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!

A Fabulous Spell

While it's still some kind of fall up here in the northern hemisphere: check out this wonderful layering combination. As the base we have the metallic H&M Fabulous Nails Honey, and on top the now classic Barielle Elle's Spell.

I can't stop adding these hopeless instagram photos, just because I have them. But isn't she lovely? Even my 7 year old daughter liked it (she's usually only into pink glitters) and asked to have it reproduced on her toenails. You just can't go wrong with a flakie.

Re-re-re-insta!

These are the last ones - promise. Well, at least for now...

Finger Paints Twisted over Orly Glow.

Depend 387. Love this finish!

Kill it with fire, pt II: China Glaze Bend Over Backwards with the orange-yellow-green flakie gradient over (I've forgotten which one of all those I used this particular time).

Smitten Polish Electric Lime. Best (neon) green holo ever.

Last days of summer: Essie Boom Boom Room.

Beware of continuations to this type of posts in the future.

Having a butler is slightly twisted

Some polishes are just impossible to photograph, and the recently released Essie Butler Please is one of those. Luckily, you've already seen it a million times, but I still wanted to show you how I wore it: with a nice flakie on top - Finger Paints Twisted.

I believe I did two coats of the Essie, and one coat of the Finger Paints on top. I love a spectacular flakie combination, and I love them super saturated blue cremes, so this is right upp my alley. Inspiration for this manicure came from a girl named Anne (we hang around the same forum), and while I was painting on this particular manicure, fellow Swedish feminist Annahita posted her version, which in turn was inspired by seeing Nails Inc Baker Street paired with Nubar 2010. This combination and similar are just too tempting for any lacquerhead to resist trying out!

All products were purchased with own funds.

Swedish word of the day:
betjänt -noun butler, servant
Nothing I'd put my money in.

OPI Skyfall - half a dozen

One of the most difficult births ever on this blog, may be this very post. Surrounded by nothing but darkness, I eventually succumbed to the use of the dreaded camera flash. The photos are accordingly.

Casino Royale. Three coats. Very red purple, almost beet colored, creme.

Live And Let Die. Two coats. Super pigmented, very dark green creme base full of gold fleck shimmer.

Moonraker. Two coats. Slightly semi-matte drying cool-toned silver chrome.

Skyfall. Two coats. Brown leaning red creme.

Tomorrow Never Dies. Three coats. Blue leaning purple with slight magenta duochrome properties. The bottom photo is really blurry, but fairly color accurate.

And the really special, but expensive, one:

The Man With the Golden Gun. One coat over Live And Let Die. 18 Karat gold flake topcoat.


There are five more polishes in this collection, that I haven't yet managed to swatch because of a broken nail, but hold on tight and I might get them up before Christmas?! I have already showed you two colors, and you can look at them again here.

This is indeed a Christmas or Holiday collection, and although very appropriate for the season, as well as incredibly classy, it's not that intriguing. There is only one color that I truly adore, but it's not in this bunch. Live And Let Die is a very nice one, but it doesn't make my heart skip a beat - or make an extra jump, for that matter. Despite the duochrome shift in Tomorrow Never Dies, it is not a very spectacular purple, neither is the barely-purple-at-all purple Casino Royale. However, I can see it sell well among the less lacquer enthusiastic general crowd, and the same goes for the sorta vampy warm red Skyfall. I love red cremes, and I like Skyfall, but it's just a tad too brown to really hit it.

I'm also a little sad to have seen Moonraker so widely misunderstood, as the most common description I have seen is that it has a frost finish. If anyone's still hesitant, let me calm you by stating that it is not a frost - it's a chrome. A cool-toned, barely blue-based, semi-matte drying chrome. Chromes are usually prone to brush strokes, and have to be allowed complete drying before evaluated. However, Moonraker would definitely benefit from a good ridgefilling basecoat underneath.

Most of all, I'm happy that OPI did not get to name these polishes in the silly manner we've gotten used to, but rather just after a bunch of more or less memorable James Bond movies. After all, it vastly increases the seriousness. And sometimes I tend to take polish a little too seriously, I admit that.

Last but not least, I'm sure you're already very aware of the increased pricetag on the special release The Man With the Golden Gun, the 18 Karat gold flakes suspended in a clear polish, meant to be put on top of any of the other shades. In Sweden it retails for a whopping almost 75 USD, which makes it immensely bourgeoise. Nonetheless, a desirable collector's item.

The Skyfall collection in its entirety is available in stores already.

All products were sent for review, except The Man With the Golden Gun which was purchased with own funds.

Swedish word of the day:

borgerlig -adjective bourgeois

Class-y?

Spam of complete randomness

Here's a post full of manicures that didn't get their own posts. Enjoy (if possible).

Ebalay 006/A08 over some medium purple.

Finger Paints Twisted over Essie Turquoise and Caicos.

Creative Limelight over OPI If You Moust You Moust.

H&M Brown, part of Spring Nails miniset from last year.

China Glaze Snow Globe gradient over Ruby Kisses Hot Pink Obsession.

Models Own Indian Ocean over some light blue.

H&M Mustard, from a fall miniset from last year.

Danged up and sunny OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!.

Flash lit photo of Dare to Wear Smokin' Diva (it's a very nice shade actually).

Duochrome stamping over duochrome: China Glaze Swanky Silk over Rimmel Hard Edged.

China Glaze Ride the Waves.

Color Club Shabby Drab.

Swedish expression of the day:
spara till senare save for later
It's what I did here...

To buy ...what?

I don't know what has happened to me, but let's say it's spring: I'm reaching for colors I have never before been open towards. I'm buying pinks. Sheers. Bridal collections. Pastels. And I really disliked pastels on a personal level, when they got really big a few years ago. One pastel I got recently, is To Buy Or Not To Buy, from Essie's spring collection. At first I only got the very nice (again, sort of ...pastel) green from this collection, but then I spotted the pastel lavender bottle and its super pretty shimmer, and decided I needed that too. Despite it's incredibly ridiculous name. And, unfortunately, despite the fact that the shimmer barely shows up on the nail. I didn't even take pictures of it alone. Instead I opened one of my trusty flakie bottles: Finger Paints Asylum, and added the subtle oompf myself.

Since I'm terribly unexperienced with pastel application (due to my reluctance, of course), this is actually four coats of the Essie. The first  one is very thin though, because I usually start out my manicures that way, and I always, always, forget that pastels needs to just be slapped on as quickly as possible - with the mandatory risk of bubbling. And, if you're wondering why all these photos vary in color, it's because my camera still hates these warmer purple toned shades. It's a red leaning, more lavender than lilac one. At first I thought the last photo (shot with my dslr) was the most accurate, but now I'm leaning towards the sunny photo being that, only the shade is a tad darker. Oh, and can you see the underlying Essie shimmer? I know I can't.

Anyway. The Finger Paints flakie (one coat) made this manicure so much better. Without it, I wouldn't have liked it. It still felt very little like me, but it was okay. And any day soon, I just might post a manicure or two that are so not me that this Essie shade appears to have been made with me in mind.

Swedish word of the day:
lavendel -noun lavender
We emphasize the middle syllable.

Cosmik debris

Yet another one of those times when I was playing around with a bunch of polishes and went sorta all-in. I had a black polish on, and then put on another, and then another... And another. Check out the completely overloaded manicure I call Cosmik debris.

Mmm... So, what is all of this? We have, from the bottom: OPI Metallic 4 Life, Finger Paints Twisted, and for that extra space parkle, INM Nothern Lights in silver. It's just too much. I couldn't stand it for that long, to be honest. My eyes itch! But it still looks rather fun, and could be useful during a night out.

Oh, here:






I don't know.

Swedish word of the day:
rymdskrot -noun space debris
Old satellites and space stations and shit.