Essence Iced Mint Frappé + Stickers!

Hey there, beautiful people! 

I have a cute summery manicure for you today :) I used a polish I just got recently from my mom and it's Essence - Iced Mint Frappé (oh my, that sounds so delicious :D) from their 

"Show your feet" line. 

Now these polishes are actually toe polishes because they are, and I quote: "anti-bacterial, extremely long-lasting and great coverage with just one coat!" Nonetheless you can use it for your finger nails as well :)

It's true that it covers in just 1 coat but you have to be very careful with the application in that case. Because the formula is a bit thick I decided to do 2 thin coats to be on the safe side. It's shiny on it's own, but I added a coat of TC, because I had to cover the Nail Stickers I used. :)

Aren't they pretty?? It's a little silver flower with a pink rhinestone in the middle! I put one on my ring finger and one on my thumb. I love how cute it looks ;) 

 Mint color is one of my favorite summer colors ever! It looks so good, especially when you're a bit tanned :D Mint is also my favorite ice-cream flavor :P 

So, what's your favorite summer color? And what about your favorite ice-cream? ;) 

Guest Post over @Cuti-CLUE-les

I almost said "Good Morning" although it's around 2 pm here =)) ..well then, Hello! ;) 

I did a guest post for the amazing Cuti-CLUE-les! You can check it out --here--

See ya later with a swatch ;) 

Who is up for a Challenge ??

Yes, we are doing a 

Summer Challenge!! 

By "we" I mean Kaki from Glitter Obsession and me :D We shared some ideas and created this! So here I am,  sharing this challenge with all of you and I really hope a lot of you will join us!! 

It starts in July and we will do a manicure every other day. That way it's not too much but still a lot of fun! What do you think?? Will you do it? :D 

If you decide to go through with it, you can send me your blog link and I will link you back in my challenge posts! That way the readers can check out all the cool designs the participants will come up with ;) You can do this challenge even if you don't have a blog! It's up to you :)

If you have any questions leave me a comment and I'll try to clarify it for you :) 

Think about it! ;) See ya! 

Iron Man Nails!

Hey there!

I totally forgot to show you what I added to the gradient mani, before I took it off the next day: an accent finger with the Iron Man mask! :D Thanks for all the lovely suggestions in your comments ;) 

I wore this gradient mani for a whole week! Yes, 7 days and I didn't get bored with it nor did the polish chip! That's so awesome :D 

See ya with some swatches next time! :* 

Blogger Appreciation Award

Hey!

Because of a little accident that happened today I can't post my nails, so I thought I could catch up on my award posts! I got this one from the lovely Laura from Clothes, Cosmetics and Chat! Thank you so, so much Laura!! I can't "officially" tag you back with this one, but you absolutely deserve it! 

1.) Thank the person who gave you the award with their blog link on your post.
2.) Answer the following 4 questions.
3.) Award the Blogger Appreciation Award to as many readers/supporters/followers as you want
4.) Let the blogger know you've just awarded them!

The questions (and my answers):
1. How long have you been blogging ? 
For a little bit more than a year now and I love it !
2. What are 1-2 reasons why you started blogging ? 
I had to think about that for a few minutes :P Mainly because I wanted to share my hobby with other people that are as crazy about nail polish as I am and because I thought I could improve my skills in Nail Art and even Nail Care. And as it turned out I learned a lot and I get a lot of inspiration and new knowledge about nail related things from other bloggers, so that's great :)
3. What types of blogs do you like to follow/read ?  
Anything that has to do something with nail polish of course! :D I love Nail Art blogs but also fashion and make-up related ones. ;)
4. What is one thing you'd like to improve on as a blogger/on your blog ? 
Nail Care, always! I have still a lot to learn in that department :P You can also never stop improving your photos! One of the most important things on a blog, right? I would also like to improve my posting frequency .. I really have to get used to schedule posts, when I know I won't have time for posting.

I appreciate many bloggers and I really don't know who already got it and who didn't but I tag these gorgeous and talented ladies:

- XOXO Alexis Leigh
Cuti-CLUE-les
Kaki @ Glitter Obsession
Ivana @ Ivana Thinks Pink
Taya
Fingers @ Fingers Polish Mania
Helga @ Color and Creativity
Ashesela @ Art Evolve
Jenni @ Gold Speck Nails

... and I'm sure I forgot someone! ^^

I have to stop writing now, because I type only with the right hand and it takes forever! :/

See ya, my lovelies! *muah*

Laughter . . .

Photo edited by me

I love this quote! ...and the man who said it! He's the best stand-up comedian/talk show host ever! Besides being unbelievably funny, he has a great personality and always speaks the truth in his own kinda way :) 

Just wanted to share this ;) I'm going to watch a few more Late Late Shows with Craig Ferguson now! See ya :)

Shimmer Gradient #2

Hello there!

Another gradient today! I loved the gradient trend ever since I saw it the first time some long time ago, but since Sammy did that awesome and easy tutorial I could wear gradients every day! 

Today I have a red-yellow shimmer gradient for you! ;)

I used 2 coats of Flormar U07 and sponged it with China Glaze Ruby Pumps. Oh yeah :D 

It looks so shimmery and awesome! 

This gradient actually got a lot of compliments! A lot of people noticed my nails because of the pop of color, I guess :) 

 I think I'm gonna do some Nail Art over it ...any suggestions? :) 

Hope you liked it ! Have an awesome day! 

--EDIT--

I actually scheduled this post yesterday, but I entered the wrong date, that's why it didn't appear on my blog, lol  xD Well, at least I posted it today! Sorry for the delay! :) 

Jeff Dunham Inspired Nails!

Jeff Dunham, who is this? Well, let me tell you! He is a pretty good and funny ventriloquist. This guy is just hilarious! And he has a lot of different puppets/characters. You may have heard of Achmed the dead terrorist? "SILENCE! I kill you !!" ... yep, that was him ;) 

I think the most "popular" characters are Achmed, Walter, Peanut and Jalapeno on a Stick! Those are the best ones! It's amazing, how he can bring them to life, just using his voice. You really can't tell that he is the one speaking and not the dolls! :D 

I actually thought about doing some Nail Art inspired by them, but never had a concrete idea. Once Cuti-CLUE-les asked me to do it, I kinda had to think of something! 

Well, here are my nails I did, based on those characters: 

 Please forgive me, but I won't list up all the polishes I used, they're just too many! If you wanna know a specific one, you can just ask ;) 

For the ones, who don't know the characters: index finger = Walter, middle finger = Achmed, ring finger = Peanut and pinkie = Jalapeno on a Stick! 

I did a simple gradient on my thumb and Jeff Dunham's initials :) 

For reference, here are the puppets and Jeff Dunham!!! 

I'm not a 100% pleased about how my nails turned out, but I think I did o.k. :) 

They actually looked better on my "blueprint", lol =))  Wanna see? All right then: 

I don't usually do this, but with more complicated Nail Art I like to do this first, just to get an idea on how to start and what to use :) 

Actually Cuti-CLUE-les requested these, but she also did some Jeff Dunham nails! She will post it soon on her blog, so make sure to check it out too!! :D 

Thanks for reading, hope you like it!

Shimmer Gradient

Hey there beautiful people!! 

I am so sorry for not posting for a whole week! :( I was crazy busy and I started studying for all my exams in June and I kinda neglected my blog... I think I have to catch up on more than 1000 posts !! =))) That will be fun :D 

I wanna show you the mani I wore for 4 days! Since I took it off on Friday, I had naked nails though. OMG, naked nails!?!?? Yeees, I don't like it either, but I didn't had the time to put on some paint. :P 

Here is the shimmer gradient with purple and turquoise!

I used Catrice - Forget-Me-Not and Avon - Sequined Turquoise. It's not that visible in the photos but in real life the gradient was so much better!! Those two polishes/colors are my absolute favorite ones of all times and I thought I could combine them. I have to tell you though: I wasn't sure at first, if they would go well together. But I was amazed at the end result!! 

I used the sponging technique from Sammy @The Nailasaurus .. that's how it looked before clean-up: 

Pure chaos =)) But after clean-up: 

That's better :P That's also the most accurate picture :) *sigh* I adore it! I could wear this every single day from now on! But I won't .. I have other pretties in my stash that want to be on my nails =)) 

Do you like gradients? What color combos do you like?? 

Have a good night and thanks for reading!! 

*muah* 

Finally!!

Yep, finally I'll reveal to you, what I was so excited about. 

Ever since I started blogging and my collection of nail polishes grew, I wanted this ... badly!

I teased my followers on twitter and facebook a bit and showed them some sneak peeks of this post and now you can see all of it! 

 What are those mysterious packages? Detective Kiara is about to find out ! :D 

Well, they do have something to do with this: 

 Well, of course, what else could it be on a nail polish related blog =))

After unpacking and putting it together etc. it looked like this: 

Ahaa! :D Now you know what it is right? ;)

Nail Polish racks!!! Yaaay ! (actually they're display cabins for collectibles ...but nail polishes are like collectibles, right? :D)

First I tried to order them by color, but it didn't look good, so I did it by Brand and by Alphabet ...just like I have them on my list. Yes, I have a list :D 

Tadaa! The finished look! God, I love it...every time I walk by, I stare at them and can't believe they're all mine :D 

Now that I see them all together I realize how many I have ...gosh, I'm crazy :)) 

I only have to decorate the racks a little bit now (one of them has a little defect) and then they're perfect :) 

How do you store your nail polishes?

Guest Post @ XOXO Alexis

Hey there beautiful people! 

I did a guest post for the sweet Alexis and you can check it out --here-- :D

Make sure to check out her blog as well, while you're there ;) 

See ya in a bit with the "thing" I promised to show you yesterday! :D 

French Poppies Tutorial !

Hello!

Why is the weekend always so short ?? I hate that :P

I have another tutorial prepared for you today! Wait a minute ... 2 tutorials in a row?! Whoa! Now everybody who requested tutorials should be happy :D Let's see what we need for this manicure:

A dotting tool, bobby pin or tooth pick and one of this wider Nail Art brushes.If you don't have such a brush, I bet you could use the brush from the polish, since the flower we're doing is big and doesn't have to be perfect.

Let's start with the step-by-step tutorial!

1.) Apply the base of your french, a nude or clear polish, or nothing at all. Just do it, how you prefer it. I used 2 coats of O.P.I. Nail Envy.
2.) Do the french tip with a white polish. If you don't know how to do this step, I'm sure you find some tutorials on Youtube on how to do a french mani ;) I made mine a little bit to thick, but we cover up more than a half of it, so it doesn't have to be perfect! :D
3.) Now take the wide brush and a red polish and do the first petal of the flower. I like to start with the middle one, but you can also start at the side. Do it a bit diagonal and messy! The petal doesn't have to be perfectly round or with straight lines!
You get the hang of it after a few times ;)
4.) Now do the other 2 petals on the sides. To create the petal I kinda dab the brush onto the nail. The wider your brush the bigger the petals!
5.) After doing the same thing one more time, the red blobs start to look like a flower right? :D
6.) The red I used wasn't very opaque so I added another coat of red polish.
7.) Now add a green blob at the center of the flower, using the brush of the polish or a dotting tool.
8.) Add some random brown spots with a dotting tool ...
9.) ... and some black dots.
10.) As always, finish off the design with one coat of TC and you're done! ;)

Actually you could skip step 7 & 8 and just add the black dots, it would have the same effect. :P 

You can do this as an accent nail or as a full mani, like I did: 

Tomorrow I have something exciting to show you! Well, at least it's exciting for me :D 

Thanks for reading and have a good night! :* 

How to apply Water Decals !

Hello, my dear followers! 

Here is the promised tutorial on how to apply Water Decals :) Let's start:

1.) Take the sheet with the decals and cut out as many pieces as you want to use for your manicure. Make sure to remove the clear foil covering the sheet. 

2.) Fill a little bowl with water and put the pieces you cut out earlier in there.

3.) Now you can polish your nails with a color of your choice, while you wait for the Decal to come off the paper. After 5-10 minutes take some tweezers and take out the paper with the image on it. You can use your hands too of course :P 

4.) With your finger, slightly slide of the image from the paper. If it doesn't work, put it back in the water for a few more minutes. 

5.) Now you can place it on one of your nails. Don't worry, you don't have to place it perfectly because you can move it around, while it's still wet. :) 

6.) I didn't place it as near to the cuticle as I would like, so I just used my finger to put it in place. Like I said, as long as it's wet you can move it around on your nail. Make sure that your polish is almost dry before you apply the Water Decal, so that you don't mess it up :) 

Add 1 coat of TC and you are done!

Pretty easy right?? :D 

Here is my end result again: 

As always I hope it was helpful and see ya tomorrow with the french poppies tutorial! ;) 

Good night blogging-world!

French Poppies! :D

Hello there! :) 

A friend of mine requested some nail design for a special occasion, and the design should include poppies, since those are her favorite flowers. :) I was happy to think of something and here is the result: 

I used: O.P.I Nail Envy as a base (2 coats), P2 Miss French White Tip, Farmasi 45 (red), Sensique 139 (brown dots), Essence Check me out (green dots) and N.Y.C. Black Lace Creme (black dots). 

 You could add 1 or 2 little poppies along the big one, to have more red in the mani. :) 

I'm not used to wear french manis, I get bored of them so easy, even if I add something to them, like I did here :)) But it was fun creating this and my friend already told me she loved them! Mission accomplished! :D 

You like it? Do you want a tutorial for it? :P 

Tomorrow I'll post the Water Decal Tutorial! See ya ;)

--EDIT--
I entered Kayla Shevonne's Nail Art Contest with this manicure! Yay :D Go check out all the other manicures as well and maybe enter yourself?! 

Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Heeey :D 

The giveaway officially ended today and I couldn't wait to get home and announce the winner!!

And the winner is .... 

KKCenterHK Water Decals Review

Hello! :)
I was a bit of a bad blogger lately, but I just wasn't in the mood for posting with this awesome weather outside! It's been 30 degrees everyday for a week now :D Perfect weather to walk, work on my tan and just relax with a good book :)

As the title says, I wanna review some other KKCenterHK Water Decals today, and you can see my first post on Water Decals --here--! The lovely Maggie gave me the choice to choose some Water Decals and I chose this metallic ones: Silver Metallic Water Decals
I thought they would apply different then the other "normal" ones and I was very curious about them :) First some pics:

I used Essence - Paradelade as a base and the Water Decals (WD) as accent on my ring finger and thumb. I followed the exact same instructions as last time:

How to use Water Decals:
- first remove the foil covering the whole sheet of paper
- cut out the pieces you wanna use on your nails
- put them in a bowl of water for about 5-10 minutes
- using tweezers, carefully remove the pieces from the bowl
- slide off the image and put it on your nails


I will do a tutorial on how to apply WD's this weekend, all right? :) It's a lot easier to explain with photos!

 Like I said, I thought the metallic decals would be thicker and apply differently, but they are super thin and just as easy to use as the other ones. In fact, once you have them on your nails, you can't feel them and the nail surface is very smooth. You have to apply one coat of TC of course to make them last longer.
I wore this mani for 4 days until it chipped, but the decals didn't came off.
Removal is as easy as the application! Just remove your nail polish as always, you don't have to let the acetone soak in like with glitter polishes :)

That said, I really love KKCenterHK's water decals! Quick delivery, great quality, easy application and awesome result :) Every sheet comes with 20 images, so it's enough for 2 full manicures. This metallic ones I used cost $6,39 and you can get them --here--!

The coupon code from last time is still available! So if you go shop on their website use it! 
BLGA403RE10  for 10 % off your purchase until 31st Jan 2013! 


Hope this was helpful! See ya next time with a cute flower french mani ;) 


*I did not get paid to do this post. I received the product from kkcenterhk for free for review purposes only and this is my honest opinion based on my personal experience.