14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Love Is Blindness

As promised, here is today's second post, which is also the last song-inspired Achtung Baby manicure. I'm actually a little bummed right now, because I only remembered that I work tomorrow and have to wear nude polish AFTER I was done with the nail art. :( Oh well.

Love Is Blindness

"a little death without mourning"

Love Is Blindness, the last song on the album; it's slow and mournful and leaves me a little breathless. Inspired by Edge's failing marriage love is depicted as almost a weakness, a flaw. It's achingly beautiful and the perfect ending to an album that feels painfully personal and private. (As Bono said in From The Sky Down "We spent most of the 80's throwing rocks at other people, we spent the 90's throwing rocks at ourselves".)

My main inspiration came from the lines "love is clockworks and cold steel, fingers too numb to feel squeeze the handle, blow out the candle, blindness" and "thread is ripping, the knot is slipping". I know I could have done more with this, but I kind of wanted to keep it vague. :)

Products I used:
Catrice Midnight Express
Catrice London Weather Forecast
Catrice Amazonian Gold
China Glaze Liquid Leather
a england Perceval
+ artist brushes, white striper polish and topcoat

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: An Ode To Mr. MacPhisto

Happy Friday, lovelies! I'm sorry I didn't post this yesterday, but it was my birthday and I was kept rather busy. There should be a second post coming up sometime tonight, too. :)

Today's post is a bit different, in that it wasn't inspired by a song on Achtung Baby. Instead I took my inspiration from one of the alter egos Bono adopted on the ZooTV tour: MacPhisto.

I guess this is going to require some explanation... The red on black are (hopefully) obviously supposed to represent the devil horns. ("Real devils don't wear horns", anyone?). Then on my left hand you've got the telephone (index), because it wouldn't be MacPhisto without the phonecalls to heads of state (I'm sorry, we're closed for lunch!), a pizza slice (middle), because even Bono has to eat sometimes ("I'd like to order ten thousand pizzas for Detroit!") and a taxi sign (ring), because during the Sydney show that made it on the DVD he calls a taxi to "take him home".

Obviously, this is for the obsessed. :D I hope you still enjoyed it, even if you're not a huge U2 dork like me!

Products I used:

a england Holy Grail

China Glaze Liquid Leather

BB Couture for Men Hades

BB Couture for Men Eros

Catrice Marilyn & Me (which you can't see, because it was sheer and I covered it up...)

a england Perceval

+ artist brushes, white striper polish and topcoat

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Mysterious Ways

As promised/threatened the second post of today...

Mysterious Ways

"take a walk with your sister the moon"

Mysterious Ways, my least favourite song on the album and one of my least favourite songs in general. No wonder this mani turned out terrible. I only somewhat like the song when it's played live, and even then...

I hate this mani and I don't like the song and I was trying to be inspired by the fact that the video for the song was shot in Morocco, but no such luck. Ah, well. At least the polishes I used were amazing!

Products I used:
A England Perceval, Holy Grail & Avalon

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: The Fly

Hello lovelies! I didn't manage to get up a post yesterday, so you'll get two for the price of one today!

The Fly

"we shine like a burning star, we're falling from the sky tonight"

The Fly, with its unmistakeable guitar and distorded voice. This song has some of the best and most poetical of U2's lyrics, hidden behind an electronic, rocking sound. There really isn't much to say other than: listen to it.

I took my inspiration for this not only from the song, but also Bono's alter ego the Fly. "Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief, all kill their inspiration and sing about their grief" is probably the most significant line in the whole song for me, so that did influence me a lot.

Products I used:
China Glaze Liquid Leather
A England Perceval
A England Merlin
+ tape and topcoat

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Until The End Of The World

Happy Wednesday, lovelies! Sorry, it's not a pink one this time around. This will hopefully go up while I'm at work (with a bloody boring manicure at that, boo!).

Until The End Of The World

"in my dream I was drowning my sorrows, but my sorrows they learned to swim"

Until The End Of The World, the first (U2) song I was ever truly obsessed with. There's absolutely no way to put into words the things this song makes me feel. It always makes me think of the T.S. Eliot line "this is the way the world ends".

My main inspiration for this mani came from the lines "we ate the food, we drank the wine / everybody having a good time / except you / you were talking about the end of the world" and "I took the money / I spiked your drink / you miss too much these days if you stop to think".

Let me tell you, so much went wrong here. Polish was too sheer or too dark or didn't dry or dried too quickly. And despite all of that, I think this is my favourite mani so far. It's a little ambiguous, I suppose, but so is the song and I think just spelling it out would be boring. Anyway, what do you guys think? :)

Products I used:
China Glaze Liquid Leather
Models Own Grace Green
MAC Immortal Gold
a england Merlin
Catrice Marilyn & Me
Essence Make It Golden
OPI Midnight In Moscow
Essie Sand Tropez
Illamasqua Kink
Dior Rock Coat (this has been my best friend for these manis!)
Essence Matt Top Coat
+ artist brushes, Nubar quick dry drops and regular top coat

A England Tristam

Hello lovelies!

It's Thursday, which means the week is nearly over! I can't wait for it to end. It hasn't been fun sitting around at home being ill. Blah. But today the sun came out for a bit and I took it as a sign to put on something holo. I just knew I had to put on the stunning A England Tristam. It instantly made me feel better, as I knew it would. <3

Tristam is a stunning deep blue holo. As with the other A England holo, Lady of the Lake, the holographic effect is subtle and elegant, but definitely there. In the sun it's impossible to look away from - even my dad was fascinated ;) I love how this looks with pale skin (again with my skin looking weird and darker than it is in pictures...).

On top of being a beauty, the formula on Tristam is flawless. Let me say that again: the formula is flawless. (It's pretty much a one coater, but I did two out of habit.) I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this polish. In fact, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about A England in general. Except maybe for this: I think I'm spoiled for life. I'll always compare other polish to A England from now on. ;)

What do you guys think? Did you take advantage of the free shipping A England has yet? What's your go-to feel good polish?

A England Galahad

Hello lovelies!

Today I have another beautiful A England polish to show you. This was the first one I ever wore - it just spoke to me. So much that I reached for it before any of the holos or shimmers or other stunning colours. And let me tell you, there was a reason.

Galahad is a gorgeous turquoise creme. I'm not sure what it is about this polish, but I think it might be my favourite A England polish yet. I adore the way this looks with my complexion (my skin always looks darker than it is in pictures, so you can't really tell here, but this looks stunning against pale skin).

This is two easy coats, but if I hadn't been taking pictures I would have gone with just one coat. While a little on the thick side, it is super easy to apply. It's honestly one of the best cremes I've ever used.

What do you guys think about this polish? Do you own any A England polishes? Which is your favourite?

A England Lady of the Lake

Hello lovelies!

I apologize for my lack of posting, but hopefully this little gem makes up for it. :)

When I was in England at the beginning of July I was fortunate enough to meet Adina, the heart and soul behind A England, a fairly new nail polish brand. Adina is an absolute sweetheart, as is her gorgeous kitten Tristam, and her polishes are some of the best I've ever tried. To top it all off, her polishes are inspired by the Arthurian legend. Needless to say, I've fallen in love.

Lady of the Lake is a stunning purple holo. The holo effect is subtle and elegant and simply perfect for its namesake. Not only is the polish beautiful, but the formula is wonderful as well. I loved the brush, too. I did two easy coats for this. (I did use topcoat in these pictures, but if you're patient enough to let the polish dry on its own, you won't need it. It's crazy shiny.)

Isn't she a stunner? <3

I have a few other A England polishes to show you and I can tell you, they're just as beautiful as the Lady. :)

Have a lovely day, everyone!