Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Swatches: CHANEL - Nail Polish # 513 Black Pearl

I tried CHANELs newest hyped Nail Polish - Black Pearl. The Press try to hype and push it like the 505 Particuliere or 509 Paradoxal, but I say - he is not worth! But read and see yourself:

CHANEL - Nail Polish #513 Black Pearl

OK, when I am honest - the colour looks in the bottle much more promising than in real life on my nails. To me it looks dull. I like Duo-Chrome colours, especially the dark ones, but this one is too grayish, not intense enough! As I applied there was more disillusion: a thin texture, which covers after 4(!) layers complete and flawless, so its nothing for the go or a quick manicure. Dry time and lasting are ok, but I expect more. I think, a hype on this colour is it not worth!

But the theme *Black Pearl* is anyway interesting, so I searched in my haul for some alternate colours, which I think they reflect the subject better:

Hollywood Nails - Nail Polish # 637 Steel Mauve

This Nail Polish is for me the PERFECT Black Pearl shade: Steel Mauve - wonderful dense after 2 layers, quick drying, easy to apply, Duo-Chrome or I should say 3-Chrome: Violet - Anthracite - Green/Blue hued!


American Nails - Nail Polish #650 Naomi
Not far away to the upper Polish of HN is Naomi also dark, not Duo-Chrome, but with visible Glitz in Green/Blue, excellent opacity and quick drying. And not to forget - one of my favourites!


CND Creative - Nagellack # 386 NFS
This colour is unfortunately not longer in the program of CND, but I think it matches the idea of Black Pearl: NFS - a dark, rich Blue Green with Shimmer! I have stashed some bottles, so if somebody is interested in just write me!

By the way, if you like to have more informations about the specialty of Black Pearls, please read here: http://www.blackmoonpearls.com/

Now I want to know: which one you like better: the Original or one of the alternate colours? I am curious!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Nail Polish of the Week: ZOYA - Cola

ZOYA - Nail Polish #523 Cola

Cola is one of these colours you never can say if it is a Brown or a Red. So in my opinion this colour turns into both, depending on the light: sometimes its a Milk Chocolate, in other light it looks more like a warm Brick Red.

What me really makes happy about the ZOYA Nail Polish is their texture: perfect after two layers, quick drying, long lasting and high-shine for several days!

So my result is - whoever searches a beautiful, warm Brick Red, will love Cola. And calorie-free is it anyway ;-) !

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Nail Art - Valentines Day 2011

A cute Nail Art idea - quick to make (not only) for Valentine's Day:




This you need:


Instruction/How to make:

  • Base Coat, let it dry
  • 2 layers Red nail polish, let it dry
  • Apply stencil, paint it with White, REMOVE STENCIL IMMEDIATELY, let it dry
  • Set the two Swarovski Crystals in the wet polish or, for longer lasting, apply first two little drops of nail glue like Brush On Glue/ORLY underneath!
  • WAIT till polishes are complete dry (if you not wait you will have white stripes in your red nail polish!), than use Top Coat!


This is a Nail Art in classic Red/White for all who shows their hearts...

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Swatches: American Nails - Must Have! Trendlook Frühling 2011

Its the first sign of Spring - the first trend look is now on the market and available! It comes from American Nails, which is, you readers know, one of my favourite brands, is named *Must Have!* and comes with 3 new nail polish colours:


American Nails - Nail Polish # 681 Very Nature

The names fits perfect - Very Nature is a basic shade, a 100% business wearable, sheer Champagne with a touch of Glitz. This tiny tiny Glitz particles adds the highlights without looking boring. No matter if you wear a business costume or the *Little Black Dress* - Very Nature will always match...


American Nails - Nagellack # 683 Smokey Eyes
Smokey Eyes could be on my favourite list - creamy, not too bright, not boring, opaque, quick drying - so everything a nail polish should be! I like within the shade the hint of Blue, so it doesn't look *mousy*!


American Nails - Nagellck #686 Mystic

This is no doubt the highlight of the look - Mystic. The name alone makes curious, but you have to see yourself, what it is: inspired of the *Non-Colours* all over the runways since a while is Mystic a. a worthy heir of all shades of Taupe and b. a PERFECT and I REALLY mean a perfect alternate to the CHANEL shade Paradoxal with its high quality!

I mean, the most interesting thing is the subtle Violet shimmer - you can see it in direct light, but in the twilight it just let the shade looking gorgeous without anybody can see and say exactly, why it looks like so pretty! And I like this playing on colours!


What are you saying - is there a *Must Have!* for you in the collection?

Swatch/Dupe: CHANEL - Nail Polish # 509 Paradoxal

OK, I know - I am not the first to show you, but its a beautiful, interesting, gorgeous colour and matches PERFECT in my personal favourites list of nail polish. Because I get a lot of questions about this polish I show you some pics:


On my nails - CHANEL Paradoxal

After the question if I sell this nail polish colour there is always the question for an alternate: yes, since a few days I have a perfect dupe of American Nails, the colour name is Mystic:

Index finger - American Nails Mystic, Middle finger - CHANEL Paradoxal
In daylight, making pics, in the bottle - there is NO difference visible! About the quality AN can always play with the big ones!

Result: I can recommend this nail polish colour out of the new *Must Have!* Spring collection  100% alternate!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

kinetics - Preview Spring 2011 *Go Glossy!*

Today my mailbox show me a very pleasing mail from kinetics - the new spring look for 2011 is available: Go Glossy! Four beautiful, radiant, bold colours, which feels like being happy, spring and getting a lot of sunshine! kinetics themselves are talking about Lipgloss for the nails - because of the high shine finish! I am curious about it, are you too? Next week I show you the swatches, then the look will also be here for ordering!

How do you like them? Aren't the colours gorgeous? Be curious and come back and see them natural!



Nail Polish of the Week: SPARITUAL - Garden Of Eden

SPARITUAL - Garden Of Eden
This week I wanted to show you a very feminine shade - Garden Of Eden from SPARITUAL. I like it, because its a fresh, beautiful, timeless nail polish colour, which matches warmer as well as cooler skin shades! The Gold shimmer and finest Glitz adds the sophisticated touch and prevent it of looking boring. Its opaque, easy to apply and dries quickly!

Which one of you wears classic colours and/or Rose? Would it be a colour to try for you?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Nail Polish of the week: AKZENT direct - Midnight

AKZENT direct - Midnight

This colour I must show you: Midnight. I like this shade, because its like all nail polishes from AKZENT direct easy to handle, also if there is a lot of shimmer in and its drying quick quick. But the most important thing to me is the brush - its a wide and broad, flat brush. I know, not everybody like it or can work with it, but for me its kind of the best!

Basically its an Eggplant, but with sparks of Pink and Gold, depending on the light. Its an *Allround* nail polish which reflects the colour surrounded! On the pic you see him in two layers over Base Coat SPARITUAL - Lacquer Lock and Top Coat SPARITUAL - Toute De Suite!

What do you think - do you like this shade? Have you any experience with AKZENT direct nail polish?

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Part 2 - LCN Crackle Nail Polish

They are NEW - there are 7 SHADES - and they are: stunning! So this is the short description of the newest babes in my shop - the new crackle polishes from LCN! There is nothing to criticize: they last, also without Top Coat, show immediately the cracks and allow endless combinations. I show you today all 7 colours:

White Crackle on Sea Green

I am sure that not everybody like white crackle polish or has difficulties to imagine with what to wear, but it is beautiful on pastel colours: this look is *clean*. Here White John on LCN - Caribbean Sea.

Black Crackle on Pink
Black will be the all-time-favourite crackle polish colour, because with it is the most bold effect! Nice to see: Black Jack on China Glaze - Sugar High!

Yellow Crackle on White
I like this Lemon Yellow on White Polish, its a fresh spring combination, this is Yellow Kim on MAVALA - White. Also gorgeous: vice versa Yellow on Black!

Pink Crackle on Bright Orange
So here you see one of my preferred colour combinations: Pink and Orange. Normally the professionals would say they are not matching, but I think - it is interesting! Not too bold, but with sophistication! This is a picture WITHOUT Top Coat - so do you see the parts with and without light reflection? The couple is made of Pink Jane and ZOYA - Jancyn...

Red Crackle on Gold Shimmer
The precious variation - radiant, fiery Red on warm, shimmering Gold, what do you say to this? Combination of Red Cheyenne and ORLY - Gigababe!

Green Crackle on Duo-Chrome Silver
In the boottle Green Paul looks definitely more blueish than on the nails, but anyway, its a cool Green. For all Green lovers a lovely colour, here on top of ZOYA - Laney.

Blue Crackle on Fresh Green
This pair gave me personal the most fun and its amazing, isn't it? When you are in an extraordinary good mood these are colours to show it! And the winner is: Blue Linda and kinetics - Joy Of Life!! Applause for my #1 combination!


OK, now you saw all the colours - what do you say: which is your couple?

Part 1 - Crackle Nail Polish: technique and tips

Crackle nail polishes are a kind of polish, which makes your coloured polish looking *vintage*, for example you can see it on old furniture. As a layer over a coloured polish it cracks when its drying and so you can see the colour layer underneath. Crackle is nothing new, but HOT! For years it was very difficult to research and find a brand to buy it from, but since nearly one year there come more and more brands with crackle polish on the market.

There are a bunch of quality differences. Two years ago I tried some different brands to find a good one, but the results were disillusioning. Some of them show off NO crackle effect, or they were not opaque and dense enough to cover the colour underneath, and worst result was - they still fall off: without top coat anyway and also the lightweight application of it smudges and peel them! So because of this I decided at this point to add no crackle coat into my shop.


But now there comes the good news: LCN added a range of 7 professional quality colours into the product line: White John (White), Black Jack (Black), Yellow Kim (Bright Yellow), Red Cheyenne (Fiery Red), Green Paul (Cool Green) and Blue Linda (Royal Blue). I swatched them all and you will see them in part 2 of this blog posting, but first I want to give you some additional informations and tips to handle crackle polish:

You can wear crackle either alone for everybody who dont want to have strong contrast or over EVERY coloured nail polish. Wear your regular polish in two coats to get an even, dense layer underneath.

Some tips for application:

* make sure you have enough polish on the brush and work from one side to another. Don't polish like normal tip - middle - side - side!

* don't press too strong and polish with a light hand.

* Leave both side free of coloured polish, but polish over also this part with the crackle polish - crackle shrinks when its drying and if you don't apply it on the sides the effect is concentrated in the middle, which looks a bit ridiculous, when the sides have too much free space without crackle!


* The colour polish must be completely dry when you apply the crackle!

* Work and apply the crackle polish quick - if not, the solvents will also soften the colour underneath and smudge it, especially on combinations of dark polish and bright crackle!

* Base Coat - I tried different brands and kinds: without, with normal Base Coat and with Ridgefiller, my result: I like the one with Ridgefiller the most, in my eyes it provides the most even and flawless surface! But maybe you have different experiences, so then I appreciate your comments!

The crackle effect is visible in milliseconds - you can watch it shrinking and crackle the pattern! When its dried it is matte and almost chalky.

Normally you apply just one coat, most of the times a second looks not sooo pretty. Please choose by application of this two kinds of crackle: a thin application causes fine lines and hair cracks, a saturated, thicker coat will show bigger cracks:

Crackle polish on Ridgefiller - left/ring finger: thicker, right/middle finger: thin application

Finally you can seal your art work with Top Coat. Choose depending on your taste matte or shiny. Personal I like also to leave it like it is: a shiny coloured polish underneath and the chalky crackle polish on top. Interesting because the reflections are different, but with one disadvantage: it won't last so long as with Top Coat!

The colour combinations - the strongest ones are with cold / warm or bright / dark colours. For myself I like also the matching shades of brighter pairs, its also an everyday-look. Or maybe you want to try this: a French Crackle Manicure:

Black Crackle for the *Smile Line*, French Polish: ORLY - Je T'aime

OK, this was enough theory - see and follow to part 2 now the colours...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Nail Polish of the Week: ORLY Halleys Comet

This week my desire to colour is very intense - I am freezing, because its lousy cold, so my body tells me he wants to have sunshine and warm water. And for me warm, beautiful water is - how surprising - Turquoise! So I picked up for this week this nail polish:

ORLY - Halleys Comet
The nail polish Halleys Comet of ORLY comes originally out of the Autumn Collection Cosmic FX 2010, but I like this shade all over the year! Its an amazing Turquoise with Green Glitz, is dense, easy to apply and a very vivid colour! Its already on my all-time-favourite-list!

There was also a very similar nail polish from OPI in the last summer: Catch Me In Your Net, but please compare and see yourself:

Comparison: left - OPI Catch Me In Your Net, right - ORLY Halleys Comet

On the nails they are perfect twins - you won't see which colour is on which nail! OPI was limited and is out of stock anyway, but ORLY is a perfect dupe!


So what about you - what you wear on your nails, if you dream about sun and heat?