My Picks From The Essence Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 TE

Hello lovelies and happy Sunday! Today I'm showing you half of the Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 Trend Edition by Essence. The collection has 4 polishes and I only got 2 of them because the other 2 (a yellow-toned gold foil and a black with silver shimmer) didn't appeal to me at all. I'm not sure if this collection is still available where you live, but I think it's still in stores over here. From the start I would like to point out that I'm not a Twilight fan, I have no idea what the names mean, but I love vampy polishes and the ones I got are beautiful, so I had to have them. 

Essence Jacob's Protection indoors, artificial light

First up we have Jacob's Protection. It's a really dense blue shimmer in an almost black base. I've also caught a glimpse of purple and even green in that shimmer, but it was impossible to capture it on camera. This polish photographs a lot more flat than it actually looks. It's a lot prettier in real life. 

Essence Jacob's Protection indoors, artificial light

The formula on this one was on the thicker side, but still manageable. I did 2 coats with no top coat for these pictures. These polishes have a ridiculously huge brush, which makes application hard from my point of view. I really don't know the size of the nail bed that would benefit from such a brush. 

Essence Jacob's Protection indoors, artificial direct light

As you can see in the picture above, it looks less flat in direct light. The color of the shimmer is still not visible in all its beauty. Both these polishes dried fast to a shiny finish. Unfortunately, like most of the Essence polishes, they tend to chip after just one day of wear. The chips are not big, just at the very tip of the nail, but they are enough for my obsessive compulsive eye to see. 

Essence Alice Had A Vision - Again indoors, artificial light

The second one is Alice Had A Vision - Again. If you ask me, the name is ridiculous. But of course I don't know the story behind it. This one photographed a bit better. It's a dense purple shimmer in a dark base. Like the other one, it has a few green shimmer pieces that are hardly visible to the naked eye. 

Essence Alice Had A Vision - Again indoors, artificial light

Application was a little better with this one, although the huge brush is still there. I did 2 coats without any top coat for these swatches. All in all, I like these polishes and I'm glad I got them, even though durability is not the best. They are still great, especially for winter and as bases for nail art. 

Where In The World Challenge: United Kingdom

Hello lovelies! It's been a (really long) while since my last Where In The World post. I know I've been a bad blogger. First there were exams, then there was the winter challenge, so I've neglected this one because I could. If you aren't familiar with this challenge, the only rules are that you have to do all countries in order, but you can post as much (or as little) as you want. To try to catch up with my partners in crime, I will try to post regularly every Saturday from now on. Hope I will keep up! So today we're going to the UK. Are you ready? 

I had a lot of trouble coming up with a manicure for this country. Yes, it's an easy one and there are a lot of famous things about it. I even went there this summer. So I wanted to do something that was sort of a personal connection between me and the country. I had at least 2-3 ideas that I was sure I was going to put into practice. Then I ended up not liking them somehow. So finally I decided that my biggest connection with this country (besides British polish, which I love) is through music. I also found this great guitar image on one of my plates and it was settled. 

The Beatles is one of my favorite bands and I've been listening to them since forever. I remember being obsessed with them when I was around 13. Talk about weird teenagers, huh? Even though I'm not as obsessed as I used to be, I still listen to them and I know most of their songs by hard. I tried to recreate their iconic logo on my ring finger with a nail art brush. Of course it's a mess compared to the original, but it's the best I could do. I used 2 coats of Rapsodi 302 on the other nails, then stamped the awesome guitar image from plate CH31 using China Glaze Liquid Leather. 

I really hope you enjoyed my manicure. Here's a little video if you are nostalgic like me: 

Beauty Blogazons Weekly Roundup 1/4/2013

• Pinked Polish: What I have learned this year in the wonderful world of Nail Blogging.
• Love At First Site!: Face Of The Day, New Year's Eve! Happy New Year!
• Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Lola's Secret Beauty Blog's Beauty Resolutions to Consider for 2013.
• Adore A Polish: Check out an in depth review on the Sally Hanson Insta Gel Strips.
• Polarbelle: Polarbelle wants you to consider the Anastasia Beverly Hills Kisses On My List lipgloss set while you still can!
• datyorkLOVES: Find out what the Top 10 Post of 2012 are for datyorkLOVES!
• Beauty by Arielle: ARIELLE'S TOP PRODUCTS OF 2012.
• TheFabZilla: Happy New Year! New Hair, New Resolutions? Check out TheFabZilla blog for deets.
• Cosmetics Aficionado: A new drugstore gel liner from L.A. Girl is on the beauty scene, but is it worth it?
• Never Gonna Give You Up: Kara showcases a nail polish favorite.
• Beauty by Miss L: Check out Miss L´s New Year´s Eve nails.
• Lacquer Buzz: Mihaela chose her favorite nail polishes of last year. Wanna see what made it on the list?
• Makeup Demon: Makeup Demons Top 5 posts of Year 2012!
• Ishah x Beauty: Gold Eyes, Oxblood Lips. My New Year's Day Look.
• Liesl Loves Pretty Things: Here's Liesl's personal Best Of 2012 list, Agree? Disagree? Check it out here.
• The Fabulous Mind of a Wacky Mama Bear: Ever wish your beauty subscription box gave full sizes? Then check out Starlooks, this is what I thought of my December 2012 Starbox.
• Mama Fashionista: Though she's no expert, Mama Fashionista loves the results of her first leopard mani! How do you think she did?
• Baking Beauty: Baking Beauty reviews the new Laura Mercier Free Spirit Palette.
• Rachel's Makeup and Skincare: Rachel reviews products from the new NARSskin line and finds she's impressed.
• Beauty Professor: The Beauty Professor reviews her top beauty products of 2012!
• My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog invites you to get ready with her!
• Lisa's Nail Obsession: Come on...you can think of something better for the alphabet challenge than "Q" for Queen. No? Then, All Hail The Queen!

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. 

My top 10 polishes of 2012

Happy New Year! Wow! My first post of 2013 and I'm talking about 2012. Truth is, 2012 has been a great year for me, polish-wise. So why not celebrate this year a little longer with some favorites? Similar to last year's favorites, these are not necessarily polishes that came out in 2012. Some of them have, but some of them are older. They were just first swatched and loved by me in 2012. This time it was really hard to narrow it down to just 10, and it was impossible for me to rank them so I put them in chronological order. Don't forget that clicking on the picture will take you to the individual post. Enjoy!

OPI Mermaid's Tears

A long time lemming of mine that I payed a little more for, but it was so worth it. The beauty of this color is unbelievable and although the formula is not the best, it still remains my favorite mint. 

Essie Cocktail Bling

Is it grey? Is it purple? Is it blue? Nobody can really tell. The greatness of this polish lies in the fact that it looks totally different depending on the light. It's elegant and classy, and it goes with everything. It's also a good base for nail art. 

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Fantasy Fire has probably made it to everyone's top this year. It produced a craze because it only came out in the UK at first, and then in a few other countries. Even to this day, I don't think nail enthusiasts from the USA can get it locally. So naturally everyone wants it. And who can blame them? Here you can see it over Maybelline Colorama 104, a dark purple. But the possibilities are endless with this one. 

Orly Au Champagne

This one is probably my most used polish of 2012. It's beautiful by itself, but mostly it's an excellent canvas for nail art. White polishes are usually a pain to apply. This one, however, is like a dream. A dream of ice and snow! 

China Glaze Splish Splash

 I had to include a bright summer polish in my roundup, because they are great. This China Glaze beauty is one of the brightest and most obnoxious polishes I own, and that's why I love it so much. You know how much I love blue, and I chose this one over many others that were good candidates. I think that really proves that this is a must-have! 

China Glaze I'm Not Lion

A year ago, I would have never thought that I would choose a gold polish as one of my favorites. Golds were out of the question for me. But then China Glaze did it again when they came out with a gold that would suit my pale rosy skin tone. Thank you again, favorite polish brand of mine! 

  

a-england Elaine

I have swatched a bunch of a-england polishes this year and I love them all. It's funny that I chose this really simple one over the others. But truth is, the simplicity of this translates to real beauty. It's honestly, the perfect blue-toned dark purple creme. It doesn't need any shimmer or holo. It's perfect as it is. 

Color Club Blue Heaven

My first true linear holo! Color Club made it big this year by launching a line of affordable linear holo polishes that apply like a dream. Of course this also made the price of the other CC polishes to skyrocket, but that's a different story. 

Models Own Mirrorball

I cheated a bit here because I chose a whole collection instead of just one polish. But the truth is, they are all very very awesome, and just because I have a soft spot for blue, doesn't mean I don't like them all equally. The one in the picture is called Disco Inferno and I wore it for Christmas. There are still a few from this collection that I didn't show you yet, so stay tuned in 2013! 

Nails Inc Baker Street

Finally, my dream, my perfect blue. There are honestly no words to describe this beauty, You really need it! Everyone needs it! It's perfect!

I also have some honorable mentions. These didn't make it in the top 10, but they were very very close (a top 20, if you will). They are: a-england Tristam, Essie Navigate Her, China Glaze Aquadelic, Illamasqua Jo'Mina, Flormar 49, a-england Avalon, China Glaze Man Hunt, OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow, Orly Rage, Flormar U08 and Essie Stroke of Brilliance. 

Thank you for being by my side in 2012! I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring in the nail polish world!