Valentine's Mani Take Two

So, this weekend I felt like doing another Valentine's Day manicure. I'm not a big fan of the day itself and I ignored it this year too, but there have been a few really nice designs I wanted to try. So today's mani has been inspired by some Japanese nail art I have seen on several blogs. Also, I'm entering another nail art contest with this mani.

The design looked easier than it was, but I have done more complicated stuff. I guess I should somehow plan nail art like this ahead.. like on a piece of paper. :D

Anyway, here's how I did it. I first painted my nails with Color Club Femme à la Mode, two layers. Then, I painted the tips with essence white glam. The hearts were done with Kleancolor Metallic Pink, China Glaze LOL and a golden p2 tip painter. The white is acrylic paint. Added some rhinestones and a bit of golden glitter and that's it.

Last but not least, as I already wrote at the beginning, I'm entering another nail art contest with this manicure. It's going to end tonight, so I have to hurry with this post :D Sarah from The Beauty Family asked for a nail art that was not wearable every day. I guess, most people (non-nail art addicts) wouldn't wear this one ^^;

Priti NYC - dazzler

Today, I want to show you my very first Priti NYC polish. So far I have rarely seen Priti NYC on blogs, but I think the shades this company has to offer are quite nice. For those of you who don't know Priti NYC, this is what they say about themselves:

Peace, Love & Satisfaction... Priti has many meanings in Sanskirt such as any pleasurable sensation, with love, out of satisfaction, affection, attraction, and happy. Women everywhere can now help keep our planet Priti- and look good while doing so...

Priti NYC is an organic skincare line that specializes in hand and feet products. Part of their products is a quite nice assortment of nail polish, that is cruelty-free and doesn't contain Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP.

Well, I have seen their products on various online shops, but the price was a bit high for my budget, so I never considered buying one. Right now, they are on sale at Zalando though, so I ordered myself a few, okay, 20. Zalando offers free shipping and returning, that's why I ordered so many. I kept only 4 of them. I would have kept more, but I limited myself to only 4.

Out of the 20 I ordered, the shade I want to show you today was the first I decided to keep. Honestly, there was not much deciding in this case. I saw it in the package and knew I would keep it. This particular shade is called dazzler. Fitting name, in my opinion. It did dazzle me into keeping it after all.

Anyway, here it is.

See the shimmer in the bottle? My pictures couldn't quite capture it, but it does translate to the nail. It looked so beautiful!

Priti NYC dazzler applies smoothly and dries quite fast. This is two coats plus topcoat, although it doesn't need the topcoat. I applied it to make my manicure last a day longer. The polish itself has a nice finish on its own. The brush is nice too. I'll take pictures of it when I wear the other 3 shades.

For me dazzler is actually an unusual shade, but lately, I'm slowly coming to like reds. This is no real red, more of a very reddish toned burnt orange. I don't have a shade like this in my collection yet, but I searched the internet for a few pictures of polishes that might be similar. I came across Color Club Feel the Beat. There's one in the essence color & go line that is similar, but doesn't have the pretty shimmer, that made this color so appealing to me...

This won't be the last Priti NYC shades I'll buy. The formula is nice and there are a few shades that I ordered and sent back, that still appeal to me. Plus, I saw some really nice swatches lately that made me want more of them.

If you haven't tried this brand yet, do it. From what I have heard, their former formula was bad, but they did a makeover and their current formula is just as nice as our other beloved brands'.

 

Cute Blog Award

Last week, I received the so called "Cute Blog Award" from the lovely Cel from Cel's kawaii blog. I'm really honored to receive this award. Especially from Cel ;) If you don't know her blog yet, you should definitely check it out. She does amazing handcrafted "deco-ed" items!

For this award, I'm supposed to answer a few questions, so here they are:

1. What is your go to makeup product?
In the last few weeks, definitely Missha BB Creme. I have been sick basically 6 weeks straight and well, it shows on my skin. Missha BB Creme covers everything nicely, my skin looks healthier and doesn't have the "makeup" feel to it.

2. What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?
I wasn't really following nail polish trends in the first half of 2011, so no idea. But I loved the flowers and lace trend in spring 2011. Well, I just returned from Japan... it was to be expected.

3. What is your favorite dessert?
Spekulatius-Wild Berries-Tiramisu. Do you know Spekulatius? It's some kind of christmas cookies. I had half a bad of leftovers from Christmas, so we did this amazing dessert for New Years Eve. It's *very* heavy (loads of creme and mascarpone), but sooooo delicious!

4. Favourite color?
Purple

5. What is your middle name?
I don't have one

6. What was the last song that you listened to?
Honestly, no idea. I rarely listen to music at home, but we have the radio on at work. Does my mom's singing count? She was singing "Schneeflöckchen Weißröckchen" earlier today. ^^; We haven't had any snow here, unlike most other regions in Europe. But it just snowed a little bit, hence the song.

7. Cats or dogs?
Both! I wouldn't want to miss my dog Mascha and my two sweet cats Montag and Mio neither!







I'm not sure if the following was part of the award, but I'll answer it nevertheless:

Something about myself that you don't know:
I hate cellphones.

I'm giving this award to

It's a tink world
CrimiNail Art
FashionFee

Have a nice day~ I'm going to try my new green tea now~

My Entry into the Be My Valentine Nail Art Contest ♥

Valentine's Day is approaching... Well, it's not a day I care much about. So far, only once I had a boyfriend on Feb. 14th, so I don't know, it's a bit annoying when all the couples around me get all lovey-dovey... Maybe I'll treat myself to some nama-choco this year... (nama-choco = soft chocolate, I came to know this in Japan)

Anyway, I do like pink though and I do like challenges. So I decided sit down and do some real nail art and participate in the "Be My Valentine Nail Art Contest" held by Lacquered Me on Facebook. This is my entry into the contest. There are a lot of other great entries, too. Please take a minute to look at them :) If you like mine, I would be really happy, if you would take the time to vote for it!

I used Catrice Sweets for my Sweets as my base color. It just seemed to be such an appropriate choice :D Then, I started to paint the white parts using white acrylic paint. Using a striper brush, I freehanded the lace around it.

The leopard spots are done using the Catrice polish again, as well as some Elf polish that doesn't have a label on it. I had to water them down with some nail polish thinner, because both polishes turned out to be too goopy for the details. I tried to make the spots in a heart shape... Meh, I still need to practice with those striper brushes to get those tiny details done.

At the end, I surrounded the heart on my thumb with bullion beads. Last was a thick coat of essence BTGN Top Sealer. Yay, I managed to *not* smudge my design this time :D

What do you think? Pink enough?
If you like it, please vote for me (and/or the other entries you like)!
Simply click -->here<--