Sweet Sugar

Catrice Papagena & Kleancolor Chunky Purple

2012-01-26T21:23:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

Wow, the week went so fast ... I dodn't had time to write a single post or edit my newest pictures !
I have a manicure from last summer that I didn't post for you today. That's when I started to experiment some layerings :)

I first used two coats of Catrice Papagena (from the Papagena Summer Collection) as the base. Then I wanted to try a layering with one coat of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple, but I didn't like the result, the glitters from that polish didn't pop up ...
So I hid the fail with one coat of black crackle. I used P2, it's my fave for the black crackles :) i think it made it pop the glitters a bit more :)

In the sun, Chunky Holo Purple reveals a gorgeous multichrome reflect, from green to orange an red tones ... It's sooo stunning !

I love the last pic, the shadow shows orange sparkle which looks great on purple in my opinion :)

Do you like that combo ?

Kleancolor polish are available on BeautyJoint. They are pretty and cheap but if you never tried them, you have to know that they smell terribly bad. I prefer to warn you about that ;)

Have a nice day :D

Essence Blue Addicted

2012-01-22T20:57:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

I have a quick swatch for you today. I think all glitter lovers will appreciate this one, I'll show you Essence Blue Addicted :)

Blue Addicted is a dark blue jelly base filled with tons of blue and green hexagonal glitters, and also thin blue glitters ... It is said to be a perfect dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Accross the Universe; I don't own this one, but according to comparison swatches, I can believe I don't need Accross the Universe any more ;) (you can check Spektor's Nails swatches)

Isn't it really pretty ?

I loved it a lot. The formula is good, I needed two coats for full coverage, which is okay for me.You'll probably need to place some of the hexa glitters with a toothpick so they don't touch your cuticles and keep the borders nice and clean.
You can guess the removal is a little mess ... I removed most of the polish with the foil technique, but some big chunks were still there. I removed them with an orange stick and cleaned my nails with remover.
Finally it was not so bothering :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

Essence High Spirits & Make it Golden

2012-01-18T16:20:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

I hope you're fine. I'm sorry, I wanted to post earlier but I was ill 'till today and stood in my bed all time, sleeping or reading blogs from my iPad. At least I read a lot of posts to reduce my lateness on this lol.
Now I feel better, I'll get back to work tomorrow and I have a new post for you :)

This is a combo I made a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it ! I first applied two coats of Essence High Spirits, a shimmery khaki green which is really pretty. I can't believe I didn't like shades of green before I became a polish addict :p
I sponged the tips with another great polish from Essence, Make it Golden. This one is a very sheer gold base with different sizes of gold glitter. Trust me, it's a must have ! I hope one day Essence will make the same in silver, that would be a must-have basic :)
I also used one coat of make it Golden on the ring finger to create an accent.

I loved how reflective the glitters were <3 Do you like that look ?

I also took some pics of High Spirits on its own but they are not that good ... Anyway, if you want to see the shimmer of this one, here they are:

I hope you liked it :)

Have a nice day ^^

Patchwork Tape Manicure

2012-01-15T21:05:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

I noticed I had some old pics I never showed here ... This manicure was done in september or october I guess, when there was still a bit of sun here ... I hope you don't mind to see something that's not seasonal ;)

I did this tape manicure following Chloe's tutorial ... I love that kind of manicure so much :)

The colors I used for this were China Glaze Custom Kicks for the base, China Glaze DV8 and Essence Berlin Story.

So, what's your advice ?

I also made a quick swatch of China Glaze Custom Kicks. This one is a bright turquoise polish with lovely gold shimmer from the Kicks Collection (Summer 2009)

It has a perfect formula but it stained my nails ... Well, almost every bright turquoise and blue shades stain on my nails, I think it's not the case for everyone. And that didn't make me love it less :)

I hope you like it :)

Have a nice day ^^

Nail Polish Jewelry

2012-01-11T21:37:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

I won't show you nails today, but some polish related stuff !

As a craft hobbies lover and formerly beaded jewelry maker (I hope I'll find time soon to start this passion again), I also started to make some nail polish jewelry. Do you like that trend ?
I enjoy trying different layerings (glitters and holos are my faves), match my jewelry with my notd, create some cute stuff for my friends ...

Here are some stuff I did:

Essence Confetti Circus

Essence Glorious Aquarius

Kleancolor Aurora

OPI Absolutely Alice

China Glaze Shooting Stars

Nfu Oh 51

Did I mention that flakies look good, too ? :D
Right now I have started a pendant with CND Sheer 24k Gold Sparkle Effect ... I hope it will be pretty :)

Do you like that trend ?
Which of mine are your faves ? My favorite here is Circus Confetti I love the depth of glitters on this one!

I also have small Etsy shop if you want to check it ... It's there: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetsugarnails

Thanks for reading and commenting :) (I have more comments since I moved back to Blogger ... I'm so happy ! )

Have a nice day :)

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

2012-01-09T19:17:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !

What I'll show you today is my last "festive" manicure. I wanted to show it between Christmas and the New Year, but with the blog problems I'm a bit late in my posts ...

I did this manicure the week before Christmas, with the festive spirit around me but I think I could wear it any time in the year, even with the green and gold Xmas colors :)

For these very simple nails, I used China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. Do I really need to introduce it ? :D
Shame on me, it has been in my stash for almost 2 years and I never used it as a full manicure ... I don't know why, because it's really lovely, perfect for all glitter and green lovers !

I added gold water decals from Emnails, it was my first try with these. I'll tel you my advice and more info about this french website right after the pics.

Do you like it ?

I found the water decals on Emnails, it's a french site that sells mainly water decals and stickers. They also have some Zoya polish and accessories but stickers and WD are the main interest of their site.
Their prices are quite interesting (1,50€ for one sheet of stickers), they have a lot of designs. The quality is good, I didn't have any issue applying the water decals. Well, the first ones were a bit messy but I'm not used to WD yet, it's the second time I use these ...

If you are from Europe, you can check their website (I guess it's not interesting at all to order from the rest of the world, I don't even know if they ship outside of Europe). Sadly, their site is only available in french (but you can use a translator)

Have a nice day :)

New Year's Eve Manicure

2012-01-05T20:58:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

First, with a bit of lateness, let me wish you all the best for the year 2012 !

Finally my blog problems seem to be solve, now I have to get used to Blogger again :)
And I also have to post the 65 missing articles, but I'll do that this weekend ...

It's time for me to show you what I did on my nails for the New year ! I did something very simple but blingy !
I used 2 coats of Essence Maybe I'm Amazed for the base, then I sponged the tips with a Essence It's Purplicious. I told you it was something simple ... But the holographic glitter in Purplicious are awesome !

I loved that simple but efficient look ... Do you like it ?

There a thing to know about Purplicious, it recently changed. The first version released looked a lot like Essence Twins Louise, with purple square and round glitters. The new version contains only small round glitters, but half of them are purple, and the rest are holographic!

I love that version a lot ... The older one is still available in some shops, but I'd bet it won't stay much longer ... Which is a bit sad because both versions are pretty and very different !

Please feel free to comment or contact me (via the form on the Contact page) to share your opinion or tell me if you have issues with the new version :)

Have a nice day :)

Essence Maybe I'm Amazed - Remix your Style LE

Essence It's Purplicious - Special Effect Toppers collection

Finally back ...

2012-01-05T11:03:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Well ... Finally, moving to a self-hosted Wordpress blog was a mistake ...
Wordpress is really a good CMS, and this time I had no issue with my hoster, but I have to be realistic, with my job and working times I don't have time enough to write posts AND assure the maintenance. WP and its plugins need updates, I have to clean the database frm time to time ... No, really, I prefer to concentrate on my pictures and posts, and Blogger does a great job for my blogging needs.

Normally, you won't have to change your bookmarks as I keep my domain name, and you may not see any difference (except for the design)

I have to import the posts I wrote on Wordpress since june (that makes 65 posts) and it seems a bit difficult to do it automatically, I'm waiting for the support to answer me right now ...
The only bad point is I'll lose all the comments since that date, because Intense Debate can move from Blogger to Wordpress, but not in the other way. I'm really sorry about that :(

I hope the change will be okay, and I'll be back tonight for a new polish post :)

My Christmas Manicure

2011-12-28T15:45:00.006+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

Today I'll finally show you what I had on my nails for Christmas ! I should have shown you it before, but well, I didn't have a lot of time ...

As I was wearing Ruby Pumps last week, I decided to go for little Santa coats on my nails. I saw that design on a lot of blogs this year and found it adorable :)

I'm not so happy about the final look I got ... The white stripes are too thick and the belt buckle was a bit hard to paint perfectly for me ... But I like it for a first try :)

What do you think ?

For the base I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps, the white is China Glaze Snow, the black is a liner from Essence and the buckle was painted with China Glaze Millenium.

Thank you for watching and commenting :)

Have a nice day ^^

Festive Nails with Essence Circus Circus

2011-12-25T15:50:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

I wish you all a merry Christmas, I hope you spent a nice festive evening with your parents, friends and beloved ones :)

I have a festive manicure for you today. That's not what I was wearing for Christmas (I'll show you that later) but I did those nails during last week, invested by all the festive things around me in the city :)

I wanted to use My Sparkling Acrobat from Essence Circus Circus LE, a two sided polish bottle with black creme on a side and gold glitters on the other. But I also wanted to add a little something more in it, so I chose to layer the red glitters from Applause Applause (the other side of this one is a red creme)

So, I started with two coats of black, then added one coat of red glitters (I should have taken a pic at this point, it was really pretty), and finished with one coat of the golden glitters and top coat (Seche Vite)

Here's what I got:

A closer view of the pretty glitters ... As you can see, there are thin round and bigger squared glitters in these polish, like in some of the Essence's Twins :

I love that Essence LE, the polish are quite basics but they have a good quality, the glitters apply easily and evenly, I think that's the kind of basics every polish lover should have in their stash :)

Do you like that combo ?

I made two other festive manicures, more with the Christmas colors this time, I hope I'll be able to show you them this week :)

Have a nice day :)

Geometrical French with BPS Stud

2011-12-19T16:21:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

Last time Kevin from Born Pretty Store asked me what I'd like to review from their webstore, I thought of the pretty studs I saw lately on Emily's blog. She told me how much she liked them, so I decided to give them a try and review these !

Metal studs are used like rhinestones, but they are made of metal and have a smooth, bumpy side. They come in different sizes (1.5mm, 2mm or 3mm) and colors (silver, gold, pink, purple, black ...)

For my first use, I wanted the most basic ones, so I went for 1.5mm silver studs.

Here's what I did with them:

For this design, I used two coats of Flormar Supermatte M126 (which is not matte at all, not even satin, but still lovely!) as the base and added two coats of China Glaze CG in the City on one half of the geometrical design.

Then I added some black lines with and Essence liner, and finally added the studs just as usual rhinestones: I put one small drop of top coat where I wanted the stud to be, took the stud with an orange stick, placed it and finished with one thick coat of top coat (Seche Vite)

That's all ! This design is really easier than it seems ... Would you like to see a step by step ? I could make one soon :)

The studs are really lovely. They don't bling like rhinestones but they add some shine to your nails. I think it's easy to match with many kind of nail arts :)

The 1.5mm are not as thick as rhinestones, so if you are one of those people who can't help scracth that little bump made by the rhinestones (like I do), the studs are perfect for you !

I wore that manicure 4 days, and the studs didn't move at all. As they are thin, they'll suffer less from bumps and all those things that make normal rhinestones fell off your nails after a few days.

Metal Studs are available on BornPrettyStore, in the Metal Rhinestones section. You'll find them for 5.51$, with free shipping as usual on BPS.

I don't know how much studs a bag contains, but I filled 2 1/2 compartments of a rhinestone wheel, which is a lot !

The silver ones don't react to acetone or polish remover, so you can use them again if you're patient :)

What do you think ? Have you ever tried that kind of studs ? And do you like today's manicure ? :)

Have a nice day :)

Zoya Neeka

2011-12-14T16:27:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :D

Don't forget to enter my 2 Years Blogoversary Giveaway !! Just click here, you only have ONE DAY LEFT !

As I said in previous posts and in the giveaway rules, I won't count any entry made within the comments ... The Google Docs form is easy, quick to use and open to everyone with no need of Google account, so please follow the rules :)

On to today's wonder, some weeks ago I swapped polish with friends of mine (that how I got my OPI Dim Sum Plum) and I received this little wonder: Zoya Neeka !

It was the first polish from my swap I tried, and I can't find words to say how much I love it !

It's a smokey purple with golden shimmer ... That combo is sooo perfect !

I always had some application issues with my Zoya (well, I don't own a lot of them and most are sheers) but this one worked perfectly for me. Once again, the drying time was a bit long for that impatient me, but I fixed it with one coat of Seche Vite, as usual.

I also kept this one 4 days without chip or tip wear, which is a lot for me ^^

Zoya Neeka is from Zoya's Fall 2011 collection Smoke & Mirrors (the Mirrors half), I think you can still find it easily on your favorite e-tailer :)

Do you like it ?

I have almost finished some nail polish jewelry ... I hope to show you them soon :)

Have a nice day :)

Classics 58 or Flakes Holo Goodness !

2011-12-11T16:29:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Finally I got rid of this cought ! I had a terrible week, could not even stand the smell of nail polish for the first time, so I spended a whole week with my bare nails ... That strange, from me :p

There are two things I absolutely love in nail polish finishes: flakes and holo - every kind of holo from the plain linear holo to the subtle holo glitters ...

When a friend of mine offered me those wonderful polish that show both finishes in a single bottle, I became totally crazy about them :p

"58" is a dark purple with purple/red/orange flakes, thin holographic dust that makes it almost look like a linear holo under the sun, and some bigger holo particles. You're not drooling yet ? Here are other pictures !

Application is good, I thought it would be very sheer but it was great with two coats. I definitely love it and want to try the others I found ! (my friend offered me most of them, and I got a couple of others from a shop in Belgium)

Classics seems to be a Turkish brand, as Golden Rose and Flormar (they really know how to rock nail polish in Turkey :p). After a search on Google, I didn't find any e-tailer and can't really tell you where to find them (except in that small Belgian shop in Liège, near the Guillemins train station, if you're near there). They were sold for 5€.

If you want a chance to get yours, hurry up to enter my giveaway, it ends this thrusday :)

Have a nice day :)

Catherine Arley Black Holo

2011-12-05T16:37:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

The weather is getting colder here, and of course, I have a cought, the first of the season, yay ! xD

And I have no voice since yesterday ... I tried medicines, groggs, honey and thyme and still voiceless. And of course, I've never had so much phone calls at work than today :p

I hope you're fine with that weather :)

What about some holo goodness to forget all that cold and illness ?

I discovered Catherine Arley holographic polish not so long ago and I ordered a couple of them. The first I tried is 805 (aaaw, again some nameless polish ... me don't like that!), a pretty black scattered holo !

In fact it's more dark grey than a true black, but I'm still very happy with it :p Let's see how it looks ...

This is what it looks outdoor, with no sun:

I wanted to add an accent nail, so I chose another Catherine Arley polish, 677. It's a dark pink holo, the holo effect is less impressive than on 805 but it's still really pretty !

That's all for today :) Do you like it ?

I forgot to mention the quality ... The dry a bit slower than well known holos (like China Glaze, Gosh, Nfu Oh ...) but the holo reflects don't disappear under top coat, so you can use your usual drying accelerator over it.

I kept this manicure 3 days and didn't have major chips, only some wear at the tips :)
You'll find Catherine Arley polish here: http://beautycosmetic.biz/ (as well as some Essence products for non-European addicts !)

They cost only 2$ and the shipping depends on the weight of your order. You can use their contact forme before ordering to get infos about shipping to your country.

Have a nice day :)

My First Franken

2011-11-30T16:51:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)

I finally decided to try some frankening. It all started with Kittie's blog, More Nail Polish, and especially this post.

I didn't wait a lot and bought the Star Bite powders from TKB to create the same top coats. And as I'm not a logical person, my first mix wasn't made of these :D

I wanted something pink but not too bright, and I especially wanted to include some black glitters.

I mixed some black, pink and red together, and added pink and black glitters. I even wrote the quantities I've used, so if you're interested, you'll find my recipe at the end of this post.

But let's see the pics first :)

For a first try, I can say I'm happy of how it turned. I like that dark raspberry jelly a lot, and also like how the glitter add a little something to it !
I had this opaque result with two coats, the bigger glitter made it a bit gritty but a coat of Seche Vite made it smooth.

The bad point, it didn't stay very well on my nails, it started to chip the second day of wear, the kind of big chips you can't hide in any way :(
I don't know where it comes from, I'm such a novice in mixing nail polish ! Maybe it's the quality of the polish I used...
Anyway, I still like it and will try frankening again :)

Do you like it ?

Here's my recipe ... I used a syringe this time, so the quantities are precise lol ...
1.5ml red polish (NYC Chelsea Cherry) - 1.5ml pink jelly polish (Essence Sweet as Candy) - five drops of black polish (NYC City Blackout) - 0.1gr black glitter (unknown brand, I bought it in a Spanish dollar store) - 0.3gr fushia thin glitter (Isis from NaildeRoyale)

Tell me what you think of it :)

Orly Rage & OPI Red Shatter

2011-11-24T16:53:00.005+01:00

Hi dear readers !

I hope you're fine ! The weekend is approaching, yay !
Did you enter my giveaway ? If you haven't yet, check it here ! Oh, and don't forget to read the rules please ... I won't count any comment as entries, you have to use the form. I hate to dismiss people from my giveaways but it's much more easy for you and for me to enter with a form :)

Today I'll show you a combo I loved. When OPI's Red Shatter was released, it was possible to buy it as a set with Rally Pretty Pink. That's what I did but as much as I love RPP, I really don't like it topped with Red Shatter, so I needed to find something to match with red shatter.
I first thought of a nice gold shimmer, but I don't have such a polish (what a shame !) so I went for Orly Rage, a nice rose gold foil released for Spring 2010 in the Foil FX collection.

I was very glad of that combo. Orly Rage had a good application and was opaque in two coats. OPI Red Shatter applied easily, and I love how OPI's crackle polish look, the crackles are large enough to show the base polish, it's well balanced.

Do you like that combo ?
What colour would you use with a red crackle like this ?

If you're looking for Orly Rage, it's still available as it has been re-released in Orly's Holiday 2011 collection Bling in the New Year :)

Have a nice day ^^

Essence - Can't Cheat on Me

2011-05-31T21:10:00.000+02:00

Hi sweeties !

Aaw, no post since last thursday, I'm so sorry :( I'm really really busy and I also take advantage of the good weather to work in the garden on weekend :)

Well, today I have an Essence polish from their new main range. It's called Can't Cheat on Me and it's a pretty silver with a very slight holographic effect, even more discreet than in Catrice Dirty Berry but still present.

I stamped some flowers from Konad s9 plate with a black special polish as I wanted some cuteness on this polish :) Some flowers didn't stamp well, my Konad skills are not at their best ... I should train more !

You can see some holo particles in the pic above ... It was difficult to capture :) The gloss effect you can notice comes from a coat of Poshé top coat :)

The application was ok, the first coat seemed to be very sheer but the second coat fixed it. Of course it's not your big silver holo like Gosh Holographic or China Glaze OMG, but it's pretty if you like silver polish with a twist :)

I'm glad Essence finally started to make "real" holos instead of duochromes (even if their duochromes are very pretty, I'm tired to see they call them "Holo", lol)

The tip wear on the last pic came from second day of wear (with typing and dish washing), like every holo I've tried this one is a bit fragile ...

Do you like it ?
Have a nice day :)

Born Pretty Story Review: striping tape

2011-05-26T21:17:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers :)

As I told you recently, I started a partnership with Born Pretty Store. They offered me to get some free items and one of the stuff I chose was a glitter striping tape.

My first experiment with striping tape some months ago was not really good, I did not even post the pics here. The tape was a bit stiff and didn't stick enought on the polish base. After only a few hours of wear, the borders started to peel off and I had to remove my manicure.

I was sceptical but I decided to get those from BornPrettyStore anyway and did this manicure with Essence Twins Bella & Edward:

I chose the striping tape in "glitter", which is a holographic pattern, shiny and pretty.
At first try, I was glad to see the tape was flexible, which made it easy to place. It was also easy to remove and replace it in case of error, but I guess striping tapes are fragile and need not to be handled too much.
It was well stuck on my nails and I just had to push the borders a bit with an orange stick before I apply a top coat.

On the third day of wear, one stripe started to remove but I had no other problem until the polish started to chip seriously, then I removed everything before it started to look bad :p (after 4 day of wear)

If you like striping tape or would like to give it a try, I recommand these ones ! You can find them on BornPrettyStore for 1,73$, which is a good deal with BPS free shipping worldwide :)

Now, let's see how to proceed for this nail art:

- Apply a base coat to protect your nails
- Apply one coat of sheer natural pink or beige, or whatever you use for a french manicure. I used Catrice Rock Barock (Urban Baroque LE).
- Put some scotch or Blue Tape diagonally on your nails. I placed it so the polish hides my whole tips.
- Apply one coat of polish (I used Essence Twins Bella) and gently remove the tape immediatly after.
- Allow your colored polish to dry, then apply one piece of striping tape, following the line you made with the scotch tape. Leave a few millimeters of striping tape, I think it's easier to cut it after than to calculate the right lenght.
- Apply another piece of striping tape like if you want to make a french manicure.
- Apply glitter polish, I used Essence Twins Edward.
- If needed, push gently on the ends of the striping tape to make them stick strongly
- Apply top coat, you're done :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

And the winner is ...

2011-05-25T22:12:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone :D

I won't make you wait any longer ... I've counted all the entries, that was a bit more than 350 persons !

Then, as my boyfriend was playing World of Warcraft, I asked him to make a random in game :D

That's how he sorted #131 who was ...

Hayley from http://immhappy.blogspot.com/ !

Congrats, Hayley :) I'll send you an email very soon to get your shipping infos ...

Thanks to all of you who participated and follow me :)

I hope you enjoyed this giveaway ... And don't forget, you still have a chance to win a Gosh Holographic polish by entering my new poll here :)

I've tried the striping tape from BPS Sunday ... Tomorrow I'll post about them :) Stay tuned ^^

Wedding Nail Art Poll & Mini Giveaway

2011-05-23T10:00:00.025+02:00

Hi dear readers :)

My previous giveaway has ended soon and I already have a little something for you ...

As I told you some days ago here and the Facebook page, I want to get your advices !

Well, some of you may already know that, but I'm getting married this summer ! Yay !

Of course, everything is being planned, and one of the points I have to think about is ... my manicure for that big day :D

I must admit I'm a bit disappointed with that, I have some undefined ideas, and that's where you will help me :p

So, I ask you to submit some nail art ideas to me :)

And because I love to thank you for participating on my blog, I'll draw one idea and will send a bottle of Gosh Holographic to the person who has suggested it. Isn't that a great deal ? :D

Well, who says "prize to win" also says "rules to follow" ... Please read them carefully :)

* Please submit your idea(s) with the form below. I won't count any comment.

* Leave your email so I can contact the winner.

* You can submit more than one idea but I'll count one entry per person.

* Please be imaginative, don't just tell me to make a white french or something like that. Describe your idea, or include a link to a picture :)

* Don't forget to consider my nail lenght, they're not short but they're not even super-sized :D

And to help your imagination, here's the dress :D

Both are the same model but mine is the ivory one, with chocolate embroided flowers.

You have until june 20th to enter and submit ideas, that will be one month before my wedding.

From time to time, I'll pick an idea and try it so you'll see it on the blog :)

This is opened internationally, and you don't need to be a follower or make a blog post/tweet about this (but if you want to, feel free to talk about this, I never say no to some new visitors :) )

I hope you like this little poll/giveaway :)

Born Pretty Store

2011-05-22T17:01:00.000+02:00

Hi every one, I hope you spend a great weekend !

First, some words about the 500 followers giveaway ... It's now closed, I'll draw a winner during the week, as soon as I can :)
I had a bit more than 350 entries, wow ! And now I have more than 800 followers, a big big thank you to all !

I already read all your answers about the polish colours you would never wear, it was funny and interesting :) I'll publish the results with the winner's name ...
And don't worry if you asked to be added to my blogroll and are not yet, a lot of you asked me so I'm working on that, but it will take a little time ^^

On to today's subject, you've probably heard about Born Pretty Store. It's an online shop based in China, and they have a nice choice of nail art stuff like rhinestones, crackle polish, training hands, brushes, Faux-nad plates and stamping polish ... They also have stuff for false gel nails and acrylic systems but I don't use that so I only visited the nail care and nail art sections ;)

I started a partnership with them, and I just got my first samples so you'll get reviews very soon :)

Here's a quick presentation of that store :)

The first important thing is they sell worldwide with free shipping. Yes, that's true !
For that price, your order come to you within 1-2 weeks without any tracking or insurance. If you want a tracking number, you can add a 3$ option to your order, which is really a few money for more security :)

I ordered three times there, the first time I chose to pay for that option, my mail arrived in one week. The other times I didn't take the tracking option and it took 2 weeks. So it won't make your mail arrive faster but that's a security if you don't trust your postal services (as I do, lol)

The second thing you have to know, is they are really cheap. I can't talk about the quality yet, but I tried their Faux-nad plates and they were quite good.

And finally, another thing you have to know is they make a lot of contests and offers, mainly on their Facebook page or website, and you can get free stuff without ordering anything (but when you see their prices and the free shipping, you surely *need* to buy a little something :p)

If you want to take a look at what they offer, just click here :) And stay tuned for my incoming reviews !

They offered me to chose anything from the shop for 10$ to review, here is what I got:

Have you already ordered there ? What did you think ?

Have a nice week :)

China Glaze - Spontaneous & Shooting Stars

2011-05-18T18:56:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone :)

Some weeks ago, I saw China Glaze's Spontaneous in a shop. I really fell in love with it, and I didn't look a lot of swatches before I decide to order it :D I was right, it's a real wonder for purple lovers ^^

Spontaneous is a perfect warm purple creme. It applies like butter and has a good drying time. It's also veryyyyy shiny!
Isn't it pretty ?

In the same order, I also bought China Glaze Shooting Stars, a glitter layering polish. As I was really impatient to try it, I layered it over Spontaneous. Loot at that gorgeousness !!

Shooting Stars is a clear base with very small holo glitters, and bigger round opalescent glitters. Look at all those colours !

So, you might have understood that I'm totally in love with Shooting Stars ! It's not the last time you see it here ;)

What do you think about these polish and combo ? What's your favorite layering polish ?

Don't forget, you have 3 days left to enter my giveaway ;)

Essence Twins - Carrie & Mr Big

2011-05-13T18:38:00.001+02:00

Hi everyone !

Yesterday I posted some pics of Essence Twins, and then Blogger bugged, so the post has disappear ... Luckily, the post was copied on my Facebook page, so I can copy paste it and bring it back to you :D

Here it is :)

For a long time I drooled over Essence Twins on some other nail fanatics blogs. The "Twins" consist of two polish, a base color (jelly for most of them) and a matching clear top coat filled with multi shaped glitters (small round, square and hexagonal).

In Belgium, we only have the Colour & Go and Multi Dimension from Essence's main range, we don't get the nail art things and other cool stuff. But fortunately a friend of mine brought me back some of these from Germany, and now I have those wonderful Twins <3

Carrie & Mr Big is the duo I prefered by far (but I haven't tried them all yet)
Mr Big is the base color, a bright fuchsia jelly. The first affraid me, it looked very sheer, but a second coat made it perfectly opaque. The application is a dream, and the drying time is ok.
Carrie is the bling part of the duo, it contains very thin fuchsia glitter, squared fuchsia and pale pink hexagonal glitter. The top coat dries with a pretty glossy finish.

Sorry for the tip wear, but I had to wait for the third day to take some outside pics. I hate the weather here, you put your polish in the evening thinking you'll take the pics the next day, and then it starts to rain, the sky is almost black and you can't take any good pic >< I hope the summer will be better :p

So, do you like this one ?
You may have noticed it looks like the polish on my banner picture, that one is Thelma & Louise :)

If you follow my Facebook page, you already know that, but I'm planning to make a poll here, with a little something to win for one participant. There will be no need to follow me or make a link this time, but I'll make your mind work a bit :D
Stay tuned, I hope to launch that during this weekend or next week ;)

China Glaze - Sugar Plums

2011-05-09T19:18:00.000+02:00

Hi sweeties !

You know how much I love purple and similar shades, so when China Glaze released the Christmas 2010 collection 'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice, I had to get Sugar Plums !

As the name says, it's a dark plum with a strange finish. It has some multicolor glitter in it, which are very pretty, but it dries to a kind of rough/bumpy finish, just like if there was sugar stuck on it !
It's not really disturbing, but it's very special :) It's not as rough as some glitter polish I've tried before ...

You can guess the little bumps on those pics.
Other than that little singularity, the formula was very good, totally opaque with two coats and a short drying time.

I added the flower to make a quick accent, but I can't remember which brand it is. I suppose it was an Essence or Peggy Sage sticker.
On this last pic, you can see the thin glitter in the bottle and on my nails.

This shade disappointed me a bit due to its finish, but I really liked it. Pretty and classy color :)

What do you think ? Did you get this polish or other winter collections ?

Nfu Oh - 51

2011-05-07T15:32:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !

I'm really sorry for the lack of posts this week, but I've been very busy with working days ending very late and work at home ...
To make you forgive me, I have a picture heavy post for you today, and a good new at the end of my message ;)

You already all know this polish who has reached a good place in the most wanted and famous polish ranking, but I think a few new pics won't annoy you :)
So, here we go with Nfu Oh 51 !

No need to introduce this pretty blue-ish purple jelly with loads of reflects changing flakies ... As it's sheer, I topped it over rwo coats of Essence Berlin Story (black)

Depending on the light, it sometimes looks like it only contains classic glitters, but sometimes you can see those red, green, gold flakies which are sooooo wonderful !

I took many pics under different lights, and wasn't able to make a choice, so enjoy :D

This polish is just perfect, I think every polish lover should own a bottle of it :p

Do you like it ?

On to the good new I was talking about, I found a bottle of Gosh Holographic (it's becoming very hard to find here), so I'll add it to the giveaway as I promised :D
You can still enter until may, 22nd by filling the form here :) Good luck !

Catrice - Dirty Berry

2011-05-01T21:22:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !

I hope you enjoy your weekend :)
Remember some weeks ago, Catrice changed their main range of products with some new and fresh polish colours. Dirty Berry was the one I expected the most !

It's a kind of dusty lilac with a beautiful shimmer that reveals to be holographic ! Not spectacular, but really, really lovely !

The base color on itself and the appearance of this polish in the shadow is already pretty, but when you move your nails under the sun or the light, you can see the scattered holo lightning. I'm totaly in love with this polish !

The pics below were taken indoor with artificial light and the last photo is a bit blurried so you can guess the small holo effect. As I said before, nothing spectacular like other famous scattered holo polish, but for me it has that special little something that makes it great :)

Application was excellent, nothing to say about that. The drying time was good too, and it has a fantastic glossy finish without any top coat. That's the second reason why I love this polish so much :)

I wore this during 4 days, which is enormous for me (I usually change my nail color every two days), and it was still perfect, no chip, just a bit of wear on the tips.

What do you think ? Do you like semi-holo polish like this one or do you prefer when it's a real holographic shade ?

You can win this polish, along with other Catrice colors, in my giveaway :)

Have a nice day !

Sponging & Crackling

2011-04-27T18:55:00.027+02:00

Hi dear readers !

As I promised in my latest post, here's what I made over Essence I'm a Berliner.

I really loved this very easy to do nail art :) I'll try again with other shades, a purple gradient would be cute :)

Do you like this ? It's a sponge gradient with 2 different shades over the base, and black crackle over all. I'll explain you how to do at the end of this post :)
I used shades from Essence I Love Berlin LE 'cause they work really great together !

So, let's see how to do it ^^
I started by applying to coats of green using Essence I'm a Berliner.
Then I sponged unevenly over it with Essence Buddy Bear.
At this point, I don't clean my cuticles, sorry for the mess. When I do sponging, I prefer to clean the borders before I apply the top coat.

Then I applied some Essence Green Grass, still with a sponge. Now the borders are clean :)

Finally I added the crackle, here I used P2 in black. I really love how P2 crackles look, they might be of my favorites crackle polish ^^

I also added a top coat (Catrice Quick Dry High Shine) 'cause I don't really like how the crackle looks when it's matte.

Now I have China Glaze crackles in many shades, and that OPI is releasing a red and some gorgeous blues, I think I'll mix again sponging and crackling !

Did you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

Essence - I'm a Berliner

2011-04-25T18:45:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !

Happy Easter to you all ! Did you make something special for that day ? I didn't, except eating some chocolate bunnies and eggs lol !

Here's a polish that I think is perfect for spring or summer. I'm a Berliner is from Essence I Love Berlin LE that was available in the beginning of 2011.
It's a light green apple creme, application was good, it's pretty and shiny :)

I thought I wouldn' like that shade at all, I only wanted to use this as a base for a nail art and doing quick swatches for you, but while swatching I realised that it wasn't horrible at all. In fact I like this shade, even if it doesn't come into my faves :)

This last pic show you how it shines ... This is two coats, no top coat. Pretty, isn't it ?

I don't know if it's noticeable, but I'v start to use my new camera in this post. My inside pics are really better than before, at least that's what I think. I hope you'll enjoy that :)

I made a quick nail art with this base and other I Love Berlin polish ... That will be my next post ;)

Have a nice day :)

500 Followers Giveaway !

2011-04-21T22:10:00.001+02:00

This Giveaway is now closed ! I'll draw a winner very soon :)

Thanks all for entering :D

Hi dear readers !

What a good surprise I got when I came back home today ! I've reached 500 followers, yay !!

I really want to thank you all for reading my blog, commenting, and coming back again, that's so pleasant for me :)

Of course, the best way to thank you is to make this little giveaway :) I'm planning it since I have 490 followers ... So here's what I chose to offer you !

If you're my winner, everything inside the box will be yours ... Except the box, it was a Xmas gift from a friend and I love it :p That's where I stock my bottles waiting to be offered to friends or in a giveaway ^^

Almost everything is from Catrice and Essence new collections. Let's get some details ...

Iron Mermaiden, In The Bronx, Forget-Me-Not !, Sir! Yes, Sir !, Miss Piggy Reloaded, Blue Cara Ciao, Dirty Berry

Glisten Up ! (discontinued), Lime Up !, Very Berry, Where's the Party ?, Can't Cheat on Me

I'll add some little things later, I'd really like to get a Gosh Holographic for the winner but these are not always available ...
I hope you'll like my choice !

Now, to the serious things ... How to enter ?

Please enter using the form below. I won't accept any entry within the comments !

Mandatory
- Be a follower via Google Friends Connect
- Provide me your email address to contact you if you win

Additionnal Entries
- Blog about this giveaway. Include a pic in a post, on your sidebar, on a special page, no matter how, as long as there's a pic it will count ^^ (+1)
- Become a fan of my Facebook page (here) by clicking on the Like button (+1)
- Tweet about this giveaway (+1)
- Add Sweet Sugar to your blogroll (+1)

That's a total of 4 entries ... Quite good, isn't it ? :)

I also added some questions that won't count for entries, it's just for fun. You don't have to answer them but I'd be very pleased if you do :)
If you have a nails related blog and want to be included in my blogroll, just let me know it within the form, I'll add you :)

This giveaway will be closed on May, 21st. That lets you one month to enter and tell your friends.
And as usual, it's open internationnally :)

After the closing date, I'll chose a winner with Randomizer.com. The winner will have 48hrs to contact me, otherwise I'll have to choose another one.

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Geometrical French

2011-04-20T20:01:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !

It's time for another french manicure ! You know how much I love them, I wish I had a little more time to make more :)
This one was inspired by a friend who has her nails done with gel, and got this design. I really loved it and needed to give it a try ^^

I used China Glaze Tinsel, one of my favorite silver glitter polish <3
The black one is Essence Fatal and the white is a tip painter, from Essence too.

I'm really, really sorry for the cat hair in those pics ... They stuck on my nails when I used a cuticle oil and I didn't see them until I saw the pics ><

How I did this design ?

First, I used a whitening base (Catrice).
I painted my tips with Tinsel from the tip to the nail bed, with a very small amount of polish on the brush. That make the gradient effect. I wouldn't use this technique with a plain polish, but with glitters it works well and takes less time than classic sponging.
Then I made the triangles; I started with the borders, drawn with a thin nail art brush, then I filled the spaces.
Finally, I drawed some lines with the white tip painter: first the triangle borders, and the middle lines to finish ...

That's all !
The most difficult thing is to draw straight lines with the thin brush. If you really can't make the triangle, you could use some tape to help you drawing them ! I think I'll make my next geometrical design with tape ;)

Thanks for watching and commenting ...

Have a nice day :D

OPI - Got a Date To-Knight

2011-04-16T12:26:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone :)

I hope you're all ok :) Today I have a very sweet shade for you ! It's OPI's Got a Date To-Knight from the Spring 2006 Princess Charming collection. It's an old polish but still easy to find (it's listed as Got a day to-knight on Transdesign)

Got a Date ... is a soft petal pink with a glossy finish, it's really lovely. It's a bit sheer, as you can see on my pics. I was wearing two coats and still some VNL. I left it like that 'cause I wanted to do some nail art on it, but if I need to wear it alone, I'll prefer to use three coats !

I was a bit disappointed by this shade: I bought it to have a very soft milky pink to use for my Valentine's Day manicure (posted here) and it came really darker than what it looked like in the bottle. It's still pretty but not that baby pink I needed yet :)

See how glossy it is ? I love it for that :)

What do you think ? Like it or no ?

Have a nice weekend :)

OPI - The One That Got Away

2011-04-12T21:07:00.000+02:00

Hi sweeties !

Another week starting, and the good weather is already gone :( I hope it will be back soon ! At least I'm not ill anymore :p

Today I'll show you a polish from OPI's Katy Perry collection. This collection didn't appeal me a lot. The colors are deep, vibrant and full of sparkle but already seen in my own stash. Even if I have no real dupe for the Katy Perry polish, I didn't want the full bottles. So I chose to buy the set of 4 mini-sized polish :)

The One That Got Away was the most appealing to me, so I tried it first and it's the one you'll see today.

TOTGA is a dark berry with silver micro glitters that turn purple depending on the light, as you can see on my different pics.
The formula is great on it, I thought it would be too sheer because it's thin, but finally it totally covered my nails in two coats :)

I really like that polish, that kind of shade is always elegant but the glitters give him a less classical look.
The next pic is taken without sun to show how it changes with the light.

What do you think ? Like it or not ?

Oh, and do you like Katy Perry's songs ? I like what she does, though I'm not a fan, but I would have bought this polish even if I didn't like her ;)

Have a nice day :)

China Glaze - Rodeo Diva

2011-04-07T21:34:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
I hope your week is fine ! Here we now have a beautiful sun and a better weather, and of course, I'm totally ill xD I caught a cold last week and it seems like it doesn't want to get out ...

But well, let's forget that, I have a true beauty for you today !
Rodeo Fanatic is a fantastic blue with green, teal and purple undertone, depending on the light. It's not a duochrome, but the shimmer in it makes it look like the color changes :)

I really wonder why I didn't get it earlier ... It's an incredible shade for all blue polish lovers :)
And, cherry on the cake*, it has a good application, a nice shine and stays well on nails. Oh, and I'm glad to tell you that this is the first blue polish that didn't stain on my nails :p
Pics are two coats, no top coat, natural light.

This last pic shows all the pretty shimmer in it !

Rodeo Fanatic is from the fall 2008 collection Rodeo Diva. I wasn't a nail addict when it came out but luckily, it's still easy to find on the net :)

Do you like it ? Do you have other shades from this collection ? I can't wait to try my other ones, Gussied Up Green and Side-Saddle ;)

* "Cherry on the cake" is what we litterally say in french. Do you, english speaking people, use also this ? Or is there anything more common ? (I read "icing on the cake" somewhere ...)

Have a nice day :)

Gosh - Flamingo

2011-04-04T18:11:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone :)
How has your week begun ? I hope you're all fine ^^

Let start the week with some pink, I have a polish from Gosh for you today !
Flamingo is a bright, vibrant dark pink creme. It applies pretty well and dries fast but as you can see on the pics, I still had some VNL after two coats. Well, I'm a bit whimsical saying that, it's still pretty and not as sheer as other polish I complained about :p

I made a discreet accent nail with some opalescent glitters but I'm sorry, I just don't remember which polish I used. I think it can be Misa Confection Section.

I like this color, it's cute and glossy, and of course I'm a pink lover :)

What's your advice ?

Have a nice day :)

Barry M - Silver Cascade

2011-03-31T22:33:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
It's a rare thing to see Barry M polish here on the blog. I like this brand a lot and have some make up from them, especially my beloved Dazzle Dusts, but only three polish. I have to change that :p

Silver Cascade is in reality a cascade of glitters ! It's a very light and clear pink base with tons of silver, red, green and blue small glitters. That's one of the most sparkly polish I have in my stash :p My camera didn't even want to catch it decently ...

I didn't know how opaque it would be, so for my first use I put it over a random black polish (I think it was an Essence :) )
Now you can see how opaque it is with one coat, next time I won't hesitate to use it alone, two coats will look nice :)

Finally I was able to get something a bit more neat with my old cam (still no new pics on the blog, I have a lot of "old" ones to show you before). You can see clearly the different colors of glitters :)

I love a lot that kind of polish, I have a lot of cheap nail polish with that kind of glitters but they don't apply as opaque as this one. Most of them need many coats and don't dry well. So, this one is a must have if you're a glitter lover :D

And if you're affraid of the removal, just use the foil technique I talk about in my routine page, it's easy and goes really faster than classical removal ;)

Do you like it ?

Gosh - Gasoline

2011-03-29T20:48:00.000+02:00

Hi sweeties !
Wow, look at how much readers I actually have, I've almost reached 500 ! And I'm sure you guess what that means ... But I won't say anything about that yet :p Thank you all for visiting my blog and leaving comments, I used to be quickly bored of my older blogs but I have a lot of fun with this one and want to continue it as long as I can :)

On to today's polish, it's Gosh Gasoline !
A great purple based polish with blue and pink shimmer. It applies in thin coats but is quickly opaque, only two coats are needed. It also dries fast, that's a thing I love with a lot of thin shimmer polish :)

On these pics you can mainly see the blue shimmer, but the polish changes his appearance depending on the light. It looks more red/purple in natural light and full sun, and more blue/purple in artificial light.
It really has multiple personnalities ^^

Of course, I liked this one a lot :)
I'm just a bit disappointed: because of their names, I always mix up Gosh Gasoline and Purple Heart. If you know Purple Heart or make a quick search on Google images, you'll understand why I'm confused about them ;)

Do you like it ? Have you ever tried some Gosh polish ?

Dark Blue Sponge Gradient

2011-03-26T16:01:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
It's been a long time since I posted some sponge gradient here ... You know how much I love them ^^
You may have seen this mani on one of my quick NOTD but the iPhone pic really had a poor quality.
So here it is again, a bit better this time :)

I started by applying a whitening base coat (Catrice Nail Whitener), I really love that base for that kind of mani. It gives my nails a natural soft pink tone.
Then I sponged one of my oldies polish, Revlon Midnight, allowed it to dry and sponged again with OPI Absolutely Alice to add some bling :)
I finished with some stars and round crystal rhinestones and a thick coat of Poshe top coat :)

Some words about my Revlon Midnight: I have this polish for at least 10 years, if not 15, and it's still in a good state ! Now I think it's discontinued, I don't even know if Revlon still makes StreetWear polish :p

It's a pretty dark metallic blue, a pretty shade but a bit classical. If you like it, you might find a dupe easily (I know that Catrice, China Glaze, Sally Hansen and OPI have similar shades)

I have a dozen of oldies like this one: L'Oréal, Revlon, Dior, Maybelline ... I can make some swatches if you're interested ;)

Did you like that blue sponging ? :)

Have a nice weekend :)

Essie - Splash of Grenadine

2011-03-22T21:00:00.000+01:00

Hi sweeties !
You know, sometimes I lose my pics from the camera, but sometimes I also find some oldies that have been on my computer for a while :p

That's why today I'm going to show you some old pics I took last summer, I was wearing Essie Splash of Grenadine from their Resort collection (summer 2010)
Oh, and sorry for the mess on my middle finger, I had a broken nail and I wanted to try out an handkerchief-repair :p

This is two coats with no top coat. This was my first Essie polish and I had some application issues. It was okay on the second hand, so I think I needed to get used to the brush.
The formula is opaque and very shiny.

Splash of Grenadine doesn't really reming me of grenadine, I'd imagine something a bit more red, but it's still pretty :p
This color is perfect for spring and summer, I might wear this sometimes this season :)

That was also when I received my free samples from VivaLaNails, so I tried something with their star dazzlings and stamping (BM plate 05 and Gosh Gasoline) but I'm not sure I like how it turned ... At least it hid a little the mess on the middle finger :p

Do you like this shade ? What will you be wearing the most this spring/summer ?

My Nail Care Routine

2011-03-20T18:31:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today's post will be a quick one, but I worked on a permanent page for you :)I decided to explain you my nail care routine. I prefered to add it as a page rather than a blog post, so you can find it easily :)
I think I'll improve it with pics of my nails during the cares and other pics with my fave products, but for the moment it's a text-only page.
You can give me your feedback on that page and ask any question about nail cares by commenting here or on the page ^^
You'll find it here or in the top menu ;) Hope you'll enjoy it !
Before I leave you, here's a quick view of what I got in the mail last week ... Get ready for some crackle pics ;)

Catrice - Absolutely Chinchilly

2011-03-19T21:11:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I hope your weekend is fine :) I found some interesting news about one of my favourite brands, Catrice ! They are going to remove some of their regular colors to make place for brand new ones ... And some of them look very exciting !!
I let you make your own opinion with the pics Emily posted on her blog: here. I'm usually disappointed when a brand discontinues some of their shades, but Catrice's ones were pretty basics and I won't regret them.
These will be available in early April, I can't wait to get them ;) (they are already available in Germany and Netherlands)

Well, let's stay with Catrice for today's polish ! In the late 2010, they brought us 3 new shades, here's one of them !

Absolutely Chinchilly is a nice grey with a hint of beige, which you can also call "greige". It has a creme finish and is very pretty. I usually don't wear that kind of shades but this time I loved it, it has something classy :p

The formula on this one is very good, it applies easily with Catrice's flat brush and is nearly opaque in one coat ! I usually make thin coats so I needed two of them, but one thick coat would have been enough. The drying time is also good.

I don't have Essie Chinchilly but according to the pics I've seen of it, they look very similar.

Do you like that kind of color ? :)

P2 Heartbeat & P2 Crackle

2011-03-15T21:23:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Wow, the sun is coming back here, that's so good ! Seems like spring is showing up ... I hope the sun will stay :p

Today I'll show you some crackle for the first time here :) Crackle polish are really a beloved trend since some month, and I also love them a lot !
For the end of 2010, some beauty shops here in Belgium had Pupa crackle polish sold as a set (base color + crackle polish), I got one and that's when I began to fall in love with these :p So asked a friend to bring me back some P2 crackle from Germany, and that's the one I chose to show you right now :)

This is P2 Heartbeat as base, I love this pretty light pink, it's a perfect sweet shade. It's my first P2 polish, the formula is ok to apply but I can't tell you more about the durability 'cause I topped it immediatly with the black crackle :)

If you have not tried crackle polish yet, you must know that they dry matte. I don't like the matte effect on crackles a lot, so I added a coat of Poshe. It lasted 4 days on my nails and could have stay longer but I decided to change. As the crackle are not regular, it's less noticeable if you have a little flaw on your tips ^^

Lol, my nails look so big on that pic !

I just got my OPI Black Shatter and the complete China Glaze crackle collection is on the way ... So prepare to seeu more crackle in the coming weeks ;)

Do you like this trend ? Have you tried very gorgeous or unsuccessful combos with crackles ?

Catrice - Purposely Purple

2011-03-12T16:22:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
It's been a long time since I swatched some Catrice here. Purposely Purple is a nice purple creme from the fall 2010 collection, Expect the Unexpected.
Not a really unique shade, but still pretty and easy to wear.

I made an accent nail with one coat of Essence Glisten Up. I have to make some swatches for this one, sooo pretty with his blue glitters and flakes, but if you want to get one, hurry up, I heard that Essence will discontinue it ! Why do good things have to be discontinued ??

This Catrice polish has a nice formula, opaque in two coats and easy to apply.

Do you like it ? :)

China Glaze Hey Sailor !

2011-03-09T20:44:00.001+01:00

Hi sweeties !
Let's end these China Glaze Anchors Away swatches with a bright note !
First I want to apologize, I already told you I lost the pics. I don't know what my camera did, it's started to get crazy and I got a new one last weekend - but no new pics for Hey Sailor yet.
So I have iPhone pics for you today, they are not the best even but they are more color realistic than my old cam ! They just look a bit too bright :)

Hey Sailor is a gorgeous and sexy red. I'd call it a pin up red as it reminds me of the kind of polish pin ups were wearing on some old pics :)
I've never wear such a red before, I was a bit afraid 'cause it's really bright. I usually prefer dark reds, but finally this one was nice and I liked it.

The most realistic pic, taken with my new cam

Application is smooth, nothing bad to say about it. And the result is shiny :) Again, I had no chip after 3 day of wear, typing and dish washing. Isn't that great ?

Well, I read that some people were complaining about this collection chipping fast. I had no problem at all, perhaps it depends on the base I use or my nail nature ? For info, I used Hema Ridge Filler for the first swatches and Orly Ridge Filler for the last ones.

The day I wore it, I tried to paint a flower on a tip. I liked the result, so I decided to draw it again on my nails. It's freehand and for the first time, I need some training (especially on the right hand) ;)
I did the flowers with Essence black tip painter, the dots with a random black polish and a dotting tool, and I filled the flowers with China Glaze Mrs Claus and a small brush.


Well, what do you think ?
Would you dare to wear such a bright red ? I thought I wouldn't, but I loved it :D

So, we're done with those swatches. Three of them are missing but I'm so satisfied by this collection that I'll surely buy them, at least Below Deck (mauve) and First Mate (blue).

I wasn't expecting a lot from this collection as I thought the shades were pretty basics, but finally they are so pretty, so shiny or cute with their subtle shimmer, I'm totally in love with them.

What's your opinion on that whole collection ?

China Glaze - Pelican Gray

2011-03-07T17:00:00.000+01:00

Hi sweeties !

I don't know what's happening these days, but I lost some of my pics again. I already told you that I lost the pics of Hey Sailor, and know I can't find any of my Pelican Gray pics, excepted one.
So, I'm really sorry but I only have one pic to show you for today. I have a lot of other polish to try and a lot of pics to post here, I don't want you to wait for the end of the Anchors Away swatches, so I prefer to make this post with only one picture. But be sure to see it again later :)

Pelican Gray looks a lot like Sea Spray from far. But it doens't have any blue in it, it's a true pale gray with, again, a lot of pretty shimmer. These are not really noticeable in real life and on the pic, but they are there and you can see them shine in full sun.

The formula is the same than for Sea Spray or Knotty, easy application and fast drying. I had some bubbles with this one but that's totally my fault, I shook the bottle before I use it T_T

I really loved that shade. It's clean, you can use it alone in any occasion or as a base for a nail art.
I chose something simple with my new VivaLaNails water decals. It was the first time I used that kind of decals, and they are very nice to play with. I love the fact you can move them as long as they are wet.

Do you like this polish ?

China Glaze - White Cap

2011-03-05T15:00:00.018+01:00

Hi everyone :)
Last time I showed you Lighthouse, the first sheer from Anchors Away LE. I had no comment about it, did you dislike it, as I did ? ^^
Today I'll let you discover my swatches of the other sheer from the collection, and you'll see this one is really gorgeous !

White Cap is a milky sheer base with tons of golden glass fleck glitters.

This is two coats. So, it's sheer and I know many of us don't like sheer polish, but isn't this one really classy ?
One coat over a classical french manicure would really lighten it up. I'm totally in love with it !

Sorry for the glitters on the skin, they came from the removal of Lighthouse ...
I also swatched this one on my nail wheel, over classical shades (black, white, soft pink, purple and teal).
I think it's pretty over any shade :)

I'll use it as a top coat to lighten up an accent nail, or revive an "old" manicure (old manicure means two days for me, lol). Or layered over a classical french, as I said sooner :)

What do you think ?

China Glaze - Lighthouse

2011-03-03T23:26:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today, let's talk about my least favorite from China Glaze Anchors Away LE ! Well, in fact, it's the only one I didn't like at all as it is.
The only reasons are the following: it's sheer; it's a yellowish gold. I don't like sheer polish, and I don't like golden/yellow on me, that's that simple :p

I didn't like the shade and style, but I have to say that the quality is as good as the other shades from the collection. So if you like that kind of colour, don't hesitate. If like me, you prefer something less yellow, just wait for my swatches of White Cap ;)

This is 3 coats, it dried fast but I removed it right after I took the pics :p
In the pic below you can admire how shiny and reflecting the glass flecks are ... This is lovely !

As it was very sheer, I thought it would be good to see it layered over other shades. I don't remember all the colors I used, but they are classical: black, white, soft pink, purple and teal.

I think it looks very good over pink and teal ! What are your favorites ?
Next time I'll show you his little brother, White Cap. One of the best layering polish I've ever had ^^
Stay tuned :)

China Glaze - Starboard

2011-02-27T21:12:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I hope your weekend was good ... Mine was busy, I went shopping for ... My wedding dress ! I usually don't say a lot of things about my private life here, but this time it's so important and that makes me so happy ! I'll get married this summer :) Now I know what I'll wear, I have plenty of time to find ... a wedding manicure, lol ! :D

Well, let's go on to the polish of the day, another from China Glaze's nautical inspired collection, Anchors Away.
Today you'll see Starboard, a nice forest green creme.

Again, I was very happy with the formula. Do I have to say once more that China Glaze did a really good work on this collection ? ;)
It's a pleasure to apply, and the drying time is ok. The result is very shiny, they have an excellent quality.

Can you see that lacquered effect in real light ? That's really gorgeous :)

I don't have a lot of green creme polish, as green was a color I didn't like before I started to polish my nails with any color. But when I got this bottle, I thougt immediatly of my Ciate Paint Pot in Stiletto.
So I made a quick comparison :)

In the bottle with natural light, they are not so similar. Starboard is lighter, and has a hint of blue.

Once applied on the nail wheel, under the same light, Starboard looks a bit darker and less blue. Still not a dupe for Stiletto, but more similar. I would say that Stiletto looks more like a bottle green than Starboard.

So, what do you think of this polish ?
Would you wear this shade ? :)

China Glaze - Knotty

2011-02-22T21:48:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today I planned to show you Hey Sailor from China Glaze's Anchors Away collection, but it looks like I've lost the pics. I can't find even the original pics, or the resized ones, don't know what happened. At least I took an iPhone pic of the small nail art I did on it, so I'll swatch it again and show you everything in a next post.

I chose quickly another swatched polis from this collection, Knotty !
Knotty is a nice beige polish with a lot of glass flecked glitters in it. Yummy !!

At first coat, I thought it would be very sheer and long to apply (I mean, I thoughtit would need 4 coats to look good) but at the second coat, it was good enough for me. There's still a little vnl but nothing crappy. That was a good surprise 'cause I hate to put more than 2 coats for one color :)

The quality of this polish is excellent, like the rest of the collection. Applied like butter, beautiful finish, pretty shade ... A bit too discreet for my skin tone, I prefer contrasting colors but I still like it and I'll wear it again for sure !

See the wonderful glitters above ? That's what make this polish soooo appealing :) As I said for other colors, I have to wear this one under this summer's sun to see it sparkle ^^

Do you like it ?

China Glaze - Ahoy !

2011-02-19T18:01:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)
Let's go back to the Anchors Away swatches ! Today you'll see my second favorite from this collection, called Ahoy !
When I saw the promo pics, I thought this would be really similar to Strawberry Fields and I was a bit deceived. I saw some bloggers had the same feeling. But when I received my package, I thought OMG it's nothing like Strawberry Fields, except for the golden flecks :p

Ahoy! is a dark raspberry pink with pretty reflects, due to the golden flecks. It's really much darker than Strawberry Fields, and it's very, very gorgeous. I think I'm in love with this one :p

The application is very good, and the color is opaque with two coats. I didn't add a top coat on it.
I also noticed I don't have a lot of chipping with this collection, even with my typing job. That's great !

See the flecks in this pics ? They have a warm color, I really love them. This polish is definitely a winner for me :)

What's your advice ?

Valentine Nails 2011

2011-02-14T21:26:00.002+01:00

Hi dear readers !
As I promised you yesterday, here's my Valentine's Day manicure :)
One of the only occasions for me to wear something with hearts, 'cause I don't really like that shape :p It's not that I'm in a bad feeling with hearts, but it's just like if you don't like squares or stars ...

This year, I chose to go pink for that day (last year's nail art was red). I used OPI Got a Date To-Knight as a base but I would have prefer something softer, Got a Date came out to be more flashy than in the bottle.
As I wasn't really inspired, I decided to make a design from this blog. Here is the result:

How to do this design ?

- Apply a soft pink on the whole nail and let dry.
- Take a small amount of pink/holo glitter polish (here: China Glaze Carnival Lights) and paint from the tip to the nail bed, to create a gradient. You can also sponge it, if you prefer.
- With a red striper, or a red polish and a liner brush, draw red the red lines (I used China Glaze Phat Santa)
- With a white striper or a white polish and a liner, draw the white lines (Essence Tip Painter in White)
- Add a coat of thin and discreet glitter top coat (Essence Glitter Top Coat)
- While the top coat is still wet, add rhinestones where the lines cross. You can also add hearts shaped stones, or replace the round rhinestones by squared ones.
- Seal the stones with a clear top coat. I prefer to use thick ones over rhinestones, so I chose Poshe top coat this time.

This is something you can do easily, drawing straight lines with a striper is really easier than it seems :)
I think I'll do this design with other colors or to lighten up a french mani :)

Do you like it ?

China Glaze - Life Preserver

2011-02-13T16:32:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Let's go on with the next polish in China Glaze's Anchors Away collection :) I started with my fave, so in second you'll discover the less appealing from the collection for me :D

It's not it isn't pretty, but I don't like orange shades on me. This one is a bright coral/orange, it's a bit brighter on the nails than in the bottle but still soft, we're far from neon orange polish.

It's lacquered and very shiny, you see it without any topcoat. China Glaze did a great job with that collection, those I've tried right now have a beautiful finish and dry fast :)

Again it's hard for me to have good pics with that bad weather, I haven't see any sunshine during the past week T_T Weather in Belgium is SO boring !

So, this will not be on my top list, but if you like that king of shade, go for it. And even if I don't like it a lot, I think I'll try it again this summer, when the sun appeals to brighter colors :)

What do you think ?
Tomorrow I'll interrupt Anchors Away swatches for some Valentine nails ;)

China Glaze - Sea Spray

2011-02-07T19:22:00.000+01:00

Hi sweeties !

I'm sooo glad ! I just received an almost complete collection to review ... It's China Glaze's Anchors Away !
I have already tried one of them on, and I plan to show you all the swatches during the next days ...

So, let's start with the one that appealed me the most when I saw the first promo pics from China Glaze, Sea Spray !

Sea Spray is a sky blue with a hint of grey. Or is it a light grey with a hint of blue ? I can't tell that, but it is really pretty ! It's a soft shade to wear and it's appealing spring :)
It also has a silver shimmer but it's not really noticeable once on the nails. That didn't really matter for me as I love the look of this polish :p

The pic below isn't good but it shows the shimmer :) We still don't have a lot of sun here but I'm sure this one will look even better this summer, under full sun !

I also added some Konad for the fun, but this time the pic was taken inside. You can notice it looks more grey with that light.
I stamped the flowers with Konad special polish in blue and plate m29, and the butterflies with Konad special polish in white and an Essence stamping plate.
Then I added some blue rhinestones and fixed everything with Seche Vite :)

It's been a long time I didn't use Konad, and it's the first time I use different colors and patterns on a single nail ^^

So, what do you think of China Glaze Sea Spray ? Will you get that collection ?
I plan to swatch the creme polish from the collection during the week, and swatch the shimmer ones during the weekend, so I'll be able to find some sun ;)

Stay tuned :)

Eyeko - Tea Rose Polish, and a Burberry

2011-02-03T21:44:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Some weeks ago, I ordered my first Eyeko polishes. I decided to try one of them, Tea Rose Polish this week.
Eyeko polishes are so cute with their tiny bottle and their matching labels <3
Tea Rose Polish (for country nails, as they say ^^) is a pretty soft light raspberry pink, and the shade is exactly what I'd expect from a 'tea rose' polish :)

Here's it is in (bad) artificial light: laquered, shiny, good to apply and fast enough for me to dry.

The next day I decided to enhance it a bit with a Burberry design on an accent nail (in realistic natural light this time):

Well, before I continue, I have to tell you about the mess that happened last week on french speaking blogs.
If you don't know Fleur de Lys, you should visit her nail blog here: http://nail.art.over-blog.com/. She makes some stunning nail arts ! But another blogger (who has nothing to do with nails and nail art) made a Facebook post and an ironic article saying nail art and long nails were ugly and vulgar, especially Fleur de Lys ones.
Well, anyone can like or hate long nails, nail art, bright polish colors etc., to be honest I visit blogs where I don't like everyting I see and I'm sure you don't like everything I post on mine, but making a complete article to say someone's passion is disgusting, dirty, etc. ?? I'm sorry but that stupid b*tch is totally sick !

So, as I admire Fleur's art, I stole her last pink Burberry design as a kind of tribute to her, like other bloggers did last week :)

That was also the first time I used liners to try to make parallel and long lines, and I was surprised 'cause it was really easier than I thought ! I used Essence Tip Painters in matte black (from the Berlin LE) and white, and Stripe Rite liner in silver. And a coat of Poshe top coat to finalize it all :)

And the third day, I decided to go for a full Burberry manicure, I thought that would be too much on my nails but finally I loved it a lot ! I have to try that with other shades :p

Well, do you like that base polish from Eyeko and the Burberry design ? Would you wear it ?

Sorry for the long talk about bloggers gossip, but I had to do this rant, I really hate people being naughty for their pleasure !
See you soon ;)

OPI - Tease-y Does It

2011-01-29T12:41:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Here's a polish from a recent OPI collection, Burlesque. This collection was released in the end of 2010 for the movie Burlesque with Chritina Aguilera and Cher. It contains 12 pretty shades, including 6 full of glitter ! I only got two of them, and today I'm going to show you a shimmer one, Tease-y Does It.

Tease-y Does It is a dark brown with a hint of purple and loads of red shimmer. It's very hard to capture it with artificial light, and you already know it's dark outside when I come back home :(
I tried to take different pics with and without flash, under different lights.

You can see the beautiful shimmer in those pics. It's really a gorgeous shade, easy to apply, quick drying, all those good things from OPI :p
In the pics below, you'll see it mattified with China Glaze Matte Magic. It was the first time I used this, and I love it, it's a pretty good matte top coat :)

Then I had some fun adding a french made with top coat (Catrice Quick Dry High Shine). It's easy and very discreet, a good way to change a little your "nails of the day" without too much work :p

What do you think of this polish ? I think I'll try it again during next summer to show you better pics :)
Oh, and did you see the movie ? I didn't, it's not really the kind of story I like ... What about you ? ;)

Dotted French

2011-01-24T20:38:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I hope your weekend was fine. Mine was a bit busy like the whole week, but it's getting better :)

Today I'll show you a design I made on my nails last month (you'll see snow in the pics, but there's no more now ^^)
It's a classical dotted french mani, I've seen this many times on other blogs but didn't try it ... Now it's done :D

I used Blue my Mind by H&M for the french, and a white polish from H&M's summer pack for the dots.

Easy to make, but hard to get in picture, that blue isn't so flashy in real life :)

Wanna try this ? It's easy :)

Put a base polish. I use a clear nail whitener but you can use any pink or beige french base.
Apply your french in one or two coats, as needed. I used a thin paintbrush 'cause I prefer it to the polish brush, it's too thick for me to make a french line.
Draw a thin line, I used a silver liner from Stripe Rite*.
When the french is well dried, make white dots with a dotting tool.
You can also add a little bow (I used a Peggy Sage sticker) or a Konad design from your choice :)
Add top coat (Catrice Quick Dry High Shine for me) and you're done ! :D

Do you like it ?

*I bought my Stripe Rite liner in a Belgian beauty store some months ago. I paid 13€ (17$) for it, which is a "normal" price in our stores. I just discovered they were sold for around 3€ (4$) at Sally's ! I wanna go to the USA !!! :p

Essence Fashion Nail Stickers - Berlin Calling

2011-01-19T11:37:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !

As I promised you, here's a review for Essence Fasion Nail Stickers ! I chose them in 02. Berlin Calling from the current I Love Berlin LE. Well, to be honest, the design didn't appeal me really. It's a black base with "I love Berlin" written in a bold gray font. Not that I don't like this city, but I never visited it, so can't say :p
Anyway, except curious people and friends who know your love for nail design, who will read that, seriously ? :p

These came in a thin box containing 14 stickers in 7 different sizes. The most difficult step is to find yours :p
It was easy for me, the biggest matched my thumb, and the smallest matched my pinky. Then I had to play a little to find the best combo. You don't have to follow the sizes of the stickers from your thumb to your pinky; for example, the second smallest stickers matched my index !

Application is easy but you'll need a little time to center the stickers. Then comes an important thing !
I saw many girls who tried those and complained about many folds. I almost didn't have this issue, so here's how I did: I apply the stickers next to the cuticle, center it, then press it from left to right and back, from the cuticle to the tip, with a rotating move like a massage. I think the folding problems come mainly from the size of the stickers on your nails, but if my tip can help, I'll be happy ^^

Finally, you just have to file what exceeds, the sticker will torn following your nail tip.
Let's go to the result !

As you can see, filing the stickers makes the color on it go, with that black design it's very unpretty :(
I think it can be OK with stickers that have a white or very clear base, but for darker shades you'll need to cover the borders with a similar polish shade to hide it.

The pic above shows the stickers with a very thin black polish border on tips, and top coat over all. Isn't it way better ? :p

This is to show you the little size problem I had with my thumb. It's base is square shaped, and all the stickers are round shaped, so there's a big blank between the cuticles and the sticker. That's not really ugly, but I think it made my thumb look like wearing a low quality falsie :p
I also had a size problem on my both middle fingers, I didn't find any right size, all were too large. I just cut a little and it was okay, but if you look closer you'll see an irregularity :)

Essence promises that the stickers last 5 days. The pic above shows my nails after the second day of wear including showers, typing work, some housekeeping (but nothing with water)
You can see some rests of the black polish but everything is almost gone, and the color of the stickers is chipping on the tips. At this point, the rest of the stickers is in a good state and they didn't start to peel off.

This is day 3, I didn't work that day but took showers and did some cleaning at home. The black on the thumb and index is even more gone, and some begin to peel off (especially the index and the sides of other stickers)

And this is when I decided to remove them ^^
Removal bothered me a bit, the center was still well stuck on my nails and I didn't like that feeling at all, it was like if I was pulling my nails ><
So I waited for the time to take a bath and let my nails soak in warm water before removng all. It was more easy then.

I forgot to mention that I used a base before applying the stickers. I used a ridge filler because I wanted my nails to be smooth so the stickers would adhere well, and I'm glad I did 'cause id avoided to peel the surface of my nails during the removal ! So, you SHOULD use a base coat with these, ridge filler or not :p

And to close this review, here are my thought about Essence Fashion Nail Stickers:
- designs are pretty with a good quality, but the color at the ends chips easilly
- easy to put on, no drying time except for that small polish line you'll use to hide the filing result
- a bit hard to peel off, too bad for sensitive nails
- doesn't stay 5 days as it is supposed to do

I think these are perfect for a one day event, a party, but definitely not to wear during the week instead of polishing your nails.
It's also good if you want an original design and can't do it by yourself, and/or can't go to a pro stylist.
I'll wear these again for sure, as they only cost 1,59€ (about 2$), which is not too much for a special manicure ;)

How do you feel about these stickers ? Have you tried them yet ?

OPI - No Spain, No Gain

2011-01-15T22:39:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I'm really sorry for the lack of posts this week, but my boyfriend went to the hospital for some health problems so blogging and having my nails polished was the last of my worries. He's OK and safe now, so I can take some time to write again ! I also have a lot of pictures to sort and resize, unfortunately most of them were taken inside because of the weather, and are not as pretty as I want :(

For today I have a quick post with another gorgeous purple from OPI. I love purples, and I love OPI's quality, what to ask more :)

It's No Spain, No Gain from the España collection (fall 2009). I don't really know how to describe that shade, but I would say it's a berry purple as it contains more red than other purples I own.
At least it didn't turn blue in my pics, which are nearly accurate.

It's very pretty and glossy, easy to apply and quick drying ... How not to love him ? :)
It's a bit darker in the pics than in reality :(

Sorry for the lack of cleaning in that last pic, but it's the most color accurate so I still wanted to show you it.

Do you like this shade ? :)
Next week, I'll be wearing Essence Fashion Stickers for the first time. I want to take a picture each day to show you how it stays on the nails :) I hope you'll like it (and I hope it will work for me lol)

Claire's 3 in 1 Nail Polish

2011-01-09T21:18:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today I have apolish that I was very curious about when I saw it in the shop: Claire's 3 in 1 polish !
This one comes in a bottle with 3 different layers: very light lavender, purple and dark purple. There are other combos at Claire's but I chose the less eccentric for a first try, you can get them in whit/blue/red, green/yellow/blue ...

First, I didn't really know how to use that thing. It was said on the bottle not to shake it, at least that point was okay for me (well, why would I buy something layered if it needed to be shaken in one colour ? :p )
So, I just dipped the brush and apply ... Here's the result !

So, the result is a very light lavender base with some purple strokes. While I was making some tests to find the best way to apply it, I found that you get more strokes if you bend the bottle a bit when dipping the brush. Doing that, you avoid to screw the cap on the bottle each time you need some darker shade.

It needed two coats to be totally opaque. As the only interest of this polish is the strokes, I'd advise you to use a random white or light lavender polish as a base before using that Claire's :)

So, what to think about that ?
- It's fun to use. Not easy to apply, but funny ^^
- It need a little practise to have a nice result
- It's not really spectacular (at least with this combo), from far it just looks like a lavender polish.

I want to try another shade of this collection, just to know if it blends as much as this one :) Perhaps the black/fushia ... I'll let you know when I try it ;)

Have you ever tried that kind of polish ?

OPI - The Color to Watch

2011-01-05T06:00:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !

Today I have some OPI for you, from their winter 2010 collection: Swiss. I only got one shade from this collection, the others didn't appeal me so much as I already have some really similar colors.

So I chose The Color to Watch, a light purple shimmer with blue reflects.

Well, I'm not really sure if I like this one or not. First, it's very sheer, but I knew that before buying, that kind of shade is always sheer ... I also didn't like that the brush stroke showed a lot, that's a flaw I don't like in shimmer polishes :(

On the other side, it has a good quality and it dried fast, which made me forget about the 3-4 coats needed :p
The color is also very pretty, though my pics don't do it justice ;)

What do you think ? Did you get some shades from the Swiss Collection ?

China Glaze Anchors Away - Promo Pics

2011-01-04T21:07:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Let me wish you all a happy New Year :D I hope the year to come will bring you the best (and perhaps a lot of polish, if you want lol ^^)

Here's what I got in my mailbox tonight ! Press info and pics about China Glaze's Spring 2011 collection, Anchors Away !

ALL HANDS ON DECK

China Glaze Introduces 12 New Glitters And Crèmes For Spring 2011

Los Angeles, CA – (October 2010): Sail away this spring in 12 nautically-inspired colors from China Glaze. These bold and confident brights are reminiscent of a carefree natural getaway, with soft ethereal hues that inspire leisurely thoughts of sand and sea. Colors in this collection include:

·        Life Preserver: Highly pigmented and luxurious poppy crème.
·        Hey Sailor: Vibrant crème red.
·        Ahoy!: Delightfully intense pink that flashes with reflective glass speck.
·        First Mate: Sophisticated and rich navy crème.
·        Starboard: Hip and playful green crème.
·        Lighthouse: Multi-dimensional, bright yellow glass speck.
·        White Cap: Whimsical and sparkling multi-dimensional white.
·        Pelican Gray: High shine, cool toned grey crème.
·        Sea Spray: Calming pale blue crème.
·        Below Deck: A flirty mix of taupe and violet.
·        Sunset Sail: Delightful peachy pink high shine crème.
·        Knotty: Micro-particle beige shimmer.

This spring, take a relaxing trip to the shore and sail away with China Glaze. Stop and smell the sea breeze!

The China Glaze Anchors Away collection will be available in two 6 piece acetates, a 12 piece display, a 36 piece rack, and as open stock colors.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit:www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

China Glaze is a division of American International Industries.

About American International Industries
For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: www.aiibeauty.com.

Sooo, what do you think about this collection ? I first thought they were a bit too "classical", but now there are some swatches on the web and some look very, very pretty ! I'm especially needing Sea Spray, the light blue in the pics above.

Which one(s) will you get ?

China Glaze - Lubu Heels

2010-12-29T21:58:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers :)
I hope you're having a nice week ^^
I think you all know the polish I'm going to show today. It's soooo pretty, I wonder why I didn't get it sooner !

Lubu Heels is a black base with red glitters from China Glaze's Lubu Heels pack, which also contains Ruby Pumps. Of course, this pack was inspired by Christian Louboutin's famous shoes, and you can wear Ruby Pumps along with Lubu Heels under your nails. I didn't tried this, but I will some day.
Here are the swatches :)

The formula was quite good and the result is gorgeous, but I would have love it even more if the glitter were more visible (it's taken in bright sun here). Anyway, it's still very pretty and glamourous.

On the pic above you can see the result with "normal" light, the glitters are still there but a bit less visible.

I loved to wear this one. It's beautiful, with a hint of "chic". A top coat would have been useful to let the black shine after the second day of wear but you know, as I change my polish every two or three days, I rarely wear a top coat ;)

During the next days, I plan to make a page about my fave care products. And later, there will be a page on my nail care routine. I hope you'll enjoy them, so stay tuned :)

Nubar - Hyacinth Sparkle

2010-12-25T14:58:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I wish you all a merry Christmas ! I hope you had a nice day and sweet gifts ;) One of mine was the Metallics collection by Essence, offered by a friend ! I'm so happy to have those polishes, I can't wait to try them on ;)
Did you receive some polish-related gifts ?

Well, today I have something blingy for you. It's Hyacinth Sparkle for Nubar's Sparkle collection (spring 2010).
Hyacinth Sparkle is a clear base with tons of thin lavender glitters. It's very, very pretty and sparkly in the bottle, but I was afraid it would be sheer ... So here it is with two coats:

Hey, it's not sheer at all, what a good surprise ! I loved the result, fully sparkled nails, a bit too blingy for my camera lol ^^

This one is a must have if you're looking for some good purple/lavender glitters. Drying time was very good too.
This makes me want to try other polishes from this collection :)

Do you like it ?

Icing - Blackout

2010-12-19T23:38:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today's polish will be one of my faves ! It's Icing Blackout and I got it from my swap with LacquerMuse. Remember, she sent me the Mood polishes I wanted so much and added some random shades ... That's how I got my first Icing, Zoya and Nubar ;)

So, back to the polish, Blackout is a totally opaque black creme with thin holographic glitters.
I was afraid that the dark colour would cover the glitters once on the nails, but it didn't happen at all :D

It looks like there are marks on my nails in some pics, but there weren't any, I don't know what my camera did ... This will be a mistery !

There are two coats and no top coat. The glitter didn't make my nails bumpy, it was pretty shiny :)

This first experience with a Icing polish made me happy of it, I'd like to try on some others colors now ;)

Do you like it ?

Bubble French Manicure

2010-12-16T21:21:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers :)
You know I love to change my blog layout depending on the seasons or my mood, so here's the new one ! I hope you'll like it :)

On with today's polish, here's a nail art I made some weeks ago :)
It's a classical french twisted with some black and turquoise "bubbles". I also added some blue pearls but I should have left it alone, that's what I disliked in this mani.

Please don't mind the shape of my index finger, I broke it some days before I did the mani :(

How I did this mani ?

What you'll need: dotting tools with different sizes. Mine look like these; two contrasting polishes: I used Essence Fatal and China Glaze For Audrey.

1. Apply a base coat. I use a nail whitener by Catrice that leaves my nails with a clean look.
2. Make a classical french manicure on the tips. I used my Yves Rocher white for french, as usual.
3. With the large dotting tool, make some spots with the darker color. Let it dry.
4. With a smaller dotting tool and the clearer polish, make some spots on the dark one, and some spots outside.
5. Apply a top coat, and you're done :)

It's easy, isn't it ?
Do you like this style ?

Sinful Colors - Smoking Hot

2010-12-13T12:18:00.001+01:00

Hi dear readers !
You know I usually don't like sheer polishes ... But there may be some exceptions, no ? :)
I used Sinful Colors - Smoking Hot a day I hadn't time enough to make the full manicure - 2 or 3 coats of polish, top coat, waiting for it all to dry ... You know that. I just wanted a quick bling.
And I was really surprised with the result, pretty enough to share with you ;)

Hello chers lecteurs !
Vous savez que d'habitude je n'aime pas les vernis transparents ... Mais il doit y avoir des exceptions, non ? :)
J'ai essayé Smoking Hot de Sinful Colors un jour ou je n'avais pas de temps pour la manucure complète - 2 ou 3 couches de vernis, top coat, attendre que le tout sèche ... Vous voyez de quoi je parle. Je voulais juste un peu d'éclat, rapidement.
Et j'ai été agréablement surprise du résultat, assez joli pour que je vous le montre ;)

I'll never understand the name they chose for those Sinful Colors polishes. Smoking Hot has nothing in common with smoke, lol. It's a clear base with green and gold micro-glitters. Those glitters are really pretty and a bit hard to describe, they look a bit holographic in bright light.

Je ne comprends pas les noms qu'ils donnent à leurs vernis chez Sinful olors. Smoking Hot n'a vraiment rien à voir avec de la fumée, lol. C'est une base transparente avec des micro paillettes vertes et dorées. Ces paillettes sont vraiment très jolies et un peu difficiles à décrire, elles ont l'air un peu holographiques dans la lumière.

I used one coat over a nail whitener base (Catrice), no top coat. I liked it, and now I want to use this again over some laquered polishes, I think it will look great over black or blue ^^

J'ai utilisé une couche par dessus un vernis blanchisseur (Catrice), pas de top coat. J'ai bien aimé cette manucure, et j'aimerais réutiliser Smoking Hot par dessus des vernis laqués, je pense que ça donnerait bien sur du noir ou du bleu ^^

Do you like it ? Do you wear that kind of quick manicure when you have no time or do you prefer to leave your nails alone ?
Thanks for watching :) The rest of this post is for my french speaking readers. I'm asking them if they want me to continue to write in the two languages or if it's ok for them if I write only in english.

Qu'en pensez-vous ? Ca vous arrive de porter ce genre de vernis quand vous n'avez pas le temps, ou vous préférez laisser vos ongles "nus" dans ces cas-là ?
Merci d'avoir regardé :)

Maintenant, j'ai une question très importante pour tous mes lecteurs francophones. Est-ce que vous continueriez à me lire si je n'écrivais ce blog qu'en anglais ? Je rédige toujours mes messages d'abord en anglais, sans traducteur (les résultats sont toujours un peu ... bizarres), avec mes souvenirs de l'école lol, ensuite je traduis en français et tout celà me prend pas mal de temps. J'avais pensé à n'écrire qu'en anglais pour gagner un peu de temps et de place sur le blog, mais je ne le ferai pas sans votre accord.
Je vous demande donc maintenant ce que vous en pensez, histoire de m'adapter aux préférences de tous :)
Merci !

OPI - Ink

2010-12-07T18:50:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I have a great and classic polish by OPI for you today. It's Ink ! Ink is a great dark purple with purple and blue shimmer. It's sooo classy !
Of course, purples are always difficult to capture with my camera, so I'll show you the best I could get. Ink is really less blue in real life !

Hello chers lecteurs !
Aujourd'hui, j'ai un grand classique d'OPI à vous montrer. Il s'agit d'Ink ! Ink est un beau mauve foncé avec des reflets mauves et bleus. Tellement classe !
Bien sûr, j'ai toujours du mal à capturer les mauves avec mon appareil photo, donc je vous montrerai le mieux que j'aie obtenu. Ink est beaucoup moins bleu en vrai !

There's nothing to say about application and result, it's OPI quality, nearly perfect. (two coats, no top coat)

Je n'ai rien à redire sur l'application et le résultat, c'est de la qualité OPI, presque parfait. (deux couches, pas de top coat)

The picture below has been altered in Photoshop to bring it closer to the real color ;)

La photo ci-dessous a été retouchée avec Photoshop pour se rapprocher de la couleur réelle ;)

If you love dark and purple polishes, you should get this one ^^

Si vous aimez les vernis foncés et mauves, vous devez avoir celui-là ^^

H&M - Summer Nails Green

2010-12-04T14:05:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I don't know how it is in your country, but here it's very, very cold with a lot of snow !
So, what about a bit of summer in today's post ? These are old pics I took last summer and haven't posted yet ... H&M did a nice collection called Summer Nails, made of two boxes, each containing 4 polishes. I have the box with Pure White, Purple, Blue and Green, I think the others were neons.
Here's Green !

Hello chers lecteurs !
Je ne sais pas comment c'est chez vous, mais ici il fait très, très froid et il y a beaucoup de neige !
Alors, que penseriez-vous d'une touche estivale dans le post d'aujourd'hui ? Ce sont des vieilles photos prises cet été que je n'avais pas encore postées ...
H&M avait sorti une collection sympa appelée Summer Nails, composée de 2 boîtes contenant chacune 4 vernis. J'ai la boîte avec Pure White, Purple, Blue et Green, je pense que les autres étaient des néons.
Voici donc Green !

Green is a pretty green shade with a hint of blue, and green shimmers. I thought I wouldn't like it but finally I did a lot. You may have recognized China Glaze Emerald Sparkle as an accent nail :)

Green est un joli vert avec une touche de bleu, et de fines particules vertes. Je pensais que je ne l'aimerais pas, mais finalement je l'ai adoré ! Vous avez certainement reconnu China Glaze Emerald Sparkle en accent :)

Application was quite OK and there's an important thing to mention, the brush is regular size, which is a very good point. Most tiny polishes have a tiny and difficult to use brush. Nice job, H&M ;)

L'application était bonne, et détail important, le pinceau est de taille normale, ce qui est un très bon point. La plupart des mini vernis ont un mini pinceau difficile à utiliser. Bon boulot, H&M ;)

I think I could wear this one in winter, too ;)
Did you get some polishes from this collection ? Do you like this one ? :)

Je pense que je pourrais le porter en hiver également ;)
Vous avez acheté des vernis de cette collection ? Que pensez-vous de celui-ci ?

Quick NOTD

2010-11-30T21:20:00.002+01:00

Sally Hansen - Gray by Grey

My very first SH... I must make a full review of it, I loved it so much !

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Quick NOTD

2010-11-25T23:39:00.002+01:00

It has started to snow here :)
Color Club - Gossip Column, snowflakes stamped with BM14 and China Glaze - OMG

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Quick NOTD

2010-11-22T21:28:00.003+01:00

Essence Enchanted Fairy
Black rose stamped with BM plate 14 and false black Konad polish :)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gosh - Frou Frou

2010-11-17T19:32:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
I have a pretty Gosh polish for you today !
It's called Frou Frou and it's a pretty pink metallic/foil ! It really could have been a part of Orly's Foil FX collection, it really looks like Rage but in pink :p I don't know if they have the same quality, I haven't tried Rage yet ...

Hello chers lecteurs !
J'ai un joli Gosh à vous montrer aujourd'hui !
Il s'appelle Frou Frou et c'est un joli rose métallisé au fini "foil" ! Il aurait pu faire partie de la collection Foil FX d'Orly tant il ressemble à Rage, mais en rose :p Je ne sais pas s'ils se valent niveau qualité, je n'ai pas encore essayé mon Rage ...

Application was quite easy with a good drying time and a beautiful shiny effect. A really good foil polish, and an interesting alternative if you live in Europe and didn't get some foily polishes from Orly !
Do you like it ?

L'application est facile avec un bon temps de séchage et un bel effet brillant. Vraiment, c'est un très bon vernis 'foil' et une alternative intéressante si vous habitez en Europe et n'avez pas eu l'occasion de vous procurer quelques foils d'Orly !
Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Viva la Nails stickers review

2010-11-11T20:08:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Today, I won't show you a random polish from my stash but some stickers I received from Viva la Nails !
As you may know, if you own a blog about nail polish and want to review some of their products, you can order a free samples package from Viva la Nails website !
That's what I did some months ago and I quickly received my pack, full of stickers, water decals, rhinestones, crushed shells and glitters !

I used some floral stickers in august, and that was the manicure I wore at the interview for the job I got know lol ^^

Hello chers lecteurs !
Aujourd'hui, pas de swatch d'un vernis de ma collection, mais une reviews de stickers que j'ai reçus de Viva la Nails !
Comme vous le savez peut-être, si vous avez un blog sur les ongles et que vous voulez tester leurs produits, vous pouvez commander gratuitement des échantillons sur le site de Viva la Nails !
C'est ce que j'ai fait il y a quelques mois, et j'ai rapidement reçu mon paquet, plein de stickers, de water decals, de strass, de coquillages écrasés et de paillettes !

J'ai utilisé les stickers floraux en août dernier, et c'est d'ailleurs la manucure que je portais lors de l'entretien du job que j'ai maintenant lol ^^

These pics are not very good as they were taken inside :( I made a simple french with my usual Yves Rocher polish covered with China Glaze Innocence, then I applied VLN stickers. They were very easy to remove from their sheet and apply on nails.

Ces photos sont assez mauvaises, elles ont été prises en intérieur :( J'ai fait une simple french avec mon vernis Yves Rocher habituel, recouvert de China Glaze Innocence, puis j'ai mis les stickers VLN. Ils ont été faciles à enlever de leur feuille et à appliquer.

Then I topped all with a glitter top coat from Essence. That's simple and elegant, isn't it ?

J'ai terminé par un top coat pailleté d'Essence. Simple et élégant, non ?

The stickers stayed well on my nails, they were still perfect when the polish started to peel.
The silver parts are so shiny, they look like small rhinestones !
Well, that was my first try with VLN products and I'm quite happy with them. I can't wait to ry other products, when I have a bit more time :)
Did you try their products ?

Les stickers ont bien tenu le coup, ils étaient toujours parfaits quand le vernis a commencer à s'écailler.
Les petits ronds argentés brillent tellement qu'on dirait des petits strass !
C'était ma première expérience avec les produits de VLN et j'en suis satisfaite. J'ai hâte de tester les autres produits, quand j'aurai un peu de temps :)
Avez-vous déjà essayé leurs produits ?

http://www.VivaLaNails.co.uk

Quick NOTD

2010-11-09T20:57:00.002+01:00

China Glaze - Mistletoe Kisses (Pretty Hearty on ring finger)

I'll post better pics later but I couldn't resist!
Probably the prettiest green I own <3

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Small Haul :)

2010-11-09T17:55:00.003+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Got these babies in my mail today ... Too bad it was a group order, only the China Glaze and Orly are mine :p
Do you think my friends will be angry if I keep them ? :D

Hello chers lecteurs !
J'ai trouvé ces beautés dans ma boîte aux lettres aujourd'hui ... Dommage, c'était une commande groupée et seuls les China Glaze et le Orly sont pour moi :p
Vous pensez que mes amies m'en voudront si je les garde ? :D

Color Club - Wild & Willing

2010-11-04T21:10:00.000+01:00

Hi dear readers !
Here's a polish I tried last summer. I really loved it, it's so special !
Wild & Willing comes from the Wild at Heart collection by Color Club (fall 2009). It's a stunning orange-y bronze shimmer with changing reflects of pink, green and gold. Very hard to capture, of course :p

Hello chers lecteurs !
Voici un vernis que j'ai testé cet été. Je l'ai adoré, il est si spécial !
Wild & Willing fait partie de la collection Wild at Heart de Color Club (automne 2009). C'est un bronze orangé étonnant, avec de multiples reflets roses, verts et dorés. Bien sûr, il est très difficile à photographier :p

It's a bit sheer, I used 3 coats for this result. But it's soooo beautiful you will forgive him that flaw :)
It also dries fast, but it tends to look like if it was used on the second wearing day - like almost every shimmer polish on my nails, a top coat would be a good deal.

Il est un peu transparent, j'ai utilisé 3 couches pour ce résultat. Mais il est tellement sublime qu'on lui pardonne ce défaut :)
Il sèche assez vite, mais il a tendance à paraître usé au bout de deux jours - comme c'est le cas pour la plupart des irisés sur mes ongles, une couche de top coat pourrait résoudre ça.

Did you see all those wonderful effects ? It's way better in real life !
Do you like it ?

Vous avez vu ces superbes reflets ? Il est 100 fois mieux en vrai !
Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Quick NOTD

2010-11-01T12:06:00.003+01:00

Sephora - Diving in Malaysia

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And the winner is ...

2010-10-31T23:02:00.000+01:00

Hi all !
So, I finally tabulated all your entries and Random.org chose a winner for me ... Here she is !

Hello à tous !
J'ai enfin encodé toutes vos participations et j'ai laissé Random.org choisir une gagnante ... La voici !

Congrats, Cocolive ! I hope you'll enjoy those two pretty polishes :)

Félicitations, Cocolive ! J'espère que tes nouveaux vernis te plairont :)

Now, let's see some results of my poll !
The most mentionned brand in your favorite shades was China Glaze, slightly followed by OPI ! Well, is this really a surprise ? :)
Next, we have some brands like Essie, Zoya, Color Club and Orly that are mentionned about 20 times each.
Sally Hansen and Nfu Oh come right after them, thanks in particulary to their very special shades, Hidden Treasure and #51.
Finally, some brands came back for 5 to 10 times: Barry M, BB Couture, Catrice, Essence, Claire's, Eyeko, Gosh, Mavala, Maybelline, Nubar, Revlon, Rimmel and Sinful Colors.

Now I'll tell you some shades that came many times in your comments: OPI's Absolutely Alice, MAAH, YDKJ and Jade is the New Black; China Glaze's For Audrey, OMG and Ruby Pumps; Essie's Playa del Platinium and Mint Candy Apple; Orly's Space Cadet.

Let's now see what you dislike the most and why !
I didn't oblige you to give the reasons why you didn't like some polishes, but many of you answered to that and that was interesting to read :)
So, the main reasons to abandon polishes are:
- it doesn't suit you at all
- the drying time is exagereted
- it has a bad formula, applies too bad, is too sheer or too thick
- the color on your nails isn't the same as in the bottle.

There's a funny thing, the brands that came the most in the "dislike" list were OPI and China Glaze ! Well, when a brand is very popular and offers a large range of products, I think it has more risks to produce some products that won't please everyone. MAAH and For Audrey were present, does that mean they are "love it or hate it" shades ? ;)

Most of the other disliked brands are local drugstore brands, I won't tell you them all 'cause there are too many. But some of you were also deceived by Chanel, Claire's, Color CLub, Orly, Cover Girl, Sally Hansen, Sephora, Urban Decay, Yves Rocher ...

I'll put the table on Google docs as soon as I can, if you want to see more results !
Did you enjoy this poll ? :)

Passons aux résultats de mon sondage !

La marque la plus citée dans vos couleurs préférées est China Glaze, suivie de près par OPI ! Est-ce vraiment une surprise ? :)

Ensuite, viennent des marques telles que Essie, Zoya, Color Club et Orly, qui ont été mentionnées une vingtaine de fois chacune.

Sally Hansen et Nfu Oh se font une place juste après, en particulier grâce à leur teintes si spéciales, Hidden Treasure et #51.

Pour finir, ces marques ont été citées entre 5 et 10 fois chaque: Barry M, BB Couture, Catrice, Essence, Claire's, Eyeko, Gosh, Mavala, Maybelline, Nubar, Revlon, Rimmel and Sinful Colors.

Voyons maintenant les teintes qui ont été citées le plus souvent: OPI's Absolutely Alice, MAAH, YDKJ and Jade is the New Black; China Glaze's For Audrey, OMG and Ruby Pumps; Essie's Playa del Platinium and Mint Candy Apple; Orly's Space Cadet.

Passons à vos vernis les moins aimés, et pourquoi ils vous ont déplu !

Je n'avais pas obligé à donner les raisons de votre haine, mais beaucoup d'entre vous y ont répondu et ce fut très intéressant à lire :)

Les raisons principales qui vous font abandonner un vernis sont:

- il ne vous va pas du tout

- le temps de séchage est exagérément long

- la formule est mauvaise, il s'applique mal, est trop transparent ou trop épais

- la couleur une fois posé n'était pas la même que dans la bouteille.

Une chose marrante est que les marques qui reviennent le plus dans la liste des "décevants" sont OPI et China Glaze ! Ceci dit, quand une marque est très populaire et propose une large gamme de produits, je pense qu'il y a plus de risques de produire des choses qui ne plairont pas à tout le monde. MAAH et For Audrey reviennent plusieurs fois, j'en déduis que ce sont des couleurs à aimer ou détester ;)

La plupart des autres vernis détestés viennent de marques de drugstores locaux et je ne vais pas les citer car il y en a trop. Mais vous avez été également déçus par Chanel, Claire's, Color Club, Orly, Cover Girl, Sally Hansen, Sephora, Urban Decay, Yves Rocher ...

Je mettrai le tableau des résultats en ligne dès que j'ai un peu de temps, si vous voulez voir ça d'un peu plus près !

Avez-vous aimé ce sondage ? :)

Sinful Colors - Hottie

2010-10-25T21:37:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers :)
This post will be a quick one 'cause I need to sleep lol :) I just wanted you to know that I'm tabulating your entries for the giveaway and I hope I'll be able to annouce the results before next week :)

Hello chers lecteurs :)
Ce billet sera rapide, j'ai besoin de sommeil lol :) Je voulais juste vous dire que j'ai commencé à encoder vos participations au giveaway et j'espère pouvoir annoncer la gagnante avant la semaine prochaine :)

On to the polish, this is Sinful Colors Hottie. I still wonder why they chose that name, it's such a cold shade :p
Hottie is a very sheer pale blue with tons of holo glitters. I usually don't like sheers but I liked this one. Well, I'm sure I'd love it even more layered over an opaque base !

Passons au vernis, voici Hottie de Sinful Colors. Je me demande toujours pourquoi ce nom, c'est tout de même une couleur assez froide :p
Hottie est un bleu clair très transparent, bourré de paillettes holographiques. D'habitude je n'aime pas les transparents, mais j'ai bien aimé celui-ci. Cependant, je suis certaine que je l'aimerais encore plus par dessus une base opaque !

This one will not be on my top 10 list, but I don't hate it either. I'll try to layer it soon to show you the result.
What do you think ?

Ce vernis ne fera pas partie de mon top 10, mais je ne le déteste pas non plus. Je vais essayer de le porter par dessus un opaque bientôt pour vous le montrer.
Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Quick NOTD

2010-10-21T20:11:00.002+02:00

Sponge gradient made with Revlon Midnight and Essence Rock'n'Roll.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Catrice - Poison me, Poison you

2010-10-19T20:48:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
It's beena long time since I posted some Catrice ... Here's a pretty one !
Poison Me, Poison You is a beautiful dark purple with blue and red shimmer. My pics really don't show it at his best !
As often with Catrice polishes, application was perfect, fast drying :) A must have if you like purples ^^

Hello chers lecteurs !
Ca fait un petit moment que je n'ai plus montré de Catrice ... En voici un joli !
Poison Me, Poison You est un beau violet foncé avec des reflets rouges et bleus. Mes photos ne le rendent pas aussi beau qu'il n'est en réalité !
Comme souvent avec les Catrice, l'application est facile avec un temps de séchage correct :) Un must si vous aimez les violets ^^

Before I end this post, I have a question for you. You already know I have less time, but now there's another problem: it's dark when I leave home in the morning, and it's dark when I go back ... Yeah, that's winter ! And I can't take pics of my nails when I'm at work 'cause I work in a pharmaceutical industry and it's forbidden, due to security purposes.
But I have a new phone with a not too bad quality of pics and I could take some pics to show you my NOTD's.
So, what do you prefer ? Less posts (as now), good quality, or some more posts with quick NOTD's and one or two 'regular' posts per week ?
I love to have your advices :) Thanks ^^

Avant de clôturer ce message, j'ai une question pour vous. Vous savez déjà que j'ai moins de temps, mais il y a un nouveau soucis: il fait noir quand je quitte la maison le matin, et il fait noir quand je rentre le soir ... Hé oui, c'est l'hiver ! Et je ne peux pas prendre les photos de mes ongles pendant le travail car je suis dans l'industrie pharmaceutique et pour des raisons de sécurité, les photos sont interdites.
Mais j'ai un nouveau portable avec un qualité photo pas trop moche et je pourrais prendre des photos de mes NOTD.
Que préférez-vous ? Peu de messages (comme maintenant) avec des photos de bonne qualité, ou un peu plus de posts avec des NOTD rapides et un ou deux billets "habituels" par semaine ?
J'aime connaître vos avis :) Merci !

Borghese - Venetian Red

2010-10-11T20:58:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
How was your weekend ? Mine was really great, I spent some time in Paris for a forum meeting with about 25 friends ! We had a lot of fun :p And of course I bought some polishes at Sephora (we don't have Sephora in Belgium), I'll show you them later :)

Hello chers lecteurs !
Vous avez passé un bon weekend ? Le mien était génial, j'ai passé une journée à Paris à l'occasion d'une rencontre de forum avec une grosse vingtaine de coupines :p Et bien sûr, j'ai acheté des vernis chez Sephora (on n'a pas de Sepho en Belgique), je vous les montrerai plus tard :)

On with today's polish, you may remember I won a great giveaway some weeks ago on Enamel Girl's blog. I received some great polishes from brands I can't find here, and I chose to try a Borghese first !

A propos du vernis du jour, vous vous souvenez peut-être que j'avais gagné un chouette giveaway sur le blog d'Enamel Girl il y a quelques semaines. J'ai reçu quelques marques que je ne peux trouver par ici et j'ai choisi un Borghese à essayer en premier !

Venetian Red is a nice dark red with light golden shimmer. It's really pretty and applies very well, I was quite satisfied with it !
I wanted to make an accent nail on my ring finger with OPI Man of la Mancha but it's not the best combo ever, the difference is too slight.

Venetian Red est un beau rouge foncé avec de subtils reflets dorés. Il est vraiment très joli et s'applique très bien, j'en ai été très satisfaite !
J'ai voulu accentuer un ongle en appliquant une couche d'OPI Man of la Mancha sur l'annulaire, mais ce n'est pas le mélange idéal, la différence est trop légère.

On the last pics the accent nail is more noticeable, but I have to make other tries to see the beauty of Man of la Mancha :)
So, do you like that Borghese ? Have you ever tried this brand ?

Sur les dernières photos, on voit mieux Man of la Mancha, mais je devrai faire d'autres essais pour trouver un meilleur mélange :)
Alors, que pensez-vous de ce Borghese ? Vous avez déjà essayé cette marque ?

H&M - Cha Cha

2010-10-03T13:41:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
Today I chose to show you another holographic polish, but less impressive than Gosh Holo !
It's Cha Cha from H&M and it's a beige polish with holo effect.

Hello chers lecteurs !
Aujourd'hui j'ai choisi de vous montrer un autre vernis holo, cependant moins impressionant que le Gosh !
C'est Cha Cha de chez H&M et c'est un beige avec un effet holographique.

As you can see, the holo effect is really discreet and hard to capture. Anyway, it's a pretty polish with a cute effect, it was easy to apply and has a good qualty.

Comme vous pouvez le voir, l'effet holo est très discret et difficile à capturer. Mais ça reste un joli vernis avec un effet charmant, bonne application et bonne qualité.

I couldn't resist to make a comparison with Color Club's Love 'em, Leave 'em, they are very similar !

The base color is clearly the same, but the holo show more in Color Club's polish.

So, if you plan on buying one of them, I'd say chose CC's for the pretty holo, or chose H&M's if you want something discreet with a bit of originality.

Je n'ai pu m'empêcher de le comparer à Love 'em, Leave 'em de Color Club, ils sont très similaire !

La couleur de base est clairement la même, mais l'effet holographique est plus visible sur le vernis de Color Club.

Si vous hésitez à en acheter un, je dirais choisissezle Color Club pour les plus beaux effets, mais prenez le H&M si vous cherchez quelque chose de plus discret avec une touche d'originalité.

Well, do you like it ? Which one would you buy ?

Alors, vous l'aimez ? Lequel achèteriez-vous ?

Gosh - Holographic

2010-09-30T22:43:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
Once again, I spent more than one week without posting ... I feel so tired !
To thank you for your patience, here are some pics of one of the polishes you can win: the best silver holo ever !

Hello chers lecteurs !
Une fois de plus, j'ai passé plus d'une semaine sans poster ... Je suis si fatiguée !
Pour vous remercier de votre patience, voilà quelques photos d'un des vernis que vous pouvez gagner: le plus bel argenté holo jamais vu !

I think I don't have anything to mention about this color. The pics talk about themselves ! It's bright, shiny, and full of reflects !

Je pense que je n'ai rien à signaler sur cette couleur. Les photos parlent d'elles-mêmes ! C'est vif, brillant, et bourré de reflets !

Application was a bit a mess, like almost all holos*: it leaves blank spots if you paint the same place two times. But with some habit, it's not a problem ;)
Life length on nails is ok, but I didn't try it with a top coat.

L'application était un peu délicate, comme quasi tous les holos*: ça fait des trous si vous passez le pinceau plusieurs fois au même endroit. Mais avec un peu d'habitude, ça va tout seul ;)
La durée de vie est bonne, mais je n'ai pas essayé d'ajouter un top coat.

And now, somme picture flood !

Et maintenant, un peu d'inondation de photos !

Last pic was taken inside with artificial light.
So, what do you think ? Isn't it a must have ? ;)

La dernière photo a été prise en intérieur, sous une lumière artificielle.
Alors, qu'en pensez-vous ? Ce n'est pas un must have ? ;)

*I found a holo that doesn't make those blank spots. It's Nubar Reclaim. I'll swatch it soon ;)
* J'ai trouvé un holo qui ne fait pas de zones vides. C'est Reclaim de Nubar. Je le swatcherai bientôt ;)

Quick Mini Giveaway ^^

2010-09-22T21:48:00.003+02:00

This Giveaway is now closed ! I'll draw a winner this week ;)
Ce giveaway est cloturé, je tirerai un gagnant au sort cette semaine ;)

Pour plus de facilité, ce post est divisé en deux parties; la version francophone se trouve en bas :)

Hi dear readers ^^
There will be no swatch today ... But I'm sure you'll forgive me, because I'm having a mini giveaway :)
As you already know, I don't have a lot of free time with my new job, so this giveaway will be quick and easy, but I'll ask something from you ^^

First, here is the mini-prize !

Gosh - Holographic, China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle

You see, I don't even have the time to make my own polish pics xD But aren't they gorgeous ? I'll swatch Holographic for you soon, it's a real wonder !

I'll add some little things for the winner but I don't know what right know ... It will be a surprise ;)

So, how to enter my mini giveaway ?

This time I won't ask you to be a follower (but I'll be glad if you discover my blog and become one !), but I want to make a polish related poll. The results will be published when the giveaway ends :)

Mandatory:

Leave ONE UNIQUE comment with:

- Your email address so I can contact you if you win

- Your all-time favorites polish top 5 ! Don't forget to mention the brand AND name (or number), you can also explain why you like them so much but that's an option ;) I'd like you to talk only about polishes you have tried by your own, not colors you have loved on other blogs.

- Your most hated polishes top 3 ! As for the top 5, I'd like you to talk only about polishes you have tried, and you can explain what sucks about them :)

Please include both top 5 likes and top 3 dislikes, it won't count if you answer half of the poll ! I chose small numbers so if you haven't tried a lot of polishes in your addict-life, you can still participate.

Optionnal extra entry:

- The most people will enter, the most fun the poll will be ... So there's is ONE extra entry for those who blog/link/tweet/link on facebook about this giveaway. Don't forget to provide a link ! (I'll count only one entry to let the same chance for those who don't have a blog/Twitter/a FB account ...) You can also Like Sweet Sugar on Facebook (right sidebar) and provide it to your friends :)

That's all ! I let you one month to think about your likes and dislikes, and I'll close the giveaway on October, 22nd (that will be my birthday haha). Of course, this giveaway is open internationally, so as long as it is the 22nd of october somewhere in the world, it's open :)

Please don't forget to provide all necessary links or I'll have to disqualify your entry.

Have fun and good luck :)

* * *

Hello chers lecteurs :)

Je n'ai pas de swatch pour vous aujourd'hui ... Mais je suis sûre que vous me pardonnerez, car j'organise un mini-givaway :)

Comme vous le savez déjà, je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps libre avec mon job, donc ce giveaway sera facile et rapide, mais je vous demanderai une contribution ^^

Avant tout, voici le mini-prix !

Gosh - Holographic, China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle

Vous voyez, je n'ai même pas le temps de prendre en photo mes propres vernis xD Mais ne sont-ils pas superbes ? Je vous montrerai bientôt un swatch D'Holographic, une pure merveille !

J'ajouterai de petites choses pour la gagnante mais je ne sais pas encore quoi, ce sera une surprise :)

Comment participer à ce mini giveaway ?

Cette fois, je ne vous demande pas d'être abonné (ceci dit, si vous découvrez ce blog et que vous devenez abonné, j'en serai ravie !), mais je voudrais faire un sondage sur les vernis. Les résultats seront publiés à la fin du giveaway :)

Obligatoire:

Laissez UN SEUL commentaire avec:

- Votre adresse email pour que je vous contacte si vous gagnez

- Votre top 5 de vernis préférés ! N'oubliez pas de mentionner la marque ET le nom (ou numéro), vous pouvez aussi expliquer pourquoi vous les aimez tant mais c'est optionnel :) Je voudrais que vous ne proposiez que des vernis que vous avez testés vous-mêmes, pas ceux que vous avez adoré sur d'autres blogs !

- Votre top 3 des vernis les plus détestés ! Comme pour le top 5, je vous demande de ne mentionner que des vernis que vous avez testés, et vous pouvez expliquer pourquoi vous les détestez :)

N'oubliez pas d'inclure vos top 5 et top 3, ça ne comptera pas si vous ne remplissez qu'une moitié de sondage ! J'ai choisi des petites quantités pour laisser leur chance à toutes, même si vous n'avez pas encore essayé beaucoup de vernis dans votre vie d'addict :)

Participation supplémentaire optionnelle:

- Plus on est de participantes, plus le sondage sera intéressant ... Il y a donc UNE entrée de plus si vous faites un lien vers mon giveaway (message sur votre blog/tweet/lien Facebook). N'oubliez pas de mentionner le lien dans votre commentaire ! (Je ne compt qu'une entrée quelque soit la diffusion choisie, histoire de laisser leur chance à celles qui n'ont pas de blog/compte Twitter/FB...) Vous pouvez aussi "aimer" Sweet Sugar sur Facebook (barre de droite) et faire passer le message à vos amis !

C'est tout ! Je vous laisse un mois pour entrer, soit jusqu'au 22 octobre (ce sera mon annif' lol ^^). Bien sûr, c'est un giveaway internationnal, il est donc ouvert tant qu'on sera le 22 octobre quelque part dans le monde :)

N'oubliez pas de donnez les liens nécessaires, sans quoi je devrai vous disqualifier !

Bonne chance, et bon amusement !

Island Girl - Island Sunset

2010-09-15T21:17:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
Remember when I got my swap from LacquerMuse, how I was excited about Island Sunset ? So, here it is !
God, I LOVED that shade ! It's a deep dark fuchsia jelly with tons of holo glitter ...

Hello chers lecteurs !
Vous vous souvenez quand j'ai reçu mon swap de LacquerMuse, comme j'étais tout folle du Island Sunset ? Hé bien le voici !
Rholala, j'ai vraiment ADORÉ porter ce vernis ! C'est un jelly fuchsia profond, bourré de paillettes holo ...

It's too hard to capture this beauty ... The holo sparkle is very impressive in real life :)
When I saw it was a jelly, I was afraid it wouldn't be opaque enough, but as you can see, it's not the case, the vnl is not visible at all ! Perfect !

Il est trop difficile à prendre en photo ... Les scintillements holographiques sont impressionnants en vrai :)
Quand j'ai vu que c'était un jelly, j'ai eu peur qu'il ne soit pas assez opaque, mais comme vous le voyez ce n'est pas le cas, le bord de l'ongle n'est pas visible ! Parfait !

Application was good and drying time was pretty fast :) It also stayed some long days on my nails without chipping :p And I kept this color on my toes all this summer :)

L'application est bonne et le temps de séchage plutôt rapide :) Il tient aussi très bien, je l'ai porté quelques longs jours sans qu'il ne s'écaille :p J'ai aussi gardé cette couleur sur les pieds tout l'été :)

Well, LacquerMuse really did a extremely good choice with this one ! It has entered my top ten for sure :p
Do you like it ?

On peut dire que LacquerMuse a fait un excellent choix avec ce vernis ! Il est entré directement dans mon top 10 :p
Qu'en pensez-vous ?

OPI - Rumple's Wiggin

2010-09-09T21:01:00.000+02:00

Hi dear readers !
OMG, it's has been one week since I made my last post ... I'm really sorry for the lack of posts these days, I' m tired with with new job and the long distances I make every day. I'll get the habit soon, but for now it's hard for me to post regularly. I'll have a mini-giveaway soon to apologize for this ;)

On to the polish, you already know OPI's Rumple's Wiggin from the Shrek collection. It's a light lilac, a very pretty pastel creme !

Hello chers lecteurs !
Oh mon Dieu, une semaine s'est écoulée depuis mon dernier billet ... Je suis vraiment désolée pour l'absence de messages ces temps-ci, mais je suis fatiguée avec mon nouveau job et surtout, les longues distances à parcourir chaque jour. Bientôt je serai habituée à tout ça mais pour le moment, c'est difficile pour moi de poster régulièrement. Je ferai un mini-giveaway pour me faire pardonner ;)

Passons au vernis, vous connaissez déjà Rumple's Wiggin de la collection OPI Shrek. C'est un lilas pale, un très joli crème pastel !

I made an accent nail with the feather design from Bundle Monster plate BM15 but I don't remember at all which polishes I used T_T

J'ai fait un accent avec le dessin plume de la plaque Bundle Monster BM15 mais je ne me souviens pas du tout des vernis utilisés T_T

Rumple's Wiggin is perfection. Pretty color, good application, loooong lasting on me :p It just dries a bit longer than some other OPI I've tried before.

Rumple's Wiggin rime avec perfection. Jolie couleur, bonne application, loooongue durée sur moi :p Il sèche juste un peu plus lentement que d'autres OPI que j'ai testés.

I must admit that when I got it, my first though was "ooooh nooo, it looks too much like Done Out in Deco!". I always try not to have too much dupes, especially when they come from a same brand, so I was disappointed and I had to make a comparison !

Je dois avouer que quand je l'ai reçu, ma première pensée fut 'nooooon, il ressemble trop à Done Out in Deco!". J'essaie de ne pas avoir trop de doubles, surtout s'ils viennent de la même marque, donc j'étais déçue et je me devais de faire une comparaison !

In the bottle, you can see a difference but it's really slight ... DoiD is a bit darker.

Dans le flacon, on voit une différence mais elle est infîme ... DoiD est un peu plus foncé.

Finally on the nails, they are everything but dupes ... Yay ! DoiD is really darker and has a slight touch of grey in it. I'm glad, I love them both a lot ^^

Do you like these shades, and especially Rumple's Wiggin ? Did you get the Shrek collection ? :)

And as I love polls, there's a new one on the right sidebar ;)

Les voici enfin sur mes ongles, ils sont tout sauf semblables ... Yes ! DoiD est vraiment plus foncé et il contient un touche de gris. Je suis ravie, je les aime beaucoup tous les deux ^^

Aimez-vous ces teintes, en particulier Rumple's Wiggin ? Vous avez acheté la collection Shrek ? :)

Et comme j'aime les sondages, il y en a un nouveau dans la sidebar de droite ;)