Catrice Denim Moore - swatches and review

This is a fantastic blue shimmer polish from Catrice who found its way to me via my lovely friend Christine at Polished Marvels. You really get that denim feeling and the name is so witty! I love it!

A one coater with a fantastic formula and a great brush!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer.

Number of coats: One!

Formula: Very good! So easy to apply!

Brush: Very wide and rounded.

Top Coat: Yes but it didn't work well with Seche Vite so I recommend you to try another top coat for this polish. SV almost gave it bald spots. Very strange! Never happened to me before.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5/5

How do you like Denim Moore?

Scrabble Nail Art

I knew exactly what I wanted to do when the theme for today's Nail Art Sunday was released! The theme is "Numbers" and this is something I've been wanting to do for ages but haven't got around to - scrabble nails! :D

Barry M Matte White as a base and then Barry M Black Nail Art Pen. The trickiest part was to choose what to write. I wanted a four letter word with not just letters with the value one on each one of them. So in the end I ended up with something….. cozy ;) 18 points!

How do you like my scrabble nails?

Which word would you have chosen?

TopShop Nails Wistful - swatches and review

This is a wonderful little holo polish I bought in London on TopShop, hrm last year ;) Great formula! Perfect for Holo Friday! :)

Sorry for the picture spam but this holo deserves it :)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holo.

Number of coats: Two, but it's a possible one coater.

Formula: Very good! No bald spots.

Brush: Medium straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. It really shifts in color depending on lighting!

Grade: 5/5

I'm not a fan of pink but I love this one because of the great formula and the soft wide rainbows! And the last picture… do I need to say more? ;)

How do you like Wistful?

Pupa Nail Polish Haul

My boyfriend has been skiing in Italy for a few days and he was such an angel and brought me back not less than eight new Pupa polishes! :D Thank you darling! <3

I only had a few Pupa polishes before so I'm very happy! The holo one looks gorgeous! And the dark blue gel one too! And the dark green! They ALL look great when I think of it! :D

034, 053, 402

017, 700, 055

609, 800

Which one should I try first?

Do you have any Pupa's?

Gold Medallions on Green

It's Green Wednesday and I've got a green nail art for you! I know the polish look more teal but I promise you - it's green irl!

The base is the wonderful Block Your Green from Rimmel (swatches and review here) and the gold medallions are made with Essence Gold Digger and MoYou plate Pro-07.

I was very pleased with this manicure. Less is more! :)

How do you like this manicure?

By K Autumn Leaf - swatches and review

Time for another By K polish review! This time it's the toffee colored Autumn Leaf! Another astonishing polish from By K! The most perfect formula! The only downside was that it gave me serious cravings for toffees every time I looked down at my nails ;) Lol!

One perfect thing though is that it, along with all the other By K polishes, is cruelty free, vegan and 5-free!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Two. If you do a thick coat it could definitive be a one coater!

Formula: Excellent formula! Very self leveling and it's so easy to control it!

Brush: Thin and straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4/5

This is a strange color really. At first I couldn't figure out what it looked like but then I found the connection to toffee! :D I did a great nail art with this polish too! Will show it soon :)

How do you like Autumn Leaf?
Do you need to go and get toffees now? ;)

Cherry Coke Dotticure Nail Art

For this Nail Art Sunday I got inspired by my favorite soft drink Cherry Coke (I could drink it every day ;)) and did a cute gradient dotticure using Cherry Coke's signature colors.

The base is By K Pink Dahlia and the dots are made with China Glaze Winter Berry (red) and Essence Petal to the Metal (pinkish silver).

I think it turned out pretty well and I love the dramatic color combination of magenta and red!

My inspiration :)

How do you like this dotticure?

What is your favorite soft drink or other drink?

Holo Ballet Slippers Manicure

For this Holo Friday I've got a stamping manicure on a holo base for you :)

The base is the stunning Smitten Polish Love Actually Is All Around (swatches and review here). Then I've stamped the patterns with MoYou plate Princess Collection-11 and Essence Petal to the Metal.

Quite a cute mani boosted by the glorious holo base of course ;)

How do you like this manicure?

Viva la Diva #159 Infinity - swatches and review

I've had trouble for a long while on what polish to use as a base for a layering with the pretty and super sparkling Infinity. Then I had an epiphany! It would so benefit from a little help from the gold glitter in Isadora's Chameleon Crush! Said and done and the result was absolutely stunning!! A match made in heaven if you ask me! Wow!

In shade.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Number of coats: One (on top of Isadora Chameleon Crush).

Formula: Very good! The glitters spread evenly and there is no glitter fishing needed. Dries fast!

Brush: Medium straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. One was enough for smooth nails. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4++/5

I was very pleased with this layering and the glitters are really amazing in sunlight! So glittery you need sunglasses! ;)

How do you like Infinity?
What's your most successful layering pair?

Rimmel Block Your Green - swatches and review

I'm back after a fantastic weekend in London! Just in time for Green Wednesday ;)

This is a polish I bought in London LAST year and my pics don't do it justice at all!! It's really a bright, but dark, emerald green - I've got noting like this in my stash! When I bought it I thought it was cream but it's actually a shimmer polish! :D

For those interested I can tell you that London was great! Spring weather with sun and 20+C! Magnolias and cherry trees in full bloom and daffodils everywhere! I bought no less than 18 new polishes along with some other beauty products. Got lots of books and magazines as well :)

Ok, back to the polish ;) I did a great nail art on top of Block Your Green which I'll show you next week!

I used two coats of base coat underneath this polish because these kinds of colors have a tendency to discoloring but there was none at all with this one!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Very good and very self leveling.

Brush: Medium straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5+++++++/5

This is a typical example of that a regular high street polish can be absolutely amazing! You just have to find them ;)

How do you like Block Your Green?
Which one is your high street favorite polish?

Funky French Heart Manicure

I'm still on holiday but I really wanted to join today's Nail Art Sunday since the theme is "French Manicure". So this is of course a scheduled post ;)

I wanted to do a French manicure with a twist and this is what I ended up doing - a French heart manicure! It's supposed to look like the hearts are jumping up from the red waves but I don't know if I managed to capture that… Anyhow, the hearts turned out pretty well I think :) I did them with a dotting tool.

The base is Ciaté's Amazing Grazie and the red is By K's The Sky Is The Limit. The nail art is freehand work done with a thin brush and a dotting tool.

How do you like this manicure?

Cute or just creepy…? ;)

Keep Calm and Carry On Nail

Dear friends,

When you read this I'll be on my way on a much needed mini break :) Working 60 hours per week I unfortunately haven't had time to prepare and schedule any posts. Possibly I'll be joining Nail Art Sunday on Sunday but otherwise you won't hear from me until middle of next week. I'll probably be posting some pics on my instagram account. If you want to follow me there I'm @jezzlan :)

Of course I'm not leaving you without a polish picture! The nail art is a clue on where I'm going… ;) Have a nice weekend and see you soon!

Can you guess where I'm going on vacation? ;)

By K Moon Dust - swatches and review

Moon Dust is a great silver foil polish from Danish By K! I can hardly believe it - but it's another one coater! Cruelty free, vegan and 5-free just as all the other By K polishes!

I used this beauty as a base for my spider web manicure. Swatches of that here.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Metallic foil.

Number of coats: One! :D

Formula: Very nice! A bit thinner than the By K creams but absolutely not runny!

Brush: Thin and straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5/5

I liked this far more than I thought I would! I wore it for six whole days - and that's a loooong time for a nail polish addict me ;)

How do you like Moon Dust?

Faded Dotted Gradient Nail Art

After wearing Ciaté's new polish Sweet Pea (swatches and review here) for a while I wanted to spice it up with some nail art and I ended up with a faded dotted gradient inspired by the lovely and talented Ina at My Nail Polish Online.

The base is of course Ciaté Sweet Pea and the other color is another Ciaté polish called Sugar Plum Fairy. First I did the grandient and then the dots. A top coat to seal the manicure. Done!

Not my best nail art but fun to try :) Anyhow, it's green enough for Green Wednesday! ;)

How do you like this manicure?

Have you tried this technique?

ACO Rich Care Hand Cream - review

It's time for another hand cream review! This time it's the Swedish brand ACO's turn. Their Rich Care Hand Cream can mainly be bought on pharmacies. The price is 52 SEK ($8) for 100 ml. (0,52SEK/ml.)

This hand cream contains canola oil which is naturally rich on vitamin E and it also contains Q10 which is an antioxidant. It's perfumed but it's hard to define the scent… roses maybe… and soap… it smells just clean as my boyfriend put it :) It's a pleasant scent though, not too strong nor too weak.

It softens your hand immediately but leaves them oily for a short while. But after a minute or two the oily layer disappears leaving your hands just soft and nice fresh clean smelling. A small amount of this hand cream is enough to achieve this.

So what about the durability then? Well, if you don't wash your hands it keeps working and I guess it keeps going after one or perhaps two hand washes but then the fun is over. Then you need to reapply it.

I really like the feel of your hands though after using it. Baby skin soft. And the scent is nice. It's not my best hand cream but it's totally ok for it's price range. I recommend it for daily usage but it's not a miracle cream.

Have you tried this hand cream?

Any thoughts on it?

The contents of the London nail polish bags!

For those of you who wanted to see what it was in the bags from my London trip last year - here it is! :D A nice family picture! More detailed information will be revealed later so stay tuned ;)

How do you like my London haul?

Worth waiting a year for…? ;)

Spider Web Nails

I hope you don't have arachnophobia because for today's Nail Art Sunday I'm showing you my spider web manicure ;) I'm actually scared of spiders and I don't like the feel of their webs either :/

The base is a fantastic one coater silver metallic polish from By K called Moon Dust. Then I've stamped the pattern with Misa I Will Survive and MoYou plate Pro Collection-05.

I'd read that Misa I Will Survive would be great for stamping and it sure was! I seldom pat myself on the shoulder but this time my stamping was immaculate! Well done me! ;)

How do you like my spider web nails?

Are you scared of spiders?

One year old unopened bags full of polishes...

Maybe it's time to open my four bags full of brand new nail polishes that I got in London in March LAST YEAR….?!?!?! :O

I've forgotten what's in them but I know there are about 40 polishes in them :D I know there's Kiko, Revlon and Max Factor Fantasy Fire but the rest is a mystery…
It will be like the best nail polish present ever to reveal what's in those bags!! :D

I can't believe I've just left the bags in a corner for more than a year?! I must be crazy!! ;P Since I'm going to London soon again it might be good to know what's in them so I don't buy any dupes…

Are you curious to see what's hiding in the bags…? ;)

Smitten Polish Love Actually Is All Around - swatches and review

Are you tired of seeing the Love Actually Collection from Smitten Polish yet…? I hope not because here is another amazing holo polish from that collection! Perfect for Holo Friday! :D

Nice formula, wonderful bas color and marvelous rainbows! What more could you ask for? ;)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holographic.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Very nice formula. A tiny bit thinner than the other holo from this collection that I've tried i.e "Just in Cases" (click here for swatches and review on that one). But definitely not runny!

Brush: A straight cut medium wide brush.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. Just look at the last picture taken deep down under ground on a tube station! Still amazing!!

Grade: 5++/5

I keep hearing Hugh Grant's voice when I look at this polish ;) (He says the line in the film which is the same as the name of this polish.) I would like to do a twist on his line and say: I could Actually wear this All year Around because it's so beautiful! ;)

How do you like Love Actually Is All Around?