Essie - Glamour Purse

Hello everyone,

I'm back from my long weekend in Paris (again!). This time was a little bit more touristic... but I couldn't miss the Sephora huge store on the Champs Elysées! ;)
I haven't downloaded the pictures yet... but coming soon! ;)

Meanwhile, today I'll be showing you a polish that matches very well the  here, in Toulouse, at this moment: rainy ,windy, gray-ishy, gloomy.. all of that!

Now about the polish...
When I first saw the 2011 fall collection from Essie, this was the polish I knew I wanted, even though it's been done a hundred times. I just have a "thing" for taupe, mushroom-y colours like this one. I already have OPI Over the Taupe - which is by the way my fav' polish ever, and my first OPI ever! ;) - and I just thought I'd try a different brand, like challenging my ever-sweetheart-Over the Taupe ;) But now I know that these 2 are quite different: Glamour Purse has more gray in it and a subtle purple undertone, while Over the Taupe sticks to the classical beige undertones, looking basically like milk chocolate on my nails ;)
I didn't do a comparison here, but I will if you want me to - just tell me!

The application was very good, needed 2 coats for opacity and the wear was also very good.

 Here I'm wearing 2 coats of Essie Glamour Purse + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

In conclusion:

Application: 4.5/5
Formula: 4.5/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 4.5/5
Wear: 4.0/5.0

Overall: 4.42/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!!!

OPI - I Don't Give a Rotterdam

Hello everybody,

Hope you're doing fine.
Me, I'm still at home and resting... and now posting ;)

Oh, yes, the collection I've waited for such a long time is finally in my hands!! OPI Holland is here!! I know, here in Europe we get the collections after they are released in the US, but that's not a problem with me. I'm still happy I've got it!
Of course, I didn't order all the 12 polishes... but only 9 :D And amongst the 9, 4 of them are minis. Hopefully I will be able to show them all to you!

First of all here is I Don't Give a Rotterdam. I find the name excellent, i just love it. And i love this polish too. The colour is a gray-blue with silver crystal flecks inside.
The formula and the application were excellent. Purists will need 3 coats, but I'm OK with 2 coats for opacity. The wear was also very good.

 Here I'm wearing 2 coats of I Don't Give a Rotterdam + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

 

I think that the best way to wear this polish and to value it is to wear it with a light blue pair of jeans:

source

In conclusion:

Application: 4.7/5
Formula: 4.5/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 4.0/5
Wear: 4.0/5.0

Overall: 4.37/5



And, in the end, I want to share with you this picture of the young magnolia tree in the patio just bellow my bedroom window:

... yeah... spring is here ;)

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! 

Essie - Navigate Her

Hello everyone,

I'm really behind with all the collections... Now I'm ill (but well enough to post this!) and I take advantage of this situation and post everything I can and is waiting to be published!! :)

From Essie navigate Her 2012 spring collection I've picked up the minis and now I'm waiting for A Crewed Interest to be available again on the website where I shop...
From the 4 minis I've only worn and swatched Navigate Her - until now :) The rest will surely come a little bit later.
Unfortunately I'm not very proud of the pictures quality nor of the mani itself... The cleanup was not one of my best and my cuticles were in a very bad shape... Sorry for that.

Anyways, I won't go into details with this colour as I guess most of you if not own it, at least already know it from other blogs.
I have to say that I liked this colour a lot, but the big disappointment is that this kind of green doesn't look good on me. Really. It makes my hands look "ill"... 

Also, I've had a problem with the chipping. This never made it to 24h without chipping, which is very bad even from a low quality polish. My friend Ruxi also told me that some of the latest Essie polishes have this problem... No comment.

So, here I'm wearing 2 coats of Essie Navigate Her + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

Because of the chipping problem I've had with this one, I decided to add a new criterion on my "polish grading system" ;): Wear.
I'll probably not consider it every time, because I don't always wear all the polishes I swatch...


In conclusion:

Application: 4.0/5
Formula: 4.0/5
Finish: 4.0/5
Drying time: 4.0/5
Opacity: 5.0/5
Wear: 1.0/5.0

Overall: 3.7/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! 

Easter Mani - Nubar Black Polka Dots over Catrice Sold Out Forever

Hello everyone,

For this little post I'd like to share with you a mani I've tried yesterday, which I find very cute and very appropriate for the Easter! I don't know why this makes me think of a an egg shell (dinosaur egg?? - yeah SciFi dino ;D LOL). I confess I didn't have the courage to wear it at work ... ;)

So this is 1 coat of Nubar Black Polka Dots (which need no more introduction!) over 2 coats Catrice Sold Out Forever (swatched here) and a coat of Seche Vite in between.
The bottle I'm holding is Nubar Black Polka Dots. It's amazing how dark it looks in the bottle and yet on the nail the base is completely transparent!

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!!!
 <3

China Glaze - Kinetic Candy

Hello everyone,

Hope you've had a nice weekend!
Sorry for the long absence... again ;) But I was away for the week-end -  in Paris again (more exactly near Paris, in Essonne) for a big birthday party. And it was great!  

So today I have for you another polish from the China Glaze's 2012 Electropop spring collection: Kinetic Candy.
This is quite a nice colour and the quality of the formula and the application were great.. it's just that it's really not flattering at all for my skin-tone. And also... I've had this weired feeling the whole time I was wearing it: that I was wearing a piece of faïence on my nails! Maybe because the faïence in my parent's bathroom was (and still is) exactly the same colour ! ;) weired associations ;)

The only thing that I found not to be OK with it is that it doesn't last for as long as I'm expecting it to... I've applied it in the evening, and by the end of the next day it already chipped on 3 fingers (and I didn't do any house work - I was at work ;)). Too bad.

So here I'm wearing 2 coats of China Glaze Kinetic Candy + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

In conclusion:

Application: 4.0/5
Formula: 4.0/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Drying time: 4.0/5
Opacity: 5.0/5

Overall: 4.3/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! 

China Glaze - Aquadelic

Hello everyone,

Hope you're doing fine!
Me... I'm having quite a hard week at work and I'm finishing very late... hardly have the time to prepare myself for the next day!
But life is better when you get polish now and then, right? - I'm sure a lot of you know what I men ;D
So,  I've received my command of 4 bottles from the China Glaze Electropop Spring collection a few days ago. I've only worn Kinetic Candy and Aquadelic until now. And I gotta say that Aquadelic - the one I'm going to show you today - really made day!

Some say that it is very close to China Glaze For Audrey... I don't own For Audrey, but from other swatches I've seen, I guess they do look a lot alike, but Aquadelic seems brighter and a tad bit bluer.
Anyway, I find this polish to be GREAT! I really love it. I've worn it with a t-shirt in about the same colour and it looked magic! ;D
The application is very good, also the opacity. Two coats are needed only in order to even out the brush strokes from the first layer.

Here I'm wearing 2 coats of China Glaze Aquadelic + 1 coat of Seche Vite:

In conclusion:

Application: 4.0/5
Formula: 4.0/5
Finish: 4.5/5
Drying time: 4.0/5
Opacity: 5.0/5

Overall: 4.3/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! <3

My Super-Short Weekend in Paris (picture heavy!)

Hi there!

About 2 weeks ago I went to see my friend Ruxi, who lives in Paris. It was extremely short: from Friday evening to Sunday morning...
On Saturday we took a tour in Paris, but more of a shopping tour rather than a touristic tour ;) We didn't do super famous places like La Tour Eiffel or Arc de Triomphe because we already know them and actually try to avoid them because of the tourists)... but we went to the Printemps galleries, close to L'Opéra, and it's mostly about that I'm going to talk in this post!

I did take a picture of L'Opéra (not the best, I admit) - it's the building with the greenish dome and the gold foil covered statues and decorations:

For this post I wanted to share with you some of the nice stuff we saw inside the Printemps galleries (very much alike Les Galleries Lafayette)...

 The decorations...

 ... the Saturday crowd inside Printemps...

Other amazing decorations...

Some Givency purses...

 Yves Saint Laurent jewelry...

 Glamorous MiuMiu purse...

 Stunning pieces of jewelry (I think this is Guerlain, but I'm not sure)

 Hair accessories from Alexandre de Paris (horribly expensive! Like you gotta choose between paying the electricity bill and buy a bow for your hair! :-) )...

And some shoes I can't find in Toulouse, so I took the pics to retain the brand name and eventually order them over the on-line shops that sell these brands:

 Finally back at Ruxi's, we've had a a small pary for Ruxi's b-day ;)

yep, even Mumu - Ruxi's cat - wanted to actively participate ;D

See ya soon everyone!

HUGS!



Sarcastic personal note: How can anyone who has a normal job, pays a rent, taxes, and everything, afford to buy a 2000 (or more!!!) euros purse??? Is this a parallel world?? 

Misa - Like it Like That

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend! Here in Toulouse it finally started to get warmer after 2 weeks of constant temperatures bellow zero!... i'm not going to bother you again with my poor avocado-tree that got frozen after a night outside at -10°C because I feel so guilty!!... :) So I'll get to the polish now ;)

Today I'll be showing you the only Misa nail polish in my collection. I think it is a very nice colour, while I find it very difficult to wear and to match my accessories or outfits.
This polish is a blueish emerald green, with a very surprising mix between frost and shimmery finish. The shimmer gives it a very nice golden sparkle when the light hits it and it is so shiny! It is very spectacular without being neon or glitter.
The formula for this one is good, but the only thing that bothers me a little are the brush strokes traces... This is my only negative point for this one, but I guess it's only a personal opinion, some people may totally ignore it and like the polish for what it is!
The drying time is correct. 

Here I'm wearing 2 coats of Misa - Like It Like That, no top coat.
Note that the colour is actually a bit greener in reality than my pictures show it. Very hard to capture!

In the sun

In the shade

In conclusion:

Application: 3.5/5
Formula: 3.5/5
Finish: 3.0/5
Drying time: 4.0/5
Opacity: 4.0/5

Overall: 3.6/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs! <3

OPI - Sapphire in the Snow

Hello everyone,

This has been a very busy week for me, working late and everything... And it's so cold outside, and it seems to me that it's going to last forever... Lost my little avocado-tree because of the freezing weather - well, ok, ok, I  know its' my fault I didn't bring it inside before it got completely frozen...  oh, well, enough with my talk! Let's get to the polish I'd like to show you today: OPI Sapphire in the Snow! Gorgeous!

I know this is another oldie, but I've got quite a few in collection ;) From the swatches I've seen on different blogs I think last OPI fall collection Road House Blues is very similar to this one.

It's an indigo cream, in some lights is more blue than purple, in other light i' more purple than blue. I just love complex colours like this. The application is very good, and you'll certainly need 2 coats to get it fully opaque - some perfectionists would like maybe 3.The drying time is correct.

As I'm far from being a perfectionist (while I do like things well done), I only did 2 coats, and I guess it came out pretty OK (except a little bald spot on my ring nail - thank you for ignoring :-) ).

In the shade

In the sun

And again in the sun

I don't know what's wrong with me, 'cause I've been so much into glitter layering lately... so I've added a coat of OPI Last Friday Night on top of my middle and ring nails:

In conclusion:

Application: 4.5/5
Formula: 3.5/5
Finish: 4/5
Drying time: 4/5
Opacity: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.9/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!

OPI - It's Totally Fort Worth It

Hello everyone,

A quick post for today to celebrate my new net-book (my desktop is totally out of service and unfortunately lots of my pictures are still trapped on its hard-disk )!  Oh, well, it's a small, inexpensive laptop... Not exactly what I wanted, but that'll do it until I get something bigger and better: a desktop :) But that's all right, I don't regret buying this one because I'm sure it will be a great travel companion after all.
And luckily,  I have some drafts saved in my posts. So, until I receive my command of an adapter ATA -USB for hard-disks, I'll post the stuff I already uploaded in my drafts!

So today I'll be showing you another "last year"! It's OPI It's Totally Fort Worth it, from the Texas collection released for the spring in 2011.
This polish is got a cute gray-ish silvery base with this really nice pink shimmer, it's also got a very beautiful pearly finish ... but it is incredibly sheer! What you see in the pictures bellow is actually 4 coats!
I don't know about you, but me, I simply can't handle polishes that require 4 coats in order to get a bit opaque. I 'm sure that I'm not going to wear them because I cruelly lack spare time... And yes, 4 coats and still got VNL...! Too bad. 
The drying time is surprisingly good even with 4 coats.

I tried to do a Konad design using OPI Ski Teal We Drop, but it failed. So I added a coat of OPI DS Coronation on top of the mess :) and here is the result:

Oh well, too bad for this polish, but this makes the waiting for OPI Holland even harder!!! :D
They said it will be available in stores about middle of February... gna gna gna! ;D Can't wait! ;)

So, until then, let's see the conclusions about OPI It's Totally Fort Worth it:

In conclusion:

Application: 3/5
Formula: 1.5/5
Finish: 3/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 1/5

Overall: 2.6/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!

China Glaze - Glittering Garland

Hello everyone,

This is one of the 2 polishes I've purchased from China Glaze's Let it Snow 2011 winter collection. I've also got Tinsel town, but... it is still amongst my "untrieds"...

Glittering Garland is a must have, in my opinion! It is one of the most beautiful greens I've ever seen! Not a joke. Ans i do have a few greens in my collection ;)
It's a deep, rich Christmas-tree-green, with light green/gold duochrome flecks! The effect is superb.
Two coats are enough for full opacity, the application is great and it dries fast! What more do we need? ;)

Here I'm wearing 2 coats of China Glaze - Glittering garland, no top coat:

In conclusion:

Application: 5/5
Formula: 4.5/5
Finish: 5/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.7/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!

OPI Crown Me Already! - Miss Universe Collection

Hi there everyone,

Hope you're doing fine and that you're having a great weekend.
Today I'll show you another polish  from the Miss Universe Collection. It's basically a mix of silver micro-glitter, hex-glitter and some other medium-sized pieces of silver glitter, all in a clear base.
Of course, because of the clear base, you'll be needing 3 or 4 coats for opacity. I only did 2 here. Normally, IRL, the portions of nail that you obviously can see through the glitter in these pictures, is not so visible actually.
The application was OK for a glitter, and I gotta say that I really like the sparkle and the joy that this can bring to any mani when used as a top coat!

So, here I'm wearing 2 coats of OPI Crown Me Already!, no top coat:

In the shade

In the sun

An over a dark base:

In conclusion:

Application: 4/5
Formula: 4/5
Finish: 4/5
Drying time: 4.5/5
Opacity: 4/5

Overall: 4.1/5

Thank you everyone for watching!

Hugs!