George, the fortune cookie, the kimono and some snow

Today I have some random Catrice and essence polishes to show you.

George Blueney is a Catrice polish that came out when they renewed their stock this summer. It’s a very deep blue that is tending towards black. Intense shimmer and easy application make for one good new addition to the Catrice line. 2 coats.

essence Fortune Cookie is from the Cherry Blossom Girl LE. It’s an egg yolk yellow without any noticeable shimmer or the like. I used two coats, the application was ok, but the color didn’t really stand out to me once I had it on my nails. Meh.

essence My Little Kimono is also from the Cherry Blossom Girl LE. It’s a grey taupe color, very weird mixture of brown and grey and purple. It has a bit of silver shimmer in it, which isn’t visible per se, but adds depth to the polish itself. I used two coats, and I like the color, but not specifically much. 2 coats.

Catrice No Snow Petrol is a turquoise, almost teal polish with intense blue shimmer. It looks a bit better in the bottle than on the nail I think, but it is still gorgeous. 2 coats.

Did you get any of these polishes?

How I wore it: Zoya Reagan

Today I have a fun dress-polish-scarf-necklace combination for you! I am big on scarfs – any color, size, etc. But polish first!

I decided to wear Zoya Reagan, a creme polish in pink. I wasn’t blown away by the uniqueness of the polish, as it isn’t something I haven’t seen before. I love all those pinks, so I have many, and Reagan didn’t seem super unique. Nevertheless, I was happy by the quality (2 coats, quick drytime), and the easy application.

I wore it with a dress I received from Zalando. I have ordered from www.zalando.at before, and I was always content with their service. The packages arrive quickly and the prices seem just fine to me. I mainly ordered shoes there before, but as I received a voucher for whatever I may like, I decided to try out the brand Mint&Berry, which is available on zalando.I look a bit dumb, but that picture shows the dress properly. It’s grey mixed with a bit of beige, so it has a very neutral color. I ordered size M, and that fits just fine. It’s not even that short – at 1,74m usually every dress is too short for me these days. I hate always having to pull on my skirt, because I have the feeling I’m showing my behind to the whole world. (btw: I’m so happy opaque tights are still a trend. What would I do without them!) The necklace is from H&M, I think it was the Lanvin Guest Designer thingy? I don’t wear it often, as it is very heavy, but it fits my ring and earrings, and I wore it for drinks with my friends. Shoes are from Audley (love the weird heel!), and yes, I’m missing a button on my sleeve. I didn’t realize that it was missing when I unpacked the dress, and now it is too late to send it back. Luckily I’m handy with a needle, and I’ll just add a new button!This is how I wore the dress during the day. I pared it with a Scarf from Marimekko (also from a H&M cooperation) and a black cardigan from Uniqlo.

Obviously, I wore less high shoes during the day. I can’t wear heels all day long, I don’t know how people manage that. My feet want flats! And, to end this post with a laugh, you’ll get a picture of me when I didn’t feel like posing anymore. (A nail polish fanatics interpretation of the scream.)

Everything purchased by me but the dress, which was sent to me for free from zalando.at. Thank you!

How I wore it: Rituals Sapphire Stone with dots

Beware of a long How I wore it post!

One fine day in July in Paris, I decided to wear Rituals Sapphire Stone. Rituals is a Dutch company, which produces luxury products which can be used in everyday routine. Their philosophy is to make everyday routines more meaningful, which they try to bring to you by producing high quality products, which are also not tested on animals. 

It sounds as if I was paid to write this, but honestly, I found their elaborate company statement on their website, and thought I’d let you know. Ever since I went into a Rituals store in Amsterdam some time back, I have been addicted to their shower gels and body lotions. And then recently I discovered that they also make nail polish, and I had to get Sapphire Stone. 
Sapphire Stone is a powder blue color, it has the slightest hint of shimmer in it. It’s a very calming color, and I have to say that I didn’t believe that the “ruby infusion” would make it last any longer than regular nail polish, but it did. It lasted well over three days without chipping, but it couldn’t withstand my need to change my nail polish color.

I felt like a bit funkier nails, so I decided to wildly add dots. For the dots I used Sephora Full Moon Party (purple), depend 251 (turquoise) and depend 221 (light blue).

The first three pictures were taken in the Tuileries, which is the garden in front of the Louvre. The other pictures were taken by the Canal de l’Ourcq, which is part of the Paris Plage in summer. Paris Plage is basically an event that brings you a beach to the city, at two locations, for well over a month. There is a beach along the Seine river, and then there’s one a bit further outside the center, at La Vilette. The latter is the one I went to.

I went there to picnic with friends, and we also had cupcakes from our favorite cupcake shop. I already posted other cupcakes here. We also had macaroons, obviously. One has to be cliché at least a bit every once in a while.

I didn’t like my dot design at first, but then I somehow grew to like it a lot. It’s a simple half moon design, one that I can easily do without being able to freehand half moons. Smart, huh?  

Before I forget, I was wearing pants from WE, t-shirt from GAP, shoes from Ruby Shoes, which is a small store in Paris, and a scarf from H&M. And a smile from my mum.

Mismatch

 

Somehow, sometimes, in my head I imagine combinations of nail polish and they look pretty, but in reality they simply don’t. Same happened here….

I started off with three coats of depend 058, which is a sheer purple/lavender polish interspersed with holographic glitters. It also shifts color from purple to a sage green, and I should have layered it over a darker color to make the color shift pop a bit more.

I like it generally, but I really should’ve layered it rather than wearing it on it’s own. Also, I took these pictures in the beginning of summer, that explains my super short nails! I have since managed to not break one, so let’s cross our fingers that I won’t just because I typed this today. You know, Murphy’s Law…

I decided to layer KIKO 607 over it. I’m still not completely over crackles, and I love playing with them. My favourite part is to watch the polish break.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t my best idea. I don’t like the combination, but I like the polishes single. The KIKO crackles, btw, are among the best crackles I’ve ever tried.

What was your latest mismatch when it comes to nail polish?

How I wore it: Revlon Mint Gelato with glitter

Are you already totally in fall mood or are you enjoying the last sunny days before the leaves start turning red and yellow?

I definitely was in a summer mood a couple of days ago, so I decided to take out Revlon Mint Gelato and give it a spin.

Mint Gelato is a light teal jelly polish. I used two rather thick coats, but you can see that it looks patchy and it doesn’t fully cover. In turn, it looks super squishy. Unfortunately, this polish is scented, and it has a super artificial mint chocolate smell. I could have dealt with the application, but the smell was unbearable for me.

 

I decided to paint Sally Hansen Showgirl chic over the tips of my manicure. Showgirl chic is a very dense silver and blue glitter polish, that can be worn alone or over a base color.

Then I painted one coat of Milani Teal over the whole nail. Teal is a glitterpolish that has blue, teal and green glitters in a clear base. I used one coat over the Revlon and Sally Hansen manicure, and I liked this combination  a lot. It’s almost a gradient look, and it was easy to do and quick!

 

I paired this look with a teal jersey necklace from Cora Kemperman and matching earrings from H&M. I also wore jeans in boyfriend cut (Pepe Jeans) and a regular white t-shirt from Etam.

Essence Wild Craft LE

Another recent LE from essence was the one called Wild Craft. I managed to snatch up all four colors, so I can show them to you today.

All the colors are very warm and earthly colors, I think they’re good fall colors, but they would have worked for spring too I think. I used two coats for each of the polishes.

Tree Hugging is a medium to light brown creme, interspersed with a lot of tiny silver glitterflakes. The glitter is visible on the nail as a somewhat dreamy shimmer, making an otherwise flat polish look deep and soft.

Mystic Lilac is he only real fall color in this collection. It’s a dusky mix of purple and brown creme polish. I can picture a lot of people liking and wearing this but I have other preferences when it comes to autumn colors.

Out of the forest is a dull army green creme. It’s pretty much been there, done that, but if you hesitated until now and you want a camouflage green, the price is right on this one. It dries darker than it looks in the bottle, so don’t be surprised.

Rosewood Hood is a pink-toned beige nude polish. I liked the application (smooth, flawless), but I didn’t like the color on me. Personally, I prefer The Nude Scene.

After the Catrice Upper Wildside Collection, this essence collection made me yawn at best. What do you think?

Catrice Upper Wild Side LE

Let’s go directly in medias res, shall we? The Catrice Upper Wild Side LE was full of surprises for me.

First I thought, oh no, not another brown, but then this particular brown, Urban Outrider, has such a beautiful golden shimmer within, that I couldn’t help myself but wear it proudly for a day (baby steps!). 2 easy coats.

Hunting Heritage wasn’t that much of a surprise, it’s a medium blue creme. Easy application though and very shiny and smooth even without topcoat. 2 coats.

Wild Wild West-side was a big surprise. It’s a super vibrant orange suede! I don’t like many oranges (…) but this one is so vibrant and happy, I fell in love with it immediately! 2 coats, super quick drying time and no topcoat.

Be Aztec! was another surprise. It’s a medium (olive) green but there is an insane amount of gold shimmer in it. I absolutely adore greens with golden shimmer, so there was nothing not to like. The application also was flawless, so if you only even remotely like green, you should head out to get this!

 

Was there anything you liked?

Your weekly dose of Holo: PUPA Holographic Pink

Have you been missing your weekly dose of holos? Well, I prepared some posts for you to make up for missing the last couple of Saturdays.

Today I want to show you PUPA 037, also known as Holographic Pink.
It is a black matte polish.

No, obviously not – as the name so subtly suggests, PUPA 037 is a holographic pink polish. The application was ok, I was a bit impatient when I tried it first and had some dragging issues, but the second time around I waited for 3-4 minutes between coats.

What I’m holding in my hand is the most delicious candy ever. I love caramel, and Carambar is just a stick of super sweet super sticky caramel which will frantically attach itself to the eater’s teeth and will only go off once the eater of said candy bar looses the tooth in question.

I used to buy Carambar on the way back from school whenever my pocket money was due. Sadly, I haven’t seen it in Vienna anymore, since a couple of years. Can you imagine how excited I was to find them in Paris? The more grown up version is to dip them in coffee. Also a very exciting way to enjoy those sugar bombs!

As you can see in the first three pictures, the holographic effect of PUPA 037 is very subtle in regular light, but the rainbow of the holographic effect only shows in direct sunlight.

The effect isn’t super strong, but that doesn’t cloud my feelings towards it – actually, in pink holographic polishes, I prefer this subtle effect to a super strong one.

Tell me, what candy did you just adore when you were a kid?

Catrice Cucuba LE

Well, after I was gone for two month, you can imagine how happy I was to still find some of the LEs of this summer. I even managed to find four polishes of the Cucuba LE from Catrice, which I will show you today.

Havana Drum is a caramel creme polish. I imagined this to be prettier, but I was disappointed. I used three coats for full coverage.

Take it Mint is a very vibrant mint creme. It looks more green or more blue depending on the light – in sunlight it is a flamboyant turquise, in indirect light it is a bit more minty. 2 coats, easy and smooth application.

Sunny Side is a polish thats just inbetween orange and yellow – very much like egg yolk from supper happy hens. It has a bit of shimmer, but that doesn’t translate on the nail really, instead it adds depth to an otherwise flat polish. I used three thin coats, the polish was on the thicker side.

Salsa Cubana is a very vibrant coral jelly. I used three coats for it to be opaque, and I like it a lot – it’s a very happy color.

Did you get anything from the Cucuba LE?

More Magnetics? IsaDora has them!

Today I want to show you the magnetic nail polishes IsaDora released lately. I received three colors to review, and I want to be upfront with you: I think apart from the Layla magnetics, those were the best magnetic polishes I tried yet.
The IsaDora magnetic polishes have a paper wrapping around the brush handle with a magnet attached, so you can easily remove this husk and you don’t have to turn the bottle upside down or anything like it. The magnet needs to be held to the nail for approximately 15 seconds – I opted for 20, just in case – and it forms clear, crisp lines. I found out that I should have let that dry for 30 seconds before applying SV, because that smears the lines a bit. The magnet works very good with other polishes too!

I’ll start with my favourite, Gun Metal (#851).It’s a mix of greenish, yellowish, brownish mustard color, but it’s nowhere as ugly as that sounds. In the bottle it looks more gold, but after all the particles moved around because of the magnets, it shifts color a bit. It’s a very understated gold that I could easily pull off at work, but it’s not boring either.

Northern Light is a metallic dusky grey that shifts to purple. I was trying hard to catch the effect but it didn’t work out very well. Again, super crisp lines! I applied a coat of Northern Light first without using the magnet, and after that was dry, I applied a very thick coat over the first one and used the magnet right away. This has worked best for me so far.

Iron Lady is a purple magnetic polish. I have the feeling we have seen this before. If it wasn’t for the quality of the magnet/magnetic polish from IsaDora, I wouldn’t have mentioned or had anything to be excited about.

All in all I have to say that I was again amazed by the quality of these polishes. Except for the color choices sometimes, IsaDora has not failed me yet – and I’m totally in love with Gun Metal!

These polishes were sent to me for free and without conditions. Thank you!