Glowing Web Nails

I really struggled to come up with a suiting name for this manicure so I did what I usually do when I suffer from lack of imagination - I asked my boyfriend what first came to his mind when he saw my manicure :) With this manicure he said: Spiderman! First I thought he was crazy but then I saw what he saw and tadaaa! the manicure was named ;)

The base is By K Go Around and then I stamped on a black pattern with Misa I Will Survive using MoYou London plate Sailor Collection-07. I used By K Bravo-Yankie-Kilo to do some gold dots.

I'm very happy with this manicure! It looks warm and luxurious. Perfect for late summer parties and laid back days on the beach! :)

How do you like this manicure?

By K Go Around - swatches and review

Orange isn't really my color, but this beauty is not your ordinary orange polish. It has a golden glow to it and it's more of a burned amber color when you look at it more closely. It's really stunning live and particularly in the sun!

Depending on the lighting it shifts from dark coral, via amber to dark red. Very subtle shifts due to the shimmer because it's not a multi chrome or a duo chrome. It shows no shifts under water, which a multi or duo chrome polish does.

The formula is flawless! I did two coats but one is enough if you do a thicker coat. Also cruelty free, vegan, 5-free and allergy certified!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Excellent! No running, no bald spots! Just perfect!

Brush: Medium straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes.

Grade: 5/5

This polish is totally unique in my collection! Even my boyfriend stopped and looked at it while I was painting my nails, which he never does! He thought it was pretty and he never says anything nowadays after seeing hundreds of polishes ;) I guess you can't get a better grade than that! :)

How do you like Go Around?

By K OY-MAK - swatches and review

Time for color! Real in-your-face-red brought to you by By K! This is OY-MAK. Quite a strange name but the whole collection has got to do with flights and flying and air plans. OY-MAK is a kind of number plate and OY means Danish and MAK is the code for a specific person.

I adore this shade! It's so bright without being a neon! Great formula too! This is two coats. Cream is what By K does best! Always flawless and spot-on-colors! And as always 5-free, vegan and certified cruelty free and now also allergy certified! This polish will be released in the beginning of May.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Two totally effortless coats.

Formula: Excellent! Perfection! It just glides on to the nails!

Brush: Medium straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Grade: 5+/5

This amazing cream will be used again and again! I love it!

How do you like OY-MAK?

Neon Striping Tape Manicure

The theme for today's Nail Art Sunday is "Neon". We had this theme in April but I don't mind. There can never be too much neon in my opinion!

This week I've been, and still am, a bit under the weather because of a summer cold with a terrible cough! Luckily I had this neon striping tape manicure in my archive.

The base is Models Own Pink Punch and the grey/purple polish is Ink from By K.

I like the contrast between the neon orange and the dark gray. My friend Goldie said they look like beetles. She even showed me a picture of the beetles and I promise you, there are beetles looking like this! I didn't know this of course when I did this manicure. Still fun! :)

My neon nail art for April's neon theme can be found here.

How do you like this striping manicure?

Holothon: Jade Sunset - swatches and review

It's Friday and it's time for holo! I'm doing both Holothon 2.0 and Holo Friday and today I've got a holo from the new holo collection from Jade called Sunset.

I saw a swatch of Sunset and fell in love with it but when I got it and saw it in its bottle I got a bit disappointed actually… But once on the nails I loved it again! Does anyone recognize this behavior…? ;) I don't usually look good in orange but in this I do! Yey!!

Anyway, this color reminds me of those hard orange sweets my grandparents always had at home, dark orange but still bright. Lovely rainbows as always with Jade. It shifts a bit in color depending on lighting. Last pic is taken on a tube station far below ground :)

How do you like Sunset?

An InLinkz Link-up

New arrivals!

I'm really, really busy at the moment so today I just want to show you the content of a parcel I got yesterday!

Dance Legend The Knight, Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat
Arcane Lacquer Residuum, Dance Legend It's Hot Here

Soooooo glad to finally got hold of Dance Legend The Knight! It sure looks stunning in the bottle :)

Dance Legend It's Hot Here has been a completely must since I saw it on my dear friend Christine's blog Polished Marvels. Will wear sunglasses while swatching that 8)

Will finally try the hyped top coat HK Girl from Glisten & Glow. Will be interesting.

The Arcane Lacquer was a pure impulse buy. It just begged me to take it home with me and who am I to refuse such a calling? ;)

I tried one of these polishes immediately! Guess which one…? ;)

Models Own Pink Punch - swatches and review

Sorry, no green polish today… Today it's neon time!! :D
It's also payday for many of us!! Yey! :D

This is such an amazing color!! Typical neon qualities though… sheer and dries matte.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Neon.

Number of coats: Three coats on top of a white base which is a must for this polish.

Formula: Apart from the sheerness, it's a nice formula. Easy to control and self leveling.

Brush: Wide straight cut brush.

Top Coat: Yes. Dries matte and needs a bit of help to dry all the layers. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate, which makes me wonder about the name… This polish is not pink, it's orange!

Grade: 3+/5

I love the color of this polish!! It's so bright and vivid! However, it takes so many layers (7 in total with base and top coat) so a 3+ from me.

How do you like Pink Punch?

Throwback Thursday: OPI Red Lights Ahead…Where? - swatches and review

I'm a fan of sometimes bringing forward older polishes. So today I'm having a throwback Thursday! This is one of my absolute favorite red leaning to orange polishes! It's so bright and juicy!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Two. For long nails I think three coats would be better.

Formula: A nice formula. I wish it could be a bit more self leveling though.

Brush: Wide straight cut brush.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 5/5

I've got loads of new untried polishes but I still want to wear this one from time to time. That's how much I love it :)

How do you like Red Lights?
Do you have a polish you always return to?

H&M Stop Sign - swatches and review

The name of this polish had me a bit confused at first. It's called stop sign and it's a super bright orange leaning to red. Here in Sweden the stop signs are pure red so I didn't really get the name. After a quick google I found out that in several countries the stop signs are actually this orange-red. So no more confusion :)

A lovely polish! Fairly new. Very good value for money!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Number of coats: Two. If you are super fussy, do three coats ;)

Formula: Very nice formula! Easy to control and self leveling.

Brush: Wide and rounded. Very nice to apply with!

Top Coat: Yes.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4+/5

This is a perfect polish for summer! Both for lazy days on the beach or for long party nights :) If it had been a one coater I would have given it a 5 ;)

How do you like Stop Sign?

Duochrome week: Comparison Impala Sex Appeal and Barry M Mediterranean

When I tried Barry M's Mediterranean I knew I had something similar in my stash and after some searching I found the bottle I was looking for, Impala's Sex Appeal.

They look quite alike in the bottles but they are not dupes. Barry M's Mediterranean has a flash of pink which Impala's Sex Appeal don't have. This is due to the almost foil finish of Mediterranean. Sex Appeal is more smooth and also shows a darker shade of orange too.

Sex Appeal has a much stronger chemical smell than Mediterrean, uncomfortably strong actually, but I still prefer Sex Appeal over Mediterranean. It's more smooth and intense. If you are a big fan of orange/red douchromes you of course need both of these :)

In these pictures I've got Barry M Mediterranean on middle finger and pinkie. Impala Sex Appeal on pointer and ring finger.

Which one do you prefer?

Duochrome week: Barry M Mediterranean - swatches and review

It's been a while since I had a theme week so this week will be all about duochromes! I hope you are into them :)

I'm starting with stunning one from the fairly new Barry M Aquarium Collection. In this collection all the polishes are named by different seas. This is Mediterranean, a gorgeous sunset duochrome!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Duochrome.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: A very nice formula. Very few brushstrokes. The most glittery one of this collection.

Brush: Thin straight cut.

Top Coat: No.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4/5

This beauty shifts from red to orange to pink which are not my colors at all really. But together like this - I like them! They make me think of a sunset or a drink :)

How do you like Mediterranean?

Flower Nail Art

Spring is here and I always feel the need for brights and flowers at this time of the year :)

So here's a manicure with both flowers and a brights! The base is a fairly new polish from H&M called Stop Sign. That name puzzled me a bit because in Sweden stop signs are red but now I've learned that in some countries the stop signs are orange :)

I used a black Misa polish called I Will Survive and MoYou plate Suki Collection-06 to stamp on the flowers. The pattern is actually with black in the middle of the flowers but I dotted on a bright purple dot in each flower to get a contrast of orange and purple. It was hard to cover the black but I think you can get the idea ;)

Many of my customers thought I had done lady bug nails and looking at a distance I can understand them :)

How do you like my flower manicure?

Which version do you like best?

Golden Swirls Nail Art

I had a bit of a mind block when I was trying to name today's contribution to Nail Art Sunday… In the end I went for "Golden Swirls" :)

The base polish is By K Autumn Leaf, a fantastic toffee colored polish! Then I used Essence Gold Digger to stamp on a pattern from MoYou plate Pro Collection-07. To get that final touch I dotted on a few dots of a golden textured polish from Barry M called Duchess.

I was very happy with the result and wore it several days! :D

How do you like this manicure?

What would you have called this nail art?

Max Factor Fantasy Fire - swatches and review

This polish doesn't need a long introduction ;) most of you already know it. Highly hyped in Sweden and impossible to get hold of here. In England though it's fairly easy to get hold of so lately I tend to buy a bottle each time I'm there :) So far I've got three bottles ;)

Fantasy Fire is a duo chrome best for layering. Mostly it shows its red and orange colors but in some lightings you can see both green and gold. It's really stunning!

In these pics I wear one coat over Rimmel Barmy Blue. There will be a picture spam today because Fantasy Fire really changes depending on the lighting.

In electric light

With flash

In daylight

Sorry for the blur but look at those colors!!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Duochrome.

Number of coats: One coat on top of a blue creme polish.

Formula: Very good! No complaints.

Brush: Thin and straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. Much more amazing irl of course! :)

Grade: 5++/5

I liked this polish far more than I thought! I almost always get put off by a super hyped polish but now when the worst hype is over I felt like trying it ;) and I will wear it again (I must - I've got three bottles of it! Lol!)

How do you like Fantasy Fire?

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? ;)

Needle Dragging Flower Power Nails

The theme for today's Nail Art Sunday is "Flower Power" and when I think of flower power I think of the 70's and that era's earthy colors and large prints. So I did a needle dragging manicure using red, orange, brown and yellow.

The red is The Sky Is The Limit from By K, the orange is Autumn Leaf from By K, the brown is Choco Mousse from By K and the yellow is Happy Go Lucky from China Glaze.

I just slapped on the polishes generously (all colors right after each other on one nail at the time) and then I used a thin dotting tool and dragged lines from the red area and outwards. A top coat and I was done! :)

Have you tried needle dragging?

Are you into the 70's style and colors?

New arrivals from By K!

A few days ago I became the proud owner of six new fantastic By K polishes! Three are from their autumn collection and three are from their christmas collection. I've also seen sneak peaks on instagram that By K is currently working on a new spring collection which looks stunning!

The other By K's I've tried have had immaculate formulas and all been one coaters so I've got pretty high expectations on these ;) What I do know is that all By K polishes are cruelty free, vegan and not less than 5-free! Excellent if you ask me :)

Autumn Leaf and Pink Dahlia

Super Nova and The Sky Is The Limit

Moon Dust and Ink

Which one should I try first?

Have you tried any By K polishes?

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?

Autumn Leaves Nail Art

For this Nail Art Sunday I want to show you an autumn manicure! I did some stamping with a leaf motive in different colors on a yellow base. And with some I mean 72 times :) Every single leaf is stamped on its own. Yes, it took a while but it was worth it in the end :) My customers got totally crazy over this manicure! They didn't want to leave the shop and asked hundreds of questions! Lol! :D

I used the following polishes for the leaves: (from left to right)

Nordic Cap NP07

Eyeko Saucy Red Polish

Catrice I'm Not A Greenager

Model City Dipping Chocolate

The yellow base is Lime Crime Crema de Limón which is a more soft and pale yellow irl. I'll show you it on its own some day soon!
The plate is Bundle Monster plate BM-221.

How do you like this manicure?

Are you looking forward to the autumn?

H&M Peach Me Soon - swatches and review

I found this little gem about a month ago on a small shelf at H&M marked "Just arrived". Peach is normally not my color, I do like it but it usually doesn't suit my skin tone. Anyway, a friend of mine fell in love with it but neither she or I have been able to find it again anywhere?! Strange.

No matter how I tried my camera didn't want to capture the right shade of this polish. It is not this orange looking. It's more a pale almost dusky orange peach. Really pretty actually!

GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT PEACH ME SOON:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: A pale dusky orange peach.

Opacity: Very good! This is two coats.

Formula: Very good! Self leveling.

Brush: Very good! No complaints. The cap is a bit big to hold but H&M's all new polishes have a new normal cap. Great!

Shine: Very shiny on its own so I have no top coat in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate, but not quite so orange looking even though it's an orange peach color.

Grade: 4/5 :)

Peach isn't my best color but this one has quite a lot of orange in it so it actually suits me fairly well. It's really strange that it's been nowhere to find though. Did they only make a small batch? Did they sell out immediately? I haven't seen it at many blogs though... Only a paler version from last year. This is a mystery to me!

How do you like Peach Me Soon?

Do you know why this polish is so hard to find?