Mani Monday's: favorite Red part 2

I showed my favorite reds yesterday and it's time for me to make that tough decision... Today I will show you the one polish that makes my heart race every time I look at the bottle and have it on my nails. It's simply stunning and takes my breath away! Yes, I feel that strongly about this polish! It took me forever to find it and now that I finally own it, I'm only wearing it on special occasions, as I'm afraid I'll run out.

Did you guess that OPI Smitten with Mittens is my all time favorite red nail  polish? Well, you are right! Not only is this deep, rich red with golden micro glitter my favorite, but it's also my husbands favorite! Every once in a while he will ask me to wear "that polish you know I like so much" and I'll pull out Smitten.

The fomula is perfect, it flows on the nail with ease and is opaque in just 2 thin coats and dries really fast. Smitten is part of the 2009 OPI Holiday wishes collection and unfortunately it's hard to find these days. (Merry Midnight was also part of this collection and I really want that one too, but it's even harder to find...).

2 coats Smitten, 1 coat SV

Just look at this beauty, no wonder it's my favorite! In the bottle the golden glitter is a little more noticeable than on the nail, but when the sunlight hits this polish, the golden sparkle comes out to play. Unfortunately, it's grey outside and raining, so I wasn't able to capture the full beauty of this polish, but even without a nice ray of sunlight, this polish is stunning!

What's your favorite color polish to wear?

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Mani Monday's: Favorite Red part 1

Today's Mani Monday theme is Favorite Red!
Well, red happens to be my favorite nail polish color and I have a lot of them. In my book, red is a color that fits every occasion, you just can't go wrong with a red nail. Classic red, vampy red, red with shimmer, micro glitter, large glitter, bright red... there's a red for every one!

So you can imagine my dilemma with just choosing one favorite red polish. I felt it wouldn't do the magnificence of red nail polish justice, so I decided to do Mani Monday's a little different this time.

I did pick my all time favorite red nail polish and I will definitely show you this polish, including swatches. But not untill tomorrow. This also has to do with my more than busy weekend, which lead to me not being able to paint my nails. I'm still rocking the B&W mani...

Today I have my favorite reds for you. Yes, Reds, plural. I think all these polishes are awesome in there own way and deserve a little bit of time in the spotlight. I devided them up in to categories, so let's get started!

Red with golden micro glitter/shimmer

Misa Girl Friday, OPI Smitten with Mittens, OPI The spy who loved me

This is one of my favorite types of red! I love the combination of a red polish with a hint of gold. It's just so classy and gives extra depth to the polish.

Girl Friday has a perfect formula, glides on the nail, opaque in 2 thin coats, dries really fast and looks stunning. Misa is one of my favorite brands, every single polish I own has this perfect formula. I just wish they would make more colors.

Smitten with Mittens is a deep red with golden micro glitter. Just perfect! Opaque in 2 thin coats, dries really fast and just makes me happy when I look at it. Unfortunatelly it was a limited edition holiday 2009 polish. It is still available on eBay, but it's not cheap...

The spy who loved me is part of the 2012 James Bond collection. This polish is an orange based red with golden micro glitter. Stunning and really gorgeous paired with OPI Goldeneye.

Red creams, crelly's and jelly's

OPI Girls just want to play, OPI Wocka Wocka, OPI An affair in Red Square

Essie Limited Addiction, Essie Skirting the issue, China Glaze Vermillion, China Glaze Phat Santa

You can never go wrong with a red cream, jelly or crelly. Fits every occasion and every outfit. Red is flattering on just about every skintone and with the jelly's you can make all kinds of different jelly sandwiches.

Girls is a raspberry red crelly. It is an older polish and I love this formula. Opaque in 2 coats, dries really fast and the finish is incredibly shiny. My perfect summer red.

Wocka Wocka is part of the 2011 Muppets collection and a hidden treasure in my book. Everybody was talking about the gorgeous glitters in that collection and although I do like those, I love me some Wocka Wocka!

An affair in Red Square is part of the 2007 Russian collection and has a slight shimmer. It looks similar to Wocka Wocka, but there is a slight difference in tone.

Ok, just typing Russian Collection and realized I totally forgot to include Vodka & Caviar! Don't know how that happened, because I hunted that polish down like a mad woman and I absolutely love it!

Limited Addiction is nice midtoned red cream. Just gorgeous.

Skirting the issue is an oxblood red jelly. Perfect for jelly sandwiches.

Vermillion is a blue toned red cream. I looked for a blue toned red cream polish for so long and was dissapointed so many times. Not with Vermillion! It's stunning on the nail.

Phat Santa, I love that name! And this midtone red polish is just awesome.

Red Glitter

Orly Devil may care, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Girly Bits Rogue, Colors by Llarowe Billy Jean

Red glitter polish... do I need to say more?

Devil may care is red and gold gitter in a clear base. This polish basically screames Christmas to me. Pefect layered over any red base.

Ruby pumps is red glitter in a red base. Opaque on its own in just 2 coats and beautiful, but even better layered over a vampy color like China Glaze Lubu Heels. It makes it extra chic.

Girly Bits Rogue, my favorite red indie. For a full review, click here.

And last, but certainly not least, the newest edition to my stash: Colors by Llarowe Billy Jean. Vampy, stunning and a dream to work with. LOVE it!

What's your favorite Red? And what do you think my all time favorite red polish is?
For the answer, check out my blog tomorrow for swatches :D

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Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic

"Dear Diary,

I can't eat! I can't sleep! All I can think about is concealing. You name it, I'll conceal it, hide it, erase it, camouflage & cover it! I'm losing control (especially of my drawer space)! Could this kit be my cure?!"

I love Benefit products, but they aren't cheap. When I saw this kit, I was all over it! It contains a good sampling of products to try out, without having to pay a lot of money for the full size products. 

Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic holds everything you'll ever need to create a flawless complexion and comes complete with brushes for easy and hygienic application.

That Gal is a brightening face primer. You can use this all over your face underneath your foundation or apply on certain areas that need instant radiance.

Erase Paste is a brightening camouflage paste. I use this underneath my eyes to cover my dark circles. It gives a very dewy finish and I actually think it moisturizes my skin. I love it, but I do need to set it with powder.

Boi-ing is an industrial strenght concealer. I love how creamy this is and it comes in 2 colors in this kit. You can use just 1 or blend them together to get the perfect shade. I just use number 1, as I have really fair skin. I love this for blemishes and spots. It covers really well and stays all day.

Lemon Aid is a color correcting eyelid primer. The fact that this primer is yellow, helps to hide any discolloration on your eyelids (at least it says so in the booklet). I don't really use this, as it doesn't do much for my eyes. It does brighten a bit, but it creases on my like nobody's business and a yellow line on my eyelids is not a good look for me... 

Eye Bright is an instant eye brightener. If you look tired, just blend this pink cream in the inner and outer corners of  your eyes and you'll look instantly refreshed. Or at least that's what Benefit says. Me, I don't really see a difference.

Lemon Aid, Eye Bright, Boi-ing #2, Boi-ing #1, Erase paste and That Gal

This is a great kit to try out all the different concealers and brighteners that Benefit has to offer. My favorites are the Erase Paste and Boi-ing #1. I use those every single day. The mini sizes have lasted me for a good 6 months allready and I think I have another good few months left. When I do run out of them, I will definitely purchase the full size for both.

Do you own any Benefit products and what do you thing?

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31DC2013 Black and White

I love black nails and I love white nails, so when I saw todays 31DC2013 theme combined the two, I was all over that! I got out my striping tape and got to work.
Let's just say it was trail and error with this mani... My first attempt wasn't succesfull and neither was the second. But third time's the charm I hear, so I didn't give up!

The end result was a fun and playfull mani, nowhere near perfect, my lines are wobbly and all over the place, but I'm actually really enjoying it!

I used my favorite black polish, China Glaze Liquid Leather and my favorite white polish OPI My boyfriend scales walls, although boyfriend isn't really white, it's off white, but close enough :D

For my Liquid Leather review, click here.
Boyfriend is an off white cream polish from the 2012 Spiderman collection. This polish has an ok formula. It can be a little patchy, but it usually does level out in about 2 coats. It dries fast and shiny and I love using this as a base for a lot of manicures. I can't really pull off white nails with my fair skintone, but Boyfriend looks ok on me.

Adding the black to my mani was a great idea, it makes the white look less chalky and hard. I absolutely love this on my nails and I will definitely do more B&W mani's!

Do you rock the black and white on your nails?

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31DC2013 Violet: Illamasqua Faux Pas

Today's theme for the 31DC2013 is Violet. Always a tricky color, because nobody seems to exactly know what the difference is between violet and purple... But I think Illamasqua Faux Pas is violet, at least it is in my book!

I was going to go for another attempt at striping tape, but I realised I couldn't use a top coat to seal my art with this polish  and decided to try the tape next time. It would be a shame to cover the beautifull finish of this polish with a shiny layer of SV.

Faux Pas is a creamy violet polish, that dries with a rubberish finish. It's part of the Theatre of the Nameless collection for fall/winter 2011. I absolutely love this, its such a deep toned violet and the finish is gorgeous!

The Illamasqua brush is really nice'. Thin like I like my brushes, but fans out enough to cover the nail. The handle is a bit too short for my liking though. The bottle comes with a big square cap that you remove for the actual handle. The handle that you're left with is small and I can't get a nice grip on it.

The formula is spot on and it's almost a one coater, but I did need the second coat to get it 100% opaque. It dries really fast, when I finished all 10 nails, my first nail was dry and ready for the second coat. I'm normally a little skeptic and afraid of polishes that don't need top coat, as I've had many a bednail after not adding a topcoat. Because I always paint my nails at night, I usually go to bed about an hour or so after finishing my mani and have woken up with the covers imprinted on my nails... But not with this polish!

2 coats Faux Pas

On the bottle it does say it works best with the Illamasqua base and top coat, but I think that's really strange, as you would lose the rubber finish by adding a top coat...

Faux Pas did leave a couple of bubbles on my nails. Normally I would even those out (if I have any) with my trusty SV, but of course I couldn't do that with this polish. But that's just a minor thing that nobody will notice, except for me.

Because I didn't add a top coat, the durability of this polish is slightly less than my normal mani's. Next time I will try adding a coat of SV, just to see what it looks like.

This polish does remind me of the Orly Plastix polish in Purple Pleather, but I like this polish better. It's just a bit deeper in color and looks better with my skin tone.

Do you own a polish with a rubber finish?

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