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Remember when I wrote that "I'll post regular updates" thing a while ago? Yeah it kinda didnt't happen. So guess what?!? I got my nail persona self a spanking new instagram account!

Now, any of you longing for those regular updates, go to your instagram app and follow alizarine.se. It will contain circa 95-98 % nail polish related material, in contrast to my private insta account (which is 60 % politics and bullshit, 30 % kitteh, and only about 10 % nail shizzle).

I'll meet you there!

Push and Shove

Welcome to my new attempt at regular updates! 

Today I'm wearing OPI Push and Shove, and although every damn ridge is showing, it's shiny and nice. Of course not that revolutionary though, to those of us who've owned Maybelline Mirror Image for quite a few years. 

I don't believe I'll ever go back to swatching, but while I'm at it with the instas, let's just post what the heck. 

Just checkin'

...in. Yeah, let's have some re-instas, while we're waiting for the final results of the Swedish elections.

Smitten Polish A Wedding Dress That Isn't Bright Turquoise

OPI Black Spotted over Int'l Crime Caper

CND Vinylux Steel Gaze

Essence Blue Cara Ciao

H&M Jungle Me


And speaking of H&M, I don't know about you, but the new 5 ml bottle pisses me off. Yes, they lowered the price, but not as much as they lowered the contents. Pfft! Don't piss off lacquerheads, we're proud people.

Rererererererereinstas

Yeah, you know the drill by now - I have been posting on Instagram, but not on the blog, so here are my saved up instas. Check 'em out.

Deborah Lippmann Forget You

Wet'n'Wild Shield and China Glaze Ingrid

My Xmas mani! Believe it or not. OPI 4 In The Morning, Darling Diva Polish Spank Me Harder, OPI Love, Angel, Music, Baby, plus rhinestone candle thingy.

Gina Tricot Alexis

A-England Her Rose Adagio



I'm working crazy hard to win the elections coming up here in Sweden September 14th - will I ever get a break? If I can find the time to redo my nails once a week, it will be a fucking miracle. Stay tuned. (I love you still.)

Little neon studs for summer

I'm still alive! Yes, once again I feel compelled to let you know that by stating the obvious. 

Summer should mean lots of time to do one's nails, but, as it turns out, it's just too darn hot and humid. So I'm just gonna go ahead and leave these old sucktastic photos of manis with neon studs in 'em. 

Here in modest amounts on a nude - CND Vinylux Powder My Nose.

And here in random distributions over a hot pink - OPI Hey Baby.

Honestly, I've made better looking manicures with studs after these, but these were my first attempts. They're fairly easy to use, so I don't mind putting them on every now and then. Personally, I'm partial to the square studs, but the round ones are nice too.

These in particular are from Born Pretty Store, and were sent to me for review.

IsaDora will no longer be featured at alizarine

It has come to my attention that Swedish cosmetic company Invima, owner of brand IsaDora, uses questionable business practices - to say the least. Just take a look at this facsimile from the internet edition of daily Sydsvenskan:

Google translate may not have been kind on the tricksy Swedish language, but I hope it still comes out clear: Invima treats their employees like shit. In an attempt to avoid regulated employer responsibility, they fired the vast majority of their factory workers, and brought in a staffing company. This company in turn, threatens its employees both verbally and physically.

I think it's obvious: for me as a union woman this is unacceptable. Therefore I will no longer feature IsaDora on this blog. Neither will I buy any of their products. This will last until there is proof that Invima act according to Swedish laws and applicable collective agreements.

I'm also fully aware that this once great blog has diminished quite massively, but I hope to be able to spread the word enough for others to pick up and pay it forward - after all, this is about basic human rights: to be able to go to work and earn your living without fear of threats and retaliation, and their possible realization. It's a call to arms for workers' rights.

Until further notice, the boycott is on.

To read the source article in Swedish, click here.
To read the source article in poorly translated English, click here.
To read the follow up statement from the employer, in Swedish, click here.
To read the follow up statement from the employer, in really badly translated English, click here.

Didn't die

Hiya! Just so you'll know I didn't die on you, here are som re-instas.

From OPI Brazil: Where Did Suzi's Man-go? and Kiss Me I'm Brazilian.

Some Depend Mirage, probably 2055 Bronzy Breeze. very nice gold (!) foil.

Rimmel Torrid

Orly Androgynie

a-england Encore Margot

And if you wonder why I'm silent: I got too much to do. I rarely have any decent time off, that I don't use for absolutely nothing. I got a new temporary job, doing my political and union stuff, and on top of that I'm a single mom at somewhere around 95 % of the time. But I'll be better. I promise. At least I'm happy.

OPI Sheer Tints

I love jellies and sheer colored polishes for layering. Remember the Sorbet part of the Texas collection? The colors weren't all that daring, but they became staples for many fans of so called sandwiches, layered manicures with glitter somewhere in the middle.

Now OPI has given us Sheer Tints, and yes, they're sheer. They are colored topcoats, resembling the finish that some of us refer to as water, but thicker in consistency, and they only hint the pigmentation in one coat.  They build up though, and below you can see how they develop from coats one to four.

The shades are a bit more diverse than those of the Sorbet collection, with the teal I Can Teal You Like Me, and the yellow toned I'm Never Amberrassed as the slightly less conventional addition to the purple Don't Violet Me Down, and the pink Be Magentale With Me.

The latter got tried out in the manicure below.

This is If You Moust, You Moust fom the Minnie Mouse collection of 2012, and Crown Me Already! from Miss Universe 2011, with Be Magentale With Me over the pink, in a center-linear gradient. I initially tried the same design over the glitter, but couldn't get it even enough to look good. It worked better for me applied over the creme, but it could just have been my own lack of patience.

Here's a closeup of one of my thumbs, that shows the gradient more.

The downside to these, in my opinion, is that the consistency is too thick, even for a topcoat. In the formula I received, bubbles easily occur (which is fairly obvious judging from my sticks a couple of photos up from here). However, this can of course be fixed with some thinner, once there's space enough in the bottle.

I have some playing left to do here, but overall I like polishes like these.

Int'l Women's Day reinsta statement nails

Guess what... Since I'm lazy, I'm starting a new series of instagram reposts, so that all of you get a chance to see all the grainy iphone camera pics of what I've been wearing lately. Well, over the course of the last three or so months, as it turns out.

 I still have about 8 minutes, Central European time, to show you some decent feminist statement manicures during one of the most important days of the year - International Women's Day. Check it out.

Feminist warrior manicure with camouflage, leopard spots, and of course the Venus sign.

Olympic games versus Pride, french skittles.

Feminist fire!

Red and white camouflage, leopard spots (yes, again), and V.

And the manicure I actually wore today (and still am wearing): pink and red with red and coral leopard spots, and some neon studs.

Hope you're celebrating accordingly!

OPI Muppets Most Wanted quickie

Time for another new collection, and it's the annual soft shades collection from OPI, called Muppets Most Wanted. The last couple of years, the soft shades collection haven't been as soft as they used to be, and this year is no exception.

Eight shades, of which three are classic soft shades, two are more or less duochrome definite not-softs, and three topping glitters:

Clockwise from top left: Miss Piggy's Big number (blue metallic with the tiniest shift), I Love Applause (pastel pink creme), Int'l Crime Caper (sheer white with pink flash and light blue flecks), Chillin' Like A Villain (peach pastel creme), Gaining Mole-mentum (pink and gold glitter shards), Let's Do Anything We Want! (white and pink glitters with small and large white square glitter), Muppets World Tour (white and gold glitter, silver micro glitter, with larger magenta, blue and champagne pink hex glitters), Kermit Me To Speak (purple to golden green duochrome shimmer).

Believe it or not, the first one to get tried out was Int'l Crime Caper, because it's interesting enough for a sheer. Below is three coats:

It's a shitty photo, but imagine the pink flash stronger, and the blue flecks a little more vivid and reflective. There's still visible nail line enough to scare those of you who dread it, for which I'd suggest some undies. I'd say this is the nicest conservative sheer I have, so don't miss out on it if you're into that kind of thing.

Quick note on the duochrome Kermit Me To Speak: personally I own more than a handful of polishes with this pigment, from OPI's very own catalogue Amethyst Abyss comes to mind, so if you have that (chances getting smaller for each day since it's ooold), or perhaps Nubar Purple Beach, maybe your need for this one isn't as huge as you'd first think. Though, perhaps Kermit Me To Speak is a tad less green and run more between purple and gold, predominantly. If you'd like a comparison, let me know and I could probably manage.

Nail vinyls - custom made!

A while ago we got word that a Finnish company started making custom nail vinyls. I of course had to try out their online "nail studio", where you can adjust backdrop color and add elements, such as images from your own hard drive, to make my own design. Tuomas at Inni kindly sent me my own design for review.

I made this pretty design with the dancing day of the dead like image I once found somewhere on the dear ol' 'net.

This is what the online studio looks like:

As you can see, if my nails had been longer, I would have had more of the french like style the full vinyl stickers opted for, but it is what it is, and this way the design covered my entire nails instead.

The vinyl stickers were easy to apply, as usual with the sometimes slight difficulty of filing them off neatly, but personally I solved this by leaving a tiny bit of an edge and wrap my tips with it, then filing the edges off. Unfortunately, my nails are rather curved, and no matter how I stretch (but gently to not stretch the image out of proportions), I always end up with the little pockets along the cuticles. For anyone with a less curved nail, these probably work out just fine.

There are plenty of nice designs made by previous guests, if you don't feel like making your own, and they can be yours for $8.90 at Innis site!

New collection quickie: Depend Rough Sweet

For those of you who aren't yet tired of texture polishes, or pastel polishes for that matter, Depend releases a twelve piece collection of such shades, called Rough Sweet.

Though disputable whether all of these colors are really pastels, they are kind of soft in tone. At least the ones I tried quick stick swatches of. Here are my picks from the collection, clockwise from top:

2100 Sweet Candy (lilac with very subtle pearlescent shimmer), 2098 Sweet Mint (pale minty green), 2097 Sweet Jelly (spring green with small iridescent glitters), 2094 Sweet Sour (pale yellow with small iridescent glitters), 2095 Sweet Bubble (pale, cool pink), and 2093 Sweet Sugar (white with very subtle pearlescent shimmer).

Three from this collection have the little iridescent glitters to keep them interesting, and apart from the above two, it's also present in a caramel colored shade that I would probably never wear even at gunpoint. Except for these, all have some sort of shimmer that isn't really apparent because of the texture. They're soft and sweet, but not necessarily interesting in themselves.

As usual when Depend releases specialty collections, these come with a bigger price tag than the standard spring and fall collections. At SEK 39:-, these 5 ml per bottle have a high unit price. But if you're really into this sorta thing...

A rose for anyone who wants it

Only so that you don't think I've died: here's A-England Briar Rose.

Sweden is dark and wintery. Not a lot of opportunities to use the camera (if you're a chronic lightbox antagonist). Not to mention life is keeping me busy, and stress is an every day reality - but that doesn't mean I'm not happy. I am. And I will return.

Jupiter Aurora

This amazing stuff has been lying around for way too long, but here it finally is: the glorious glitter that is Coco Allure Jupiter Aurora.

Completely amazeballs. Other words fail me when I look back at this. Except maybe that it was painted over black and I do believe it was two coats of glitter. I have to pull this one out again sometime soon.

I got this from Sweden's very own nail polish webshop Edgy Polish. Visit and browse - international shipping!

Warm Me Up please

Here's a quickie one and another from the OPI Mariah Carey holiday collection: Warm Me Up.

I didn't like this at first in the bottle, it looked like it was going to be frosty - but then I needed that cool toned dark chocolate color. And as long as you handle the brush carefully, it ends up nice, and no, it isn't frosty. It reminded me of the Misa classic Earthward, but while that one really was frosty, this is like an improved version, needed now in a time when all nail peeps, me included, are way more sensitive to even the slightest hint of frostiness.

I really liked this one, because cool toned browns aren't that common, after all.

Turquoise leopard

Let's have a dose of nailart, shall we? I'm still trying to get the leopard pattern right, and here I tried it on a turquoise skittlette.

The base color here is Sephora Full Moon Party, and the added glitter on index and pinky is one from Gabrini. So is also the dots in the leopard pattern, but it looked odd and not contrasting enough on top of the Sephora, so I dotted some OPI Goldeneye underneath it.

All in all rather nice despite my continuing clumsiness with the brush, adding the black bits. I'll have to get better with that...

Bohemian Rhapsody

Still got lots in the vault - but not that much time to write! But before it starts getting ridiculous, here is one truly spectacular shade of Darling Diva polish: Bohemian Rhapsody. From the Queen themed collection, of course. Shown over black.

Holo and multichrome. Everything a girl needs! I wish I had managed a better shot of the straight angle colors in the shade, but sadly, no sun often equals way too blurry. I hope you'll like it anyway.