Benecos Expressive Mint

Hello my lovelies! How is your week going? Everything went well with my exam on Monday and now I'm preparing for my last one. Only 2 days left and I will finally be free. The polish I'm showing you today is not season appropriate. It's almost December and I'm showing you something minty. Oh well, I don't always wear season appropriate polish, so why should my blog be any different?

Benecos Expressive Mint indoors, artificial light

First of all, let me tell you that this brand is totally new to me. Not only is this the first Benecos polish I try, but I haven't even heard of them before. This polish came in the goody bag from the blogger meeting we had a few weeks ago in my town. So, naturally, I was excited to try it out because I love finding new brands and because, let's face it, the color is gorgeous. By doing a little research, I found out that Benecos is a German brand that sells vegan or organic cosmetics. Not sure what that means in terms of polish, but I can tell you that the polish is 3free, so no nasty chemicals are in it. I believe the brand is only available in Europe and don't even know where it can be found, but I've been told that organic shops carry the products. You can check out their website if you wanna know more. 

Benecos Expressive Mint indoors, artificial light

Expressive Mint is a gorgeous pastel green, that can be easily called mint leaf. Application was kind of tricky because it needed 3 coats to look decent. It went on streaky and pretty sheer at first, and it was really hard to level out. Seche Vite did the trick and made it look better in the end. 

Benecos Expressive Mint indoors, artificial direct light

The first thing I thought of when seeing this polish was how close it looked to my beloved OPI Mermaid's Tears. So of course I had to do a comparison for you guys. They are indeed very close, although not identical. The OPI is a bit lighter, while the Benecos is darker and dustier than Mermaid's Tears. The difference looks bigger in photos than it is in real life. 

OPI Mermaid's Tears versus Benecos Expressive Mint without top coat, artificial light

The photo above has no top coat and you can see that both polishes tend to apply a little streaky. Truth is, Mermaid's Tears doesn't have a great formula either. They both need 3 coats to be completely opaque, although the OPI is a bit more pigmented. I also noticed that Mermaid's Tears dries faster than Expressive Mint. 

OPI Mermaid's Tears versus Benecos Expressive Mint with top coat, artificial light

After adding top coat, both polishes leveled out nicely. Again, I would like to point out that my camera made them look more different from each other than they really are. I'm sure that for the untrained eye, these would practically look like the same thing. All in all, I'm glad I tried this new brand and found something so close to a famous and hard to find polish. I'm sure you can find Mermaid's Tears online if you really look for it, but for us Europeans the Benecos polish can be a good alternative. 

All I Want For Christmas... Holiday Nail Art Challenge

Hello lovelies,

I have decided to join a Holiday Nail Art Challenge over at Nail Polish Canada this week. The topic  is GIFTS and I have painted exactly what I want for Christmas :D

If you like my manicure you can give me your vote HERE. I've joined for fun but hey if I'd be one of the lucky winners I wouldn't complaint!

NOTD: Layla Silver Galaxy

This is one of the sparkliest magnetic polishes that I have.  I'm still not sure what I think of having the magnetic effect in this direction - my initial thought was that it would be elongating.  Some angles it was cool & other angles almost unnoticeable LOL.  Anyway, this is Layla Silver Galaxy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a couple shots of it matte:

 

 

Eclectic Glitter Leopard

Hey guys! I wasn't sure what to really call this. I wanted to do leopard with the China Glaze glitters I recently picked up, you can see those swatches here. I used OPI Alpine Snow for the base and black acrylic paint that I used a fan brush and went quickly across the tips. Then I used China Glaze Get Carried Away on my thumb and middle fingers, China Glaze Whirled Away on my index and pinky and OPI Die Another Day and black acrylic paint to outline them.

 Also, my China Glaze Worlds Away Glitter Giveaway ends soon, don't forget to enter if you haven't already! The Pedi-Sox giveaway is now closed and I will be drawing names tonight so be on the lookout for an email tomorrow if you entered!

Illamasqua -Nomad and marble manicure

Hi,

Today I'll show you another shade from Illamasqua, called Nomad. It is a beautiful 

apple green shade, which is perfectly opaque after two coats. You can see yourself

the shiny nail polish in the pictures, applied in two coats, without any top coat.

 

 

Mission Organization: Sorting the Polishes

My polish collection has been in desperate need of organization for quite a while now. The one Helmer I have has overflown a long time ago with my collection being slightly over 700 polishes. It got to the point of being out of control with polishes being stashed anywhere they would fit. A while ago I showed you this five drawer chest that I bought at IKEA for the purpose of polish organization, but I had not gotten around to filling it until now so I can show you a peek at my collection...

Sunday Stamping: Matte

It is time for another challenge in the group Adventures in Stamping. This week the theme is to create a manicure with some aspect of matte to it. That gave me the perfect excuse to pull out my Essie matte topcoat, but really, I love that stuff so much that I will take any excuse I get. It was also an excuse to try out the gold from the recently released Essence Twilight polishes. A number of you confirmed my suspicion that it would work well for stamping, so I was excited to try it out and share with you...

Tutorial Tuesday: Double Sided Manicure

I love the new trend of the double sided manicures. The most common are Louboutin manicures with a red underside, inspired by the red soles of Louboutin shoes. More recently OPI created the Bonded Look with the underside in gold, as seen in the new Skyfall movie. I think this can be fun in any color combination to make a statement or just have a little hidden treat for yourself.

Each time I do create of these manicures I get questions about cleaning under the nail after painting or people tell me that they are afraid to try and make a mess. I thought I would put together this tutorial to show how I tape off my nails to avoid the mess and make painting the underside of the nail a little easier. I hope you find it useful and give this double sided look a try...

Supplies:

• Two polishes of choice. I'm using Zoya Dovima on top and OPI You Only Live Twice underneath.
• Tape (clear tape, masking tape, painters tape, etc...)

Steps:

Pure Ice: Fang or Fur?

Pure Ice has recently released the Runway Nail Trends collection which is available exclusively at WalMart. The collection has five distinct sub-collection or looks including Velour Finish, Diamond Couture, French Trend, Metro Chic and Party Girl. Each look is made up of eleven polishes which brings the total to 55 newly release polishes for the Runway Nail Trends collection. Now that's what I call a grand release!

Today I have five new Pure Ice polishes to share with you. Pure Ice is certain these will make a perfect manicure while watching a certain saga and deciding between fang or fur... "The end of the story begins with the bright pale skin (Nude Beach) with blazing red eyes (Glass of Bordeaux). A love story that asks a young girl to risk it all. The diamond ring (Silver Lining) and the garden wedding that changed everything. You can't take your eyes off that unforgettable BLUE dress (Getting Gorgeous) and the warmth and complexity of the wolf's imprint (Alter Ego)."

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

To those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving today, I want to wish you a very happy one! I am thankful to have the day off from work and to spend it with my family. I'm thankful for my family and friends who are always there for me, to support and encourage me or knock some sense into me when I need it. I will try to refrain from making this a sappy post of all the things I'm thankful for and instead show you the manicure I'm wearing today. Yes, this is one of those rare occasions when what is on the blog is actually what is on my nails...