Deborah Lippmann - Ruby Red Slippers

Celebrating!

Hi guys! What's up? Today may not really be the time for vampy colors, since it's an excruciatingly hot summer day, but today is the day I've been blogging for six months so I wanted something festive! Only six months, it seems so long already!

Glitter

I think this polish is just fabulous! Red Ruby Slippers by Deborah Lippmann is a black jelly base with a mix of small and big hexadecimal hexagonal red glitter. Absolutely divine. It's like China Glaze's Lubu Heels on steroids!

Application

Polishes like these are never the easiest to apply though. You really have to be careful when it comes to the placement of the glitter, it can be all over the place! I actually had to use a stick to immediately push the glitter back in, away from the cuticle, while it was still wet. Normally I like to layer wet over wet, but this one needs a little bit of drying time between layers. But it's so stunning to look at, that I'm gladly taking this for granted!
You can wear this at two coats, but I applied 3. It does dry bumpy and not so glossy, so you definitely want to bring out the top coat. I applied 3 layers of Nubar Diamont to create a smooth glossy surface.

Deborah Lippmann polishes cost between $16-$20 for 15ml each. You can order them online at deborahlippmann.com

Thanks so much for stopping by and see you next time!
- Michèle

Catrice Caramé Collection

Caramé conjures up visions of an evening stroll over an oriental bazaar: it’s still very warm, despite the late hour. The air is laden with the smell of oriental spices. Dusk slowly lays its blanket of peace and quiet over the vibrant, pulsating bustle of the market between Persian tapestry, blackened bronze jewellery and expressive Indian fabrics.

Today I'll be showing you 3 out of 4 polishes that belong to the newest Limited Edition collection by Catrice: The Catrice Caramé Collection. Of course I wanted to cover all four, but I couldn't find them all :-(.

Catrice - Bronzed Brown

Pretty shimmery brown. I'm not a big fan of browns, but this one isn't that bad. I applied 2 coats and experienced no issues at all. I probably won't wear this one often though, since I have no outfit to match it with ;-).

Catrice - Oriental Orange

I wouldn't really call this a true orange, more an orange-y red. Nothing unique of course, but I can appreciate a good red when I see one. The thing I love about Oriental Orange, is the finish, it's a jelly. Jellies are usually extremely shiny, and this one is just like that.
But there's often one big downside when it comes to jellies: they're sheer. I had to apply 4 coats and I still had a visible nail line.. It goes one very smooth and nicely though!

Catrice - Spiced Bronze

This one's kinda fun. Spiced Bronze really lives up to its name, it's a bronze with a little bit of edge to it. Pretty cool. I applied 2 coats but after seeing the pictures I think it could've used a third. No other problems whatsoever.

The polish that's missing is Berry Bazaar, a pretty berry creme or jelly. If I find it I'll make sure it will be added to this post.

Overall conclusion

The formula of these is pretty good, they weren't as thick as some of the nail polishes from their core line. No bubbling, dragging or any other funky stuff, while it's pretty hot out here. The colors aren't really my cup of tea, but that just boils down to personal taste. I do think they did a very good job visualizing the theme they were going for. The price tag is a huge plus too, they only cost 2,49 EUR or 3.15 USD each and are now in stores!

Enter the giveaway by Catrice

If you're interested in winning this collection (entire collection, not just the nail polish), Catrice is giving away 30 sets! You'll only have to fill in the form here.

Eyeko - Coral Polish

Wow. That's what I thought after I put this polish on. Wow. I don't really own anything THIS bright, and I think this polished unleashed a secret longing for colors like these, haha. I'm not sure whether this is considered a true neon, but it sure is BRIGHT. I do have some coral-y colors, but I certainly don't own anything similar. I think I'll be wearing shades like this a lot this summer!

Besides the color, I'm in love with the packaging of Eyeko polishes, every color has it's own designed label, cute huh?
The only thing that bothered me a bit, was the application. It's definitely on the thick side. It took 3 layers to even everything out. But if you add some thinner, it's pretty much perfect! I wore this polish for about two days, and experienced some chipping on my thumbs.

Check out this cute packaging!

Eyeko polishes cost £3.50 (€4.- or $5.40) for 8.5ml. Eyeko products can be bought online at www.eyeko.com. Their shipping is extremely cheap: either free (if you're in the UK or Europe) or $5.40 for all international orders.

This polish was sent to me for review by Eyeko

Coral Comparison featuring OPI, Essence, P2 & Catrice

Hi guys! After swatching Catrice's I Scream Peach! the other day, I really felt like doing a comparison! I picked out four colors to compare: Essence - What do U think?, Catrice - I Scream Peach!, P2 - Flamboyant and OPI - Shootout at the O.K. Coral. As you can see, these are somewhat similar in the bottle.

On the nail, they are quite different, well two of them are. What do U think and I Scream Peach! are almost identical, I think the latter is a teeny tiny bit darker. Like I mentioned, these are really close dupes of Chanel's Orange Fizz!
The formula of these are really similar too, they're both cremes and they both need 3 coats. The one by Essence is more smooth when it comes to application.

P2 Flamboyant is darker and more vibrant, a bolder color. The finish of this one is kinda where a creme and a jelly meet. It took me 4 coats to get rid of the evil VNL, but other than that, application was perfectly fine.

OPI's Shootout at the O.K. is really different from the others, it is slightly duochrome, alternating between orange and pink. The formula of this one is really good, still needing 3 coats, but applies like a dream.

I think coral is a difficult color though, I love how summer-y it looks, but I do think colors like these tend to look better on someone with a tan, and obviously I don't have one haha. Will you be wearing coral this summer?

Thanks for reading and see you next time!
- Michèle

OPI - My Espana favorites & Upcoming Shrek Collection!

Hi guys! How is everyone? I'm a bit sick today but thankfully I had already prepared this post yesterday, so I only had to push the Publish button (well, and write this of course) :-D.

I wanted to show you my favorites from the Espana collection by OPI. This collection came out last fall, and I was pleasantly suprised! The colors that came out were wonderful, I liked almost every polish out of this collection. I'm sure you've all seen them by now but I wanted to show you two favorites of mine..

The first one, and my ultimate favorite, is Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. This is a stunning blackened dark green. It has a jelly-like finish so It's incredibly shiny, even on it's own. The application was pretty good, the first coat went on really sheer but the 2nd coat makes up for that. I applied 3 coats, to get an opaque result.

The other color I absolutely adore, is Pamplona Purmple. It's a beautiful purple creme, with an amazing application. 2 quick coats and you're good to go!

After OPI's Absolutely Alice and the Hong Kong collection, they're already working on a new one: The Shrek After Forever collection.

from left to right: Funky Dunkey, What's with the Cattitude?, Rumple's Wiggin', Who the Shrek Are You?, Ogre-the-Top Blue and Fiercely Fiona.

I can't wait to try these! What do you think?

H&M - Chicks Envy Me

Hi guys! Did you all enter my giveaway yet? I wanted to show you another polish that's included in the first set I'm giving away: Chicks Envy Me by H&M. Normally I'm not a red wearing type of girl, but this one is really something else.

First of all, it looks so different from what I'd expected, it's more coral/orang-y red instead of a plain orange. Another surprise: it's not a creme, it's a jelly. Can it get any better, you might ask? Yes! It's on fire! It's so bright, I'd say it's a neon. If I had lived in the 50ies and I happened to be a hot smoldering pinup (a girl can dream, right), I wouldn't go anywhere without this sizzling bottle of nail polish.

So what's the catch? There is none! The formula was wonderful, like with most H&M nail polishes, and it only took 3 coats, which is pretty damn good for a bright jelly. Also: clean up is not a problem with this red! Normally red will flow everywhere if you try this, but not with this polish. If you think you can handle this flaming bottle of fire, go get it or check out my giveaway!

Big on blue!

Hi guys! Did everybody enjoy the game? I'm totally clueless when it comes to American sports, lol. I'm quite busy since I'm moving so I'm hoping I'll find time to update my blog the next few days. *Crosses fingers*.

Anyway, Yesterday my mom, Romika, did a fun purple comparison, which really is her color. So I decided I'd do a blue one! As you can see the pinkie doesn't fit in with the rest, but it looked a lot darker in the bottle.

Here's what you're looking at:

Index: Nfu Oh - 280 - 3 coats
Middle: OPI - Dating a Royal - 3 coats
Ring: Herome W.I.C - Frankfurt - 2 coats
Pinkie: Claire's - Blue Fash (isn't labeled but this is what the receipt said) - 4 coats

As you can see the OPI and Nfu Oh are so close! I'd say they're almost a dupe. Almost, because Nfu Oh is the tiniest bit brighter, not that any 'normal' person would notice... ;-). The formula of the two is pretty much the same (being okay!), but Dating a Royal is a little bit more sheer.

These are all jellies, don't you just love that? The Herome nail polish is bordering on creme though, but it does own some of those great jelly characteristics. I love how this one is a more sophisticated, serious shade of blue. The one by Claire's took 4 coats for it to be opaque, that's not how we roll right!? For a full manicure I decided on the Nfu Oh. I love it! What's your favorite of the bunch?

Gosh - Blue Monday

Hi everyone! It's thursday already, only one more day till the weekend! I've been quite busy and since I work from 9 to 18h, I rarely get to see daylight this time of year. I'm feeling quite the vampire. But Edward is nowhere to be found, alas. Anyway! This was trying to tell you the reason why today's pictures have been produced in our little ministudio :-D.

This is another jelly based shimmer/glitter polish by Gosh. Blue Monday is a medium blue and the formula was pretty much the same as Gasoline, very smooth, but it requires at least 3 coats and a topcoat to create that rich sparkly look. I like it! What do you think?

PS. Another Dutchie, with thepretty name Michelle ;-), started a blog a few days ago. Please don't forget to take a look at her Lacquerfiles!

Gosh - Gasoline

Oooh no! It's monday already! Time goes by way too fast, or the weekends are ridiculously too short ;-). I hope you had a good one! I couldn't resist playing with the lightbox again as you can see! :-D.

Onto the nail polish! Meet Gosh's Gasoline, a pretty purple jelly based shimmer/glitter. I adore the color of this one, the jelly base is darkmagenta, but the shimmer is a blueish purple, which really adds more contrast.

As you can see the color really depends on the lighting! The formula was pretty good, like with all the Gosh polishes I own. However, I did find this polish to be too sheer. I applied 3 coats and left it at that, but it would've been prettier with 4.

On another note: I received a lot of tags, thank you guys!! I think it's really sweet and appreciate it a lot! However, I don't think I have the time this week to address them all and wouldn't know which one to choose since I got four different ones, so hope you'll forgive me..:-(

Thanks for reading and till next time!

Koh - Black Stars

Hi! Is everyone enjoying their weekend? I hope so! Yesterday I decided I wanted to spend a gift voucher I got for Christmas. Normally I really don't like spending a lot of money on nail polish, but gift certificates kinda take that guilty feeling away :-D. I got 2 nail polishes by Koh, a Dutch brand that many actually don't like. And this is probably due to the higher price (14 euros a bottle) and the weird formula. I didn't like it at first either but I learned that I need to use a different top coat and all is well. They do have an amazing color selection, so it's getting harder for me not to like them ;-).

Today I'm wearing Black Stars, which reminds me a bit of the $OPI 212, but I think Koh's version is more vivid. The black base is a jelly and consists out of multi colored glitter and some duochrome flakies! I think you probably either love or hate this polish, it's definitely a bit weird :-D. It's so festive and hysterical, I wish I had this last New Year's eve!

Oh btw, my dearest stepdad made us a lightbox, since the weather wasn't playing along, so I had to try it out and change pictures! The normal closeup macro's didn't turn out that great, I think the lights may be too bright or the camera isn't cooperating, but pics from further away were kinda nice!

OPI - Dating A Royal - Jelly goodness!

This is today's mani, a blue jelly. Dating a Royal was so easy to apply, I was stunned. It did take 3 coats for maximum coverage though, but like I said, it went on like a charm!

I actually bought this one over 6 months ago and never used it, so since I'm going through my untrieds, I figured it was time for this little darling. And I don't know why it took me so long, because I absolutely adore this color!