My Christmas Manicure

Hi dear readers :)

Today I'll finally show you what I had on my nails for Christmas ! I should have shown you it before, but well, I didn't have a lot of time ...

As I was wearing Ruby Pumps last week, I decided to go for little Santa coats on my nails. I saw that design on a lot of blogs this year and found it adorable :)

I'm not so happy about the final look I got ... The white stripes are too thick and the belt buckle was a bit hard to paint perfectly for me ... But I like it for a first try :)

What do you think ?

For the base I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps, the white is China Glaze Snow, the black is a liner from Essence and the buckle was painted with China Glaze Millenium.

Thank you for watching and commenting :)

Have a nice day ^^

Festive Nails with Essence Circus Circus

Hi dear readers :)

I wish you all a merry Christmas, I hope you spent a nice festive evening with your parents, friends and beloved ones :)

I have a festive manicure for you today. That's not what I was wearing for Christmas (I'll show you that later) but I did those nails during last week, invested by all the festive things around me in the city :)

I wanted to use My Sparkling Acrobat from Essence Circus Circus LE, a two sided polish bottle with black creme on a side and gold glitters on the other. But I also wanted to add a little something more in it, so I chose to layer the red glitters from Applause Applause (the other side of this one is a red creme)

So, I started with two coats of black, then added one coat of red glitters (I should have taken a pic at this point, it was really pretty), and finished with one coat of the golden glitters and top coat (Seche Vite)

Here's what I got:

A closer view of the pretty glitters ... As you can see, there are thin round and bigger squared glitters in these polish, like in some of the Essence's Twins :

I love that Essence LE, the polish are quite basics but they have a good quality, the glitters apply easily and evenly, I think that's the kind of basics every polish lover should have in their stash :)

Do you like that combo ?

I made two other festive manicures, more with the Christmas colors this time, I hope I'll be able to show you them this week :)

Have a nice day :)

Geometrical French with BPS Stud

Hi dear readers :)

Last time Kevin from Born Pretty Store asked me what I'd like to review from their webstore, I thought of the pretty studs I saw lately on Emily's blog. She told me how much she liked them, so I decided to give them a try and review these !

Metal studs are used like rhinestones, but they are made of metal and have a smooth, bumpy side. They come in different sizes (1.5mm, 2mm or 3mm) and colors (silver, gold, pink, purple, black ...)

For my first use, I wanted the most basic ones, so I went for 1.5mm silver studs.

Here's what I did with them:

For this design, I used two coats of Flormar Supermatte M126 (which is not matte at all, not even satin, but still lovely!)  as the base and added two coats of China Glaze CG in the City on one half of the geometrical design.

Then I added some black lines with and Essence liner, and finally added the studs just as usual rhinestones: I put one small drop of top coat where I wanted the stud to be, took the stud with an orange stick, placed it and finished with one thick coat of top coat (Seche Vite)

That's all ! This design is really easier than it seems ... Would you like to see a step by step ? I could make one soon :)

The studs are really lovely. They don't bling like rhinestones but they add some shine to your nails. I think it's easy to match with many kind of nail arts :)

The 1.5mm are not as thick as rhinestones, so if you are one of those people who can't help scracth that little bump made by the rhinestones (like I do), the studs are perfect for you !

I wore that manicure 4 days, and the studs didn't move at all. As they are thin, they'll suffer less from bumps and all those things that make normal rhinestones fell off your nails after a few days.

Metal Studs are available on BornPrettyStore, in the Metal Rhinestones section. You'll find them for 5.51$, with free shipping as usual on BPS.

I don't know how much studs a bag contains, but I filled 2 1/2 compartments of a rhinestone wheel, which is a lot !

The silver ones don't react to acetone or polish remover, so you can use them again if you're patient :)

What do you think ? Have you ever tried that kind of studs ? And do you like today's manicure ? :)

Have a nice day :)

Giveaway Winner

Hi dear readers :D

I finally sorted all your entries, you were 168 to enter this giveaway, thank you all for participating !

My 2 Years Blogiversary Giveaway winner is ....

KayJay from Refined & Polished

Congrats, KayJay !  I sent you an email, please sent me back your infos within 72hrs or I'll have to draw another winner ...

Please stay tuned for a polish post coming soon ;)

Zoya Neeka

Hi dear readers :D

Don't forget to enter my 2 Years Blogoversary Giveaway !! Just click here, you only have ONE DAY LEFT !

As I said in previous posts and in the giveaway rules, I won't count any entry made within the comments ... The Google Docs form is easy, quick to use and open to everyone with no need of Google account, so please follow the rules :)

On to today's wonder, some weeks ago I swapped polish with friends of mine (that how I got my OPI Dim Sum Plum) and I received this little wonder: Zoya Neeka !

It was the first polish from my swap I tried, and I can't find words to say how much I love it !

It's a smokey purple with golden shimmer ... That combo is sooo perfect !

I always had some application issues with my Zoya (well, I don't own a lot of them and most are sheers) but this one worked perfectly for me. Once again, the drying time was a bit long for that impatient me, but I fixed it with one coat of Seche Vite, as usual.

I also kept this one 4 days without chip or tip wear, which is a lot for me ^^

Zoya Neeka is from Zoya's Fall 2011 collection Smoke & Mirrors (the Mirrors half), I think you can still find it easily on your favorite e-tailer :)

Do you like it ?

I have almost finished some nail polish jewelry ... I hope to show you them soon :)

Have a nice day :)

Classics 58 or Flakes Holo Goodness !

Hi dear readers !

Finally I got rid of this cought ! I had a terrible week, could not even stand the smell of nail polish for the first time, so I spended a whole week with my bare nails ... That strange, from me :p

There are two things I absolutely love in nail polish finishes: flakes and holo - every kind of holo from the plain linear holo to the subtle holo glitters ...

When a friend of mine offered me those wonderful polish that show both finishes in a single bottle, I became totally crazy about them :p

"58" is a dark purple with purple/red/orange flakes, thin holographic dust that makes it almost look like a linear holo under the sun, and some bigger holo particles. You're not drooling yet ? Here are other pictures !

Application is good, I thought it would be very sheer but it was great with two coats. I definitely love it and want to try the others I found ! (my friend offered me most of them, and I got a couple of others from a shop in Belgium)

Classics seems to be a Turkish brand, as Golden Rose and Flormar (they really know how to rock nail polish in Turkey :p). After a search on Google, I didn't find any e-tailer and can't really tell you where to find them (except in that small Belgian shop in Liège, near the Guillemins train station, if you're near there). They were sold for 5€.

If you want a chance to get yours, hurry up to enter my giveaway, it ends this thrusday :)

Have a nice day :)

Catherine Arley Black Holo

Hi dear readers !

The weather is getting colder here, and of course, I have a cought, the first of the season, yay ! xD

And I have no voice since yesterday ... I tried medicines, groggs, honey and thyme and still voiceless. And of course, I've never had so much phone calls at work than today :p

I hope you're fine with that weather :)

What about some holo goodness to forget all that cold and illness ?

I discovered Catherine Arley holographic polish not so long ago and I ordered a couple of them. The first I tried is 805 (aaaw, again some nameless polish ... me don't like that!), a pretty black scattered holo !

In fact it's more dark grey than a true black, but I'm still very happy with it :p Let's see how it looks ...

This is what it looks outdoor, with no sun:

I wanted to add an accent nail, so I chose another Catherine Arley polish, 677. It's a dark pink holo, the holo effect is less impressive than on 805 but it's still really pretty !

That's all for today :) Do you like it ?

I forgot to mention the quality ... The dry a bit slower than well known holos (like  China Glaze, Gosh, Nfu Oh ...) but the holo reflects don't disappear under top coat, so you can use your usual drying accelerator over it.

I kept this manicure 3 days and didn't have major chips, only some wear at the tips :)
You'll find Catherine Arley polish here: http://beautycosmetic.biz/ (as well as some Essence products for non-European addicts !)

They cost only 2$ and the shipping depends on the weight of your order. You can use their contact forme before ordering to get infos about shipping to your country.

Have a nice day :)

My First Franken

Hi dear readers :)

I finally decided to try some frankening. It all started with Kittie's blog, More Nail Polish, and especially this post.

I didn't wait a lot and bought the Star Bite powders from TKB to create the same top coats. And as I'm not a logical person, my first mix wasn't made of these :D

I wanted something pink but not too bright, and I especially wanted to include some black glitters.

I mixed some black, pink and red together, and added pink and black glitters. I even wrote the quantities I've used, so if you're interested, you'll find my recipe at the end of this post.

But let's see the pics first :)

For a first try, I can say I'm happy of how it turned. I like that dark raspberry jelly a lot, and also like how the glitter add a little something to it !
I had this opaque result with two coats, the bigger glitter made it a bit gritty but a coat of Seche Vite made it smooth.

The bad point, it didn't stay very well on my nails, it started to chip the second day of wear, the kind of big chips you can't hide in any way :(
I don't know where it comes from, I'm such a novice in mixing nail polish ! Maybe it's the quality of the polish I used...
Anyway, I still like it and will try frankening again :)

Do you like it ?

Here's my recipe ... I used a syringe this time, so the quantities are precise lol ...
1.5ml red polish (NYC Chelsea Cherry) - 1.5ml pink jelly polish (Essence Sweet as Candy) - five drops of black polish (NYC City Blackout) - 0.1gr black glitter (unknown brand, I bought it in a Spanish dollar store) - 0.3gr fushia thin glitter (Isis from NaildeRoyale)

Tell me what you think of it :)

Orly Rage & OPI Red Shatter

Hi dear readers !

I hope you're fine ! The weekend is approaching, yay !
Did you enter my giveaway ? If you haven't yet, check it here ! Oh, and don't forget to read the rules please ... I won't count any comment as entries, you have to use the form. I hate to dismiss people from my giveaways but it's much more easy for you and for me to enter with a form :)

Today I'll show you a combo I loved. When OPI's Red Shatter was released, it was possible to buy it as a set with Rally Pretty Pink. That's what I did but as much as I love RPP, I really don't like it topped with Red Shatter, so I needed to find something to match with red shatter.
I first thought of a nice gold shimmer, but I don't have such a polish (what a shame !) so I went for Orly Rage, a nice rose gold foil released for Spring 2010 in the Foil FX collection.

I was very glad of that combo. Orly Rage had a good application and was opaque in two coats. OPI Red Shatter applied easily, and I love how OPI's crackle polish look, the crackles are large enough to show the base polish, it's well balanced.

Do you like that combo ?
What colour would you use with a red crackle like this ?

If you're looking for Orly Rage, it's still available as it has been re-released in Orly's Holiday 2011 collection Bling in the New Year :)

Have a nice day ^^

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black

Hi dear readers !

Not so long ago, I ordered almost every "Chunky Holo" polish from Kleancolor ! These are opalescent glitters suspended in a colored sheer base. The most impressive of them all is for sure Chunky Holo Black, which also contains big hexagonal opal glitter (instead od only small ones).

The base is a very sheer black, so the best is to use it over black, or another color. In this case, the color will be a bit darkened, like smoked, but not too much.

Here's how it looked over my last manicure, Misa Toxic Seduction:

Wow ... This polish is absolutely crazy ! I love the reflects on the third pic ... I cound't stop to stare at my nails under different lights when i wore it :)

I also think that Misa Toxic Seduction with Chunky Holo Black on it looked even more toxic, like a dirty dark green ... I liked that a lot :) But I still need to try Chunky Holo Black over other colors, especially purple :)

If you want to know where to find Kleancolor polish, I bought mine on BeautyJoint, where they only cost 1.75$ :)

They have a great range of classic and metallic colors, stunning glitters in all shapes and styles, some pretty scattered holos, and of course the Chunky Holo series.

Beyond the price and the magical colors is a flaw ... They smell terribly bad, if you ever tried acrylic nails, it's something like that ... If you're sensitive to strong scents, then you might want to wear a mask to use them. And they take years to dry. Even with Seche Vite, you have to be careful for a moment before it dries.

But believe me, it's worth it :)

Do you like it ? Have you also tried some Kleancolor shades ?

Have a nice day ^^

Misa Toxic Seduction

Hi dear readers :)

I hope you're fine and enjoy my giveaway ^^

For today I have a swatch of an "old" polish, Toxic Seduction by Misa. I bought this polish soooo long ago, I almost forgot it was in my stash ! This comes from the Poisoned Passion collection (2008).

Toxic Seduction is a very dark green shimmer with hints of blue depending on the light. On my nails it always looked more green than blue, but it's very pretty. I really wonder why I didn't use it before :)

It has a great finish, but the texture was a bit goopy. I read some other blogger's posts about this polish and they all say it has a great application and no particular issues, so I'm convinced it became goopy because I didn't use it.

Sorry Mr. Toxic Seduction, I promise to give you a good shake and use you much more !

I layered another great polish on it, but you'll have to wait for the next post to see what I've done ;)

Have a nice day :)

2 Years Blogaversary !

Yeah !  Time to party :D

I've been blogging for two years now ... It went so fast ! even if I have much less time than before, I still enjoy doing my nails and blogging about them. Of course sometimes I don't have inspiration, or I'm just lazy, but I love sharing the polish I love (and also hate) with you, reading your comments, trying to improve my nail art skills and pictures ...

For me, the best part in blogging is the interactivity with my readers. I'm glad to discover when I have a new follower here or on Twitter, or Facebook, ... And I'm impatient like a child to read your comments when I post some new stuff !

So, the most logical thing is to thank you with another giveaway :)

Keep on reading !

I have collected a few polish during my last hauls ... You'll find Essence, P2, Classics, and the wonderful Bad Romance by Deborah Lippmann !

Let's see the detail :)

I'll also add a bottle of Catrice Dirty Berry which is not pictured because I bought it later and was too lazy to make the pics again :p

Can't wait anymore ? Here are the rules !

How to enter ?

* Mandatory: Leave a name and you email address so I can mail you if you win.

* This time I'll change a little something ... It's not mandatory to be a GFC follower, but it's really appreciated. I love to know when people follow my blog and the best way is GFC :) As many readers also asked me to count Bloglovin fllowers, I'll add one entry if you follow me with GFC or Bloglovin.

You'll have to provide the way you follow me, and your username so I can verify your entry.

EDIT: I forgot my French speaking readers following me through Hellocoton ... Please forgive me !! You'll also get one more entry, just put your name in the "GFC" section of the form :)

* Like Sweet Sugar on Facebook: 1 entry

* Follow me on Twitter: 1 entry

* Share this giveaway: 1 entry

You can share my giveaway the way you prefer, but don't forget to provide a link. You can blog about it, add it on your blog's sidebar or dedicated page, share it on Facebook or Twitter ... It's also very appreciated that you mention @Sugar_Nails of you decide to share on Twitter :)

That make a total of five possible entries ... Easy, isn't it ?

This giveaway is opened internationally until December, 15th. That means, as long as we are December 15th somewhere in the world, the giveaway will be opened.

The winner will be drawed randomly and warned by email during the end of december. He/she will have 72 hours to answer to my email, otherwise I'll have to draw another winner.

Please, don't cheat ... Anyone trying to cheat (e.g., using multiple email accounts) will be disqualified. Everyone should have a chance to win :)

Please use the link below to enter. Any entry made through the commenting system will not count. The comments are only opened for any question about the giveaway and, well, comments :)

[framed_box width="425px" bgColor="#ffb4ef" borderColor="#000000" textColor="#000000"] Please click here to enter my 2 Years Blogiversary [/framed_box]

Flormar U33

Hi dear readers :)

 

I have a good news for you ! My blog is celebrating it's second birthday this month ! Yeah, I've been blogging and collecting nail polish for two years ... I didn't see the time going by :)

The good news in it, is I'll celebrate this with a giveaway ! You'll have a chance to win pretty shades from Essence, Catrice, P2, Classics, ... Stay tuned, i'll post all the info about it tomorrow or wednesday !

On to today's polish ! I bought this beauty while I was in Spain because we can't get Flormar in Belgium. I was soooo happy to find them ! I bought 15 shades in a row, the seller might have taken me for a fool (especially because my spanish is very basic and she didn't speak english, it was hard to understand each other ...)

My most wanted shade was U33 (wow, I hate when polish have boring numbers ...), a wonderful teal and purple duochrome with incredible reflects ... I have no words to describe it, and it was also hard to capture but well, here it is:

I didn't need a lot of words, the pictures tell by themselves ... 

As you can see, the effects are really changing depending on the light ! It's a gorgeous polish, a must have for all duochrome lovers :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :D