Dance Legend Thermo No 175

8 comments

I'm a little proud I can actually show you these pictures and give you my review. I've had this polish for about a year or so, I can't remember exactly when I got this, but what I do remember is feeling incredibly dissapointed. I saw gorgeous swatches, with a beautifull french looking finish and I wanted that! When I got my bottle, the color was... well... horrible might be a little strong, but I didn't like it, not at all! So to the back of my Helmer they ( I ordered 2) went.

But after some heavy peer pressure from some people, I caved and slapped this on my nails. I have to admit: I kind of like it!

Dance Legend Thermo No 175 is a shimmery thermal reactive polish. That means it changes color when it's warm or cold.


The formula is really nice. It flows easily on the nail, dries fast and this is a 1 coater! But of course I couldn't leave it at just 1 coat, I had to add the second. What is that? I'm not the only one who has this problem, I can't be, can anybody tell me why I feel the need to always add a second coat? Anyway, back to the polish.

When it's warm, it's a nice berry red.


When it's cold, it's a deep purple.


I like the cold color a lot and I think the warm color is really nice, but I love this polish when it's mid transition. The berry red almost turns a pinkish red and you can see that gorgeous deep purple at the tips of your nails.


I've been playing with this polish all night yesterday and today and I think it's extremely fun! I'm glad I finally put this on.

You can buy Dance Legend at their own site, Llarowe, Color4nails and Ninja Polish.

Have you ever tried a thermal polish and if so, which one?

X

Zoya Tomoko

6 comments

I've said it a couple of times on this blog, I love OPI My favorite Ornament! It was a total unexpected love for me and I've been wearing so much of it, I'm actually debating if I should get a back up, because I'm afraid I'm going to run out. So when I saw swatches of this gorgeous polish, I knew I had to have it! Ornament in a textured finish!

Zoya Tomoko is described by Zoya as a romantic champagne silver with a matte, textured, sparkling metal and I agree, it's a gorgeous champagne/white golden color. I absolutely love this on my skintone!


The formula was nice. Opaque in 2 coats and it dried fast. It did take a little longer to harden, but, like the other Pixie Dusts I've tried, once this baby is on your nails, it doesn't move untill you want it to! I love this on its own, but I paired it with Chyna as an accent, for a pop of bright color.



Isn't that just so pretty? When the sun hits it, it sparkles so brightly, I can't stop smiling when I look at my nails. Pure perfection in a bottle!

What's your favorite texture?

X

Deborah Lippmann Bitches Brew

4 comments

I'm a great lover of red nail polish! I know, shocker, lol. Red is the color that is best represented in my stash and I keep adding them. I think nothing beats a red nail, so the fact that I totally missed out on Chanel Malice... let's just not get in to that.

I've searched the web for a good dupe, but to be honest, I really want the real deal.
Since that's never going to happen, I bit the bullet and bought the polish that comes closest. But it's not a dupe for Malice, nope... Malice is a dupe for this one!
Want to see how close these two actually are, check out this post by Pointless Cafe.

Deborah Lippmann Bitches Brew (yeah, I know, perfect name for me!) is a deep shimmery red polish and should still be widely available.


The formula was absolutely perfect! It flows on the nails and is opaque in 2 thin, easy coats, but you could get away with 1 thicker coat. It dries fast and super shiny, my pictures are without topcoat.



I absolutely love this polish! Not only because it's such a gorgeous shade of red, but also because of the formula, finish and the name. I think this is a great addition to my stash.


What's your favorite red polish?

X

NailPatternBoldness Flipping Out Hard

4 comments

When I first started getting into nailpolish, I was mostly interested in the regular brands like OPI, China Glaze, Essie, etc. I did like some indie polishes, but I didn't see any that I really needed, that is, untill I saw this polish! One swatch was enough for me to fall in love and I had to have it!

NailPatternBoldness Flipping out Hard is neon yellow, green and blue matte glitters in a clear base. This is best layered over an opaque base, even though you can get it opaque on its own in about 3 coats.


I layered this over W7 Fluorescent Green and I think this is a perfect combination to get the color you see in the bottle.

The formula for Flipping out Hard is really nice, it flows easily on the nail and if you  use an opaque base, you only need 1 coat, but if you want it a bit denser, you can always go for 2. It dries fast and matte, because the glitter is matte. I've worn it without topcoat to keep it matte, but I prefer it with a topcoat, to make it shine and last a bit longer.



I absolutely love it! It's bright and bold and definitely makes a statement on your nails, so this polish is not for the faint at heart. Every time I wear this, I get so many compliments. This started my love for indie polish and I will always treasure it.


NailPatternBoldness is available on Etsy and Llarowe. I would definitely recommend checking this brand out, because they have great polishes!

What's your indie polish that started it all?

X

Mani Monday's: OPI Pompeii Purple

8 comments

Happy Monday!
Today's Mani Monday theme is favorite pink and we all know I'm just not a big pink polish lover. I do own quite a few, but there's only a select few I actually wear and like and there are even less I love. I've already showed you my all time favorite pink, China Glaze 108 Degrees, so I didn't want to do a repeat of that. The polish I choose was one of my first OPI polishes and I've worn it a lot and still do.

OPI Pompeii Purple is not actually a purple, but it's a vibrant fuchsia pink with an iredescent blue-ish purple shimmer.


The formula is really nice, although a little on the thin side, so be carefull not to flood your cuticles. It's opaque in 2 thin coats and dries fast and shiny.



I love this color, it's so fun and cheery! I think this is perfect for spring and summer, when the sun brings out that gorgeous shimmer. It first came out in the 2004 Greek Isles collection, but has since been added to the permanent collection and is widely available.


What's your favorite pink polish?

X

Maybelline Volum'Express One by One Mascara

4 comments

I love make-up, I can get extremely excited about a new eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, etc. If I feel sad, the best way to cheer me up is by buying make-up and one of my favorite things to buy is mascara. I have a lot of them, high end, budget and everything in between.

Today I want to show you a mascara that is (well, was, because I've been testing it for quite some time) new to my collection.

When I was on holiday, I was getting ready for a night out and applied my eyeshadow, eyeliner, etc. I really liked how it turned out and I reached into my make-up bag for my mascara to finish off my eyemake-up and my heart stopped. I packed everything, but I left my mascara behind!

I think almost everybody who wears make-up agrees with me that mascara brings everything together and is an absolute must! So off to the store I went! I wanted to get another mascara, but they didn't have that one, so I opted for Maybelline Volum'Express One by One Mascara in Satin Black.


The packaging is like all the other Maybelline mascara's, just in a different color, a very nice coral with sleek black lettering. Maybelline has some great things to say about this mascara:

Finally, bold volume without any of the bulk.
• Patented Lash Catcher™ brush has 3 bristles per lash to make every lash count
• Catches, coats and de-clumps each lash to make them all fatter and flirtier
• Instant clump-free volume
• Contact lens safe and ophthalmologist-tested
• Washable, also available in Waterproof formula
 
For Best Results: 
Sweep brush upwards from root to tip to add volume to each lash. Continue building lashes until you reach your desired look. Do not let dry between coats. Removes easily with soap and water or Expert Eyes® 100% Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover.

Sounds nice, but does it deliver?


The brush is really big and I'm not a big fan of big brushes, but this one handles really nicely. It gives my lashes length and seperates every single lash, without clumping or flaking. I have really light lashes and this, so I love how black this mascara makes my lashes.

I didn't really notice any big volume. It does give a you a bit, but I like my mascara to give me a lot of volume!

Naked lashes
2 coats of One by One
Overall I really like this mascara! I always use this if I want a more natural look. This does the best job at seperating my lashes and coating each and every single one of them. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for a lengthening mascara.

If you live in The Netherlands like I do, you're in luck!
Kruidvat is having a buy one get one free offer on all Maybelline products, including this great mascara.

What's your favorite mascara?

X

Loaded Lacquer Cuts like a knife

4 comments

One of my favorite things to do is browse around Instagram, looking for polish brands new to me. I just can't get enough of all the gorgeous (and sometimes not so gorgeous, come on people... clean up your cuticles!) swatches. I was doing just that, when my friend Jaime (The Polished Butterfly) showed a stunning macro shot of a glitter polish by Loaded Lacquer. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read she applied just 1 coat and immediatley went over to the site to check them out.

You can imagine my dissapointment when I saw this brand didn't ship to me. This didn't stop me from drooling over the polishes though and I kept an eye out for any updates and lo and behold: a few weeks later my little country was included in the countries she shipped to!

I didn't hesitate and ordered some gorgeous polishes. They finally arrived yesterday and I had to put one of them on right away!

Loaded Lacquer Cuts like a knife is a gorgeous red glitter topcoat. It has every single shade of red in every single shape you can imagine. Holographic red hex, metallic red hex, matte crimson red hex, fiery holo red hex, diamonds and dots. It's part of the Valentine's Duo, but you can also get both polish individually. I'm a little bummed I didn't get the other one, Foolish Hearts.


Don't you just love that label! It's so sparkly and pretty.
The formula is spectacular! This is designed to be a glitter topper, but you get so much coverage in just 1 coat, as shown on my nails in these pictures, I think you could totally get an opaque finish in about 3 coats.



I choose to paint it over a black base this time, but on my nail wheel I layered it over OPI's AmazON... AmazOFF and oh boy, perfect for Christmas! I think you can pretty much top any color with this polish and it would look stunning!

If you haven't noticed, I love everything about this polish! I've never seen a chunky glitter that is so easy to apply. No fishing around for the larger glitter, no need to dab, this polish is hassle free!


I got a few for myself and a couple for a friend and I'm going to have a really hard time actually giving the polishes to her, because they are just so gorgeous. I now she will love them as much as I do and get a lot of use out of them, but I might have to get those for myself too.

Loaded Lacquer is made by Heather and is available on her website.

Were you familiar with this brand and what's your favorite indie glitter?

China Glaze Spontaneous

7 comments

Sometimes you just want a nice, subtle polish that is easy to paint and just plain hassle free. I had this particular urge a couple of weeks ago, so I looked at all my cream polishes, saw this baby and realized I've never painted this on my nails after buying it about 6 months ago!

China Glaze Spontaneous is way to pretty to just stand there, so on my nails it went! It's a gorgeous midtoned purple.


It flows on the nail easily, is opaque in 2 thin coats and dries fast, so a pretty perfect cream. I love the color. Purple creams are tricky for me, because if they lean too pink, I look like dead walking, but because this has a blue undertone, I am totally able to pull this gorgeous color off!



Of course I couldn't leave it alone and had to add some sparkle, so I painted my accent nail with Sephora by OPI Sugarplum fairies gone wild. It's the only Sephora by OPI I own and I mainly wanted it for its name, but the actual polish is really nice too.


What's your favorite purple and do you prefer pastels or darker purples?

X

OPI AmazON... AmazOFF

6 comments

Yesterday, I showed you a gorgeous yellow polish from the new OPI Brazil collection and today I have the other polish I picked up from that collection. I only got 2 polishes, because the rest of them just didn't seem that interesting. But I have to admit, Live.Love.Carnaval is looking better and better... Do any of you own that and is it worth getting?

This polish however, I didn't need to think about, I knew I wanted it as soon as I saw the first swatches. OPI AmazON... AmazOFF is a teal cream that leans more to the green side of teal.


The formula is really nice, it is a cream, but almost looks like a crelly. It flows on the nail with ease, is opaque in 2 coats and dries really fast and super shiny. My swatches are without topcoat to show off the shine.



I absolutely love it! I've been on the hunt for a great teal cream for a while, but I just couldn't decide which one I wanted, so this polish came at the right moment for me. It's simple, but stunning and makes a nice colorfull statement on your nails. If you love teal polishes, you need to get this!


What's your favorite of the OPI Brazil collection?

X

OPI I just can't Cope-Acabana

8 comments

Happy Monday everybody!
No Mani Monday this week, I totally spaced and forgot to do a mani and as I'm currently testing out a weekly polish (more to come next week), I'm afraid I'll have to skip this week.

But I do have an awesome polish to show you! As soon as I saw swatches of this polish, I knew I had to have it, especially when I heard people rave about the formula of this polish. I heard things like "almost a 1 coater", "perfect with 2 coats", "no streakyness", etc. so of course I couldn't resist!

OPI I just can't Cope-Acabana is a bright yellow cream. It's part of the recent Brazil collection for spring/summer. This is the one polish that stood out for me in this collection.


When I first applied this, I had high expectations with all the praise this polish was getting, but I have to admit, I felt a little dissapointed. It applied smooth and easy onto the nail, but it was patchy and I just wasn't expecting it to be. It's definitely not a 1 coater and I even needed 3 coats to get it completely smooth, even and opaque. But it dried fast, so that wasn't a big deal. Once I got over my expectations and just went by what it was, I realized this polish has the best formula of all the yellows I've tried.




I absolutely love it! The color is awesome and makes me smile everytime I look at my nails! I already know this will get a lot of use in spring and summer!

What's your favorite yellow?

X

Empties #3 Beauty and Nail Polish stuff

2 comments

Happy Friday everybody!
The weekend is almost here and I'm looking forward to it! I really wanted to have a clean and tidy house, so I can park my behind on the sofa and just stay there for the entire weekend if I so please. So that means throwing out the garbage... Time for an empties post!

I have a lot of stuff, so let's get started!


Treacle Moon Bath and Shower Gel. I have 2 of these, her lavender story and one ginger morning. Does the packaging remind you of another brand? Yup, total Philosophy ripoff, but still... I love these shower gels! They smell so good and I couldn't stop sniffing them! I normally don't like lavender as a scent, but this smells like a cupcake with only the faintest hint of lavender. So good! My husband loved these too, he used them as bubble bath.

L'Oreal Elvive Hydra krul instant miracle. I showed you my empty shampoo bottle in last months empties post and this is the intensive conditioner that goes with it. I love this stuff and will always repurchase. You apply this to your hair, leave it in for about a minute and rinse it out. My hair has never felt softer!

Bioderma Solution Miscellaire. I think everybody has heard about this particular product and raved about it. I'm no different. This is an awesome product! I use it twice a day, every day to take off make-up and cleanse my skin and my skin has never looked better. Unfortunately, I can't get it here, so I have to take a trip to France to get it... I picked up this bottle (and the one I'm currently using) while I was on holiday and hopefully I will be able to pick up some more this summer. Otherwise I will have to order online and that will cost me dubble if not triple.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub. Another product I don't have access too here, but picked up in France on holiday. I liked this face scrub a lot, but I am currenlty using another one that I like just as much. It did a great job though and it smelled really nice.

Kruidvat Q10 eye cream. I showed this in my first empties post and raved about it. I still really love it, but the last month or so that I used this, it irritated my eye area a little. No redness or anything like that, but I could feel it burn just a bit and that is not something I want in an eyecream.

The Beauty Bakery Cleansing Whip Cucumber. I love, love, loved this stuff! It's really gentle for my face and cleans it really well, without drying out my face. The only thing I didn't like is the smell. I hate chemical cucumber scents and this reeked of it... I originaly ordered the Watermelon version of this whip, but that wasn't in stock, so they send me this one. I will definitely repurchase this producte, but not this scent.

Lush Lip Scrub Bubblegum. I didn't really care for this scrub... It smelled way too sweet and maybe I'm just not using this right, but the scrub tends to get everywhere except on my lips... If anyone has any tips on this, I'd love to hear them!

L'Oreal Skin Perfection. I love this moisturizer. It hydrates my skin, making it nice and soft and didn't cause me to break out. I allready repurchased and am using my second tub. The third one is waiting to be openend after that.

ROC Multi Correxion 5 in 1 Anti-Age Moisturizer sample. I received this in a beauty box and I loved it. Really moisturizing and it made my skin feel really nice. I will be buying a full size of this after I've finished the L'Oreal moisturizer I'm currently using runs out.



Dolce & Gabbana La Lune. This is one of my favorite scents and it lasted me a long time. I got this bottle from my sister, who didn't care for it, so lucky me!

Essence Studio Nails Better than gel nails nail polish remover with acetone. This was fine, it did the job. Nothing special.

Etos Nail Polish remover with acetone. This is my favorite remover. It does the job quick and easy and it's cheap. This bottle is € 1. I've already bougt 3 more bottles.

P2 hand scrub (I forgot the actual name). This isn't empty as you can see. A friend of mine bought this, hated it and gave it to me to test. I hated it just as much as she did. You have to shake it up to get the oil and scrub particals to mix, but when you shake it, unscrew the cap and try to poor it on your hands, all you get is oil. The scrub sinks to the bottom in half a second. Crap product!

Lush Lemony Flutter. I can't believe I actually finished this, but I did! *proud moment*
I love this, it makes my cuticles nice and soft and the smell... oh boy... I will be buying a new tub very shortly!

Essence nail polish corrector pen. This is what I use to clean up any mistakes I make when painting my nails. Nothing special, but it does the job and it's cheap.

OPI nail polish corrector pen. I used this before the Essence one, but it does the same thing, only I had to pay 4 times as much... won't be repurchasing this.


Miners MAXI Waterproof mascara. Click here for my full review.

Maybelline The Rocket mascara in black. I have a love-hate relationship with this mascara. I love the fact that it seperates my lashes and gives me volume, I don't love the fact that it tends to clump on my if I use more than 1 layer. So I used this as my first layer mascara and used a different one for the second (and sometimes third) layer.

Perfume samples, Kenzo Flower, Davidoff Sensual Essence and Issey Miyake Pleats Please. I liked all of these, especially Sensual Essence. That smelled like pure honey, so nice! I might buy a full size of that one, but the other 2 were ok, but I didn't love them.



And finally, candles! As I said in my little candle haul, I always have a scented candle burning. In the pas mont, I burned a few Yankee Candle votives and a the last of my Bath&BodyWorks candles. I have only 1 of those left and I'm saving that like a crazy person because I love the smell (twisted pepermint).

Yankee Candles:
Sugared Apple: A deliciously sweet apple treat . . . a perfect recipe of juicy apples sprinkled with sugar and vanilla.
Christmas Cookie: The irresistible aroma of freshly baked Christmas cookies is as much a part of the holidays as the twinkling lights on the tree and the stockings hung by the chimney with care. No holiday would seem complete without nibbling on some of these homemade delights. You'll find every delicious note in the buttery rich, vanilla scent of this memorable fragrance.
Christmas Tree: Like going out in the snow to find that special tree . . . fresh, familiar pine with crisp eucalyptus.

Bath&BodyWorks:
Bonfire Maplewood: This cozy fragrance inspired by gathering round the crackling fires of fall combines sweet fig, cardamom, warm vanilla and firewood notes.
Frosted Gingerbread: A warm, spicy scent that conjures up the magical smells of a holiday kitchen. Gingerbread, whipped vanilla frosting, sprinkled with light brown sugar.
French Baquette: The fresh from the oven fragrance of warm baked bread waiting from a Parisian cafe.
Winter: A fragrance that conjures up the moment when glittering icicles and sparkling sbow transform the landscape - notes of pine needles, clementines and winter woods.

That's it, all my trash for the last couple of months! I hope you enjoyed this post and if you read it all: well done, I'm proud of you!

X



China Glaze Sun of a Peach

1 comments

I know a lot of you are still in the middle of winter, with snow everywhere and temperatures well below freezing, but here... well, it seems like winter has decided to skip our little country this year and I really don't mind! It's sunny outside and not too cold, the only thing that lets me know it's not summer, is the fact that it keeps raining. Yesterday, I looked out my window at yet another rainstorm and craved summer so bad! So I decided, if I can't have summer weather yet, I'll paint a little summer on my nails!

When I look at this polish, I can't help but smile and think about all the fun things I did last summer and am planning to do this year. I hope it does the same for you.

China Glaze Sun of a Peach is a neon peachy orange cream. It glows on the nail and I had a hard time capturing the true shade, it's a little more... orange and bright in real life. It was part of the 2013 Sunsational Collection and I don't think you can find it in stores anymore, but it is still available online.


The formula for this pollish is horrible to be honest. It's streaky and patchy, it takes 3 coats to get opaque and reasonably even and don't try going over the same spot twice, because you'll ruin your mani, even on the third coat. The only positive thing about it, is that it dries fast, so 3 coats is not too big of a pain.



But just look at the end result! I absolutely love it! Every time I paint this on my nails, I keep huffing and puffing about the formula, but as soon as I put on my top coat, I'm in love all over again! This is definitely worth the bad formula, because it's a stunner on the nails!


Is there a polish that cheers you up and makes you think of summer, even when the weather outside is horrible?

X