Kingsday waterfall nails and Elevation Polish - Epidote

It has been Kingsday in The Netherlands for the very first time ever!
Naturally I needed to match my nails to the festivities: I did waterfall nails this year.
As a base I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, for the waterfall I used OPI a Roll in The Hague, Nicole by OPI Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi, OPI Red Lights Ahead Where? and Koh! Rock Chick.
I have just one pic that is showable here (I was in a hurry and messed up the rest of the photo's).....

Kingsday 2014

It looked way more festive in real live, not dirty and washed out like above >sigh<

Back to real live; a while ago I bought this lovely holografic polish at Elevation Polish and wore it immediatly and loved it to bits!
It is Epidote, a light olive colour with scattered holografic particles (no spectraflair).

Elevation Polish - Epidote

Epidote is yummy and squishy and very spring appropriate I think: it reminds me of budding leaves and fresh flower stems. This was a pretty thick 2 layers, the consistency was a bit syrupy but workable.

Essie - Belugaria (Holiday 2013 Encrusted Treasures Collection)

Well, Essie Belugaria.....I couldn't make up my mind: to buy or not to buy....?!
Then I saw it in a sale and I caved, so here it is.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised! It is a bit edgy and not for every day but I like the overall effect of it.
I looks indeed a bit like caviar on your tips, or perhaps more like a big crust of tar with some glittery stuff mixed in. It is hard to apply unlike other liquid sand polishes, you sort of have to dab it on the nails in two coats. While wearing it you might lose a piece here and there but this is very easily refilled with a firm blob of polish where needed. And although it is not easy wearing, nor very practical I like the stuff!

Essie - Belugaria

So conclusion: this is not a polish for the faint of hart!
But if you want to wake the rock chick in you try this polish: you'll hit the groove fast :-)

Essie - Cocktail Bling (Winter 2011 Cocktail Bling Collection)

Today I have Essie's Cocktail Bling for you, it is a neutral bluish grey that morphs between blue and grey depending on the light. It is from the 2011 winter collection but I really like to wear it now in spring as well.
The application was wonderful, two very easy coats.

Essie - Cocktail Bling

I love it; it is a very wearable colour and it looks very chique and fresh at the same time!

Essie - Fondola Gondola (Classic Collection)

Because of my dried out fingers I wanted a neutral colour on my nails again.
I dove in my stash and found Essie's Fondola Gondola, sitting there being sad and untried!
Well, that is just my loss, being that I didn't try this baby earlier: it is LOVELY and than some.
The formula is like butter, it glides on in two perfect layers and the colour is just gorgeous.
I would describe it as a rosy, peachy pink neutral with hints of mauve....

Essie - Fondola Gondola

It looks very jummy, like autumn fruits in yogurt or something!
I don't think it is still in the collection but you can find it easily on Ebay....

OPI Sand In My Suit (OPI South Beach Collection - Spring/Summer 2009) and OPI The Living Daylights (OPI Holiday 2012 Skyfall Collection)

Well....it has been a while.....
I totally wrecked my hands/nails/cuticles and I needed some time to heal!
How did I do that (the wrecking, that is)? I restored an antique mirror that we bought in an auction.
The end result is beyond what I imagined it would be, everything I did worked out very, very well >happy happy, joy joy<

The end result of the restauration project

I had to remove layers of brown stain off the goldleaf ornaments and I had to make stems with clay for a lot of the leafs, those were gone missing in action over the years.

The top end during restauration

The top end fully restaured

To get all this terrible, terrible staining off I had to use more then 1 bottle of aceton! I very much enjoyed the whole proces but my hands were hating it all the way.... The were cracked and completely dried out within hours!
So no nailpolish or any blogging for me for a while, was the conclusion.
I still have one thumb that is less than happy, but he is not an actor in de blog pics so I can start polishing again >YEAH!<

I will start on a conservative note with OPI Sand In My Suit.
SIMS is a very soft sandy peach nude with subtle silver pearly shimmer. It is opaque in two coats!
The shimmer really lifts this polish out of the boring zone.

OPI - Sand In My Suit

While loving the colour I thought it would be a good base for my OPI The Living Daylights. TLD is a glitter that is lovely in the bottle but I just have the hardest time to find a canvas for it that works. Perhaps SIMS is The One???

OPI - The Living Daylights

Yes, I do like the end result: I topped it off with Essie Matte About you and I guess that did the trick. Mattified glitters are so much more sophisticated!

Lynnderella - Pentimento (Sweet Somethings for a Summer Solstice, 2012) and OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu! (NYC Ballet Soft Shades, 2012)

OK, wow...this is my first and only Lynnderella polish....Pentimento.

And this is how it is described on Lynnderella's blog:
"Pentimento, according to Wikipedia, is "an alteration in a painting, evidenced by traces of previous work, showing that the artist has changed her mind as to the composition during the process of painting. The word is also Italian for repentance." For all fine- and/or nail-art applications. Clear base. Beware of bars."

And that all in one tiny bottle of polish!

I made a glitter sandwich of it with OPI Don't Touch My Tutu! I started with OPI then Pentimento then OPI, Pentimento and OPI again (and two layers of topcoat). I was very surprised to get the huge black hex....I could not see those living in there from the outside of the bottle.

Lynnderella - Pentimento & OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu!

I like it that the OPI makes it look like the glitters are snowed in...it feels like winter.

I know that there is/was a lot of controversy around Lynnderella and her polishes....what can one say about these things? Lynnderella is an true artist with glitter (I really think so) and well, throughout history it has become evident that artist are,in many, many cases, not very good in public relations, money and sales.....But it is the product that counts (although it is very expensive and barely unobtainable). Thank you Kristy from The Polish Haven for putting it in your blogsale and selling it to me!!!

The loot...

Maybelline Forever Strong - Green Miracle 720 and China Glaze - This Is Tree-mendous (Happy HoliGlaze Christmas Collection 2013)

I bought this green a while ago at a discount store....the green metallic shimmer just called out to me and it needed to come home with me. It was sitting on my little polish "Helmer" for a while and it was overtaken by all the Essie's, Opi's, indies and China Glaze's until now.
Green Miracle is a grey green jelly with a ton of green metallic shimmer, in low light it looks quite dark and in the sun it's metallic green goodness!

Maybelline - Green Miracle 720

The formula is thin and you need to apply a fair amount of polish with as little brushstrokes as possible. Otherwise you end up with bald spots..... This was two layers and when you look carefully you can see the bald spot problem on my ring finger....

Next day, I added China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous on the tips (to disguise some sleight tipp wear).

China Glaze - This Is Tree-mendous

Quite the Christmas combination.....
Usually I like it better to make a gradient from the base of the nail, but well...that does not disguise any tipp wear, now does it?!