coat of each polish btw. The taupe color is really opaque with just one coat!

OMG
  
Here are some more pictures from different angles:






And in different lighting conditions:



The polishes are really cheap but very good quality. I've got quite a few more and I'm definitely going to feature all of them on my blog. Sometime. But anyway, if you have the chance to get these, I highly recommend them. Also, get the fast drying top coat too. I ran out of mine, as you can see :D





So yeah, that's all for now!
Thank you for reading and have a lovely day : )

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Golden Rose and Seventeen Cosmetics diagonal tip nail design


 Hello 8D

Today I want to show you one of my favorite ways to do my nails - diagonal tips!



Here are the polishes I used:



1. The Golden Rose ridge filler. I've been using this as a base for about half a year and I really like it. Apparently it also works as an optic whitener, but to be honest I can't tell the difference. But as a base it works great, especially because it dries incredibly fast and not to mention it's really cheap!



2. Golden Rose matte polish in black. I'm not really satisfied with this one actually. I've had matte polishes and matte topcoats before, and it isn't that impressive. Granted, it's not as shiny as a regular black polish, but it's not as noticeable as it could be. But if you pair it up with a shiny tip like I did, it can accentuate the matte effect a little.
What I love about it is that it dries quite fast; what I don't like, though, is that it only lasts for two or three days, and then it starts to peel off starting from the cuticle! Also, by that time, the matte effect seems to wear off, especially if you use hand lotion. I usually end up applying some top coat over it, but it defeats the purpose of a matte polish.




3. Seventeen Cosmetics #539. This polish is amazing! It's a great dupe of Orly's Space Cadet, which I do own but I don't have it with me at the moment. I do have a picture of it though.


Orly - Space Cadet

It's a very sparkly duochrome polish that flashes orange and fuschia. It takes two coats to look perfectly opaque.
I've been seeing this shade a lot in the shops lately. I know MAC makes one and possibly Nails Inc too. Anyway I do highly recommend the Seventeen one, especially because it's a lot cheaper. There is a catch though, you better have a good polish remover on hand, because it will stain your hands ... turquoise.

And finally, Lemax Colour in the shade Silver. This one has a very long and thin brush:


I swear I forgot where I bought it from or when. I also have another one in gold. It's really cheap and it's very opaque, which is essential if you want to use it for nail art. The brush is very easy to work with.


If you want to recreate this manicure, here are a few tips:
  • Don't move the brush - move your finger!
  • It's fine if you mess up the thin line, you can always add some more of the background or tip color later;
  • Also, if the brush from your background or tip color is too wide, you can simply use the fine line brush instead!
  • If your polish tends to chip at the tips, you can add a layer of top coat over them, but make sure you don't apply any top coat over your base if you're using a matte polish.
Now for some more photos of the final result, in various lighting conditions:








That's all for now!

Thank you for reading and have a lovely weekend 8D

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Essence Choose Me Nail Polish

Hello : )

Today I want to show you one of the polishes I got last summer, Essence's Choose Me. It's a sheer turquoise color with very bright green glitter, which sometimes has a gold sheen to it depending on the angle.

It can definitely be worn on its own, but it's a bit too bright for my taste. I'm currently wearing it on top of one layer of Seventeen Cosmetics 63, which I also talked about in my previous blog post. 


 Choose Me would need two coats to look opaque on its own, but for my layering experiment I only needed one. It's definitely not a duochrome polish, but the glitter makes it look greener when you're looking at it from certain angles; most of the time, though, I would describe it as turquoise.



My favorite thing about it is how shiny the glitter is. I'm not even wearing a top coat in these pictures.





Here is what it looks like in different lighting conditions:





Another thing I like about this polish is that it wasn't expensive at all. Its only downside is that the bottle is too small. I've already used up almost half of it, as you can see. It's only 5 ml, while the Seventeen one, for instance, is 12. I know I keep complaining about the size of nail polish bottles, but I'm sure you can figure out why I tend to prefer larger ones ; D

I have a few more Essence polishes, and I intend to write about those as well. I think they're pretty good overall, especially since they're so inexpensive, and I definitely do recommend them.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day : )