3V manicure for a rainy Saturday

Hey!


How is your weekend going? So far so good? I certainly hope so :)


I felt like wearing something edgy for fighting today's crappy weather, and I had some chevron guides at hand, which I purchased off eBay and received at work this week, so I combined the two and obtained... A 3V manicure!

I have to say that I'm really pleased with this mani, for it has been simple to do but still the colours make it really eye-catching! I've used Kiko nº 343 for the base, then applied the chevron guide in the middle and painted the top in black with China Glaze Liquid Leather and the bottom in bright pink with China Glaze Heli-Yum. 

Now Kiko nº 343 has given my camera a hard time. It's closer to a neon forest green in real life; I've looked for a more colour-accurate picture through internet but found nothing. I'm sure this polish makes every camera go nuts, so I'm sad  to say that is the best picture I can offer at the moment. I will keep trying, for sure!

Oh and I've bought my first piece of art today :) It's been 8 months now since I moved into my own flat, and my walls are still mostly bare. I like it this way, white walls make spaces look wider, and I'm lucky to have a lot of light coming through my windows all day long. Plus as regarding non-nail-related stuff I'm quite a minimalist lad.

BUT I saw this limited edition auto-portrait shooted by Kourtney Roy and I simply needed it. I don't know, I fell in love at first sight. Who says this can only happen with man? ;) If you want to check her out: http://www.kourtneyroy.com/


Keep enjoying your weekend and wearing hardcore nails!

Blue and Grey french

Hey there!

I started working on a big law firm a few months ago, and honestly I was worried about what colours I would be allowed to wear at work. I wasn’t brave enough to go and ask my boss, he wouldn’t have a clue anyways. I mean, it’s not the kind of stuff you think about every day, not even when drafting the Company’s protocol (just imagine: Clause 21.3.3 – Nail lacquer: Allowed colours. C’mon…). So I preferred to be more subtle. I remember starting with a grey polish (Mavala Elle’s Grey, a limited edition), then some safe red, then pink, bright pink, some shimmer, some blue, and so on. I wore everything as a full manicure. And then…

I did this one. It’s 2 coats of Zoya Dove and China Glaze First Mate for the tips. I didn’t freehand the tips, I never tried and I KNOW I would fail, so I bought Nailene’s French Tip Guides instead and job done! 

After such a fuss, such planning and trying to be smarter than smart, no one reacted. At first I thought “I’ve been losing my time”, and then… I realized the best reaction you can expect in this ecosystem is that nothing happens. Think about it: if no one remarks anything it simply means that it’s normal. Now, were blue nails normal before I started working in that department? Maybe, or maybe not. We’ll never know.

I have to point out that no one remarked anything out loud immediately, but my boss told me at my 6 months evaluation “Well, I like to have different people on my team. Yeah, you’ll have to admit that you’re quite special, with your nails and your longboard…”. The longboard wasn’t mine, but that’s another story. The nails most certainly were! And yes, I’m on a department that works somehow apart from the rest, where the protocol becomes less tangible, where me and my nails suit better.

I’m currently on a different department (for 4 more months) where I have to keep a low profile nail-speaking. So welcome “boring” manis, and see you in the weekends in-your-face-goodness.

I felt like doing a revival post, so I hope you enjoyed it!

Take care!

Astor Green Forest + Essence Confetti Circus + Matte

Hi there!

Yesterday was such a great day! One of my friends turns a year wiser tomorrow and had planned on doing something special and different than our oh-so-cozy meeting for coffee, chocolate and cake or its night version with dinner and drinks. So we all went a little out of our comfort box and... had a Tuppersex! Only girls, and focused on playing in couple.

I thought I would need something bright and bold on my nails, so I applied two coats of Astor Laque Deluxe in Forest Green. 

Now, I have mixed feelings towards this polish: the brush really sucks, and the formula is slightly thicker than it should be. But nothing major. On the other side, it's a one coater and dries amazingly fast! And the colour... Watcha say? 

I then added one coat of Essence Circus Confetti + a coat of SV.

Look at that in the sun!

Last touch: 1 coat of mattifier. Voilà!

I agree with you, the matte effect is not that visible. This mattifier from Fairwind seems to be a little shy, but it's okay with me for I'm initiating to the matte world.

The Tuppersex was so much fun! We spent almost 3 hours genuinely laughing and each one of us bought at least two things! I totally recommend this if you want to have fun and are new to the world of sex toys & co. We had a session for beginners, but it is possible to have a much more “pro” counsel, depending on how adventurous you are ;)

Take care =)

Zoya Jules

Hey there!

Today I’m showing you the polish I always reach for when I’m saturated of color, after a long while of wearing bright or edgy manicures. It does not happen much, but when it does I feel like I have no inspiration, I’m less prone to do my nails and I don’t even feel the need for buying more polish. A drama, I say.  My solution: I turn to Zoya Jules, for she helps me reset, in a way. 2 coats + a coat of Seche Vite and you’re ready to go!

I love this polish for various reasons: 1) It’s passepartout even if it’s not a nude. Trust me, even the most conservative people will tolerate this, and even like it. I’ve had some compliments on my manicure from the most unexpected people when wearing Jules.

2) It’s on my list of 4 x 4 polishes: it stays perfectly on the nail for 4 to 5 days, no chipping. And you know, no chipping, no cry.

3) It’s opaque in two coats and dries pretty fast, thus it’s perfect for when you are in a hurry.

The only con I find is that she makes the redness of my skin around the nails pop out. But hey, I guess it’s fair. Nothing pops out if it does not exist.

I’m sure you’ve seen Jules a hundred times, but look at her once more: she makes me go wow every time. A brilliant gold-reflecting light brown with hints of green and red. If she was a woman, I’d definitely fall for her. The pictures do her no justice though; the time sucks in Barcelona right now.

I love to combine Jules with this ring, it's such a nice match! What do you think about them both?


Take care!

China Glaze Gothic Lolita

Hey there,

 Gothic Lolita (Electropop Collection) stood a long while waiting on my rack… and it’s probably not going to leave it in a looooong time, if it ever does again. I had little purples in my stash when this came out, so I decided to give it a go. Wrong move.

From a far it is a bright purple, really shiny and attractive. But of course, if it’s on your nails you’re going to stare at it over and over again, and even from a really close distance. Once you do, the harm is done and there’s no turning back *insert drama music*.

Yes, I’m talking about this not-subtle-at-all mix of red and blue shiny particles you can easily see in this polish. Okay, I understand that blue + red = purple. But does it have to be that obvious, China Glaze? I’m disappointed. I swear I could only see blue particles next to red particles. Eeeek.

I tried to do a super close-up to show you, but my camera seems to be less sensitive than my eyes. Or maybe it’s all in my head; which is (sadly for me) a possibility.

Have you tried this polish? Did you like it?

Take care :)

Leopard Sugar High

Hi!


Now this is my fourth entry, Criminal Nails starts looking like a true living blog, and I love it! I even had my first comments, and yes, it made me smile like mad! I was on the sofa with my BF, showing my new stuff to him as he has helped me a lot to improve the baby, and then... I saw it: one comment. First thing I did was to yell "I have one comment" then, thinking about it, "is it yours?". It wasn't ^^ So yeah, a big thank you for Sneakerette!


Do you remember the first comment on your blog? Wasn't it orgasmic?

On to the mani now. I reversioned it like a bad girl, by simply adding some black leopard with Bundle Monster's plate 221 and a random black very very pigmented I bought on a tiny underground shop in Paris from an rather unknown brand called Make Me Up.

Of course, it's not a bad thing that Make Me Up was unknown to me, it could have been a happy discovery ;) And sure, it works great for stamping because it is highly pigmented, but... it really smells like crap! I don't have any Kleancolor to compare (no offense, Kleancolor) but this polish is the stinkiest polish I own, hands down.

I'm satisfied with this new attitude the leopard gave :) On the contrary some of my friends looked at my nails and seemed to think "Gosh! Please take my eyes out of their sockets!!". 


I have to say that some nail art is still not very popular here in Spain. We don't really have a tradition like in the U.S.A. or a high level of tolerance regarding other people's style, like in the U.K. or Germany, where no one turns back to stare at some trousers/nails/dyed hair/make up/whatever. Wait and see!


Have a good day!

China Glaze Sugar High

Hello! 

So today I felt like switching to a warmer color, I was in the mood for something bright and girly… And that’s when China Glaze Sugar High (from the Up & Away Collection) made its entrance.

2 coats + top coat. Easy peasy application. I totally recommend this polish if you’re on the look for the perfect summery pink.

This kind of girly girl color brings to my mind the commonplace that girls with long polished nails have to be superficial and brainless, which I’m sure any nail polish addict has been confronted to at least once. Especially when wearing in-your-face manicures and bright pinks. I don’t really care anymore; if the occasion so requires I place a sentence in the right moment of the conversation just to make clear I’m not a Legally Blonde kind of girl [I particularly enjoy the stupid face of people when thinking “I had her all wrong”, it’s just as ridiculous as their previous bias]. If not, I tiresomely think “again..?” and let it be.

Have you ever been confronted to this kind of situation? If so, what do you tend to do?

:)

Sponged silver tips

Hey!


I wanted to do something fun for my night out, with a bit of wow but still keeping it simple, so this is what I came up with:

I kept Sally Hansen Pacific Blue as an electric base, and sponged the tips with Gosh Silver, which really popped out!

It was my second attempt at sponging, and I found out that using a foil polish such as Silver is much much easier than sponging cremes. The gradient built up pretty much on its own, and I escaped the whole "damn, I don't have the perfect colour for the gradient to be neat". 2 colours, problem solved.


Mysteriously, you never have all the polishes you think you need when you want to do an ombre manicure or a smooth gradient with different tones. And the lacking colour is ALWAYS the fella that should go right in the middle... *sigh*
Remember this whenever you need an excuse to buy more polish!

At the end of the day my only victory was my manicure, which received several compliments ;) I got lost in something ultra sweet with more degrees than it appeared at first, which led me home far too early. Oh well.


Stay tuned :)

At the beach with Pacific Blue and Laser

Hey there!

Welcome to my new born blog :)

I’m about to spend my day in a hidden beach I discovered last summer, just chatting and being lazy, and I felt like wearing some mermaid nails for the occasion.

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, which I absolutely adore to wear on sunny days. The formula is smooth and opaque in one thick coat, even though I did two just because it’s against my religion to go out with only one. The icing on the cake: it dries super fast.

But this perfectness was not enough for today, I wanted something I could play with in the sun. So I picked Sally Hansen HD in Laser, a dark blue / purple duochrome with hints of gold, and layered it over (1 coat). I can now hypnotize myself trying to see this beauty in all its splendeur (wink). 

As you can see, Laser becomes mostly blue over Pacific Blue, and gives a shiny cosmic effect. If you layer it over a darker blue (e. g. China Glaze First Mate) the purple and the gold will be much more visible :) 

What polishes make you feel like a mermaid?

Thank you for stopping by!