Illamasqua Brigitte

This weeks manicure is a polish from Illamsqua. Ladies, look at that color! So exquisitely squishy jelly pinkish red (I'm getting out of breath here..)

I thought this was going to be a very sheer pinkish color on the nail. See how sheer it looks in the bottle, the ball bearings are clearly visible. I found the polish in an online store on sale and bought it unseen and I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I got it. I should have known better than to doubt an Illamasqua polish!



This is four very easily applied coats, over Nubar foundation as usual. The polish almost applied itself. I usually think four coats is a pita, but I didn't mind this at all. Drying was a bit slow even with Seche Vite but I guess that is what you'll have to pay for a four coater.

I always shunned jelly polishes. I didn't think my nails looked good with a VNL, and I really didn't see the point in making a polish slightly see-through in the first place.



Until now. I've been at home for the last two days tending to little ms PolishPiglet who is suffering from a violent case of stomach flu. If you are covered in all the plentiful fluids that springs from a five year old with the gripes and still want to lick your fingernails because they look so.. tasty.. then you have a great nail polish!

I have been fighting a lemming for the OPI Texas collection for along time, but no more. Those sorbet babies are coming home to me asap!

Quirius Sunshine Orange

I long for summer. Hot days with blinding sun, long, sweet nights with the magic, nordic light. Still plenty of snow here, but at least I've got summer on my nails today.

This polish is a little streaky, I needed four coats to even it out, but then I was very happy with it. The color is really juicy. Not a neon but definitely a color you notice from a distance. I think the polish will look even better with a tan.



This is four coats over Nubar foundation. Seche Vite on top, you will need it because this polish dries semi-matte.

A word about durability. I know this brand has gotten mixed reviews in the nail community. Actually, that has refrained me from order from Quirius until now. But, with the $ very affordable at the moment, I finally caved and got a few of them.

I have been wearing this manicure the whole week. Yesterday (day five) I decided to try my hand at some nail art. This is my first attempt with fimo and I'm very pleased with myself :-)




The important thing however, is that apart from a new coat of SV on my ring fingers, this manicure has not been touched up at all. Not one chip and almost no tip wear after five days of wear. You can call me happy!

My Life According to Google

I usually do not participates in awards or other activities tagging other blogs. This however, involves only me. You can join yourself, in your blog ore just for a private laugh. I found it over on Bec's Beauty Buzz and it was really funny. To find out what your life is about, just substitute your name for the section that says [name]. Then you copy what the very first hit is - no cheating - it's not nearly as fun!

1: Type in "[name] needs" in the Google search:
Single in the City: How to tell it's time Karin needs a hug.
That was close. Single in the small village is maybe more accurate.

2: Type in "[name] looks like" in Google search:
Wes Portland Totally Looks Like Karin Dreijer Andersson

3: Type in "[name] hates" in Google search:
Karin hates lizards and wants to be a tiger. Seriously.
yes, seriously! lol

4: Type in "[name] goes" OR "[name] has gone" in Google search:
Karin goes to Hollywood
yes, please!

5: Type in "[name] loves" in Google search:
Karin loves her fugly pc... and BB
that must be BB Couture?? and I don't have a fuglly pc, I have a beautiful mac :-)

6: Type in "[name] eats" in Google search:
Karin eats a spoon of cinnamon
really?


7: Type in "[name] has" in Google search:
Karin has herpes
What?? Not nice Google :-p (and certainly not true!)

8: Type in "[name] works" in Google search:
praise for Karin's work - Vocal solutions
hmm, a little praise is always nice

9: Type in"[name] lives" in Google search:
Will Karin live? Will Sakura heal her?
dunno..

10: Type in "[name] died" in Google search:
Karin died - MangaFox's Online community

11.Type in "[name] does" in Google search:
In what episode of kamichama does Karin meet jin?
Hmm I got hijacked by a manga figure, go figure!

12: Type in "[name] will" in Google search:
Karin will save Akatsuki.

13.Type in "[name] is" in Google search:
The "Karin is a slut" FC
Really, no comments on this one! ;-)

Well, this is the wisdom of Google. I might be better of with a traditional shrink :-D

And, since I just can not do a post without a picture I will give you a taste of a great summer night in my garden. In real life, I am caught in a raging snow storm, praying for spring!

Isadora Graffiti Pink Bite

The last two weeks I've totally ignored my nails. A crazy work load can do that even to a polish fanatic. Last week, I sported two coats of Misa Honeybunch. That really is the perfect polish if you have no time at all for nails, it just keeps going. I blogged about it earlier in this post.

By the end of the week it did look a little under the weather. I added a third coat, dried it completely and topped it with one of my new Isadora Graffiti polishes, Pink Bite. This is my first experience with crackle polish and I'm impressed. Seche Vite as top coat.



This pictures are taken on day 6 of the crackle manicure. I know the manicure has chipped a bit but I wanted to show you anyhow, since the crackle effect actually hides the chipping very well if seen from a distance.

Obviously, this must be the new favorite trend for lazy girls like me!

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid

A couple of months ago, Maria, nail addict and blogger behind the blog 3Daily decided to start her own nail polish brand. This is the first polish from Cult Nails. As a long time follower of course I had to order a bottle. I probably would have done so no matter what color she presented, it takes a lot of courage to follow your dream and I admire her.



Lucky for me, the color is absolutely gorgeous. It is a greyed out lavender with a discreet shimmer. In the bottle it looks like a silver shimmer but look closely on the nail and it is actually blue and pink! The shimmer is subtle, in inside lightning it looks like a very shiny lavender creme, outside it looks more grey and the shimmer is just barely noticeable.

Application gave me a little trouble. The polish is very thick and tended to stick to the brush in an awkward way. It is very well pigmented and after a few drops of polish thinner the second coat went on pretty smoothly. Showed is two coats over Nubar Foundation, Seche Vite on top.



Now, I have read good things about the lasting power of this polish and I aim to put it thoroughly through the test this coming week. I will work in tight rubber gloves all the coming week, with about 30 hand scrubbings a day. Any polish that lives through that is up there with the best of them. Ladies, I will keep you posted.



In the meantime, why don't you check out Cult Nails? I pre-ordered the other polishes as well and I look forward to them very much. Maria will ship internationally for a very reasonable fee and the shipping is lightning fast.

(this polish was bought and payed entirely by me and I am not affiliated in any way with Cult Nails. Actually, I don't think Maria knows I have a blog.)

Diamond Cosmetics Canyon Sunrise

This is last weeks manicure. I had to wait for five days until the sun showed up. Excuse the wear.

Anyway, this is a lovely color. It covers in one or two coats (I did two). I'm not impressed with the drying time, it took forever even with Seche Vite and I dinged my middle nail more than five hours after I painted it.

I must say I like it anyway. Nude, but with a twist!

Crackle Winner

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway! I had a total of 129 entries.

After writing everyone down in a note book, I used my own random chaos maker (Harriet) to cut all the entries into small slips. I then placed all of them in a fancy fruit basket. And shaked. And shaked again.

The first one to fall out of the basket was Kvacka. Congratulations! I have sent you a note. If I don't hear from you in a week I will draw another winner.