GOT Polish Challenge: LILAC. Lilac Lilly, Zara and Infinity Nails stamping

Hello everyone!

I try to check a few animal organiations' cruelty- free lists regularly. And Zoya could until recently be found on one "bad guy" list. So I was very happy when I saw that they had been moved to the other side, among the brands that don't test on animals! :-) So I was very happy to be able to show you two cruelty- free lilac polishes for today's Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge. Although one is from 2008 and the other from 2012, I bought them both two years ago.

One of them is Linda Johansen Lilac Lilly, a very beautiful lilac that you can see under the stamping on the accent nail. One coat of Zoya Zara was enough to give the other nails a nice shimmer. I stamped with gold to match the shimmer. I tried to stamp with a polish from the Romantique Collection again. This time I used China Glaze Magical. And again I used a brand new stamping plate: Infinity Nails 18. I included a picture of it, where you can see the variety of the designs. The Infinity plates have the same size as the MoYou London and the Lily Anna plates, so I store them in the same binder.

This picture is taken before the stamping, and before removing the plastic film:

And this is what the other side looks like:

Products used:

Linda Johansen Nail Candy: Lilac Lilly -2 coats
Zoya: Zara - 1 coat
Stamping:
China Glaze: Magical - from the Romantique collection
Infinity Nails: 18

I bought the Zoya and China Glaze polish on eBay. Linda Jonansen is a Norwegian brand, and can be bought online from Norway Nails or Linda Johansen's web site. Infinty Nails plates can be bought from Dashica Beauty Shop.

The photo below is not color accurate, but shows the shimmer well.

Sadly, Zara is not the best color for my fair skin, but I like it layered like this. According to Scrangie, it's from the Zoya Winter 2008 Flourish Collection.

I really like Lilac Lilly. It's very bright and pastel at the same time. I've used it a lot for nail art. You might remember it from the Tri Polish Challenge last year. I bought Lilac Lilly in October 2012.

Here is the the nail art I've made with Lilac Lilly so far:
Sat- ART- Day Club: 1960's
The Tri- Polish Challenge: Day 1, Lily Nails
The Tri- Polish Challenge: Day 2, Easter Eggs & Bunny
The Tri- Polish Challenge: Day 3, Holographic Glitter & White Flowers

Now I wonder which old lilac polishes the other participants are using, and what they have made. As usual, you'll find thumbnails with links to their blog posts below.

Lani

An InLinkz Link-up

MI-NY: #56 KLIMT (on it's own and used for nail art/ layering)

Hello everyone!

MI-NY: Klimt

MI-NY: KLIMT is a pastel turquoise cream nail polish. It's a 1- 2 coater, and very easy to work with. The color is a little bit greener than on my photos. I bought Klimt in February, and have already used it several times. So now I want to show you what it looks like on it's own, and used for nail art. And I'll try to update this post when I use Klimt for nail art or layering in the future. This first photo was one of my entries to MI-NY' swatch competition called WE LOVE NAILS.

MI-NY: Klimt

I swatched some of my MI-NY polishes, but didn't get time to swatch all of them. I had planned to write blog posts about them too, but haven't had time or been sick...

MI-NY: Klimt

Color comparison

I called the color pastel turquoise, but some would perhaps call it blue-green or pastel teal. As I mentioned Klimt looks a litte more green and less blue than on these photos. Compared to my other polishes in this color family, Klimt is like a pastel version of H&M "Bella's Choice". Klimt is more pastel than Picture Polish "Honey Dew", but "Honey Dew" is a little more green. H&M "Mint Madness" looks like a dusty pastel green, and not turquoise at all, compared to Klimt.

MI-NY: Klimt

MI-NY: #56 Klimt used for nail art or layering:

1) One of the last challenges in the Sat- ART- Day Club, back in February, was "Dotting tools". This was my entry for MI-NY's nail art contest called "WE LOVE NAIL ART", but I didn't win. Details about the mani and more photos in the blog post.

Klimt used for nail art

2) This was made for World Ovarian Cancer Day. The first photos are taken before adding the flakie top coat. I don't think I've shared the first two photos before. Details and more photos in the blog post.

Klimt used for nail art

Klimt used for nail art

Klimt used for nail art

Klimt used for nail art

 With the flakie:

Klimt used for nail art

3) MI-NY's flakie "I LOVE LONDON" layered over Klimt and other polishes. This was an attempt to show what the flakie looks like over different colors. I made it for MI-NY's swatch contest; "WE LOVE NAILS".

MI- NY: "I Love London" layered over Klimt

4. Love is Love - Pastel Rainbow Hearts- Valentines Day nails #8, NPC's Valentine's Day Nail Art Challenge, and #31Nails2014 Day 19 Rainbow

As I've said before, MI-NY is an Italian brand, and according to their answer on facebook they do not test their products on animals. Their web site has a list of MI-NY stores.


Lani

World Ovarian Cancer Day

Hello everyone!

Today is World Ovarian Cancer Day. This is a type of cancer that I didn't know anything about, but if you want to read about ovarian cancer, just click here. I am very glad that I found out that some girls were going to make teal nail art to help raise awareness about ovarian cancer, because that made me learn about it. Because this is a kind of cancer that often get detected late, it's important to be aware of the symptoms, and to read these 5 facts that every woman should know. According to MedlinePlus; "cancer of the ovary is not common, but it causes more deaths than other female reproductive cancers." You can see the other manicures made for ovarian cancer awareness at the end of the post.

List of what I used:

mi-ny: #56 Klimt- pastel turquoise

Messy Mansion: MM07- rose stamping plate
Gina Tricot: #76 Brilliant blue- turquoise, used for stamping (leafs)

Konad: Black- stamping polish (roses)

mi-ny:  #247 I love London- flakie (Some of the photos are taken before adding the flakies.)

Seche Vite after each step

mi-ny: Klimt, Gina Tricot: Brilliant blue, Konad: Black, mi-ny. I love London,
Messy Mansion: MM07

It was interesting to see how different mi-ny: 'I LOVE LONDON' looks over pastel teal and over black. I used only one coat. 'I love London' is a very sheer pastel turquoise base with red flakies and tiny blue flakies. The red flakies can shift to orange and yellow (as you can see over the black roses), and light green (as you can see in the bottle). mi-ny is not tested on animals :-)

mi-ny: I love London

I chose to use this Messy Mansion stamping plate today, not only because I love the rose images, but also  because Messy Mansion donate 10% of their website profits to projects that benefit women. One of the projects gives girls the opportunity to go to school even when they are menstruating. Many girls in developing countries can't go to school those days of the month because they can't afford sanitary products. When a more affordable product is made, it gives a job for those women who make them, and the risk that the girls drop out of school is also reduced. The other project getting money from Messy Mansion, gives women who are incontinent or have other problems after childbirth, a chance to have the operation they need to be able to live normal lives. When I checked Messy Mansion's web site now, I found out that it's a different charity each month. You can read more about their "Women Empowering Women"- project here.

Messy Mansion: MM07

Edit: After reading Nail-to-Nail Interpretations' blog post, I want to add a link to Teal Toes. You can  raise awareness of ovarian cancer by painting your toenails teal, and getting your friends to paint their toenails teal too, and talk about ovarian cancer when someone asks about it, and making sure that they know the signs of this disease.

Below, you can find more manicures made for ovarian cancer awareness. A click on the thumbnails, will take you to their blog post. If you want to join in, you can add the link to your blog post at the bottom of one of our blog posts. It looks like the Inlinkz will work for a few more days.

Lani

Red Carpet Oscar Nails: Antique gold and red stamped louboutin nails with Boom Boom Pow

Hello everyone!

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

I had planned to make this mani before watching the Oscars, but I didn't start until I watched the experts talk before the show. I love to see what the stars are wearing, and to see who wins of course. But this year I was surprised by all the great singers.

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Used:

Stamping plates:
Konad: m63, m69
Bundle Monster: BM- 303

Nail polish (from left to right):
Gosh: Nero
H&M: Antique Gold
Deborah Lippmann: Boom Boom Pow
Konad: Red
H&M: Red

What I did:

I painted my nails black to achieve the gorgeous bottle color of H&M Antique Gold with fewer coats, but I liked that it looked a little darker. I tried to make a little gradient with Antique Gold first, and then with Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow on the index finger and middle finger. But I wanted the fingers to look different, so I applied many layers on the pinkie, and the thumb and the ring finger are without glitter. Then I did the stamping, and painted the underside of the nail tips with a little brush. Next time I'll paint the underside earlier in the process. But this was my first louboutin nails, and I hadn't checked how to do it.

Red Carpet Oscar Nails

Did you watch the Academy Awards? Who did you wish would win? And if you made Oscar nails too, what did yours look like?

Lani

Layering: Cult Nails Seduction over Pieces Winter Purple

Hello everyone!

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

This is Cult Nails Seduction over Pieces Winter Purple. I will show you photos taken in different light conditions and under water to show the flakies better. In the picture above I hold my hand under water.

The bottles:

Pieces: Winter Purple, Cult Nails: Seduction

This is how Cult Nails describes Seduction:

A diva true to her name, Seduction lures you in with her purple sheer base and leaves you speechless by adding red and blue flakes that offer a slight flash of color shift to gold at certain angles. Seduction was originally offered as part of the “Divas and Drama” Collection, 2012. Each bottle is 0.5 fluid ounces approximately 15 ml.

Cult Nails also writes that: All Cult Nails Lacquers are 4 Free and Cruelty Free! 

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

I think the photo above is the most color accurate of the base color.

All photos are with two coats of Seduction and top coat, except for the one below that is taken after only one coat:

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

Under water:

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

Daylight:

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

Artificial light:

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

I bought Seduction last summer (2012), and when it arrived, I was very impressed by the environment friendly packaging. And I got inspired to take a lot of photos. Here are a few of them:

Environment friendly nail mail from Cult Nails

Cult Nails: Seduction, unboxing

 And here you see the bottle resting on a bed of cotton

Cult Nails: Seduction

Lani

H&M Pink bling bling over H&M Pink Macaroon

Hello everyone!

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

This is 1 coat of H&M Pink bling bling layered over 3 coats of  H&M Pink Macaroon. Plus top coat. I haven't felt more girly in a long time.

H&M: Pink Macaroon, H&M: Pink bling bling 

These were both bought in December 2012. I'm not showing you Pink Macaroon on it's own, because I had problems with application. For some reason I still had some small nearly bold spots even after 3 coats, but when I layered H&M Pink bling bling over it, as I had planned, it didn't show at all, and the glitter fixed everything.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Pink Macaroon 

Pink Macaroon is a pastel pink creme nail polish. I have a lot of H&M polishes, and was surprised by the formula, but have heard that it's a common problem with pastels.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Pink bling bling 

Pink bling bling looks different in different light conditions. Although the jelly base looks light pink in the bottle, I couldn't see that it made Pink Macaroon any darker. In daylight it looks like a pale glitter mixed with a little holographic glitter. In the sun or very bright light you can see colors (pink, orange, yellow, silver, and if you magnify it you can also see light blue, purple and very dark glitter) but in the shade the glitter looks more white. Inside in the evening (low light) it looks like small silver and holographic glitter. The holographic glitter is red, green and orange (and blue?). The holographic part of the glitter reminds me of Out The Door Northern Lights. But Northern Lights is more subtle. It has tinier glitter and is much more dense than the H&M glitter. Pink bling bling consists of tiny hexagonal and even tinier round glitter, but you'll have to magnify the photo very much to be able to notice the shape.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Sun:

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Shade:

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Is this something you would wear for Valentine's Day? Maybe with some hearts on an accent nail?

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Lani