All You Desire

CND Brigitte

2011-11-29T07:41:00.000-08:00

This polish reminds me of pudding or something like that :) I like the colour but I think that it does not look very pretty with my skintone. This polish is not mine but I was happy to have the chance to try it out. Like the majority of CND cremes this applied flawlessly in two coats.

Essie Braziliant

2011-11-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

I will have some serious swatching in the following weeks so I took a few days off now. I don´t want it to be something I don´t want to do, I want my blog to be fun. Today I want to show you a Essie Braziliant which is a beautiful bright (but not neon) orange with very dense shimmer. I don´t wear orange polishes very often and when I do I always take Illamasqua Gamma, which is my favourite, but this is pretty too. Have a great Sunday!

OPI DS Bold versus China Glaze Mrs. Claus

2011-11-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

So here is the promised comparison and a almost dupe to OPI DS Bold (B). It is China Glaze Mrs. Claus (MC) from last year´s holiday collection. What a nice cheap alternative, isn´t it? I used three coats for both of these.

OPI DS Bold

2011-11-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

One of the two new OPI DS polishes. I like this one less also because I found an almost dupe (which is cheaper) which I will show you tomorrow. Anyway it is a nice glitter, no holo. I did three coats for the picture.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

China Glaze Urban Night

2011-11-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

Urban Night is from the fall collection called Metro. I love it! It is an amazing polish in terms of formula and colour. It is a super glossy creme that applied like a dream. I must get my hands on a bottle for myself because this one is not mine.

Sally Hansen Moisturizing Polish Remover

2011-11-20T03:21:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show you the nail polish remover that I have been using lately. I am already on my fourth bottle and I will keep on using it. I like it for five simple reasons:

It is cheap
I can buy it in my local drugstore
It doesn´t have that nail polish remover smell
It doesn´t dry my cuticles
It removes polish well

I also took a picture of the ingredients. Yes it does contain acetone but that is what I was going for. With all the swatching I have to do I need something effective. And although it does contain acetone it does not dry my cuticles which is a big plus. I am sure you don´t want to see ugly cuticles on my macro pictures.

I am not saying this is the best nail polish remover out there. But we have limited possibilities of what nail polish remover to buy in my country. If I would be a normal nail polish user I would maybe go for something more expensive but I use tons of nail polish remover and don´t print money, so this is my choice and I am really happy with it.

Still I would love to know what nail polish remover works the best for you?

Illamasqua Competition to support the Sophie Lancaster Foundation

2011-11-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday 26th November would have been Sophie's 25th birthday.

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation aims to Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere [their fantastic website and Facebook page will tell you more]

The aims and objectives of the Charity are as follows:

To create a lasting legacy to Sophie.
To provide educational group-works that will challenge the prejudice and intolerance towards people from alternative subcultures.
To campaign to have the UK Hate Crime legislation extended to include people from “alternative subcultures” or “Lifestyle and Dress”
To work in conjunction with politicians and police forces to ensure individuals who are part of subcultures are protected by the law.

In honour of Sophie's birthday and to mark support for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, Illamasqua is hosting an internationally open competition to win a selection of cult pieces from the Illamasqua collection, including Medium Pencil in Sophie, Pure Pigment in Zeitgeist, Nail Varnish in Unnatural, Intense Lipgloss in Repulse, False Eye Lashes in no.21 and a S.O.P.H.I.E wristband.

And best of all, there will be FIVE winners! The competition is open until Midnight GMT Sunday 27th November [T&C's can be found at the link below].

www.illamasqua.com/sophiecompetition/

Catrice Looking Sunkissed from the Bohemia Collection

2011-11-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

Looking Sunkissed is not mine. Sadly I didn´t buy it when I had the chance and now I really regret it. It is such a beautiful bright shimmer red (perfect for the upcoming Christmas season)! It is a bit on the thick side but still no problems with the application. I love the Catrice brush, it is short and wide and makes the application flawless. I used two coats on these pictures but it covers almost in one. When I return it to its owner, I will have only these pictures to look at :) What do you think?

Misa Hip To My Jive Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-11-18T03:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Blogger just ate all my text to this post so I will make it really short, because I don´t have the patience to write it again. Here is the fall collection from Misa called Hip To My Jive:

Misa says: "Misa Cosmetics’ fall collection, Hip to My Jive, will have you flipping out over shades that hearken back to the decade of old-school cool while ensuring that your nails remain of-the-moment. The ’50s brought us TV dinners, cruising in chrome-accented automobiles, and poodle skirts at the malt shop, but now they bring forth six retro-inspired hues that’ll knock your socks off!

PEACHY KEEN
More beige than peach but still a nice work safe colour. Subtle shimmer. Two coats.

POP THE CLUTCH

A bit thicker that is why my swatch looks messy. Two coats.

GO FOR PINKS

Nice innocent pink creme. Two coats.

GOT IT MADE IN THE SHADE

My least favourite but you know I don´t like greens much. Two coats.

BOP TILL YOU DROP

A coral with very small golden flecks. Two coats.

CATCH A FLICK

My favourite. There is never enough of mints! Two coats.

Overall the collection had great formula, didn´t have any major problems. However I am not super excited about the colours in the collection. They are not ugly, not at all but just not very special for me. That is just my personal taste, I know about a lot of girls who love exactly these kind of colours (my mother is one of them). I still have more to show you from Misa, so stay tuned!

What do you think about the collection?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Wet n Wild Believe Me It´s Real

2011-11-15T03:44:00.000-08:00

I would say something different. I would say...believe me it´s really so pretty! This polish is so amazing. I am in love with the new WnW collection and regret I don´t have more of these. I used this over a dark purple creme and I used just one coat. I want to wear this for at least a week. The combination of blue, turquoise and purple is breathtaking.

And one more picture just because it is so amazing. I want to hear what you think about this polish. And if you have the change to get these then hurry to your local store and get them!

CND Girlie Pink

2011-11-12T02:21:00.000-08:00

I don´t normally wear such pinks but this is my NOTD. The formula on this one is not as perfect as I am used to with CND. Most of their cremes are amazing quality. This is streaky and I had to use three coats to get an even application. Hope you have a great weekend! I am feeling much better...

Nicole By OPI Snow-man Of My Dreams

2011-11-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

The last of the glitters from the Nicole By OPI Holiday collection is so much fun! As you can see from the close-up it is packed with different coloured glitter. I used two coats for these pictures but maybe three would be even better. I really like this one!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI My Sleigh´s In The Shop

2011-11-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Not only do I have so little time lately, but now I am also sick. So I just want to show you this beautiful glitter and off to bed with litres of tea! This is two coats on the pictures.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Color Club Foiled 2011 Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-11-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

The latest collection from Color Club I have for you is the Foiled Collection. Sorry for such a brief post, I have very little time but wanted to show you the collection. I think the pictures speak for themselves. If you have any questions write them in the comments. Here are the six shiny polishes:

PERFECT MOL-TEN
Light green foil. Two coats.

ANTIQUATED

This is pretty...kind of work-safe but not boring. I did two coats.

COLD METAL

This is my favourite of the collection. I have it on as a full mani as I am typing this text. It was surprisingly close to other blues in my collection. I showed you in this comparison. The good thing about Cold Metal is that it does not stain and covers in one coat! Perfectness.

HOT LIKE LAVA

My second favourite. Not very much like lava but still very pretty. One coat here again. I love such polishes!

FOIL ME ONCE

A lighter pink. This was two coats.

LUMIN-ICECENT

This is so icy, looks very cold and I am sure it will be a great polish for winter. Two coats.

That was the Foiled Collection from Color Club. All the polishes applied very easily, had very good coverage and formula. I am very happy that Color Club made Cold metal, it is one of my favourite blues.

What do you think about the collection? I can´t wait to hear your thoughts!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI Glitter In My Stocking

2011-11-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

Glitter in My Stocking is another glitter (obviously) from this year´s Holiday collection. It is mainly gold with some red and also very very pretty. This was so easy to apply, the small glitter spreads evenly and covers in two coats only. Again I used a top coat for this swatch.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI Orna-ment For Each Other Holiday 2011

2011-11-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

Nicole By OPI is releasing two Holiday collections this year. The first one consists of four glitter polishes and I thought it would be nice to make a post about each separately. I will start with my favourite. I have to say that the combination of red and gold is very festive. The glitter is very fine and applies easily. You can do two thick coats, I used three normal for this swatch. I think it is just beautiful, don´t you? The glitter dries a bit dull, so I used a top coat for the swatch.

P.S. This year it will be really hard to decide on what to wear for Christmas Eve.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Wet n Wild Back Alley Deals

2011-11-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

Today I want to show you my NOTD. I am wearing one coat of Wet n Wild Back Alley Deals over a black creme. This glitter is crazy and awesome and I LOVE it! In fact the whole collection is absolutely beautiful. Of course if you don´t like glitter polishes you should pass this but if you like them, I think it is a must have. And it is cheap too! My first Wet n Wild polish.

China Glaze Blue Year´s Eve versus OPI Swimsuit Nailed It! versus Color Club Cold Metal

2011-11-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

When you look at these polishes in their bottles you would not guess they are so close as on the nail. Therefore I hope this little comparison helps you. I compared China Glaze Blue Year´s Eve (BYE), OPI Swimsuit Nailed It! (SNI) and Color Club Cold Metal (CM). All three are two coats on the pictures. No dupes here but they are close. Don´t ask me which is my favourite, because I love them all!

SpaRitual Solstice versus Orly Glitz & Glamour

2011-11-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

I have so little time lately and so much I want to show you. I will try to post more often, but will write less, I think the pictures do all the talking anyway :) This is a comparison of SpaRitual Solstice (S) and Orly Glitz & Glamour (GG). For me they are dupes. Both are two coats.

Illamasqua Wayard

2011-10-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

Need something positive for those dark and rainy autumn days? I think Illamasqua Wayard is just perfect for that. It is a true bright yellow creme. The best thing about it is the formula. Yellows are usually hard to apply, but not this one. I have two coats on the pictures.

Sparitual Twinkle kolekce pro zimu 2011

2011-10-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

Today´s post will be only in Czech but please feel free to ask me anything in the comments

Před několika dny jsem vám ukázala větší část podzimní kolekce Sparitual. Dnes pro vás mám zimní kolekci této značky. Jeden lak mi teda chybí, ale třeba ho časem taky doplním. Je to odstín Shooting Star, nad jehož fotkami docela slintám. I zbytek kolekce je ale velmi povedený, takže tady jsou:

BLUE MOON
Začnu hned mým favoritem celé kolekce. Blue Moon už v lahvičce vypadá velmi originálně. Je to nádherná tmavší sytě modrá. Co se mi na něm líbí jsou ty miniaturní šupinečky, které jsou fialové až bronzovo růžové. Skvěle se lakoval, dvě vrstvy bohatě stačily.

ILLUMINATION
Tak tenhle lak je určitě lepší používat na vrstvení. Pokud byste ho chtěli plně krycí, tak by to bylo tak na pět vrstev. Na fotce jsou tři. Já ho teda úplně vidím na Blue Moon!

SOLSTICE
Tak tomuhle se říká pořádná zlatá. Takových laků moc není. Vlastně napadá mě Orly Glitz & Glamour, se kterým určitě udělám v nejbližší době srovnání. Tohle je podle mě dokonalá zlatá na Vánoce nebo na vánoční večírky. To pak ani nejsou potřeba žádné šperky, nehty se stanou doplňekem samy o sobě. Na obrázku jsou dvě vrstvy.

BREAK OF DAWN
Další lak s miniaturníma šupinkama...stačí se podívat na detailní fotku a vidíte jakými barvami tenhle lak hraje. Dobrá zpráva je, že rozhodně nezapadá mezi skupinku laků, s kterými OPI v poslední době přišlo. Dvě vrstvy.

TWILIGHT
Já vím, já vím...určitě si říkáte: "to je nuda." Taky jsem si myslela, když jsem tenhle lak viděla v lahvičce, že takových už několik mám. Omyl! Nic podobného jsem nenašla. Navíc skvěle kryje. Stačila by jedna větší vrstva, já použila dvě. Moc příjemné překvapení.

Tak to je nabídka Sparitualu pro letošní zimu. Jediný lak, který mě zas až tak neoslovil je Illumination, ale jinak jsou všechny nádherné a většinu jsem už několik dní nosila. Kdybych si ale měla vybrat jediného favorita, tak to bude určitě Blue Moon, ten lak je dokonalý!

S lakama se mi pracovalo dokonce lépe než s podzimní kolekcí. Až na Illumination jsou všechny krycí ve dvou vrstvách, nepruhují, jsou tak akorát husté.

Máte už některý z nich doma nebo si na nějaký brousíte zuby? Určitě mi napiště!

Laky z téhle kolekce je možné zakoupit zde.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Ulta Blue Streak

2011-10-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

I got this beauty from the lovely Jessika from Polish Insomniac. Blue Sreak is a beautiful medium blue creme. This is my first Ulta polish and I like it a lot. The formula was ok, not the best but not a problem to work with. It covers in two coats. I like the Ulta brush, makes the polish easy to work with. I also got two purples, I will show you these later. Thank you so much Jessika!

Illamasqua Hemlock versus CND Emerald Shimmer

2011-10-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day when the Illamasqua Freak fragrance launches and together with it some other products. I already showed you the Nail Varnish in Hemlock (H) here. I know many of you were thinking how close it is to another beautiful layering polish CND Emerald Shimmer (ES). So to help you decide I did this comparison. I used one coat of both over a simple black creme. As you can already see from the bottles these are very different. CND is a green shimmer, on the other hand Hemlock is more milky, it is like a veil and has more gold in it. You can use Hemlock on its own, it covers in three, four coats but you can´t do that with CND. For me they are both beautiful. If you love green or layering I think you can have both...

Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish - Swatches and Review

2011-10-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

I am sure you all already know that Illamasqua is releasing a new fragrance in a few days. I absolutely love the images that were made for the release of Freak. They are purple and there are octopuses, which I think are amazingly beautiful animals. But it is not only Freak what is new from Illamasqua!

Illamasqua says: "To celebrate the launch of the Freak fragrance, we have created three limited edition make-up pieces, each inspired by the exotic blooms that make up its intoxicating scent. Embracing the mysterious history of its namesake, Poison Hemlock, is hardwearing new Nail Varnish in Hemlock."

In the bottle Hemlock is an iridescent green with a bit of pink, which shows only in the bottle. On the nail you can see mostly green, in the sun it turns more golden. It is just so pretty! As expected the formula was great, no streaks (honestly, I wouldn´t expect anything else from Illamasqua). For full coverage I think you would need four coats, I used three on the picture below and it is almost opaque. I was surprised about how much I liked it even alone...I could actually really wear this:

But I still think that all the fun starts when you layer Hemlock over creme polishes. I have been playing with different combinations all day long, there are endless possibilities, but here are some of the ones I like most.

So I tried Hemlock...

...over Illamasqua Boosh
Black is always the best way to show the full beauty of layering polishes. This combination was actually used for the Freak images!

...over Illamasqua Scorch
White is also a great polish for layering and I think that Hemlock makes it look very elegant. It looks like pearls to me.

...over Illamasqua Nudge
Nudge is already beautiful on its own but with Hemlock its is absolutely stunning! This might be my favourite combination so far.

...over Illamasqua Force
Hemlock changes the colour of Force from blue to more purple.

...over Illamasqua Jo´Mina
You know I love Jo´Mina, there is no other polish like it. I actually had it on when Hemlock arrived so it was the first polish I tried it on. I think this is a beautiful combination....they remind me of the images for Freak.

I love Hemlock and I love to play with it...I could do tons of other combinations and I am sure all of them would look great. I don´t like green polishes much but green layering polishes are beautiful. I promise to show you more combinations with Hemlock soon...or you could just let me know what would you like to see and I will make a post about that.

You can pre-order Hemlock already here. As all Illamasqua Nail Varnishes it costs £13.50. Hemlock, Freak and the other products will be available on the 20th October, so that is just two more days!

What do you think about Hemlock and will you be buying Freak? Let me know...

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Jan

2011-10-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today I want to show you Illamasqua Jan...a dusty pink creme. Perfect coverage in two coats. Formula was amazing, just like most of the Illamasqua polishes. A great colour when you are in the mood for pink but not those girly or too bright ones. I like it and I also like its violet brother Velocity :)

I also wanted to thank all of you who voted in my little poll. Nice to know that the majority (83%) of you find the close-up pictures I do helpful. So glad to hear that and you have my word that I will keep on doing them, although they are additional work. I want to show you the polishes in the best possible way.

Sparitual Wilde kolekce pro podzim 2011

2011-10-14T03:02:00.000-07:00

Today´s post will be only in Czech but please feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

Dnes trochu opráším češtinu, abych vám představila nádhernou podzimní kolekci od Sparitual. Laky téhle značky jsem vám už v minulosti ukázala, ale přece jen jsem jí nevěnovala tolik prostoru, kolik si zaslouží. Přiznám se, že jsem vůbec nevěděla, že Sparitual už má i své české zastoupení. O tom jsem se dozvěděla až na letošní Interbeauty výstavě. A to dokonce zastoupení tak pokrokové, že fandí bloggerům, i když tahle praxe je u nás ještě v plenkách. Nejdřív teda malé představení Sparitual laků a troška teorie:

"Sparitual barevné laky jsou určeny pro přirozené nehty. Celá jejich stavba je veganská: neobsahují žádné komponenty, které by mohly negativně ovlivnit kondici či zdraví nehtu nebo přilehlých tkání. Deklarovaná absence plastifkátorů a syntetických pigmentů zcela změnila konstrukci laků tak, aby zůstaly zachovány požadavky na stálobarevnost, pevnost, trvanlivost a pružnost. Laky jsou bez di-butyl ftalátů, bez toluenu a formaldehydu, formaldehydové pryskyřice."

Dnes vám chci ukázat čtyři laky z nové podzimní kolekce Wilde. Mám z ní čtyři kousky, dvě miniaturky (5ml) a dvě klasická balení (15ml), takže mám aspoň možnost srovnání. Naštěstí jsou miniaturky použitelné, stejně jako mini laky od sesterské značky Orly (ale třeba takové OPI miniaturky jsou podle mě za trest a nemám je ráda). Další věc, co mají Sparitual laky společného s Orly je pogumovaný uzávěr, na který nedám dopustit. Je to sice maličkost, ale hned se s lakem líp pracuje. Tady teda jsou:

RHYTHM OF LIFE
Nádherná emeraldově zelená, trošku s nádechem do tyrkysova. Klidně bych si ho uměla představit i na Vánoce, jako takovou netradiční alternativu ke všem těm klasickým zeleným. Na obrázku jsou dvě vrstvy, možná by to chtělo ještě třetí. Lakoval se skvěle.

INSTINCT
Tak na tenhle jsem se tešila ze všeho nejvíc! Sice mám doma asi tak milion fialových, ale dobrou fialovou nikdy nepohrdnu. A tahle je opravdu krásná, moc se mi líbí ten fialový a růžový shimmer, co má. Je to dobře vidět, na tom velkém přiblížení. Jednu věc bych mu ale přece jen vytkla. Trošku hůř se s ním pracuje, na fotce jsou dvě vrstvy. Třetí by byla potřeba, aby zakryla trošku nerovnoměrné krytí.

HOWL
Howl je hodně tmavě hnědý, připomíná mi kafe. Co je na tomhle laku nejhezčí je ten bronzový shimmer, který pořádně vynikne teprve na sluníčku (na fotce je vidět hlavně v lahvičce). Dvě vrstvy.

SPIRIT CHILD
Tohle je další favorit. V lahvičce mi ta barva připomíná psí víno na podzim...když zčervená a sluníčko mu dodá zlatavý nádech. Když se nalakuje, tak chytne trošku do růžova, ale jen nepatrně. Každopádně ze všech čtyř tenhle kryl nejlépe. Skoro by stačila jedna silnější vsrstva. Já jsem nalakovala dvě. Aplikoval se bez sebemenších problémů.

Jak vidíte, tohle není typická kolekce letošního podzimu...žádné krémovky, žádné tlumené barvy, jako jsme měly možnost vidět u ostatních značek. Je to docela příjemná změna, já mám shimmer laky moc ráda. Navíc ty barvy jsou nádherné a kolekce má i fialovou, takže co víc bych si mohla přát? Škoda jen, že vám teď nemůžu ještě ukázat Sacred Ground, který je taky velmi povedený. Slibuju ale, že se tady v nejbližších dnech objeví!
Sparitual si tedy můžete koupit už i u nás a to tady. Klasická velikost stojí 240kč, mini laky pak 125Kč.
Už se těším na vaše komentáře...jak se vám kolekce líbí a co říkáte na značku Sparitual? Nějaké oblíbené barvy?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

China Glaze Let It Snow Holiday 2011 Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-10-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Those of you, who follow me on facebook already knew this review was coming. The first Holiday collection of this year I am reviewing is from China Glaze and I am glad for that, because China Glaze makes amazing Holiday collections! I promise you that you will not be disappointed. It is a big collection of twelve shades and it has all you want for Christmas: red, green, glitter, gold, silver...Let´s have a look at them one by one:

VELVET BOW

A rich dark red creme. Really looks like luxury velvet. Makes me feel cosy :) Two coats.

WINTER BERRY
A beautiful berry red. As you can see the nail line is visible with two coats, so three would be perfect.

POINSETTIA
I love this bright red creme, perfect for Christmas! This is a bit jelly like. It applied like a dream. This is two coats.

RING IN THE RED

This looks like red glitter magic in the bottle. I think I will be wearing this the whole December, it is so festive. However I did not manage to capture its full beauty. You just have to believe me that it is even more beautiful than on my pictures. This is three coats on the picture, covers well. You can also try it on a red creme.

TWINKLE LIGHTS
Green and red glitter but most of all gold. This is crazy under artificial light, so another great polish for those long winter nights! I didn´t want to take it off :) Three coats. It will be a perfect layering polish too.

CHAMPAGNE BUBBLES

Bright yellow gold with silver glitter. Very unique and great for those Christmas parties. Three coats.

BLUE YEAR´S EVE

This blue is everywhere now and I am so glad because I love this colour. I am so happy China Glaze came out with this one, there is never enough of such shades. There is even purple in the bottle, sadly it does not transfer on the nail. I will be making a comparison with this one for sure. Two coats.

GLITTERING GARLAND
The only time of the year when I wear green and actually like it is Christmas. One of my favourite greens ever is China Glaze Emerald Sparkle! China Glaze can make beautiful greens. This one is also very pretty, just look at the detail. Two coats.

HOLLY DAY
Darker green creme. It looks absolutely flawless. I am sure all of the green lovers out there will love this one. Two coats.

TINSEL TOWN
Another beauty that I found nothing similar to. I love the hexagonal glitter in this. Covers very well in two coats.

ICICLE
A basic silver, that everyone should have in their collection. Nothing unique though. Two coats.

SNOW GLOBE
Snow Globe is a re-promote. It is round holo glitter in a clear base. On this picture I am showing you only one coat over other polishes from this collection. I like it best over Blue Year´s Eve. This is definitely a layering polish, you would have to go nuts if you would try to make it opaque on its own.

This collection just screams Christmas, it is perfect. There are so many different colours and finishes to choose from that you can´t go wrong. If I wouldn´t have so many polishes at home already I wouldn´t hesitate to buy the whole collection :) The formula on most of these was perfect, I had no problems with these. Just wish Snow Globe would be easier to work with, I want more of that beautiful glitter without having to apply three coats. If I would have to choose a favourite it would be Ring In The Red. It is such an amazing red glitter which can be worn on its own. But as I said there are more shades I love here.

What are your thoughts? I would also love to hear your ideas for possible comparisons :)

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI Target Exclusives for Fall 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-10-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I have a cute little collection for you from Nicole By OPI. There are only four polishes but they all look great and are perfect for fall!

GREEN UP YOUR ACT
A muted medium green creme. I already showed you a comparison with this one here. Seems like these colours are very popular this fall. Two coats.

IT´S NOT ME, IT´S BLUE

To understand the full beauty of this polish you have to look at the close-up pictures. It is packed with shimmer and very small flecks of glitter. The base colour is a darker silvery grey, but you can also see some pink and purple inside! Very special. Two coats again.

I LOVE YOU CHERRY MUCH

So many beautiful reds came out this year that I will not know which to wear! This is one of them. It might remind you of OPI Love Is A Racket and indeed they do look very close in the bottle. Might do a comparison if you would like :) Two coats.

SOUNDS GRAPE TO ME

I saved the best for the end. This one is my favourite. It reminds me of OPI Tease-y Does It but it isn´t so dark. It is a perfect fall colour and I am so happy to have it. Two coats.

Overall a cute little collection where none of the polishes would be something I wouldn´t wear. As I said my favourite is Sounds Grape To Me. I have to say that all the polishes look a bit better than my pictures show them, I didn´t have a very good light and also the Nicole By OPI bottles are so hard to hold for the swatches, so please excuse that :)

As always I would love to hear your thoughts on this collection!

P.S. thanks to all who are voting in my small little poll, this is so important for me. Thank you!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Mint Green Comparison

2011-10-07T02:56:00.000-07:00

The fall collection from Color Club came with another mint green polish so I think it is time for a little comparison. I love these colours and as I already said, there is never enough! I think every nail polish lover should have at least one...and if you still haven´t found the right one maybe this comparison will help you. So what I compared is: OPI Mermaid´s Tears (MT), Nicole By OPI My Lifesaver (ML), Orly Gumrop (G), Color Club New Bohemian (NB), Illamasqua Nudge (N) and Eyeko Vintage Polish (VP). All of them are two coats on the pictures, I didn´t have any serious application problems with any of these, only Eyeko is much more watery than the rest.

And which one is my favourite? I think it is still Gumdrop, I just love this shade so so much, it is such a classic! When I am in the mood for something more blue I reach for Illamasqua Nudge, which is also beautiful. And if you want something else, you should try the dusty mint OPI Mermaid Tears.

Which one would you choose? Let me know!

Illamasqua Raindrops

2011-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

I love the idea behind this polish and the picture that was its inspiration. Raindrops on a window on a grey rainy day. I actually like these days but when I am at home with a cup of tea and a delicious cake :) Whenever I look at Illamasqua Raindrops it reminds me of such days. The colour is a light grey with flecks of silver. It is beautiful! But it is not perfect...sadly this polish covers in four, five coats. Something I did not experience with any other Illamasqua polish...depends on you, how much you like it :)

Color Club Back To Boho Fall 2011 Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-10-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

I got these yesterday and I couldn´t wait to share them with you! Today is the first day that actually has fall weather, so it is just in time for this beautiful collection from Color Club. There are twelve polishes divided into two sets as usual. The first six swatches are the A and the rest is the B set. Here they are:

NOMADIC IN NUDE

A perfect beige that goes well with my skin tone. This is a great work-safe colour. Two coats.

EARTHY ANGEL

On the other hand, this colour does not go well with my skin tone. It looked nice in the bottle but not on my nails. Two coats.

NEW BOHEMIAN

I love these minty greens, never enough of them. This is nothing new though. I might do a comparison if you would like to. The formula was a bit thicker than on the rest and I had some streaks so don´t do very thick coats otherwise you might have some application problems. Nothing serious though. Two coats.

SHABBY DRAB

A dusty light periwinkle. Beautiful shade. Two coats.

RAD NOMAD

Love! This is one of my favourites! I don´t know why but I fell in love with these kinds of colours lately. They are absolutely perfect for fall. I also loved the formula on this one, it was just perfect. Two coats.

RED-ICAL GYPSY

A darker bloody red. Not that kind of bright reds that we see in winter collections. Great coverage. Two coats.

BOHO MOJO

For me the problem child of the collection. The colour is pretty but that is about everything. The brushstrokes are so visible, no matter how hard I tried to apply the polish carefully. Three coats.

NOUVEAU VINTAGE

Another beauty that makes up for the previous one :) I would describe it as a red toned bronze with green shimmer, but I think it is the best if you look at the close-up picture (talking about that I have a little poll in the top right corner, would love to know what you think). I don´t think I have anything like this in my nail polish collection. Very special polish and absolutely perfect for fall. Two coats.

VOODOO YOU DO

Another winner for me. Looks beautiful on nails. Two coats.

ARTSY CRAFTY

A dark green but not so much to look like black.Two coats.

BLUE-TOPIA

Beautiful dark blue jelly. It looks almost black most of the time. What is great about this one is its formula and coverage. It is perfect. However I have to warn you that it does stain, so remove carefully. Two coats.

REBEL SPIRIT

This looked black to me in the bottle but one you apply it on the nail you see the brown base. I think this is my darkest brown polish. Two coats again.

I don´t know why but I seem to underestimate a lot of collections lately. They don´t appeal to me from the promo pictures but once I have the chance to try them out I totally change my opinion. This collection is the same case. Of course even after swatching them I know that it is not super unique but I don´t mind at all. It is a typical fall collection with some amazing shades that I already fell in love with. I also want to point out the great formula which was on most of these. I had problems only with Boho Mojo and that is also the only three coater of the collection. My favourites are Noveau Vintage, Rad Nomad, Blue-Topia and New Bohemian. Which are yours and what are your thoughts about this collection? Would love to hear!

If you have any comparison requests, please feel free to write them in the comments.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Catrice Forbidden Apple

2011-10-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

I have another Catrice polish for you today. This one is not mine, I just have it to try out. The polish itself is great, covers well. It is a bit thicker, but there was no problem in application. The only thing I don´t get is the name...it doesn´t look like an apple to me. There is a lot of pink to the red base. Anyway a very pretty colour and if you can get your hands on Catrice polishes I recommend this one.

OPI Silver Shatter

2011-10-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

This picture is actually my NOTD. I love the combination of white or silver with blue so here is how I used the Silver Shatter. Under it I used OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! It is one of my favourite blues now. I think they work great together:

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Catrice Yes, You Tan! from the Bohemia Collection

2011-10-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

Catrice has a new limited edition called Bohemia. It will is available from September to October. The colours of the collection are blue, red orange and brown (as you can see on the above picture). I liked all the polishes but they were not that special for me to buy them. So I thought I would try at least Yes, You Tan! This polish is a warm brown with golden shimmer. Perfect for fall isn´t it? Two coats on the pictures and I had no problems with the formula. I liked the brush...reminds me of Nicole By OPI brushes. It is wide, flat and a bit rounded at the end.

OPI Get In The Expresso Lane versus OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys

2011-10-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Blanche loves OPI and brown, so she asked me to compare these two polishes to help her decide about which one to buy. So here is OPI Get In The Expresso Lane (GITEL) and OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys (SLC). I think the difference is obvious from my pictures. Just have a look at how unevenly they can apply if you don´t use thicker coats. I used two on the pictures but three would have been better. I hope this helps you, Blanche! :)

CND Emerald Shimmer

2011-09-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

One day I want to have all of the CND Effects. I love them so much. My latest is CND Emerald Shimmer which I bought at a beauty exhibition. Like all the other effect shimmers it is amazing. You need just one coat, it covers evenly. On the pictures I used it over one coat of CND Ink.

It is most beautiful in the sun or under artificial light, so here is one little picture of how it looks in direct sunlight:

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! US Open - Review and Swatches

2011-09-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

The last Serena Williams set. I will miss them. I found some really amazing polishes in these sets. The US Open duo is one of the best. Have a look:

LOVE IS A RACKET

A beautiful bright mix of flakies and some glitter. I used two coats. Three would be better as you can see.

OPI PROS & BRONZE

Too bad I didn´t have this polish for summer but it will be great for fall too. This is truly amazing. There is gold, copper and pink glitter mixed together. The result is super shiny awesomeness. Two coats. I really like this one.

As I sad, this was the final set. I was very happy about OPI collaborating with Serena as I love such mini collections coming out. If I would have to choose a favourite from all the sets it would definitely be Grape Set Match!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Morale Blush from the Theatre of Nameless Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-09-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

Morale was a love at first sight for me. This is my first Illamasqua Blush and only makes me ask myself why haven´t I tried their blushes before? The packaging is larger than I am used to. I like all Illamasqua packaging, this one is no exception. The blush is 4.5g, which will last forever. Morale and Ambition are the first two shimmer finish blushes. Let´s have a closer look at Morale:

The colour is described as a rosed flush. The shimmer is very fine and I can see some gold in the pan:

Now the best thing about the blush is how easy it is to use. It is very well pigmented so you need just a very small amount. It blends well and stays all day long. I haven´t been wearing anything else for the last week! It really depends on you how much you use and what look you want to achieve. Just have a look at these swatches:

I love pink blushes and honestly this is one of the best I tried. Now I just have to figure out which other Illamasqua blushes to try. Any ideas? What are your favourites?

Illamasqua blushes retail £16.50 and are available here.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nubar Violet Sparkle

2011-09-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

I don´t have many Nubar polishes but the ones I have are amazing. Violet Sparkle is from the Sparkle collection from last year. For me one of the best Nubar collections ever. The glitter is great, it covers perfectly in three coats and all the colours of the collection are amazing! But for me this one is the best. Well...of course...it is a purple. I didn´t use a top coat for this swatch but when I wear these, I always use one. Might be my new favourite glitter purple. What do you think?

this circusi call mylife

2011-09-22T19:53:00.001-07:00

this circusi call mylife

Orly It´s Up To Blue

2011-09-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

One of the polishes I bought at the Interbeauty exhibition. But this colour is not new to me, I already have it in a mini version. In fact I have a very close relationship with it as it was one of my very first polishes. For me, the colour is perfect. I love it so much. However there are some things that could be better...the formula is thin, you need three coats. On the pictures brushstrokes are also visible but not so much in person. Well anyway I forgive this polish all its imperfections and I still love to use it. What about you? Do you have any polishes that remind you of something and you like them more than others?

Nicole By OPI Green Up Your Act versus Finger Paints Vintage Velvet

2011-09-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who loves colours like these and when she saw these two she asked me for a comparison :) So here it is...a very quick one. I am comparing Nicole By OPI Green Up Your Act (GUYA) and Finger Paints Vintage Velvet (VV). Both are two coats. I think the pictures speak for themselves :)

Essie Neo Whimsical

2011-09-18T02:13:00.000-07:00

I borrowed this Essie polish from my sister to show you. She loves these light pinks, I don´t much but this one is nice. Essie Neo Whimsical is a bit tricky to take pictures of. In some lights it will appear more pink than on my swatches and in some it will look like this. The hint of violet shows up more here. I like it more this way so this is why I am showing you these pictures. Formula was not bad but I had to use three coats. Hope you have a great Sunday!

OPI It´s My Year versus OPI Rally Pretty Pink versus Zoya Faye

2011-09-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Three beautiful foils for a little comparison today. You wanted to see the differences between OPI It´s My Year (IMY), OPI Rally Pretty Pink (RPP) and Zoya Faye (F). As you can see the last two are very very close, might even call them dupes. On the other hand IMY is a bit different. Depends on you which base colour you like more. On these swatches I used two coats on each so that you can see the differences in opacity. Hope this post helps :)

Eyeko Big Eyes Mascara Review

2011-09-17T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have this mascara for about three months now, so I thought I could share my thoughts with you. Starting with the packaging. The Eyeko Big Eyes Masraca comes in a silver tube, so that you can squeeze the product. Good idea but still I just like the classic mascara packaging more. The brush is also different to what I am used to. It is a spiral. Here is a detail:

Now here are my pictures. I just have to warn you. You have to work carefully with this mascara as the brush tends to pick way more of the product than needed. You can very easily end up with huge clumps and spider lashes. Especially when the mascara is new, I recommend to wipe of the brush a bit before you apply the mascara. Here is what it looks like on my lashes:

NO MASCARA

ONE COAT

TWO COATS

My pictures are without any changes. This is the way the mascara applies. As you can see it adds mostly volume and some length. No matter how hard you will try this mascara is not for a natural look. But if you are looking for big lashes I think you should give it a try. I think it does make very nice lashes but you have to be careful not to use too much product and a lash comb will be useful too. This mascara is easy to remove with warm water and then finish up with a eye makeup remover.

I don´t think this mascara is for everyone but I like to use it for my party makeup when I want some volume on my lashes. However looks like it was discontinued as I didn't find it on the official Eyeko website. Looks like they have three new mascaras.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Touring America Fall 2011 Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-09-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today I have for you the main OPI Collection for this fall. The Touring America collection is already available in stores. I had the polishes for a while too but I have mixed feelings about the collection so wanted to wear the shades before I post my review. Here are my swatches, my thoughts after :)

ARE WE THERE YET?
A melon orange shimmer. Two coats here.

A-TAUPE THE SPACE NEEDLE

When I swatched this I thought two coats are fine, but now looking at the pictures I think three could have been better. This is really not my type of color, you know :)

COLOR TO DINER FOR

This is my favourite shimmer of the collection. OPI makes some of the best reds I have ever seen so whenever there is a red in the collection I like it. Just remember last fall and Color So Hot It Berns! I so much love that shade. This was two coats.

FRENCH QUARTER FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

There are two greys in this collection. This is a true medium grey. Two coats.

GET IN THE EXPRESSO LANE

A dark brown creme. It is not too dark to look black. Two coats.

HONK IF YOU LOVE OPI

Beautiful dark red purple. Again not too dark to be black. One of my favourites. Two coats again.

I BRAKE FOR MANICURES

This polish is my favourite of the whole collection. I love the name, the color and most of all its formula. This one was just perfect. Two coats and absolute love!

I EAT MAINELY LOBSTER

Coral with tiny gold shimmer. Three coats.

MY ADDRESS IS "HOLLYWOOD"

Dusty pink. Not really my type. I like more bright and neon pinks. Three coats.

ROAD HOUSE BLUES

Oh I love the dark cremes in this collection. This is another pretty one. Two coats.

SUZI TAKES THE WHEEL

The second grey of the collection, this time with a hint of green. I had some problems with this one. It was a bit more watery than the rest. Two coats.

UH-OH ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW

This has a funny name but I don´t like the color. Two coats.

My overall thoughts? This collection has both...colors which I don´t like and would never wear and also amazing dark cremes that I really love. The formula was good but I have seen better in previous OPI collections. I know it must be hard to come up with amazing and breathtaking collections every year (and OPI already did some great collections this year...I loved the Miss Universe, Blue Shatter and others). I absolutely loved the Swiss collection from last year. It had several colours that I love to wear all year round. This year I will be rocking the four dark cremes, the shimmers are not very much my taste except Color To Diner For which is pretty and my least favourite are the greens and greys. But yet again, that is with every collection. I am not a green lover.

What are your thoughts about this collection?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Nudge

2011-09-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

This is what I am wearing right now. I love Nudge! It is so creamy, I want to eat my nails. No wonder Illamasqua describes this shade as a mint ice-cream. I have two coats on the pictures and I really like this. I also wanted to ask you. Now that I have all the Illamasqua Nail Varnishes...is there any shade you would like to see? Or is it just fine when I post about them randomly from time to time? Let me know.

Illamasqua Masquara in Raven

2011-09-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

I already showed you four new Nail Varnishes from the new Illamasqua collection. But there are also some very exciting make up products that I would like to show you. I got the chance to also try the new mascara and the Precision Ink. I also want to buy the new blush in Morale, so that will appear here one day too.

So today it is about the new mascara called Masquara. Love the name. The shade Raven is a true deep black.

This is what Illamasqua says about the Masquara: "If the eyes are the windows of the soul, our new Masquara in Raven (midnight black) reveals a heart of darkness with a new formula that lengthens, defines and dramatises lashes to extremes."

This type of mascara is exactly something for me. Most of the time I wear more dramatic eyes and only nude lips. I like to experiment with colours on my eyes. As you can see on the picture below the brush is quite large:

I will now let the pictures do the talking and show you how the Masquara looks applied on. Please bear in mind that I am a nail polish blogger so excuse all the imperfections :)

WITHOUT MASQUARA

ONE COAT

TWO COATS

I have been wearing the Masquara for over one week every day now. As you can see it adds length and some volume to the lashes. You just have to be careful not to apply to much of the products but I think this will get better after a few days of use when a bit of the product dries out. What I really like about it is its staying power. It stays all day long and really is smudge proof. Overall I think this will not become my favourite mascara but it definitely is one of the better I tried.

Masquara is already available on the Illamasqua website. You can buy it here for £15.00.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

CND Pink Wishes Effects - three different ways

2011-09-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

I got a lot of requests from you, my lovely readers, lately. I just wanted to let you know that I am working on them, so please be patient with me :) You also wanted to see the new CND effect (my swatches of the whole set here) on darker colours. For this post I chose a simple black creme to show you how the Pink Wishes Effects looks. I used just one coat here. As you can see it looks more purple than pink. It is quite similar to the Violet Shimmer Effect.

I wanted to play with this a bit more so I reached for my Konad...which I haven´t used for ages! My favourite plate M63 is used here. I loved the way this looked. It doesn't scream I stamped my nails but is very pretty.

And instead of putting a classic glossy top coat on top, I reached for a mattifying top coat from ManGlaze called Matte-Astrophe. This is my favourite of all these three looks. I love it and I am wearing it as a full mani now :)

So what do you think of Pink Wishes over black? Do you like it or is it better as a very subtle shimmer on a light pink creme?

Four Seasons Nail Fortifier (Posilovač nehtů)

2011-09-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I changed my base coat and I wanted to let you know what product I am currently using. Sadly I think this product is available only in the Czech Republic. I didn't find it anywhere else. So this post is mainly for my Czech readers. I used to have Essie Protein Base Coat as my HG. Before it I tried a lot of base coats but I saw no results. The only problem with the Essie is the price and because I do my nails very often I used a lot of the product. So I started looking for something more affordable. Then I found this..

I am on my third bottle now and I must say I am very happy with this product. I feel it is even better for my nails than the Essie. I feel they are strong and much less stained. It has a very similar milky consistency too. The only thing Essie was better at was the drying time, it dried faster. I really recommend this to all my Czech readers. I already recommended this to a friend of mine, she had very weak and short nails. After one month she had them much longer and thanked me so much. She said her nails really are stronger. I was so glad to hear that. This stuff is great.

Below I also wrote the ingredients so that you can compare. I highlighted in green the ingredients that they have same. I am no chemist so please if you understand this let me know if there are any major differences.

Oh and the price? Essie costs CZK 310 ($18) and Four Seasons is CZK 40 ($2.3). Of course you can get the Essie cheaper from the states, I just wanted you to see the official prices on both.

Four Seasons Nail Fortifier ingredients: butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, phthalic anhydride, trimellitic anhydride, glycols copolymer, acetyl tributyl citrate, isopropyl alcohol, stearalkonium hectorite, citric acid, panthenol, hydrolyzed corn protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed soy protein

Essie Protein Base Coat ingredients: ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, isopropyl alcohol, dibutyl phthalate, toluenesulfonamide / formaldehyde resin, stearalkonium hectorite, camphor, titanium dioxide, talc, hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Prague Interbeauty 2011

2011-09-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the Prague Interbeauty exhibition. I already know that I can expect nothing exciting from these events in my country. I already know and often have at home collections which they call the latest. It is sometimes sad to see how everything comes so late to my country. Well I went there to at least buy some polishes and in this way I was successful.

Me and my friend Day (also a nail polish blogger) tried to ask the different brands if they cooperate with bloggers. This was just for fun, I was so curious about the reactions. You see bloggers and especially nail polish bloggers are not taken very seriously in my country. Well I don´t help that much too as I stopped blogging in Czech a long time ago. We got a very warm welcome at Sparitual. The girl there was very helpful, we talked for a while and it was very nice. On the other hand the woman at Essie was very funny. When I asked if they cooperate with bloggers, she just said " I don´t give nail polish for free!" I mean WTF? I never asked her for free nail polish! I know one thing for sure, I will never buy an Essie polish from the Czech representative. Oh and at the OPI stand I heard that Shatters are a huge hit right now in the States :)

But as I said the most important was nail polish shopping. Sadly I didn't buy anything from new collections :( Here is what I have:

CND Effects Emerald Shimmer (CZK 145, $8.5)

Nubar Night Sparkle (CZK 50, $3)

Nubar Violet Sparkle (CZK 50, $3)

OPI Russian Navy (CZK 135, $8)

Orly It´s Up To Blue (CZK 95, $5.5)

Orly Lunar Eclipse (CZK 95, $5.5)

Orly galaxy Girl (CZK 95, $5.5)

My nails at Illamasqua.com

2011-09-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Lately Illamasqua has been really improving their shop at illamasqua.com. When you want to buy an eyeshadow or a blush you can see actual swatches of the products on skin. I think this is very helpful. It saves you time. You don´t have to google everything up. Now Illamasqua comes with the same feature with their Nail Varnishes and I was so lucky to help them with it. I can not even describe how exciting it was to have the opportunity to swatch ALL the Illamasqua Nail Varnishes!

I tried really hard to make my pictures as color accurate as possible. I swatched some of them three times before I got the right picture but I loved the work. I hope that my swatches will help you with your decision. Illamasqua Nail Varnishes have exceptional quality, you can´t go wrong!

Let me know what you think? Will it help you? :)

Illamasqua Nail Varnishes cost £13.50 and you can buy them here.

OPI Let Me Entertain You v Congeniality Is My Middle Name v The One That Got Away

2011-09-08T02:19:00.000-07:00

Today a quick post about three OPI polishes that you wanted to see together. I used two coats on all of these so that you can see the differences in opacity. Some might have been better with three coats. Anyway, as you can see no dupes here. Let Me Entertain You (LMEY) has a different base color. Congeniality Is My Middle Name (CIMMN) and The One That Got Away (TOTGA) are quite similar but they have different formula. CIMMN is a jelly and has less sparkle. However I think there is no need to own both. Hope this was helpful :)

Illamasqua Milf

2011-09-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

I am still very excited about the new Illamasqua collection. I showed you my swatches a few days ago. This collection has a green that I can actually wear which doesn't happen so often. Another Illamasqua green which I like is Milf...a light minty green. I have two coats on the picture. What do you think about it? :)

OPI Miss Universe Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-09-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

The OPI Miss universe is little collection released recently. The Miss Universe competition will be held on the 12th of September and OPI was named its official nail care sponsor.

OPI says: "Pageant-pretty nail lacquers in the new Miss Universe by OPIpromotion give fingers and toes added glitz and glamour. Featuring four shades packed with shimmer and sparkle, these limited edition colors capture the energy of the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE® competition."

Here are my swatches of the four polishes:

CONGENIALITY IS MY MIDDLE NAME

This is a jelly berry with a lot of purple sparkle. The formula is very nice, it covers well in two coats. Just bear in mind that the sparkle tends to settle on the bottom of the bottle. Before applying the polish, give the bottle a good shake!

IT´S MY YEAR

Pink purple with sparkle. This shines a lot. I have two coats on.

SWIMSUIT...NAILED IT!

I am speechless. This is just such a perfect blue! It is so vibrant. Just look at the pictures...they are without flash or sun and the polish is so shiny! Full coverage in two coats. This is my favourite blue of this year...no doubt about that!

CROWN ME ALREADY

Silver glitter bomb. This has at least three different kinds of glitter. It covers in three coats but I think it would be better to use a silver foil under it. One of the most pretty silver glitters I have.

I have to admit that I don´t care about the idea behind this collection. I don´t watch these competitions and I think they are rather silly. But this nail polish collection is amazing and I love each and every one of these. I need to get a back-up bottle of Swimsuit...Nailed It! You might want to tell me that there other similar shades out there. But the combination of the wide OPI brush and this color is just one :)

What about you? How do you feel about this collection after seeing these swatches?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

CND Pink Wishes Colour & Effects Duo - Swatches and Review

2011-09-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

I am always excited when CND comes out with their small little collections. There is always one polish from the Colour range which is a creme and one Effect which is a shimmer or sparkle. Their latest duo is called Pink Wishes and it is a limited edition.

CND says: "Every October, people all over the world come together to celebrate and give strength to brave women fighting breast cancer. To embrace the spirit of unity, wear your pride on your fingers and toes with CND's Pink Wishes Colour & Effects Duo."

PINK WISHES COLOUR

This is a semi-sheer milky pink. Such an innocent color. The formula is a bit thinner on this one than I am used to from CND. When applying be careful not to use too thick layers as the polish tends to "pool" around your cuticles. This is three coats on the picture.

PINK WISHES EFFECT

The effect is pearlescent. It makes that hidden shimmer effect. That is why it is not very visible on my pictures but believe me, it looks much better in person. I love it.

Here is a macro shot of the bottle to give you a better idea of the effect:

I don´t wear light pink cremes much but with the effect I love the way this duo looks. I can´t wait to try the effect over other colours and over black. So tell me what you think of this nice cute little set?

Suggested retail price: $20.00 US / $25.00 Canada
Available for a limited time only in salons and professional beauty supply stores. For locations, visit cnd.com .

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Finger Paints Fall Fashionista Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-09-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to an end and it is time for some fall collections. I don´t like reviewing fall collections in July because I am not in the mood for fall colors at that time. So today I have for you the fall collection from Finger Paints called Fall Fashionista:

STUNNING STILETTOS

Is a light grey creme. Two coats.

TO - TELLY CHIC

This is a blue, a bit teal. I like shades like this a lot for fall and this had great formula plus it is a one coater.

CATWALK QUEEN

I don´t like these mustard kinds of yellow very much. But if you do, I recommend this shade because as the previous one it was a dream to apply and covers in one coat.

RASPBERRY TAFETTA

This is my favourite of the whole collection. The color is so rich! I love it. This is two coats.

VINTAGE VELVET

A grayish teal. These colors are popular this fall. Two coats.

MILITARY GREEN

This was a surprise of the collection for me. You know I don´t like greens much. There are only a few I can actually wear. But this one is interesting. Very pretty shade of green. Two coats here.

CORDUR ORANGE

This is a reddish orange. Any kind of orange is great for fall so this color just fits into the whole collection. And this is another one coater.

HAUTE TAUPE

Taupe will always be popular. I don´t know if you would be interested but I could do a little comparison with this :) Two coats.

PURPLE PINSTRIPE

Another favourite of mine. This grayish purple is so nice and I like the way my nails look with it. Two coats again.

I have to admit one thing...I underestimated this collection. Yes the colors are nothing that special. I mean we have seen most of these before. The creme finish is also everywhere this fall. But you know what I love about these? Their formula and opacity. When I will be in the mood for a typical fall creme I will for sure wear something from this collection. I totally love Raspberry Tafetta, Military Green and Purple Pinstripe. Fall Fashionista is a nice typical fall collection that I am sure everybody can choose from.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua rubber finish compared with matte and glossy

2011-09-01T03:36:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to read your thoughts and comments on my swatches of the new Illamasqua collection (in case you missed them click here). In this quick post I want to show you the finish of the new polishes side by side to matte and glossy nail polishes. For the comparison I chose Faux Pas because it is my personal favourite.

On the first picture is Faux Pas and some similar purple cremes but with a glossy finish. The difference is evident. Polishes in this comparison are China Glaze Grape Pop (GP), Illamsqua Faux Pas (FP), Zoya Mira (M) and Nicole By OPI I´m A Belieber (IAB).

You might think that adding a mattifying top coat (I used China Glaze Matte Magic on the picture below) would be close to the rubberised finish but it won´t. The Illamasqua finish is just something between matte and glossy. Based on my experience it also has much better staying power than matte polishes which chip easily. Oh and don´t forget that Faux Pas is a one coater!

Illamasqua Theatre Of The Nameless Collection Fall 2011 - Nail Varnishes: Swatches and Review

2011-08-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

I am always very excited about new collections from Illamasqua - a brand I fell in love with a long time ago. Illamasqua is exactly my cup of tea. It is edgy and very original. Every collection they come up with has a story behind. It is thought through and I love their pictures that come with the collection.

Theatre Of The Nameless, their new collection for this fall, is no exception. I am very excited that I can show you all four nail varnishes that are a part of this collection.

Illamasqua says: "Taking a lead from the colour-coded specialities of the Wittenberg Platz’s domineering Boot Girls, Illamasqua introduces confident new shades, in a brazen display of utter indulgence. The Theatre of the Nameless proudly parades a kinky new waxy “rubber-look” finish to Illamasqua’s hardwearing, chip-resistant Nail Varnish … "

The new rubber-look is similar to what we have seen with Illamasqua Scorn earlier this year. It is a satin finish somewhere between glossy and matte. Here are my swatches, you can read my overall thoughts at the end:

KINK
I had enough time to try all of these as a full mani and had each one of them a few days on. Yes I even had a green polish. And you know what? I liked it! Maybe it is the rubber finish...it makes it a bit different than anything else I have from the green family of nail polishes. Kink is described as a bottle green. The application on this one was flawless (I don´t have to say that, we are talking about Illamasqua here). I used two coats.

VICE

Vice is a deep cerise and absolutely perfect for fall. It also covers in two coats, but I used three on these pictures just to be sure.

FAUX PAS

My favourite...of course! It is a purple, a classic medium purple. On Faux Pas you can see the rubberized finish the best, just have a look at the detail. Faux Pas also had the best coverage from the set, if you use a thicker coat it covers in just one. I love that!

TAINT

Taint is my least favourite but I know some of you will love it. Still I love the finish it has. I didn't find anything like this in my nail polish collection. Illamasqua describes it as a stone brown.

Overall I am glad I don´t see any other glossy cremes as we have seen a lot of them this fall. I am glad that Illamasqua came with this rubberised finish. Not only are the nail polishes in this finish but also their caps! I love that and wish all polishes had rubberized caps...they are much easier to open and work with.

As I also already said the polishes have a great formula and are easy to work with. Most Illamasqua polishes I tried have exceptional quality and these are no exception. They have good coverage too. The drying time on these is a bit longer than you would expect from polishes with this finish. Once applied they are glossy and you have to wait for about 3 - 5 minutes for the effect to fully show. Compared with Scorn the drying time is a bit longer but still faster than a normal glossy creme.

I am also happy with the color choice. Glad there is a beautiful purple which I will be wearing a lot this fall! Overall a nice little collection with typical fall colors but with a different finish that we have seen from other brands.

P.S. Did I tell you how much I love the names of these?

I can´t wait to hear your thoughts so tell me what do you think about these? Any must haves?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Chanel Peridot - Review and Swatches

2011-08-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

I know you have already seen this polish a hundred times. If it is boring please wait for my next post :) For me this was the most expensive polish of this year so I will make this post worth it! Most times I can´t justify so much money for one polish. Well my local Sephora had a 20% sale so I couldn't wait longer and bought Chanel Peridot from this year´s fall collection. Here are my swatches:

Peridot is a beautiful duochrome of green and gold. It shines like crazy as you can see on my pictures which are without sun or flash. I still can´t believe I bought a green polish for so much money! Me? A purple lover that doesn't like green much :) But I just couldn't resist, it is gorgeous:

I love the way it changes depending on what angle you look at it...

I tried to find a dupe in my collection but already knew that I have nothing like this (which was one of the reasons why I justified the price for this polish). The closest I could get was China Glaze Peace On Earth (POE) but they are very different as you can see on this comparison:

I have to admit that I wasn't sure about this polish when I bought it and I was a bit scared I wouldn't like it. But the moment I painted it on my nails, I fell in love! What do you think about Peridot? Must have or a overhyped polish?

Nicole By OPI Red Texture

2011-08-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today a quick post about a red crackling polish from Nicole By OPI - Red Texture. As a base color I used a bright pink (Illamasqua Obsess). I think that these colors work very nice together. On the pictures I don´t have a top coat but if you wear this as a full mani, always use it :) Hope you have a great Sunday!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Yellow Neon Comparison

2011-08-26T03:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I showed you Illamasqua Rare - a perfect highlighter yellow! I said that it is the best I ever tried and as a proof I have this comparison for you today. On the picture you see Color Club Get Your Lem-on (GYL), Illamasqua Rare (R), China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (YPDB) and China Glaze Electric Pineapple (EP), which is not a neon, but I only have three :) I used three coats on all of these so that you can see how well they cover. Illamasqua is fully opaque. The other have visible nail line. Illamasqua is the most expensive of them all but you get what you pay for. If you are looking for a true highlighter yellow neon, I recommend the Illamasqua.

Illamasqua Rare

2011-08-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

I got so many nice comments on my previous post showing you Illamasqua Collide. Looks like it is just the right time to show you neons :) So I have another one for you. This time it a neon highlighter yellow - Illamasqua Rare. I love it, so easy to apply and it really is a true super bright neon. This is three coats on the picture. Of all the neon yellows I tried, this is my favourite!

OPI Navy Shatter

2011-08-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

I know it might look like my blog turned into a blog only about crackles and shatters but I really want to show these to you. Don´t worry. I have some fall collections coming up in the next few days :)

Navy Shatter is the last of the three blue shatters I have. On the picture it is over a silver foil with one coat of OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. As with the previous two the Navy Shatter works great. I love it!

Overall I think that the three blue shatters released by OPI are the best crackling polishes I have tried. I think I need some back ups :) How do you feel about them?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI Gold Texture

2011-08-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

I have another crackling polish for you today. This time from Nicole By OPI. They call them texture coats. The first one I want to show you is Gold Texture. It is a subtle silvery gold. I think it works quite nice but I like OPI shatters more. I layered it over Nicole By OPI I´m A Believer. I just love the combination of purple and gold :) Do you like it too?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! France Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-08-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today a quick post about another set from the Serena Williams range :) This one has two polishes. Here they are:

RALLY PRETTY PINK

A super shiny plum with tons of gold sparkle. It is very close to Zoya Faye. I can make a comparison if you wish to see them side by side :) On the picture are three coats.

RED SHATTER

Red Shatter was easy to work with and I think that it cracks really nice. However I am not wowed by the combination of these two. They look pretty but I can think of better combinations. Can´t wait to try Red Shatter over some different colors.

As I said as a combination nothing super special for me but on their own these polishes are pretty. Still I think that some of the previous Glam Slam collections were better :) I still love Grape...Set...Match which is an amazing purple with a lot of depth! Tell me how you feel about this set :) can´t wait to read your thoughts!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Collide

2011-08-16T03:54:00.000-07:00

This summer the weather sucks...at least in the Czech Republic :( So I told myself that I need a mani to cheer me up a bit. Could there be anything better than a bright pink neon? I have Illamasqua Collide and I was very surprised how easy it is to work with. Neons are hard to apply....well, not this one. I used three coats and it was not streaky and I had full coverage. No need to use white underneath or apply very thin coats and wait for them to dry. I love it! What is your favourite pink neon?

OPI Blue Shatter

2011-08-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

I know some of you are bored by all the shatters and crackles but I think that these blue ones from OPI are absolutely amazing! I showed you Turquoise Shatter a few days ago and today it is time for Blue Shatter. It is a beautiful cobalt blue. I fell in love with it :) On the pictures I layered it over Orly Lunar Eclipse. They make a great combination. I also want to try it with a neon purple. Cant´t wait to try the third one. So far these blue shatters are my favourite of all the crackling polishes I tried. They are very easy to work with. Love them!

P.S. if you missed my tips and tricks post on the shatter polishes, have a look here.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-08-12T03:19:00.000-07:00

So good to be back after a longer summer break. I did not post much this summer, I had a lot to do. But now I am back and I want to post much more often. Today I want to show you this OPI collection. I am late with it, as the customs held my package, but I am sure it is still nice to have a look at it. I still didn't see the film and now I have to go to the cinema. Just don´t know which of these to wear :)

SKULL & GLOSSBONES

A light grey creme. Very glossy...all my swatches are without a top coat. This was two coats, I think it looks very elegant :)

STRANGER TIDES

The only polish from the collection I had some application problems with. But not much, I just had to use three coats here to hide imperfections.

MERMAID´S TEARS

I love this! It is a turquoise creme but it does not scream into your face. It is muted, dusty looking. Very pretty. Two coats.

PLANKS A LOT

A medium lavender purple. I love purple so I like this one too, but it is not so special. Two coats.

SPARROW ME THE DRAMA

Muted pink that looks a bit darker than in the bottle. Great formula on this one, it applied like a dream :) Two coats.

STEADY AS SHE ROSE

A very light blue based pink or a lavender. You choose. It is a very pretty color and I can´t wait to wear it as a full mani! Two coats again.

When I first heard that this collection is coming out I dreamed about totally different colors coming. Therefore the first promo pictures were a little disappointing. However, after swatching them I have to say that I like most of the collection. Although this is a spring/summer collection I think that these colors will be great all year round. The formula was also very good, standard OPI. Only one of the polishes required three coats for full coverage.

There is also one more thing that you might miss on my pictures...yes the OPI Silver Shatter. I want to do a special post about that so please wait for it. Can´t wait to show you :)

This collection is out for a pretty long time now, so tell me...which ones did you get or you want?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Spartan

2011-08-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have this polish at home for a long time now but I realized that I haven´t showed it to you yet! So here it is a gold glitter polish from Illamasqua called Spartan. The glitter particles are small and so you need about four to five coats for full coverage. It is also a beautiful polish for layering. Great for summer, don´t you think?

OPI Turquoise Shatter

2011-08-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Out of all the Shatters OPI released so far this one was the one I was most looking towards to. I think my customs knew this because they held the package for quite a long time :( Now I have it at home and I can tell you. It is even better than I hoped for. Actually it is amazing! Here I want to show it to you over a plain white creme. I think this combination is beautiful. It shows the shimmer that Turquoise Shatter has. Oh I love this so much even though I am so late with it and you must have seen it at least a billion times. What do you think?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Essence I´m A Marine Girl nail polish and eyeshadow

2011-07-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

Yesteday on my Facebook page I promised to show you swatches of these two beauties from the new Essence collection. Both of these products have the same name, I found that at home. First I want to show you the nail polish. It is an electric blue shimmer and I am absolutely in love with it. It is a big size (compared to some other Essence polishes) of 15ml. The polish itself is amazing. It has great coverage, so what you see on my picture is only one coat. If you like colors like this, run to get a bottle, you will love it like I do :)

P.S. my skin tone changed a lot during my vacation in Greece, I hope to get rid of this soon :(

Then are the eyeshadows. I like the packaging. It is a white compact with a mirror. There is a lot of product, you get 4g of eyeshadows. The colors are a chambagne beige with shimmer and a darker navy blue. They are well pigmented and easy to work with.

I think this is a great collection and Essence shows us that quality makeup and nice colours do not have to cost a fortune :) I still think I should have bought more. What do you think? Any other must haves in this collection?

My Nail Polish Collection: Illamasqua

2011-07-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

I don´t have many Illamasqua polishes (compared to other brands) but I love each and every one of them :) My favourite is Jo´Mina, it is one of my favourite purples ever and I love to add a coat of Prism on top. What Illamasqua polishes do you have and which are your favourites?

Rescue Beauty Lounge Recherche

2011-07-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Another RBL polish I got to try is Recherche. I think I should try it about three months later, that would be the right time. Now it doesn't seem very interesting for me. But what is really great about it is its formula, it is just flawless! If you like colors like this and you don´t mind to pay the higher price I recommend it.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant

2011-07-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

I own only one RBL polish and that is Scrangie. I love it! I don´t know why but the other colors don´t work for me very much. Still I am always happy when I can try them out thanks to my friend Day. So today I want to show you RBL Insouciant. I has that hidden shimmer that shows best in sunlight or with flash. My pictures are indoor so you can´t see it much. I like this polish but I wouldn't buy it. As I said, RBL just doesn't work for me. What do you think?

Zoya Mira comparison

2011-07-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am back from my vacation! I had pictures of polishes I wanted to show you while I was gone but I had no time to edit them and make the posts. Hope you forgive me :) I want to show you a little comparison I did of my three favourite medium purple creme polishes I have. They are Zoya Mira (M), China Glaze Grape Pop (GP) and Nicole By OPI I´m A Belieber (IAB). I love purple cremes, they look so juicy :) Oh and I promise to post more in the upcoming days. Sadly the customs are holding some of my polishes :(

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-07-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

The collection from Serena Williams I was most looking forward to was this one. Guess why? Of course because of the purple one :) I am so easy to please. Just give me a collection with purple and I am happy. Here it is:

GRAPE...SET...MATCH

I love it! Too bad my pictures are not good enough, you really have to see for yourself. I already had it twice as a full mani :) It covers in two coats and I love the shimmer it has. From certain angles you see it blue. Can it be better?

GRAPE...SET...MATCH with SERVIN´UP SPARKLE

This time no shatter but a glitter top coat. I really like the round holographic glitter in this one, just too bad there is not much of it. There is one coat on this picture:

YOUR ROYAL SHINE-NESS

Silver and purple are a great combination. This is not that pure boring silver, it has something more to it. I tried to find something close in my collection but no luck. If you have any ideas, let me know :) Two coats.

YOUR ROYAL SHINE-NESS with SERVIN´UP SPARKLE

With this combination the glitter is not so visible but still ads something more to the base polish. Again I used only one coat. You may want to try more for a better effect.

This is a nice little set. I love the purple and the glitter is also fun. Maybe it is better than another shatter :) Formula was good on these and they covered well in two coats. Maybe Servin´Up Sparkle could have more glitter to be more opaque, but other than that I can´t say anything bad about this collection. I told you remember? I am just so easy to please :)

What are your thoughts?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Summer 2011 fuchsia pinks comparison

2011-07-02T02:46:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I showed you the OPI Nice Stems Collection and I got a request to compare Be A Dahlia Won´t You (BADWY) with China Glaze 108 Degrees (108D). So here it is :) I also added Misa Summer Love (SL). So here we have three polishes from this year´s summer collections. All of them are three coats and looked very similar in the bottles. On the nail the differences are more visible. It is true that the OPI and China Glaze are very close. However I like OPI more, it has more of that beautiful shimmer and has better coverage. Which one would you choose?

P.S. I already did one comparison with China Glaze 108 Degrees here :)

OPI Nice Stems Collection Summer 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-06-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

OPI has a beautiful small summer collection for us. The main color is pink and it is not at all boring. I have it at home for a week and wore all the colors as a full mani and I can tell you that I love them all. Have a look:

PLAY THE PEONIES

This is a very light, almost white, pink with shimmer. A great work-safe color. Three coats on the pictures.

PLAY THE PEONIES with I LILY LOVE YOU

I added one coat of I Lily Love you. This is my favourite combination. I love the way these two look together! Look at the detail, so much beautiful glitter, sparkle and flakies!

COME TO POPPY

Come To Poppy is a coral pink with shimmer. Again I used three coats, but two would be ok too. Anything coral is great for summer.

COME TO POPPY with I LILY LOVE YOU

Again I used one coat. I Lily Love You is very easy to use, the glitter and flakies stay on the brush well, so you can use only one coat for a nice effect.

BE A DAHLIA WON´T YOU

I love fuchsia pinks. OPI makes beautiful ones and I think I have to make a comparison for you. This was three coats again. It shines like crazy.

BE A DAHLIA WON´T YOU with I LILY LOVE YOU

Again one coat, I love this combination. It is so much fun, just right for summer.

If you like pink like I do, this collection is a must. The colors are very pretty and the formula and application was great on all of them. If I would have to choose at least one polish, it would definitely be I Lily Love You...it is the star of the collection and really is so much fun. I think my pictures do not do it any justice, you have to see for yourself :)

So tell me, what do you think?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Medium Pencils in Whiplash, Debonair and Paint - Swatches and Review

2011-06-22T03:04:00.000-07:00

I received three Medium Pencils from Illamasqua to try out. I don´t use eye pencils much because my skin around my eyes is sensitive and I don´t like those dry and hard pencils. So I was a bit scared to try these out. Silly me :) how could I even think Illamasqua would make something bad. These pencils are soft, very pigmented and you don´t have to push hard to get the color on your skin. Here are pictures and swatches of the three colors I have:

WHIPLASH

DEBONAIR

PAINT

Debonair is my favourite! I have it at home for about two weeks now and I love to play with it. I want to show you a very simple and quick look that I wore yesterday. I used the Illamasqua Medium Pencil in Debonair and then blended it out a bit with an eyeshadow brush.

And because this a nail polish blog most of the time, I have for you a picture of what I am wearing today. I used Illamasqua Purity on the whole nail, the tips are made with Illamasqua Gamma (of course my favourite orange of all time) and then some black stamping. I like the contrast between the softness of Purity and the craziness in Gamma :)

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Espresso Your Style versus OPI Tease-y Does It

2011-06-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

I showed you OPI Espresso Your Style (EYS) a few days ago and it was nice to read that a lot of you really liked the shade. I also got a request to compare it with OPI Tease-y Does It (TDI) so here it is. I love both of these, both are two coats. As you can see TDI is slightly darker and more bronze/purple. Talking about TDI, don´t forget that it is very close to Nubar Raspberry Truffle, showed you here.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals 2011 Collection - Swatches and Review

2011-06-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Crackling / shattering polishes are a big thing this year and it looks like they will be in the upcoming months too. China Glaze already released one collection of cracking polishes (my review is here) and now we have a second coming up. This time it is metallic. I swatched all of these on a black creme. I know it is not very original but you will get an idea of how the shades looks best. All the swatches are without the final top coat which you should not forget about.

PLATINUM PIECES

Is a silver metallic. I like it over the black and I can´t wait to try it over a blue or a turquoise. This worked really well.

TARNISHED GOLD

As the name says it is a gold crackle :) Same as before, this worked well too.

CRACKED MEDAILLON

Great shade for summer and I think it will look really well over a lot of polishes.

HAUTE METAL

Is a soft pink. I think this would work better over a lighter base color than the black. This will be great for a girly cracked manicure.

LATTICED LILAC

Ok, this was a big fail of mine. I don´t know what I did wrong. Looks like I will have to work on my application :(

OXIDIZED AQUA

I think this is my favourite polish from the collection. It worked great and I really like the color.

These crackles are a bit different from the ones I tried so far. They are sheer but once they start to crackle, they get opaque. Maybe I should apply a thicker coat to make them crackle more. I will for sure play with these a bit more and show you some more interesting color combinations than over the boring black :)

Overall a nice and unexpected collection but for this summer I am in love with another collection from China Glaze and that is Island Escape!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

A little comparison for my sister

2011-06-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

Funny how different people have different nail polish taste. Even two sisters :) I love darker colors, neons and glitters...my sister loves pastels, lighter shades and cremes. I lend her these polishes and then she returns them after months. Here is a comparison of her three favourite polishes in the last months. I made this comparison and then they will go back to her, I don´t wear shades like this so I am glad someone will love these. Her favourites are: Illamasqua Purity (P), Essie Van D´Go (VDG) and Orly Cotton Candy (CC)...they are all from the category of pink peach cremes which look flattering on tanned hands. What do you think?

Misa Mermaid Dreams versus China Glaze Blue Iguana

2011-06-18T04:51:00.000-07:00

You want to get yourself a nice vibrant blue for summer but you still don´t know which one to choose? Well maybe this post will help. Both of these polishes are from this year´s summer collections. I already did one comparison with China Glaze Blue Iguana (BI) here. I still have one more polish I wanted to compare it to and that is Misa Mermaid Dreams (MD). As you can see from the picture, they might look similar in the bottle but on the nail the difference is evident. I used three coats for both of them but while Misa has full coverage, China Glaze still has visible nail line. For me the winner is obvious, it is Misa Mermaid Dreams...one of the best polishes from all the summer collections for me :)

OPI Espresso Your Style

2011-06-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

One quick post for today. An older polish from OPI but still so beautiful. I love the depth it has, it has great pigmentation. Two coats on the pictures. I think this is a perfect bronze/brown for summer! Don´t you think?

Zoya Sunshine Collection Summer 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-06-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Sunshine is the name of the second Zoya collection for this summer. The polishes really do shine! I think they are great for summer and the collection surprised me. I liked it more than I thought I would and I found an unexpected new love here :) Read on to see the whole collection:

REVA

Reva is a rich berry with golden sparkle. It is very well pigmented and had great formula. Only two coats and it is fully opaque.

KIMMY

The shade is a orange red. It is like fire! Normally I am not a very big fan of orange polishes but lately I like to wear them. Kimmy will be soon my full mani and I can´t wait :) Two coats on the pictures.

APPLE

If I was to wear a green in summer, I think I would wear Zoya Apple. The sparkle makes it more wearable for me than green cremes. This time I needed three coats.

TANZY

When you wear Tanzy you will for sure get noticed! Golden orange that is full of sparkle. Three coats.

RICA

And here is my big love of the collection. I already showed it to you. It is my full mani for this weekend and I already got a lot of compliments. I had a neon pink on my toes and I added a coat of Rica. Guess what? It looked amazing! I think that all the polishes from this collection could be fun even for layering. Rica needs three coats but they are so worth it!

FAYE

The last polish is Faye which turned out to be my second favourite. I am sure I don´t have a color like this and I like the amount of golden sparkle it has!

I had this collection at home for two weeks before I swatched it! How stupid of me. I didn't know how much I was missing. For me it is definitely the better of the two summer collections from Zoya. The polishes look much better on the nail than they do in the bottle which is always nice.

I never had problems with the formula on Zoya polishes and this is no exception. The application was flawless. I think the polishes dried a little slower than I am used to with Zoya but nothing major. Overall I am very nicely surprised by the collection and I am sorry for underestimating it.

What about you? Which ones do you like?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Flormar U08

2011-06-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

I went shopping with my sister the other day and we found a big stand with Flormar polishes. I have to say that I don´t like this brand much. Don´t ask me why :) I know I don´t like the bottles, the white cap is ugly and I also don´t like that the polishes don´t have names, just numbers. Why is it so hard to come up with a name? So although I don´t like the brand I had to have this polish! I think you will agree with me if you look at the pictures :) A beautiful dark blue, looks like the night sky. I love it. There is also a hint of purple in it, you can see it in certain angles. I used two coats for the pictures. What do you think?

I also wanted to show you this Flormar polish compared with Orly Lunar Eclipse. Oh my, I didn't make a comparison for ages!

I used two coats on both but as you can see. Orly would be better with three. These are not dupes, but they are close. If you can´t get your hands on Orly, I think the Flormar is great (maybe even better)!

Zoya Rica

2011-06-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have the whole new Zoya Sunshine Collection swatched for you but some of the pictures did not turn out very nice. So for today I want to show you my favourite shade from this collection. I am totally in love with it! It is the perfect summer color. It shines like crazy (my picture is indoor with no flash). You must agree with me, isn't this perfectness?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Smashbox Soft Lights in Tint, Prism and Baked Stardust - Swatches and Review

2011-06-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

I have three more Smashbox products to show you. If you missed my posted on the Lip Enhancing Gloss have a look here, I wear them all the time these days :)

I am sure you heard about Smashbox and their Soft Lights. I love them. I already bought about ten of them, two I used all up. My favourite of all time was Smashbox Blushing Pink, about which I wrote a long time ago here. I was kindly sent three shades to try out, so here they are:

TINT

Tint is a soft peach beige with a very light golden glow and I think you cant go wrong with this shade. It gives you a nice healthy look. For me a great product for winter/spring but I will not be using it in summer because it is almost invisible on my tanned face. It is very fine and soft.

PRISM

Prism is something in between a blush and a pink highlighter. It is very soft if you look on the swatches below.

BAKED STARDUST

This is a great product. I love the Fusion Soft Lights. This one has five colors - from bronze to almost white. The shade that is created when mixing them together is a very light bronze. This is a great product for fair skin tones. It gives you a nice glow and you don´t have to be scared you will look too brown. It looks very natural on.

And here are swatches on my arm:

I love the Soft Lights I have at home and I love these too. These are 10g each! That is a lot of product and they will last forever. I also like the packaging. I really recommend these or any other Soft Lights. There are a lot of shades to choose from and I am sure you will love them, just as I do.

If you have a favourite Smashbox Soft Light let me know which one!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Misa Paradise Shore Summer 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-06-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have a fun summer collection for you today. It is the new summer collection from Misa called Paradise Shore. A few days ago I showed you my heart-shaped sunglasses and how these Misa polishes match here. I started to really like Misa in the past months, they came up with some really nice collections and I am always happy to try the new ones. Here they are:

KRYSTAL WATER

This is one of my favourites. I can NEVER have enough of colors like this. It is like the sea and I love it. This was three coats but totally worth it. This shade is just beautiful!

UNDER MY SUNBRELLA

This is a yellow gold with a glass fleck finish. It is sheer (like most of the collection). On the picture are two coats.

MEGA MARGARITA

This is just not for me, I never was a green lover. Too bad it is so sheer. I recommend layering it on a green neon. Three coats.

SUMMER LOVE

Great darker pink for summer. This one is not so sheer as the others. It should be opaque in three thicker coats. It looks so juicy!

MERMAID DREAMS

LOVE!!! I had this polish on when I hurt my back. Because of that I had it on for one week (something unbelievable for me) and I was not bored with it at all. I kept staring at my nails the whole week. The color has so much depth. Three coats. I think I will take this on vacation with me, really love it.

ENDLESS KEYS

This is a glass fleck orange. Again, it is sheer. I layered it on an orange neon and the two made a great combination. This was three coats.

Although half of the collection is sheer I still like it. The colors are fun and just scream summer. I tried layering the sheer colors over neons of the same color and the effect is really nice. But what I love about the collection most are the blues. I love them so much and got so many compliments wearing them.

What about you? Did you get any of these colors? What do you think about them?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Smashbox Lip Enchanting Gloss - Swatches and Review

2011-06-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

A little makeup post for today :) I have these at home a few weeks now. I love testing new cosmetics. I have to say that my favourite gloss of all time is Smashbox 35mm. I love it for summer. I was very excited when I got the chance to try out more. I have six shades to show you! (Yes, I photoshoped my skin. This post is not about my imperfections but about the glosses).

ILLUME

Illume is a sheer champagne shimmer. On the lips it looks almost transparent and gives you a nice shine. Your lips will look juicy. It is not sticky.

CAPTURE

One of my favourites. Capture is a nice medium bronze. It is very well pigmented. This shade went straight to my makeup box and I am using it very often. Great summer color!

STARLIT

This one is also very well pigmented. It looks almost like a lipstick with a gloss on top. A beautiful vibrant red. Great to pair with a black eyeliner and mascara. Hot!

ELECTRIC

Another beautiful shade. It is not very visible from my pictures but this fuchsia pink has a little bit of blue shimmer in it.

SULTRY

This is a plummy brown with gold shimmer. I love the color but don´t have the courage to wear it. But if you like dark glosses I think you should give it a try.

ICON

In the packaging Icon does not look very nice. But because it is sheer, you just have hint of color on your lips and in the end it does not look bad at all. I would say this is a good summer color, can´t imagine it on pale skin.

As I said, I love Smashbox glosses. They do not stick, stay for long and I they don´t have an annoying scent that some glosses have. Three of the shades have already found their places in my makeup bag and I feel like I could try out some more. For me Smashbox is very much connected with summer because a lot of my summer glosses and bronzers are from Smashbox. I have some more products from them I want to show you, so excited!

The Lip Enchanting Glosses are available here for $18.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Essence polishes giveaway winner!

2011-06-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay. I had to go through all the entries and count them. The winner was chosen through random.org and it is:

Lucy (makeupgirl21 @ comcast.net)

Big congrats from me! I am sening you an email :) Hope you enjoy the polishes!

Zoya Summertime Collection Summer 2011 - Swatches and Review

2011-05-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

The weather is so nice outside and I am sooo lazy to sit at the computer and edit pictures and write on the blog. Don´t give up on me. I will try to do better. Still there are some nice summer collections I want to show you and the Zoya Summertime Collection is one of them. There are six cremes and here they are one by one:

SOOKI

A bright warm red creme. Nothing unique in terms of color but the formula was great, application flawless and great coverage already in one coat. Two are better if you want it fully opaque.

TAMSEN

Every collection has a color that I like the least and in this collection it is Tamsen. These brownish reds never looked great on me. Two coats.

KIEKO

The first of the two beautiful purples. This is a red purple and again, flawless! Two coats here.

AREEJ

Areej is a sweet a bit muted pink. It nearly covers in one coat (on the picture).

MIRA

I love Mira. Again, we have seen this color before but the application was great and I enjoyed working with it. Great purple creme. Two coats.

BREEZI

A medium blue a bit on the teal side. I like this one two, again two coats.

As I already said, the colors in this collection are nothing super unique. But I don´t think you should just skip this collection. All the polishes have a great formula, they apply flawlessly and have really great coverage. If you have short nails, you could go with just one coat on most of them. My favourites are Kieko and Mira...great cremes, I plan to play with some top coats on these two.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Essie Van D'Go

2011-05-27T03:01:00.000-07:00

The June edition of the InStyle magazine in the Czech Republic has a free Essie polish. There are twelve colors to choose from. How could I say no to that? So far I bought just one and I am showing it to you today. It is Essie Van D'Go, a pink peach creme. The polish is a bit streaky, nothing major but it needs three coats for even coverage. I think it is a perfect spring/summer color and I am glad I got it. My hand are starting to be tanned and I think this polish makes a nice contrast. Do you like this one? If you are from the Czech Republic, which polishes did you get?