Christmas nails

The other day I finally decided to try my nail decoration set (will write about it later) I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Promise not to laugh! :)

 

 

All the colours are shimmery. Hence, they look so washed out. :/ Yep, artificial light and flash again. :)

The inspiration: candy cane and mistletoe (obviously :) ).

What I used:

1. Poshe Fast drying base coat.

2. Mavala Nail color cream in Nr. 49 White (2 coats). Honestly, it's the worst polish I own! Brush strokes are everywhere! And the brush is difficult to "navigate"!

3. IsaDora Wonder Nail Extra long lasting Quick Dry in Nr. 620 Sparkling Diamonds as a top coat (check my review if you're interested) (1 coat).

4. Poshe Fast drying top coat.

5. So called "Dappen dish for color mixing" and 2 different brushes from nail design set.

6. China Glaze Emerald Sparkle - for leaves.

7. Rimmel 60 seconds Vinyl stars nail polish in Nr. 627 Movie Star - for stripes and "berries".

PS No Konad, because I don't have one! lol

All the painting was quite time-consuming, because the polish was drying out VERY quickly (if only it would act like that on my nails! lol) on that "dish", so I had to open-close the bottle quite often. I usually don't spend that much time on doing my nails. :) But I just had to finish this!

It looks so sweet and girly, totally "not me". :) Nevertheless I'm quite pleased with my first attempt, especially with a tiny mistletoe. :) *thinking of something else to try!*

RIMMEL Wear Maxx "Pure Sin" + IsaDora Wonder Nail Extra long lasting Quick Dry "Sparkling Diamonds"

Layering: RIMMEL Wear Maxx in Nr. 283 Pure Sin and IsaDora Wonder Nail Extra long lasting Quick Dry in Nr. 620 Sparkling Diamonds (as a top coat) (2 coats of Rimmel, 1 coat of IsaDora, no top coat)



1. RIMMEL Wear Maxx in Nr. 283 Pure Sin (2 coats)

12 ml, up to 10 days super durable colour, exp. date: 30 months after opening, made in Spain.

Special features: Lycra + minerals (have no idea which minerals it contains, as this info along with ingredients is not written on the bottle).

Colour: pink with very fine silver-magenta-purple glitter.

Finish: pearly shimmer.

Application: very smooth application - 2 coats is enough for a full coverage. What comes to the durability - it's quite good when wearing alone, but certainly not 10 days as they claim! I haven't try not to wash my hands and not to clean anything though, maybe that's the key to those promissed 10 days. lol

Retail price: around 6 EUR.

Pros: easy application, not streaky, good coverage, long lasting.
Cons: the brush is quite small for my liking, no list of ingredients, no info about those mysterious minerals, 10 days = fail!

PS Lots of promisses but no explanation, otherwise everything is fine.

2. IsaDora Wonder Nail Extra long lasting Quick Dry in Nr. 620 Sparkling Diamonds (Holiday Collection 2008 Dazzling Diamonds) (1 coat)

6 ml (0,2 oz), exp. date: 24 months after opening, made in Sweden.

Special features: Wide brush - very easy to use. I'm not sure what I would tell if it'd be a much darker shade though. lol

Colour: pearly white-red-silver shimmery glitter.

Finish: glitter.

Application: very smooth application. It's quite sheer when applying alone though. I use it only as a top coat, it gives that silvery shimmery look. Is better used with cool toned darker polishes. What comes to the durability - it's quite good - up to 6 days without a top coat (I find nail polishes last longer without all those top coats), while with a fast drying top coat (Seche or Mavala) it's 3 days "till the first chip". It also takes a while to dry to the touch - around 3 hours.

Retail price: around 8-9 EUR.

Pros: easy application, cool brush, fine shimmer, long lasting.
Cons: sheer when applying alone, tends to get thicker over time, pricey.

PS What do they actually mean with "Quick dry"? Can I call 3 hours a quick thing? I doubt so. lol

My little but lovely lipsticks/lip glosses collection :)

Finally I managed to make a couple of decent pictures. I usually take pictures of nature, people and architecture monuments but makeup… this is my first experience.:) You've got to see my hubby's facial expression when he was copying these pictures from our camera. LOL

Note: I didn't take a picture of my 20 bullet-like AVON lipstick testers cause they're sooo small.:)

I've never been a fan of collecting makeup items as I'm very aware of those "expiration dates". I like the feeling of satisfaction when I see that some of my few lippies "take a last breath with their last dip". LOL There were days I repurchased the same shade several times! Can you imagine this?:) Now I'm more into experimenting but I still prefer to have several versatile shades and be able to mix those to get even more shades. This is when my 20 bullet-like AVON testers come into force.:)

So here are my heroes that don't and will never feel "still full but spoiled" LOL:

From L-R from Bottom to Top: Dior, Bourjois, GOSH, Max Factor, Avon palette; Rimmel Nude Pink, Deborah, Rimel Dare


Lipsticks:
1,2. Rimmel Lasting Finish in shades 001 Nude Pink and 061 Dare. My little tricks: Usually I put Nude Pink on my bottom lip and Dare on my upper lip (hence they are of different shapes!:) ) and then mix them together – this shade goes perfectly for my everyday a la "no makeup" look.:) I use Dare with Blistex gloss on top for my evening look. Nude pink is a perfect neutraliser for any dark shade! Though I never use Nude pink alone as it seems too pale on me.

3. Deborah Hydrocolor Shine in shade Grape. It's a tinted lip balm actually. Extremely sheer burgundy colour, looks very natural. The grapey smell is a bit strong but surprise-surprise I like it!:)

Swatches from L-R: Deborah, Rimmel Nude Pink, Rimmel Dare


Avon samples (from nudes to bright reds, purples and browns – the one I wouldn't normally buy full-size as I don't like this kind of colours):
Avon Youth-awakening 5 bullet-like lipstick testers/samples

Avon Pro-To-Go 4 bullet-like samples. Frozen Rose and Nude Peach are gorgeous! I'm thinking of ordering those in full size but I'm not a fan of Avon so I'm hoping to find some dupes somewhere. Nude Peach looks like something in between MAC HK Cute Ster and Creamsheen Shy girl. Let's see…

Avon Ultra Color Rich 11 samples. I like Frozen Rose which is quite similar to the one from Pro-To-Go but I think the latest is prettier and has more shimmer.:)

Lip glosses:
1. Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in shade 347 Orange Raffia. This is my all-time favourite lip gloss ever! I love the shade and the consistency. Extremely long-lasting and non-sticky!

2. Max Factor Silk Gloss Sheer Frost in shade 370 Cinnamon Glow. My favourite nude shade so far. It's also perfect for neutralising bright shades. The smell is delicious! Vanilla chocolate!

3. Bourjois Eau de Gloss Cosmic in shade 21 Cappuccino Ice. I don't like this shade and the smell is too fruity and strong which I hate! But the consistency is very nice and it feels very refreshing on my lips. I mix it with my Rimmel lipstick or with a bunch of Avon testers in order to make this shade work for me.

4. GOSH Star Shine lip glaze in shade Boogie Star. Extremely sheer! Good for neutralising and mixing with other lipsticks.

5. Avon 8 in 1 lip gloss palette in Pinks. I was very skeptical when I first saw it and… guess what? Yep, smelled it! The smell is kind of plastic! BUT! They appeared to be amazing and what's most important for me they're absolutely fragrance-free when applied! I like this palette a lot! All shades are versatile and buildable (from very sheer to the "full coverage"). I especially love the 1st and 4th (counting from the left), peachy and peachy pink shades. AND they're surprisingly long-lasting and non-sticky!

Swatches from L-R: Dior, Max Factor, GOSH, Bourjois


The END :)