Sunday 29 January 2012

NOTD: Sally Hansen HD "LCD"

The weekend has passed too quickly again, and I have a bad cold AGAIN! So I needed some cheering up so I chose this cracker of a polish that's been in my 'untrieds' stash for a looooong time. It looked very sheer so I put a coat of Rimmel LycroPRO "Urban Princess" underneath then did 2 coats of "LCD" on top. Please excuse the messy cuticles :( You can't really see the cool blue microshimmer in this polish, but it makes it look electric :) I would really like other HD polishes from Sally Hansen but I can't seem to find them in the UK. That's a shame, as they all look perfect for summer!!
Lina-Elvira loves it this much:
♥ ♥ ♥

Tuesday 24 January 2012

NOTD and Reviews

I felt like something purple today! First brown, now purple, maybe green at the end of the week? I am reminded of one of my favorite books when I was little - "Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender". I cannot really remember the story; I think that I was mostly drawn to the colourful illustrations of Elsa Beskow's books :)

Anyway this is Mavala "Purple Sensation". This is 3 coats, it was kind of "stealth-sheer", I had some see-through patches after 2 coats so I decided on 3 coats. As usual, I finished with a slick of MegaShine so I could get dry quick! Busy busy! :) It's a very nice deep, jewelled purple, reminds me of China Glaze "Coconut Kiss", but darker.

Before I go I also have to rave about some more Soap & Glory products! I got "Peaches n' Clean" cleansing milk for my birthday from my work colleagues and I must say having used it for a week now my skin is so happy! It's a cleansing milk you rinse off with water. It smells lovely and doesn't feel very greasy after washing it off. It melts off my makeup easily, although I still prefer to use makeup remover cloths for my eye makeup (I am addicted to the Boots No 7 ones, I'm afraid!). I will definitely be buying this again!

I also have a new favourite moisturiser - Soap & Glory "The Daily Youth". It's quite light so it does perfectly under makeup, but it's not rich enough for night time for me though, I still rely on Simple "Regeneration Age Resisting Night Cream" for night time nourishment. It doesn't contain any silicones (which breaks me out) and it's really hard to find nice moisture lotions without silicones. Well done, Soap & Glory :)

Sunday 22 January 2012

NOTD: Isadora "Hot Chocolate"



I am not sure when this polish came out but I remember seeing a swatch some years ago online, and I wanted it. This is in the old-style Isadora bottle so it must be a few years old at least? However, I managed to score this in the bargain bin at Xmas in Sweden :) Gotta love bargain bins! Again I ask myself why Isadora doesn't launch in UK?.. I have so much makeup from this brand and generally the products are top notch. I am currently road testing a new foundation from there, I will share in due course...


This is streaky but that cool brown shimmer just does it for me! This is 3 coats and a slick of MegaShine. I just love it :) I am starting to be tickled by the pastel spring colours now, but for some reason I needed to wear brown today!



Today's bonus photo is not of my new tarantula baby (in case some of you don't like spiders!) but my cat Elvis doing his 'cat-yoga' :P


If you DO like tarantulas you can see my little spider baby and other invertebrate pets on my other blog!

Wednesday 18 January 2012

NOTD: Isadora "Beetle Green"





This is another one of my xmas present polishes. This is 2 coats with MegaShine top coat. I wasn't sure if I would like this, as it looked great in the bottle but  once on your nails, in low light it looks like one of those annoying 'nearly black' polishes. But once in the light it gives off this gorgeous teal glow! And the formula is super smooth and opaque, so I think it's 3 stars :) But as it looks so dull in low light, it's only 3.


Lina-Elvira loves it this much:
♥ ♥ ♥ 

Sunday 15 January 2012

NOTD: Color Club "Holiday Splendor" layering


So I am back to work tomorrow after an obscenely long holiday, so I needed something sparkly to cheer me up :) I've been rather inactive lately, I've not worn polish since Wednesday last week. Please excuse the lobster hands in this photo, my hands are so dry and raw from the cold weather in Sweden. They are slowly coming around from using gallons of Burt's Bees Hand Salve. I love this hand salve; it's really rich and almost oily, but works itself into your skin fairly quickly, and it smells lovely too :) I wish I'd brought it on holiday with me but I was sure my Mum would have a good hand cream. She didn't...

This is 2 coats of Bourjois "Bleu Model" which I got for Xmas and then I did a strip of Color Club "Holiday Splendor".  I slapped on a lot of MegaShine top coat to level out the coarser glitter polish. Me likey! :)

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:
♥ ♥ ♥

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Morrgan the Fat Cat fishes for his next dinner...

"Yum yum...."
Morrgan is the largest of my Mum's (all very large) British Shorthair cats. He is the only one who takes an interest in the goldfish, the others prefer to stick to very expensive cat food... :)

Saturday 7 January 2012

Birthday NOTD: China Glaze "Purple Panic"



This is another polish my brother bought for me for my Xmas! I wouldn't say I classify this as purple?... Mine look more cool-toned neon pink with an intense glow. I am still away so struggling with the lighting of my photos.

This is 2 coats, the first photo is without top coat to show how nice and satin-y it dries naturally and the second photo is with Depend Quick and Shine top coat. I am not sure if I prefer the satin finish maybe? Reminds me a bit of my old favourite matte - OPI "La Paz-itively Hot Matte".

This was ok to apply but as with all neon and matte polishes, you have to be careful and fairly quick to apply the polish.

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:
♥ ♥ ♥

Wednesday 4 January 2012

NOTD: Essie "Lovie Dovie"

My brother bought me this polish and several other lovely presents for my Xmas :) its a lovely bright pink creme -  this is 2 coats with the Depend top coat.


Monday 2 January 2012

NOTD: Maybelline "Green Miracle"

"Dear ACETONE, I am breaking up with you - we both know this affair will only lead to heartbreak and peeling nails... I love you, but.. It has to end.
                            Yours forever, Lina-Elvira"

Although I'm glad my Mum had some acetone today, as "Black Galaxy" was hell to remove!! :O Even with the awesome power of acetone, I guess 5 layers of base/polish/top coat is hard to dissolve...

To today's nails; I've wanted this polish for a while but I've never seen it in the UK? I am sure Maybelline/L'Oreal/various other 'worldwide' brands market different stuff in different countries. I mean, hello, the UK didn't get to share the love of L'Oreal's awesome magnetic polishes in 2008??

Anyway. Today however I scored in the Åhlens shop in Bollnäs :) I also scored another couple polishes but plenty of time to show them later! This is 3 coats of "Green Miracle" and then a coat of Depend Quick & Shine top coat. Its not as quick as you may wish for but it'll do. I wasn't impressed with the formula and brush, it's stringy and messy to apply. Supposedly '100% precision' - don't make me laugh, Maybelline... But the colour is very cool so I still like it :) It reminds me of an all-time fave - China Glaze "Gussied-up Green" (which I appear never to have shown as a mani???).

The backdrop is the new magazine for beauty in Sweden called 'Visage', it's really good :) Only beauty stuff and treatments, no fashion which of late I find kind of tedious to be honest. I miss mags like this in the UK - I used to love Marie Claire Health & Beauty!

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:

♥ ♥ ♥