Shell Fish Nails

A bit later than usual today but better late than never ;) I was worried I wouldn't be able to join at all because of lack of time. I'm starting to teach a new florist class on Wednesday on top of my ordinary work as a florist so busy, busy, busy now and until Christmas...

We've got wonderful weather today, it almost feels like summer, so I thought a very summery nail art would be appropriate.

The base is the magic Glitter Gal Blue and then I've stamped on a shell fish pattern from MoYou London plate Sailor Collection-07 with By K Jet Stream. So it's a mix from Australia, England and Denmark today ;)

I was very pleased with this manicure! It looks like the shell fish is swimming around in blue tropical water glittering in the sun. It makes me wish for more holiday :)

How do you like this manicure?

Rimmel London Oh, Mr Darcy! - swatches and review

This is a polish I actually bought mostly for its name. I love Jane Austen and I love "Pride and Prejudice". Mr Darcy is one of the characters in that book. Hand on the heart now, who hasn't been a little bit in love with Colin Firth playing Mr Darcy in one of the tv series versions (BBC 1995)…? ;)

The color is a lovely nude color though. Unfortunately its no longer with me since it was a gift to my great friend Goldie who definitely has had a crush on a certain Mr Darcy ;)

This is three easy coats with a top coat.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Three.

Formula: Good. A tiny bit thin but not runny.

Brush: Wide rounded brush.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Grade: 3+/5

I'm not quite sure why Rimmel chose such a dull color for Mr Darcy though… Ok, he's a bit boring and stiff in the beginning but in the end quite passionate actually ;) I would have chosen a royal blue color for a polish with this name. Or a dark navy blue ;)

How do you like Oh, Mr Darcy!?
What color do you see Mr Darcy as?

Summary of By K Summer Collection 2014

In case I've got a complete polish collection I usually do a summary of it - and now it's time to sum up the wonderful summer collection from By K! I've listed the nine polishes in the order how I like them. The first one is my favorite and so on.

I've got many questions on where to get hold of these amazing polishes and if you live in Denmark you can order them from By K at: www.by-k.dk/shop

If you live outside Denmark you can get them at: skinstyle.dk/by-k-neglelak-177 They ship all over Europe.

If you live outside Europe you can contact By K directly to see if they can help you. Go to: www.by-k.dk/en-shop

Ok, time for the list! And remember they are all certified cruelty free, vegan and not less than 5-free! Great for you and for the animals :)

By K Blue Lagoon

By K Waterfall

By K Limelight

By K Glacier

By K Lavender Blue

By K Camelia Rose

By K Copper Heart

By K Pretty Nude

By K Sugar Rush

How do you like this collection?

Do you agree on my order? :)

Vintage Manicure

The theme for today's Nail Art Sunday is "Antique" but I've turned it more to "Vintage" :). Our host Lela is usually very generous with interpretations so I hope she is that today too ;)

I don't really know what it is with this manicure that makes it feel vintage but it does to me. I'm thinking a vintage French boudoir here… ;)

The base polish is suitably Oh, Mr Darcy from Rimmel London ;) and them I've done a double stamping print. First the gold stripes (Essie Good As Gold and MoYou London plate Pro Collection-01) and then the flowers (Misa I Will Survive and Konad m57). And some dots on top of that. Fini! :)

 

How do you like this manicure?

Does it look vintage to you?

Blueberry Nails

The inspiration for this nail art emerged when I was sipping on a bottle of blueberry soup and saw the beautiful little blueberries on the bottle. At that time I happened to have a "clean" nude polish on my nails just waiting to be decorated. So I got my dotting tools out and dotted on a bunch of blueberries! :)

The base polish is the beautiful Pretty Nude from By K and the blueberries are made with KBShimmer Right as Reign and Barry M Matte White.

I love the result! The blurple berries are a great contrast to the pale nude and I like how the placement of the berries came out. A perfect manicure for this Nail Art Sunday! :)

How do you like this manicure?

By K Pretty Nude - swatches and review

Time for a pretty nude! This is also the name of this polish from By K. It's brand new from their summer collection. Vegan, 5-free and cruelty free. This is Pretty Nude!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Very good! Full control and very self leveling even though I applied it during a very hot day.

Brush: Thin straight cut brush.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Grade: 4/5

This is really a pretty nude as the name says ;) Good qualities and a perfect base for nail art! I can't wait to show you what I did to this one ;) If it had been the perfect shade to my skin tone I'd given it a 5 but it has one drop or two too much pink in it for that. So a strong 4 from me :)

How do you like Pretty Nude?

Ballet Slipper Nails

I know these are childish but they are so cute too! It's Nail Art Sunday and these ballet slipper nails are my contribution :)

Base polish is By K Camelia Rose and then I added "the foot" with By K Pretty Nude and then I did "the straps" with Camelia Rose and a thin brush. A top coat to seal everything up. Very easy and very cute! ;)

How do you like my ballet slippers nails?

Bourjois Perle Illusion - swatches and review

This post is for my fantastic friend Goldie who is totally nude-crazy ;) and of course for all you other nude polish addicts out there! :)

I got this polish in London a few months ago and so far Bourjois has never disappointed me, neither did it this time. I then used this as a base for my beautiful Wisteria Nails.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer.

Number of coats: Two, but one coat is enough for short nails.

Formula: Excellent formula! You are in total control of every drop and every stroke! Due to this I can even live with the visible brushstrokes ;)

Brush: Very wide rounded fan brush.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 3+/5

The shimmer in this polish makes this nudie glow! Beautiful! Excellent qualities too! However, I'm not a crazy nude polish fan like my friend Goldie ;) so a 3+ from me.

How do you like Perle Illusion?

Wisteria Nails

It's been a while since I did a dotticure and a loooooong while since I was so pleased about one ;)

I've named this manicure Wisteria Nails but due to the color I guess you could also call it Grape Nails ;) However, since I'm a florist and not a wine maker (lol!) I prefer to call them Wisteria Nails. Wisteria is a such a beautiful plant (Blåregn in Swedish).

The base for this manicure is Bourjois Perle Illusion. The Wisteria is made with dotting tools and Color Club Wild At Heart and Kiko #428 River Green.

And oh! It's Nail Art Sunday today ;)

Source

How do you like my Wisteria Nails?

Neon Waterlilies on Nude

When I saw that the theme for today's Nail Art Sunday was "Neon" I knew exactly which colors I wanted to play with! Neon yellow and nude! I love that combination!

And this is what I came up with! A stampicure with one of my new MoYou plates which I showed you yesterday.

The base is the stunning, amazing, beautiful "Rare" from Illamasqua. The pattern is from MoYou plate Suki Collection-06 and the nude polish is "Jet Stream" from By K.

I haven't tried stamping with any of my By K polishes but this one was excellent for stamping! It's a one coater so I'm not surprised and I guess the other By K's are great for stamping too!

I think the pattern looks like Waterlilies so that's why I named this manicure "Neon Waterlilies on Nude" even though it's the neon that is the base and not the nude ;)

How do you like this stampicure?

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? ;)

By K Jet Stream - swatches and review

I had never heard of the Danish nail polish brand By K before Karina at By K contacted me and informed me about By K polishes. She told me that all their polishes are cruelty free, vegan and not less than 5-free.

As an animal lover it always feels extra great to wear something cruelty free. By K is even certified by Cruelty Free International and PETA. If you want to read more about what 5-free and cruelty free means click here.

This was my base polish for the blood splatter nail art I did a while ago. It feels a bit wrong to call it a nude because it doesn't look like an ordinary nude so perhaps we can call it a very pale café au lait? :)

Jet Stream has a great formula! It's actually a one coater! After doing some research I've read that most By K's polishes are! :D You can get By K from their own webshop here or from SkinStyle here.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: One! :D

Formula: Excellent! Self leveling and easy to apply.

Brush: Very good! Perhaps a tiny bit thin for my taste ;)

Top Coat: Yes. One coat of Seche Vite.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4/5

This polish is a fun edgy nude which will be perfect as base for many nail arts. I can definitely wear it on its own too. Perhaps not the most perfect shade for my skin color but I like it. And it's a one coater!

How do you like Jet Stream?
Have you heard of By K before?

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?

Skittlette

The task for today's Nail Art Sunday is to do a skittlette! A very fun theme which you can keep on a very easy level or do just how advanced you like. I chose to keep it very easy but I tried to convince myself that less is more ;)

I decided to chose one polish as starting point and chose the others after that one. So I chose Nails Inc Sugar House Lane (middle finger) and chose the others to match that one. I ended up with OPI Solitaire on pointer finger, Illamasqua Scorn on ring finger and Barry M Vanilla on thumb and pinkie.

And finally a huge thank you for all your birthday wishes yesterday! They really warmed my heart!

How do you like my skittlette?

Are you into skittlettes?

Face Stockholm Leto - swatches and review

I used Face Stockholm Leto as base when I did my lace nails last Sunday but I think this amazing nude holo deserves a post of its own! Especially today when it's Holo Friday.

It has a gloriously strong holo effect! It's actually holographic in any lighting and in sunlight it explodes of rainbows! It's such a show stopper!

This is two coats and the formula is absolutely perfect! If you thought Color Club's Halo's had a marvelous formula, you should try this one! Even better!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holographic.

Number of coats: Two, but it's very possible that you can get away with one!

Formula: Excellent! Best holo formula I've ever tried! No signs of holosickness at all. A pure dream to apply!

Brush: Excellent! Perfect!

Top Coat: No.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5++++++/5

I had to search for this polish in almost all Face Stockholm's stores in Stockholm before I finally found one store who had one left! But all Face Stockholm staff were very helpful and did their best to help me. Anyway, it was all worth it and I definitely think this polish is worth its high price (SEK169, £17, $24). The bottle holds 14,2 ml or 5 fl Oz.

How do you like Leto?
Have you tried any other Face Stockholm polishes?