Blues of last summer (and a remove-stains tip!)

Last summer I wore winter shades, that's it.
Maybe I just tought they would be great with tanned hands, don't now why :D

Anyway, pictures are a little too bright, as the summer sun makes these dusty colours way too intense (or it's my poor camera reaction), but that's the beauty of light, right? :>

This is Essence "Goofy-Blue", cornflower blue with silver-white snowglitters.

Sparkly and wet-looking, it's quite pretty on the beach, trust me.

Below, Catrice "Shoppind at Bluemingdales": nice colour, worst name, I HATE these stupid names à la O.P.I., what's wrong with simple numbers and codes? :D

Again, this is a perfect autumn powdery blue (if you're that kind of person who cares about seasonal colours - I'm not :D ) and here you can see it a little too brighter than its real appearance...

Last, NYC "Jade" (simple name!).

PERFECT with tan, awful on nails, it stained them badly >.<

Below you see my nails right after the polish removal, and then clean again.

I used this homecleaning product to remove stains: it's a biodegradable, non-toxic detergent made of soap, natural fats, clay, lemon, glycerin and water; in the jar it looks like a block of white stone, you have to rub it with a damp sponge in order to use it on surfaces, but I used an old toothbrush whit the smallest quantity of product to brush my nails and get rid of stains in 3 seconds!

Please note I recommend it only for those bad bad stains you can't remove with just remover/acetone and q-tips, because this is a mild abrasive detergent. I used it only once, as I usually don't get stains, and my nails didn't suffer from this procedure.

In Italy you can find it in Kasanova stores (€12 for a 500g jar, if I don't get wrong) or in open air markets.

Have you ever heard of this product before?

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Boys of summer

Hi everyone!

With this song in background, you can read my post about my summer-ish new entries from 2013 - I think I bought more, but I'll show them in some next posts :D

Quandoè unknown colour/number: this is a very cool very tiny bottle of a very nice duochrome colour... Also VERY similar to Deborah n. 57 "Carpe Diem".

Ok, they're the VERY same nailpolish, too bad I didn't see it the moment I chose it :D

NYC n. 022 "Jade" (a little greener in real life), L'Oréal n. 831 "Fluo Azur" (♥) and a free Layla I got with a magazine... which I didn't like, in the end :D (the nailpolish, magazine is that kind of supposed women themes rubbish).

Anyway, it's Layla CE 66, a dusty light blue, WAY more dusty than in my pic, looks like almost a blue-grey.

Meh.

Above we have a superlovely trio:

- H&M "Shangai Nights": emerald green base, violently duochrome glitters, from blue to purple-pink, just like my hair right now :D

- Essence "Elves Like Lilac", from Fantasia TE, thank you again MaiSenzaSmalto!

- Maybelline n. 860 "Sea Sunset": this one it's more dull in real life, but it's nice in the bottle, duochrome shimmer is lovely; I tried it solo in the meantime, and I didn't like it that much, so I'll retry it over a blue base, I want to make it more vibrant.

Ok, a row of Kikos:

- from their new (now old and probably not successful) line of Quick Dry varnishes, n. 830, electric blue with lighter blue shimmer.

Not tried it yet.

- from the summer collection, Sun Pearl n. 428 (deep green with goldish "wet" glitters) and n. 429 (medium blue with wet silver glitters).

Why I say "wet"? It's just my impression of the look of these polishes, especially the silvery ones :>

Think of fine glassflecks...

- Laser Nail Lacquer n. 435 "Venom Teal", this is from the autumn collection of 2013 "Dark Heroine".

Classic duochrome blue-violet, mmh, we'll see when I'll wear it, I know I have already Essence and Catrice dupes >.<

New brand!

Not new to me, of course: Naj-Oleari is an historical italian fashion brand which at a certain point developed a cosmetic line, I remember I used to buy stuff from them when I was in high school.

Every now and then I see some nice products, but these two gems were at a cats charity sale, and I grabbed them immediately!

Blue one is a sand! Frome the Crystalizer Sandy Effect range, n. 108, it's a mix of blue-silver-pink, and in some angles you can see gold too (I think pink are duochromes); citrus yellow is n. 116, it's from Pearl XXL Sparkling Effect line, and I must say it's really sparkly!

I know, unusual colour for me, but I like it; I know it will be awesome layered or in a gradient :>

Quick cap swatches: I think these are two coats, nice ones, right?

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Russian mail :>

Hello again :>

Since I'm late with posts like a stupid actress on a movie set, I'm desperately trying to catch up with my latest new arrivals...
Ok, this isn't really a latest one, but it has been such a pleasure swapping with Anastasia I couldn't leave it behind any more :>

I LOVE the box this haul came in (it's blue ♥), I'm keeping it as a nice souvenir, our postal boxes aren't that stylish :D

Ok, not the biggest swap I've ever made, but I was (and I'm) broke as usual, so I couldn't afford many of the Russian gems we got to know lately (hello El Corazon and Dance Legend...).

BUT some months ago I stumbled in this post, and I fell in love with that varnish, so when Anastasia asked me for a swap, I took the chance and gently asked her if she could buy me it, and she did :>

PinkUp is a cheap brand and has many colour, pity I can't find a good online overview;  n. 77 is a blue-purple base with gold tiny glitters, see it swatched by Bamboo!

Anastasia even added two surprise colours, - not so surprising to you readers, I know:

- Jean Mishel, colour: I don't know! It's 6ml bottle, and text on the back (sooooo small) looks like it doesn't mention colour or number, so I'm clueless...

Anyway, it's a muted blue creme, with some teal tones :> 

- Jade n. C325: muted cornflower base with a duochrome iceblue-to-violet shimmer ♥

This is an Israel brand, even if the polish is made in France.

I've found this page, but I seriously hope Anastasia didn't pay it $14! °_°

Thanks so much again Anastasia, I didn't forget about my Dance Legends, I'm just waiting for the right moment ( = €€€€€€€€€ ) :D

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Essence - Oh My Glitter! AND Sinful Colors - Rise And Shine

Hi all!

This time, two colours I didn't mix, or layered, just applied together :D

(outdoor)

Photo above is too washed out - don't know why - but if you own these colours, you know they're quite bright and saturated, and a little tricky to represent the actual hue...

"Oh My Glitter!" is a nice lilac with pink-violet-gold tiny glassflecks, and "Rise And Shine" is a grass green with a touch of blue - in some pics it's bluer than the reality.

(indoor)

I think I applied two coats of both colours, they're perfect and they didn't stain my nails.

(outdoor shade)

See the flecks in the lilac? ♥

"Rise And Shine" has a delicate mint shimmer in it, it makes the polish so full and creamy, love it!

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Color Club - Total Mistery

I'm not dead!

I'm only sooooooooooooo behind past pics I'd need to post every two days to catch up with actual manicure, but I'll do my best not to leave this blog without updates :D

Do you like blues? Me I do.
Do you like purple? Me I do.
Do you like deep yet bright shades? Me I do.
What about a sprinkle of glittery shimmer? I like it.

(daylight)

Color Club "Total Mistery", from the Alter Ego collection, is all these things, and clearly much more: blue jelly base and micro glittery shimmer in pink and purple *_*

(daylight)

Very saturated, sometimes it's more blue, sometimes it's blurple.

I don't remember how many coats I've used, two coats and maybe some retouch here and there... I remember it quite pigmented, so I'd say two :D

The shimmer can add a purple side (or two, in case of the middle fingers :D) and sparkles in the sun, it's nicer in real life!

(direct sun)

Thank you, my dear, for having found me this beauty <3

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Spring new buyings...

... even if actually we still don't have spring here!

Weather is awful, few days of sun and MANY days of rain, and I'm that person whose mood it's strictly tied up with nice days, sun light and warm temperature. Great choice living in Milan, I guess :D

Anyway, these were the last nailpolishes I got in a long time, since that I then stopped, because I didn't find any other interesting colour...

From the new Catrice range, my choises:

From top and clockwise:

- "Mint Me Up", dusty mint with old gold shimmer and glitters, nice combination!

- "Purple Reign": actually it's more purple than in my picture, and it contains blue (and some spare pink) glitters, how can you resist?

- "Shopping Day At Bluemingdales" (short names next time, pls?): not so bright in real life, I've seen electric blue swatches around the web, don't trust them :D

But I'm a sucker for blues, you know, so I really like it, could be a nice choice for anyone who wants a boost of colour without being too much over the top.

Next ones: some time ago, FabFingerTips had a blogsale, and I spied a couple of vintage things I wanted to have in my collection, so here they are!

From left:

- Mavala "Capella", I'll talk about it later;

- Revlon n. 490 "Kiwizing", see great swatches here!

I think you all know the (in)famous "zing" collection by Revlon, here's a comprehensive total view (and list) on this collection, which dates from 2000 and it was full of (now older type) duochrome shades!

In the past, Revlon used to make gorgeous nailpolishes (check Color Illusion range!), so when I saw this little gem for sale, I couldn't resist, my inside collector won over me :D

At first I thought it was similar to Nubar "Indigo Illusion", and I think they've somewhat the same formula (see the teal base?), but then I realized the final result is different, as Revlon is a duochrome, and Nubar a multichrome.

I do personally prefer Nubar, but I'm glad I've found "Kiwizing", I'm a vintage-lover and I like to own some older items here and there :D

Now it's Mavala turn: I've found "Capella" from FabFingerTips and the very same day, on a british online beauty supplier, I scored another gem from the same collection, "Orion": these are all flakies colours from the Galaxy collection, which is a 2003 SMASHING collection released when no one cared about flakies :D 

The colours were "Agena", "Antares", "Canopus", "Capella", "Orion" and "Vega".

"Antares" and "Canopus" are too milky and frosty for me, while "Vega" has more visible flakies, but it's also milky, so I don't like it :D

I already own "Agena", so now my personal selection from Galaxy is completed!

I know now they aren't that smashing, but I just love these small bottles full of duochrome shimmers and flakies ♥

Don't be confused by the base colours, they're all pretty sheer, so I think I'll find the right use for "Orion" even if it's red :D

But, see below: a TRUE RED? Did I buy a RED nailpolish?

Damn yes, but CLEARLY I won't use it alone, don't worry :D

This is Shaka "Burn In Love", very metallic, very pigmented, very fiery! You can spy an orange-gold touch, yes it's there!

Actually "Burn In Love" has a magenta base FULL of goldish metallic shimmer =  RED

One coat.
See? Pink base :> So metallic!

On to the new adds: Elsa bought for me one of the most beautiful colours of this year:

It's beautiful and nice too! :D

Here it is Color Club "Portfolio" *______________*

No words needed, if you liked Zoya "Adina", you'll NEED "Portfolio", here's my cap comparison:

One coat each.
They aren't dupes, "Adina" has a lilac base and a lighter green side, "Portfolio" is much stronger, colder and pigmented.
I love both ♥

Lastly, two amazing H&M bottles: "Blue" and "White", clever names :D

El Corazon inspired? Who knows :D

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

A little bit of every colour

Ok, I'm a BLUE-purple-green girl, but this post will show many more colours than the usual ones you always see in my blog; not only because of multichromes, like the two pictured below:

(shade)

HOW AWESOME?
Left, Ebalay A08; right, A06.

A08: green to purple (and back); A06: burgundy-copper to gold (and back).
Sorry for the photobombing, but they're just like you see in my pics, no tricks or lightboxes, I just put them under a couple of different lightings, and they're beautiful anyway *_*

(upper, daylight; down, full sun)

Can't wait to try them over so many colours ♥ _♥

Then, one day, a birdie sent me a small packet, full of delightfulnesses: Chresy is an italian cheap cosmetic brand (can't find a website, I guess they still haven't one) which is available probably only in a couple of cities in Italy :D, so when Elsa told me she found new nice colours, my inner child started giggling.

From left:

- n. 055, deep blue with pink and blue microglitters *_*

- n. 42, deep and dark emerald sparly °_°

- n. 718, my new love of these months, since that I already own the ones from Pupa and Shaka: indigo blue base with red-goldish shimmer ♥___________♥

- the surprise gift: a mirror-like shimmer midblue from Flormar (n. 431), it's stunning! Almost foily once applied, pity pictures can't show fully its beauty...

I made cap swatches, but I couldn't choose a single pic to show here, so I grab all and made a gif, too bad gif's poor resolution doesn't show up deepness of colours :[
Two coats for every colour.

Maybe a different angled picture will help?

I hope so :D


Next, a batch of small "I-have-to-buy-that-colour"-s: you know, when you don't really need them, but they're not exactly dupes of something you already own, plus they're so cheap...

From left:

- n. 01 "Edward" from the new Essence nail Art Twins, it's more periwinkle in real life...

- again, one new Essence, "Miss Universe"; ok, this is quite similar to Essie "Dive Bar", but not a dupe; ok, I surely didn't need it, but I liked it and I think it would be a tad sparklier. I think.

- one gem I found in those €1 (or $1, for the international readers) stores: Lady Venezia n. A/37, electric blurple base with electric blue shimmer.
This is a small makeup brand which strangely has a website, but it's slowly like a sloth; anyway, there are many different finishes, not the most original colours I've ever seen in my life, but nothing bad for such a small and cheap factory.

Different angle again:

Lastly, a jade green from the Spring Kiko collection (n. 423): this one is SO vivid and saturated, jelly base with microglitters!

Swatched here, it's a little sheer, but this not really a big deal for me :>

This Shaka, I've found it in a big clear acrylic cube: ok, it's too fuchsia for my tastes, even if it's colder in real life, and I don't really know if I'd wear it solo on my nails, but... Purply magenta with greenish-gold glitters? MUST TRY IT.

MaiSenzaSmalto swatched this, and seems like green glitters won't translate on nails, but I don't want to surrender, I WANT TO BELIEVE (cit.).


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Essence - Just Rock It! + NatRobbins - EL 136 Greed

Finally a new post, good morning everyone :D
And finally looks like spring is here to stay, I've been so fed up with grey days...

This a beutiful layering idea I did some weeks ago: "Just Rock It!" is the perfect ink blue from Essence and their discontinued Colour&Go line (RIP).

I used two coats, and I must say it's so glossy and pigmented, on shorter nails probably you can even go with just one good coat.

(without top coat!)

I then applied one coat of this sheer emerald gem I received from Sabbatha (you don't say?!) and BAM!, awesomeness in a second :D

(daylight)

No need to say I really loved them together, and the way the green shows up here and there ♥

(outdoor daylight)

I topped all with Essence Better Tnan Gel Nails top coat: I love the final effect, even if I hat that it becomes whithish at borders after some days of wearing, clear nailpolish doesn't act like this...

(outdoor daylight, cloudy)

 EDIT: added a nighttime picture, because it's worth it :P

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

My kind of rainbow

How do you like my kind of rainbow? :D

Below here they are my January-February new adds :>

Kind of boring, uh? Forgive me *_*

Another view, enjoy reflects and scroll down for names and numbers :>

1) Shaka CH4 "Peacock": turquoise-emerald creamy base, gold metallic veins *_*

2) Kiko Sugar Mat n. 643, a small swatch here :>

3) Essence "Life Is A Freeride"...

4) ... and "Goofy-Blue", from Snow Jam TE; unfortunately not really colour accurate :|

5) Kiko Celebration Nail Lacquer n. 424, from the Colours In The World spring collection, swatch here.

6) H&M "Active Blue", one of the newest colours, so saturated and full of pink and blue chunkies ♥

7) Shaka "Pandora"...

8) ... and CH5 "Indigo" (swatch here): they look similar, but they're not, as "Pandora" is a deep and rich purple with some metallic reflects; "Indigo" is a dupe for this blue Kiko (supposed to be a duochrome).

9) Depend n. 313, doesn't need any introduction, right? EDIT: many many thanks to MaiSenzaSmalto for having picked me this amazing little bottle outside of Italy ♥____♥

10) Shaka CH2 "Purple".

Ok, Shaka does collection, but as I said before, their site is a complete mess, and not all colours are shown together, if they're part of a collection, or they aren't shown at all, so to sum up, CH collection ("chrome"?) is composed of five shades (overview here), in the end I bought four of them.

"Pandora" comes from another collection, Color Cosmo (overview here), it includes many beautiful shades even if not so original (at least for me :P ).

Detail shot, for your viewing pleasure :>

From left: CH5 "Indigo", "Pandora", CH2 "Purple", CH4 "Peacock".

Stupid gif of the two Kiko :D
 

Below, detail of "Active Blue" and n. 313, plus a last minute new entry, Deborah Sense Tech 100% Mat n. 10: bought because on sale, it claims a "velvet" effect, I liked it because it's not a creme, but contains small glitters and a metallic shimmer, we'll see them better when I'll wear it :>

 

Lastly, two neutral colours for those dim days, when I'll want to wear something calm on nails :D

Sinful Colors "Glass Pink" and Kiko Holographic n. 399 (another sale buying)... Now I have enough neutral holographics :D

I've also made a quick comparison with Ebalay A02; "Glass Pink" is pretty sheer, two coats on cap, I hope it will give that natural finish touch to nails... Not sure if I'll wear it alone though :D

Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)