How I wore it: Jessica Sterling Queen / Nadia

This is the one of the last posts I have “left over” from this winter – considering that it is super cold here at the moment, it fits.

Right when I saw Vampy Varnish’s swatches of the spring/summer collection “It’s a girl thing” from Jessica, I knew I had to have some. I think the double names are quite a fun idea. The polish I’m showing you today is named after Jessica‘s friend Nadia. For everyone else, this polish is called Sterling Queen.

Nadia/Sterling Queen is a grey shimmer polish. It is right inbetween three colors – grey, silver, blue. I have nothing like it in my collection and fell for it right away. The application was good, no issues to report. I used two coats for full coverage. The polish dries almost streak-less.  All in all the polish may not look like much on the press release or in the bottle, but I have a thing for polishes like this one (and generally I like gray and in-between colors!). It is the one I liked the most from this collection.

I wore this whole thing with a minty shirt from GAP, a blue pullover from GAP and blue pants from Benetton. The necklace is from Pieces I think, and the shoes are from Asos. Man, am I happy it stopped snowing, now that I look at these pics again!! Thanks to the lovely PR-lady from Jessica, who sent me this polish to try.

How I wore it: color club beyond

I’ve had it with this weather! And I’ve had it to complain about it! Why can’t I have nothing to complain about?

Anyhow. The weather explains the lack of me wearing holographic nailpolish, not that I wear it everyday, but it is fun to wear it in the sun. T. borrowed me her color club in beyond, which is an awesome charcoal (the closest a holo can get to black?) holographic polish.

Well, we have to make do with what we can! The above picture was taken out in daylight, but no direct sun. It’s still pretty awesome. Below I have some pictures for you that I took in the lightbox, with flash.

I must admit, this polish is awesome, and great fun to wear. I do love the look of black/dark grey holos! Just when I was trying to fix my hair (my hair-do usually dissolves randomly at the most unfortunate moments), the sun came out. So what does a good blogger do? Pretend this is a picture of my hair-do. I followed this tutorial [none] from this awesome person [no-one]. (and that is visible!)

The most beautiful thing is though, that the plants don’t all care if it is spring or winter. This bush in the background decided it was time to bloom, and so it did.

I’m wearing a pullover I bought last year (2011, not 2012), from WE, and I thought I would just wear it every now and then, because not exactly my style, but it is warm. Well, I’ve worn it every other week, and I like it more and more. The jeans are from WE too. I’m fairly certain I’m wearing some kind of t-shirt underneath, but as you don’t see it, it doesn’t matter that I forgot which one. Same goes for underwear and socks, in case you ever wondered.

These shoes were a sort-of-gift. I bought J. gloves, and he bought me shoes. It’s a bit more fun than as if I had bought myself shoes, and he would have bought himself gloves. It’s the little things. They are from Unisa (available at Humanic as far as I know, and most probably in a lot of other stores), 3 or 4 seasons back at least. In terms of make-up, the only “new” exciting think I’m wearing here is my lipgloss from Illamasqua in Belladonna. I’ve had it for a longer time, and I love it to bits. It stays on rather long, and it’s not sticky!

How I Wore It: Orly Sea Gurl

The neon scarf is back! This time it accompanies Orly Sea Gurl.

I didn’t know if I should keep Orly Sea Gurl, as I have a thing for greys and silvers (and gold, pink and red, but let’s keep the obvious aside), and I have way too many. So what to do if I can’t decide? Wear it. 2 coats here.

I decided to pair this shimmering brushed aluminum color with an easy outfit, not too much color, so I picked a grey cowlneck sweater from WE. This pullover is actually nothing I’d pick; I don’t like the collar too much. I bought it because on our flight to India, we got stranded for a day in Amsterdam, without luggage, and we were dressed for an arrival in warm Mumbai, not for a regular November day in Amsterdam. So we had to find something warm (and cheap, because the money was saved for our holiday, not for being stuck in Amsterdam!) we could wear, in very little time, and this is what came out of this “shopping experience”.

The pants are from Mango I think. They are just plain black. The chelsea boots are from asos, my favorite buy this winter. I think I wore them every second day.

The neon striped scarf is from Esprit. I liked the airy and soft material so much, I bought a blue striped one too.  The earrings are self-made. I’m wearing a super dark aubergine lip pencil by __________ that I bought in Mumbai, I love the shade and it has amazing staying power. Let me just say how happy I am that the gloomy winter days will be over soon! I’m in need for some Vitamin D! 

And because you made it until here, let me reward you with one of the pictures I usually delete.

How I wore it: OPI My boyfriend scales walls and Big Ruby Nail Tattoo

Well, this week it was all sunny and warm and it smelled like spring, so obviously next week it will be cold and snowy again. In mental preparation, I have a snowy How I wore it post for you today.

I received OPI My boyfriend scales walls in a swap from M., and I had anticipated the arrival of this polish a lot. What I thought it would be: a basically self applying, self-leveling, awesome looking, all around great white-ish nail polish. Well. It is really pretty, but I think most of its beauty stems from it being the perfectbase for nail art (at which I am not very skilled).
So what does one do when one wants to do what one can’t? One outsources. In this particular case, I just ordered some Big Ruby tattoos, something I wanted to try out for longer already. I have no liking towards cute little animals or zippers on my nails, so I opted for the only version of those tattoos that would do: zig-zag and stripes.

I picked a white and blue zig-zag pattern that looked great with the off-white, slightly greyish base of My boyfriend scales walls. I got my set of big Ruby nail tatoos at Le Doux Nuage,  a very nice online shop that ships to Austria. Just fyi: it says on the instructions of the nail tattoos that one should apply two coats of top coat. I didn’t, and it came off rather quickly, so next time I will.

And, as I’m all into matching colors, I decided to match my outfit to the design. I picked a scarf from Esprit, a shirt from WE, cardigan from Montego (at Peek & Cloppenburg) and pants that my friend B. bought for me. I bought the boots ages ago and have no idea where I got them from.

 Make-up wise I tried to try something new. I used the usual Inglot concealer, eyebrow powder, foundation, but I tried my new MAC creme blusher in Restores Dazzle! from the Cook Shop LE. I had problems with it in the beginning, but with help from fellow beauties, I figured I’d just need to use the right brush. The mascara is my regular Chanel mascara. The lipstick is a matte liptsitck from NARS, called Valparaiso. It looks awesome if you ask me.

Now I want to know – would you like me to post my regular beauty products, or are you just fine with me telling you I used “the usual”?

Sunday SPAM: flormar mattes

Recently, B. and I were shopping a bit, and we came across a whole new-to-us line from flormar. The flormar line made quite an impression on us with their super miracle shine polishes, so we were excited to try out these mattes!

flormars have exciting names, such as this one: flormar M03. It’s witty, thoughtful and cheeky, without being improper, don’t you think?
Application-wise, they were all super quick drying. They feel like chalkboard when you touch them, and they are safe to touch after 4-5 minutes (we’re talking two coats here, not one). I applied two coats of each of the polishes.

flormar M03 is a matte (surprise!) charcoal grey. It is so dark it could be mistaken for a washed out black. (I’m so funny today, I don’t know what happened!) Lovely color, especially in matte.

flormar M04 is what I’d call the color of how I want the sea to look like when I go on vacation to the Maledives (I’ve never been, nor am I planning on going anytime soon – that is, unless I win the lottery). It is beautiful. It is also amazing matte, so this polish was a complete winner in my books. The soft color is enhanced by the soft finish, which gives it sort of a cozy hue.

flormar M09 is the opposite of soft. It’s preppy neon pink, extremely bright and an amazing toe nail polish for summer. I would love to be at a beach right now, sip some beach cocktail with a lot of fruit and tiny umbrellas and other stuff that doesn’t belong in a serious person’s drink, and have this nail polish on my toes.

The only  polish that didn’t fully satisfy me was flormar M10. It was a bit thinner than the others, and I think I should have applied a third coat. I don’t like the color all too much, but it’s nice. I think I’d have preferred it if it had some shimmer in it.

In retrospective, flormar M12 wouldn’t have been hurt by a third coat either. I adore the color. It’s such an elegant deep blue (is it prussian blue?), absolutely amazing. I wish I had a dress in that color.

Did you pick up any of these?

Galinda, run with it!

Oh, the joy of work life. I get to wear all those polishes I liked by the thought of it, but never really wore, because they seemed to ‘boring’ at the time. One of my favorites of these ‘boring’ polishes is Sephora by OPI Run with it. The color is difficult to describe – it is neither beige nor nude nor grey, it’s a mixture of all three colors, mixed with a slight golden shimmer. I actually received quite some compliments on this! 2 coats.

I didn’t want to take it off after two days (that’s a long wear time for me!), so I added Cirque Galinda over it, but only halfway over the nail, to create a gradient look. Galinda is the perfect snow glitter. It consists of white and iridescent glitters and flakes in different shapes and sizes. This is one of the most subtle yet most versatile glitters I’ve seen.

Doesn’t this look like a princess-in-the-snow glitter to you?

 

essence Vintage District TE

A bit later than usual, the essence Vintage District TE. To my defense, I got a very distracting parcel full of nail polish from my uber-swap-amie, M. I swatched all of the polishes on nail wheels yesterday – just so you know, I needed 6 almost full nail wheels.  Also, I got my first Urban Decay eye pencil, and it is awesome. I’ll most probably show it to you soon.

Before I start, let me say that I was not very interested in this trend edition, so first I thought I’d let it be, but then J. called and asked me if I want any of these polishes, because she found a full display, and I couldn’t pass up on that occasion. So here it comes!

essence Vintage Peach is most probably one of the ugliest polishes that passed my hands. It covers fully in two coats and applies just fine, but what kind of color is that supposed to be? Sweet potatoe peel puke? The only question I had circling in my mind when I swatched this, was, WHY?

I made a little comparison on the sticks for you (Please let me know if you find this helpful!):
Del Sol Trick or Treat – essence A piece of forever – Catrice Paris – essence Vintage Peach – essence peaches – essence happy – Revlon Fig Jam

Well, it doesn’t get much better with essence Antique Pink. I have long sworn off colors like this, because, well, it’s obvious. I don’t think this color will become a retro-kind-of-cool, this will never be cool. 3 coats, formula was a bit of a pain for me.

  Now, finally I can breathe again! essence Get arty made it all good again. Color wise it is somewhere between a very murky camouflage green and grey, but the shimmer it is infused with makes it outstanding. It made me think of some Rescue Beauty Lounge polish, but I can’t pinpoint it. Formula was super, 2 coats, and the shimmer is just so beautiful!

And for those of you who love colors such as nails inc Baker Street, you will love this:essence shopping @portobello road. Vibrant blue with a squishy jelly look, even though it covers entirely after two coats. It is easy to apply and didn’t stain my nails, which I feared it would. Also it is amazingly shiny without topcoat! A winner in my books.

Again, a stick-comparison, from left to right:  
H&M No Mambo Jumbo - Cult Nails Let me Fly -p2 funky - SOPI Who let the dorks out? – Catrice San Francisco – Maybelline Shocking Seas – essence life is a free ride – SOPI Skinny Jeans -  OPI Teal the Cows come home - essence shopping @ Portobello Road – Catrice Birds Flying High – YSL La Lacque 137 – Illamasqua Muse – essence bonnie – Catrice No Snow Petrol

What do you think about this TE? Half hot, half not, right?

Sunday Spam: random stamping

Are you guys enjoying your Sunday? I hope you have some time to relax and enjoy yourselves.

I posted previews of most of these manicures on my Instagram. You can follow me there, I’m – surprise, surprise – goodlacknail. I love interacting on Instagram!

Today I’m showing you random stamping manicures I wore lately. Here I started off with two coats of China Glaze Traffic Jam. I wanted to try the stamping quality of China Glaze Mistletoe Me. Mistletoe Me was sent to me by my dear swap friend M., but it broke, and I was sad. Somehow, B. got her hands on it, and gifted it to me – how thoughtful is that?! I absolutely love dark foils that are so full of color. It also works very well for stamping, but due to the fact that the colors are so very close, it’s a subtle tone in tone stamping. As usual, I completely forgot which plate I used. The pattern looks like triangles, I guess that’s a rather common stamping pattern?

Here I tried gold over light yellow. The base color is Illamasqua Load, and I stamped an image from a Bundle Monster plate, no 312. I liked that it looked a bit like porcelain, but I wasn’t too fond of this. Somehow it reminded me of faded royal wallpaper.

Well, this was a great idea I think, but something didn’t work in the execution process. The base color is Manhatten Green Chai, which is a mint green polish interspersed with micro glitters in white, red and darker green. I figured that red stamping would look cool over it (you know, red glitters in this polish – red stamping over it, matchy-matchy, etc). Nails Inc Villiers Street theoretically works for stamping (such a gorgeous gleaming red!), but I guess I didn’t have a steady-hand day? Or I shouldn’t have picked this rose image from the DRK-A plate? I don’t know. 

Mostly I stamp if I want to spice up a manicure I already wore for a day and got tired of. This was also the case when I wore OPI French Quarter for your thoughts, so I decided to try the stamping quality of GOSH Silver. Result: it works, but it’s not my favorite. It somehow looks as if it doesn’t fully transfer the image onto the nail – that’s because GOSH Silver is not a real metallic, but more of a foily metallic polish, meaning it has particles in there, that don’t transfer 100%.  I think I used an image from the DRK-A plate, but I can’t say for sure.

I saw this on so many blogs, but I still can’t figure out if I like it or not: The houndstooth pattern. Here I tried it in white (wet’n'wild) over OPI Nein!Nein!Nein!OK fine!, the image is from the DRK-A plate. 

Last, and least, a bit of a fail. This is Zoya Luna, stamped with Topshop Mercury Miasma. Luna is not a good stamping base, as it is a light grey packed with silver glitter, and that just doesn’t look very good with the stamping design on top.

catrice NEONaturals LE

Today I’m showing you a collection from Catrice called NEONaturals. I have absolutely no idea what the thought was behind this collection; it seems random in time of the year and choice of color. Nevertheless, here it is.

be naturally crazy is a sheer white with a hint of blue micro glitter. It really is only a hint of blue in there; it doesn’t transfer on the nail that well. This is 3 coats! (hideous, if you ask me.)

makes me smile is a metallic polish between silver and gold. It covered very well, almost in one coat, and it is very shiny. No brushstroke issue here either – I liked this best. 2 coats.

bright brighter brightest is a creme pink. It’s pretty much the same pink essence and Catrice bring out every other LE, which is an action that would contradict it’s name, as it is the opposite of bright. But hey, we can’t have everything. 2 coats.

for bright guys is a creme egg yolk colored polish. I love yellow, but these warm yellows better stay far away from me! It dries to a somewhat satin finish, and I needed three coats to get this to look acceptable. I assume it’s because eggs are for eating, not to be worn on nails.  3 coats.

Have a good day is a grey creme polish – it has some shimmer in the bottle, but that also stays there. I used two coats, it is a very decent grey, if you don’t have one yet, and this is easily accessible to you, it’s worth the money (but not more than that). I prefer KIKO greys, but you can’t buy KIKO everywhere! 2 coats.

little miss sunshine is a sheer patchy yellow with yellow flakes in there that add some sparkle. It had, as is the tradition with yellows, the worst application. Also, it looks very different in different light. It’s a fun polish, but I’m spoiled by yellows with better formulas, so it’s not really a winner in my books. 3 coats.


mr. brightsight is a coral creme polish, it had the most visible satin finish. I am not fond of corals in combination with my skin tone, but this is a great nail polish for toes in the summer. 2 coats.

it’s partner, mrs. brightsight, is the most neon of the bunch. It is a color somewhere between pink and red, and it is very vivid. Somehow it was a bit more sheer than the other creme polishes, and I ended up using 2 and a half coats. It had the best application though.

on the bright side of life is a vivid aubergine purple. It looks a bit lighter in the bottle than it is on the nail. It is a great color for autumn and winter, I think. 2 coats.

Worst polishes of 2012

While everybody else is out there praising their 2012  favourites, I decided to give you a random list of “worsts”! The main reason for this is that there are too many polishes I liked in 2012, and the other reason is that I enjoy being mean sometimes – and this will give me the perfect opportunity. You can disagree with me and let me know which polishes you didn’t like this year!

As a general info: Worst of 2012 refers to polishes I wore in 2012, not necessarily ones that were brought out in 2012. Let’s get started!

Pretty much everything from the Catrice Hidden World LE. brown, salmon and frosty white – no thank you!

 OPI Play the Peonies. Okay, so I liked Chanel Attraction, but this is also more pink. Frosty, white-ish pink. Brrr.

Revlon Mint Gelato. Sheer dusty turquoise, unbearable smell (and I love mint!): overall performance could not convince (that was very diplomatic).

I like the idea of  NYX Precious Gems, but the execution lacks… skills? experience? love? ideas? Well, you pick.

Models Own Dusty Mauve - they name already gives this one away. Not much I can say or do that will make it cry harder.

It pains me to say it, but Orly Artificial Sweetener only looks good in the bottle. I gave it chance after chance, but it just looks yuck on me. Even though it is pink!

essence Rebel Topcoat in Punk Royal  (and Catrice No smoke without fire): jelly black doesn’t work. AT ALL. Even if it has glitter in it. Ooooh I think these two might win the ugliest of ugly award.  Looks like black snot or slime over my nails! *shudders*

OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes. This is not a decent or elegant version of brown, this is ugly. Same goes for Nubar Charmeuse -  just because Nubar makes it a bit more difficult to call this plain brown, it is freakishly boring (and ugly). And, a bit more mauve but still too brown for me: OPI Mauving to Manitoba.

Glitter Gal Flawless Pink is everything but flawless. At least it’s holographic, but it’s definitely not flawless (and, to be honest, it’s not much pink either).

MAC Style Clan - poop brown with orange glitter – it can’t get much worse. Oh, wait! Short nails make it look extra bad. I don’t even want to start telling you what I think this looks like.

Jessica Glitterati - great idea, but such a failure. I pretty much hated how it looked like on the nail. The only thing left to say is, WHY?!

GOSH Ocean. Eeeeuh. It’s too much of everything. Too many brush strokes, too much color, too much, just too much.

Barielle Out-grey-geous. Can’t even deal with this after I stamped over it. It’s completely boring and unfitting, and then, why the many “-” in the name?

I thought I’d never have complaints about yellow polish, but Nicole by OPI Yellow it’s me changed my mind. I tried it alone, over white, over yellow – the orange/red glow in it just ruins it for me, apart from it being so sheer. In the same area is essence peach beauty (fruity TE) – I mean come on, patchy, sheer orange? Hell no! There’s no excuse for sheer yellow nail polish. Polish makers of the world, unite, and fight against this nuisance!

The extra awards for horrible application go to Face of Australia Verdigris (bubbles in metallic, streaky military green) and Sinful Colors Cinderella (patchy shimmery light blue, impossible to make opaque without it looking as if it ran down your tips).

I wish you all a great New Year’s Eve and a good start into the new year. Hope your hangovers won’t be too bad, and that you all have someone to kiss at midnight.