Manhattan Taupe

Today I decided to show just a pretty taupe, nothing more than that. Almost nameless even, because it stems from a very old Manhattan LE M&Bufallo launched in like 2011, and has no real name, just a number - #96E. But it still is one of my favourite taupes in the stash, so here are the swatches: 

Manhattan #96E is a grey/beige (=greige) creme shade with a drop of brown and a tiny hue of lilac in it, which altogether makes it a pretty cold-toned taupe. The application is simply great, it's opaque in 1 coat already, and dries really quickly. Absolutely nothing to complain about here.

The shade feels so comfortable to wear in late autumn or winter, it just gives you that "cosy sweater" feeling. It works well against my skin tone as well, which is really not always the case with the taupes.

Although it's discontinued long ago, the substitute is easy to find in other brands palettes, I would suggest smth like Color Club High Society (which I also own) or Essie Chinchilly. By the way, I noticed that taupes are a real trend in the company where I work, you can see these shades on every third pair of hands! Do you also like wearing taupes, or are you rather not a fan? 

Green Chai

Really, really I couldn't wait to show you this polish! Firstly, because it's a cool one and secondly because it's a part of a limited edition, and after it's sold out the swatches won't be so important anymore. All the fuss today is about Manhattan 07S Green Chai from Style Proof Blogger Edition LE.

Manhattan Green Chai is composed of light green creme base and small multicolour glitter particles. The consistency of the polish reminds me of a sour cream with sugar, it's pretty thick but you have to be careful to spread it evenly on the nails without bold spots. For me, 2 coats were enough to do so. Photos are without top coat. The surface of the polish is not very gritty, but those who don't like it may sink it in a top coat.

I fell for these pretty glitter dots immediately after seing Maki's swatches, you can also see great pictures of it in Natalia's blog. It took me 2 days running around dm's, Rossmanns and Karstadts in Frankfurt and Berlin before I finally got it... If you also like it - don't procrastinate, get it now, because this collection is being sold out super quickly! 

Manhattan Grad

Long time no sponging...right? : ) I honestly missed it. It's such a cool and easy technique, which gives amazing effects on nails, but I somehow ignored it lately. Well, now is the time to catch up! 

On the pics you see Manhattan 78J sponged with Amour Blue Glitter and some strokes of Wet'n'Wild Kaleidoscope. It actually took me 5 minutes to create all this : )

Of course, I'll show the base polish - Manhattan 78J - by itself too. Might be irrelevant, because it's from an old Manhattan&Buffalo LE, but the shade is very pretty. When I was buying it, I was sure it would be a neon blue. But no! It's a bright, "electric" blue summer colour, but not neon. Which is perfect for me. Actually, THIS is the colour I expected OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui to be, and not a boring teal. 

One more last thing.. I cut one of my fingers really badly, and originally these swatches included a big bloody wound as well, lol. But thanks heaven, with our modern apps&tools it was quite easy to erase it in 2 clicks. I'm just curious.. can you see anything? Which finger did I cut? :) :)

The Taupe Times: Comparison

Proceeding with the taupe theme. I rarely do comparisons because.. I don't know why. Maybe because I believe they are of no value, as everything was already compared and cross-compared by other bloggers?.. But this time I was curious myself how the taupes I have compare to each other. And no free nail wheels : )

So, here are the guinea pigs:

And having applied all of them on the nails we have the following result:

All applied in 2 coats, moreover, by formula and quality they are pretty similar (=equally good!), except maybe China Glaze Below Deck, which is a 1-coater. OPI Parlez-Vous OPI? I just added to have some purpleness there, I wouldn't call it a taupe otherwise. And I'm glad to see I have no dupes, Manhattan and CC look very similar, but the first one is less brownish.

Which one do you like the most? Maybe you have some other taupes you like? Tell me : ) 

Squared Stamping

Moin moin!

This post is devoted to those readers who love stamping as much as I do, but who missed seeing it in my blog! So here is some for you:

You can notice that my nails are usually too long for standard Konad images, so I have to be somewhat inventive : ) For this "nail look" I've been using Manhattan 96E as a base colour and CG 2030 for stamping. Manhattan was very easy to apply (2 coats), and totally pleasant to work with. Some pure swatches:

What I can tell is that this polish is ranging from grey to brown depending on the light, it's a taupe, or "greige", if you want. Under the artificial one it becomes somewhat brownish:

Generally I'm supersatisfied with Manhattan brand, although they don't really have a wide range of interesting colours, you can always find some pearls. And the quality is always on top level! As well as the price.

Spring Stars

Sunny days came to Germany, and it's the right time for spring shades and bright colours! Thus my choice fell on turquoise, and very vivid one. I couldn't even imagine how cool it will look on my nails, really! And continuing my experiments with Shirley's plates, I stamped it with stars. Seriously, it's one of my favourite manis I've ever done! Look:

(Used products: Manhattan 78D from London Calling LE stamped with CG Millenium + SdP B18 image plate)

Actually, the photos are not colour accurate, my bad, I shoud have used a white background. In reality the polish is not so blue, it's pure turquoise, I'd say a brighter brother of CG For Audrey. Now I can't wait till the summer cuz I have a swimming suit of a similar shade ;)