P2 - STORMY SWATCH

I love P2 polishes! I just love the gel formula, it is really easy to control. This is grey, taupe, sandy color. I really liked it quite a bit. You can see the sandy quality in the extreme closeup picture below.

How to: get velvety hands

Hi guys! Due to all kinds of crazy busy-ness, just a quick little tip for today: how to get smooth and velvety hands. Ages ago I got an excellent tip from Kirsten from TheDuchNailBlog: scrub your hands with sugar or salt with vinegar oil. By doing this you get rid of dead skin cells thus making your hands a whole lot smoother. If oil dries you out, finish with a rich handcream and you won't stop touching your own hands, I promise!

Clumsy?

If you're clumsy, like me, you'll be happy to know there are several pre made hand scrubs available. I tried the P2 - Ultra Clean Hand Peeling and let's see how I like it!

First thing I noticed was the smell, it's quite fresh but strong, reminding me of pomelos or grapefruits. You're supposed to use this several times a week, by taking a little, massage your hands with it and wash it off. The texture is really grainy, which makes sense, because it has a lot of sugar in it. I like how the sugar leaves me with smooth hands, but I hate how it gets under my nails. It's easily washed of and you won't end up with oily hands. I don't find this scrub to be very moisturizing on its own so I like to use a handcream afterwards, and with this routine I get the softest hands ever.

Ingredients

Sucrose, Helianthus annuus [sunflower] Seed Oil, Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Isopropyl Myristate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Silica, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Fragrance, Water, Propanediol, Eclipta prostrata Extract, Propylene Glycol, Hibiscus sabdariffa Flower Extract, Lactic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, CI 26100, CI 47000th

Conclusion

I really like this scrub, it does a good job at exfoliating, I like the smell and how my hands feel afterwards. This product costs only 2.45 eur for 100 ml, but it's not easy to get (DM in Germany). Good news is, like I mentioned before, it's very easy to make your own scrub!

Don't toss it, thin it!

Just a quick little tip

Hi everyone! I'm pretty sure a lot of people already do this, but every now and then I read about how people throw away their polish because it's gone bad, thick, goopy, solid, stringy, you name it! Please don't, ever, throw out your nail polish. Well, except when it's ugly as can be of course.

Nail polish actually thickens up on you because certain ingredients evaporate. Some people add nail polish remover or even acetone to thin their polish, but that's a no go. If you're adding acetone you're actually breaking down your polish instead of thinning it, and we don't want that or do we?
Adding thinner actually restores the previously existing and now missing element in your polish, making it a whole again. How spiritual does that sound! - Please forgive me for my corniness.

Different brands

I'm not sure if it really matters what brand thinner you use, I've tried several and liked them all. The brands I used are OPI, Mavala and as pictured: P2. I really like the P2 thinner because it's highly concentrated and really cheap. It does suck you have to travel all the way to Germany to get your hands on it though. If you're ever buying or ordering nail polish at a (r)etailer, have a look around, because a lot of stores do sell thinner!

I hope this was helpful!
With love, Michèle

Eyeko - Posh Polish & a taupe comparison

Taupe

Lately I've been on a taupe kick. I'm not sure why because usually I like to wear bright, bold colors that stand out. But somehow I'm really digging taupe, I think it's a very classy color that's easily matched with a lot of outfits. It's a neutral, but definitely not boring in my book.

According to Wikipedia there are many types of taupe:

dark taupe	med. taupe	pale taupe	mauve taupe	sandy taupe	grey taupe	rose taupe	purple taupe

Eyeko Posh Polish, for Ladylike nails

Recently I received Posh Polish by Eyeko, and I quite like it. This creme polish applies pretty smoothly, completely opaque in 2 coats and no other funny problems worth mentioning. I didn't use a top coat this time, and as you can see it's not incredibly glossy on it's own.
Like all Eyeko polishes this one came in such a cute packaging, it says: Posh Polish, for Ladylike nails. And even I do feel like a lady wearing this, haha.

Taupe Comparison

However, I own a lot of taupes, and this one isn't my favorite of the bunch, simply because I like my taupes a tad darker. To show you how it compares to some other taupes I have, I threw in this little comparison:

I do feel like I should have included OPI's You Don't Know Jacques, Over The Taupe and maybe even Chanel's Particuliere, but I couldn't justify buying more of this shade after already owning all of these haha. So please forgive me!

As you can see Eyeko's Posh Polish is quite on the lighter side. I think my favorites are the two Catrice polishes: From Dusk To Dawn and Lost in Mud!

What is your favorite taupe polish?

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

P2 SWATCHES

I LOOOOOOVE P2 polishes! I was reading on the back of the bottle that they have a special "gel" formula and I think that is one of the reasons I like them so much. The formula has been awesome on the few P2's that I have tried. I also really like their bottles for some reason. I'm known to like more a square shape where these are thin and rectangular (think RBL bottles, just not as wide). And their shiny caps just make them look so regal. Bottom line - I love P2!!

NOTD - DANGEROUSLY RICH & ROYAL

Last night I gave the little stripping stickers another go. They did work a little bit better for me, and I feel like I got them sized to my nail better. However, by morning they had started to peel up from the bottom of my nails where I think I left them a little too long.

To make matters worse there was some tip pullage, which isn't all the surprising since there are quite a few layers of polish on my nails. I almost didn't take pics because of that, but I decided to post them anyway in hopes that you all will be gentle, lol.

I used P2 - Rich & Royal for the base color, then painted diagonally with P2 - Dangerous and then added the gold stripping tape.

P2 - GIGANTIC

This should have been named Superman! I think this color is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! This is the color that both Dinky and I are wearing in a matching mani pics from earlier today. This color is nothing short of AWESOME!!

DINKY IS STUNTIN LIKE HER MOMMA!

Guess who got matching mani's last night? Dinky is ROCKING this blue, isn't she!

DON'T BE JEALOUS.....

(Turn your speakers up and jam this!)

WOOOOT!! I just got these in a swap I did with Jeanette at THE SWATCHAHOLIC! This haul has me singing Jealous of my Boogie ya'll!!! Thank you soooo much! I wasn't expecting alllll of these goodies she sent and I can't wait to try them all out and show off....I mean show you all.











If ya didn't know, the song above came from Ru Paul. I have below one of the best scenes from this past season of Ru Paul's Drag Race - GET INTO IT!

Matte Top Coats Compared

Hi guys! If you love matte nail polish, you're bound to love matte top coats. I love these because you can transform any polish into a hot matte finish. There are many to chose from, even with different finishes, so let's compare the few I have!

As you can probably tell there are some differences between the four. Let's break it down a bit:

	P2 - Matte Top Coat (€1,55 / $1,95 for 8ml / .27 Fl. Oz.) This one has the most satin finish of the bunch. The substance is a bit cloudy, which you definitely can tell by looking at the nail. You could say it dulls the color a bit. Application is pretty smooth! This top coat is not that easily available since P2 is a German brand, but it is relatively the cheapest of the four. Drying time: slowest of the four, definitely needs a couple of minutes. Wear: Chipped after 3 days.
	ManGlaze - Matte-Astrophe (€10,43 / $13,13 for ?) Like everything ManGlaze, this one is special! Matte-Astrophe has a crackle effect (not always), which you either love or hate. (Most likely to happen when you apply the top coat when your nail polish isn't fully dry yet). Application is seriously the best, smooth, thin and not streaky. Mattest of the bunch. Drying time: pretty quick, 30-60 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges.
	China Glaze - Matte Magic (€5,16 / $6,50 for 9,6ml / .325 Fl. Oz.) Matte Magic has a truly flat finish, no shine or effect. This one's a bit thick though, which affects the application. Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 1 or 2 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges.
	Essie - Matte About You (€7,94 / $10,- for 15ml / .5 Fl. Oz.) This one goes on super smooth, isn't thick and isn't as cloudy as Matte Magic. The color wasn't affected as much either, which is a big plus! Drying time: super quick, 15-30 seconds. Wear: Turns satin after 3 or 4 days, no chipping, will start to wear down around the edges. Common problem: after a while it's possible you'll find white specks in the polish.
Please note, wear can be different for everyone, depending on body chemistry and activities during the day

If I had to pick only one, I'd choose Essie's Matte About You. Matte Magic is a bit too thick for my taste and the one by P2 is way too satin. I love love love Matte-Astrophe though, but I'm not always in the mood for crazy crackle ;-).
So Matte About You it is, application and wear is really good. And, not totally unimportant, it respects the original color the most. Funnily enough I don't own this one myself yet, Daphne from www.nailswatches.com lend me hers, so I was able to this comparison, thank you Daph!!

So, when I'm running out of Matte Magic, I'm going to order Essie MAY myself.
If you're happen to be Dutch, I have some good news for you! Hema just released their own matte top coat, I'm so excited. Unfortunately I couldn't find it in the stores I've been too, but I've seen swatches, and it sure looks promising.

Well this was it already, thanks so much for reading and have a great day -
Michèle