Happy New Year everyone!!!
2015 has started with a bang and I am hoping and wishing that it is a great year for you all!!!
2015 has started with a bang and I am hoping and wishing that it is a great year for you all!!!
* nail art, japanese decoden, tutorials, beauty, travel and kawaii bits and pieces *
Showing posts with label Essence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essence. Show all posts
Monday, 5 January 2015
Friday, 9 May 2014
Iridescent pastel nails for spring, a quick and easy tutorial
While digging in my untrieds box this week I found two lovely nail polishes from the Essence Snow White collection that where a gift from my dear 'Chelle. As I was just sent a small pack of nail art goodies for review from Born Pretty Store, including an iridescent crushed shell powder set, a mani idea was born.
Spring is perfect for pastel nails so here is a fun and easy nail art tutorial if you want to try out this manicure.
Friday, 31 January 2014
Beetlejuice inspired gothic nail art
Wow, January is almost over and just now I managed to find some time to write a new post!
But since today is the Chinese New Year, may the year of the horse bring happiness, health and prosperity to everyone ^_^
So for my first post for 2014 I want to show you some gothic nail art, inspired by one of my favourite movies, Beetlejuice!
But since today is the Chinese New Year, may the year of the horse bring happiness, health and prosperity to everyone ^_^
So for my first post for 2014 I want to show you some gothic nail art, inspired by one of my favourite movies, Beetlejuice!
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Gold and black for James Bond
Hello everyone ^_^/
recently darling and me went to see Skyfall, so I wanted to make James Bond themed nails. As my nails are quite short lately, I decided to go for a black and gold glitter gradation. Black because in my opinion it's Bond's colour and gold because my favourite James Bond movie is Goldfinger.
recently darling and me went to see Skyfall, so I wanted to make James Bond themed nails. As my nails are quite short lately, I decided to go for a black and gold glitter gradation. Black because in my opinion it's Bond's colour and gold because my favourite James Bond movie is Goldfinger.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Cult Nails Seduction
Hello everyone ^_^/
Just a quick post from me today, showcasing one of the prettiest nail polishes that came out recently, Seduction by Cult Nails.
Seduction is a multichrome flakie in a sheer purple base. In other words, perfect for layering!!!
Just a quick post from me today, showcasing one of the prettiest nail polishes that came out recently, Seduction by Cult Nails.
Seduction is a multichrome flakie in a sheer purple base. In other words, perfect for layering!!!
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
the Greek files #10
Hello everyone ^_^/
I will close the month of November with another instalment of the Greek files.
This time I want to show you a fabulous blue flakie nail polish from a Greek budget beauty brand called Beauty Line.
I found this both in blue and black and snagged both but I wanted to try the blue one first.
As I wanted the colour to be a bit darker, I layered one coat over a coat of Just Rock It, a dark blue by Essence. Added a coat of Seche Vite for extra shine and that was it ^_^
Unfortunately the photos don't do this beautiful nail polish justice. As we don't have a lot of sun in the winter I couldn't showcase the flakie goodness properly. But this is a fabulous and quite unique colour and can be bought at a very good price, so I just couldn't pass it up ^_^
I will close the month of November with another instalment of the Greek files.
This time I want to show you a fabulous blue flakie nail polish from a Greek budget beauty brand called Beauty Line.
I found this both in blue and black and snagged both but I wanted to try the blue one first.
As I wanted the colour to be a bit darker, I layered one coat over a coat of Just Rock It, a dark blue by Essence. Added a coat of Seche Vite for extra shine and that was it ^_^
Unfortunately the photos don't do this beautiful nail polish justice. As we don't have a lot of sun in the winter I couldn't showcase the flakie goodness properly. But this is a fabulous and quite unique colour and can be bought at a very good price, so I just couldn't pass it up ^_^
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Forest green and purple nails with a bit of sparkle
Hello everyone (^-^)/
Today I want to show you the mani I had while in Germany. Since it was the first time I had some KIKO and P2 polishes, I wanted to try them out.
I used Kiko 347, a beautiful forest green and P2 Poetic, a pretty purple. For a bit of a twist I used Kiko 270 on a couple of nails.
Although it was a simple look, I got a lot of compliments.
My friend T-chan loved it so much that she wanted it on her nails too but in pink and red. So I used Essence Flamingo Rose and Divalicious Red instead.
What do you think? （＾∇＾）
Posted from my iPhone
Today I want to show you the mani I had while in Germany. Since it was the first time I had some KIKO and P2 polishes, I wanted to try them out.
I used Kiko 347, a beautiful forest green and P2 Poetic, a pretty purple. For a bit of a twist I used Kiko 270 on a couple of nails.
Although it was a simple look, I got a lot of compliments.
My friend T-chan loved it so much that she wanted it on her nails too but in pink and red. So I used Essence Flamingo Rose and Divalicious Red instead.
What do you think? （＾∇＾）
Posted from my iPhone
Monday, 18 July 2011
Purple stars manicure
Hello everyone ^_^/
today I have a starry manicure to show you. As you might or might not know, I love stars.
And purple.
And glitter.
So I wanted to do a manicure combining all of the above.
I decided to use some of the polishes from my recent swap with Stephanie, so I picked two of the Hema polishes, a purple and a silver glitter. I also used some silver star nail stickers that I got from Japan last year ^_^
After applying my base coat, I painted two coats of the purple Hema polish. As you can see it probably needed a third coat to get full coverage but as I had other plans for this mani, two were enough.
Afterwards I sponged glitter on the tips of my nails and applied the nail stickers. Sealed everything with the fabulous Better Than Gel Nails top coat from Essence and the look was finished. I highly recommend this top coat, if you want a cheaper alternative to Seche Vite. It's almost as good and I am loving it so far!
Please do not mind my silly middle finger, it keeps breaking lately and no matter what I do it just won't grow. But I won't let it bug me, no XD
today I have a starry manicure to show you. As you might or might not know, I love stars.
And purple.
And glitter.
So I wanted to do a manicure combining all of the above.
I decided to use some of the polishes from my recent swap with Stephanie, so I picked two of the Hema polishes, a purple and a silver glitter. I also used some silver star nail stickers that I got from Japan last year ^_^
After applying my base coat, I painted two coats of the purple Hema polish. As you can see it probably needed a third coat to get full coverage but as I had other plans for this mani, two were enough.
Afterwards I sponged glitter on the tips of my nails and applied the nail stickers. Sealed everything with the fabulous Better Than Gel Nails top coat from Essence and the look was finished. I highly recommend this top coat, if you want a cheaper alternative to Seche Vite. It's almost as good and I am loving it so far!
Please do not mind my silly middle finger, it keeps breaking lately and no matter what I do it just won't grow. But I won't let it bug me, no XD
Monday, 13 June 2011
the Greek files #8 and a NOTW
Hello everyone ^_^/
today marks the end of a long weekend for us here and I have yet another version of the Greek files along with a NOTW.
A few weeks ago I picked up some nail colours from local brands to swatch.
Amongst them was Seventeen #501 a fabulous dark purple with silver glitter. It looked fun in the bottle and purple always catches my eye. But when I saw it on my nails, I was blown away!
It is one of the prettiest purple polishes I have ever owned. I applied two coats over base coat. The formula was perfect and I had full coverage with two coats. I didn't apply any top coat and it dried quite fast.
I liked the colour so much that I didn't want to take it off. So I decided to spice it up and keep it for the week (I usually do my nails once or maximum twice a week as I am quite busy most of the time). I went for a silver x purple combination to match the nail polish as best I could.
Here is what I used
Seventeen #501
Essence Blair
Essence silver stampy polish
Seche Vite top coat
Bundle Monster plates 225 and 211 from the new set.
And this is the final result.
I think that #500 is one of the prettiest colours in the Seventeen collection and definitely my favourite purple right now.
For a chance to win some Greek nail polishes along with other goodies don't forget to enter my ongoing giveaway ^_^
today marks the end of a long weekend for us here and I have yet another version of the Greek files along with a NOTW.
A few weeks ago I picked up some nail colours from local brands to swatch.
Amongst them was Seventeen #501 a fabulous dark purple with silver glitter. It looked fun in the bottle and purple always catches my eye. But when I saw it on my nails, I was blown away!
It is one of the prettiest purple polishes I have ever owned. I applied two coats over base coat. The formula was perfect and I had full coverage with two coats. I didn't apply any top coat and it dried quite fast.
I liked the colour so much that I didn't want to take it off. So I decided to spice it up and keep it for the week (I usually do my nails once or maximum twice a week as I am quite busy most of the time). I went for a silver x purple combination to match the nail polish as best I could.
Here is what I used
Seventeen #501
Essence Blair
Essence silver stampy polish
Seche Vite top coat
Bundle Monster plates 225 and 211 from the new set.
And this is the final result.
I think that #500 is one of the prettiest colours in the Seventeen collection and definitely my favourite purple right now.
For a chance to win some Greek nail polishes along with other goodies don't forget to enter my ongoing giveaway ^_^
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
A manicure in Vienna
Hello everyone ^_^/
it's raining cats and dogs outside so I am sitting here doing some deco work but I decided to take a small break and show you a quick mani I did while in Vienna. As my nails were dying from the travelling I decided to change my mani for Easter Sunday.
I used the below polishes
American Apparel Dynasty, Essence Where's the party?, Essence It's Purplicious and Essence the better than gel nails top coat. I was very impressed with the top coat as the final result was fabulous indeed. I applied two coats and my nails were super shiny! I definitely recommend it!
And this is the end result!
And here is a bonus shot out in the sun!
And now back to work I go as I have promised jewellery design previews and I don't want to delay them any longer!
it's raining cats and dogs outside so I am sitting here doing some deco work but I decided to take a small break and show you a quick mani I did while in Vienna. As my nails were dying from the travelling I decided to change my mani for Easter Sunday.
I used the below polishes
And this is the end result!
And here is a bonus shot out in the sun!
And now back to work I go as I have promised jewellery design previews and I don't want to delay them any longer!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
My Austrian beauty haul
Hello everyone ^_^/
are you enjoying the weekend?
We are having fabulous weather today and even though I was working almost all day today I am determined to enjoy the rest of my weekend to the max!
In this post I will share my Austrian beauty haul as I like to call it. I managed to get my hands on brands we do not have here like Catrice and S-he and fulfill quite a few lemmings in the process.
I am warning you, this is going to be one looooooong post!
Here is a break down of the items.
I will start with L'Occitane, which is one of my favourite brands as of late. I am always very pleased with their products and I want to slowly try the whole range. I got a hand cream pack, a lavender body lotion and soap and my favourite face cream with apple and almond extracts (works wonders on my face). It was a pleasant surprise when I was given a Pivoine Flora shower cream and Paeonia beauty milk as a present. I haven't tried them yet but hey both smell fantastic!
I of course had to pop by a Claire's, as it is always one of my favourite places to shop and we don't have one in my city yet! I got a Hello Kitty nail art set, consisting of two nail polishes, some nail stickers and a glitter, 4 nail polishes (3 glitters and a duochrome) and a glitter eye palette. I am an absolute glitter addict and not afraid to say it hehehe!
Next up is Essence. We do have this brand here too but unfortunately we seldom get any of the nail art goods or special collections so I had to stock up. On the above picture, from left to right, I have gathered some special effect toppers (Mystic Mermaid, Hello Holo, It's Purplicious, Circus Confetti), 3 glitters from the Nail Art Twins series (Blair, Edward, Troy) and a Top Coat that claims it's better than gel nails.
The rest of the nail polishes, from left to right, are I Like, Bloom-A-Loom, Forget me Not from the blossom series, three stampy polishes in black, silver and white, the much coveted duochromes Where's the Party? and Out of My Mind, three magnetic polishes (Mystic Wish!, Miracle Shine!, Hex Hex!) and Roy's Red from the Whoom! Boooom!! collection.
Some more nail art goods including the new stamping plates, plus an eyeshadow duo and a lipgloss.
American Apparel nail polishes in Berry, Dynasty and Hassid, a Manhattan glitter top coat and a burgundy S-he nail polish with copper glitter in it.
And last but not least my new shiny Catrice babies. From left to right they are Forget Me Not!, Dirty Berry!, Purplelized, I Wear my Sunglasses at Night, Mermaiden and Wrapped Around My Finger. I've been wanting these for so long, I almost squealed when I saw them ^___^
What do you think of this haul? My darling was making fun at me for picking up so many polishes but I am very happy none the less ^_^
Now my problem is, which one should I try next?
are you enjoying the weekend?
We are having fabulous weather today and even though I was working almost all day today I am determined to enjoy the rest of my weekend to the max!
In this post I will share my Austrian beauty haul as I like to call it. I managed to get my hands on brands we do not have here like Catrice and S-he and fulfill quite a few lemmings in the process.
I am warning you, this is going to be one looooooong post!
Here is a break down of the items.
I will start with L'Occitane, which is one of my favourite brands as of late. I am always very pleased with their products and I want to slowly try the whole range. I got a hand cream pack, a lavender body lotion and soap and my favourite face cream with apple and almond extracts (works wonders on my face). It was a pleasant surprise when I was given a Pivoine Flora shower cream and Paeonia beauty milk as a present. I haven't tried them yet but hey both smell fantastic!
I of course had to pop by a Claire's, as it is always one of my favourite places to shop and we don't have one in my city yet! I got a Hello Kitty nail art set, consisting of two nail polishes, some nail stickers and a glitter, 4 nail polishes (3 glitters and a duochrome) and a glitter eye palette. I am an absolute glitter addict and not afraid to say it hehehe!
Next up is Essence. We do have this brand here too but unfortunately we seldom get any of the nail art goods or special collections so I had to stock up. On the above picture, from left to right, I have gathered some special effect toppers (Mystic Mermaid, Hello Holo, It's Purplicious, Circus Confetti), 3 glitters from the Nail Art Twins series (Blair, Edward, Troy) and a Top Coat that claims it's better than gel nails.
The rest of the nail polishes, from left to right, are I Like, Bloom-A-Loom, Forget me Not from the blossom series, three stampy polishes in black, silver and white, the much coveted duochromes Where's the Party? and Out of My Mind, three magnetic polishes (Mystic Wish!, Miracle Shine!, Hex Hex!) and Roy's Red from the Whoom! Boooom!! collection.
Some more nail art goods including the new stamping plates, plus an eyeshadow duo and a lipgloss.
American Apparel nail polishes in Berry, Dynasty and Hassid, a Manhattan glitter top coat and a burgundy S-he nail polish with copper glitter in it.
And last but not least my new shiny Catrice babies. From left to right they are Forget Me Not!, Dirty Berry!, Purplelized, I Wear my Sunglasses at Night, Mermaiden and Wrapped Around My Finger. I've been wanting these for so long, I almost squealed when I saw them ^___^
What do you think of this haul? My darling was making fun at me for picking up so many polishes but I am very happy none the less ^_^
Now my problem is, which one should I try next?
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Riva mani followup and a Swarovski ring
Hello everyone ^_^/
how are you today? I am warming up by the fireplace, while writing this post.
Remember my Chanel Riva manicure from the previous post? After having it on for a couple of days I decided I wanted to spice it up a bit. So I whipped out my Konad stamping plates, OPI DS Extravagance and Essence Clyde and this is what I came up with.
Do you see the ring I am wearing in the first photo? It was gifted to me by Chunky Bling, my new affiliate. It is a lovely ring with clear Swarovski crystals.
I usually prefer wearing huge rings, but this sparkly beauty is hard to pass by. I love wearing it in sunny weather because the Swarovski crystals are so shiny. And it goes great with all my manicures too ^_^
If you would like to check out their whole Swarovski jewellery collection, you can check the Chunky Bling website.
how are you today? I am warming up by the fireplace, while writing this post.
Remember my Chanel Riva manicure from the previous post? After having it on for a couple of days I decided I wanted to spice it up a bit. So I whipped out my Konad stamping plates, OPI DS Extravagance and Essence Clyde and this is what I came up with.
I really like the end result, especially how Clyde looks layered over Riva. And I am surprised at the excellent stamping abilities of DS Extravagance, that was something I wasn't really expecting! I sealed everything with a coat of Seche Vite top coat and my mani is still as good as new ^_^
I usually prefer wearing huge rings, but this sparkly beauty is hard to pass by. I love wearing it in sunny weather because the Swarovski crystals are so shiny. And it goes great with all my manicures too ^_^
If you would like to check out their whole Swarovski jewellery collection, you can check the Chunky Bling website.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
My V-Day mani
Hello everyone ^_^/
this is a late and quick post.
Today I will share with you my Valentine's day mani.
Generally I am not a big fan of the day as both my darling and me feel that when you love someone you need to show it and celebrate it everyday and not just once a year. But I did a quick mani anyway.
The base was I love my jeans by Essence, with a coat of NfuOh 48 on top and some heart shaped nail decals.
Quick and easy. It came out cute but didn't even last 12 hours :o (please excuse the smudging on the pics, I didn't have time to do proper clean up).
On another note I would like to apologise for not being so active with blogging but February is being really insane and things are not expected to calm down before the beginning of March. I am quite behind on my reading and commenting but I try to catch up as often as I can.
I am flying out to lovely Budapest in a few hours and will try to blog from there too but I have a couple of scheduled posts coming up that I hope you enjoy (hope they work this time).
Have a fabulous weekend everyone <3
this is a late and quick post.
Today I will share with you my Valentine's day mani.
Generally I am not a big fan of the day as both my darling and me feel that when you love someone you need to show it and celebrate it everyday and not just once a year. But I did a quick mani anyway.
The base was I love my jeans by Essence, with a coat of NfuOh 48 on top and some heart shaped nail decals.
Quick and easy. It came out cute but didn't even last 12 hours :o (please excuse the smudging on the pics, I didn't have time to do proper clean up).
On another note I would like to apologise for not being so active with blogging but February is being really insane and things are not expected to calm down before the beginning of March. I am quite behind on my reading and commenting but I try to catch up as often as I can.
I am flying out to lovely Budapest in a few hours and will try to blog from there too but I have a couple of scheduled posts coming up that I hope you enjoy (hope they work this time).
Have a fabulous weekend everyone <3
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Asian flavour manicure
Hello everyone ^_^/
How are you all doing? Getting ready for the weekend?
I hope you have some time to relax and enjoy yourselves.
As for me I can finally relax a bit and share another manicure with you.
I call it an Asian flavour manicure.
This turned out to be one of my favourite manis ever and to be honest I was just improvising as I went on.
I used nail polishes and nail art supplies from my recent swap with 'Chelle (from Cosmetic Cupcake) and an Essence image plate.
After applying the Orly tough cookie base coat, I painted my nails two coats of Mode's Jaded.
It's a lovely nail polish, with a rich colour which was quite sheer in two coats though as you can see.
But I was content with them as I had other plans for this mani.
I sponged diagonal french tips using Chic Chic 38 and then using NYC midnight I stamped various images from the Essence nail plate on my nails. Midnight proved perfect for stamping as all the images came out perfect.
Sealed everything with a coat of Seche and I was done.
I did this 4 days ago and my nails are still 100% chip free. I am loving this so much that I don't want to take it off. The colours somehow remind me of kimono fabrics and Asian prints. What do you think?
How are you all doing? Getting ready for the weekend?
I hope you have some time to relax and enjoy yourselves.
As for me I can finally relax a bit and share another manicure with you.
I call it an Asian flavour manicure.
This turned out to be one of my favourite manis ever and to be honest I was just improvising as I went on.
I used nail polishes and nail art supplies from my recent swap with 'Chelle (from Cosmetic Cupcake) and an Essence image plate.
After applying the Orly tough cookie base coat, I painted my nails two coats of Mode's Jaded.
But I was content with them as I had other plans for this mani.
I sponged diagonal french tips using Chic Chic 38 and then using NYC midnight I stamped various images from the Essence nail plate on my nails. Midnight proved perfect for stamping as all the images came out perfect.
Sealed everything with a coat of Seche and I was done.
I did this 4 days ago and my nails are still 100% chip free. I am loving this so much that I don't want to take it off. The colours somehow remind me of kimono fabrics and Asian prints. What do you think?
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
A black manicure with lots of sparkle
Hello everyone ^_^/
how are you today?
Just a few days now left for Christmas, weeeeee I'm so excited.
Today I will share a black manicure with a twist. I was inspired to do this by various nail art designs that I saw on Japanese nail magazines. It can be worn for the festive season too.
Essence Fatal
BB Couture Spellbound (from my awesome Overall Beauty haul that I will be posting about soon)
Zoya Nova
silver spangles in various sizes
Seche Vite top coat
I painted all the fingers except one on each hand black. Then the two accent fingers that I chose were painted with Spellbound and then Nova. Added the spangles on the black nails forming various lines, topped with Seche and done.
I was so happy with this one that I didn't want to take it off. And as you can see when the light hits it, it's a really sparkly and eye catching manicure! I think I might be doing something similar for New Year's, but with different colours ^_^
how are you today?
Just a few days now left for Christmas, weeeeee I'm so excited.
Today I will share a black manicure with a twist. I was inspired to do this by various nail art designs that I saw on Japanese nail magazines. It can be worn for the festive season too.
Here is what you will need for this manicure.
BB Couture Spellbound (from my awesome Overall Beauty haul that I will be posting about soon)
Zoya Nova
silver spangles in various sizes
Seche Vite top coat
I painted all the fingers except one on each hand black. Then the two accent fingers that I chose were painted with Spellbound and then Nova. Added the spangles on the black nails forming various lines, topped with Seche and done.
I was so happy with this one that I didn't want to take it off. And as you can see when the light hits it, it's a really sparkly and eye catching manicure! I think I might be doing something similar for New Year's, but with different colours ^_^
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