Nails: Spring In Pink

Pink enamel shades always make the nails look good. At this time of the year,  they very much relate to the flowers which are blooming here and there. If you have no garden to look at and enjoy, you can simply make your nails bloom with a (more or less affordable) nail polish.

1. New York Color Long Wearing Nail Enamel #156 (Target $0.94)
The nail polish is really great - a shimmery and vivid color. It gives a rather sheer coverage on the nails though. I like it anyway. It gets dry on the nails fast and makes them look pretty.
My rating
Packaging and brush: 5/5
Durability*: 5/5
Overall appearance on nails: 5/5
Price:5/5

2. Vernice Brillance Nail Lacquer #61 Rose Pastel by Yves Rocher ($9 - often available with 50% discount)
Another shiny polish. Although the Rose Pastel is a bright shade, it covers the nails well because it is well pigmented. The brush is rather flat which makes the application easy.
From the manufacturer: Tested under dermatological supervision.
My rating
Packaging and brush: 5/5
Durability*: 5/5
Overall appearance on nails: 5/5
Price:3.5/5 

3. Cutie Girl Nail Polish (Dollar Tree $1)
I came across it by accident and I am glad I decided to buy the nail color. A good brush, makes the application even, with no problems. The nail polish dries quickly and lasts on the nails quite long. I love the color which is more purple than pink of course. 
My rating
Packaging and brush: 5/5
Durability*: 4.5/5 
Overall appearance on nails: 5/5
Price:5/5

Great brush - makes even application really easy

4. Anna Sui Nail Color #305
The Nail Color is part of Dave Lackie's sweepstake prizes which I have won at the beginning of this year (I wrote about it here). It is a very delicate nude-like, pink shade with some shimmery accent which looks really elegant on the nails. The bottle is cute. However,  I need to get used to the shape of the upper, black part. Since it is rather flat, it makes the nail polish application a bit more difficult. But if you can manage dealing with it, the results are quite pleasing.
My rating
Packaging: 4/5 (esthetic impression 6/5)
Brush: 5/5
Durability*: 5/5
Overall appearance on nails: 5/5

 
5. Scented Nail Enamel Grapefruit Fizz by Revlon
It contains brocade-like, shiny particles. The scent, which is quite nice, appears when the nail polish gets dry. The brush allows an easy and flawless application. Although this kind of nail polish has been discontinued by Revlon, many shades of the Scented Nail Enamel series are still available at some online stores. I purchased mine in Poland some time ago. I cannot recall how much it cost there but the price was certainly quite resonable.
My rating
Packaging and brush: 5/5
Durability*: 3.5/5
Overall appearance on nails: 5/5

* My hands/nails & nail polish are 'exposed' to all the housework (including washing/dish-washing) I do every day


Whenever I decorate your nails with an enamel, I also use some base coat to protect the nail plates. This Quick Dry Coat by Revlon is one of the best I have ever tried.
From the manufacturer: DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde-free.

To make the nail polish last longer, prevent it from chipping, and add some extra shine to the nails, I also apply the Strengthening Top Coat by Sally Hansen at the end of my mani session. It was transparent when I bought it, it got some color due to the enamel shades used. Although the Top Coat dries quickly on the nail polish, I still have to be careful for an hour or so, not to mess up my nails which I most often do anyway. I simply have no time to sit doing nothing and wait till all the layers on my nails get totally dry.

Happy Spring nail coloring!

Makeup In Green

The black eye pencil used to be my no.1 makeup item in my teenage years. At that time I also enjoyed playing with various makeup styles. However, I never showed the results of my tries to the outside world. Once, I especially liked my 'green eyes' and decided to see how my neighbor (a girl at my age) would like it.  The girl was not at home and I only talked to her mum. The lady was a kind and polite woman so she sad nothing on my look, but I noticed it in her eyes - the impression my green and black makeup made. I could tell she found it rather surprising, if not improper.

Nowadays, it would be nothing very much unusual, but in the early 80s it was definitely not a kind of everyday teenage look. Anyway, I was quite happy with the effect of my 'ahead of time' makeup experiment then.
These days, I would rather use a green eye liner (along the upper eyelashes only) instead of the black eye pencil. I recently got a Kohl Duo, orange and grey black pencil, by Yves Rocher - also an orange line completes the green eyeshadow quite nicely.

Kohl Dou Eye Pencil is enriched with Cotton Oil. Both the green eyeliner and the Mandarine side of the pencil contain shimmery particles.

St. Patrick's Day is coming,  it is a good time to think of a special green or green-and-white look.

Luminelle Eye Pencil by Yves Rocher

What you need is: a green eyeshadow/green eye shadows, a white eye shadow, a green eye pencil/ eyeliner and a white eye pencil. To make it more colorful, you can also add orange shades to it, including the Mandarine eye pencil mentioned above. Play with various combinations of these  ingredients and choose your most favorite look for this year's celebrations. Have fun!

One of my tries...

For the nails: my choice is the matte green (seems to be discontinued by Sally Hansen) and pearl white (by Yves Rocher) nail polish.

Mini nail polish by YR gives a shimmering, light coverage. The green shade by SH was found at Dollar Tree