#SPRINGNORULES: Picnic

Today is the last day of our Spring Thaw No Rules Nail Art Challenge. I can't believe it's already over. I had so much fun coming up with all the designs, even though some of them didn't quite turn out the way I wanted.

For this last day, the theme is Picnic and I had a hard time coming up with a fun nail art. So much so that I almost skipped this day, but since it's the last day, I really wanted to do it. So I asked my husband what his first thoughts were when he thought of a picnic. His answers: "Beer, sand and ants"
Well... Beer isn't an option, because I just don't like it and don't want it on my nails. Sand would have been either really easy (I debated just painting my nails with Zoya Tomoko, a sand style polish in a sand(ish) color) or a lot of work (painting sand free hand on my nails would take me forever to do), so ants it is!

I started of with the typical picnic background: a checkered red and white blanket and added just a few black ants to this. The end result turned out... well... pretty nice actually. I didn't expect it, but I really like this mani.

I think the ants are a little oversized compared to my checkered blanket, but who cares?

Thanks so much for all of you who participated in this challenge, I hope you had just as much fun as I did. If you missed out on this one, we'll probably be doing our #XMASNORULES Challenge around Christmas again and we would love for you to join!

If you did do a Picnic nail art, please let me know, I'd love to see it!

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Sally Hansen Butterscotch

I love Sally Hansen polishes, they have some of the best cream polishes in there collection. The only problem I have with this brand, is that they are extremely expensive here. If I want a polish from the extreme wear line, I'll have to pay around €8 for a bottle and don't even get me started on the Salon Manicure line that sets me back around € 11 a bottle. Don't get me wrong, I like the colors and polishes, but there is just no way I'm paying that much for a bottle.

So when I noticed Action (a discount store here) had Sally Hansen on sale for only € 0.99 I was over the moon and picked up several colors. Today I have one of those to show you.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Butterscotch is a polish that is not for every one. When I was waiting in line at the register to pay for this polish, I could here my friend Yv screaming in my head "What the hell are you doing??? That looks like puke in a bottle! Are you insane???"
But I happen to like these pretty/ugly colors and think this mustard yellow cream is gorgeous.

The formula is not so gorgeous though, but manageable. It's a little streaky, but really opaque. I only needed 2 coats to get this result and it had an average dry time. These pictures are without topcoat, it's shiny enough on its own, but to even it out completely, I would recommend using a top coat.

Isn't that pretty? I really like it, but I think I'd like it even more in the fall because it reminds me of the leaves changing color. I wouldn't pay full price for this polish, but for 99 cents I'm really happy with it!

Do you like pretty/ugly colors and what is your favorite?

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China Glaze Lotus Begin

Monday again... did you all have a nice weekend? We celebrated our very first King's Day on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I strolled a flee market, listened to a band playing in a truck while having a drink with my husband and just enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

Today I have a gorgeous spring polish for you. China Glaze Lotus Begin is a pastel lilac cream. I think I don't need to tell you that pastel polishes normally don't look good on my skin tone, but this is just bright enough for me to pull off.

This is another polish from the City Flourish collection and the formula is not that great, but nowhere near as bad as the other polishes I showed you from this collection (Grass is Lime Greener, for example). It's a little patchy, but I was able to get it opaque in 2 coats. It has an average dry time and a shiny finish.

I absolutely love this color! Finally a pastel I can wear. I love pastels in general, but they just don't work for me. I've loved every polish in this collection so far, China Glaze did an awesome job with this one. I still have a couple in my stash that I haven't tried yet, so I hope I like those just as much as I like this one.

Did you pick up any of the polishes in this collection and which one is your favorite?

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#SPRINGNORULES: Butterfly

It's Friday, that means my weekend starts at 5 o'clock today! Tomorrow is Kings Day and I'm looking forward to a nice day with my husband, enjoying the flee market and we'll probably end up an a terras with a drink. Fingers crossed for nice weather!

Today's #springnorules theme is Butterfly. I love butterflies, but oh man, was it hard to get one on my nails! The first one looked like just a blob on my nails, for the second one I painted my background too dark, so you couldn't see the butterfly, let's just say it was a mess!

My third and last attempt was better, still not as nice as I would've liked, but you can definitely tell it's a butterfly!

I really like the caterpillar I added and this time my flowers look like flowers, not eggs, so I'm happy with this. I'm thinking about doing another mani with the caterpillar, but I'm still thinking about that one.

Only 1 more day in the challenge and that theme is picnic. Hopefully I'm able to think of something nice to do for that one, because at the moment, I'm drawing a blanc... Luckily, I still have a couple of days to come up with a cool design.

Have a great weekend!
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piCture pOlish Rocky Horror Magenta and Rocky

When I was younger, I loved The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I still watch it at least once a year. So when I heard Picture Polish was coming out with an entire collection based on this awesome, over the top movie, I knew I had to have them all! Especially since they are all darkntwisty shades. Red, blue, deep dark browntoned red... be still my heart!

I ordered them as soon as they were available and I absolutely love all of them! Unfortunately there was a little delivery error with Time Warp, so I'm still waiting on that one.

Picture Polish Magenta is a deep, dark, vampy maroon cream. This looks brown in some lights and more red in others, but it never looks black.

The formula was perfect, like all picture polishes I've tried so far. It glides on the nail with ease, is opaque in 2 thin coats and dries really fast and extremely glossy.

I decided to spice it up just a bit with Picture Polish Rocky as an accent. This is a gold glitter topper in a clear base.

I love these two combined! I almost didn't order Rocky, but I'm so glad I decided to get it after all. It's unique to my collection and the formula is really nice. No fishing or dabbing required. This is just one easy coat.

I can't wait to try the others and you'll definitely see them here soon!
Have you ever seen the movie and if so, what is your favorite part?

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#SPRINGNORULES: Rainbow

Today's #SPRINGNORULES theme is Rainbows. I love seeing rainbows, they always makes me smile. When I lived in Ireland, me and my husband used to joke around about finally getting our change to find that pot of gold, but we were never able to find the end of a rainbow. Every time we thought we were close, the darn thing disappeared. Such a shame, I could buy a whole lot of polish with a pot of gold...

For my mani, I kept it simple. I did think about doing a gradient sponged mani, but knowing my sponging abilities are limited, that would have turned out extremely messy. So I opted for rainbow stripes instead.

Clean, simple, colorful and fun. I really like this and it's so easy, anybody can do it!

Next up in this challenge is Butterfly and I'm already dreading it. During this challenge I've found there are 2 things I stink at: anything plant related and animals... they just don't turn out the way I want. So fingers crossed I will be able to pull off a decent Butterfly!

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Loaded Lacquer Get Lei'd

As you probably all know by now, I'm a huge fan of the Loaded Lacquer glitters. They are so opaque and easy to paint, I just can't get enough! But Loaded Lacquer doesn't just have great glitters, Heather also has some great jelly's (the jiggles collection which I will be reviewing a bit later) and crelly's. Today I have one of those to show you.

Loaded Lacquer Get Lei'd is a neon orange coral crelly with a blueish violet micro shimmer. It's part of the Hula Girl collection, which consists of 5 awesome polishes. I already showed you 2 gorgeous polishes from this collection: Dashboard Dancing and Paradise Overdose

The formula is really nice, it's opaque in 2-3 coats, depending on how thick your layers are. It dries really fast and the color is amazing! It really glows on your nails.

It's so bright and fun, I absolutely love it! The shimmer really gives life and depth to this polish, without being overly in your face. I got so many comments when I wore this polish, I've actually been stopped in the streets twice by people asking what was on my nails. Another winner from Loaded Lacquer!

Loaded Lacquer is available here and the shop has just been restocked, so get them while you can, trust me, every polish lover needs some Loaded Lacquer in her life!

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#SPRINGNORULES: Bunnies

Happy Easter everybody!
I hope you are enjoying this holiday and I hope the weather is as nice where you are as it has been here. It's so sunny and bright (with a little bit of rain, but I'm ignoring that), Spring has definitely begun!

Today's theme is Bunnies and I'm almost as bad in drawing bunnies as I am in drawing grass, but my grass got better, so I decided to combine the two and do bunnies in the grass. I was actually ok with my design, that is, untill I showed it to my husband and he said my bunny looked more like a rat...

After that, I couldn't see anything else but a rat on my nail and I have to admit, he was right. Not very nice, but right. So off it came and I started again.

This time no grass, but a nice, fat, juicy carrot for my bunnies. I like these cute bunnies a lot better and even dear old hubs told me they looked like proper bunnies, so jeeh!

I'm loving this challenge so far, big fat failures and all. Only a couple of days left and I'm going to be sad when it's over, but I intend to enjoy every last mani!

Did you do a bunnies mani?

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#SPRINGNORULES: Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everybody!!!

Today's #springnorules theme is Easter Eggs and I knew I wanted this mani to be colorful and hand painted, because that's how I used to paint my Easter eggs.

I haven't painted an egg in years, not since I was little, but coincidence has it that while I was painting my Easter egg nails, my mother send me a picture of my three year old niece painting eggs and eating chocolate eggs. I looked at her creations and decided to stick with the colors she used, so this little mani is inspired her.

I like this a lot, it's by no means perfect, but it's fun and it reminds me of my little niece. I haven't seen her in over a month and that is way too long! I'll have to drive up to go see my family soon.

What's your favorite thing to do around Easter?

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KBShimmer Get Clover it

I have been wanting this polish for so long, but our timing just wasn't right. The times when it was in stock, I was out of money and if I had money to spend, it was out of stock. It took me a few months to get this, but last month our stars aligned and we finally got together!

KBShimmer Get Clover it is a gorgeous emerald green jelly packed with gold, green and blue circle glitter and some micro shimmer for even more sparkle.

The formula was really nice, it was easy to paint and I didn't have to fish for the glitter, they came out nicely. I got it opaque in 2 thin coats, but if you have really white tips, you might need 3 coats. But because this is so easy to paint and it dries really fast, that shouldn't be a problem. What you are left with is a gorgeous emerald jelly sandwich on your nails, all combined in just 1 polish!

I absolutely love it and the wear time is spectacular! I totally forgot to take pictures of this polish, so the swatches you are seeing have been taken after 4 days of wearing this beauty. I had some tipwear, but only on my right thumb (and I didn't take a picture of that hand). If you love green polish, this one is a definite must have!

I got my polishes at Harlow&Co, which is a great site for indie polishes. If you are based in the US, you can also get them on the KBShimmer website,

Do you have any KBShimmer recommendations?

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#SPRINGNORULES: Grass

My favorite thing about Spring is that everything smells so fresh and my favorite smell has to be fresh cut grass. I wish I could find a candle that smells like that, I would burn it all year long!

So of course Grass had to be included in the #springnorules challenge and today is that day! The only problem is, I'm just not good at plants, flowers, grass or anything of that nature. I already gave it a go with my flowers-that-looked-like-eggs and my lady bug mani and I wasn't impresse, so I had very little hope of pulling this one off.

I just kept it simple, with waving grass, some of those brown velvety things you see near a pond (no idea what they are called...) and a little flower.

Not my best work, but still a fun mani, I think.
Did you do a grass mani?

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piCture pOlish Vegas

Last Friday night I had a long overdue date with a couple of friends and while eating some really nice sushi, I was finally able to hold some long awaited polishes brought back from Australia for me. Even though some brands aren't sold here, I do have my connections and am always able to get my hands on them in the weirdest ways, lol.

Picture Polish Vegas is a bright red polish with tiny golden flakes in it. It has an orange undertone, but it still looks more warm than cold to me.

The formula is absolutely perfect! Almost opaque in 1 coat, but I did add the second to intensify the color, it dries really fast en application is a breeze. I absolutely love the brush, this might be my favorite brush ever! It's a little wider than a China Glaze brush, but not as wide as the OPI brush and it handles extremely nicely. I'm a big fan of Picture Polish if you haven't noticed yet, lol.

I love red polish, but usually I don't go for the orange leaning polishes. This however is absolutely stunning and I think this is the perfect red for summer. The flakes really make this polish come to life on the nail.

Have you tried this polish and what is your favorite summer red?

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#SPRINGNORULES: Lady Bug

Today's theme is Lady Bug and I love those tiny creatures. They're just so cute and elegant and whenever I see one, I feel like spring has really started. For today's mani, I wanted to create a cute little lady bug, having fun flying through the fresh green grass. Sounds nice, right!

Well... my mani is ok, but it didn't quite turn out the way I planned...

I like the lady bug, but the grass is a whole nother story. I seem to have a problem when it comes to painting anything plantlike... remember my flowers that looked like eggs? The grass isn't as bad as that, but it isn't as wavy as I envisioned it either. Oh well...

Did you do a Lady Bug mani? I'd love to see your creations!

Have a great weekend!
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