Orly ~ Macabre Masquerade

Heya folks! This Orly was on my nails until two hours ago, when I finally shortened my nails and changed the colour. ATM I have Sea Spray (China Glaze) and Depend 170 combined but I've shown both so many times on the blog, I shan't do it again. 

Macabre Masquerade name for my personal taste screams dark red colour. Far from the deep blue with colourful glitter, but this is what we got!

Macabre Masquerade is a part of Orly 2013 Holiday Collection called Secret Society. I got a set of minis as a gift from my flatmate, but of course they are available in full sized bottle as well. Macabre Masquerade is rather sheer, due to the glitter, I suppose, I have 4 coats on my nails on the photos, but you can see my nails are pretty long here. I actually thought I will like this colour more than I did in the end. It is not a bad shade though. Maybe if the colourful glitter was only silver? I dunno.

Did you get any of the shades from Secret Society collection?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

A gadget for gradient (Born Pretty Store review)

Heya folks! How are you doing on this beautiful sunny day? I got up very early so all of the sudden I have time for blog, yay! Today I have for you a funny little "gadget" that makes gradient mani even easier than it usually is. Born Pretty Store offers a stamping set for the gradient. With extra foam, so when it gets too dirty, you can always change it. A lot of you, already rocking the gradient, will probably think it is a bit of a waste of money, but I personally like that I have a plastic holder for the sponge. Otherwise I can get my fingers dirty quite fast. So I think it is a good prop for the nail art beginners, not to mention the sponge is awesome. 

I tried to make two manis for this post, both I really liked, but for some odd reason the orange&red one photographed really weird. Take a look.

This was Deborah Milano Pret-a-Porter Stardust, with Kiko dark blue shade. I loved this combo.

See?  The contrast was much stronger in real life! I have no idea what happened on these photos, and these are by far the best I've gotten! I combined orange Sinful Colors with stark red polish varnish and it looked pretty awesome, I promise. ;)

And this is what you get in the set. A plastic holder and 5 sponges. On Born Pretty Store site you can find the set under name 5Pcs Round Sponge Stamp For Gradient Nail Art (item ID is 12145) and it will cost you only 3,48$. As you know, Born Pretty Store offers free shipping around the globe, so it is a very nice offer. 

Pros and cons of the set:

+ I think the gradient is done easier with the prop, as you do have a holder for the sponge. 

+ The sponge is perfect for gradient, it is not too dense, so the gradient effect is very nice.

+ You get 5 sponges, that you can of course turn around and use at the sides and thus it can last for a while.

- I can imagine for a lot of you, that are more into nail art, this can be a bit unnecessary, as gradient can be done with regular sponges as well, perhaps it is only the extra motivation to actually do the gradient mani, if you have a gadget for it. :)

So yeah, that is it. It is a good set, if you would like to invest into having a special toy for gradient. Do not forget to use my 10% discount code if you go shopping at Born Pretty Store!

Would you buy such a gadget for the gradient or do you find it unnecessary?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

*Product sent for reviewing purposes, you can read my disclosure here. 

O.P.I. ~ Congeniality Is My Middle Name

Hello everyone! I feel a bit better after a horrible night I had, I felt very ill and slept until after noon. Yay. I hope it is just a one-day bug. So I went through my folders and realised I haven't shown you one beauty I wore in Bratislava. It is my flatmate's, and I loved it. Alas it is one of the colours that never photograph well, it looks much better IRL. 

Congeniality Is My Middle Name is a part of O.P.I. Miss Universe Collection for Summer 2011. This was three coats. I couldn't capture the incredible shimmer it contains, it looks amazing in artificial light, but my camera can't handle that. The berry/magenta base is gorgeous as well. A nice one! I haven't bought OPI in the last two years, I think. But ATM I am wearing DS Extravagance and I love it. Hope they'll make an amazing collection again soon.

Any OPI beatuies I am missing out on?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

New In ~ A Haul Post

Heya everyone! Time to show you what I have gotten in March. Now, my birthday is in March, so what you are looking at are my birthday presents. :) Most of the time my friends just take me to a store and let me choose my gift, as they know my wishlists are endless. Which is quite a great solution, I would say, for both sides.:)

Here is what I have gotten, and if you are wondering why the 'loud' background, it is the fabulous FC Barcelona blanket my girls gave me and I need to show it off. <3

I got a little bit of everything, most of the jewelry I got from Born Pretty Store because I got a lot of points on their page that I just needed to change into money for some goodies. :)

Something for the lips ...

When I first found out that my beloved Bourjois is making a matte lip creme line, Rouge Edition Velvet, I felt almost giddy. My favourite finish by my favourite brand!? Yes please! After checking out the colours, I saw that two were a must (on the photo), with other two being utterly gorgeous (both red, number 1 and number 8), but I lack the excuse to buy them, as I already have so many reds in my stash. A good friend of mine surprised me with both shades I wanted to have, 02, Frambourjoise and 07, Nude-ist. J'adore. :) Bourjois did not disappoint with Rouge Edition Velvet. Then again, every lipstick line I have from them was a great, great experience. 

The lip liner is from Maybelline Moisture Extreme line, called Rose and is perfect for a natural lip. I got it as a part of a product exchange on butik.si, and I am really happy with it, it lasts forever on the lips!

Something for the face ...

I am running low on my foundation and it was a perfect coincidence that my birthday was now and I could 'order' it as gift. :) I love Bourjois Healthy mix foundation, and as I read the new version is even better than the old one. Win win!

The egg-y sponge applicator for foundation I ordered from Born Pretty Store, just to try it. It was quite cheap and I had my points to pay with so why not. I need to watch some videos on how to apply the foundation with it, I tried it once, and felt like it was just soaking my foundation in. So perhaps I am doing something wrong. Or I do not know how to apply foundation with it. Either way, I read so much good stuff about this applicator, that I wanted to have it and now I do. 

Aaaand something for the eyes ...

Bourjois Twist up the Volume mascara in black, as I am running low on my hot pink Bourjois Volume something mascara. It was again 'ordered' for my bday, and I admit, I love the twisting applicator. I tried it once and I also like the effect. It is still a bit wet, but in the beginning they all are, what matters most to me is that it makes my eyelashes pop, and that is an achievement with my short excuse for an eyelash. 

Essence Blow my Mint eyeshadow from Bloom me Up! LE is an attempt at my mint eyeshadow lemming. It is the perfect shade for all the combinations I want to try out. Alas it is not as pigmented as I wanted it to be, on my eye it just appears silver-y. 

And some bling-bling

The ring, the bracelet and the necklace I got from Born Pretty Store and the Deathly Hallows pendant was a gift from my girls. The ring is a leaf and I absolutely love the pattern, plus it is a bigger ring, that I prefer. The bracelet has the Mockingjay sign and for all Hunger Games fans I needn't say more. The octopus is for my Ulmiel costume, I am planing to upgrade it a bit, thus the small investment in accessorising. ;)

In case you are wondering how it looks like in action ...

Can you feel my love for Bourjois in this post? Major fan, really. :D 

And that is it! Good month! :D Thank you all for the wonderful gifts, you know who you are. :* 

What did you get in the previous weeks for yourself? Any FC Barcelona/Hunger Games/Harry Potter/Bourjois fans out there? :D

Thank you for reading and commenting!