And a Very Merry Christmas Tree

On the 1st day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

A Very Merry Christmas Tree

The challenge has come to an end (as all good things come to an end!).

And I am really, really glad that I've managed to pull it off.

I wish you a very merry Christmas!!
May you receive love and give love as it is the most important thing in life!! ♥

Two Glitter bombs

On the 2nd day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Two Glitter bombs

Perhaps not so Christmassy but the quote is a gift I want to give everyone this Christmas:

"Glitter bomb yourself, you were born to sparkle!"

Three French Tips

On the 3rd day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Three French Tips

Lacquers used:

- Anny Sunset Love (red)

- Essence Hup Holland Hup Hattrick! (white)

Four Candy Cane

On the 4th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Four Candy Cane

Five Gold Bling

On the 5th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Five Gold Bling

Five Gold Bling:

1) Gold champagne glasses (water decals that I received from my dearest friend +bubica vucko )

2) Gold Christmas ornaments (small gold hexes and gold chain)

3) Gold Christmas sock (polish+iredescent flitter)

4) Gold heart shaped nail piercing

5) Gold Christmas tree (gold caviar/nail beads and gold star stud)

Six Frosty Snowmen

On the 6th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Six Frosty Snowmen (meet the family)

Not my best piece of art but it was kinda hard to paint on the textured white.

Polishes used:

- a-England Tristam

- KOH Colours! Flashing Lights 338

- China Glaze 1250 There's snow one like you

Seven Super Sweaters

On the 7th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Seven Super Sweaters

Eight Mistletoe

On the 8th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Eight Mistletoe

Nine Jolly Santa's

On the 9th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Nine Jolly Santa's

Ten Rudolph Reindeers

On the 10th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Ten Rudolph Reindeers

Eleven Pretty Presents

I really want to try to completely take part in the NPQ "12 days of Christmas" challenge.

And so far...I'm doing well!

"On the 11th day of Christmas NPQ gave to me...

Eleven Pretty Presents"

I'm so happy that today is the "presents" nail art cause it's my B-day as well :D

Twelve Twinkling Tree Lights

Nail Polish Queens (NPQ) is hosting a beautiful Christmas challenge, 

called "The twelve days of Christmas - NPQ style!"

First up is: Twelve Twinkling Tree Lights

Rainbow nails

This week's challenge over at Nail Polish Queens (NPQ) community is "ROYGBIV",

better known as the colors of the rainbow: Red - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet.

A rainbow is a beautiful phenomenon.

And it can bright up any dark day.

And here is the line-up of the polishes that I've used:

Winter look (nails+face)

I really enjoy making those total looks.

But man, the trouble to get there :D

First the nails...

I broke 3 nails down to pity size and just couldn't get used to those tiny, sad looking nails.

Picture will show acrylic nails that I did myself.

For the nail art I started with a gradient of holo's:

* A england - Tristam

* Layla - Ocean Rush

* KOH - Platinum Silver!

Which I stamped with white snowflakes.

Then the make-up...

Yesterday I've created a look that took me about 2 hours.

Too late to take pictures cause I really needed to get the kids from school.

I've made a total fool of myself by showing up at school with the make-up on (although the kids thought I was part of a Disney's Frozen play).

Rushed home, took 125 pictures and decided NOT ONE was good enough :-/

Today I've been having more luck and I'm actually very, very pleased with how it turned out :D

Hope you like it too!

Cherry blossom nail art

Some time ago I received some nail mail from my dear friend +bubica vucko.

If you have some time, please give her blog a visit and/or enter her lovely give-away.

Today I'm showing you this gorgeous polish by Classics.

Classics Metallic nail lacquer 10.

In the bottle it looks like a duo chrome shifting from purple to bronze/gold.

In real life it's more of a multi chrome but very hard to describe.

Main color in daylight would be a purple with beautiful metallic shimmers that shifts to a bronze in the shade and a bright blue-toned purple with direct lighting. 

+bubica vucko you sure know what I love ♥

Application is easy and 2-3 coats gives a perfect coverage.

Swatches

Picture taken in light box, no flash.

Picture taken in light box, with flash.

Picture taken in light box, no flash.

Nail art

This gorgeous polish screamed for a delicate nail art.

Inspired by a white blossoming tree, I came up with this design.

Thank you +bubica vucko!

You're the best ♥

Movember nail art

 Yes, it's Movember.

Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues.

The goal of Movember is to change the face of men's health.

I can't grow a moustache (duh), but I can make a nail art for support.

Luckily for me, Movember is also the challenge over at Nail Polish Queens (NPQ) community.

If you have time...join us at NPQ and support Movember.

I'm sooooooo short on time lately, so this is a quickie.

Base color is: Kiko (Sun Show nail lacquer) 475

Moustache is created with loose gold holographic glitter.

Swatches Catrice Million Styles Effect Top Coat & multichrome rhinestones by Born Pretty Store

Catrice recently came out with a new series of Million Styles Effect Top Coats.

The effect top coats all have a clear base filled with colored glass flecks.

From left to right:

01 Godfather of Pearl 

Godfather of Pearl is a mix of purple and pink glass flecks. 

Although the pink glass flecks are visible, main color is purple.

02 ¿Holo, Que Tal?

¿Holo, Que Tal? is a mix of yellow and orange/pink glass flecks. This is the only one from this collection that has a very visible duchrome shift in any light source.

03 Have an Ice Day

Have an Ice Day is a mix of yellow/green glass flecks. Main color is a bit more green than the yellow color from ¿Holo, Que Tal?

04 Return of Space Cowboys

Return of Space Cowboys is a mix of blue and blurpe glass flecks. Main color is blue.

Of course these effect top coats can be applied over any color nail polish and/or on the natural nails.

I however, prefer lacquers like these applied over black.

'Single nail' swatches show 1 coat of effect top coats applied over 2 coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather (black).

I have a glossy and a matte version for you.

Swatches glossy

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken in light box with flash

Swatches matte

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken in light box with flash

Review 

I can be short.

If you love glass fleck lacquers, these are wonderful for you.

Only note I can give is that they apply like a jelly (a bit syrupy, but workable).

I can imagine this will be harder to apply over time, as it will probably get more and more thick.

Nail art

Today's nail arts feature another product that I received from Born Pretty Store.

Nail art wheel containing 200 pieces of heart, circle and marquise multichrome rhinestone nail decorations.

Of course I could go for a plain look by placing these rhinestones on top of my swatches but that wouldn't be me, as I like to add some personal touch.

I thought of another nail art design that I was still dying to try out.

I wanted to do some sugar spun black strings topped with different colors of metallic transfer foils.

And this was the result:

I have to say that the total look was stunning but perhaps a little too much????

So I've made another design but this time a bit more calm...or so I thought :D

Making silver holo area's in which I placed the rhinestones.

If you want to order some goodies from Born Pretty Store.

You can use my code to get 10% off of your order:

HUB10

Fall make-up look and nail look ft. products by Born Pretty Store

After receiving many compliments on my Halloween look, I got inspired and decided to make another nail-face look.

This time with a fall theme.

Now, up front, I almost never wear make-up in my daily life.

Trying to get the kids ready for school is my No.1 priority, which leaves me with almost no time to even think about make-up.

On a good day I apply some foundation and a mascara :D

However, I do love make-up and my laptop is full with make-up inspirations/tutorials etc.

My make-up stash isn't bad either, if I may say so ;-)

I've received some goodies from Born Pretty Store for reviewing and after creating the nail look, I also used these products for my face look.

So, let's get started :D

I really wanted to show a new nail polish brand (Swedish) that I've discovered around here; IsaDora.

Here are some swatches of 791 Autumn leaves.

Picture taken in light box without flash

Picture taken in light box with flash

Autumn leaves is actually a wine color with goldish shimmer (micro glitter),

Almost opaque with 1 coat, which shows more of the purple color.

With 2 coats it leans to a brown. Pictures show 2 thin coats.

The flash picture suggests that there might be some multi colored and/or holo micro glitters too.

And believe me, this is a true beauty as soon as it hits light/sun.

Not disappointed at all (except for the price maybe €11,50/$14,39).

We still had some sunny days here in Holland and I felt this was the last chance to try one of my holo topcoats. 

I applied 1 coat of 12-12-2012 by Big City Nails (which is a Dutch Indie Brand).

Then I used one of the products that I've received from Born Pretty Store; 

Cute fall leaves water decals:

I'm not going through the whole process of how to apply water decals (if you are new to them, you can have a look at previous posts by me about water decals).

They were easy to use.

One note: They look best on a lighter background.

Above shows 1 coat of IsaDora 791 Autumn leaves, topped with 1 coat of Big City Nails 12-12-2012 (holo topcoat) and water decals by Born Pretty Store

The holo topcoat looks scattered on the picture but I actually saw a pretty linear holo in real life.

As I felt the darker background really didn't do the water decal justice, I also made a nail look with a lighter background.

Base color used: Catrice Limited Edition Crème Fresh C01 The Peach Boys.

Which look do you prefer?

On the accent nail you can see the other product that I've received from Born Pretty Store:

A 3D golden leaf decoration 

As you can see the leaf also has a little hole. 

With a small jump ring it could work perfect as a nail piercing jewel or even as a charm on a bracelet/necklace.

Now, for the face look you'll all be waiting for (of course ;-P)

Picture shows my hand with the first nail art in this post.

I've used the water decals on my cheek and some gold foil on the other one.

Around my hair line I've applied some decor fall leaves with hair wax.

I've used the 3D golden leave as a headlace.

Hope you like the look!

P.S. You can use my 10% off code when ordering by Born Pretty Store:

HUB10