Custom Stars

Shame on me, but I have gigabytes of swatches and photos of manicures that I never posted.. It's time to catch up and change this bad habbit of stocking pics and not showing them. Today - a manicure that I was wearing about a year (!!!) ago, therefore a bit 'unusual' photos maybe. I really see how my way of photographing nails changes over time.. Do you? :) 

What you see above is China Glaze Custom Kicks stamped with CG 2030 and Shirley's plates. The base colour is a very pretty teal with rich, but barely visible IRL gold shimmer. Very opaque coverage, 1 coat is enough. Below the photos of the polish alone.

Seriously, I have to stop swatching and start posting :)

Double Swirls

Won't be much text this time. Another manicure inspired - very possibly - by the trip, done in 10 minutes. When I finished stamping I realised that the whole thing reminds me of Moroccanoil bottles : D

The base polish is a wonderful bright sky-blue creme by DERMExcellence. The brand is totally new for me, I got it in a swap from Portugal. Nevertheless I totally liked the application and the colour. On the photos you see 2 coats of DERMExcellence #55, stamped with Manhattan 77Z and China Glaze 2030. Below the base colour alone, because it's worth seeing :) 

This was the last pre-scheduled post before I come back :) The next one will be about the polishes I wore during the trip :) 

Flowery Stamping

Haven't posted any stamping for a while.. here we go: a springy colour combination : )

Used products: 

Base colour: Essence Bloom-A-Loom [2 coats]

Stamping plate: SdP B18

Stamping polish: Finger Paints Heavenly Hydrangeas

What I can add is that the base colour - Essence Bloom-A-Loom is absolutely gorgeous!! Initially I wanted to post its swatches too, but they deserve a separate post : ) 

Berry Swirls

Such a shame that I haven't posted about American Apparel Berry up to now... I was not wearing it until recently either. Now I really feel bad after I realised what a jewel I've had in my stash all this time and I was not paying any attention to it. Intense and juicy burgundy colour (or berry, as you like), easy application, nice gloss, coverage in 1 coat (although 2 + TC on the photos), fairly long wearing time - all this you can get if you have Berry. Sometimes topped with compliments from other people : )

After a couple of days that I fully enjoyed the colour, I stamped it with AA Rose Bowl, which by itself doesn't really match my skin tone. Oh well, at least I made some use of it as a stamping polish:

One more note: although I have nothing to complain about on this particular polish, such shades - deep red, berry, burgundy etc. - are very demanding during the application. One wrong move and the polish is all around your cuticles (can be seen on my index finger), and there's nothing you can do - it just won't leave if you try to clean up. Or maybe some of you know any secrets of the universe i.e. how to avoid or correct it? : ) I'd be glad to know!

Blue Starz

Hellou girls! My pace of posting is still very irregular, but oh well, so are my life conditions. Hope for your understanding : )

Today I'm showing one very pretty lilac/lavender - Kiko #248 Lavanda Chiaro. Here I don't have much to say, the name of the polish and pictures are speaking for themselves. But don't be deceived with its seemingly calm colour - this baby is eye-catching (I judge by the looks of random people and my boss :). As for the formula, it's just as nice as all the rest 3 Kiko polishes that I have: easy to work with (2-coater) and fast-drying.  

In the artificial light the shade becomes a lil bit more "neony":

Aand some starry stamping with Shirley's plates:

Oh my, I wish I bought some more KIKO polishes this summer when they had sales. Maybe they'll have some special offers for Christmas too...

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Announcement for the German ladies: 

- good news for those who don't have Kiko shops around! Kiko opened its online-shop and now ships within Germany (as well as to France, Spain and Italy of course). Free shipping during first 15 days after registration!

- Butter London (!) polishes noticed in Douglas (NRW)! Price: 16,95€.

- NYX polishes are sold in Douglas in Köln. Quite a nice assortment, price: 4-5€ (don't remember). 

- Essie Cocktail Bling Collection is now retailed in Douglas at 7,95€ (instead of crazy 12,95€). 

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Stamped Nonamie

I am actually not sure if Yves Rocher can be considered as a no-name brand.. rather not. It's just popular more in some countries and less in others. Anyway. Yves Rocher Mauve Léger was bought by me on the very early stage of my [conscious] lacqueroholism. My mum likes their cosmetics and at that point I thought she can't be wrong and gave it a try. Not in vain. The polishes I have of this brand behave nicely and some have interesting shades. But let's "mauve" on to the pictures: 

(Yves Rocher Mauve Leger - 3 coats

stamped with WnW Buffy The Violet Slayer

and SdP image plate B18)

And the initial colour:

Totally charming mauve (?) with microshimmer. You can call me a dummy, but for me it's just lilac, and mauve is something more complicated - so I feel. The formula is ok and the interesting thing about this polish is that you can wear it starting from 1 coat to em infinity. The coverage is great, it's just the opacity will differ. I did 3 coats this time.

Yves Rocher Mauve Leger belonged to the "throw-away-group", but I still didn't discard it. As well as some others. You were right girls, throwing away nail polish - even dinosaur-old, almost empty bottles - is extremely hard. 

And now, making use of the international auditorium of my readers, I'm asking:

Are Yves Rocher polishes/cosmetics any popular in your country? Do you have any of their lacquers?

Subtle Swirls

The base colour is gorgeous lilac with strong blue undertone from American Apparel - L'Esprit. Lovely Carolina sent it to me in a swap (she also has it, by the way ;). Below is 1 (!) coat without any base or top. 

American Apparels are still making their way up in my personal top of polish brands :) Gotta show you more soon!