Spring Fling Tag!

Finally, Friday is here! I'm so ready for the weekend, especially because it's suppost to be really nice spring weather and I'm planning a little picknick with my husband for his birthday. I'm totally getting in the Spring mood and I thought this tag was the perfect thing to do right now.

The Spring Fling Tag is created by Holly (misshollyberries) and Hannah (beautychats) on YouTube, but I've seen my friend Lu do this on her blog. I thought that was a great idea and decided I classified as "everybody who wants to do this", so let's get started with the questions!

1. What eye palette do you/will you use most this spring?

I just got the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette from my lovely friends for my birthday so I will be using that a lot. The colors are really nice and perfect for spring.
When I want a pop of color, I think I'll be reaching for my Sleek Garde of Eden palette. I love a green eye look and these shadows are really nice and fresh. I did a full review on this palette, check it out here.

2. What blush in your collection is a spring must-have? What about lipstick?

I've only recently started loving blush, so I don't own a ton of them, but I did pick up a spring blush last week, Dior Coral Cruising and am planning to give that a good go this Spring. It's a coral matte blush and I absolutely love it!

I tend to be a little boring when it comes to my lipsticks, but for this spring, I'm trying to branch out of my red and berry comfort zone. I picked up a purple lipstick and have been rocking that a lot actually and I absolutely love the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks. The formula is fantastic, they have some really nice colors and they stay all day. My favorite is the hot pink one, Ole Flamingo!

 

3. What nail polishes do you love to wear in the Spring?

I think the better question would be what polishes I don't love during Spring. I tend to rock every kind of polish, no matter the season, but in Spring I do like the brighter, colorful polishes. But I didn't name my blog DarknTwisty for no reason, I love my vampy colors all year long.

4. What is your signature spring scent?

I don't have a signature scent, I tend to rotate a lot of the time. When I finish a perfume, I go sniff a bunch of different ones and buy the one that smells the nicest to me. My most recent purchase is Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense and I love that one. I also received a sample of the L'eau Couture and I'm thinking about picking that one up too, because it's a little fresher and just more appropriate for Spring.

5. What is on your spring break agenda?

This question makes me a little sad... I just turned 35, so my spring break days are long gone and I'm feeling a little old right now...

6. What trends are you looking forward to the most? Fashion, Makeup, Nail Polish, etc.

I don't do fashion, not in a big way anyway. I hate shopping for clothes. I can't deal with all the stores, constantly having to change into another outfit, things not fitting properly... nope... not a fan! But make up and nail polish is a whole nother story! I LOVE it and tend to go a little crazy if I let myself. I can't wait to see what the new trends will be this year, bring it on!

7. Do you have a spring skincare must-have?

I don't have a specific spring skincare product, I tend to use the same things year round, but I do have a new skincare love that I actually picked up because of Holly: Origins Checks and Balances frothy face wash. Oh my... this made such a difference for me. My skin never looked better!

8. What is spring like where you live?

Spring is tricky over here. It's never the same. One year it's pooring with rain all season, another year it's snowing and freezing and this year it's really bright and sunny so far. Give me sun every year though!

9. Florals: gotta have em or make them stop?

I love florals, but in moderation. My favorite floral is a dress that has a big floral pattern. It's actually my favorite spring and summer dress because it's so colorful. But I don't like the grandma florals, if you know what I mean. That's just a bit to much for me.

10. Favorite thing/activity to do in the spring?

I love sitting outside, with friends, having a barbeque and sipping a chilled glass of white wine. Nothing relaxes me more.

That's it for this tag, all the questions answered!
Feel free to do this tag, I'm not going to tag specific people, but if you decide to do it, I'd love to read your answers!

Have a great weekend,
X

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Pretty Polish Tag

I've seen a couple of people do this fun tag on YouTube and when my friend Marianne (Nailpolishsleuth) did this tag in blog form and tagged everybody, including me, I couldn't help but smile. I love tags and especially nail polish tags!

This one has 10 questions, so let's get started!

1. When it comes to colors, are you conservative or hot mama?

Well, I'm not conservative, so I guess I'm a hot mama. I like all types of colors, but do tend to go for dark, vampy colors paired with an over the top hysterical glitter.

2. Are you a drug store junkie or high end diva?

Like everybody who did this tag, I'm right in the middle. I love Deborah Lippmann, Chanel, Dior, etc. but I like to get those as a present or as a special treat for myself. I do have some drug store polishes, but I only have access to Essence and Catrice. I do like Essence and have quite a few, but I can't stand Catrice polishes. They are just to thick and goopy, I've had the brush come off the handle so many times, I gave up on their polishes. I love the rest of their make-up, but I will never again buy the polishes. Anyway, I digress...

The majority of my stash consists of middle of the road polishes, like China Glaze, Essie, OPI and indie polishes. I absolutely love indie's and that part of my stash has been growing steadily in the last year or so.

 

3. What's your all-time favorite polish to date?

I don't think it's fair to make a polishhoarder like myself answer this question! I can't do it, I love so many polishes! And to be honest, my favorite polish changes every time, depending on the season, weather, my mood, my clothes, etc.

I do have a few polishes that always seem to make it in my top 10, for different reasons.

China Glaze 108 Degrees

OPI Smitten with Mittens

Essie Butler Please

And this is one of my new loves: Zoya Carter

4. What's the most you've ever paid for a polish? Least?

I paid the most for my Dior LE Minuit, € 26, but just look at it, totally worth it!

The least is a bit harder... I think it might have to be one of the polishes I bought from a friend of mine.She was destashing and I picked up a few polishes for 50 cents. I just can't remember which ones I picked up, as it was a long time ago....

5. Would you consider yourself a pro painter or just an amateur?

I'm by no means a pro, but I don't think I can call myself an amateur either. Something in between :D

6. What's your biggest polish pet peeve?

Oh, I have so many! But my biggest pet peeve is when people paint there nails, but don't take the time to make it look nice. I've seen so many pictures with polish on the cuticles, scabs, dry cuticles, peeling, bald spots in the polish (how hard is it to add that second coat of polish?), etc. I just can't deal with that!

7. What's more important...top coat or base coat?

I think they're both equally important. A base coat protects your natural nail and a top coat protects your manicure. In my case, I need a fast drying top coat, as I'm incredibly good at messing up my manicure by bumping my hand into walls.

8. Nail art- love it or leave it?

Love it! I just wish I was better at it, but practice makes perfect, so I just keep trying!
And people like to read about my failures anyway, so win win!

9. If you could design a polish, what would you name it and what would it look like?

I would love to create a duo: a black cream or jelly base with red chunky glitter and a red cream or jelly base with black chunky glitter. I'd call the black base Dark and the red base Twisty.

10. Share your best tip for the perfect manicure.

Clean up! Even if you're no expert at painting your nails, it's always easy to do a little clean up with a brush and acetone or you can use a nailpolishremoverpen. It will make your manicure look so much better!

I really liked doing this tag and I tag everybody who wants to do this tag, with a few people in particular:

Mijnkleinegeheimpjes (Yv)
Polishorurban
Lacqueredlori
Allaboutthepolish (Lu)
Thepolishedbutterfly (Jaime)

Can't wait to read your answers!

X

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Tag: Guilty Pleasures

I've seen this tag going around for a while and I love reading everybody's answers and, yes I admit it, laughing at them for having such funny guilty pleasures. Of course I had to know this would bite me in the behind karmically and thanks to my friend Yv from Mijn Kleine Geheimpjes it did. I can just hear here laughing at me, because she knows I have quite a few guilty pleasures that are... well.... guilty pleasures for a reason!

Anyway, I decided to share them with you, I mean, who cares, everybody has them, right?
So here we go! Enjoy and don't feel bad about laughing at me, but I'd rather have you laughing with me!

Movie:
I absolutely love really bad horror movies. The kind that make you laugh so hard because of all the unbelievably stupid dialogue, weird costumes, crappy sets (sometimes you can actually see the cardboard) and the totally predictable plot, if there is one at all. I love curling up on the sofa with a few of these movies, my husband, a bottle of wine and some snacks when it's cold and raining outside.

TV Show:
I love TV shows and watch quite a lot of them. But this is the guilty pleasure tag, so I have a little confession to make... When it's late and I'm watching tv in bed (I know, bad girl!) I love to watch teen tv shows. They make my mind go numb, because it's entertaining without me having to think to hard to follow the story line. My favorite is I Carly, lol.

Every time I'm flipping through the channels and I see I Carly is on, I stop and watch the entire thing. I can't help myself, it's just so over the top. This show tries way to hard to be funny, but that is actually what makes it so fun to watch. I'm not really in their target age group, not by a long shot, but hey, I enjoy it any way, lol.

Music:
I have a lot of guilty pleasures when it comes to music. But there are a few that make me turn up the volume and sing a long at the top of my lungs. I have to name this one though, Baby got back from Sir Mix-a-lot. Come on... who doesn't shout out this song when they hear it?!?! I especially love it when I'm cleaning. I actually shake my booty all over the place when I hear this song, dancing with the dish towel, vacuum or whatever I have in my hands at the time.

I also seem to like the more... woman unfriendly kind of songs. These songs are just so catchy, I can't help but sing along! To name a couple: Smack my b*tch up - The Prodigy, Smack that - Akon and one of my personal favorites because it's just so sultry and the music flows perfectly: Freak me - Another Level.

Snack:
I don't really have a guilty pleasure when it comes to snacks... I am a firm believer in moderation! Nothing wrong with endulging your sweet (or savory) tooth every now and then, as long as you don't do it every day! My go to snack changes all the time, but I do love my Ben&Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup!

Activity:
I love doing absolutely nothing, lying on the sofa in my pj's and watching movies and tv shows. It has happened to me in the past that I got out of bed in the morning and before I knew it, it was 11pm and time to go to bed again, lol. Every now and then I just need one of those lazy days where I don't even get up to take a shower. I just veg out, cuddle my cats, talk to my hamster eat potato chips for diner and get caught up with all my tv shows. Love it!

Ridicouless addiction:
Well... this is a no-brainer: nail polish! I have way more than I should and I still keep buying more, because all these great indie polish makers keep coming out with stunning collections! I have cut back my buying a lot though, but when Dollish Polish came out with her Halloween Frights collection inspired by horror movies, I was all over that! You just read my movie guilty pleasure, so no surprise I wanted them all! I was a good girl though and only ordered 5: Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake (review, click here), I'll swallow your soul, What an excellent day for an exorcism, The curse of Michael Myers and 1,2, Freddy's coming for you.

Crush:
I have so many crushes, I am a great lover of the male species, but my guilty pleasure crush... well... this totally goes to Alexander Koch! Because I don't think he's especially cute or sexy, but his lips... oh boy... they get me everytime! Big, lushes, red lips that move so sexily when he speaks... He can talk to me all day long!

And my not so guilty crush is Alexander Skarsgard. Hmmmm... maybe I just have a thing for guys named Alexander, lol. He is just so tall, gorgeous and don't get me started on that accent... He can suck my blood any time!

Clothing:
Oh boy, this is going to be super embarrasing... but it is my ultimate guilty pleasure!
When I was 10 (I think) my mother bought me and my sister a night gown with Fred Flintstone on it. I loved it, I felt so cool in it. It had Fred in a beachchair on it and on the back, you saw Fred's back. All my friends were really jealous that I had such an awesome nighty! I wore the crap out of that thing... and I still wear it in the summer time. Jup... it's totally see through, it has a run on my shoulder and it's so thin that I'm afraid to wash it and cross my fingers every time I do, hoping it hasn't disintegrated in the machine. So far, it's still alive! It used to cover me from my neck to my ankles, but now it's a sexy mini dress, barely covering my butt, but I just have such a sentimental connection to it, I can't bring myself to throw it away.

That's it! All my guilty pleasures! I think I've told you way to much and I'm not saying anything more!

Oh, except for this: I tag all of you to do this too! Can't wait to read your answers :D

X

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Tag: What the nail?!?

A while ago, this tag was going around on Youtube and I think I watched every video made. I loved it! A whole tag about nothing but nailpolish! So when my Mani Monday Friend Lindsay (from Lindsay does nails and Always a Girly Girl, go check her out, she has an awesome nailpolish collection!) posted a new video from Kimberly (Pop Culture) with this tag and told us she would love to see our answers, of course I couldn't say no. Although I don't do video's, I made it work as a blogpost :D

So here are the questions and my answers.

1. You are stranded on an island, you have all the necessary tools such as remover, etc... What polish do you have?

Just 1 polish? Really? That just gave me a mini heartattack...
It has to be something really fun and cheerful, that makes me smile everytime I look at my nails...

I think I'll go with China Glaze 108 Degrees.
This polish is the polish that started it all really. It's by no means my first or favorite polish, but it is the first polisht I absolutely loved and this little gem made me crave more polish. So every time I wear this, it makes me smile and that is a very good thing to have in case I'm stranded on an island.

2. What is you least favorite polish?

I have 2 that I don't like, for various reasons. Actually, I used to have a lot more, but I have given those away to people who did like them or just thrown them in the trash if they were really awfull.
The first one is OPI Mod about you. It's a really nice polish, the formula isn't bad and I like the color in the bottle. The problem with this polish is that it doesn't like me! On a personal level! It's really nice, but it isn't the best with my skintone and every time I wear this polish, people keep asking me what the hell I'm wearing on my nails. Did I really think I could pull that color off? It's just so not me! I've hear a lot of really nice things: "It's just to sweet and cute for you" "Baby pink? Really? You think you can pull that off?" "No! Just: NO! Take it off!" You're just to bitchy for that sweet color." Thanks friends... I love you too...

The other one really hurts me to say and I can actually feel Lu cringing when she finds out about this one, but it's Butter London Henley Regatta. I wanted, no, coveted Butter London for so long and was over the moon when I bought my first (and till this day, only) polish. It's a stunning teal green micro glitter and I love, love, love the color! But I hate, hate, hate!!! the polish. I can not seem to keep this polish on my nails. It comes of in big old chunks and there is nothing I can do to make it stay. I've worn this only a couple of times and now it just sits in my stash, looking oh so pretty. Every time I see this bottle I cry a little... Why Butter London, Why? (full review and pictures, click here)

3. Which polish best reflects your personality?

Well... just read the comments my lovely friends make about me and you'll totally understand why I choose this polish! China Glaze Naughty and Nice. I think the name says it all... I'm a little bit nice and a lot naughty :D

4. Which polish could you wear all year round, to every occasion?

Definitely a red. I have said many times: when in doubt, go for red! You just can't go wrong with a classy red nail and I can't get enough! Red is so chic, so sophisticated and I love it!

Girls just want to play, Vodka&Caviar, Smolder

5. What is your favorite polish for your toes?

I like to switch things up on my toes, but I always go for a cream, sometimes a shimmer, but never a glitter. I just can't deal with the pain of taking glitter polish off my toes.

I don't have a specific polish I really like on my toes, it depends on my mood, the weather, what I feel like and sometimes I just let my husband choose. Recently I have been wearing Essie Hip-Anema and Essence Let's get lost on my toes.

Hip-Anema, Let's get lost

6. What color makes you happy?

No doubt about it, Essie Butler Please! It's bright, in your face blue and this is the only polish in my stash that I have a back up for.

7. What is the most unique polish you own?

I could have gone with one of my many beloved indie polishes, they are all so unique and gorgeous, but to answer this truthfullly, I have to go with my absolutely unique polishes.

A while ago, about 2 years I think, a friend of mine bought some pigment. She quickly realized the amount she ordered was more than she could ever use in multiple lifetimes, so she made a couple of polishes for  me (and a select group of people). The polishes don't have names, but we always lovingly call them our antrax polishes, because my friend had a little bit of trouble with the pigment... it litterally goes everywhere, just like antrax! (don't worry, there is no antrax anywhere near these polishes, me or my friends, it's just a name thing ;) )

I love these layered over a dark color, my favorite combo is over OPI Russian Navy.

8. Which nail trend do you like best?
a) bright neons
b) soft pastels
c) sultry darks
d) classy nudes

Do I even need to answer this? lol!
c) sultry darks of course! I live for those polishes!

9. What is the oldest polish you own?

I recently gave a whole lot of polishes away, including all my older polishes, so I don't have my really old ones anymore. The oldest currently in  my stash are China Glaze Street Chic and Traffic Jam. These where actually the first China Glaze polishes I bought. Both are creams and nice sublte, soft colors, so not me anymore! I do wear them still, but not so much on their own. I usually pair them with a glitter or an accent nail.

10. Which polish has the cutest name?

I went two ways with this question. I had to go with Essie Cute as a Button because, well, the name even says cute!

The other polish that immediately came to mind is an indie polish. Although I didn't love the color when I first saw it, I had to have it because the name is just... mind boggling! When I saw a friend of mine swatch this polish, I really liked it and decided to finally get it, but still, it's the name that makes this polish! I mean, who in their right mind would name a polish A Unicorn Farted in my Polish??? Dollish Polish, that's who! And I'm happy she did, because it makes me laugh every single time.

11. What is your favorite brand of polish?

Hmmm... though one...
I love so many polishes and so many brands, all for different reasons...

But Misa is the one brand that stands out, because it has never dissapointed me. The formula is perfect for every single polish and the brush is just awesome! The only reason I don't own more is because the color range is just not that unique or varied. But I do love this brand and my Misa collection is always growing.

I loved answering these questions and tag all of you to do the same.
Can't wait to read your answers!

X

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Would you rather? TAG post

A few days ago, I read this tag on Zenorah's blog (if you don't follow her allready, please do! She's awesome!) I commented that I was glad I didn't have to answer these questions, because that would be almost impossible!

Somehow this tag stuck in my mind and I kept thinking: "What would I answer?"
So I decided, what the heck, I'm going to do the tag!"

So here goes :D

1. Would you rather lose all your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

I think I'd rather lose all my palettes and eyeshadows. I love my shadows, but I just feel naked without mascara. No way I can give that up!

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Chop off all my hair. I have a LOT of hair and it's extremely thick and heavy. It's just to hot in the summer without a good trim and thinning it out (my hairdresser uses a special pair of scissors for this, no clue what it's called... ). I actually shopped of about 35cm (google tells me that's roughly 14 inches) and donated this to www.haarwensen.nl
It's an organization that manufacturers wigs for children who lost their hair. I hope they've made my hair part of a beautifull wig!

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

I used to love pink cheeks, especially because I'm so fair, but lately I've been loving coral cheeks, so this is a hard one for me... I think I'll have to go with coral, it just gives me a beautifull natural glow.

4. If you had 1,000$ to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

No brainer: make up! I HATE shopping for clothes...

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick?

Lipstick as eyeliner? That would be one stickey mess...
Eyeliner as lipstick please!

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Sephora.
Stupid Sephora closed up shop over here and I miss that store every single time I'm shopping. Although Sephora in The Netherlands was different form the one in the US/Canada. It didn't sell Sephora by OPI (bummer) or Nars (another bummer).

I do love MAC by the way, their lipsticks are awesome!

7. Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?

One eyeshadow I think. I love experimenting with lipcolor.
But I also love switching up my make up... oh boy... dilemma, dilemma...

Nope, sticking with my first instinct!

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in winter?

Summer clothes in winter, if I can layer them.
I do this anyway, I don't have one wardrobe for winter and one for summer, I make my clothes work in both seasons. At least, I try.

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

I love both, but I think everybody can guess my answer if they look at the titel I choose for my blog ;)

10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?

Hmmm... I don't think I would have any troubel giving up either one. There are good dupes out there for both. But since it's taken me quite a while to find my perfect matte red lipstick with a blue undertone, I think I'll go with eye product. (as long as I can keep the Naked 2 if I give up Naked 1. Yes, I'm sneaky like that!)

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Messy bun. I love the casual look a messy bun gives me. But right now, my hair isn't long enough for a messy bun, so I'm stuck with a regular pony tail.

12. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss?

*gasp* Give up my nailpolish??? Don't make jokes about that!!!
Never use lip gloss!

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have non at all or Sharpie then in everyday?

Bring on the Sharpie!
A face without eyebrows... just isn't right...

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nailpolish?

Oh no.. oh no.. oh no... make up... nailpolish... make up... nailpolish...
I don't know... can't live without either...

I've gone back and forth with this question. I love them both so so much! I can give up a lot of make up items, but not my mascara! I just don't look like myself without mascara.

Same goes for my nailpolish. We're a team, you never see me without it!

Oh boy, this question is making me break out in sweats... I just can't do it...

But that would be cheating... o, help...

I'll make it quick and never think about this horrible question ever again: live without make up

I'm tagging everybody who reads this, misery loves company :D
And especially:

• Yv (Mijnkleinegeheimpjes)
• Myrthe (ByMyrthe)
• Jans (PolishKitten)

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