Zoya Ornate kokoelma ja pikkujoulukynnet


Minulle tuli viime viikolla joulu jo vähän ajoissa, kun postisetä toi yhden erityisen pehmustetun paketin :P Paketti nimittäin sisälsi koko Zoya Ornate kokoelman! Himoitsemani talvikokoelma oli saapunut Suomeen ja Zoyan maahantuoja NailCity oli lähettänyt sen minulle testiin (kyselin näiden perään jo kauneusmessuilla :P)  Ornate lakat ovat kyllä juuri niin sopivia juhlakauden lakkoja kuin vaan voi olla! Ihanan kimaltavia ja todella kauniita mielestäni ♥ Yritin monta kertaa ottaa näistä kelvollisia pullokuvia, mutta hologrammilakat eivät vain kuvautuneet kunnolla :( Käykääpä myös kurkkaamassa Tyttö ilman helmikorvakorua -blogin Sonian postaus Ornate lakoista täällä. Siellä on lisää kuvia :)


Ylärivi: Zoya Storm (musta scatter holo!), Zoya Logan ja  Zoya Blaze. Alarivi: Zoya Aurora, Zoya Ziv ja Zoya Electra. Hauskat nuo nimet mielestäni :D Varsinkin Storm ja Electra osuvat ihan nappiin. Musta Storm, punainen Blaze ja liila Aurora sisältävät siis holoshimmeriä. Eniten se näkyy Aurorassa, tosin ei näissä mun kuvissa valitettavasti :( Electra taas on näistä ainut glitter ja siinä on siis värittömällä pohjalla hologrammisesti kimaltavia hopeisia tikkuglittereitä. 

Zoyan jälleenmyyjiä Suomessa voi bongailla NailCityn sivuilta täällä tai sitten kuluttaja-asiakkaat voivat myös lähettää sähköpostilla tilauksen osoitteeseen info@nailcity.fi. Lakat maksavat 15,50€ kpl, postikulujen hintaa en tie, mutta senhän voi siinä samassa mailissa sitten kysäistä :)


Sormeni syyhysivät heti paketin avattuani päästä kokeilemaan kaikkia, mutta varsinkin mustaa Stormia ja minusta erittäin kauniisti kimaltelevaa vihreää Logania. Meillä olikin sopivasti viime viikonloppuna työpaikan pikkujoulut ja valitsin asuksi kuvissa taustalla näkyvän vihreän mekon ja vyötärölle paksun mustan nahkavyön. Mekko toistuu näissä kuvissa vähän liian vaaleana ja on oikeasti lähempänä lakan väriä. Kaulassa minulla oli kuvissa näkyvät vihreät helmet.


Kynsissä on pohjalla yhdet kerrokset läpikuultavaa essie sugar daddyä, jonka jälkeen lakkasin ensin kaarevasti kynsien päihin mustalla Stormilla kerrokset ja sen päälle vihreällä Loganilla vähän ylemmäksi samanlaiset kaaret. Nämä Ornate lakat levittyvät tosi hyvin ja ovat peittäviä. Tälläinen koristelu sujui siis helposti, kun ei täytynyt kuin yhdet kerrokset kumpaakin laittaa :) Kun lakat olivat kuivuneet taiteilin kultaisella Moyra nail art lakalla lakkojen rajoille kuviot. Lopuksi lisäsin vielä kultaiset nastakoristeet, jotka kiinnitin kynsiin päällyslakalla. Kaiken päälle vielä paksut kerrokset Seche Viteä ja kynnet olivat valmiit juhliin :p Mitäs pidätte? :)


Tuo pukki on sellainen söpö pikku pyykkipoika, jonka baarimikko laittoi minun drinksuuni, kun kuuli, että olimme juhlimassa pikkujouluja♥ Mun mielestä se oli niin suloinen, että oli pakko ottaa talteen! :p ...Hui, huomenna on jo aatto ja minä vasta täällä pakkailen ja joulukynnetkin on vielä tekemättä! :/  Toivottavasti ehtisin vielä huomenna ne postaamaan, mutta jos en ehdi niin toivotan jo nyt hyvää joulua kaikille! ^_^ 

Zoya Logan, essie sugar daddy, Zoya Storm ja kultainen Moyra nail art lakka

Then and Now: Week 7

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the delay in posting, I've had a pretty busy week because I got back from uni and I was seeing all my friends who I hadn't seen in a while, I hope you dont mind! So today I have week 7 of my then and now 'challenge' which, as promised, is christmas related. I was debating whether to include these at all because I actually did these last year but I promised last week I would, and I also think it's a good way of seeing how I've improved throughout the past 2 years, and I guess these nails are becoming a bit of a tradition as well! More after the jump.




Oh look, bonus picture of my kitchen in focus! As you can tell I was reeeeally bad at taking good photos 2 years ago, I had improved more by last year but this years is definitely better. 

I used Barry M - Matt white as the background and did both years previously too, this year I used OPI -  Don't Mess With OPI for the holly leaves, Barry M - Red for the holly berries, Barry M - Silver glitter, and Sally Hansen - Just in lime for the inside of the leaves. This year all was done with a brush, last year all was done with a dotting tool, and the year previously all was done with a nail art pen (I guess my photography skills aren't the only thing that's changed)

Last year's nails.


What do you think? Which year was best? Let me know in the comments!
Alice

Christmas Borders

The rush to Christmas is insane! I spent the day baking cookies and there's a full day of shopping to look forward to tomorrow ... and probably Monday too. Yes, I am a world class procrastinator. I've put this all off until the last minute ... again, because this is exactly what I did last year. I don't even have any decorations up yet. So, this is the reason for the cut back in posts if you were wondering, lol.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound Christmas border borders dots dotted dotting red green holiday Sinful Colors Exotic Green Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book simple easy

I had all these wonderful ideas I was going to do, and then I just never seemed to have the time to do them. So, I came up with a few very simple nail designs to share. This is one of them. Dotted border nails. It's something new to me. I've done true border nails before but never dotted borders.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound Christmas border borders dots dotted dotting red green holiday Sinful Colors Exotic Green Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book simple easy

I decided to keep it very Christmas-y with alternating red and green. This is carried over onto my other hand, starting with green on my thumb so it's all very different and interesting. This could totally be worn alone if you don't have much time for dots. Two coats of Sinful Colors Exotic Green and two of Wet n Wild I Red A Good Book, a layer of quick drying top coat and you're out the door looking perfectly festive.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound Christmas border borders dots dotted dotting red green holiday Sinful Colors Exotic Green Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book simple easy

For the dotted border I used my smallest dotting tool. I created the dots and then went over them again to make them brighter when I realized they weren't showing up well. I wish I had started with white dots first before using red and green. This would have made them much more noticeable, but you live and learn.

Overall though, a very simple and Christmas-y mani. Enjoy. :)

Snowfall


Ulkona vallitsevaa säätä mukaillen, tässä nyt tämä edellisessä postauksessa vilahtanut kaunokainen Sonnetarium Snowfall kynsillä, Deborah Lippmannin tumman harmaan Stormy Weather creme-lakan päällä. Stormy Weather levittyi nätisti ja peittävästi, kuten tämän hintaluokan lakalta saattoi odottaakin. Parilla kerroksella sai parhaimman lopputuloksen. Snowfallia tässä on noin yksi kerros, saatoin nimittäin ottaa välillä lakkaa lisää siveltimeen ja vähän levitellä glittereitä paremmin ym, mutta tavallaan yhdellä levityksellä glitterkerros on kynsiin saatu. Nämä minun Sonnetariumithan ovat pieniä 9ml pulloja ja niiden siveltimetkin ovat siis pienempiä kuin "normaali" kokoisissa lakoissa, joten siveltimeen ei välttämättä saanut kerralla sopivaa määrää lakkaa.


Snowfall sisältää siis monen erikokoisia valkoisia kuusikulmaisia glittereitä, ihan pikkuruisista monen millin läpimittaisiin. Valkoisten glittereiden lisäksi se sisältää pieniä läpikuultavia glittereitä, jotka kiiltävät valon osuessa niihin erivärisinä riippuen alla olevasta lakasta. Aluksi luulin, että kaikki nämä kimaltelevat glitterit ovat samanlaisia, mutta niitä onkin vähän erivärisinä kiiltäviä, eikä väri johdu pelkästään aluslakasta. Moni ulottoinen lakka tämä Snowfall siis :) Lopuksi testasin vielä miltä tämä lakkaus näyttäisi matattuna ja lisäsin kynsiin kerrokset essien matte about you mattalakkaa. Mitä pidätte? :)


Sonnetarium Snowfall, Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather 
ja essie matte about you


* Sonnetarium Snowfall saatu Sonnetariumilta
  Deborah Lippmann Stormy Weather saatu Love It:lta

O is for ...

This one took a lot of thought and still feels a bit like a cop out. With Christmas on the brain and O being the letter of the week in the ABC Challenge I knew more than a few of my fellow challengers were likely to do ornaments. I strive to be different in this challenge—to think outside the box. However, what else was there for O that still fit into my holiday themed posts?

O is for Oh Christmas Tree.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound OPI France Collection Tickle My France-y Essie Luxe Effects Shine of the Times flakie flakey flakies glitter nude tan holiday China Glaze Winter Holly green Wet n Wild Fergie Hollywood Walk of Fame star red gold ABC Challenge O
Shade

I used OPI Tickle My France-y as the base. This was my first time using this color and I'm left wondering why I never used it before. It is so beautiful!! On top of this color I used my brand new bottle (bought on Amazon with a gift card from Swagbucks.com) of Essie Shine of the Times. Can I say wow? These two colors are amazing together! They create a very elegant and glamorous look. I will say Shine of the Times looks best (in my opinion) in the shade. It's the reason for such a dimly lit picture.

From there I used two pieces of tape to create a triangle on my ring nail, filled that in with China Glaze Winter Holly and topped it with a red star dug out of Wet n Wild Fergie Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Matte christmas nails!

Hey everyone, I had the idea originally of doing these nails with studs, and then I thought perhaps studs and gold dots, and then once I'd just done the dots I quite liked them as they were, especially as they'd somehow developed to have a tree, so I added a (wonky) star on my thumb and topped with one coat of seche vite. Then I went to photograph them and no matter what I tried they looked AWFUL, the way the light was shining made them look streaky and awful so of course I decided to whack out the matte and make photographing 1000x easier (any excuse) and I actually do really like them like this, so I hope you do too!


I used a base of Nails Inc Hampstead Heath and Barry M gold foil to create the nail art and the matte top coat was one by Rimmel which doesn't have a specific name.


What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
Alice


China Glaze Holiday Joy — Glitter All The Way

This swatch was supposed to go up last Friday, but it just didn't feel right posting after the devastating tragedy that happened in Newtown, Connecticut. My heart goes out to the families of both the children and the brave teachers who worked to protect and calm their students during the attack. I don't have children myself, but I have nieces and nephews and to think that something could happen to someone so young and innocent is horrifying. I am at a complete loss of words except the always unanswerable question of WHY??

Two Coats with Top Coat

This is Glitter All The Way, the last of the polishes I own from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I think the name of this polish is simply wonderful. One of the best holiday names for this brilliant holiday collection.

One Coat

I don't know if I'd consider this glitter truly holiday though. To be honest, I'm reminded more of Mardi Gras than Christmas, but I guess that's a holiday too ... just not a December holiday. The colors are beautiful no matter what holiday this is for. I couldn't seem to truly capture them sadly. The light reflected off this glitter all wrong for my camera but was stunning to behold to the eye. I like the way one coat of Glitter All The Way looks, so I think I'll be wearing this as a layering glitter.

Two Coats with Top Coat

For all that it's pretty, I will say I found this glitter hard to work with. It came out of the bottle pretty dry and clumpy and refused to spread out on my nail. I used two coats to get opaque, but I think that was simply because my coats had to be thick to get glitter to cover my nail. This thickness left my nails tacky for much longer than any of the other glitters of this collection and you can see in this picture the dent in the polish on my middle fingernail. I thought my nails were dry enough for pictures about an hour after doing them but a small bump and they dented easily.

Color: Small green hex glitters with purple, red, and bright yellow-gold micro-glitters in a clear base. The most noticeable colors are definitely green and purple.
Finish: Glitter
Application: Not great. There seems to be too much glitter and not enough clear base. This makes the polish dry and the glitter sticks together; you think this might be a good thing but it just makes it hard to spread. Hard to spread means fairly messy.
Coats to Opaque: 2-3 depending on how well your bottle of Glitter All The Way spreads and how thin you can keep your coats. Mine didn't spread well so my two coats were thick.
My Rating (1-5): 4