Blogger Caroussel: Sprink Awakening

Today is a very special day, because it is the start of a (hopefully) super fruitful cooperation of Austrian Beauty Bloggers! Most of us hang out all the time anyway, and eat cupcakes and ice cream – because that’s what beauty bloggers do, right?! (I’d be eating ice cream anyways, blogging or not!)

So check it out, the AUSTRIAN BEAUTY BLOGGER CAROUSSEL, where each of us post on someone else’s blog, just like a fun merry-go-round. At the end of Chilexion’s post you’ll see a list all involved bloggers! Make sure to check out all the blogs! For the first round we chose “Sprink Awakening” as a topic for our blog posts. I’m super excited to see what the other girls came up with!!

So this post is a manual for a perfect day, is from Chilexion over at Beauty Dots and Fashion Stripes. If you haven’t seen her blog yet, you missed out! You should check her out this instant

Dear Readers and Fans of Good Lack, Nail,

First of all a great Hello to you all! My Name is Chilexion and I am very happy
to present you my spring story. This time it is going to be on English, because
I wanted to fit in perfectly into this fabulous blog. I have been thinking and
thinking what to write you about, that you haven’t already saw or heard in the
fashion/lifestyle/wellness magazines or in TV and Radio shows and I have
come to the conclusion that I will fail if I try to follow that path…

So I’ll have to disappoint you right here. There will be no colour-blocking
trends, no super-duper beauty products and no cool accessoires you have
to rush into a store and buy them immediately away. No!!! I am giving you
just a few joyful rituals that work every time and make me feel fresh, happy
and smiling. The best tip I can give you for the Spring-Awakening is to do
whatever you feel like doing, no matter how silly or crazy your rituals are. I
have gathered mine spring by spring and here they are…

Step 1:
Startin’ my day with my “Happy Coffee” while walking barefoot through my
home. Finally it is not so freezing cold and I can do sooooooo…
Step 2: If you ever get over yourself and actually want to put on socks/
stockings etc. than they should feel like you are one of the brightest stars

Step 3: Before you get outta your home, please be gentle to your flowers and
say them goodbye. You have been so long waiting (it seems like there were
three winters inbetween) to actually admire them in your home… Bye Bye
Mimosa…

Step 4: Mind your steps, cause flowers are beautiful and helpless if you step
on them and try to wear shoes that make kids smiling as often as you can…
Step 5: Listen to your favourite music, always enjoy the sun and do not forget
to think about very veeeeeery important questions like: What is Love? or if
you visit the Vienna Zoo (and you should do so, especially during springtime!)
Do Penguins drill for Oil???

Step 6: Eat Ice Cream for Lunch! (this is actually an Ice cream Salon far
away from me, but whenever I feel down, I go there and eat my absolutely
Favourite: Copa Dolomiti Kleine Portion @ Perugini Floridsdorf).

Step 7: If you are still hungry (and I always am!) I suggest you go to SOYA
and order a Spicy Beef Roll (awwwwwwww!!!yumm yumm!) and share it with someone, because sharing is caring…
Note: It’s kinda funny, but I like this dish only during spring/summer time

Step 8: Buy some funny products that you’ll use as often as you can, because
they are just hilarious and awake your inner child. My tip for the Easter
Holidays – Egg Former )))))))

Step 9: Go to a museum and explore some of the most amazing ideas
through the centuries! It is the one of the most fantastic places to go, because
real values like memories and memoirs from all over the world  come
2gether…

Step 10: Stop and have a break! Write down how you feel. The more beautiful
your calendar is, the more you will want to write down what you experienced.
I absolutely adore my Vintage Vogue teNeues Cal and I write in it whenever I
can.

Step 11: If you ever think your boyfriend is not a superman, you can always
make him actually be one. )))) I think thats the coolest things of all! And if
you don’t have a boyfriend, relax! Every man can become a superman with
this mask.

Step 12: If you sometimes feel like escaping the time you live in, my tip -
roarrring twenties. There is nothing like a Big Speakeasy Prohibition Party
on warm spring nights. Dress up, put some cool clothes on, be prepare to
charleston and take a champagne glass into the subway (that’s what I do).
But don’t do it alone. Do it with people you love and care most about. And if
you don’t like the 20ies, take the 80ies ))

So… I hope you had pleasure while reading this aaand above all I hope you
are inspired to go out and do whatever your heart desires the most. That’s my
one and only beauty secret if have for you…
So Good LACK to you all in finding your beauty specials…
xx
CHI

And this is the list of our Merry-Go-Round!

 Beauty Dots & Fashion Stripes –> Good Lack, Nail! –>  Coral and Mauve –> Candy for the Betches –> Wien Mitte –> Lipglosscinderella –> Nagellackprinzessin –> The Muses–> Frösche lauern Überall –> Pixi mit Milch –> Goldmarie –> Anonymous Beautyholic –> The Lipstick –> Amused Polish–> Chamy rockt es –> bellezzalibri –> Provinzkindchen –> Berrys and Passion –> Joy is the best Makeup –> Fedoras Plauderkästchen –> Miss Leichenblässe

My heart beats for lime

…and this lime green is an exceptional beauty. It isn’t only super sqishy looking and awesomely vibrant, it also has some sparse green glitter!

Of course I can only be talking about BB Couture Kamikaze. Generally, BB Couture polishes have – in my eyes – that special twist that makes their colours so unique. I wish ManGlaze would make a matte version of this!

I used three thin coats and one coat of SV. BB Couture polishes dry slowly on me, but I haven’t heard any like complaints yet.

above: daylight, below: artificial light, no flash.Below: flash

So, what do you think? It’s a really hot lime green, right??!

Downtown Shuffle

Oh no! American Apparel Downtown LA let me down. After only ~20 hours of wearing this beautiful medium red creme, it chipped. It chippedbadlyto be precise. And I wasn’t even doing anything special, e.g., chopping down trees, or scrubbing floors with my bare hands or anything like it.

I had to  make a picture to show you how bad it was, although it is a sad picture; please disregard my drawing skills. I mainly crop pictures, so I’m not too skilled in computer drawings!

So, only for you, I repaired this manicure – also, because I really enjoyed this red; it’s creamy, glossy, and makes me happy.

Above: Daylight. Below: Artificial light, no flashBelow: Flash

I recently did a swap with Jacqui from The Scholarly Nail, and she sent me Spoiled Shuffle the Deck – it was a surprise, and I like it a lot! Shuffle the Deck is a glitter topcoat, which has silver, black and red round glitters in a clear base. It looks very Alice in Wonderland over red!

Above: Daylight. Below: Artificial light, no flashBelow: Flash

What do you think about glack glitter? Do you find it weird or pretty?

Glossybox in March

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Glossybox is coming to the U.S. as well soon – let’s see what was hidden in our Glossybox this month, so you can be excited for your own soon!After the outrage last month that the prices had to be adapted, this Glossybox seems to try to smooth ruffled feelings. There is  nail file, an eyeshadow, a thermal water spray, a sunlotion, a shower gel, a hair oil and a bath salt; so all in all 7 products to try, which means there are more products than in the previous Glossyboxes (want to see them? here and here).

Let’s get down to business!

The nail file. Well, one can’t have enough nail files, if you ask me. It is designed to make your nails all smooth and shiny, and just now on Twitter I was informed, that it makes your nails so smooth, your nail polish will glide right off. I’ll have to see that for myself!

ArtDeco Eyeshadow in 29 Pearly Light Beige. I thought that was going to be an eyeshadow quad but obviously it isn’t. It is an incentive to buy a palette, so you can click this lonesome little eyeshadow in your new palette. Luckily for me, everyone has magnetized refills these days, so this one could mingle with my other eyeshadows! ArtDeco eyeshadow refills hold 0,8gramm and costs 5,3€ in their original size.

tiroler nussöl sunlotion and Avène Eau Thermal Spray for sensitive skin – both super handy. I love the thermal spray – it’s great for summer when it gets really hot and all you want to do is take a dive. Instead, you can just take out your spray, put some water in your face and feel refreshed. Make sure not to do it in public, because I can tell you from experience that people will think you’re crazy. About the sunlotion: it smells good, but not like coconut (which I hate), but just like regular sunlotion. I don’tknow what else to tell you as it is sunlotion, but if you have doubts about which one to buy, buy this one, as it is an Austrian product.

Also to be found in this Glossybox is a bath salt from Saint Charles Cosmetics, called Lily of the Valley. I can’t pinpoint the smell of it, but it does smell very clean. It’s not exactly my kind of smell, but hey, that’s supposed to happen when you get 7 random products to try. The full size version of this is rather pricey, 18,8€ for half a kilo. I didn’t have time to take a bath yet, so I can’t tell you much more about it. And then there is the Schwarzkopf Professional BC Oil Miracle, which is a hair oil to be used after washing your hair. I guess it’s one of those products that is supposed to make your hair healthy and shiny without weighing it down. I have tried multiple hair oils, from regular coconut oil from India (brrr coconut; but you can cook with it too!) to Maroccan Hair Oil. I believe in Oil Cures for the hair (as in, leaving it in overnight), but so far I haven’t given other hair oil a chance. Should I?

My absolute favourite product of this Glossybox is, however, the KORRES Basil Lemon Showergel. Give me any product that smells like Basil, Lemon, Lime, Mint – I’m yours. My favourite showergel ever is from Original Source and smells like Lime. Obviously I can’t get it here. While the Korres shower gel doesn’t smell as intensive as the Original Source one, it might be a good substitute. I showered once so far using this, and Iam debating investing in it. It is 9,8€ for 250ml in it’s original size.

All in all, I was positively surprised in the Glossybox – again. I assume it is difficult to keep being innovative and bringing new products to the customers. On the other hand, I have the feeling that the boxes are directed at an older clientele, because of the products. All of them are very safe choices; bath salt, shower gel, hair oil…. the eyeshadow is also a very safe colour, so you basically can’t go wrong from there.
For the future I would wish for some more daring boxes; maybe some products from more innovative companies, like Illamasqua (I’d scream with joy if I had an Illamasqua product in my box, I can promise you that), Kryolean, tarte, Smashbox, GOSH, …. well, you name it. I think that by focusing on the “younger” customers, Glossybox would be able to build up a longer lasting regular clientele, even though the prices (14€ excluding sending/month) have been jacked up quite a bit.

What do you think about the contents of the March Glossybox? Will you order one?

*I received this product for free from the company*

s-he summer colours

I recently received three of the new spring colours from the DM in-house brand s-he to try and review.

I didn’t get around swatching all three, so I have two of them for you today! May I present the s-he polishes in the beautiful sounding names of 183 and 279. *dripping sarcasm alert*

Let’s start with the bottle. s-he changed their whole style of packaging last year, and they came up with a Lego-like system. The eyeshadows look like one building brick, the nail polishes look like three building bricks, etc. The nail polish cap however is white plastic, and once taken off is impossible to screw on again in such a way that it isn’t in some kind of distorted angle to the bottle. meh. I like my stuff in order. Additionally, the white plastic cap adds an incredibly cheap look to the bottle design, which I actually would find nice otherwise.
I haven’t had very good experiences with the formula of those polishes in the past, so I was very interested in trying the new colours; secretly I was hoping for some formula improvement!

183 is a very vivid orange toned red. It is a wonderful summer colour! For these swatches I used 3 coats. I have a couple of complaints; first, the bristles of the brush are horrible. The brush itself seems to have no particular shape, which makes the application annoyingly difficult. Secondly, the first coat dries super quick, but the second coat seems to soften the first (dry) coat again, so I had quite some dragging issues. Thirdly, the colour dries with a satin finish, and it really doesn’t look good, but rather horribly flat and boring. I didn’t add any topcoat, so you’d be able to see it in the pictures. However, the s-he website advertises the summer colours as “quick-dry” nail polishes, so I assume to get them to dry quicker, they did add some matte pigment and that’s how they came to this finish. Not sure if it was a mistake or not.
I hope that it is mainly my skin chemistry that makes it so utterly impossible for me to like the s-he polishes, but I have heard other people complain as well.If however, you are able to use them properly, I think they are rather on the lower end of the spectrum regarding prices (2,45€ for a bottle; I don’t know how much is in there), hence more affordable than other brands.

Nevertheless; s-he 183, inside my lightbox. The colour of the polish is accurate, the colour of my fingers isn’t really – I still have to figure out how I can change my camera settings so both will be colour accurate!

And the second polish I was sent: s-he 279,  a periwinkle blue – Think China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le, but a bit lighter, and less cool (as in, the tone of the polish. It is a warmer shade!). And of course, a hell of a lot more flat looking.

For fun, I decided to add this artsy picture I made while playing with the camera settings and the background of my lightbox:

All in all, my verdict is this: the colours are nice, but far from being unique. I like them, and would advice someone who doesn’t care much about nail polish to buy some of the s-he summer colours. If, however, you’re easily annoyed by bad application and you already own high-end polishes (and that does include China Glaze, OPI, etc) and you’re spoiled by good application, I’d advise you to stay off them. On the other hand, if you’re insecure about a colour, if it will fit you, if you will wear it, etc, then you might want to invest in a cheaper nail polish like one of the above first. And lastly, if you’re totally into the satin finishes and you haven’t  felt the need to buy a matte topcoat, those might also be an option for you.

These products were sent to me free of charge.

My love for duochromes is Chemistry

You know, everyone was so excited about the Ozotics duochromes, that they totally forgot about the poor little Chemistry polishes. Apparently – and I can’t say for sure if this is hear-say or true – they both are produced by the same manifacturer. If this is the case, let me just put it out there: please don’t change the Chemistry bottles. I love the size and shape!

This paticular beauty with the beautifully sounding name of Chemistry 521 is one of four Chemistry polishes I own. I still haven’t decided which one I like best… This is, btw, 2 coats of 521 over one coat of OPI Roadhouse Blues. Roadhouse Blues has become my go-to dark blue for all layering polishes that look better over blue than over black. Just wanted to share. Oh, and, this changes from dark red over purple to blue. But you can see that – unless you ruined your monitor settings!

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashBelow: flash

Are you an Ozotic fanatic or are you open to other duochromes? Yeah, I know, this sounds more dirty than I intended it to be.

Fresh Wave

You haven’t heard of Joe Fresh yet? Well, then you must be an Austrian Reader of mine! Honestly, I had no idea what Joe Fresh was until the nail polishes were mentioned and I received some in a swap with R. Before that, I associated “Joe Fresh” with Orange juice. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know either.

Well, enough about my weird associations – this is Joe Fresh Wave Vague. I think it might me a reference to Chanel Nouvelle Vague? Correct me if I’m wrong.

EDIT: This polish is called either “wave” or “vague”. Since Joe Fresh is a Canadian brand, I should’ve realized. Please excuse my ignorance….

I used two coats for this spot-on perfect baby blue. It is exactly the kind of baby blue my collection was still lacking, and it saved me shelling out 25€ for one of the Chanel Jeans polishes. Lucky me!

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashBelow: flash

It isn’t a perfect creme polish, as there is this teensy weensy bot of shimmer in there, but for categorizations sake we can call it a creme. Agreed?

Of course, I had to layer something over it after a day or two. You all know me by now. If it isn’t pink, it can’t be left alone. I chose to layer Color Club Platinum Record over it – one of the many silver glitters that have been released recently. I quite like the combination!

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashBelow: flash

So, what do you think? Hot or not?

essence Season of the Extremes LE – Single nail polishes

You have seen the essence dual sticks from the Season of the Extremes LE, and now you’re wondering, there is more? Yes, there is. The Season of the Extremes also features 8 single nail polishes – 4 “nude” shades, and 4 “bright” ones.

Let’s start with the nude shades. I used two coats of each colour, and some of them leveled out perfectly, some didn’t. I must say that I really liked the essence dual stick in “Just the nude of us”, and I was not expecting more fun colours. You know how picky I am!

First up: The nude the better – a yellow toned beige, a very work appropriate colour. I think it can best be described as clay or eggshell colour. This particular polish was on the more difficult side when it comes to application.Next up: Did someone say nude?. This is a seafoam green colour, but very subtle. Easygoing, perfect for spring. Then we have Nude or what? which is a dusty purple/grey shade. It isn’t really a nude colour anymore I think, but definitely a soft shade. Application was ok, but could be better.The last nude shade of this quartett is Nude rules! which is a taupe/brownish shade. Not my favourite, but it applied easily and is another work safe colour choice.

Well, on we go to the brighter shades of this collection! First up, I must really say that I like what essence did there. They produced four jelly polishes that dry with a satin finish. I don’t know if that was an accident, but if so, we’re lucky! Because of the finish, they are all incredibly unique polishes.

Pimp my bright (the name actually made me giggle – that’s an emotion essence polishes seldom trigger in me) is a jelly sunflower yellow. The first pic was taken in my lightbox, the second one is with flash. I used three coats for full coverage.

The bright side is a jelly orange. It is very bright in sunlight! The first pic was taken in my lightbox, the second one is with flash. I used three coats for full coverage.

Obviously, my favourite is the pink, Bright alert. It doesn’t look like any of the pink/red shades from the OPI jelly polishes, so I had to have this. The first pic was taken in my lightbox, the second one is with flash. I used three coats for full coverage.

Last but definitely not least, Little Miss Bright. This one is I think the most unique of the bunch (as if there was such a thing as most unique…), as it is a medium purple jelly. I think my friend M. will like this one a lot! I haven’t tried yet, but I’m pretty sure that this will make one of the most awesome jelly sandwiches in polish history.The first pic was taken in my lightbox, the second one is with flash. I used three coats for full coverage.

What do you think about the nudes and the brights? Have you bought any? Or are you planning to get some of them? If you like jelly sandwiches, I’d advise you to get all the brights, as they are seriously awesome.

 

PS: I won’t say anything anymore about the essence names. Or at least I’ll try… somehow, those names and I, we aren’t friends!

 

 

Catrice Million Styles LE

So, finally I got around posting the swatches of the Catrice Million Styles Topcoats! There was apparently a difficulty in delivery to Austria, so only two stores ever received them (so far), and I was lucky enough to be at the right store at the right time – my swap partner’s wishes are my command….

Anyhow. Before I start getting chatty and talking waaaaay too much, let’s see some polish! I used 1 coat of the Catrice polish over black. They are all too sheer to be used alone (topcoats…), that’s why. I used the wet’n'wild Black Creme as a base, which I recently received in a swap, and which is awesome for stamping too! All the pics are made in my lightbox – I’m getting around the lightsettings and what have you, so I hope you like the pics. If you have any complaints/suggestions/compliments you’d like me to know about, be sure to leave me a comment!

Catrice No Smoke Without Fire. Obviously, I swatched this one over white. It’s a “smoky” topcoat, just like the one from the essence LE Re-mix your Style. It’s somehow streaky, but glossy, and it reminds me of Zombie nails, as in, something you’d wear for Halloween. I swatched it over yellow and pink as well, but it does absolutely nothing for me. I think it’s weird.

 Catrice Return of the Space Cowboys. On the left: 3 coats by itself, middle: over white, right: over black. I don’t know what to think about this. It’s too dark to be a layering polish only, but yet to sheer to be worn on its own. The blue sparkle is also very apparant in this polish, so I don’t really understand why it has to be in such a sheer but dark base… Well, I guess not everything has to be made exactly for me… *sigh* (in case someone was wondering: that was sarcasticly meant!)

Well. Also not super-new or exciting, but still pretty: Catrice Shake it Flake it. I like it. Still. I don’t wear flakies much, but I still love to look at them. This one is the red-to-green version of flakies, so if you already have one of the many other red-to-green flakie polishes, this is not a must have. It is less dense than say, essie Shine of the Times, but very very similar to essence Waking up in Vegas.

Catrice Miss Money Penny. A copperish topcoat in the bottle, but red/green/gold on the nail. Pretty, and to be honest I haven’t seen anything like it before. Have you?

Catrice Million Dollar Baby is a glitter topcoat with smaller golden and larger silver glitters. The combination is cute; it looks less rough than essie Set in Stone, but not as christmas-y as SOPI Only Gold for Me.

Catrice ¿Holo Qué Tal?! is not a holographic topcoat. Surprise. It is a pink/purple shimmer topcoat which reminds me of the CND topcoats a lot. Very nice I think, and very wearable!

Catrice Have an Ice Day is a holographic glitter topcoat. It has been done before, I know I have a bottle of something very similar if not the same somewhere here… Well, let me say it, it is pretty. I love topcoats like this, because you can use them for almost everything. Have you tried Space Nails with a holographic glitter topcoat yet? Works wonders!

And last in this post my absolute favourite of the whole bunch. Catrice Godfather of Pearl is a duochrome blue/aqua topciat with a lot of golden specs in it. I think this is the shit.Love it – that’s why you get two pics.

So, overload of topcoats? Which one(s) did you get/like the best?

Pink Wednesday: NYX Rose Veil

Oh? What is this? Yup, this is a NYX bottle, and a deborah lippmann bottle right next to it.

Shall we turn a blind eye on this and call it a bold design? Well, it’s up to you. I like the bottle design of the deborah lippmann bottles, and will not complain about the NYX ones, but I’d understand if deborah lippmann wouldn’t be too happy about it; after all, they are very similar.

Luckily for you, I’m no industrial design specialist, so I’ll only talk about what’s inside those bottles. In this very special case we can find nail polish inside! Who knew!

This is NYX Rose Veil. Very glossy, very coral-y, very bright. Two coats suffice for full coverage, and the subtle shimmer you can see in the bottle transfers just as subtly on to the nail.

Above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flash.Below: flash

Doesn’t this look like candy on my nails?? I love it. What do you think?