domenica 30 giugno 2013

Flower print + haul

Base color: Deborah 11 Sense Tech 100% Mat. Gold: Kiko 628

This weekend I went to the Comics School party and the dresscode was tie or bowtie for men and something floral for women. So I went for some floral nails! I tried the Deborah polish as base. Quite particular, it manages to be matte and shimmer at the same time. It's probably not the best polish to stamp over, since the stamping polish doesn't grasp much on it. However the effect is quite great.







And those are the last polishes I bought!  The Deborah store is addicting.. I got that top coat just for 1 euro! I always searched for it, what a bargain! And surprisingly the Essence Fantasia LE is back in stores... i get that's very cold but I wasn't expecting to find a winter LE! The only polish left was that one... I hope I can find more polishes in other stores, but it was still a great surprise!

martedì 25 giugno 2013

Make Up Moments: summer alternatives for your face

Yeah, I know, this is meant to be a nail polish blog. Since a year, with the help of my sister, I have however started learning more about make up. It's a cheap kind of shopping (at least for me) that I find extremely relaxing- a sort of color therapy, if you wish.
So I'm gonna talk more about make up here, I guess. I'm no make up artist, but I can still give honest reviews.

Onwards to my first make up post, then. One of the many reasons why I hate summer is the fact that I can't wear much make up or my face will melt. Therefore, no foundation. Are you pale as hell and want to see some alternatives?


1) Garnier BB Cream. They call this shade light, but it's not. Pale skins, this is not for you, as you'll see in the swatches. It smells very nicely and has a good moisturizing effect, so if it fits your skin tone it could be a nice alternative.

2) Shaka powder in 01, Ivory. I didn't like this one at first, for the yellow undertone and the fact that, applied with a brush, it was too dark. Using a sponge or a puff you'll get a better coverage and it harmonizes with the skin color in a different, better way. It has a good long lasting power, too.

3) Essence Mineral Compact Powder in 02, soft beige. Still a bit too dark for my skintone, but, as the Shaka one, it can be used better with a sponge and covers pores and imperfections fairly well. It gives a good matt finish and a good lasting power, about the same as the Shaka one. The main difference between the two I'd say is the undertone, this one has pink undertones but is darker.

4) Essence 2 in 1 Make-Up & Powder in 10, soft beige. First and foremost let me say that I am a bit confused by Essence's color policy. Is there really the need to have two shades with the same color but different number that are also very different on skin?
Apart from this, I'd say this one is my personal favourite: as you can see in the photo, I've already used it a lot. A very light shade that creates more coverage if applied with a wet sponge- don't expect miracles, it's not a foundation, but it has a good coverage and lasting power. I also noticed that mixed with a bit of day cream it could make a nice concealer. In the box there's also sponge and mirror, it's perfect for travels.

And here's the swatches, from left to right: Essence Mineral Compact Powder, Shaka Powder, Essence 2 in 1, Garnier BB Cream. It's hard to make recommendations for those, since it depends a lot on your skintone.

lunedì 24 giugno 2013

Blue, teal and gold

I haven't posted for a while because 1) exams argh 2) wasn't satisfied with my last nail art efforts.

However, I still want to show you this. I did this mani a week ago, the gold tips didn't show tipwear for approximately 5 days, which is super great. When they did, I recovered them with gold and started with the nail art I wanted to do... until I realized I had forgotten my nail art brush at home, and had no substitutes here. My watercolor brushes were all too big, so I didn't complete this nail art. Also, the artificial light fails to capture the beauty of those colors.






It has an Ancient Egypt feel, don't you think?
I am absolutely in love with kiko 294, such a gorgeous blue. Oh, and both the blue and the teal (essence 03 life is a freeride) lasted more than a week without topcoat, I'm impressed.
The gold is my trusty Kiko 628, a must have.

lunedì 17 giugno 2013

L'Oreal 304 Spicy Orange


My sister was here for the holidays so I tried one of her polishes, I had never tried a L'Oreal polish before.
I must say, my experience was nor great nor bad, only.. meh. The formula doesn't cover that much, if I hadn't attempted a half-moon cleaning it would have looked even worse. True, it is shiny, but if I have to buy a shiny red I am going to use my trusty H&M one that is shiny and has great nail coverage.
The color isn't that bad, but nothing worth searching for, imho, but that's maybe just me, I'm not that much into reds. And when I buy a red, it has to be a special one..

Vote: B- (But maybe it's not just my cup of tea...)

giovedì 13 giugno 2013

Catrice 01 Cotton Candy (Nail Sugar Pearls) - Candy Shock LE

And as the first signs of tipwear started to appear... I made some experiments with the white nail art pearls


Yesterday evening I tried on the ring finger first, and as you can see, after a night of sleep most of the nail pearls are still there! So I tried on another finger too, I couldn't resist.
I also would like to try those pearls on a more contrasting color. I am satisfied that with a thick coat of polish and after having firmly pressed them down they can stay on your nail a lot longer.

If you can still find them, I recommend those pearls. They're cheap and guarantee a stunning effect.

mercoledì 12 giugno 2013

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.

lunedì 10 giugno 2013

Quick post: Catrice Candy Shock is in town!

Just a quick post before I go to bed: the Catrice LE I was so intensely waiting for... finally arrived!
I almost couldn't believe it, I usually don't go crazy over pastels but this LE is just perfect for me.


I immediately picked what I knew I wanted: the white pearls and the light blue polish... then I remembered I had seen enthusiastic reviews of the highlighter, so I tried it and, wow, it works perfectly on my skin! I can't wait to use it more, it's a "your skin but better" kind of product. You can use it with your finger or a brush to highlight the standard places (browbone, etc) or put it all over your face for a subtle glow. I love it!
(Perhaps I could post swatches when I try the polishes, mmh..)

Ancient Greece nail art

... or fail art, as I should say. The idea is great, the result not so much. I am starting to think this nail art is cursed: yesterday evening, in applying the black base I did a mistake and, trying to correct it with a cotton pad I messed up all the other nails because that cotton pad, of a brand I never tried, was horrible, it had a lot of, how do you say, loose cotton hair? Anyway the cotton got caught up in the other nails. Oh, and I dropped some black nail polish on my pajama trousers and, in an attempt to clean it I created even larger stains because, despite my care, my newly painted nails touched the fabric, thus ruining both things at once!


And honestly, I don't know what to blame for this stamping fail:  I already suspected that the Kiko 629 polish was not as good at the other of this series, and essence stamping plates are of a lower quality, but come on... I had to redo each single nail countless times, and I lost my patience at the snake nail, essence stamp me black was proving itself really bad so I gave up and used Pupa 209, my black base.

I don't know for how much I will keep this on my nails, but I still wanted to show it to you, if only as a source of inspiration.. plus, you can learn by my mistakes: never paint your nails when you're too tired, never use Quandoé cotton pads (this is for the Italians maily, you'd find it at Acqua e Sapone).

Side note: I really dislike the brushes on Pupa polishes. They're too small for me, and may work well for detailed nail art but when it comes to applying polish on the whole nail, they never work right for me. I definitely prefer the big essence brushes that everyone seems to hate: one stroke and you're done!

giovedì 6 giugno 2013

Stamping with Kiko 624

Meet the last member of my mirror polish family: Kiko 624 Sky Blue


As its other fellows, it stamps nicely! I've chosen this pattern because the tropical blue flowers on white base combo made me think of a beautiful t-shirt my sister once had, but now that I look at it, it does also remind me of porcelain teacups. Imagine it used together with a darker blue....



The base is Shaka Sugary White. No topcoat, I didn't have the time yet...

Vote: A, of course! Those mirror polishes are a safe buy, really. I've never been disappointed. The gold is the one with the better formula at all, stamps in a such divine way that you'll hear choirs of angels when putting it on your nail. The other mirrors are of the same great quality, and this Sky Blue is no exception!

domenica 2 giugno 2013

Review: Kiko 640


Now that's a pretty polish! A gorgeous orange/mandarin color (why is it even called poppy red in english, poppies are darker..) with a shiny shimmer finish paired perfectly with the liquid sand effect.
It brightens a summer day, but can be perfect in autumn and in every other season, it's such a great color!
It was the first time for me to wear a liquid sand polish on all my nails, I thought it would have felt weird... but it doesn't.






Considering that this polish (along with his Sugar Mat fellows and the Mirror ones) is now on sale, I think it's almost a must have!

Vote: A