Lynnderella "Love Potion No.99"

Today I'm wearing another polish from Lynnderella, it's named "Love Potion No.99". It's a purple filled with purple, pink, fuchsia & lilac hex & square glitter as well as some holo dust.

As the base is rather sheer, I decided to layer "Love Potion No.99" over OPI "Ink", a dark blue-based purple with tiny blue, purple & pink glitterflecks. The two match perfectly.

Furthermore, I did a matching purple eye makeup, too, for which I used the NARS "Jolie Poupee" eyeshadow duo:

Thanks for looking :-)

OPI "Swimsuit...Nailed It!"

"Swimsuit...Nailed It!" is a bright blue foil polish that looks like the water in a swimming pool. In the sun it's super sparkly. 
The formula is great, only two coats were needed to reach opacity. Nothing more to say about this color, so let's take a look at the pics, shall we?


In the shade:

In direct sunlight:

Thanks for looking :-)

Glitter anyone?

Today I'd like to show you some of the manicures I've worn in the past days/weeks.


Essie "Bermuda Shorts" with Nubar "Black Polka Dots" & "White Polka Dots" on top:

I've heard bad things about "Bermuda Shorts", mainly that it is a PITA to apply (sheer, streaky,...), but I didn't have any problems with it at all. It applied really nicely & was opaque with 2 coats. 
It's a neon fuchisa (even though Essie described it as purple ^^) & therefore dries matte, so a TC is definitely needed (unless you like the matte finish that is of course), but as I layered one coat of Nubar "Black Polka Dots" as well as one coat of Nubar "White Polka Dots" on top, the polish turned shiny anyways. I used one coat of Poshe over this combo anyways as I wanted the coats to dry as quickly as possible.


China Glaze "It's Alive" with Orly "Here Comes Trouble":

I did one coat of China Glaze "It's Alive", a dark olive green base with differently sized smaller & lighter green glitter particles from the 2011 China Glaze Halloween collection, then one coat of Orly "Here Comes Trouble" from the Orly Pinup summer 2011 collection which is a bright grass green with small glitter particles of the same color. Then I did another coat of "It's Alive" & topped everything with one coat of Poshe.
With combining those two greens I intented to lighten up the "fall mood" of "It's Alive" & I think it turned out kind of nice. What do you think?


OPI "Grape...Set...Match" with OPI "DS Temptation":

This is two coats of OPI "DS Temptation" the newest addition to the OPI DS collection over 2 coats of OPI "Grape...Set...Match" from the OPI Serena Williams "Glam Slam! England" release.
"Glam...Set...Match" texture is somewhat thin & somewhere between water-y & jelly. 3 coats (or 2 very thick ones) would be needed to reach opacity, but as I knew that I wanted to layer another polish on top, I only used 2 thin ones. Its base is a red-based purple that's full of deep pink (almost fuchsia) & blue microglitter. It looks amazing on it's own, too.
"DS Temptation" has a dark blurple base with lots of purple, blue, magenta & some silver glitter. It's really stunning & like the name suggests extremely tempting when you love purple & glitter :-D I haven't worn it on its own, but I think it's safe to say that it needs 3 coats to get opaque.
I think both go together very well & I couldn't stop looking at my hands while wearing this combo.


OPI "Chapel Of Love" with Cult Nails "Captivated" on top:

OPI "Chapel Of Love" is a vivid warm pink with a hint of coral & subtle gold shimmer. I used 2 coats for opacity & layered Cult Nails "Captivated", a coral-y jelly shoot with coral, gold (& IMO also a bit of lilac) glitter. It's absolutely gorgeous & very sparkly, but also a tad goopy, that's why I chose to layer it instead of wearing it alone. (Of course you can also wear it alone, it'll take 3 coats to get opaque.)
I only used one layer of Poshe, because I don't care if the surface is still a little rough, but if you want it to be totally smooth, you might want to add 2 coats of TC.


Orly "Royal Navy" & NYX Girls "Maven" jelly sandwich:

For this jelly sandwich, I used one coat of Orly "Royal Navy", a semi sheer (3 coats of opacity) royal blue jelly with turquoise microglitter, then - to enhance the glitter - I used one coat of NYX Girls "Maven", an aqua glitter that is better used as a glitter TC than worn alone since it's pretty sheer - & topped it with another 2 coats of "Royal Navy".
I also like "Royal Navy" on its own - it's one of my favorite jelly polishes ever - but I wanted to do something a little different hence "Maven" came into play.
While I like the combo, I think I still prefer "Royal Navy" on its own :-)


Nicole by OPI "Too Rich For You" with OPI "Sparkle Teal Sunrise" on top:

This is two coats of Nicole by OPI "Too Rich For You" from their Gossip Girl collection (which is said to be a dupe for the OPI Ulta exclusive "Shimmer Into Summer" collection "How Are You Blue-in"), deep teal blue shimmer polish topped with OPI  "Sparkle Teal Sunrise" from the same Ulta exclusive collection. "Sparkle Teal Sunrise" is a sheer green (almost teal) jelly loaded with small multi-colored glitter particles. It's best worn as a TC since it's way too sheer to ever reach opacity.
I think this combo is really lovely!



Thanks for looking :-)

Daisy Inspired Nails

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I feel so exhausted & tired after a pretty long, stressful week. I even went to bed shortly after midnight *gasps*. (Usually, I rarely sleep before 2 or 3 a.m. - I'm a real night owl :-D)


Anyways, due to my drowsiness I don't have any new make up looks for you, but I'd like to share a new nail art with you.


Last week (or maybe it's already 2 weeks ago?) I saw the first daisy of spring in our garden:

It inspired me to do the following nail art:

I used Illamasqua "Milf" as a base, sponged with Orly "Mint Mojito" (nearly invisible) & Nubar "Forest" & dotted the daisies with OPI "Alpine Snow" & Misa "Happy Happy".


BTW: I'll do a tutorial on how to sponge as soon as I can, but I really suck at things like that, so please bear with me ;-)


3 days ago, the first duck (a male :-D) visited the pond in our garden & comes every day since *yay* 
During mating season, ducks always like to visit our pond & I really love it! They are so cute :-) They know they'll always get something to eat: chicken feed & (unsalted!) peanuts, so they're eagerly waiting for that, too. Sometimes they even knock at our door to make sure we don't overlook them *lol*

Nail Art & Holos

Hi guys!

This week I'm rather busy & so far didn't have any time to take photos of my make up, clothes or something else.

That's why I decided to post a few manicure pics I did in the last months. 

Enjoy :-)

Sponge mani using MAC "Light Affair" as a base, topped with one layer of Kiko #298. FingerPaints "Art Dealer Teal-er", Barielle "Berry Blue" & China Glaze "Fairy Dust" for the design.

Another sponge nail at using Sally Hansen Insta-dri "Rose Rush" as a base & China Glaze "Grape Pop" for the sponging.

OPI "Day at the Peach" 

OPI "What's Dune"

OPI "My Private Jet" (holo version!)

Mille Feuille nail art with China Glaze "Grape Pop" as base & Illamasqua "Load" for the design.

Sephora by OPI "Read my Palm" as a base, Maybelline "Coral Cabana", China Glaze "Grape Pop" & CND "Silver Chrome" for the dots.

OPI "Grape Fit" & CND "Asphalt" for the base. Essence tip painter in "Heavy Black" & "So Funky", L.A.Colors art deco nail art lacquer in "Vibrant" & "Purple/Blue Glitter" for the nail art, OPI "Dim Sum Plum" for the dots.

Mille Feuille nail art with Zoya "Kelly" as a base & Illamasqua "Load" for the design.

Why do days only have 24 hours?!

I've the feeling that this week's going to be rather hectic, at least today was...
There's not much I've to say today, I'm a little tired because I stayed up all night, watching the Oscars. 
*Yay* for Natalie Portman & Christian Bale! & Jennifer Hudson looked gorgeous in her red dress, it was my favourite dress of the evening.

I'm wishing you all a great week, stay calm & relaxed ;-D

eyes: MAC "Dalliance" on the whole lid, MAC "Unflappable" in crease & outer V. MAC "Carbon" to line.

face: MAC Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation in NW20, MAC "By Candlelight" MSF.

cheeks: MAC "Sushi Flower" eyeshadow used as blush.

lips: MAC "Ever Hip" lipstick, Chanel "Bikini Peach" glossimer.

nails: OPI "You Don't Know Jacques"

Moi Je Joue...

 Moi je joue

Moi je joue à joue contre joue

Je veux jouer à joue contre voux

Mais vous, le voulez-vous?

 (Brigitte Bardot "Moi Je Joue")

Hello & bonjour dolls *waving "Hi!"*

Today I had enough time (my man was skateboarding again :-D) to take some pictures & this is the result: 

eyes: MAC "Velour" on lid & in crease, MAC "Blanc Type" to highlight, Essence liquid eyeliner "Berlin Story"as liner

cheeks: MAC "The Perfect Cheek"

lips: MAC "Spice" lip pencil, Shiseido "BE 208" lipstick, NARS "Chelsea Girls" lip lacquer

nails: OPI "Tickle My France-y" 

Glittery Nail Art

Lately I've been feeling a little creative, so I decided to do some nail art. 
I used Petites Color Fever in "Periwinkle" as the base color, then I painted a glittery stripe across the nail, using OPI  "Show It, And Glow It!". On the left side above the glitter stripe I applied small dotts with Diamond Cosmetics "Plum Pie In The Sky" & Avon "Jade".

This mani instantly liftet my mood & I hope it'll cheer up everyone who's a bit depressed due to the dismal weather that we have here at the moment.

MAC Retro & Half-moon Manicure

This week I received the MAC lipstick "Retro" which is a lovely, but hard to describe color: a red with peachy brown undertones. 
In the tube it looks much browner, but once applied to the lips, it transfers into a brownish red or reddish brown. Well, I can only speak for my rather pigmented, mauvey lips, it can look completely different on someone with less pigmented lips and/or a different skintone! 
It has a satin finish, which is a little bit drying, but as I always use MAC Prep&Prime lips before applying lipstick, it didn't was a huge issue for me.


I created the following look using Retro on my lips (please excuse the bad quality of my picture, today was such a rainy day without much sunlight & I had a hard time taking photos at all):

eyes: Vanilla all over lids, Fairylight pigment on lid, Twinks lightly in crease, Blacktrack fluidline on upper lashline.


cheeks: Burnt Pepper (pro) blush, Dior Amber Diamond skin shimmer as highlighter (that stuff's really amazing, it gives such a nice glow without emphasizing pores).


lips: Retro l/s


For the 1st time, I did a half-moon manicure! I decided to freehand it as I've never been able to use stickers properly, not for french manis nor for anything else.
I first applied a layer of OPI "Alpine Snow", let it dry for about 10-15 minutes, then drew the half moon with MAC "Sly As A Fox" & painted the rest of my nails with the same color. 
It was manageable, but not the easiest nail art I've ever done as you really have to work as precise as possible.
This is the result:

OPI "Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not"

OPI "Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not" was part of their France Collection for Fall 2008:

It's a rich red based purple with blue (blurple?) shimmer. It's one of my favourite OPI shades, the blurple shimmer makes it so unique.
I had to do 3 coats to get it completely opaque, but I honestly didn't care because the color's just too gorgeous.
Drying time, as always with Seche Vite, was great, about 10 minutes.
I can only recommend this polish if you're looking for a purple with a kick!

Do blondes have more fun?

I'm a brunette & very happy with it, but from time to time everyone needs a change, right? So I decided to go blonde for today:

eyes: Brule von lids, Bark in crease, Wedge above crease & to blend, Blanc Type as highlight. Blacktrack fluidline on upper lashline, Carbon on lower lashline.

cheeks: Red Brick e/s as blush, TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer as highlighter

lips: Viva Glam I lipstick

nails: MAC "Shirelle" over OPI "I'm Suzi & I'm a Chocoholic"

I'm not sure if blondes really have more fun, but I certainly felt funny with my wig on *lol*

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve deserves a special polish, so I chose OPI "Russian To A Party":

It's a warm burgundy red with brown undertones & gold shimmer. This polish really glows, it looks like lit from within. I was on the hunt for it for quite a while, then a very helpful eBay seller found it for me at a very good price. It's a black label OPI which means that it isn't B3F & still includes all those bad chemicals. Application was great, 2 coats & it was completely opaque. Drying time was very reasonable with about 5-10 minutes, a little quicker than B3F polishes.


This was my Christmas makeover:

 

Unfortunately I look much paler than I really am *meh*

eyes: Humid on the lower lid, Texture in crease, Plumage in outer crease, Malt to blend it all together & Shroom to highlight. Carbon to line & Feline khol power pencil on the inner lashline.

cheeks: Red Brick e/s & NARS Albatross as highlighter.

lips: Dare You l/s

Lillith's gorgeous pictures inspired me to wear a poinsettia in my hair:

I hope you all spent a great day! (I certainly did :-))

OPI "Holiday Glow" & "DS Mystery"

I had totally forgotten about OPI "Holiday Glow" (which came out last winter with their Holiday Wishes 2009 collection) & just recently rediscovered it. It's a shame it didn't get more love from me before as it's such a beautiful color. But see for yourself:

It's a dark neutral brown loaded with lots of gold glitter, really swoon-worthy! It needed 2 coats to get completely opaque & even though the polish is on the thinner side, it builds up very well. I'm totally in love with it!

On to another gold glitter polish, OPI "DS Mystery"  which is one of the newer Designer Series polishes & if you expect a holo, you'll be disappointed as "Mystery" - while pretty sparkly - isn't a holo by any means: 

 

It's similar to "Holiday Glow", but darker. The weird thing about this polish is that it has a dark purple base which you can actually only see when removing it. On the nail & in the bottle it looks like a very dark brown.

Again I needed 2 coats, but the consistancy of "DS Mystery" is thicker. Even though I like them both, if I had to choose I'd pick "Holiday Glow", it just seems more vivid & uplifting to me.

But you can't go wrong with either if you like dark glittery polishes.

  

Two Layering Combinations

Today I'd like to show you two layering combinations that I'm especially fond of at the moment.

The first one is Barielle "Elle's Spell" (a red jelly with multicolored flakies) from their 2010 "Holiday Hustle" collection over OPI "Lincoln Park After Dark" (a blackened eggplant creme):

I did two coats of OPI LPAD & then layered one coat of Elle's Spell over it. In the bottle Elle's Spell looks as if it had mainly red flakies & small glitter particles, but on the nail they really come alive & show their whole glory. The flakies aren't only red, but also yellow/gold & I think I can also detect a hint of greenish shimmer.
You can also wear Elle's Spell alone, it takes 3 coats to get it completely opaque. It's equally stunning on it's own & I really hope Barielle will bring out more colors like that!


The second layering combo that I have for you is Lippmann Collection "Ruby Red Slippers" (a black jelly with small & large red hexagonal glitter) over Illamasqua "Boosh" (a black creme):

 

You only need one coat of Boosh to get an opaque black base. Boosh might be my favourite black polish ever. Wet'n'Wild "Black Creme" would be a much cheaper alternative, but it's not that easy to find over here. 
Then I layered 2 coats of Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers over it. The result is really sparkly, but also quite elegant IMO.
Of course you can also wear Ruby Red Slippers alone. As with Elle's Spell it takes 3 coats to get opacity.