Wet'n'Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire

Hello lovelies! I hope you're all having a good Sunday! I've spent mine doing absolutely nothing so far. Work was crazy yesterday, I really needed some relaxation. I'm also glad I still have some swatches to post, because work killed my hands and nails. I've got all these cuts and scrapes from opening crates and boxes. :(

Since yesterday was Achtung Baby's birthday and thus the last day of my nail art project, we're back to regular polish posting! Today I've got for you Wet'n'Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire.

This was four coats, no topcoat. It's quite sheer, but buildable. I only wish the holo would have been stronger!

That's it from me for today. Hope you all had a good weekend!

14 Days Of Achtung Baby: Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

Hello lovelies! Apologies for how late I'm posting this. I hope you guys aren't tired of this series yet...

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

"you're an accident waiting to happen"

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, the song that means nothing and everything whenever I listen to it. I honestly don't know what this song signifies for me. It's beautiful, though, and I can only recommend giving it a listen to hear for yourself.

This one gave me the most trouble so far inspiration-wise. In the end I decided to take my inspiration from the lines "you're a piece of glass left there on the beach", "the hunter will sin for your ivory skin" and "who's gonna drown in your blue sea?". I quite like the end result: simple, but meaningful. :)

Products I used:
BB Couture for Men Hades
Essie Sand Tropez
China Glaze Sea Spray
China Glaze Golden Enchantment
Essence Time For Romance
Essence Matt Topcoat
+ artist brushes and white striper polish

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

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?

Nubar Night Sparkle

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're all enjoying your Sundays! Personally, I hate Sundays even more than Mondays. I'm always too busy being grumpy about having to work the next day to enjoy them. lol

Anyhow. Today's polish is one of the few Nubar polishes I own and so far my favourite.

Night Sparkle is a midnight blue jelly base with a ton of fine silver glitter in it. Isn't it stunning? The name is so fitting, in my opinion. It really reminds me of a star-strewn night sky, cosmos, supernovas...how could I not love this?!

I needed three coats for full opacity, which isn't too surprising for a jelly, even if it's a dark one. (Remember to wrap your tips with both polish and topcoat to avoid shrinkage!) I thought the formula was on the thin side, bordering on runny, but still manageable. Also, drying time seemed to be quite short.

One thing to watch out for: smurf nails! I did use a basecoat, but my nails were still quite stained. By now (two polish applications later) the blue is gone, though. :)

But here's the really awesome thing about this polish: it wears insanely well. I'm such a chaotic, clumsy idiot that polish usually chips in the first 24 hours on me, but this one didn't have any chips when I removed it after two days. Can you say awesome?

On a different note, I'm currently experimenting with nail shapes. Right now I'm sporting round nubbins (as seen above). I'm liking my nubbins these days, but maybe that's because I don't really have a choice. Work basically kills my nails every time. :( But it's been fun to see how different colours look on short nails! What do you guys think? Do the nubbins suit me or should I go back to long nails asap?

NOPI That Go-Glitter

Hello lovelies! Happy Friday! :)

Today's polish is another one I picked up while I was in Canada. This was my first ever experience with Nicole by OPI and I sincerely hope it's uphill from here.

That Go-Glitter is blue and silver holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. What you are looking at here are six coats. It is crazy sheer and, if I'm completely honest, that sixth coat didn't even do much. As you can see in the pictures, the glitter isn't completely evenly distributed. Not pretty. It was probably meant for layering, but if you look at the bottle it looks like glitter in a blue base, hence my putting it on alone.

Needless to say, this took for-effing-ever to dry. I was super excited about this polish, but I'm not loving it at all. :(

Maybe I'll try layering it over something. I feel like I should give it a second chance. Doesn't it just look super pretty in the bottle?

Does this ever happen to you: buying a polish expecting one thing and then you apply it and it's completely different? Any suggestions how to make this one work?

NOTD: Misslyn Atlantis

Hello lovelies!

Today I'll be showing you a Misslyn polish, which is a brand I hadn't tried before.

Atlantis is a blue-purple (blurple?!) shimmer base with fine blue and silver glitter thrown in, giving it an appearance somewhere between a shimmer and a foil. When you start applying it you notice very quickly that the silver 'glitter' is actually made up of teeny tiny flakies. <3 I don't know if you can see them, but there are some larger flakies on my index, middle and ring finger. They're sparse, but still visible enough to make this a unique and gorgeous polish.

Application was easy; I needed two coats for full opacity. They don't show up on the pictures, but in person you can see very faint brushstrokes. They're not too noticeable, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I'm not too big on purple polish, to be honest, but this one is unique enough to excite me. <3 What do you guys think?

OPI Last Friday Night

Hello lovelies! Happy Saturday!

Today's polish is OPI Last Friday Night. I picked this up back when the Katy Perry collection was finally released in Austria, painted my mom's nails with it once, but never wore it myself. I always loved the polish, but something kept me from wearing it. What a pity, because this is one gorgeous polish!

Isn't that stunning? It reminds me of mermaids and light reflected on water. <3 I used four-ish coats of Last Friday night, because my nails are super stained and sheer polish is not an option. Application was easy, though the polish was a bit on the thick side.

That's it from me. Short and sweet for a change. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Swatches & Review: Nubar Indigo Illusion

Hello beauties!

I'm very, very tired today and the heat is really messing with my body so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking today.

This was my first time using Nubar and I am super impressed. I am craving Peacock Feathers, but this one's pretty freaking awesome too. <3

This is two coats of Indigo Illusion, plus topcoat. I hope I managed to capture most of the faces of this polish. The blue was shy, but you can sorta see it in the last pic. I hope. At any rate, this is one of the most gorgeous duo/multichromes I own. Totally love it. <3

Like I said, very tired. So that's it from me for today!

Swatches & Review: Color Club Otherworldly

Hello lacquered lovelies!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I got another polish from Color Club's Starry Temptress collection: Otherworldly. After wearing Ultra-Astral I was really excited for it and I wasn't the only one. My mom has been loving nail polish lately as well and agreed to let me take a picture of her nails when she wore Otherworldly.

Otherworldly is a medium blue and, like Ultra-Astral, the holographic glitter in this is not sparkly. The polish looks more turquoise in this picture than it actually is.

 Application wasn't too great on this. It was thick and goopy and there was a bit of dragging going on. This needed three coats for opacity and drying time was alright. This acted more like a matte than Ultra-Astral did, meaning it started drying before the nail was covered, making application a bit difficult.

I think it's a gorgeous colour and I'm still totally digging the non-sparkly glitter, but application was a bit of a pain. I'll be adding some polish thinner before I use this again and see if that helps.

I'd like to thank my lovely mom for lending me her nails and being excited that I'll post them on my blog. :D

Edit: My mom just showed me her nails and the polish has chipped and peeled off on almost every nail. This is a little over 24 hours after application, even with topcoat. Not sure what happened there, just letting you guys know!

NOTD: Glitter Accent Nail

Hello lovelies!

Today's post should probably be titled FOTD (FAIL Of The Day). I saw the lovely Kirsten from Glitta Gloves do a glitter accent nail and I loved it so much I wanted to replicate the look. Except that I failed rather spectacularly.

I don't know whether the polishes, my unsteady hands, the lack of sleep or my headache are to blame. Possibly all.

For this I did all my nails with China Glaze Light As Air, which needed three coats and was pretty thick and draggy but at the same time runny and hard to control. Drying time was abysmal on this. Looking at my nails now, over six hours after application, they're a bumpy, dentable mess. Do any of you have that same problem with Light As Air?

Anyway, I applied a coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry and then used Essence Troy (a purple, blue and silver glitter) on my ring finger. I wanted some more colour in there so I applied a thin coat of Models Own Emerald City (emerald green glitter) which was too dense for my liking. So I applied another coat of Troy. Then I added topcoat to make it smooth.

I don't know. I think what makes me dislike this mani is that a) I loved Kirsten's mani sooo much and am super disappointed in myself that I couldn't make it work. And b) Light As Air was just such a frustrating mess. :/

Ugh. I really want to get rid of this mani, but I'm so tired and not in the mood to remove it. Blargh.

What do you guys think? Terrible fail or just not as good as I'd wanted it to be?

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

Review & Swatches: Essence Hello Holo worn over p2 Who Cares?

Before I say anything, just so you guys know, it's 4AM where I am and I'm kinda sick, so I might not be making as much sense as I currently think I am. :P

Today I have for you another one of the Essence Special Effect topcoats: Hello Holo.

[Feel free to skip straight to the pictures, but here's a little story about buying this baby. I picked it up and, as I always do, looked at the name and read Hello Hello instead of Hello Holo. As some of you (you know who you are) may know I love U2 and the chorus of their song Vertigo starts with "hello hello"...... Long story short, I got excited, sung to myself in the middle of a store and was horribly disappointed to discover the lack of U2 connection when I got home. So much that this has been standing around untried for weeks.]

This is one coat of Hello Holo over two coats of p2 Who Cares and a coat of topcoat to make it smooth and shiny.

Firstly, these pictures do not do this mani justice. Let me say that again, they do not do this mani justice. It looks really dull and well, non-holo here. Hello Holo is tons of hex holographic glitter suspended in a clear base and, let me tell you, it is insanely holo. Even in the lamplight it's crazy. I couldn't stop staring at my nails. I love the combination of the minty, pale blue of Who Cares? and the silver holo glitter. When the light caught it right it looked like snow in the sunlight. On an LSD trip. (Or at least what I imagine snow in sunlight must look like when you're on LSD.)

This is making me crave holo polishes. I wasn't really impressed by them until I had this on my nails. Now I want the real deal. (I'm extraordinarily good at only getting into things after they're long over. *facepalm*)

Like I said with Mystic Mermaid, the other Special Effect topcoat I've tried, this wore extremely well. The pics were taken on the thrid day of wear and there's no tipwear to speak of and only one minuscule chip on my right pointer (and that was from opening a can with my bloody fingernail). Really impressed.

I'd also like to say that I just saw I've reached 10 followers, which honestly boggles my mind. I mean, I've been blogging for barely one and a half months and people are actually reading my blog? That's. That's just crazy. Thanks guys. <3

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!

Comparison: Models Own Blooboo vs Eyeko Pastel Polish

Hello lovelies! I hope everybody had a good weekend!

Today I bring you a quick comparison between Eyeko's Pastel Polish and Models Own Blooboo, which looked extremely similar in the bottle (they even have the same shimmer!).

From index to pinkie this is: Eyeko Pastel Polish, Models Own Blooboo, Eyeko Pastel Polish, Models Own Blooboo. These are all two coats, no base or top coat.

These are actually more different in person. As you can see, Pastel Polish is much paler than Blooboo and the shimmer that's visible in the bottle actually shows up beautifully. Blooboo also strikes me as a bit more of an aqua colour in comparison in person. Both are really pretty and the finishes are different enough to warrant getting both, imo.

Swatches&Review: Models Own Blooboo, Nyla Nude & Concrete Mixer

Models Own has recently released six new colours and these three caught my eye. They arrived this morning and I couldn't wait to swatch them. Really excited to show you these!

I took two pictures of each polish; one inside in indirect sunlight and one outside in direct sunlight.

Blooboo is a gorgeous light blue cream. It has this beautiful blue shimmer in the bottle, but sadly it doesn't show up on the nail at all. It's also a bit darker/brighter than it appears in the bottle. It's a bit thick, but not uncomfortably so. I did experience a bit of bubbling with this one, but that's what you get for dropping the bottle. Loving this colour!

Nyla Nude is a fleshy, peachy nude cream. I am absolutely in love with this one. Finally a peachy nude that suits my skin tone! Again, a bit of bubbling caused by accidentally shaking the bottle (i.e. being clumsy and dropping them all).

Concrete Mixer is a light grey with green-brown undertones. Sort of murky. Muted, but not a pastel. It's a very strange colour. But when have I ever not loved strange? Meaning, I adore this colour with every fibre of my being and am actually wearing it right now. Who cares what you'd call this colour; it's super beautiful. And it makes me think "posh!" and want to speak with a British accent. What's not to love? (Except for my terrible British accent.) Definitely my favourite of the bunch!

These were all two coats of polish, no base or top coat. The formula on all of these was very good and easy to work with. I found that, while Blooboo was a little on the thick side and Concrete Mixer a little on the thin side, Nyla Nude was right in the middle. However, I didn't have any trouble with any of them. As I've come to expect from Models Own creams, these were perfectly opaque in two coats.

You can order these and other colours for £5.00 here.