Hi all, it's nail art day! Well, actually, as it turns out, in July every day might be nail art day. I don't usually take on 30/31 day challenges because they're too tough for me, but since I've been managing the Tri-Polish challenge nicely and July should be a nice and quiet month for me, In decided to give the Oh Mon Dieu! It's the Rather Awesome 31 Day Challenge a go. It's hosted by Craftynail, Eeeek! Nail Polish! (love that name) and Brijit's Digits - all three blogs are well worth checking out. Click on the link above see all the details of the challenge and perhaps participate as well - there's prizes too, but I'm mostly in it for the fun.

It's nice and relaxed because you don't have to do everything (hence no post yesterday) and you don't have to do it in the right order either. I probably won't have something every day, but today's topic is blue and it inspired me to do this summery mani - it reminds me of deck chairs and beach balls.

It's a fairly self-explanatory mani - I started with a two coats of P2 up in the air and then began adding stripes at random intervals, one colour at a time.

 You may notice this was a pretty glossy mani at first, which was nice, but I decided to add a matte top coat and oh mon dieu, I love it!

But then, you already knew I have a bit of a love affair going on with my matte topper.

How do you like the mani? What are your favourite summer colours?

Go here to see today's linky collection, I'll have to see if I can get the code for tomorrow's.

The summery nail newbie

2. Blue :

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As promised, here's my May haul - at least this one's pretty much on time.

Und wieder nur auf Englisch - sonst komm ich leider mit dem Posten gar nicht nach. Falls ihr lieber auf Deutsch lest, hinterlasst mir doch bitte einen Kommentar, dann versuch ich wieder mehr zweisprachig zu posten!

May was definitely an indie month for me. After falling in love with Literary Lacquers in April and seeing The Crumpet's orange holo comparison (do they measure impact ratings in the blog world, like with scientific publications? Because Debbie is definitely on the A-list.) 

I got Greatest Treasures, an amazing orange holo that bends into purple. I had this on my nails a few weeks ago and I couldn't stop staring at them and holding them into the light (this was when we still had sunlight, before the rains came and turned Central Europe into November). Gift of the Magi is a very dense green and silver glitter from the collection of the same name (I haven't read the story but it sounds lovely). What Fools These Mortals Be, finally, is from the Midsummer Night's Dream collection - a raucous explosion of glitter of all shapes, sizes and colours. (If you like the look of these, have a look at her new Green Gables collection - the green and turquoise holos are to die for. Guess what you'll be seeing in the June haul post.)

I discovered I Love Nail Polish through a swatch post on Work Play Polish, which featured really beautiful colours. Sadly, both Simply Adorablue and Grape Alicious were sold out (in fact, pretty much all the holos were), so I consoled myself with a couple of Monterey Bay minis and two spectraflair top coats - they're called My Private Rainbow, one is linear, the other is a mix of linear and scattered holo. They sort of smell like glue but the sparkle is amazing! I've been putting it on pretty much every mani at some point. Monterey Bay is a deep green holo with a touch of blue and does not smell, so maybe it's something about the spectraflair base? (Sshh! New collection out today at 3pm MST, which is 11pm Central European Time).

The top picture shows my pick-me-up drugstore acquisitions - if I need cheering up, I'll usually just buy one or two polishes. This also explains the bright colours. I decided I desperately needed more green, so I got s-he 305 and s-he 310. The first one (305) isn't really a colour I'd wear by itself but it should look great in nail art, but 310 is fun and fresh, rather greener than your average mint.
Next is iQ gloss effect in Pink Lady (7) - I bought it for the June tri-polish challenge (at least that was my excuse), but it turns out my other colours don't go with it as well as I hoped. Still, pink!
I'm always on the search for the perfect TARDIS blue. Oh my GOSH Cobalt blue isn't it, but it is truly beautiful. And finally we have The Dark Knight from Catrice, a lovely deep purple.

If you felt there weren't enough blue polishes in my haul this month, you'd be right - there is more.

I was in Germany in May and decided to try Rival de Loop, which we don't get here. For some reason I thought this was a higher-end brand so I was surprised at the low prices, but it really isn't that great. The blue one (High Gloss Colour 043Q) is a nice muted shade, but Express Nails 202, the black with the red glitter, fell a bit short of my expectations - the glitter is hardly visible on the nails. They're also both not very durable and take forever to dry.

When I bought the golden essence 140 go bold! polish for my Iron Man look, I also picked up 147 miss universe, which is a nearly black base with a blue-turquoise shimmer. It's very beautiful on its own, but I need to try it over black and blue.

It seems everyone's always raving about Burt's Bees, so I got myself a "tips and toes kit" with a variety of hand and foot care products as well as lip butter. Since it also includes cuticle butter, it seemed appropriate to include it here (plus I ran out of stuff to show you, so enjoy the closeups of the Literary Lacquers). I think it goes without saying that you shouldn't get Burt's Bees products if you don't like the smell of honey/beeswax, but be aware that the other scents are very strong as well. I like the lemon in the cuticle cream and can deal with the coconut in the foot cream, but the almond milk beeswax hand cream smells too strongly of marzipan for my taste. Good stuff though, all of it. Plus, I get to say that I'm...

covered in beeeeees!

The nail newbie

Note: Any links to external blogs or stores are pure link love - no advertising or affiliate linking going on here. I paid for everything. My wallet isn't happy with me.

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Diesmal kann sich mein Haul wirklich sehen lassen! Die vielen Sonderangebote, die wachsende Nagellackbegeisterung... je ne regrette rien.

Ein paar Sachen habt ihr ja schon gesehen, einige kriegen noch ihren eigenen Post (a-england), aber hier mal ein Überlick.

February's haul is not too shabby. All those sales and my growing addiction... I regret nothing.

You've seen a few of these already and some will get their own posts (a-england for one), but here's an overview.

 
Orly Sunglasses at Night & Orly Lunar Eclipse:

Ich kann euch gar nicht sagen, wie sehr ich diese Lacke liebe. Nachdem ich Sunglasses at Night bei Jettie und Lena gesehen hatte, musste ich das einfach haben. Bin dann auch online fündig geworden und das Zeug war ziemlich schnell da. Ja, geile Sachen, das kann ich euch mal sagen. Lunar Eclipse musste mit, damit der Sonnenbrille nicht langweilig wird und damit sich das Porto auszahlt und damit ich ein cooles Blau mit Rosaschimmer auf den Nägeln tragen kann.

There are no words to describe how much I adore these two. I saw Sunglasses at Night on Jettie & Lena's blog and just had to have it. What can I say, I'm a child of the 80s. I ordered them online and got them pretty quickly. I had to add Lunar Eclipse so the sunglasses wouldn't be lonely and to get the most out of the shipping costs and of course so I could wear that awesome pinkish blue on my nails.

Next up are various sale items by store brands iQ cosmetics and LOOK. Look at all those colors!

Als nächstes haben wir dann einiges aus dem Ausverkauf von iQ cosmetics und LOOK, also Bipa-Eigenmarken. So viele schöne Farben!

Wenn ich mir die Bilder so ansehe, wird mir nochmal richtig klar, dass ich im Moment auf einem totalen Blau-Trip bin. Violett sowieso immer.

Unten seht ihr verschiedenes, Colorama und Gosh hab ich euch ja schon vorgestellt, der weiße musste für Nail Art her und der blaue Nola ist auch aus dem Ausverkauf.

These pictures really show that I'm in the middle of a blue period that would make Picasso faint.

Here you've got miscellaneous polishes. I showed you the Colorama and Gosh polishes in a previous post. The blue Nola was on sale as well, and I needed the white one for nail art.

 

a-england kriegt, wie gesagt, noch einen eigenen Post, aber hier seht ihr mal den (noch im Jänner bestellten) Haul. V.l.n.r.:

As I mentioned, a-england will be getting its own post, but here's the haul (which I ordered in January so it totally doesn't count). Left to right:

Merlin, King Arthur, Bridal Veil, Elaine, Princess Tears.

Und zum Abschluss noch ein kleiner Einkauf bei Douglas. Und der war klein, von den Sachen auf dem Foto hab ich grad mal für zwei bezahlt. Erratet ihr, welche?

Nicht für den Riesenbottich Haarwachs, das kann ich euch gleich sagen. Der war ein Douglas-Extra und ehrlich gesagt auch der Grund für die Bestellung - ich hab ja ganz kurze Haare und daher sind Gel und Stylingwachs die einzigen Haarstylingprodukte, die ich verwende. Da traf es sich gut, dass ich den Nyx Girl-Nagellack in Emerald Forest schon ein Weilchen auf meiner Wunschliste hatte. 

Das Wachs funktioniert wie ein Stylingwachs sollte. Allerdings hat es einen leichten Dill-Geruch, der mich ziemlich irritiert und Gusto auf Fisch macht. Er verfliegt nach einer Weile, aber er ist schon eigenartig, und es ist recht schwer, sich attraktiv zu fühlen, wenn man sich vorkommt wie ein Mittagsmenü bei Ikea.
(Meine Schwester sagt allerdings, der Geruch des Wachses erinnere sie nur angenehm an Plastillin.)

And finally, I ordered a couple of things from Douglas. And when I say "a couple", I mean that literally. Guess which items in the above picture I paid for?

Not the massive tub of Frédéric Fekkai styling wax, that's for sure. It was free with any order and was my incentive to place the order. I'd had the Nyx Girl polish in Emerald Forest on my wishlist for a while so the wax was really just a good excuse to finally get it ;)

I have a pixie cut so gel and wax are the only hair styling products I use. The wax is fine, forms well, does everything it should. However, it smells faintly of dill, which is just plain weird and makes me crave fish. It dissipates after a while, but it's quite distracting. It's hard to feel attractive when you feel like a lunch plate at Ikea. (My sister says it only smells of wax and playdough, so your mileage may vary.)

Bei Miss von Xtravaganz habe ich Emerald Forest übrigens unlängst in einer tollen Kombi auf Schwarz und mit extra Glittertopper gesehen, die muss ich auch bald ausprobieren!
I recently saw great pictures of Emerald Forest on black with an extra glitter topper, I'll have to do that sometime soon!

Und was habt ihr so gekauft?
Euer ok vielleicht ein bisschen shoppingsüchtiges Nagelnewbie

And what did you get in February?
The maybe just a little bit shopaholic nail newbie

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So schnell kann's gehn... wenn ihr den Cirque du Soleil-Post gelesen habt, wisst ihr ja schon, dass ich ein paar neue Nagellacke hab. Wobei "ein paar" vielleicht etwas untertrieben ist.

Also, das war so. Ich brauchte neues Duschgel. Und dabei ist das passiert:

You know how this one goes.

If you've read my Cirque du Soleil post, you know I've got a few new nail polishes. Well, I say "a few"...

So here's what happened. I'd run out of shower cream. And then this happened. Yeah, oops.

Ok, ganz so unschuldig und nichtsahnend war ich nicht. Ich war mir durchaus dessen bewusst, dass es bei Bipa gerade -15 % auf dekorative Kosmetik gibt und wollte Puder nachkaufen, nach Blush schauen und mir vielleicht einen Nagellack kaufen.

Aber dann gab's da diese Grabbelkiste mit LOOK-Lacken um einen und iQ um drei Euro (beides Bipa-Eigenmarken) und was blieb mir anderes übrig? Und nachdem ja gerade -15 % auf alles war, musste ich die Gelegenheit ergreifen, auch ein paar Lacke aus dem Standardsortiment zu kaufen. Alles andere wäre geradezu unverantwortlich gewesen.

LOOK Satin finish compact powder - Nr. 2 Cameo

Okay, so maybe I wasn't quite that innocent. I was well aware that Bipa (an Austrian drugstore) had a -15% deal on makeup and wanted to grab some powder, blush and maybe a bottle of nail polish.

But then there was this bargain bin. LOOK polishes were €1 and iQ Cosmetics polishes were €3 (both are store brands) so what was I to do? And since they had that -15% deal I practically had to buy a few regularly priced polishes too. Anything else would've been quite irresponsible.

But let's start with the glaring omission in the first picture: no blush. I guess they'd been robbed or something because I couldn't find a suitable blush to save my life. Well, I got a brush and a nail file instead and snagged the last powder. And my new favorite shower cream. Florena is a former GDR brand that is still very popular in Germany and has made it to Austria as well. This one's with olive oil and moisturizes my skin wonderfully and - always important for little miss sensitive - has a very mild and inoffensive smell.

Aber fangen wir mal bei dem an, was im Bild fehlt: Blush. Die Regale waren komplett leergeräumt, zumindest von den Blush-Tönen die mir stehen, und ich konnte einfach nichts passendes finden, in keiner Preisklasse. Aber ich hab das letzte Puder bekommen und mir auch noch einen Pinsel und eine Nagelfeile gekauft. Und mein neues (seit einem knappen Jahr) Lieblingsduschgel - Florena. Florena ist ja eine ehemalige DDR-Marke und ich muss zugeben, ich weiß nicht, seit wann es sie in Österreich gibt - bei Bipa aufgefallen ist sie mir zum ersten Mal letzten Sommer. Jedenfalls ist sie sehr angenehm, ich nehm immer die mit Olivenöl und sie pflegt die Haut echt gut und hat vor allem einen sehr milden und unaufdringlichen Geruch (was mir ja immer sehr wichtig ist).

Ja ja, ok, kommen wir zu dem,was euch wirklich interessiert: Nagellack in rauen Mengen!

Right, okay, I know this is what you've all been waiting for: Nail polish! Lots of it!

Wie ihr seht, hab ich bei LOOK tief in die Grabbelkiste gegriffen, wobei das Schwarz und der Green changer aus dem Regal waren - Schwarz brauche ich unbedingt als Unterlage für Orly Sunglasses at Night, das ich mir bestellt hab (*freu*), und für andere Topper. Und den Green changer wollte ich schon lang haben, der wechselt so schön zwischen Gold und Grün. Mystic ist ein sehr dunkles Violett und ich glaub die anderen sprechen für sich selbst.

As you can see I grabbed a whole lot of LOOK. Most are from the bargain bin, except for the black, which I needed as an undie for the Orly Sunglasses at Night I ordered (squee!) and other toppers, and the "green changer", which I've been lusting after for a while, a wonderful gold/green duochrome. Mystic is a really dark purple and I think the rest speak for themselves.   

Auch aus der Grabbelkiste haben wir iQ Nail Attraction in Nr. 8 violet, dann aus der neuen Kollektion iQ colour flash in einem herrlichen Mintgrün und schließlich - eindeutig nicht aus dem Abverkauf - meine beiden Lieblinge, die in der Cirque du Soleil-Mani schon ein Stelldichein gefeiert haben: Maybelline Colorama in 661 Ocean Blue und Gosh in 540 Ocean. So tolle Farben!

Also from the bargain bin we have iQ Nail Attraction in 8 violet, then a wonderful minty green from the new iQ colour flash collection, and finally - most definitely not from the bargain bin - my two favorites, Maybelline Colorama in 661 Ocean Blue and Gosh in 540 Ocean. Amazing colors! You may remember those two from my Cirque du Soleil mani.

Den Gosh-Nagellack musste ich dann auch gleich ausprobieren - so toll! Ich hab's nicht ganz geschafft, die Farbe einzufangen, sie ist weniger hellblau und eher türkiser als im Bild, leicht changierend.

Ja, und das war's, mein unabsichtlicher kleiner Haul. Wen's jetzt auch reizt und wer in Österreich wohnt - die Aktion bei Bipa läuft noch bis Samstag, auch im Onlineshop.

Ich würd ja sagen ich geh in nächster Zeit einfach nicht mehr zum Bipa, aber ich brauch ja schließlich noch den Blush... ;)

Euer völlig kontrolliert einkaufendes Nagelnewbie

I had to try the Gosh polish right away. I'd say the brand is aptly named. The color is just gorgeous! I couldn't quite get the color to show in the photos, it's a bit less light blue and more turquoise than in the picture, with a slight colorshift.

So yeah, that was my accidental little haul. I'd say I'm planning to avoid any more accidents but I still need that blush, don't I?

The totally not shopaholic nail newbie

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