China Glaze I'm Not Bitter. I need a DUPE!

Sorry, I was away from my blog again. Had so many things going on, including "baby sitting" our friends' dog for almost 3 weeks, planning a bridal shower for my best friend, searching for THE dress (currently waiting for several ones to arrive, ordered them online), searching for a new car (this was SO difficult!!!), and some personal stuff. But at least I managed to read some of your blogs! :)

Oh my, time FLIEEES so freaking fast! Don't you agree?

I really hope I'll manage to make more posts this and the following week (at least I finally uploaded pictures! yay!). I shopped (mainly clothes!) so much (for my liking) this month, it's crazy, but I like it. :) And I changed/updated my style a little bit, yay! :)

Ok, onto today's "subject". Some time ago I suddenly realised that red nail polish stopped "irritating" my eye. Yep, you've heard that right! I've NEVER tried/had true red nail polish, and I used to skip/ignore all those red nail polish collections or swatches. All reds just looked the same to me, and I must admit this was the shade I thought I'd never dare to wear. Somehow, bright orange, or green, or electric blue didn't seem so daring to me. lol

I'll repeat myself - all of a sudden (to my great surprise) I started searching for a perfect red. I couldn't even imagine there are so many different shades of red out there. This is just insane! So freaking difficult to choose!!! :) Now I have 6... lol

Lovely Brooke from Getcha Nails Did tried to help me with my first choice back in March (once again: I know I'm "a little bit" slow :) ). Check her post on reds with shimmers (incl. CG I'm Not Bitter!).

Natural light

Warm tone?

Natural light

Cool tone? (still more on the warm side, right?)

Natural light, flash

Check the fabulous "glow from within" effect!

 Natural light, flash

Note: Pretend you don't see how I manged to ruin my index nail with my Poshe Fast drying top coat which showed the first "signs of aging" when I wore this many in the beginning of May. :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 (not sure) months after opening, made in USA.

From Voodoo That U Do Collection, 2005.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
Old formula (contains DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: gorgeous sophisticated cherry red with fine shimmer. It might look warm or cool depending on the lighting.

Finish: shimmer (metallic effect?).

Application: surprisingly smooth application, 2 (or even 1 would do!) coats are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: perfect coverage, pretty bottle, fantastic shade.
Cons: strong smell, old formula (NOT big 3 free!), thin brush, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS Juicy cherry! Bright, sexy and daring! :)

Any dupes (Big 3 free) for this shade? Preferably from CG, OPI, Essie, Misa, or Color Club. Thank you! :)

China Glaze Peachy Keen. Great Disappointment!

 Sunshine, flash

Sunshine
The closest to what you see irl

 Sunshine
It might look lighter under the bright light, but it's darker irl!

Note: I added a transparent top coat (so it doesn't affect the shade at all) with very  fine shimmer just to make the whole thing look more wearable. :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

From Up & Away Collection, 2010.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: pastel peachy orange. No hint of pink. And here comes my greatest disappointment - the shade! For some reason I thought it would be a really pretty soft wearable peach. I was wrong! I didn't expect it to be this bright and this orange. It just looks ridiculous on my skin tone. Reminds me of scary dolls. lol FAIL! Btw, it looks lighter in the bottle than on my nails.

Finish: creme, I would call it milky.

Application: a little bit tricky application because the nail polish is on the thick side, 2 coats are enough for a full coverage though. Take your time and work slowly if you don't want to end up with a gloopy mess on your nails. But I made it a gloopy mess with my Poshe fast drying top coat, which suddenly decided to thicken that day. Check that ugly dent on my index finger and imagine how bad it was before I tried to save it with a Maybelline glossy nail color in shade Nr 46 Sugar Crystals. And check what a giant tip wear I've got after only 2-3 days of wear! I mainly blame Poshe for this! Yep, ladies, with all the constant hand washing and house work I usually manage to rock one certain look for around one week! :)

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: pretty good coverage, pretty bottle, big 3 free, almost no brush strokes.
Cons: wrong shade! strong smell, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS I bet it'll look amazing on darker skin tones. Suitable for hot summer days only. :) Not office friendly for sure! IMO though. lol

Share the love: Ducks 2

I'm continuing my "tradition" of non-beauty related posts for the weekends.

This time I present you ducks! Again! :) Remember me telling you that I "still haven't "met" ducklings, just mom-ducks this spring" in this post Share the love: Ducks? The time has come! I've already "met" lots of cute ducks with tiny ducklings at the end of May!

I adore ducks and ducklings! And their love'n'care for each other is fantastic (at least it appears to be). :)

Ducklings hiding under their mom. How sweet is that? :)

Have you ever seen duckling "kindergarten"?:)

"Sleeping time"

I'm in love with the shade of duck's indigo feathers, and the shade of drake's green head! :) Any suggestions for nail polishes? lol Seriously?

Hope you enjoyed!

To be continued! Stay tuned!


HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! :)

China Glaze DV8

Natural light, flash

 Sunshine

 Sunshine

 Sunshine

This picture is blurry, but at least you can see those tiny sparkles. :)

Note: For some reason my cuticles look kind of gross in these pictures (especially the last two), they're not that bad looking irl! :) And, in case you're wondering - nope, I absolutely hate cuticle cutting, cuticle pushing rocks! :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

From OMG collection, 2009.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (and I don't see Formaldehyde resin in the list of ingredients).

Colour: Aquatic turquoise with holographic rainbow shimmer.

Finish: holographic shimmer. Shimmer is so fine that it's better be described as frost-metallic/foil finish.

Application: a little bit tricky application, especially at the very beginning. The first coat was a nightmare. I had a feeling like I was putting a mercury/quicksilver on my nails, not that I've ever tried doing this. lol "Finally" I understood that weird term "cuticle drag". lol I was so upset, I wanted to remove the nail polish immediately, but then I decided to give it a chance (because I just hate removing nail polish! lol), and the 2nd coat saved my mani and the whole day. lol

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: cool effect (rainbow! like a mirror!), good coverage, pretty bottle, big 3 free, almost no brush strokes.
Cons: strong smell, "cuticle drag" thingy, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS To be honest I don't love this shade that much (greenish blue aka aquatic turquoise is not my thing), and it reminds me of those funky holographic gift wraps. :) What I like is that rainbow effect. :) Btw, hubby said it's one of the best blue shades he had ever seen, and he likes it even more than my favourite China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires! Everyone has his/her own opinion, right? lol

We Care Icon nail polish in Nr. 21 Magic Sapphire

I love me some sapphire blue nail polishes! :) Although China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires is my current number one, I like this one a lot too. Actually it looks almost like OPI DS Fantasy, Icon's being a tiny bit lighter and brighter with no holo effect. I must admit, I prefer Magic Sapphire over Fantasy! :)

We Care Icon is a new Finnish brand of ecological (I am quite skeptical about this claim though) makeup available in Finland only.

Sunshine, flash

Sunshine

5 ml, exp. date: 24 months after opening, made in France.

States "Formaldehyde free" on the sticker. Seems to be 3 Big free. IMO it's strange they didn't mention "toluene and dibutyl phtalate free"... :/ It might be obvious though... if I remember correctly those two are banned in EU. What about Formaldehyde resin then? Hmmm... Never mind. lol

Colour: Oh my, I've just noticed the name. And let me tell you - it's magic sapphire indeed! :) Shimmery dark navy-royal blue.

Finish: frost-shimmer (btw, very smooth shimmer).

Application: smooth application, 2 coats (or even 1 would do!) are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 5,9 EUR.

Pros: gorgeous dark blue, good coverage (1-2 coats!), pretty bottle, big 3 free, nice brush.
Cons: strong smell, short brush (what am I supposed to do when I'll have less than 2,5 ml? such a waste!), available in Finland only, quite expensive for 5 ml (18 EUR for the size of OPI?! Are you kidding me?)!

PS Vampy version of China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires. Very mysterious. Magic indeed. lol

China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires. MUST HAVE! :)

It's been a while! :) I was away for a week and then was pretty busy with my life (what a saying! lol). But now I'm back! Again! Missed you! :)

Let me present you a MUST HAVE blue! This gem is from my Transdesing order I made in March (yep, I am that slow with updating!). Can't believe I haven't seen this beauty before I accidentally came across it while searching for CG Fairy Dust on Transdesign website. I let my hubby choose between Fairy Dust and Eyes Like Sapphires. You know the outcome, don't you? :)

Sunshine

Direct sunshine

Natural light, flash

Natural light

Note: Because of its finish (and glossy top coat) this nail polish is extremely hard to photograph. It's x times more gorgeous IRL! :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

Originally from We Adorn You collection, 2007. As far as I understood from CG brochure this nail polish was reformulated and is now a proud member of CG permanent collection.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin). Note: if from a permanent collection.

Colour: It is sort of a more sophisticated (i.e. darker, more mysterious) version of Wild and Crazy Nail Enamel in Super Dooper Blue with some silver glitter added. Magnificent mysterious magic royal blue! Sapphire indeed! :) Gorgeous! No comments! lol

Finish: pearly creme-frost with silver glitter.

Application: a little bit tricky application because the nail polish is on the thick side and the glitter is a little bit too chunky-gritty, 2 coats (or even 1 would do!) are enough for a full coverage though. Take your time and work slowly, and you won't be disappointed. :)

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: gorgeous blue, good coverage (1-2 coats!), pretty bottle, big 3 free.
Cons: strong smell, can be gritty (what's the point of that glitter? huh), the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS For some reason it reminds me one blue Lancome nail polish I saw x times in various magazines over a long period of time, but never remembered its name. :/ Ladies, if you like blue nail polishes, this one is a MUST HAVE!!!

PPS This is how I thought OPI DS Fantasy should look like (minus holo of course)! :)

Share the love: Ducks

Oh, I have so many drafts with swatches and hauls. I blame Bones and Lost series for taking my free time. lol

I'm continuing my "tradition" of non-beauty related posts for the weekends.

This time I present you ducks, or ducklings to be exact! :) Got my inspiration from Brooke's awesome post. :) Btw, I still haven't "met" ducklings, just mom-ducks this spring. I guess it's quite cold here for these little guys. Imagine, we had some snow a couple of days ago. :/

I adore ducks and ducklings! These are my favourite birds. :) I remember I was asking for a cute little duckling as a pet when I was a little girl. lol I just turned 27 on Thursday (oh my, time flies! I remember I just turned 18 "the other day"! lol) and I still smile (and act... lol) like a little kid when I see ducks. :) Aren't they adorable? Fluffy little cuties! :)

Awwww!!! :)

Hope you enjoyed!

To be continued! Stay tuned!


HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! :)

PS In case you're interested, these pictures were taken in Barcelona and Valencia (Spain) in summer 2007.