Macro Sparkle

Without a doubt I'm gonna tell you: piCture pOlish Sparkle is the most interesting polish in my stash so far - texture-wise. It's also interesting by its origin, because it made its way directly from Australia, but it's another story : )

The texture is so enchanting that it desires some macro shots - so I thought. And although I'm not a fan of taking macro pictures because of my sad dry skin and cuticles, but this time I'll make an exception. 

Firstly, the bottle close-ups:

Do you see?? You see this multicolour glitter swimming around and sparkling? Exactly this attracts me in this polish, and [supposingly] it's the reason why it was called Sparkle. The base is something special too: it's pearly-silvery white with a barely distinguishable lilac undertone, rather sheer.

Do you have polishes with "unusual" textures? Those you love staring at while wearing them? : )

More swatches (not so macro) of Sparkle you can find here

*The given polish was kindly provided to me by piCture pOlish.

Pink Flamenco

How about something bright and juicy for the summer? : )

The weather is so summery now here in Germany, and I'm mostly wearing pastel light shades but with some "bright exceptions". OPI Pink Flamenco is a beautiful bright spot of my nail polish stash, it comes from OPI España Collection 2009, which is one of my favourite by OPI ever. So, on to the vivid and vibrant sumer nails pictures : )

OPI Pink Flamenco is a shiny fuchsia/pink creme, bright but still not neon (which is good, because I'm not a big fan of neons..). The application was great, I will not even rant about the stupid OPI brush today : ) The only little "fail" of this polish is that it chips superfast!! Okay, to be honest it does not disturb me much because I change the colour often, but when I once did a pedicure with Pink Flamenco and it chipped on. the. following. day!!! I freaked out!!! Usually my pedicures last up to 2 weeks...

Otherwise, the colour is beautiful, I just love it. Others do too, lol, because such a screamy shade does attract a lot of attention. Now I'm thinking of buying a maching swim suit, because I'd love to wear such shade on the sea somewhere.. 

How about you? Are you in the mood for summer brights already? : )

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 : ) 

Sold Out Forever

Recently I decided that I don't devote much attention to the local polishes. Somehow because they are always there and always availiable, so I have less interest to them as for the rare or overseas brands - I neither own a lot  from the German assortiment. One exception is LEs: once a polish is a limited edition, I grab it immediately. If it's not - I keep thinking for months if I really need it or not. Unless they are discontinued or sold out forever. The hero of today's post is exactly that case: meet Catrice Sold Out Forever.  

Sold Out Forever is a warm jade green creme with almost invisible nanoshimmer. Formula is fine - easy 2-coat application, whereas you might have problems with the 2d coat. My tip is: make 1st coat rather thin, and layer a thicker second one. So you will avoid the third. This shade of polish has a hitch: the colour varies depending on 1) your skin tone; and 2) the lighting. The less light it gets, the colder the shade looks. To show all the nuances I made photos in diverse light modes - firstly, direct and indirect sun: 

And the rest is in the shade:

Surprisingly, I liked this shade more than I expected, also because it didn't reveal the red undertone of my skin. Sadly, the name of the polish is the absolute truth: it's discontinued by Catrice (whyyyy?!) and in most cosmetic shops - sold out forever. 

The Body Shop Hand Creams

What does an average person do when he/she cannot choose between several options? Takes time to think and to decide later on. What did I do? Just grabbed everything at once XD Initially I was heading to Body Shop to buy a famous cannabis creme, but when I saw this 3-pack I couldn't pick just one anymore. 

Today something above polish on the agenda: I want to make some input about hand and nail care, as I believe it is closely connected with manicure and is not any less essential. So, a short summary on 3 Body Shop hand creams, quite famous ones. 

Firstly, the popular The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector. As many people glorify its moisturising and nourishing effect, same many swear it for its scent. Well I understand both. From my experience, this cream is very rich and helps to protect hands from dryness or to revive the stressed skin, especially during cold winter times. The substance is thick (and green : )), and absorbs not really quick. My advice is to use it before sleep or when you know you will not be touching anything within the next 20 minutes. Also works perfectly with cotton gloves. Now to the smell. My description: neither pleasant, nor disgusting, but very special. You will either hate it or you'll be okay with it. In the beginning I was not so inspired, but now I got used to feeling it while falling asleep : )

Ingredients: click here

Price: 6€ for 30ml, 12€ for 100ml or 15€ for a set of 3 creams.

Recommend? Yes! For winter especially. But smell the tester first.

Next cream of the pack is The Body Shop Almond Hand & Nail Cream. Hand and nail - sounds good, right? : ) Almond oil is considered to be very helpful for nail care by the way, there were times when I was using it pure and mixed with other oils to moisturise and to strengthen my nails. Almond cream is a nice one in all respects, it moisturises pretty good, smells nice (like almond nuts + smth sweet) and absorbs faster than the previous one, although not in a wink. Hand skin is very soft afterwards. 

Ingredients: click here

Price: 6€ for 30ml, 12€ for 100ml or 15€ for a set of 3 creams.
Recommend? Yes, it's a nice one.

And the last is The Body Shop Wild Rose Hand Cream SPF 15. Do you see the word "rose"? That's what I can never pass by! The smell is super nice (for me, as for a rose scent lover), but it's more a moderate rose flower scent, and not like grandma's rose oil in a wooden sheath. My impression is that this cream is the "lightest" of all three, it absorbs faster than the other two - I always use it on the run or right before swatching. Makes your hands soft and generally this cream is a nice thing to have in a bag or near your working place.

Ingredients: click here
Price: 6€ for 30ml, 12€ for 100ml or 15€ for a set of 3 creams.
Recommend? Yes, definitely.

Have you tried The Body Shop creams? Do you like them? What's the best hand cream for you?

*Products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. I am not associated with The Body Shop. 

Cooperative Dotting

A common result of creative cooperation during the weekend : )

Materials used: 

Base colour: Essence Skyscraper (Urban Messages LE) x 3 coats

Dotting: Essence Berlin Story (I Love Berlin LE)

Camera

2 pairs of hands :)

The second pair of "helping hands" was assisting me not only in shooting the photos, but also in drawing the dots. So I'm sorry for some imperfections : )

I'll tell you only one thing: we had fun : ) 

Golden Soul Mate

Still struggling to understand my attitude to coral pinks. To be more precise - the degree of awfullness of their combination with my skin tone. After my experiments with Rose Bowl (warning: sit down before you click the link) I haven't painted my nails with coral shades for a year. Now, the spirit of experimentation woke up inside me again and I decided to wear Sinful Colors Soul Mate while my hands are white and not yet touched by the sun tan.

Just like the first time (careful, OLD SCARY swatches) when I wore it, I have mixed feelings: it looks better than I expected, especially outside, but I still realise it's not the best shade for my skin tone. The polish itself is pretty nice: thick and opaque. The brush is a mess though. After wearing it solo for a day, I spiced it up with noname gold shimmer:

Conclusion: I like such shades. And I won't stop wearing them just because I think it works not so perfect with my skin. Like my father used to say (stuffing me with strawberries when I was like 5 and had diathesis), "if you know you shouldn't, but you want immensely - do it". So I will : )

Swap №10: Little Exception

With all my Italian posts I totally forgot to post about a swap I recently did. Some of you know, that I was not swapping for a long time, mostly because I had so many untrieds and I didn't want to receive even more, however attractive they might seem. But when Akuma Kanji contacted me, I just couldn't refuse: she is my constant swap buddy, this is the 3rd exchange that we're doing. Besides, they have so many pretty polishes there in Portugal which are almost impossible to find anywhere else, so I couldn't say "no". Which I never regreted afterwards : ) Look what she sent me:

Left to right:

• Andreia #93: golden glitter!! I'm super excited!!

• Cliché Sonho

• Andreia #96: recently I have a big crush on purples.. 

Left to right:
• DERMExcellence #55
• DERMExcellence #39: totally unknown polishes for me, but I love trying new brands.
• Inocos Dançar from Noites de Verão Collection: I'm telling you, this one is gorgeous!!
• Inocos Maria Bonita from As Marias de Portugal Collection: very nice shade, right inbetween blue and lilac.

Left to right
• Carlos Santos
• Yes Love #Y74
• Yes Love #504
• MIYO Blueberry

... and a HUGE pack of Portuguese sweets : ) I have never tried anything similar before, but they were so tasty, that I ate the whole package at once : )

Yes, the whole big nail mail full of nice stuff.
Thank you so much, dear Akuma Kanji!!!

Traditionally, I am also posting a swatch of a polish from the swap pack. The very first one I tried was Inocos Dancar, but I was on the run and didn't take pictures of it :( So, I'm posting the second "try": Andreia #96 (you can see the bottle on the first picture). 

The colour is deep dark eggplant purple with an awesome texture inbetween creme and jelly. Probably I mentioned before that such a texture is very characteristic for Andreia polishes, together with a crazy gloss - there is NO top coat on the pictures!! As usual, I'm very pleased with Andreia, and I recommend all of you to get some and to see yourself how great they are. If they are not sold around, you might try to find a Portuguese swap buddy : )