Rimmel: Chin Up Buttercup Swatch & Review ★★★★/5

Allo polish Pals!

How are you all doing today? I hope you are doing great!

I don't know about where you are but the weather this week in my part of Holland has been so gloomy that I thought I'd give us a little dose of sunshine, you guys up for that?

Here is Rimmel's 'Chin Up Buttercup' – could this shade be any cheerier?

Colour ~ Chin Up Buttercup is a beautiful strong creamy lemon shade, its far from being on the pastel level but isn't quite a neon but it does deliver a beautiful pop of colour!

Application ~ I didn't really have any issues with this polish but I did opt for a third coat just for full opacity. Compared to some yellow polishes it didn't streak too much and I was quite happy with the self levelling end result.

Texture ~ I find this one really hard to describe, I'd on the thicker side and feel somewhat like a jelly polish without too much of the jelly finish.

★★★★/5 Considering my yellow collection is quite small it certainly fits in rather nicely. I've got neons, I've got pastels, this just seems to fit in nicely between the category. Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes if she is looking to expand her yellow nail polish collection on a budget.

What do you guys think of this yellow and how has your weather been so far this week? Do you to wear colours that go against the weather/seasons?

Have a beautiful day my friends, I'll catch you again on Saturday!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Zebra With Print And Acrylic-Gradients

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? I hope you all have at least one lovely thing planned for this weekend - something nice to pamper and spoil yourselves! I'm also trying really hard to stay on top of freehand designs. I love doing all types of nail art but I feel happier when I'm posting freehand and I also think maybe that's why you guys come here?

Today's manicure came pretty much from nowhere. I wanted to create something freehand but I didn't know what. In the end I decided to go for a zebra since painting my last unicorn felt pretty calm and relaxed to paint. I used only one polish for this manicure, besides base and top coats.

I began with Barry M's 'White' on all my nails and decided to create a pinky, orange and yellow gradient on certain parts of the nails and as a background for my zebra. I created everything freehand without any striping tape (probably not the wisest idea?) and finished it all off with my Pro-FX top coat.

Something really weird happened which is a total new in my freehanding experience. Slowly over time my zebra began to turn yellow! Its not too bad in these pictures (You can see it in places if you look for it) but by the end of the day he was pretty yellow. I've never seen my acrylics do that before, ha! It hasn't happened since, either. How odd.

What do you think of my stripes and zebra nail art? How do you feel about animal print on nails?

Have a beautiful day,

Love

Ithi

Freehand Bumble Bee Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

How are we all today?  I wish you all a fabulous weekend!
Today we are off to visit some friends - its been far too long since we caught up with them. This week has been so much busier than normal - but in a totally great way! I've not had much chance to get some freehand nail art done so I hope I can catch up next week!

Do you know something I just love about spring/summer? Fuzzy fat butted bumblebees, I've always thought they are so cute. I love sitting in the garden in England watching them go about their buzzy busy business! I realized I had never done bumblebee's before and I wanted to do something cute!

For this manicure I began with my all time beloved OPI's 'Nail Envy' and once dry applied China Glaze's 'Classic Caramel' (I never know what to use this for..so yay!) I also dabbed some Model's Own's 'Gold Rush' here and there. I then took my acrylic paints and began to paint a honeycomb pattern which I really enjoyed doing! All the hexagons where outlines, filled in and then shaded and outlined, I found this such a relaxing process! I then moved onto my buzzy little bee and used a small amount of Hema's 'Happy Silver' in the center of his wings to add a little shimmer.

I finished it all off with my Pro-FX top coat and also tried it in matte, because I can not live without seeing if something looks better in matte these days.

What do you think of my fuzzy bumble bee? Have you had done any freehand patterns before?

Have an amazing day, Lets catch up on Monday and start the week together!

Love

Ithi

White & Milk Chocolately Freehand Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? Today I have another nail art design that I created as an entry into the weekly nail art contest at Tiny Canvas (I love taking part in these!)

Do you guys like chocolate? I don't really have a sweet tooth at all and due to my syndrome I really limit my dairy intake but that doesn't mean these were not super fun to paint. I decided to create myself some mini M&M's out of some very regular gold studs, I only wish I had been less heavy handed with the top coat!

Get ready some indulgence!

 

For this manicure I began by using my all time fave top coat, OPI's 'Nail Envy' and once dry I applied two coats of Barry M's 'Cocoa' because it seemed like the perfect place to start! I hand painted my little gold studs and added the iconic 'M' in their centers. Next I used my acrylic paints to create all the freehand elements. I really enjoyed trying to paint the chocolate cubes!

I quite like how this turned out but I do wish I hadn't applied so much top coat, my thumb was quite bubbled...can we just look past that?!

What do you think of my chocolatey nail art? Have you done a sweet-tasting inspired manicure before?

Have a wonderful day, I'll see you on Thursday!

Love

Ithi

Spingy One-Stroke Flowers Over Stamping

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing today? Did you have a wonderful Easter? We didn't really do anything here but I did get to have a little chat with my Niece and Nephew which really brightened up my day. Did you have anything happen at the weekend to put a smile on your face?

I recently decided to try one stroke again... I've tried before and I know its a technique that really grows with practice but I was quite happy with how a couple of my flowers turned out – I started this really late at night and I could see the quality of my concentration went down hill around the middle finger to the pinky. I also outlined my flowers with their starting colour which I think detracted from the one-stroke look....but hey, its fun to try things!

For this manicure I began with one of my fave polishes, Erre Due's '#155' (I so wish I could get this brand locally!!) And once dry decided to stamp (After years of detesting stamping.. look at me go!)

using Barry M's 'Green Berry' and my gorgeous FUN16 plate from Fab Ur Nails (I won a gift certificate in a contest recently – love their brushes and plates!) I then attempted my one stroke flowers and when finished applied my Pro-FX quick dry top coat.

I am really keen to try one stroke again sometime, preferably during the day time. When I start nails past 9pm it never ends great!

What do you think of my one-stroke attempt? Have you used that technique before?

Have a beautiful day,

Love

Ithi

Happy Easter! Freehand Bunny With Pull Along Ducks!

Allo polish Pals!

Happy Easter to you all! I hope you are having a fab weekend, celebrating or not.  :) 
What are you doing today, do you have any plans for it? - If we were in England I'd buy Mr Bravo the biggest chocolate egg I could find!

I feel like a lot of my readers are based in different countries other than England and Holland so can you answer this?  -  Have you ever had a Cadbury's Cream Egg? - thoughts?!

Nothing much is happening here, I kind of wish I was in England so I could help do a Easter Egg hunt for my Niece and Nephew. Feels like ages since I saw my family...I know, I know. It was only January.. In the morning I will work on some nail art and in the afternoon go into office mode to edit and write up all the stuff I've just not been able to do recently.

Today of course I have some Easter-ish nails for you! What does the Easter Bunny do on his days off – guess he is unemployed apart from one day a year, right?!... but what do you think he does for fun? Maybe he likes to play with pull along toys?!

For this manicure I began with two coats of Barry M's 'White' and allowed to dry. I then created an acrylic-gradient on my thumb going from bright yellow and fading into white. I added a cute little bow and some polka dots. I then moved on to my bunny and once finished with the acrylics added my Pro-FX top coat. I decided to try it matte by adding Barry M's 'Matte top coat' and decided I much prefer that look!

What do you think of my scruffy Easter bunny? Did you do any Easter nail art?

Have a gorgeous day! ~ I'll see you on Tuesday!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Golden Retriever Puppy Pile

Allo polish Pals,
How are you doing today? Tell me, have you ever been so close to an animal, a family pet who you felt close to growing up, or even a pet now that might be your 'baby'? I've had cats and dogs over the years that have amazed me with their personalities. Growing up I had golden retrievers and cats. Even though I had friends as a child, my furry friends would be around to confide in and offer support without judgement, to give unconditional love and understanding. I have very, very fond memories revolving around these golden beauties so I wanted to do something to show it! (Of course I love all dogs of every breed, I just wanted to do this for myself!)

The beautiful creatures we offer our homes to, don't just become our pets. They become our family and we become theirs.

The inspiration for this picture came from this beautiful illustration on pinterest. For this manicure I began with two coats of Barry M's 'Truffle'. The dogs were done entirely in acrylic paint with my bamboo brush. I wish I had done a better job but at the same time I am glad it is how it is.

What do you think of my puppy pile nails? 

I love you guys so very much, thank you for all the support you have given me in the past weeks. I have made some lovely friends, you have all been so kind and sweet to me. I truly am grateful.

Love
Ithi

Freehand Mousey Nail Art

Allo polish Pals!

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend? Did you do anything nice? Today I have some more animal nail art for you – I like my animals :) I have to warn you this is one of the manicures I created while my eye was puffy so I had very blurry vision! I know I say it a lot... But I really really really, most certainly hate this manicure. It's not even a small amount of dislike..

 

I began with my thumb, middle and ring finger by applying two coats of Nails Inc's 'Colville Mews' and created my mice with acrylic paints and my bamboo brush. On my remaining fingers I created a gradient using Catrice's 'My Yellow Fellow' and NYC's 'NY Taxi'. I then used my acrylics again to create some holey looking parts and chewed edges to hopefully look like cheese.

I do wish my whole mouse had come out a little neater looking but is he at least a tiny bit cute?

Do you like having animal inspired nails? Do you prefer animal patterns or whole pictures?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love

Ithi

NYC: NY Taxi Swatch & Review ★★★★/5

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? How is your week going? I'm doing ok, I've been taking myself on long walks as a step to get back into fitness. My eye is healing nicely so now is the time to start getting back into my normal routine... I must keep busy for the other things I am worrying and powerless to do anything about! Today I am sharing with you a punchy bold yellow from a brand I've not actually tried myself before, This is NY Taxi from NYC. Considering I had no experience with this brand and the fact it is so hot here that the fans need to be on which can cause problems with polish, this did seem like some kind of experiment.

apologies for how my index nail looks! It looks a little flat, I think!

Colour ~ 'NY Taxi' is knock out bright yellow with incredible vibrancy and effect. My first coat was seriously streaking and in the end I applied four coats to ensure a flawless looking finish. That's two more coats than I prefer but you know what? I think the end result is worth it. And yes, this screams New York taxi to me!

Application ~ I already mentioned the streaking on the first two coats, however I was really pleasantly surprised. I had expected there to be a mountain of bubbling going on since I applied these coats quite fast for swatching purposes but I had no bubbles and it even seemed to self level quite nicely!

Texture ~ I find it hard to describe this... I would say perhaps it is more along the lines of a crelly type texture and dries into a beautiful high gloss finish.

★★★★/5 I'm giving this polish 4 stars, while I absolutely adore it I do find that an extra two coats is a little above my level of patience. It is unlike any yellows I currently have in my collection and I do really enjoy wearing these New Yorker nails! I recommend it for those looking for a unique yellow.

What do you think of this taxi yellow? What is your all time favourite yellow?

Have a fantastic day!

Love

Ithi

Guest Blogging Over At Roaring Nails

Allo polish Pals!

Lets keep this short and sweet, I'm not here today but I am delighted to be posting at my good friend Robin's blog, Roaring Nails. I am a huge fan of her blog and I am so glad to be posting there. I've got an interesting freehand manicure with animals, but you wont find the information here! If you want to see it you will have to go visit Robin's blog. Come on, what are you waiting for?!

While you page loads, can you figure out what it is?

Lets go visit Robin at Roaring Nails!

Citrus Splash - Freehand + Water Colour Nails

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I hope your having an awesome day :) Today I have a manicure that will certainly brighten us and all our screens up, I hope! I decided to create a vibrant and happy citrus manicure. I love lemons, every morning when I wake up I drink lemon water, it's always a great start to the day and it is said to have many health benefits!

For this manicure I started with two coats of Rimmel's 'Hot White Love' and once dried applied OPI's matte top coat. I then used cotton buds to dab on my yellow and green Oumaxi paint and a wet cotton bud to dab off excess paint for a water colour effect. I then used my favorite bamboo brush to create slices of lemon and limes on my nails. I partially outlined the fruit and finished with a smothering of Catrice's top coat.

I am actually 'ok' with this manicure, I think it is great for the summer weather and it really is quite eye catching! Sure it's not perfect but it was fun to wear!

What do you think of my zesty tips? Have you ever done fruit inspired nail art?

Have a great day

Love

Ithi

Model's Own: Luis Lemon Swatch & Review ★★★★★/5

Allo polish Pals,

How are you doing today? Is the sun shining where you are? Ah I just love, love, love these warmer days! I think today's swatch will be well suited for the weather here in Holland. However I may want to warn you now that you should put some sunglasses on before I show you Model's Own's 'Luis Lemon'.

Colour ~ 'Luis Lemon' is a bright acid like neon yellow. It is very sheer and I recommend wearing it under a white polish to get the colour to really pop! I am wearing two coats of white polish and two coats of Luis Lemon on top. To wear it without the white you will find that you need so many layers to get it completely opaque. This can be said for many yellow neon polishes though.

Application ~ I didn't have too much trouble with application, You need to be aware of how much is on your brush as it can look a little gloopy but all in all the application was fine and it even surprised me by self leveling a little on the second coat – nicey nice :) Dry time is reasonable given its formula.

Texture ~ This is a hard one to comment on... It is almost like a gelly texture so its somewhere between medium to thick in consistency but it is totally workable. Dries to a semi matte finish.

★★★★★/5 I do really love Luis Lemon. She's a fun sunny day kinda gal. I'd like to hang out with her :) I love how Luis Lemon looks combined with nail art such as gradients but it isn't something I would willingly wear out casually. I have a couple of yellow neon polishes and I prefer this one hands down. Other polishes I've tried don't have such a powerful pop of colour and some I have tried even had weird black flecks through it... If you want to wake yourself up I highly recommend Luis Lemon for the job.

What do you think of this acid yellow? What are your favorite neon polishes?

Have a super sparkly and productive day!

Love

Ithi

Day Dreamin' In The Tree Tops - Freehand

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I hope you've had a good week so far? I've been so up and down with my idea's lately, I'll get a great manicure idea and then have no idea how to show it. This is sort of the case with this manicure. I'm not incredibly happy with it for a few reasons. Should I have added clouds? Should I have had birds flying in the background? WHY didn't I just turn on the light instead of being dictated by the sun which kept going in and out of the clouds...Anyway. Meet Steve, he's just day dreaming. Maybe he's contemplating what to have for dinner... Who knows!

For this manicure I began with two coats of Erre Due's #155 – a light and beautiful yellow with a hint of green. This is a polish I picked up in Greece a few years ago, I wish I had picked up more of these polishes, I love them, where can I get them?! I then sponged on some Catrice 'Blurred Limes' (Someone take this polish away from me, I can't stop using it!) I finally created my branches, flowers, leaves and Steve using my Oumaxi acrylic paints and smoothed it all out with Catrice's gel look top coat.

Like I said.. its not one of my favorites but its nice to sit and paint. I wish I had added more and I wish I had taken better care of the flowers. Maybe MORE flowers, more more more!...Now I am envisioning this manicure in an entirely different way – Why didn't I think of that before? Bah Humbug! Does that ever happen to you?

What do you think of my tropical friend Steve? Have you created any tropical nail art before?

Have a great day!

Love

Ithi

Barry M: Mustard Swatch & Review ★★★★★/5

Allo polish Pals!

How are you doing?! Not long until Christmas now, are you getting festively excited? I created some really interesting 3d Christmas nail art yesterday and I am looking forward to sharing it with you later in the week. Tomorrow is my 26^th Birthday! I'm not too sure how I feel about that! I think that it will be a pretty quiet and uneventful day but that's ok with me. Excuse my short nails – I took these pictures while I was still in Holland. Today I have a swatch of a polish I've featured in a few of my manicures, this is 'Mustard' by Barry M.

Colour ~ Mustard is a gorgeous slightly burnt golden yellow. Perfect for fall, if you remember I used this manicure for my leafy fall manicure. The colour also reminds me slightly of caramel but it certainly lives up to its name.

Application ~ Application was amazing, I was so impressed with the finished result. I found if I got the right amount on the brush then I could apply it perfectly smooth but it also had the wonderful self levelling quality that Barry M Gelly's often carry. I applied my two coats pretty fast in between and never have I encountered problems with bubbling or streaking. It also dried incredibly fast considering that this polish is quite thick.

Texture ~ This polish is best describe as a medium to thick consistency. It dries to the beautiful high gloss, flawless finish that I have come to expect from the Gelly range.

★★★★★/5 If you don't own this shade and have nothing like it in your collection then I urge you to go for it! It is a really pretty and interesting shade. It looks great with so many types of nail art and considering the fantastic dry time, flawless beautiful finish and the price of Barry M polishes it is a steel!

Do you have anything like Mustard in your collection? Have you tried the Barry M Gelly range yet?

Have a great evening! I see you all after my birthday with some crazy, over the top 3D art!

Love

Ithi

HD Nails: #20 Swatch & Review ★★★/5

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I have a question for YOU. Do you ever get nail art ideas at night? Last night I might of got just shy of two hours sleep but while I was unwillingly awake...BAM! I had idea's coming out all over the place. I actually had to get my phone and write them down! I'm looking forward to trying some of the idea's out tonight.

How is your weather where you are? - Do you feel those winter nights pulling in already? Holland seems to be getting quite a bit colder now so I decided for today's post I'd look into my archive of swatches and I found something to brighten and warm us all up!

This is HD Nail Polish #20, one of the polishes my Mum picked up for me while she was in Greece.

Colour ~ #20 is a gorgeous bright sunshine yellow. If I had to name this polish (just because numbers instead of names make me a little sad) then how about 'What's Up Buttercup?'.

Application ~ Application is actually great with this polish, it has a medium sized flat brush which meant it applied very neatly. I applied three coats, on the first coat it was a little uneven which also happened on the second coat. By the third coat it had completely self levelled and with a top coat left a beautiful flawless look - However... the dry time was perhaps the only let down. Because you need to layer this polish it can become quite tacky and time consuming to dry completely. Patience needed!

Texture ~ The texture of this polish is quite thick which means be steady of how much your carrying on the brush but if you do that you'll end up with a really beautiful glossy finish.

★★★/5 Now... I absolutely love this shade, it makes me really happy to wear this on my nails. If your a huge fan of yellow polishes and you don't mind waiting around for some dry time action to happen then I do recommend this. I would say it is worth it but its not for those who want to paint and go.

What do you think of this eye catching yellow? Do you prefer to go for pastel yellows or bright yellows?

Have a lovely evening my beauties!

Love

Ithi

Sinful Colors: Unicorn Swatch & Review ★★★★.5

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I hope you've had an excellent week! Once again my blog schedule was turned upside down, no matter how hard I tried to get things done something would happen – Would you believe I actually note down my weekly manicure plans... haha :( Anyway, today I have swatch and review of Sinful Colors 'Unicorn'. Something a little cheery for this miserable weather we are having here in Holland at the moment; How is your weather?

 Colour ~ Unicorn is a fresh lemon/buttery pastel yellow with a gorgeous pop. It reminds me a lot of China Glaze's 'Lemon Fizz' but I think this one is a little brighter and less chalky looking.

Application ~ The application was really smooth and dreamy, I applied three coats relatively fast and I had no issues with bubbles. I'd also like to say that within my three coats I ended up with a pretty flawless finish. I had streaks on my first layer but it all smoothed out beautifully.

Texture ~ I would describe Unicorn as a crème with a flawless and glossy finish even before applying my topcoat. I also found the formula to be really great, not too thick and not too watery – great for really showing this colour off and building up coats.

★★★★.5 /5  Four and a half stars, pretty darn good, huh? I really recommend this polish for anyone looking for a lighter yellow shade without the stress of streaking. It also dries really fast which is a huge bonus. I adore this colour, its so cute and girly as far as yellows go.

What do you think of this pastel yellow? Do you have a go-to pastel yellow in your collection yet?

Have a great weekend – I'll get going on my huge catch up process!

Love

Ithi

Freehand Crisp Autumn Leaves

Allo polish Pals!

How are you today? I hope your having a good day; Is the weather nice where you are or is it beginning to get colder? Today I had another one of my long fast-paced walks (The Dutch people look at me like I'm crazy, maybe its because I'm now wearing ankle weights at the same time!) and I was able to stomp on some crunchy autumn leaves, that's the first time this year! Surprisingly its still really warm here though. I had wanted to do some Autumn nails for the past couple of weeks but I just couldn't get it how I wanted it... I'm ashamed to say this isn't the end result I wanted and perhaps with limited time I was a little rushed ~ sad face. Anyway, I will let you judge for yourselves...

I applied two coats of different polish to each nail, from thumb to pinkie I used Barry M's 'Mustard', Model's Own 'Gold Rush' (which for some reason this bubbled like a demon) Dorothy L's '98', Pretty Serious 'Elm Street' and finally Dorothy L's '131' ~ An assortment of what I thought were autumn-type shades (or at least what I imagine when I think of those crisp crunchy leaves. I then used my Oumaxi Paints to create some green, gold, yellow and orange leaves. I finished this all off with some simple gems and applied OPI's matte top coat.

I wish I had spent more time on the leaves, getting the colours blended better and perhaps even better shapes, I also wish that Gold Rush hadn't bubbled the way it did. To win the acrylic paints for yourself don't forget to enter my give away where you can win a set of 30 Oumaxi paints and two brushes - open internationally.

~What do you think of this manicure? Are you a fan of Autumn?

Have a great day

Love

Ithi