3 Manis From The Vault

I do a lot of manicures/swatches that never end up on the blog. Sometimes I just don't like them that much, others I really don't think the photos are worth anything. When it comes to nails and photography, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, nothing I can do about it...But then, there's other times that I just forget about a manicure or I'm not in a particular blogging mood and something that I absolutely loved at the time, ends up forgotten in my picture's folder. It's the case of these 3 manicures that I'm about to show you.

This first one, is over 1 year old...It's from April 2013! The nail polishes used are Shimmer Irene, Kinetics Paris Green and Kinetics Peach Pop.

Faço muitas manicures/swatches que nunca chegam ao blog. Às vezes não gosto muito delas, outras acabo por achar que as fotos que tirei não valem nada. Quando se trata de unhas e fotografia, confesso que sou um bocado perfeccionista...Mas outras vezes, simplesmente acabo por me esquecer de determinada manicure ou não me encontro com muita vontade de postar no blog e, mesmo que tenha sido uma mani que tenha adorado na altura, acabam por ficar esquecidas na minha pasta de fotografias. Este é o caso destas 3 manicures que vos trago hoje.

A primeira já tem bem mais de 1 ano...é de abril de 2013! Os vernizes usados foram o Shimmer Irene, Kinetics Paris Green e Kinetics Peach Pop.

These next 2 are from this past January, I wasn't blogging at the time. After these, I completely stopped taking photos of manis, and I even went through a period where I didn't do my nails, and even considered selling most of my stash. Thankfully, it was just a bad period and I still have all my pretty polishes. xD I guess we all have our ups and downs.

For this one, I used Kinetics Beige Anyway on my index, pinky and thumb (not pictured), Claire's Glitter Sand (no name in this one, but it's sort of a nude or rose gold) on the middle finger, and on my ring finger, I have a coat of Innisfree #85 Raspberry Yogurt, over Essence Iced Latte. The stamp on the index was made with Kinetics Velvet Asphalt and a BM-323 plate. I topped it all off with Kiko's Matte top coat.

As próximas 2 manicures, são de janeiro passado, altura em que não estava a postar. Depois destas, deixei completamente de tirar fotos às unhas e passei por um período em que não as pintava de todo, chegando até a considerar vender grande parte da minha colecção. Felizmente, foi só uma má fase e ainda tenho os meus vernizitos lindos todos. xD Acho que todas nós temos destes altos e baixos, às vezes.

Na manicure que se segue, usei o Kinetics Beige Anyway no meu indicador, mindinho e polegar (não fotografado), Glitter Claire's Sand (não tem nome, mas é uma especie de nude ou um dourado rosado) no dedo médio e no anelar tenho uma camada do Innisfree #85 Raspberry Yogurt, por cima do Essence Iced Latte. O carimbo no indicador foi feito com o Kinetics Velvet Asphalt, usando uma plaquinha BM- 323. Finalizei tudo com o top coat matte da Kiko.

Finally, in this mani, I used Kinetics Velvet Asphalt on my index and thumb (not pictured), the base colour on my middle and ring finger is Catrice Sold Out Forever and the stamping was made with Velvet Asphalt and Signature Wine, both from Kinetics, and a DRK-B plate. On my pinky, I have Kiko 645.

Finalmente, nesta manicure, usei o Kinetics Velvet Asphalt no indicador e polegar (não fotografado), a cor de base no dedo médio e anelar é o Catrice Sold Out Forever e os carimbos foram feitos com o Velvet Asphalt e Signature Wine, ambos da Kinetics, e uma placa DRK-B. No mindinho tenho o Kiko 645.

And I just realized this was a lot of Kinetics! xD It wasn't my intention that this brand would be the center of attentions on this post, but I guess I do wear them a lot. They always have nice formulas and most of mine are one coaters, so I also use them for stamping.

So, after all these photos, which one of these manis you liked the most? I really can't choose, I loved them all.

Happy Friday the 13th!

E acabei de me aperceber que usei muitos Kinetics! xD Não era minha intenção que eles fossem o centro da atenção neste post, mas a verdade é que uso e abuso dos meus. Têm sempre uma fórmula tão jeitosa e a maior parte dos meus são extremamente pigmentados, por isso também os uso para carimbar.

Então, depois destas fotos todas, qual foi a vossa manicure preferida? Eu não consigo escolher uma, adorei-as a todos.

Espero que tenham tido uma óptima sexta-feira 13!

 

Giveaway winner, a few unposted manicures and a very late guest post!

Hey everyone!

Yes, I'm still alive...even though I went through some crappy stuff these past few months, I'm still here. Sorry for the long absence and for leaving in the middle of a giveaway, but I really had a tough time and even had to move twice in less than a month. But I won't bore you with my problems and I'll just stick to the nails and nail polish.

But first, let me just announce the winner of the last giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Diana! I warned her as soon as the giveaway ended, and she already has her prize! I left the blog for a while, but I didn't keep the polishes to myself. :P

Now, I didn't do much on my nails these past 2 months, always a plain colour when I had the time, and didn't take any photos of my nails, until recently, so I'll just show you a couple of photos I took before all the craziness happened, and a couple from this past week, when I started getting back into the nail stuff. Hope you like them!

Dance Legend Optical Illusion and Purple Professional #62, stamped with Moyou Pro #8

Claire's 55171 and Kiko Mirror #616, stamped with Moyou Pro #2 and topped with Kiko 3 in 1 Mat

Purple Professional #63 on index and thump

 Zoya Arizona on pinky

White on middle and ring finger is Flormar P103 and the triangles were made with both the previous colours and also China Glaze Strawberry Fields and Innisfree #65

Layering experiment with O.P.I Every Month is Oktoberfest, Nubar 2010 and Max Factor Fantasy Fire.

Ah! Also, I made a guest post for Cristina a while back, that never saw the light of day here, on my blog. Shame on me...

Click on the image to go to Cristina's blog and find out more!

Aaaaaaand that is it for now! Have a good night, everyone. ^^

Layla Swatch Spam - Part 1

Hi everyone!

Today I bring you some swatches of 3 different Layla polishes. Yes, I'm trying to post the old photos as quick as I can, I want to keep posting pretty photos from the new camera! :P So get ready for a long, long post!

The first one of the day is #03 from their Graffiti line. It's a yellow crackle, and even if I love the colour, I'm really not a fan of this look...Formula wise, I really can't complain! It's easy to apply and it does it's job pretty well. I used 1 thin coat over 2 coats of Essence Dopey.

The next one is another #03, this time from their Softouch line, and it's goooorgeous! It's a matte nail polish, well, not really matte...maybe suede is the appropriate word for it? Or brushed metal, as Catrice calls it? Anyway, I love it! The colour is hard to define (seriously, why are they always so hard to define to me?), it's grayish purple? Ah, doesn't matter...I give up!
The formula on this one was also pretty good, easy to apply, to clean and all that, it also dried really fast. This is 2 coats of it:

And I saved the best for last, Jade Groove, from their Hologram line. It's peeeeerfect! Why, oh why didn't I get this for myself sooner? Probably because everyone complained about how hard they are to apply, how top coat dulls it's holo and because of that they peel really fast...I wasn't willing to pay almost 10€ for a nail polish knowing all that! :S But now I want them all! Sure, they're hell to apply, they drag and pull and leave bald spots, BUT if you use Seche Vite or BTGN as a base coat (on top of your regular base coat) it is very manageable! That still leaves you with the durability problem of not being able to wear a top coat with it...Fret not! Top coat sandwich is your answer! Ok, this is what I did, 1 base coat, 1 coat of BTGN, 2 coats of Jade Groove, 1 coat of BTGN (bye bye pretty holo) and 1 final coat of Jade Groove (ohai! look who's back! :P).

Complicated? Yes...Long? Yes...Worth it? Oh, heck yes!! I painted my nails like this on a friday night, and this is what they looked like on the next wednesday night, right before I took it off.

Blurry shot to show those amazing rainbows! 

I think this is even more holographic than my L8R G8R, but I can't compare as I don't have it here with me, left it at my parents house... -.-'

And enough blabbing from me, it's saturday night, go have some fun! You are dismissed. :P

(These were sent to me for review)