Mish Mash Challenge - Music. Cassette nail art!

Hey hey hey!

How's the week going? I hope everyone here is wanting to party 'cuz todays theme is... Music!

I don't favor any particular singer or music band, probably because my mental health state of mind varies a lot; so much so that I am thinking on using the Richter scale to rate my mood swings. 

Whatever; I use music as my therapy and so I have come to stock a shitload of music in my player, basically prepared to counteract each and every of my states of mind [Author's note: it works!]. Choosing one of them songs was a no go, so I finally set my mind in some vintage-y cassette nail art!

I searched inspiration on YouTube and guess who had already done not one but two cassette nail art videos? Yup, the extraordinary Robin Moses! I seriously love watching her videos. She's amazingly nuts, and so spontaneous that you get the impression of being in her salon. 

So here's my take:

I had so much fun doing these! And I am pretty proud of myself; I had decided to take advantage of my holidays to improve my freehanding skills, and I guess I did :)

Ingredients: The base color is Kiko no. 338 Light Lavender (two coats) and the dots are Zoya Zuza (teal), China Glaze Heli-Yum (hot pink) and Kiko no. 356 Melon (orange). The cassette has been entirely done with acrylic paints and a teeny tiny nail art brush.

What do you think?

Take care,

M.

Heart tips over Superficially Colorful Lacquer in GIGGLY

Howdy!

Let's follow up with Superficially Colorful Lacquer in Giggly, shall we? I found this polish to be so lovely as its creator, Jin, so I tried my hand at some textured heart-tips:

Heart tips, that's something I could not really do with oval nails; and I was dying to! I think they are so cute! I stopped at two accent nails per hand because I don't use to be all-in when it comes to a girly girly manicure. It's just that I naturally give this image of a smiling harmless young lady and I prefer not to give more circumstantial evidence in this regard. Basically because the image people get and my true self just don't match. 

Well, just a couple of weeks ago I ordered a Coca light and the waitress asked me for my ID. I am still traumatized.

- Excuse me?

- Your ID... I mean, you look so young.

- For what?

- For the beer you ordered?

- What beer? I ordered a Coca light..! 

For Christ's sake, I am f*cking 24 years old! Having been a criminal lawyer in practice for 2 years is obviously not phisically marking. I hate when this happens. Just imagine when it happens in Court! 

Although I have to admit it has made my work quite easy sometimes... *evil smile* Never ever judge someone by her looks. Never.

Back to the cute heartsies... They have been done with OPI Pussy Galore, the manageability of which surprised me. For a textured polish, it behaved very well: it did not get textured right on the heart's borders, you know? When it has to be nice, smooth and curvy.

Hope you like them! I am off enjoying my last day in France!

Take care & be bad,

M.

Mish Mash Challenge - Purple. Superficially Colorful Lacquer in GIGGLY!

Hello there!

The ladies behind the ABC Challenge could not (virtually) live without one another. It has been such a great way to get to know each other, the group has grown strong and... decided to concoct yet another challenge! I am happy to announce the start of the MISH MASH CHALLENGE! :)

Day 1: Purple. 

My dear friend Jin from Superficially Colorful sent me a package with her Mood Swings collection, along with some other gorgeous goodies, which I received just before leaving for my week in France. To say that I was happy is an understatement; my neighbors were alarmed and my ceiling still shows some bumps... ;) 

I thought today's topic was the perfect occasion to introduce Superficially Colorful Lacquer's Giggly, from the Mood Swings collection! This gorgeous polish shifts from dark purple to hot pink, and I have been absolutely in love with it since I put it on:

The formula, the jar and the brush were perfect. What you see are two coats of Giggly applied like butter and a coat of INM Out the Door. Here in Collioure the temperature is crazy hot so most of the time the mani looked like in the first and second pictures, with a subtle gradient.

Now, have you remarked I have changed my nail shape? I decided to try stiletto nails (sort of) for the holidays, and I adore them so far. They look fierce without being too aggressive, and they make my fingers look longer... The Boyfriend likes them, but prefers square or oval nails: yup, that means stilettos are ranked 3rd and last, as I've only tried those three nail shapes. Honestly now, what do YOU think about them? Yay or nay?

Whatever, they offer new nail art possibilities that I intend to take advantage of. Take a look of what I have taken with me for a single week away:

I might have been a little overboard... Considering we've traveled in a motorbike, just like last year, in all honesty I think there's more polish than clothes in my luggage... But of course, what we call summer clothes are just tiny teeny pieces of fabric, so I guess it's not that bad. Right?

Off-topic: here's what was written in the French August Cosmopolitan. Loose translation: "Use a base coat and two coats of red polish clumsily applied. The more we overflow the nail the better, this way we will not forget any bit. Then, use a Q-tip with polish remover to clean up the excess and a top coat". 

Right. So this advice sits next to hair oils costing Eur. 30 that are supposed to make mine look like a mermaid's, yes? Oh well, let me see, I think you've lost ALL YOUR CREDIBILITY, Cosmo.

Feel free to think crap about their advice from now on, and take care!

M. 

ABC Challenge: Letter N - Nfu-Oh number 51

Howdy!

Today's star is Nfu-Oh 51 revisited BUT I must warn you: those pictures do not do it justice at all! See the fuchsia flakies? They shine louder and prouder on the nail at all times. Hopefully you'll get the idea of how it really is with those pictures ;)

For this I used one coat of Illamasqua Faux Pas and one coat of Nfu-Oh 51. I wasn't able to remove it on Sunday so... I am wearing it to work! And guess what? I had forgot I'd see the maximum boss of my whole department today, coming specially from Madrid to meet us. Eish, hopefully he'll be open-minded and like such a brilliant combo!

By the way, the winner of the 100 posts giveaway is Netti, who has been successfully contacted! :) Thanks to all of you who participated!

Sur ce, je vous laisse! As always, I am in a rush..! 

Take care,

M.

ABC Challenge: Letter M - Kiko Mirror effect Violet (nº 621)

Hello Ladies,

Today for letter M of this ABC Challenge I'll be featuring one of Kiko's Mirror polishes, nº 621 in Violet. I've been holding those pictures specifically for today, and I am proud I've been able to hold for so long :) In case you didn't know, I am the impatient kind of gal. Okay, maybe work has helped a little, but I won't say thanks for that... 

I remember application being a little tricky, but that's normal with mirror effect polishes. Just remember to be extra careful when applying it, and take your time. My ring finger nail is lost under 3+ coats of polish because I couldn't avoid streaks from showing for the life of me. Yup, that's not the one to pick if you're in a hurry and want your claws to look amazing... I learnt that the hard way. What a HUGE relief the pictures were taken before the crime!

LAST CALL for those of you who haven't entered my 100 posts giveaway yet :) It's ending tomorrow, so hurry up!

M.

ABC Challenge: Letter F - NOPI Fanatical Fuchsia

Heya Ladies!

How are you doing since last week's post? I know I am missing in action here, even though I try to comment as much as possible in all your lovely blogs... I should probably start my post with "Hi. My name is M. and I am a workaholic"... Bear with me ;)

Today's post features NOPI Fanatical Fuchsia as a base, another pretty that came back from Berlin with me and that I honestly didn't expect to like that much! It has a clearly visible blue shimmer that gives it a permanent glow and makes it quite special. Take a look:

And next is the mix n' match mani I wore to a barbecue  party last weekend (yay, my inspiration is back!) and that I honestly loved! Everything is done with some hex glitter I bough off eBay [Warning: way cheaper than Born Pretty Store & co. glitters because they aren't really hexagonal... they're just a little messy] and Nfu-Oh nº 51 (new formula) on top of the "bare" nails.

Then I went to see Mama, the terror movie, and realized you can be dead and still rock some talons. Good to know. Have you seen the movie? If so, admit you also noticed that length! If not... here you go:

M.

ABC Challenge: Letter E - Express Nails nº 201

Howdy!

How's everything in lacquer-land? For my part, I have to admit I have been a boring polishaholic lately. Almost no nail art in sight, and what is worrying me the most is that even if I want to rock in-your-face manicures in social events I feel too lazy to put my brains at work in designing something bold. My creative side seems to be on vacation!

Obviously, what's left to me in these conditions is to enjoy simple plain manicures. Oh, and keep trying all those goodies I brought back from Berlin! Next is Express Nails in number 201 (over one coat of China Glaze Gothic Lolita):

This polish was GOR. GEOUS. Crazy shine, proud pink shimmer and such a bright metallic-like purple..! I will wear this again, and more than once! 

That's it for today. I am sorry to be dragging you across the nail art desert, I guess I'll be back soon with it, so stick with me. Meanwhile, have a nice week ^^

M.

Bluetiful 51.

Mid-week post! :)

Today I am showing you the combo I rocked this weekend, for it was quite a social weekend and I felt the urge to show off. I'm kidding; but I have a reputation to mantain :p

As you can see I used Essence I'm Bluetiful as a base and topped it off with Nfu-Oh 51, courtesy of my dearest Jin (to my knowledge this Nfu-Oh 51 is the revisited version; Jin will correct me if I am wrong). As you can see, the contrast was pretty obvious, and so were the gorgeous flakies of Nfu-Oh 51! I saw mostly pink, but it shifted to green and blue in some angles :) Amazing! Sadly, I wasn't able to capture those colors in my pictures...

I am still a fan of symmetry (I had the same design on both hands) but I've come to love the mix'n'match manis like this one, where each finger sports a different design. How do you like it?

And BTW, I noticed this mani accidentallty matched EXACTLY the blue dress I was wearing on Saturday night! Check it out:

Yay! ^^ I enjoyed this one a lot! 

M.

OPI DS Temptation

Heeeello!

Long time no see; how are you? Have you been rocking the world while I was out? 

In order to make a more than decent comeback I decided to wear OPI DS Temptation and show it (off) to all of you. I got it in the mail last Tuesday because the lovely Jenni from I Relish Nail Polish offered to send it to me, and I was like HELL YEAH! Let me say this: polishgasm. This is such a rich glitter that I haven't been able to stop staring at my nails and I can't make my mind as to take it off. I obviously can't go to work with it tomorrow *sigh* but I'll make the most of it until last minute tonight. Yum ^^

My camera freaked out a little with this lady (totally expected with purple), I'd say it leans a little less to blue IRL; that purple glitter is just so bright! There are also some teal, blue and gold glitter particles that do really stand out and shine at any tiny little ray of sun. It's magical! Those pictures do not do it justice, I am afraid. I got as close to it as I could, but I wish you could see it through my eyes... I guess you'll have to get that beauty on your nails and see for yourselves!

Thanks again, Jenni! I am so happy to have this gorgeous glitterbomb in my stash ^^ 

Side note: if you don't know Jenni, you should stop by her blog, I promise you won't regret it; she rocks!

Enjoy your Sunday!

M. 

Catrice Dirty Berry

Well hi there!

How are you all doing? I hope you're all safe, standing on your two feet and under your own roof after Sandy messed it up badly. 

I've had an introspective weekend where I though I'd work on my nails aswell as on myself, but it turns out I am a sucker and totally neglected my nails. Sorry for that. Anyhow, I wanted to buy some nice stuff for Discordia's cage last week (i. e. some plants, nice caves and fancy objects to brighten up her viv; not that she actually bothers, but I do because she lives in my studio after all) and went to a specialized shop at the end of the world for that, only to find the shop was closed on a Saturday afternoon. I made a mental note: most reptile shops SUCK big time, I'll need to focus in on-line shopping. 

What the hell does this have to do with nails? Well, since that shop was closed, I asked The Boyfriend to kindly take me to a nail polish store that wasn't (evil smile). After 6 new polishes, I was happy again, yay! One of my finds was Catrice Dirty Berry:

Those pictures do it partial justice only, because I wasn't able to fully capture the shiny micro-particles that give it that dusty look, which reflect blue, pink, green and silver in the sun. I hope you can see what I am talking about in that last macro-shot.

Have a nice Monday, if that is even possible ;)

M.

Dripping paint nail art.

Hey there,

Today I am glad to present you something I've been wanting to do for a long long time; I still wonder why I didn't give it a go earlier. Dripping polish! 

Please, be easy with me: first time here. Some fingers came nicer than others, but overall it has been a win. I'll let you judge:

I know, you are wondering what was that gorgeous purple, right? [If not, take another look!]. Base is Nfu-Oh nº 64 and the drips were made using Nfu-Oh nº FS16, both courtesy of Jin. 

Number 64 needs a proper presentation because OMG that is one batshit crazy holo effect! That lavendar base leans on the pink side just enough to suit my dead-like skintone [Let's say immortal-like skintone, shall we?]. Wah, let's let the pictures do the talking...

Excuse the lightning, the weather wasn't in to play along with me, so I've had to use artificial lightning to expose such gorgeousness. This is two coats, no top-coat. Oh la là, right?!

M.

Chevron silver tips

Haaai!

How are you all doing? For once, I am going to say "it is Thursday already" with a *sad voice* My holidays are shrinking little by little, I still have three entire days ahead of me and I am starting to freak out. Boy, when I say I am versatile I wonder if I don't mean just dumb. But versatile sounds better. 

I prayed to go back to the Criminal Law Department for the past six months and now I am a little fearful. Just like when you look at a precipice: you want to look down and at the same time you're scared to. I want to work there, but I am not sure to fulfill the expectations of my boss. But hey, I can't fear a battle that hasn't started yet. And a friend of mine says: be a warrior. I will be an amazon.

That is the mani I wore to work on my last week in the Business Law Department. Yeah, just like that. Don't give me much credit though, the big bosses were all on holidays, I could therefore relax a little bit. 

 This is two coats of my beloved Catrice Heavy Metalilac (I can't have enough of that) and some chevrons taped with Gosh Silver. I had to attempt for this mani twice; the first time I ripped off half my base coat (an Essence I'll swatch later) - rather frustrating; I had applied it the day before and went all confident to enhance it. FAIL. It happened again since, and I am starting to wonder if my tape is not super strong or something. Since when in a battle of Polish vs. Tape does the Tape win?! I feel like I have missed something...

Take care.

M.