A nail polish week

Hello darlings! How are you doing? I'm kinda sleepy and kinda grumpy. I watched the Oscars and that in our neck of the woods means I've been up untill 6 a.m. But I'm for once happy with the results. All the right people and movies got the attention, with the exception of Helena and Geoffrey, I really think they deserved to get the prizes, especially Geoffrey Rush for his amazing work in King's Speech. The entire show was fun and not boring at all, so thumbs up, people!

But anyway! Today I have a different post for you. I stopped doing haul posts, if you haven't noticed already, I did them in the beginning and then noticed somewhat negative reactions in general to haul posts, so I'm doing them now only when they are really special. 

I was quite lucky to win two giveaways lately. One I already showed you, at least part of it - the necklace I got from Colorfulbottle, I still have to get to the polish, I've already played with them a bit, just didn't get the chance to post them. The second giveaway was the annonimous one from Parokeets. To those who regularly read my blog - I'm sure you know already I'm such a big Tolkien freak, I'm probably the only one that would make a nickname out of first sentence of the book The Hobbit. ;) Thank you, Parokeets ladies! 

Essence Undead? and Thirsty!, Konad kit, Essence all overy plate and Choose me! polish; Manhattan 710T, gorgeous dark blue polish.

I've already played a bit with Konad, and I wanted to show you, but frankly, it's too awful to even show it. My major, major admiration to all of you who do Konad art regularly! I had NO idea it's so hard!! I almost spilled polish numerous times, not to mention I got polish everwhere. :S 

The Parokeets surprise came on Monday last week. So you know that would make an awesome week already. But on Wednesday another package arrived, that I've been waiting for since previous week. It was my first swap I did on my own, guys, and that was with the awesome nail polish blogger Kris from My Lucid Bubble. I need to thank her for all the patience she had with me and the questions, and I'd also like to thank Tevta and Dolores from Colorfulbottle for useful tips and instructions! Wow, lots of thanks. You can see I've watched the Oscars, can't ya? ;) Here's the amazing package she sent me. 

 From L to R, all Brucci: Stephanie's Go Lime, Gianna's Rocking Blue, Roberta's Green Garden, TJ's Blue Suede Shoes, Black Emerald (!!! beyond awesome duochrome!)

 Seche New Orleans, Orly Robo Romance, Color Club Charmed, I'm sure (iii, my first CC and a mini, cute!!), Wet'n'wild Cheers, Finger Paints Hue Rang?

The bottom two I could also name DIE LEMMINGS DIE!

 Jesse's Girl Confetti, Revlon Royal, Misa Toxic Seduction!!!, Sinful Colors San Francisco!!!, Sally Hansen Salon effects strips Frock Star.

O.P.I. Show Must Go On and Glacier Bay Blues. China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, C-c-courage, VII.

*faints*

source: gifbin.com

Kris, thank you thank you thank you!! This package has been a sheer perfection. I mean, SO many lemmings killed, not to mention Confetti just might me one of the most perfect polishes I've even tried on. Emerald Sparkle, Toxic Seduction, Glacier Bay Blues and VII were one of my biggest lemmings. I think I acutally squeeked when I saw them. My mother thought I'm insane, probably. I don't care, these babies made my whole year! 

I've already put on Jesse's Girl Confetti and Revlon Royal, but I ask you, dears, do you have any wishes what you'd like to see first? Shoot, if you do! :)

So yeah, I won't show you a manicure now, because then there would be too many pictures in the post. But tomorrow one perfection for you! It has been a good week for polish last week, don't you think? ;) Not to mention I'm expecting a package from Finland with Depend and I'm still missing a few China Glazes from new collections. What? I'm insane? I crossed the line? What? I caaan't hear youuuu ...

Illamasqua week - Rampage

Hey darlings! First a letter to Illamasqua, to unite all my thoughts of this week.

Illamasqua, my beloveth,

I have already convinced myself I don't need you in my life, that I don't need your polish, nor Hermetic or Besotted gloss, Liquid Metal Resolute or Precision Ink Abyss to finally achieve my perfect gothic look I'm dying to have. And now ... *sighs heavily* All my attempts to ignore your perfection have failed AND I WANT THEM ALL. I have no idea what was I thinking making an Illamasqua week. I knew I'd crave the polish even more than I already do. Why, why are you so perfect and at the same time so damn expensive? I mean, I'd love you for your package alone, but no, you have to be just superb in quality too, so why do I consider starving to get my Holy Trinity of your nail varnish? I do wonder if that makes me a tad bit extreme. Or dramatic. Or just plain crazy. 

All i know is that I will get you one day or heads will roll. 

All my love, 

Ulmiel

***

On more serious note, darlings, don't think I'm insane. This was my poor attempt to entertain you and also tell you of all different kinds of Illamasqua product I'm craving. I'm also sucker for a good eye look and I'm still searching for a perfect lip product - I suspect I'll get both in Illamasqua. Illamasqua has this alter ego look that I totally adore, and their package really could sell me just about everything, let alone their perfection. And well, I love a lil bit of drama every once in a while. ;)

I saw Lendoxias comment that she's been reading me on bloglovin for a while now so I have no idea who put the blog there, but yeah, people, however you find reading my blog easier! I feel rather silly for not knowing bloglovin' even existed ... oh well! 

To the nail varnish, what say you? It's the last one in Illamasqua week, it's my love, the pure and utter perfection in a bottle, still remaining one of my biggest lemmings, being alive or dead: Rampage. This lemming was killed for my bday by, of course, my dear Tevta. I was so in shock when she gave me the bottle, I'm not sure I even thanked her. How stupid can I get?

Ok, I'll stop talking, picture time!

 Soft light. Still green!

 I noticed on a blog that the blogger wasn't sure why the cap is not lined with the bottle after a few usage. That's why. It's removable. I'm pointing this out just because I didn't notice it is for months. :)

My sweetheart. I love this polish. I've already made quite a dent in my bottle, I'm using it with such a speed I'll empty 15 ml bottle in about 5 years. Which is very fast if you're a nail polish freak, I'd say. Pictures are 3 coats. I've worn it with two coats only too, so it's possible, but with the third one you get the depth in the green that makes me go ghnnngngh. So freakishly beautiful. ALU also says Rampage is a three coater, and I sooooooooo don't give a damn it is. Just applying it makes me happy. Do i even need to tell you application is a perfection? Rampage is sex in a bottle, really. Maybe I should say that line for Phallic? Lol.

When I first saw dark forest green colours that remain green, exist, it became my holy grail of entire nail polish world. Imagine now your biggest craving you have in nail polish. Really the biggest, the one you actually consider buying of ebay for insane amount of money, even if it makes you eat only bread and water for a couple of days in that month and you will still be happy. Do you see that polish and feel the lemming? That is how much I craved to have this shade. Either in shape of Recycle by RBL or Illamasqua's Rampage. Those two are my utter perfection green colours, Rampage being a bit more perfect as it dries jelly, not creme. You may find it surprising, as I'm a total green polish fanatic, but I never craved Nars Zulu. I have very limited understanding for these overpriced polishes, I honestly think only Clarins 230 is worth the hype. Zulu is so dark it's almost black, and I can tell you about 5 more greens like that that are by far more available and cheap. So yeah. Illamasqua Rampage. Tevta, if i actually did forget to thank you, being in total shock, now you probably understand what this gift meant to me. :) 

Rampage is one of my Holy Trinity of Illamasqua. The other two are Hectic and Phallic. I'll get them some day, really. If I only got the three of Illamasqua, I'd be happy. I mean, I'd want more colours, but I'd be happier than with any other three. These are the ones I'd pay 13,5 pounds per bottle and smile while paying. Saying that I also must tell you right now my Illamasqua WL contains 9 bottles. Ouch? Ouch! But they are beautiful!

I hope you had as much fun as I did with Illamasqua week! Here's the group picture of them showin their colours. 

Rrrrr! ;) 

Please tell me your critiques of the Illamasqua week. I'll be really glad to read them!

Have an awesome Saturday!

Thank you for reading! :*

Now also on bloglovin'

Hello guys! Yesterday Tevta pointed out to me that my blog showed up on bloglovin'. Since I had no idea what bloglovin' actually is, I rushed to see what was all about, and after searching through the site I still needed confirmation that everyone there still knows it's me. So I wrote an email to AmyGrace from The Polished Perfectionist ( i noticed bloglovin' badge on her site) and she was a sweetheart and explained everything to me. Thank you again! :) So here's the link: Follow my blog with bloglovin so if you're using bloglovin' you can read me there from now on. :)

Illamasqua is next!

Illamasqua Week - Milf

Hello lovelies! It was a beautiful day in Ljubljana, yet totally cold. Come on, lady Nature, give us Spring! I want tulips on our garden for my bday, just so you know. *strict look* ;) Btw, people, does anyone watch Escape to chimp eden? It's one of the sweetest shows on Animal Planet I've ever seen, I'm totally in love with it. Chimps are so cute. :) But you're here for another one in Illamasqua week, aren't you? :) Today I have for you Milf. I won't say it's a Milf Friday, because it sounds kinda ... inappropriate. ;) 

This was two coats (no TC, this is how it dries), it dries really fast, and it's a very well behaved pastel. It isn't a part of Spring 2010 Illamasqua Pastels collection as I thought previously! Appearatly it's an older shade, that didn't come out in a collection. I don't know about you, but when I think Illamasqua and their style, I don't think pastels. I was really surprised when I saw Pastels collection for the first time. Illamasqua putting out pastels? Really? Hm. Although I think these are pretty good, I'm not sure I'd buy any of them. I'm not a big fan of pastels. Saying that, Milf is just green enough I would consider buying it. I probably wouldn't, but I would consider it. It makes my hands look kinda cool, pardon my arogance. 

It is an awesome polish, the formula is superb, really. If you like pastels, you should try it, since it is so easy to work with it. No chalkiness, no swearing under your breath like with Essie Mint Candy Apple. This one is really great to apply. Since I'm not big on the colour, it is probably the only one this week I don't really like. But if you like it, you'll get awesome pastel formula with it!

What do you think about Milf?

Thank you for reading!

Illamasqua Week - Harsh & Boosh Nail Varnish Duo Part 2

Evening darlings! Illamasqua week continues with the already shown Nail Varnish Duo, but this time it's time for  Boosh to shine. And although I thought Harsh as the main note of the mani is almost too much, this manicure with Harsh only on my accent finger rocked my world. I actually googled what 'Boosh' is supposed to mean, and from what I understand, it can either have negative or positive aspect. So Boosh Thursday by your liking, I hope you had a good one!

Two coats of Boosh, four coats of Harsh on my ring finger and scotch tape design, inspired of course by gorgeous Erika and her Chloe's Nails. Boosh is extremely easy to work with, really, I would bet some with shorter nails could make it a one coater, I did two of course, my nails are getting rather long. Two coats and it's a perfection. It dries almost as glossy as it is on my pictures, I had to put TC because I change my manis now late at night, because I don't have time to do it sooner and I don't want to ruin them by taking a shower and going to bed soon after. But yeah, like I said, magical black glossy creme. Really a perfection. And I love, simply love the combination in this case. Harsh spices up the mani a bit, but it remains edgy and sexy because of the blackness of it. Let me tell you, this baby is super black, it has a certain depht that I don't see often in blacks. Love it! 

This mani lasted for three days, I think, then I removed it, because the accent finger was getting a bit tip-wearish and I can't stand that on stripes when I do them. It could easily last for at least five days, I'd say, Boosh had minimal tip wear. 

This is a perfect black, people. Extremely easy to work with, two coats, brush is a perfection, it dries glossy and quite fast, just ... not a bad thing about it. I totally would love to have it, seriously. I'm a fan of black polish, and this one has become my holy grail. For me black is a classic nail colour, I cannot feel bad wearing it. Saying that, I would still buy few other Illamasquas before I'd buy this one. My student budget forces me to choose, and choose very restrictively. But if someone asked me for a perfect black, I'd say Boosh is the deal. I'll get it one day! 

What do you think about this one? :)

Thank you for reading!

Illamasqua Week - Muse

Hello darlings! How are you doing on this fine, sunny yet freakishly cold Wednesday? It is a great day, I got new dose of polish that I can't wait to show you and all in all, while starving to death waiting for my pizza, I'm realizing these names of Illamasqua polish are fitting, because it is indeed Amusing Wednesday. ;) 

 These are all taken on natural light, cloudy and grey day, but are the most colour accurate. I had to take natural light pictures the next day, because lightbox took the teal out of Muse, it appeard only blue. This below is lighbox picture of Muse, even after some modification. So if you see pictures of Muse looking like this, I must tell you, it has much more green in it and is darker and more dusty, as you can see on my upper pictures.

Anyway. Muse is one of those Illamasquas, that I didn't have on my WL. It's SO going on the WL now! It's a gorgeous, really gorgeous brighter teal colour, from 2009 Summer Collection called Sirens. It's perfection in a bottle. Two coater, extremely well pigmented, brush, as ever, pure perfection, it dries nicely glossy, I put SV on top just because I changed my mani really really late and was off to bed soon. 

All in all a gorgeous  colour. It's the first from Illamasquas I wore for like 3 or 4 days. I started with Illamasqua week preparations on Saturday, but was an idiot and ruined my Hectic mani (it's the first time I felt really sorry for removing a polish), went to Boosh and Harsh, realised there is too much silver so it won't work for me and then shifted to Muse. Series of unfortunate events, but Muse stuck with me until it started to look too tired. Tip wear on Muse is minimal even on the last day of wearing. But the scratches on the surface and all that bother me after four days, so I removed it. But if you're looking for something to last a week on your nails, i think Muse could be perfect for you. 

In short, perfection in a bottle. That's what I call 13,50 pounds worthy! I wanted to do some scotch tape design on it, but again, just like Hectic, it's too beautiful on it's own. 

What do you think of Muse? :)

Thank you for reading!

Illamasqua Week - Harsh & Boosh Nail Varnish Duo Part 1

Hello darlings! A very quick one today, for I have no time at all. Next in our Illamasqua week is Nail Varnish Duo called Harsh and Boosh, today I put Harsh in front, and it's quite fitting for it is a Harsh Tuesday!

 Sparkle check photo.

So, quick explanation of mani - on my index and ring finger are 4 coats of Harsh alone. On my middle and little finger is one coat of Boosh, with one thick coat of Harsh on my middle finger and one thiner on my pinky (that looks by far more awesome). Then I did a scotch tape design as you can see, as always inspired by Erika from Chloe's Nails, on Harsh fingers only, with one layer of Boosh. On my index finger Boosh was rather thick, I didn't like that much, but I liked the design on my ring finger. 

Hars is extremly sparkly and glittery and just insane, seriously people, it's one of the sparkliest polishes I've ever tried on. But application is not so good. I don't mind it being a 4 coater, for it is a glitter polish, you have to expect that, but it's a bit goopy, I had hard time spreading it on my more bent nails, like ring finger that is in the exact shape of an U. The silver particles are different from usual glitter, it's quite awesome, people, like someone cut really really fine particles of silver. I think that those with smaller or shorther nails would manage with three coats. Removal of it is glitter appropriate, don't get it on your skin, it's a PITA to get it off it. It's interesting how it can get removed from it's base when you remove it, it was floating in the air, I had it on my pants, everywhere, really. 

This is a very "in your face" polish. I mean really. I couldn't have it on my nails more than a few hours, because it looked just to blingy for my taste, being silvery white. I'd die for the other Nail Varnish Duo though - Ruthless and Untold. Beautiful reds!

I'll talk more about Boosh when it'll be its time to shine, but all in all it's a good combination, very blingy, very holidays or special occasion appropriate. I love it much much more with Boosh as the main colour though. 

What do you think? About the whole package and my mani? :) Don't forget to check the video to see how insanely sparkly Harsh is!

Thank you for reading!

Illamasqua week - Hectic

Hello darlings! How are you doing? It's the first day of Illamasqua week! Hectic Monday. :) It was rather hectic, but I got an awesome package too. More about that next week, now it's all about Illamasqua.

As you know, I got Tevta's helmer, and she has 6 Illamasquas. One is the same as Illamasqua in my stash, so all in all we got 6 Illamasquas for the week. Today I have for you one of my biggest lemmings of my entire WL, let alone Illamasqua. It's a part of my Holy Trinity of Illamasqua, constisting also of Phallic and Rampage. And having this on my nails, I realised I just have to have it. It's so beautiful it could make me cry. Hectic, in all it's beauty:

Softer light shows how incredibly glossy this polish is - you can almost see the label of my camera, not just the entire thing.

*dreamy sigh* Isn't Hectic so beautiful and hot and edgy? I love it. Love it love it love it. Other bloggers call this fugly, you know, being so ugly it's already beautiful. To me this mix up of army, olive, somethingsomethingsomething green is an utter perfection. I knew I'll love it.

Aaand this was 4 coats. Four?? Yes, four. I actually googled Hectic to see how many coats other nail polish bloggers got and in average they managed with three. Some actually wrote two is enough (with the third for final touch-ups) but I suspect they have really small and short nails and did thick layers. The one that claimed that got Hectic perfect in one coat is either lying or has miniature nails, like really miniature. I'd need to see a video of that manicure in the making to believe it's only one coat.

EDIT: Now that I've applied it again, I needed two coats, third only on few nails, for final touch-ups. My nails a bit shorter than on these pictures, but not nearly as shorter that I'd need only half of coats. So 4 coats is due to my clumsiness, not Illamasqua.
*

But anyway, i'm getting distracted - point is, I'm guessing you can get away with three coats, my nails are fairly wide and bit longer at this point and I used thin coats. But I do think this is 3-4 coater, as it does dry really jelly and you know how jellies are. Just look at how glossy this baby is! This is without top coat, people!! Gorgeous! <3 Frankly, for this colour and finish, I'd forgive it if it was a 6 coater, and 4 coats is no bigge for this effect, just like it's no biggie with Space Cadet or Bad Fairy. 

Brush is an utter perfection, man, you don't get application like that often. I could do it drunk as hell with one of my eyes closed and standing on one leg, seriously. Illamasqua has perfect brush. It dries really fast, especially for 4 coats on the nail, it was dry like in half an hour, or until my show finished anyway. 

I didn't find any info on Hectic being a part of a collection, please let me know if it is. As you can see, I seriously love Hectic. I mean seriously love it. One of my biggest lemmings, and now I want it even more.

I'll fall to my knees and weep the day I get my own bottle.

What do you think of Hectic Monday?

Thank you for reading! :*

S-he 435

Hello darlings! How are you doing? I should be studying, but instead I'm preparing for Illamasqua week next week, hehe. Just when I thought I'm over Illamasqua I got Tevta's helmer to guard. But today I have for you another S-he, called 435, one of my oldest untrieds. I just never felt like wearing it. When I finally did a few weeks ago, I could also see why. It's not a bad colour, but it's not something I'm over the moon about either. S-he has some much much better in it's line. 

As you can see, it's a bright red with pink shimmer. It needed two coats, as most of S-he do, was super easy to apply and all in all gave me no trouble. But I'm not really feeling the colour. Although I do think it would look amazing as a base for crackle or some scotch tape design. Or konad. Basically something to put on the colour. It is bright enough. Hm ... I'll try it when I find the time.

Other than that, I don't have much to say about this one. Not one of S-he's best, but application and brush are awesome, so if you're digging the colour, you should totally buy it, it's really cheap. 

And a sneak peak of next week's program for Did someone say nail polish?: 

What? You thought I'll show you the colours? Think again! ;) 

Thank you for reading, darlings!:*

S-he 376

Hello everybody! How are you doing? I'm really getting excited about the Illamasqua week, so I think it will happen next week, as I can't wait to try these babies! :) Not that I need any more Illamasqua bottles on my WL, lol. But anyway! A quick one today, as I'm late for a cup of coffee and a buttload of chat with my girlfriends. :) 

As it happens, this S-he was a NY's gift from one of them (thanks, dear :*). It's a beautiful purple one with lots of hidden shimmer, but I hate my application for this mani. I was so clumsy on my ring finger, forgive me. This one is a bit older, as you can see by my nails, that are quite longer than my current lenght.

Flash.

I always say S-he is underestimated by quite a few people. They have some amazing shades, seriously, people, for only 1,95€ for 11 ml! Brush never gives me troubles, application on this one is due to me being clumsy not weird brush. I do think one can have a decent collection of nail polish consisting only of S-he. They have all the colours, tons of different finish, including holographic polish ... frankly, the only thing I'm missing in their department is a duochrome. So yeah, I like S-he, quite a lot. Try them, if you haven't already! 

What do you think about this purple, S-he 376?

Thank you for reading!

Ahoy got poisoned!

Hello everybody! How are you doing? Well, I have yet again my forbbiden second cup of coffee right now, even though it's kinda late. But I just really felt like having a cup of coffee, since I love the taste. It's been a long day, but nothing horrible. I see some love for Illamasqua week, so I think I'll do it next week, if I'll manage with the time, k? :) 

Right now I have the third of my Anchors Away haul, and i fear it's going to be the last one for a while. We split orders with Tevta  and planned to get some more AA with the Crackles, and now the Crackles are sold out, so I'm not sure when will I get Sea Spray and Life Preserver. Even better, I think, I'll show them to you after all the hype around AA will be gone. ;) 

I must admit the title is quite correct, since I did posion this beautiful colour with failed scotch tape art. :/ I don't like the result of it one bit, although I like the colour combination. Ahoy by China Glaze and Poison me, Poison you by Catrice.

 

 Softer light. 

Yeah, as you can see, the scotch tape design didn't turn out as I planned. But it's still inspired, as always, by Erika from Chloe's Nails. Other than that, I must tell you people, Ahoy is a chameleon! Seriously, on most pictures on blogsphere it seems just a strong pink colour (my pics included), but the intensity of pink changes depending on the light. Right now on my nails it's a gorgeous warm red colour (of course with a strong pink undertone) with red and goldish sprecks of micro glitter showing and turning this beauty into a stunning shade.

Ahoy! was my risk in the Anchors Away. I wasn't sure if it won't be too pink for me, but I really liked it on the swatches, so I gave it a go. Good thing that I did, since it's exactly, and I mean really exactly what I need in this shitty wheater. I'm absolutely in love with it. Tiny shimmer or glitter (I can never tell where to put these tiny particles) gives it a glass-flecked look and all the colours it gains in different lights are really awesome. 

Application was a bliss, no trouble whatsoever. With two coats I still had VNL so I added the thrid one, and it was magic, baby! 

As you all know, Ahoy! is a part of Anchors Away China Glaze Spring 2011 Collection, I just write it down because that's how i represent most of the polish. As I already have 3 colours and two on the way and am thinking about another one from this collection, I must say i'm really loving this collection. 

Poison me, posion you is another one from Catrice's arsenal I haven't wore for a millenia, and if I'm not mistaken it's one of the colours they're discontinuing, so if you like it, now it's a good time to buy it. 

What do you think about Ahoy!? Do you get all the hype around it or do you have other favourites in the collection? 

Thank you for reading!