Teal Rex - doing a detailed mani, for once!

Hey there! 

I decided to wear my Teal Rex with a bit of a nail design, it's a gorgeous colour on it's own but it was crying for a bit of black ;) I went for a simple design on most fingers and doing an owl as a... stand-out nail? Is that the right word choice?

Teal Rex - natural light + camera flash, lightbox

I gave the owl wrinkles with grey underneath the eyes, not sure how great that translates into the picture. Here's a list of the polishes I used:

Nail art pen # yellow

Wet'n'Wild Black Creme

Essence Stampy Polish in black & white (these are very pigmented so fantastic for layers)

Rival de Loop (German brand) # 52

Essence I Love Berlin LE nail art pen in Green Grass

Finished it with a layer of China Glaze Fast Forward, my new TC love - it's almost as fast drying as Seche and the fumes don't make me dizzy! It doesn't contain toluene so it'll be my preffered TC from now on :)

A big thank you to all who so sweetly commented on Teal Rex - I am so thrilled you like it as much as I do! I hope you don't mind seeing it again, I just couldn't hep but try and use it as a base for something fun.

Also wanted to note that I edited my pages a bit, updating my wishlist and making an "about" page.

♥ Vetten

Teal Rex (Franken)

I've had a lot of fun doing frankens lately. It's not only fun to mix and create a polish you'd wish real companies would make, it's also lots of fun finding a name and making a bottle design that fits it. While Frankie wants to meet Galaxy's sticker was very simple in design, I decided to make a more artistic design for my latest franken :) I hope you like it!

Teal Rex - RAWR!

Teal Rex was created with a few polishes I haven't used on their own yet. While I felt they were beautiful, they were very average, and so, in an ocean of simple polishes, I decided to make one that would stand out more (at least to me. I know dark, musty colours aren't everyone's cup of tea ;) ).

I used about 1/5 clear polish, 2,5/5 Essence - Trendsetter (a teal creme I bought in Germany) and 1,5/5 of an unkown brand black crammed with silver shimmer (similar to Magic Black from H&M, only with lots more and bigger silver shimmer). I realise I should've taken a picture of the ingredients to show you, but I never got around to do it.

The bottle I used is from the same unknown brand as the black shimmer, I really need to order some clear bottles soon! Though the square bottle appealed more to my creativity ;)

The result is a very dark teal with amazing light teal / silver shimmer in it. I'm super pleased with it ♥ It reminds me of the CND duo with Urban Oasis and Teal Sparkle, a set that's been on my wantlist for a while. 

Oh, and Teal Rex is almost a one-coater! I used two since there was still a few bald spots after one coat.

Here's a few more shots of the bottle ~

Teal Rex - bottle shots

And it wouldn't be fun without a mani-shot, would it? :) Here shown with NailTek II base coat and a coat of China Glaze Fast Forward on top.

Teal Rex - natural light + camera flash

What do you think about it? :) If you don't like tacky bottles, LOL, or the result it's okay - don't be afraid to give your honest opinion! I realize it's not exactly a spring kind of colour, but I love wearing dark colours all year. I can never get enough teals (or effect polishes for that matter) in my collection ♥

♥ Vettelicious

Frankie wants to meet Galaxy (franken time)

I've been inspired by Neglenymferne and Coewless who both made such amazing frankens lately. If you haven't seen these blogs before, I suggest you take a look now, there's some really sweet girls behind them and they often update with gorgeous tempting colours and artistic manicures :)

Frankie wants to meet Galaxy

Frankie wants to meet Galaxy is a sheer grey base packed with all kinds of glitter (like I said, I was very inspired by the above mentioned). There's silver holographic sparkles, blue and dark blue glitters, silver glitters and a few large glitters here and there. 

I used many polishes to create this - Manhattan 101S, Essence - Julia, Catherine Arley 676, two nail art pens with blue glitter, and the base is a cheap clear topcoat.

I decided that it should be a polish made for layering only, so I never intended it to be able to build opaque. I also wanted to be able to use it on various base colours with a darkened effect, so that's why I mixed in the grey. While creating this, I was also thinking of Lippmann's Today was a Fairytale, a polish I hope I'll have one day. I love glitters in sheer but toned base colours.

As for the name, it might sound silly to you, but I'm a child at heart and I have another hobby I don't often speak about - collecting vintage My Little Pony toys from around the world. You might remember how MLPs had a symbol on their hips? One of my favourite ponies is called Galaxy (I've used her for a design previously), and this franken reminded me of a starry night. When I'm out at night, I always look for Big Dipper (Karlsvognen), it's my favourite constellation, always has been. And so I thought it'd be an appropriate name. :)

I knew I had to try it on immediately, so I found my Black Creme from Wet'n'Wild and started with a coat of that (after using my basecoat of course). Then I used one coat of Frankie wants to meet Galaxy, and decided I didn't need more for the effect I was going for. :) Two coats would've given a more even glitter when there's no light to catch the holo particles.

Here's the result in various light, and I'm pretty satisfied with it overall. Now I can wear the night sky with me all the time ♥

Franken wants to meet Galaxy - indoor, lightbox + flash

Franken wants to meet Galaxy - indoor, natural light

Franken wants to meet Galaxy -sunlight

I think the polish turned out okay - I wish I had more big sparkles to add, but then again it wouldn't like like a real night sky - after all I was going for the scattered glitter. The reason I don't want it to be a regular black holo without the scattered glitter? I wanted a sparkly polish that would also make a pretty indoor look. In my opinion regular black holos look so dull indoor, and a few glitters took care of that.

Sorry for the funny picture sizes, I know it looks totally silly, but I'm too tired to work with them right now. I wanted to show the different faces of this franken - personally, the indoor no light is my favourite, although it does look divine when light catches the holo sparkles.

I'm excited to hear your opinions, and don't be shy - if you think it could need some work, LMK so I can improve! Or if you just plain don't like it, I'm totally okay with that as well :)

♥ Vettelicious

(thank god I decided to make a few posts in advance - I've been sick the past two days)

Essie - Going Incognito

I know this polish is old news, but it wasn't until recently I finally ordered it for myself. Going Incognito is part of Essies 2010 Fall Collection, and in my humble opinion it's the most interesting colour of the bunch.

Essie - Going Incognito

If you ask me, one can never have too many green cremes, let alone sea green cremes. I've always been a big fan of polishes in all colours from green to blue and especially the ones in between.

I don't own many polishes from Essie, in fact I only have 4 colours in my collection - all in some shade of green. Besides Going Incognito I have Greenport, Mint Candy Apple and Pretty Edgy. I would have more, if only Essie polishes had a better brush. I can't stand the thin, soft brush that is unbelievably hard to control for someone as shaky as me. It takes me 4 brush strokes to cover my wide nails and more brushstrokes = bigger risk that it'll end up with visible brushstrokes.

I doubt I'll be able to avoid buying Essie polishes in the future - they make some unique shades and I find it especially hard to resist their greens.

Rant aside, Going Incognito is a deep, muted sea green. It's very pigmented and I needed two coats for full coverage. It was relatively easy to apply and all problems I had with this was caused by the annoying brush as mentioned above. And the colour is worth the extra clean-up I'm bound to get with the silly brush ;)

I really wanted to make some nail art based on this colour, but my mind was blank and I had no muse whatsoever. Oh well, it definitely a colour I will be wearing again, and I'll have a good think of a theme until next time ;)

Essie - Going Incognito -natural sunlight

In general, I sincerely apologise for the lack of nail art lately, I'm just having a design-block at the moment I think. I try with almost every manicure, but end up ruining it and do a simple creme instead. Hopefully my muse (and patience) will be back soon :)

What's your opinion on Essie Polishes in general? Which is your favourite shades - and why? And lastly, what do you think of Going Incognito? :)

♥ Vettelicious

Nfu Oh # 52

Today I have a beautiful flakie polish to show you - Nfu Oh #52.

Nfu Oh #52

I bought this polish used since I already have #56 and I thought it'd be too close to be worth having both, but jumped the opportunity when I could get it for less than retail. When it arrived I could see there was a major difference, and I'm super excited to have both now :) And won't you know it; I'm already looking at getting a few more, I blame the beautiful bottle design and the major difference I was oblivious to before!

While #56 is green flakies with a subtle blue-ish tinge to it, #52 is equal part blue and green, depending on how light catches it. During the day it flashes both colours, as it gets darker the green becomes more dominant (as the light gets more yellow toned).

I decided to try layering it over black, since I didn't know whether to take a blue or green base colour. I think a blue base will make the blue more obvious and I bet a green will bring out the green.
I used Wet'n'Wild Black creme as base, which is a cheap one-coat black. It's been my go-to black base for a while, but I'm running out.. If you know of a good, one-coat black creme, LMK in the comments! :) I've been thinking of Essie Licorice, as I love it's jelly finish.

Anyways, back on flakie track lol. If you're thinking about getting a blue and or or green flakie polish from Nfu Oh I'd definitely recommend #52 and kill two birds with one stone.

Wet'n'Wild - Black Creme & Nfu Oh #52 - natural light

I used one coat of Black Creme and one coat of Nfu Oh #52. It's a relativel quick manicure, considering I often do 3-4 layers not counting base and top coat. And it looks like a million, if you ask me ♥

I read that Nfu Oh is releasing a series of jellies, called jelly syrups. Judging from the pictures and descriptions, they are very sheer and will never build up to be opaque, but I'm still super excited and hope I will get the opportunity to try a few :) Jellies = layering fun!

♥ Vetten

New year - new look for my blog!

Just a little heads-up that I have  a new design for my blog. I hope you like it :)

I was getting tired of looking at green and wanted a simple background - since most colours looks great with black, I went for a simple black theme. 


This past weekend, my dad and I (well, mostly my dad, LOL! I'm not as handy as I wish I was) made a lightbox for me! I've wanted one for ages, and with the help of my dad I was able to get a sturdy one that'll last a lifetime. ♥ I have many hobbies, and most include photography to some degree, so it's fun being able to take nice pictures with a calm background and hardly any shadows.

Happy Birthday - it sure is one happy polish!

Here's a test shot I did yesterday - natural light only (if only we had this much light every day! Sometimes my pictures are going to be on less white background until I find 3 good, cold/white-lighted lamps), no flash or lamps. I did edit it on the computer though, so I've eliminated a few grey areas, but who cares? It's much easier to end up with a good looking result now :)

Any comments on the new design is much appreciated, I love hearing what you guys think!

♥ Vettelicious

MAC - Blue India

I snagged this beauty from a danish site where people can sell their unwanted items - most of it is related to clothes, accessories and make-up. I got Blue India for half it's original retail price, but it has been used one or two times. Granted, I prefer fresh, new bottles, but with some wants I just can't bear the price tag which in this case it about 25$ plus shipping on ebay nowadays ;)

It's about a week ago I wore this, so my nails are longer than the previous posts. Just wanted to note that no, they didn't grow over night LOL.

I love dark blue polishes, and dark muted colours are right up my alley. Blue India is the perfect muted blue, and I'm so happy to have it ♥ It applies really nice and I got away with two medium coats. It is a thin polish, so it showed nail ridges and what-not, so I topped it off with Seche Vite.

What's your opinion about buying/getting used nail polish? Can you accept it for your more expensive wants?

♥ Vettelicious

Essence - Black & White - White Hype

Today I want to show you another creme (If you haven't noticed, I'm on a creme hype lately), which I used as base for my french moon manicure the other day.

White Hype is a creme polish with a satin finish - or as it says on the bottle, soft touch finish. It means that it isn' glossy when dry, which you'll see in the pictures.

Essence - White Hype, 2 coats - artificial light

Essence - White Hype, 2 coats - flash

I'm not sure what to say about this polish - I'm trying to find a few good qualities, but I'm having a hard time doing that, to be honest. One thing I do like about though, is the chalky, satin finish. 

White is not my colour, it brings out all my redness and yellow tint so I doubt it's a colour I'll ever be wearing on its own. While White Hype covered bald spots in two coats, the formula was horrible - absolutely horrible to work with - thick, clotty and streaky. While doing my nails, the brush picked up so much semi-dry polish in the end that I was worried I'd have to use acetone to clean it. And it was incredibly thick in a not good way.. I don't normally hate polishes with a thick tendency, but this was just too thick.

To sum it up, I am satisfied with the satin look and hope Essence will be doing a few more, just work on the consistency, please ;) I have never been this close to throw a hissyfit over something as small as a nail polish before, LOL!

♥ Vetten

Essence - I Love Berlin - #03 Green Grass - French Moon mani

Hey girls, I hope you're having a fantastic Thursday! The moon followed me to school early this morning, the sun has been shining through the day and I'm feeling ready for spring ♥

I haven't had a single chip in my ILB (I Love Berlin) I Love This City (pink creme) manicure, but I had so much time on my hands that I decided to try out another new polish today! I started with a white satin finish polish from Essence called White Hype, but I'll show you (and rant) about that one another day. I used the white base as a base for my first french moon manicure - I'm pretty sure that's the name of it anyway - and went for another gorgeous creme from the ILB LE collection - #03 Green Grass to paint from the moons onto the tip. The result is not amazing, but I thought I'd share anyway :)

Essence - Green Grass + White Hype - flash

Essence - Green Grass + White Hype - artificial light

Green Grass is a gorgeous creme, very opaque but I think two coats is needed for total coverage. I used a rather thick one over White Hype.

Hope you like it! I'm not sure I like the moon when it's white - it doesn't fit my skintone, does it? Also, be happy that you don't have to see the sloppery job I did on my right hand - I gave up and called it a day before it got perfect. I'll be doing a weekend manicure tomorrow anyway!

A big welcome to my new followers, more and more have been starting to follow my blog lately, and I'm super psyched about it. No, I don't do it for the followers, but sharing it with you guys makes the blogging part of my polish obsession so much more fun!

♥ Vettelicious

Essence - I Love Berlin - #01 I Love This City

Sweet sweet Mandy were so awesome to pick up some new limited colours from Essence for me, and today I want to show you an amazing pink creme. It's called I Love This City and is from the I Love Berlin limited collection.

I decided to cut my nails today, they were getting a bit too long for work. I want them short before they break, LOL. I really like this length, and I think the shape looks great with nail polish on (not without though, but who cares when I'm always wearing one colour or another?). What do you think, too square or anything else to note? I don't like that my middle fingernail appears shorter because it isn't as high on my finger as the rest, but the tip is just as long as the others. Any tips?

For once, I have more than one picture to show you, even though this is just a creme. I know I've been saying this a lot about the cremes I've showed you lately, but this colour is perfection in a bottle. I was a little frustrated at my nails after the french glitter stickers, and this made me love nail polish all over again! It's salmony pink, but with a subtle enough yellow tone to still make it work for me. It's a total Barbie pink ♥

Essence - I Love This City - flash

Essence - I Love This City - flash and artificial light

Essence - I Love This City - artificial light, no flash

This gorgeousness is a two-coater and very streaky. It was nothing my topcoat couldn't take care of though, Seche Vite Fast Dry is win! And the colour is worth the application.

As you've probably already noticed, I love this polish. It's my favourite pink creme now and I'm so sad it's a limited colour... I can't even get a spare! I'll be on the hunt for a dupe, that's for sure.

Thank you Mandy, for giving me the opportunity to try this amazing colour. I owe you big time! :)

♥ Vettelicious

Manhattan : 101S aka another dark grey creme

*UPDATE at the bottom*

Today I wanted to try a new polish I bought from the brand Manhattan. I'm a sucker for dark, almost black greys and this pretty polish looked like it was right up my alley.

It definitely is ♥

Manhattan 101S, flash

(excuse the wear, I had to go shopping right after applying my Seche topcoat and couldn't get any pics until this evening so it looks quite a bit worn).

I've been wearng a lot of cremes lately, so I thought about spicing them up a bit. I remembered some stickers I picked up in Germany from Essence, silver glitter french style stickers. I've been saving them for a dark creme, and this was a great opportunity :)

Here it is without topcoat (and really, it still looks like stickers on the tips of your nails. I highly recommend a topcoat on these, not only to make them last longer but also to remove the sticker-esque feel).

Manhattan 101S + Essence French Glam stickers

Here's the final manicure with a cot of Seche Vite;

Manhattan 101S + Essence French Glam stickers

I honestly have no idea what happened to the sticker on my pointer, it looks like Seche might've shrinked it?! D: Not the look I was going for.

Manhattan 101S is definitely is must-have, if you like dark cremes. It's a two-coater, dries relatively fast and is easy to clean up. I'm liking Manhattan polishes more and more!

As for the Essence French Glam stickers, it's a good solution if you want funky french tips but don't bother the work with an extra polish that has to dry... But the result isn't as amazing as it'd been if I used the real deal. It does look a little less sticker-like IRL, but it still isn't enough. Needless to say, next time I feel like this, I'm going to do it the paint-'em-yourself-way ;)

UPDATE: Well it turns out the glam stickers didn't last long. In fact, when I woke up the morning after having applied them (and using a topcoat to seal them, mind you), 4 were already falling apart. Literally, as in the sides lifting and breaking off! I had to remove them before going to class, lol, I wouldn't be seen with 'em. I would not recommend replying these and expecting them to last for a few days, if you want the look for a party, be sure to apply them right before going.

♥ Vettelicious

Tag : Stylish Blogger Award

Rachel Marie and Ali tagged me with the stylish blogger award! Thanks, both of you! :) Both are bloggers that will leave you with lots of inspiration in each post! I recommend checking them out if you haven't done so already.

This tag is about sharing 7 tings with your wonderful readers. I'd better tell a little about myself! I'll do it the nail-fanatic way and make it about me and nail polish ;)

#1 When I was little, I hated using make-up. I even hated it the first few years being a teen. I've always secretly admired nail polish, though, and those who mastered it, but didn't have enough patience myself.

 

#2 It wasn't until May 2010 or so I got hooked on polishes myself. It started with the discovery of a few danish blogs, and a certain nail polish from Depend called #54, a beautiful turquoise unlike anything I had ever seen for nails. I bought 4 extras, because I never thought I would find a colour this beautiful again. I still adore this colour, but I have many favourites now!

#3 When I take interest in something, I do it whole-heartedly. Nail polish is one of those hobbies that I "fear" will stick with me forever - there is so many colours out there, and the companies continue to make amazing new colours and trends meaning my collection will never be done, so to say.

#4 All of my hobbies have something to do with colour - whether it be nail polish, drawing/painting, collecting vintage toys, I must be sucked in by colours, and the variance in these. They make me smile :)

#5 Before getting hooked on Depend #54, I only ever used black and pink polish, one at a time. Had I only known about the gorgeous glitters out there..

#6 I used to pick my nails real short, and until I started using nail polish regularly I couldn't stop.

#7 I don't use much make-up besides nail polish. I use eyeliner and a teeny tiny amount of foundation to cover blemishes on daily basis and very rarely anything else.

I'm going to break the rules and only tag a few people! This tag has been going around on blogs for a while now, and I fear I might be tagging some that have already been tagged, lol.

I'm going to tag:

Solensdanserinde

RijaH

Kathrin

Coewless

And I'm too lazy to write you, so I hope you see this! ;D Joking, I'm pretty sure you read my blog, and it's more fun to find out this way!

♥ Vetten

Holo-madness! Catherine Arley #667

Today I'm wearing a holographic pretty I got recently. I bought quite a few Catherine Arley polishes with the help of a sweet Bulgarian :) Catherine Arley is a Turkish brand from what I understand, and each nail polish cost me about 1.50$ . A big thank you to Emerald Sparkled, who showed these beautiful holos on her blog! Without that post I never would've known they existed.

#667 is a dark grey holographic polish a very strong holo effect. In order to show you how pretty this gorgeous polish is without having any kind of natural light, let alone sunlight, I had to play with some artificial light and it made my fingers go red and yellow. Please excuse that, but I'm sure you'll agree that the polish is more important :)  

This picture shows the effect and the density of the holo effect very well, however a bit washed out, the colour is more accurate on the following pictures. I hope I can get better pics during the weekend, if so I will update this post.

Catherine Arley #667 - artificial light, no flash

And a close-up (this is the colour the polish is IRL)

Catherine Arley #667 - artificial light, flash

And a blurry pic where you can really see the pretty sparkles!

Catherine Arley #667 - artificial light, flash

I'm wearing two thick coats and one coat of Seche Vite. I found that while the top coat was drying, the holo effect was very muted compared to the nails without, but once it dried fully there was no difference other than the finish, which were more shiny. So there's no need to skip the topcoat on this one ;)

As for how rough the holo glitter particles are, it compares to GOSH - Holographic. It's rougher than OMG holos, but finer than Kaleidoscope holos.

This was one of my fav Catherine Arleys going from the bottles when I received them, and it certainly hasn't disappointed me! The price is unbeatable and the result is... Holo! ♥ It really says it all.

♥ Vettelicious

MAC - Style Clan

Today I'm wearing MAC - Style Clan, which is an interesting muddy brown-beige creme with bronze glitter in it. I saw it on my trip to Germany, in a store called Douglas, but it was sold out so you can imagine me sighing and drooling over the test bottle, right? LOL! At least I got to see that the colour was indeed something I'd like to try, and so I bought it online when I returned (and my wallet had recovered just a tiny bit).

I only have pictures taken when it was dull, so they're inside shots and with a flash. They do make the glitter appear more visible than it does on the nail (unfortunately), just so you know. ;)

First picture is without topcoat -

MAC - Style Clan - flash

And here's a picture after I added Seche Vite topcoat -

MAC - Style Clan - flash & topcoat

I used my regular basecoat, NailTek II, applied two coats of Style Clan and finished with a coat of Seche Vite. Style Clan applied like a dream - despite the brush having a few stray hairs (!) which is not something I expect in an expensive polish (shame on you, MAC!). First coat was thin, but I was afraid it would take three coats, so I applied second coat a little thicker. It was still a dream formula, very easy to control.

I find that Seche smoothens the polish perhaps a bit too much - I like it better with the raw glitter being more visible. It kind of suits the polish better I think.

I must admit that while I adore this colour, I don't think I'll be using it a lot until next Fall - it's just too Autumn-ish in my book. Still a wonderful colour, very unique, and I definitely don't regret buying it :)

♥ Vettelicious

Mint Mojito, cupcake and strawberries!

This manicure is inspired by a beautiful green creme I got recently, perfect for spring - Orly's Mint Mojito. I love this colour so much, it's bold for a pastel shade, it's green and it's just... wow. This is as flashy as a glitter! Does that make sense? LOL

I had a few difficulties capturing the true shade of the colour.. It's a bit more bold than my flash would allow.

Here's 2-3 coats of Mint Mojito. It's a bit sheer, but the colour is worth the 2 thick or 3 thin coats it takes.

Orly Mint Mojito w/ topcoat & flash

Mint Mojito is gorgeous on it's own, but I wanted more. I couldn't help myself, I needed something cute on my fingertips!

Orly Mint Mojito.. with strawberries! Picture taken with flash

This picture shows the true colour of Mint Mojito a little bit better;

Strawberry cupcake made with nail polish & steel beads

Besides my basecoat, NailTek II, I used Mint Mojito as base colour - 2-3 coats.

I then added a coat of Seche to speed up drying time, then I painted the cupcake and strawberries using OPI Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!, Essie Pretty Edgy, white Depend polish and finished the cupcake with some steel beads from Ebay in green and pink. 

I gently pushed them into the wet polish, and added a coat of Seche Vite to finish the manicure. I've worn this for three days now, and none of them have fallen off :)

I hope you like it! I think it's pretty cute, even if a bit sloppy, and will def. do something similar when Spring comes!

♥ Vetten

Simple manicure: Gosh - Gypsy Blue, CG DV8 & Essence Image Plate

Gypsy Blue is by far the prettiest and easiest creme I've tried from Gosh. It's easy to work with, has a great formula, very opaque meaning you can get away with one thick or two thin coats, oh, and the colour itself is gorgeous.

This is my go-to colour when I want to make an easy, painless manicure or just feeling like a popping blue on my nails. The colour really pops - it's the perfect basic blue IMO ♥ Looking at this colour throughout the day really cheers me up!

For this manicure I wanted a little bit of sparkle as well as some stamping. I recently organised my plates, meaning they're easier to reach and choose from, so I think I'll be using more patterns from now on.

China Glaze's DV8 came to mind as well as my favourite random pattern, circles from an Essence image plate I have. I think the result is a fun little extra on that beautiful blue I love so much, and I put on some dots of DV8 with my dotting tool to make the pattern more complete :)

Gosh Gypsy Blue, CG DV8 & Essence Image Plate

Gosh Gypsy Blue, CG DV8 & Essence Image Plate- no flash for extra visible holo

Here's what I used:

Besides my base coat, NailTek II, I used two coats of Gypsy Blue.

Then I stamped and dotted DV8 randomly on the nails, and finished with a coat of Seche Vite :)

♥ Vettelicious

Barry M - Mint Green

Just a quick swatch for you today :)

I purchased Barry M's Mint Green a while ago while ASOS had a beauty sale, I just haven't got around to try it before now. In general, I'm not too impressed with Barry M - their polishes lack density/are too sheer for cremes. Mint Green is a pretty colour, though, a tad streaky which a top coat will take care of. I'd say it lies pretty close to other mints such as MACs Peppermint Patti, and it certainly is cheaper. It also survived fine, no chip or wear and I wore it for 2 days. Maybe it's just me being hard on it regarding the consistency, I just hate using thick coats, and only jellies can make me use more than 2 ;) I'm a spoiled little brat, aren't I?

One coat NailTek base, two thick coats Mint Green and one coat Seche Vite. If you use thin coats, three coats of Mint Green might be needed for full opacity.

Barry M Mint Green - 2 coats + topcoat

I hope you all will have a fantastic Friday! Yay for weekend :D


♥ Vettelicious

Give-away coming soon!

Wohoo, I have 27 followers now! I promised to do a give-away when I hit 25 followers, and I have a bottle of Gosh - Rainbow and Gosh - Bright Passion sitting pretty on a shelf, waiting for the last and what I hope to be the best part of the give-away. I can't wait 'till it arrives! :D

A BIG thank you to all of you who find my blog follow-worthy ♥ You make blogging and nail polish hoarding so much more fun!

♥ Vettelicious

NOTD : Color Club Revvvolution!

Hey guys! Hope you're having as great a start on the new year as I am; it's busy but it's been a good kind of busy :)

I'm on a holo craze, I think most nail polish fanatics out there got excited about Tronica from China Glaze which will be released in a few months. A few people have already got ahold of it, and I must say that I've been severely disappointed in the swatches. Almost no holo at all :( Even so, I'm hoping to try them out and find love for them anyway LOL - maybe they're not OMG substitutes but they deserve a chance to be their own pretties :)

Anyway, I decided that I needed a few more holos in my life - right now. As in, I had to check out Ebay and find a few pretties to pass time a little quicker :) I quickly decided it had to be a dark shade, and I found Revvvolution which is rather cheap. I wasn't too impressed with the bottle pics I saw, but thought it was worth a try. 

And boy, is it worth the pennies ♥ It's as close as you get to a black holographic polish!

I only used one coat - yes, one coat - and it wasn't a thick one either. The holo effect is gorgeous, it's subtle compared to some brands like NfuOh and China Glaze's OMG collection, and it's more scattered than those as well. I still love it - it's dark, it's got rainbow particles, I'm sold :)

I decided to take a picture before putting topcoat on, because I've heard rumours it takes some of the holo effect. It never has in my experience, and this one proved to be just as holo, if not even prettier (with the added shine and all), with a top coat (Seche Vite). I'll show you both pictures anyway ;)

Color Club Revvvolution - no topcoat

Color Club Revvvolution + Seche Vite topcoat

If you like dark and bold holos, and don't want to spend too much either, I can def. recommend Revvvolution. It's opaque in only ONE coat! Sure, there's holos out there with much more holo effect - but I have yet to find a dark grey / black one :) It's not my fav holo, but it's on my holo top 10 for now!

What's your favourite holo? Is there one type of holos you prefer more than another?

♥ Vettelicious

New Year's Eve manicure - 230 reasons to wear unicorn pee on your nails!

I'm extremely excited about sharing this manicure with you! Some of you might find me crazy, and I'll be the first to admit that I am crazy, LOL. I bought a certain #230 as a christmas present for myself. I've been lusting for it ever since I saw a brilliant - and funny - post about it right HERE :) I decided it was worth the price tag, and used the rest of my hard-saved cash from the Germany trip to get it.

It's Clarins #230! I rather like it's nickname, though - Unicorn pee. Doesn't it sound a lot more exciting? LOL!

Clarins #230

It's a sheer polish, so I decided to use a dark purple as base. I have a dark creme from Depend, which I decided to use. You can see it in one of the pictures. It applies really nice, and dries to a glossy finish. 2 coats purple base, one #230. I used one coat of Seche above to prolong it's life :)

I've spend at least 30 minutes total trying to capture all the colours this little wonder has in the bottle. It acts different, depending on your lightsource - so some of these pics are inside with artificial light, some are sunlight. All colours are visible on the nail except the blue (I haven't seen it yet), unlike a holo the entire shimmer changes colour almost instantly, depending on which angle you hold your nail... It's amazing ♥

Now for the interesting part... pictures! I cut my nails shorter a few days ago, they were starting to curve a little and I don't want them to break, either. I think this is my preferred length :)

Clarins #230... How it looks most of the time

Clarins #230 - showing it's orange and yellow undertones..

Clarins #230 - showing off yellow with a slight green hue..

Clarins #230 - going green!

Clarins #230... Beautiful in all angles ♥

(I forgot to wrap the tips! argh!)

One might ask me, if it was worth the pricetag... I'd still buy it, having tried it and everything! Needless to say, I am not disappointed :)

♥ Vettelicious

Giveaway Prize + Tag: 7 things about you

I won a give-away held by the wonderful Cel from Greece! If you love nail polish & kawaii things and haven't already checked out her blog, you really should! She's very talented and very sweet ♥

She sent me the Enchanted Holiday set from Color Club, including 4 mini sparklies and a set of stickers. I will have so much fun with the polishes, even though Christmas went by, and the stickers will be there next year for me to use :)

She also sent me an ADORABLE brooch, made from a red heart with two Mickey shapes attached ♥ I love it! Not to mention a Hello Kitty phone strap, also incredibly cute, 4 diff. nail art sticker sheets and a sesame bar! Thank you so much, sweetie!

I've also been tagged by her, and thought it would be okay to include in this post. :) It wasn't the intention, but I decided to answer like a true polishaholic - so most of these answers are about polish, LOL! Hope it's okay I gave it a little twist ;)

# 7 things I have to do before I die

+ Find a red creme I dare to wear

+ Try each and every one of my untried polishes (this will be an on-going neverending quest!)

+ Travel around the world and find local nail polish brands to try

+ Do a natural nail post (I'm terrified of showing you my ugly, stained nails)

+ Try out MINX or something similar

+ Own the majority of the nail polishes inspired by something I'm a fan of (Like RBL's Spongebob polishes! ♥)

+ I hope to meet other nail polish fanatics once! It would be so amazing to talk to someone who shares the passion.

# 7 things I say all the time

+ OMG!

+ LOL (sad as it is, I say this quite often RL as well. What can I say, it's part of my nerdiness!)

+ Awesome!

+ Wow!

+ Cute

+ Combo (When I see an awesome colour/polish combo, I say so!)

+ ♥ - I use this symbol so often it's not funny. I do turn it down a notch so my posts are read-able, LOL!

# 7 things I am good at

+ Organising my polish stash - and all the extra bits like stamping plates, etc. I need more place, though!

+ Colour combinations (at least I think so, lol)

+ Using a good base and topcoat to help protect my nails and polish from chipping. Taking the time to do each manicure properly :)

+ Shopping! Also spending that extra $ to get the polish I *really* want instead of finding a dupe. If it's not a major want, a dupe will do ;)

+ Saving money from my other hobbies (and.. ahem... Necessities like new clothing. I've often bought a new nail polish before buying a shirt - I want a shirt that matches the polish, not the other way round! *blushes*)

+ Remembering to take pictures when I make a new manicure, even if the pictures needs improving themselves :)

+ Have fun with it! Blogging or polishing should never feel like a chore :)

# 7 flaws

+ I have a hard time figuring out a shape that fits all my nails - and prevent it from breaking on my pointer + middle. I'm working on it, though!

+ Pictures needs improving - I'm looking for a good lamp for evening pictures and perhaps a lightbox, too!

+ Buying more polishes before trying my untried polishes

+ Clean-up - I need to find a way to make my nails look like they have the same shape around the cuticles, it's a pain in the a** not being able to push them in the right shape :/ Working on it, though!

+ I'm a procrastinator. You'll find me watching a tv-show instead of doing my nails in proper time for good light!

+ Impatient, if something doesn't work out like I want it, I often find something else to do instead of trying to improve. This happens a lot when I try out new manicures.

+ Not taking the time to learn how to code - and make a more unique blog that way.

# 7 qualities

+ I'm creative - I hope it shines through my polish designs every once in a while, too :)

+ Passionate about polishes - I don't think I will ever be satirated (?), there'll always be polishes to fill my wantlist. That's how I like my obsessions :)

+ I like to see myself as a fast learner - I've improved my skills a lot since I started this blog (and believe me, before that... my nails didn't look too good!)

+ Not afraid to try out new things - I just have to get them right early in the training progress, LOL!

+ Enjoying my life where I am right now, not to mention my hobbies, nail polish included, instead of always looking ahead. Enjoy today while you still can, tomorrow will be a new day ;)

+ I like to think that I'm good at reading and commenting on others blogs, too. It happens that I'm too busy to comment, or just don't have anything valuable to add, but I read every blog post if I follow you!

+ Being able to value a polish for it's quality, not just it's pricetag. Although I enjoy expensive brands, I also LOVE a lot of the less expensive - like Catrice and Essence. It all comes down to the polish itself.

*phew* I hope it was fun reading through, even though I twisted the original tag a little! I might do the original tag on my other blog. I want this blog to stay as polish as it can be :)

I'm going to tag everyone of my followers! Nope, it's not the lazy way, or maybe it is, LOL, but in all honesty, I love reading peoples answers to these :) Let's get to know you better - no matter if you use the polish version or the original! :)

♥ Vettelicious