H&M - Peppermint Fusion

Fresh!

Peppermint Fusion is fresh. The perfect color to cool off by on hot summer days. Not that we have many of those here in the Netherlands, but this polish will put you in the right mood regardless!
Peppermint Fusion's base has a dusty periwinkle or lavender blue color, with very fine, turquoise flashing shimmer. This finish actually reminds me a bit of some Chanel polishes, like Paradoxal or Riva, but luckily H&M polishes go for only a fraction of their price!

Formula & Application

Peppermint Fusion is not only a stunner to look at, in addition it also has a great formula. This lacquer applies very pliantly and easily, and only two coats will give you a pretty decent result. However, looking at the photos I took, it probably could have used a third coat. I didn't have any problems during application, Peppermint Fusion truly is a nice polish. But, ...there's always a but, after three days it did start chipping. Oh well, that just makes the perfect excuse to change your nail polish, right?

On another note

This post is probably on of the last posts you'll see where the pictures were taken with my old and trusted Sony CyberShot w120. Yes, there's a new love in my life and it goes by the name of Canon EOS 1100D. I can't wait to shoot my snapshots with this magnificent camera from now on!

You can buy H&M polishes for 3.95 EUR each at your local H&M store, and a selection of colors can be found in their online shop at www.hm.com.

Sailor Stripes

Sailor Stripes

Hi everyone! Last night I was browsing the internet and stumbled upon such a cute nail art design. It didn't see whose idea it was, so unfortunately I cannot give credits where due, but I loved it!
I know this isn't the most subtle design, but strangely enough it isn't bothering me, at all. I was afraid it'd be really difficult to recreate, being a major nail art n00b, but to my surprise, it wasn't!

Edit: thanks to Ashley I now know who to credit! The design is by Wah Nails. Definitely check out their other designs, they're fantastic!

Products I used: The polishes I used were H&M's Love at First Sight, Eyeko's Coral Polish and a black striper by Nailstar. I used the white creme by H&M for the base color, and I was really pleased with this polish. Where a lot of white nail polishes are streaky and sheer, this one is really opaque. It was a bit thick though, but it only took me 2 layers to get an even result. I also used Eyeko's Coral Polish, on which I wrote a review here. The color in the pictures isn't that accurate, because I had to resort to a different camera today!

Now, the striper is really good. I've tried other stripers in the past, but this one has the best brush, ever. It's really long and tapered, which makes creating straight lines quite easy. It also has a pen, which makes freehand drawing easier as well.

Well dear readers, I hope you liked this post! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Product information

Eyeko products are available at www.eyeko.com, Nail Star stripers can be found on eBay and H&M cosmetics can be found at some H&M stores in Europe.

Lacquered Leopard

Hi guys! How is everyone doing? I'm enjoying my last night of the weekend: it's almost monday again! Since my last post was about animals I felt like creating this beastly look ;-). You all know I'm no Konad girl, but I do think subtle Konadicures are something I could get used to, they're cool.

I started of with H&M's Moonless Night, a black shimmery two-coater, I promise I'll show it to you some other time!
After that I applied one coat of Matte Magic by China Glaze. I don't own many different matte top coats to compare it with, but I think it's pretty good. I love how it transforms your polish into real matte hotness, instead of a cowardly satin finish.

For stamping I used plate M57 and plain old, nothing out of the extraordinary, top coat. It's probably due to the fact I'm boring, but I love how simple and subtle it looks. Leopard prints often border on tacky, but a little goes a long way, I'd say!

Thanks for reading and I wish you a great week!

Psst, yes this photo is mirrored, my fingers always pointing in the same direction bore me, lol.

H&M - Creme de la Creme

Hi guys! How is everybody doing? I hope fine :-). As I'm typing this it's already past 3am over here, I'm so nocturnal, it's insane! Anyway, before I go to bed, I want to show you another H&M polish, one that belongs to the same line as the one I showed you yesterday. Meet 'Creme de la Creme' by H&M. I'm having a really hard time restraining myself from typing 'Creme de la Menthe' though, haha! This golden polish remained untried for so long, because I really wasn't feeling the dull golden color. When the first stroke of polish finally hit my nail, I almost kicked myself for not trying it sooner. I was pleasantly surprised to see this wasn't just any gold! Creme de la Creme is actually a fine mix of silver and golden particles, I kinda like it! I do think the overall color could've been more vibrant, but I can imagine this polish would pop more on a sunkissed hand. Creme de la Creme consists out of a gazillion fine holographic glitters, it's really subtle and delicate. It only took two coats, a lot of smoothness and major quick drying, to decide its application is pretty great! Well, I'm off to sleep, good day and night to all of you! Thanks for stopping by and take care. -Michèle

H&M - You Rock My World

Hi everyone! It's friday again, yay! Since I pretty much blinded everyone the other day with the Nfu Oh holo, I'm going for something really subtle today. HM - You Rock My World. That's just its name but for me, this is so true! H&M nail polish is definitely in my top 5 brands, they have a great and every changing color selection, the formula is pretty good and their prices are reasonable. It just sucks that not every H&M is selling cosmetics! You Rock My World is a really fine and subtle holo, the holo effect is there, but it is kinda shy. Silver is SO not my color, but this one isn't that bad, since it's leaning a bit towards gun metal grey. I don't have anything negative to say about the formula, 2, quick drying, coats did the trick. Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't show you the color in regular lighting, I think I'd prefer wearing this one on sunny days only, because it's a bit lifeless without the sun, just like me haha. So we're at the end of this post again, thanks for stopping by and take care! -Michèle

H&M Red Nail & A little bit more on nail polish

Hi everyone! Today I'm wearing something very traditional, but I'm liking it nonetheless! There's just something about pinup red that I absolutely love. There's not much to say about this particular nail polish by H&M, it's red. And surprisingly they called it 'Red Nail' ;-). But: the formula is outstanding, this jelly just glides on and it only needs 2 coats for complete opacity!

Red nail polish is incredibly timeless, I'm always mesmerized when I see a pinup or Hollywood actress from the 40ies wearing it. I decided to look into the history of nail polish, and decided to share with you what I found!

For example, did you know that nail polish can be traced back to at least 3000 BC? Polish originated at that time in China. The early mixture was a hodgepodge of bees’ wax, gelatin, gum arabic, and egg whites. The Chinese also added the petals of flowers such as roses and orchids, and alum to their polish. During that same time, upper class members in Egypt wore nail polish similar in texture to lacquer paint. The paint signified money and prosperity. I wonder what color Cleopatra preferred?
Rita Hayworth	During the Chou Dynasty, around 600 BC, the royal colors were metallic gold and silver. Nail polish was only meant for people of the Chinese upper class. If the lower class attempted to wear nail polish, they could be punished by death. The polish at the time was colored with natural pigments. I bet they would have drooled over the Orly Fx's ;-). Modern nail varnish was invented in the 1920's. Charles Revson formed the Charles Revson company with his brother and Charles Lachman, a chemist. They employed a French make-up artist, Michelle Renard, who wondered if the new technology used for painting cars could be used for the nails. She managed to create a modern lacquer made of the same nitrocellulose disolved in solvent, that was used on cars (except not the same strength).
The Charles Revson company became Revlon (they added the L in the middle of the name for the other co-founder Lachman). The first Revlon nail polish went on sale in 1932.
But if it wasn't for Hollywood, nail polish wouldn't have become so big. Colour movies had just arrived, and audiences could see their favourite actresses wearing the exotic reds and mauves of the Revlon company. Painting your nails and buying the matching lipstick gave you a bit of Hollywood glamour even if your clothes were cheap. Other cosmetic houses soon followed and added nail polish to their ranges too. By 1940, long red fingernails became very popular, due to Hollywood starlets and pinups, especially to actress Rita Hayworth, I just love her. Since then, red nails remained on top, either long or short. Funnily enough, prostitutes were the first ones wearing it before it became mainstream! I'm not sure what to think of that haha.	Bette Davis
Source: all over the place ;-D

So now you know a little bit about the history of nail polish! I hope it didn't bore you to death, haha!

Thanks for stopping by and I want to wish you all a great weekend!

H&M New colors for spring + swatches

Last week I was doing some quick shopping and luckily I stumbled upon 4 new colors by H&M! I think they're quite new because two weeks ago they weren't there. H&M always manages to surprise me, because they add new colors to their selection often!

I love that these are happy bright colors, which is kinda refreshing after all the pastels we've been seeing lately (not that I don't love those ;-) ). It may look like these are all cremes, but in reality they're all shimmery polishes. Personally I would've liked them better as cremes, but still, I think they're pretty cute!

U Are Smokin Hot - I'm not really a orangy type a person, but I love this one! I applied 2 coats and this one had the best application out of the four. I love that it's such a happy color. I don't really care for the names H&M came up with, but hey, at least they're trying! ;-)

Aquatini - This name I didn't mind that much. Aquatini is a turquoise shimmery polish, although the shimmer doesn't feel like showing up on photos. I applied 2 coats, but I think it needs 3. Thing is, the formula of this polish was rather goopy, so 3 coats would have left me with a very wobbly surface, so I decided against it. Normally I would thin it, but I'm all out of thinner! :-O

Material Girl - It's pretty, if you love pink. It has a blueish flash which I adore. On the downside, there are a gazillion polishes like this. It does pop, so it's still a very entertaining color. Again, I applied 2 rather goopy coats.

Just a Fling - A pretty medium violet/purple, with some red undertones. Like Aquatini, it needs 3 coats, but I only applied 2. Very delicate shimmer.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the colors H&M came up with, but in the end, I found the formula of all of these a bit disappointing. Not that it's that bad, but I guess I was expecting a lot more from these, since all of my other H&M polishes apply like a dream! What do you think of the new colors?

With that said, I'm wishing you a good night! Thanks for stopping by and till next time :-)

And the winners are ..... *drumroll*

So finally! My giveaway has ended and I'm about to announce 2 lucky winners. First of all: boy I need to thank you all so much for participating and following me! I've had 299 comments, worth of 404 entries! This was definitely beyond my expectations, overwhelming to say the least. Needless to say I've had a lot of work sorting everything out, haha!
While I was on this I caught some cheaters too, I'm not as dumb as you might have thought, ha ha (I did think it was pretty lame though).

Well with no further ado, I present to you the two winners:

Set 1:

Set 2:

I used www.random.org to determine the winners, and kept everyone's preference in mind.

Congratulations ladies! I will be e-mailing you shortly.

Of course I feel the need to add some nail spam, so here is Sinful Senorita by H&M, a gorgeous pink with great application. And you might not think it is, but it's definitely a holo in better lighting.

Take care and till next time!

H&M - Chicks Envy Me

Hi guys! Did you all enter my giveaway yet? I wanted to show you another polish that's included in the first set I'm giving away: Chicks Envy Me by H&M. Normally I'm not a red wearing type of girl, but this one is really something else.

First of all, it looks so different from what I'd expected, it's more coral/orang-y red instead of a plain orange. Another surprise: it's not a creme, it's a jelly. Can it get any better, you might ask? Yes! It's on fire! It's so bright, I'd say it's a neon. If I had lived in the 50ies and I happened to be a hot smoldering pinup (a girl can dream, right), I wouldn't go anywhere without this sizzling bottle of nail polish.

So what's the catch? There is none! The formula was wonderful, like with most H&M nail polishes, and it only took 3 coats, which is pretty damn good for a bright jelly. Also: clean up is not a problem with this red! Normally red will flow everywhere if you try this, but not with this polish. If you think you can handle this flaming bottle of fire, go get it or check out my giveaway!

Yeah baby! Giveaway time!

I made it to 250 followers! *Does happy dance*. Like I said I appreciate and love you guys so much! I'd never expected to find such a warm and welcoming place. And now I can finally thank you guys! Let's show you the goods: I'll be giving away 2 sets, one set a winner, so yes there will be 2 lucky winners!

The first set includes 4 great shades by H&M: Chicks Envy Me (a bright orangy red I actually like - this color doesn't look right in this photo), Fashionista, Liberty Girl, and the highly sought after Bella's Choice!

The second set includes 3 semi holo nail polishes, also by H&M: You Rock My World, Sinful Senorita and Mad About You. These are pretty awesome, the application is amazing. The holo effect is very subtle (unless you're walking on sunshine), but I think they're mega cute anyway. I'll try to swatch some of these any time soon.

I've added some photos for reference, these are swatched with my own nail polish. The nail polish that I'll send to the winners is brand new and never been used!

Fashionista
Bella's Choice
Chicks Envy Me

Ok, the rules!

1 - You have to be a follower of my blog
2 - Please enter your e-mail address along with your preference for set 1 (the 4 shades) or set 2 (the 3 semi holos).
3 - It doesn't matter where you live, entering is open for everyone!
4 - You can earn extra entries by:
    - Reposting this giveaway on your blog (feel free to use the pictures in this post!),
    - Following me on Twitter
    - Tweeting about it
If you do this, please let me know in your comment by showing me the URL's.
Note: You can only use these for extra entries if you follow my blog.
5 - You can enter till the 10th of March, 11:59pm - CET.
6 - Since I love you all so much, I'll let www.random.org decide who the lucky winners will be ;-).

I really hope you'll enjoy the items I gathered and if you choose to enter, good luck!!

H&M - Bella's Choice

Good morning everyone! How is everybody doing? A few days ago I tried to be strong, but walked out of the store with this pretty baby anyway. Somehow my brain always turns to jelly when I see interesting nail polish. This one is another member of the H&M nail polish family: Bella's Choice. Could this name be Twilight related? Probably not, but I'd like to think so!

I'm terrible at naming colors but I think this is a vibrant turquoise/tiffany-blue color. At first I thought it looked a lot like For Audrey by China Glaze, but I think Bella's choice is slighty more green. I'm not sure though, since I'm not that lucky to own For Audrey ;-).

The formula was ok, but not as fantastic as I'm used to when it comes to H&M nail polish. It was a bit on the thick side so I had to add thinner right away. This is 2 coats and I just love how smooth the finish is.

Well this was it for today, dear reader, take care and till next time!

H&M - Fashionista

Hi guys! Is everybody enjoying their day? I hope so! I'm having another busy but boring day at the office, thankfully I'm allowed to wear any nail polish to work. Heck, they don't even notice that I compulsively change colors every day :-D.

Today I'm wearing another pretty nail polish by H&M. Like always, the formula was pretty good, 2 coats and a finish as smooth as silk. This polish can be a bit streaky though! The color is a bright blueviolet. Love.

The name of this polish is Fashionista, and I'm glad they got it right this time, :-D

Thanks for stopping by and till next time!

H&M - My Favorite Jeans

Hii everyone! Today I'm wearing something by a brand I really love and it's not even a nail polish brand. It's H&M! They always manage to come up with nice fashionable colors for a reasonable price. The formula is pretty decent too.

Recently I bought a lot of their colors, *whoops*, but this one I've already had for a while. It's called My Favorite Jeans. I'd say the color is steelblue and it contains a lot of silver and turquoise shimmer, pretty!

I really like the sparrrklyness it possesses even though it's not a glitter. IMO, the color is a bit too light, this looks nothing like my own pair of favorite jeans :-D. Overall, I think it's a pretty color, but I'm not in love!

Oops, I've got to run! Thanks for stopping by and take care :-).