Gradient nails, silver to pink

Gradient nails are great fun to do! These are inspired by the 80's, apparently ;)
Medium pink, silver and a touch of holo :)

In strong artificial light

Close up in strong artificial light

Full hand in daylight

In daylight

In daylight

My inspiration ;)

Gradient nails can be a bit tricky to do, at least I think so, but practice makes perfect :)

For this manicure I used the following polishes:

Nubar's Honeysuckle
Orly's Dazzle
INM's Hologram Top Coat Silver

I started with a base coat and then two coats of Honeysuckle. After that I used a make-up sponge to sponge on the silver.
I finished off with one coat of silver holo top coat and one coat of Seche Vite.

Grade: 3/5

I know I can do better and more fun gradient nails!
Check my previous posts ;)

Nicole by OPI Kendall on the Katwalk

This is a gorgeous blue/green/purple glitter polish from Nicole by OPI from their Kardashian Kolor Collection.

In daylight

Close up in daylight

In artificial light

Close up in artificial light

In the shadow

It's bursting with glitter!!! :D

I really like the shape of the bottle :)

Glitter, glitter, glitter!!! ;)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Colour: Blue, green and purple glitter in a blue tinted base. Fine textured glitter (all of the same size).

Opacity: Good for a glitter polish! This is three coats.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Good. Maybe a bit on the thick side.

Brush: Quite wide but I like that.

Durability: Really good for being a glitter polish.

Shine: Very shiny and sparkly :)

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: What you see is what you get ;)

Grade: 4/5

I think this is the most beautiful polish from the Kardashian collection.
If it had had a holo effect I'd have given it a 5/5 ;)

Illamasqua Heart Throb Nails

This lovely manicure was composed by Illamasqua for their Heart Throb Collection 2011.
It's so cute with the heart shape!




I used the following polishes:
From left to right:

Mavala Super Base
Nails Inc Kate
Nails Inc Will
IMN Out the Door top coat

I think it almost explains itself how it's done ;)

1) Base coat
2) Base colour
3) Heart colour
4) Top coat
Done! :)

I did the heart shapes with the brush of the nail polish but I guess you can use a thin nail art brush to do the outline of the hearts if you want a more perfect shape of them.

You can vary the colours for different looks. Try it! You'll like it! :)

Grade: 3/5 for this combination

I had to use Will and Kate together of course ;)
You know, from the British royal family :)

H&M Nail Him with flowers and dots

This is a really beautiful blue polish with excellent qualities!

The nail art is made with stickers.

In daylight

In daylight

Close up in daylight

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream with shimmer.

Colour: A bright medium blue with a hint of turquoise and turquoise shimmer.

Opacity: Excellent! This is two coats. It's even possible to get away with one coat!!

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Great! It's so easy to apply!

Brush: Ok. Not great, not bad.

Durability: Good. No chipping for days.

Shine: Shiny on its own. I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures due to the nail art.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: A tiny bit more turquoise IRL and you also see the shimmer more IRL.

Grade: 4/5

I like it but it's hardly a unique polish. But it's cheap and it has some real good qualities.

OPI 007 James Bond Collection Fall 2012

I'm very curious of the next OPI collection released October 1st.

It's a tribute to Bond, James Bond ;)
Twelve new shades all named after a Bond film.

I'm glad to see that my favourite Bond film is among them, Moonraker! :D
Is your favourite Bond film in the collection?

Name of the polishes from left to right:

The Spy Who Loved Me

Casino Royale

You Only Live Twice

Die Another Day

Skyfall

GoldenEye

The World Is Not Enough

Moonraker

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

The Living Daylights

Live And Let Die

Tomorrow Never Dies

The Spy Who Loved Me

Casino Royale

You Only Live Twice

Die Another Day

Skyfall

GoldenEye

The World Is Not Enough

Moonraker

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

The Living Daylights

Live And Let Die

Tomorrow Never Dies

I'm not so impressed by the red ones but the foil ones seem promising :) I hope...

I haven't been impressed by the latest collections from OPI actually...

I hope OPI makes me eat humble pie now after writing this...
I want to be shaken, not stirred ;)

Nubar Honeysuckle

This is my favourite medium pink polish: the wonderful Honeysuckle from Nubar! <3

I love the name because, as a florist, I find Honeysuckle so beautiful to work with and it smells so nice too.

In daylight, partly sunlight

Close up of above picture

In daylight, indirect sunlight

Close up of above picture

A piece of work I did the same day as I wore Honeysuckle. Maybe I got inspired? ;)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: A bright medium pink.

From the collection: Spring Garden 2011.

Opacity: EXCELLENT!!! This is two coats.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Very good! It's like a dream to apply! :D

Brush: Good! No complaints.

Durability: Very good!

Shine: Very shiny. Me like! :)

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: The real colour is somewhat in between the two different shades shown in the pictures. Maybe more like the first pictures actually. It's really a very nice pink!! It's not warm nor cold so it looks good with most skin colours
NOTE! On some screens it appears to be almost purple. IT'S NOT! It's pink. There are no blue pigments in Honeysuckle.

Grade: 5++/5
<3 I REALLY love it!!! <3

Comparison nude polishes

Today I have done a small comparison of three nude polishes to show you.

I have a favourite... ;)

Which one is your favourite nude polish?

From left to right: Nails Inc Kate, Zoya Avery, H&M Nerd

From left to right: Nails Inc Kate, Zoya Avery, H&M Nerd

 They are all two coats.

They are all very shiny.

They are all creams.

Nerd and Avery have the best formulas.

Kate is the most expensive.

Nerd is the cheapest.

Avery gives you 15 ml, Kate 10 ml and Nerd 9 ml.

To me the winner is.....

NERD!!!!! :D

Nicest colour, cheap and good formula and opacity.

You can see more of Nerd here.

Here's a picture of the bottles:

Nerd, Avery, Kate

Kate has a beautiful crystal cap!

Louboutin nails with Zoya Robyn and Essie Geranium

Today I'll show you the so called Louboutin manicure!
It's so fun to try something different!! And I'm not alone ;) Both Adele and Rihanna have been seen with it lately. Ladies of good taste ;)

Blue on top, red under :)

I love the combination of red and blue/turquoise!

Close up! Isn't this a fun manicure?!?! :D

My inspiration! A Louboutin shoe with the signature red sole :)

Beautiful Zoya Robyn!!!

Full hand picture in daylight

Polishes used: Zoya Robyn and Essie Geranium

A robin's eggs, the same colour as Zoya Robyn! :D

This manicure is not hard to pull off at all!

Start with the red under the nails.

Clear up the mess under and on the nails :)

Apply the blue on top of the nails and finish off with a top coat.

Done! :D

Apparently the signature red sole of Louboutin was born when  Mr. Louboutin himself was bored one day and painted the sole on one of his shoes red with a red nail polish...
True or not...? What do you think?

Will you try this manicure?


GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT ZOYA ROBYN:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: Sky blue with a hint of turquoise. The same colour as a robin's egg! :)

Opacity: Excellent! This is two coats.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Good. Maybe a tiny bit thick but not disturbingly thick :)

Brush: Small but lovely! You feel you have total control.

Durability: Excellent! As most Zoyas.

Shine: It has a nice shine without a top coat but I've got one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Zoya Robyn is a tiny bit brighter IRL but Essie Geranium is just about right.

Grade: 4/5 for the Louboutin nails (maybe because I'm not used to it yet...?)
5/5 for Zoya Robyn

OPI DS Glamour

Today I'll show you a real gem in my collection! :) An amazing blue holo polish from OPI DS Collection called Glamour!

Nowadays it's really hard to find and IF you find it, it's ridiculously expensive. Apparently OPI has stopped making it :(

In sunlight

Close up in sunlight. It's even more amazing IRL!!!

In indirect sunligh it's like wearing small pieces of cosmos on your nails ;)

It's quite nice in the shadow too ;)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holographic cream.

Colour: Dark blue holo.

Opacity: Great! This is two coats.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Excellent! So easy to apply! :D

Brush: Good! No complaints.

Durability: Very good! No chipping for days.

Shine: Very shiny! You don't need a top coat for this one! :D

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: The blue colour you see in the pictures is the blue colour you get! ;) But the holo effect is soooo much better IRL!!! Some say this is the best blue holo there is....! And I don't disagree :) What do you think? Do you know any better blue holo polish?

Grade: 5++/5

I love this polish!!! <3
I should wear it more often but since it's so rare nowadays I want to save it as long as I can.

H&M Nerd with paws nail art

This is a fairly new polish from H&M. To me it's the perfect nude polish :) Nude shades have a tendency to look like nicotine fingers sometimes ;) but I don't think this one does that.
What do you think? Please comment your thoughts!

This manicure reminds me of those blankets or baskets that you can buy for your cat or dog ;)

Close up! They are quite cute aren't they...? :)

In artificial light

Artificial light again

In daylight

Full hand in daylight

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: Nude.

Opacity: Good. This is three coats.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Great! Easy to apply. Apply in thin coats to avoid cracking though. I noticed a tendency to this.

Brush: Ok. Not bad, not great ;)

Durability: Good! No complaints.

Shine: Very shiny! The pictures without the paw print is without a top coat.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: A tiny bit darker IRL.

Grade: 2+/5

It's a good polish, but I don't really like nude polishes...
I like more in-your-face polishes but I wanted to try out a nude :)

However, one pro thing is that a nude polish makes your nails look longer :D

The paw print is made with a black polish and dotting tools.

I know there are plates (like Konad and Bundle Monster etc) with paw prints too, but I think it's tricky to get them right... :/

Butter London Slapper

Today I will show you a beautiful bright teal polish from Butter London called Slapper!
Not unique, but ooooh soooo lovely!!!

I don't really understand the link between teal and the word "slapper" though... :/ Please comment if you have any thoughts on this! ;)

In artificial light

Also artificial light but there is no greater difference in colour between artificial light and sunlight

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: A bright teal.

Opacity: Very good!! This is two coats. You can possibly get away with one coat if you apply it a bit thicker.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Excellent!!! It's so easy to apply! Actually, most Butter London polishes have really good formulas.

Brush: Great! Perfect actually! :D

Durability: Good. A bit better than normal to be honest :)

Shine: Perfectly shiny on it's own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures for better durability.

Accurate colour, photo versus IRL: A bit more green than in these pictures, but still teal, not turquoise.

Grade: 4+/5

I love the colour and the formula, but it's not a very unique polish colourwise.
If you only want to have one teal in your collection though - this is it! :)