Heya guys. I have about 15 minutes before I need to run to my dance class, so I will be short. I want to show you one of the best manis I have worn in the past few months. I layered Nfu Oh 56 over China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. It is a combination I did not wish to make, because I imagined the removal will be an agony, but my BF insisted on it. Yeah, every once in a while he looks at my stash, grabs a bottle or two and says I should wear *that*. With this combo I needed some convincing, but I so did not regret wearing the combination. Emerald Sparkle is easily one of the best greens in my stash, is absolutely stunning. And Nfu Oh 56 is my favourite Nfo Oh flakie I have ... both create such a rich colour. The glitter of Emerald Sparkle gives it depth and the green flakies that shift to blue at some angles, an extra touch to the awesomeness. It really is a gorgeous mani. Oh, and the removal was not messier because of the combination, the standard foil removal did just fine (although admittedly I dislike the foil removal in general ;)).
As always with manis I really love, I do not think the pictures do this one justice, but I tried. And even made a video of it, just so you will see how the sparkles become alive under the flakies.
It also has that 'lit within' effect, but my camera failed to capture it. Still, I absolutely adore this. Emerald Sparkle really is not just a Christmas polish, I should wear it more often. And in case you are wondering: 3 coats of Emerald Sparkle, two (thin! - I noticed thin coats work much much better for these flakies) coats of Nfu Oh 56 and a dash of top coat.
What do you think? What is your favourite layering combination?
Lately I am wearing 'older' shades in my stash. The one that is getting a lot of love lately is Essie Bobbing for Baubles. Yesterday I put it on again. Today, as I returned home around midnight, I noticed my layering polish on the desk and grabbed two that looked neat. And used them both too. Because I still cannot decide which is the winner for me, flakies or glitter. So I am wearing both now.
Forgive my cuticles, here in Ljubljana cold cuts like razor blade, and I was on the phone while walking home without my gloves. Epic win!
What do you think, glitter or flakies?
Have a good day tomorrow and sweet dreams tonight!
Hey darlings! What's in the news today? I'm having a coffee day today, first a coffee/tea time with a couple of friends, including one of the darlings that came to Slovenia for a couple of days (she went to Spain for a year) and then another later in the evening, so I'm really happy about that. :)
Today I want to show you my roadtrip mani. This baby lasted for three days and I still didn't get tired of it, but the mani got so chipped I just had to remove it. BTW; being tired as hell and in a hotel room isn't really the best motivation for a foil removal. The first time I regreted putting a flakie on my nails.
I also compared Essence Waking up in Vegas with Nfu Oh 49 on this mani, I wondered how close they get.
If you see any kind of difference between them, your sight is better than mine. I didn't see any difference, they are both the same. In general Nfu Oh has a bit bigger flakies, but that's the only difference I could find. They're both amazing, don't you think?
My base colour was Búk 116, the only polish from Lithuania that I haven't tried yet. I've already talked about it, the brand is a local Lithuanian brand with a nice brush and an old but good formula. 116 is a bit disappointing though. It looks SO awesome in the bottle, sadly the shimmer is much much weaker on the nails. If it would be so strong as it is in the bottle this colour would rock.
Even in lightbox the shimmer is poor, on softer light it disappears completely. This was three coats, the formula is a bit runny and smelly, but all in all a very well behaved polish. I just wish the shimmer would be more visible. Still, it's an excellent base for the flakies! :)
What do you think about these babies? Did you get any of the top coats from Re-mix your style LE?
Hey everyone. How are you doing today? Did many of you got two extra days off like we did in Slovenia? I have no idea how the holiday systems work in other countires. We had our Reformation Day on 31st of October and today it's All Saints Day, so our regular week starts tomorrow. Sadly I have one of those days that start well and then slowly but surely turn into crap. Since early afternoon it's been a giant pile of guilt, sadness, tears (that come with compulsory migraine) and general bad feeling. Not one of my best days. Even changing nail polish didn't help. So I decided I'll show you something I really like and makes me feel good. I already told you about two projects I was working on last week - one was the Nail Polish Blogger Challenge and the second I show today. I quite successfully combined my two favourite hobbies - nail polish and fantasy world.
As I already mentioned before, I'm a member of our Tolkien society and as every year we had an art competition this weekend. I was officially one of the organizers this year so I didn't compete, but since winning really isn't the point here, I of course made something for the competition, also because I loved this year's theme so much (Magical objects of Arda). I decided I'll try the nail polish jewellery thing and create the Three Rings of Elves.
***
If you don't find fantasy/Middle-Earth/Tolkien works/reading interesting you may want to skip this paragraph. I skipped way too much data for my liking, and yet it remains a long one.
A bit of history behind the Rings of Power. Even if you know Lord of the Rings only by movies, you already know Rings of Power exist. All of them are combined into the most famous verse/poem in Tolkien's world:
Three Rings for Elven Kings Under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf Lords in Their Halls of Stone,
Nine for Mortal Man Doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness Bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie
The Rings of Elves are named Narya, Nenya and Vilya. They were the only three their creator, Celebrimbor, made alone, without Sauron's help (all Rings of Power were made with the help of Sauron, that back then could shift his form and decieved the high Elves of Eregion so they didn't recognise him and let him teach them the art of Ringmaking), and their power was in understanding, preserving and healing - hence the magical "islands" of Rivendell and Lothlórien. Since Sauron never got them, they couldn't make the bearer invisible, but they could be used as a weapon against their foe even if that wasn't their purpose.
Narya('nar' means 'fire' in Quenya, the Elvish language) is the Ring of Fire. That's the Ring Gandalf is wearing as the last bearer. It's power is to resent the tyranny over the bearer and his despair. It's ring stone is ruby.
Nenya('nen' means 'water') is the ring of Water. Throughout the history of the Ring Galadriel was the sole bearer of Nenya, she used it for keeping Lothlórien timeless and safe. It was made out of mithril, the ring stone is white diamond.
Vilya(the word means "air, sky") is the most powerful ring of the Three Rings. The last bearer of Vilya is Elrond. He used it for keeping Rivendell safe, like Galadriel did with Lothlórien. It was made out of gold, the ring stone is Sapphire.
The Three Rings leave Middle-Earth with their ring bearers, together with Frodo as the One Ring bearer. With the destruction of One Ring the power of the Three faded and they returned to Valinor.
***
Naturally I didn't remake the Three Rings. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I wanted to try to create them from what I have, wanted to show how I see their colours through the magical world of nail polish. ;) Sorry for loads of pictures, I like how my box turned out. *blush* Plus, flakie rings always need at least two photos. Right? Right?
The letter in the middle is Tengwar "C" for Celebrimbor (although I should write "K", as Tengwar is a phonetic writing *sigh*).
GOSH Holographic for Nenya. White Diamond sounded a bit boring.
Brucci Sapphire + Nfu Oh 52 for Vilya. My favourite!
Nail System 97 with Nfu Oh 49 for Narya. Probably my next mani combo.
Let's put some music in here too. My favourite song about Tolkien world ever. It's not for everyone taste, mind you, but I'm sure some of you will like it, and I honestly believe that if you like music, you have to like the melody . You'd be surprised how much Tolkien lore is used for metal! Summoning - The Legend Of The Master Ring
Making nail polish rings is fun! What do you think, did I do a good job for a first timer? :) I feel so much better after writing this down, yay!
Do you like nail polish rings? How about Lord of The Rings and fantasy in general?
Hey darlings! Welcome new people! :) How is life? Mine ... hectic but fun. Due to the hectic part I'll need to make this extra short again, which kinda bothers me, for some odd reason I prefer to make my posts more personal than this. But here we go ... I knew I'll do a mani with Nfu Oh flakies since the beginning of the challenge, I just think they're the perfect option for making the mani more interesting. I left it until the final days, since I suspected I'll want to build it for another mani and I did. But I didn't want to ruin the combination because I really loved it. Mind you, it looks TONS better IRL. Seriously. Especially since Give Pink A Chance darkens a bit in yellow artificial light and flakies really pop out. Love it. The pictures, sadly don't do this combo justice.
Finger Paints Give Pink A Chance (three coats) with two coats of Nfu Oh 49.
The flakies are much more visible IRL. Sorry I can't show you this, but the weather is just unbearable here, if I didn't have my lightbox I wouldn't be able to make a decent picture for a week now.
What do you think of this combo? I got pretty far for an ex not-a-flakie-fan, eh? ;)
Thank you for reading, check the other participants of the challenge too!
Hey everyone! How have you been? I know, it's been a while. Basically I'm only posting lately on the days I have my exams or am too tired for studying. I'm afraid it's going to be like this until October. It sucks, because I miss blogging so so much. And the nail polish blogsphere. I try to read as many blogs I can, but frankly, there isn't much time for internet lately. Today I had I really important exam and I don't have a very good feeling about it. I hope it's just nerves. The traditional after-exam headache is here too, but I'm getting used to it by now.
Right now I want to show you what's probably the best dark blue shimmer I have. It's a stunner. I have it on my nails right now and I love it. My swap buddy rocks for sending me this one. Today I put some Nfu Oh flakies on, just to spice it up a bit, but to tell you the truth, I almost regret it. Not because I wouldn't love flakies, because you know I do, it's just that Blue Sapphire is utterly gorgeous on its own.
Natural light, but grey and cloudy.
What impressed me greatly with Blue Sapphire (aside from its GORGEOUS colour) is the pigmentation. You know by now my nails are fairly wide. At this point also quite long. Not the longest I ever showed, but they're getting there. So in average I need one coat more than most bloggers that show the same colour. Well, people, this is one coat of Blue Sapphire:
If I can make this a one coater, everyone that has nails shorter than 5 inches can. I was amazed. I did two coats just because I can and because I wanted to see how much depht the colour gets with the extra coat. But this is officially my go-to colour. It's gorgeous, one coat and we're off. I love it.
The brush is awesome, I have no troubles with Brucci, so is the formula. I put once coat of SH Insta Dry on top and that was it. The colour reminded me of Illamasqua Phallic, Blue Sapphire feels like a bluer or less blackened sister. For those of you who were disappointed in how blackened Phallic is, this just might be it. I love them both, naturally. ;) Holy crap, I haven't shown you Phallic yet! Must fix that.
Today I added Nfu Oh 52 on top, since it was too gorgeous base not to use it. I haven't worn flakies in a while, so I said why not.
What do you think about Blue Sapphire? How are you with blue shimmers? Can't get enough of them or need a break from them? I personally think you need Blue Sapphire in your life if you're a blue shimmer fan. This is really gorgeous.
Hey darlings! How are you doing? I'm posting this later than usually, busy but a very pleasant day. I passed the exam today with wanted mark, yay! Now I don't have exams until September. Doesn't mean I don't have to study, but I don't have to study THAT hard, which means more time for more pleasant stuff, yay! Thank you so much for putting with me all these months, I know I must have gotten annoying at some point, always talking about how much I have to study and all.
I'm behind with my replying to comments and emails, sorry to all, I will get back to that as soon as I get back! If everything turns out the way it should I'm off to a small vacation, rather a half-week off tomorrow and I can't wait, I really need a nice long break from looking at all the study books and feeling rushed and out of time.
So I thought about what mani should I do today, in case I won't change it all the way to Sunday. That's something that should not feel boring on my nails, not even on 6th day of wearing. Naturally, Nfu Oh flakies came to mind. And here is my NOTD and what probably will be for the longest on my nails in quite a few months. :)
To point out the green sparkles 52 has, on my blurry ring and little finger-nail.
This is two coats of Kiko 266 with two coats of Nfu Oh 52 over it. Ah, gotta love the numbers.
What do you think, will it awe me with its beauty for 6 days? I will have some polish with me, just in case it doesn't. I hate being annoyed with what's on my nails so I tend to avoid it. :)
When I get back I'm finally doing the long overdue Eveline Holografic Shine week. Are you still up for it? :) Hope so!
Hey guys! And welcome new people, 560 of us here, woohoo! We are having the gloomiest weather ever here in Ljubljana, I think this intensity of dead grey colour can only be produced by our lovely capitals weather so I did a mani that quite maches that. Although it looks better on the nails. ;) I'm still trying to cough my lungs out, but it's getting better, luckily, this is the worst time ever to get sick for me. But anway!
I showed you San Francisco in my last post, and you know what this beauty called for? That's right! Flakies!! La la la - flakies!! Can't get enough of them, no, I don't even mind the removing process (which, btw, I still find much easier than with some polish ala Space Cadet). And I couldn't decide whether to go all green or mix a lil' bit of blue in it, so I did a 56 mani with the 52 accent finger. Just because I can!
Somewhat blurry picture, to show the sparkle.
Inside shot, natural light.
The last two are direct sunlight, but different angle, to show all the different colours these flakies bring to the mani. Also to show you how much blue 52 actually is. :)
I really loved this mani, of course. I loved the accent finger, 52 darkend San Francisco into this really dark green, yet it was still green with this gorgeous blue flash. And 56 is still my favourite flakie polish, so I don't feel I must add anything else to it, you know how much I loved this combination. Green over green. :) I really loved the accent idea, it came out just right, and so i discovered new ways to combine flakies. Maybe I should try it also one on another ... hmm ...
Anyway ... flakies were both two coats, I added Nfu Oh Ultra Shine TC. Sadly the flakies didn't cover the mess SV did on my mani, so I didn't wear it for the full time the mani could last. Still, gorgeous combination, IMO. :)
Well, hello everyone on this moody Saturday. I have my lunch break and am having my ultra forbbiden third cup of coffee, so lets get down to business with a gorgeous dark blue, another one from Brucci, brand that is 100% on my radar from now on.
Well, you know this blue beauty just called for a Nfu Oh the next day ...
To quote Frankie after she found all Bloo's copied imaginary friends rehearsing the Ice Sharade theme song: Holy-whack-a-moley! I loooove this blue, seriously! So gorgeous, such depht, argh, perfection! It reminded me totally of Depend 204, the only Depend on my WL that I don't have, and I think I'll cut it out now, since they seem, looking at my pictures at least, close enough that I don't need them both.
I'm still a sucker for these kind of colours, I realize that basically every time I put colour as this on my nails. I'm already almost sure the blackened colours are passé for me and that I'm already in the "the birghter the better" mood (especially since I'm craving Papaya Punch by China Glaze, and just a few months ago that would be as impossible as getting Clarins 230 for a dollar), but then I put dark blue, dark green or just black on my nails and I'm home, baby.
This was three coats, I'm rather sure of that, because it didn't even out. What suprised me, because I didn't encounter that before with Bruccis, was the smell. This baby smelled so badly my eyes actually watered while applying it, and no I'm not kidding or exaggerating. I think I was actually high from the fumes a bit, it was so damn strong, and I had my window opened! I must ask Kris how old this colour is, because it's the only one for now that got this smell. Other than that this was really easy to work with, brush is nice, and after three coats it's magic. I put SV on top, just because it dries rather slow and I changed my mani at night, but it's glossy on its own too.
A day or two later I put Nfu Oh 52 on my ring finger, just because I'm turning into flakie junkie. And I loved the look, I think it was two coats, and the play of green and blue was fantastic. :)
Hello darlings! Well, I started to type away this entry and then the main fuse in the hous blew. o.O Awesome, especially on Sunday night. Luckily my father knows a few electricans. Anyway. I hope my swatches are still where they're supposed to be. Today I have for you my last flakie that I haven't shown you yet! And this one I'm wearing alone, I fell in love with the look at a blog, don't know which one, nor am I sure if the blogger is still active. Too bad, the swatches she does are awesome!
The best I could do, I think. At least the most accurate.
Up and bellow have too much red in the base, but this is how it gets sometimes, but it's not the look this polish has most of the time.
Here it is! This is how this beauty looks like, BUT cut the VNL, because it's not there! Also, flakies are more alive.
A bit picture heavy, but this is Nfu Oh 51. Now I finally understand all the bloggers that are always telling us how pictures don't do this one justice. They really don't. You can catch a glimpse of the colour play and the awesome jellines of gorgeous purple base colour, but no more than that. At different lighning this baby acts like hundred varnishes in one. Yesterday in the pub it turned is such an amazing polish, I really wished I had my camera with me, but I don't think I could capture it. The purple got really dark but still remained purple, and the flakies somewhat faded, and out it came this gorgeous goldish-reddish-orangish glitter or rather sparkle, it was so amazing! And so vivid, totally awesome. I don't think I need to write about the beauty of this one much anymore ... if you own it, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, I'm sure it's on your WL. If not, get it there. :)
This was four coats. VNL was minimal then, my camera emphasized it. I added SV, because I was in a hurry, but I like how glossy Nfu Oh are by themselves. I still think 51 will be better layered, though. Although 4 coats give the mani this amazing depth, since it's a jelly base, the multichrome effect of flakies is somewhat subdued. But I love it anyway. I was slightly disappointed by the fast and large amount of tip wear I got the first day, but that's the only problem I really had with this mani.
Now that I also had full mani with Nfu Oh alone I feel I can talk about the formula too. It has the B3F syndrome, and quite heavy one too. Polish drop can really soak your nail if you're not careful. But if you pay attention to it, it's not a big deal. I love their brush, it's really perfect, really easy to work with. I'm in love with these Opals. Really. They're gorgeous, simply put. My favourite is still 56 and I bet you saw that one coming. But I love them all. Great polish, they really spice up the mani. I don't get sick of the mani after days either, because they're so interesting. My WL of Nfu Oh is ridiculous. Right up there with China Glaze and BB Couture. Wow. I want them all. I'm discovering new love for jellies with their Pure Colours. I always prefered creme over jellies because jellies give you VNL and I simply can't live with that ... but seeing swatches of Pure Colours ... man, I want them, so gorgeous!
I think that's just about all the praise I can gather in a post about a single brand without getting deleted. ;) And now to the nail polish part of my bday present I got yesterday. The present was a really nice surprise, I totally didn't see it coming! :) I got two of Depends I was really missing, I didn't order them because of my limit of spending money on polish, that I'm trying to stay true to (and failing most of the time). Depend 221 and the blue crackle Depend. Yay! Thanks guys! :*
Tomorrow we start with Red comparison week, woohoo! Hope you'll like it. :)
