Antique jade

Hello there!

I've always been attracted to gems and stones of all sorts. The ones that catch my eye the most aren't the very fancy sparkly ones you only see in magazines and receive in tiny red boxes. I prefer the ones that I find myself in river beds, along a mountain path or in antique shops, set on a delicate brooch or ring. There is something very special to those simpler stones. Their tiny veins, splashes of color, texture and shape just make them so interesting and mysterious, as if their heterogenous constitution and appearance was trying to tell us their story.

When I look at this nail polish, OPI's Thanks A Windmillion, I think of a long lost imperial jade stone that was once a part of a Ming dynasty sword, broken to pieces and used to make an intricate piece of jewellery, or an antique pin worn by a dainty lady of the XIXth century.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=chinese+antique+jade+sword

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/fine-jewelry/jade

Don't you just love it when a nail polish has the capacity to make you dream? I do.

Thanks A Windmillion, this dusty milky jade polish, came out in the Spring 2012 Holland collection. It's formula was perfect and it only took 2 thin coats to get it completely opaque and smooth.

What are your thoughts about this polish? Do you have any nail polishes that make you dream?

Thanks for reading.

Emilie

Colorblock nails

Hello there,

I'm still sort of stuck in a glitter sandwich manicure phase, but I thought I'd take a break and do colorblock nails.

Here's what I came up with:

 

The blue is Bleu Fabuleux by Bourgeois and the orange is Orange it's obvious by Essie.

On the second day of this manicure, I felt like some change and replaced my orange index by a green one using OPI's Did it on'em.

Do you like to mix and match your polish or is sticking to one color at a time more your thing?

Thanks for reading :)

Eggs or ice cream?

Who doesn't like ice cream on a hot Summer day, or any day of the year actually?

I like it so much that I decided to have a constant reminder of one my favorite flavors, mint chocolate chip, on my nails for a couple of days. Yes, I have a wicked sweet tooth!

  

http://tastyniblets.com/2008/06/03/mint-chocolate-chip-ice-cream/

But come to think of it, this manicure also reminds me of sparrow eggs...

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/song-sparrow-melospiza-melodia/four-song-sparrow-eggs-one-brown-headed-cowbird-egg

To achieve this look, I did a glitter sandwich using OPI's Gargantuan green grape (2 coats for the base, then 1 to cover the glitter) and LA Girls' Glitter Addict glitter polish in Uninhibited (1 coat), a black glitter polish in a clear base.

To you, does this look more like eggs or ice cream?

Thanks for reading!

Back to green

Happy Sunday! (or in my case I should "happy rainday" as it is pi...ng rain...)

I just got back from NY and had a wonderful time there. So many things to do and see and it felt great being back in the city.

I stuffed myself with donuts, pastrami sandwiches, gotham salads, NY cheesecake and so many other goodies I appreciate so much more when I'm there because the taste is just not the same as it is here. I can't even find donuts in Geneva...imagine my disarray! Oh I miss America.

And the drugstores! Oh my the drugstores. I love them! As a kid I could spend hours in them just looking at all the beauty and makeup products. I must have spent at least 4hrs of my whole trip in drugstores if I add up all my visits during my 10 day vacation!

Apart from eating and shopping we did of course go to the usual museums (Metropolitain, MoMa, Whitney, Brooklyn, Asia Society). If you are in NY now, check out the Keith Haring exhibit at the Brooklyn museum as well as the exhibit at the Asia Society, they were great.

Anyways, enough rambling about the trip, let's talk about nail polish.

For my return home manicure, I decided to go with a green ombre. It's not quite an ombre but it's as close as I could get having used only my OPI greens (weird jetlag challenge).

Anybody feel like playing? Guess what polishes were used...

Daylight 

Artificial lighting

Flash

Thanks for reading. 

First Butter London. Had to be green!

Hello my dear readers,

Very exciting post for me today: I got my first Butter London polish!
I've been wanting to try this brand for quite some time now having heard/read so many good things about it. Well the day has come!

A while back, as I was googling swatches of these polishes, I fell in love with a color: Bossy boots. As I was observing how gorgeous it was, I couldn't stop smiling to myself because the name fits me like a glove! I feel ashamed to say this, but I've often been told that I can be a bit tough and authorititarian, although always well-intentioned and fair. My friends tease me about it and we always get a good laugh about the tiny little friendly tyrant that lives somewhere inside me! I've tried becoming more mellow, in vain. I guess that's just the way I am and believe that there are just somethings you can't really change about yourself.

On to the pictures:

(indoors)

(outdoors)

(idem)

(indoors)

(idem)

Bossy boots is a beautiful yellow based seafoam green. A perfect seafoam green in my opinion (Mr Pantone agrees!).
I don't know if all Butter London polishes are like this, but the formula was great:
Opaque in 2 self leveling coats; no brush strokes, bubbles or bald patches. A dream!

I can't wait to try more of these, and won't have to wait too long because I went a little crazy and bought 6 of them!! I know I know, shame on me!

What are your preferred Butter London polishes? Any recommendations?

Thanks for reading :)

Oh! and I squared out my nails a bit and am not sure about the shape... What do you think suits me better??

An antioxidant polish

I never cared for green tea. I know it's full of good stuff such as antioxidants etc. but I just don't like it. My sister had ordered a green tea cake for her graduation dinner in Boston and just thinking of it makes me turn green. I must say that was the nastiest thing I've ever tasted, and believe me, my palate has encountered some weird food. The most unusual dish I've eaten must have been curried bat in the Seychelles. It was actually really good and tasted like rabbit or chicken. Yes yes, we Europeans, especially the French speaking ones, eat awkward stuff sometimes.

Anyways, enough rambling, let's get down to business.

Today's polish is Sally Hansen's complete salon manicure in Green tea. I must say, this isn't the color of green tea but it sure is gorgeous. This is the very first polish from this line that I try as it has only been available here for a very short time (actually I have to cross the border and go to Sephora in France but that's only a 15 minute drive) and I'm impressed by the quality and the range of colors.

I purchased a few others and will be trying them shortly. There were only about 20 colors in my tiny Sephora but if I really like these polishes, well then I'll stock up on them when I go to NY at the end of June.

Colorwise, I'd say Green tea is an opaque minty green, but it is a bit dustier and softer than what I've seen on the market these past years.

The formula was great: 2 easy coats, self leveling, very glossy.

The last picture was taken in daylight (mid PM)

Have you tried Green tea? 

Do you have any great polishes from this line to recommend?

Thanks for reading and have a nice Sunday!

I got a little glitter crazy

Hi,

I'm in the mood for glitter. I usually am not a glitter fan and I don't lnow how to explain this sudden urge to bear disco balls on my fingertips...

For this manicure I used 1 coat of Dior's Waterlily as a base (light warm green) and added 1 coat of Purge from LA Girls glitter addict over top (green glitter in a clear base). Purge. What a horrible name for such a nice lacquer...

(Pictures taken in artificial lighting)

My pictures don't do this mani justice and you just have to imagine how sparkly this was.

I absolutely loved this manicure, got many many compliments on it , and have to admit it made me feel like Poison Ivy the whole time I wore it!

What do you think of this combo? Would you wear it or is too far off from your comfort zone?

Thanks for reading!

Something fresh to celebrate the gorgeous weather

Hi there,

I haven't posted in a few days but boy do I have something pretty to show you today: Sinful Colors' Mint apple.

This minty turquoise polish is very special and doesn't look like anything I have in my stash. 

Sinful Colors polishes are really nice and sadly enough, they don't seem to get enough hype :( They are inexpensive, the colors are great and I love the formula.

The formula was great: opaque in 2 coats and self-leveling. I don't remember what topcoat I used but I find that most of them tend to make these shimmery glass fleck lacquers shrink. Any suggestions for a non shrinking topcoat aside from Poshe, Sèche Vite, Out the door or Good to go?

Do you have any nice Sinful Colors polish that you really like?

Thanks for reading!

The sun is out and I feel like eating fruit

Hi there,

I know, I know, I haven't posted in quite a few days. Got stuck with a huge amount of work to do. I spend all my time in my books and writing and I'm fed up of being glued to my desk. That doesn't mean I neglect my nails, although my cuticles feel a bit left out (Loodie will surely kill me if she sees them!).

Since the sun has been shining quite a bit the past few days and I haven't really had a chance to be outside and take advantage of this nice weather, I decided I was in desperate need of a bright and shiny polish. My choice: China Glaze's Watermelon rind.

Gosh I love this polish in all of it's shimmery green-blue splendor. I'm wearing two coats of it in the pictures.

Check it out, it's gorgeous:

The first two pictures were taken indoors.

Picture taken outdoors, in the shade.

No Pantone reference for this one as it's too shimmery... sorry :)

What's on your nails now?

Thanks for reading.

A Legendary polish

Hello my dears!

I am very excited about this post and have actually been postponing it for 2 days now because of my work. I'm swamped.

I have a gorgeous and very mysterious polish to show you today. An a-england beauty from "The Legends" collection: Princess Sabra (aka Tristam eyes).

I ordered most of the polishes from this collecion last Sunday and received them Tuesday. I contacted the lovely Adina Bodana, the master mind behind the a-england line and was lucky enough to get them so quickly. Adina really is such a sweet person. I wrote her a couple of emails and she replied to each one of them ever so quickly, I almost thought she was reading my mind and mentally replying via her email!

"The Legends" collection is now availible on the a-england website, so if you are as mesmerized by these polishes as I am, start placing your orders ladies!

The polishes I ordered are all prismatic (or holographic if you prefer, although the term isn't correct) and have a depth and mystery to them I've never seen before.

I also ordered THE KNIGHT basecoat and THE SHIELD topcoat. I haven't tried the topcoat yet but am really pleased with the basecoat. It has a great consistency and dries quickly.

Back to Princess Sabra/Tristam eyes (Adina's cat. Hello Tristam! Miaow).
This polish, (sighs), ah this polish, I can't believe how incredible it is.

The color? How to describe this color? Hmm. I'd say it's an olive-gold base infused with prismatic particles that confer it that incredible shine, depth and fascinating "holo" effect that is very potent, even more on the nail than in the bottle.

One word: CAPTIVATING!

The formula was great. Smooth, easy to apply, quick-drying and incredibly shiny. I didn't even use a topcoat and the end result was even shinier than when I use a high-gloss topcoat over a random polish.

The brush was perfect and allowed a flawless application.

Wearability? I've had this polish on since Tuesday and there are absolutely no signs of tipwear, no chips, no dullness of color, and I've been shifting through books, cleaning, cooking and doing dishes for 4 days now.

Thanks so much Adina for having imagined and created such an awesome polish. I'm really impressed by the quality, the colors, the application and so much more!

On to the pictures (sorry there are so many, I had trouble capturing Princess Sabra's beauty on camera due to the lack of sun)

The color reminded me of my preferred Nespresso coffee capsule (Indriya)

I immediately was in a medieval mood when I applied Princess Sabra!

Thanks for reading!

Minaj gone matte

Hi,

Quick post today as I'm exhausted. We had a birthday party for my boyfriend last night and the last guests left at 4:30 AM. Great evening!

I had Essie's Sew Psyched on my nails for the party but it started chipping as I was doing the post-party cleanup. Being to lazy to change my polish, I added two thin layers of OPI's Metallic 4 life over Sew Psyched, then mattified the whole using Essie's Matte about you.

I'm pretty happy with the end result! How about you?

Thanks for reading!

Essence's Gold Old Buffy

Hi there,

Today I have a beautiful Essence polish to show you: Gold Old Buffy from the Limited edition Vampire collection that came out a little while back.

As it's name indicates, Gold Old Buffy is a green polish infused with tons of gold shimmer (or glass flecks?). It reminds me a bit of a mix between Night Porter (Nars), Warm and Fozzie (OPI) and Wagon Trail (China Glaze).

The formula was excellent: no streaks, bubbles or bald patches and was totally opaque in 2 coats.

As a topcoat I used my usual Revlon Fast Drying TC.

What do you think of this beauty?