How I wore it: China Glaze Bend over backwards (and a gradient)

Do you know how J calls these How I Wore It posts? HIWI. Like Kiwi, if you’re a German speaker, or HIFI, if you’re an English speaker. Both versions sound absolutely ridiculous to my ears, so don’t be surprised if I will use this abbreviation soon.

Dear M sent me Bend over Backwards, one of the polishes from the China Glaze Cirque de Soleil collection. I had no desire to own this color, so I put it in my “to swatch – to go” box. I must admit, I was wrong to put it there. I thought this brick-red would clash with my skin tone, as it would be too orange.

I was wrong about the color, it is more of a auburn/red, with intense shimmer. It is also very flattering on my, I think, and so vivid, it made me happy to wear it. Especially as the day I wore it, it was raining, but it was ice cold and windy too, a very unfortunate combination!

Keep in mind what I just said about the weather and please disregard my stupid facial expression. It was really cold! I so desperately wanted to wear my new Banana Republic woolen pants in this awesome light grey shade, that I just decided to ignore the fact that it rained.

To match the pants I picked a red cardigan from H&M (one of the first items I bought in red, ever), a scarf I bought in China and a plain grey longsleeve from WE underneath. The ankle boots are from some outlet, they have maybe 5 cm heels, and work good with all my long trousers.

I was so smitten by Bend over Backwards, I decided to wear it another day, but differently. I tried a gradient, usingChG Bend over Backwards (as a base and closest to the cuticle), essie braziliant, Zoya Rica and China Glaze 2030.

I think the gradient turned out pretty cool. I was very proud of myself! In effect, it looked a bit as if I was wearing a tequila sunrise on my nails.

And because I felt so fancy wearing this gradient, here you have two super fancy artsy schmancy pictures of it in action. 

How I wore it: Revlon Downtown

You all know I have a thing for pink, and lime green, and lately red. But did I ever tell you my favorite finish? Shimmer, yes. But my second favorite then? It’s this metallic/foil thing that Zoya does so well, but I’d take it from any brand.

So understand my excitement when I received some Revlons in a swap that have a similar foily finish! I swatched them immediately, was super happy about them, put them in a drawer, and forgot. I actually didn’t wear any of them until recently, when I realized, I can’t just put stuff in drawers, I have to wear it! So there you go, Revlon Downtown.

I picked Downtown first, because I don’t want to wear blues and greens to work, and it was weekend.

Application wise, Downtown was great. It dried really quickly and I had no problems whatsoever. I used two coats for full coverage.

 I don’t like dressing up all that much on the weekends, so I decided to just warp myself in a huge scarf that I got from Accessorize. I would have never paid regular prize for this, I’m cheap and I have patience until stuff is on sale.  (I even look like what I just said in this picture! Whaaat, not on sale?!)

The skirt is from Uniqlo, the t-shirt is a dress from Oysho, but much too short for me, so I could only wear it as a t-shirt. The jacket is also from Oysho. It is super cozy and I love it to bits! The boots are a present from my mum. There’s nothing special to say about make-up, so I’ll be silent in that department.

    Do you also just want to relax on weekends?

How I wore it: Zoya Carly

Good Monday Morning (depending where you are on this planet)!

Today I have a Zoya nail polish for you, one of the ones I wasn’t sure if I would love or hate. Okay, I’ll tell you right away: I love it. I don’t know why, because usually that color is so not me, but the finish might just have done the trick.

I don’t know how to describe the finish, but I’ll try. Basically it looks as if there are millions of silver particles in this polish, and they stick to the walls of the bottle. But when polishing, they spread evenly on the nails, as a sort of bedding for the color particles, who stay on top but get a sort of metallic/brushed aluminium look from beneath.

All the Zoyas that came out from the Surf Collections have this finish. Hence, I like them all. I decided to wear Carly with a less purple cardigan, which I found on super sale in Paris last year. It’s from Etam, which is mostly an underwear shop, but they have some regular clothing too.

Pants are from WE, the scarf is from Pieces. The white blouse is from WE too. If you didn’t realize yet, I like WE. I should get free stuff from them for all the advertising I do! tssss.

 The ring I’m wearing is a present from my brothers. Pieces have broken off but I still love it. They took me to a shop that I like, and let me pick three things, and then they sent me outside so they could pick their favorite for me. Cute, huh?
 

Last picture of Carly, then I’ll let you go for today! Don’t forget to drop me a comment, it gets lonely here otherwise!

The blue metallic triarchy

The other day I received a big swap package, actually, I received two. They were from my swap fairies M. and M., and one of them contained China Glaze Blue Bells Ring, which I waved off as “another blue metallic”. So I figured, why not compare it to the “other” blue metallic polishes I have, to see which one I should keep.

Enter: Color Club Cold Metal and Orly Sweet Peacock. Cold Metal looked much darker and less metallic in the bottle, while Sweet Peacock looked a bit more turquoise than Blue Bells Ring. But, as it often is the case with metallics, the bottle impressions can fool you.

From left to right, two coats: Color Club Cold Metal (pinkie, ring finger), China Glaze Blue Bells Ring (middle finger) and Orly Sweet Peacock (pointer).

I used two coats for all of them to be able to give you a uniform look. Blue Bells Ring really doesn’t need two coats, one is sufficient. Overall I don’t think those three polishes are dupes. The smoothest looking one is Blue Bells Ring, Cold Metal is much darker, and Sweet Peacock looks somewhat more grainy; it is also slightly more turquoise than the other two.

In the end Blue Bells Ring won in terms of formula and also I like the color the best.   

If there are any polishes you want me to compare, just let me know!

the cat strikes again

I already showed you one peripera polish, but I didn’t want to withhold the other ones I have any longer!

This one has the beautiful sounding name P016. It is a light green that is interspersed with silver glitter particles, which one hand gives it a very metallic look but also a somewhat dusty look. All in all, not a very vibrant, but a very decent and beautiful green. I used two coats. 

peripera P026 is my favorite peripera. It is a barbie pink shimmer polish, with an intense gold shimmer that looks lime green in certain angles. It looks a bit like Zoya Happi – only P026 is the pimped version. I used two coats.

What’s your favorite peripera?

Diwali, Hellebore

One of the Chanel polishes I just knew I had to have lately was Diwali. Luckily one of my US friends agreed to send it to me, but it hasn’t arrived yet. This particular bottle of Diwali arrived at my doorstep from Chanel themselves, as a small gift to ease the sorrow that Chanel doesn’t want to work with me, only with ‘selected’ bloggers. Well. Their loss.  I’ll take this polish and be fine with it (for now!).

Diwali is not only a polish named after an awesome Indian festival or holiday, no, it also is sparkling gold, but in the great, elegant way. It applies flawlessly, easy and covers in two coats (one, if you’re not making pictures!). It has a mix of light gold and bronze color particles, which adds this amazing shine to it.

I absolutely loved wearing this, and I will have to make some How I Wore It pictures next time I put it on! Oh, and for those of you who think this may be streaky: it isn’t. Not even the least bit!

I couldn’t bring myself to remove this after two days, but the gap between polish and cuticles got visible, so I decided to gradient it. As my Cirque nail polish order had just arrived, I couldn’t resist putting on Hellebore.

To achieve this look, I just dabbed on some polish at the cuticle area and then used superficial brushstrokes to spread the polish a bit towards the middle of the nail. It is very easy, and I love the look! I’ll introduce you all to Hellebore in another post, but if you want to look at Cirque colors in the meantime, click here.

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.

essence TE fantasia

Today I am showing you yet another essence Trend Edition (which is the same as a limited edition). Because of the promotional pictures I thought that this one was going to be boring as hell – but luckily it wasn’t.

Elves like lilac (is this an assumption? I sounds like a fact, in which case I must point out the danger of generalisation…!) is a vivid purple interspersed with teensy tiny silver glitters and just enough blue undertones to hate my camera. The color depends also on the angle from which you look at it. Nevertheless, a purple my friend M. will love, I’m sure. 2 coats.

Queen of my cloud castle is one of those more intensive coral shimmer polishes – I told you, corals scorn my love, so we’re didn’t become friends. Even though it had some hint of shimmer in there. 2 coats. 

Take a ride on Pegasus was my personal favorite. I haven’t seen a color like this before – it’s a mauve polish with intense blue shimmer. I love blue shimmer, so I could forgive the mauve base color. 2 coats (it applied the best of all the polishes!).

Have you seen my unicorn was a bit of a bummer. First, we’ve seen alike colors from essence in every other TE, and second, it’s just so streaky – I used topcoat extensively to make it looks less streaky. Also, it’s a goldish-pinkish metallic combination that is just too painful to wear. 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.

Help! I’m stuck in different dimensions – again

Those different dimensions polishes keep us busy, huh?!

Part one –> click  here.
Part two —> click here.

I received I will follow you into the dark, and I though, meh, this looks like a super boring generic silver. No! I couldn’t have been more wrong! Don’t ever think this about I will follow you into the dark!

What a mistake. I applied it – it applies like a dream – and within seconds, the brushstrokes vanished. In effect, I used two coats, dream application, super quick drying time, and that polish shines!!

You can see in the pictures just how shiny it is, but can you imagine that it is even more shiny in reality? I had the feeling I was wearing mirrors on my nails.

Well, all in all I can only tell you that I have seldomly been more wrong in my initial assessment of a nail polish. I absolutely adore this look, the color is intense and the look overall just drool-worthy.

The other different dimensions polish I have for you today is fight like a girl, a breast cancer special from Missi. It’s a glitter topcoat that consists of mainly small silver and holographic glitters, and mixed through it are pink, black and lightblue glitters.

I was very happy about the glitter payoff in this one, one coat over SpaRitual Camellia was enough – Camellia on the other hand was horrible, it refused to dry. This is not what I had gotten used to from SpaRitual polishes, very frustrating.

I love the combination of pink creme as a base and colorful sparkle on top.  

Anyhow, fight like a girl is cute – the name is very witty and nicely chosen for the cause. In the end, I ended up giving this polish to my friend B. because she just loved it more than I did.

I made a close-up for you again. Hope that you like them – if not, let me know, that will mean less work for me!

The products in this post were provided to me for my honest review.