Heavenly Goodies or what’s your new nail polish? (swap)

Hello my Beauties,

today i have another really fun post for you. My mail just came in and what did i see: a nice package from The Netherlands. 
By the first glance it was clear – Polish Alcoholic send way too much. I knew, that Sabrina – the master mind behind the amazing nail polish & nail design blog Polish Alcoholic – was about to send me something, but i didn’t expect it to be that much. 
Especially since a few products aren’t really from a drugstore…

This was actually not part of our Sweet Summer Swap, it just somehow happened that i sent Sabrina the Guerilla Gardening Collection, that she wanted and some other goodies and now she decided to send something back.

First of all let me tell you, how incredibly sweet all the packaging was, when i opened the box. I was facing cute little pink puffy hearts and little marshmallow like filling elements. All the nail polish bottles (of course she sent me nail polishes, what else! ) were carefully put in a pretty tissue paper, that i didn’t even want to rip off. 
A big compliment on the lovely and solid business cards, that have a good grip to them & feel really nice between the fingers.
Loved the thoughts you put in there, Sabrina!
Before i reveal the secret of the nail polishes, i will show you the little beauty samples, that Sabrina included into the box.
She knows about my passion for body scrubs, so there is one by Collistar ( heard a few good things about this brand, but haven’t had the chance to try yet), a sample of J’adore by Dior (mmm) and Lancome Teint Visionnaire (can’t wait to see if it fits my skin tone) and the cutest little Mango creamy body wash by Sephora. Love exotic fruits…
And now to the polishes. When i finally ripped off the tissue paper , i was left speechless. There were four beautiful nail polish bottles, but the “high point” was indisputably the wonderful Nfu Oh bottle. Hope you can see the actual details there –  it’s so pretty!
(click to enlarge!)
What can i say?! This is going to be a world premiere (for me) trying all these brands and beautiful colors.

Ciaté is the only brand, that is available here in Germany, but as the big hype was all about their Caviar manicure, i didn’t even realize, they had such pretty shades in their range. The “Regatta 076” seems to be a deep maritim-blue with silver shimmer in it. And the bottle has its specific bow in the front.

Before seeing PicturePolish products on different nail blogs, i didn’t even realize there was that popular australian brand out there.
Love the slogan, that the classic bottle comes with:”Cause every girl need some!” Attitude – by Overall Beauty. That’s pretty stylish. And what can i say, it’s a beautiful “midnight purple” in my eyes, with different kind of dazzling & holographic particles in it.
Here is another PicturePolish in Paradise, that Sabrina swatched on her blog, and i think the quality seems to be promising.

BerryM in lilac 235 is my very first polish from that famous british brand. Funny fact:
Probably Sabrina was right saying that. I love my metallic polishes, i think they suit my personality, if that makes sense…

And last, but ohhh most definitely not least – meet the beautiful Nfu Oh nail lacquer in 45.
You can see in Sabrina’s post, where she swatched a really similar color in 44 (Nfu Oh #44 – Shiney Opal), how wonderful it looks over different kind of polishes. Especially over a black one. This is going to be my “shine bright like a diamond” polish for hot summer days. 🙂 I literally can’t wait!
Thank you very much, dear Sabrina for your effort to make this swap such a lovely experience for me. I do appreciate the chance to try all these new brands & textures. I hope i was able to show my real excitement.

There you go my Beauties, remember i told you i was in a Swap fever!? 😉
Did you do any lovely swap’s lately?
I’ll be posting the wrap-up post on the Sweet Summer Swap next week, so stay tuned for that.
Please check out Sabrina’s blog for more amazing nail polish swatches, brand recommendations and nail art tutorials.

Until next time – stay beautiful.

Here 2 posts, that you might find interesting:
{The Friendly Bunch Blog Hop}
{Avene Skin Care Travel Kit Giveaway}
{Sunday read & many great face masks}

May Photo a Day challenge – Day 14 (FMSphotoaday – Need)

Hello my Beauties,

what a stormy day it is…i’m wondering if the spring is thinking about staying at all this year…it seems to be so inconsistent these weeks.

Anyhow, today is Day 14 of our May Photo a Day challenge and the topic is: “Need“.
14. Need: What’s a need in your life? – asks the creator of this challenge Fat Mum Slim.

Of course, i could have gone all philosophical here, talking about the big needs in life, such as love, health and knowledge and maybe simply the roof over your head.
But let’s remind ourselves, that this is still a beauty blog and this challenge suppose to be fun – so my “need” is going to be more of a “want – need”, if you know what i mean. 😉
Meet my absolute “beauty need” – the glorious nail polishes by the german brand P2 cosmetics.
If you follow my blog for a while now, you will know that i do own nail polishes by different kind of brands, from very cheap to more expensive ones. You have also seen me raving about P2 for a few times now, but only because i do like the quality, that you get for a really affordable drugstore price. 

Right now there are a few lines, that P2 has on the market, such as the Color Victim (pretty expressive colors), Volume Gloss (shiny & glossy texture – smilar to BarryM Gelly line), Stand Style, Summer Attack (hot metallics – limited edition) and the Perfect Look (nail care polishes). 
Some of you were able to try these polishes as well, either through a giveaway, that i was holding or a parcel swap and every time i got a great feedback. 
Have to admit, i’m very pleased to have a solid drugstore brand, that can hold up to the expensive high-end polishes. 

So my “need” is first of all to always have a neat and well-done manicure and secondly to have some great P2 colors to choose from. 🙂

What is your “need”, my dear readers? To stay with the nail polish theme: do you have a drugstore favorite, that has become your go-to brand? Share your secrets with me. 

Until next time – stay beautiful!

ps: If you want to participate in the Sweet Summer Swap – there is still time to sign up. Check it out now. 

Top innovation: Essence peel off base coat

Hello my Beauties,

how is your week going? Was it as sunny and spring like in your city as it was in mine? I really hope so.
Seeing the sun coming through the clouds after probably 3 month, is so nice for a change…

Today i would like to tell you about a little test, that i was doing on a new product by Essence – a peel off base coat.
A fun innovative idea, that suppose to be your magical helper when it comes to the annoying process of removing your stubborn nail polish. 
I got the idea to try it in combination with a glitter polish. As i’m not using any kind of glitter polishes that often, i thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try the new product and to enjoy some sparkling glitter nails for a few days. 

As you can see, the packaging says:  “fast and easy change of colour and effect nail polish. this innovative, solvent-free peel off base coat allows you to peel off your nail polish whenever you want, wherever you are! no remover needed!”

No remover needed – those were the words, that i needed to get interested in this product. The actual polish looks milky white in the bottle and contains the standard 0.33 fl. oz / 10 ml and is really affordable – 2,25€
The instructions are very simple. You apply a thick coat of the polish, that looks just like a regular white at first, then wait until it’s dry and become completely transparent.
On the packaging there is one more advice: “avoid hot water for 3 hours after application”. I simply did my manicure 2 hours before bed time, so my nails had the chance to really dry through over night.

After about 10 minutes this base coat dried and it looked like i didn’t have anything on my nails at all. 
Then it was time to grab my new special effect topper by Essence in 15 Glitter on Me – that looks a bit like a disco ball in the bottle. 
I applied 3 coats of the glitter topper to really get the mega glitter effect. I simply love the longer glitter stripes in it. 
And when that was done, i even decided to top all that with my most favorite top coat – Better that gel nails top sealer by Essence studio nails. (As you can see, it was a whole lot of Essence going on there! I thought i would work the best with all the products being made by the same brand.)
I have worn this manicure for over 4 days. Then my patience was over. I couldn’t wait to start peeling this whole thing off. I’m sure it would last for at least 2 more days, because at this point, it still looked good and didn’t come off by itself at all.

I use a little orange wood stick, that is a great tool to push back cuticles ect to help me carefully lift up the edges.
I have to say, it doesn’t come off like a nail sticker, all in one piece and you should obviously not perform any harsh movements, since you never know, where the polish really sticks to your nail bed.

For me the process didn’t feel too pleasant, as i usually never peel off my nail polish (we all know how bad it is to do that! damages the nail bed so much), but the results were pretty amazing.
If we keep in mind, that i had quite a thick layer of different polishes on, my nails looked clean and not damaged.

So as my conclusion i can say, that if you are a big friend of glitter polishes and bright “toxic” colors, that tend to leave a mark on your nails, this is a really smart and useful product for you.
I know i can be braver now and use my glitter polishes every ones in a while again.
Not having to think about the mess i would have by removing it all again, is a big relief.
If you can get Essence products in your area, you should definitely give this peel off base coat a try. 
Have you seen any similar products by other brands on the market? And what do you think about this concept?
Please share your secrets with me.

Until next time – stay beautiful.

COSMETICS AROUND THE GLOBE – Bulgarian Rose

Hello Beauties.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan and lover of great hand creams & hand products in general. My skin isn’t overly dry, but as we are getting closer to the chillier time of the year, I feel like talking about hand cream is totally appropriated.

While traveling around the globe, I find it pretty interesting getting to know the local favorites when it comes to cosmetics. And as my friends know about my love for all new & exciting, they tend to bring me little gifts from different counties. This time is was a little souvenir from Bulgaria, which i didn’t hesitate to try.

I’m talking about Bulgarian Hand cream & soap “ROSE”.

Bulgaria’s tradition of producing essential oils dates back to the 17th century and is a source of national pride for the country. The Bulgarian Rose is considered superior. Usually it is cultivated in organic rose gardens and the oil contains the essence of the actual plant Rosa Damascena. 

The Cosmetic series is created on the base of entirely natural compounds with main ingredient the well-known rose-water and rose oil.

This is what the brand claims: 

Active ingredients – hand cream: Natural Rose water, Rose oil, Silicon oil and Vitamin F. With intensive nourishing, soften and recovery action the Hand Cream “ROSE” is an effective protection for the skin against the harmful influence of the environment. The natural rose-water and rose oil soothes the inflammation of the cuticle. Vitamin F accelerates the regeneration of the cells. The silicon-film protect the skin against influence of the environment and loss of moisture. By regularly usage of the Hand Cream “ROSE” the skin becomes soft and elasticity.

Bulgarian Rose – cream soap with Rose Oil softens and soothes the skin. It’s delicate aroma gives you a feeling of freshness and relaxation. Bulgarian Rose Cream Soap with Rose Oil is a nice little way to say Thank You to your skin.

The packaging itself is simple, but very elegant at the same time and through the rose drawing you definitely get the vintage vibe. Obviously the next thing to notice about the hand cream is the rose aroma. It isn’t too strong, like some of the rose perfumes, so even if you aren’t the biggest fan of rose scent, you might still enjoy this one.
The texture is pretty thick in the beginning, but after rubbing it between your hands, it absorbs really quickly and doesn’t leave an oily feel, which is always a big plus, if you’re using it on the go or at work, where you have to touch your phone or keyboard.
Your cuticle & the skin feel soft and well taken care of.

After starting to use the soap, my bath became an instant mild rose garden. Makes me smile every time i enter the room.
It doesn’t dry out my hands and leaves them soft and clean, which was my number one request, after being disappointed by using different Lush soaps in the past.

So over all it is a really nice & useful souvenir from Bulgaria, that I keep happily using these days. And as it’s really easy to find their products online, I didn’t want to miss out on sharing the news with you.

Have you tried any rose oil products yet? If so, what’s your favorite? Share your secrets!

Cosmetics around the globe – Golden Rose Paris Magic Color №314

Hello Beauties and welcome to my nail lacquer corner.

Today I want to talk to you about my new favorite polish by the turkish drugstore brand Golden Rose (GR) which comes from the house Erkul Cosmetics that exists since 1983 and exports the products to 74 different counties.

The very first thing that caught my eyes was the big variety of colors and different lines that Golden Rose had on the display in store. From holographic colors, over magnetic lacquers, to matte velvet (half matte looking) and crack lack graffiti – there was something for every taste and phantasy.

And from all the dazzling magic colors, I wanted to try the №314, (the bottle was almost charmingly talking to me)  – a deep blue with a beautiful purple shimmer in it. (How could I possibly resist?!)

In this case I decided to apply two coats of the polish to see the best results and just to be sure there was no stripes left, even if  one coat would have been probably enough. It dried pretty fast without any additional help of rapid dry spray or quick drying drops.

I love the fact, that in the daylight you notice more of the actual purple & lilac, while the electric lighting makes the blue stand much more out, which makes it a real nice color play.

I’m not wearing any top coat in this pictures, as i wanted to capture the original shimmer and the glossy surface.

After the three day’s of wearing it, i don’t have almost any tip wear, which is a great plus.

And I was asked several times about it, since it’s so noticeable and fun to wear!

If you are a fan of Max Factor’s “Fantasy Fire” over any deep blue royal or navy blue color, you are going to love GR Paris Magic Color №314, as you already have this kind of a 2 in 1 product!

All i can say is –  it turned out to be a lovely lacquer for the fall time of the year.

Who said we only wear Red’s and Brown’s during fall?! We are up for daring PurpleBlue’s!

Have you ever tried any of the Golden Rose lacquer’s? If so – please share your story!