Swatches & Review: a England Gothic Beauties Collection

After The Mythicals and The Legend here comes Gothic Beauties. I'm talking about the newest a England nail polish collection of course. Five new shades inspired by the enchanting spirit of England and it's myths. 

From left to right: Dorian Gray, Jane Eyre, Ophelia, Lady of Shalott and Tess d'Ubervilles.

Color drops:

a England, Dorian Gray, 2 coats

Dorian Grey is a shimmery gunmetal grey. It's dark (but not too much) with the shimmer that gives it a bit of mystery. I love a good charcoal/gunmetal grey and I think this one is going into my favorite grey bin. Not that I have one, but you know what I mean.


a England, Jane Eyre, 2 coats

Jane Eyre is a black based polish with duochrome plum/orange shimmer. It's so gorgeous in the bottle but unfortunately the duochrome effect isn't visible on the nails. You can see some plum shimmer, but the orange is much stronger in the bottle. 

a England, Lady of Shalott, 2 coats

Lady of Shalott is a black based polish with duochrome blue to purple shimmer. Just like with Jane Eyre, only one color is seen while on the nails. The result is a deep black with blue-ish sheen. 

a England, Ophelia, 2 coats

Ophelia is a black based polish with a duochrome purple to orange shimmer. It's the darkest of the collection and the one that shines the least. The shimmer is barely visible on my nails and it pretty much looks like a black nail polish under normal lighting. 

a England, Tess d'Ubervilles, 2 coats

Tess d'Ubervilles is a black based color with green shimmer. The shimmer in this one reminds me of rainforest. It's very rich and vivid but the black base kind of kills it on the nails. 

Polishes from the a England Gothic Beauties collection on natural lighting:

I was SO excited when I got the polishes from this collection, I can't even tell you. I was ooooh-ing and aahhh-ing while unpacking them because they look simply amazing in the bottles - especially the four black based ones. The duochrome shimmer in them makes them look magical and I couldn't wait to put them on my nails. The quality of all these is the same and pretty much what I expected it to be - superb! The formula is just right which makes the application super easy. The brushes were all good and non wonky, I basically didn't have to do any clean-up after the application. All polishes are fully opaque in 2 thin coats. As I said, the polishes get an A+ for the quality. 

As much as I adore a England polishes I do have to admit I'm a bit disappointed when it comes to color/finish of these shades. The way they look in the bottles is just WOW and after the application there's so little shimmer on my nails it almost looks like I ruined the magic somehow. Dorian Gray is the only one from the collection that looks pretty much the same the way it looks in the bottle (it did dry a bit darker on my nails). That's why it became my favorite in the bunch. It's followed by Tess d'Ubervilles and Lady of Shalott which have the strongest color sheen and don't look too dark. Jane Eyre shows just a hint of it's shimmer while Ophelia could also be a plain black creme - on the nails of course. 

When it comes to the name of the collection and the colors on my nails, I get it. Gothic Beauties are supposed to be dark and gloomy, I just wish I could get some of the awesomeness from the bottle on my nails as well. 

a England polishes are big 3 free and cruelty free.

*Polishes were sent to me for review.

What do you think of the Gothic Beauties?

Thanks for looking and commenting!

H&M - Hunt Me Down

Let's do some Scandinavian hunting.

H&M, Hunt Me Down, 2 coats

I got this polish all the way from Sweden (thank you so much, Feline!) and I've been wanting it for a long time. Hunt Me Down is the most perfect laurel green I've seen so far. It has just the right amount of green and grey, with the right touch of dustiness to it. The formula was good and the same goes for the application. I applied 2 coats and all I can say is that I'm a happy little camper. My preciousssss... 

What's your favorite dusty green nail polish shade?

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It's Caturday Alright

My calendar says it's Wednesday, but I'm sure as hell today must be Caturday. The day didn't start so well... OK, it was pure sh*t. But then it started getting better and better. What is the one thing that can make you go from angry to wiiiiii mode in a matter of seconds? Cats!

Cat Exhibit A - There was a package waiting for me at the doorstep. I'd never guess in a thousand years what was waiting for me inside the envelope. I Can Haz Cheezburger? 2013 Calendar!!! It will be a lol-tastic year (my photo of Tigra is featured on March 27th). 

Cat Exhibit B - After I came from work, I took Jimi to the vet. She has had a limp for a week or so. I couldn't find any injury or swelling, so I thought it would go away sooner or later and when it didn't I figured it would be best to take her to the vet. She didn't find the cause either but Jimi did get a couple of shots. For the pain. Right after I left the clinic a woman came in with a little kitten. She found it somewhere and brought it to the clinic which is also a shelter. The vet told me a couple of minutes before they're full and they're not accepting new (healthy) cats at the moment. 

My mother and I drove back home ... having same thoughts. =) I called the vet immediately after coming home and telling her we'll come back for the kitten. 

Cat Exhibit C - He's a healthy (pretty much) little boy and the 5th member of our cat family. I think I'll have to stop at this number now. I haven't thought of a name yet. Any suggestions? 

Have I mentioned I love cats?

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How To: Newspaper Manicure

I hope you didn't forget about my 'manicure 101 how to' posts. I've tried to make a newspaper manicure a couple of times before and never really succeeded until I tried it this way. I guess I had the wrong type of alcohol. Here's how you can achieve a simple yet interesting newspaper nails. 

Things you'll need:

* nail polish in light shade

* rubbing alcohol (you can also use vodka or schnapps like I did)

* tweezers

* newspaper

* top coat

1) Paint your nails and wait until they're dry. Cut up the newspaper into small pieces. Dip one piece of paper in alcohol for a couple of seconds. 

2) Put the same piece of paper soaked in alcohol on one of your nails. Press it gently and hold it for another couple of seconds. 

3) Remove the newspaper from your nail slowly and carefully.  

4) Repeat on all nails. You can see what happens when you hold the paper onto your nails for too long. I managed to get some paper on my nails along with the print. But that's nothing a good top coat won't take care of. 

5) Add top coat and you're done.

Have you tried the newspaper technique yet? What do you think of it?

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Pumpkin Fun in the Sun

Arya Lisa (oh dear Lord! I keep messing up their names) is growing - eating, sleeping and having fun. She loves those pumpkins on our front lawn... A cat on a pumpkin. It reminds me of Halloween and fall. Ah, winter is coming. But let's have some more fun in the sun while we still can. 

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Essence Nail Art Cracking Top Coat in Crack Me Pearly Pink

You could already see Essence Crack Me! nail polish shades on my blog and I'm showing you another one from the same line today although it's a bit different this time. This one contains glitter! 

Essence, Crack Me!, Pearly Pink, 1 coat (over Mahnattan Lotus Effect W65)

I imagined this would look good over my new Manhattan Lotus Effect nail polish in W65 and it does, but the cracks aren't really visible here. Even I couldn't tell if it cracked or not... P.S: It DOES crack though. Choosing contrasting colors when using crackle nail polish is the key, right? Still, I like the way this manicure turned out. I can't say if I like it better with or without top coat (below with Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer). 

I really wanted to like Pearly Pink - not only because I don't wear pink often, but also because it's a nice change of pace to see a glittery crackle. I do like it like this, over darker purple, but I'm not too crazy about it when worn over lighter shade. For a crackle polish which needs to be applied in one coat, it's too thin and not opaque enough. I'd also like the glitter to be more dense. 

Click to see my other Essence Crack Me! posts:
- Crack Me! White (not available anymore, thank goodness)
- Crack Me! Black
- Crack Me! Blue
- Crack Me! Silver

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Swatches & Review: NV Nail Polish

The first time I heard of NV Colour nail polish was when people from Glitter Store contacted me and asked me if I wanted to try some of the shades. I love trying new brands, so how could I say no to that? Glitter Store peeps were kind enough to send me 7 shades of NV Colour varnish from different collections: neon, magnetic, shatter, mirror (aka chrome), chameleon (aka color change), glitter and regular nail polish. Whoa. Quite a selection, right?

NV Colour polishes come in square-ish bottles, except for the magnetic ones which come in round bottles. Each bottle is packaged in cute paper box - it looks colorful and cool, but I also think it's unnecessary. I'd usually throw the box away, but there's a problem - there's no name of the polish on the actual bottle, just on the paper box. I think NV Colour should change that. 

Mandatory color drops:

NV Colour, Chameleon, Funky to Flirty, 3 coats

Funky to Flirty is a chameleon. It means the polish changes color based on the temperature of your nails/fingers. Color goes from cool pink when warm to purple when cold. It contains small silver glitter which makes the polish look more interesting. And a bit harder to remove. This polish needed 3 coats for full opacity. I'm not to crazy about that, but I did like everything else about it. The application was easy, formula was good and so was the brush.

The color change is best seen when you put your nails in hot/cold water. The change would probably be better seen on longer nails. 

NV Colour, Shatter, Blue Flash, 1 coat (over NV Colour Peekaboo)

Some shatter/crackle nail polishes need to be layered over dry and some over wet nail polish. I couldn't find any instructions for this one (you should put it on the box, NV Colour!) so I just tried by applying Blue Flash over my previous dry Peekaboo color. It worked. The size of the cracks depends on the thickness of the polish coat - the thicker the coat, the bigger the cracks. Blue Flash is very opaque and it dries and cracks SUPER fast. The formula is normal and easy to work with. This is definitely one of the best crackle polishes I've tried so far.

NV Colour, Glitter, Gold Glitz, 2 coats (over NV Colour Purple Rain)

Gold Glitz reminded me of Kleancolor nail polishes. Those of you who have tried them know what I'm talking about - that smell. The formula was OK though. I used 2 coats for the effect you see above and I have to admit I'm not too crazy about this one. 

NV Colour, Magnetise, Bronze, 2 coats

Bronze is a polish shade from the magnetic family. Unlike the rest of the NV Colour polishes, this one comes in a round bottle with the magnet on top of the cap. The cap comes off which makes it easy to use. I wish this shade was more opaque, but it's working. The formula is good and the brush is great. 

NV Colour, Mirror Mirror, Sapphire Haze, 2 coats

Sapphire Haze is a tricky one. The name suggests this is a chrome polish when it's actually a very dense foil.  Almost a chrome looking foil and one of very few foils I liked having on my nails. Sapphire Haze is surprisingly opaque for a foil - completely opaque in 2 coats. And what surprises me even more is how much I like this one. 

NV Colour, Neon, Purple Rain, 3 coats

Purple Rain belongs to the neon family. Another shade that made me think there's something wrong with me. It's a shade with jelly-like finish and it needs three coats for almost full opacity - yet I love it! Formula is thin, the brush is impecable and the application is heavenly. My favorite of the bunch. 

NV Colour, Collection Naturals, Peekaboo, 2-3 coats

Peekaboo is the ''normal'' one. Good old creme with glossy finish. Nothing much to say about this one. Good formula, good brush and I'm quite satisfied with the opacity as well. Peekaboo could easily be a 2-coater if my coats weren't so unconsistent. I had to use a third coat on one or two nails because it looks better on photos. 

All in all, I'm quite impressed with the NV Colour polishes. I was really happy to see flat brushes and the quality of these polishes is really good. I like the fact they don't have a strong scent (except for the glitter one). I love the way these polishes apply and their short drying time. The only thing I miss are the names on the polish bottles. 

You can buy NV Colour polishes online in Glitter Store for £2.99 to £4.99 per bottle. Also, check out NV Colour Facebook page. 

*Polishes were sent to me by Glitter Store for review. 

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Slut Like You

She's back with a BANG! =) I love her!

Catrice Ultimate Shine Lipstick in Get the Nudes Paper

My first Catrice lipstick is one from the Ultimate Shine line in shade called Get the Nudes Paper (#200). I'm constantly looking for a nice neutral lipstick that would give me ''my lips but better'' look without too much color. I think I found one. 

I never was a fan of too colorful lipsticks - at least on me. My lips just can't handle it. That's why I'm especially glad for lipsticks in neutral flesh/pink tones. Get the Nudes Paper falls into the right category. You can see it contains a subtle shimmer which isn't visible on the lips, it just gives them a nice shine. This lipstick is creamy (not as much as the NYX Round Lipsticks but still) and easy to apply. It doesn't dry out the lips and the lasting power is quite impressive. I'd recommend it to everyone who is looking for a good lipstick with medium coverage. It's definitely worth the price of ~ 4€. 

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Weekend in Prague

A little behind on my posts again. I spent a weekend in Prague and it was magnificent.

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