Essie Love & Acceptance

Super quick nail post today.

Here is Essie Love & Acceptance from Wedding 2012 collection. I am not getting married but still love this colour. It’s a pastel lilac/gray shade and I feel like this is going to become one of my favourites.

On some other note, I have started 50 Shades Darker and struggling to get through it …. Not sure if I will make an attempt on finishing it.

Hope you’re having a good week so far!

Sylwia x

Peachy Pink Gradient Nails

I absolutely love gradient effect nails. I don’t remember the last time when I was so keen to faff about with my nails. Cause you know what I’m normally like… slap some nail polish on and the quicker and easier the better.

I found the easiest way to do the gradient for me is to use typical cleaning sponge first and then top it up with wet makeup sponge. I think it came out looking pretty nice. I used Barry M Peach Melba and Pink Flamingo.

In some other news:

1) I have not yet started reading 50 Shades Of gray. Can’t bring myself to do so for some reason.
2) I’ve been using a natural coconut oil deodorant for a while now and have to say it really is a good stuff. Wouldn't work for me in a very hot weather but it's perfect for this English thing we've got going on at the mo.  Click here for super easy recipe by Marta.
3) Is it bad that I want to go see Batman and my boyfriend doesn’t?
Sylwia x

Kinda Ombre Nails

Quick NOTD post today :)

I attempted ombre effect with these but I didn't have enough shades of one colour to make it look like it's supposed to look.
So I just took a few of my purple colours and painted my nails with the them :)

What do you think, my lovelies?

Polishes from left to right:
OPI Tickle My France-y
CIATE Bon Bon
ESSIE Nice Is Nice
OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?
CATRICE From Dusk To Dawn

Sylwia x

Nude & Mint Gradient Nails

I’ve seen gradient nails on quite a few blogs now and I really wanted to try it out for myself. I don’t normally play with nail art simply because I’m rubbish at it and I don’t have the patience. But this seemed easy enough so I gave it a go.

Things didn’t go too well at first. Revlon Minted is not very opaque so I had to sponge on three layers and even then it didn’t look nice. It just looked like I slapped some polish on the tips – no gradient effect whatsoever. I thought I’m just no good at it, applied top coat and left it looking awful. I went to have my pedicure done (I have Shellac on! Will off course update on it…) and couldn’t stop thinking how to fix this gradient thing.

I came back home and found The Nailasaurus website with amazing tutorial. I got the sponge out, painted stripe of nude and stripe of mint, dipped the sponge in and voila! Everything looks so much better. I ultimately have about 10 layers of nail polish on my nails at the moment but hey, it looks nice :)

I love Nailsaurus’s peach and pink combo so I will give it a go next time I decide to do gradient.

Polishes used:
Essie Brooch The Subject
Revlon Minted 028

You can use typical makeup sponge for this but remember to wet it beforehand otherwise it will soak up all of the nail polish. I’ve learned the hard way…

Book update:

I finished Hunger Games Catching Fire and it wasn’t as good as the first one but still awesome read. I thought I might as well finish the series and started Mockingjay now. Anyone knows when’s Hunger Games movie DVD released?

Have an awesome Friday everyone!

Sylwia x

Sparkly lilac with Ciate and Essie

Yup…

I did my nails just the way every other beauty blogger on this planet did. Ring finger glitter. It’s not original and you’ve probably seen it ten thousand times but here it is!

I used Ciate Bon Bon nail polish which came free with Marie Claire magazine as the colour for most of my nails. It’s a light, dusky lilac shade I would call neutral.

I love that we get free stuff with magazines here in the UK. It’s such a great way to try things out without paying the full price. It can be a bit addictive thou so I always spend a few minutes in front of the newsstand. I take a deep breath and think twice before I put it in the basket (I’m amazed how reasonable I’ve become!). Nail varnish was definitely a good choice because my collection lacks a pretty colour like this and I’ve always wanted to try very much so hyped Ciate.

As for Ciate itself I am not that impressed. The bottle is adorable and it’s an opaque, easy to apply formula. Unfortunately it only lasted couple of days before rubbing off at the ends. I look for longevity in a nail polish and this hasn’t got it. But if you like to change your nail polish every other day then I’m sure you’ll love Ciate. Just bear in mind that it’s a bit pricey at £9 per bottle.

For my ring fingers I’ve used Essie LuxeEffects Set in Stones. Very thick glitter here! Three coats are enough to cover the nail completely in sparkles. Here I used two coats because I like when a bit of a bare nail peaks through and also because I’m a bit lazy and didn’t want to wait too long before it dries ;)

I should also add that I used Seche Vite fast drying top coat.

What do you think about statement finger manicure? The boy said it looks weird with one finger being different but I love it! What do they know anyway, ha? (I mean boys of course).

Sylwia x  

Tickle my France-y + A cut Above

When I think of summer nails, glitter is probably the last thing I would consider. It’s probably because I am a simple creature and associate glitter with New Year’s Eve i.e. winter and bright colours with sunshine i.e. summer.

Don’t ask me why but I ditched my comfort zone and did the unthinkable. I painted my nails with glitter a couple of days ago.

I don’t regret it at all. Sunshine makes my nails sparkle so nicely!

I got lots of compliments on my nails while having this combination on. But I must add that I always get lots of compliments when using Essie A Cut Above, paired with no matter what other colour.

What do you guys think?

Glitter for summer: Yey or ney?

Sylwia x

NOTD Inglot Salmon

It’s a shame Inglot only use numbers on their polishes and don’t give them cute, funny names. It makes it a bit more difficult when trying to come up with a post title - Inglot 972 doesn’t really sound appealing.

Nonetheless this colour is gorgeous and it’s one of my favorite spring and summer shades. I am ignoring the fact that spring is not happening in Britain and starting to wear my brights and pastels in the rain.

What do you think of this colour?

On the different note, I had to cut all of my nails short because they started to split and break. It feels sooo weird to type with my actual fingertips and not hear the nail click on the keyboard lol

Sylwia x

Mints and Lilacs

Thankfully weather predictions were totally wrong this weekend and it didn’t snow or rain. It was sunny and bright but temperature definitely went down a few degrees and the chill was in the air.

I thought this kind of weather is perfect for my new pastel clothes. If you can’t tell already I became obsessed with pastels, especially mint and lilac so I was dying to wear my new wardrobe additions out.

I found this scarf on Asos.com and instantly saw it going with lots of my clothes this season. It has a multicolored psychedelic flower pattern. At first I was a bit disappointed that mint shade is a more of darker and brighter version of my clutch but I realized that it actually is a good thing. Because pastels can be a bit blunt this adds that famous ‘pop of color’.

Blazer is from H&M and it’s a boyfriend relaxed style. It only has a lining in the sleeves which makes it perfect for the chilly evenings in the coming seasons as it’s not too thick. I think it will look great with summer dresses or shorts and tee.

Now onto my favorite bit … The clutch! I don’t really think there is much to say about this. To me this is gorgeous! Color, style and size… I just love it so much! I was a bit shocked at myself that I paid £25 for it but I think handbags and shoes are my weakness and I just can’t help myself!

I love how this Barry M Pale Purple nail polish looks against the mint green.

This blazer had a horrible black button which was too much of a contrast against the light cream fabric. I removed it and sawed this mint one on instead :)

Blazer – H&M £19.99 couldn't find it on the website :(
Clutch – Accessorize here
Pumps – H&M here
Scarf – Asos here
Jeans – Top Shop brand but I got them from ebay
Sunglasses – Primark £1

That is me done with clothes shopping for a while now. I also got beautiful Zara skirt which no doubt I will show you in a near future. Only thing I couldn’t find was lilac jeans but I shall keep an eye out.

I hope you didn’t get sick from my pastel obsession!


Sylwia x

Favorite Spring Nail Polishes

Nothing evolutionary and surprising here. My favorite colours for spring are pastels. But there is one bright and one dark shade too so I hope this isn’t going to be too boring :)

All of these apart from Inglot polish are cream finish and are completely opaque after two coats. No major problems with application although Minted can be a bit streaky so needs more precise hand to apply.

1) Revlon Minted – It doesn’t look the best against my skin tone on its own and because I have quite big nails it seems 'too much'. But I absolutely loved it just on the tips of the nails French style. It looks very subtle but still very Spring-y. Spring french nails here.

2) Barry M Pale Purple – It looks exactly how it’s called. It’s not too light or too bright. Perfect lilac. I like this one the best out of the bunch. I always get lots of compliments when wearing this colour.

3) Inglot 972 – This is a bit difficult to describe. It’s not peach and it’s not pink... Oh, oh! I know! It’s a salmon colour! It has a subtle pearly finish but nothing that would make smudges on the nail. I’m happy with two coats but three wouldn't hurt either to get slightly more intense effect.

4) Barry M Coral – So Mr. Barry’s imagination didn’t really go too far when coming up with these names. But apart from being boring they are very accurate. This is a true coral! Somewhere between red and orange, this shade seems to be perfect for my skin tone. I think this is the only bright polish I wear on my hands.

5) Nails Inc. Hampstead Heath – Here we’ve got deep raspberry colour that I find perfect for my toe nails. I got this polish with a magazine and thanks to it I steered away from red on my toes which used to be the only thing I put on them. This actually looks pretty opaque with only one coat but creates more depth with two.

What are your favorite polishes for spring? Are you a bright or pastel lover?

Sylwia x

Spring-y French Nails

I’m a copycat.

In my defense Makeup Savvy is one too! She copied this manicure from Zooey Deschanel after she posted it on twitter. Then I copied it from Fee.

*I am not able to provide Fee’s link at the moment. It seems that her site is down :(*

I used Essie Topless & Barefoot for my main colour and Revlon Mint for the tips. I really like the result. It looks simple, yet girly and stylish. And it incorporates that spring trend everyone (including myself) goes crazy for at the moment – pastels.

I am really pleased with the effect and pretty proud of my steady hand. Modesty aside, it’s not perfect but wonkiness of the French bits isn’t really visible from the distance ;) 

I have tried doing it with the cello tape but it didn’t really work for me. I couldn’t stick it properly and it ripped some nail polish when I was taking it off. It was overall too much work and mess for me. It’s kinda my fault because I didn’t wait for each layer to dry properly but I am very impatient when it comes to that.

I used Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat for super shine, better staying power and off course superfast drying time.

Let me add this – before I discovered Seche Vite I didn’t paint my nails at all! I could not be bothered to wait until it’s dry and I always managed to ruin the manicure. I have spoken with few people about this and apparently every possible nail polish dries ten times slower on my nails then everybody else’s.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Sylwia x

ELF or OPI?

The minute I applied my first OPI polish which I believe was Malaga Wine I decided I'm not buying non OPI polish ever again. Off course I kept seeing these pretty colours by other brands and who can resist a nail polish?
I have tried a few brands and I can say that so far nothing beats OPI and Essie. Application, staying power, colour variety, it is all great. But I cannot only, not pass on pretty polish but also on a bargain polish.

Clearly my taste is very limited because I buy nail polish and it turns out I already have nearly identical colour already! It happened with Nerd and Brooch The Subject here. And it happened again with today’s contestants ELF Cranberry and OPI I’m Not Really A Waitress.

I’m Not Really A Waitress is one of OPI’s best sellers and I think every girl have heard about it. A perfect red – bit of shimmer, not too dark, not too light, super sexy. Then I found ELF Cranberry and you know what? It’s nearly enough the same! I would say little bit darker and slightly more shimmer but not much difference. But there is some other kind of difference - the price. OPI costs about £10 in the UK and you can get ELF for as little as £1.50! Althou I got it for a £1 in the sale so that’s like a double bargain.

But! There is a but. OPI stays on my nails for about 7 days without chipping, edges slightly rubbed off on the 5th day. ELF stayed on for 4 days with edges rybbing off after 2^nd day and chipping on the 4^th.
It comes down to one thing – whether you take pleasure in painting your nails every 4 days or you’re dreading the manicure moment each and every time. The decision is yours :)


OPI on my thumb nail, ELF on the rest. Please ignore creepy hand, looking sort of like The Addams Family pet.

How is your week going? Are you glad it's Friday tomorrow?


Sylwia x