Mani Monday's: OPI Pompeii Purple

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

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Valentine's Day

Happy Monday everybody!
Today's Mani Monday's theme is Valentine's Day. I have to admit, I don't really celebrate this holiday, but every now and then my husband surprises me with a little gift and I do enjoy all the love and romance that comes with this holiday.

For this mani, I tried different things to get that romantic feeling. Some turned out better than others...
I love my little hearts, but the big one was a pain in my behind! I cut out a stencil and sponged a pink gradient over it. Oh boy... big disaster! The polish got underneath the stencil and just left a gradient blob on my nail. So I got out my white polish again and created the heart shape free hand by painting the white edges over the gradient... It still looks awfull, but at least you can tell it's a heart.

On the rest of my fingers, I deceided to do the gradient I used for the heart and I only did 1 coat, because I wanted it to look sheer and dainty. Next time I will try 2 coats, just to see how that turns out.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day and what is your favorite mani for a romantic occasion?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Olympics

Happy Monday!
I can't believe Januari is already over, where did that go? I'm still waiting for winter, but I really wouldn't mind skipping it completely this year.

Today's Mani Monday theme is the Olympics. There are a few contestants from my little country that participate in the Winter Olympics and of course I'm rooting for them to win. I especially like the snowboarding and speed skating competetion and will be watching a lot!

But the winter sport I love the most and will probably watch every game of, is ice hockey. It's one of the sports that The Netherlands doesn't compete in during the Olympics because it's just not that popular here. I absolutely love this sport and usually my husband and me watch every game!

For this mani, I deceided to show my Dutch spirit with our national color, our flag and, because the theme is Olympics: the rings.

The rings didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them to, but I'm happy with this. At least it's a fun mani that shows my support :D

Are you going to watch the Olympics and what is your favorite winter sport?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Chinese New Year

Happy Monday everybody! Did you have a good weekend? I didn't do anything special, went to the gym, had diner with  my husband and finally watched Catching Fire. I just can't wait for the last 2 instalments of The Hunger Games!

When I saw today's theme, I automatically thought about the gorgeous, colorfull paper dragons you see everywhere on Chinese New Year. I really wanted to paint one of those on my nails, but I also instantly knew that was going to be a problem with my limited skills. So, on to YouTube I went!

I found a tutorial for a dragon that still looked quite complicated, but I wanted to give it a go anyway. I have to say, I ended up not hating my result and I'm actually quite proud of my little dragen! Am I 100% happy and is my dragon perfect? No, absolutely not, but for a free hand dragon, I think he's looking quite good!

I decided to add a little glitter for the cherry blossom instead of painting on all the leaves, because glitter makes every mani better and, let's face it, I wasn't going to be able to paint all those tiny leaves without messing up completely.

What do you think of when you think of Chinese New Year?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Big fat foil fail

Happy Monday everybody! Did you all have a great weekend?
Today's theme is foil and I had no clue what to do with this theme. I don't own any nice foil finish polishes and I don't own any nail foils. So I took to the internet and discovered that you can actually do a nice mani with aluminum foil. I saw gorgeous pictures of smooth, mirror like mani's and decided to give it a go.

I mean, just look at this:

Source: myfashioncents.com

I want that on my nails, yes please! So I took out my foil, searched on youtube for a how to tutorial and got to work.

I think every picture that looks like the one I just showed you is misleading though, it has to be, because my final result didn't look anything like the picture above, not even close! It was crinkled and just plain ugly. I don't even want to show it to you and I've shown you some ugly nail art before! But this one... nope... not going to happen!

By the time I did my last nail (pinky), I started to get the hang of it, well, kind of, but it still wasn't anywhere near as nice as the pictures I saw. I threw in the towel and gave up...

On to next week!
What's your biggest nail art fail?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Newest polish

 

Today's Mani Monday's theme is a fun one: Newest Polish!
I recently got some very nice polishes, so I was looking forward to this day. But when I thought back on which polishes were added to my stash last, I couldn't help but laugh a little as they were extremely exciting...

I love a black and white mani, but I was running out of my favorite black and I didn't have a true white, so I picked up a bottle of China Glaze Liquid Leather and Snow and, of course, those are my most recent purchase. I debated whether to cheat and show another polish, but that wouldn't feel right, so I grabbed the black and white and started playing around with them.

I started with a white base, so 2 coats of Snow. Normally white polish tends to be streaky and patchy, but this was not to bad. It wasn't opaque in 1 coat, but it wasn't as sheer as other whites I've tried either.

1 coat Snow

I followed with a second coat and then painted half of my nails black with Liquid Leather.

This was a bit boring, so I got out my stripers and added some black and white stripes. The result was a really fun and easy black and white mani.

Liquid Leather has been my favorite black for a while, but Snow is a completely new addition to my stash and I really like it. I always love the China Glaze brush and this formula was really good for a white. Maybe not the most interessting colors to show, but you can't go wrong with a black and white mani.

What's your favorite black and white?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: New Years

I can't believe this is the last Mani Monday post for this year! It has gone so fast. I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a nice New Years Eve and a fabulous 2014!

For my last mani, I decided to try and paint some fireworks on my nails. Sounds easy and it actually was. But that's only  because I kept it simple. Just 2 colors (besides my black base), but I like it nonetheless.

As I'm typing this post, I can allready here the fireworks. It sounds like New Years allready!

What are your plans?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Red and Green

Happy Monday everybody! This weeks theme is Red and Green. I already did a red and green mani for my #XMASNORULES challenge and because I was a little busy the last few days, I almost did a repeat of that mani. But that felt like cheating and taking the easy way out, so I did do a whole new red and green mani.

I started with a red base and, to keep the Christmas theme going, added a green wreath with some gold ornaments and a nice gold bow. I think it ended up being a fun Christmas Red and Green mani.

We have a great group of Mani Monday's girls, if you'd like to join us, you're more than welcome! Please check out our Facebook page for all the information.

Did you do a red and green mani? I'd love to see your creation!

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Sparkles - China Glaze Party Hearty

Happy Monday everybody! Today's theme is Sparkles and to me, that can only mean one thing: glitter, glitter and just a little bit more glitter! With it being the holiday season and my recent purchase I only had one option for this week: China Glaze Party Hearty.

I have been on the hunt for this polish for so long, but wasn't able to find it, as it was a limited edition, part of the Holiday Collection 2010. A few weeks ago, one of my favorite webshops Enchantra posted a picture of this polish on their facebook page and they let me know it was still available in their shop! So I didn't hesitate and ordered it.

Party Hearty has large hex red glitter, smaller hex green glitter and silver and gold micro glitter in a clear base. It literally looks like Christmas threw up on my nails, absolutely gorgeous!

I layered it over a white polish to get the full effect of all the glitter. This is 2 coats and I actually think you could get it to be opaque on its own in 3 - 4 coats because it's so dense. I'm allready thinking of all the Christmas mani's I can create using this polish and this might be my favorite Christmas polish!

It was really hard to capture this polish in a picture and it's so much more sparkly in real live, but I did my best. I think I might need to invest in a better camera...

What's your favorite Christmas polish (or mani)?

X

Read more »

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?

X

Read more »

Mani Monday's: US Thanksgiving

 

Another Monday, another Mani Monday theme! This time it's a familiar one: Thanksgiving.
I didn't even know there was a difference in the Candadian and US Thanksgiving, but apparently there is (not really, they only happen on different days, but still... it's a difference!). I had trouble coming up with an idea for the Canadian Thanksgiving theme and this time it was no different. I think the fact that I don't actually celebrate this holiday may have something to do with that.

But eventually I came up with a fun design that is 100% appropriate for Thanksgiving! I was watching something about the first Thanksgiving and a kid dressed as a Pilgrim came on screen. I was looking at her outfit and thought the hat would make a great mani! I grabbed some polishes and got to work!

I started with a black base, added a white strip and drew on the buckle with a silver polish.

Liquid Leather, white striper, Icicle

My painting skills leave something to be desired, but I do like the result. It's fun, festive and perfecte for Thanksgiving. I did realize I did the buckle wrong, but to be honest, I don't really care, lol.

I love black and white mani's and even if you don't celebrate this holiday, I think this is a fun and easy nail art. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? What is your favorite part of this Holiday?

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
X

Oh boy... how many times did I mention Thanksgiving in this post???
Hahaha!

Read more »

Mani Monday's: Favorite Green China Glaze This is Tree-mendous

I heard on the radio today that we can expect snow this week... snow! I feel like fall has only just begun, but when I looked at my calendar, I realized we're over halfway through November... Can you believe it? Christmas is only 5 weeks away! I can't believe how fast this year is going...

Time for another Mani Monday and the theme is Favorite Green! This was a hard one for me, I love green polish and own a lot. I was looking at my stash and just couldn't decide what to show you today, but with it being almost Christmas, I choose a fairly new polish, but one that I instantly loved because it looks like a Christmas tree on you nails.

China Glaze This is Tree-mendous is part of the Happy Holiglaze 2013 collection and it's a jampacked green and gold micro glitter. This has that gritty, almost liquid sand kind of finish, without it being a true textured polish, it has the same finish as last years Winter Holly.

The formula is really nice. It's opaque in 2 - 3 coats and dries really fast. It does dry a little dull, so a top coat is a must to get it to sparkle. I wasn't quite able to capture all the sparkle in my swatches, I'd recommend checking this out in person, because it's really quite gorgeous.

This is the only one I picked up from this years hina Glaze Holiday Collection. I liked the colors and am thinking about getting the other glitters, Put a bow on it and All wrapped up, but for the rest of the polishes, I just didn't think they were that special and don't even get me started on that white texture... That might quite possibly be the ugliest polish I have ever seen!

What's your favorite green polish?

X

Read more »