My Love For Prints

Prints. Love them. Colourful prints? Even better! In case you haven't noticed: (colourful) tribal prints are a hot trend right now. I've seen some pretty nail art designs with tribal prints on the web, which inspired me to create a cool design on my own nails. Well, on one nail actually. As you may know I love accent nails, it's interesting enough to look at and not too much for me. Besides that, doing one nail costs me quite some time and I have other things to do besides painting my nails (crázy, I know! ^^). I think the end result looks pretty cool! Oh, and it's great to wear Kristi from Zoya again, definitely one of my fav polishes. This gorgeous red looks more blue-toned in real life though, my camera let me down a bit.

Below you can see some more prints: my awesome warm winter slippers (I'm actually wearing them right now, it's so cold in The Netherlands.. this is NOT what I call Summer) and on the right my favourite bedding (excuse the crinkles, lol). Enough proof for my love for prints? ;)

Thanks for watching!

The nail polishes I used:

red: Zoya - Kristi, blue: Catrice - Blue Cara Ciao, orange: Essence - Andy, You're A Star, jade green: OPI - Jade Is The New Black, black: Essence - Fatal, white: Catrice - Snow Motion!

Peripera - Metallic Green

If Kaz says you need a polish, you need it. That's right, you nééd it. Kaz has a massive nail polish stash, so I trust her. :O So when I saw this fabulous shade on her blog I immediately ran to ebay and bought it. I'm talking about Metallic Green, a gorgeous green duochrome from the brand Peripera. This nail polish is made of pure awesome, I don't know what else to say... just look at the pictures!

In sunlight it looks even prettier...

Metallic Green is easy to apply and very pigmented, you could get away with one coat, but out of habit I did two. It'll be great for stamping, don't you think? Some things you need to know about this nail polish: 1. it has a BIG flat brush, 2. visible brush strokes on the nail are inevitable with this nail polish finish. I'm not a big fan of brushstroke-y nail polishes, but with Metallic Green I don't care, 'cause it's too FABULOUS.

Peripera is a Korean brand with the cutest packaging, the brush handle of this nail polish is shaped like a cat!

source

Thanks for watching! :h

LOVE: Nfu Oh 51

I have to agree with Michèle, Nfu Oh 51 can't get too much attention. I need to wear it more often and if you have it: so do you! I could not have the heart to remove the pretty Lady of the Lake from a england (still looking good after almost six days of wear!), so I used it as a base for Nfu Oh 51. The lady doesn't mind, she loves it. :)

I applied one coat of 51 and a top coat. This layering combination is very photogenic, I took a million pictures. It was hard to make a selection for this post, I hope you guys like it!

Look how the flakies glow in sunlight... ♥

Thanks for watching!

Catrice - Enter The Undergrowth + Konad M66

After swatching and wearing a lot of neons last week I wanted something totally different on my nails. So I applied one of the nail polishes from the Catrice Papagena collection, a muted green creme called Enter The Undergrowth. Beautiful colour. Reminds me very much of Sew Psyched from Essie, but without the silver shimmer. I can't have enough of these dusty greens! The formula of Enter The Undergrowth was great, two coats will give you an even and opaque result. After two days (hence the tip wear) I decided to add some extra growth (lol) with the bamboo design from Konad plate m66. I used China Glaze - 2030 as the stamping polish. I can't believe I haven't used this bamboo design for so long, I love it! And I also love this subtle konadicure, what about you? :)

Thanks for watching!

Color Club: Wicked Sweet (Part III: green) + Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Teal

I have one polish from Color Club's Wicked Sweet collection left to show you, a green neon called The Lime Starts Here. The finish of this one is something between a jelly and a creme. I can certainly appreciate a good green neon on my nails and this one is hot (and looks much brighter in real life)! After trying the lemon scented highlighter yellow from the same collection I was afraid I wouldn't like the scent, but it's not bad at all. *phew* :)

The formula was great, I had no trouble with applying this one. The only downside is the sheerness, this is how it looks after applying three coats. 

Overall, I think this is a fun collection from Color Club: summery colours, different finishes and for me the scents really add something (the sour ones weren't my favourite, but that's taste related). Some of the polishes aren't the easiest to apply and you have to keep in mind most are sheer and require at least three coats.

I wanted to use one of the Chunky Holo's from Kleancolor, so I applied one coat of Chunky Holo Teal over the vibrant green. It would probably look better layered over a darker colour, but I really like the little pops of colour on top of The Lime Starts Here. Don't get me started on the scent though, the fruity scent of the Color Club polish mixed with the beloved Kleancolor smell: not good! ;)

Thanks for watching!

*The product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for reviewing purposes.

For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.

Color Club: Wicked Sweet (Part II: the shimmers)

Today I'm showing you swatches of the three shimmery polishes from Color Club's Wicked Sweet collection (you can find Part I here).

The highlighter yellow coloured polish with green shimmer is called Get Your Lem-On. This is my least favourite. I dislike highlighter yellows, it was extremely sheer (this is four coats) and the sour lemon scent was a bit nauseating. For the highlighter yellow fans out there: try layering it over a white polish.

On the pinkie nail I'm wearing I Always Get My Man-Darin: a light, bright orange with green shimmer. What an interesting contrast! If you like orange nail polishes you should definitely take a look at this one. Sadly it doesn't go well with my skin tone and I didn't like the scent at all. I wouldn't call the scents of the Wicked Sweet nail polishes overpowering, but the sour scented ones give me a headache. :| I Always Get My Man-Darin was also sheer, I applied four coats.

On my ring finger nail you see Wicked Sweet, a turquoise coloured polish with green shimmer. Aah, this one is a stunner, look how it glows! It's Zoya - Phoebe's shiny sister, with a sweet and fruity scent. This is summer in a bottle and summer on the nail. I decided to wear it as a full mani and I love it! Thankfully Wicked Sweet was more pigmented than the yellow and the orange one, three coats were enough for an opaque result.

The formula of these three wasn't the best. They were quite streaky, I needed at least three coats to even out the worst streaks. I recommend waiting a couple of minutes between each coat to keep the streaks to the minimum and avoid cuticle drag. The drying time was longer than average, but a fast drying topcoat could solve that problem.

Thanks for watching!

*The product(s) in this post was/were sent to me for reviewing purposes.

For more information, check out my Disclosure Policy.

Catrice - Run Forest Run! (version I & II)

Catrice did it again. I found another new nail polish colour with an old name/number. *sigh* The name of both polishes I'm showing you today is Run Forest Run! I posted the first version, a forest green, a while ago. The old and the new version are both greens with a creme finish, but the new one is a lighter, medium green. A gorgeous colour, I really like it!

As you can see I also applied I Sea You! (what's up with all the exclamation marks?) from Catrice on one nail; in the bottle it looked pretty close to the second version of RFR, but on the nail they're obviously totally different.

The formula of Run Forest Run! II is good, it was perfectly opaque in two coats.

Well, what can I say...? Catrice, I think your nail polish colours are awesome and I like the names you come up with, but please, give each polish their own name. They deserve it.

Thanks for watching and have a great weekend!

Rubik's Cube Cake + Nail Art

I want to show you guys another cake I made, an edible Rubik's Cube this time. I made this cake for my brother's birthday (in case you're wondering, I have three brothers, I'm the only girl :) ). This was the hardest cake I've made so far, it costed me blood, sweat and tears, but the end result made me forget all of that. I filled the cake with lemon curd and lemon cheesecake bavarois, it was scrumptiously delicious!

Needless to say, this cake inspired me to do some nail art: fun times! (If you want to see more cake inspired nail art posts you can click here). I used tape and free handed a bit. I started with the different coloured blocks (colour blocking to the max I say!), I waited for them to dry a little and added a layer of topcoat. Then I applied the black lines. After doing some touch-ups with acetone and a small nail art brush to create crisper lines I added another layer of topcoat. Doing one nail took me quite some time, luckily I'm a big fan of accent nails. ;) On the rest of my nails I applied Jade Is The New Black from OPI.

Thanks for watching!

The nail polishes I used:

jade green: OPI - Jade Is The New Black, blue: Barry M - Cobalt Blue, red: Zoya - Kristi, orange: Essence - Andy, You're A Star, yellow: Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds, white: La Femme Beauty - White, black: Essence - Fatal.

Colour Block Inspired Nails 2

A while ago I posted a colour block inspired mani and I loved it. I thought it would be fun to do a remake with different colours, so last night I threw all my creme nail polishes (a lot more than I thought! *whew*) on my bed to see what colour combinations would be cool and this is the result. As you can see I also practiced my taping skills. :) I like it. What about you?

The nail polishes I used:

dusty turquoise-green: Catrice - I Sea You!

smoky purply grey: Zoya - Caitlin

bright pink: Barry M - Shocking Pink

purply blue: Catrice - Pool Party At Night 

Thanks for watching!

Racing Green Meets Flakey Goodness

You guys know by now how much I like to sponge my nail tips with a sparkly polish, but there's another great way to spice up a mani: add flakies! So I layered two coats of the yummy Nfu Oh #54 over Barry M - Racing Green. This is a match made in heaven, I keep staring at my nails. The flakies, flashing from green to turquoise to blue, really stand out on the dark green base. I love Nfu Oh, they sure know how to make great nail polishes! The only downside of their beautiful flakey polishes (at least the ones I have) is the drying time. They take forever to dry, even with a fast drying topcoat on top, boo. :|

This reminds me of my beloved Caribbean Sea, hmmm...

Thanks for watching and have a great weekend!

Barry M - Racing Green

The nail polish I'm showing you today was on my wishlist for so long I almost forgot it was on there. I really wanted it, but sometimes you have to prioritize when it comes to buying polishes. Y'all know what I mean, right? ;) Last week I decided to order some Barry M polishes and of course Racing Green was one of them. Man, I wish I would've met this gorgeous dark green sooner. The green and gold (?) shimmer makes my nails glow! I want my car to look like this, seriously. 

The formula of Racing Green is great. I used three coats (no topcoat), just to be safe, but you'll get an opaque result after two coats. 

Thanks for watching!

OPI - Movin' Out

A while ago I spotted a beautiful polish on two great blogs: here and here. But somehow I forgot about it (crazy, I know!). Recently the same polish popped up on some other great blogs that I follow, here, here and here. I was intrigued. Then I saw it on Kirsten's blog about a week ago and that was it, I was lost. I hád to get my hands on this precious polish before it would be too late (or too expensive *cough* Clarins 230 *cough*). Luckily, I found a seller on eBay who was willing to ship a bottle to me, after I paid for it of course. :i I'm presenting you: OPI - Movin' Out. My preciousss...

Movin' Out is quite boring ehh.. I mean ladylike on its own. And sheer. Which makes it great for layering. And the layering results can be pretty awesome (you should really check out all the links above to see how great it looks over different polishes). I decided to layer one coat of Movin' Out over Zoya - Veruschka and I'm in love. Turns out it's not a boring pinkish purple, but multichrome heaven! And do you see those orangey gold specks in the bottle picture? Especially in bright light it looks like these specks are dancing on the nail surface, nice! 

I have nothing more to say :L        ...besides, thanks for watching!

Zoya - Veruschka

Green lovers, it's time to drool! Right now I'm wearing Zoya - Veruschka, a shimmery dark green matte. Veruschka was one of the first polishes I tried from the brand Zoya and I can recall being impressed. And I still am. I always like how Veruschka looks matte (not dull at all!), but everytime I wear it I end up applying topcoat, it's obvious why, right? :) That shimmer is crazy beautiful!

The application was great, especially for a matte polish. It doesn't dry too fast so there's enough time to apply even layers without streaks. I used two coats.

Thanks for watching!

The Cadet Shouts: "Sir! Yes, Sir!"

I'm a little late with my post for today, because I had a busy day: I went rafting with my husband's work. It was a very exciting experience, but I did swallow a lot of water (whew)!

About the nails: I wanted to spice up the military colour Sir! Yes, Sir! from Catrice I showed you yesterday. It's definitely not a boring colour, but after a day of wear this creme polish screamed for a little something something. So I sponged the tips with Space Cadet from Orly, which turned out great! Every time I use Space Cadet I'm amazed by all the colours it shows, wow. 

That's it for today, have a great weekend and.. thanks for watching! :) 

Catrice - Sir! Yes, Sir!

Today I'm showing you Sir! Yes, Sir! from Catrice, a dusty brownish army green creme. Interesting colour, I'm surprised by how much I like this 'dirty' colour on my nails. 

The formula was quite thick, even after adding some drops of nail polish thinner it wasn't the easiest to apply. I got an opaque result after two coats though and I really shouldn't complain too much about a polish that costs only €2,49, right? :)

Thanks for watching!

Essence Nail Art Twins - Bella & Edward

Today I'm showing you one of the Nail Art Twins from Essence, a cheery blue toned green set with a creme polish (Bella) and a glitter topper (Edward). My camera had some trouble picking up the right colour, in real life it looks greener and brighter. Applying Bella was a dream, the formula is very smooth and pigmented. I used two coats, but you can certainly get away with one coat. Edward contains different types of glitter, really fun to look at. I love this set from Essence! The base colour is gorgeous and the glitter polish really adds a nice touch.

The only thing I don't get is why Essence named this set after the head characters from the Twilight series. For a set called Bella & Edward a blood red creme and a gold glitter polish (resembling Edward's skin in sunlight, lol) would've been a better choice, right? Or is it just me..? :O

Thanks for watching!

Colour Block Inspired Nails

Colour blocking (combining blocks/areas of different solid colours) is one of the trends for spring / summer 2011. I've seen a lot of pictures from fashion shows with the most beautiful colour combinations. That must look awesome on nails too, so I decided to make colour block inspired nails. You can keep it simple and make skittles (painting each nail in a different colour), but for some real colour blocking you can use different colours on one nail, for example by making funky french tips. I'm not sure what to think of the french tips I did, doesn't it look a bit too ehh.. funky? :i The fun part is that you can use whatever colours you want, but don't be shy, the bigger the contrast the better!

The nail polishes I used (the 1st picture is the most colour accurate btw):

green: OPI - Jade Is The New Black

berry: Catrice - Just Berried!

blue: Catrice - Blue Cara Ciao

orange: Essence - Andy, You're A Star

Thanks for watching and hey.. a big welcome to all my new followers! :D

Teeez - Free

Today I have a pretty green for you, Free from Teeez. It looks like Free has a jellylike consistency and it's filled with beautiful tiny silver flecks. Really, really pretty! I am a big fan of greens and this one doesn't dissapoint. It reminds me of one of my biggest lemmings, MAC - Jade Dragon (Fall/Winter 2010 collection), and to be honest: I think I'm satisfied with having this one #proud.

Now I only have to hunt down Ming Blue and Rain of Flowers from the same collection. :$

Applying Free was easy, I used two coats for complete coverage. The only downside is that this polish stains like crazy, even cleaning up tiny mistakes took more time than usual. I always use a layer of basecoat, but I recommend using two coats with this one. Just to be safe.

Do you like Free? It's part of my giveaway, so if you want a chance to get your hands on it, enter!

Thanks for watching!