Surprise Pack from Belarus!

Back in December (great blogger I am, I know *sigh*) I got a parcel that was both a giveaway win and a surprise pack at the same time. One of the nail bloggers that I follow for a long time, Tatiana, decided to organise a spontaneous giveaway and just award two followers who comment the most. I happened to be one of the lucky girls, and some weeks later I received a pack - and I had no idea about its content! :)

See, Tatiana lives in Belarus, and she decided to send a full box of local Belarusian goodies! I mean, how amazing is the concept of showing other bloggers the best of the local products!! Here I totally bow down to her idea :) 

In the parcel I got 2 face masks: Belita algae-based, and BelKosmex moisturising with hyaluronic acid and vitamins; a cuticle eraser (a soft cuticle remover) and a nail polish from the brand Viteks (orig. Вiтекс).  

I have to say that I totally loved the face masks and the cuticle treatment, and - who would doubt - I adore the nail polish! The only Belarusian creation in my stash and quite a bright shade - Viteks Passion Dance (orig. Biтекс Танец Страсти) has gained my sympathy from the first stroke!

Viteks Passion Dance is a cold-hued red/crimson semi-jelly meaning that it's more liquid than creme and way more glossy. Application did not cause any problems: 2 coats and a great thin brush attached. I did have a feeling that it dries longer than expected, but I was in a hurry anyways and could have an inadequate perception of time. Top coat application eliminated that concern :) 

I liked the bright crimson shade a lot, and I had nothing similar in my stash as I normally grab darker red tones. Amazingly, this one suited me well, and it also works great for pedicure! :) 

Oh, how I love surprise packs!! :) One more time I'd like to thank Tatiana - check her nice blog by the way! - for sending me all these wonderful things!

Yay for nail polish international community! :D

Fashionista At The Party

Remember the first Fashionista polish that I was showing recently? I have another one, this time El Corazón Fashionista At The Party (orig. Модница на вечеринке). Bright, summery, eye-catching - a perfect combination for the warm summer days :) 

Just like its lilac sister, Fashionista At The Party is a bright, even neon-y jelly with white hexagonal and smaller-sized white "sand" glitter. It's just the base colour is barbie pink instead of lilac.

Believe me, you WILL be gathering looks (and questions) with this polish on :) I did! Mostly of my colleagues and people in the subway :) 

The application was very similar too: 2 easy coats, not so well-drying though, so you'll have to use a fast dry top coat. As I was writing already, using top coat also adds some glossy-glassy look, which I like so much in these polishes.

I have a weird skin tone colour on these photos, please disregard it! You probably know how hard it is to photograph the neon polishes... :) 

Usual close-up pics:

If you want to get your hands on any of El Corazon pretty things, you cam simply write them an e-mail listing your order - they ship worldwide! Also, you can browse through their collections on El Corazón web-site.

*The nail polish was kindly provided by El Corazón company for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the product.

Aerial Nude

Today I am showing something you have NOT seen in this blog before: VNL pure. Visible nail line that is. Many times I wrote that I'm not any fan of it and I usually try to avoid it, layering as many coats of polish as it takes to cover it. But - rereading the name of my blog - I had to try it once :) The opportunity came together with a swap package from Zelinda - she sent me Cliché Areia as a nice extra.

You see, you see?? Here it is, the VNL! :) After 4 coats - this polish was never meant to be opaque actually, the name "areia" means.. NO, NOT AIR!!!

...but "sand". Oh well, I was confused till the last moment : ) The polish is a very light nude peachy jelly, very transparent as well, but I'd rather name it "air" than "sand". Application was quite easy but loooong, all these 4 coats + base + top, uff! At least all the coats dried fast. 

Honestly speaking, Areia looks much prettier on the photos than in reality. When I was wearing it, I couldn't decide if I liked the nail look or not. The VNL thing was still confusing, but I promised myself to try this polish in a glitter sandwich :) It's called "sand" after all, I just need to find the "wich" part :) 

After some days I added a BM-314 stamping pattern on top. I still wasn't sure if I liked the result, but it matched one of my T-shirts :) 

What's your attitude to VNL? Love it? Hate it? Tell me! :) 

Vitrage Nails

Vitrage patterns always catch my attention, both in art and home deco. For a long time I was wondering about the possibility to incorporate mosaic elements into a nail design, and unexpectedly a solution was found - nail water decals by KKCenterHk.

The decals I was using are actually not separate pieces or nail strips, it's a single decal sheet which you can cut in whichever shapes you like. Probably that's why it's called DIY water decals. By the way, KKCenterHk has a great variety of decals and patterns, check their web-site to see the whole range. Actually, I was expecting the size of the decal to be larger than it is, in reality it's around 5x7cm, so it's only enough for 1 full manicure if you decide to cut into full nail strips. 

So, how was I using it? Firstly, I painted my nails with good old China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle, and then the fun began :)
What you should know about these water decals is:

- you have to remove the protection film! Very important.

- you have to cut the desired shape before dipping the decal into water.

- you have to soak these decals longer than usual: 10 to 15 mins according to the KKCenterHk web-site, I'd say you better wait up to 15 and then gently try to remove the paperback. If it slides - then the decal is ready to be placed on your nails.

- you have to be gentle and careful all the time, these decals are very thin, especially without the paperback.

- you have to use the top coat over the decals, 2 coats are even better than one.

To be honest, I had to practise a bit before I managed to place the nail stripes accurately and seal them. While wet, the decal slides over your nail, which is good cuz you can reposition it at any time, but also tricky when you try to keep it on place. Working with smaller pieces (i.e. not full nail) is much easier, and next time I will rather cut just parts of the patterns.

Overall, I liked the experience of playing around with these decals - it was also quite new for me. Still way to go to reach the perfect application but I'm looking forward to further practising! :) 

*The water decals were kindly provided by KKCenterHk PR team for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the product.

Poppy Seeds & Ice Cream

Another fantastic creation of the Russian nail polish wizards - Chatte Noire #519 - I just couldn't pass by when I suddenly saw it in a southern Russian city while going to a groceries store.. You see, although this shade is pretty popular among Russian nail obsessitas, it's rather hard to find too. I browsed many polish shops of St. Petersburg and never found it here, and I'm very happy that I suddenly discovered it in a random place!

Chatte Noire #519 is a white creme polish with black small "sand" glitter. The shade reminds me of poppy seed ice cream, which I have never eaten to be honest :)

The bottle looks clumsy to me, but it's a matter of taste. The brush is thin (as I like it) and thus allows to draw a precise and neat cuticle line.

The application... has positively surprised me!! The polish is opaque in 2 coats and very easy to apply. I wish I could apply my other white cremes so easily... Everything dries in a snap, so I didn't even use a top coat. Moreover, the polish even has its own gloss!

Although it was already getting dark when I was taking the pictures (around 23pm, yay for white nights!), I still did a little photo-shooting with flowers. Couldn't resist :)

This is my one and only Chatte Noire nail polish, and I'm quite impressed with the quality. I keep seeing Chatte Noire swatches here and there in the Russian blogs, but so far I haven't seen a second shade I'd love to have - they are nice and all, just not as unique as this one.  

Fashionista Goes Shopping

With pride and joy I am showing a nail polish of the Russian brand El Corazón, which became so heads-up with the latest nail polish creation trends. In a way they are trendsetters themselves actually! 

The polish I am posting about is a part of "Fashionista" collection, and its full name is El Corazón Fashionista Goes Shopping (orig. Модница на шоппинге). 

Fashionista Goes Shopping is a lilac jelly with white hexagonal and smaller-sized "sand" glitter. The lilac base colour is quite bright, but not neon or in-your-face bright shade. Noticeable bright, that is :)

I should say that I fell in love with how this polish looks in the bottle, with the bottles themselves being cute. All these white-black roses and the lilac contents with white dotties... so harmonic!

You probably wonder how this polish applies? Well, quite easily, and it covers in 2 coats. The texture is rather goopy though, and the layers you get are thick, so the whole thing dries a bit longer than normal. On the other hand, I do recommend using a top coat over this shade, as it creates a jellyish and glossy look and flatters the polish.

Generally, my opinion is that the polish is charming. Charming - that's the word, yep :) 

I'm telling you in advance, I have 2 more shades from this collections. Intrigued? ;)
*The nail polish was kindly provided by El Corazón company for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the product.

Mont Bleu Products: Nail Files & More!

How about showing you an awesome surprise pack from the Czech company Mont Bleu? :) The one that I got in... January. Ahem.

On the other hand, I am assured that it's never late to talk about good products. Especially if you use them on a daily basis, like I use Mont Bleu nail files, for example. Last year I was reviewing them in my blog, and my highly positive opinion hasn't changed since then. 

So, around Christmas days I received a package from Mont Bleu, which was a total surprise! I wasn't expecting anything! And lookie lookie what I got:

- round-ended glass nail file decorated with Swarovski crystals: somehow the Mont Bleu employees who were choosing the files to send me got the idea of my addiction to blue colour :) 

- sharp-pointed glass nail file with the Zodiac pattern and a crystal: I find it a cool idea to have a nail file with your star sign :)

- lilac tweezers with Swarovski crystals: looking very elegant and they do have a tight grip - they became my #1 tweezers;

- white pen with a crystal: a stylish exterior, quite thin and light. Ladies' thing :)

- chameleon earrings: these shine like diamonds on the sun!

Above and below are the close-ups of the embellishment. Ruining your possible suspicion: the crystals won't fall off. It's been more than a year that I got my first Mont Bleu nail files - the "gems" are stuck like glue, no worries!

Oh, and in case I didn't mention it before: I'm a proud Sagittarian! :) Saggies of the world, unite! :)

And the earrings close-up: the colour transition always makes me stare at them before I put them on! :) 

Personally as a nail polish addict I do recommend Mont Bleu glass files: they are gentle on nails, they last forever and the decoration is just fabulous! 

Generally, Mont Bleu is famous for offering various beauty-related products (compact mirrors, brushes, jewellery and nail files, of course) decorated by Swarovski crystals, or patterns. Check their web-site in order to see the whole variety! In my opinion, Mont Bleu products can be also great gifts for friends and relatives. Good news is that Mont Bleu offers worldwide shipping for reasonable prices.  

One last thing: enter the cupon code 'BLOG' and get 20% off!  

*The products mentioned in this post were kindly sent by Mont Bleu company as a Christmas gift without any conditions stated.