Shopping: OPI, China Glaze, Revlon, Essence, Catrice, BornPrettyStore, Guppy... and more!

Hi girls!

Hope you're doing ok? Fortunately I'm feeling better and getting back to work tomorrow...

Today I would like to show you some of the stuff I've bought this month.

Ready?

From Essence 2 bottles of nailpolish remover in Strawberry and Coconut scent (always better than the real smell :) )

From BornPrettyStore two fauxnad Konad plates, numbers m66 and m76...

BornPrettyStore m66

BornPrettyStore m76

I haven't tried their plates out yet, but I've read some good reviews about them. I compared them a bit with the real Konad plates and I think they look pretty much the same.
These plates were on sale for $1,55!

Nothing special, just two pump bottles which I like to use for my removers. Also from BornPrettyStore.

From Catrice 3 polishes from left to right: Poison Me, Poison You!, After Eight and Dirty Berry.

From Essence 2 more bottles of Nail Art Sealing Topcoat, (a back up bottle of) Special Effect Topper Circus Confetti, Special Effect Topper Hello Holo and From BornPrettyStore some apple scented nailpolish remover wipes (which I don't like... The scent is ok, but they just don't do the job well enough!)

From Essence 7 Colour & Go polishes (I forgot photographing one!) from left to right:

66 Shiny Godness

33 Just In Case

72 Time For Romance

77 In Style

55 Let's Get Lost

78 Blue Addicted

(85 Galactic Black, not on the pictures)

I'm not sure, but I think Catrice's After Eight and Essence In Style look a bit the same... Anyone know if they do irl?

From OPI 3 polishes from left to right: Moon Over Mumbai, My Private Jet (brownish), Royal Rajah Ruby.

I know there are many girls who find OPI is a bit overrated and highly overpriced, but I think their polishes are great. They have such nice collections and colours! I'm willing to pay that price anyway :)

From Guppy (or CUDDV, whatever the name is) 2 Sanding Fruit Extract polishes, in numbers 14 and 16.
They are unbelievable large! I don't think I've had such large bottles (16 ml!) before.
I saw number 17 on Nihrida's blog and got immediately interested in the finish of this polish. Had to try it myself! :)

And 4 other polishes. From left to right: H&M Moody Model, Revlon 092 Blue Lagoon, China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metallic in Tarnished Gold, en last but not least a very neon pink crackle polish from Laushine (again from BornPrettyStore).

And two small brushes from BornPrettyStore which I'm going to use as eyeliner brushes.

That was about it...

See anything you like? Want to see swatches? Let me know...


Goodnight!

Review: Essence Nail Art Sealing Topcoat

Hi girls,

Sorry I neglected my blog a bit, but I was very busy at work and when I got home I was too tired to post anything and make pictures. And the last couple of days I got the flu with fever and the chills, so yeah... Blogging was the last thing I could think of... But I promise I'll make it up to you guys!

Today I would like to review the Nail Art Sealing Topcoat from Essence...
I wrote about it earlier but this is going to be an extensive review.

One of my recent bought polishes is OPI's Royal Rajah Ruby...
Warning: this is an 11 days old manicure!!

11 days old manicure...

Basecoat: CND Stickey Base Coat (my favourite)
Color: OPI Royal Rajah Ruby (2 coats)
Topcoat: Essence Nail Art Sealing Top Coat (2 coats)

And hell yes did the Essence Nail Art Sealing Top Coat passed my test!!

I have never ever wore a manicure this long on my natural nails! Normally my polish is chipping wayyy sooner on me! Okay, since I'm using CND Stickey Base Coat, the results are better then before, but still...

The application was smooth, it is a bit of a thicker topcoat, but I had no problems with it...
The drying time was ok either... Yes! This is definitely the best topcoat I've ever used!!

This is what the bottle looks like:

The Essence website says this about it:
"The absolute must-have for all nail artists: the top coat seals creative artwork on the nails and provides an extra shiny finish. for long-lasting and beautifully styled nails".

The price is also very, very nice... A bottle of 10 ml is €1,99. I've bought this bottle at Kruidvat.
And after my great experience with it, I immediately bought 2 more :)

I've tested it before on my English Rose Foil Manicure and that lasted 6 days on me! And everybody knows how quick foil manicures are showing tipwear or how quick they chip, no?

But... like always there is a 'but'...

Look at this picture and tell me what you see...

Indeed!! BUBBLES!!

Strange enough, the bubbles didn't show up when I applied the topcoat...?!

They must have appeared when the topcoat was drying...

And that ofcourse, is a big no-no :(

I've left it on for one day, and then started to get irritated by feeling the bubbles so I had to get rid of the them... I took a lint free pad with a bit remover and slowly swiped some of the topcoat off.
Right after that I applied one coat of SV and on top of that 2 coats of the Essence Nail Art Sealing Topcoat.

And that's how I managed to wear this manicure for 11 days :)

I must admit: if I wasn't so sick I probably had taken this off way sooner, but hey, this is a great way too see how long a manicure lasts, isn't it?

So after all I really like this topcoat, but next time I'll polish my nails, put one coat of SV over it and than top it off with this topcoat. That seems to work best.

Have you tried this one yet? If so, what are your experiences with this topcoat?


Have a nice weekend!

* Edited on Nov. 09: I've recently found out that the polish wasn't dry enough and that causes the bubbles. I've tried this topcoat a couple of more times and let my nails dry a little longer and haven't had this problem. So problem solved... Thanks moonchild, for telling me this! :)

OPI You Don't Know Jacques! Suede

Hi girls!

It's a while ago I posted, but that's mainly because I wanted to test how long my previous (foil) manicure would last on me...

I wore that manicure for 6 days!! And had some minor chipping, only on my right hand! Seriously!

Today I want to show you one of my matte polishes:

OPI You Don't Know Jacques! Suede (1 coat)

I really love this polish and the matte effect it has.
But... there's one "but"... Because it is matte, I didn't used a topcoat as the finishing touch. So the longivity is unfortunately not that long... Here you can already see some tipwear after only a couple of days of wearing.

Next time I think I'm going to put some matte topcoat over it, to protect it a bit more...
Anyone any experience with that?

I love the color and the little sparkles in it... It's autumn (or fall, you know what I mean :) ) in The Netherlands, and so the color is really appropriate and matching this season...

I haven't tried topcoat-tricks over this polish, to see how the matte changes into shiny sparkles, but I've seen some nice French Manicure pictures on the web which, in my opinion, looked very interesting.

Going to try that some other time...

Interesting finish, isn't it?

Do you like matte finishes? And do you have some tips to keep em on a little longer than I did?

Sleep tight!

Foil manicure: English Rose

Hi girls!


Today I want to show you something else than nailpolish: nail foil!

Foil: English Rose

For those of you who don't know what foil is, here's a little explanation:

Nail art foil is foil which is supposed to be glued on your nails with special foil adhesive.

The adhesive must be applied over the whole nail, just like nailpolish. Allow to dry until it appears to be clear and then press on a piece of foil. Press the foil well, and firm all over the nail (1 nail at a time) and then rip the foil off. The design sticks on your nail, and the residue foil is clear and can be thrown away.

English Rose foil and special adhesive...

It is really easy, you just need to get the hang of it. At first I waited too long for the adhesive to get clear, and then it gets really sticky (after all is is GLUE ofcourse!) and I couldn't rip the foil off anymore.

But I've tried it several times, and it's really easy now... 

In the summer, I sometimes use this instead of nailpolish on my toenails. It gives a really nice effect!

Here you can see a Pedicure I've made with Silver Foil...

For this manicure I've used the following products:

Basecoat: Color Club French Tip (crème white polish)

Foil: English Rose + Foil Adhesive

Topcoat: Essence Nail Art Sealer (2 coats) and topped with Seche Vite (1 coat)

I think it's cute... 

Funny; the foils gives the crème white polish a pearly effect. In this picture you can see it really well. 

It almost looks holographic! ♥

I wonder how long this manicure is going to last on me...

Do you like foils? If so, do you own some too?

Thanks for reading, have a nice day!

Catrice Grey's Kelly + Milani Jewel FX Gold

Hi all!

Today I wanted to show you my old, spiced up, manicure...

Catrice Grey's Kelly + Milani Jewel FX Gold

Yep... You're right... I've cut my nails shorter... Sometimes I like shorter nails better. Well, at least with darker colored nailpolish on. So I decided to cut them :)

Milani Jewel FX Gold is a great polish to spice up an older manicure. And that's exactly what I did! :)
I still liked my current manicure (Catrice Grey's Kelly) and I was curious about this Milani polish, so why not combine them?

Unlike some other glitterpolishes, this polish contains A LOT of glitters :)
I only needed a tiny bit of polish on the end of the brush, to get this effect and topped it with a coat of SV.

I must say, in the pictures this combination seems a bit weird. But in real life, the purple in Catrice Grey's Kelly isn't that notable, it looks more brownish. So irl this combo is prettier...

I think I like 'em, but... Next time I'll try black as a base color...

What do you think about this polish and brand? And do you like this combination?


Have a great weekend!

Catrice Grey's Kelly

Hi ladies!

Today I would like to show you: Catrice Grey's Kelly...

Grey's Kelly is a brownish taupe color with a purple undertone. In some light it is brownish; in other lighting it looks more purple. Kind of eggplant-like. (In Holland we call it 'Aubergine'.)

In this picture the purple shows better. I really like this kind of colors.

They're very suitable for the autumn, if you ask me...

As usually, this are 2 coats, with 2 coats of SV topcoat.

Isn't it a beauty? ♥

What do you think about this color? And do you own some of the new Catrice polishes?

Have a nice day!