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

Pink Wednesday: Kiko 237

Hello lovelies! :)

I hope you're all having a good week so far. I'm still stuck at home, ill. Ugh. Anyhow. It's Wednesday, and you all know what that means...

This is one of the Kiko polishes I made my dad bring back from Barcelona (isn't he awesome? :D) and I freaking love it. It's got the number 237 (am I the only one who hates when polishes have no names? I could look it up on the website, but I'm too lazy.) and it's one of their "sparkle touch" ones. I think these were meant for layering, because they are very sheer, but I wanted to try and wear this on its own.

I started out with a base of two coats of OPI Ridge Filler, then I added three coats of Kiko 237. Application was alright: I really like the Kiko brushes, but the formula was definitely on the thin and runny side. One thing I did notice was that drying time was insanely long on this. I ended up adding a second coat of Seche Vite after a couple of hours, which solved the problem. (This reminds me... I had the same problem with that one scented Revlon polish. I'm wondering if it's because of the Ridge Filler? Anybody else experience something like this?)

Enough talking. Here's the pretty!

Do I really need to explain why this is awesomesauce? The multicoloured sparkles, the way it lights up in sunlight, the way it's a bit of a chameleon (going from pale to bright), the gold that makes it look like it's on fire.... Such a beauty. <3 I can't wait to layer with this!

What do you lovelies think? Do you own any Kiko polishes? Are you wearing pink today? :)

Pink Wednesday: OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia

Hello lovelies!

Once again I apologize for not posting; I've had a lot going on. Without further ado, here is today's pretty.

 (Excuse the state of my cuticles.)

OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia is one of the beauties I snatched up while I was in Canada. It is, as the name suggests, a fuchsia shimmer. I'm not sure if it really comes across in the pictures, but this does have a fun, albeit subtle, blue-purple-ish duochrome-esque flash. Neat little feature.

I needed two coats for full opacity; application was smooth and easy.

That's it from me for today! What are you wearing on your tips today?

One more question: would you guys be interested in seeing what brands I have to show you and then vote which ones you'd like to see first?

Pink Wednesday: Zoya Anthea

Hello lovelies!

I know it's still Wednesday somewhere in the world and you know what that means...

I'm tired today, so this is going to be short and sweet. :)

Anthea is a gorgeous coral-leaning pink with subtle gold shimmer. It's slightly darker in real life, but no less gorgeous. This is two easy coats plus topcoat. I wouldn't have added the second coat if I hadn't been taking pictures.

That's it from me for today. What are you wearing on your tips today? :)

Pink Wednesday: glitter sandwich!

Hello lovelies! Happy Pink Wednesday!

I've been busy packing and preparing stuff today, because I'm leaving for London tomorrow, which I'm really excited about. I adore London and I'm really looking forward to spending time with the lovely Christina and meeting Adina from aengland. :) Unfortunately this also means I'll not be around for a while, as I come back on the fourth and leave again for Canada on the sixth. Super excited, but no time for blogging. Boo. I've scheduled a few posts, so the blog won't be completely quiet, but I won't be active again until the 18th. Just a heads-up. :)

This Wednesday's mani is another glitter sandwich. For this I started out with one coat of Essence Roy's Red and layered a coat each of China Glaze Bad Kitty and China Glaze Golden Enchantment over it. Then I added two coats of OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold 'Em. In person this was much more hot pink than it looks in these pics.

Looking back I think I should have only done one coat of THPTHE, but meh. It's still nice. *shrugs*

Sorry about the shadow on my pinky in that last pic. :(

So, that's it from me for now. See y'all after my vacation! :)

Essie Big Bag Theory

Hello lovelies!

It's gonna be another short post from me today, because I have to get up at 5am tomorrow and should at least pretend to sleep for a few hours. D:

Today's polish is Essie Big Bag Theory. I'm wearing two coats + topcoat in the pictures. Application was a breeze. Whatever you may say, Essie have the best reds and pinks, formula wise.

I love reds like this. It's got a lot of pink in it, but to me it's still more of a corally red than anything else. But whatever it is, it's a lovely colour. <3

That's it from me. I hope you're all going to have a great weekend. I might not be around, but I hope to get some more posts up before I leave for vacation next week.

On a completely different note, who else wishes they were at Glasto right now?

Holographic Pink Wednesday!

Hello lovelies.

Firstly, let me apologize for disappearing for a few days, but my allergies have been getting the better of me. Hopefully the new meds will take care of it. :) Also, this Pink Wednesday post is somewhat late, but I'm sure it's still Wednesday for at least a few hours somewhere in the world.

Today's polish is Nubar Prize which is a gorgeous berry pink holo. I really tried to capture the holo-ness, but it just wouldn't show up on camera. Take my word for it, this is crazy holo. I used three coats and a coat of Seche Vite which didn't dull the holo effect at all. I'm wondering if topcoat actually dulls the holo or if this is just something people keep reading and started to believe?

Anyhow. On to the pretty!

Even blurred, my camera doesn't really capture the holo. :( Still, it's a really beautiful polish. <3

That's it from me for today! I hope you're all doing well!

Edit: I just saw that I reached 51 followers in my absence and I just want to thank you guys for reading my blog. I'm still pleasantly surprised anyone's interested. :)

Pink Wednesday: more glitter layering!

Hello lovelies!

All my Pink Wednesday manis seem to be some variation of glitter over pink polish. Meh. I just suck at nail art and I don't own very many pinks, so I usually resort to spicing them up with glitters so I can pull them out again to use in another combo should I run out of new pinks. Not very exciting, but there you go.

Anyhow. I ended up really liking this mani, so I hope you'll enjoy it too despite its lack of originality. <3

Doesn't the blurriness make it look even more awesome?

I cannot stop looking at my nails. I'm absolutely fascinated and amazed by what happened. I was all OH LET'S SLAP SOME GLITTER ON THIS and then this happened. I am in love. <3

For this mani I used one coat of China Glaze Snow Globe (UH-MAY-ZING) over two coats of MAC Steamy (I admit it, I snorted at the name). I really wasn't expecting anything remotely mind-blowing, but boy did this mani turn out pretty. :) The pictures really aren't doing it justice. It looks like my nails are jewel encrusted. And on fire. And possibly tripping on LSD.

Ahem. Yes, I am currently having a love affair with my nails. :D

What are you guys wearing on your nails today?

Pink Wednesday: Essence Roy's Red + Color Club Starry Temptress Topcoat

Hello lovelies!

I apologize for the lack of posting, but I've been feeling a bit low lately. I had a bad migraine today, so the Pink Wednesday post is late. Apologies. <3

For this I used two coats of Essence Roy's Red and two coats of Color Club's Starry Temptress topcoat on my ring fingers. Simple, but I like it. :)

[inside and under artificial light. my skin looks seriously weird in this one.]

[outside and in the last bit of fading light. This is much more colour accurate but still not quite it.]

[blurry pic to show the sparkles. Didn't turn out as planned, but I still like it lol.]

Roy's Red simply would not photograph colour accurately. Imagine it as a slightly lighter and somewhat brighter version of Catrice Raspberry Fields Forever. Which probably doesn't help you much either, because that one didn't photograph properly either. -__-

Anyway. That's it from me for today. Short and sweet for a change!

Did you wear pink today?

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!

Pink Wednesday: glitter layering!

Happy Wednesday, lovelies!

The weather hasn't been cooperating lately. Last week when I was in Vienna it was hot and sunny every single day and the day I got back home it started raining. Is the universe trying to tell me something? :D

Anyhow. Here's my Pink Wednesday mani for this week. I actually really liked how it turned out except that it was like two inches thick and would not effing dry. Thankfully all the glitter concealed the dents perfectly. :) Also, I apologize about the tipwear.

This is three coats of Anny Upper East Side Chick (don't hold me to that...), a coat of Paris Memories 254 and a coat of China Glaze Bad Kitty. I have been loving Paris Memories lately; they have some seriously awesome glitters.

That's it for my Pink Wednesday mani. I hope you liked it and let me know what you're wearing on your nails today in the comments!

Pink Wednesday: Catrice Miss Piggy Reloaded

Happy Wednesday, lovelies! I hope your week has been good thus far. <3

This week's Pink Wednesday is yet another Catrice polish. I recently bought this one and that's probably the only reason I used it instead of one of the older pinks from my stash.

Miss Piggy Reloaded is a cotton candy pink pastel that I like surprisingly much on me. There's some pretty sparkle in there and small flakies! Mmmm, flakies. <3 I know they're not very visible in these pictures or even in the bottle, but on the nail they show up pretty well. Maybe if you enlarge the first picture you might be able to see them.

I did need three thick coats to get this nice and even, but the formula was still decent. I like how squishy this looks. Yum.

I really like this one. It's not a polish I'd reach for very often, but the flakies make it awesome. :D

Are you rocking your pink today?

Pink Wednesday: Catrice Raspberry Fields Forever

Hello lovelies!

I'm sorry I haven't been around to post or comment or reply to anything, but my messed up sleep habits are getting the better of me. I didn't really want to unleash my sleep-deprived mind on you guys (R = best letter ever. <3) so I just stayed away. Besides, today is the first day with some actual sunlight!

So, let me say right away, I had to cut my nails and now they're super short. I cut them for several reasons and it had to be done, but I am so deeply unhappy with them. I'm back to being thirteen and embarrassed about my tiny nails and weird thumbs. :(

Raspberry Fields Forever is a bright, hot pink creme. The colour totally freaked my camera out. It's not darker per se, just...deeper. If that makes sense. (Which it most likely doesn't. I need sleep.) Two coats plus topcoat, application was a breeze.

That's it from me, pretties. I'm going to get some shopping done and try to stay awake until at least this afternoon. Wish me luck getting around to actually sleeping at night!

Swatches & Review: China Glaze Chiaroscuro

Happy Sunday, lacquered lovelies!

Today I have for you China Glaze Chiaroscuro, which is a nude-ish, peachy, slightly frosty shimmer. Oh yay, everything I usually hate thrown into a single polish! Right? WRONG. It is awesome, ladies. Trust me. I saw this on another blog - I'm not sure who posted it, if it was you, please let me know and I'll link to your post! - and I just knew I had to have it.

First two pictures were taken inside, the other two in sunlight.

Let me say this straight away: These pictures do not do the polish justice. Chiaroscuro is a warm, peachy, golden shimmer. It's slightly frosty, but not too much. Now, none of this sounds very interesting, does it? However, this has the most awesome green duochrome. It is stunning. Also, this seems like a bit of a chameleon to me; here it looks mostly peach, but in low light it looks almost mauve-y.

I think this is as close as I'll ever get to wearing nude polish.

Formula was okay on this. It's a little bit thin and runny and I did need three coats to get it opaque (You could still see VNL at certain angles, but not enough to bother me). Then again, I think this is actually intended to be worn sheer. It did take quite a qhile to dry, even with Seche Vite on top.

That's it from me for today; I managed to hurt my shoulder/back yesterday so I'll just do some more relaxing.

Swatches & Review: OPI Pirates Of The Caribean: On Stranger Tides Collection

Good morning, lovelies!

Today I have for you the OPI Pirates Of The Caribean: On Stranger Tides collection. I know you're probably sick of seeing swatches of these already, but I was so, so excited for this collection and when my polishes arrived they did not disappoint.

I've loved PotC from the get-go and it's no secret that I effing adore pastels. Especially if they're of the murky, weird kind. <3 I bought the whole collection mostly for the sake of well, having it, since I wanted to get five of the six shades anyway. Which brings us to the fun part...

There's a total of six polishes in the collection (and the silver shatter, which I did not get); I used three thin coats for all of them, but you should be good to go with two medium coats. Pictures are 1. indoors (in the shade) and 2. outdoors (in direct sunlight).

Also, I apologize for my cuticles looking more ragged with every picture. They're being bitchy these days. :( (And why are my hands so red lately? Me no like.)

Sparrow Me The Drama (heh. I'm such a sucker for bad puns.) is a dusty pink creme. It's like someone put a splash of grey in a boring pastel pink and made it awesome. (That's pretty much how all of these look to me. Like your average pastels with a splash of grey. Love.) This was the one I didn't want to get judging from promo pics and swatches on other blogs. I got it because I wanted to have the complete collection and because the name made me giggle. I didn't expect to like this, but I do. I'm not crazy about it, but I like how it looks on me and that's it not your regular pink pastel. Also, application was amazingly smooth.

Planks A Lot is a dusty purple creme. The first picture makes this look way too blue; the actual colour is much closer to the second picture. I like this, but not as much as I thought I would. It kinda reminds me of Milka purple though. :D This was a little on the thin side, but application was still a breeze.

Mermaid's Tears is a milky, dusty jade creme. This is such a beautiful colour. It really makes me thinks of mermaids and the name is super sweet too. I'm absolutely in love. (What a surprise.) With this one there was a little bit of streakiness and dragging, but as you can see at three thin coats this leveled out nicely.

Stranger Tides, the namesake of the collection, is a greyed out avocado creme. Is it avocado? Maybe more pistachio. Honestly, I have no clue what to call this colour, but it's amazing. It reminds me of moss at the bottom of a rock pool and waves crashing against a cliffside and the rough sea. This is my favourite of the collection, hands down. Application was a breeze.

Skull & Glossbones is a... Again, no clue what to call this colour. It's a grey, off-white, putty sort of colour. The name fits, because it does look a lot like glossy bones. I'm absolutely in love with this one as well. Maybe not the most unique colour, but I think it's awesome. Application was surprisingly smooth and easy.

 Steady As She Rose is a very pale pink creme that, at least on me, has a distinct lavender undertone. I hadn't seen the trailer for the movie yet when I first saw the promo pics and the first swatches of this, so I didn't realize this was probably supposed to be a pun on the "steady as she goes" thing. What this made me think of - still makes me think of - is that scene in Greek mythology where Aphrodite rises from the sea. Honestly, I much prefer my interpretation. :) This was a tiny bit streaky, but leveled out nicely. This is the only polish I photographed with topcoat, because I wore this for my full mani.

In conclusion, I am much impressed by this collection. These all applied beautifully, which surprised me a lot considering they're pastels. If you're into these kinds of colours I'd definitely consider picking them up even if you dislike the movies.

I know a lot of people don't think this fits with the theme of pirates, but I think OPI did an awesome job forgoing the obvious choice of colours and choosing the more muted ones. I think this ties in nicely with the sea/mystical/mythical theme of the movie.

I do have one complaint... Why is none of the polishes named after Barbossa??????? *sad face* ;)