Sponging & Crackling

Hi dear readers !

As I promised in my latest post, here's what I made over Essence I'm a Berliner.

I really loved this very easy to do nail art :) I'll try again with other shades, a purple gradient would be cute :)

Do you like this ? It's a sponge gradient with 2 different shades over the base, and black crackle over all. I'll explain you how to do at the end of this post :)
I used shades from Essence I Love Berlin LE 'cause they work really great together !

So, let's see how to do it ^^
I started by applying to coats of green using Essence I'm a Berliner.
Then I sponged unevenly over it with Essence Buddy Bear.
At this point, I don't clean my cuticles, sorry for the mess. When I do sponging, I prefer to clean the borders before I apply the top coat.

Then I applied some Essence Green Grass, still with a sponge. Now the borders are clean :)

Finally I added the crackle, here I used P2 in black. I really love how P2 crackles look, they might be of my favorites crackle polish ^^

I also added a top coat (Catrice Quick Dry High Shine) 'cause I don't really like how the crackle looks when it's matte.

Now I have China Glaze crackles in many shades, and that OPI is releasing a red and some gorgeous blues, I think I'll mix again sponging and crackling !

Did you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

Essence - I'm a Berliner

Hi dear readers !

Happy Easter to you all ! Did you make something special for that day ? I didn't, except eating some chocolate bunnies and eggs lol !

Here's a polish that I think is perfect for spring or summer. I'm a Berliner is from Essence I Love Berlin LE that was available in the beginning of 2011.
It's a light green apple creme, application was good, it's pretty and shiny :)

I thought I wouldn' like that shade at all, I only wanted to use this as a base for a nail art and doing quick swatches for you, but while swatching I realised that it wasn't horrible at all. In fact I like this shade, even if it doesn't come into my faves :)

This last pic show you how it shines ... This is two coats, no top coat. Pretty, isn't it ?

I don't know if it's noticeable, but  I'v start to use my new camera in this post. My inside pics are really better than before, at least that's what I think. I hope you'll enjoy that :)

I made a quick nail art with this base and other I Love Berlin polish ... That will be my next post ;)

Have a nice day :)

500 Followers Giveaway !

This Giveaway is now closed ! I'll draw a winner very soon :)

Thanks all for entering :D

Hi dear readers !

What a good surprise I got when I came back home today ! I've reached 500 followers, yay !!

I really want to thank you all for reading my blog, commenting, and coming back again, that's so pleasant for me :)

Of course, the best way to thank you is to make this little giveaway :) I'm planning it since I have 490 followers ... So here's what I chose to offer you !

If you're my winner, everything inside the box will be yours ... Except the box, it was a Xmas gift from a friend and I love it :p That's where I stock my bottles waiting to be offered to friends or in a giveaway ^^

Almost everything is from Catrice and Essence new collections. Let's get some details ...

Iron Mermaiden, In The Bronx, Forget-Me-Not !, Sir! Yes, Sir !, Miss Piggy Reloaded, Blue Cara Ciao, Dirty Berry

Glisten Up ! (discontinued), Lime Up !, Very Berry, Where's the Party ?, Can't Cheat on Me

I'll add some little things later, I'd really like to get a Gosh Holographic for the winner but these are not always available ...
I hope you'll like my choice !

Now, to the serious things ... How to enter ?

Please enter using the form below. I won't accept any entry within the comments !

Mandatory
- Be a follower via Google Friends Connect
- Provide me your email address to contact you if you win

Additionnal Entries
- Blog about this giveaway. Include a pic in a post, on your sidebar, on a special page, no matter how, as long as there's a pic it will count ^^ (+1)
- Become a fan of my Facebook page (here) by clicking on the Like button (+1)
- Tweet about this giveaway (+1)
- Add Sweet Sugar to your blogroll (+1)

That's a total of 4 entries ... Quite good, isn't it ? :)

I also added some questions that won't count for entries, it's just for fun. You don't have to answer them but I'd be very pleased if you do :)
If you have a nails related blog and want to be included in my blogroll, just let me know it within the form, I'll add you :)

This giveaway will be closed on May, 21st. That lets you one month to enter and tell your friends.
And as usual, it's  open internationnally :)

After the closing date, I'll chose a winner with Randomizer.com. The winner will have 48hrs to contact me, otherwise I'll have to choose another one.

Geometrical French

Hi dear readers !

It's time for another french manicure ! You know how much I love them, I wish I had a little more time to make more :)
This one was inspired by a friend who has her nails done with gel, and got this design. I really loved it and needed to give it a try ^^

 

I used China Glaze Tinsel, one of my favorite silver glitter polish <3
The black one is Essence Fatal and the white is a tip painter, from Essence too.

I'm really, really sorry for the cat  hair in those pics ... They stuck on my nails when I used a cuticle oil and I didn't see them until I saw the pics ><

How I did this design ?

First, I used a whitening base (Catrice).
I painted my tips with Tinsel from the tip to the nail bed, with a very small amount of polish on the brush. That make the gradient effect. I wouldn't use this technique with a plain polish, but with glitters it works well and takes less time than classic sponging.
Then I made the triangles; I started with the borders, drawn with a thin nail art brush, then I filled the spaces.
Finally, I drawed some lines with the white tip painter: first the triangle borders, and the middle lines to finish ...

That's all !
The most difficult thing is to draw straight lines with the thin brush. If you really can't make the triangle, you could use some tape to help you drawing them ! I think I'll make my next geometrical design with tape ;)

Thanks for watching and commenting ...

Have a nice day :D

OPI - Got a Date To-Knight

Hi everyone :)

I hope you're all ok :) Today I have a very sweet shade for you ! It's OPI's Got a Date To-Knight from the Spring 2006 Princess Charming collection. It's an old polish but still easy to find (it's listed as Got a day to-knight on Transdesign)

Got a Date ... is a soft petal pink with a glossy finish, it's really lovely. It's a bit sheer, as you can see on my pics. I was wearing two coats and still some VNL. I left it like that 'cause I wanted to do some nail art on it, but if I need to wear it alone, I'll prefer to use three coats !

I was a bit disappointed by this shade: I bought it to have a very soft milky pink to use for my Valentine's Day manicure (posted here) and it came really darker than what it looked like in the bottle. It's still pretty but not that baby pink I needed yet :)

See how glossy it is ? I love it for that :)

What do you think ? Like it or no ?

Have a nice weekend :)

OPI - The One That Got Away

Hi sweeties !

Another week starting, and the good weather is already gone :( I hope it will be back soon ! At least I'm not ill anymore :p

Today I'll show you a polish from OPI's Katy Perry collection. This collection didn't appeal me a lot. The colors are deep, vibrant and full of sparkle but already seen in my own stash. Even if I have no real dupe for the Katy Perry polish, I didn't want the full bottles. So I chose to buy the set of 4 mini-sized polish :)

The One That Got Away was the most appealing to me, so I tried it first and it's the one you'll see today.

TOTGA is a dark berry with silver micro glitters that turn purple depending on the light, as you can see on my different pics.
The formula is great on it, I thought it would be too sheer because it's thin, but finally it totally covered my nails in two coats :)

I really like that polish, that kind of shade is always elegant but the glitters give him a less classical look.
The next pic is taken without sun to show how it changes with the light.

What do you think ? Like it or not ?

Oh, and do you like Katy Perry's songs ? I like what she does, though I'm not a fan, but I would have bought this polish even if I didn't like her ;)

Have a nice day :)

China Glaze - Rodeo Diva

Hi dear readers !
I hope your week is fine ! Here we now have a beautiful sun and a better weather, and of course, I'm totally ill xD I caught a cold last week and it seems like it doesn't want to get out ...

But well, let's forget that, I have a true beauty for you today !
Rodeo Fanatic is a fantastic blue with green, teal and purple undertone, depending on the light. It's not a duochrome, but the shimmer in it makes it look like the color changes :)

I really wonder why I didn't get it earlier ... It's an incredible shade for all blue polish lovers :)
And, cherry on the cake*, it has a good application, a nice shine and stays well on nails. Oh, and I'm glad to tell you that this is the first blue polish that didn't stain on my nails :p
Pics are two coats, no top coat, natural light.

This last pic shows all the pretty shimmer in it !

Rodeo Fanatic is from the fall 2008 collection Rodeo Diva. I wasn't a nail addict when it came out but luckily, it's still easy to find on the net :)

Do you like it ? Do you have other shades from this collection ? I can't wait to try my other ones, Gussied Up Green and Side-Saddle ;)

* "Cherry on the cake" is what we litterally say in french. Do you, english speaking people, use also this ? Or is there anything more common ? (I read "icing on the cake" somewhere ...)

Have a nice day :)

Gosh - Flamingo

Hi everyone :)
How has your week begun ? I hope you're all fine ^^

Let start the week with some pink, I have a polish from Gosh for you today !
Flamingo is a bright, vibrant dark pink creme. It applies pretty well and dries fast but as you can see on the pics, I still had some VNL after two coats. Well, I'm a bit whimsical saying that, it's still pretty and not as sheer as other polish I complained about :p

I made a discreet accent nail with some opalescent glitters but I'm sorry, I just don't remember which polish I used. I think it can be Misa Confection Section.

I like this color, it's cute and glossy, and of course I'm a pink lover :)

What's your advice ?

Have a nice day :)