Busy and search for the perfect topcoat

Hello everybody,

I'm sorry I'm not really active anymore. I'm really busy with school, I'm trying to catch up with my homework, exams are coming up, presentations... Everything. My time management still sucks so everything piled up and now I'm in the middle of a big mess of work... I hope you all will understand! :)

I also have a question for you. I'm searching for the perfect topcoat. I like Seche Vite, but I don't have the thinner so it's a thick groopy polish in my collection at this moment. Also sometimes Seche gave me shringage, and I don't want to look like I have tipwear when I just did my mani!

I also tried the regular OPI one, I liked it, but also, it became kind off thick after a while. (I know, I am ashamed that I don't have any nailpolish thinner in my possession!)

I really liked the consistensy of the Mosaic topcoat, but it took forever to dry. Currently I'm using INM Out the Door topcoat, which is also very thin and nice to apply. But to me, it isn't really "out the door". It dries to the touch in no time, but to fully dry, it takes me about an hour. Is it just me? Do I apply too much? I usually put on 1 (fairly large...) drop.

So my question is, what is your absolute favorite topcoat and why?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Essence Nail Fashion Stickers: Part 2

Hello everybody!

Here I am again with the Essence Nail Fashion Stickers. This is after work:

^ Left hand

They held up better than I expected. I expected them to fall of, but they are all still there. You can see that the colour started to wear off, this is because I have to open a lot of boxes during work, so my nails "suffer" a lot.

^ right hand

More damage than on the left hand, maybe I didn't press the stickers as hard as on the left hand, or maybe it's because my right hand is my dominant hand.

I think these would stay on fine if you don't work a lot with your hands. But I don't know if they will last 5 days as the package is advertising. It's still a piece of paper, and what if you're going to wash your hands with these on? Won't they soak off?

It was a fun experiment, but I prefer regular nailpolish. I like the idea of these stickers, but they just don't seem to work for me. I like the designs, but I don't think I will ever buy a new set. I would like these a lot more if they didn't feel so paper-like.

Maybe the Incoco ones are better? If I come across those, I will definitely give them a try!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Essence Nail Fashion Stickers

Hello everybody!

Today I tried the Essence Studio Nails; nail fashion stickers. Here's the result:

Yup, not that pretty... The stickers couldn't quite handle the curve of my nails, that's why they are wrinkly at the sides.

I had some problems with filing the excess of. You can't really tell from the pictures, but it looks like I have some tipwear, my file removed some of the colour from the stickers...

I don't like these stickers. They annoy me, it really feels like you're taping a piece of paper onto your nails. Maybe it would work for people with "flatter" nails, I don't know.

Also, the sizes weren't really perfect for my nails, the stickers are to small for my nails, just look at my ringfinger...

I'm forcing myself to keep this on, because I have to work tomorrowmorning. I want to see how the stickers will handle it. I expect them to fall off or something, they don't seem to stick very well to my nails. We'll see tomorrow!

That's it for today, make sure to come again tomorrow for my final verdict on these stickers!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD and FailOTD

Hello everybody!

First of all, excuse my pictures... I don't know how it happened, but my nailpolish started to chip during work. Normally I don't have any problems at all... My right hand was more "damaged" than my left, lucky for me, 'cause I don't like to take pictures of my right hand :P

This is China Glaze's Sci Fi and on top of that is the Barry M Nail Effects.

Bottle pic:

I still really like the crackling effect ^^

Thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: OPI The show must go on

Hello everybody!

This is "The show must go on" from OPI. Again, also part of the burlesque collection ;) I'm wearing three coats here.

These were the pictures I took with the photostudio. So this simulates the polishes in day-/sunlight. The duochrome effect isn't that visable all the time, but when the light hits it correctly it's a very pretty effect!

Bottle pic:

How do you like these kinds of pictures? Better? Are the pictures so much better that it's worth to buy the new lightbulbs?

So, pictures: Yay or nay? Haha!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Fail of the day

Hello everybody,

Today's post is just a small post about how I mess things up sometimes...

I told you all before that I ordered a small photostudio! It's just a small amateur set including lamps. It arrived today, and of course excited as I was, I rushed to put it together!

It was easy to set up, I placed everything on the floor and started to take some pictures. It was dinner time so I wanted to unplug the lamps from the socket/power point (don't know the correct word? :P) As I was doing this, I pulled a little too hard on one of the cords, and the stand of the lamp fell down. Not really hard, but still, it fell. And of course, the lightbulb broke...

I started to search the internet for replacements, and I only found one site which sells the correct bulbs. For 18 euros excluding postage, I can buy a set of 4 bulbs. Of course, 18 euros isn't really alot, but I have to watch how much I spend because I spent way too much in my opinion... So I still haven't made a desicion if I should by the bulbs, or wait...

I'm really not happy with this... Just had to share with you all, thanks for reading! :)

NOTD: OPI Glow Up Already!

Hello everybody!

Here's another glitter from the OPI Burlesque collection, this is Glow up Already! I'm wearing three coats.

Again, this is a multicolour glitter with a lot of golden glitter. But it's a different kind of gold, more greenish looking?

Bottle pic:

Glow up Already is on the left, on the right is Bring on the bling for comparison!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Small haul!

Hello everybody!

Today I went to the Kruidvat, again... :P, hoping they would have the metallic polishes. They didn't have them :( I asked the salesperson there, and they said they would restock them soon. There were some problems with the delivery of some sort...

But here's what I got!

The magnet... So now I'll HAVE to buy the polishes!

Two of the Essence nail fashion stickers, I read some negative reviews on them, but I was really curious! Also notice the fact how they put "top inovation" on everything, while it isn't a top innovation at all... :P

And an Essence glitter topcoat, simply because I didn't own one before!

As I was writing this post, I suddenly remembered that I also bought the Catrice matt topcoat! I forgot to take a picture of it, so here's a picture with low lighting:

This is my first matt topcoat, so I'm kinda curious how I'll like the effect "in real life"!

Thanks for stopping by :)

NOTD: OPI Bring on the Bling

Hello everybody!

This is another glitter from the Burlesque collection, this is Bring on the Bling! I'm wearing three coats.

This glitter is mainly gold, but has a lot of different colours in it, such as pink, blue, green, orange and silver.

I'm really liking these glitters! They're opaque enough to be worn alone and they're super sparkly! :D

Bottle pic:

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Again busy busy busy and annoyed...

Hello everybody!

I know I haven't been posting for the past couple of days... I was busy with school and I had no good lighting at all to take some pictures.

I was wearing teas-y does it by OPI, which deserves good pictures. All I could get was some blurry pictures with a boring brownish colour on my nails. I really like Teas-y Does It, so I just have to show you some good pictures! That's why I decided to order a small photobox. I'm hoping it'll arrive on wednesday, I'll keep you posted ;)

Also, I'm thinking about getting a new camera. It kinda depends on my paycheck...

I've been wanting to get the Essence Metallics polishes, I want to try them out with the magnet. But they didn't have it at my local Kruidvat :( Do they have the polishes at yours? I'm starting to get the feeling that my local Kruidvat just sucks...

Well, that's it for today, and sorry for being absent! I hope everything will be better with the photobox, so I don't have to wait for sunlight and stuff! :)

Thanks for reading :)

NOTD: OPI Ali's Big Break

Hello everybody!

This is OPI's Ali's Big Break. I'm wearing two coats, but I think I should've gone with three... I did this mani in the dark so it was kind if hard to see, but today I noticed that the coverage wasn't as perfect as I want it to be.

It's a bright red colour with lighter red shimmer in it. Or glass flecks, I always have problems with defining finishes...

The bottle:

To me, this colour isn't really special. It's just a sparkly red, probably a ton of polishes which look like this.

But overall, I don't wear red. Or like red polishes. I don't know why, it feels "wrong" on me? Or something? Still, this is a pretty polish, maybe just not for me?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: OPI Let me entertain you!

Hello everybody!

This is OPI's Let me entertain you! I'm wearing three coats.

It's a very pretty bright magenta polish, but it is also very hard to capture the true colour of this polish. It's a lot more vibrant in real life!

Bottle pic:

You can see some golden duochrome/undertone going on in there, but this doesn't show up on the nail. Maybe I will see some of the golden undertone when I remove this polish...

And also a picture with flash, in order to try to show the true colour of this polish... Basically it's somewhere in between the colour with flash, and the colour without flash haha!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

How I remove glitter polishes

Hello everybody!

Today's post is about how I remove polishes that are somewhat harder to remove than your regular cremes.

First, what you'll need:

Nailpolish remover (I use the one with acetone, because in my experience it works better with glitters and stuff), cotton pads and some scissors!

Next you're going to cut the cotton pads in quarters, so four pieces per cotton pad. You'll need ten pieces.

Then you're going to put some nailpolish remover on the pads. Usually I put on a lot, but I had to take pictures this time during the proces, so I used a little bit less to prefend that my camera got soaked! :P

So it worked a little less good, but still pretty ok!

You put one piece of the cotton pad on each nail and press it on. I usually keep on pressing the whole time, until I see that the pad has gotten the colour of the polish.

So sit back and relax, watch a short video on youtube and keep on pressing.

And now it's time to take them off!

Not all of it came off, this is because I didn't use enough remover and because of the glitter. Also I had a lot of layers of polish on. (2 coats of Take the Stage, topcoat, 2 coats of Extra-va-vaganza, topcoat, so in total 6 layers!)

I use the piece again to remove the rest of the polish, which is really easy to do, if you don't like to "re-use" pieces, you can always take another one.

In the end, you'll end up with something like this:

I know that there are also people who do this with aluminium foil wrapped around their fingers. I don't notice much of a difference when I wrap my fingers in foil after I put on the cotton pads, so I don't do this anymore because it takes more time.

I hope you found this post interesting and thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: OPI Extra-va-vaganza

Hello everybody!

This is OPI's Extra-va-vaganza, also from the Burlesque collection. Are you beginning to see a patttern here? ;)

I applied two coats of this polish over Take the Stage. I think this glitter could be worn alone with one or two coats more, but I wanted to try it over Take the Stage 'cause the colours match so well with eachother.

This glitter shows a lot of orange and silver, but if you look closely you can also see blue, green, yellow and pink in there. It's very pretty and sparkly! :D

The bottle:

How do you like glitters?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: OPI Take the Stage

Hello everybody!

This is my second swatch out of the Burlesque collection! This is Take the Stage. Again, problems with finding natural lighting...

Artificial lighting:

I used two coats. This is a very pretty orange-bronzy colour. This one is also sparkly and reflective!

With flash:

Bottle pic:

What do you think of this colour? ;)

I'm really annoyed by the lack of good lighting. I'm thinking about buying a small light box, I did some research on the internet, and you can get a small one for not too much money.

Being cheap, I'm still doubting if I should buy it. I do think it's a good investment for better pictures. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: OPI Rising Star

Hello everybody!

This is my first on nail swatch of the Burlesque collection! This is Rising Star and I'm wearing two coats.

Because of the lack of sun it was really hard for me to take colour accurate pictures. The polish has a more orange-like undertone than in the pictures, where it looks more yellowish.

Picture with flash: (Most colour accurate)

(Blurry...) bottle pic

At first I thought that I wouldn't like this colour, but after I tried it on, I really liked it! It's very shiny and reflective. Don't know if it really fits my skintone, but I don't care, I like the colour, so I'll wear it ;)

And sorry for being absent a few days. I was waiting for the sun to come out, but of course that didn't happen... Also my new school schedule makes it really difficult to take pictures during the day. I don't like taking pictures in the dark, so sometimes I'll simply have to wait until I'm free to take pictures. And that means I'll also have to wait to change up my mani, and that's more difficult than you think! ;) haha

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! :)

NOTD: Barry M Dusky Mauve

Hello everybody!

This is Dusky Mauve by Barry M, I'm wearing two coats. This polish is a dupe for Chanel Paradoxal.

There hasn't been very much sunshine lately, so I couldn't take a picture of this NOTD in full sunlight, so the purple shimmer doesn't really show up.

Without the sun, or any other bright lightning, it looks like a purple toned taupe. I think it's pretty without the shimmer too!

Here's a picture with flash, so you could see the shimmer a little bit better:

And the bottle pic:

What do you think about this colour? I think it's pretty, but I wouldn't pay €20+ for it (Chanel's pricing), so I'm very happy that Barry M has a dupe for it now.

And how do you like my shorter nails? ;)

Thanks for reading! :)