Green Summery Gradient, Stamped

Hi dear readers !

I hope you're not bored of gradients yet, because I've been doing a lot of them lately !
Today's one also has colors that call for summer, unfortunately it's almost june and the weather here is the crappiest I've ever seen !
Last week it even hailed, which isn't supposed to happen in May (even is Belgium isn't known for a warm and sunny climate haha)

So, to forget all that rain and coldness, I play with fun and bright colors !

I used Essie Navigate Her and Zoya Wednesday for the gradient, and stamped with Konad plate m78 and black Konad polish.

That was so simple, but I really enjoyed the result :) (except the smudged pattern on my ring finger, damn macro shot!)

I hope you like it !

Now for those of you who entered the interviews, I'll start publishing them this sunday :) Don't worry if you didn't get a reply from me yet ;)

Have a nice day !

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Hello !

Bon, j'espère que vous n'en avez pas marre des dégradés, parce que j'en ai fait beaucoup ces jours-ci !
Celui d'aujourd'hui a été réalisé avec des couleurs qui appellent l'été, malheureusement on est bientôt en juin et le temps est toujours aussi moche... Je pense n'avoir jamais vu ça en cette période!
Il est carrément tombé des grêlons la semaine passée oO Même si la Belgique n'est pas connue pour son climat chaud et ensoleillé, ce n'est pas supposé arriver en mai...

Alors voilà, pour oublier cette pluie et ce froid, je joue avec des couleurs fun et lumineuses !
J'ai réalisé le dégradé avec Essie Navigate Her et Zoya Wednesday, puis j'ai ajouté un stamping avec la plaque Konad m78 et du vernis noir Konad.

C'était extrêmement simple à faire, mais j'ai bien apprécié le résultat ! (si on oublie la bavure sur l'annulaire, merci le détail du mode macro)

J'espère que vous aimez :)

Petite info pour celles qui ont participé aux dernières interviews, je vais commencer à les publier ce dimanche ! Ne vous inquiétez pas si vous n'avez pas encore reçu de réponse de ma part ;)

Bonne journée !

Color Blocks

Hi dear readers !

As I promised, I back with some nail art today :)
These are the nails I did right before going to Barcelona last week ... I was inspired by a tape manicure from Chalkboard Nails :)

Sorry for the cat hair, I try to be very careful with these but they are everywhere with my four kitties, and I always notice them too late ^^'

I started with a white base using China Glaze Snow, let dry completely (Seche Vite helped ^^) and made rectangular sections using striping tape. Then I carefully painted the rectangles with Zoya Wednesday and Essence Show me the Way, alternating both colors.
I tried to use a small painting brush to paint the sections but I'm still akward with these and finally painted with the polish's brushes. Just try both possibilities and see what works better for you :)
Finally I removed the striping tape and added one coat of Seche Vite.

I hope you like it :)

Have a nice day !

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Hello !

Comme promis, me voici de retour avec un peu de nail art :)
C'est la manucure que je portais le weekend passé pour aller à Barcelone, et elle m'a été inspirée par Chalkboard Nails :)

Désolée pour les poils de chat, j'essaie de faire attention mais il y en a partout avec mes 4 chats, et quand je les remarque, il est toujours trop tard ^^'

J'ai commencé avec une base blanche, China Glaze Snow. J'ai laissé sécher complètement (merci le Seche Vite) et créé des sections rectangulaires avec du striping tape. Ensuite, j'ai peint les rectangles avec précaution, en utlisant les vernis Zoya Wednesday et Essence Show me the Way.
J'ai essayé de peindre ces rectangles avec un pinceau fin, mais je suis encore assez maladroite avec ça, donc j'ai terminé avec les pinceaux des vernis :) A vous d'essayer les deux méthodes et de voir ce qui vous convient le mieux !
Enfin, j'ai enlevé le striping tape et mis une couche de Seche Vite.

J'espère que ça vous plait :)

Bonne journée !

Reciprocal Gradient Manicure !

Hi dear readers :)

As soon as I saw Globe & Nail's tutorial, I knew I *needed* to try these nails !
It's a reciprocal gradient manicure that mixes tape manicure and sponge gradient. My two favorite techniques together again, yeah !

I used green shades to achieve this look (both were untrieds, thumbs up again haha): OPI Live and Let Die and Zoya Yara. I chose them because both have that oh-so-pretty gold shimmer.

This look was easy to achieve, maybe a bit time consuming because your base gradient has to be completely dry, but thanks to Seche Vite I didn't have to wait a lot.

What you have to do basically is make a gradient, let it dry, put some striping tape on your nails and make another gradient using the same colors but inverted. Then you remove your striping tape, add some top coat, and voilà !

You'll get better explanations and pictures on Emma's blog, here: http://globeandnail.blogspot.be/2012/10/reciprocal-gradient-tutorial.html

I love those colors together ! I'll just say that I was impressed with Live and Let Die, it looked perfect and opaque in one coat, which made me spare some time on doing this mani :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello !

Dès que j'ai vu le tuto de Globe & Nail, j'ai su qu'il fallait que je l'esaie !
Cette manucure regroupe gradient à l'éponge et tape manicure. Mes deux techniques favorites ensemble à nouveau, je dis OUI !

J'ai utilisé deux verts ici ( tous les deux des non-essayés, yes!): OPI Live and Let Die et Zoya Yara. Je les ai choisis car tous deux ont ces jolies particules dorées qui leur vont si bien !


C'est franchement plus simple qu'il n'y paraît, ça prend un peu de temps car le premier dégradé doit être complètement sec, mais le dieu des NPA a inventé le Seche Vite, donc tout va bien !

En résumé, il s'agit de faire un premier dégradé, laisser sécher, appliquer quelques bandes de striping tape et refaire le dégradé avec les mêmes couleurs, mais appliquées dans l'autre sens. Ensuite on enlève le tape, on to coat et voilà !

Vous trouverez des explications plus complètes et en images sur le blog d'Emma: http://globeandnail.blogspot.be/2012/10/reciprocal-gradient-tutorial.html

J'aime ces couleurs ensemble ! Et le Live and Let Die, quelle bonne surprise, il était parfait et opaque en une seule couche ! Ca m'a fait gagner un peu de temps sur ce nail art ;)

Alors, vous aimez ?

Bonne journée :)

Zoya Tru & Hearts

Hi dear readers !

Do you like the new blog design ? I thought it was time for a little change :)
If you have any suggestion on what should appear or things you don't like on the blog, feel free to let me know it :)

On to today's nails ! This year, I'll try to use all my untrieds. Yeah, I noticed that I always go with colors I already tried for my nail arts and stampings, and I'm left with a lot of untrieds ! What a shame !

Among those poor abandoned polishes was Zoya Tru. Can't believe I never wore that pretty color !

So, I used two coats of Tru, then stamped using China Glaze Hi Tek and Bundle Monster plate BM317.

It didn't stamp correctly on my middle finger but a part from that, I loved the combo.

What about you, do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello !


Vous aimez le nouveau design du blog ? Je me suis dit qu'il était temps pour un peu de changement :)
Si vous avez des suggestions à me faire, ou si il y a des choses que vous n'aimez pas dans cette nouvelle version, n'hésitez pas à me le dire :)

Passons aux ongles du jour ! Cette année j'ai décidé d'essayer au maximum d'utiliser mes vernis jamais testés ! Eh oui, j'ai remarqué que j'avais tendance à retourner vers des coloris que je connaissais déjà, et il me reste pas mal de flacons jamais ouverts. La honte !

Parmi ces pauvres vernis délaissés, on retrouvait Tru de Zoya. Je me demande encore comment j'ai pu passer aussi longtemps à côté de ce joli vernis !

J'ai donc  utilisé deux couches de Zoya Tru, puis j'ai stampé avec le China Glaze Hi Tek et un motif de la plaque Bundle Monster BM317.

Le motif ne s'est pas très bien imprimé sur le majeur, mais à part ça, j'aimais bien l'ensemble !
Et vous, vous aimez ?

Bonne journée :)

Another Mix'n'Match Mani !

Hi dear readers !

After I made my first Mix'n'Match mani some weeks ago, I wanted to do another one, these are so cool to do !
But this time, I wanted more funny colors, so I went for bright pink as the main color. Here's what I did:

Isn't it funny ? I loved to work with these colors, I love pink and fuchsia so much :)

So, here's what I did on each nail:
Thumb (not pictured): China Glaze Traffic Jam
Pointer: Gosh Flamingo as the base, tape mani in China Glaze Snow using striping tape
Middle: two coats of Zoya Roxy over two coats of China Glaze Traffic Jam
Ring: China Glaze Traffic Jam for the base, white stamping with BM203
Pinky: Gosh Flamingo

Do you like that mix of colors and patterns ?

Thanks for watching, have a nice day :)

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Hello !


Peu de temps après avoir fait ma première manucure Mix'n'Match, j'ai voulu récidiver, c'est chouette à faire !
Mais cette fois, je voulais quelque chose de plus fun, plus tape-à-l'oeil, donc je suis partie sur une base de rose vif et voilà ce que ça a donné !

Elle est pas chouette cette manucure ? J'ai aimé travailler ces coloris, j'aime tant le rose :)

Voici ce que j'ai fait sur chaque ongle:

Pouce (pas sur la photo): China Glaze Traffic Jam
Index: Gosh Flamingo en base, tape mani avec China Glaze Snow et du striping tape
Majeur: deux couches de Zoya Roxy par dessus deux couches de China Glaze Traffic Jam
Annulaire: China Glaze Traffic Jam en base, stamping blanc avec la plaque BM203
Auriculaire: Gosh Flamingo

Voilà ! Vous aimez ce mélange de couleurs et de motifs ?

Merci pour votre visite, bonne journée :)

Blue-Green Gradient Tape Manicure

Hi dear readers !

Finally the summer seems to be here in Belgium, I hope this will last ! Even if i can't move a lot, I'm still very happy to get some sunlight in the garden, that's so great ! Now I'm sooo impatient to be on holiday in Spain next month ;)

For today's manicure I worked with some colors that will work great for sunny days, and did a blue/green gradient, using striping tape.

 I started to paint my nails in white with China Glaze Snow and added one coat of Seche Vite because I didn't want to wait for the base to dry haha !
Then I applied 3 little strands of striping tape on each nail and painted each part with the following colors, from the lightest to the darkest:
Essence - You Belong to Me
Zoya - Wednesdday
A England - Galahad
H&M - Moody Model

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might have seen the work in progress pic here :)

Later I added one coat of China Glaze Wireless, I wanted to see how it looked with an extra bling and I actually liked it:

I'm very happy with the result, it was exactly what I wanted to do.
What about you, do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello :)

On dirait bien que c'est enfin l'été ici en Belgique, pourvu que ça dure ! Même si je ne peux pas bouger des masses, ça fait un bien fou de voir le jardin ensoleillé et d'en profiter du mieux que je le peux. Par contre ça me rend encore plus impatiente d'être en vacances en Espagne le mois prochain ;)

Pour la manucure d'aujourd'hui, j'ai travaillé avec quelques couleurs parfaites pour la saison, et créé un dégradé de bleu/vert avec du striping tape.


J'ai commencé par poser une base blanche avec Snow de China Glaze, suivi d'une couche de Seche Vite pour ne pas devoir attendre le séchage complet de ma base.
Ensuite j'ai posé 3 petits bouts de striping tape sur chaque ongle et j'ai peint chaque section avec les couleurs suivantes, de la plus claire à la plus foncée:
Essence - You Belong to Me
Zoya - Wednesdday
A England - Galahad
H&M - Moody Model

Si vous me suivez sur facebook ou Instagram, vous avez peut-être vu le "work in progress" ici :)

Plus tard, j'ai ajouté une couche de China Glaze Wireless, je voulais voir ce que ça donnait avec un peu de paillettes, et j'ai bien aimé.


Je suis très contente du résultat car c'est exactement ce que j'avais en tête.
Et vous, vous aimez ?

Bonne journée :)

Guest Post: Lakeisha

Hi dear readers !

As every wednesday in February on Sweet Sugar, today there's a guest post :)

Please welcome Lakeisha from Refined and Polished ! I've been following her lovely blog for a while, and I especially like her idea to add a picture with some clothes and accessories matching her swatches or nail arts ... I'm not really into fashion but I like to see how she mixes stuff :) That's a cute idea !

Hi Sweet Sugar readers! 

I was so excited and almost a little in shock when Gwenn asked me to provide a guest post. I’ve been following this blog for some time, so it’s a big deal to showcase my nails here. Since Valentine’s Day just passed, I wanted to do something soft and girly. Zoya Happi is the epitome of that! Happi is a soft pink that is filled with golden shimmer. The formula was easy to work with and I applied three thin coats for opacity.

The golden shimmer makes Happi amazing. I’m literally smiling as I type this because it’s so pretty! 

Now I couldn’t just provide a simple mani when Gwenn is so awesome at nail art. I’ve been in love with striping tape lately, so I added an accent using two coats Zoya Gaia. Gaia, a soft white, compliments Happi so well because it has the same golden shimmer. To tie the colors together, I added several small dots.

I just love how soft and feminine this is! I hope you all enjoyed as well. Many thanks again to Gwenn for allowing me to guest post!

Thank you a lot Lakeisha !

As I already said in Nihrida's guest post, I absolutely love pink shades with gold shimmer, those colors compliment each other so well !

I also love the accent nail, it's soft and cute :) As I have tried tape manicures, I haven't done one with striping tape yet ... I really should try :)

http://refinedandpolished.blogspot.com/

So, did you like it as much as I did ?

Have a nice day :) 

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 :)

Zoya Phoebe

Hi dear readers !

Well, the summer finally came back for a few days in Belgium, after an awful august :p It will be gone on wednesday but at least I could take advantage on the last sun rays, last barbecues and a typical summer color, Zoya Phoebe !

Phoebe was a part of this summer's collection by Zoya, Mod Mattes. It's a bright cerulean blue with shimmer in it, and of course it has a matte finish. Look at this brightness, it's almost neon :)

The formula was good but you have to apply thin coats or you'll get brush strokes or bumps. It dries very fast, so adding 3 coats instead of two isn't really a problem :)

Of course, I couldn't resist to the call of the glossy effect :p I added one coat of Seche Vite, and then came the OMG thing ! Just look by yourself:

Isn't it just WOW ?

Well, I love it matte, but the glossy version is even better, I think. All the shimmer pops and make the beauty of this polish <3

Zoya really did a great job on this shade, I'm glad I got it :)

What do you think ? Which version do you prefer ?

Have a nice day :)

Zoya Phoebe from Mod Mattes collection is available on Nailetc or NaildeRoyale

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 :( 

Zoya Breezi

Hi dear readers !

How are you this weekend ? I hope you're fine ! I can't wait to be under the sunshine of Spain, I'm so bored of Belgium's weather :p

I have a perfect summer blue for you today, it's Zoya Breezi ! 

Breezi is a cerulean blue creme polish from Zoya's Summertime collection (2011). It looks a lot like OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, which I have but never tried. I'll try to make a comparison :)

It was a dream to apply, very opaque and nearly perfect in one coat (but I preferred to use two coats for a better result)

I think I should have picked some other shades from that collection ... Well, it's not too late :)

Do you like it ?

Zoya Breezi from Summertime Collection is available for 6.49$ at Nailetc.

Zoya - Crystal

Hi dear readers :)

Do you mind if I show you a non-seasonal polish today ? Not so long ago, I finally decided to get Zoya Crystal, from the Flame collection that was released last winter. I still wonder how I didn't get this beauty earlier, and I'm also planning to add some other Zoya Flame beauties to my collection !

Zoya Crystal is a wonderful iced light blue base with gold flecks in it. It's the kind of polish that is so sheer at the first coat you think you'll never get it opaque, but a second coat fixes it and no vnl is visible.

It also dries fast, one more good point for Zoya Crystal ! :D

I don't have anything like that in my stash, I really love this color ! As far as I know, the only similar polish is OPI Reflecting Pool (which is a perfect dupe in fact) but this one is very hard to find right now.

Look at those yummy gold flecks in the pic above <3

I don't hold many Zoya polish and I just noticed this is the first time I post one of them ! I just tried Breezi from that brand so you'll see swatches soon :)

So, what's your advice ? Do you like this shade ?

Have a nice day :)