China Glaze's Hey Sailor (#946)

Hi,

I hope you are all having a nice Sunday.

It's raining and gloomy here today, so I decided I needed a bright polish to forget the crappy weather. Didn't feel like wearing a neon or a bright whitish pink, colors I love, but decided to go for a classic true red. 

The polish I used, China Glaze's Hey Sailor, is my preferred red, even more than Chanel's Fire, Coromandel and Dragon. When I think of red, this is exactly the shade I visualize. The color on the nails is true to the one seen in the bottle.

The formula on this polish, like most China Glaze's, is a bit streaky for the first coat, but it smoothes down and dries evenly when you apply a second coat of lacquer. The drying time is rather short and the finish is ultra glossy, even before I applied my topcoat (1 coat of Sèche Vite).

What is your most reached for red?

Enjoy!

Photo 1:   Outdoors, daylight (late PM), no flash.

Photo 2:   Outdoors, daylight (late PM), no flash.

Photo 3:   Outdoors, daylight (late PM), no flash.

Photo 4:   Indoors, artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 5:   Indoors, artificial lighting, no flash.

Photo 6:   Indoors, artificial lighting, with flash.

Polka dots on Pure Porcelain

Hi,

I thought I'd give my Pure Porcelain mani a summery edge by adding a polka dot design to it before I change my polish.

I chose several China Glaze lacquers for the dots:

• Electric pineapple (a vivid greenish light yellow from the Summer 2011 collection)
• Secrect Peri-wink-Le (a dark periwinkle blue with deep lavendar undertones)
• For Audrey (a robin's egg blue supposed to be the exact same color as Tiffany's packaging)
• Westside warrior (a warm and dark army green from the Fall 2011 collection)

Enjoy!

Photo 1:   Outdoors, natural daylight (PM)

Photo 2:   Outdoors, natural daylight (PM)

Photo 3:   Outdoors, natural daylight (PM)

Photo 4:   Indoors, artifial lighting, with flash.

Feedback on Orly's Pure Porcelain

Hi,

I applied this polish yesterday in the evening and it already chipped on both my thumbs this morning... 

I hate it when that happens on day 2.

This might be caused by the basecoat (Revlon's 2 in 1 i.e. base and topcoat) I used but I'm not sure of that. I've used this basecoat often and it didn't seem like it made my polish chip. Maybe it's just not compatible with Pure Porcelain. I'll try a different one next time.

Those of you who have tried Pure Porcelain, does this happen to you?

Orly's Pure Porcelain (#40742)

Hi,

For today's NOTD I used an Orly polish I recently added to my collection but hadn't tried yet: Pure Porcelain.

This lacquer is fantastic! The formula was perfect and opaque in 2 thin coats. No goop, bubbles or streaks. As this often happens with nail polishes, I experienced a couple of bald patches with Pure Porcelain, but they were easily corrected whilst the lacquer was still wet.

And the color, oh the color! I absolutely adore it. 

I'd say it's a very light creamy greyish beige with discreet pink undertones. In other words: a great light nude.

I wish I had met this lacquer earlier, it would have spared me some time on my quest for the perfect light nail polish!

Enjoy!

Lighting:   Artificial

Flash:        No

Coats:       2

Topcoat:   Sèche Vite (1 coat)

Van D'Go + Glitter-flakie + matte topcoat = Smile + Summer + Obsessive nail staring!

Hi,

For todays mani, I felt like doing something summery and girly as the sun finally came back, so I used Essie's Van D'Go that I Barbied up a bit with a glitter-flakie polish, then finally added a matte topcoat for a modern and polished look.

As you surely know, Van D'Go is an opaque peachy pink milky shade. The fomula on this polish was good but rather on the thick side (nothing alarming because the polish doesn't streak and dries evenly). But like all the Essie polishes I've tried, it doesn't bubble, goes on smoothly and dries quickly.

As to the glitter polish I used (Cover Girl's Boundless color nail sparkle topcoat in Pink Twinkle #420), it is amazing! It's a mix of different shaped holographic glitters (square and hex.) and flakes in a very sheer pink jelly type base (the base color is very similar to Essie's Pink Glove Service). 

I picked it up the other day at my local supermarket and really don't regret it! The only negative point of this polish is that it lacks shine; you really need to apply a shiny topcoat to get sparkly nails, or go matte with special topcoat. I like Essie's Matte About You and Essence's Matte topcoats but will probably try the Chanel one as soon as the ones I have are finished. For this mani I used Essie's Matte About You topcoat.

I hope you don't mind the numerous photos; I felt like showing you the different phases of this mani and really wanted you to see the flakie effect...that is most obvious on photos 7 and 8.

Have a nice day!

Photo 1:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 2:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 3:   Van D'Go, artifial lighting.

Photo 4:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 5:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 6:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle, artifial lighting.

Photo 7:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle + Matte About You, artifial lighting.

Photo 8:   Van D'Go + Pink Twinkle + Matte About You, artifial lighting.

Chanel's Peridot + Stamping

Hi,

I decided not to swatch any of my new colors today as I got carried away with other things I had to do, so you will have to keep an eye open for new polish swatches in the next few days.

I did although spice up yesterdays Peridot mani with a bit of stamping, giving it a baroque botanic edge, using China Glaze's Westside warrior - from their Fall 2011 Metro collection - a warm dark khaki green, and an Essence stamping kit. Unfortunately, I am unable to give you the name or number of the stamping plate I used today as nothing is written on it... Any flora inspired design will work.

This actually was my first attempt at stamping and I'm pretty happy with the end result! Is this the beginning of a new era in my mani routines??!!

Have a nice day!

Chanel's Peridot

Hi,

As promised, here are the swatches for Chanel's Peridot.

I just took off my neon + shatter polish and  wanted to leave my nails bare until I get my polish mail order in tomorrow (CG Metro coll + several others, a few OPI and Orly polishes), but I couldn't resist swatching this poor little bottle of polish that has been waiting for me to try it!

The formula applied like butter and dried quickly. I only needed 2 thin coats for it to be opaque. As it is metallic, you really need to watch out for streaks, applying your polish in straight strokes.

Peridot's color is hard to describe. I'd say it's a green + bronzey gold duochrome with hints of pink. This shade is eye-catching and looks great on tanned or dark skin, but I'm sure it will looks great on my winter white fingers!

Enjoy!

Photo 1:   Indoors, natural daylight (late PM)

Photo 2:   Outdoors, natural daylight.

Photo 3:   Indoors, artificial lighting.

Photo 4:   Indoors, artificial lighting.

Photo 5:   Indoors, natural daylight.

Shatter/Crackle manis - Part II

Hi,

Tired of your neon mani? Try adding a Shatter/Crackle topcoat for an interesting effect.

I used CG's Pool party and OPI's Blue Shatter and didn't apply a shiny topcoat as I will be changing mani's tomorrow when I receive my newest polish order.

Photo 1:   Indoors, natural daylight.

Photo 2:   Outdoors, natural daylight.

Photo 3:   Outdoors, natural daylight.

Photo 4:   Outdoors, natural daylight.

I don't usually use shatter topcoats on a regular basis but like trying them out on 1 or 2 day old manis before I change polishes. I actually prefer these topcoats on clear polish. You can find a picture of that in one of my previous posts.

Have you caught the shatter/crackle fever?

Enjoy!

Neon polishes

Hi,

Who doesn't like wearing bright nail polishes in Summer? 

Although I've been wearing a lot of pastels lately, I felt the urge the other day to sport a neon mani. Must be the rainy weather we've been having here the past few days. As you might have seen in my previous post, I chose to wear 2 China Glaze polishes: Pool party on my hands and Flip flop fantasy on my toes.

The neon wave that hit us a couple of years ago is still a current trend and the polishes I'm showing you today are just a few examples of the numerous neon lacquers you can find. 

Many brands make them but I find that China Glaze has the best color range.

Neon polishes don't photograph well so you have to imagine that these polilshes are so much more brighter than in the pictures.

Enjoy!

Photo 1:  (From left to right)

1. Shocking pink
2. Flip flop fantasy
3. Pool party

Photo 2:   (From left to right)

1. Celtic sun
2. Japanese koi
3. Color club's Ultra-Astral

Chanel Le Vernis

Hi,

Chanel polishes are some of my all time fav. lacquers. It seems like you just cannot go wrong with a Chanel polish! 

OK, their color selection isn't huge, unlike China Glaze and OPI, but the formula on these polishes is great. No bubbles ever, even when I shake the bottle like crazy (Particulière needs to be shaken well or rolled before you apply it). The lacquer dries quickly to a high gloss finish and hardly ever cracks, chips or peels.

Photo 1:   

• Splendeur (#217), a darkish blue based hot pink, 
• Dragon (#475), a deep warm based classic red, 
• Lotus rouge (#455), a deep blue based berry.

Photo 2:   

• Rouge noir (#18), a vampy blackish berry,
• Impérial (#469), a beautiful warm toned medium brown, very chocolatey!
• Particulière (#505), a unique taupe with khaki and purple undertones,
• Péridot (#531), a metallic greenish gold with purple and blue duochrome.

I'm really looking forward to try Peridot, one of the 3 new polishes from Chanel's fall-winter 2011-2012 collection shortly released in the States, but not sold in Europe until the end of August. 

Peridot is a beautiful greenish gold duochrome with hints of blue and purple. The color in the bottle really reminds me of a scarab shining all of it's beautiful colors in the sunlight. I wonder what it's going to look like on my nails.

The two other colors in the collection are Graphite (a metallic charcoaly gunmetal grey with some black hints and silvery sparkly shimmer) and Quartz (a metallic shimmery nudish antique rose). 

Sorry about the complicated color descriptions, but these polishes are really hard to describe. I suggest searching for swatches on Scrangie or another blog.

Enjoy!

China Glaze's Pool Party

Hi,

Here's China Glaze's Pool Party, a neon that's pretty hard to describe. I'd say a mix of neon red, orange and pink. 

As all neon's do, Pool Party dries to a semi matte finish. You can leave it like that but I really prefer applying a topcoat which smoothes the streaks that most neons leave and gives your polish a high gloss shine.

The pictures don't do this color justice, although photos 2 + 3 give you a pretty good idea of what this polish really looks like. Believe me, it's one of the most vibrant neons I've ever seen. 

Can polish get any brighter?

Enjoy! 

Photo 1:   Artificial light, no flash.

Photo 2:   Artificial light, with flash.

Photo 3:   Natural daylight, no flash.

Monet exhibit in Martigny, Switzerland - Monet au Musée Marmottan et dans les Collections suisses 17 juin – 20 novembre 2011 tous les jours de 9 h à 19 h

Hi,

If ever you are in Switzerland, you absolutely must see the Monet exhibit in Martigny (Valais Canton). It is breathtaking! I could have spent hours there looking at every little detail painted by Monet, the first painter whose work was qualified as Impressionnist art.

Here is the short summary of the exhibit that you can also find on the Gianadda Foundation's website (http://www.gianadda.ch/wq_pages/fr/expositions/index.php). Unfortunately it can only be found in French...

Sneak peek:

L’exposition Claude Monet offre au public un voyage où la réalité est recomposée à partir de la lumière à laquelle l’artiste fait subir des variations infinies. Elle est une invitation à l’étude de la nature, des paysages, de l’urbanisme dont le souci de ce patriarche de l’impressionnisme, a été de capter le réel dans ses apparences les plus fugitives. Un véritable hymne à la lumière et à la couleur représenté par quelque 70 peintures, dont 26 prêts historiques du Musée Marmottan Monet, et toutes les autres œuvres provenant de grands musées (Bâle, Berne, Lausanne, Zurich, …) et collections privées suisses. Ce large panorama de l’œuvre de Monet met en lumière les principaux thèmes de l’œuvre de l’artiste : notamment Argenteuil, Vétheuil, la Hollande, les Meules, la Cathédrale de Rouen, Londres, Bordighera, les Peupliers, les Nymphéas, le Pont japonais…Cette balade picturale offre aux visiteurs une promenade choisie sur les pas des lieux de prédilection du peintre de Giverny : les bords de la Seine, les Côtes normandes, la Bretagne et l’Italie.

DE QUELQUES TABLEAUX ET THEMES DE CLAUDE MONET

Monet peint pendant plus de soixante ans et à l’aube de sa vie, il porte un jugement sur son travail et déclare : « …ma seule vertu, c’est d’avoir peint directement d’après nature, en es-sayant de transcrire les impressions que produisaient sur moi les changements les plus fu-gaces ». Il vit toujours non loin de la Seine, et c’est dans sa vallée qu’il trouve la plupart de ses sujets : le tableau « La Seine à Argenteuil, 1874 » (Kunstmuseum Bern, Legs Robert Vatter) en témoigne. Son intérêt pour les paysages et l’eau ne se démentira jamais, même loin de son pays, à Londres, « Le parlement. Reflets sur la Tamise, 1899-1901 » (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris) c’est encore les reflets sur l’eau du fleuve londonien qu’il traque et qu’il colore d’harmonies délicates aux multiples sensations. Le parlement dont il peint les effets architec-turaux atteste de ce nouvel urbanisme de Londres comme les récentes réalisations du baron Hausmann à Paris. L’étude de l’irisation de l’eau et de ses multiples miroitements trouvent son apothéose dans les « Nymphéas, 1903 » (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris) et dans « Le Pont japonais, 1918 » (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris). A part l’eau et son spectacle sans cesse renouvelé, Monet est un homme de son temps, il rend aussi hommage par huit vues de la gare Saint-Lazare, antichambre de tous les départs vers les banlieues à la mode, vers sa chère Normandie, vers Londres… « Le pont de l’Europe Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877 » (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris), restitue toute une poétique de la vie moderne. Dans le traitement rapide de la fumée, on retrouve la technique instantanée du peintre impressionniste. Les jeux de la vapeur soulignent les structures métalliques du pont.

NOTD: Revlon's Minted - Ongles du jour: Minted de Revlon

Hi,

For my nail of the day, I used Revlon's Minted, a milky light green with bluish undertones. It is similar to OPI's Mermaid's tears, only lighter.

This color is so fresh and great for Spring and Summer because it looks really nice on tanned skin and darker skintones, but I'm pretty sure it would be equally beautiful during winter time and on fair skin. Try it out!

I like imagining that this is typically the kind of color that a nymph, a naïad or an aquatic goddess would wear!

The color was opaque in two coats, the polish spread evenly and dried quickly. A few bubbles formed but they were eradicated by Sèche Vite's topcoat.

Enjoy!

Photo 1:   Revlon's Minted (#028)

Photo 2:   OPI's Mermaid's tears (Pirates of the Caribbean collection)

Bonjour!

Aujourd'hui j'ai utilisé Minted de Revlon sur mes ongles (J'ai tellement aimé la couleur que je l'ai appliquée sur les ongles de mes orteils aussi!). C'est une très belle couleur, d'un vert bleuté clair et laiteux. Ce vernis ressemble à Mermaid's tears de OPI, mais il est plus clair d'un ton environ.

Minted est une couleur très fraîche et parfaite pour le printemps et l'été car très flatteuse pour les peaux bronzées et foncées, mais je suis certaine que ce vernis est également magnifique en hiver et sur les peaux claires.

J'aime imaginer que c'est une couleur que porterait une nymphe, une naïade ou une déesse aquatique!

Le vernis était opaque et uniforme en deux couches au séchage rapide. Quelques petites bulles se sont formées durant le temps de séchage mais elles ont été éliminées par le topcoat de Sèche Vite.