Wear Purple Day

Hi girls! Today I want to share with you my first HARE polish, which I used today in honor of Wear Purple Day. Apparently this month I'm all about supporting causes.

Wear it Purple exists in order to help GLBTIQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) youth at risk. Run by students, we aim to stop the ignorance, bullying and suicides.

I look forward to having a society that doesn't discriminate based on who you choose to share your life with or how you want to run your life. Seriously, life is too short for hate. I also look forward to have marriage equality in my country.

That said, for my purple mani I busted off two untrieds from my stash: Essence Passion for Fashion and HARE Why so Igneus? (my first HARE! *yay*).

Funny though, when editing the pics I noticed my bottle had a glittery 'stain', but not from my polish. It proves the true handmade nature of these polishes and doesn't bother me :)

HARE Why So Igneus? is a mix of green and purple in a sheer purple jelly base. The largest pieces of glitter are square, but there's also mini hex and micro glitter. Since it's pretty sheer -and I wanted to save the precioussss- I layered it over Essence Passion for Fashion, which is a very bright blue toned purple, applies really nicely and it's opaque and shiny in two coats (I'm tempted to say it's a bit jelly-ish, but not totally).

This is one -dabbed- coat of Why so Igneus? over two coats of Passion for Fashion. I love how the green glitter shine from the base. The glitters spreaded nicely and there was no need for 'fishing' them out of the bottle.

Overall, I was really happy with my experience with HARE, all from buying to actually wearing the polish. I bought directly from Nicole on one of her Etsy sales/restocks, and it wasn't as hectic/chaotic as I though it'd be. Her polishes are also available at Llarowe.com now, so it's even easier to get your hands on them (I know because I have a 2nd one on the way hahahah).

And don't forget to show your support to the LGBTIQ community by wearing purple today. Have a great weekend!

a-england sisters

Hi girls! Several weeks ago Adina from a-england polishes held a wonderful promo and I used the chance to add two new beauties from this brand to my collection.

I had heard many wonderful things of the scattered holos from a-england (and had personally witnessed their magic with Ascalon). I wanted one of the scattered holos from their first collection, but I couldn't decide which (they looked so close!). So I ordered both in the hope that, after trying them, it'd be easier to choose just one to keep.

So after some weeks of wait I got Lady of the Lake (purple) and Tristam (blue) on the mail. At first I was a little disappointed because on the bottle both colors look extremely close.

So I swatched it on my nails in the hopes that the difference would translate better. All the pics are 2 coats of nail polish, plus base coat and topcoat (using it didn't dull the holo effect).

First we have Lady of the Lake which is a dusty purple with a subtle scattered holo effect.

Then came Tristam, a dark blue with the same scattered holo.

These pictures were taken in direct sunlight in the hopes of capturing the holo, while staying color accurate. I'm awful at it though, these polishes look a million times better in person. The holo effect is really evident in sunlight and adds a nice depth to the colors.

Both Lady of The Lake and Tristam were a dream to apply, like I've come to expect from all a-englands they're just flawless. I even got to wear them for almost a week with only minor tipwear and a tiny chip on one finger.

So, are you wondering which one I kept? After wearing them for days I decided it's worth to keep both, at least for the time being. I couldn't decide on a favorite from this pair of 'sister' polishes.

Have you tried a-england? They are a bit pricey but well worth it, in my opinion, because of their formula and unique colors (plus Adina offers free international shipping).

Mani for a Purpose: PCOS Awareness

Hi girls! Today I want to share a special mani I did for a blog hop. Norelis from Fierce Makeup and Nails proposed this idea to spread awareness for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome also known as PCOS, a disease that has personally affected her, as it does to thousands of women.

But what is PCOS? From Pub Med Health

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of a female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes.

PCOS can present different symptoms on women, some are:

• Significant weight gain
• Facial hair increase
• Blood sugar problems
• Insulin intolerance
• Significant hair loss
• Depression and anxiety
• Infertility
• Cysts
• Excessive blood loss
• Irregular or extreme menstrual cycles

For this cause some nail bloggers united by creating teal and white manis, the colors for the PCOS Awareness.

I started with a-england Galahad a beautiful dusty teal that barely needs 2 coats to be opaque (I think you can get away with one thick coat, but I do mine thin, so I did two).

Then I added a coat of Lynnderella Love, Lace & Lilacs, with a little bit of dabbing for better glitter placement. I liked how it looked over this different color base, with its mix of opaque white and iridescent glitter it almost looks like snow falling.

It's a very simple mani but I found the effect really cute. Don't forget to visit the other bloggers participating and go teal for September! :)

Nails Inc Baker Street

Hi girls! Today I want to share with you a polish that had me obsessed for weeks before I could finally get it into my hands, and nails.

Nails Inc recently released a bright blue named Baker Street. I'm not particularly fan of Sherlock Holmes but the color drew me in right away and I needed it in my life. I had a bit of trouble obtaining it since most of the e-tailers that carried this brand didn't ship internationally. I ended up grabbing this one from a random user on eBay UK.

Once it arrived I painted my nails with it right away and it's perfection in a bottle. The color is so vibrant and hard to describe. Sometimes it's a true blue and other times it leans a bit purple, I tried my best to represent it accurately here.

Formula wise it applies flawlessly. It's not too thick or thin, just the perfect consistency. I also didn't had a problem with the Nails Inc brush. The swatch here shows Nails Inc Baker Street with base coat and top coat.

Did you also fall for Baker Street? What is your favorite Nails Inc? This is my first polish from this brand, but I'd love recommendations for other colors with great formulas.

Thanks for reading!

Soft Mint

Hi girls! Back to your regular scheduled posts. Today I want to share with you one of my favorite manis that I've done lately. It mixes color gradient and stamping. Let's take a look!

My base for this mani was China Glaze Refresh Mint. It's a very pretty mint green and opaque in 2 coats, the formula was a bit on the thick side but nothing a couple drops of thinner wouldn't help. Pastel colors tend to have trickier formulas, but this one was not bad.

Then I added a color gradient with Essence Viva La Green which is a beautiful bright blue-toned green. I haven't worn it as a full mani -yet- so I can't comment on its formula.

Anyway, I stamped over the whole thing with Konad White Special polish and BM-221plate. The flower pattern is one of my favorites of this set, it's so delicate and seemed to go well with the colors I had.

All in all, I really loved this mani. The combination of colors and stamping turned out in a really beautiful subtle effect. I also found that the combination of Viva la Green tuned down a bit of the redness that's typical of wearing pastels (commonly known as "lobster hands")

For the days I wore this I couldn't stop thinking and craving mint ice-cream, hmm.

Do you like the combination of stamping and gradients?

Thanks for reading!

Nail Polish Collection: Sparkles!

Hi girls! Today it's the official end of my nail polish collection series. Phew, took a while, huh? So we'll go with a pared of bright colorful glitters and flakies (my personal obsession, you'll see).

Glitters from L-R: Etienne Bijoux Strass (holographic hex glitter), Color Club Si Vous Please?, China Glaze Marry a Millionaire, Love & Beauty Blue, Love & Beauty Gold Rush, Essence.

And for some reason I forgot to include OPI Rainbow Connection, which is my favorite multi-color glitter. Oh well, it's flakies time now!

L-R: Nubar 2010, Essence Night in Vegas, Ludurana Arco Iris, Ludurana Trovao, OPI I Lily Love You, Impala Paz e Amor, Essence Midnight Date/City that never sleeps.

When I first got into nail polish flakies really attracted my attention, more even than holos. Their color shifting ways were just so mysterious to me as an emerging nail polish fanatic. I went through a phase of "MUST HAVE ALL THE FLAKIES" lol.

Some of my favorite glitters are the Love & Beauty Gold Rush (which you saw on this glitter gradient) and OPI Rainbow Connection. My favorite flakies are Nubar 2010 (green to red) and Ludurana Trovão  (green to blue).

Are you a flakie or glitter girl?

Thanks for reading!

Nail Polish Collection: Neutrals

Holy cannoli, I really left you without notice. This polish collection seems to be going forever. But ear not, only one more post and I'll share some manis again. Actually, I'm gonna write them all and leave them to automatically post so I don't forget :p

So today I'll share my neutrals with you. I don't have many, but they're all dear and favorite :)

L-R: Essence Galatic Black, A-England Ascalon, China Glaze Icicle, Zoya Dove, Orly Rage and OPI Don't Touch my Tutu

L-R: China Glaze Tinsel Town, Lynnderella Love, Lace & Lilacs, Lynnderella Connect the Dots, Konad Special Black and Konad Special White.

As you can see I don't own any 'basic' white or black. I don't wear black much, unless it's undies for something because in my somewhat long nails it looks a bit too "goth". I recently got a nude for use as undies for really sheer polishes, so I don't feel I need white either.

Also, I really recommend the Konad black and white special polishes. They're really pigmented and work wonderful for stamping. It's a good investment, in my opinion, for the frustration saved of trying other polishes. Plus you don't really use much for stamping.

The only one that is still untried is ChG Icicle. Last year I got a set of 4 China Glaze from the Holiday collection and I don't know why, this is the only one I haven't worn yet (it's not good for stamping either, too sheer).

Do you like neutrals? What is your HG ('holy grail') black/white polish?

Only one more part on the series left, glitter & flakies. Stay tuned!