Connect the dots with Shocking pink

Hot Monday and I'm ready to post something here. :)

The biggest problem I have now is that I'm wearing just simple manicures all the times - mostly neon pink on my nails. I didn't stamp my nails for ages, only layering here and then. 

Few weeks ago I spent a week at aunt's place in Croatia. I was bored so I decided  to try a combo I had in my head for ages. Shocking Pink by China Glaze topped with black and white glitter Connect the dots from Lynnderella. I was absolutely happy with the final result. Enough talking, here are the pics. :i

Lately I'm sporting nubs all the time since I can't grow them out. They're weak and they're peeling all the time so I'm rather having nubs at the moment. 

Essence - Protecting Base coat 

China Glaze - Shocking Pink / 2 coats

Lynnderella - Connect the Dots / 1 coat

Essence - Better than gel nails Top Sealer Fast Dry 

My pics aren't best because neons are really hard to capture on photos but at least I tried. :$ 

What do you think? 

Xoxo, 

Ivana :k 

Original Signature

I'm too lazy to change my manicure often so I try different layering or stamping. The weather is just perfect to dig out some holos. :L

Both, Original & Signature are unfortunately discontinued and HTF, so I don't use them much. Both are a bit sheer so they're perfect for layering. <3 I layered them over my last two colored manicure I showed you here. :D.

Sun

Base
OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue / 2 coats

Ruby Kisses - Sweet Thing / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Layering

OPI - Signature / 1 coat

OPI - Original / 1 coat

I love how Original looks over blue. :L  I need to find a perfect combination to recreate OPI's Glamour, which I still want. ^_^

What's your all time favorite holographic nail polish? :rainbow Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,

Ivana

Essence Nail Colour³ - Shopping Trip in Soho

Essence came out with duo nail polishes this spring and when I was buying some of them for swap, I decided to buy one for me. I picked duo Shopping Trip in Soho, of course. :i They're called Essence Nail Colour3 - "choose from either of the two colours or layer them over each other to create your unique 3rd colour!" That's what it says on the bottle.

I decided to layer them, because the flakie side is sheer so it's perfect for layering. :) Each side has also name stamped on the bottle with really cute font. :)

The base Shopping Trip in Soho is pink with really subtle pink shimmer, but it looks like it's a pink creme on nails. My phone doesn't want to pick up the shimmer but it's really visible in the bottle but unfortunately not on nails. I added 2 coats for full opacity.

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Shopping Trip in Soho / 2 coats

 I was trying to pick up the shimmer, but I failed. xD

Then I added one coat of Party all night long. It's a sheer jelly base with pink and blue flakies. It reminds me of jam - so juicy and delicious. :D They're not super visible on the nail, but if you look closely, you will see this blurple and pink sheen.

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Shopping Trip in Soho / 2 coats

Essence - Party all night long / 1 coat

Flakies.. :L

Just because I was bored, I added a coat of Waking up in Vegas (also by Essence) on my ring finger. More flakies. :L

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Shopping Trip in Soho / 2 coats

Essence - Party all night long / 1 coat

Ring Finger: Essence - Waking up in Vegas / 1 coat 

I'm not really a fan of pinks with blue shimmer, so I'm not really sure how I feel about pink with blue flakies. :D I won't say I hate it but I'm not really loving it either. :D I'm also not a fan of duo polishes - you get 2x4 ml of polish, they're hard to storage, because they're so long. If you don't like how long they are, just simply pull them apart and you'll get 2 tiny bottles easy to storage. 

Do you have any of these Essence's Duos? What's your favorite?  :)

Just to remind you... It'd mean a world to me if you'd take a second of your time and vote for me in BM's contest. Voting ends on Sunday and you can vote every day...

If you have FB profile, click HERE to vote.

If you don't have FB, click HERE to vote.

Thank you so much for your votes! :) 

Have a lovely day and thanks for reading!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Berry with Gold Glitter

I'm really into sponging lately. :e Sponge is such an easy tool to use but it gives really amazing results. :L

Traffic Jam is a part of China Glaze's Metro Fall 2011 collection. It's a berry creme with really great formula (if you're careful, you can easily get away with just one coat). It's not so pink as on the pictures below but it's really hard to capture with my phone.

I didn't want anything from that fall collection at first but when I saw this manicure from Elsa I just had to have it! :L I still need to try out that combo, but this time I decided to go with gold. I usually sponge the glitter on the tips of my nails, but this time I decided to sponge them on the base of the nails.

The gold glitter I used is Make it Golden from Essence. I just love everything about this polish - gold hexagonal glitter, tiny glitter and gold dust in clear base. <3 I already showed you in combination with nude or blue. :) I definitely need a back up!

Sun

Daylight

Sun - Blurry

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Traffic Jam / 2 coats

Sponging: Essence - Make it Golden
Nail Tek Intensive Therapy II

I had to include the last blurry picture, because the gold really pops out. :L Just gorgeous! <3

What do you think about this manicure? Would you wear it? :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Neon French Cheetah Print

Months ago I was contacted by KKCenterHk and they offered me to pick one of their stamping plates. Because I'm not really a fan of plates with tiny images on, I decided to go with french manicure plate - B57. I have no idea what was I thinking when I chose it because you all know I'm having nubs most of the time, so I waited and waited and when I found out my nails won't be long anytime soon I decided to try it out on my longer shorties. :D

Image plate came in a little plastic bag and it's protected with a very thin clear film, which is really hard to notice at first but keep sliding your finger at the end (but carefully because you can easily cut yourself) and the film will start lifting.

B57 has 6 patterns for french manicure...

 

I decided to go with cheetah print and diagonal french tips, because my tips weren't long enough and it would look weird if I would stamp it horizontally. :D I must say I'm not happy with this color combination but here it is. :D

Sun

The only reason I had neon polish on my nails was to check if Pool Party really looks better over white. :D I already had white nails from my last manicure, so I removed an accent nails and applied Pool Party without a white base to see the difference. It was obvious in person but I failed again with taking color accurate pictures of this neon. :D So Pool Party looks way to orange on this pictures, I think my phone just aren't smart enough to capture the real color. :P

I stamped the cheetah print from the image plate in diagonal way. The patterns came off really great so I had no problems with transfering the image from plate to stamper to nails. :)

Sun

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Snow / 2 coats

China Glaze - Pool Party / 2 coats

Thumb & Ring Finger: China Glaze - Pool Party/ 3 coats

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

What do you think? I really love diagonal tips, because I'm not really a fan of classic french manicures so I will definitely try another color combo soon. :D Would you wear a neon with cheetah tips? 

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k 

*Product in this post was sent to me by KKCenterHk! For more information read my disclosure policy!

Flakie Jelly Sandwich

Yap, after glitter sandwich I had to try flakie jelly sandwich. ^_^

I saw that Deborah Lippmann released a new gorgeous polish named Sweet Dreams. You can see gorgeous swatches at The PolishAholic. <3 It's a pink jelly full of gold flakies and of course I would love to have it but first I need to save some money to get this beauty. :i In the meanwhile, I made my own version. I didn't come up with a dupe, but it's close enough for me.

I started with a coat of OPI's Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em from Texas collection. I just love all jellies I have from this collex. :L Then I added a coat of Essence - Waking Up in Vegas, another coat of OPI, another coat of flakies and finished it with the last layer of pink jelly. Lots of coats but it's so worth it. :) I also added a coat of TC for fast drying and glossy shine. :L

Flakies aren't super visible on sun but you can still spot some orange reflection. :) Nail line isn't visible as much as it shows on pictures, it's still there but I don't mind it, because I just love jelly finish. It looks like I'm wearing candies on my nails. :D

Daylight

Shade

Sun

Essence Nail Art - Protecting Base Coat

OPI - Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em / 1 coat

Essence - Waking up in Vegas (TE Re-mix) / 1 coat

OPI - Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em / 1 coat

Essence - Waking up in Vegas (TE Re-mix) / 1 coat

OPI - Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em / 1 coat

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

A close up. :L

What do you think? Do you already tried sandwich like this? It tastes delicious. :P I definitely need more flakies in my life, especially in other colors, for now I own just pinks. :D

Thanks for reading and have love start of the week! :rainbow

Xoxo,

Ivana :k 

Call me when you find Unicorn Puke

It's time for another manicure I'll probably wear until it totally chips. :D

My hand is much better now and I'm happy I waited to fully recover before coming back. :) I still have problems with lifting things and I can't move my wrist up and down,  but it's much better as it was. :e

I also file my nails down just because I had problems with my index nail, I had a tiny cut on the side but I always manage to file it to a smooth edge. But it kept breaking my nail and everytime I spotted the cut, I was so nervous so last time I decided to file all my nails down. As you probably know I prefer long nails on me, but I hate if I have peels or weird borders. :$

I didn't know what to wear so my mom chose for me.Well I pick 2 of them and she pick the one. :)

p2 - Call me! & Cult Nails - Unicorn Puke

She picked p2 - Call Me! - dark plum creme. It looks much lighter in the bottle on the sun than on nails. :) I got it from Adora Belle but I didn't hear from her for ages, hope she's okay! :( I added 2 coats for full opacity and it dries pretty fast. Since I've seen Amygrace's nails she did for my guest post, I feel in love with sponged flakies so I decided to try my first Cult Nails tiny bottle of Unicorn Puke I got from Iris at Polish Amor ♥. Thank  you Iris for sharing your bottle of Unicorn Puke with me. <3 Unicorn Puke or also Clairvoyant has multicolored flakies in a purple jelly base - you can find blue, green, orange, purple flakies inside, all I can say is gooooorgeous! <3

Sun

Daylight

Nail Tek - Foundation 2

p2 - Call Me! / 2 coats

Cult Nails - Unicorn Puke aka Clairvoyant / sponged

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

It's soooo pretty. <3 Unicorn Puke is really an amazing polish. :) I hope I'll get my hands on more awesome polishes from Cult Nails. :) I should definitely wear dark color more often, especially when my nails are so short. :$

What do you think about this combination? :) Thanks for reading! :rainbow I should take a nap to catch some sleep and study! I have an exam on Saturday - not good. :(

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

23 & Holiday Guest Post #7: Pink Polish Addict &

It's my B-day today! :party I turned 23 today, I feel old - not old old but growing up and I want to be a kid like forever. :$ I had a lovely day with a friend, we went to see firework in my town and had a lovely dinner. :e

 Cupcakes for everyone! :e :party

My nails are still naked, well with a coat of base coat, but Marketta made so lovely manicures just for my B-day. I wish we were closer, so she could do same manis on me. :) She runs a blog at Pink Polish Addict and yap, you guessed, I found a pink soulmate. :P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVANA! Ok now that I've said that I will introduce myself lol. My name is Marketta from Pink Polish Addict. I offered to do Ivana's birthday post for her today while her beauties are on hiatus, and she's recovering. I love me some Ivana, you know why? She's my pink enabler, and the sweetest person like EVER! I have been reining in the pink on my blog (I have TONS of pink) but she told me let loose, I sure don't hold back! So I'm going to start letting the pink out full force. This post is a day late because I had a bit of a dramatic day and I'm visiting my family for the holidays and they are a bit far out, so I have been a bit technology deprived. First up is NOPI All Kendall-ed Up which is a dark hot pink creme. I used 2 coats of AKU, special white polish, Bundle Monster ip's bm205-bm14-bm03, Seche Vite, and INM Northern Lights. I keep forgetting that I have nubbins now and I don't have as much room for multi-stamping fun so there's a bit much going on. This represents what I want Ivana to get tons of today: Presents, Love, and Cake! I just love the light holo that NL gives, it adds the perfect pop.

I know that Ivana loves some glitter, so of course I couldn't forget about the glitta! Below is 3 coats of Sally Hansen Gem Crush: Lady Luck. Lady Luck has a clear base packed with dark pink glitter, and bigger holo glitter. IRL this polish is gorgeous and I couldn't capture its true beauty.

Thanks for letting me share 2 mani's Ivana and I hope you had the most amazing birthday ever!

Kisses

Marketta

Aren't these totally my colors???? <3 I just knew I will like them. <3 Thank you so much for your lovely words Marketta, you're so sweet and of course for doing my b-day manis. <3 I thought I don't need this Sally Hansen Gem Crush but now... I will have to think about it again. :i

Be sure you'll check Marketta's blog Pink Polish Addict, but don't worry if you don't like pink like we do, her favorite color is also blue but she can work any color on this planet with her lovely nails. :L

Let me know what do you think about these 2 lovely pink manicure and thanks for reading! I had a lovely day behind me and I got an amaaazing package today and I can't wait to show you all the goodies I got. :i Polish is the best gift for sure. <3

XOXO,

Ivana :k

Holiday Guest Post #1: Glitter and Unicorns

It's time for guest posts! <3 I wasn't planning them until next year but after surgery my right hand need to heal and rest for 2 weeks so I decied to do them now and all sweet ladies will make it happen. I had so many Christmas ideas but they will have to wait till next year, oh well... What can we do. :) Not being able to use my right hand is super annoying, because I need help with everything, so I'm sure you understand why I can't reply to comments and questions now. As soon as my hand is fully recovered, I'll be back. :$

Let's start with Angie from Glitter and Unicorns. :L

Hello followers of Ivana Thinks Pink. My name is Angie, and my blog is called Glitter and Unicorns. Ivana has graciously asked me to be here while she heals after surgery, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I have a huge nail crush on her, and I always look forward to her posts.

Then I thought to myself, well what am I going to do now, that would rank up there with her awesome mani's? I originally wanted to do something pink since she is known for her pink, but figured she's probably worn all the pink polishes I have anyway. So I decided to go with something festive. Now what you see below is not the vision I started out with. I really wanted to do a red glitter gradient, but it got a little out of hand...and well I scrapped that idea. But what I found while trying it, was that I found an absolutely stunning glitter sandwich!

So I started out with a coat of China Glaze's iconic Ruby Pumps. On a side note, I literally JUST bought this polish....I know, I know, it's really old news, and honestly, I'm not sure why I haven't had this in my possession sooner! I then layered over China Glaze's Love Marilyn from their Eye Candy line. Then what I did next blew my eyeballs out of my head, I added another coat of Ruby Pumps over it. I know, it doesn't sound all that exciting, but Ruby Pumps jelly-ness really comes through.....and then, when you see it in the sun, you see the silver glitter of Love Marilyn, but it's pink! I'm seriously drooling, the depth in this is so gorgeous!

Now I complain all the time on my blog about my craptastic camera, and this is definitely one of those moments, my camera just didn't want to pick up the awesomeness of this layering combo. I urge you ladies to try it yourself to see first hand. I will admit that from far away, it just looks like red sparklies, but like most of us nail ladies, we are looking at it right next to our noses! My bf said to me yesterday "Can you stop looking at your nails for a second and pay attention to your driving...." eeek, lol!!

And, if you know me, you know I can't leave well enough alone, so this morning I added CND Crimson Sparkle to it. It added just an extra gold sparkle to it which I love! This is by far my favorite mani I've ever done, and I'm sad the greatness of it doesn't come across in my pics. This is definitely going to be my Christmas mani! In fact, I actually want to wear this all week! Which is crazy talk as I usually can't wear a mani for more than a day without wanting something different!

 

Well I hope you guys enjoyed my post! I'm so nervous about it, since I feel like such a nail n00b! And I have to thank Ivana again for giving me such an awesome opportunity to contribute to her wonderful blog! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and here's to the New Year!

I don't know about you but I just love her manicure! <3 I fell in love with Ruby Pumps when I tried it for the first time 2 weeks ago but this glitter sandwich is even prettier. I never tried CND's effects but now I think I need some in my collection. :$ Gorgeos Christmas manicure for sure. <3 Thank you Angie for your lovely post, it's great to have you here!

In case you don't know Angie, her lovely manicures and make up posts, check Glitter and Unicorns now and show some love! :)

Thanks for reading lovely readers and followers. :) Let me know, what do you think about her combination. What will you wear on Christmas? :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Merry Midnight dear True Love

Today's the perfect day to show you this manicure. <3 I already posted True Love but here's my upgrade. I wanted Merry Midnight for ages and I'm so happy I own it now, thank you so much mrsrexy from Canadian Nail Fanatic.

Merry Midnight is part of OPI's Holiday Wishes collection from Winter/Holiday 2009. It's a deep plum base with blue glitter and opal flakies. It's more on a sheer side so it was a perfect time to layer it over another plum color. <3 There's nothing more to say... Love at first sight! :)

All pictures were taken under daylight bulb and black background.

Essence - True Love / 2 coats

OPI - Merry Midnight / 2 coats

I could post so many pictures of it but I decided to pick just 2. I just love this combination! What about you? Do you have MM? If not, you can still grab Orly - Fowl Play when it's still available, because MM can be really hard to find or very expensive though. :/ 

 It's D.'s birthday today, so Happy Birthday my dear! <3 u! :k

I picked the perfect combination for his birthday, don't you think? :$

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Gossip Girl (yap, I just started watching GG xD )
Ivana :k

Make it Golden, Chuck!

I'm sick so I stayed in bed for whole 2 days now and my weekend probably won't be any better. I have a cold and my nose is killing me. Uh and this cold weather makes everything even worse. :ice

Glitters, glitters... <3 Something that always cheer me up at least a bit. :) Chuck can be gorgeous on his own too but I just had to add something. I didn't stamp for quite some time so I decided to try my new glitter polish.

Essence probably took inspiration for these glitters at Deborah Lippmann's glitters. I'm sure you all already know that Blue Addicted is a quite close dupe for Across the Universe, Make it Golden really reminds me of Boom Boom Pow and Time for Romance of Some enchanted Forest (but this one has clear base and Time for Romance has sheer magenta base). I don't own any of them so I can't make comparisons, but let's say these are very close or at least that they're related. xD

Make it Golden has a clear base with lots of two sized hexagon glitter and gold micro glitter, which looks like a golden dust on nail. <3 It's pretty sheer so it's perfect for layering, I'm sure you can create lots of different combinations with this beauty.

Chuck & Make it Golden

I didn't have any problems with application, I added 2 coats for more glittery effect and a layer of TC to smooth the surface.

Sun

Daylight

 Essence - Nail Art Protecting Base Coat

Essence - Chuck / 2 coats

Essence - Make it Golden / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I really love this blue-gold combination, what do you think about it? Do you already have Make it Golden? :)

I'm a bit late but I did a guest post at Colores de Carol a while ago. :e I was so happy when Carolina asked me. She has an amazing blog so be sure you'll check her out. <3

Click on the picture to see the whole post.

I did a Hello Kitty manicure, because I knew that Carolina loves her. :) I hope you'll like it too!

Thanks for reading and commenting! <3 Have a great weekend!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Very Berry, it's Time for Romance!

I can't believe it's Sunday already. :/ Time just flies by way too fast as I'd want to. ^_^ 

Essence released lots of new polishes from Color&Go line and when I stood in front of the whole rack, lots of colors seem to be so dark and weird for my taste just the glitters caught my eyes. So I skipped all of those weird colors for now and picked just 2 glitters and one of them I'm showing you today. :)

I had Very Berry on my nails so I decided to upgrade it a bit. I picked Time for Romance - sheer dark magenta base with large magenta hexagon glitter, magenta micro glitter and also some of holographic micro glitter. Holographic particles are more visible in bottle as on nail so don't expect having a rainbow on your nails though. :) It's more on a sheer side but it can be build up to full opacity with 3 coats or even more. 

Time for Romance & Very Berry

First I added just one coat, it changes the base color a bit, glitter is very dense even with just one coat. <3

Daylight

Essence - Nail Art Protecting Base Coat

Essence - Very Berry / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer
Essence - Time for Romance / 1 coat

On a third day I added one coat more and finished it with coat of TC to smooth the surface. The color with 2 coats became more darker and richer, I'll definitely wear this again. Soooo pretty. :L

Daylight

 Close up. <3

 Essence - Nail Art Protecting Base Coat

Essence - Very Berry / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer
Essence - Time for Romance / 2 coats
Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I really fell in love with this glitter polish! Great job Essence! <3 What do you think? Do you like it? Will you buy it?

I know lots of you don't want to use glitter just because of the hard removal process. Make your life easier and try Foil Method. Works like a charm without rubbing the glitter off, all you need is glitter on your nails, cottons pads, nail polish remover and foil. :D

Have a great Sunday dear readers and followers and thanks for reading! :h

Xoxo,

Ivana :k