Orly Just Peachy - Coveted and Stunning

I bet you found this page, because you picked this unbelievably beautiful polish in TJ MAxx or Marshalls. am I right?:))
It is an amazing neon-ish pink with golden shimmer and textured finish. You can see 2 coats on my nails.

The great mystery of Orly Just Peachy is ...

Sally Hansen 423 Grape Shifter swatches and review

In short - I LOVE this nail polish by Sally Hansen on top of mint green, emerald green and teal colors! 

So Sally Hansen Insta-Dri came up with a variety of limited edition collections this year. 

I personally do not run around in order to get them all. 

This nail polish I spotted in Rite Aid by accident, bought it by accident, yet fell in love with it after the very first swatch. It looks AMAZING on top of greens and teals! 

Pictures will tell you the rest.

On my nail Revlon Wintermint 2 coats, and 1 coat of SallyHansen Grape Shifter.

No top coat.

Make your own nail polish!

You don't have to be an indie business or a big market magnate to produce your own unique HG nail polish shade, Luv!

I do it all the time: if bored, tired, lonely or inspired I start mixing drops of different polishes on a piece of paper. I restore the formula of loved ones by adding nail polish thinner ( Sally's beauty has one), I improve opacity by adding white, black or color (cream finish) varnishes. I add glitter, duochrome and shimmer ones to boring or "tired of" shades, and it is SO much fun!

Julep Claudette swatches, manicure & review

KiI was overexcited about this nail polish, because it seemed like a one-of-a-kind dusty complex warm red shade. Julep Claudette was inspired by the Hollywood star Claudette Colbert. It is described as smokey brick red creme, and it truly is such!

Neon thermo shimmer nail polish by El corazon

It was a mind blowing surprise, since I have not expected much from this color shifter kaleidoscope t-05. 

New European nail polish brands in my collection

Oh boy! I've discovered some quite fascinating nail polish brands during my summer trip to Eastern and Western Europe! 

I have do much swatches and manicures spam that I wonder if I can post it all before Christmas, really:)))

To start it on a cheerful and intriguing note here are my nails of the day: speckled dusty pink by El Corazon 82 and black holographic by Aurelia 128

I love the quality and application of both of these. The only problem I had was smudging of the black over the nude nail polish, when I applied seche vite on top. Quite an unexpected behavior I must say, with orly sec n dry I didn't have that problem.

China Glaze Hey Doll swatches, tutorial and review

I bought this shade originally from transdesign.com (a while ago).
I was quite fascinated, how balanced the color+shimmer was and how dusty yet vibrant it looked on my nails.
So I went ahead and made a video swatches, application and review. sometimes pictures just don't cut it!

Enjoy;)

Revlon Girly swatched - jelly glitter for posh and lazy

Indeed, if you read my post about pink sandwich manicure, some might have thought that layering looked like too much trouble to go through.
Here it is, the ultimate dream of any lazy fashionista - Revlon Girly: a warm tone creamy pink jelly base + periwinkle blue, magenta, copper glitter, that does it all in 1.. well.. let's see how many swipes;))

Color Club Port-folio swatches and review

One of rear cases, when looking at the bottle does no justice to how the nail polish looks on the nails.
I'll tell you right now - it is AMAZINGLY posh, dark and complex duo chrome. One of the best non-flaky or shimmery duochromes I've seen coming from main street nail brands.

My fingers might appear too bright orange or red on the pictures. I made these pics on my iphone4, which tends to oversaturate some colors vs the other ones. So I corrected the white balance, so the nail polish color appears as true to reality as possible. But then it screws the skin color, which is a neutral light tone.
I figured you would be more interested in seeing the Nail Polish, than my exact skin tone:))
SSsso, it is a dark muddy purple base, with green glow in the middle and pink-purple glow on the curved edges.

China Glaze Swanky Silk swatches and thoughts

I'm still on the search for perfect metallic nail polishes. I showed you one pretty outstanding in finish and horrendous in formula rose metallic one by Sephora+Pantone.
This time we've got China Glaze Swanky Silk. This is definitely more warm and complex shade, since it is a duochrome afterall:)
The duo crhome effect is subtle and not loud, which makes it a very appropriate intriguing shade for formal\business environment, as well as a posh twist on classic golden metallic shade in any other occasion.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish Duo: Viridian & Glitterati

Illamasqua is an intriguing British brand, they thrive on being different, over the top and freaky.

They also claim to be innovative in their formulas and bring the outmost luxury of makeup into women's world. Easier said than done, I suppose. 

The most praised products by Illamasqua that I have seen are blushes and nail polishes. 

Thus I naturally had to grab Viridian/ Glitterati duo, when I came down to 19$ on sale in Sephora (- 20% off using the code EXTRA20).

Pink sandwich manicure - layering technique

The infamous Candy Shop by Debora Lippmann though gorgeous has two disadvantages: it's very expensive, and gives only a pink+ multiglitter option of its owner.
Let me show how to get the same (if not better) effect using your stash.

I used layering technique in the following order:

The most metallic nail polish: Rose Dawn by Sephora+Pantone

I have a tragic love story to tell you, my dear friend.

Rose Dawn Nail Polish

But first the good news - I found the MOST metallic nail polish among all the nail polished that I have ever tried. We are talking major light-dark gradient, like polished steel. To make things better it has a complex, rose gold type of color, swinging between peach, copper, pink, beige, champagne, all depending on the lighting. And to make you completely ecstatic -

New shades of grey: blue, green, purple

Here we go, by far the most successful mani combo of the month: China Glaze Pelican Grey with Sally Hansen diamond strength Blue Frosting on top!
AMAzing, just mind blowing beautiful! The grey is light and neutral, the top coat is truly mesmerizing, so many colors hidden in these smooth micro flakes!
Let the pictures speak for themselves:

One thing though, I kindly warn that you should not buy SH Blue frosting to use as a standalone nail polish. It is extremely sheer, but it works wonders to other nail polishes, if put on top!
Highly recommend for those who love complex and glowy manicures that have no explicit glitter:

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know  what think of this combo and the colors themselves!:))

Kisses, Maria "TwosRuse".

Leaves Change: color blocking in manicure

Hi, my luvs!
Today I've got a bit inspiration for those of you, who gathered a substantial collection of nail varnishes and are desperate to put them all to a good use:))
I have recently hauled a ton of new nail polishes, that are all shinny and awesome.
The autumn is the perfect time for colorful collages and color blocking in general. Thus we gotta try some kaleidoscope like nails! I could do obvious oranges, wines and golds.
Nothing wrong with that, it is a classic and juicy color combo!
 Yet for the sake of showing you some alternatives, I went for dusty and muted natural shades that still  fall essentials, but are a bit more sophisticated and unexpected.
Here we go:

I used the same colors in reverse order on my other hands to add some variation and kaleidoscope-like appearance, when "talking" with my hands:)))

The nail polishes are China Glaze Kalahari Kiss from the Safari collection (did I mention I LOVE that collection?!:)) - awesome opaque dusty yellow with green-grey undertones;

Then English Rose by Rimmel - very unique shade of berry pink, that is cheerful, but not neon-like, not too pink, not too red, very tasteful and vivid color all in one. The only complaint I have is the longevity of Rimmel nail polishes on my nails - formula definitely needs some improvement on that account.

And the last one is Essence High Spirits - muted pealy green, which is darker than da bush by Essie. I think it is a versatile city green, which is very elegant in the office environment if you do love greens on your nails. Essence nail polishes are also prone to chipping off on the second day, so I can not recommend it full-heartedly on its own. The application consistency and color are gorgeous though!

I hope you liked this little manicure combo and will get inspired to play with the colors from your nail polish collection! Let me know, what combos you come up with!

Kisses, Maria "TwosRuse".

Dusty lilac with yellow gold shimmer manicure

New awesome color combo for you, friends!

I love, love, love the combination of violet and olive/yellow-green!

I think this particular set is really good for all seasons, because the muted violet color of the Wet n Wild Bite the Bullet is tastefull enough for colder times, yet has the sweetest lilac tint to it and creamy opaque in 2 coats consistency.

   
The yellow-green gloden shimmer in the Nicole by Opi adds some juicy color, sunny shine and overall adge to the lilac.

One minus to the Nicole My favorite Gold shade is that it is very sheer. Even with 3 coats I can see my nail beds. So I would not recommend it on its own, more so if you are looking for greeny gold topcoat.

I like how they contrast each other in both color and texture, and yet go so well together:)

What do you think of this combo?

Pumpkin French Manicure with China Glaze and Orly

Darkened, almost caramelized orange of the China Glaze Desert Sun (Safari collection) looks stunning when paired with its opposite, the dark plum with dense gold shimmer. I chose to pair it with Orly Rock the World, which was issued in the Hollyday Collection some time ago.

I made these pics on my iphone, and corrected the color balance a bit to make them more true to color.

CG Desert Sun is creamy and semi-thick, very good opacity there. I used two coats for dense and glossy finish. And drew a french tip with the Orly Rock the World, which is also true 2 coater, very nice color indeed. I think what separates it from the other shimmery plums is the VERY dense, very prominent gold shimmer. I personally LOVE this combo! What about you?:)

This is that time of the year, oh yeah! Leaves changing, cold air is coming, cozy scarves and stylish jackets are being pulled out of the closet..

We are all excited and a bit sentimental about the end of this year, the many things that could have happened, some did and some did not. One of my absolute favorite things is to take walks with a travel mug full of hot latte or tea. Even though drinking hot beverages is suppositely bad for the throat and lips, I love the feeling of it. I love the vapor coming out of my mouth and the hot yummy drink warming up my throat:)
I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy the fall

Kisses, Maria "TwosRuse".

Gun Metal with Orly Sea Gurl

Needless to say my favorite colors often include metallics and shimmers. Sea Gurl by Orly is no different, highly shimmery mettalic color, which in base is cool brown with grey-ish undertones as well:

The interest of this shade is a very well balanced taupy-brown-grey shade. In certain lighting it becomes warmer, in other type of light it is cool as a cucumber:)))

I put one thin coating and then the thicker second coating for the pictures shown here.
Application-wise it is on a thicker side, but not goopy or streaky. If you are not careful you'll be able to see the strokes, due to the metallic nature on this shade. It doesn't bother me, becuase if I don't hurry, I get avoid them quite successfully.

Hope it was helpful for some of you!

Kisses, Maria "TwosRuse".

Fiery brick red with Orly Take a chance

This is a shade that hasn't been as loved as others on the web. I was surprised to find so few nail swatches, so I decided to add my pictures, in case you were considering buying this one.
So Orly Take a Chance is pearly mix of orange, copper, red and tender green duo chrome glow.
The color transforms in different types of lighting, as well as when you look at it from various angles.

I think this is one of the best "red brick"/ burgundy shades, especially given the fact that you get a very tasteful duochrome (not in your face, but still noticeable) with it!

Here are my swatches, which I made using my iPhone camera, that made the color a tad more red than it is. In real life, in the natural light it is a tad more coppery/bronze than burgundy red.

Well, I might be a bit too OCD about the color truthfulness, when I put my hand against the screen, there is almost no difference at all.
Applicaiton-wise it is a standard Orly formula, very similar to OPI in my opinion: first layer goes kind of sheer (not as sheer as Essie, but not fully opaque). Second layer of medium thickness will take it to full opacity. If you want to darken the color, add a medium to sheer third layer and enjoy the richness of the gorgoues shade!
That's exactly what I did for the swatches in these pictures:)

Hope it was helpful for some of you!

Kisses, Maria "TwosRuse".