New blog / news feed issues

Hi guys! 

Not sure if you still check this blog out, but I've been having some issues with the follower/feed transfer. It appears that some, if not most of you, don't see my new posts on their news-feed/blogroll/blogs-they're-following-list in blogger. I made a test-profile and it works on that one, but if you don't see my new posts you can try un-following and re-follow, it should do the trick.

If this won't fix it, LMK in the comments! I am thinking of making a new follower gadget if all else fails. I hate to sound desperate, I just don't want to loose you guys in the transfer - I love sharing my passion with you and when you give me some feedback. The community means so much to me!

So, my sincerest apologies for the trouble! I will make a post here every now and then re-direct you to my new blog :) Speaking of this blog, it will not be deleted. I want access to my old posts.

If you go to my new blog today you'll see I made a little contest giving one of my home-made rings to a lucky follower! :) Check it out right here.

♥ Vetten

Vettens blog is moving!

Hi guys!

That's right, my blog has officially moved now! Instead of this blog I will be posting on www.vettelicious.com, and I hope you will check it out and consider following my future nail polish adventures there :)

Don't worry, the main subject will not change - it's still all about my nail adventures ;) The only difference is that I own my own content now and Blogger won't be able to make posts and comments disappear LOL.

For GFC followers: If all is working properly, you should already be following my new blog instead of this. If not, throw me a comment and I'll do my best to make it work! If all else fails, I have set up a GFC follower gadget on the new blog and you should be able to re-follow me.

I hope you'll all continue to follow my adventures and I am planning a give-away as a sorry-for-the-trouble band-aid. See you on www.vettelicious.com! :)

- Vetten

Viva La Nails Water Decal Nail Wraps (review)

It's time for a review!

I was super excited when Viva La Nails sent me an email with the offer of reviewing their new Water Decal Nail Wraps - all I had to do was pay shipping. I've wanted to try full nail decals for a long time, but the price always stopped me. Of course, I caved when offered them for next to nothing and ordered them! :)

I got 8 different designs and I decided I shouldn't try my favourite first as I have no experience in using these. The design I'm showing here is called #09. It features beautiful watercolour-like purple flowers. If it wasn't because I don't have much clothes to match, I would've kept these for a special occassion - they are really pretty. I think a lot of these designs have a tendency to look printed - like you can see grains and white dots upon close inspection, but I found the ones I received were well done. #09 was the only one showing small white specks on macro shots. It is much less noticeable in real life.

Each set comes with 10 nail decals in 3 sizes as far as I could see - 2 small, 6 medium and 2 large. I totally lucked out when they designed these; they match my nail width really well! All I had to do was cut them length-wise.

They cost 2.95£ and there's a lot of cool designs to choose from - I'm particular fond of the sugar-skull theme <3

Let's take a look at the instructions;

Viva La Nails Water Decal Nail Wraps

I recommend taking one of the decal-leftovers (one of the black parts you're not using anyway) to practice with on a nail-wheel or something else that is non-absorbent before using these. Remember, there's only 10 in the package so no place for screw-ups ;)

Not sure what they meant with a quick manicure, I decided to use a basecoat (NailTek II) to be on the safe side. Having tried these, I recommend using a ridgefilling basecoat as the decal itself is thin and will show ridges and other imperfections in your nails. I then proceeded to cut the decals to be 1-2 mm longer than my nails, and started applying them one by one. 

Viva La Nails Water Decal Nail Wraps

I found them very easy to apply - you have a long time to place them correctly and smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles. I used my fingertips for this initially, but it was much easier to smooth them out with a q-tip. I worked from the middle of the finger and outwards to the sides.

Once the decals was dry and stuck to my nails, I filed off the excess holding my nail horisontally and my glass file vertically. I made sure there was no "loose" ends where the decal had lifted from the nail. If there was, I found it easy to fix - a warm breath and a firm press would attach it! Lastly, I applied my topcoat, China Glaze Fast Forward, and even though I kind of tried to get the decal to smear, it didn't happen lol. I wanted to test them, remember? :) I ended up having some wrinkles, but they were almost invisible when I applied topcoat. 

Now I think it's time to show you the results! Remember this is like 10 times real size, so any imperfections shown here was honestly invisible in real life ;)

Viva La Nails Water Decal Nail Wraps

And another shot of these;

Viva La Nails Water Decal Nail Wraps

I love the result! ♥ And the best part? I wore these 4 days, and there was only tiny wear on some of the nails when I decided to remove them (I used my regular polish remover). I didn't even use topcoat every day to renew it... Now that's something worth your money! These will probably last twice the time if you'd like; I'm a polish freak so I had to make a new manicure after four days, lol. Maybe they'd last up to 10 days with a new layer of topcoat every now and then? I just might have to put another set to the test! These will be great for travelling.

There's only one thing about these I'm not thrilled with... The fact that you get 10 decals. No extras for screw-ups. Granted, these are hard to screw up, but still... What if the mailman rang the doorbell with nail polish packages while I'm busy placing one of them on my nail? LOL

All in all, I am very satisfied with these. They are easy to use, good quality and above all; they're fun! It's a nice change from plain colours, no unpleasant smell (very convenient for when I have a headache), stamps and nail art - I will never have the patience to paint something this detailed on all my nails. If you're thinking of trying decals, I can definitely recommend these!

What's your opinion on these - yay or nay? :)

♥ Vetten

Orly : Iron Butterfly

I'm thrilled to show you a lemming I got ahold of not too long ago; Orly Iron Butterfly! I believe it was released in 2009, it was part of a collection of three metallic mattes called Metal Chic. It wasn't until April this year I saw it, looking through old Orly collections online to see if there was anything I missed. It was love at first sight. And this polish (and hunt for the same) made me realize once again how madly obsessed I am.

Iron Butterfly

Iron Butterfly is a black-ish base packed with silver shimmer. It's kind of like Suede polishes from OPI, being that it's heavy on shimmer and dries matte. It must have loads of dupes, but I wanted this one... Call me crazy. I'm curious to see how it compares to Manglaze's version, but I don't own theirs.

When I started obsessing about nail polish, I wasn't too keen on Orly bottles. The design just didn't look good to me, lol! They are very practical and so easy to handle, which is the most important part doing your nails anyway ;) And I must admit, having obtained this lemming, I found myself admiring the bottle picture I took. Doesn't it look just ever so slightly magical? The shimmer shines through the matte bottle... ♥

Anyhow, once I fell in love with swatches, this polish was hard to find. I didn't find a single bottle on Ebay or Transdesign, and my heart sank a little. I knew it would turn up on ebay eventually but I wanted it like yesterday, lol. I desperately started to search the internet for small nail polish stores, and I found it in SpiceBeauty UK's webstore.. I believe it was the last bottle, even - I call it meant to be, LOL! ♥

This polish has an amazing formula. Even though it's matte, it's very easy to work with - and if you're good at levelling out layers, one will do the trick. I used two to protect my nails, after all I was going to leave it without topcoat. I used NailTek II basecoat as usual, and it didn't give me any problems :)

 I decided to add an accent finger, I'm really starting to like wearing those! I love the colours I chose, they are a great combination though it does look like a bugger from a long distance LOL. Oh well ;)

I used OPI Stranger Tides & Mermaids Tears, Gosh Yellow Doll and Essence Stamp Me! in white and black. I sealed the owl with Fast Forward, so in real life it's glossy (and the black and white dragged a bit, urgh!) and is a great contrast to the base.

I'm loving mattes/suedes right now, and have a few more on their way to me. I think I'll be wearing mattes a lot this season, it's a nice change from jellies, sparkles and shinies!

Do you like Iron Butterfly, or is it old news? I've only been nail polish obsessed for a year so I have a lot of catching up to do ;) Is there any mattes/suedes I should get before they vanish from shops?

♥ Vetten

Blogger issues..

I'm sorry I've been so quiet lately, but Blogger has been really messed up. I know it's mostly back to normal but they haven't restored my post with Ocean Dip or my comments received after that post :/ I hope they will soon, I don't feel like posting until it's back to normal.

I can't help but think about finding another alternative in the future. I really want a back-up from now on.

I'll be back soon with a post for you. I have a few manicures just waiting to be written/posted :)

♥ Vetten

A big thank you...

I really feel it's about time I write a little thank you :) 

This blog has become such a big part of my life, and it means the world to me that people continue to find time and want to check out what I do. Your comments always make me smile and can save any day ♥ You make me strive to be better, more creative and above all remember to have fun. So thank you from the bottom of my heart... It sounds so cheesy, but I mean it.

I will try to be better at answering comments/questions, but it happens I forget. Don't hesitate to throw (another) email after me, if I don't reply - I always intend to but life gets in the way every now and then.

I've been asked to make a post on what I use for nail/cuticle care, so I will be working on that during the next weeks. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see/know, LMK in the comments, okay? :)

At work today I broke a nail - I cut/filed them shorter 2 days ago, and now one of them is incredibly short. :( I wish it was just a corner that broke, but no, I had to cut it down completely. Urgh... I will wait a week before filing the others shorter; this length looks terrible on me. I'm even thinking of using a fake nail while it grows out, LOL! What do you do when this happen?

Oh, and so this doesn't end up as a picture-less post, let me show you what I received this week... Nfu Oh Fakies, LOL! The bottles are a smidge smaller than Nfu Oh bottles, and the lids are of much cheaper quality. Still, I think they're pretty neat! They smell absolutely terrible so I'm sure they're toxic, and thus I'm not sure what to do with them. I try to be as picky as possible regarding nail polish ingredients, but I am thinking about trying these outdoors one day. I love me some glitter, especially hexagon! ♥ If all else fails, they were cheap enough to use for frankens.

Glitter Polish in Nfu Oh looking bottles

I will have a NOTD up later I hope :) Until then, take care!

♥ Vetten

MAC : Little Girl Type (quite cute) + Nail art

(I'm really glad I took the time to write a few blogposts this past weekend; I've been having a foul headache since Sunday!)

It's time to show a colour from one of the Spring collections I was really excited about; MACs quite cute collection! I've had these since they were released but I'm a bit funny when it comes to trying new nail polish.. I wait until they speak to me, lol. I figure the internet is drowning in swatches when they're released, what's the hurry?

MAC quite cute collection, Spring 2011

I had no choice but to buy them all. I might as well admit that I am totally biased and I absolutely love MACs nail polish bottle design. The matte lid, the shape, size... It's perfection. These are my guilty pleasure, nail polish wise. Danish retail is above 20$ each, but I'd rather pay that than 30$ for a Chanel. The brush is not that great but I can deal with a wonky brush just to gaze at these pretty bottles... Totally biased, yes. lol.

I'm not much of a make-up lover besides nail polish (I rarely wear anything but my eyeliner), so I'm not a huge MAC fan in general. I think their products are expensive, but once hooked on those bottles, I can't resist if the colours looks promising.

I was in the mood for something very pastel and girly, so I reached for Little Girl Type, the pale purple pastel (the one I so cleverly decided to lie down on the picture, lol). I almost decided to pass on this one, being that all pale purples look awful on me, but I had hopes as always ;)

I know a lot of people weren't interested in this collection because it's just cremes, very dupe-able. I haven't found a lavender like Little Girl Type though, all I see is too cold, even China Glazes Agent Lavender (have the bottle to compare), but I've yet to get Light As Air and now I don't want to, going from swatches it's too cold to like my skin tone anyway ;)

I am so, so glad I bought it. If I might say so myself, it looks stunning with my skintone ♥ It's the first pale purple I have loved so much on me! And I'll tell you why... It's very warm, leaning towards pink. I compared it bottlewise with Catrice Lavenderlicious, and the only difference is the tone - Lavenderlicious is cold, and Little Girl Type is warm. It almost look pink on me, LOL!

MAC Little Girl Type, flash

 Now, the formula is a bit thin, I used two medium-thick coats and it could've used another IRL to smooth out ridges and be more light-proof. But I didn't want it chalky, so I left it at two :) Top and base as usual.

Since I'm nudging myself to do something with my nails, I added an accent nail. I was enjoying it IRL, but looking at this picture, my inside is screaming for cleaner lines! :P

I used Essence Stamp Me! in black and white, purple rhinestones and a Catrice purple I cannot remember the name of.

The nail art is inspired by sugar skulls & the day of the dead. I love art featuring these sugary...erh, I mean cute skulls. And I found the theme quite fitting for this part of the quite cute collection :) It won't be the last time skeletons have found their way to my nails!

What's your opinion on Little Girl Type - did you buy or pass? Oh, and would you like to see more skulls or should I save them for halloween? ;)

♥ Vetten

Nail art : Dinosaurs

I recently entered a nail art competition with a free-hand design, and although I didn't win I still want to show you my entry, I had a great time making it and that's the important part :)

It might look like a silly theme for an "about you" theme, but I have a hard time describing myself in one design. I figured dinosaurs shows through a few hobbies of mine, and used them as the overall theme :) 

I'm all about dinosaurs; I love the Jurassic Park & Land Before Time movies, always have ♥ I also draw as you might've seen on my blog earlier this year, and drawing dinosaurs is certainly challenging yet still something I love doing when my muse allow me ;)

Dinosaur design

I am really satisfied with this design, especially the colours - I don't like too many colours on my nails at one time, I think it tends to look messy. Maybe I'm just boring, LOL, but this is a design / colour combo that is actually suitable for me to wear at work. I will definitely be using these colours again for nail art - next time I might add a funky colour for contrast, depending on the design. Time will tell :)

I used Gosh Groovy Grey as my base, Essence Stamp me! white & black and of course a detail brush. I finished it with Fast Forward as always. Would you like to see more free-hand designs in the future?


♥ Vetten

Color Club : Wild At Heart + stamp

I thought it was about time I used my stamping plates again :)

Lately I've been far too lazy with my manicures. I want to be better at using my stamps and do free hand designs too, and I have two reasons. 1, I want to be better, and 2, I feel like this blog is a little boring with boring swatches showing my one-colour manicures. So, I hope to improve on this!

I started with Color Club Wild At Heart (I have two of these, this is the less holo version), one coat was enough, then I stamped the bows with a fake konad plate using Rimmel - Rock Republic (great for stamping!). Lastly, I added dots using a dotting tool, failing miserably at keeping them the same size. I really suck at dotting!

Sunlight shot to show the holo-esque sparkles;

Wild At Heart + Rock Republic, sunlight

And a lightbox picture for better looking cuticles, LOL! This thing does wonder for my cuticles on pictures ;)

Wild At Heart + Rock Republic, flash

My topcoat dragged a few of the stamps/dots, but it's less visible IRL. I hope you like it anyways, it was a simple design to get me started on stamping again :)

♥ Vetten

Revlon : Electric + Catrice & Kiko yellow layering

Hey girls :) I'm having a terrible headache today so I found this in my not-sure-to-post-pile of posts, I hope it's better than nothing. Hopefully I can deal with nail polish fumes tomorrow or Sunday and make a more interesting post..

I want to show you a bit of yellow fun I had this past weekend - I try so desperately to make yellow work for me and my skintone, but so far I haven't found many. Anyhow, let's see where my weekend yellow experiment took me!

Revlon - Electric, Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds & Kiko #269

I bought Electric from Revlon on Ebay last week... I can't remember where, but I read that it was a good substitute for Chanels upcoming (it isn't released in DK yet) Mimosa. I love mimosa on every picture I see, even though it takes three coats. It's just that yellow almost never work for me, so even though I wanted to get Mimosa, I figured I should try a close colour to see if I would end up using it. Oh, and getting a cheap polish that's almost a dupe is something I love - saves me money I can use for other polishes!

Here's Revlon Electric;

Revlon - Electric

I believe I used 2 generous coats of Electric for an almost full coverage. I think the formula was pretty decent, if not great for a yellow - but be sure to let the individual coats dry before adding another - as it will bubble otherwise. Next time I'm going to use a fast-drying topcoat in between to try and eliminate this issue. I'll let you know how I get on with it :)

Now, I love the colour, formula and shimmer, but it looks better with my skintone on pictures than in real life. I wish it looked as good as in the pictures :( I would love to wear this colour on its own with confidence!

I decided to add Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds, which is a sheer yellow shimmer. I believe I used two coats, and this is the result:

Revlon - Electric + Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds

Doesn't that look yummy! I have yet to wear this to see if I get used to the colour to my skin, but I will definitely give it another chance. I adore this combo, and it has to work RL for me too! :)

Since I have yet another sheer yellow, I decided to try it on top of the other two. Kiko # 269 is a sheer stark yellow filled with glass flecks. I used one coat on the other polishes.

Revlon - Electric, Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds & Kiko #269, inside + flash

This sparkly polish deserves a sun shot too;

Revlon - Electric, Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds & Kiko #269 outside, sun

I wore the full mani (Revlon - Electric, Catrice - Don't Feed The Birds & Kiko #269) for 2 days, but I didn't warm up to it. I'm not one to disregard colours for being stark, or a big contrast to my somewhat boring black outfits, but yellow... I guess it's the one colour I'm still not in love with. I can wear orange, pink, blue, green, all kinds of strong colours... But I have yet to make yellow work. Any suggestions? How do you feel about yellow polish? What's your favourite?

♥ Vetten

Ozotic Elytra # 528 - I'm in glitter heaven..

Not too long ago my first nail polish related package from Australia arrived. I am so excited to show you this polish, even though it's been my most expensive single polish since Clarins 230, it is so, so worth the money. 

Ozotic Elytra #528

I think it goes without saying that Ozotic Pro is the brand you lust for if you like duo/multi chromatic polishes. I have wanted to try this brand for a long time, but it wasn't until I discovered Picture Polish, online store (and international shipper!) that I thought it possible ever getting my hands on them. A big thank you to You've Got Nail for showing these and linking to Picture Polish :)

#528 is part of a collection of 3 new shades Ozotic just released, called Elytra. It's an incredible multi-chromatic glitter, flashing in turquoise, blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow...  Trust me when I say that this is a polish worth the pennies!

I used a black basecolour for this manicure, as I doubt #528 is buildable. I don't mind, though, many of my favourite polishes are sheer messes on their own, it's the combination of a kick-ass effect and a calm base that makes them my favourite, I think :) I used two coats of #528.

Onto the pictures! Of course the first thing I did when it arrived was making a ring, so I'll flash that one as well ;)

 

Ozotic Elytra #528

And a few pictures combined of the many faces this polish has...

Ozotic Elytra #528

And the matching ring..

Ozotic Elytra #528

I'm in heaven. This polish doesn't a huge speak, the pictures say more than I could ever express ;) I hope I can get more of these amazing polishes in the near future!

This polish rocked itself on my top-5 polishes. What do you think about it?

♥ Vetten