Nevskiye Berega 2013 ~ Saint Petersburg Beauty Expo

Greetings from the ice-cold part of the world! :)

Guess what! For the first time in my life I visited a beauty expo! :) I was so excited, and I still am. Thank heaven I happened to be in Russia when this expo - Nevskiye Berega (Banks of the Neva River) - was taking place, otherwise I would have to wait forever, because in Germany such events are quite rare and elitist. 

So, it was my first time at a beauty fair, and I have acquired a lot of mostly positive impressions and experience. Firstly, I saw [and touched, and tested, yay!] a lot of nail polish brands from all over the world in one day; secondly, I managed to talk to people as crazy about nail polish as I am (even professionally, while I'm just an amateur); and thirdly, I hauled a nice bag of polishes and somewhat shortened my wish list :D

The only thing I'm worried about: bad photos to share with you. It turned out so damn easy to swatch polishes at home comparing to photographing at the exhibition... ugh. I definitely need more practice in that field.. and a new camera :D

Alright, I have what I have, so I'll share with you what I saw. Starting from the world known nail polish brands:

OPI: 450 RUR (normal price) ≈ 11,3 EUR; DS Series for 650 RUR ≈ 16,3 EUR yea well still not 16 EUR (20 EUR for DS) like in Germany

China Glaze: was sold on many stands. Starting from 300 RUR (≈ 7,5 EUR)...

...and special prices of 295 RUR for 2 bottles (≈ 7,4 EUR)...

...to VERY SPECIAL PRICES of 90 RUR per bottle!! Party Hearty, Frosty, Skyscraper and other must haves for 2 EUR! Take that!!! :D :D

Orly: 270 RUR ≈ 6,8 EUR

Color Club: 150 RUR ≈ 3,8 EUR that's all they had from Colour Club, unfortunately.

CND: polishes 343 RUR ≈ 8,6 EUR; effects 420 RUR ≈ 10,5 EUR ouch, angry prices.

INM: 180 RUR ≈ 4,5 EUR yes, apart from their magic top coat they also have nail polish assortment

Cuccio: 250 RUR ≈ 6,3 EUR I know this brand from transdesign and I'm dreaming to try their whitening paste, but I didn't know they had polishes

Dare To Wear: 200 to 250 RUR ≈ 5 to 6,3 EUR breathtaking glitters..!

LCN: 198 to 277 RUR ≈ 5 to 7 EUR

Vipera Cosmetics: 190 to 220 RUR ≈ 4,8 to 5,5 EUR Vipera is a Polish brand, from Poland I mean :)

Okay, that was about internationally known stuff. Now let's see some local Russian brands, shall we?

Dance Legend: 180 RUR (≈ 4,5 EUR), and 300 RUR (≈ 7,5 EUR) for thermo polishes. DL had a huge stand full of everything: new collections, glitters, magnetics...

...their new Flossy Top and Aztec collections, black & white polka dot glitters.

Here's the close-up of Flossy Tops.

El Corazon: 150 RUR ≈ 3,8 EUR I just loved their vintage stand.. I would die to have such a shelf at home to store my collection :)

El Corazon brought a lot of new interesting collections, including dotted "Easter Eggs"...

...mirror chromes...

...magnetics...

...and thermo colour changing polishes!

Sophin: 250 RUR ≈ 6,3 EUR

Nano Professional: 170 RUR ≈ 4,3 EUR

Zinger

ruNail: 60 RUR ≈ 1,5 EUR nice name for the polish brand :) 

Some random brands I had no idea about:

And of course, tools and accessories for nail art of all kinds... brushes...

...stickers and decals...

... and glitters, beads, foils... endless.

Also, there was a lot of stuff devoted to beauty, hair, medicine etc. Starting from soaps..

... and finishing with furs :)

Brands that were not present at the expo: Alessandro (whatever), Essence and Catrice (although they ARE sold in Russia), Essie (no big deal, they are also sold on every corner anyway), Jessica (pity), Mavala (don't have any on my wish list), Zoya (very pity).

Now, the next part of the story: what I brought home :) First of all, I took limited amount of cash with me and promised myself not to use my bank card. Second, I don't really regret not buying anything - I got more or less all I wanted. Except that pretty NP holo polish : ( I simply forgot.. So ok, THE HAUL:

China Glaze Preppy Pink (the one for 2 EUR!), Dare To Wear Ready For My Close-Up and YSL stickers (gift).

I'm so happy to finally put my hands onto testing El Corazon nail polish!! I got Kaleidoscope t-02 (thermo!), El Corazon Confetti #529a, El Corazon Active Bio-gel "Easter Eggs" #423/100, El Corazon Active Bio-gel Magic Tenderness #423/558, and El Corazon Active Bio-gel "Easter Eggs" #423/98.*

And finally I got the Flossy Tops I wanted so much: Dance Legend #151, #146 and #144.

...treatments: lint free sponges, 180/180 nail file, clean-up brush and a nail wheel.

Aaand free testers! :) I wanted to try Moroccanoil anyways.

Uff... done. Deep bow to everyone who made it till the end! I would like to know your experience with beauty expos.. have you been to any? :)

*El Corazon nail polishes were kindly provided by El Corazon company for my unbiased consideration. 

Dance Legend Malta #89

As I am now on a business trip to Russia, I thought it would be a good idea to show some local specialities, i.e. Russian nail polish brands. Dance Legend is one of the most famous ones, and lately they are really progressing with enormous steps. DL's latest collections were simply mind blowing: sand polishes, glitters swimming in milky bases, mood polishes, sun-changing colours and what not! 

The Malta Collection was released some time ago (you can see all the swatches here, for example), and it attracted my attention for two reasons: 1) all the shades contain my beloved golden shimmer; and 2) I like Malta a lot as a country, so it increases my warm feelings about the collection even more :) So today I'm showing one of Malta shades - Dance Legend #89.

This is a light teal shade enriched (yes, that's exactly the word I want to use) with the abundant golden shimmer. Application was smooth and pleasant in 2 coats, and even the presence of wide DL brush couldn't spoil it this time, although I still get shivers when I think back of applying Dance Legend #170 : )

The cross is real Maltese by the way, I brought it from a trip to this wonderful sunny country many years ago :)

And a close-up to let you see the gorgeous golden shimmer.. : )

Oh, and a giant thanks goes to Antallex, who kindly sent me this amazing shade, somehow she knows for sure how to please me :)

Now a question to non-Russian readers: have you heard of Dance Legend brand? I'm just curious how far in the world it is known, if at all : )