Pink Wednesday: Essence Fashion Stickers

Hi dear readers :)

I already showed you some Fashion Nail Stickers by Essence a while ago, here. They were a part of the I Love Berlin Collection but since, Essence released some other designs in their usual range.

I picked some pink stripes for you today :)

These are called Catwalk. The design ispink, red and white stripes. The red looks like orange on the pics, but believe me, it's red in real life (in fact a very dark shade of pink with red in it)

Each each Essence sticker pack, you'll find 14 pieces with different sizes, so you might find what suits you the best. With the Berlin stickers I had to cut some of them, but I had no problem this time. I just didn't follow the order they come in, for exemple the 6th sticker from a board (right before the smallest one) fits better my index.

They are easy to apply once you have the habit with these. To remove the excess, I just filed them with a very smooth file, then cut with a harder file. Filing makes some "tip wear" as you can see in the pic above, but it's not too much, and it didn't move on the next days of wearing.
On the  pic below you can see some bumps on the tips, this come from the dish washing. Except for that, they seem to stay well on nails. I still have them on right now and there all still well stuck :)

Oh, I thought using some top coat would protect the stickers, but it peeled after a few hours, it doesn't adhere to the surface of the stickers :)
However, I used a base coat even if they say it's not useful. I'm sure it will protect my nail bed better when I'll have to peel the stickers off.

My actual base coat is from Gosh and I totally love it, I have  less tip wear, a lot less chipping and a bit less stain (but I still have to try it with a deep blue to verify that point)

Do you like those nail stickers ? Do you use full nails stickers or decals ?

Have a nice day :)

Essence Dress For A Moment

Hi dear readers :)

Before showing you the polish of the day, I'd like to share this with you: Kayla's polish storage ! I love how she arranged her desk. I absolutely love corner desks, they are more comfy than the straight ones, and I hope I'll get one in my future house (we move next year). Here it's too small for a great organization of my polish, makeup and hand made jewelry stuff.

I especially love the Helmers or Melmers, I want some of them since soooo long ... Perhaps I'll take a ride to nearest Ikea soon :p 

Satruday I showed you a striped tape manicure with a purple gradient. I used Essence Dress for a Moment for the base, and today I'd like to show you this polish on its own:

Dress for a Moment is a pastel light purple with a creme finish, with a smooth application and shiny finish. It's very pretty, one of my faves from the Colour & Go Range ! The color itself isn't really unique but is still beautiful and a must have for all pastel and purple lovers ^^

Do you like it ?

That's all for today :)

I'm preparing my nails for next wednesday, there won't be real nail polish but some full stickers this time ;)

Stay tuned :)

Tape manicure: Gradient Stripes

Hi dear readers :)

How is your weekend ? Mine is great, we have some sun and nice weather for the first time since the middle of august ! I went to an animal park in Belgium with my husband and we tried the fish pedicure, which was a lot of fun :p

I can't say the effects are miraculous, we didn't stay long enough with the fishies, but I want to do it again, it's relaxing and leaves a soft effect to the feet :)

You'll undesrtand that after spending the whole day walking, I'm a bit tired, so today's post will be short. This is another attemps to the tape manicure, this time I made a simple design: stripes with a purple gradient ^^

It's still not perfect, especially the black part but I really think I shouldn't use that black for stripe manis, it's too thick and runny at the same time and it doesn't make perfect lines. I had no problem with the other colors.

I only used Essence polish for that manicure. Not that they work best or something, but in the shop they were in line, already shown as a gradient of purple, and I knew I wanted them to try that manicure :p

From light shade to black, I used Dress for a Moment (which I'll swatch here on monday), No More Drama, Break Through and finally Berlin Story.

Making this gradient tape mani is simple but a bit long. If you want to give it a try, be sure to have a very quick drying top coat like Seche Vite or Poshe, it will be useful !

Paint your nails with the lightest shade, add the top coat, wait for it to be dry completely. Put the tape on the first quarter of the nail, paint the visible part with the second shade, remove the tape and add another coat of quick drying top coat. Do this until you have all the stripes you want, just move the tape pieces like you want to make larger or smaller stripes.

Once again, I was inspired by some of Chloe's wonderful tape manicures :)

Do you like it ?

All the purple Essence shades above are part of their Colour & Go line and haven't been discontinued yet (as Essence discons some of their shades a few times in a year to bring new stuff). They're available in some European drugstores, depending on the country you live in. 
I have a good new for non-European nail fanatics, if you didn't know it yet, Essence Colour & Go shades are available at Ulta online store for 0.99$ ! 
Essence Berlin Story is a part of the I Love Berlin LE which isn't available, but well, it's black creme. Any black polish will fit :p 

Pink Wednesday: Flormar N003 & U27

Hi dear readers !

I made some minor changes today ! Now you can subscribe to my blog with Bloglovin by clicking the image right under my GFC widget :) I don't know why I waited so long to add it, I'm too used to Google Reader ... If you want another way to subscribe, feel free to suggest it :)

Second little change is you can now contact me by email for anything by using this address: gwenn @ sugar-nails . com

And finally, due to the latest events, I changed my watermark. It won't be a big change for you, it's more visible and shows the blog URL rather than the blog's name. I don't want to put a big text in the middle of my pics, so I hope this will be enough ! You'll see the new watermark on today's pics but I still have older pics that are not edited ;)

On to the polish, as you know I bought  a lot of Flormar polish during my trip in Spain (in fact, I got 15 of them at once, lol). I wated to try some pinks especially for this wednesday :)

Flormar has really a nice range of shades. When you enter the shop, it's hard to decide which to take :) The Miracle Supershine range is the most impressive range, with very shiny finishes and duochrome shades. The Neon range also appealed me, but I decided I had all those colors in other brands and only took one of them, called N003 (Flormar polish don't have cute little names ... Only numbers :( )

N003 is a warm pink, and it's ... not neon at all :p It's bright, and still pretty, but nothing neon in here. If you're looking for a real, bright neon with the usual satin finish, please avoid the Flormar Neon range. But if you want pretty bright creme shades, you can go for them :)

 I wanted to try Flormar U27 (from the Miracle Supershine range), a sheer bright pink with a glass fleck finish. I layered it over N003, and here's how it turned:

 Sorry for the tip wear ... It's hard to keep nails well painted when typing all day :)

I loved U27. It's very pretty and shines a lot, as you'll see in the sunlight pics below :)

And finally, on the third day, I wanted to add some Konad and used a design from m63 plate, stamped in black. I might have been inspired by this post from All You Desire because I wanted to make it matte. I used one coat of China Glaze Matte Magic and here it is !

I prefer AYD's version with a darker base, but I still like it. I really wonder why I don't use my matte top coats more often !

That's all for today, I'm sorry I babble a lot today :p

I hope you liked these polish ...

Have a nice day :D

Flormar polish are available in many countries (but sadly not Belgium, France or the USA), check here if you have a local retailer ! (I even found a shop in the Sants train station in Barcelona)
You can also find them online here: http://www.flormar.co.uk/ 

Fails !

Hi dear readers !

Have you ever had that feeling about a manicure that you don't really know if you like it or not ? This happens to me a lot ! I paint my nails, take the pics, and some days later, when I edit the pics to post them here, I'm not sure I want to post them, because I don't like those nails anymore ...

I actually have three of these manicures in my "to post" folder. So, I'll share them with you all at once, I think it's the only way for me to dare posting them :p

First, I wanted to try that Spring Manicure by The lacquer Files. I thought I had the right colors, but my blue base (Catrice Up in the Air) was wayyy to dark and bright for that. First fail.

The second one is a  french manicure. Again, I found my inspiration on the web (but I don't have a link for rthis one), and again, I failed when I chose my colors. What inspired me was a nice french manicure with black tips and some subtle silver glitters sponged on it. Note to myself, Essence Rock'n'Roll isn't subtle enough for that.

I also failed with the stickers, they didn't want to stay properly on my nails :(

And finally, another french manicure that could have been pretty but I loaded it too much ! I used Color Club Gossip Column for the tips and dots, added a coat of Essence Mystic Mermaid and some Konad flowers.

When I realised it was really too much glitters and stuff, it was of course too late ^^'

The two french manicures had some success with my friends, but I just don't really like them. Well, I'll learn from my mistakes :)

Do you have manicures you liked when you have done them, and then don't like anymore when you see them on the pics ?

Have a nice day :)

Zoya Gemma & Stamping

Hi dear readers :)

Finally the week is over and the weekend is there, I need some rest !
If you want to know, the site I told you about in my last post removed my pictures from their page, that's a good point. But it's a bit hard to explain them that the watermark on pics isn't enought to give us credit, they think they're not doing anything wrong ... Well I still try to explain that to them because I'm not the only blogger who has "stolen" pics on that page. 

At least it is on a good way, and if they don't want to understand what a link means, I'm sure they'll get emails from other girls !

On to the polish ! This one is another "one sight love" I had this year, but it took me a long time to decide I really needed it :p

Zoya Gemma is a kind of light olive green with a pretty blue flash that makes him unique and really lovely !

 Zoya Gemma is a bit sheer but not too much. I had to use three coats to get this result, but the formula is quite good and that didn't bother me.

The next day, I wanted to add a little something and I chose the zigzag stripes from Bundle Monster plate BM201 with another green polish, Catrice Welcome to the Jungle, to make a subtle stamping. I was afraid that those thin stripes wouldn't stamp correctly, but it worked perfectly with the Catrice polish :)

Please don't mind the "tip wear", it's due to the Seche Vite top coat. It's wonderful but it tends to shrink most polish on the tips :(

I also have to tell you that Catrice Welcome to the Jungle is also a very beautiful polish ! As the autumn is coming back, I'll swatch it very soon, but if you can't wait you can discover it on Jane's blog, Nailside. That's where I fell in love with him :)

So, do you like that stamping ?
Do you prefer subtle stamping, or more contrasted ones ? If you want to know, I love both of them ;)

Have a nice day :)

Zoya Gemma is a part of the Intimate collection (Spring 2011) and is available here for 5.99$. 
Catrice Welcome to the Jungle is a part of the Papagena Limited Edition, which isn't available anymore :( 

Pink Wednesday: China Glaze Below Deck & Glam

Hi sweeties !  

I hope you're all fine :) I you follow my Facebook page, you might now I'm a bit upset ... I discovered some websites that are using my pictures without any credit, some were even cropped to hide my watermark ! The worst thing is when profesionnals web shops use those pictures to sell their products ... That's so absurd because I've never used their products or even bought from them. The lack of respect of our work is such a shame !

Well, that's enough for the rant ... But I hope they'll read my mails and stop acting like that.

On to the polish, you can blame me but it will not be totally pink today. Aaw !

I used China Glaze Below Deck as the base. I love this shade a lot, when China Glaze sent me their Anchors Away collection to review they didn't included it so I ran to a local reseller to get it :p

Below Deck is a bit hard to describe for me ... I'd say it's a dusty purple/taupe shade with a creme finish. It's very classy, easy to wear, the application was perfect and flawless ... Do I need to say I adore it ?

Sorry for the "spots" on my nails in this picture, I had a nail peeling problem at that time (too much acetone ... yurk ! Now it's okay.)

 I wanted to try my brand new "bling thing" over it, and then comes the touch of pink for this wednesday !

I layered China Glaze Glam over Below Deck. Glam is filled with two sizes of metallic pink glitters in a clear base.
I wasn't sure about the final result, but I like it. Not a very amazing layering, but still cute.

What do you think ? Do you like that combo ?

Have a nice day :)

China Glaze Below Deck is a part of Anchors Away collection and is available here or here (between 3.99$ and 4.25$, check your shipping fees to see what's the best for you)
China Glaze Glam is available here for 4.99$ 

Essence Speed of Light Blue & Stamping

Hi dear readers :)

I'm finally back from hollidays and i can make a bit more posts like before :)
Coming back home is a bit hard with the horrible weather we have here ! I didn't bring some sun home :p

For today, I have a cute polish to show you. It's Speed of Light Blue from Essence You Rock Limited Edition. As the name says, it's a light blue ... I'm sure you guessed it :p It also has a nice blue shimmer but it's hard to notice it on my pictures. Tassa made a nice close-up where you can see the shimmer, here.

Unlike Let me in Pink from the same collection, the application was easy and the drying time was correct.

I added some stamping on it, i chose to use a design from the latest Bundle Monster plates set, BM 215. I stamped the little fans design with China Glaze Adore, which is perfect for stamping !

I loved that combo. I think I'll reuse this design a lot in other shades :) 

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

China Glaze Adore from Romantique Collection is available on NaildeRoyale for 4.25$
Essence Speed of Light Blue is a part of a Limited Edition and is no longer available (except in some local retailers)
Bundle Monster plates are available here 

Catrice Hot or Not Stamped Stars

Hi dear readers :)

As i promised yesterday, i finally have something pink for you today ! (I can't cheat everytime lol)

Catrice Hot or Not has been in my untried stash for a while and the day i wore this, i wanted a hot pink but no neon. I immediatly decided it would be him !

As the name tells, Hot Or Not is a hot pink. Nothing neon here, but a very bright berry pink. A really lovely shade that pops on your nails !

I decided to add some black stars on it, as I love the black/pink combo !

This was two coats of Hot or Not, stars are stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM20 and Konad Special Polish in black, and i used one coat of Seche vite over all (and did it a bit too fast as you can see on my index!) 

Do you like that style ? :)

Have a nice day :)

Catrice Hot or Not has been discontinued recently, you can still see if some are left at your local reseller.
Bundle Monster plates are available here.

Ulta Bam Blue Zled

Hi sweeties !

I hope you're all fine :)
Finally i'm able to write "live posts" here, as i have a Wifi spot with a good internet connection :p (And some free time before i go to the beach !)

Yesterday I was in Barcelona and bought a lot of nail polish ! I chose some great shades from Flormar, Kiko, BeYu, all brands that can't be found in Belgium ... I took some quick pics with the iPhone, so if you want to see them, it's on my Facebook page, here. 

On to the polish, i'll show you one i can't either get in Belgium. I won this polish from Ulta in Karen's giveaway some month ago. She's the owner of Frazzle and Aniploish, go visit her :D

Ulta Bam Blue Zled (what a funny name ^^) is a very sotf periwinkle blue. Of course it reminded me of China Glaze's Secret Peri-Winkle but it's really lighter. I'll make a comparison when i'm back home :)

The brush was thick and flat, the application was easy. I got this result with two  coats and didn't use top coat.

The drying time is average, i can't really say how long it stays on nails because right after these pics i made a nail art attempt which failed and i had to remove all :p

This is really a pretty shade, i think it's more easy to wear than Secret Peri-Winkle of your skin tends to be reddish when it's too cold or too hot, like mine.

Tomorrow will finally be a Pink Wednesday, i found something for you in my archives ;)

Have a nice day :)

Ulta polish can be found in Ulta Stores in the USA. Don't know the price (but read about a 2$ sale) and don't know if they are available online somewhere for non-US residents ...

NYX Girls Super Funk

Hi everyone :)

I hope your week was okay.
As I told you in a previous post, I picked some NYX polish when I did my first Cherry Culture haul. Today I'll show you a pretty layering polish, Super Funk :)

Super Funk consists in big hexagonal and very thin round glitters, all in a pretty metallic purple, in a clear base. Of course you can wear it alone, but I think it's really perfect for layering over a creme polish, to give it a bling :)

I decided to try it over a black base, Essence Berlin Story (which is my fave black polish at the moment, but it was a LE so when it will be gone I'll have to get used to something else ^^)
The black base makes the glitter pop, it was a very basic and simple manicure but I liked it a lot :)

What's your advice ? Do you like that kind of layering ?

Have a nice day :)

NYX Girls Super Funk is available at CherryCulture for 3.00$ (and most of the time on sale for 1.99$)