Summer Sunset

Hello my lovelies! It's Saturday and I haven't posted anything except for Monday Blues for a really long time, but today I decided it was time to show you some manicures that have been on my waiting list for ages. The first one is a summer nail art that I created back in August but didn't get to post. I know it's totally out of season and it seems kind of weird for me to post this now, but I really like it and now that I rediscovered it in my folders I can't help but show it to you. Plus is reminds me of summer which is always nice on such a cold gloomy day.

Rimmel Moon Walking

Hello my lovelies! I know the textured polish trend is sort of old news, but I still love to wear one every once in a while. The one I'm showing you today comes from the Rimmel Space Dust collection and was a gift from my sister. I really like receiving polishes as gifts because it makes me try out stuff that I wouldn't necessarily choose myself. This polish didn't catch my attention in the shop but is such a great discovery. See for yourself!

Rimmel Moon Walking indoors, artificial light

Rimmel Diamond Dust

Hello my lovelies! This is a scheduled post because when you will be reading this I will be away on vacation. I didn't want to leave you without any blog posts so I decided to show you an older manicure that I haven't had time to post. This polish came to me as a gift and I'm so glad because I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself. I'm happy that I got to try it though! 

Rimmel Diamond Dust with top coat, indoors, artificial light

Rimmel Round and Round the Garden

Hello my lovelies! I hope you are all doing well. Today I have a simple swatch for you and it's something very appropriate for the season. Rimmel came out with some new colors in their 60 Seconds line this summer, many of which were already dupes for polishes in my collection. I did however pick one up and saved it for the colder months because to me it's the perfect green for fall.

Rimmel Round and Round the Garden indoors, artificial light

Golden Stripes

Hello my lovelies! Just a quick post today to show you a manicure I did a while back and didn't have time to show you. I think by now you all know how much I like tape manicures. I've seen this type of design around and there's also a Konad stamp that has a similar pattern, so I decided to recreate it using my trusty striping tape. 

Purple Paisley

Hello my lovelies and happy Sunday! Today's post is all about nail art. I try to do at least one of these a week to keep you entertained. But the truth is that I've been really uninspired lately and I've only worn glitter manicures for the last week. Luckily, I still have some older photos to show you from when I was too busy with exams. This particular manicure has been very much enjoyed by me so I hope you will like it too.

Colorful Paisley

Hello my lovelies and happy Sunday! This morning I woke up very stressed about graduation coming up and  the fact that I have tons of work left on my thesis. I thought that talking to you all about nails would relax me so here I am writing this post. I'm not even sure you will like these nails, they were sort of a failed attempt and I liked them more in reality than in pictures. But here's how they came out. 

Born Pretty Glitter Nail Polish Review

Hello my lovelies! How is your week going so far? I'm still enjoying my vacation and my only regret is that the days are rushing by too fast. The Born Pretty Store has been so kind to send me some fun nail art supplies to review and I'm gonna show them to you this week. I'm gonna start with some glitter, because everybody needs some in their life. This is a glitter nail polish* that comes in a beautiful bottle, shown below. 

Born Pretty Tribal glitter nail polish

The brand of the nail polish is Tribal Colour and it has the number 24 on the bottom label. You can find it here on their website, where it's shade #4. It comes in a decent sized bottle of 12 ml (0.5 fl.oz.) and the price is very convenient. 

China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le

Hello my lovelies! I couldn't be happier about it being Friday. I have my last exam today and then it's holiday time for me. I can't wait to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and do lots of nail art! The polish I'm gonna show you today has been a long time lemming of mine. China Glaze came out with a similar color this spring, but I preferred to get this one because I love the older China Glaze formula. Needless to say that it didn't disappoint! 

China Glaze Secret Per-wink-le in the sun

Secret Peri-wink-le (not too crazy about the spelling of the name) is, of course, a periwinkle creme. In my photos it looks a bit more blue than it actually is, but my camera is always fussy when it comes to picking up purple. The color is right between blue and purple in reality, so in order to avoid controversy I didn't post it as a Monday Blue. 

China Glaze Secret Per-wink-le in the sun

The formula was as perfect as I expected. 2 easy coats were all it needed to look great. I love the way these older China Glaze cremes go on and I love the brush. There was almost no cleanup necessary after applying this one. It dries very shiny and doesn't need top coat, but I added some to make it dry faster because I wanted to do some nail art on top. 

China Glaze Secret Per-wink-le in the sun

This beautiful spring color immediately inspired me to add some more spring colors and make it a spring color block manicure. So I used some striping tape to mask the tips and added Rimmel Peppermint and Barry M Peach Melba alternatively on each finger. 

I was completely in love with the way this looked so I had to do both my hands. I did sort of a mirror image on my left hand where the fingers that had peach on my right hand had mint on my left hand and vice versa. The picture below has been taken with the camera sitting on a very wobbly tripod so forgive the awkwardness. 

This totally screams spring to me. I hope you enjoyed it too and I'm looking forward to showing you even more spring manicures in the following weeks! 

Where In The World Challenge: Germany

Hello my lovelies! I'm finally back with another post in this challenge. I feel so behind on these cause Gosia is already done with the whole challenge. But the beauty of this one is that you can go at your own pace. Hopefully mine will be a faster one in the following weeks. Today we are traveling to Germany. What most of you don't know is that I went to a German school and studied German as a first language even though I'm not of German heritage. I've only been to Germany once or twice, but I did take a language exam before I graduated high school. For the oral part of the exam we had to choose a theme related to Germany and do a presentation about it. I decided to talk about Caspar David Friedrich, a Romantic painter I like a lot. My inspiration for today's mani comes from his work. 

The painting I got my inspiration from is called "Greifswald Harbour" and it depicts a beautiful sunset in the harbor of the painter's place of birth. I particularly like how the painter depicts the sky in many of his works. He has a lot of sunset, clouds and fog paintings. One of his most famous paintings is called "The Wanderer above the Mists" (click on the name to see it). I took some photos of my album and of course the credit goes to the painter itself.

Green Day 3: Gradient

Hello my lovelies! It's very late as I'm writing this so I hope I won't be too incoherent. We went to see "Oz the Great and Powerful" tonight and I liked it but wasn't too impressed. Did anyone else see it? Anyway, today's green post comes from the nail art department. I've been practicing my gradients again and this time I used greens. Here's how it came out. 

The base color for this gradient is Essie Navigate Her. I love this green so much and I had to include it in a spring manicure this year too. I find the shade very unique and the formula is also great. 

The second green I used is Rimmel Limealicious and I think the two go well together. To finish it off, I used one coat of INM Northern Lights. Glitter makes everything better, especially this one because it's holographic. Check it out in the sun. 

This gradient was kind of confusing. In some lights there was barely any contrast between the two, while in others there was a pretty clear delimitation line. I'm still working on the gradual fading part. But I'm pretty pleased with how this mani looked. 

I hope you enjoyed this manicure. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day, so it will be the grand finale of my green series. It's gonna be spectacular so don't forget to check back tomorrow! 

Silver Stars

Hello lovelies! It's the first day of the month and what better way to start it than with a post! My fellow Romanian bloggers have designed this challenge called Silver versus Gold, where we each pick one of the two and post a nail or makeup look in the respective color. I've been into gold lately but silver is my first love. I have a cool toned skin, so anything silver looks good on me. So naturally, I had to choose it for this challenge. 

I did a skittlette manicure a la Marta from Chit Chat Nails. A skittlette is a manicure where at least 3 of the nails are different. If you wanna know more you can check out this post where Marta explains the whole process behind the creations of these manicures. Of course it's the post that inspired me. I love her style so much and I hope she won't mind that I stole some of her ideas for today's post. 

So let's see what we have here. First things first, glitter on the pinky. This particular one is China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara. Then, the accent fingers with star shaped studs from Born Pretty (you can find them here and I reviewed them here). The base I used for them is China Glaze Liquid Leather because I wanted them to stand out against a neutral background. Finally, the rest of the fingers with a beautiful metallic silver, Rimmel Your Majesty. I've had this one for quite a long time but I've neglected it because I always use a-england Excalibur. The Rimmel is also great for stamping in case you are looking for a cheap silver that works well. 

I really hope you enjoyed this and thanks for stopping by! Here are the other participants in the challenge: 

Silver:

Theo http://sweetheart-woman.blogspot.ro/

Daniela Maria http://dragonfly-accessories.blogspot.ro/ 

Dee Diana http://bydee-make-up.blogspot.ro/ 

Georgiana http://rainbowsinajar.blogspot.ro/ 

Ana-Maria http://ana-s-beautyblog.blogspot.de/ 

Emma http://coshuletzulcolorath.blogspot.ro 

Simona http://makeupforsimi.blogspot.ro/ 

Almi - http://www.my-fashion-hobby.com/ 

Alex-http://beautybyalexia.wordpress.com/ 

JustAnAngel - http://justanangel.net/

Gold:

Denisa Dan http://loloablestuff.wordpress.com/

Laura Balaban http://www.laurabalaban.blogspot.nl/

Adelina http://adelinaradu.blogspot.com/

Rally - http://letmeborrowyourlipstick.blogspot.ro/

Valentina Bucur http://valentinabucur.blogspot.com

Roxie Onea - http://makeupbyroxie.blogspot.ro/

Sima Denisa - http://zileleaugust.blogspot.com

Elisa / Little Beauty Bag - http://littlebeautybagcta.blogspot.ro

Gya - http://gya-make-up.blogspot.ro

Alex - http://al3xmake-up.blogspot.ro

Almi - http://www.my-fashion-hobby.com/

Sudessa-http://sudessa.blogspot.com

Theo http://sweetheart-woman.blogspot.ro/

Models Own Hot Stuff

Hello loves! Wow, look at me! I'm doing Pink Wednesday two times in a row! I don't know what got into me last week but I was craving for a pretty pale color and so I busted out my Rimmel Rose Libertine and wore it for half a day. But then I got bored and this happened. 

Rimmel Rose Libertine with Models Own Hot Stuff indoors, artificial light

This is the 4th polish from the Models Own Mirrorball collection that I'm showing you, which means I've only got one left. Hot Stuff is the pink one and I didn't have high expectations from it because of that, but turns out I was very wrong. It has not one, but two types of glitter that are new to me: square and diamond. And I was thinking that I didn't own any polishes with square glitter in them while this was sitting patiently in the Helmer. 

Rimmel Rose Libertine with Models Own Hot Stuff indoors, artificial light

Ok, so here's what this polish contains: tiny red glitter, bigger fuchsia glitter, gold squares, random pink shards and big silver diamonds with a holo effect. Wow! The squares are a little smaller, but you can see them if you look closely (click to enlarge). This is just one coat so the density of the glitter is very very good! You don't have to fish for it because it sticks to the brush. The only thing is that it needs to be "placed" on the nail to be distributed evenly. The clear base was a little thick and of course the smell was very strong. It needed about 2 coats of Seche Vite to be shiny and smooth. 

Rimmel Rose Libertine with Models Own Hot Stuff indoors, artificial light

I won't go on again about how much I love these glitters. I think my other posts have been really persuasive about that fact. In case you missed any of them you can check them out by clicking these links: Freak Out!, Disco Inferno and Boogie Nights. I've got one more to show you so stay tuned! 

Rimmel Metal Rush Royal Blue

Hello my lovelies! It's already the 3rd day of 2013. These holidays went by too fast and the thought of going back to class in just a few days is really depressing. I'm trying to stay away from it as much as I can. And what better way to distract myself than talking about polish! The first one I'm showing you this year is the one I wore for New Year's Eve. It's an awesome metallic duochrome! 

Rimmel Metal Rush 60 Royal Blue indoors, artificial light

I found this one on the last day of the year, as I was doing some last minute shopping, and it immediately caught my eye. The color shift in this polish is just spectacular! The name, however, is something I don't really understand. The main colors in this polish are purple and teal. The teal is very green leaning. So there is really no royal blue in this one. 

Rimmel Metal Rush 60 Royal Blue indoors, artificial direct light

I made the collage above to show the color shift better. There's also a sort of gunmetal color that shows up sometimes. It's the only one that has hints of blue in it, but was harder to capture. 

Rimmel Metal Rush 60 Royal Blue indoors, artificial direct light

I was kind of in a hurry because I was getting ready for New Year's, so I swatched it on a nail wheel first to see how many coats it would need. It was very sheer and didn't even seem opaque in 3 coats, so I decided to layer it over black. What you see in the pictures are 2 coats of Royal Blue over one coat of China Glaze Liquid Leather as underwear. I did like the fact that it applied smoothly and the brush strokes weren't very obvious. There were some bubbles and even though Seche Vite took care of them, some were still visible if you looked closely. 

Rimmel Metal Rush 60 Royal Blue indoors, artificial direct light

The biggest problem with this polish was drying time. It was fine almost an hour after I painted it, and then later when I was doing my makeup I noticed that 2 nails were smudged. I have no idea how or when that happened, but it sure was frustrating to go to the New Year's party with smudged nails. It also seemed to chip very quickly. All in all, I have a love-hate relationship with this polish. It looks really great, but the quality is not the best. I would say that for the price of Rimmel polishes, it is still a good deal. It's great to wear on a night out or some other special occasion. 

Winter Holiday Challenge: Santa and Elves

Hello again lovelies! Here's my second post for the day, namely today's nail art challenge. Since tomorrow is Christmas and I don't have any posts planned for the day, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope these holidays will be spent with your family and loved ones, and the best gift you will receive will be health and peace. Seriously, I love receiving presents, but the things I mentioned are very important, and you don't realize that until you lose them. But enough with the sentimental stuff! Let's get to something cheerful. Today's manicure is all about fun. 

Aren't these cute? I did them on Friday and I'm still wearing them, which is a record for me. They are starting to chip, but don't tell anyone. This nail art is not very original, but I really really like it. 

Now let's see what I used to make these. The green is Barry M Spring Green, and the red is Rimmel Stand to Attention. I also used white (Moyra 03) and black (China Glaze Liquid Leather). The belt buckles are a-england Excalibur (silver) and Golden Rose Nail Art 108 (gold). As tools I used a thin nail art brush, a striping brush and some dotting tools. A thick coat of Seche Vite and that's it. 

Thank you for stopping by and looking at my Santa and elf suits. Hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Here are the other ladies participating in the challenge. 

Monday Blues: Ombre Nails

Hello my lovelies! Another Monday, another exam for me. As I'm writing this post it's Sunday night and I'm really really tired and can't wait to go to bed (although it's only 8 pm). So I won't be blabbering too much and will cut right to the chase. For today's Monday Blues post, I decided to show you not one, but 5 blue polishes. Are you excited? 

I think most of you know already what an ombre manicure is. But in case you are not familiar with it, it's when you paint each nail with a different polish from the same color family, going from lightest to darkest. Since I'm a lover of blue, it's obvious that I have a lot of them and was able to chose the right colors to do a good gradient. I'm very happy with my result. 

So from thumb to pinkie we have: Flormar 423, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, OPI No Room For The Blues, GOSH Gypsy Blue and Rimmel Blue Eyed Girl. Clicking on each of the names will take you to the corresponding individual post. 

I hope you liked my blue ombre. For more blue awesomeness please visit these ladies right here: 

Gosia from Life in Color

Marisa from Polish Obsession

Joanna from The Treasure Chest

Have a great week!

Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge Day 8: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Hello loves! How is your Sunday going so far? I'm excited to show you the second fun nail art of this weekend, which is also the last of the Girly Girl challenges. I can't believe that I'm already done with this challenge. Time has flown by so fast! It was a lot of fun and I loved stepping out of my comfort zone for a bit because some of the themes were not what I'm used to. If you want to see all the posts in this challenge you can click here. For today's post we had to demonstrate how fun-loving we are, so I did a tape mani with one of my favorite color combos, blue and orange. 

Both of these colors are bright and in your face, and I've also added some glitter, so this manicure is beyond fun. I started with a base of H&M Blue My Mind, which you can see on its own here. I then used some striping tape to create diagonal lines across the nail and painted Rimmel Tangerine Queen over them. Unfortunately this was pretty sheer and streaky, so the end result didn't look so good. 

So to make it better I added one coat of my favorite holo glitter, INM Northern Lights. This instantly makes everything look good. I love it! 

Thank you for reading! Make sure you check out what the other ladies in the challenge have come up with for today's theme! 

Ruffle manicure

Hello loves! How is your Saturday going so far? I'm watching the Olympics but since there's only football on TV right now, I decided to write this post for you. This is the final post I'm doing using the Rimmel polishes. It has been kind of a Rimmel week here and I sure don't want to bore you. I think most of you have already seen the ruffle mani around. The inventor of this technique is the lovely Sarah from Chalkboard Nails, and you can see her tutorial here. 

The funny thing is that I don't like ruffles. Honestly, I would never wear clothes with ruffles but it's totally different with nails. I love how colorful this type of mani is. Of course you can choose colors in the same color family to keep it more conservative. But for me, the crazier the better. 

I used almost all the Rimmel 60 Seconds colors I have. I won't list them all because they are so many, but you can see them swatched here and here. I used Grey Matter as a base and then did the dots with 6 other polishes. The thumbnail is larger so I used 7 colors on it. 

The only color I skipped was the yellow, just because it's not that pigmented and it wouldn't have fit on my nails. My nails aren't that long right now and this still took quite a while to make. If you are planning on doing this you should have at least one hour and a lot of patience to spare. 

I loved this mani so much that I didn't want to take it off. The Rimmel polish solved the problem by chipping at the tips. I can't wait to try this with different shades of blue. Credit goes entirely to Sarah for coming up with this amazing mani.