Deborah Lippmann Rolling in the Deep

I've been developing a real fondness for Deborah Lippmann polishes. Her glitters are some of the best I've ever tried and I've tried a lot! When I first saw this polish, I thought it was absolutely stunning and I had to have it! Of course, I couldn't find it anywhere here and had to wait about 3 months before I was able to pick it up. When I finally had it in my hands, it was even more beautiful than I had imagined.

Deborah Lippmann Rolling in the Deep is a gorgeous deep navy blue cream polish with a little silver glitter here and there. It is part of the Jewel Heist collection and was released in the fall of this year.

The formula is absolutely perfect! It glides on the nail, dries really fast and is almost opaque in 1 coat. I love it! The only thing I was a little dissapointed about, is that the silver glitter is not that noticable on the nail. It basically looks like a navy cream. I do see the glitter in direct sunlight, but in indoor lighting it's nowhere to be found.

Overall I do love this polish, but if you asked me if you absolutely need this high end polish I would have to say no, you don't. I think you can find several gorgeous navy blues for a more reasonable price to be honest. But when the light hits the nail just right and the glitter shows, it is a stunner and you can't beat this formula.

What's your favorite navy polish?

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Orly Angel Eyes

When I was trying to decide which polish to show for yesterdays theme, I almost picked this polish, but with it being the Holiday season, I had to go with Party Hearty.

Orly Angel Eyes is a lightly blue tinted base packed with blue small glitter and larger holo hex glitter that came out with the Naughty and Nice Holiday collection in 2012.

The formula is perfect, it gives enough coverage in one coat but as the base is not that opaque, I would recommend layering it over an opaque color. For this mani, I used China Glaze Splish Splash. This polish has to be one of the hardest to capture in a picture! My poor camera freaked out because this sparkles so much and all my swatches turned out a little blurry.

This dries shiny on its own, but I always add a fast drying topcoat, to make it extra shiny and smooth out the finish, although this wasn't too bad. I love this, it always makes me smile. It looks like a blue disco ball on my nails, perfect for the holidays!

What's your favorite glitter polish?

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Mani Monday's: Favorite Blue

I have been lacking in the Mani Monday department lately. With my internet problems, camera problems ( somehow my pictures all turn out blurry lately, I think I need to do a thorough cleanse of my lens) and some time issues, I just haven't had the time to paint my nails. I rock the same polish for about 5 days lately and that is just not me! Hopefully this will change starting this week, because I have missed looking at my nails and smilling because I'm enjoying my fresh mani. I have picked up quite a few polishes lately and have a lot to show you! (If you follow me on instagram you've probably allready seen a little Pahlish haul and there is more!)

Today's Mani Monday theme is Favorite Blue. I love blue polish and have a lot of them. My blue collection is almost as big as my red collection and that is saying something. But if I'm being honest about my favorite blue, I already showed them here. But I didn't feel like showing you swatches of a blue polish, that isn't actually my favorite. That felt a little like cheating and I have been cheating enough lately. So I decided to just show them again, because they are so gorgeous and to be honest, they deserve the attention!

Let's start with my alltime favorite blue. This is the only polish I own a back up of and I wear it a lot, at least once every month. (Even though that doesn't sound very often, my fellow polish junkies know it is.) Essie Butler Please is a bright, in your face blue cream. I love the way this pops on my nails and I just can't get over this color. It was instant love for me.

As you can tell from the previous polish, I love bright blues, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love China Glaze Splish Splash. This is a neon blue polish, with a subtle shimmer in it. I wore this so much this spring and summer, I love it!

 

When it comes to shimmer, Essence The boy next door is a total winner for me. I've picked this up fairly recently and have allready worn it three times. It's just gorgeous, dries really fast and is opagque in almost 1 coat and, best of all, it's cheap!

How can I do a favorite blue's post without mentioning this polish? Not only do I love the blue, almost purple color of this polish, but the suede finish makes it extremely beautiful. I just wish I could get my hands on more of the suede polishes... but luckily I do own OPI Ink Suede.

And last but certainly not least, glitter! I love glitter, especially this time of year and I love both these glitters. Girly Bits Smurf Dance is not only a gorgeous glitter topper, it also has sentimental value for me, as I alway call a really good friend of mine Smurf.

And don't get me started on Deborah Lippmann Lady sings the Blues. This applies like a dream, is opaque in 2 coats and only needs 1 coat of topcoat to feel smooth. I love it!

What's your favorite blue?

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Mani Monday's: Texture

Happy Monday everybody! Today's theme is texture and since I already showed my favorites (Solitaire and Alcatraz), I decided to try the newest edition to my texture stash.

OPI Kiss me at Midnight is a bright iceblue base with silver glitter. It has the liquid sand finish and is part of the Mariah Carey Holiday 2013 collection.

Because of the stupid weather and lack of good picture taking light, I had to get creative... this is taken while balancing of the door handle on my front door, lol

The formula is really nice, easy to apply and completely opaque in 2 thin coats. The dry time is, like all the liquid sand polishes, extremely fast. I love the color, but I could have done without so much of the silver glitter. It gives depth to this polish, but that could have been achieved with a bit less silver.

I like this polish, but I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of textured polishes. They annoy me just a little bit... every time I run my fingers through my hair, it sticks to the stupid grittiness of this polish, I just don't like the way it feels when I touch anything to be honest.

What do you think about the textured polish trend and what is your favorite?

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Halloweek: Dollish Polish Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake

I am a huge fan of horror movies, I can watch them anytime and I watch all types of horror. When I saw Dollish Polish was releasing a Halloween collection, inspired by horror movies, I was all over that! The entire collection has 8 polishes, but I only got 5 of them, because the other 3 didn't appeal to me. Today I have one of those polishes for you.

Dollish Polish Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake is inspired by Friday the 13th and even though the movie is not one of my favorites, I love this polish! Dollish' description of this polish is spot on:

Inspired by the movie, Friday The 13th, This Navy Blue jelly jammed-packed with hexagon & dots glitters in multi shades of Blue, Silver, and Turquoise giving the illusion of "lake-like" crystal water appearance on your nails, minus the crazy guy in the hockey mask.

I have to admit, this polish is a weird one for me. I normally really don't like sheer polishes, they annoy me and don't look good on my nails. But this one... This is a true jelly base and as a result, it is really sheer. I did 3 coats, and it's still not completely opaque. But, I actually love that about this polish! It looks like a jelly sandwich and fits the name perfectly! It's that perfect lake water color, blue with a hint of green, almost teal, packed with different sized glitter and large round holo glitter. Stunning!

The formula was really nice and it dried fast, but I did have to fish the large round glitter out of the bottle, after 3 coats of polish I had a total of 0 on my nails without fishing... jup... none came out on their own. They do make this polish special, so I think the fishing is definitely a must, but with a result like this, I really didn't mind.

I love this collection and will be showing the other ones I got very soon!

What's your favorite Halloween polish?

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Essie After school boy blazer

I think you all know by now I love my dark colors. So when I saw the For the Twill of it Essie collection, I was really happy! I picked up 2 polishes immediately and left the polish that this collection was named after in the store. (Everybody keeps telling me I need it, because it's gorgeous, but it's just not my thing...)

I've already shown you Cashmere Bathrobe, and today I have the other polish to show you. Essie After School Boy Blazer is a deep dark navy cream. Nothing special about it, just a gorgeous vampy blue.

The thing that makes this polish really good, besides the stunning color, is the formula. It's opaque in 2 thin coats, but if you're in a hurry, you could get away with just 1 thick coat (although I would always recommend doing 2 thin ones). It dries fast and the consistency is really nice. It dries extremely glossy, just the way I like my polish!

2 coats After school boy blazer

It almost looks black, but you can still tell it's navy and I like these types of colors a lot. Especially in fall and winter.

What is your favorite dark polish and did you pick up any of the Essie For the Twill of it polishes?

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Mani Monday's: Gradient

Happy Monday everybody! This weeks theme is Gradient. I love a nice gradient nail, I think it always looks so colorful and fun. But, I have to admit, I've never done a gradient myself. Why not you ask? Well... to be honest... I have no clue! It looks fairly easy and you don't need a lot of tools or time to get a fun effect, but I just haven't tried it before. That is why I like Mani Monday's so much, the fact that it makes me do things I haven't tried before. Sometimes with a very nice result and sometimes with a not so nice result...

Today's mani is... not bad, but not good either. I think it's ok, it could have been a lot better and a lot more fun and colorfull. I think I used the wrong polish for this and the colors turned out a little bland and boring... not at all what I was going for... but better luck next time!

I started off with an opaque base, I used China Glaze Pelican Grey for this.

I then opted for a blue gradient, because I love a blue nail and wanted someting vibrant on my nails. I used Essie Lapiz of Luxury, China Glaze Splish Splash and Dorothy Who?

When I was done with the gradient, it looked extremely boring, so I added some sparkle. I mean, sparkle is always a good thing, right? I choose my antrax pigment polish for this.

This is the finished result... Unfortunately the color from Dorothy got sucked into the sponge completely and I was left with just a silver glitter... not bad, but not what I was going for at all... oh well... lesson learned!

 

I don't think it looks bad, but it does make me look a little pasty. If Dorothy would have stayed the nice dark blue it is in it bottle, it would have been a completely different, much better look for me.

What are your favorite polishes to use for a gradient?

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Powder Perfect Goodies!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an indie make-up brand and fell in love! Powder Perfect is an Australian brand, created bij Jacinta. They create handmade cosmetics from luxury ingredients. Their products include organic lipstick, cuticle balm and nail polish. Of course I was all over the nailpolish, but due to the harsh shipping conditions on nail polish, Powder Perfect doesn't ship polish internationally.

I had my hart set on a polish, so I contacted Jacinta and as she was more than happy to help me out. She let me know she was willing to ship polish to me, but only at my own risk, which I think is fair enough. So I placed my order.

I have to say, the shipping costs were extremely reasonable and I was stunned at how fast it arrived at my doorstep. I placed on order on a Monday and I received my package 8 days later, just 8 days from Australia to Europe! Now that's impressive!

I opened my package immediately and pulled out all these goodies:

2 Cuticle balms, 2 nailpolishes and 2 lipsticks. I absolutely love the packaging. Simple but playfull. I especially think it's funny that I ordered 2 cuticle balms, Raspberry and Orange and that my raspberry is actually in the orange packaging and Orange is in the pink packaging.

The lipsticks are organic and vegan and they are extremely creamy. I love how they feel on my lips, rich and soft and I think they actually hydrate my lips. These lipsticks are nicely pigmented, but a little on the sheer side for me since my lips are quite dark. I apply just one good layer when I go to work and add  a couple of layers to intesify the color for my evening look.

Dark Paradise and Fireside

Dark Paradise is a magenta lipstick with a purple undertone, perfect for pale skinned people like myself.

Fireside is a brick red lipstick. It reminds me of fall leaves and I think it's the perfect fall color. I have been wearing this non stop since I got it, I just can't get enough!

The cuticle balms are called Cute-icle balms for a reason. Just look at them, aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen? They come in silver tins, with a cute colored sticker. I have 2 scents and I really like them both. I can't stop sniffing my hands when I've applied them. They feel rich and buttery and do a good job at keeping my cuticles nice and soft.

Raspberry and Orange

And now for the, in my book, main attraction: the nailpolish! I have just one for you today, Downworlder (the other one and the raspberry cuticle balm are for a friend of mine, so unfortunately I have to part with those...).

Downworlder is part of the Shadowhunter collection and is a blue jelly base filled with blue, teal and silver glitters and hex holo glitter. The hex holo glitter makes it look like you're under water, so gorgeous! The formula is spot on. No need to fish for glitter, they come out easily and distribute evenly on the nail. This polish is opaque in just 2 coats and dries really fast. It does dry a little on the dull side, as most glitters tend to do, but that is easily fixed with a shiny top coat.

Just look at that gorgeousness! I wish the sun would come out, because it's so much more stunning in real life, but I just can't get it to show up in my pictures because of the dreary weather...

The brush is very nice to work with, it looked a little shorter than the average brush, but it didn't give me any problems, it made glitter application very easy. Overall, I'm very impressed and am allready thinking about my next order. Powder Perfect has some really nice Halloween polishes that I'm dying to get my hands on, I would definitely recommend checking out the Etsy store, website or Facebookpage.

Are you familiar with this brand and what is your favorite "undiscovered" indie brand?

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China Glaze Blue Iguana

This polish has been sitting in my stash for quite some time. I painted my nails with it just one time and didn't like it, so it went to the back of my stash. When I was putting them all in my Helmer, I had this in my hands and for the life of me couldn't remember why I didn't like it... So I decided to try it again and see what was up.

Well... I still don't know why I didn't like it the first time around, because it's absolutely gorgeous! China Glaze Blue Iguana is a bright blue glass fleck polish, that almost looks a little purple in some lights.

The fomula is a little on the thin side, so be carefull when applying. It's opaque in 2 - 3 coats and dries reasonably fast. The finish is gorgeous, shiny and bright. I think I might not have liked this the first time, because it was a bit sheer, but with 3 thin coats, it's good to go!

3 coats Blue Iguana, 1 coat HK girl

Blue Iguana was part of the 2011 Island Escape collection, but is still widely available. I really like that collection, I also own 108 Degrees, Papaya Punch and Senorita Bonita and love them all.

Do you like blue nail polish and which is your favorite?

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Sinful Colors Precious Metal

One of the big nail trends for fall that seems to come back every year is metallics. Although I love all nail polish, I'm not a fan of this particular finish because it just doesn't seem to suit my skintone. I love silver and gold polish, but they make me look like I'm undead...

For instance, I wish I could rock Orly Rage, I love that rosegold tone, but I didn't even buy it, because of previous experiences with metallics and my skin...

So when the lovely Holly (misshollyberies, blog and Youtube) send me a few polishes and she included a metallic one, I was hesitant. Although I immediately loved the color (I'm a sucker for blue), I was afraid the finish wouldn't work for me. Nothing was further from the truth! As soon as I put Sinful Colors Precious Metal on my nails, I loved it! Finally, a metallic polish I could actually pull off!

It's a midtoned blue polish with a silver metallic shimmer running through it. This polish is part of the 2012 Hot Flash Metallics collection.

Isn't that gorgeous?

I was so happy she send me Sinful Colors, as I don't have access to this particular brand and was dying to try it. The formula of this polish was good, but the polish itself was a  little on the sheer side. It flows on the nail, but I did need 3 coats to get it fully opaque. But since it dried reasonably fast and was so easy to apply, I didn't mind.

2 coats Precious Metal

If anyone knows a good site where I can buy SC that actually shippes to Europe, please let me know!

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Essence The boy next door

I have a really  nice budget polish for you today. I actually have quit a few polishes of this brand, but for some reason, I never grab them. Especially  not since they changed the bottle. But Essence The boy next door is absolutely wonderfull! I can't take my eyes of this shimmery deep cobalt blue.

The minute I walked in the store and saw this polish, I knew I had to have it! I love blue nails and this color is stunning. The formula was perfect, it flowed on the nail, almost opaque in 1 coat, but better with 2 and it dried really fast. The only problem I have with this polish (and the reason why I don't use Essence polishes as much), is the new bottle shape... it just doesn't feel stable when I dip my brush and wipe off the excess. I am always afraid to tip the bottle over. I prefer the old, less attractive bottles and wish they would come back. The brush itself is fairly wide, a little to wide for my taste, but not so wide I cover my nails and cuticles in one go.

All this is just a minor hassle, especially when you get color like this. I absolutely love this polish and really want to put it back on my nails now I see the swatches again.

2 coats The boy next door

Do you own any Essence polishes?
What do you think of the new bottles?

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