14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Even Better Than The Real Thing

Happy Monday, lovelies! Today is day two of my Achtung Baby project...

Even Better Than The Real Thing

"my heart is where it's always been, my head is somewhere in between"

Even Better Than The Real Thing is the second song on Achtung Baby and, if you ask me, beats Mysterious Ways in terms of sexiness any day. Or maybe not. It's cheaper, and dirtier than Mysterious Ways, which is exactly why I love it.

My main inspiration for this mani was the fact that the title is something of a pun on the 90's Coca Cola ad proclaiming it "the real thing" (as opposed to Pepsi and the like). I was thinking dirty billboards, grimy, faded neon signs, telling us to buy things we don't really need and can't afford.

Products I used:
Barry M crackle polish in black
p2 drama
Barry M Tangerine
Rimmel Ultra Violet
Rimmel Green Grass
Barry M Cobalt Blue
Eyeko Punk Polish
Dior Rock Coat
+artist brushes and regular topcoat

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Zoo Station

Ahem. So I disappeared from blogging for a while there, for various reasons really. I haven't been very motivated lately (it's been a tough few weeks), so I figured I should come up with something to make me want to blog again. Instead of getting into the details of my life and why it kept me from blogging, let's just jump straight into my little project, alright? :)

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm a huge U2 fan. Now, two weeks from today, 20 years ago, they released their album Achtung Baby. It's arguably one of their most influential, if not best, albums. It's the album that made me fall in love with them, and the one that shaped the U2 that inspired me.

I wanted to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my favourite album of all time, and I love nail polish... You see where this is going, don't you?

Over the course of the next two weeks I will (attempt) to post nail art inspired by the album, following the tracklisting - one manicure for each song, plus two bonus manis. I'm terrible at nail art and I've been meaning to improve my skills for ages, I'm hoping combining two of my obsessions might help. Even if you're not a U2 fan and have never listened to the album (though I can only recommend checking it out - early 90's music at its finest!) I would love to hear your thoughts on this! :)

Without further ado, here's the first mani!

Zoo Station

"time is a train, makes the future the past"

Zoo Station, the first song on Achtung Baby, the one that starts and makes you wonder if maybe your CD got scratched or something, the one that jerks you out of whatever headspace you're in. Zoo Station is also the name of a tube station in Berlin. What this song makes me think of is trains, train stations, how fast paced our lives are and how much of them we spend in transit.

I have one particularly vivid memory of being on the London Underground in that stretch of time where you're not sure whether it's still New Year's Eve or already New Year's Day. The billboards were dirty and way too bright for my somewhat fuzzy brain. There was glitter floating through the air. My dad struck up the most random conversation with a drunk guy sitting on the floor. Someone had puked on the tiles. Trains filled with people where whizzing past.

I'm not sure if I really managed to convey what this song evokes in me with my mani, but I did my best. The stars were inspired by the live performance of the song on the ZooTV tour.

Products I used:
MAC Spirit Of Truth
p2 hug me
p2 drama
Sally Hansen Crackle Vintage Violet
Essense Dance Topcoat
Dior Rock Coat
+ artist brushes and regular topcoat

NOTD: p2 crackling Silver Blast over Catrice Am I Blue Or Am I Green?

Good evening, lovelies!

Today you're getting a super quick post from me as I really need to get to bed. This is a mani from last week that I really liked.

This is three coats of Catrice Am I Blue Or Am I Green? which was a hot mess on my nails: thick, goopy, streaky, you name it! At three coats this looked a mile thick and wasn't quite even yet so I decided to break out some crackles to see if I could save the mani. I think with p2 Silver Blast on top this looks really lovely! More of a winter mani, perhaps, but I like it. I was actually sad to take this off.

I really like the p2 crackles. There's a gold crackle as well, which I've only applied to my mom's nails so far, but I'm more of a silver girl anyway. They do dry matte, so you'll need to slap on some topcoat if you want a glossy finish.

Not a particularly complex or exciting mani, but I do like this a lot. I love how crackle can turn almost any polish that is a bit of a fail into an awesome mani.

On a diffferent note, I am so bummed that the Zoya polish exchange is US only. I've been dying to get my hands on some Zoya for a long time, but I hate to purchase them on evilbay. :/ Blargh. I loved my mom's suggestion of "Just ask one of the bloggers that live in the US to help you out!" But, since I'm not going to leave anything untried, if any of you US peeps would be willing to help a girl halfway across the globe out, I would appreciate it so, so much. I'd obviously pay for shipping, customs, etc. Anybody willing to give a girl from Austria a hand? I promise you I'm not a criminal or a crazy person. (... Okay, that was a lie. I am crazy, but I like to think of it as quirky and cute. :P)

Anyway. That's it from me. Not sure if I'll manage to do the Friday Favourites tomorrow, but I'll try and get them up asap.

Nighty night, lacquered ladies! xx

Swatches & Review: Essence Blossoms Etc Collection

Hello pretties!

I hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was somewhat exhausting, but fortunately I picked up these new Essence polishes from their spring Blossoms etc  collection and had something to look forward to. There's a total of five polishes in the collection, but I only got these four.

A Hint Of Mint is a pale spring green with subtle green shimmer. I know, the shimmer barely shows up in the pictures, but it is visible in person. I found this one's name a little misleading, since I wouldn't describe this as a minty colour at all. Maybe that's just me, though.This is two coats. Formula was nice and application smooth. This does tend to highlight every ridge and flaw of my nails so I'll probably end up doing three coats when I wear this. Very pretty, though.

I Like is a nice, pale turquoise with silvery blue shimmer. It's slightly less bright than it looks here. Again, two coats, nice formula and application. (Do ignore my index finger; managed to scrape nearly everything off as I was trying to take a pic. And ignore the weird way I'm holding the bottle. And how wonky my fingers/nails look. First and last time I attempted taking a pic with my left hand.)

My Yellow Fellow is a very pretty pastel yellow with pale gold shimmer. This did need three coats for opacity and not to get it smooth and even, for a change. The formula on this was a bit thin, bordering on watery, and thus rather sheer, but it builds up nicely and I didn't have any trouble with application.

Forget Me Not is a pale cornflower blue with blue shimmer. I do think this is my favourite in the collection. This is two coats and, as My Yellow Fellow, the formula on this one was a bit runny and thin, but didn't give me any trouble.

As I said, there's a fifth colour in the collection that I wasn't interested in.

On the whole I'm really pleased with these. I haven't worn them yet, but I can't wait to! The formula was a bit inconsistent, but easy to manage and nice. One thing I did notice is that the brushes on these seem to be longer and slightly broader (though nowhere near, say, OPI) than on regular Essence polishes. Personally, I think this made application easier and smoother.

Two things that I don't find that great: the bottles are tall and thin and rather easy to knock over and though the shimmer isn't all that prominent on the nails (though definitely there!) it does stick to my nails after I've removed the polish.

In conclusion: I really like these. I like the colours and I like that they all have a bit of shimmer in them, which makes them stand out in the midst of all those pastel cremes. I also like the formula and brushes. If you like these kinds of colours I would definitely recommend picking them up!

Coming Soon: Models Own Smash-Up Crackle Polish

Models Own just posted about their upcoming release of nailpolishes on their blog here with this picture:

For this, Models Own has teamed up with WAH Nails to create some colourful crackles. As you can see the collection will include 9 crackle polishes; yellow, blue, purple, pink, orange, turquoise, white and black. From the picture, these seem to be very different from the China Glaze crackle polishes that recently came out.

They'll be available in black and silver at Boots, starting April 20th, and full range of colours from the Models Own website, starting April (no specific date mentioned).

I'm really excited about these! Particularly the yellow, purple and silver!

How about you? Will you be purchasing these? Which of the colours do you like?

NOTD: Crackle Glaze Black Mesh over Models Own 25 Karat Gold

Hello lovelies ♡

I tried something China Glaze suggested on Twitter last night: applying Crackle Glaze diagonally.

For this combo I used China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Black Mesh over Models Own 25 Karat Gold.

(Pics were taken inside and under artificial light.)

This is Orly Bonder, two coats of 25 Karat Gold (would probably have needed a third coat if I'd worn it on its own), Essie Good To Go quick dry top coat, a thin (!) coat of Crackle Glaze Black Mesh applied diagonally across the nail and (for the second pic) Orly Glosser on top. You don't have to apply top coat, but I prefer a glossy finish.

I'm really digging this look! First of all, I love the colour combination; not terribly original, but stunning nonetheless! And the effect! I mean, seriously, doesn't this just look absolutely amazing?

Have you tried applying crackle polish this way before? What's your favourite method of applying crackle polish? Let me know in the comments!