Water marbling, first attempt

Today I finally got the water marbling technique right and I was able to do all my nails using it.

Here's my masterpiece:

Sadly all of the nails weren't that excellent. If you must see, here are all of my nails:

As you can see I tried out some different styles and techniques. The polishes that I used were Maybelline's French White and China Glaze's Rich and famous. After I had finished with my marbling and cleaned my fingers (there was plenty of polish to wipe off!) I used one coat of Anytime's Sparkling fizz to add a little sparkle.

If you want to learn about water marbling just type it to the Youtube and you will find many informative videos.

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IsaDora Diamond Blue

Don't you just love the cool, shimmery and light blue tone?
Isn't it pretty? Just look at the beautiful, a bit silvery trace!

Ain't it a keeper?

No, it's one of the worst polishes ever! IsaDora, I hate you and your new extra width brushes. Just look at this brush:

-It's too width. You just can not polish precisely with it.
- It's too short. The short brush just makes it really hard to work with. When you are adding a layer, suddenly a massive
flow of polish comes down from the part where the bristles are attached to the short and width brush and it makes a real mess.

Other negative things:
-The bottle so small, only 6 ml of nail polish inside.
-It really costs a lot, almost 8 euros. For that price you almost get three OPI polishes from 8ty8beauty.com.

Something positive? I do love the color plus it doesn't take too long to dry.
But that's about it.

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China Glaze Cross Iron 360

At first I have to apologize that you haven't heard anything about me or my nails since the last thursday. I've been really tired after work (late shifts) and also I had a little trip. I went to see my parents and my friends to my hometown but now I'm back again.

Do you want to hear (well, actually see) the best part of my trip? She (the best part) is called "Little Princess" and she looks like this:

Yes, that's right. I've got my very own laptop and not just any laptop: It's small and pink! What a QT!

The other great thing from my trip is my lacquering:

I'm wearing China Glazes Cross Iron 360 (two coats, the first picture is taken indoors, the second one outdoors). The polish isn't mine, it's my mom's. Every time I go and see my mom I just have to try a polish from her collection and hope that I won't fall in love with that certain polish so I don'thave to order new polishes...

Cross Iron 360 is really nice copper/orange polish. It's not too dark or deep copper but not too bright orange either. It has a subtle shimmer which makes it nice and vibrant. I almost feel like buying it but I know I can't. Not at the moment. I've got too many bottles to empty before I'm even allowed to think about buying.

And oh, didn't I mention this yet: I've bought some new nail polishes last week... I'm a bit ashamed because I could only manage three weeks without buying polishes. That's not good at all! So now I just have to pull my self together! No more new nail polishes for me (not at least in the next month...)!

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OPI Skinny Dip'n in Lake Michig'n + OPI Princesses Rule!

Today I'm finally wearing different polishes at the same time.

I started with OPI Skinny Dip'n in Lake Michig'n...

...and added one coat of Princesses rule! on top of that.

After that I made white stripes with white decoration lacquer. (Photo is taken outdoors so you can see the base combo in natural light.)

And finally I added one coat of China Glazes Holographic topcoat.

The result somehow reminds me of this awning...:

...but I still like it for some reason. OK, the stripes may look a bit clumsy but for some reason I find them cute. In these pictures the base doesn't look so pink but actually it is a bit more pink. And Pricesses rule! really makes the base surprisingly pink when you compare the before and after pictures (even tough it is a sheer polish)!

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China Glaze Wagon Trail + MUS Linnea

Today's picture is a bit...eeh...interesting? I'm rearing two coats of China Glaze's Wagon Trail and one coat of Make Up Store's Linnea.

Linnea is a nice polish to be worn with other polishes (by itself it's just a see-through polish with large shimmering particles), but I'm not sure if I like it with Wagon Trail. The colors work great together but there's just something that I'm not sure of... Definitely it's not my style at all. And it does seem a bit messy, doesn't it?

I just can't describe this lacquering or decide weather I like it or not, so you can be the judge. Tell me your honest opinion about this lacquering!

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OPI Skinny Dip'n in Lake Michig'n

At first I have to make a confession: After just 20 days I broke my New years promise and bought a nail polish. But who could resist the temptation of an inexpensive and cute nail polish? Me either.

So here's the latest member of my OPI family, Skinny Dip'n in Lake Michg'n:

The reason why I wanted this so badly is that I don't have many nude polishes, especially nude browns. And this is just perfect! Light and warm nude brown with almost a creamy texture but not completely. When you look closely it actually has a tiny bit of shimmer. In this picture I'm wearing three coats (and Poshe) but I think two would be enough.

I don't feel any guilt for my forbidden purchase and I'm really happy with my nails. I don't even remember if I ever had worn a polish like this before!

Do you guys like to wear nude polishes? What are your favourite shades?

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China Glaze Harmony (Romantique)

I haven't tried all my Romantique Collection -polishes yet so today was Harmony's turn:

This is so adorable! Bright lilac which is deep enough but not too dark. This is more of a summer-lilac than winter-lilac, I think.

Imagine this with light pink polish (like my favorite combo Pricesses rule! and Lumene's Smiling Nights). I just have to try to polish my nails with light pale pink and then the tips with Harmony so the lacquering would gradually darken towards the tips of the nails. Sounds really nice! Only problem is how to execute it...ideas, links? I have some ideas about it but maybe you have better ones.

Here are more pictures of Harmony:

The first one is taken indoors and the second one outdoors. The last one is taken indoors and it has Konad patterns with China Glaze's OMG on pinkie and China Glaze's Devotion on other fingers. Romantique polishes really do work well with Konad!

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Princess nails

Sorry guys I haven't wrote anything this weekend, I've been busy acting princess. No, just kidding, I just loved my french manicure so much that I just couldn't take it off (plus I had my birthday party).

I've fell in love with OPI's Pricesses rule, so here's a picture of it again:

I prefer my right hand (lower picture) because those flowers look way better when they are placed in the middle of the nails.

Again I used Lumene's Smiling Nights (two coats) at first and then Pricesses Rule, but this time I added a layer of Anytime's Sparkling Fizz on top of that. Then I added Poshe and after my nails had dried I made Konad decorations and added rhinestones on ring finger (in both hands).

And look how little there's polish left on Lumene's bottle! OK, that's still enough for at least three or four manicures but this gives me hope that one day I might be allowed to buy new polishes.

These extra sparkles from Sparkling Fizz make this lacquering even cuter. Shame, that they don't show clearly enough on my photo.

I think I've made clearly to you that I love all girly things so you probably know already that I'm really, really pleased with this lacquering.

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Lumene Silver Moon + Color Club Sex Symbol

I love my french manicure so much that I just couldn't take it off yet. So I'm going to show you some older photos again.

Here's one of my favorite silvers, Lumene's Silvery Moon:

In this picture I'm wearing two coats but one would be enough because this polish covers really well. This is certainly my favourite silver without any glitters.

In this picture I'm wearing Lumene's Silver Moon but I've added one coat of Color Club's Sex Symbol on top of it. Sex Symbol covers quite well so it can also be used alone, you just need to use two to three coats of it.

Of course there are so many great silver polishes and here's only two of my many favorites.

What are your favorite silvers?

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My Favorite French

Today I finally got inspired and made a french manicure. I have posted similar manicures before but today I'm posting again because this is my absolute favorite.

In this manicure I'm using Maybelline's Colorama polish 51 French White (one coat) on tips and on top of that L'oreal's Pastel Topcoat (two coats). Then I added the stickers and then finally Poshe.

This is the easiest french manicure ever! It doesn't matter if the line on your white tip doesn't go perfectly straight, you are anyway going to cover it with a sticker.

As I said earlier, this is my favourite french. It's really girly and decorative enough but still chic. My friend calls these "wedding nails" because of the flowers and I can actually see myself wearing this manicure in that kind of situation.

What do you think about my floral french manicure? Cute or tacky?

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Lumene Smiling Nights + OPI Princesses Rule!

Look at my sweet, cotton candy nails!

In this girly manicure I'm wearing two coats of Lumene's Smiling Nights (light, pale pink) and two coats of OPI's Princesses Rule!

And by the way, thanks to 8ty8beauty.com, I've always thought it's "Princess rule!". Take a look, in their lists it really says "Princess Rule!" in singular, not in plural form as it should be: http://www.8ty8beauty.com/nail_polishes/opi.htm. Has anyone else ever thought it's just "Princess rule!" ?

I have to admit that I just love Princesses Rule! on top of some other polish. Worn alone it's abit too see-through and lame, but on top of another polish it's really, really cute and sweet. And it has really nice, soft and gentle shimmer! I've tried this only once before and didn't really like it back then but that was only because I was trying to wear it alone that time. This time I just want to stare at my nails all the time and sigh (plus shout to my boyfriend with a singing tone "Look at me, look at me, I'm a princess!")

And why am I wearing Lumene again? Because this was the only bottle which had only half of the polish left...

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China Glaze Rich and Famous

Sadly it wasn't a sunny day. Sadly it wasn't a bright day. Sadly it hardly felt a day at all.

So I took my camera to work where we have really bright spotlights, waited till no-one could see me and snap, snap, snap! And here's the result:

With bright lights and a little bit of editing you can almost see the right color of this bright, creamy pink polish. Here I'm wearing two coats of Rich and Famous, made some decorations with Konad and white Konad polish and added glitter using Anytime's Sparkling Fizz. How adorable and girly!

I just love this lacquering!

Rich and famous is a great polish: It covers quite well (I'd still recommend using two coats) and it's easy to apply. It's not too thick but nor too thin. Overall this will be one of my favourite bright pinks at the moment and I will definitely keep using it, especially with Anytime's Sparkling Fizz.

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Anytime Silver White

Today I polished my nails with China Glaze's Rich and Famous but sadly I slept till noon and because here in Finland the daylight is strictly limited during the winter time I could not took a picture of it with my camera. As the Finnish readers know, my camera won't shoot pink colors properly anywhere else but in daylight. At almost 3PM when I was ready with my nails there were still some daylight but because the sky was cloudy my camera twisted the color a bit. So no Rich and Famous today.

Instead of that I will show you an old picture of my so called "fairy dust" lacquering:

I used Anytime's Silver White, made pink fairies with Konad and topped it with Anytime's Sparkling fizz. Quite cute, right? Outlines of the fairy don't show up so clearly, but please click the picture to see it bigger.

Hopefully tomorrow morning would be at least a bit sunny so I could shoot the "Rich and Famous" to you. It is a really girlish polish and now I even have some time do decorate my lacquering.

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China Glaze In Awe of Amber

Today I wanted to wear something really light, but not pink, so I chose China Glaze's In Awe of Amber:

This is a sheer, shimmery polish with nice amber color. It's actually a bit more amberly than in this picture, here it looks a bit too golden (picture taken indoors).

This is a nice, warm polish but it still feels a bit lame. I used three coats but it's still a bit see-through.

Here's a photo taken outdoors:

I don't think I have anything else to say about this polish. This is just a "nice" polish and nothing more. It doesn't make me sigh, whistle or gasp. I thought I would like this color better when I ordered it but this was definitely (and sadly) a disappointment to me. Plus it didn't even last long (see the tips on the outdoor picture, it's taken on the second day).

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OPI My Private Jet

Here's one of my dark favourites, OPI My Private Jet:

I like dark polishes but I find black ones too hard and way too dark for me and my girlish style. I'm so pale that they make me a little bit too gothic-like... That's why I like this color: dark enough but not black. Indoors (upper picture) MPJ looks almost brownish grey (with holographic shimmer), but outdoors (lower picture) there's no brown, it actually looks like dark, bluish grey (with holographic shimmer). And as you can see the holographic shimmer is awesome! I used three coats in this picture. With two coats the color was great, but the shimmery effect wasn't so obvious so I added one more coat.

MPJ doesn't overtake the overwhelming OPI's Brand New Skates or Lumene's Beyond the Dark (Pimeän taa in Finnish) but it's definitely better than Dior's Black Sequins or OPI's Baby It's "Coal" Outside. I do like this, but I'm not in love with this.

How do you like My Private Jet?

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China Glaze Visit Me in Prism

Today I'm wearing China Glazes Visit me in Prism:

This is sooo cute! It's quite pale-colored but the smooth and even glitter makes it hologram-like, but I would still not call it hologram polish. If I have to try to name the color it would be light, grayish lilac.

I made a comparison between this and Make Up Store's Madeline, here's a picture:

I'm wearing Visit me in prism, but on thumb I'm wearing Madeline. The color is quite same, but Madeline has the actual hologram effect and as you can see, VMiP just seems like an ordinary glittery nail polish when they are next to each other.

I have to say that I just love this color (and Madeline also!). I have noticed that at the moment I'm really into polishes with light and boring undertone but with some little special thing or effect (OPI's Brand new skates and it's shimmer, Glamour Game and it's shimmer...). And in this polish those holo-glitters are The Thing.

And by they way I'm also going grazy about how they play on words with this polish names. OPI does that well and so does China Glaze. This "Visit me in prism" didn't open me at first, but now I get it ("Visit me in prism" is almost like "Visit me in prison" if you didn't get it eather).

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MUS Stig

I have to start by saying that I was supposed to wear the same white Lumene's polish that I was wearing yesterday. I polished my nails with it and after that I noticed that there won't be enough polish for the next manicure so I threw it away. Yippee! Only nine more to go! I was also supposed to decorate my nails with red Konad patterns... But my attempt failed miserably at the grocery store where I went before my white polish was completely dry. Big mistake! Let's just say I behaved nicely, but sadly everyone else didn't...

So that's why I have to present you just one of my old and a bit boring manicures, Make Up Store's Stig:

I do like the color. It's really soft and warm amber with shimmer. One coat is a bit see-through so I used two coats and Mavala's topcoat. I like Make Up Store's polishes quality: they usually cover well, dry fast and last long. What I don't like about them is the price. After I've got used to buying extra-cheap polishes from the Internet the idea of spending 14 euros on a polish doesn't inspire me. But I have to make a confession: this one isn't actually mine, I just tested it at work. What a great place to work!

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Lumene Hold My Hand & NYX Girls CN231

Something old, something new and something blue...

As my Finnish readers might know, I've made a new year's promise to use at least 10 nail polishes away from my polish collection before I'm allowed to buy new ones. And of course I want to get rid of those ten polishes as quickly as I can. So instead of using just my newest polishes (like I've been doing lately), I'm going to use my old ones also and combine them with the new ones.

So here's today's lacquer:

At first I just put Lumene's Quick & Chic nail polish called Hold My Hand (23) because I noticed that there weren't that much polish left in it's container (is that a right word?). I used three coats and topped it with Poshe. This is a nice, soft white color, not too bright. But this one just seemed a bit boring to be worn just by itself...

Then I decided that this one needs a little glitter:

I added one coat of NYX Girls' CN231 which is a great blue/turquoise glittery polish. Quite cute! This look isn't so sophisticated or classy but it's funny enough to be kept for a day. And the best thing is that my Lumene's nail polish has now enough polish for just approximately two lacquerings! Win-win situation for me!

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Nabi Burgundy

OK, because there were no protesting against the language change I'm going to write in English from now on. So if something remains unclear or I'm not expressing myself clearly enough do not hesitate to ask!

Today's nail polish is Nabi's Burgundy:

I have not tried Nabi's polishes before or even heard about this brand until I received my Nonpareilboutique's nail polish order right after Christmas. They do not sell these polishes there but they sent me one as a free gift when I ordered twenty-some polishes. Really nice surprise!

The polish itself is quite nice. Color is great: soft burgundy with plenty of metallic shimmer (but not glitter). It covers well with just one coat but I still used two coats to get more intensive color. It also dries quite fast, but I still used Poshe's Super-Fast Drying Topcoat on top of it.

The only downside is the brush. It's quite stiff, I would even say it's a bit hard. This makes the application a bit difficult because the polish does not glide to the nail so easily.

Are you guys familiar with this brand? Have you tried their polishes and liked/not liked them? Why? And if you have bought them please let me know where you bought them!

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Kysymys / A Question

Here's a question for all of you:

I have noticed that almost half of the people visiting my blog live outside Finland. That made me think if I should start to write in English? What do you guys think? Of course my English isn't perfect, but I think it's at least decent and visitors outside Finland would definitely understand more than they understand now.

Please, let me know what you think!

Kysymys teille kaikille:

Olen huomannut, että lähes puolet blogissani käyvistä ihmisistä asuu muualla kuin Suomessa. Alkoinkin siis miettimään, pitäisikö minun vaihtaa kirjoituskieleni englantiin? Mitä te suomalaiset lukijani ajattelette asiasta? Jatkaisitteko blogini lukemista edelleen? Vai pitäisittekö sen mielummin vain suomenkielisenä? Englanti on kuitenkin sen verran yleinen kieli, että uskoisin teidänkin edelleen voivan seurata blogiani. Vai onko suomalainen kynsiblogi nimenomaan se idea? Englantini ei tietenkään ole täydellistä, mutta ihan kohtalaista kuitenkin ja ulkomaalaiset kävijäni ymmärtäisivät ainakin jonkun verran enemmän kuin nykyään.

Kertokaahan minulle, mitä mieltä olette asiasta!

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Lumene Aamuinen hetki + NYX Girls CN242

Uutta ja vanhaa yhdessä:

Lumene Quick & Chic 46 Aamuinen hetki (Morning Sun) ja päällä NYX Girls hilehippulakka CN242.

Tässä Aamuinen hetki vielä kuvattuna kauniina, aurinkoisena aamuisena hetkenä:

Aamuinen hetki on hieman läpikuultava lakka, joten laitoin sitä kolme kerrosta, mutta kaksikin olisi riittänyt. Kaunis, pehmeä persikkainen lakka, mutta ehkä kuitenkin hieman liian tylsä ja mitäänsanomaton makuuni. NYX:in hilehippulakka piristää lakkausta kyllä kivasti ja olen tuohon CN242 lakkaan erittäin tyytyväinen. Hileet levittyivät yllättävän tasaisesti ja kauniisti eivätkä ole liian suuria, vaikka ovatkin tavallisia pikkuhileitä isompia. Onneksi minulta löytyy myös muita värejä.

Jännä kyllä huomata, miten erilaiselta Aamuinen hetki näyttää keinovalossa, suorassa auringonpaisteessa ja ihan vaan päivänvalossa. Keinovaloissa tämä on mielestäni tylsimmillään. Voikin siis olla, että tulen käyttämään lakkaa kunnolla vasta ensi kesänä.

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Taiteilua

Noniin, yritin hieman taiteilla:

Aluslakkana Anytime Still Together, koko kynnellä ensin cremevalkoinen Anytimen Go Colour Lumikuningatar, kärjissä vinosti China Glazen How about a tumble ja näiden välissä mustat viivat koristelulakalla ja pikakuivatus Poshella. Alemmassa kuvassa lisäksi vielä China Glazen Holographic topcoat.

Tässä vielä kuva käytetyistä lakoista:

Mustista viivoista ei tullut kovin identtisiä, sillä käyttämäni koristelulakan siveltimen laatu on suorastaan surkea (juu, vika on tuotteessa, ei käyttäjässä...). Onneksi ehdin kuitenkin ennen lakkoon ryhtymistä tilaamaan eilen esittelemäni sivellinsarjan ja aion jatkossa kyllä käyttä sitä koristeluissa.

Täytyy tunnustaa, että vaikka osaksi taiteilinkin siksi, että taiteiluja on kaipailtu, oli sille myös toinen syy: Halusin nimittäin päästä kokeilemaan uutta lakkaani (How about a tumble), mutta tajusin, että jos käytän vain uusia lakkojani, en saa koskaan yhtään vanhaa lakkaani kulumaan loppuun enkä näin ollen pääse koskaan ostelemaan uusia! Eli jotain vanhaakin oli siis otettava mukaan.

Uskon, että jatkossa tulette näkemään enemmänkin monivärisiä lakkauksia. ;)

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Viimeiset hankintani

Viimeiset hankintani.

Viime vuonna saatoin vielä kirjoittaa viimeisimmät hankintani, mutta uudenvuodenlupauksestani johtuen joudun nimittämään näitä viimeisiksi hankinnoikseni.

China Glaze GR8, Visit Me in Prism, How About a Tumble ja Tickle My Triangle.

China Glaze Rich & Famous, Exceptionally Gifted, Visions of Grandeur, Red Stallion ja In Awe of Amber.

Jälleen kerran erä aivan ihania ja houkuttelevia lakkoja saapui luokseni. Varsinkin hologrammilakkojen korkkausta odotan kovasti. Aion myös pian kokeilla erilaisia hologrammilakkoja yhdessä Konadin levyjen kanssa. Olen kuullut näiden toimivan hyvin yhteen, mutta en ole saanut aikaiseksi kokeilla. Onko kellään kokemuksia?

Kuvattuani lakat huomasin, että kuvista jäi vielä uupumaan kaksi lakkaa. En vielä kuitenkaan paljasta, mitkä nämä kaksi ovat, mutta lupaan kyllä esitellä nämäkin tulokkaat teille pian.

Lakkojen lisäksi ehdin ennen vuoden vaihtumista hankkia hieman muutakin:

Sivellinsetti kynsien koristeluun.

Jos en kerran saa uusia lakkoja hankkia, niin näiden avulla saan otettua hyvin ilon irti vanhoista.

Lakkausmallikiekkoja (ja sivellin kaupanpäälle).

Minulta loppuivat kiekot kesken, kun yritin tehdä mallit kaikista lakoistani. Oli siis hankittava uusia. Laadultaan nämä uudet ovat hieman hauraampia vanhoihin, läpinäkyviin ja tukevampiin verrattuna, mutta näitä on mahdollista käyttää uudelleen. Entiset kiekkoni olivat kertakäyttökamaa, sillä lakanpoistoaine syövytti ne todella pahan näköisiksi.

Lisäksi näihin kiekkoihin tarttuu tussi hyvin. Pääsin jo aloittelemaan näiden kokoamista kun halusin päästä testailemaan viimeisimpiä hankintojani (ja vanhempia hologrammilakkojani).

Lupaan esitellä kiekot teille kunnolla, kunhan vain saan ne valmiiksi.

Tällaiset hankinnat. Toivon pärjääväni näillä hetken.

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