Holo Skittles!

Hi dear readers !

I'm so happy, today I received my order from Pretty & Polished, her polishes are little wonders ! We made a group order with friends and I received the whole package, I was drooling over what they had chosen haha :)
So, obviously I'm painting my nails with one of them right now, but you'll have to wait until friday to see it :) Can you guess which color I'm painting with ?

For today, I have holo goodness ! I got Hits Hefesto, the holo top coat, a while ago and I want to try it over sooo many colors ... It was too hard to chose, so I went for holo skittles :D
Here's what I've done, you'll even see my thumb, which is rare ! lol :)

Last pic was taken in the sun, all the others in my lightbox.

I hope you're not blind now.
I loved all the combos, it was funny to see my classical creme shades becoming holos ! The effect of Hefesto is nearly as spectacular as a linear holo. Maybe not totally crazy like Gosh Holo or Nfu Oh, but as cool as the China Glaze OMG and very bright, thanks to the base colors I chose.

Here's what I used from thumb to pinky:
H&M Blue, China Glaze Spontaneous, OPI Who the Shrek are You?, Essence Surferama and Mavala Blue Curaçao. There are two coats of each, one coat of Seche Vite to dry them faster, one coat of Hefesto, no top coat.

I can't really tell which was my fave combo but I loved the two blues a lot ! What about you ?
If you had Hefesto, what color would you use it over ?

Have a nice day :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Taped Zigzag Gradient

Hi dear readers !

It's monday again, so it's time for another Monkey See Monkey Do challenge :)
For today's manicure, I chose te re-create a design originally posted by Makeup Withdrawal. If you don't know her blog yet, please check it, this girl has beautiful  nails and she does really pretty things on them !

Sooner this month, she did a blue gradient including some stripes made with striping tape. I decided to copy her style but in pink :)
Please check the original manicure here :)
Here's my version:

Do you like it ?

To get this result, I painted my whole nails with two coats of H&M Pure White and used Seche Vite to make it dry faster. Then I added striping tape (the one I have is from Born Pretty Store and works great) in a zigzag pattern and sponged with H&M Pure White, China Glaze Something Sweet and P2 Heartbeat.
Now I tried this technique, I always use a makeup sponge and paint stripes of polish directly on the sponge before dabbing it on the nails.
Then I removed the striping tape and sealed all with a coat of Seche Vite.
That's all, it's easy to recreate but the striping tape part is a bit long, you'll need to be patient if you want to give it a try :)

What's your advice ?

Have a nice day :)

Beauty and Nails Blogs Roundup #4

Hi dear readers !

It's time for another blog roundup :)
Before sharing the links, I have a question for you. I've been using Intense Debate for the commenting system for a very long time, but I have some issues with it. Some of you get the Blogger classic comment form instead of the Intense Debate one, so those comments never show. I see them in the Blogger comment moderation interface but I can't publish or respond to them at all.
As your comments are the most important thing to me, that issue really annoys me ! I'm searching for a solution on Intense Debate boards, but if I can, I seriously plan to change the commenting system to Disqus. I was wondering if that would bother you, if you have any issue or hate with Disqus. Please telle me what you think about all that !

On to the links, here's my small selection for this week:

The Manicurator did a very pretty mix & match mani with a palette of pink polishes, I loved it a lot and it might be one of my next MSMD !
I also loved a lot this cute spring gradient and stamping by Colores de Carol :)
Debbie from The Crumpet blog did dotted lines for her MSMD last week and I liked her color scheme a lot ^^

And now here are your links ! Hope you'll enjoy them :)

Kawaiinize Your World
Polish Obsession
My Nails of this Week
Beauty by Emma
Sunday Manicures
Nail Stories
Polished & Dusted
Lit from Within
The Polish Well
Pinky Blue Nail Art
Beauty Scraps
Olivia Frescura
Glitter Polish
Red Hair and Black Nail Polish
Life of Polish
Vicerimus
Globe & Nail

Have a nice day :)

Simple Purple Layering

Hi dear readers !

Today's post will be short, I've been ill all the week and didn't do any kind of nail art or stamping. I had a pharyngitis and the smell of nail polish was awful to me. But I kept doing my nails as it is relaxing, and I did a simple layering with Essie To Buy or Not to Buy and Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter.

I found NOPI - OLLG (damn, such a long name) at Douglas in Germany a few months ago and still wanted to layer it over a light pastel lilac. Essie - TBONTB (such another long name ...) was perfect for what I wanted, so here they are together :)

I love the mix of very small and medium glitters in OLLG :)

What's your advice ? Do you like this simple manicure ?

Thanks for your visit :)

Have a nice day !

Sunday (late) Stamping Challenge: Sky is the Limit !

Hi dear readers !

This week I was inspired by the Sunday Stamping Challenge, but I couldn't show it sooner. Monday was a MSMD day, and I have a blogging routine I don't want to break. You know I post three times a week, mostly because I get back from work late each day and I don't have all the freetime I'd like to paint my nails. I don't want to force me to write more than what I planned or blogging wouldn't be a fun hobby anymore.
I hope you understand my feelings about this and are not bothered to see my challenges on randoms days :)

On to the manicure, sunday's theme was "The Sky is the Limit". I've been wanting to use that cute clouds plate for a while, so I went for a gradient and clouds as an accent :)

This time I made my gradient with a make up sponge and applied the three colors directly on it. I love the result, it's what I expected from this technique :)

The polish I used are China Glaze Secret Peri-Winkle (light), Essence Chuck (medium) and CND Midnight Sapphire (dark)
Then I stamped the clouds with plate Konad m79 and white Konad polish and added some Seche Vite.
I stared at my nails a lot, I liked how it turned :)

What do you think ?

Have a nice day :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Peacock Nails

Hi dear readers !

It's time for my second MSMD challenge :)
I tried to copy something a bit hard today ... The Polished Perfectionist's Peacock Inspired Nails ! (Please click here to see her version)

You already know I love gradients, but the hard part was to find the three polishes that would look the most like what she used ... And I didn't have any green or blue like hers, can you believe it ? I should really get a royal blue creme ...
Let's see the pics and talk about them below !

The stamping is a mess, isn't it ?

For the gradient, as I didn't have the right colors, I used these:
- H&M Moody Model, which is a dark teal, nothing like the green Amy used but I think that color is ok for something  "peacockish".
- Catrice It Blue My Mind, the worst idea I had ... It has shimmers and it doesn't suit the rest of the look at all :( I should have used a ligher creme blue, the result would have been better.
- Catrice Purposely Purple, which was the best choice, it's a nearly dupe for China Glaze Grape Pop. But I didn't add anough purple, and my cam focalized on the blue so you almost can't notice it.

For the stamping, I really had some hard times ! I had to re-do it 3 times and the result was still the same, parts are missing. At least I had a great tip in my comments recently (sorry girl I don't remember who you are, my memory is too bad), before stamping I did a thick coat of Seche Vite. So when I failed, I just had to add a very few remover on a q-tip and remove the stamping without messing the gradient !
I stamped with China Glaze Hi-Tek and BM plate 212, then added drops of Flormar U18 and U33 which looked great imo.

So, this is a partial fail for me, I'm sure I could have done it better, but it's still okay. I might buy the polishes she used and try again because it was such a gorgeous job !

What do you think ?
Do you like peacock related stuff ? I do a lot, these birds have such magical stuff in the colors of their feathers ... I need to buy some peacockish jewelry :)

Have a nice day !

Beauty and Nails Blogs Roundup : Leave your links !

Hi dear readers :)

The next roundup will be on sunday 27th :)
You can start to send me your links by mail or in the comments section (gwenn@sugar-nails.com)
Don't worry if I don't reply to your comments, I have an Excel sheet where I put all your links each day, hopefully I don't miss one :)

I wanted to know if any of you is on Instagram ? I've been there for a while and I'd like to follow other nail lovers accounts :)
Feel free to leave your account name in the comments or add me, mine is sugar_nails :)

Have a nice day !

Green & Purple Jelly Sandwich

Hi dear readers :)

One week ago, I showed you my first jelly sandwich made with Essie Marshmallow and told you how much I loved it ... Well, it didn't take me long to need a new sandwich combo !

This time I decided to use bright purple and green glitters. Again, I loved the result ! It makes me think of some sour candies ...

Do you like it ?

I used two coats of Essie Marshmallow as the base, then added NYX Enchanted Forest and Super Funk, and ended with a last coat of Marshmallow and Seche Vite.

It's easy, fast to make if you help yourself with some Seche Vite, and each time it's different ... How not to like jelly sandwiches ? :)

Have a nice weekend :)

Bright Turquoise & Green Gradient

Hi dear readers !

Did you see that gradient trend lately ? They have been everywhere on blogs since a few weeks ! You know how I love gradients, so this trend make me very happy. I saw a lot of pretty ones these last days :)

My way to do gradients has always been the same: dip a kitchen sponge in a drop of polish, then dab it on the nail with a move from the tip to the nail bed. I never tried to improve it or make it a different way.
With the actual gradient trend and tutorials popping everywhere, I decided to try another way ! For this gradient, I painted the sponge with the two polishes then dabbed it on the nail. The result is smoother than what I usually had, and I like it :)

First I painted my nails with the lighter color, Catrice Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.
My second color is the lovely Custom Kicks by China Glaze. I painted one thick line of each color on my sponge and dabbed it on the nails, that's all !

I added some extra bling with one coat of China Glaze Wireless.

Next time I'd like to make it even smoother, I'll try to use a make up sponge and mix my colors together with a toothpick before applying them on the sponge, just as The Nailasaurus explains in her tutorial :)

What do you think ? Have you tried any gradient yet ? Do you like the trend ?

Have a nice day :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Spring Pattern

Hi dear readers !

As I told you yesterday, I joined the Monkey See, Monkey Do group. This means I'll do manicures inspired (or copied) by another nail artist I admire each monday (well, I'll try to do it each monday but I might not have always time to do it :p )
For my first MSMD, I wanted to recreate a manicure from Emily's blog. I've been following her for a long time, we even became pen friends and I love to discuss with her. I wanted to recreate a mix & match mani as she often does, but finally my eyes stopped on a spring manicure she did last year.
Here's the original:

And here's my version:

Where Emily painted her flowers by herself, I cheated an added some water decals (from Ebay). Honestly, I tried to paint flowers on a tip and I need more skill, so I chose the easy way, but I still like the result :)
As Emily and I both live in Belgium, I should take lessons with her haha !

Here's how I did:
I painted the base color, two coats of Ulta Bam-Blue-Zled. I added the white stripes with an Essence Tip Painter, then added silver glitter with China Glaze Tinsel and a thin liner brush. Finally, I added the water decals as an accent.
You obviously won't notice it, but I sealed the nail art with Essence's scented top coat, I wanted to try it :) It's slightly scented, not like real fruits but something more chemical, like fruity bubblegum. It's really pleasant :)

I love the MSMD idea, as my long days at work block my inspiration most of the time ! It's a challenge to recreate someone elses' mani, and also a  kind of hommage I'll give to every nail blogger that will inspire me :)

What do you think ? Do you like it ?

Have a nice day ^^

Beauty and Nails Blogs Roundup #3

Hi dear readers !

I hope you had a nice weekend ! Mine was fine, with a lot of rest, watching tv and stay in the garden as we had some sun (which was becoming too rare here)

I just joined the Monkey See, Monkey Do groupe, so tomorrow you'll see my first "inspired by" manicure. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing it :)
Right now I'm going to paint my swatchicles ... I have a few left and it will be done, until the next polish order haha :D

On to today's link selection. A lot of you sent me links this week, I was very happy to receive them :)

First here's my own selection of pretty stuff:

No nails but great make up, the wonderful Jangsara did Avengers themed make ups and they all look so neat !
Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal did a pretty combo: gradient and tape !
I loved this blue riveted and stamped mani by The Nailasaurus a lot !
Pschiiit did an Aztec inspired manicure using a CD marker, souns easier than a painting brush to me ! (it's in french but you can translate it)

Now, here are the links you submitted ! Please check everyone's blog, they deserve it :)

Lilibits Nail Art World

Nails at Home

Color Beam

Beauty Scraps

The Lovely Nail

Kelly's Nail Blog

Hysteria of Decay

As Hard as Nails

The Nail Polish Challenge

Lit From Within

Polish me Lovely

Beauty by Emma

My Little Vanities

Cosméto & Co

Au Bout de Mes Doigts I hope you'll enjoy them ! If I forgot any of the links you submitted, I'm sorry, but I had a lot of emails this time and it was not easy to sort them all. Feel free to submit your blog again :) Have a nice day !

Jelly Sandwich with Essie Marshmallow

Hi dear readers !

These last weeks, I saw a lot of jelly sandwiches made with Essie Marshmallow, and they all looked good ! That's how I decided I HAD to get Marshmallow haha :D
I got it last week and did a jelly sandwich with blue glitters ...

Aaaaw, I totally loved it ! It looks so sweet with that milky effect, I couldn't stop staring at my nails. I obviously need to do that with other glitter combos ...

Here's my sandwich recipe: two coats of Essie Marshmallow, one coat of Essence Glorious Aquarius and one other coat of Essie Marshmallow, sealed with Seche Vite :)

Glorious Aquarius is really bright on it's own, so the milky look is a big change. I never swatched it but you can see it on a ring I made here.

What do you think ? What would your fave sandwich combo be ?

A quick reminder before I go sleeping, you can vote for my Bundle Monster Contest entry if you like it until sunday ! Thanks to all of you who already voted :) (you can vote once a day)

Have a nice weekend :D

Born Pretty Store Magnetic Polish Review

Hi dear readers !

First, I'd like to ask you a little something ... I entered Bundle Monster's Stamping Contest and need your votes !
I submitted a design I made last month with one of their plates, the purple and white gradient which had a lot of nice comments from you.

So, if you like it and want to give me some help, please visit this page and vote for me :) Thank you for your support !

Bundle Monster Contest

On to today's polish ! Kevin from Born Pretty Store offered me to try and review one of their recent magnetic polish. As I like this trend a lot, I didn't hesitate and said yes !

I obviously chosed a purple shade, which is referenced as L001 on their site. As I have other brands and magnets, I wanted to try different magnets on that polish. Let's see the pics first, then I'll tell you why I loved it !

Isn't it pretty ? Once you use the magnet on this dark purple polish, you can see a peachy pink pattern appearing. I love the contrast between the two shades you get. 

BPS Magnetic polishes are sold with a magnet. Using them is simple, I did one coat on all the nails as usual, than I added a second coat and applied the magnet after each nail. 

You have to put the magnet 2-3 millimeters away from the wet nail and wait for 10 seconds, then you'll see the pattern appear. It's really easy, the only difficulty is not to touch the polish with the magnet.

Here's the detail of the magnets I used:

There's not a big difference between the BPS magnet and the others, which means it's strong enough to create a beautiful contrast. I have a magnet from Essence which isn't strong at all and disappointed me a lot ! 

BPS Magnet comes as a plastic stick with the magnet at the end of it. It's simple and easy to use. 

The Flormar Magnet is curved to follow the natural shape of the nails and closed in a plastic tip. It's the strongest I have and my fave to use. The only problem is that you can't see if you are touching the wet polish because of the curve.

Claire's Magnet is my fave, because it has a wavy pattern. I was craving for Icing Magnetix polishes because of that pattern, I got the Claire's one in a swap, and it appeared to be the same color and magnet than Icing's, yay ! It has two little tips near the magnet that helps you to switch the design in the direction you want, and above all, it helps to maintain the magnet at the good distance.

Last is Kiko Magnet, it comes as a simple rectangular plate which is a bit difficult to hold correctly as it's small. It's like the BPS magnet without the stick !

So, the magnet from Born Pretty Store is strong and handy enough to be recommended :)

If you are bored by the diagonal lines pattern, you can buy magnets individually. They have straight lines, chevron, star and cross patterns to chose from (but you'll always get the diagonal lines when buying a polish)

The only thing I liked less is the drying time, it took a bit long to dry but I fixed it with a coat of Seche Vite, which didn't ruin the patterns as you can see in my pics. 

Oh, it also has a chemical scent, but it's not too strong and it didn't bother me (it's nothing compared to Kleancolor scent).

You can buy Magnetic Polish from Born Pretty Store for 6.38$, and get additional magnets for 2.03$. You can also get a 10% off discount by using my code, AYUUMIK31 !

All their Magnetic Polish range can be found here:

Born Pretty Store

What do you think of the magnetic polish trend ? Did you jump on it ? 

Have a nice day :)

Purple Slim Slines

Hi dear readers !

Some weeks ago, I saw this great design on Pinterest and absolutely needed to give it a try. I found a link to the tutorial on The Nail Buff, tried it quickly on a tip and decided I'd do it in purple. Here's the result I got:

It's a bit messy but I love the effect. I used four polishes:
- Catrice Lavenderlicious as the base
- Catrice Plum Play With Me as the darker purple
- China Glaze Spontaneous as the medium purple
- OPI Done Out in Deco as the lightest purple, not really noticeable on my pics, I'll explain why below.
- I added one coat of Seche Vite as usual.

It's an easy technique, but it can require a lot of time. In this video tutorial made by NailsKathy, you'll see why it can be so long to create: http://youtu.be/o5CTNGcFbzg

The first polish I used, Catrice Plum Play With Me, worked really well. The China Glaze took a bit longer to form strings but it was still okay, and the OPI took an eternity to string, it almost didn't work with that one.
So before trying this technique, you should make some tests with the polishes you plan to use, in order to know what will work the best :)

Now I did it once, I want to make other color combos like shades of blues, rainbow, or try a bright color over black ... There are tons of possibilites !

What do you think ? Do you likee it ?
Will you try it yourself ?

Have a nice day :)

Nails and Beauty Blogs Roundup: Leave your links !

Hi dear readers !

My next Nails & Beauty Blogs Roundup will be on next sunday !

If you want your blog to appear on the post, leave me your links in the comment section, or sending me an email: gwenn@sugar-nails.com

Have a nice day ^^

Dandy Nails Wingless

Hi dear readers !

I promised you some more awesomesauce from Dandy Nails' shop, so here it is !

As I love glitter and flakes top coats, I couldn't resist to buy Wingless and Funhouse from her. Wingless has light blue and golden big flakes, the kind of flakes you can find in Color Club Diamond Drops. It also contains very thin golden particles.
I wanted to layer it over a dark blue for the first use, but a black creme would have been also good!

The base is two coats of Essence My Boyfriend's Jeans, and I added one coat of Wingless and one coat of Seche Vite.

The application of Wingless was nice, the flakes don't pack together so you don't have to move them with a toothpick to make them even. As you can see on my index, I got a very big chunk of flake, which I loved a lot ! In fact it came on my thumb but I moved it to my index so you can see it in my pics :)
I know some people don't like those very big pieces of glitter, but there are not a lot of them in a bottle so if you don't want them, you could easily take them off.

I'm very pleased with Dandy Nails polishes, I can't wait to try the other shades I picked from her :)

Here's the link to her shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DandyNails

What do you think ? Do you like that kind of chunky flakes ?

Have a nice day :)

Dandy Nails Come Out and Play: Awesomesauce !

Hi dear readers !

I'm very glad to show you my very first Etsy polish today ! I easily fell in love with Dandy Nails's polishes, she makes some awesome mixes ! And I exchanged a few mails with her, she's a very nice person.

I got no less than five polishes when I placed an order with her last month. The first that appealed me on her Etsy page was Come Out and Play, so I obviously tried this one first !
I just have to warn you that my pics are not color-realistic, as my cam has always hated purples, and we have no sun here (or it's already down when I get back home) so I have no choice but taking pics in a lightbox.
You can still appreciate the texture and finish from my pics, but note that COAP has much less blue in real life. It's more like a dark fuchsia with a hint of blue.

COAP is a jelly-like polish with white glitters in it. The first coat was a bit messy with some bald spots, but the second coat made it smooth and totally opaque ! And the jelly look makes the glitter appear like some kind of glitter sandwich.
Isn't it soooo awesome ? I'm totally in love with that polish ! Sandy did such a great job on it :)

There one more reason why I love that polish: it's name ! It reminds me of good souvenirs, I was 15 when The Offspring released that song and I loved what they did in the 90's a lot (and I had a secret crush on Dexter Holland, but don't tell this anyone please!)

If you're interested in Dandy Nails polishes, scheck her Etsy shop, it will re-open on may 7th ! But be fast, they sell very quickly :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DandyNails

And if you're curious about her other colors, come back Friday to see my swatches of Wingless :)

I hope you liked it !

Have a nice day :)

April Collage

Hi dear readers !

Here's the collage for my posts from last month !
I know I didn't do it in March but that was when I got my surgery so I wasn't able to do it ... I hope you don't mind ;)

Have a nice day :)