Viva Pink

How about some bright spot in the middle of calm and muted winter colours? I realised that sometimes I need a 'restart' - either by wearing something vivid or by wearing nudes. This time I picked Avon Viva Pink - as vivid as I could wish : ) 

Viva Pink is a bright pink/magenta creme, not a neon though, but quite in-your-face. Exactly this colour I imagine when I hear 'barbie pink', but as it turned out, we all have different perception of which pink is a barbie one : ) The formula is quite fine, 2 coats will do. What I liked is the amazing gloss - I didn't use any top coats on the photos. The brush in this case was my friend and wanted to cooperate : )

Somehow I didn't take a lot of pics because of the poor light.. but I hope these 2 are enough to create an impression. Viva Pink is indeed a very nice polish, I totally recommend it.  

Aqua Marble

Today I'm officially proud of myself - I tried water marbling for the first time, yuppeee!! So there is one tag more in my blog now : ) To be honest, my first attempt was a disaster, everything went wrong from the very beginning.. and instead of the initial idea to create a cute 'flower marble' look, I got something that reminds either of sea foam, or of malachite. You choose : )

The base colour is Avon Aqua Fantasy - a turquoise creme with silver nanoshimmer. The latter is practically invisible and just gives the polish a pearly touch. Unfortunately, I didn't take the swatches of the polish alone - I'll leave it for the next time. I just can say that it's a totally pleasant one in texture and application.. and in terms of colour too, of course. 

As for the marble, I was using Cliché Espuma, Andreia #3, Essence I Like and OPI Jade Is The New Black. As I said, it went awful: the polishes didn't want to spread within the glass, I couldn't create any nice pattern with a wooden stick because it would drag the whole film of polish. Conclusion: I need more practice : )

Girls, do you have any tips and tricks regarding water marble? I would be really grateful! : )

Surprise Pack #2

Continuing my reports about the Xmas packs I got, I would like to show you a bit of awesomeness that came from Portugal (yes yes, again!) and that was a total surprise for me!!! Once last autumn a lovely girl with a lovely name Dulce contacted me and asked for help in getting one polish from Germany she wanted. So I did, and to thank me for that (!) she sent me the whole pack of beautiful things!!!!!!! How great is that?!

Moreover, she didn't just send whatever, but the Miss Cop polishes I liked so much! Yes, those mysterious ones I got from Hamburg regretting that I didn't buy more!  

 Miss Cop Les Dragees #06, Miss Cop Les Dragees #02

Miss Cop Les Blue Jeans #01, Miss Cop Les Blue Jeans #02, Miss Cop Les Pearl & Pop #06

And if you think that's all she sent... NO! I also got a whole bunch of nice stuff: nail art supplies, cosmetics and a wonderful felt flower : ) 

After considering which polish to start with (it was hard!!), I grabbed Miss Cop Les Blue Jeans #02 Bleu Vintage - a dusty blue shade. Just like its fellows from Les Blue Jeans collection, it's all packed with silver shimmer and applies nicely in 2 coats. The formula was a bit goopy though, I may use the thinner next time.

Look, girls, I really don't know what's the story behind these Miss Cop polishes, why no one knows about them, and why they appear randomly here in there in different countries... but I can tell you one thing: once you spot them - grab them!! 

Again, attempts to make macroshots without a proper camera.. : ) Just for you to see this silver shimmer.

Dear Dulce, it's hard to express how grateful I am - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! And beware, something might arrive to you as unexpected as it did to me ; ) ; ) ; ) 

Pastel Pink + Dots n Bows

It's been a while that I haven't shown any cute pink polishes and manicures.. Especially taking into account that I really like them! And I normally wear pinks all year round, there is no right or wrong season for this colour. That's why I was happy when I remembered that I have a nice pink pastel in the box of untrieds: Avon Pastel Pink, which I got thanks to lovely Antallex : ) And dots and bows, they neither need any special season or weather to wear!

But first a couple of words about the base colour.. Avon Pastel Pink is a pale pink creme with a strong touch of white - exactly what we call "baby pink". However, this baby pink doesn't tend to have a baby easy application: it's a 2-coater, but one has to struggle not to leave bald spots on nails. In the "best" traditions of opaque pastel cremes that is.. Impossible is nothing though : )

Because I have so many pastel pinks in my stash, and because Antallex asked me to, I made a comparison of pale pinks. The closest I got to Avon Pastel Pink is AA Coney Island, Pupa #202 is only close colour-wise, although it has a totally different jelly texture. 

CG Something Sweet - Colour Club Vintage Couture - Pupa #202 - Avon Pastel Pink - American Apparel Coney Island - Viva La Diva #118 - Essie Guchi Muchi Puchi

And now is the time for excessive cuteness : ) I added white dots with a dotting tool, and stamped the bow with m59 plate. Pink rhinestone to make it all even cuter : )

Sheer Your Toys!

After all the holiday turmoil I realised that I'm craving for soft calm shades, and most of all - for grey. In my stash there are only a few grey polishes, and today I'll show one of them. OPI "Sheer" Your Toys! is however not a simple plain grey, but a shade "with a twist" : )

Besides being a middle grey shade with a touch (!) of pearly finish, OPI "Sheer" Your Toys! also contains copper colour particles. Those are not really visible in reality, but they do turn this polish into something special, at least for me. The application is smooth, 2 easy and thin coats. Even the wide brush (which I hate in OPI polishes) couldn't spoil it.

Some macroshots to show this copper microshimmer. I did my best, I'm not that good in taking macro pictures, neither is my camera.

And finally, I like to combine grey with white. Otherwise simply grey with grey, as I wear a lot of grey clothes.

And I still keep craving for OPI You're A Doll from the same collection. The secret copper shimmer is something that totally attracts me : )

Party Rockin' Cashmere Cardigan

For a long time, starting even from pre-blogging period of my life, I've been craving Orly Cashmere Cardigan. Somehow I was sure that I will not find any dupes, and even if, I still wanted the original. After 2 years craving, I almost gave up hoping: none of the online shops had it, none of the fellow bloggers could find it. And suddenly, in the best traditions of Bollywood, it appears on German ebay and I win the auction with 3 euros. Happiness : ) 

Cashmere Cardigan is a [stunning] muted periwinkle creme, with a perfect 2-coat application. Generally Orly polishes work great for me, so I don't have any single complaint.

After wearing Casmere Cardigan solo for a day, I decided that it's also a great base colour for Lush Lacquer Party Rockin' - the only indie polish I have in my stash (thanks to a swap with Sarah) : ) Party Rockin' is a mixture of multicolour and multishape glitter. Just click on the pics below to have a closer look of what's included in this mix : ) In any case, it's very party and very rocking : )

Swap №12: Light Shades Only!

During the Christmas time I received some packs: expected, unexpected and expected but with unknown contents : ) Today I'll show you one of them: a swap package that arrived from Portugal (by far my most popular swap destination lol). In this pack lovely Zelinda from Unhas Fofas da Z sent me two Ludurana lemmings, a Cliché polish I wanted so much, and a lot of nice extras!

Polishes, left to right: 

Purple Professional #49 

Cliché Espuma

Ludurana Perlato

Ludurana Arabesco

Cliché Areia

Above: Cliché nail polish thinner with banana smell

and two Avon lipstick testers and a happy nail file :)

The polishes close up:

Thank you so much, Zelinda!!!

And of course, I'll show the swatches of one of the polishes I received. Somehow I grabbed Cliché Espuma first! 

Cliché Espuma is a wonderful white jelly - something I've never had in my stash before. Although the colour is pure, it's a bit muted, so not in-your-face white. The nails therefore look like porcelain. My bf told me after careful observation that depending on the light he sees some either pinkish or slight beige tinges - well, let's believe him.

Now you're probably thinking how difficult Espuma is in terms of application..? : ) Well, not that much. I needed 3 layers, but the polish dries fast so I didn't have problems. 

Another detail: this polish gives the nails a thick, "gel look", but neat at the same time. I did like this effect : ) 

Do you have a pure white jelly in your stash?