Essie Coat Couture

with flash

 I know I haven't posted for a while, I really miss blogging more frequently but the time for nail art has significantly reduced in my life. I could still create a series of posts of "rediscoveries" of old polishes, since it's pretty much what I've been doing.
But first, something new! Essie Coat Couture, a cashmere matte from the upcoming fall LE, bought at Cosmoprof. Not that hard to believe that this was the last bottle of this color left, am I right?

This color is a nice cold taupe with a blue shimmer, more visible under flash. Opaque in two coats. Drying time was good, no complaints. I can't wait to try to wear it with a shiny topcoat to see how it changes! For now I am quite satisfied, if you count that it's my first Essie!

without flash

Essence the Gel Polish 22 I love my blue jeans

Part of the Cosmoprof loot, this little gem is part of Essence's new gel polish range. I've been wanting to get this polish for ages when the same color was part of the regular range, but always hesitate and decided to get it at the sales, when of course I couldn't find it anymore. Therefore getting this for free was a pleasant surprise!

Essence 22 I <3 my blue jeans is a navy blue creme with a matte finish. I love, love Essence's big brushes. One swipe and the nail is done! It's soo much easier to use and requires zero cleanup.
Also this polish is greatly pigmented, it's pretty much a one coater (here's two coats, no topcoat).
The formula seems more dense than regular Essence polishes, but I don't mind it, since it dried quickly even without a topcoat.
Considering how cheap this polish is, the quality is astounding!
Vote: A

Black and blue nail art

Hi! Here's my latest nail art, done using Kiko 624 as blue and Essence Stamp me! Black.
My very first plan was to stamp the pattern on all nails...

I have the best background paper

... using my trustworthy galscosmetics stamping plates. However I liked how it turned out so much when I had only done two fingers, that I left it as it was. Plus it allowed me to play with different finishes, as I left the black matte and made the blue nail and the stamped ones shiny with seche vite. I quite like this one!

Color Spotlight: Black

This month is an insane month in terms of stuff to do. So I haven't created any special nail art, which gives me an excuse to continue with the Color Spotlight series.
I don't have much to offer in terms of polishes. I usually use Pupa 209 as a standard black, and that's it. In terms of makeup, however...

I don't wear that much black, but I have a few essentials. The Kiko gel eyeliner was part of the Bad Girl LE, now they also have one in their standard line. At the beginning it was a bit hard to work with, too liquid, but after a month or so it has reached a much more gel-like consistency that makes it great to use.
It has a good lasting power and I tend to use it for my more graphic looks.
The Sehora black liquid eyeliner is a very good product, my other standard eyeliner. Works nicely, I have no complaints, I love the small tip brush that allows me to make thin and precise lines.
I don't use black eye pencils a lot, but those two (Pupa Multiplay and a Revlon one) deserve a spotlight. The Pupa one can be used as a kajal too, and while many pencils have a weird effect (meaning tears and pain and oh god I need to remove this) on my waterline, this works very nicely. I also own UD's Perversion black eye pencil. And it hurts, I can't use it on my waterline.
The other eyeliner pen is by Essence, the one I received with their new Princess mascara. I had a few doubts about it but it works well and is quite long lasting. I keep it in my travel beauty case for quick, nice looks when I don't want to use the Sephora one.
The black eyeshadow in UD's Naked Basics is my go-to black eyeshadow. I have nothing as pigmented, it's really, really awesome.

I am a firm believer that black lips are not for halloween only.
The black lipstick, Kiko 523, is a creme, which means it needs a pencil underneath to stay (and with such a bold color you've got to have flawless lips). And good look finding a lipsafe black pencil! I usually use the Revlon one, but I know it's not the best option. I've seen tutorials for black lips that were made using liquid eyeliner, meh, for some reason I can't bring myself to put black eyeliner on my lips... (maybe because you'd need a lot of it, while pencils are easier to work with).
The other product is by Topshop and is a Velvet Lips liquid matte lipstick in Black Velvet.
You probably have heard of Lime Crime's liquid matte lipsticks and how, in general, liquid matte lipsticks are a trend that is going to stay (also check Pretty Zombie Cosmetics lipsticks).
This one was a surprise gift from my boyfriend, and it's a great product. It has some micro sparkle if you look close to it, so if you don't want a 100% gothic look it may be your choice. Especially if you want to try something like LC's Velvetines but disagree with the company's shady past.
I've been wearing it quite a lot lately, usually paired with graphic blue eyeliner, and it looks very nice. Once it's dried, it stays on your lips forever. Definitely recommended
So, do you like black? Wear it a lot or not at all? Would you go for black lips on your average day?

Color Spotlight: White

Welcome to a new episode of the Color Spotlight series! I originally planned to do white and black together, but I have enough white products for a post on its own. Black will probably go with grey when it will be its turn.
There are my white polishes: Kiko Rock Top 615, if it were less sheer it would be awesome, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, my tipical white polish, China Glaze Texture There's Snow One Like You, potentially awesome but not long lasting enough, I need to experiment putting it on a different base, Shaka Sugary White, a very cute (a bit sheer) super shimmery white, and Kiko Cupcake 647, a white sand effect polish with red/green/blue micro particles.

My white makeup products! (not including white eyeshadows that are part of other palettes)
Manic Panic Goth White is a multi-purpose white cream, it can be used mixed with foundation, as concealer, as highlighter if you're really pale (on me it works nicely) and, my favorite use, as an eyeshadow base. I purchased it online after having used my other Manic Panic products long enough to be enthusiastic about them.
The Kryolan white eyeliner doesn't mess around, it would probably survive the apocalypse, along with cockroaches and Nokia 3310 phones. Super long lasting and awesome, I don't want to use it as a base because I don't want to waste it (and because it would probablu glue my eyelid still), but as an eyeliner it's pretty amazing.
I also added my Neve Cosmetics Ivory eye pencil, I don't use it that often but when I do, the effect is really nice, my E.L.F. matte white eyeshadow (it's always useful to have a matte white eyeshadow) and my Shaka white lipstick, that also happens to be a great base for lip pigments.

Tell me people, do you like white? Do you use it often? I think it's a wonderful, underrated color.

My Valentine's Day Manicure

A quick post with my Valentine's Day mani: I really wasn't in the mood for pink and hearts, but I still wanted something nice to wear for my evening out with my amazing boyfriend. I mattified Orly Red Flare and added a (non-matte) french line with Pupa Black.The contrast is scarcely visible here but far more irl. And I'm afraid that's all for now! Have fun, wheter you've got a parner or not!

Black and white glitter over mint green

Base: E.L.F. Mint Cream. Top Coats: Maybelline Polka Dots 197 Chalk Dust, Essence Matte Top Coat.

I have rediscovered the pleasure of glitter toppers. Especially if mattified. Due to the hex shape of the glitters if I look closely at my nails I feel like I'm watching some molecule or chemical component through a microscope.
Anyway I just wanted to test my other Maybelline Polka Dots polish, the on with black and white glitter on a clear base. I can see myself using it quite a lot, it's very versatile. Good drying time, and the brush catches lots of glitter (this is one coat of glitter). The E.L.F. polish is quite old, but I love the color so I haven't thrown it away yet. And now that I look at it it's the exact same color of my toothpaste.
Well I am getting very random, must be the tiredness... anyway let me know what you think, do you use glitter toppers a lot? Do you wear pastels in fall/winter too?

My first order from Concrete Minerals

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been very busy and tired lately. I'm also late on my rainbow challenge. But first...

I'm always searching for nice matte colors, especially blue and green. So when I found out the pro matte eyeshadow line on the Concrete Minerals website I knew I needed them. I searched some review and swatches, and everything seemed very promising. So I asked my sister if she wanted to join me in this order, and a friend too. We got ourselves some nice colors!

My picks were Toxic and Bulletproof of the Pro Matte line and Smut of the standard minerals line. I decided to try their standard minerals too, since I got a coupon code to get two of them for 10 dollars when becoming their friend on fb. One for me and one for my sister!

Their customer service was really good, I sent them an email on friday evening and received an answer on saturday morning, that was really quick and nice from them. As you can see from the upper photo, everything was nicely packed in order to avoid problems. There was also a card explaining how to use mineral eyeshadows, two samples and a discount on the next order. The cutest thing? The thank you note written in pink marker!

I still haven't had the time to test them all, but I can tell you this: Bulletproof is the brightest bluest eyeshadow/eyeliner you can find. I used it as an eyeliner today, simply mixing it with a drop of water and applying it with an eyeliner brush. On their website it says they blend like a dream, and you know what? it's freaking true. They're soft and easy to work with. Bulletproof did stain the upper part of the lid a bit until it was fully dried. Then it was like a tattoo. A matte, blue eyeliner tattoo. Perfect.

 Toxic is an acid green, more neon that acid perhaps, but the color I needed nonetheless.It's going to make a gorgeous cyberpunk eyeliner. Smut is the weirdst color I've ever seen: a multichrome that goes from grey to purple to brown with glitter. I can't wait to try them too!

The jars come with a plastic seal on the holes. Look at that blue, isn't that the most gorgeous blue you've ever seen? Better than the Sephora pencil, better than the Kiko eyeliner.
I am sooo pleased by this purchase.

Rainbow Challenge day 2, Orange nails

And today, orange nails! Kiko 356 is the orange, Pupa 209 the black and 203 Kiko the white. Over them, a cot of Essence's matte top coat.
The inspiration for this is the flag of the fictional land of Cresezia, created by my boyfriend. Plus, I love those colors and the geometry they create. It's simple yet stunning. And I love matte nails, I can't help.

I am Loki of Asgard...

and I am burdened with glorious nail art!

 Polishes involved in the process: Kiko 629, Shaka Emerald, Pupa 209 & Essence Stamp me! Black.

I swear, this is all Tom Hiddleston's fault. He did a magnificent appearance at San Diego Comic Con that made the geek world go insane. And I also have a friend who's obsessed with Loki and she posts a lot images of him, and that was surely an influence. No, I am not a Tom Hiddleston/Loki fangirl, but he surely does a great job playing Loki. Plus, I've always been a mythology geek and when I studied germanic philology at the uni we talked about the Marvel comics as well!

Catrice 02 Play It Blue- Candy Shock LE

Here, meet Play it blue! The website said that the light blue and the orange one would have a "chalky matt powder effect". I don't know what they were exactly aiming for, but surely it is matte.

Luckily it has a big brush, so the chances of leaving brush strokes are diminished, but it's still not the easiest polish on the planet to apply, I still recommend care. In some reviews I've read that it "floods the cuticles", honestly, I don't think it does it at all, it was overall easy to apply with some minimum care.
I used three thick coats, since I didn't want to ruin the finish with topcoat. The first signs of tipwear are already showing, but I had waited because I wanted to take pics in daylight. It's also fast drying.
I really love the color, a very soft pastel blue, I have nothing like it.

Vote: A-
Would I recommend it? Yes! The cuteness overpowers the small application problems.

Mini Essence Haul and Reviews

I've been away for a few days around Valentine's day, and I was pleased to come back and see my blog had a lot of visits especially on Valentine's day, that was unexpected, so thank you!

I have many things to post about, let's start with my small Essence haul: some Essence products will be discontinued and were on sale, so I bought the two Colour3 polishes I wanted and a nail polish from the Snow Jam LE. I had to celebrate the end of exams, after all.

A Walk in the Park + Stop for an Ice Cream, Life is a Freeride, Midnight Date + The City that Never Sleeps.

And, since I was in a good mood, I tried them all the same afternoon:

This is two coats of Midnight Date, A Walk in the Park, Life is a Freeride.

 The two Colour3 polishes with their assigned top polish, and, you can barely see it, an experiment with Midnight Date and Stop for an Ice Cream: mixing the tops was fun!

...and everything went matte! Life is a Freeride looks so splendid! I am really happy with those polishes, if you still find something in stores, buy'em. I've read of people complaining for Essence's new brushes, but I think they're really good to work with.

Review: They all get an A! Especially if you consider that the Colour3 polishes were at 1.19 euros each..

Stay tuned for details, tomorrow I'll post my Valentine's Day nails and the special gift I received..it's nail related!

Corset nails

I have two holo polishes to try, an Essence glitter topper from the february collection and the famous Fantasy Fire by Max Factor (found it quite easily and cheap, I had no idea it was so rare)... and yet I had to try this design I had in mind for a while. It reminds me of a corset I saw on Dita Von Teese once.
It would probably be nicer with stamping, but I only have two stamping plates by essence and neither of them had the right design for this, so I drew the flowers freehanded with my faithful Kiko nail art brush.
The base color is Kiko 226, I would have liked a lighter color but I don't have many reds (4 of them, and no one of them was the right shade, first world problems) It's a beautiful polish, I kinda regret I didn't take photos before applying matte top coat because it's simple yet perfect.
After the matte top coat I drew the flowers with kiko 704 (black). On the ring finger i also used Nude Dude from H&M for the skin and tried to recreate laces, not easy.
It' hard to capture the effect of this mani on photo. If I had a matte polish (that I don't have, I always thought "what's the point, with the topcoat I can mattify everything") I would have left the base polish shiny and added details in matte black. The more you know!

Matte and more

How about a double post? Let's start with kiko 320 with pupa 810 on the moons (plus one accent nail). I was in the right mood for matte and really like the final effect. Relaxing and nice, almost art deco-ish.

And, bonus pic! I already showed you H&M's peacock green on the new year's eve skittle mani, but I wanted to have it on all my nails, because it's such an amazing color! I'm very happy of it, definitely recommended.