China Glaze Coconut Kiss

Ok, I’m just going to be honest and say that I cannot for the life of me get an even remotely good pic of China Glaze Coconut Kiss, so I’ll admit defeat and simply refer you to Nailgal for pics of this. My camera refuses to show this one as anything but blue, and it’s not even similar to what it looks like in real life.

Coconut Kiss is a beautiful purple shimmer, and it’s been said it’s a near dupe of Nubar Pasadena Purple, which became infamous when Ginnifer Goodwin wore it in “He’s just not that into you”.
I was quite surprised when I applied this, because in the bottle it looks like a very pigmented metallic, but it’s actually quite sheer. The first coat was very watery, but three coats make it bottle color. I would call this a jelly-based shimmer.

Well, to avoid this being a totally disastrous and picture-less post, here’s a pic of my cat Gizmo looking fluffy as usual. I can’t wait for Christmas, when I’ll finally see him again!
(Besides, cat pics always make everything better.)

Sorry about the lack of polish pics, I hope the next polish won’t be as hard to photograph! If anyone has any tips on how to get good pics of purple, please let me know.

China Glaze Skate Night

China Glaze Skate Night is a red-leaning purple from the Retro Diva collection. As the other divas it has fine shimmer and a deep, glowing color. I was a little disappointed as I thought it was a dupe for OPI Kinky In Helsinki, but I found out KIH has a blue flash that this one doesn’t. It’s also similar to China Glaze Cowgirl Up, but CU is also more on the blue/purple side. Still, I don’t think Skate Night is very unique in my collection, even though it is a beautiful color.

Application is good, a little runny at times, but quite ok. I used two coats, and that’s plenty.

Let’s see how it looks, shall we?
First pic is direct sunlight, second is shade.

Do you like it? What are your favorites from the Retro Diva Collection?

China Glaze QT

When I saw swatches of China Glaze QT, I just knew that I had to have it. It’s a gorgeous purple-pink (punk?) with fine holographic shimmer. The holo effect is much finer than the Kaleidoscope collection or OPI DS. It looks almost creme-like until the light hits it, then the holographic glitter really sparkles! I love this polish, I’ve been wearing it for four days straight!

Application was good, I had no problems with this. I used two coats, but one coat is almost opaque on it’s own. I used a ridge filler base coat, because this metallic formula shows every bump and ridge on the nails. I think it looks a little matte without topcoat, so if you really want it shiny, use a topcoat.

In these pictures you can really see the difference when the sunlight hits it.
Sunlight and shade.

Aaaand some macro goodness:

Don’t you just love holos? I know I do!
Have a nice day!

Gosh Golden Brown

I picked up Gosh Golden Brown at Vita when I was in Norway for our fall break. I love Vita, it’s a chain of health and beauty shops, and I always go there when I’m home.

Golden Brown truly lives up to it’s name, it’s both golden and brown. It has fine shimmer, almost foil-like. Application is divine, it goes on like butter. I used three coats.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t fit me at all! It’s way to yellow, and it makes my nails look nicotine-stained.
I tried wearing it for a day to see if it grew on my, but no luck. This is too bad, it looked so good in the bottle. I should have picked it’s “cousin”, Golden Bronze instead.

Here’s how it looks in sunlight and shade.

What do you think? Do any of you think you can pull off Golden Brown?

Have a nice day!

Thursday Night Party Mani

Thursday night usually means party night, because in Qatar Friday is the first day of the weekend. Last night we went to a sing-along at the local club, then later to an after party with good friends.

Yesterday I was wearing Gosh Nero, just a simple black creme. But since we were going out, I wanted some more pizazz, so I layered China Glaze Ruby Pumps over it. Not much to say about this, I’m sure all of you know this awesome red glitter. It’s great on it’s own, but it also looks beautiful layered over black. This effect is how I’d rather like Lubu Heels to be.

Let me just say that application of Nero is perfect. It goes on like butter, and it’s so pigmented that you only need one layer. Every nail polish fanatic needs a black creme in their stash, and I can totally recommend this one.

Here we have the mani in sunlight and shade.

Half-blurry macro shows red glittery goodness:

What do you think of Ruby Pumps? Do you prefer it on it’s own, or do you think layering is the way to go?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

NOTD: Dior Vernis Coppery Ginger

Sometimes I act really strangely. I get all excited about buying new nailpolish, and then I just put my new loot in my polish drawer and forget about it. That’s what happened with today’s polish, Dior Vernis Coppery Ginger.

So yesterday I was tidying up in said drawer, and I was going back and forth trying to decide which polish to use for my next mani. Eventually, I picked this one, and now I regret never trying it earlier.

Coppery Ginger really lives up to it’s name, being a light copper metallic. And it’s so shiny, it almost looks like I have small copper plates on my nails! It’s neutral, but not boring, and that’s how I like it.

Application is good, and I really like the flat shaped brush. Because of the metallic finish, expect brushstrokes! I have still not figured out how to apply metallics without getting brushstrokes, so for now I just have to live with it. Two coats make this one opaque.

I took a lot of pictures in different lighting, but the ones which came out best were taken in direct sunlight and indoors without flash. So that’s what you get!

What do you think of Coppery Ginger? And do you think it’s worth it to pay extra for “high-end” nailpolish?
Thanks for stopping by, have a nice day!

Franken: Fuel

Lately, I’ve been wanting cremes. Me, cremes? Yes, it’s funny how my taste has changed from preferring shimmers, glitters and metallics to wanting cremes and jellies. I think of it as widening my horizon (and wishlist, but slimmening my wallet.)
(Yes, slimmening is totally a word, shut up. )

While there are quite some exclusive make up shops like Sephora and MAC in Doha, I couldn’t find the one color I had seen in my mind. (And why don’t they have Sephora by OPI in “my” Sephora, it’s not fair!)

I wanted a muted greyish blue creme, almost like MAC Beyond Jealous, but more blue. The girls at Makeup Alley were really helpful when I asked for recommendations, but since I don’t have the option to buy brands like Barielle and Nfu-Oh here, I decided that frankening was the way to go.

I mixed blue, white and black (don’t ask me about measurements, I just made it up as I went along), and I got this beautiful petrol blue. I don’t know if that was exactly the color I was looking for, but it’s so pretty that I’m going to keep it.

Without further ado, here’s my franken, Fuel.

In other news, I also started knitting again after 8 months hiatus. Among other things, I’ve made these armwarmers:

Pattern is on Ravelry if anyone is interested.

What do you think of my frankencreation? Do you too have certain colors that you wish for?

Tag: One Lovely Blog Award

I’ve been tagged with a “One Lovely Blog Award” by the lovely chocaddict at Mon coin à moua. Thank you, honey!

The rules are like this:
1) Put the image on your blog as well as the name of the person who tagged you and link that person’s blog.
2) Tag 15 other blogs you have recently discovered. And don’t forget to tell those people that you have tagged them.

I’m always quite late to these tags, so I hope everyone’s not already tagged. And I think 15 is a bit much, so I’m only going to tag 5, because I like to make up my own rules, haha.

I’d like to tag:
Naive Nails
You’ve Got Nail
The Diva’s Polish
Lambchop Mobile
Crazy 4 Nails

Good night, see ya later!

NOTD: OPI Ink

Today I’m wearing OPI Ink. It’s a blue polish with duochromatic microglitter in blue and purple, and it’s from the Night Brights collection. I’m sure every one of you either have it in your stash or have heard of it before, as it is quite popular among nail polish lovers.

And still, I’m not in love. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is a really beautiful color, but I can’t help but think: This is it? This is the favorite polish of a lot of laquerheads, but I don’t love it like “OMG, I want to marry it and have it’s babies!”-love it. Maybe it’s simply because I had too high expectations?

And am I the only one who hates OPI’s ProWide brushes? I just can’t get it close enough to my cuticles to make a tidy gap, and my nails aren’t exactly narrow! I wonder how you people with slender nails manage to use these brushes.

Disregarding the brush, application was OK. I used two coats, and thats quite enough. But the polish acted so strangely when I was painting my left hand. It seemed like the polish didn’t want to attach to the brush, so I had to keep it in the bottle for a long time and kinda wiggle it around a little bit to catch some polish. The bottle is brand new, so it’s not like I was low on polish either. Weird.

Pictures, you guys!
First, sunlight and shade.

And here’s a macro shot that shows the duochrome glitter:

What do you think of Ink? (Heh.)
Do you love it or hate it, or are you indifferent? And what about OPI’s wide brushes? Please leave a comment.

NOTD: China Glaze Strawberry Fields

It felt so good to get rid of the horrible matteified brown, and instead put on something this fun and cute! China Glaze Strawberry Fields is a bright pink choc full of tiny golden glitter that sparkle like crazy! How can anyone not love this color, it’s such a happy one. It’s from the Summer Days collection, but since it’s still 35°C and bright sun every day here in Qatar, I feel that it’s totally right to wear this in November.

Application was good, the polish felt a tiny bit runny, but that’s manageable if you paint carefully. I used three coats, and can still see a hint of visible nail line in certain lights, but it doesn’t bother me.

Here’s how it looks in direct sunlight and shade:

And here are some macro shots, just because I can, and because I think this polish deserves it. Just look at that awesome glitter!

Thanks for reading and commenting.