Summary and Conclusions

Almost over. 2011 I mean. Right time to sum all the things up! 

Let's start without any delay. 

So, for me personally, in this year:

My stash: 200 polishes.

Top 5 brands:
- American Apparel: I just love these cremes. Perfect quality, nice colours, great formula.
- Butter London: here I adore the design of the bottle!! And unique shades they offer.
- Depend: the tiny beauties brought me loadsa joy this year!
- KIKO: by the price/quality ratio this brand is totally a winner.
- Milani: just creates party on your nails!

Top 7 polishes:  [in alphabetic order, pictures are clickable]
- Color Club - Fashion Addict: my passion for holos begins here.
- China Glaze - Atlantis:these holosparkles are driving me crazy!
- China Glaze - Party Hearty:unique.

  

- China Glaze - Ruby Pumps: do I have to explain something here??
- China Glaze - Skyscraper: unique.

  

- OPI - Simmer&Shimmer: unique.
- Studio M - Slamming Red: read the name again. That's why.

Discovery of the year: Studio M polishes!

Top 3 Nail Treatments:
- Lush Lemony Flutter
- Seche Vite Top Coat
- Nail Tek II/III Foundation
Cannot imagine neither my real nor my blog life without them.

And very very lastly:

*This is a planned post and while you are reading it I'm having fun with my friends in Belgrade. I will answer to all the comments as soon as I'm back! Greetings i pozdravi! : )

Going Festive: Lorelei's Tiara - Home Made

Once I was sitting and thinking how stupid I was not to order China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara on time and trying to get it now it doesn't make any sense. So I decided to make out something similar using the polishes I have - I have said many times that the need is the mother of invention : ) The imitation came out quite poor, but at least I tried : ) Here are my attempts:

The home made Tiara is comprised of four layers of China Glaze Tinsel and one layer of OPI Simmer&Shimmer (I showed it here already). As you can see, what came out looks ok, but not any close to original Tiara. That means what? That I will still have to get it! *sigh* 

*This is a planned post and while you are reading it I'm having fun with my friends in Belgrade. I will answer to all the comments as soon as I'm back! Greetings i pozdravi! : )

Going Festive: Nude Glitter

Could you think of anything like that - nude glitter? I wouldn't, until I just got it as a surprise with one package : ) Let me show you Finger Paints Winter Wishes, the first polish of this brand that I'm posting (more to follow :). 

Okay, let's be realistic, it's rather champagne or beige than nude, but believe me, it looks super modest on the nails! I totally like the view it makes. Nothing to say about formula - pure perfection, 2 coats and fast drying.

And here are some of my attempts to layer something sparkly-shiny over it: 

From above: 

1- China Glaze Party Hearty

2 - Essence Make It Gold

3 - [b] Basic Sol Brillante

Well, that was it for today : ) Hope you are having nice holiday time!

*This is a planned post and while you are reading it I'm having fun with my friends in Belgrade. I will answer to all the comments as soon as I'm back! Greetings i pozdravi! : )

Going Festive: Christmas Is Here!

Well, almost. But I anyway couldn't wait to open the bottle of China Glaze Party Hearty which I was lemming since last Christmas and got only this summer!! Half a year of wanting and half a year of waiting for the right time to wear it. So, it's now! 

As you can see, it's China Glaze Party Hearty layered over Wet'n'Wild Caribbean Frost, a green pearly metallic, both applied in 1 coat. I really like this manicure, but what it misses is the snow around. I'm so glad that at least for New Year's Eve I'll be in the country where there MUST be snow at this time. Otherwise I'll start having psychological problems : )

Besides,

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those who celebrate it today! 

Going Festive: A Win Combination

Isn't it? Dark blue + gold looks so.. royal to me : ) No idea if I would wear it at any other time of the year, but now with all this festive decorations and mood something like this seems totally appropriate: 

This is Milani Gold layered over dark blue shimmery base. Milani glitters are totally cool, they just create party on my hands every time I wear them!

The base polish by itself is actually nothing special, someone some day put it as an extra. I even guess it's a franken. I'll still add a swatch of it alone, just for the history matters. 

What do you think of dark blue + gold? Still wearable or too kitschy? :) Any opinions are welcome!

Going Festive: Tru Passion

Enough with all these gloomy winter shades. From now on - Christmas is all around and such. Red, green, crazy glitters, festive colours! Right time to wear them all.

And I kick off with a cool lilac glitter Studio M Tru Passion, which I got from a swap with KarenD. You see it hiding behind the little OPI? : ) It's already the 2d time that I wear Tru Passion, unfortunately first time I didn't have a chance to shoot the swatches. So I'm showing it now.

Here's the bottle: 

And here it is on my nails:

What to say.. I'm in love with it! Thank you, Karen!!!

I know such colours suit me - I love them back too, and being a glitter it attracts me even more. Formula was ok, very dense glitter this is - 2 coats are enough. Tru passion, indeed : )

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 : ) 

Taupe Time

Rainy (! - not snowy) cold weather for the last week... What would you wear? I went for taupes. Normally I don't wear them any often, but there was one - Essie Merino Cool - peeping out of the nail polish box and complaining to be untried for ages, so I had some mercy on it. Here it is by itself:

Looks pretty, right? And you never really know how it looks on your nails until you try it.. And I guess it depends on skin tone too. Anyway, here's my version:

What can I say? It's a very nice taupe polish - for those who like such shades. I'm not a huge fan, but sometimes it matches my mood. No complaints about the quality, 2 coats - this time Essie did a good job. I did some stamping, but it didn't turn out good.. and I neither could shot a good photo of it because it was getting dark.. Sorry for the totally colour_balance_wise distorted picture.

By the way, can someone explain me the "coolness" of the name? Does that come from "merino wool"? 

Birthday Nails

Just quickly showing you what I have done with my nails for my birthday. The wish was to keep it simple but festive, so I stopped on a combination of pink and crazy glitter dupish to Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday : ) The two polishes I was using were Essie Knockout Pout and Milani Gems.  

Milani Gems is one of my beloved glitters, and Essie Knockout Pout I was testing for the first time. Most probably the last one too... Blah formula - after 3 coats you still see the bald spots, dries ok fast but not any glossy - neonish and matteish. Alone looks cheap. In my opinion. You either need a top coat or a layering polish. Boo, Essie. Again boo.

By the way, on the picture I'm holding my main present : ) My crazy boyfriend decided that my life won't be full without Sams Galaxy Note. Crazy, I'm telling you : ) But me like and me happy. And me travelling (and I haven't bought the Internet package yet), so I'll get back to your comments a bit later.

Cheers to all! ; ) 

Smart Girls Get More

Actually, it is true. Maybe I'll write a book about it some other time, but we're here to see polishes : ) So here it is, a hero of today's post: Smart Girls Get More # 56. Tiny pretty thing. In comparison with Orly polish barrel:

Aaa you see there's something blinging in the black bottle? Looks more interesting than just a black cream? Well, it definitely is: it's a black subtle scattered holo! Can you imagine? 

 

Attention: this is 1 (!) coat. I seriously don't know what not to love about this polish. I'm so grateful to Stickers whose giveaway I won and got this pretty thing : ) However, it's the first time that I see this brand ever, so if you wanna get it you better ask Stickers where. 

And some more captures of the holo effect: 

Ufff, I couldn't stop taking pictures of it!! By the way, it's the first black polish I wear in my life. EVER. But what a cool one! After such a notorious start I'll definitely keep trying the blacks I have : )