Chanel Mica Rose & French tip nail art stickers

Chanel - Mica Rose, 2 coats & French tip nail art stickers

Mica Rose is my first Chanel and the first lacquer that I had to get after seeing a swatch of it online. It is also the most expensive np I've bought at 25€ which is the normal price for a Chanel polish in any store here. Granted, it's nothing awfully original but it's the perfect soft pink shade and super safe to wear to any occasion. I had these silver dot & crystal decorated French tip stickers which I though were a perfect fit for the Chanel - too bad I failed at sticking them on relatively un-crooked. Next time I think I'll stick with loose gemstones and a dotting tool with some silver polish. To finish things off I applied two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat to make sure the edges of the stickers wouldn't start lifting.

Note: The first picture was taken with my mum's brand new Canon PowerShot S95 and the second with a Canon PowerShot G3 circa 2003. The lighting conditions were unideal with overcast skies and gloomy late autumn weather outside.

Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme & Nabi Multi Glitter

Wet 'n' Wild - Black Creme & Nabi - Multi Glitter, 1 + 2 coats

Manhattan 78T & Nfu-Oh 52

Manhattan - 78T, 2 coats

Manhattan - 78T & Nfu-Oh 52, 2 + 1 coats

The Manhattan was gifted to me by my lovely friend Petri who bought it for me in Germany. The formula was creamy smooth and simply wonderful, but the short wand and small brush get minus points from me. I added a coat of Nfu-Oh 52 over 78T on the second day of wear.

BeYu 381

BeYu - 381, 2 coats

BeYu 381 is a beautiful violet to blue to green duo/multichrome lacquer. The violet is more evident in shade and the green shows up while tilting your fingers. The change was hard to capture as it's not apparent on nail as it is in the bottle. 381 has very small light blue glitter and what I think are sparse green and blue glass flecks mixed in a shimmer base. The formula was ok although I had to thin this one out a bit. Like INGLOT, BeYu do not give their lacquers proper names which I think is a darn shame.

INGLOT 853

INGLOT - 853, 2 coats

My first INGLOT lacquer! I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across an INGLOT store a couple of weeks ago, in a mega mall I hadn't previously been to. Sooo, I hurried inside and zoomed right in front of the np display to check if their polishes looked as drool-worthy IRL as they did on their website. But nah... nothing really unique to be found there for a (so-called) serious collector. After chatting with a super nice sales assistant I picked up 853 which has blue to purple iridescent shimmer in a deep eggplant base - again, not a groundbreakingly unique shade but nice nevertheless. Application was a breeze although the round brush put me off a little at first. Price was 10€ for a 15ml bottle of np from a for a selective brand which is fair I guess (it certainly beats paying over 8€ for a 6ml bottle of Lumene lacquer at my local grocery store!). The brand carry a couple of interesting flakies in their line but when I saw them IRL they were nothing groundbreaking - Nfu-Oh has dupes of them all, I'm sure.

OPI The Show Must Go On!

OPI - The Show Must Go On!, 2 coats

This was the first OPI that I chose to wear from their Burlesque collection. The Show Must Go On is a foil that flashes red, orange and pink depending from the angle. I wore this to the Lady GaGa concert in Helsinki and got compliments from the two MAC ladies when I went to see if they had any bottles of Bad Fairy left (fat chance).

Revlon Silver Switch

Revlon - Silver Switch, 2 coats

Silver Switch is an old, discontinued shade from their Color Illusion series. Application was a bit tricky it having a metallic finish but the sheer prettines of the polish makes up for its other flaws. The colour changes from purple to two different tones of green with a hint of silver.

Nail art stamping spam!

I should preface this post by stating that I'm really bad at stamping. It may be because of the shape of my nails which are super curved - they're half spheres, actually. In addition to the normal Konad rubber stamper I got myself a brandless one made of silicone. Smaller designs I can stamp with the Konad one but larger full nail designs are impossible without using the silicone stamper I rarely bother with stamping just because the whole process is so time consuming and the results I get often disappoint me.

Make Up Store - Dolly, Wet 'n' Wild - Black Creme & Konad M66 w/ Konad special white

Dolly is a pretty one with iridescent yellow shimmer in a blue/mint green base and I think Misa Silk Robe is a close relative of hers. I love this polish although it needs some extra decor or it looks like poo with my skintone. I think I was inspired by (= ripped off) one of Konad's promo pics.

Revlon - Not So Blue-Berry & Konad M69 w/ Konad special white

Not So Blue-Berry was my first scented polish - it's such a pretty blurple foil and smells delicious, but oh how it bubbled on me! I had to make sure that the first coat was bone dry until I carefully applied the second coat, hoping that it would cover the rash-like texture.

 Revlon - Grape Icy & Bundle Monster 03 w/ Konad special white

Another one of Revlon's scented polishes was Grape Icy from their 2010 Scents of Summer collection which I was somewhat disappointed with. It was streaky and sheer, recquiring three coats for opacity, plus the colour is very ordinary (I must have half a dozen near dupes). The smell was nice, though.

Color Club - Yachty Yachty Yadda & Konad M39 w/ red franken

A manicure with super girly pink base and super girly magenta butterflies make for a happy Bruno.

Grey franken, GOSH - Wild Lilac & Konad M3 w/ Wet 'n' Wild black

This one was actually inspired by a studded t-shirt I found in a secondhand store! The base was some random quick grey franken using Wet 'n' Wild black and white polishes, then adding a gradation with GOSH Wild Lilac and a makeup sponge. Next, I stamped on tons of stars and finally added small violet paillettes from a craft store.

Black crackle polish over silver

Unknown brand - Black crackle polish over silver

This lacquer is one of my many eBay finds (the seller's ID is lilychenli). Unlike the new Isadora Graffiti polishes that are super thick, difficult to apply and dry in 30 seconds max., this one was thinner than regular polish, much more forgiving in application and took much longer for the cracks to develop, perhaps around 4-5 minutes. I had to wait until the next day before I could apply a top coat or the crackle polish underneath would bleed and ruin the effect.

OPI Black Cherry Chutney & CND Crimson Sparkle

OPI - Black Cherry Chutney & CND - Crimson Sparkle, 2 + 1 coats

I really wanted to like Black Cherry Chutney more, but it is near-black under normal indoor lighting. Crimson Sparkle practically saves the day with its lovely duochrominess, fading from magenta to red and then orange-ish yellow. All the CND effect polishes I've tried have been nothing short of spectacular, offering literally thousands of layering possibilities. I'm currently lemming the new Teal Sparkle and plan to purchase it soon.

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 3

Franken - Envy Me, Carl, 2 coats

I mixed half and half of H&M Envy Me and Spending Cash With Carl to get this unbelievably gorgeous deep teal shimmer.

Franken - Envy Me, Carl & Precision - After Dinner Mints, 2 coats

 Orly - It's Up to Blue, 2 coats

Orly - It's Up to Blue & Nubar - Blue Silver Glitter, 2 + 2 coats

I was disappointed by It's Up to Blue - it looked horrible against my skin - so I topped it with Blue Silver Glitter from Nubar. OMG sparklefest! The glitter is tiny and two coats gave just enough coverage the green-ness of the Orly to shine through.

 Franken - Under the Sea, 2 coats

 DICI - 046, 2 coats

HOMG this is the most metallic polish EVER, it's incredible and must seen with one's own eyes! DICI is a Chinese brand available on eBay and is chock-full of toxic ingredients judging by the smell. It applied beautifully, probably thanks to all the carcinogenic stuff that's in it.

 Maybelline - New Year's Blues, 2 coats

 Revlon StreetWear - Midnight & Models Own - Blue Sparkle, 2 + 1 coats

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 2

 Franken - Lady Sings the Blues Across the Universe, 2 coats

I wanted to create a franken that'd settle somewhere between Deborah Lippmann's Lady Sings The Blues and Across The Universe. I used a super pigmented dark blue, added a drop of black and lots of clear polish to get a jelly base that was opaque enough with two coats, but still managed to keep that squishy jelly look. I then added a ton of goopy silver hex glitter polish from Saffron and blue fine glitter lacquer called Mirage from La Femme - both UK brands - and finally Models Own Emerald City, a super dense green glitter.

 GOSH - Blue Monday, 3 coats

Blue Monday was *barely* opaque with three coats, I could still see a bit of VNL myself. Next time, I'll use either underwear or layer it over a similar colour.

Unknown brand - Blue glass fleck, 3 coats

Another eBay find, the brand name was written in Chinese and I don't know any Chinese, so under 'unknown brand' label it goes. I absolutely adored this lacquer and I hope I'll come across a backup bottle someday.

 OPI - Russian Navy Suede, 2 coats w/ top coat

The OPI suedes lull you into believing that they dry incredibly fast, but I think otherwise after denting Russian Navy *badly* after over an hour I had finished applying it.

OPI - DS Glamour, 2 coats

DS Glamour is one of the most coveted semi-HTF VHTF lacquers out there and much loved by the community... I thought it was just okay. *hides*

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 1

DICI - 034, 2 coats

 Depend - 054, 2 coats

 Cutex - Huckle Buckle, 2 coats

 H&M - Blue Me Away, 2 coats

 Avon - Olive Green/Green with Envy, 2 coats

 Avon - Olive Green/Green with Envy & Nfu-Oh 50, 2 + 2 coats