The Rest of the Year Challenge 5: Thanksgiving

The Rest of the Year Challenge 5: Thanksgiving

We don’t celebrate thanksgiving in Denmark. In fact there are only five places in the world they celebrate it, and that’s USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Norfolk Island and Liberia. That means that I don’t have a relation to Thanksgiving.

I knew for sure that I didn’t want turkeys on my fingernails, but then what? I decided to make some simple nail designs, each design representing something I’m grateful for. How’s that?

My base colours were three coats of Models Own “Snow White”, and two coats of Sinful Colors “Gogo Girl”, H&M “On Ice” and Hello Kitty “Pink Summer”.

Here’s my final design:

 I drew a heart on my pinkie, because I’m grateful for love. I used China Glaze’s Ruby Pumps, which is a legendary glittery China Glaze. I love that red glitter!

I stamped a heart line on my ring finger, because I’m grateful for life. I stamped with a no name black stamping polish, and I used Mash’s plate #38.

I drew faces with a mix of the pink and the white I used earlier, and drew hair and eyes on the little faces. I drew them because I’m grateful for my friends and family.

And last, but not least, I stamped a peace sign on my index finger, because I’m grateful for peace. I used the same black no name stamping polish, and stamping plate BM07 from Bundlemonster.

So that’s the things I’m the most grateful for. What would you have picked, given the same question?

The polishes I used:

 Models Own: Snow White, Sinful Colors: Gogo Girl, H&M: On Ice, Hello Kitty: Pink Summer, China Glaze: Ruby Pumps, Claire’s Black Striper

Check out these other Danish girls’ blogs to see what they came up with for Thanksgiving. I am heading over there right now, because I’m very curious!

http://sundaymanicures.blogspot.dk

www.passion4polishdotcom.blogspot.com

http://nailant.blogspot.com

http://amnegle.blogspot.dk/

Ja-De ~ 210 brushed with Ja-De 225

Ja-De ~ 210 and 225  

Dusty purple/brown duochrome and Purple with golden shimmer

I’m working my way through many great polishes from Anastasia of Little World of Coloured Nails. These two Ja-De polishes forced me out of my comfort zone – one of them has brown in it and the other one has golden – none of which are my strong sides. But never mind – that’s one of the things I love about swapping. It’s cool to try something else once in a while.

I started out with two coats of #210. The formula is great, the polish applies easily and drying time is OK, also on the second coat. The duochrome isn’t prominent; in fact the polish flashes mostly purple – which isn’t a bad thing in my book :)

Here’s a pic of two coats, no top coat: 

And from another angle:

Then I took my fan brush, which I’ve only ever used once before. I brushed a thin layer of #225 over approximately half the nail. And behold – I like it! I applied a layer of Seche Vite, and my mani was done:

  

These two polishes compliment each other perfectly, and they definitely not going to end up sitting unnoticed in my stash.

What do you think? Do you like this combo?

Ja-De ~ 210

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 6.5/10
Buy again: No

Isadora ~ Night Flight with Amour ~ Be My Love

Isadora ~ Night Flight
Dark, shimmery blue with hints of grey

Night Flight is another polish from Isadora’s “Jewels of the Orient” collection,
from autumn 2012. I seem to have a thing for these dark blue shimmers
recently, they’re so hard to resist. I never leave them as they are, of course,
so perhaps it’s because they’re so good to paint over with glitters and nail art.

The formula is good like on all of my Isadora polishes. They’re all a bit on the
thick side, and I like that! Night Flight is a one coater which applies really easy. Drying time is good – no complaints in that department either!

Here’s a pic of one coat - no top coat yet:

This isn’t as shimmery as expected, but I like it anyway! It seems perfect as an Autumn colour. Dark, a little bit dusty, and very pretty!

Here’s a pic from a different angle:

I did intend to make some kind of cool nail art on it, but all of a sudden I was
in a hurry, so I didn’t have time for that. Instead I pulled out an Amour polish
called “Be my Love”. It’s a clear base with red microglitter and silver hearts.

The hearts are certainly not shy, so there was no need to go fishing to get
hearts on my nails. In fact I had to scrape some of them off the brush and
back into the bottle in order not to get a bunch of hearts on some of my nails.
I wanted maximum two hearts on each nails. After applying the Amour polish,
I sealed it all up with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Here’s how one coat over the Night Flight looks like:

The red glitter compliments the blue really well. It flashes the red glitter, but it also makes the blue look a bit purplish! It’s very cool, I like it!
 

And here’s the bottle shot – look at how many hearts this bottle of polish
contains!

 
This is a bit of “lazy” nail art, but some days are just busier than others. I’m
glad I got that heart glitter, because I really like hearts.

Dance Legend ~ 14

Dance Legend ~ 14  

Blue linear holo

Here’s another pretty polish all the way from Russia, courtesy of sweet Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails. I was pretty excited to get holos in the swap – and I had to try it on now even though I rarely see the sun this time of year.

I used an ordinary base coat from Finger Paints. I had forgotten that holos like aqua base coats, and I only remembered it after having applied the regular base coat. And it didn’t give me any problems at all. The polish applied easily and without dragging or bald spots, but I must admit that I was a little bit suspicious after the first coat. It looked so sheer that I was sure it was going to take at least 4 coats for it to be opaque. But I was wrong. The second coat did the trick, and I was pleased with the opaqueness.

I had no sun available, so the pics are taken under an ordinary light bulb.

Two coats, no top coat:

The blue is really pretty, and I can’t wait to try this when the sun actually shines! The holo is linear and visible also in low lights – so I’m sure this is a stunner in sunshine.

 

I made some simple dots on it with a blue Golden Rose polish, Anastasia sent me as well, it’s called “131” and is a dark blue crème. I made 4 or 5 dots on each nail. And then I topped it with Finger Paints top coat, and I was done.

Here’s the final mani:

I love this holo, and am excited to try the other one on as well.

What’s the verdict, girls? Do you like this? Do you wear holos even when the sun doesn’t shine?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Divage Cosmic ~ 9806

Divage Cosmic ~ 9806 

Petrel blue with silver shimmer

Here’s another Divage polish from sweet Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails. I was very excited to see if this one was just as impressively good as its sister, 9805 (Click here to see her).

I can reveal it right away: It was just as good. Great formula, fantastic pigmentation. Dryng time was just as slow as 9805, but it dries up beautifully, and then I’m very forgiving. The brush isn’t the easiest one to work with, because the handle is so small and weird to hold. But it’s manageable.

 I applied one coat to achieve this look:

There’s no top coat involved just yet, but man, this polish is pretty! Here’s a pic from another angle:

Then I used my light blue striper from Color Club called “Blue Chrome” – and that’s exactly the colour it has. I made 3-4 stripes on the top of each nail, and then I sponged some glitter from Amour on the tips. The glitter is called “Silver Stars”. And then I topped it all with Poshé top coat, and my mani was done!

Bottle shot:

I’m very impressed with Divage polishes so far. The biggest downside is the drying time. I’m not that good at just sitting around and wait for it to dry, but hey – sometimes it’s just worth it, you know?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Accessorize ~ Autumn Gradient

Accessorize ~ Pink Spice and Aztec  

Red/golden duochrome and Purple/golden/green duochrome, both shimmery

Pink Spice is a dupe for MAC’s Bad Fairy, and Aztec is a dupe for MAC’s Mean and Green. I must admit that they’re both impressively pretty in the bottle. They are obviously different colours, but the shimmer in them is the same colour, so I figured that I’d make a gradient with these two pretties.

I started out with one coat of Pink Spice, which is such a pretty shimmery duochrome. It would be fantastic on its own, that’s for sure. I didn’t take a pic of this step – I went directly to the sponging instead.

I sponged twice to get a decent coverage with Aztec. I must admit that these autumn colours aren’t my first choice of polishes, but these two are really pretty.

Here’s my gradient – there’s one coat of Poshé top coat on:

And from another angle, holding the other bottle:

I love the way the duochromes work in this mani. On the last pic you can see both orange, red, purple and green, and I really dig that!

I figured that this mani would be perfect for some fall leaves, I just wasn’t sure which colour I’d stamp with. I tried with black first, but that totally drowned and weren’t very visible. I switched to white instead. It wasn’t the perfect colour choice, but hey… I used Bundlemonster's stamping plate BM04 and a no name white stamping polish.

Here’s the final mani, with an additional coat of Poshé top coat on:

Another one, just for the heck of it:

 

You won’t be seeing a lot of autumn manis from me, even though I quite like this. What do you think? Do you like the two Accessorize polishes together?

Miss Sation ~ I love Miss-Self

Miss Sation ~ I love Miss-Self  

Pink base packed with mainly pink glitter and multicoloured hexagons

‘I Love Miss-Self’ is a glitter from Miss Sation’s newest glitter collection, the “I Love Miss-Self Reality Show”, which came out this autumn. I’ve ordered a few, and I’m pretty excited over most of them. It’s a collection of 24 different glitters, so there’s a good chance of getting something you’ll like if you’re a glitter kind of gal like I am.

The formula is thick, and that’s because the base is literally packed with glitter. This polish is not a topper; it’s a “real” polish for sure. The glitter spread nicely onto the nails without me having to dab it on. It took two easy coats to reach the desired opacity, which is really good for a glitter based on a jelly. There were a couple of places where the glitter kind of “lumped”, and that was pretty difficult to fix. I had to just dab around with the brush until it looked satisfactorily even.

Drying time wasn’t very good. The first coat was slow for a glitter, but the second coat didn’t really dry completely – not even after having used drip-dry drops on it. Weird. I’ll try thinner coats next time!

I was lucky – I found a bit of sunshine, so here’s a pic taken in the sunshine:

There’s no top coat involved. I was still waiting for the polish to dry completely at this point.

I also took a few pics in my light box. The pictures taken in the sunshine are more colour accurate, but it was hard for me to capture the pink tone this polish has got. The pictures show it as more red than pink, which isn’t quite accurate.

These pics are also without top coat.

Here you can see how the glitters had a party on my pinky. The brush was simply loaded with the hexagons, and they all wanted to join the party! :D

How’s that? Do you like this glitter? Will you be picking any of the glitters from this collection up?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Buy again: Yes

Golden Rose Matte Velvet ~ 107

Golden Rose Matte Velvet ~ 107

Deep reddish purple with shimmer and a silky finish

This post features the last Golden Rose Matte Velvet polish I received in the previous swap with lovely Aylin from Posh Nail Art, namely the purple one.

This polish is just as impressive as the two others I’ve tried – the green and the red. You can see them by clicking here and here. The formula is perfect, the pigmentation is great - I simply can’t come up with anything bad about this polish.

Here is a pic of two coats – no top coat.

I’m totally in love with this. I think it’s amazing that you can make a semi matte polish that actually has shimmer in it!

Then I tried something that’s new to me: Double stamping! First I stamped the design that looks like a gradient from Bundlemonster’s plate BM-301, and I used Sally Hansen InstaDri “Whirlwind White” as my stamping polish. I didn’t take a pic of that step.

I went directly to stamping number two. I used stamping plate DRK-A, and the same Golden Rose polish that I also used as my base colour. The design is an all nail design with hearts in a lattice, but since I stamped with the same colour as my base, it only shows up in the white.

I topped it with a generous coat of Poshé top coat, and my mani was done: 

And here is a pic from another angle.

I love this! I *have* to try this technique with other colours and other designs. What do you say – isn’t this cool?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 10/10
Durability: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Buy again: Yes

Isadora ~ Orient Express

Isadora ~ Orient Express

Deep, classic red

Orient Express is another polish from Isadora’s “Jewels of the Orient” collection from autumn 2012. And this beauty is a classic red.

The formula is good, but a bit on the thick side. And I like that! This red is deep and almost metallic, and it covers beautifully in one coat. I considered adding a second just for the heck of it, but ended up only doing just the one coat.

No top coat yet:

I love this red. If I was allowed only one classic red in my stash, I think this one would be it. Here’s a pic from a different angle:

Then I made big white dots on it. I used Models Own’s Snow White, and my largest dotting tool. Here’s that step:

Then I dotted with Orient Express over the white, making the dots look like half moons, take a look:

You can see that I ended up dotting smaller white dots to fill in the gaps, for decoration. I’m wearing a coat of Seche Vite top coat over this.

I’ve really come to like Isadora’s polishes. They make cool colours, the quality is really good, and I absolutely love that many of them are one coaters. They’re a bit pricy though, they cost 69 DKK (US$12, EUR 9.25), and the bottles contain only 6ml, which isn’t much bang for your buck.

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: N/A/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Divage FX Cosmic ~ 9805

Divage FX Cosmic ~ 9805  

Teal with silver shimmer

I got this lovely polish in a swap with sweet Anastasia from Little World of coloured Nails. It’s teal - and you know, I love teal. It’s got shimmer in it, and guess what? I love shimmer. This polish has got every opportunity to become a winner, so let’s see how it goes, shall we?

The brush itself is approximately normal sized, but the handle is really short. This makes it a challenge to manoeuvre, but I managed alright. The formula is great! The polish spreads out easily and without brush strokes, and girls, this is a one coater!! The shimmer doesn’t really look like shimmer on the nails, more like tiny silver flecks. But this polish is really pretty!

You want to see it on? Alright then. Here’s one coat, no top coat:

 And from another angle:

Very pretty, don’t you agree?

You know I can’t leave polishes on their own. They feel alone and lonely on my nails! So I decided to stamp on this prettiness, in order not to cover it up too much. I used Mash stamping plate Mash-26 and Essence’s “Stamp me! Silver” stampy polish.

After the stamping I sealed it all up with my faithful Poshé top coat, and here’s my final mani:

And another pic, just because I think this is really pretty:

This polish lived fully up to my expectations. It’s easy to apply and it looks really pretty on the nails. The drying time is a bit on the slow side, but I’m willing to be forgiving about that little detail.

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Isadora ~ Ancient Ruby and Sation ~ Videogame Vixen

Isadora ~ Ancient Ruby

Deep shimmery burgundy

Ancient Ruby is from Isadora’s “Jewels of the Orient” collection from autumn 2012. I haven’t got the entire collection, but I must admit that I’ve picked up a few by now. They’re all so pretty.

Oasis, Sultan palace, Orient express, Ancient ruby, Persian princess, Black amethyst
Night flight, Dynasty, Peacock, Silk road, Paradise green, Beetle green

Isadora describe ‘Ancient Ruby’ as shimmery ruby red, but I think it’s way too dark to be ruby. To my eyes it’s more burgundy and vampy.

I am very impressed with Isadora’s polishes. The brush is fairly wide, which I like, and the formula is on the thicker side, which I happen to like too. And furthermore, lots of them are one coaters, which I friggin’ love, so what is there not to like about these polishes? The price is 69 DKK (US$12, EUR 9.25), so perhaps that is the only downside – since the bottles only contain a miniscule 6ml!

It glides on like a dream though, and here’s a pic of one coat, no top coat:

It’s so dark that it almost shows itself as being black, which I’m not so crazy about. I had a dotticure in mind for this baby, but seeing how dark it actually is made me change my mind. I went for a glitter gradient instead.

I used Sation’s “Videogame Vixen”, which is a mix of silver and black glitters in various sizes. This is the first time I use it, and I love it already. If you love glitter like I do, and you’re a silvery kind of girl, then you should consider enrolling this beauty in your stash.

I sponged the glitter onto my tips, and reversed it on the ring finger for an accent nail. I finished it off by adding a layer of Seche Vite top coat, and here’s the final result:

And from a different angle:

 The glitter actually made the burgundy look even darker, which wasn’t the intention. But never mind that – at least it’s glittery now :)

What do you think? Are you into deep, vampy colours like this one?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: No

Sinful Colors ~ I Miss Yuo

Sinful Colors ~ I Miss Yuo  

Purple jelly with silver glitter

First of all, I have to assure you that I can spell. It’s not a typo in the header – the name of the polish is printed that way on the bottle. Whether it’s a mistake or not, I do not know, but fact is that the label says “I miss yuo”!

Anyway – I didn’t know it was a jelly, so I must admit that I was disappointed to find that out. So - I decided to layer this over something else, since I simply don’t have the patience to sit through four layers of drying time :D

I chose Maybelline “Purple Icon” from their Color Show collection. It’s a very pretty shimmery magenta, which covered perfectly in two easy coats. I wish all polishes were as easy to apply as this one!

Here’s how the polish looks without top coat:

 And from another angle:

Then I applied one coat of “I Miss Yuo”. I wasn’t impressed with the glitter, which applied unevenly. The coverage wasn’t impressive either! I decided to only apply one coat of it, so here’s that step:

On this pic you can see that the glitter leaves bald spots here and there, which isn’t very acceptable in my book. I’m not really sure that I’m going to keep this polish, to be honest!

Anyway – I wanted to do a little bit more with it, so I made so stripes with a striper from Essence called “Grape-Metallics Rock!”. And then I topped it with Miss Sporty top coat. Here’s the finished mani:

 And from another angle:

 Here are the involved polishes:

I’m not convinced that this is a win situation. But hey – practice does make better, right? :)

Opacity: 4/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 5/10
Value for money: 3/10
Overall: 4.5/10
Buy again: No