Worksafe Manis - 1) The Subtle Gradient.

Hello everybunny!

A while back I had a manicure crisis because I refrained myself from wearing a lot of colors and combinations on my nails from Monday to Friday. I don't have anything against a plain manicure, they look neat and tidy, but it got boring. I felt I was forced to wear one-color manicures and so it became not a personal option but a sort of obligation. And that's when I became a bad, bad, bad blogger and disappeared on you.

So, as I will have to wear low profile manicures at least 5 days a week for a little while, I decided to start a series of worksafe-yet-funky manicures, for all nail maniacs out there with demanding jobs! The first one in this series is The Subtle Gradient:

I was super duper happy with this one, it's subdued yet girly, and enjoyed wearing it for 5 days in a row. For this, I used Kiko Nude and Illamasqua Loella. Loella is quite sheer and was perfect to create this subtle gradient effect in minutes :)

Have a nice weekend!

M.

ABC Challenge: Letter Q - Quick Cheat. Illamasqua Loella

Howdy,

First and foremost: I need to confess that this post is a total and complete cheat. I hope I'll benefit from some highly extenuating circumstance when the time comes, ya'll know, the one I'll magically pull out of my lawyerly sleeve [please note the irony].

I had not a single Q named brand or polish, and had not even thought about a quilted mani. I was quite worried, and I actually came up with this title [Quick cheat manicure] while I was asleep and dreaming. Honest. That's how obsessive I am. I am glad I remembered my genius last resort idea... at work. Sometimes my brain worries me...

I hope you will be able to forgive the lack of a true Q-related nail item. Meanwhile, let me introduce you my current NOTW (nail of the week, 'cuz I am busy like that): Illamasqua Loella.

Two coats of the true Barbie pink / bubblegum pink, amiright? Well, I have been avoiding those since forever, but recently caved in and bought me three similar shades. If you cave in, cave in for good, I say! 

I am so glad I surrendered... With my skintone, the color does really pop out while being a classic shade. I wouldn't wear it on longer nails, but that's a particular taste of mine. I also have to admit I'd rather wear this on somewhat shorter nails but hey, I am not chopping my nails because of that. 

M.

Illamasqua's terror story has a happy ending!

Howdy!

Today is a great day: (i) I am leaving for 4 days off work, seeking peace and relax, and (ii) I received all my stuff from Illamasqua:

Blush in Tremble (thanks Illamasqua for that voucher :p), and polishes in Loella, Vice and Faux Pas. That means a lot of fun ahead! Good thing I'll have some 4 days to work on my clawsies ^^ Can you tell I am excited?

Also, do not forget to enter my 100 posts GIVEAWAY :)

Take care and be really bad!

M.

Illamasqua Scarce. My new go-to "nude".

Hello dear polish hoarders! :)

I hope you're kicking ass this weekend; I am doing exactly that. Kicking the fatigue in the ass! I was drop dead on Friday night; I thought I'd have my afternoon off and BAM, I worked 'til 21h [NOTE: I need to have two words in private with Karma]. Since then, I've been doing nothing but resting. How's that sound? I say it sounds darn pretty amazing!

What a better moment to introduce you all to the fantabulous Illamasqua's Scarce:

I fell in love with it since I saw it in All You Desire's blog. The hunt had started. 

I needed it in my hands INSTA. Problem: Illamasqua is not sold in Spain + Illamasqua's terror history with the British postal service had already started... Happily, the lovely and oh-so-talented Abbie from AbbieNail made my love story possible [¡gracias!]. She bought it for me and sent it to Spain, quite sneakily, haha! I was a little worried it would be destroyed (like it had happened in 100% of my previous experiences) but it wasn't. That made my day. Seriously.

I've been rocking it last week at work and let me tell you: I think I've found my perfect nude-ish but not boring classy work-safe polish. That's a lot of adjectives, I know, but I'll excuse myself by saying all of them are necessary ;) 

The formula is perfect, this is only two coats. And I think one thicker coat may have been enough... Crazy, right? Sweet & subtle as it is, I had quite a lot of compliments while wearing it. So no doubt I'll be wearing it again soon :)

Take care,

M.