OPI Zurich Surprise

Hello my lovely readers,

Today I have a gorgeous vampy polish to show you: OPI's Zurich Surprise, a dark almost black plummy burgundy.

This classic beauty was made exclusively for Switzerland and I must admit, I feel very special wearing it!

I was really surprised by the formula, because normally with this type of color, the consistency is thick, goopy and uneasy to work with. On the contrary, Zurich surprise was a dream, spread like butter and dried in a pinch. Must be the Swiss quality :)

Pictured here are 2 coats and a layer of topcoat.

As I'm off to NY tomorrow and haven't scheduled any posts (didn't have time, sorry) as I did when I went to Cuba, you will have to wait for my return to see my little fingers and more gorgeous polishes :)

Thanks for reading.

New Youtube video & Instagram

 Hi,

I have a new Youtube video! It's part I of a new series I'm filming: "my most used" products.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5nP_cRH-6c&feature=youtu.be

I also just joined Instagram? My user name is Greeneyespinknails (how original!)

Are any of you on Instagram or Youtube?

Swiss Kiss (not to be confused with a French kiss! Haha)

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??

A Peach of Cake on Sun Day

I'm not really a neon polish person, but sometimes I feel the urge to wear something very bright and cheery on my nails. That's what I was feeling like Sunday so I decided to opt for a near neon manicure using two Sally Hansen polishes (complete salon manicure line): A Peach of Cake & Sun Day.

Both polishes are new to my collection and I wanted to try them both without having to deal with the terrible dilemna: which one should I wear? (the same dilemna that I impose to my boyfriend and that drives him nuts! I just love driving him nuts!) so this is what I ended up doing, and I must say, I'm happy with the end result.

The formula on both these polishes was great and very smooth. 

Do you have any bright not quite neon polishes that you love?

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!

An un-planked treasure

I never really used to like purple nail polish, unless it was über dark, but have felt the urge to wear it in the past few months. I started off with pastels but am now also attracted to medium toned purples.

As much as I loved OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection, I remember that the only polish I refused to wear was Planks a lot, the dusty purple one. I used it on some friends and they really loved it but I kept it as far away as possible from my hands as I could. You must be thinking "why on earth did you buy it?", question to which I'd answer "it came in a quatro pack and I really wanted the other three polishes".

This poor lacquer has been sitting in the back of one or my Helmer's drawers for too long and I owe it an apology. It is gorgeous and I felt like I had unearthed a long lost treasure when I dug it out the other day.
Never again shall I abandon you my dear.

The formula was great: opaque in 2 coats, not streaks, bubbles or problems of any kind.

Have you ever fallen in love with a polish you used to dislike?

Is the glass half full or half empty

Hello my dears,

People say you are either an opimist or a pessimist. I don't believe in that and think we are both. It all really depends on our mood and the people we are friends with.

Do optimism and pessimism have their corresponding colors? I don't think so and don't know how Essie came up with such a silly name. Eternal optimist...they could have done much better for such a pretty polish.
This typically is a color I would have steered away from a while back, and I don't know what is getting in to me these days but I'm becoming attracted to colors I used to flee. Must be the rain, my mood or an overdose of Coptic texts.

Enough rambling. Aside from the silly name, this polish couldn't get any better. It's opaque in 2 coats, fast-drying, self-leveling and super shiny without a topcoat. What more could you ask for?

Do you ever go through phases where you tend to gravitate towards polishes that you used to think were just blah and boring?

Thanks for reading

Glitter craze - phase 2

I'm still craving glitter!

Here's my most recent discoball manicure featuring 2 coats of Mavala's Sweet (#397, a dusty peachy antique rose creme) as a base and 1 coat of LA Girls Glitter Addict in Inspire.

I love this! What do you think of it?

Thanks for reading

 

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!

Dusty Dior

Hello my dears,

How have you all been doing?

Today I have a stunning dusty turquoise polish to show you: Dior's Saint Tropez.

This polish just came out and I jumped on it as soon as I saw it. It's dusty quality is just so special and very different from those über bright turquoise lacquers I'm used to seeing. I'm in love with a polish....yet again!

The formula was great: opaque in two coats, fast drying, self leveling and very shiny. I didn't even use a topcoat.

(pictures taken in daylight)

To spice things up on the third day, I added some sparkle: OPI's Pirouette my whistle (from the New York Ballet collection).

This glitter is great because it isn't too sparkly and looks almost as if you added a sheer polish over top in a very glitter sandwich-esque fashion.

(pictures taken in artificial lighting)

So, what do you think of this beauty?

Thanks for reading!

Inspired by the weather

Hi there,

The weather has been pretty weird here for the past few days. The sun will shine for a few hours then rain will be pouring down like crazy, then the sun comes back. Weird and wardrobe confusing. I thought this mani represented it pretty well and was really happy when I came up with the idea to do it and post it on my blog, but then it dawned on me that it could just as well be in an Ikea catalogue...
What do you think?

I used Chanel's Blue Boy (Jeans de Chanel collection) and Jaune Trendy by Bourjois ( a company owned by Chanel). No topcoat.

Blue Boy's color is great but I don't really like the jelly finish (too sheer) that required 3 coats. There was some pretty massive tipwear as well...unusual for Chanel, even when you don't use a topcoat.

This is the first Bourjois polish I try and am pretty impressed. Self-leveling, shiny, quick-drying and no tip wear.

Thanks for reading :)

Dreaming of the tropics

Aloha,

Do you ever close your eyes and imagine you are on a beach, drenched in monoï oil, holding a mojito, a hibiscus flower in your hair, the waves tickling your toes? That's the mood I'm in right now.
Unfortunately there is no beach around here and this mani is the closest I'll get to the tropics in a while.

What am I wearing? Well a bathing suit of course! Just kidding! Actually Essie is on the beach with me, reading a book named "Nice is Nice, but Turquoise & Caicos is even better".

3 coats of each, no topcoat.

Gotta go, scuba diving can't wait!

Inspired by bird eggs

Hi,

For today's mani, I was inspired by the eggs of birds that feed and nest on my balcony.

I used OPI's Did you ear about Van Gogh (2 coats) and layered it with LA Girls' glitter addict polish in Uninhibited (1 coat).

I'm usually not a huge fan of glitter and I'm not crazy about Did you ear about Van Gogh, but I really like this combo.

What have you been inspired by lately for your manicures?

Thanks for reading:)

A fresh new year

Hi there,

Wow I haven't posted in ten days as I've been very busy with work and my man's return home after a six week dig in Egypt. I'm so glad he's finally back and am really proud of him. His mission went really well and he discovered many interesting things, that I can't really tell you about until everything has been published...I wish I could though.

Anyways, it's my birthday today (I'm officially 32, unless my parents lied to me!) and I felt like wearing something clean and fresh. My choice? Essie's Marshmallow, a semi-opaque white. The first two layers were a little bit streaky (nothing too bad) but the third one evened everything out nicely.

I really like the end result, super glossy and feminine without being too stark and noticeable. What do you think of this?

Thanks for reading :)

Emilie

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!

Spring is right around the corner

Hi!

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, Spring is coming!

What better way to celebrate than wearing a fresh pastel polish?

I chose a new color from Essence's Color & Go line: Absolutely blue (#97). Surpisingly, the shade shows up really well in the pictures so I don't even need to try to describe it.

The formula was very good: opaque in 2 thin coats, fast-drying and very shiny on it's own. I did use a topcoat though because I applied the polish before bed and didn't want to risk having sheet marks. Gosh I hate sheet marks, they drive me crazy!

On to the photos:

All pictures were taken in artificial lighting.

What's the weather like on your side of the planet and what polish are you wearing now?

Thanks for reading!