The 10 Favorite Manicures of 2013

You know I can't go too long without showing you my nails,so I decided to gather my 10 favorite looks from this past year. Mind you, it has not been easy at all and I won't be posting them in any particular order, I like them all just as much. 

The Manicure I did for Polish Days - Vintage:
You can never take the polka dots away from me, hehe!

                           
Half Framed Nails:
This has got to be one of my favorite nail arts to date. Really love the way the darker color always frames the glitter blast in the middle.

Nude Glitter Nails:
Always have and always will be a fan of glitter and one of my favorite ways to use it is just on the tips. Looks great on any nail shape or length.

Sparkly Clouds:
Definitely one of the cutest manis of the year.

Touch of Gold:
I basically love gold and it just works with everything!

Ombre Polka Dots:
You can tell that Orly's Gumdrop has become a very fast favorite of mine.

Geometric French Tips:
A little twist on an old and beloved favorite.

Watercolor Nails:
Most likely the best fun I've had making a manicure happen.

Frames Strike Again:
As I was saying, one of my favorite manicures.

Fingerprint Nails:
Loved doing these as well and you cannot imagine how great it is to dip your fingers in polish!

Because I've reached 10 but I have one more to show you, I decided to file this under extra holiday manicure since it has been done for Halloween.

Bloody Nails!
Super easy and super effective for freaking people out!


So what do you think? Have you enjoyed my nail selection? I've added a link to the original posts for all of the manicures and in most you will also find instructions on how to do it yourself.

                     
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Big in 2013 - The Major Beauty Trends

It's always fun to look back on the year and try to remember what the major trends in beauty have been, because we just kinda incorporate them into our everyday life and don't think about "ah yes, this color, definitely a trend I'm doing!". We just do it.
That's why I did a half memory exercise in remembering what the Big Deals of 2013 have been.

 Things went natural.

I love whenever this happens because I'm a big fan of keeping it as natural as possible. The three big ones have been The resurrection of natural oils in beauty, Honey as THE ingredient and Natural Beauty/DIY beauty. Especially for the last one, more and more people have started to make their own scrubs, body creams, and started using more friendly ingredients all together. Not to mention how happy I am for all the oils  that are out there, because my skin LOVES them!

LIPS, LIPS and more LIPS!

If last year it was oxblood, this year, the variation thereof has been burgundy. Can't say I mind it, as it is a glorious lip color and burgundy lips have been everywhere! Another big thing that I liked have been matte lips. While I'm not the biggest lipstick wearer, I am definitely a huge matte lipstick wearer.
Nude, natural lips paired with a more natural look have been dominating spring and summer and really accentuating that natural beauty everyone has. And of course, my favorite thing to have hit the nation: Lip Pencils! I prefer them matte, but I'll take them in any ole' way because they are the most practical alternative to lip color to date. 

  Nail power!

 You know me, the complete nail obsessive and while many nail related things happened, I summed up the biggest ones. Halfmoon nails  seemed to be on everybody and yes... even I have tried them. 

One of the things I just could not get on board with were texture polishes. That cottage cheese look is not for me, nor are little confetti like "feathers". I can appreciate that someone took the time to come up with them, but I really don't want it on my nails. Even if they look kinda cool, especially the sandy and cottage cheese texture feel really creepy to the touch. But at least we had that one, huge color: Emerald Green.

And I must say, the nail shades that have emerged from this have been quite nice.

Do you have any more beauty trends you wanna suggest or have I covered them all?

                          


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The Perfect Oxblood Nail

Last year, I had taken the quest upon me to find the perfect Oxblood nail polish. Well, it only took me a year and many "almost"s to get there. 

                         
Last year I was fixated on pearly polishes but in time, I've realized oxblood can only be a cream polish, with no shiny particles attached to it.  That's the only form the color can look proper on your nails.
The established winner is Essie Shearling Darling. It's described as a deep ebony red and I won't contradict that. As you can see, it looks almost black on the nails as opposed to the shade in the bottle.
I can tell you though, it looks definitely red most of the time. This picture was taken around dusk so the light was more on the dark side of things, but I really like the look of it.
They say deep reds and browns are most flattering on short nails and I can confirm it. Beside nudes, my very short nails at the moment are put in a favorable light.

What do you think? Is this a color for you?






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The Ultimate SnowFlake Nails

It's December and that means, if it hasn't snowed on you yet, it will. Soon. So to get mentally prepared and to add some extra joy to the whole occasion, I thought what better way to start the month than with pristine white nails. With a twist!

I had been looking for nail foil for a while and it does seem, I could only find it at the Born Pretty Store who stock  A LOT and I do mean a lot of nail supplies. If it was an actual physical store, I might leave it with more than I can carry.
So in their humongous nail foil section, I decided on this one , a gorgeous white foil with rainbow reflexes.

I've been using it on all sorts of colors, pastels, darks, oxblood. It looks pretty spectacular on black nail polish by the way, but now was the turn of the white, and let me tell you, they look perfect together.
The polish looks like it would have a rainbow metallic sheen of wet on top. I'll admit to staring at my nails for a good 10 minutes.
This is the closest photo I could get of said "wet look".

Can we also discuss the fact that the whole roll of joy is just around 2$ ? I mean... Talk about fully affordable nail art .
And it's super easy to apply:

1. Put on your favorite nail polish, preferably 2 coats
2. Let it dry but only almost. Test it by pressing down your finger on the nail and if you have a somewhat visible fingerprint, it's time!
3. Cut a piece of foil and just dab it on the nail, it will automatically stick.

And a piece of advice: Don't use top coat! It will just take away the natural sheen and reflexion of the foil. It looks so much better without a top coat.

Now, if you'd like to order it yourself ( or one of the gazillion other gorgeous foils), I've got a nice little 10% Discount Code for you.
Just use  WEL91 at checkout after landing on BornPrettyStore.com by clicking the link or the banner in the side toolbar.


                          
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Seche Vite Top Coat - My Conclusions

                              
As someone who is very fond of colors and patterns on her nails, you can imagine there was really no way around trying out this top coat. Everyone is immensely satisfied with it and praises it, and even with that somewhat creepy "this might harm you" warning for one of the components, there is no sign of its popularity going down.
I have now tried it on several times, with different polishes, textures and in different situations and I've come to a pretty solid conclusion:
It dries your polish in no time - This is one of the incontestable truths about it. As the name says, it dries any polish in under a minute. If you've ever read the leaflet, it will tell you that it does so, by going into all polish layers and making it one big,solid, dry layer. Which I can actually tell. I feel like I have little solid shells on my fingernails and as if my polish is an entity of its own. 
It chips - Now even if it builds a one layer armor, it still chips. And it sometimes makes the polish chip faster than it would without a top coat. Not so practical, but if all you need is very dry and very fast, you've got it.
It's a pain to get off - Only recently have I come to the final conclusion that it is much too hard to get off. It took me 10 minutes to rub it all off, and I truly don't appreciate it. It seems that said one layer armor becomes so solid that even nail polish remover has troubles with it. It would be good if it also wouldn't chip though, being so solid.
And then there's the warning .... - Well if you are expecting a baby, I'm definitely going to tell you to stay away from it. If not, then it's your decision. Many other nail polishes probably contain the same ingredient, just that, by not being produced in California, they are not obliged to state that warning on their product.
I for one, after weighing in all of the pros and cons would rather stay away from it myself, because it truly dries a polish insanely fast and gives it a lovely shine, but that's about all the pluses you get.

Have you ever tried this? Or did you want to?



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My Nails Love | Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme Review

Where do I start with this cuticle butter? Should I say I never want to live without it? Or that it makes me wanna bury my nose in it and inhale it from now until forever? I think I should keep it classy and say it has done things to my nails and cuticles that neither had thought possible.

Many cuticle creams and butters have graced my nails, but none so spectacular as this. I purchased it thinking "Ah well, why not give it a go? I love Burt's Bees anyway". As latently confident as my attitude may have been, it has resulted in one of my wisest choices.
The first time this cream was applied on my nails, there was a slight bit of misjudging of how much I actually need and I scooped up a bit too much, but smeared it on anyway. I can just say that by morning, my almost dry to death nails had been reborn and there was no sign of them ever being anything than hard as nails (Excuse the pun. No don't, it was a good pun.High-five my pun!).

Not to mention it is the best friend of any cuticle as mine were in a serious dry zone. After a couple of applications they are now healthy, happy and hydrated as never before. I'm starting to think this cream has made my nails even better than at their default state at birth...

You might think this is a small tin, at 15g, but 3 months later and not even half of it has been used up, even after intense, almost daily consumption.

What it is, is basically solid oils mixed with vegetable butters like lemon oil,rosemary or canola oil.It is initally hard but it softens up to the touch really easy because of our body temperature.

The smell is beyond anything as it is so fresh and soothing and fruity that once I start sniffing it, I get into an instant state of joy. It basically smells like lemon peel. Pure, fresh,zesty lemon peel.

Here's the closer look at the ingredients and all I can say is, if you are looking for something to make your cuticles happy and your nails strong, this is the thing for you. Not to mention you will be addicted to the smell.
I got it on Feelunique.com here but I am sure there are many physical stores that carry it. One that I know for sure has it, is the Whole Foods in Piccadilly, if you are based in London or plan on going there, that's a really great place to start and find some amazing natural beauty bits.





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Nails of Halloween Past

I said I was going to give you a more in depth look at my bloody Halloween nails, and voila!
I have been wanting to do this manicure for the longest time. Last autumn, for Fashion Week, I remember seeing it at one of the runway shows, and yeah, it only took me a year to do it.
Truth is, it is a pretty theme specific manicure, as running around with bloody nails for say...Christmas or people's birthdays might not be the best idea. Same goes for the office. Are you sure your boss will like you pointing to reports with that? Well, he might, but then he's awesome. Like mine.
Enough about my awesome boss and let's discuss blood.
The office is the actual place where this happened and I'm sorta surprised it turned out so well. Initially, I wanted to do the drips with a needle, but the brush itself proved to be much more effective.
Blood is the color Essie Hip-Anema and apart from it being one of my favorite colors, it looks pretty realistic, doesn't it?
Have you ever tried doing such a manicure?



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New Wave Nails

                                
Come autumn, my favorite thing to wear is Essie Bobbing for Baubles. But because I've shown you pretty much every angle of my nails wearing the shade, I thought I'd spice things up a bit and pair it up with the electric blue that is China Glaze Sunday Funday. 
Have you ever watched any creepy movie where the water suddenly turns dark and something bad is about to happen? Well that could be an interpretation of this manicure, but I much rather prefer the idea of waves and really like the way the two colors mix with each other.The contrast is really great and I don't think any two shades I have tried out thus far looked so nice!

It actually is really simple to do, and if you want, I can do a tutorial for you next. What do you think?


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Week in Pictures # 37

I feel like I sound like grandma, but where did the time go? It's November! I'm proud to say that October has been pretty nice in terms of weather, especially the last couple of weeks. And then of course we had Halloween. Is it an interesting fact to mention that I have never even bothered with it before? Because this year was truly the first time where I did something in that direction,since the whole company was in a creepy craze.

1. Very surprising dupe discovery 2. Dupe-ing it out 3. Got my first creepy cupcake! 4. Baked pumpkin is a truly spectacular thing

5. Oh you know, just looking friendly 6. Lunch nails

7. Awesome carvings 8. Some people look very cute when avoiding pictures 9. It's a love affair with this coffee 10. Omelette made in the sandwich maker. So good!                            

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My Halloween Face

                              
I'm not a Halloween person. At all. But the fellows at my office seem to be really into it and after spending half of my morning making them look creepy ( and I will post their looks soon!), I grabbed the black pencil and smeared it on my lips. And then, I figured I can't just leave it at that.
What started out as the Adams Family kinda turned into an evil Black Swan. But I kinda like it. A lot.
You can also see my nails went creepy, but I will do a separate post on them because I really like how they turned out.
So what do you think? 



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Last Week's Favorite Manicures

Let me start off by saying that both these nail gracing presences happened by complete accident.
The first one was me being bored of that oxblood red and remembering I had one of the Rimmel Precious Stones polishes. One thing led to another, a coat of glitter was applied and I was in utter awe for most of the week.They looked like rubies! Even more astonishing that they looked good on the shortest nails I have had in ages.

Then on friday, my colleague brought some polishes to work and I felt the need to use some flakies. China Glaze ones to be exact. But since I had no nude,pastel or taupe-y polish in sight I figured, why not apply it just like that? And I've been staring at my nails ever since.

What's your favorite? It is probably clear that I'm in a shiny place right now, because glitters and flakies are making a massive comeback.
And seriously, don't the red nails look like Dorothy's slippers? I need that mani on my nails again!                               


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Fingerprint Nails

I stumbled upon this awesome idea last week and just had to try it because there was a time where I would play with my fingers and nail polish with immense joy.Sure, I was 3, but the joy of sticking your finger in polish has not gotten less.

 As you can see, I'm the eternal mint and pastel kind of gal and couldn't skip them this time either. I think we've established by now that Barry M's Greenberry is my alltime favorite polish and Essie's We're in this together is my go-to pink.
This time I did it on a white base but can you imagine how great a golden polish would look on a black base for Halloween?
As I wrote this, my mind has already decided that would be my Halloween manicure.

                              

The fact is, I need some more exercise in fingerprinting my nails, mostly in being careful with the amount of polish I stick my fingers in. If it's too little, you don't see it, and if it's too much, you get a blob of color (as can be observed on my ring finger in gracious pink).

What do you think? Is fingerprinting right up your alley or do you prefer leaving it to convicts?


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Nailcare?

Everyone wants nice, strong nails but do we put the effort in getting them there and maintaining them? Especially if, like me, you're a nail painter, those nails will want to take a break every now and then and manifest their wishes in a less than joyful manner, like flaking,breaking,dry cuticles and many more.

Here's what I'm using at the moment to keep the tiny ones happy:

First up, you need to nourish those nails and the best thing I have ever used has been this turquoise mass from Hema whose writing has by now faded away forever but I know it is a growth and restore serum kind of thing, with calcium. If you're in a Hema (and this is for all you Dutch people out there) , you will definitely recognize it by its color.  I do recommend calcium based nail nourishing substances, because calcium is one of those things that keeps teeth and nails alike strong. Whenever I forget to use it, I definitely see the difference. And when I use it, I see the difference even more. My nails become Batman.

Then, for the cuticles, but also for the nail's all-round well being I like to use a nail oil and a cuticle butter. The nail oil I use is almond oil based and it's basically designed for the cuticles but oil on the nail is a great thing as it nourishes it. Same goes for cuticle butter. Great for cuticles but your nails will also be thankful. 
The funnies thing about this Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream  is that I once evening put it on my cuticles and nails and by the morning, my parched nails woke up looking stunning! So, that's something I will not be parting with.

Always be careful when putting polish on your nail. Nail polish is not made from unicorn sparkles and love, it has serious chemicals in it, which means you need to protect your nail as much as possible. My current favorite is Orly's Nail Armor which not only protects, but is enforced with silk fibres to strengthen the nail.

If you're curious about OPI's Nail Envy, I have tried that too but it didn't wow me at all. You can find the full "Why" in my review here
              
So what do you do for your nails?




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5 Shades | From Pink to Purple

What you are about to witness is a rare occurrence because pink is the color that sees my nails the rarest, but for some reason, it was looking at some of the pinks ( and I don't own many) and they were looking so cute that I decided to make it more interesting and create a pink to purple gradient.
I'm also experimenting with straight nails at the moment and they're seriously short. And I mean so short that I've almost filed skin while straightening them, but as I definitely prefer short nails right now, I figured it's as good a time as any to get my angles out.

Yes, I added a little dot to them just for the sake of it and by the looks of it, the color on my index finger would work really well with the color of the dot if I were to make a polka dot mani out of it, don't you think?

Speaking of colors, here's what I used:

Thumb  is Barry M, Index finger is Bondi, Middle finger is China Glaze, Ring finger  is Essie and Pinky is Revlon.
I kinda liked putting the names of the polishes in the picture and I might be doing it again. What do you think? Is it easier if I just write the name of the polish on the photo?               




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Week In Pictures # 34

I'm writing this on Sunday morning/night and my balcony door is open because after two weeks of polar cold, it's now back to 20+ degrees and I even managed to get some tanning done yesterday. The weather has definitely gone nuts, but that's not stopping us from taking pictures!

                                

1. Nail wheels at sunset 2. Yes, that's a melon! 3. The balloon love is still strong

4. My DIY gold candle jar 5. Outtakes

6. Best buds for at least two seasons 7. The pinks and purples have gathered! 8. New favorite combo?

How was your week? Autumn treating you well? I've accidentally discovered the best combination: green tea and apple syrup. Trust me, if you mix them you will not be drinking anything else. And this is coming from someone who has already consumed around 2 liters in a day.


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Monday Nails inspired by Lorde's "Royals"

Here's the thing, I don't know if you have or have not heard Lorde's song called "Royals" , but that thing has been sticking to my brain. Mainly because of its simplicity. There's no musical masterpiece happening, nor are there any intricate instrumental moments happening, but it latches on to your brain and you're left singing "but we'll never be rooyal,rooooyaaaaaaaaaal" for the next 10 days.
Which brings us to our current nails. Just like the song, they're not too intricate or difficult to create, but I paired up two colors that scream "royal" to me: navy blue and gold.
I find them to be quite appropriately royal. Not too in your face, but then again,not plain. And most importantly, I can definitely envision them in the video of that song. Which I haven't seen...Is there a video to that song?

Either way, what do you think? Royal enough?          

                

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Monday Nails | More From Fashion Weeks

Fashion Week usually inspires quite a few nail trends so I wanted to go back to the catwalk to pick up some more nail designs.
The following is on my "unsure" list, because well, I'm not fully decided on it. Is it even new, is it wearable,is it interesting?
I've seen this stripe thing on a couple of models and as much as I wanted to change it up, I did it just like they did it on the fashion show, on just 3 fingers.

                               
To be honest, I would have done it on all 5 fingers because then it would have had a higher potential of looking awesome. I might try it next time. Either way, I changed it up a bit since I used the W7 Cosmic Black for the stripe,which is a sand textured black glitter. Instead of some random monochrome line, I think this looks a bit more interesting. The base is my ever so favorite Essie Bikini so Teeny. 

What do you think? Fashion fail or something that could catch on? Because in terms of execution,it's definitely easy to do.


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Top Autumn Polishes Part 2

Remember Part One ? Well we're back with the second half of what I foresee on my nails this fall.
Two things I've noticed in the making of this post: 
1. I have no greens! And I mean I have a minute amount of green polishes ( one to be exact ). I don't think they look that magnificent on me but just one? Really?     
2. A lot of blue was included in this post. I'm realizing it as I look at the pictures, because I've never considered myself a huge user of blue polishes. The truth is, ever since I joined the Monday Blues project, I seem to have acquired a considerable amount of blues.

Can you tell I like Sally Hansen? Of course not, there would be no way of you noticing that.
Truth of the matter is, especially the Xtreme Wear polishes are extremely durable. I keep being impressed by how well they last.
Left to right:

Sally Hansen - Yellow Kitty

Sally Hansen - Gray by Gray
 Sally Hansen - Greige Gardens
 Sally Hansen - Gunmetal
Essie - Bobbing for Baubles

( the links will take you to the swatches I did of each polish)

Yellow Kitty is a pale enough yellow to get your attention but to not bother you too much. I find it really ideal for autumn when everything fades away a bit

Gray by Gray is a grayish blue that I really really like! I'm a big fan of all polishes with a gray undertone and this one is just cool enough.

Greige Gardens is, guess what? Yes, a mauve with a gray undertone. It gives it the proper coolness for the frosty months.

Gunmetal has got to be one of my alltime favorites. The shimmer makes it absolutely gorgeous to wear anytime but I'm prone to reaching for it when it's less than hot outside.

Bobbing for Baubles....ah Essie, you've managed to create something that I've become obsessed with. Seriously obsessed. It's dark enough to be dark but blue enough to not confuse it with black and it just looks regal. An incredible color  to be worn anywhere and anytime and you can probably tell I'm a fan by the many posts I've done on it like: here, here, one more here ,in polka dot version and in golden polka dot version which also happens to be my favorite.

Below, the swatches

               

Left to right: Bobbing for Baubles/Gunmetal/Greige Gardens/Gray By Gray/Yellow Kitty

Will you be sporting any of these colors? I'll also be doing one on my favorite metallics and glitters for fall so stay tuned!

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