Inspired by Illamasqua

Surely you all have seen the video of Illamasqua on Human Funda-mehndi nail art. Somehow unconsciously I got my inspiration from it and decided to partly recreat it, adjusting to my nail shape and the polishes I have in my stash.

Since I don't own any Illamasqua polishes *sigh*, I used Essie Greenport as a base and Wet'nWild Buffy The Violet Slayer for the dots.

For those still wondering what I am talking about here's the video:

Artists's Sapphire

And I continue with my super summer shades =)

Seriously, I don't know what's going on, winter (ha!) has passed but I'm still into dark and gloomy colours. But they attract me so much and look so nice.. For example this one, Finger Paints Artists's Sapphire (what a name!!):

I firmly believED that dark blue shimmer is absolutely not my type of colour - before I painted my nails with it. After that I couldn't stop staring on my hands :) Actually, myself I would never buy such a shade deliberately, moreover Finger Paints brand is not sold here in Germany - this bottle was sent to me in a swap by lovely Carolina, to whom I am very thankful for that - she knew exactly what I need! 

Apart from a gorgeous name, this polish has a great formula, which is very easy to work despite it's a dark shade. On the photos I did 2 easy coats, no top coat. What I also like is the colour - it's such a rich and deep dark blue, that you will always want to stare at it, I guarantee! 

Because I wear such blues quite seldom, I couldn't miss the chance to add some gold - dark blue and gold is one of my favourite colour combinations ever.

Discord With The Outer World

For a week now it has been +20 here and very sunny. To match the weather I was wearing THIS on my nails for like 5 days. Very summery shade, right? Lol.

So, it's Essence Berlin Story that I'm showing. If you are searching for a nice black creme - it can be the one, because it's opaque in 1 coat (2 coats on the pictures), glossy and long lasting. The only thing is that it was a LE, so it's very hard to find now. But the world is full of nice black cremes anyway, so finding an analogue is not that hard.

Generally, I love black on my [short] nails, but... *sigh*... seems like my choice of polish doesn't have any relation to the weather/season outside anymore : ) I guess it's another level of addiction.

Berry Dots

I should say from the beginning: this is NOT the pattern I wanted to make, like AT ALL. But, this is what came out. Borders with a failure, but it actually looks ok in real life and not on macro photos. Judge yourself:

 

 

Products used:

Base colour: Cliché Flash (2 coats) 

Dotting tools

Dotting colour: American Apparel Berry

The design I wanted to create still remains in plans : )

Is that familiar to you when you start out with a clear idea of one manicure and finish with somewhat totally different? 

Nail Care: Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files

Today I'll tell you about two pretty items of my nail care routine, and namely about glass nail files from Mont Bleu, which I use every time I do a manicure. That's how they look:

Heute berichte ich euch über zwei schöne Teile meiner Nagelpflege-Routine, und zwar über die Glasnagelfeilen von Mont Bleu, die ich jedes Mal bei Maniküre benutze. So sehen sie aus:

The nail files were sent to me in a blue box, otherwise all the files are sold together with perfectly matching black suede sleeves. Regarding the size: there are normal and mini-size Mont Bleu nail files: 13,5 cm (10€) and 9 cm (8€) accordingly. As a set they cost 15€ together. Shipping from Czech Republic to Germany lasts around 4-5 days.

Die Nagelfeilen wurden mir in einem blauen Kästchen zugeschickt, ansonsten werden alle Feilen in perfekt passenden schwarzen Samthüllen verkauft. Was die Länge angeht: die Feilen von Mont Bleu gibt es in normale sowie in Reisegröße: 13,5 cm (10€) und 9 cm (8€). Als Set kosten die beiden 15€. Die Lieferung von Tschechien nach Deutschland dauert ca. 4-5 Tage.

The design of the files deserves a special attention: manicure for me is an aesthetic process, and a delicate decoration of the files suits to it ideally. The handle is painted blue gradient and embellished with Swarovski elements. But hey pragmatic people, no fear! The crystals stand firm in there, one can also hold the file quite conveniently. The filing surface (from both sides) is of a high quality: it has an extremely fine grit, but works very effectively at the same time. 
Das Design der Feilen verdient besondere Aufmerksamkeit: Maniküre ist für mich eine ästhetische Schönheitsbehandlung, und die feine Dekoration von den Feilen passt ideal dazu. Der Griff ist in Blau gehalten und mit Swarovski-Kristallen verziert. Aber hey pragmatische Leute, keine Angst! Die Steinchen halten sich ganz fest, man kann den Griff auch gut und bequem fassen. Die abrasive Oberfläche (von beiden Seiten) ist von hoher Qualität: sie verfügt über eine extrem feine Körnung, wirkt aber trotzdem sehr effektiv.

So, now generally to the question: why I fancy glass nail files so much? Simply because: 

- glass nail files work gentle with nails, they seal the nail edges which prevents the nails from splittering; 

- glass nail files are hygienic: after the usage you can simply wash it with water;

- glass nail files are long-lasting, if not immortal (if you neither sit on them nor drop them :).

Also, jetzt generell zur Frage: warum ich eigentlich so fest auf die gläsernen Nagelfeilen stehe? Ganz einfach, weil: 

- die Glasfeilen sind schonend zum Nagel, sie versiegeln die Feilkanten nach dem Feilen, womit das Einsplittern verhindert wird;

- die Glasfeilen sind sehr hygienisch: nach Benutzung kann man sie leicht mit Wasser abwaschen; 

- die Glasfeilen sind langlebig, wenn nicht ewig (aber dabei bitte nicht drauf sitzen und nicht fallen lassen :).

Conclusion: 

in my opinion, the nail files from Mont Bleu are totally worth recommending, also as a good (and cute) present - we are not all nail polish addicts, but each of us files the nails from time to time : ) The correlation between the price and the quality is absolutely reasonable, you get a worthful product with a nice design. I don't know what can kill a glass nail file, but if it happens, or if I lose it, I will definitely buy another one from Mont Bleu.

Fazit: 

die Nagelfeilen von Mont Bleu sind meiner Meinung nach absolut empfehlenswert, auch als ein gutes (und schönes) Geschenk für Freundinnen - wir sind nicht alle Nagellack-Junkies, aber jeder feilt doch ab und zu die Nägel : ) Das Verhältnis von Preis und Qualität ist zwar absolut angemessen, man bekommt hochwertiges Produkt in schöner Aufmachung. Ich weiss nicht, was eine Nagelfeile töten kann, aber wenn dass doch passiert oder ich sie z.B. verliere, dann werde ich bestimmt noch Glasfeilen von Mont Bleu nachkaufen.

About the producer: 

Mont Bleu is a Czech producer of glass goods, jewelry, tweezers, pocket mirrors, cosmetic brushes and among all glass nail files. What is really impressive is that the embellishment of the nail files is handcrafted - on every single file! On the web site of Mont Bleu there are endless variations of designs and decoration, e.g. like these below...

Über den Hersteller:

Mont Bleu ist ein Tschechischer Hersteller der Glaswaren, Schmuck, Pinzetten, Taschenspiegel, Kosmetikpinsel und u.a. Glasnagelfeilen. Was wirklich eindrucksvoll ist - die Nagelfeilen werden handgearbeitet, jede einzelne! Auf der Mont Bleu Webseite gibt es unendlich viele Variationen der Design und Dekoration, z.B. wie hier unten...

Web site for wholesalers / Webseite für Großhändler: http://www.czech-glass-nail-files.com/

...and many many others. Just click the picture above and enjoy the variety! Mont Blue was very kind to provide a special offer for my dear readers: enter the cupon code 'BLOG' and get 20% off!

...und viele viele andere. Einfach das Bild oben anklicken und die Vielfalt genießen! Mont Blue hat für meine Leser ein spezialer Rabatt angeboten: gebt einfach 'BLOG' bei Bezahlung ein und erhaltet 20% Rabatt! 

*The products were kindly provided by Mont Bleu for review, however, this did not influence my opinion in any way.
*Die Artikel habe ich von Mont Bleu kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt bekommen, meine Meinung über die Produkte wurde damit aber nicht beeinflusst.

Chirp Chirp

Little chirp chirps are not here yet, but at list I can show you the polish - Essence Chirp, Chirp! from Naturventurista LE. I honestly don't know what it has to do with the birds, but oh well, we have seen so many other random names. 

The case with this polish was - I'm sure - familiar to many of you: I was passing by it hundred times in the shops, until I accidentially saw beautiful swatches of it in Antallex's blog. After that I couldn't resist : ) To my luck, it was also discounted: 

The colour is hard to describe: light beige with a touch of green and subtle pink (!) shimmer. A more precise description from my bf: "a colour of US airplanes which are designed for battles in the desert". I doubt they had pink shimmer though : ) 

The formula was okay, demanding a bit of attention but nothing extra difficult. On the pics you see 3 coats which dried pretty fast.

Here here here! I caught the mysterious shimmer!!! : )

As I was reluctant to stamp over this winner shade, I just made an accent finger with konad, rhinestones and a dotter:

 

Interesting shade, don't you find?

March of 8

On this in a way special day I'm wearing a soft shade spring colours manicure:

Products used:

Base polish: Orly Bon Bon (3 coats)

Konad image plate: m73

Stamping polish: Catrice Plum Play With Me

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

Hunger Games, you said? Not even close! : )

Remember, in the previous post I asked you what these colours remind you of?

Yeah, I have to admit - it was a trick. What you've seen on my nails had no relation to China Glaze Hunger Games collection, not even any to CG itself. What I did - I just used&mixed some of my polishes (see below), and got similar colours.

Index: Risque Energia = Dress Me Up. Not very similar, I know, Dress Me Up is more brown.

Middle: [b] Basic Sol Brillante = Electrify. Very close, I'm so glad I got this one for 1€ : )

Ring: Florence 01 over Zoya Pasha = Fast Track. 

Pinkie: 17 Toasted Almond over Yes Love 205 = Hook and Line.

And why I did this: I was browsing the swatches of Hunger Games collection and at some point I wanted to write some of them down to my wish list. But suddenly, I was like "stop! I'm sure I had something similar already?". So I digged my stash a bit and that's what came out. After that I always think twice before putting a polish to a wish list and buying it in order to swear myself later for breeding dupes. That's the story behind : )