nails by bellan

H&M Blue my mind

2012-02-19T17:56:00.000+01:00

Oh I think blue just might be my favourite nail polish color right now! I have no idea why but lately I've been wearing blue a lot :). And this is one blue polish I really like! H&M Blue my mind

Ugh, I hate my nails in this picture. All short and broken :(.. But they were happier when I put on two coats of Blue my mind with top coat! This is one pigmented blue nail polish, I can tell you that!! It is a über bright medium blue creme that is almost opaque in one coat and has excellent creme formula. I always put on two coats of base coat though when dealing with this polish cause it has big potential to do major staining, so be aware!

What do you think of Blue my mind?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Light as air + Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday

2012-02-10T14:33:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes I'm still obsessed with Happy Birthday! The obsession have never really stopped and I've tried it over more colors than I can remember (both good and really bad...) and some of the better combinations have made it into the blog. This is one of my favourites so far!

This is two coats of Light as air, one coat of Happy Birthday and later mattified with Essie Matte about you. I LOVE mattified glitter. It's so insanely awesome and the glitter looks like it's trapped inside a velvet vail or something! Light as air is a great light purple pastel btw, I haven't worn it much and was pretty surprised by how decent the formula is! Opaque in two coats and surprisingly non-streaky is a great grade for a pastel I think.

One more picture that better shows the matte finish

Perhaps you're wondering about the wierd background? No worries, it's just my awesome bull terrier pillow from H&M:

LOVE!

What do you think of this combination? Do you like mattified glitters or do you prefer them sparkly?

That's all I had for you today, have a great weekend!

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Hey Sailor

2012-02-06T11:57:00.000+01:00

Today I wanted to show you a polish that definitly goes into my Favourite category! China Glaze Hey Sailor

This is two coats with top coat. Hey Sailor is a super bright, light red creme with excellent formula! You could get away with one thicker coat, that's how opaque it is! I also love that it has a pure creme formula, but still has the gloss of a jelly. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect red for my skintone, and I'm not exactly sure this is the one but it's up there in the top at least!

Now I'm really interested in knowing which is your go to red nail polish? What do you think of Hey Sailor?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Custom Kicks + KleanColor Chunky Holo Fuchsia

2012-01-29T17:45:00.000+01:00

I realised a few days ago that I'd actually never worn China Glaze Custom Kicks, despite it beeing one of the first polishes I ever got (post-obsession..). I remember thinking it was to green for my taste. But luckily, things change!

This is two coats with top coat, and the last picture is taken with flash to show you the gorgeous fine golden shimmer that peaks through in good light. And I guess that is what makes this polish stand out from all the outher teal cremes out there! Or is it turquoise? Hmm.. I never learned the difference. It has amazing formula, and goes on smooth and is completly opaque in two coats.

I decided to layer something over this on day two and this is the end result with KleanColor Chunky Holo Fuchsia

This is one coat over Custom Kicks. I just couldn't photgraph this right! As you can see Chunky Holo Fuchsia makes it a few shades darker. It is also a bit more green but I don't know if you can see it in this picture. This is what Swedish winter-light does to you pictures :(... The combination is pretty cool though, and I really like to play around and layer the Chunky Holos over different colors. But I can't get over how awful they smell! Why?? Ugh.

What do you think of Custom Kicks? Do you like this combo?

Bisou
Isabella

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver + L.A Girl Unhibited

2012-01-27T13:21:00.000+01:00

Yes, well I am ashamed how little attention I've been giving this blog lately.. I have no idea why really, could be just lack of inspiration! Anyways, here is a little combo I did last week that I really liked. It is Nicole by OPI - My Lifesaver and L.A Girl Unhibited.

This is two coats of My Lifesaver and one thin coat of Unhibited. I absolutly love My Lifesaver!! I know it's been featured here on the blog before, but I feel it needs another mention :). It's seriously one of my most worn polishes, and I start to think I need a backup of this. And why you ask? Many people would probably say it's nothing special, just another mint green polish. But I couldn't disagree more! For starters, the formula is perfection and it's non-streaky and opaque in two coats which is really rare for colors like this I think. And the color is just perfect! Super bright, creamy mint green with lots of blue undertones. I love it :). And I really like the combo with Unhibited aswell! I love to layer this black glitter over bright colors, it makes the black really stand out. But the application takes a while to get use to though.. You really need to get rid of a lot of excess glitter on the brush before applying it, or you'll end up with way to much glitter on the nail.

What do you think of this combination?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

2011-11-30T15:02:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I felt like doing a real Christmas inspired mani and what could be better than a real classic! China Glaze Emerald Sparkle is also very fitting this week because Sminkan is having Green Week! :)

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures though, I just couldn't get the color right! Anyway, this is three thin coats with top coat. Excellent formula and I think you could do two thicker coats aswell. Emerald Sparkle is a deep green jelly packed with glitter, and it has the same finish as its red sister Ruby Pumps! The shine and depth is amazing, so even though I'm not the biggest fan of green I think this is super cool and great for Christmas!

What do you think of Emerald Sparkle? Is it worth the hype?

Bisou
Isabella

KleanColor Cobalt + China Glaze Treasure Chest

2011-11-24T14:12:00.000+01:00

I'd been wanting to try out KleanColor Cobalt for a while but somehow it stayed in my box of untrieds for months. Too bad cause it is such a beautiful color! Here it is paired up with the gold glitter Treasure Chest from China Glaze.

This is two coats of Cobalt and I just dotted on Treasure Chest around the cuticles. I LOVE Cobalt!! It is the perfect blue shade, so pretty! It's like it's almost metallic but without any micro glitter or something similar that usually comes with metallic polishes. The depth and the glow reminds me of the China Glaze Retro Diva collection that had a lot of similar polishes (which I need to get more of btw..). The color, finish and formula is perfect on this one but the drying time is not. I used Poshe top coat for this one but I had to be careful for at least one hour and still I got some dents. I've experienced this with a bunch of the KleanColors I've tried, too bad! But hey, that's just something you have to live with if the end result is this gorgeous!! And Treasure Chest is one of my favourite gold glitters right now. It's fairly opaque and consists of smaller and larger hexagons which creates a beautiful combination. It is also a pure slightly cold toned gold glitter, which I really like!

Sadly my long healthy nails are gone now.. They got too long for me I guess and ended up breaking one after one so I had to file them all down. But I'm really surprised how they managed to stay this long for almost four months!! I can totally say it's all thanks to OPI Nail Envy that I started using at the end of the summer. They got long and stayed hard and flexible without breaking and that has never happened before! Maybe for a week or two, but I always got peeling and breaks on some of the nails anyway. I really enjoyed having longer nails too, it looks great with shimmers, multichromes and holos! But I'm optimistic and have ordered a new bottle of Nail Envy to start all over again :).

What do you think of this combination? Any experience of long drying time with KleanColor?

Bisou
Isabella

Blue and pink mani with dots!

2011-11-05T12:27:00.000+01:00

I haven't done much nail art lately, I just don't have the time for it! But the other day I hade a free night off from school and bf so I decided to do a cute blue and pink mani with some dots :)

The basecolors are two coats of Models Own Baby Blue and three coats of Color Club Vintage Couture. Baby Blue has a pretty decent pastel formula and Vintage Couture is one of the worst, haha. But I love the stark baby pink color so I bare through the awful formula anyway! For the dots I used a dotting tool and the blue one's are Arcancil Bleu Copacabana and China Glaze First Mate. The white is Misa Heavens white and the pink mani is made with China Glaze Heli Yum and Hey Sailor.

This is actually pretty easy and it doesn't take that long to do either! I think I like the blue combo best :)

What do you think of this mani? Have you tried doing nail art with dotting tools?

Bisou
Isabella

Color Club Puccilicious

2011-11-01T13:44:00.000+01:00

I have had this beautiful purple for a loong time without trying it on and I don't really know why! This is Color Club Puccilicious

This is three coats with top coat + accent nail with China Glaze Techno. Puccilicious is a lovely medium purple creme, and it dries semi-matte so I guess it got some neon pigments in it. The formula is a bit thin, so three coats is definitly needed on longer nails. It's really vibrant and sadly it comes out a bit more blue in this picture than it is in real life. I like Techno aswell, it's holo glitter in a bunch of different shapes and sizes.

This is all I have time for today, this week is crammed with school! But I just wanted to show you this colorful NOTD :)!

Bisou
Isabella

Make Up Store Lea

2011-10-19T12:59:00.000+02:00

Hmm.. better late than never, right? I finally got off work last week and now the only focus in my life is school, which is going to be a really nice change of pace. However, this week is crammed with lectures and seminars so I have my hands full either way! Anyway, I soo want to get back to blogging now, it itches in my fingers everytime I think about it. The sad thing is though that I don't have a camera right now :(.. Such a bummer! But I'll try to figure something out cause I have tons of new polish I want to show you! Anyways, today I have a mani from this summer that I wanted to share with you, Make Up Store Lea

Aww just look at that background! Green fluffy grass, how I miss you now!! But well let's move on to the polish. This is two coats with top coat. The picture is not the best one, but I remember having a really hard time capturing Lea. She's a stunning cool toned purple with tons of fine gold shimmer which makes this polish really stand out, I think. The base color and the overall glossy finish reminds me of one of my favourite purple shimmers China Glaze Let's Groove. The only difference is the gold shimmer in Lea. Sadly, as you can see in the picture I hade some problems with bubbles. The formula is really thick, and this polish would probably benefit from a little thinner.

That's all I had for today, now I have to rush off to school! But I will try to fix the camera-issue and until then show you some more stuff from the archive :).

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Cha Cha Cha + Fault Line

2011-09-18T17:07:00.000+02:00

Today I have an awesome combo of green and purple to show you! But first up is China Glaze Cha Cha Cha on it's own :).

This is two coats, no top coat. The formula is a bit runny, so you really have to get rid of all the excess polish on the brush to prevent pooling around the cuticles. But overall, it covers in two thick coats so the formula is OK for a shimmer like this. Cha Cha Cha is a color I would never even considered wearing before, haha. But a friend of my mom wore it one day this summer and I actually thought it looked pretty cool! The golden shimmer in it makes it look almost metallic, which I really like!

A few days ago I saw this home design show on tv and they had decorated the living room in purple and lime, which gave me the idea to pair up Cha Cha Cha with the crackle polish Fault Line, also from China Glaze.

This is one coat of Fault Line over two coats of Cha Cha Cha. I love this combo so much!! I'm wearing it right now and I got tons of compliments for it yesterday at work. :)

What do you think of Cha Cha Cha and the combo with Fault Line?

Bisou
Isabella

Nubar Purple Rain

2011-09-06T11:23:00.000+02:00

Ahh I'm just stopping by so you don't forget my existance completly, haha :).. Just as I predicted, my life is super busy right now and my nails are a really sad story :(. But today I thought I'd show you a mani I did a while ago, including Nubar Purple Rain!

This is two coats of William tell me about OPI, one of my favourite vampy cremes! I love it cause it's formula perfection, nice and smooth in just two coats and the shine is awesome! It has a lot of brown undertones which I really like. And I used Nubar Purple Rain as accent in this mani, just one coat over wtmao. It's a deep purple glitter with tiny pink and holographic particles in a plum jelly base. I love it so much!! I've tried it on its own too but I actually prefer it layered over a darker color like this cause it makes the finish a lot smoother. If you don't own Purple Rain yet, be sure to get it!! You won't be sorry, I promise :).

My nails are really sad today, I haven't had the time to change my mani since last week so it's super chipped and it looks really bad haha... But my nails are actually pretty strong underneath! And I'm going to give all the credit to OPI Nail envy! I've used it for almost a month now and my nails are growing a lot longer without breaking. It's the first time I've ever experienced a difference using a nail treatment! BUT I have to shout out a bit of a warning. I used it as base coat for a mani with Orly Frisky, which is a awesome polish btw, but my nails stained so bad!! I've never seen anything like it, they were literally green and blue all over!! So now I use Nail envy with Nubar Foundation on top to prevent further staining.

What do you think of Purple Rain? Have you tried Nail Envy or another nail treatment that really made a difference?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Braziliant

2011-08-08T21:46:00.000+02:00

Yet again, I'm so sorry for the lack of posting. My life is insane right now and it's just only begun! This past weekend was the last real weekend of the summer for me, and it was also truly the best! On Friday I wore this beautiful polish - Essie Braziliant

This is two coats with top coat. It was soo hard to capture the really cool pink shimmer that makes this polish stand out from all the other orange polishes in my stash. I love this polish, I really do cause it's super bright and just perfect for summer. However, I hate the formula and the drying time! It's super thick and really hard to get even without making a total mess, I also got tons of cuticle drag :(. I've worn Braziliant twice now, and somehow I ended up getting huge dents even hours after applying it and I used Seche Vite on top both times. Really wierd! So quite a sad story about a beautiful polish :(.. Perhaps I'll try and add some thinner and see what happens!

Anyways, like I've said before my life is super busy right now and I hate that I can't seem to find the time for this blog :(. And it's just getting worse! This week I'm moving back to the city where I attend the University and next week I'll start working again after my summer break. And the week after that school starts up again and I'll be working full time and studying full time until the end of October. So I'm sad to say that there's probably not going to be much time left for blogging :(... But I do love to blog and I hope you can bare with me for a couple of more months until everything turns back to normal again.

Have you tried Braziliant yet? What do you think of the formula?

Bisou

Isabella

Models Own Grace Green

2011-07-17T22:20:00.000+02:00

Green is usually not my first choice of color but lately I've been more and more drawn to all different kinds of green shades. Funny how things can change :)! This is Models Own Grace Green

This is two coats with top coat. Grace Green is a dusty light green with excellent qualities! The formula is great and it covers nicely in two coats which is always a big plus for me. It has some grey undertones which makes it a great match with my skintone. Yay for cooltoned greens! Dusty colors isn't always my first choice cause it easily gets boring, but some colors like green and blue (hey For Audrey!) looks great in dusty versions.

What do you think of Grace Green? Do you like dusty colors?

Bisou
Isabella

Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the air

2011-07-14T13:56:00.000+02:00

Boo! I have some seriously apologizing to do now, cause I've been totally neglecting the blog for a while now :(.. A lot has happened in my life, both good and bad and the summer is just taking up a lot of my time! But I've enjoyed two great vacations, first up was Norway and then a trip to the north of Sweden to visit friends. So nice! Anyway, today I'm going to show you a polish I've used a lot lately, Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the air

This is two coats layered over OPI Alpine Snow matte. I love how the milky base color in GITA makes the starky white look all soft, such a gorgeous glitter! But I have to say I really love it over light blue aswell, and I also tried it over a light pink which is also a great combo! I really like the idea of a soft glitter like this one, pretty unusual! The only problem I had with GITA is to make the glitter come out even on the nail, so two coats is necessary if you want all the types of glitter to show.

I'm going to be honest with you now and say that I don't know how much I'll be able to post during the rest of the summer. But I'll definitly try my best to keep it up :)

What do you think of Glitter in the air? Do you like this kind of soft glitter?

Bisou
Isabella

Orly Fancy Fuchsia

2011-06-21T22:02:00.000+02:00

Hmm.. My last day at work were supposed to be this Monday, but somehow I ended up saying yes to work until Thursday. You can't say no to money, right? :) But on Thursday I'm definitly taking well earned summer vacation, wohoo! It all starts whith Midsummers eve on Friday which means Champagne, tons of traditional Swedish food and party all night long! Perhaps I will be wearing Orly Fancy Fuchsia...

This is three coats with top coat. I can't say how much I L O V E this polish!! It is in-your-face-Barbie-pink-borderline-neon-pink, and it's a color I've had on my mind for a long time but it was never right - until now! I think it has some neon pigments in it though, cause it dries kind of satin. Sadly the brightness was just impossible to capture with my camera, too bad!

And for some trivia, this picture is taken under my new Ott-lite that I got for my birthday a few weeks ago. I've been wanting one ever since I saw one IRL at my aunt's. She's using it for crafting and stuff and I was really impressed by how great it was! The one I got is portable and quite small, but it lights up the whole room and makes it so much more comfortable for the eyes. I know they're pretty expensive but I can truly recommend it if you like me easily get tired under poor light.

What do you think of Fancy Fuchsia? What do you think of daylight-lamps?

Bisou
Isabella

Orly Royal Navy

2011-06-15T15:09:00.000+02:00

I guess many of you recognize this scenario: you've seen a cool polish on a blog somewhere and everyone says it's so beautiful and you have to try it! Then you debate with yourself whether or not you actually need that specific polish and if you will really like it as much as the others do. It goes in and out of your Shopping-bag, perhaps for months until you finally decide to let it stay there. Orly Royal Navy is one of those for me! :)

This is three coats with top coat, and I should add right away that the VNL is not at all visible in real life but it insists on showing up in the pictures.. So am I glad I finally got Royal Navy? Absolutly! It's a medium blue jelly with just a hint of sparkle trapped inside, which you can see in the second picture. The formula is typical jelly, a bit glueish and streaky but definitly not the worst kind. And it's all worth it anyway cause it has that depth and shine you can only get out of a true jelly. Love it :)

What do you think of Royal Navy?

Bisou
Isabella

Clouds in the sky!

2011-06-13T15:22:00.000+02:00

Ahh I have nailart-fever!! I see so many cool designs on blogs and I get totally inspired to try something myself. Too bad I'm quite lazy so most of the times when I've planned to do something cool I can't bother and just go with plain polish instead. Anyway, a while back I did this Spring inspired cloud-mani :).

The basecolor is two coats of Arcancil Bleu Copacabana and the clouds are stamped with Konad Special polish in white, and the plate is Konad M79. It's no way near perfect cause the cloud-print is too big for my nails, so I had to stamp some of them individually. But I kind of like the end result, a cute mani :).

Konad is a lot more fun than I initially thought! And I like free hand nail art aswell, and watermarbling, and dots and bla bla bla. ;). So I guess when I'm off work and school for ten weeks this summer, I really have to drag my ass out of the wagon and start practising more! :D

What do you think of the Cloud-mani? Do you like nail art?

Bisou
Isabella

Stupid?

2011-06-12T13:21:00.000+02:00

Yes I'm afraid I am a bit stupid! I thought I'd posted a bunch of stuff this week but apparently I hadn't gotten around to the publish-the-post-part :/.. But the good part is today you have three new posts to read instead of just the one - so enjoy my stupidness! :P...

Bisou
Isabella

LeChat Perfect Match That's Hot Pink + Promiscuous

2011-06-12T13:12:00.000+02:00

Today I have some more gel polish for you! I've been rocking it quite often lately cause it stays on soo much better for work, and I love all the colors that LeChat were so kind to let me try! So recently I had this combo of LeChat Perfect Match That's Hot Pink and Promiscuous:

Promiscuous is a red based purple neon and That's hot pink is exactly that - a hot pink neon! I wore this combo to work and got tons of compliments for it :). It's so hard to capture the über gloss and shine that comes with the Perfect Match gel polishes, it's like a jelly but better! For this mani I used base gel, three thin coats of both colors and finished it off with top gel. The formula is perfection and I had no trouble at all applying these.

For those of you who aren't familiar with gel polish, here's an introduction. Gel polish is similar to gel but the main difference is you can soak it off instead of filing it off which makes it way easier to use. If used right it can last up to 14 days! You apply it similar to nail polish but it comes with a few extra steps and you cure it with an UV-lamp. LeChat have made excellent tutorials of all the steps needed for best result, so for proper instructions visit them here.

And here's a picture of how this mani looked after 5 days of wear:

See any difference? :) I would have kept in on longer, but I had to take it off on day 6 cause I was going on vacation and I was afraid it wouldn't last through out that. Five days doesn't sound very impressive, but I should add that I'd been at work for four days that week. And if it lasts four days of hard work at the Nuclear power plant, it's good stuff :D! The most amazing thing for me with the Perfect Match gel polish is that the shine just doesn't go away! It stays just the same as when you just applied it, amazing!

Perfect Match comes in a set of gel polish + a matching Dare to Wear nail polish in the same color.

What do you think of this combo? Have you ever tried gel polish?

Bisou

Isabella

China Glaze Grape Pop + Happy Birthday

2011-06-12T12:35:00.000+02:00

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday is one of the most treasured polishes I have in my stash, I absolutly love it! I love layering if over white and pastels, cause it just makes all the different colors in the glitter pop! But I've also seen great pictures of Happy Birthday layered over darker shades, so I had to give it a try! Here it is over China Glaze Grape Pop

This is two coats of Grape Pop and one coat of Happy Birthday. A few words about Grape Pop is needed, cause it's my favourite purple creme! Cooltoned and super glossy and pigmented makes it on top of my list! I really like this combo too, it shows that Happy Birthday goes with anything :). With a top coat and over this glossy purple the glitter looks just like trapped jewels! I need to buy a backup bottle soon cause if I ever run out of this polish - I will cry! ;)

What do you think of this combo? Do you own Happy Birthday or have you tried any of the dupes?

Bisou
Isabella

MAC Ocean Dip

2011-06-06T21:03:00.002+02:00

I'm a BAD BAAAD blogger, I know! Work has been totally consuming for me over the past few weeks, and on my days off I've just enjoyed these amazing first days of summer with friends! So please forgive the lack of posting! Anyway, I'm back with a beautiful polish my amazing mum picked up for me a while back. MAC Ocean Dip

This is two coats with top coat. Ocean Dip is a turquoise or perhaps aqua colored creme with excellent formula! It totally reminds me of Misa Dirty Sexy Money but I definitly like Ocean Dip better cause it just a tone lighter. One cool thing about this polish is that it has that dusty feel to it but it's still very bright! I absolutly love the combination of bright and dusty, makes it really interesting! I think this polish would look very different depending on your skintone. My skintone definitly brings out the green undertones.

What do you think of Ocean Dip?

Bisou
Isabella

L.A Girl Flushed

2011-05-24T16:21:00.000+02:00

Ohh this polish just screams Summer!! L.A Girl Flushed

This is three coats with top coat. This color is just amazing! I had a really hard time capturing this color though, and I must say it leans a bit more to peach in real life. I guess you could describe this color as a super bright, but not neon, peachy orange! I really like colors that just borders on beeing neon, they're so fun! I had no trouble with the formula at all, but it dries slightly matte so you need a top coat to make it shine. I think Flushed will be a great pedi color for this Summer! Flushed is part of a collection called Flare from L.A Girl together with a bunch of really cool brights. I got mine at Cherryculture and the whole Flare-collection should still be available!

What do you think of Flushed? Have you tried any of the colors from the Flare-collection?

Bisou
Isabella

CND Anchor Blue

2011-05-23T12:35:00.000+02:00

Today I have more CND for you! I really like their new line of creme polishes and this is Anchor Blue

This is two coats with top coat. Anchor Blue is a medium blue creme with excellent formula! It's super pigmented so one thick coat could definitly be enough, but I did two to get a more even finish. This is a color that could stain your nails real bad though, so be careful and use a good base coat! I really like this blue creme, it's so simple but oh so pretty!

What do you think of Anchor Blue?

Bisou
Isabella

CND Electric Orange

2011-05-15T11:46:00.000+02:00

I'll start by apologizing for the lack of posting this week :(... I've been so busy with work, crazy! But today I thought I'd show you something super colorful! CND Electric Orange

This is three coats with top coat. I love CNDs creme formula and this is no exception! Perhaps a bit thinner than the other CND cremes I've tried, but I had no problem applying three thin coats. Electric Orange definitly lives up to it's name! It's a bright and vivid medium orange creme, that just borders on beeing neon. Orange is one of those colors I really didn't like before, but now it's definitly growing on me! It seems to be a popular color for this season aswell together with yellow. I think this will be a great pedi color too :).

What do you think of Electric Orange?

Bisou
Isabella

LeChat Dare to Wear DJ Mix

2011-05-06T13:05:00.000+02:00

I recently got some stuff to try out from the amazing brand LeChat! They have a really cool line of nail polish called Dare to Wear, but they also carry an extensive line of gel polish called Perfect Match.

Their gel polish Perfect Match comes in a set with a free matching Dare to Wear nail polish in the same color. This is such a great deal! If you don't want to put on gel polish but still feel like wearing the color, you can just go with the nail polish instead. :) Dare to Wear nail polishes is also available without the gel polish. Today I'm going to show you Dare to Wear DJ Mix.

This is two coats with top coat. DJ Mix is something so unusual as a teal NEON! The neon-effect is very subtle though as it is a darker color. The formula is perfect for a neon, it is super opaque! You could really get away with just one coat, but I did two to even things out a bit. I had a hard time capturing the color, and also to decide what color it really is! A light teal would probably be the best match, but in some lights it just looks like a cool toned green. Like I've said before, I mostly enjoy playful greens and this one definitly falls under that category. :)

For more information on LeChat you can visit lechatnails.com

What do you think of DJ Mix? Have you tried LeChat?

Bisou
Isabella

BB Couture Eros

2011-05-05T15:39:00.000+02:00

I'm soo excited about all the BB Couture's I got a few weeks ago! They're so pretty, and just as great as I expected :). This is BB Couture Eros

This is two coats with top coat. Eros is a pale avocado green with an excellent creme formula! It has tiny bits of black glitter added to it and just a vail of silver shimmer, but sadly I couldn't capture that in this picture. Such a gorgeous color though! The slight shimmer gives it depth and shine just like Intake Valve that I showed you a while ago. I like the fact that BB Couture makes every shade with a twist of something, instead of just doing flat cremes and shimmers.

What do you think of Eros?

Bisou
Isabella

H&M Bella's Choice

2011-04-29T21:01:00.000+02:00

I thought I'd start off the weekend by showing you one of my absolute favourite polishes of all time!! And of course it has my name ;)! This is H&M Bella's Choice

This is two coats with top coat. This little lovely is thick as hell so it definitly needs thinner.. But once added, the formula is great! It's super pigmented though, so be sure to use a good base coat if you want to try this one otherwise you'll end up staining your nails real bad (yes I've tried it). Bella's Choice came out last spring, and I remember the first time I saw my friend wearing it - I was in love!! It's what I always wanted For Audrey to be! Don't get me wrong, For Audrey is beautiful but Bella's Choice is like it's brighter and bolder sister :). It can look a bit dull, like in the first picture, indoors - but once in bright light the color really pops!

I love this polish so much I'll probably cry the day I finish my bottle, but hopefully that's far, far away in the future! And yes, I have a back up-bottle safely tucked away in my Helmer. ;)

I'm going to create a new label called favourites where I'll post polishes that have a special place in my heart :).

What do you think of my... uhm sorry - Bella's Choice? Can you name your favourite nail polish? ;)

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Empowerment + LASplash LOL

2011-04-27T21:26:00.000+02:00

Today I have a über-cuteness-mani to show you! I've been looking for a polish with heart shaped glitter and I was so happy to find the LASplash Love Note collection at Cherryculture! But first up is China Glaze Empowerment

This is three coats. I had a really hard time capturing this one color accurate, but I think the second picture shows the true color. This polish has major formula issues! I had to to use thinner cause it was all thick and gloppy. But even after a few drops of thinner it comes on super streaky and really uneaven. The result was a lot like yellow polishes usually behave! Anyway, the color is a really pretty light bubble gum pink. I couldn't recommend it other than for the fact that it is a part of the China Glaze Fight like a woman collection against breast cancer. So it will do for a good cause, but the formula is a huge minus for me.

I added one coat of LASplash LOL which is a pink clear glitter with pink hearts inside!! I had to use a toothpick to get the hearts out the way I wanted and that's a bit of a hazzle, but the end result is just too cute to resist ;).

What do you think of China Glaze Empowerment and LASplash LOL?

Bisou
Isabella

Shatter rainbow!

2011-04-26T22:26:00.001+02:00

I'm typing this with my eyes barely open so if any of this doesn't make sense, please forgive me. Haha. I've been working nights all weekend and I'm now trying to go back to normal sleeping routine. Not easy! Thought I'd share something fun and colorful to celebrate the amazing spring weather we're currently having here in Sweden!

I used a bunch of neon colors as base for this mani!

From thumb to pinkie:
Color Club Feelin' Groovy
China Glaze Flip flop fantasy
China Glaze Yellow polka dot bikini
Color Club Poptastic
China Glaze Sun Worshiper

I used China Glaze Black Mesh on top.

Neon colors go great with the black crackle polish and I really like this combo :)

What do you think of this mani?

Bisou
Isabella

Color Club I always get my Man-darin

2011-04-21T12:40:00.000+02:00

I continue to make my way through the Wicked Sweet collection from Color Club. Today I have the awesome I always get my Man-darin which is a pretty polish with a stupid name...

This is three coats over white. It is super sheer so I layered it over white to avoid doing a zillion coats. This is an amazing yellow-orange neon shimmer! It is soo bright, these pictures does not do this polish any justice. I absolutly love neon-shimmers but I wish they'd be more opaque.. This is also scented like all the Wicked Sweet polishes. The scent reminds me of orange juice and it's not at all overwhelming, you can just hint it!

I decided I wanted to do something else with this mani, and this is what I came up with!

I taped over half my nail and painted two coats of BB Couture Selene. I love the combo of pink and orange :). This picture is also more color accurate than the ones taken in the sun above.

What do you think of I alwats get my Man-darin? Do you like pink and orange together?

Bisou
Isabella

BB Couture Intake Valve

2011-04-19T16:08:00.000+02:00

I'm so glad to tell you that I got my first BB Couture polishes last week!! Finally! My wishlist is endless, but I got a few goodies to start with :). The first one I'm going to show you is Intake Valve from their BB Couture for Men line of polish.

This is two coats with top coat. Flawless application!! We've had a lot of sun lately here in Sweden but sadly the day I took this picture, it was out :(. And please don't mind my ragged cuticles, they feel sad about going back to work. Haha. Some day I'll try to take sun pictures of this one and see if the tiny golden shimmer could be visible! The shimmer is so subtle, almost like a golden vail but it gives this shade a great depth and makes in super interesting. The color is otherwise really hard to describe! In some lights it just looks like a light pink, but in this picture you could see the grey undertones in it. It reminds me of Models Own Utopia (which I wrote about here), but this a lot softer and looks more sofisticated I think!

I've been wearing a lot of bright colors lately so it was nice to break it off with something light and soft, I love it! :)

What do you think of Intake Valve?

Bisou
Isabella

MAC Spirit of truth

2011-04-18T10:34:00.000+02:00

When the MAC Wonder Woman collection came out a while ago I knew I had to have at least the nail polishes, but I ended up getting a few make up items aswell. And I LOVE THEM!! And I don't regret any of them, they look so cheerful and pretty lying there in my make up bag ;). And I only got one nail polish in the end, Spirit of truth

This is two coats with top coat. You could probably get away with just one coat, cause this is super pigmented!! But I often find it hard to get the polish to look even with one coat so I like to put on a second coat. This navy blue creme had flawless application but it's not super shiny so you'll definitly need top coat. I believe this is a dead on dupe to China Glaze First Mate, so if your not obsessed (like I am) with the cute packaging, First Mate is a great choice.

I got off work early this weekend with a cold from hell!! So now I have to sit inside, trying to get better on the few days I'm off work this week. And of course, the weather is gorgeous here! :( Boo!!

What do you think of Spirit of truth? Are you also obsessed with cute packaging?

Bisou
Isabella

Misa Total eclipse of the heart

2011-04-12T17:58:00.000+02:00

Here's more from one of my my new favourite brands! Misa Total eclipse of the heart

This is two coats with top coat. Total eclipse of the heart is a medium cool toned purple from their Black Out collection that came out last year (I think?). The colors in this collection seems to dry semi-matte without beeing neon or anything. It looks kinda cool without top coat aswell, but I prefer the shinier look you get when applying a top coat. Excellent formula, smooth and opaque in two coats. Beeing a cool toned purple, it matches my skintone really well! I love this color and wore it for several days without changing, and it held up real nicely!

I can add that I nowadays use Nubar Foundation base coat or Nu nails as base coat and Nubar Diamont (the old, good version) as top coat with a few exceptions on all my manis. I love all three of them, and I can truly recommend both of the base coats cause they've done miracles on my stained nails! Now it's almost grown out completly with no further staining after I switched base coat. Diamont is a real winner for me, at least if you could get hold of the good version! This combo gives me great wear with all brands I've tried, and I have no plans on changing this anytime soon :). Sometimes when I'm in a real hurry or with rough glitters I use Seche Vite as top coat.

And I'm sad to say that I probably won't be posting as regularly for the next couple of months, cause I'm going back to work this week. My job is really tough on the nails so usually they all brake and look like hell after the first week :(. But this time I'm going to try to wear gel polish to work and see if that could be the rescue I need! But I'll try to update as much as I can, and of course give you updates on how gel polish survives hard work :)!

What do you think of Total eclipse of the heart? What do you use for base and top coat?

*Tuuuurn around briiiight eeeeyees... La la la*

Bisou
Isabella

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver

2011-04-09T11:49:00.000+02:00

When this collection came out I think I'd never actually heard of Justin Bieber.. And I can't say that I know a lot more know, other than the line of nail polish Nicole by OPI has put out in his name. I'm not sure what I think of that, but I just couldn't resist getting My Lifesaver

This is two coats with top coat and the application was just flawless! This is the most non streaky pastel I've ever come across!! I took some time to get use to the short wide brush but I must say I really like that too. My Lifesaver is a somewhat darker shade of mint green. It's like a darker shade of China Glaze Re-fresh mint! Sadly enough I couldn't capture the amazing brightness of this polish. But I really love that it is a bright pastel! I love dusty pastels too but nothing beats a super bright pastel in my book. This is going to be the perfect shade for spring and summer!

What do you think of My Lifesaver?

Bisou
Isabella

Models Own Lemon Meringue + Crushed Candy!

2011-04-07T20:16:00.000+02:00

Ugh, I have some kind of info-week at work this week and I'm not really use to getting up at 5.30 in the morning!! So just a quick post this evening to show a cute mani I did a while back! Models Own Lemon Meringue + China Glaze Crushed Candy

Love, love, love this combo!! It is just so cute and the colors go great together! I think I've shown Lemon Meringue before on it's own, but right now I have to admit I'm to lazy to check that, haha. It's a very pretty pale pastel yellow that suffers from what we all know as the lousy combo pastel+yellow=streaky mess. But I love the color so I keep wearing it anyway.

What do you think of this combo?

Bisou
Isabella

Color Club You got Soul-Ar

2011-04-05T16:59:00.001+02:00

I'm absolutly IN LOVE with Color Clubs new glitter neons. The ones I've tried so far are just perfect! This is You got Soul-Ar

This is two coats with top coat. The thing I love about these glittery neons is that the application is soo effortless! It just glides on smooth and nice and it's totally opaque in two coats. I expected these to come out uneven and bumpy cause of all the glitter in it + the neon pigment, but it's just the opposite! This orange shade is the perfect color boost for spring, waay brighter than my camera would capture it. The only minus would be that glitter isn't really sparkly, more like specks of silver trapped inside the neon base. And I must say orange is really growing on me!! I did not care for it before but now I'm constantly drawn to orange polish! Amazing how things can change, perhaps next year you'll see dark green shimmers all over this blog, haha!

And you've probably noticed my little nubbins I've been sporting lately :(. And I'm sad to say I can't give you any update on the wear of my IBD Gelac manicure either. It held on beautiful for four days, but prior to my application I had two major brakes that I tried to seal with the gel. Well, it all worked out fine until I went to the gym and broke both nails! They sort of just snapped off and then the seal of the gel polish of course broke aswell. So by then I could just peal the gel off the nails that broke. And after removal I was pretty upset so I couldn't bother re-doing the gel polish. But when my nails get a bit longer I'll definitly give it another try! I can give you a verbal update though on my friend who's currently wearing IBD Gelac Black Licorice. They are still shiny and beautiful without chips for seven days! :)

What do you think of You got Soul-Ar?

Bisou
Isabella

Leopard print!

2011-04-04T19:42:00.000+02:00

Some of you might remember the leopard print nails I made a while back, and now I've seen some other really cool leopard prints I want to try! Most of the designs I've seen have been done by free hand, and I though I'd never pull it off! But it turns out it's not as hard as you'd think!

For this mani I used Essie Playa del platinum as base color and a unnamed mini polish from H&M for the brown dots and then I filled in the lines with black polish Mika from Make up Store. I used a thin nail art brush for both the dots and the lining. I've actually stolen this mani from somewhere, and I'm a bit ashamed to say I forgot where, and now I can't seem to find it! So if anyone feels like they should have credit for this, please let me know :).. Anyways, my left hand turned out great! But of course I had major trouble with the black lining on my right hand, it turned out a bit messy! But you could of course use the Konad pattern I've used before in my leopard print manis and just fill in the dots with whatever color you like! I love this look though, looks a bit more edgy than the colorful one I've done before! :)

What do you think of this leopard mani? Have you tried painting on free hand or do you prefer for example Konad?

Bisou
Isabella

Misa Office Polish-tics

2011-04-03T18:29:00.000+02:00

I have created my own little love story with Misa lately, after trying out a bunch of their polishes. I really like the brush and the formula has yet to disappoint me! This is Office Polish-tics from their recent 9-5 collection!

This is two coats of this amazing dark grey-blue creme! Such a cool color, I have nothing like this in my stash. And great formula, went on nice and smooth in just two coats. I think this color is so wearable and it matches my skintone really well! Misa really knows how to make excellent creme polishes and I also really like their neons. I hope they'll make some new neons for this summer, that'd be perfect :)!

What do you think of Office Polish-tics? Do you like Misa?

Bisou
Isabella

Nails inc. St john's wood

2011-03-31T21:18:00.000+02:00

I'm always curious about new brands and Nails inc. does some really pretty colors!! They are on the higher end of the price range though, normally around 11£ but I got this little precious thing on sale!

This is two coats, and I must say the application was flawless!! It is super pigmented and covers smooth and nice in just two coats. The color is slightly less blue in real life, think a dark periwinkle! I love blue based purples, both light and dark shades. I think it goes perfect with my skintone and it looks so fresh :). I don't think I'll pay full price for Nails inc though, they come in small bottles off 10ml and that's just a bit too heavy priced I think.. They do have a cool range of dark, dusty colors though so maybe I'll something for fall/winter, hehe. :)

What do you think of St john's wood? Have you tried Nails Inc?

Bisou
Isabella

IBD Gelac Perfect Poppy

2011-03-30T16:56:00.000+02:00

Wohoo! I'm back from my short vacation in Brussels which was totally awesome!! Pefect spring weather combined with great company, Belgian beer and lots of delicious food. And no stress, just totally relaxing! My kind of vacation :)! And I'm back with something totally different! IBD Gelac Perfect Poppy

I'm always on the hunt to try new things, and gel polish has been on my agenda for a while now. But I was a bit afraid it would be too difficult for me, haha. But it turns out it's super easy, and the end result is just perfect!! Sadly though, these pictures does not do this beautiful gel polish any justice. In real life it is soooo glossy!! It is way shinier than normal polish ever could be, but somehow it looks almost like a satin finish in the pictures?? I have no idea why, but imagine a jelly-like gloss but even better :).

The application was surprisingly easy actually but you have to go through a few more steps than with normal nail polish. You start off with a nail prep to dry out the nail bed, then you buff the nail surface slightly (which I of course forgot, haha). The next steps includes a UV-lamp, which I got for 20$ incl. shipping on ebay. The one I got is super easy to use, you just plug it in and it has a timer so you'll now when the curing is done. After prep and buff you apply a thin layer of a gel base coat and let it cure for a few minutes. The surface gets a bit sticky after this but I just wiped the nail with a lint free pad and that worked fine. Then you apply two coats of the gel color and cure inbetween coats. Next step is a gel top coat and after curing you finish the manicure by wiping of the surface of the nail with a gel cleanser (which is btw just pure alcohol..). And you're done :)! The removal is the great thing about these kind of soak of gels, you just put on cotton with acetone and wrap it in foil - just like glitter polish! I tried removal on one nail first to be on the safe side, and it came off without any problems in just 10 minutes.

The biggest problem for me was to get a neat application of the color. You can always get rid of excess polish on your cuticles with an orange stick or something, but it was hard for me to get an even application near the cuticles. This is however a result of me beeing lazy cause normally I always do a clean up around the cuticles to get an even line. But practice makes perfect, right? :)

There's like a million brands that does gel polish, CND Shellac is probably the one most people recognize. The basic idea is the same for almost all brands though, but I chose IBD Gelac cause it's waay cheaper than for example Shellac and it comes in more colors aswell. The color range is a bit more "up to date" too I think, Shellac has a lot of classic colors but that's not really my thing... I got this awesome coral shade, a pastel mint green, a black and a sheer pink color. Gel polish is a more expensive than nail polish, I payed around 11$ a piece for color and base/top coat and you also have to pay for a UV-lamp, nail prep and cleanser.

They say you could get 10-14 days of wear with IBD Gelac, but with the nail growth I think more like a week. I mainly got these to have something a little more durable to wear to work and I really hope I can get better wear then regular polish.

Wow, that's a lot of information in one post. Haha. But overall I really like the idea of gel polish and I'm excited to see how it wears this week!

Have you tried gel polish? Do you like the idea or is it perhaps overrated?

Bisou
Isabella

Misa Hot people like you

2011-03-24T21:49:00.000+01:00

Neon pink shimmer with a blue flash?! Yes, please!

This is four coats with top coat. Sadly you can't see the pretty blue flash in this picture, but it is there in real life! This is soo pretty! The only minus with this one would be that it is super sheer, four thick coats barely covers my free edge. But that is often the deal with neon shimmers and I guess you could layer it over another pink too.

Just a quick post today cause I'm all over the place packing for tomorrow. I'm going to Brussels to visit my sister, yay! I'm soo stressed out though, I really can't deal with travelling... I absolutly hate flying and I keep thinking that I'm going to mess it all up and miss the train to the airport etc, haha. But I guess you just have to get over it. Anyway, so now you'll know why I won't be posting for a few days :).

What do you think of Hot people like you? Do you stress out over travelling too?

Bisou
Isabella

Nfu Oh 171 + 39

2011-03-22T15:48:00.000+01:00

Wohoo.. You really get to make inspiring titels when dealing with Nfu Oh polishes! What's up with the numbers instead of names?? They really should consider naming them instead, I'm really not good with numbers. Haha. Anyway here's Nfu Oh 171.

This is three coats with top coat. 171 is a light baby blue pastel creme, and it has most of the qualities that pastels usually have. A bit streaky but it wasn't the worst I've come across! I bought a few Nfu Oh's when Viis had a sale a few weeks ago, cause I was really curious about trying some of their polishes. I allready have a few of the holos, but these where my first "regular" Nfu Oh's. They make really pretty colors! 171 is nothing special really, but it's really light and soft and I like it a lot!

I also got one flakie! This is nr 39.

I added two coats over 171. 39 is a gorgeous flakie that flashes in light blue and green and it goes perfect with this pastel color I think! Super hard to capture on camera though :/. I'll definitly try this over black too soon.

What do you think of these? Do you like Nfu Oh?

Bisou
Isabella

Random spam!

2011-03-19T13:05:00.000+01:00

Ok, this post has only one purpose - to empty my archive a bit with pictures I'm not really inspired to write whole posts about. So please enjoy a lot of pics and less words...

China Glaze Life Preserver

Pretty shade, but somehow I didn't like it on me the first time I tried it. Perhaps I'll give it another try soon! It sure looks great in the picture :).

CND Flashpoint

Reddish-pink coral, probably has a zillion dupes out there. But this is formula perfection!! It almost applies itself, haha. So if you're looking for a red coral, this is the one to get for sure!

CND Raspberry Plunge

Dusty pink creme. Pretty color but actuyally a bit boring I must say... Formula perfection though, like most of the CND cremes I've tried.

LeChat Get Funky

Haha, this glitter is just ridicolous! Here layered of OPI Rising Star. This is bar and hexagon glitter in a golden clear base. I think this would look waay cooler over black though..

Milani Photo Flash

Pink shimmer with golden glass flecks. Really pretty but I don't like the formula at all, like glue! Really similar to CG Ahoy.

NARS Midnight Express

Dark blue jelly perfection! I've covered this before, but I had to take pictures of it once again cause it is so pretty.

Nubar Cayman Coral

I think I did two coats of this one and it could definitly benefit from a third coat. Red/orange coral creme, nice but I think this will look a lot better in the sun!

Half-moon-disaster

Hmm... This looked OK in real life but in the picture you could see the uneaven line A LOT.

Nubar 2010

Last but not least 2010 over black, a classic combination. Looks awesome though, I love it!

So now I feel I can breathe a little easier knowing these won't feel like outsiders anymore, haha.

Any favourites?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze For Audrey

2011-03-17T14:06:00.000+01:00

So this "Tiffany-blue" has allready become a true classic shade! I have no idea if it's just like the Tiffany color, but it sure is pretty! China Glaze For Audrey

This is two coats with top coat. Excellent formula, goes on smooth and it's completly opaque in two coats. I've heard some gruff about the formula beeing streaky and thick but I had no such problem. For Audrey is a dusty light blue with just a hint of green to it, so pretty! The thing is though, this was one of the first polishes I bought from overseas cause I totally bought in on the super hype of this shade. I tried it on once, and wasn't all that excited and I remember I wished it would be a lot brighter. So this bottle has been safely tucked away and soon forgotten until recently. But I must say I love it now! The dusty look makes this one very special.

I also did some dotting-nail art!

For the dots here I've used Misa Heavens White, China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint and Channelesque. Looks quite nice I think! Somehow this reminds me of gingerbread, have no idea why!

What do you think of For Audrey, worth the hype or not?

Bisou
Isabella

CND Bicycle Yellow

2011-03-15T12:43:00.000+01:00

Yellow is apparently the big thing this summer with brands like Chanel and Lippmann releasing yellow shades. I absolutly LOVE yellow, and I keep buying all the shades of yellow I can find :). Here's CND Bicycle Yellow

Hahaha... OK, this is four coats with top coat. And let's just say that four thick coats with Seche Vite on top just doesn't look very flattering... The formula is typcial for a yellow, streaky and uneaven at first. But it did get better, and this is definitly smooth and opaque in three coats. But I smudged a few fingers and put on a super thick last coat so this mess is what I ended up with! The lesson learned here's - don't watch exciting things on TV and try to paint your nails at the same time.. Anyway, CND is a bright sunny yellow creme, nothing more - nothing less! I think I have at least three dupes for this in my stash, but I just couldn't resist getting it. But if you want a yellow creme, I can recommend this! Just not four coats of it ;).

What do you think of the whole "Yellow-trend"?

Bisou
Isabella

Balloons!

2011-03-13T11:54:00.000+01:00

I recently got a set of dotting tools and it's so much fun to create different patterns and mix pretty colors! I named this the Balloon-mani cause it kinda looks like it ;).

The basecolor is OPI Too hot pink to hold 'em. For the dots I've used Color Club Vintage Couture, Misa Heavens White and China Glaze Hey Sailor. I also managed to smudge my index with top coat, which usually happens when I'm not paying enough attention. I like the combo of pink, red and white! Looks cute and lovely. It's hard to get the colors to look great together though. I only used a few dots of red cause otherwise it would have taken over the whole mani. This is a bit time-consuming but you can alter it in a million ways so it's a fun and pretty easy way to do nail art I think.

And a few words about my new favourite opaque white creme, Misa Heavens white! It covers nicely in just two coats and is pretty much streak-free. So I can really recommend it if you're looking for a pure white creme!

I also want to send a few thoughts to all the people affected by the earthquake in Japan. I've been totally consumed by the news from the failing Nuclear power plant in Fukushima. I live 15 minutes from a Nuclear power plant myself and I also work there together with friends and family so it's been devastating to hear the sad news about Fukushima. Whatever happens we must remember that the people working there right now to solve the problem are truly heroes, risking their own lives to save others.

Bisou
Isabella

MAC Biker Blue

2011-03-10T20:32:00.000+01:00

Something new, something blue and also my first MAC nail polish! MAC Biker Blue from the new Jeanius collection.

This is three coats with top coat. Biker Blue is an amazing dark midnight blue jelly packed with tons of light blue microglitter. When I first saw pics of this I knew I had to have it!! It's my first MAC polish, and I must say I'm really pleased so far! The first coat comes on super streaky, but it's a jelly, so I'll forgive it. It could definitly be opaque in two coats, but I did three thinner coats to avoid bubbling and also to bring out the amazing depth of this polish! It is super shiny and you can always hint the light blue glitter that really pops in sunlight. Of course, the sun went away as soon as I ran for my camera today so sadly these are just flash pictures that does not do this polish any justice :(. I have nothing like this before in my stash, so I'm really glad I got it!

The thing is, I've been hearing so much bad stuff about the formula and wear of MAC polishes. A lot like the way I feel, and probably others too, about Chanel nail polish. You pay a lot of money and expect top notch formula and wear and you get the exact opposite! That sucks, frankly and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on MAC polishes either if I wasn't totally in love with the color. And I really, really love this color and that's the only reason I got it! And if someone would offer me Bad Fairy, I wouldn't say no, haha. And it's the same way with Chanel. I bough Paradoxal, despite knowing what I know just because I love the color so much. I really hope Biker Blue can live up to my expectations! I use a lot of MAC make up, and I have no complaints there so I hope it's the same with their nail polish. I bought one polish from the Wonder Woman collection aswell, and OK several make up-items because I'm totally in love with the concept. Ihh!

OK, enough rambling now. Time will tell!

What do you think of Biker Blue? Have you tried MAC nail polish, and if so, what is your oppinion?

Bisou
Isabella

Some random Crackle-manis!

2011-03-09T12:16:00.000+01:00

Haha, all last week I played around with my new China Glaze Crackle polishes and I seriously couldn't stop! And everywhere I looked there's new fun ideas to try, so I decided to put a few of them together in one post today! (Which btw is my 100th post, wohoo!)

This is Black Mesh and Lightning Bolt together with Misa Heavens White and CG Liquid Leather. I did the same thing here as with the For Audrey/Crushed Candy mani I showed the other day. Just black and white on alternate nails topped with crackle! The white looks a bit messy over black but overall it looks pretty cool!

This is actually one of my favourite combos so far! Broken Hearted over Kiwi cool-ada. Looks like something from the 80s, just awesome! Pink and neon green works so well together!

Purple and gold could never go wrong! Here's Fault Line over Midnight Kiss. I love this combo, and it looks a lot more sofisticated than the other! I have a purple and gold dress in almost the exact same shades as this mani, so I'll deifnitly wear it together sometime :).

TURTLES-MANI!! Ahhhh. This is so cool!! This is of course Black Mesh over Kiwi cool-ada. I kept this mani without top coat, cause it just looked so cool with the matte black on top of the neon green. Just like Turtles ;)!

So that's a few of the Crackle-combinations I've tried so far! I'm sorry though that these are kind of obvious choices.. I have stolen all the ideas from someone else, haha. I'm really not that creative when it comes to combination of colors and so on. So I usually end up stealing someone else's idea.. But that's the great thing about blogs, there are soo many creative minds out there! All the cred to you! Maybe next time I'll try to come up with an idea of my own.. Hmm.. :)

Which one do you like the best? Do you have a favourite Crackle-combo? Please share so I can steal your ideas! Hahaha...
Bisou!
Isabella

Color Club Other Wordly

2011-03-07T17:41:00.000+01:00

So I wanted to start this week of with something totally awesome! How about a blue neon glitter? I say, yes please! Color Club Other Worldy

This is two coats with top coat. And I was really surprised by how great the formula is on this one! It is a medium blue base packed with silver glitter, and it goes on so smooth and nice and it's totally opaque in just two coats. This is the best glitter I've ever come across! And it's also a neon. So it doesn't get much better than this :). The only downside is that the glitter doesn't really sparkle that much, it looks more like tiny silver dots. But it dries fast and the surface is not gritty at all, so one layer of top coat is enough to make it smooth. This picture is a bit off though, the color is way brighter and a little darker.

I'm really excited that Color Club released these glitter neons and also the scented ones, so much fun!!

What do you think of Other Wordly? Have you tried any of the new Color Clubs yet?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Cute as a button

2011-03-03T18:25:00.001+01:00

Today I have one of my all time favourite creme polishes, which is also one of the hardest to photograph! Essie Cute as a button

This is three coats with top coat. I could easily say that this picture is not color accurate at all. But I also know that if had taken pics in different lighting, the polish would have looked completly different. Cute as a button really plays mindtricks as soon as you put it on! I must say though, if you don't have this - GET IT NOW!! It is just so cool, and I have nothing like this in my stash. I love it so much for many reasons. First, it changes color all the time depending if your indoors, outside, under a lamp and so on. The color you see here is the one you get in dull daylight, a light peachy pink coral. I love the fact that it is a lighter shade of coral, but still a creme which you don't see that often I think. The best thing though is that it's really bright despite beeing a lighter shade of coral. It also changes a lot from beeing more peachy - like in this picture, to more pink in sunlight for example. This is also one of my most worn pedi colors, it just looks so great on summer toes :).

Haha, yeah you can probably tell I really love this color ;). Can't wait for summer!! Now I feel totally dull though, my head is aching and I can just feel a cold is lurking around the corner. :(. And I have tons and tons of schoolwork right now, so I really don't have time to be sick. Well, you have to try and stay positive I guess!

What do you think of Cute as a button? Don't you just love chameleon colors like this one?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Crushed Candy + China Glaze Black Mesh

2011-03-02T16:16:00.000+01:00

I've been playing around with my new China Glaze Crackle polishes all week and it's soo much fun! Haha, seriously I don't think I can stop now :D. Anyways, it's been a lot of fuzz around China Glaze Crushed Candy and how it looks a lot like the old classic For Audrey. So I figuered I would put them together in a mani to show you guys!

So for this mani I've used a base with three coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather, which by the way is my absolute favourite black polish. So much shine!! On top of this I have Crushed Candy. On alternate nails I have two coats of For Audrey with Black Mesh on top. Haha, can you tell which one is which? Hehe, you probably can. But I can tell you that they've probably used For Audrey as inspiration for Crushed Candy. If you look at them in the bottle, you can't really tell any difference.

Perhaps the only slight difference is that Crushed Candy is just a tad more blue and a little brighter that For Audrey that has a more dusty feel to it. I also tried Crushed Candy over white.

I haven't tried all the colors from this collection yet, but Crushed Candy is so far definitly my favourite! It looks so cool over both black and white. Black Mesh is of course real similar to OPI Black Shatter, but my impression so far is that it crackles more irregular if you know what I mean. I always get a more linear crackle from Black Shatter.

Ihh I get so excited just looking at these pics, haha. I can just now think of maybe ten different looks that I want to try with these new crackle polishes. So I'm sorry if you're tired of crackles, cause I can say with no doubt I'll be showing a lot of crackle-manis in the near future ;).

What do you think of Crushed Candy? Any tips on combos you like to see, or are you fed up with crackles by now?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Marshmallow + Depend red crackle

2011-02-28T18:59:00.000+01:00

This is the second polish I got last week together with all the other boring stuff :)! Essie Marshmallow

This is four coats with top coat. Marshmallow is supposed to be sheer I think, used mostly for french tips but it builds up real nicely. You could probably get away with three thicker coats aswell. I like this a lot cause it looks like clouds or maybe snow, haha. I bought this mainly to use as a base for konad and glitters cause sometimes pure white cremes creates a bit too heavy look I think. This on the other hand is more soft and squishy. Love it!

But a bit boring so I decided to use this as a base and added the red crackle polish from Depend!

I must say I was really surprised by how pigmented this is, and also super easy to apply! I had a thought it would look almost like candy canes, so maybe this will be a great look for Christmas :).

What do you think of Marshmallow? Have you tried any of the Depend crackle polishes?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Van D'go

2011-02-25T13:41:00.000+01:00

This is a polish that's been on my wishlist, well forever. So last week when I had to order all boring stuff like thinner and refill of my top coat and so on I decided to treat myself to at least one nailpolish (I got two). Essie Van D'go

This is three coats with top coat. The formula is typical pastel-formula, thick and streaky but definitly not the worst kind so it was ok to work with. Van D'go is a really pale peach colored pastel creme, and it's pretty much whitebased which I like! I must say though, this doesn't look so great on Swedish-pale-we've-had-no-sunlight-for-three-months-skin. Inside it looks ok, but the minute you step outside and your hands get a bit red, it looks like flesh! Yuck! So this is a color that will definitly benefit from a little tan. And dear God am I in need of a tan!! I hate February!! It's possibly the worst month of the year, perhaps together with November, it's almost spring but still butt-cold and the Summer is still faaar faaar away. :(.

This mani looked a bit boring so I decided to put on some nailstickers that I won (!) at Lillasyster! Wohoo, this was the runner up price but I've never won anything before so I was so happy! And the stickers are awesome!!

I really like this combo! Looks sofisticated and a bit old school :). Sadly though, I put on a bit too much top coat and went to the gym and ended up with ten smudged nails. Boo! I was sad, cause I really would have wanted to wear this longer. Lesson learned here - don't rush!!

What do you think of Van D'go? Don't you just hate February??

Bisou
Isabella

OPI The one that got away + Teenage Dream

2011-02-23T20:06:00.000+01:00

Katy Perry for OPI bla bla bla bla bla bla. Yes, I think everything has been said about the colors and the formula and everything. So the only thing that's left is really just my own view of the collection. I'll start with The one that got away and Teenage Dream.

This was actually the color I was looking forward to the most in the Katy Perry collection! Wierd, yes perhaps but before this one I never really had a true magenta colored polish in my stash. And I'm not at all disappointed with The one that got away. I love both the color and the formula! And I love the name too, makes me think of long lost loves ;)!

Ugh, say hello to my stained nails :(. To my defense I'll have to say that this did not look that bad in real life. But somehow in the picture you can really see the stains, yuck. I think Teenage Dream is totally wearable by itself though if you don't have stained nails! This is two coats, so it builds up nicely!

I wanted to see how it looked layered too, so here it is over Color Club Vintage Couture. Cute!! Looks totally like cupcake frosting with sprinkles, I love it :). My seven year old cousin got crushed when she saw me wearing this so of course I had to do her nails too :).

I was really excited about the Katy Perry collection, and I must say she did a great job. Happy, fun colors just as you could expect from her :). Now I'm just waiting for my nails to grow out a bit more before I try the other two. I have a feeling they'll look better on longer nails. But I'm not sad cause all I do now is play around with my new crackle polishes and the scented Color Clubs, wohoo! So much fun, I feel like I'm thirteen, haha....

What do you think of The on that got away and Teenage Dream? Any tips on how to deal with stained nails??

Bisou
Isabella

Color Club Raspberry Rush + China Glaze Broken Hearted

2011-02-22T20:00:00.000+01:00

I'm really impressed with what both Color Club and China Glaze have put together for us this Spring, so this post is a little tribute to both of them! I couldn't believe when I heard that Color Club was releasing both scented neons (!!!!) and glitter neons for this spring. C O M E O N!!! It doesn't get much better than that!! And I'm so excited about China Glaze crackle collection too, it's so cool! So today I have a little combo of Color Club Raspberry Rush and China Glaze Broken Hearted for you!

Here's three coats of Raspberry Rush in the first picture and then I've layered one coat of Broken Hearted over it in the second picture. Sadly enough, this is NOT color accurate at all. I tried soo hard capturing this beautiful color, but after like 30 pics in different lightning I gave up. So picture in your head that this is a much darker, deeper neon berry shade. I think a good match could be China Glaze Heli Yum, but Raspberry Rush is also neon! I have this mani on right now, and I wish I could somehow transfer the AWESOME scent to you! I've tried a few of the scented Color Clubs now and they are not overly scented I think, you can just hint it, and this one smells like sweet raspberry candy. Yummie!

I'm not really sure about the combo with Raspberry Rush and Broken Hearted though. I think Broken Hearted would look better over a lighter pink, but I couldn't wait to try it on so this is what I ended up with. I got all of the shades in the crackle collection, and I've tried a few of them allready. The formula is a bit thicker compared to Black Shatter, and you have to be a bit more careful and do really thin coats but the end result looks pretty much the same. Love all the colors, crackle polish is really fun!

Have you tried scented nail polish? What do you think of Raspberry Rush and Broken Hearted?

Bisou
Isabella

OPI Simply Smashing

2011-02-21T18:37:00.000+01:00

This is a polish I wasn't excited about at all when I first saw the promo pics. I thought it would look to green and murky and that combined with a foil finish just didn't appeal to me... But after seeing some swatches I changed my mind, and I'm so glad I did! OPI Simply Smashing by itself and with Black Shatter.

This is three coats with top coat. Excellent formula, much like the shimmers from Burlesque! This is so pretty, and it doesn't look like a murky foil at all. I also tried to capture how it looks in the sun, where the color really comes alive and it is super sparkly. I love that it has a lot of green undertone to it without looking dirty, haha If you know what I mean! It looks great under Black Shatter aswell. This is the second crackle polish I try - my first was Barry M crackle polish. I must say I like Black Shatter better, it is much easier to apply! My Barry M got a lot of lumps in it after just a few tries and it's a lot thicker than Black Shatter. This was my first try with Black Shatter and I applied it a bit too thick, I think it looks a lot better if you apply thinner coats.

What do you think of Simply Smashing? Have you tried Black Shatter yet?

Bisou
Isabella

OPI Rising Star

2011-02-16T18:08:00.000+01:00

At first, I wasn't all that excited about OPI Burlesque so I just got a couple of them. But as time went by I got really curious about the finish of the non-glitters so I decided to buy a few more from that collection! Here is beautiful Rising Star

This is three coats, no top coat. I think you could get away with just two thicker coats aswell. EXCELLENT formula!! It went on soo smooth and nice, and I didn't have any trouble with bald spots or streakiness which you sometimes get from these kinds of shimmers. I LOVE THIS!! It is so pretty, your nails are just glowing! I wasn't sure about the color at first cause it is on the warmer side, and warmer color tends to clash with my skintone. But this looks great! I think OPI really hit the jackpot with the almost foil-like finish that they've released this past year. They should keep doing colors like this for sure!

What do you think of Rising Star? Do collections "grow" on you over time, or are you instantly sure if it's a hit or not?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Rainstorm

2011-02-15T12:54:00.000+01:00

Well, I'd actually prefer a rainstorm just about now. We've recently got tons of snow (again..) and last night we had -24C (!). It's soo pretty though, the sun is shining almost every day now, so despite the cold you can really feel spring is soon approaching! China Glaze Rainstorm will be perfect for spring!

This is two coats of Rainstorm layered of Essie Coat Azure. It is really sheer, and I've tried it byt itself too but after five coats I still had VNL so this is definitly meant to be layered.. I chose Coat Azure cause it was the closest match I had in my stash! What a great color though! A light blue, almost periwinkle shimmer packed with a darker blue micro shimmer. If you look at the close up on these pics you can really see the darker micro shimmer that makes this polish stand out! I think this is part of China Glaze's core collection and should be fairly easy to find. I really can't get enough of blues like this one, it's so pretty!

What do you think of Rainstorm?

Bisou
Isabella

Some comparisons!

2011-02-13T13:03:00.000+01:00

I decided to swatch a few comparisons on a nailwheel to see if there really is any difference between old goodies in my stash and recent additions!

Left: China Glaze Bahamian Escape. Right: China Glaze First Mate

I absolutly LOVE blue nail polish, but I wasn't sure if I needed First Mate from the new China Glaze Anchors Away collection, cause I allready have Bahamian Escape. In the picture there's two coats of both polishes, and as you can see they are not dupes! Although I should say that BE is not really that much lighter than FM in real life. But FM is just a tone darker and has a dusty feel too it. I think you could say that FM is more true to what you would call navy blue and BE is a more cooltoned medium blue.

Left: Hard Candy Sky. Right: Eyeko Pastel Polish

Haha oh my, please ignore the fuzzy stuff attached in the pictures here. I did not notice that until I edited these photos... Anyway, these are really close! This is both three coats. The first picture is taken with flash, and I guess you could see that Sky is just the slightest bit lighter than Pastel polish. I think Sky also has a bit more hidden shimmer. But in the second picture, you can't really tell the difference. Perhaps Eyeko Pastel polish has a little advantage in better formula and also it's easier to find too for us Europe girls! But the conclusion here is that you probably don't need both...

Left: China Glaze Sea Spray. Right: Eyeko Rain polish

This is both two coats. Again, these are almost dupes! I had a hard time capturing the minor difference between these, which is that Rain polish has slightly more shimmer and leans more towards blue than gray. But again, in this case you probably don't need both! I can't tell of any difference in formula either.

So now I've saved you all some money, right? Or perhaps you're like me and allready have them all ;)

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Starboard

2011-02-11T18:41:00.000+01:00

Haha ok, as some of you might know I'm not really a fan of green nail polish at all. But I sort of used to feel that way about purple too so I'm willing to give green another try. I think I own three green nail polishes, now including China Glaze Starboard

This is two coats with top coat. I had no problem with the formula, it went on nice and smooth in just two coats. Starboard is a medium green with lots of yellow undertone, and before I tried it I was convinced it would look terrible with my skintone. But I have to say I'm surprised how great it looks! I think I actually prefer this kind of green shade, which looks a bit more playful. I have OPI Jade is the new black which I absolutley hate, I think it just looks awful on me!! But I do like China Glaze Kiwi cool-ada and that also fits in the more playful family of greens I think. But I still felt kind of wierd wearing this, but I'll definitly give it another try soon! I've tried a few polishes from China Glaze's new Spring collection now and I really like the finish of them all! Deep and shiny cremes are so nice!

I must add to this though that all the pictures you will see from now on is from my archive. I swatched A LOT last week cause I decided I had to cut my nails waaay down in the near future. I've mentioned before that my nails keep breaking at the edges, real far down! I couldn't figure out why at first, but then I realised it is the skin underneath my nails that is the bad guy here. I know it's good to have some skin attached to the free edge cause it helps with preventing infections and stuff. The nail can also grow longer without getting soft and it usually prevents breakage. That's the case on my pinkie and ringfinger and they almost never break! But on my other nails the skin grows out just in the center of the nailbed and I end up getting a free edge that goes much deeper on the side of my nail which causes breaks there. So yesterday I cut down all my nails as long as I could without hurting the skin underneath so hopefully the skin will grow out more evenly now. It looks terrible, JUST TERRIBLE!!! I'm all depressed now :(... But this was kind of the last option I had cause I really can't deal with silkwraps and uneven nails any more.

But if anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to deal with this problem in the future, please let me know!

Are you a green-lover or a green-hater? Any other color you never wear on your nails?

Bisou
Isabella
Isabella

OPI Big hair... big nails

2011-02-09T15:54:00.000+01:00

It's so funny how you hear so much bad stuff about something and then when you try it out yourself you start off with a bad attitude towards it! This is sort of what happened to me with OPI Texas... All I heard was bad formula, boring colors and so on. Well, I must say I'm pleasantly surprised, I actually found a few colors I really like! First up is Big hair... big nails

This is three coats, no topcoat! Look how shiny it is!! Somehow it turned out way more orange in the picture, it is actually a more pink/red coral irl. OPI calls this new formula Sorbet, which is cool and all but really it's just another word for jelly! I can agree with some who says that jellies can be really hard to work with, if the first coat comes on streaky then the rest does it too and you end up with three or four coats of just a messy streaky awful mani. However, I don't get that at all with the "Sorbet's" I got from OPI Texas. It comes on sheer at first but it's not streaky at all and builds up real nice in three coats! And you get the perfect opaque squishy look with über-shine! I love it, and I'm glad I tried it myself this time! And all I can say now is I definitly have way too many polishes in the color-range, haha...

What do you think of jellies/sorbet? Any thoughts on OPI Texas?

Bisou
Isabella

Butter London Artful Dodger

2011-02-08T19:27:00.000+01:00

I totally forgot about the other Butter London polish I got a while back, with all the hype around my spring collection newcomers :D! But Artful Dodger definitly deserves a moment in the spotlight!

This is two coats, no top coat. The first coat comes on really sheer, so at first I was afraid it wouldn't build up at all. But it evens out nicely and it's opaque with a thicker second coat. It has almost the texture of a jelly but looks more lika creme, so I guess you could say it's something in between! The color is great too, slightly dusty light teal with just a hint of green to it. I have nothing like it in my stash, so I'm really pleased with this one. And I can tell you that the wear is excellent! My mom had it on for six days with just minor tipwear, so that's pretty good! I must say I really like Butter London so far, great formula and pretty colors. I got mine in a sale and they were something like 20% off. I probably wouldn't buy Butter London at normal price though...

What do you think of Artful Dodger?

Bisou
Isabella

Bon Couleurs Falling star

2011-02-07T22:12:00.000+01:00

It's always nice to find cool nail polish when looking around on ebay, and this little precious thing just screamed my name!

This is two coats of Falling Star over two coats of OPI Over the taupe. The basecolor isn't super-sheer but I couldn't bother with the removal of like four coats of glitter so I decided to layer it instead! This is so cool! The base color is a dark taupe or a light brown with a bit of a metallic finish and packed with pink, blue and silver glitter!! It totally looks like chocolate frosting with sprinkles mixed into it, haha. It's not really a bling bling glitter, not even in direct sunlight. But it's a really interesting color! Haven't seen anything like it before. And I had never heard of Bon Couleurs before, so I have no idea what kind of brand it is!

What do you think of Falling Star? Anyone who's familiar with Bon Couleurs?

Bisou
Isabella

a-england Tristam

2011-02-06T16:56:00.000+01:00

It's always fun to try out new brands, and a-england have really been hitting the hype lately! They have a small but really cool line of nail polish, and I instantly fell for the holos. Of course :D! I saw swatches of Tristam and I instantly fell in love!

This is two coats, no top coat. It's a NAVY BLUE HOLO!!!! Wohoo! I'm so excited about this one, it's soo pretty! Excellent coverage in two coats, and the formula was smooth and real easy to work with. It has a scattered holo effect, not super strong but it really pops in sunlight! In normal light it looks like a deep shimmer, super pretty! This could very well be lurking it's way in to my all time favourites-list!! I have never seen anything like this before, a deep blue basecolor packed with tiny holo sparkle, and with excellent formula this really is something else! Oh and I applied a top coat after taking these pictures and it didn't dull the holo effect at all, so that's good news aswell. I picked up the purple holo Lady of the lake too, and now I'm really looking forward to try it out!

What do you think of Tristam? Have you tried a-england yet?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Coat Azure

2011-02-05T17:48:00.000+01:00

I wasn't all that excited about the promo pics of Essie's Spring Collection this year, mostly nudes and sheers which is not exactly my cup of tea.. But when I saw the blue one, I knew I had to have it! Essie Coat Azure

This is two coats, no topcoat. The formula was great! It's really pigmented and was almost opaque in one coat but I did two to really bring out the color. Coat Azure is an amazing light blue shimmer. The shimmer is real subtle but when the sunlight hits the nails you can see the almost golden sparkle all over the nails. So pretty! The base color is not super original though and I think I allready have a few blues similar to this one. But great formula and super pretty shimmer speaks in favour of this one!

And I love the name! Never been to the real-deal Coat Azure but I was in the South of France last fall and it is just the most beautiful place. One of the best vacations I've ever had! Ahh, cold February always makes me long for sunlight and vacation!

What do you think of Coat Azure? Did you plan to pick anything up from the Essie Spring collection this year?

Bisou
Isabella

Hard Candy Sky

2011-02-02T15:23:00.000+01:00

So here it is, the supposable dupe for Chanel Riva. I'm officially upset with Chanel so unless they make something totally irresistable I'll never buy Chanel again. For those of you who haven't heard allready, it chips after one day and the formula isn't all that! Ha! So now that I've saved you all some money let's take a look att this dupey, Hard Candy Sky!

This is three coats with top coat. I've heard bad stuff about this one too, that the formula is terrible. But I have to disagree! I mean ok, it comes on a bit streaky and all that but for me that's just normal pastel-formula. And I love pastels so I don't really mind. But I guess compared to a Nubar-creme or something like that it has a bad formula. Soo I haven't seen Chanel Riva in real life so I can't really tell you if it's a dupe or not. But in the comparisons I've seen, it looks pretty close! Dupe or not, Sky is a really lovely pale light blue creme with some hidden shimmer which makes it stand out. I love hidden shimmer, it gives depth and shine to otherwise flat cremes. It looks crisp and clean and nice, and I love it! But the minute I got it in my hands I instantly thought of Eyeko Pastel polish. I think they are really close, have to do a comparison soon!

What do you think of Sky? Any Chanel lovers who dare to disagree?

Bisou
Isabella

Stylish Blogger Award and Beautiful Blogger Award

2011-02-01T16:42:00.000+01:00

Haha i'm a bit overwhelmed actually buy all you lovely girls who have given me awards this past month! I've gotten the Stylish Blogger Award from Lucy, Mirannie, Nailtastic, Polish Obsessed and Sminkan. And a Beautiful Blogger Award from Karen. THANK YOU SO MUCH! And if you haven't checked out any of these blogs yet, make sure to do it asap!

I'll almost) follow the rules of the Stylish blogger Award:

Here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank and link the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers to tell them about this award!

7 things about me

1. I'm obsessed with HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, and recently The Pacific!! Must have watched Band of Brothers, like 30 times. Haha...
2. I've never travelled outside of Europe (BOO!!)
3. Every spring I buy at least 10 pairs of canvas shoes in different colors. It's the perfect shoe and if you have all the colors you can match them with anything :D...
4. I play a lot of video games.. A lot…
5. I eat A LOT of bananas. At least three a day, and I put them in my cereal and mix it in my oatmeal in the morning. Yummie!
6. I understand a lot of French but I can barely say a word myself.
7. I've never been to Norway, which is really wierd cause it's really close :/

All Swedish blogs this time :) Make sure to check them out!

a nail polish junkie
Claws in color
Lacky
Lillasyster
Sminkan
MakeupMyLack
Nailspotting

Bisou
Isabella

OPI On Collins ave

2011-02-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

I just realised I haven't blogged since Thursday! What? Where did all the time go? Hmm.. Anyways, I've hauling my ass off lately and got some stuff from all the new Spring collections, but also a few goodies on my wishlist. Here's one of them, OPI On Collins ave

This is two coats with top coat. Excellent formula and it's completly opaque in two coats, and that alone equals LOVE for me! And the color is also perfection! Über-bright orange toned coral, to die for... And I know I've shown quite a few corals lately (hehe), and my mum actually asked me the other day how many shades of coral there really is? What a silly question, duh! A million, I hope :) Cause I can't get enough of corals, and so far I actually have NO dupes believe it or not. But I must admit it is pretty hard to tell the difference between Essie Wife goes on and CND Smoochie, but neither of them are true corals anyway soo ;). But this is pretty unique in my stash, cause I don't own many orange based corals. And a huge plus for the opaque formula!

Ihh, my box of untrieds looks almost swollen now! Pure nail polish love I guess :).

Do you ever get tired of corals? Which is you favourite coral shade?

Bisou
Isabella

Illamasqua Load + some crafting...

2011-01-27T13:22:00.000+01:00

I got SO excited last week when I saw swatches of the new Throb collection from Illamasqua. I knew I had to have Load!

This is three coats with top coat. Load is an amazing off white creme with just a hint of yellow. It looks just like ivory! It was a bit streaky but it evened out well in three coats. I absolutly LOVE this color! Ihh. I've been looking for something like this forever. But colors like this are usually sheers that don't build up well and you end up with a streaky mess and tons of VNL. This is possibly the closest you'll ever get to off white perfection! I think this is going to be a great base for Konad also, maybe something black that looks like lace! AHH, I need to Konad this asap :D. This is actually my first Illamasqua polish, and it shipped in two (!) days and came in a beautiful black box with the polish wrapped in black silk paper. I'm impressed :).

And now on to my little crafting project I've been undertaking for the last few months. Ok, none of these took months to do but I sort of underestimated how many rhinestones I would use, hehe. Let's just say I had to place several more orders to complete these :P...

First up is a skin or shell or whatever you call it, that fits Iphone4. This is going to be a birthday gift for my best friend! The rhinestones is Swarowski Crystal AB ss9.

I'm not completly satisfied but it turned OK. And now for some trivia! I've used Gem Tac glue, a rhinestone setter and toothpicks for placements of the crystals. This piece contains approx. 1100 rhinestones. And I guess in total took about two days to complete! Now I'm just hoping my friend will like it, and she'll probably be pretty surprised cause she has no idea what I've been up to :P.

And here's my first project! Something I've been wanting to do forever!! I know some people probably think it's just tacky and SO 2003, haha. But I like it :) It's a LG phone covered in Crystal Rose AB (ss9) and Indian Pink (ss9) also from Swarowski.

Haha, and as you can see some of the stones in the corners have allready fallen off cause I dropped it in the floor yesterday. But I have plenty backup stones so I guess I'll have to do some repair now and then :) I love my new phone, it makes me so happy everytime I look at it. Not just because it's pretty but because I pulled it off!! When I started this whole thing I was so nervous cause my hands are really shaky, and I had no idea how long it would take to complete these two items. But it was waay easier than I thought and in one day I had completed the front of the phone and it looked great! I think this contains around 900-100 rhinestones.

So if anyone have thoughts about trying something like this. DO IT!! Like I've said before, I'm not a handy person at all so if I can do it. Anyone can :)! And it's not that expensive either. I've maybe spent around 50-60$ per item.

So what do you think of Load? Have you ever tried crafting with rhinestones?

Bisou
Isabella

L.A Girl Metal Brass

2011-01-25T11:08:00.000+01:00

I got so excited about the L.A girl Metals after seeing beautiful swatches everywhere! When I placed my order I couldn't decide which ones to get, but I was definitly sure about Brass!

This is one coat (!) Wierd, but awesome of course. I put it over a ridgefiller, cause sometimes even if the polish is good in one coat you can still see ridges and stuff and you have to go for a second coat. The cleanup was a bit messy which you can obviously tell in the picture, but I guess you get that with most foil finishes. Anyway, Brass is a really cool color! It's a light brown with a silver foil finish which makes it look great! I usually have a problem with colors like this (uhm, CG Ingrid on me=poo) but I think the silver in this makes it better with my skintone! The color totally reminds me of nougat! :)

And I'm still sick :(.. Ugh... I'm slowly getting better but I'm soo tired!! Don't have the strength to do anything, it sucks! I'm still wearing CND Smoochie and it started chipping today on the 7th day of wear. So I guess Smoochie get's an A in wear from me ;). I'm fed up with it though, so I think I have to gather some strength and change polish today..

So what do you think of Brass?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze Rose among thorns

2011-01-23T10:44:00.000+01:00

Ugh... I've been soo sick for the past four days. It's probably the flu, and I've been knocked down by tons off fever. :( Today is my first fever-free day, thank god! Anyways, I wanted to show you something really colorful! China Glaze Rose among thorns

This is four coats with top coat. It super sheer, which is no fun at all. I love this color, an amazing red neon but I rarely use it cause usually I can't bother doing all those coats.. I know you can layer neons over white to make it more opaque but I think it destroys some of the depth in the color. The sum of it is, a beautiful color but a lot of work!

I'm still wearing CND Smoochie and I can tell you, after almost six days of wear. It looks awesome! Just some minor tipwear on my right hand, but nothing on my left hand. I guess it's like an unwanted wear-test :P...

Bisou
Isabella

CND Smoochie

2011-01-20T12:34:00.000+01:00

I'm so excited cause I recently bought my first CND polishes!! All I've been hearing lately is how excellent the formula is on the new CND creme polishes, so I knew I had to try it! Here's CND Smoochie

This is two coats with top coat. Smoochie is such a gorgeous shade!! It is a super bright reddish hot pink creme. And I was not at all disappointed with the formula of this one. It is pure P E R F E C T I O N!! Sometimes shades like this comes on a bit sheer and you still have VNL after three coats, hate that. But this went on soo smooth and was completly opaque in two coats. It it super shiny aswell and with Nubar Diamont on top it got even better. It's actually even better than I had imagined, haha. It is up there with Nubar and Rescue Beauty Lounge when it comes to formula, totally awesome!! I picked up a few colors and I'm dying to try them out now :). The only minus would be that it comes in a slightly smaller bottle.. So well, all I can tell you is that CND really is as great as they say :D!

And on another note, I'm happy to tell you that I passed my exam!! Wohoo! Such a relief. It's been hanging over me for the past two years, and now it's finally gone, yay! Now I'm just waiting and waiting to hear from my University about a course I want to take so baad this semester. I'm supposed to get an answer tonight, and I'm SO nervous!! Yuck, I hate the feeling of uncertainty so I'm completly stressing out over this. But I think I'm going to take a long walk and then do some knitting. Knitting totally calms me, haha yes I think I'm 75years old on the inside ;)

OK, enough off my whining!!

Have you tried CNDs "new" line? Are you impressed with their formula?

Bisou
Isabella

Gunmetal?

2011-01-19T20:04:00.000+01:00

I'm in search for the perfect gunmetal shade cause I have nothing like it in my stash. Or I do, a mini bottle of a cheap unnamed polish that I bought in Brussels. Let's take a look shall we?

Looks kinda neat, huh? The thing is, and you can tell from the tipwear that this doesn't wear very well... It is also a bit sheer so this is three or four coats. But I LOVE the color, wohoo! So I need something like this in my stash but with better wear and formula :). I recently bought some of the L.A girl Metals and I'm soo hoping Graphite will look similar to this one!

Any tips or suggestions? Will Graphite do the trick?

Sorry for the short post but my head is killing me today!! I blame the full moon, yuck :(...

Bisou
Isabella

Butter London Cheeky Chops + happy beach-toes

2011-01-17T18:48:00.000+01:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I love yellow nail polish? I don't care for yellow that much in clothes or other stuff but on my nails, yes please! Here's Butter London Cheeky Chops

This is three coats with top coat. It was smooth and opaque in two thick coats but I smudged one nail so I did a third coat. Excellent formula for a yellow! It is a kinda cool yellow shade I think, sort of a darker pastel yellow. It doesn't match my skintone at all, haha. In real life I had major lobster hands with this one! But I love the color so much so it doesn't really bother me :). I've wanted to try Butter London for a long time so I was really happy when I saw this one for sale at lookfantastic a while back.

Yesterday I was looking through pictures from last summer on my computer and I stumbled on this one. My cold winter feet is dreaming of the beach now, haha!

I'm wearing China Glaze Lemon Fizz and my sister has China Glaze Pool party on her toes :). This is from a mini-vacation we had in the south of Holland, Zeeland to be exact! The beach there was ridicolous!! Miles and miles of perfect white sand. Kinda whish I was back there now, I'm so sick of winter! :(

So have you tried Butter London yet?

Bisou
Isabella

Water marbling, leopard mani and homemade remover!

2011-01-16T13:00:00.001+01:00

I've spent the last week since my exam doing exactly nothing, haha. And I get bored real easily so I decided to do some nailart :)! First I did some water marbling and then I decided I wanted to give the Leopard print mani another try. I also mentioned to Sminkan that I make my own remover, hehe. So I've also attached the recipe of that one ;). Enjoy!

Barbie anyone? Haha... Well I kinda like this combo cause it's super girly and cute. I used Color Club Vintage Couture as basecolor and added OPI Alpine Snow and China Glaze Rich and Famous for the marbling. I've tried marbling a few times now but it's hard to get a good patern! My biggest problem is that one color always seems to take over the show.. I've tried to use colors with the same finish, this time only cremes, but somehow Rich and Famous became totally dominant here :(. Any tips and tricks?

I really wanted to try the Leopard print mani again, it's so cute! This time I had a smaller brush to fill out the parts I missed stamping and it worked out really well. I have Alpine Snow as base and this time I used neons to fill out the dots. I've invested in a Konad Top Coat and I'm really pleased with that one, no more smudged prints, yay!

So I think I've tried like every remover available in Sweden. Haha, ok not really but a lot of the bigger brands anyway. I absolutly hate Depends removers, it's not even worth spending money on any of them. They suck!! I change my mani pretty much every day and I don't have the time or patience to sit and rub the nail polish off for an hour, left with stained nails and cuticles. I really like H&Ms remover and also one from ACO and they're really cheap aswell. The problem is I live in the middle of nowhere right now and I can't get hold of any of them. So I started to use pure acetone instead, but my cuticles screamed for help so I decided to browse the nailblogs for help. I found an interesting post on Lacquerized about how you could replica the popular Zoya Remove+.

The sum of it all is that you can add some Glycerine to pure acetone and get pretty much the same thing as Remove+! So I went to my local hardware store and picked up a huge bottle of acetone and some glycerine. I've been using this combo for a few months now and my cuticles are happy and I don't get stained nails when removing rich pigmented colors. A W E S O M E!!! And you can't beat the quantity you get for, well no money at all! :)

Any tips on water marbling? What remover do you use, have you ever tried making your own?

Bisou
Isabella

IsaDora Petrol Polish

2011-01-14T22:48:00.000+01:00

So I got some really cool stuff on sale a few days ago! They had awesome nail polish that was like 75% off so I picked up a few goodies! This is IsaDora Petrol Polish

This is two coats with top coat, please ignore the slight tipwear.. I think this polish was originally released this fall or last fall but I'm not really sure. This is however in the old big bottle and that's a huge plus! I really didn't think I was going to like this as much as I did!! It is a really cool dark turquoise creme and it's really bright which I like. The formula was perfect also, smooth and almost a one coater. I like the brightness of this one cause usually colors like this have a dusty subdued look. I like dusty colors, don't get me wrong but it's nice to see a bright dark turquoise like this one also :).

I really like the formula and the colors in IsaDoras line of nail polish, and they usually wear really well too. But when they switched to the new smaller bottle and keeping the price tag, I wasn't so sure anymore. But I've seen the old big bottle on some of the newer colors like this one so I really hope they'll correct that mistake!

What do you think of Petrol Polish? Any other IsaDora nail polish favourites?

Bisou
Isabella

Make Up Store Siw

2011-01-13T18:29:00.000+01:00

When I was in the city the other day I knew I had to stop by Make Up Store to look at their line of holographic nail polish! Sadly, they were all sold out except this little love. Say hello to Make Up Store Siw

This is three coats, no top coat over Nfu Oh Aqua Base. You'll definitly need some kind of aqua base coat when applying this cause it comes on a bit patchy. Siw is an amazing light blue holo!! Dear God, I think this is even more holographic than the Nfu Oh holos! So cool :). I think you could say this is leaning towards being a turquoise rather than a true light blue, it has a lot of green undertones to it. The formula is similar to the Nfu Oh, dries super fast and you have to be careful so it doesn't look streaky.. This is by all means a super-holo, you can se the holographic sparkle even in low lightning. The first picture is how it looks in dull Swedish daylight and even then you can spot some of the holo action!

Overall, I'm very pleased with Siw :). I definitly need to get the other Make Up Store holos! I picked up some non-holos aswell, and I must say I'm SO impressed with Make Up Stores line of nail polish!! The colors are really innovative and the formula is perfection on all the polishes I've got so far. As I said before, they are at the high end of the price range but you really get what you pay for! I could seriously buy their whole line!!

And remember!! Today is the first day to send in your dream polish description to Rescue Beauty Lounge. You can read more about that at the RBL-blog.

What do you think of Siw? Do you own any Make Up Store polish?

Bisou
Isabella

NYX Girls Frizz Spots

2011-01-11T17:33:00.000+01:00

FINALLY!! My nightmare exam is finally over, and it went OK so now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that I passed! But I won't even think about that now! Now I'm just going to rest and do fun stuff :) Like organize my box of untrieds/polishes I've recently used/treatments and such which have become a huge mess for the past month :/. ANYWAY. Now I'm going to show a totally awesome polish!! NYX Girls Frizz Spots

This is two coats of Frizz Spots layered over black. How cool is that?! It is a black jelly packed with various sizes of hexogram holo glitter! The base is not super sheer so I guess you could build up opacity but I was too lazy so I just layered it over black and that works really well! Haha and I don't really now what to say about my attempt to make a "blurry picture".. Somehow my hand looks super chunky and big, haha.. And can someone please explain to me how to take a proper blurry picture?? I tried the best I could to make my camera go out of focus but it just wouldn't! Well, I got this one picture to somehow get the amazing holo sparkles to translate from reality to you :). But it is definitly more sparkly in real life! I'm obsessed with hexogram glitter! It just looks so darn cool. So you can probably imagine how high some of the Deborah Lippmann glitters are on my wishlist :)! But if you like hexogram glitter, this can be yours for 3$ at Cherryculture! I bit more budget-friendly I would say!

What do you think of Frizz Spots? Do you like hexogram glitter?

Bisou!
Isabella

Models Own Lemon Meringue

2011-01-09T19:21:00.000+01:00

So I think some of you might know by now that I love pastels! I've been searching high and low for the perfect yellow pastel and China Glaze Lemon Fizz is a favourite so far (color-vise, NOT formula-vise...). This is a polish that's been high on my wish list and I'm so glad I finally got it! Models Own Lemon Meringue

This is three coats with top coat. The formula is similar to the other Models Own pastels I tried, a bit streaky and thick but still waay better than Lemon Fizz for example. It is also a tad lighter and has a nice crisp look, I really like it! My search for the perfect yellow pastel continues though :). I really want to try both Butter from American Apparel and Nubar Lemon Sorbet! But that's just because I'm a bit obsessed with yellow pastels, haha. So if you're not a fanatic you probably don't need all of these ;).. I must say I really like Models Own after trying out a few polishes. They have a really cool range of color!

Perhaps you have another yellow pastel you want to share?

Bisou
Isabella

Essie Wife goes on

2011-01-07T19:04:00.001+01:00

I've been lemming this one for a looong time now and I'm so happy I finally got it! Essie Wife goes on

This is two coats with top coat. I had a really hard time capturing this beautiful polish! It is a super bright red pink creme, some might say it's coral but I wouldn't. It is more cool toned, almost berry? Haha I have no idea how to describe this color.. Kind of like what China Glaze Pool Party would look like if it wasn't neon and a tad darker, haha... I've heard this is really close to the "It-color" of 2011 which apparantly is Honeysuckle, which is a flower if I got it right? You can read more about this at Pantone. I had no idea such thing even excited but I've been reading about it for a while now so I guess it is a known fact! It-color or not, this polish is a real beauty! The formula was great also, opaque and smooth in just two coats. Love it! I will rock this as a pedi color when the spring comes for sure!

What do you think about Wife goes on? Have you heard about the "It-color" for 2011?

Bisou
Isabella

China Glaze He's going in circles

2011-01-06T19:33:00.000+01:00

In the midst of my last week of all-day-studying-for-my-exam-next week I decided I wanted something to distract me from governance and institutions and bla bla bla... And what could be better than some holo action? China Glaze He's going in circles

Daylight

Articial light

With flash

This is three coats, no top coat. I took three pictures in different lightning and the last one with flash to show you the diversity of this AMAZING holo!! As you all know, the Kaleidoscope holos have a more scattered holo effect than the OMG and Nfu Oh holos which have a more linear type of holo effect. I missed out on both the OMG and the Kaleidoscopes but I'm slowly starting to collect the ones I can find (to a reasonable price..). I was always of the impression that the Kaleidoscopes didn't have a chance against the OMGs but after wearing this my oppinion is deffinitly changed!! He's going in circles is definitly a super-holo* for me!! And the color is a stunning light mint green with tons of holo sparkle! The formula was great, three coats over a Aqua Base is definitly enough to make it opaque.

So what can I say? Well, I definitly need to hunt down more Kaleidoscopes. That's for sure!

What is your opinion of OMG vs Kaleidoscope? Or do you like the collections equally, or perhaps (God forbid!) not at all?

*Definition of super-holo: I like to use the term super-holo to describe polishes where the holographic effect is evident in almost all lights both indoors and outdoors. NOT the kind where the holo-effect only comes out in direct sunlight or really bright artificial light. :)

Bisou
Isabella

L.A Girl Rockstar Groupie

2011-01-04T16:40:00.000+01:00

Wohoo! My first L.A Girl polish! It is called Groupie and was impossible to photograph...

This is three coats with top coat. Groupie is an amazing purple duochrome!! It totally looks blue in these pics, so imagine a purple base close to China Glaze Let's Groove. I tried soo hard to capture the duochrome of this one!! In lower lightning it shifts in a pink magenta color and in brighter lights a blue almost turquoise color. Sooo awesome!! I guess you could see some of the pink shimmer around the edges of the nail in the first picture and the blue shimmer in the last pictures that is taken with flash. It has a tricky formula though! It doesn't seem to stick to the nail? I have never experienced this before with a polish that is not a holo! I used my normal ridgefilling basecoat and I was left with huge bald spots around my cuticles and at the tip of the nail after two coats. Then I let it dry for a few minutes extra before I applied a third coat and then I could cover the bald spots. Maybe it will apply better with a stickey base coat?

I must say L.A. Girl has a really cool line of polish, and I also picked up a purple glitter I'll be trying soon :)

Do you like L.A Girl polishes? Any tips on how to deal with bald spots while applying "non-holos"??

Bisou
Isabella

American Apparel Echo Park

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

A few days after Christmas, and after weeks of waiting the UPS guy finally showed up with American Apparel Echo Park!

This is three coats, no top coat. Echo Park is a light concrete gray creme with a slight beige undertone. The formula was great but I had to do a third coat to cover up some bald spots. I really like it but I had sort of hoped it would be a little more white based.. It is pretty though but more like a faded light grey. It is totally like a grey version of Essie Playa del Platinum!

I have a few grey cremes but I still want a lighter version! Like almost white but with a hint of grey. I'm thinking Nubar Marble Tower could be a good candidate?

What is your favourite grey creme?

Bisou

Isabella

NARS Midnight Express

2011-01-02T19:21:00.000+01:00

Well, no one would buy me nail polish for Christmas.. Wierd huh? Hehe. So I decided to buy me some Christmas gifts instead! Including, NARS Midnight Express

This is two coats with top coat. And I guess for the pictures I should have done a third coat.. In real life it looks opaque in two coats. Midnight Express is a re-release as many of you probably now allready. It is an amazing dark blue jelly! The formula is very typical for a jelly and the first coat looks like a real mess but it all evens out nicely in two coats. I actually did only two coats because I wanted it to stay blue and not look black. It is sooo pretty! Ihh, I love it! I wasn't sure at first, cause it is a quite expensive polish but as soon as I put it on I knew I'd never regret buying this! I totally get the whole Zulu-hype if you're in to green (which I'm not), but if you - like me, love blue this is a real keeper!

And do I ever love jellies?! Despite often tricky formula, you can't really beat the depth and shine of a true jelly. Perfection!

Do you like jellies? Did you buy any of the NARS re-releases?

Bisou
Isabella

Happy New Year! With a very special mani...

2011-01-01T14:15:00.000+01:00

Hehe.. Well, I mentioned a while back that I was planning something totally awesome for New Years.. And my plan almost fell through but luckily I got it together in the last minute! So this is definitly not a manicure for any sheer-lover or someone that belives in the whole "less is more"-thing.. Some might even say a bit over the top...?

I did some water marbling with silver, black and white over a black base. I love how it turned out! I've tried water marbling once before and that was a big failure, but this time it was a lot easier.. The index finger is obviously the star here, haha... It is actually a fake nail painted with a base of China Glaze Millenium. The rhinestones is Swarowski ss5 and I glued them on with nailglue and topped it off with a layer of Seche Vite!

I thought it would be super difficult to get it to look decent, and I can tell you right now: I'm not a very handy person.. But it was to my surprise not hard at all! And it doesn't get more bling bling than that! Haha. Well ok, I guess you could do ten of these, but that is something I don't have the patience for! :) The hardest part was actually to get the fake nail to fit my natural nail and with all the rhinestones on top, the fake nail is not so flexible.. Anyway I matched this with a nothing special black dress for my dinner last night, and this mani was my accessory of the evening!

So do you like my New Years mani? What did you wear on your nails for New Years?

Now I only have the fun part left, removal... :/

Happy New Year everyone!!

Bisou
Isabella

Make Up Store Elin

2010-12-29T22:14:00.000+01:00

Yay for something summer-ish and awesome in the darkest days of winter! One of my favourite coral shades, Make Up Store Elin

This is two coats with top coat and I can tell you right now this is sooo much brighter in real life! It's a red pinkish coral creme that is just on the edge of being neon. But it dries to a high gloss finish and makes you want to just sit and stare at your nails all day long! This rocks as a pedi color too.. The formula is great also, goes on smooth and is totally opaque in two coats. Love that! It bugs me that other corals and reds go on sheer and after three coats you still have VNL :/..

Anyways, I must say I'm really impressed with Make Up Stores line of nail polish. They have a beautiful range of colors, and also the best one coat black creme I've ever used. It's called Mika and I've wrote about it here. They also have some really cool holos I need to check out soon! But of course all is not well - the price is the big downside.. It retails for 130kr which is around 18$/13€ for 10ml. But on the other hand you get great formula, awesome color and excellent wear for this price! I don't mind caughing up money for nail polish if I know it's quality in the bottle BUT brands like Chanel pisses me off!! I love Paradoxal for example, the formula is great but the wear is terrible!! At that price you'd think you'd get more than two days of wear.. :/

Have you tried Make Up Store nail polish?

Bisou
Isabella

Top 12 of 2010

2010-12-28T22:14:00.001+01:00

Yes people I decided to list my favourite polishes of 2010! I couldn't pick just 10 so instead this is Top 12 of polishes released in 2010 (in no particular order...)! Enjoy :)

American Apparel Cameo Blue

Chanel Paradoxal

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

China Glaze Lemon Fizz

China Glaze Pool Party

China Glaze Sun Worshiper

Essie Merino Cool

Models Own Utopia

OPI Sparkle-icious

OPI The show must go on

OPI Who the Shrek are you?

OPI William tell me about OPI

I desperatly wanted to put Essie Smokin Hot on this list, so imagine it in your head and I'll try to snap a photo of it next time I wear it ;).

If I were to pick one favourite of the year, it must be China Glaze Pool Party. I'm allready half way through my backup bottle, and I need to buy more!! I just love it, it is so ridicolously neon and the shade is just pure perfection. I got soo many compliments for it this summer, and it still makes me happy everytime I wear it. And I do wear it a lot even now in the winter :). China Glaze Lemon Fizz is probably number two in most worn and loved polishes this year. But as I mentioned when I posted it a few weeks ago, it is a pure love/hate relationship with that one.. Terrible, terrible formula but oohh so pretty!

And I must say 2010 was the best year, nail polish-wise for me! I discovered nailblogs and etailers and the whole thing escalated into this blog. Haha. The blog has become a free zone for me, cause at the end of summer I realized no one around me wanted to hear me babble about nail polish any more, haha..

So here we are now, and how awesome is 2011 going to be?! I'm STOKED about all the new collections coming out, and especially Tronica which I will hunt til the end of the world if I have to. I'm not missing out on CG holos this time, I'll tell you that! :D

Please feel free to share your favourites of 2010! And also, which of the upcoming Spring Collections do you look forward to the most?

And thank you all for letting me share my addiction with you, it is so much fun!!

Love et Bisou
Isabella

Color Club Revvvolution

2010-12-27T15:27:00.000+01:00

So I'm back to blogging after all the madness that is Christmas! I've had the best holiday and my sister is still here visiting, and we're having so much fun. I've eaten waay to much food and just been relaxing, the perfect way to spend Christmas I think :)! I had plans to show you my Christmas mani but it turned out to be a big disaster!! I layered Party Hearty over Ruby pumps and that looked awesome! But then I decided to put on some nail stickers, and lets just say I should not have done that.. They were way too thick and I had to put on like four coats of Seche Vite to even it out. And on top of everything I got major shrinking from SV so it looked terrible! And now I'm a bit fed up with red and glitter so I decided to ease in to "normal" manis again, haha. Starting with Color Club Revvvolution

This is three coats with top coat. You could definitly get away with two coats but I messed it up a bit so I had to do a third coat. And you should definitly skip the top coat.. It dulls the allready subtle holo effect big time! :( So with top coat this just looks like a dark grey with some subtle shimmer. It looks cool this way too but next time I'll definitly skip the top coat to lure out the holo effect! The formula was great. I used Aqua Base underneat to prevent streakiness but I think this would work well with a normal base coat aswell. It is really pigmented and it doesn't dry as fast as other holos.

So are you still rocking Christmas manis? Or are you, like me, slowly moving away from all the red, green and glitter? :)

Bisou
Isabella

OPI William tell me about OPI

2010-12-23T11:56:00.000+01:00

One day left before Christmas! Wohoo! I wanted to show you something non-Christmas related, one of my favourite vampies - William tell me about OPI

This is two coats, no top coat. I had a hard time photographing this cause I couldn't get all the reflection out! It is sooo shiny! And that's one of the reasons why I love this polish so much, and it looks so rich and deep. It is a purple burgundy based vampy shade. A total winner in the vampy category I think! And the wear of this one is great! At first I thought this was a dupe for Chanel Rouge Noir, but when I painted my nail wheels last week I discovered something else..


nr9. China Glaze Evening seduction. nr10. OPI WTMAO nr11. Chanel Rouge Noir

It turns out Rouge Noir is much lighter than WTMAO. This is all three coats, and although Rouge Noir comes on a bit darker on the nail it is a tad lighter than WTMAO. Also Rouge Noir is more red based than WTMAO. The closest match here are Evening Seduction and WTMAO. But Evening Seduction has more of a pure purple base so you can't really say they're true dupes. And that's what I love about vampies :)! At a distance you can't really tell the difference but close up none of them are dupes!

So today I have to decide on my Christmas mani, ihhh! I'm thinking some sort of layering with Party Hearty perhaps :)! But first I'm going to pick up my sister at the airport! Wohoo!

What are you wearing on your nails for Christmas?

Bisou
Isabella