Special ManGlaze surprise B-day mani

My people! It has been a crazy month so far! Imagine hype at work, birthday, being sick, attending a dance festival and releasing a magazine crammed all in three weeks. Ah yes. Crrrazy. I haven't worn any nail polish for about a week, which is an absolute record of the past 3-4 years for me. 

To more important things - I had a birthday about two weeks ago. It was a lovely day I spent with my boyfriend - after we both finished with work, but nevertheless - a day of relaxation and sauna. Wonderful. We got home pretty late and I was chatting with my mum and I noticed a package for me (my folks don't even mention it anymore, because there is always a package for me on one of the tables) on the kitchen table. Surprisingly, I didn't expect any packages in that period of time and it didn't seem to belong to any of the retailers I usually order from. What the hell, right? I started opening it, and inside the box was a smaller box. A freaking nail polish. Now, I KNOW I remember when I order a new goodie for my collection. And as I am opening the smaller box I see it SAYS MANGLAZE ON IT! Man-fucking-glaze?!! In my home? For MOI??  And I realise one of my friends surprised me with one of my biggest lemmings, ManGlaze Mayonnaise. We talked about nail polish a couple of weeks before that and she decided to surprise me with it. Thanks, gurrl! :) :* 

Now, to explain my lovestory with ManGlaze. ManGlaze is one of my biggest lemming brand of all time, right up there with BB Couture. Their idea of witty names and incredibly awesome bottle designs is just fantastic. Not to mention their matte nail polish always looks sickening. Basically, I want them all, if not for uniqueness of the shade (although all of them are pretty unique, I think), then definitively for the design. Mayonnaise was number one on my list because it is supposed to be this perfect true white matte. Which I always wanted. Not the I-just-put-glue-on-my-nails white, but a nice, wearable white with a decent enough formula to apply (which was mission impossible to get a couple of years back). And now I have it.

Bunch of photos of the bottle!

See how awesome the bottle is? I am sure you already saw it million times before, but bear with me, I just got it! :D

And to make this polish and the present-giver justice, I needed to make this mani especially fabulous without destroying the Mayo. So I did accent mani, with black matte, glitter on top and then mattified it. Because. I. Can.

Besides my mani, I hate everything about these photos. Please take into consideration I have a new camera and no time to figure out how to work with it best. I promise, I will learn! The skin on my middle finger is an abomination, but it is that period of year when I can't do shit about it. 

But I really wanted to show you this beauty! It is not that obvious on my pictures, but Mayonnaise has this tiny tiny tiny shimmer that makes it slightly pearlescence. It is still matte, but not flat, chalk-matte and it gives the whiteness some depht. Gorgeous!

The application was a very nice surprise. I needed two to three coats to even it up, but they applied like a breeze for a matte nail polish. And for a white matte nail polish, that is pretty awesome. The only thing that you need to be careful about is  that it dries slowly comparing to other matte nail polish. I paid for that lesson dearly on my index finger, where you can notice a small dent. How I hate doing that to my fresh mani. 

On my index finger I have Rimmel Velvet Matte Matte-itude that I shall talk more about in one of the future posts. Glitter on top is Sally Hansen Luxe Lace Rochet, one coat, and then Konad Matte Topcoat on top. 

I am in love with this nail polish. Ridiculously love it. Needless to say, I want them ALL. And this little baby convinced me they are worth the money. Desiree, thanks, darling. :*

Do you have any ManGlaze nail polish? Do you like white nail polish (matte or glossy) or are you in "big no-no" camp? :)

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Royal & sea & turquoise blue trio

Heya everyone! How about new NOTD? Nail crazy said I should show my NOTDs more often and lately I actually feel like wearing more than one colour I've already shown, so with posting these I don't fear I am not boring you with my nails. :)

I think I am in my blue phase quite strongly lately. I constantly feel like wearing some sort of blue shade. For this I mixed up two colours and a glitter. I actually wanted to fling a duochrome topper in there as well, but I thought it would get too busy. Please excuse the state of my cuticles, I wasn't home when I took these and there is no dishwasher in my BF's cabin up north and that shows. :)

I combined them a bit differently on my right hand and I prefer this combination to the one on my left hand, hence the picture. Excuse the weird position of the hand, I am not used to taking photos with my left. :)

The royal blue is Revlon Royal, I think it has to be one of my most used nail polish, the colour is just sickening. It is a jelly and so it photographs a bit sheer even if it is not. 

The turquoise blue is Kiko 342 and it is in fact a true turquoise, not sky blue, like it is on my photos. Online swatches prove also it is a very nice dupe of O.P.I. Fly, if you really want a cheap but great substitute of that baby. 

On top is the utterly gorgeous Sea Blue glitter made by Esmaltes da Kelly (EDK) I got from lovely Eveline all the way from Brasil. I love how irregular the glitter is, and that it is dense enough I only need one coat to spread it evenly over the nail. Brush is awesome, a lot of brands could learn from this indie np maker. :)

And of course  I needed to put a matte TC on the Kiko combo. Apparently that's what I do with lately with at least 2 nails, my brain decided it is obligatory. 

What's on your nails today?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Green foil flakes mani (a review)

Heya folks! How are you doing? I got some pretty awesome news yesterday in my inbox, which is pretty awesome for you too, and that can only mean a giveawaaaaay! Yeah! We just need to iron some details out and then it shall begin. I am really excited, I haven't done a giveaway in such a long time! 

I also want to thank you for all the advices on the stamper in my previous post, they were tons helpful, the stamper works now!! Thanks, girls! :)

For today I have another lovely nail art toy for ya. Again Born Pretty Store gave me a choice in what to order for review and I wanted to try out this foil thing-y, it looked quite fun. Like flake polish, but without the polish and with bigger flakes. Awesome! You can find it on Born Pretty Store site under the name Fantasy Starry Holo Nail Foils Glitter Transfer Stickers Nail Decoration (item ID # 12413), I picked the pattern number #75. And I fell in love with the effect, the mani looked great ... if only it would last a bit longer!

I used RGB Sea as the base, a gorgeous dark green with green shimmer, it seemed perfect for the bright holo green foil.

The foil itself comes in a need square package and it looked like a decent amount of foil for under a dollar, but then I saw it unfolds in to a much bigger sheet! Awesome!

Now, for the pros and cons:

+ the foil is incredbily easy to work with, you have a tutorial on Born Pretty Store page that works very nicely, it is the nail art for dummies, really (which means it is perfect for me ;))

+ you use a very small amount of foil per mani, as a little corner can be used for an entire hand. For my nails I used approx. 2 cm x 2cm of the foil and I could still use it for a couple nails more, would I have them. :)

+ the effect is gorgeous, especially because it is so random, I love it! You cannot control where the foil will stick, which makes it a very asymmetrical mani

+ the removal is very easy, the foil does not bother the removal at all

- TC will dull the holo effect of the foil. Yes, it will still look nice and bright and metallic, but holo effect will be gone. Still, it is better to use TC because the alternative is:

- the foil without the TC does not last long at all. Meaning, I washed my hands, dried them with a towel and the towel pulled off the foil. I was quite disappointed with that. If you have any tricks, how to avoid that without dulling the holo effect, let me know, please!

All in all I love the effect, but I hate how it gets damaged so quickly! I will use it again, but with TC, so it will last as a normal manicure should. 

If you are planning to buy at Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my code SSL91 that gives you a 10% discount on your purchase! :) 

 Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for this foil method?

Thank you for reading and commenting!


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

Connect the dots white sandwich

Hey people! How are you doing? I am just about to change the polish on my nails (I had a nasty fall at my BF's when we were leaving the house and trying to catch my balance I hit the wall very hard with my nails. Polish is quite damaged and I suspect nails are too) and I remembered this mani. I am still on the fence about it. In my mind it looked awesome. White nails, with Connect the dots and then another layer of white polish over it, creating this clean, icy look. Well ... I kind of felt like I did a bad painting job on a wall when I finished with polishing. And the next days of wearing it, I went from liking it to hating it, but never really loving it. I don't know, really ... what do you think?

This was two coats of Colorama French White, then a coat of Lynnderella Connect the dots, then another coat of French White and then, realising French White is too opaque, another layer of Connect the dots. Plus top coat. And I still think I dislike it more often than like it. 

Do you have any colour or combination you can't really decide whether you like it or not?

Thank you for reading and commenting!

Emerald Sparkle meets flakies

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?

Thank you for reading!

Midnight layering

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!

Sea Blue by Kelly Cris over Illamasqua Phallic

Hey people! Two in a row, yay! Here in Ljubljana is snowing so hard. I can't remember the last time snow was falling so thick, it's like someone up there tore their pillows in a pillow fight. It looks nice when you are inside, covered with a blanket and drinking warm tea. 

I put this combo on yesterday and I absolutely love it. Illamasqua Phallic has been waiting for me to reshoot it again for a while. First pictures turned out really bad. I like the new ones much better, although I doubt any photo can capture the amazing shimmer Phallic has. It is one crazy ass gorgeous blue. 

Then I put on top another Brazilian beauty. I had some troubles figuring out who is the artist behind the polish, as it is an indie brand and only Sea Blue is written on the bottle. With an adorable bow on the handle too! As it seems, Kelly Cris is the creator and she does not have a blog, at least I could not find it. But Esmaltes da Kelly (not the same Kelly from what I can see, as Esmaltes da Kelly has her own polish line called EDK) shows the collection [HERE] and the polish looks amazing! BTW, Brazilian girls really know how to make nail polish. EDK also has some amazing colours, Morning Dew stole my heart. <3 

So yeah ... Eveline was so awesome she sent me Sea Blue and I am in love with it. It looks absolutely stunning over Phallic, and the irregular sized blue glitter (there is a holo glitter thrown in there as well) makes it even more perfect, I love love love it!

The light was too poor to make a decent video, so I made a blurry sparkle check photo, to show you all the wonderful colours of sparkle. 

This is just one coat of Sea Blue. It is a tiny bottle, but the brush is great and it is not hard to get glitter on the nails to spread nicely. You also need only one coat of TC to get smooth nails, another extra point for Sea Blue!

And to show you Illamasqua Phallic alone. It is a beauty. Two to three coats, depends on the nail (and my clumsiness).

There you have it. Two blue beauties.I love them. Eveline, thank you for Sea Blue, you are awesome for sending me these Brazilian gems! 

Do you like the combo? What is your favourite Illamasqua colour?

Thank you for reading, have a great weekend!

Bunny is connecting the snow dots

Heya folks! I'm trying quite desperately to find stuff to do in order to avoid college work. I've done a make up look with MUA (btw, love the eyeshadows and the powder blusher, it suits me perfectly), I went for a coffee with a friend, I went for a walk, cooked lunch, made tea, edited photos ...I just might do a bit of exercise and dancing after I finish with this post. You know ... to get the blood flowing and they I'll really go to work! Yeah ... actually, I really do need to work, so I better stop making excuses. But I miss dancing, I just might give it half an hour. And now I'm seriously rambling, aren't I?

Revlon Snow Bunny is a perfect polish for snowy winter. It matches the snow rather well. It's a beautiful white foil, I think I fell in love with white foil when I saw it on Das Experiment blog. Then again, everything looks perfect on her gorgeous nails. :) Snow Bunny is a bit sheer, I needed 4 coats for full opacity, but I really love the finished look. I put Lynnderella's Connect the Dots on top, and they look pretty awesome together.

 This is actually how white Snow Bunny is! A bit shaky picture, but it's the best I could get to actually capture the whiteness.

When I started applying Connect the Dots I grabbed the biggest hexagonal ever! See it on my pinky? I did not know hexs that size are even in the polish. It is crazy big. :D I love Connect the Dots, really, it's such a perfect layering polish, it saves just about every possible colour I put it on so far. Revlon Snow Bunny is a very awesome shade as well. Plus it's very easy to work with, if you have the patience to apply 4 coats for full opacity. I do, so it's not really a problem, the brush and the formula are very nice.

Do you like white foils? Which one is your favourite?

Btw, this is probably the song of 2012 for me, I've been listening to it whole day long, might as well put it on the blog. I cannot get sick of it.When I first heard it I actually got that feeling, you know, when you hear a song and it's like a whole new world of music just opened for you and you know this song is going to be like a drug for you, just constantly listening to it, and enjoying every second of it? That is how my love for Agalloch was born, yes.



Thank you for reading!

A simple holiday mani

A very simple one, since I'm still not feeling 100%. I just layered one coat of Twinkle Lights (China Glaze) over BeYu 306, that I'm already wearing for a couple of days now. I planned to do a very cool holiday gradient, but now I just don't feel like doing my nails at all.

I wish you all happy holidays!

Wednesday is day for Hard Rock in school

Wow, what a silly title. But I wanted to combine the names of gorgeous polishes I have on my nails. Zoya Wednesday and Essie School of Hard Rocks. I finally had some time to do a decent accent mani and I really like how this turned out. I did the stripes with help of striping tapes Born Pretty Store sent me for a review, I love how thin and sharp-edged they are! The code you see on the right side of your monitor is still active for 10% discount! :) Here's my today's creation.

Three coats for Wednesday, but today I have a bad day for polishing my nails, I did tons of mistakes, so it could be a two coater. It's a part of Zoya Beach Collection for Summer 2012 and is also the only one I got from this part of Summer collection (and got all but one from the shimmery side). 

I really like how this turned out. They managed to put the dusty factor in turquoise shade of Wednesday, which makes it a gorgeous colour indeed. School of Hard Rocks fits wonderfully with it.

Do you like it?

Thank you for reading!

This Guacamole is quite Hectic

I did not plan to post today at all, for the lack of time. As it seems, all the work in the world is waiting for me ... but you gotta see this. I remember asking for Guacamole at the last moment, when I saw the post on Tudo Sobre Esmaltes and fell in love with the name. The glitter looked great too, but I'm a huge fan of guacamole sauce and the word itself. It sounds so fun! Luckily Eveline was able to get me a bottle. I immediately thought Illamasqua's Hectic would be a great base for this baby. And they make, for me, a perfect combination. I'm wearing this for the third day now and I'm still not sick of it, not one bit. I think this will be one of the really rare moments when I have to remove the polish because the nail growth shows too much and not because I got sick of it. Oh, and FYI, third day going and minor tipwear on only two of my nails. Honest!

 Taken in artificial light. As you can see, the neon finish of yellowish green glitter turns into 'normal' greenish one. Love it.

Frankly, BBF is perfect in all lights. I freakishly adore this glitter. And I think it looks perfect on the unique green that Hectic is. Three coats of Hectic and two of Guacamole. Oh, and the brush is great on Guacamole. It hugs nail perfectly and the glitter is distributed evenly.

BBF is otherwise, if I understand correctly, an indie brand that is also a reseller of some known brands (also Penélope Luz!). BBF has some pretty great collection of nail polish, especially glitters, from what I remember off their official page and FB page. For some unknown reason their official page doesn't work for me right now, hopefully they bring it back soon. Anyway ... I'm really impressed with Guacamole. Seriously awesome glitter and Eveline, you're awesome for sending me this one! :)

Do you know BBF? 

Thank you for reading!