Essence - Irreplaceable

Hi sweeties :D

I hope you're fine and the begining of the week wasn't too hard ! I did some shopping 'cause there are sales right now and brought back some nail related things you can discover on my Facebook page ... I also picked some almond perfumed products at The Body Shop, I like that scent soooo much !

But on to the polish, today i'll show you a pretty thing from Essence's new line. Well, it's not so new anymore as it is available since a couple of weeks, but I didn't show those novelties here yet.

Irreplaceable is a beige polish with a gorgeous and classy gold shimmer. It has a glass fleck finish, which is probably the main reason why I love it :D

I usually don't wear a lot of beige and nude shades, I think they just don't suit me, and perhaps they are a bit too discreet for me, but I like this one. I'd say it's a neutral color with a twist, I really love how the shimmer looks in the sun !

Do you like it ?

And more generally, do you like neutral shades with a twist ? :)

Have a nice week :)

Sponging & Konad over Dirty Berry

Hi dear readers !

I'm very happy, I finally managed to get my old RSS feed redirected to the new one, and now I appear again on your blogrolls and feed readers ! That was really bothering me ... I found the solution thanks to this article, if you're interested in it.

On to today's nails, this is a stamping I made some weeks ago and which I loved a lot !

It all started when I saw some of the latest Konad plates on NDED, especially m83. I totally fell in love with the cute hearts and birds on it, though I'm usually not a big lover of the heart patterns.

I started with a sponged french manicure with my beloved Catrice Dirty Berry. Then I stamped the heart and bird designs in black Konad special polish and finished with a purple rhinestone on the ring fingerand one coat of Seche Vite.

I didn't have the occasion to make natural light pictures but I think my new daylight lamp did it good enough :)

I was asked how I do my sponged manicures, well it's very easy in fact. I tried many kind of sponges but my fave to use is a classical sponge you use to wash the dishes. I cut several pieces, one sponge makes many uses ^^
I pour some drops of polish in a small plate, dip the sponge in it and tap it on the nails from the tip to the nail bed. The first coat is very thin so I tap the sponge on almost 3/4 of the nail. I do it on all the nails, then start again but I only tap on 1/2 of the nail. If needed, I do this again, sponging only the border of the tip.

This technique helps to have a soft gradient and also works if you want to sponge over another base color.

So, what's your advice ? Do you like this stamping ? :)

Have a nice day ^^

Pink Wednesday: Splatter Manicure

Hi sweeties !

I'm sure you've seen this trend on other blogs these last days ... Splatter manicure !
I discovered it on Jen's Facebook page, and I immediatly ran to her blog to get more explanations on how she did. I found her tutorial, and in fact it's just sooo easy to do ! You just need a straw and the polish of your choice :)

Of course, I *HAD* to try that manicure by myself ...
I started with pale base polish, Color Club Who are you Wearing from their Rebel Debutante collection. Application was a real mess, it's sheer and very streaky. I had to use 3 coats, and as it was not drying fast enough, I added a coat of Seche Vite which helped to hide the streaks.
The result is quite good but it needed too much work imo !

Then I took my straw and chose two bright pink shades, Borghese Raspberry Sorbetto and China Glaze Ahoy ! And I did this:

I loved this manicure so much !! I can only thank Jen for her tutorial, now I have to try it with other colors :)

What I dislike the most is the big flat splatter on my left ring finger. I prefer when they are thinner, as on my right hand :p

Do you like this effect ? Did you try it or plan to do it ? I'd love to see your splatters, don't hesitate to link them in the comments section :)

Have a nice day :D

Born Pretty Store Cuticle Pen Review

Hi dear readers !

Today's post will not be about nail polish as I have a lot of pictures to sort before I show you them, and not a lot of time!
But tomorrow I promise you a pretty Pink Wednesday manicure :)

The item I want to share with you today was offered to me for review by Born Pretty Store. I don't have to introduce them anymore, everybody talks about them and their products right now :)

When they asked me to chose some items to review, I chose a cuticle pen from their range. I love cuticle pens, they are usually "not your big moisturizer" but they are so easy to carry !
Now I've been using it for a bit more than a month, so here's my advice !

How to use it
Nothing is more easy. Remove the cap, twist the upper part of the pen until you get a drop of product on the brush and apply to your cuticles.

Product consistency
It's a non greasy oil. It leaves a shiny film on your skin which looks greasy, but it's not at all, so you can continue your activity right after the application. The product also doesn't run off your fingers or make them stick.
If you ever wonder what was the shiny thing around my nails on my most recent pictures, that's it :)

MoisturizingEven if it doesn't act like a cuticle balm or a very nourrishing cream (which is normal, after all), I feel this pen really made a difference for me. I must admit I forget to carry it in my bag and use it a couple of times a day, but I use this pen after each manicure to nourrish my cuticles after I do my contour cleaning, and also when I come back from work to revitalize the skin.
I tend to have very dry cuticles (even with cares) but it's going better since I started using it. Of course, I recommend not to use this product alone, but you should use it when you don't have time to make your usual moisturizing care. I use Lush Lemony Flutter or The Body Shop Almond Hand Repair once or twice a week, and the other days I use the cuticle pen from BPS :)

ScentThis cuticle pen comes into various scents. I chose Pomegranate because I love this fruit a lot, but my pen had a very light scent. I don't know if the other ones have a stronger smell, but well, is that really important ? I mean, I didn't get that product to have my nails perfumed.
What's important for me is it doesn't have a strong chemical and/or unpleasant smell. The Pomegranate pen has a very light fruity scent which doesn't stay very long, so even if you feel like you did a bad choice when getting your cuticle pen, it's not really a problem.

Will I buy it again ?
Definitely, yes. For that price and considering it has good results, it's really a must have.

Where to find it: Born Pretty Store
Price: 1.61$ (with free shipping on every order)
Available in Aloes, Apple, Jasmine, Kiwi, Pomegranate, Lavender, Peach, Rose & Strawberry.
They also come in 4, 6 or 10 packs with different perfumes in each.

Well, did you ever tried or plan to try BPS' Cuticle oils ?
I hope you found this review interesting :)

This product was sent to me by BornPrettyStore for review. All images come from their website.

Catrice Times Square at Midnight & NYX Blue Ave

Hi dear readers !

I hope your weekend is fine ! I just got a new laptop, the other one was a bit old, so I spend my time transfering files from the old computer to the new one ... But I don't forget you ! And I started by moving my nails folder :p

Some weeks ago I made my first order at Cherry Culture and I couldn't resist to get some NYX flakies ! You know how much I love those wonders ...

But first, let me introduce you Catrice Times Square at Midnight from the winter 2010 LE, Glamourama. It's a dark purple with blue and pink shimmer which turned more blue on the pics, sadly :(

So, unfortunately the pics turned blue but you can see all the shimmer in this polish. It's really pretty :)

Then, as I just received my Cherry Culture order, I needed to try NYX Blue Ave., a light blue sheer base with turquoise and orange flakies. I didn't know how it would look, I just wanted to try the flakes quickly, but it was really gorgeous !

Ready for that ? This post will be picture heavy ! :D

WoW. Isn't that pure awesomness ?

Depending on the light or sun, the turquoise flakes will look more green, they are a bit color changing. I also love how the flakes look like engraved in the nails, as you can see on the two last pics.

I also ordered Peach Ave from the same collection, but I think I need to get more of them :D Flakes are a very good option if you want to add a twist to your classical polish. I'll also try them over my next french manicure, I'd like to see how it looks on bare nails ;)

Did you like it ?

Have a nice day :)