My ten favourites from this year

It is not easy. So many polishes, so many favourites. One day I am loving a red one, the next a blue. Another day I need a creme, some days later I am craving glitter.
It is not easy too choose favourites but since this year is coming to an end I am listing my ten favourites from new collections 2011. Polishes I have tried, painted and is coming back to.

My favourites are (in no particular order because that would be way to difficult):

OPI Animal-istic

Orly Sweet peacock

Essie Size matters

Essie Bobbing for baubles

Butter London Knees up

Cult nails Unicorn puke

China glaze Skyskraper



Orly Flirty



OPI Grape...set...match



OPI Rainbow connection



China glaze Haunting

Yesterday evening I was all dressed in black. Black dress, a ring with a black stone (best ever christmas present from my man) and black nailpolish. Black always works. We were off to diner at some friends celebrating new years early since one of our friends is working on new years eve, so yes, I am a bit tired today.

The polish on my nails was Haunting from China glaze Halloween collection from 2011. It is a black polish with lots of silver glitter. I really like it. It is black and cool but something more if you understand what I mean. It may not be unique, but I don't care, this is one of my favourites right now.

The formula was great. Easy to work with and two coats were enough to get opacity.

My love for nailpolish

I have been painting my nails for so long. I started when I was 14. Almost every night I repainted my nails. At first it looked terrible, but I redid a nail if I didn't was satisfied. I wanted my nails to look perfect. Then I wore a lot of red and winered. One of my favorites was a redwine polish from Esté Lauder.

About six years ago I got my first OPI polish, a friend of mine in Canada sent me the pink Kinky in Helsinki. And I fell in love. And bought more, from OPI and other brands.

Now I feel naked if I am not wearing polish. I like looking down on my fingers and see a vibrant color. It makes me happy. When I go to a party, to an important meeting or just wants to feel good I paint my nails. Matching with clothes and details. Or not. I wear any color to work, glitter, black, pink, green. It all works.

Painting my nails is a moment for me. Life is busy, when I sit down to paint my I do it for me. I slow down, relax and afterwards I am forced to do nothing to let the polish dry.

Twentyone years later I am really good at painting my nails. I know how to do it. And I still think it is fun.
Painted nails is me.

Essie School of hard rocks

There are greens and there are greens. Some are just terrible and not suitable for the nails. But the there are the ones that looks so cool. Like Essie School of hard rocks.

This is a dirty kind of green. It is mild tealgreen and with a grey tone which gives it that smudgy look. To me the color is sophisticated but with an edge. This color rocks!

Essies creams are always easy to work with and this was no exception.The formula was great and two coats were enough for opacity.

For those extra fancy feets

At this time of the year it's not many who gets to see my feet. Despite that I do a pedicure once a week and make sure my toenails are nicely polished. Sometimes with a lot of glitter.

So when I saw this pedicure you can get at Nails inc in the UK I sighed. I love it.
But I don't love the price though, £ 120. That is a lot of money for a pedicure, even if it involves hundreds of Swarowski crystals.

Lucky I don't live in the UK.

My kind of nail art

I am not much for nail art, simply because I am not good at hit. I admire everyone who is capable of turning there nails in to small masterpieces but I am not steady enough. But, the other day I was playing around the other day and did this kind of leopard nails. Nothing fancy, just simple.

To do them I used Sweet peacock from Orly as a base. Then I used a nail art pen from Models own to do the spots and filled them in with the glitter Star sparkle from Nubar.

Collistar Melograno Lacco

Time for some red. This is Melograno Lacco from the Italian brand Collistars winter collection. A warm orange toned red jelly.

To me a jelly feels a bit more like summer, but the color is beautiful also in winter. It shines on the nail although this orangered might not be unique. I have seen this shade before.

The formula though was terrible. It was harde to control the polish and I had to do a lot of cleaning up. I used three coats, but still had visible nail line then but that it is okey since it is a jelly I think.

Mavala Racing green

Okey, this is a little bit Christmas like at least. This polish is part of a winter collection from Mavala, and well, it is not red, but green. Soft, dark green. Like a Christmas tree.

Racing green is a green creme polish that is dark but not so dark that it turns black. I like that. I mean if I want black I have lots of black polishes to satisfy that, so if I paint green I want green.
Maybe it is not the most interesting polish out there, but I like it.

The formula was good, smooth and nice to work with and I needed two coats for opacity.

OPI Wooden shoe like to know?

I really should be painting my nails a bit more christmas like, but I can't resist all those spring polishes I have at home. It is like candy, I can't resist that either. So lets try Wooden shoe like to know? from OPIs spring collection Holland.

This is a rosy brown polish with pink and gold shimmer. The color is soft on the nails. The pink is more visable in the bottle than on the nail though. Then it becomes more brown and darker. The shimmer gives the color a depth which I like.
I don't like the color though. I know some of you will love this and I can understand that because this is a different brown. It is on another level. So do you like browns, make sure to get this!

The formula was great and two coats were enough for opacity.

Isadora Marzipan

In Sweden there is a cake called Princesscake. It is a spongecake filled with jam and vanillasauce. And it is covered with green marzipan and a pink marzipan rose on the top. This cake might have been the inspiration for Isadora when they created their spring polish Marzipan. Or maybe the inspiration came from somewhere else. I have seen that Dior has a similar polish in their spring collection. Well, well.

Marzipan is a bright light green shimmer polish. It is a bit minty in the tone. It is playful and fun, but not really for me. This is too much fun for me. But it sure stands out on the nails.

The formula was a little bit streaky and I needed three coats for opacity.

For dry winter hands

With the cold comes dry hands. And I want my hands to be soft, but during winter time just putting on regular hand cream doesn't do it for me. So now and then during the winter I give my hands an extra boost with some help from almond oil.

I buy almond oil at the pharmacy here in Sweden, it costs 47 Swedish kronor which is quite cheap.
Then I take quite a lot of oil on my hands, they should be soaked in oil. Then I put on rather tight surgical gloves and let the oil work on my hands during a couple of hours while I do other stuff.
When I take the gloves off I wipe the excess oil with a towel and my hands feel all soft.

Isadora Gold Sparkles

Today is the Nobel day and the Nobel prize is given out in Stockholm. This years litterature winner is the poet Tomas Tranströmer, a man that has lived in my hometown for over 30 years. So why not put on some gold today in form of Gold sparkles from Isadoras christmas collection?

Although I am not a gold fan, I can see the qualities in this one. It is a cold, soft foil that works quite well. It shines really nice. This is a good gold.

The formula was great. Two coats is enough for opacity and it was easy to apply.

Kicks Evening at Chateau Marmont

Lets be honest. I bought Evening at Chateau Marmont from Swedish make up brand Kicks because it looks like a dupe to Chanels Peridot. I can't say if it is a dupe or not, I don't have Peridot to compare with. From pictures I have seen it is similar, but not an exact dupe. But I still like it.

Evening at Chateau Marmont (love the name by the way) is a duchrome that shifts from gold to green. I think it looks so cool on the nails and makes me forget that I don't really like gold. But I love duochromes.

The formula is a bit sheer, but four coats is enough for me. I still have some VNL then, but it is okey, it doesn't matter.
One of my lovely readers asked my to try this over a nude as well becasue of it beeing sheer, so I have done that. I tried two coats over Brooch the subject from Essie. The two colors works good together, even if Evening at Chateau Marmont isn't as strong when layered. I don't think though you gain anything with layering Evening at Chateau Marmont. It works well on its own.

Evening at Chateau Marmont layered over Brooch the subject from Essie.

Depend 249

Time for a strong color on my nails again. A vibrant green from Swedish make up brand Depends summer collection with the name 249.

This is a bright, strong green. I reallly like it, it is rich and glossy and makes a statement on the nails. Why haven't I tried it on earlier? Sometimes it is worth digging deep among the untrieds.

This is almost a onecoater, but I needed two coats for fixing a few things on the nails. The formula was smooth and easy to work with.

Essie Brooch the subject

Okey, I am not the nude kind of woman. At least on my nails. I want my nails to stand out, so I usually don't fall for nude colors. But, no rule with out exceptions.

Boch the subject from Essies winter collection Cocktail bling is a nude color that I like. It is a quite light beige creme polish with a hint of pink that works quite well with my pale skin tone, maybe that is why I like it. I am quite pale and often a strong color works best with that.

The formula was smooth, but because of some cuticle drag I needed three coats for opacity.

OPI Red lights ahead...where?

Yesterday evening it started snowing here in my town for the first time this winter. At the same time I was sitting painting my nails with one of the new colors from OPIs spring collection Holland. Now Red lights ahead...where? is on my nails.

I went for this color because I wanted something strong and vibrant on my nails. And I am not disapointed, this coral red creme is strong and vibrant. But at the same time it is a bit boring. I like it a lot, but at the same time I am sitting here wondering if I could do something more fun with it. Still I think it is beautiful.

The formula was a bit tricky and it was hard to get an even result. I used three coats, but still it is a bit streaky. My coworkers (who check out my nails on a daily bases) might not notice it but I do.

Essie Carry on

This is the time of the year when vampy, dark colors feels totally right. So I took out Carry on from Essies fall collection from my stash.

Carry on is a real vampy color. It is a dark winered, but not so dark so it turns black. The winered is still visible. This may not be a unique color. There are many similar ones out there and also in my stash. But I like this anyway. It is cool.

The formula was really good, it was smooth to apply and two coats was needed for opacity.

Orly Flirty

I might have found it. The perfect pink. It is hot, vibrant and strong and I am totally in love. Flirty from Orly is doing it for me.

Flirty from Orlys summer collection Happy go lucky makes me smile and I can't stop looking at my nails. This bright, almost neon, pink with a silver shimmer looks perfect. I want a pink that makes an impression. Sweet, baby doll pinks are not for me. I want a statement on my nails and this is it.

The color is very well pigmented so two layers is enough to get full opacity. It is a bit thick, but it is nothing that gives you a problem. It is easy to paint with and dries with a almost rubbery feeling. So for full shine I add a top coat (which I always do).

So, right now, this is the perfect pink.

OPI Dutch'ya just love OPI?

Okey, here we go. The first polish from OPIs spring collection Holland. I don't care that it is December and it is dark almost all the time and I still have more christmaslike polishes to try on, today I wanted a spring color. So, here is Dutch'ya just love OPI?

This is a warm purple shimmer polish. The purple is a medium bright color and then it is packed with gold shimmer that gives the color a depth. You can see the shimmer clearly on the nails, even though it might not be so visible on my photos, and I know it will look even better in the spring sun later.
I like this color, when I saw it on the press event the other day I felt at once that it was special. It is sophisticated but cool.

The formula was great and I had no trouble with it. Two coats were enough for opacity.

I wanted it...

Peridot from Chanel did caught my attention. But not enough to make me wanna spend all that money on it. Besides, I don't usually like gold.
But, the Swedish make up brand Kicks Make up has in there Christmas collection a polish that looks a lot like Peridot. It is called Evening at chateau Marmont. And for a lot less money. So I bought it.

To be seen on my nails soon...

OPI Holland in my hands

I know. It is just December. In 24 days it is Christmas eve. But hey yesterday evening it was spring when OPI presented their coming springcollection Holland in a gardenhouse filled with tulips. Lovely!

The collection is filled with a lot of soft colors, both shimmers and cremes but there are also some bright colors like a almost neonlooking red, an orange and a bright pink.

Several of the colors looks great, colors I want to try now, but some looks a bit boring. This is a collection where everyone can find something to like I think.

To be seen on my nails soon...

Kiss me on the tulips, Red lights ahead...where?, A roll in the hague, Dutch'ya just love OPI?.



Vampsterdam, Wooden shoe like to know?, Gouda Gouda two shoes, Did you 'ear about van Gogh?.



Thanks a windmillion, I have a herring problem, I don't give a Rotterdam!, Pedal faster Suzi!

Some red glitter over silver

I wanted to do something fun and festive and bring some bling to a normal workday. So I painted my nails  with three layers of the silver foil polish Shine from Orly and then did a three layer gradient with the red glitter Gettin' Miss Piggy with it over it. Of course I started with a base coat and finished with a top coat.

So eight layers all to all to create this. I know a lot of layers but I was home alone, my son was sleeping and I was relaxing in front of the teve, so I had the time.

I like the result, it even turned out better then I thought it would. The silver hexagons in Gettin' Miss Piggy with it works really good against the silver foil and lights up the red glitter. And it feels festive.

What do you think?

Isadora Black galaxy

I have some really busy days behind me. Saturday we had a really big Christmas party with almost 40 guests at home. We prepared for days and it turned out really well. I wore a black dress with flower print and on my nails I had Purple with a purpose on my nails. It matched perfect.
It was really fun also because many of the guests had painted their nails just because they were coming to me. One friend, Johanna, showed me her nails and asked which polish I thought it was. And I guessed it right! Warm and Fozzie from OPI. I was so impressed with myself. And I also realised then how much of a nail polish nerd that I am.

But anyway, over to the polish that I am showing you today, Black glaxy from Isadora. This I had on at the Isadora event last week. It is from their Christmas colelction Red rush and it is the one that caught my attention at once.

This is a black polish with holo glitter. It looks fantastic in the bottle, but on a grey day in November in Sweden the fantastic glitter doesn't really comes alive on the nail. It looks it best at night time, in artificial light. Then it sparkles and I really like the look.

The formula was really good and easy to paint with. I needed two coats for full opacity.

Isadora pressevent

Last week I was to a pressevent where the Swedish make up brand Isadora showed their coming collections for the first hald of 2011. Of course I was mostly interested in the polish news (okey, I love all sorts of make up and use a lot of make up, but nail polish is what I write about here) and there are some beauties coming from Isadora. Colors that I want to wear on my nails.

The spring collection is called Pearls for passion and in there is a marzipan green polish. Looks fun.

Isadora also presented a nail art brush that will be in the shops after new year I think. I got that in the goodiebag so I will try it. I am not very good at nail art though, but I will try. I always try things once.

From the goodiebag: Silver sky, Marzipan, Gothic black and the nail art brush.

China glaze Skyscraper

This is the first polish to be tried by me from China glaze Metro collection. And I love it! Skryskraper is so beautiful.

Skyskraper has a denimblue, but with a purple undertone, jelly base with small glitters in silver and blue. Very good combination! With this on I can't stop looking at my nails. Blue is also a color that is growing more and more for me.

I needed three coats for full opacity, but the last coats were mostly to cover some bold spots. The formula was both good and needed a bit of work. But it is worth it.

It dries pretty smooth so one coat of top coat is enough. I used Good to go from Essie. But, this polish chipped bad less than 24 hours after I painted my nails. I know it happens easy with glitter polish, but still it is not acceptable I think.

Isadora Mad blue

Some more glitter! Here is Mad blue, a crackle polish from Isadora. Although I am not a big fan of crackles I like this a litlle bit. A tiny bit. Okey, maybe a little bit more than I want to admit.

I painted Mad blue over the purple metallic Sexy Divide from Essie. I like the combination. Mad blue crackled well, but it is important that the base color has dried well, otherwise the crackle polish will shrink it.

A top coat is necessary to bring out the glitter.