Throwback Thursday: China Glaze Purple Panic Neon - swatches and review

I'm doing another Throwback Thursday today! This is an old time favorite of mine which I haven't worn for years! Don't know why because it's drop dead gorgeous!!

So put on your sunglasses! This is China Glaze Purple Panic Neon! :) Released in 2005 with the Nervy Neons Collection.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Neon/shimmer.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Ok formula. Easy to control but visible brushstrokes. This could however be due to that this polish is at least four years old and was opened four years ago too.

Brush: Thin straight cut brush.

Top Coat: Yes. Dries matte otherwise.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5++/5

I really should wear this polish more often! It's bright, vivid and glowing and makes you smile! Perfect for summer!

How do you like Purple Panic Neon?

Bamboo Leaves in the Rain Manicure

The theme on today's Nail Art Sunday is "Motivation" and there are so many fantastic nail art ladies out there that motivate me! Recently I've got to know Ruth on Instagram who does fantastic nail art manicures! She is marvelous at doing layering stamping and her beautiful double stamp manicures were the motivation for me to try that myself. Ruth is called @firefly5 on Instagram - check her out!

I was a bit of a chicken though with this first attempt of doing double stamping. The first layer is a very close to the base color but if you look really closely you can see the raindrops behind the bamboo leaves ;) I'll try and be more brave the next time :)

The base is the magical Butter London Disco Biscuit. The raindrops are from a MoYou plate called Tourist Collection-05 (the London plate). Polish used is By K Pink Dahlia. Second layer of stamping is from another MoYou plate, Suki Collection-06 and Essie Nothing Else Metals.

I like the result. The double stamping gives the manicure a sort of 3D-effect. I will definitely do layering stamping manicures again!

How do you like this manicure?

Have you tried double stamping?

New arrivals haul

A few days ago I got a parcel full of new beauties from USA! Nine new friends moved in :)

For the first time I going to give OPI's Nail Envy a try. The Essies are mainly for stamping. The rest is for pure pleasure ;)

As per usual a family picture first and then closer pics ;) Enjoy!

China Glaze OMG a UFO, Misa High Brow

Essie Nothing Else Metals, Essie No Place Like Chrome

Essie Penny Talk, Essie Good as Gold

OPI AmazON…AmazOFF, OPI Original Nail Envy

Did you see anything you liked?

Which are your best stamping polishes?

Chevron Nails Tutorial

Time for another tutorial! This time it's on how to do chevron nails :)

You need three different polishes and a top coat, tools to do a clean up because it can get quite messy ;) and a bit of a patience :) Let's start shall we?

Start by painting your nails with one of the colors as base

Paint a wide diagonal line with color 1

Paint a wide line across the first line with color 2

Paint another wide like across the last line with color 3
(same color as your base color)

Add a wide line with color 1 again

Add a line with color 2 again

Add a line with color 3 again

Add another line with color 1 again

Color 2 added again. Keep adding colors in the same
order until you've reach the end of your nails.

The final result after clean up and top coat!

I hope you've found this tutorial helpful! I love the result and you can easily vary it with different colors and textures. Good luck!

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?

80's Gold Leopard Nails

I did this manicure just before going to the premiere of the musical "Flashdance" a few weeks ago. I wanted an 80's manicure with a print, neons and metallic and this is how I combined them :) The idea is based on manicure done by the talented Natalia at Polished Polyglot. Check her blog out!

Since there's no special theme today at Nail Art Sunday, I though I'd show you it today :) I hope you like it!

The base is Essence Gold Digger and then I stamped on a leopard patten with Konad plate m57 and Illamasqua Scorn. Then I did dots with different neons, China Glaze Flying Dragon (purple), Nails Inc Baker Street (blue), Kiss Nail Art Paint Beach Green (green), Orly Beach Cruiser (pink) and Orly Glowstick (yellow).

PS. If you get the chance to see "Flashdance" the musical - do it! It's brilliant!!

How do you like this 80's nail art?

Marimekko Räsymatto Nail Art

The theme for today's Nail Art Sunday is "Marimekko" and I couldn't be happier! I love Finnish design and especially Marimekko's patterns! My grandmother was Finnish so Marimekko has a special place in my heart <3

I have actually done Marimekko nails before! About a year ago. Back then I was inspired by their collaboration with Converse. Click here to see that manicure.

This time I chose a pattern called "Räsymatto" which means "rag rug" or "trasmatta" as we say in Swedish ;)

The base is the lovely Nubar Honeysuckle and the dots are made with a tiny dotting tool and a lot of patience ;) with the following polishes:
Ciaté Sugar Plum (lilac)
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
China Glaze Winter Berry (red)
Ciaté Hopscotch (orange)

I was quite pleased with this manicure. The lines are a bit crooked but I love the strong warm colors and the groovy 70's vibe to it ;)

My inspiration: Marimekko Räsymatto

How do you like this Marimekko manicure?

What is your favorite Marimekko pattern?

Easy Corset Nails

I've never ever (yet) worn the same nail art twice so when I did the recreation of my first ever posted nail art yesterday I just had to pimp it ;)

I call this manicure corset nails but I wasn't sure what to call it honestly. I guess it's a simplified corset manicure. Hm… ;)

I'm not super pleased with this manicure but it was fun to do and let's face it - merely the bows was a bit boring for me nowadays ;)

What would you have called this nail art?

And how do you like it?

Recreation of my very first posted nail art ever - Bows!

It's Sunday and that means Nail Art Sunday! :D The task this week was to recreate your very first nail art. A fun and different theme! More of those Lela! ;)

I posted this bow nail art almost exactly three years ago on the 11th of February. I'm not that proud to show you how it looked by then ;) but you can see a picture of it below. I was a both a nail art and a stamping beginner and as you all know - practice makes perfect ;)

I really love the color of the base polish - China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. It's such a vibrant green! Then I've simply made little white bows with a white polish and Konad plate m3.

This is some of the things that I've learned over the last three years: :)
- How to do a proper clean-up
- How to take better pictures
- How to edit my pictures
- How to place a stamped pattern more accurately
- How do stamp better and clearer

The top picture is without a top coat because the base polish makes the white bows turn yellow. The old picture is with a top coat.

Now for the great moment ;) - the before and after pictures:
(It's the same polish I promise! I've got a much better camera nowadays. Top picture is color accurate.)

Bow manicure done this week

Bow manicure done three years ago

Do you think I've improved? 

Isn't it amazing that Four Leaf Clover still has the same

amazing formula after been opened THREE years ago?!

China Glaze Full Spectrum - swatches and review

New Years Eve is around the corner and here's an idea on what to wear on your nails tomorrow. This polish is the perfect party polish with all its glitter and shine!

Full Spectrum is surprisingly opaque. This is two coats.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Very good! Easy to apply even though it's a tiny bit thick.

Brush: Good! No complaints.

Top Coat: Yes. One coat of Seche Vite. Not super smooth with one coat.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate, but much more glittery irl! :)

Grade: 4++/5

This a beautiful glitter polish! I like the multicolored larger glitters in it but it leans a bit too much to pink to get a 5 from me ;) I will still use this polish again though :)

How do you like Full Spectrum?

Christmas Wrapping Paper Nails

Today on the day before Christmas many of us are wrapping our Christmas gifts to our beloved friends and family. So today I've got a very appropriate nail art for you - my interpretation of a Christmas wrapping paper :)

The base is Barry M Matte White. Then I've used Essence Gold Digger and Bundle Monster plate BM-212 to create the peacock pattern. To make this nail art a bit more christmassy I added green and red dots. The red is Barry M Blood Orange and the green is China Glaze Holly-Day.

I'm quite happy with this nail art. I like the colors but the stamping could have been better. I was in a hurry and that is never good when it comes to stamping ;)

How do you like this manicure?

Pansy Nails - swatches

After a whole month filled with scary halloween nail arts I thought I'll do something super cute to compensate ;) So for this Nail Art Sunday I've done Pansy Nails! I guess they could also go for Violet Nails :)

The base is the beautiful Illamasqua Nomad and then I've used my beloved dotting tools and a tiny brush to create the pansies. Polishes used are Illamasqua Jo'mina (lilac), Barry M Matte White and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (yellow).

Perhaps these are very spring-y but on this gloomy day I think it's ok to long for spring ;)

If anyone want a tutorial for these please let me know and I'll try to do one.

How do you like my pansy nails?

Do you long for spring too today?

Blood Splatter Nails

It's time for the "Recreate someone else's challenge" in the Halloween Challenge I'm doing this month.

I got inspired by Look What the Bats Dragged In's manicure she did for the "Horror Movies" challenge. On some of her nails she had a blood splatter base and I've always wanted to try that! Said and done, now I've tried it and it was so fun!! Yes, there is some cleaning up to do, but if you're thorough when you tape your nails for protection it's not that bad actually.

I love that the pattern, created as you blow in a straw with polish in it, is totally unpredictable! It can turn out like anything! However, I found that a hard short blow created the most beautiful patterns.

The base in my manicure is "Jet Stream" from a Danish brand called By K. Totally vegan, cruelty free and also 5-free! A review of this polish will come shortly! The red is China Glaze "Winter Berry". A very blood look-a-like polish ;)

I'm very pleased with my first splatter manicure! I'll definitely try it again!

How do you like this blood splatter manicure?

Have you tried this technique?

Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts Candy Nails

Today's theme for the Halloween Challenge I'm doing is "Trick or Treat". I decided to go for treat and did these candy inspired nails.

In the candy mix called Bassets Liquorice Allsorts there are yellow and pink wheels. The outside tastes of coconut and the middle is a sweet liquorice filling. I love eating only the yellow and pink pieces and give the black middle to my boyfriend ;) Lol!

Anyway, the base is a fantastic purple-grey polish from Rimmel called Punk Rock and the wheels are made with dotting tools. The yellow is China Glaze Happy Go Lucky and the pink is Zoya Lo. The black is Illamasqua Boosh.

My inspiration :)

How do you like this candy manicure?

Have you tried Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts?