Blackheart from Hot Topic ~ Navy

Blackheart from Hot Topic ~ Navy

Navy blue shimmer

I am a sucker for polishes in odd bottles and it isn’t a secret that skulls fascinate me, so Blackheart polishes in their skull bottles are just perfect for me.

I am not impressed by the formula though. It’s a bit on the runny side, which I absolutely hate, and it’s not easy to apply where you want it. That’s why the edges are a bit ragged on my pictures, haha. Bear with me! :)

I used two coats to make it all opaque and the drying time between the coats is average. It dries up super shiny, so I didn’t apply a topcoat for this picture:

I added glitter. I used a blue glitter with silver hexes from DNA Italy. I can’t find a name on the bottle, so let’s just call it blue glitter. The glitter spreads out easily and evenly. It smells a bit odd and the drying time isn’t the fastest, but it looks good. Here’s one coat over the Blackheart:

I wanted more colour! I made two half stripes on each nail with a striper from HITS called Pink. It looks a bit neon coral to me, but never mind. I think I got it in a grab bag from Ninja Polish when they still existed, and even though I really like HITS polishes as a rule, this striper isn’t good. This is the first time I’ve used it and it’s already gloopy, stringy and weird. It smells too :D

Anyway, two stripes on each nail and I went over it an extra time with the striper to make it nice and opaque over the dark blue. I added a layer of topcoat and then my mani was done:

That’s it! Do you like Blackheart polishes?

Blackheart ~ Navy

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Shimmer
Overall impression: Formula is runny, and not easy to paint with. Drying time could be faster. I like the colour though and I love the bottle!

Buy again: Yes

The Nightmare before Christmas ~ Sally & Jack

The Nightmare before Christmas ~ Sally & Jack  

Black with multicoloured miniglitter and red jelly with red and pink miniglitter

'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems

in a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams.

For the story you're about to be told

began with the holiday worlds of auld.

Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from.

If you haven't I'd say it's time you begun.

This is a quote from Tim Burton’s ‘A Nightmare before Christmas’; one of my favourite Christmas movies. I was thrilled to find Sally and Jack polishes in Hot Topic in New York! I almost made a mistake only buying Sally though: I’m a sucker for glittery red and I don’t wear black very often. But Jack and Sally belong together, so I ended up bringing them both home. And I’m glad that I did.

I applied two coats of each polish. The polishes are equally easy to apply and it takes two coats to make them look at their best. Drying time is on the slow side, and their smell is a bit odd, but I can easily live with that because the polishes are both dead gorgeous.

Let me show you two coats of Jack and two coats of Sally, all with a layer of Poshé topcoat on:

See what I mean? I love that there’s multicoloured glitter in the black, and the red looks really great with the pink and red glitters too.

Here’s the pretty couple:

Allow me to make them even prettier. I painted white stripes on my pinkie to represent Jack’s stripy jacket. The ring and the middle finger got a kiss and a couple of hearts on them – Sally is so sweet <3 My pointer had Jack stamped on it, and the thumb had a layer of L A Girls “Uninhibited” black glitter over it.

I found the stamps on these plates:
Lips: Bundlemonster BM-02

Hearts: Unnamed Essence stamping plate

Jack: XL stamping plate K Holiday designs

I stamped with a no name black stamping polish.

I applied another layer of Poshé topcoat, and here’s my final mani:

I really like this, it turned out just the way I wanted it to!

One last shot, just because I can:

Like I said: This is what I wanted it to look like. Perfect for Christmas and as a tribute to a Christmas movie that I really like to watch.

Have you seen The Nightmare before Christmas? If yes, did you like it?

New York haul, part I

Hi girls,

I haven't been around much the past week. I went on vacation to New York, and look what I brought with me home!! I have decided to make two blogposts about my NY haul, since I think there are too many pictures for just one post.  

So here we go: First ones up are 6 blackheart polishes, that I bought in Hot Topic. The first two are three colours in one; it's probably meant for decoration more than actual use, but I don't mind. I think they are beautiful.

Blackheart polishes from Hot Topic.

The next three are also from Hot Topic; three My Little Pony-polishes. I found them in a clearance basket, which is why the lids are a little smashed up. Regular price was US$7.5, I got all three for US$9.40. I love bargains like that!

My Little Pony

The next two are also from Hot Topic. It's Sally and Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I wasn't quite sure whether to buy these two or not, but figured that this was probably my one and only chance to actually get these. So yes, now they're mine.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Sally and Jack

I also went to Sephora. I wanted to buy Hello Kitty-polishes, but they only sell those online. So I thought I'd try their new X-series instead. I picked 8 (out of a million, I think). The first three on this picture are textures, the fourth is an effect polish that changes between blue and purple.

Sephora X textures: Astonishing, Celestial and Vortex. Sephora X Effect: Kaleidoscope

Here are three glitters and one from their "ordinary" line (white cap).

Sephora X glitters: Mr. Positivity, Catalyst, Freaky like Freud. Sephora X: Pedal to the Metal

I found Butter London's in Ricky's. It was hard to choose, but I picked these three:

Butter London: Jack the Lad, Knackered, Fiddlesticks.

We do have Urban Outfitters in Denmark too, but the polishes aren't the same, plus they are ridiculously expensive here. I picked these three; two neons and an effect polish:

Urban Outfitters: Tiny Shorts, Hottub, Oyster

And these three. I believe the last one could be a dupe of Deborah Lipmann's Mermaid's Tears. I'll check that out for sure!

Urban Outfitters: Chilly, Mystic, Sea Dust

The last three in this post are from Wet n Wild's Fantasy Makers series. I found them in one of the numerous Halloween shops I saw.

Fantasy Makers: Red Glitter, Silver, Purple Glitter. Holo dust.

That's the first half of the polishes I bought on my vacation. Do you see anything you like? 

I've got the skull blues!

Hot Topic Blackheart~ Blue Glitter

Clear base with various sizes of blue glitter

  

I have a thing for skulls. They fascinate me and I think they’re beautiful. So Hot Topic’s Blackheart series of skull polishes are so me. I have a bunch of them, but to be honest I think they’re so cool looking that I almost don’t have the heart to actually wear them, haha!!

But today is the day where I wear the blue glitter. It has probably got a name, but I can’t find it anywhere on the bottle. And it isn’t on Hot Topic’s website anymore, so “Blue Glitter” will have to do for now.

I decided to layer it, since I guess it’ll take 3-4 coats to make this opaque on its own. So I started out with one coat of Golden Rose Matte Velvet #103, which is a lovely blue suede. When that was dry shortly after, I applied two coats of the Blackheart blue glitter, and sealed that up with a coat of Poshé topcoat.

On the accent nails, which are my ring fingers and my thumbs today, I applied two coats of Girly Bits’ “Roger That”, which is a great blue linear holo. And then I took one picture before I continued; take a look:

The sun was only halfway cooperative today, so this was the best I could do to show you the rainbows :)

In order to make this a “complete skull mani” I stamped on it. I used a motif from my Apipila 01 plate and I stamped with Color Club “Lumin-Icent”. I sealed the stamps up with a layer of Poshé as well, and my mani was done:

I also stamped a skull with a bow on my thumb nails:

 

Since I couldn’t get the sun to shine no matter how hard I tried, I’ve got one last picture for you, taken in my lightbox:

And here are the pretty blue polishes I used: 

It feels good to have actually tried one of my skull polishes from Hot Topic. I like this shade of blue, even though I must admit that I’d buy Blackheart polishes for the bottle alone ♥

So: Today I’ve got the blue skulls. What about you?

Opacity: 3/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 6.5/10
Buy again: Yes, but only for the bottle

Hot Topic with holographic skull stamps

Hot Topic ~ ?

Multichrome shifting between blue/purple/green/something

I know that Hot Topic’s polishes aren’t necessarily of the highest quality, but I’m a sucker for a great looking bottle. And I love skulls – so this polish just had to be mine.

I used three coats for desired opacity, and the drying time wasn’t the fastest, so that was quite a challenge for me :D But anyway – the effect of this polish is quite special, and unfortunately almost impossible to capture on pictures :/

Here’s an attempt:

It flashes so many different colours, depending on which light you see it in. In direct light it flashes mostly blue and purple, but in low light I see both teal and dark green. Quite special!!

It is also shimmery, which I really like. 

I stamped on it, and as a tribute to the bottle (and perhaps also a little bit to the colour), I chose to stamp skulls on it! I used Gosh Holographic Hero as my stamping polish, and stamping plate from Konad M13:

There’s a layer of BK top coat over the stamp.

This didn’t quite turn out quite as I expected, which was a disappointment - but hey, sometimes it’s just like that. A bit like Life. I try to turn all of my less cool manis into learning experiences, figure out why it didn’t happen for real the way it did in my head, and try to get better each time I do my nails.

 

Opacity: 4/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 5/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Buy again: Yes, but only for the bottle

Summer Challenge Day 2: Orange

Summer Challenge Day 2: Orange

Orange! I have an ambivalent relationship with orange. I quite like bright colours, but oranges tend to lean towards autumn colours, and they go really badly with my skin tone. In fact – they don’t work at all. We just don’t co-ordinate in any way - hence I don’t wear yellows, golds, browns, burnt orange - and colours close to these - very much (if at all).

But hey – this is a challenge, right? :D So I picked a neon orange from Hot Topic that I bought in a blog sale.

I don’t like the brush. The handle is short and the "stick" that leads down to the brush itself is very long, which makes it difficult to control. I don’t like the bristles on the brush either - quite long, and "splayed out" towards the end. Difficult to use, and seemingly specifically designed to produce streaks! So, the application was a challenge in itself! I applied two streaky coats, and if my plan had been to wear this on its own I would definitely have applied a third coat. But I couldn’t be bothered, to be honest, because as you know by now, I would never simply leave a mani like that.

But here’s your shot for today’s challenge. Hot Topic orange:

I’d never wear this kind of colour on its own, so I decided to add some red. I used Sinful Color’s “Go go girl”, which is a classic red crème. I sponged the tips with the red, ending up with a result that looked like this: 

It’s almost like a sunset, don’t you think?

There’s a layer of Poshé top coat to protect it all.

Ironically, I ended up liking this a lot! :D

Check out these other Danish girls’ blogs to see what they came up with:

• Semin kjole – og alt det andet

• Life is a fairytale you know

• Neglerier

• Negle Lir

• Mette Straagaard

• Vickis Nail Polish

• Negle Nymfer

Stay tuned the day after tomorrow - same bat time, same bat channel - for yellow nails!