Kiko Cupcake Nail Lacquer 648 & 656

New LE nail polishes from Kiko! As they did with the mirror and the liquid sand last year, this season we have glitter toppers (nothing groundbreaking imho) and those new liquid sand polishes. It was love at first sight when I saw swatches.

They're supposed to look like cupcake frosting. The bottle with the white cap is really cute, and those polishes have an interesting finish.
Matte, they have a base color and particles of other colors in them. Formula-wise I have no complaints, they require two coats for full opacity but dry quickly.
648 is supposed to look like ananas frosting: it's pastel yellow with orange(more) and brown(less) particles.
656 is supposed to look like pistachio frosting: it's pastel green with dark green(more) and orange(less) particles.
Now, the only problem I have with these is that they don't remind me of cupcake frosting at all.
648 reminded me of a potato soup at first, then of rice with saffron and mushrooms, and 656 of a vegetables soup... if it's pistachio why should it have orange particles? I am confused..
Probably they would look more "soft" if layered on a white base, maybe with just one coat. The problem is that the colored particles don't distribute evenly with one coat, sometimes even with two... as you can see from my pinky.

Final Verdict:

Do I like them? Yes, the effect is quite unique and I have nothing like them, and I'd love to try new colors, probably the pink/violet/orange ones will look more like cupcake frosting? yet, the one that intrigues me mostly is 647, Jasmine...

Strawberry, vanilla & chocolate nails

You caught me: when I don't post nail art for a while it's because I'm not 100% satisfied with the results. This one isn't a masterpiece either, but I still find it cute.

You can either imagine it as chocolate dripped over vanilla or strawberry cream, or vice versa.
I used Max Factor Mellow Yellow (urgh, what a bad formula), Essence Very Cherry, Essence Tip Painter in pink (the one from the Tribal Summer LE) and an old unnamed brown I had at home. All covered in Essence's matte top coat. Actually the pink flakies on Very Cherry are above the top coat, as if on cake icing.

Essence 01 Ben & Cherries- Me & My Ice Cream LE

I had almost lost all hope to find something from the Me & Ice Cream LE, since I could check the shop only weeks after the LE. Yet, there still were the eyeshadows and 2 polishes. I bought the one I already wanted, 01 Ben & Cherries. No, ok, let's be fair, I wanted the green and the orange one too, but this seemed the most interesting one.
The color is very pretty, but the application is a disaster. Yeah, it's greatly pigmented, more than a standard pastel polish, but it's so streaky! It would probably look better with a white base. Also the shimmer that was more visible in the bottle it's not so much visible on the nail...

Vote: A for the color, C for application.

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.

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.

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..)

Shaka Sugary white, Emerald and Peacock review

The main reason why I didn't post anything this week is because I wasn't satisfied with the results.
I will, however, post my last two nail art (more like fail art), because they were still good occasions to review my new polishes, especially the news Shakas of the family.

What was I expecting: a peacock-style nail art
The result: An aztec-style something
The base color is Shaka Emerald, that I find great. Unfortunately Shaka Peacock didn't contrast much with Emerald so the result is, well, not what I wanted. Maybe they would make a nice gradient together.
(Violet: Pupa 410, Gold: Kiko 628)

What was I expecting: A candy effect
The result: A sports team t-shirt effect
The white is Shaka Sugary White. Should you buy only one polish of the Shaka Sugary Collection, go for this one. It's very candylike and has small silver glitter that makes it really look sugary...
(Yellow: Max Factor Mellow Yellow, Green: Mint Cream, Orange: Kiko 356, Violet: Kiko 338, Pink: Catrice Pimp My Shrimp)

Overall, even if I am not satisfied with my nail art, something that comes more from my mood than from an effective failure, I have to say that Shaka polishes have always an overall good quality, and a low price (usually 1.99 euros, I paid them 1.79 because there was a make up sale at OVS).
Shaka Peacock was part of my birthday gifts.

Sinful Cuteness

The title kinda sounds like a band name. Anyway, since I'm going away for the weekend I decided to add some cute details to Sinful Colors Cinderella, some cute glitters (Sweets way by Nails Inc) on the tips and a ribbon made with Kiko 375.

I don't know why but sometimes I feel the need to wear something cute and super-girly, like this.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Sinful Colors Cinderella

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to another polish that's a pain the neck to capture in photos:

It's sunny at least and I managed to take a photo with natural light!


It's a pastel light blue with gold and pink microflakes. I find the name very accurate!
When I saw that Coin had put on a Sinful Colors display I decided I absolutely needed to try something, the price is low and the colors are beautiful. I fell in love with Gorgeous, that I didn't buy yet, and ended up with Cinderella instead. Later I remembered having read reviews of it and was even more eager to try it on.
You know when sometimes a polish seems beautiful in the bottle then you try it on and it's just not as great? Well, Cinderella is not that kind of polish. What the bottle promises, you'll get it. It is, however, very sheer, you will need at least three coats.
I am very happy with this purchase, I recommend it.
Vote: A-.

My lack of posts lately is due the university and my lack of time, I usually paint my nails in the evening after dinner but now that I have to go to bed considerably earlier, it doesn't have time to dry. My last experiment, that was supposed to be another Historical Figure mani, came out as a fail also because of this. Plus, let's face it, sephora polishes take centuries to dry.

Christmas gift reviews 1

I received some interesting make up related gifts and I will try them all! Let's start with this lovely nail polish given me by my best friend Astrid!

This is called Sweets Way and is a Nails Inc special effect nail polish. It really is special, so glitter-packed.
I have a thing for glitter, yes. who doesn't. This one is fairly different from the other ones, those glitter don't say party! but cute! On a very light pastel violet base, the glitters are silver, light blue and pink. The whole effect is quite sweet lolita-ish. They say it should remind of cupcake frosting... and it does!

So pretty, thank you, Astrid!