Pieces Il Postino

Hi all,

Today I have another polish from Pieces for you. I reviewed three other polishes earlier, but recently I picked up this one. It's called Il Postino and according to Wikipedia, Il Postino means 'the mailman'. This is an Italian movie from 1994 which won an Oscar and several BAFTA's.

Pieces Il Postino, five coats in indirect daylight. Whoa, five coats! Il Postino is a tomato red jelly that still shows some VNL with five coats. I couldn't force myself to add another coat, so I left it at this.

Application was alright. The polish has a jelly structure so it's a bit runny, but the brush makes it easy to handle. Opacity.. Well, let's say that's not so good. I personally do not like VNL at all so that's a downside for me. However, I do like the color a lot! I don't own many red jellies.. Now that I think of it, do I even own one other red jelly? I can't think of one!

Drying time was good, considering the fact that I used five coats. It was dry when I was taking my pictures so that's a big plus!

Pieces nailpolish can be bought at Pieces stores (I bought mine at Pieces Kalverstraat in Amsterdam) for € 2,95 a bottle or € 6,95 for three bottles.

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison Wednesday

Hi all!

I've had a couple of requests for comparisons and I found some polishes in my stash that were a lot alike, so Comparison Wednesday it is! I apologize for the variety in backgrounds, but some colors wouldn't be accurate on a white background and some didn't like the black background. I did the best I could with it since lighting wasn't really coorperating either..

Anyway, I have no less than four comparisons for you today! Here's a little overview.

Some colors are way darker irl, but again, that's due to the background..

Left Misa Dirty Sexy Money, right Catrice I Sea You! The colors are a little too dark, but you can see that they're pretty much identical. Dirty Sexy Money is a tad bit more blue, but I don't think you could tell these apart when I wore them together as a mani.

Left Color Club Electronica, right Nfu Oh 117. Both are deep purples with red and blue shimmer particles, but Electronica is a bit darker so I'd say these are no dupes of eachother. They are siblings though, so if you own one of these two, you probably won't need the other.

Left OPI Dating A Royal and Essie Mesmerize on the right. I would call both of them medium blues, but they are no dupes. I've read somewhere that these are deadon dupes, but they're obviously not. Dating A Royal is more intense, colorwise, than Mesmerize. The latter is a bit brighter. No, these are not dupes. If you're not really into blues, you probably won't need both though.

This one is not as faded and light as my picture let's it appear, but I couldn't get a proper shot. I will try again later this week and add a better picture when I managed to take a more accurate picture.. Anyway, left is Orly Prince Charming and right is Essie Mink Muffs. Both are taup-ey cremes, but Mink Muffs is more pigmented and is warmer than Prince Charming. Mink Muffs and Prince Charming are not dupes of eachother.

Left RBL No More War, right Pieces It's a Camouflage. They are both in the army green category, but that's all they have alike. No More War is way darker and greener than It's a Camouflage so no dupes here either.

I hope this was helpful :) Again, if you have suggestions for a comparison, please let me know and I'll see if I can do one for you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flakie Festival

Hi all,

Today another shortie. I feel like I haven't slept in weeks and I'm finally getting tired after four sleepless nights so hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep and make something more out of my day. Anyway, when I showed you Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto yesterday, I wasn't really that excited. Yes, it's a pretty blue but it didn't do much for me, so I decided to top it off with Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure.

Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto with one coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Flakies! Yaay! This is only one coat of Hidden Treasure so it gives off a great amount of flakies in just one coat. The flakies flash orange, green, yellow and gold. The Sally Hansen brush is short and flat, so it was a bit weird at first to work with, but it all worked out in the end.

I thought it would be appropriate to post this since the flakies flash orange and gold and The Netherlands just played the semi finals and THEY WON!! Yaay!! The Dutchies will go to the final of the world cup! *small happy dance*

Thanks for stopping by

Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto

Hi all,

Another short one today; Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto. It's almost impossible to get $OPI's here in The Netherlands so I grabbed this one on a board sale.

Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto, three coats in daylight. Blue Grotto is a dark blue dusty jelly. It's darker and more muted though than shown in this picture. It has the same issues with photographing as OPI Dating A Royal.

Sephora By OPI Blue Grotto in indirect daylight. This one shows the color more accurately, though it's not as grey as my picture shows it.

Application was alright. The brush is long and small so it was a bit tricky to apply the polish evenly, but all smoothened out after applying the second coat. The third coat took care of eliminating the visible nail line.

Thanks for stopping by

Misa Um You're Too Delicious

Hi all!

Since it's the World Cup and all, I'm trying out my orange polishes to see if there is one suitable for a manicure when The Nederlands will be playing. This time: Misa Um You're Too Delicious, which was part of my swap with Linda :)

Misa Um You're Too Delicious, three coats in daylight. Um You're Too Delicious is a jellylike orange neon. I didn't even know it was possible, but it certainly looks that way! Normally neons dry matte or satin, but this one dries absolutely shiny with a jellylike finish. I like it! Please believe me when I say that this polish is WAY brighter irl.

Application was fine, but drying time was not. It took forever to dry and when I tried to stamp it, over an hour later, it still wasn't dry and I ended up taking it off because the stamping ruined my mani. Also, I suspect that this is the only Misa I own that is not B3F and that this causes the polish to smell really bad (I will check the ingredients later today to be sure). I will try her once more this week or next week, to see if it works better :)

So now I wonder: what's your favorite orange polish?

Thanks for stopping by!

Essie Not Just a Pretty Face

Hi all!

A couple of days ago, I showed you a bloody manicure and today I have a review for you of the basecolor that I used: Essie Not Just a Pretty Face.

Essie Not Just a Pretty Face, four coats with one coat of Nubar Diamont in daylight. Not Just a Pretty Face is a pinkish peachy-ish jelly and needs four coats for opacity. It's a pretty color, definitely office appropriate is you ask me. Well, that's it for the good news.. Now the bad news: I hate this polish. Application was bad, the structure was a bit thick but still runny so there was polish flooding my cuticles. I needed four coats for opacity and those coats just would not dry. Never! I used Nubar Diamont, but still the polish wouldn't dry. Yugh! Plus, if you look at my nails in the pictures.. It looks like I have an enormous layer of polish laying on my nails. Bleh!

No, this is not even a pretty face.. *sigh* What do you think of Essie's Not Just a Pretty Face? Do you own it yourself? If so, am I doing something wrong or is it just the polish? It looked so nice on all swatches I've seen!

About the Nailart contest: The winner will be announced tonight!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Go Holland! A World Cup Inspired Manicure

Hi all!

In a little over an hour, The Netherlands will play their first World Cup match! They're playing against Denmark and to support them a little, I decided to do a World Cup Inspired manicure.

Hup Holland Hup! Lol! I used China Glaze Breakin' for the orange on my nails. Breakin' is opaque in three coats and has a subtle shimmer. For the Dutch Flag I used Essence Hot Red, BarryM Matt White and OPI Dating a Royal. The latter is darker irl.

And because I like this.. A couple more pics!


The last two pictures were taken with my "Grote Beesie", one of the World Cup mascottes that Albert Heijn (a supermarket) is giving away when you buy a certain amount of groceries. I really like mine!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I now have bloglovin'! Follow my blog with bloglovin

Bloody Manicure And World Blood Donor Day

Hi all!

A little while ago, I saw an awesome mani on MUA that I liked so much, that I wanted to do it myself. I gave it a show last week, and this is the result!

A Bloody Mani.. I'm not perfectly happy with the outcome, so I'll try this again somewhere in the near future. I used Essie Not Just a Pretty Face as a base color (review on this one will follow in the next couple of days) and Essence Hot Red from the Show Your Feet line as the color for blood.

There's a reason that I chose to do this manicure now. I received some info about World Blood Donor Day a little while ago and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to both post about nails and about something important. I'll include the information that I received, as well as some pictures of the bandages that are named in the article.

World Blood Donor Day is tomorrow, June 14th 2010. I'm not an American, but I know we have the same issues with donating blood in The Netherlands. There is never enough blood. If you are in good health, please consider giving. It takes only a little time and you might save more than one life with the blood you've donated.

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ABOUT THE “GIVE” DONATION INITIATIVE:
Many Americans consider giving blood to be an important act of community service, however, less than 10 percent donate on an annual basis. Incredibly, if just one percent more donated–less than four million Americans–the nation’s blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future. To help close this gap, Nexcare Brand and America’s Blood Centers are partnering on the second annual give program, a nationwide blood donation initiative kicking off on World Blood Donor Day, Monday, June 14th, and extending through Sunday, June 20th.

With the support of hundreds of participating local blood centers, the give program inspires Americans with a message of hope, and helps them to spread the word by distributing limited-edition Nexcare Bandages marked with the word give.

World Blood Donor Day comes at an important time each year. As local blood centers face “summer shortages,” the nation’s blood supply comes under strain due to less donations because of increased vacation schedules and other seasonal distractions that tend to take place in the summer months. World Blood Donor Day reminds Americans to donate and enables them to help make a impact in reducing these shortages.

The 2010 give Bandages are inspired by both the patriotic act of giving blood as well as Flag Day, which will also be recognized on June 14, 2010. This collection of three Nexcare bandages are designed to represent the American flag signify the everyday hero in each American who commits to saving lives by donating blood.

Additionally, there’s a dedicated website, www.nexcaregive.com, where visitors can share their story, get directions to our local blood center and register to receive coupons and a free sampling of bandages.

Finally, timing couldn’t be more perfect since this month marks the release of the third Twilight movie “Eclipse,” so it’s a time to think about giving blood, while the vampire craze is all about taking it!


Did You Know? Facts About Blood Donation
· One pint of blood can save up to three lives
· Every two seconds, someone needs blood
· Most Americans will require a blood transfusion at some point in their lives
· Less than 10% of Americans donate blood on an annual basis
· If one percent more Americans gave blood, all national blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future
· There is no substitute for human blood
· Donors can give whole blood up to six times a year


Thanks for reading :)

Sinful San Francisco

Hi all!

How are you all today? The week is in half, so it's only two working days 'till weekend.. Yay! I hope I have more time on my hands the next couple of days, because I picked up my new car yesterday! Yay! It saves me time in public transport (I save about 2 hours a day!) so I hope I can do some better posts.

Today I have Sinful Colors San Francisco for you. It's a drugstore brand in the US, but I got this in a CP with my RBL's. Sinful Colors is not too easy to find here in The Netherlands, though there are some places to buy their polishes online, besides eBay.

Sinful Colors San Francisco, four coats. San Francisco is a green jellylike polish, that leans more to lime green than to forest green (although it's not lime green.. Anyway, I'm getting carried away). The color is actually greener; more yellow and less green. Somehow my camera messed the color up a little. Anyhow, this is four coats. It's a bit much, but I really like the look of this polish. It has a similar finish as China Glaze Emerald Sparkle with shimmery and glittery parts sunk into the jelly. The glitter in Emerald Sparkle is more dense though.

Let's take a closer look at the finish!

Pretty huh? I really like this polish, although it takes four coats to be opaque. The application was ok, the polish was a bit watery but nothing unmanagable.

What do you think of San Francisco? What other polished from Sinful Colors do you recommend?

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: Don't forget to enter my Teeny Tiny Giveaway :)

Models Own Betty Blue

Hi all!

Vandaag heb ik weer een lak van Models Own voor jullie. Dit keer een prachtige koninklijke blauw; Betty Blue.

Today I have another Models Own polish for you. This time it's a gorgeous royal blue; Betty Blue.

Be prepared for a lot of pics!

Models Own Betty Blue, twee laagjes in dag- en zonlicht. Betty Blue is een geweldige koninklijk blauwe jelly. Dit is twee laagjes en dan is ze al volledig dekkend. Ik ben onder de indruk! Applicatie van deze lak was een beetje lastig voor mij, aangezien de lak een beetje aan de dunne kant is, maar niks dat niet opgeruimd kon worden bij de cleanup :) Droogtijd is goed, daar had ik geen problemen mee.

Models Own Betty Blue, two coats in daylight and sunlight. Betty Blue is a gorgeous royal blue jelly. This is two coats and she's completely opaque with those two coats. I'm impressed! Application was a bit tricky for me, since the polish was a bit watery, but nothing I couldn't fix without a little cleanup. Drying time was good, no problems at all.


Betty Blue met Color Club Worth The Risque. Ik heb imageplate M78 gebruikt om te stempelen. De Color Club Holo's lenen zich bijzonder goed voor stempelen zoals jullie wel in de gaten hebben! De Konad is niet helemaal goed gelukt, maar ik vind de combinatie erg leuk.

Betty Blue with Color Club Worth The Risque. I used imageplate M78 for stamping. The Color Club holo's are very suitable to use for Konad as you may have noticed! The Konad isn't the best Konad I did, the image was kinda tricky to get on right. I do like the combination though! Will try this combo again in the near future. I will take a pic when I did a better job on the Konad.

And a closer look of the image on the nail:


I think it's hot!

Well, this is it for today! How do you like Betty Blue?

Thanks for stopping by!