OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand Mini Pack

Few days ago I got a cute package from a Slovenian online store. They surprised me with a mini pack of OPI Mariah Carey's liquid sand collection. I'm seeing this trend everywhere at the moment and I couldn't wait to test them out. Since I got a mini pack and didn't want to just swatch them, I decided to go with skittles. :P I added 2 coats of each and I was surprised with a gritty effect but I just love it! :L It truly looks like a sand on your nails, perfect! Which one is your fave?

V sredo me je v dobro voljo spravil paketek iz spletne trgovine Za Piko na i. :i Dobila sem priložnost preizkusiti mini set OPI lakov iz kolekcije Mariah Carey. V paketu je bil tudi OPI koledar, ki sem se ga res razveselila in že krasi  mojo sobo. :L 

Liquid sand tekstura je nekaj novega pri OPI-ju in seveda vseh drugih znamkah, ki sledijo tem trendu. V kolekciji Mariah Carey so štirje taki odtenki. Ker nimam 10 rok, kjer bi lahko preizkusila vse lake naenkrat, sem se odločila za skittlse in tako ubila 4 muhe na en mah. :P

Stay the Night - The impossible - Can't let go - Get your number

Posušijo se v strukturiran mat finiš, kar jih naredi posebne - kot pesek na nohtih. :L

Z nanosom nisem imela nobenih težav. Po prvem sloju so sicer malo bolj prozorni ampak z debelejšim drugim slojem sem dosegla popolno prekrivnost. Izognila sem se nadlaku, ker bi potem izničila ta mat efekt, ampak tudi to bom morala poskusiti v naslednjih dneh. :L Naj omenim še, da so v živo še lepši, saj mi nikakor ni uspelo ujeti bleščečih drobcev, ki so v živo zelo opazni. :$

Hecno - včasih me je ta grobi občutek pri nekaterih glitter lakih zelo motil, zato sem vedno dodala najmanj 2 sloja nadlaka. :D  Ampak po pliš nohtih, ki jih obožujem, sem vzljubila tudi ta efekt. :$

Več OPI lakov, ki jih lahko kupite na Za piko na i, lahko najdete tukaj.

Kateri je vaš najljubši?

P. S.: Huh, napisati objavo v slovenščini je bilo težje kot sem pričakovala. :$ 

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

*Products in this post were sent to me by Za piko na i! For more information read my disclosure policy!

Once Upon a Time I Made it Golden for Christmas

Did you miss my nails? :$ I did miss you! :)

My nails are in worst condition - still peeling and weak so I'm keeping them short. I'm still painting my nails all the time, I just don't find time or great light to take photos that's why I'm not posting as much as before..

Here's my easy red and gold Christmas combination you can't go wrong with. :D Pictures aren't best but you get the point. :i

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Once Upon a Time / 2 coats

Sponging: Essence - Make it Golden

Essence Better than gel nails Top Sealer 

Do you like this combo? Let me know what are you wearing today! :party

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

How to capture neons on picture?

When I tried CH Nail #14 I wanted more neons like that so this time I got CH Nail #04. It looks like it's super pink but it's not, so don't let the pictures on their page fool you. It definitely has red undertones, so it's more like a pinkish red. Unfortunately my pictures aren't color accurate, it looks way to orange as in person, so I have only one picture for you.

It has great formula. almost one coater if you're careful. Remember, it's bright but red. :i It looks more pink in the bottle as on nails, maybe I should try it over white too.

Daylight

Es?sence Nail Art - Protecting Base Coat

CH Nail - #04 / 2 coats

Don't forget to use code J10X31 to get 10% off on your order if you're planning to order on Born Pretty Store . ;)

How do you take color acurrate photos of neons? Any tips and tricks?

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

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

BeautyBird Stick Up Self-Adhesive Nail Foils

I've been really lazy so I'm not really wearing nail polish lately because of this heat we have (yay, Summer :L), that's why I decided to try out some stickers I have. :D

I got these from Nihrida months ago but I never got around to try them on. I got this super cute red polka dot pattern. <3 I was really sceptical about stickers, because I only tried Essence Studio Nails - Nail Fashion Stickers in Catwalk! so far, which didn't work for me at all. I wouldn't say these are foils (they do not need need adhesive glue) but stickers.

BeautyBird Stick Up Self-Adhesive Nail Foils

You get 20 self-adhesive stickers and a file. Your nails have to be clean, then you choose a sticker that will fit your nails and apply it. Smooth down with fingers and file off the excess. For better results you can add a coat of clear polish first.

I skipped this step and I applied stickers directly on clean nails. I had some problems with finding the the right size, so some of them don't fit perfectly on sides. Same with thumb - the biggest sticker is really rounded and since my thumb nail is really squared at cuticles, I cut off that rounded part of sticker and got perfect squared sticker. They're easy to smooth down, I used my fingertips and wooden cuticle pusher. Lastly I removed the excess with a file.

Final result....

Daylight

I applied them on Sunday and today on Thursday I'm still wearing them. I'm doing regular stuff I usually do on a daily basis, I took so many showers because it's so hot, washed dishes all the time, I even spent one day at pool... And after 4 days they look like this... :i

Daylight

Close up...

Some stickers are still perfect but some of them already lifted on tips but they aren't thick so they don't scratch my face when I touch it like those from Essence. You can't even notice these mistakes if you're not really searching them.To remove them you simply pull them off the nails. :)

The whole set costs 9€ and they offer lots of different designs. A bit pricey for my wallet, but I must say they worked great for me. Not something you could use every week but they're perfect for holidays, special occasions etc,... 

I got so many compliments so far and lots of them didn't believe that these are stickers. :i What do you think about these? Do you like wearing stickers? Thanks for reading! :h

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Candy Water Marble

It's such a grey rainy lazy day today and because I really didn't know what to do with myself, I decided to try water marbling. I used to do more of them in the past and I can't believe I didn't try any since I started this blog. :D So here's my first water marble featured on this blog...

I used some of the colors from my favorite China Glaze collection Up & Away and the final results reminds me of candies. :) It's absolutely not perfect but I'm happy with the final result... 

Daylight

Base:

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

OPI - Sweet Heart / 1 coat

Water Marble: 

China Glaze - Something Sweet

China Glaze - Heli-Yum

China Glaze - Sugar High

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I'd definitely try water marbling more often, because it really looks cute but I'm too lazy for that. :D What do you think about my manicure? Do you practice water marbling often?

If you want to see tons of amazing tutorials, check Colette and her blog My Simple Little Pleasures and her YouTube channel, because she's definitely a water marble queen. :) 

Have a lovely day and thanks for reading! :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Manicure inspired by Real Madrid C. F.

I'm a big fan of football and my all time favorite club is Real Madrid. I started watching football since 1998, I still remember the world cup I watched with my dad and I loved it. :D As a kid, I even played it with my friends, but I'm sad I never tried to train it. :/

Old team of Real Madrid with Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zizu, Raul, Figo, Beckham, etc... made me fell in love with this club and it's still my #1. <3

Yesterday we watched another El Clasico (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid) and I tweeted if RM wins, I'm doing a manicure inspired by RM. :D And they won! :e So here's what I came up with.... 

Sun

I'm not good with free hand nail art so I decided to keep it simple. :D I used white as a base, because I love their white uniforms with gold details. I added a RM's logo on my ring finger with nail art brush and 3 gold stripes from their uniform as Adidas logo on my thumb with tape.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Snow / 2 coats

Ring finger: China Glaze - 2030 (gold), Essence - Cool and the Gang (blue), Essence - Back to the 50's (red) + nail art brush

Thumb: China Glaze - 2030 + tape

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I wanted to add numbers of players but since I love the whole team, I decided to keep other nails just white. :D

Pictures aren't even close to good, because we had such a grainy (grey + rain) day and my camera didn't let me pick the gold without any shine. :( I like this mani better in person as on this pictures, kinda looks like a fail. :D 

Any Madridistas here? Do you watch football? What's your fave team? My 2nd fave team is Chelsea. :e I check almost all their matches (if I don't have time to watch it, I always check the results).What do you think? Does this mani look like a fail? :$

Have a lovely start of the week and thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Valentine's Day Manicure #2

I didn't plan doing any skittles manicure for this Valentine's day because I'm not having so many plates to play with like last year. :D But yesterday after small talk with Liz on Twitter I decided to make at least something like last year. :D So I checked all plates I have and this is what I came up with....

All the colors and image plates I used are in the description under the photos so I won't write them here again. I choose dotted bow and hearts, sponged glitter and lovely stripe pattern,...Of course, you can wear one pattern for a full manicure nail or skittles like me. :D I did just my left hand because I'm planning to do more manicures so today I was walking around with only one hand polished, oops. :$

Here's the final result. :$ And of course, I had to add hearts one the first pictures in CS3 again! I just love how cute they are! :L

Essence - Nail Art Protecting Base Coat

Thumb: Essence - Very Berry / 2 coats + m59 & Essence - Style me Love / stamping + Pink Rhinestone

Index: Essie - French Affair / 3 coats + m65 & Essence - Style me Love / stamping

Middle: Orly - Fancy Fuchsia / 2 coats + m59 & Essence - Style me Love / stamping + Pink 3D Steel Glitters

Ring: Essence - Mr. Big / 2 coats + Essence - It's Time for Romance / sponged

Pinkie: China Glaze - Heli-Yum / 2 coats + BPS m17 & Essence Stamp me! White & Essence - Style me Love / stamping

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer 

I really can't decide what's my favorite design, because I'd wear all this patterns as full manicure for sure. &lt;3 The pink beads I added on my middle nails started staining after applying TC so I'm wondering how do you prevent that? It happened now with pink and purple beads a while ago with different TCs. :/ But if I don't layer a TC over them, they start falling much faster...

What do you think about this skittle manicure?? :) Thanks for reading! :rainbow

Okay, another post done... Now it's time for me to play with statistics.. It's midnight and I love studying at night, because everyone including our little devil is sleeping, so I have my own peace. :D

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Valentine's Day Manicure #1

It's already February and I can't believe it. :o I already saw lots of Valentine's stuff around in stores and because I loved my last year's Valentine's Day manicure, I decided to make a few more this year. :D Of course I can't make anything similar like last year, because I don't have so many plates to play with, so they probably won't be the best. :$ Instead of studying I rather play with my nails.... :/ Oh well...

I started with a coat of Essence - Back to the 50's, sponged a bit of Essence - Once Upon a Time and stamped with BPS image plate m17 and Essence Stamp me! White. :) Just like I said yesterday on Twitter, I'm not really satisfied with this manicure, there's something missing but I can't figure what! :D

On the first picture I added lovely hearts in CS3. <3 It looks like my background was full of hearts, cute! <3

Essence - Nail Art Protecting Base Coat

Essence - Back to the 50's (TE 50's Girls Reloaded) / 1 coat  

Essence - Once Upon a Time (TE Fairytale) / sponged

BPS m17 & Essence - Stamp me! white / stamping

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

 Here's the image plate I was using on the picture below. :) As you can see the pattern is pretty small so I had to stamp more than once to cover my whole nail. :D I just tried to stamp them near as possible but I failed, because sometimes I stamped the same spot twice. :D Oh well, I need more practice! :$

It's cute and simple, but I still don't love it. :D What do you think? You can play with colors and stamp hearts in different colors, I think that'd totally look awesome over a white with pink and red hearts. :D

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Holiday Guest Post #4: Oooh, Shinies!

It's Christmas eve here so I just have to share this manicure today. <3 We're having Bregje from Oooh, Shinies! here today. :e Her nails are so perfect and she's master of stamping. I just love her manicures - perfect clean up, perfect stamping, perfect photos. <3

Hey all! Oh my, it's such an honour to be here :) When Ivana asked me I of course instantly thought pink! and cats! and glitters!, but I'm not so in the mood for pink right now with all the pretty Christmas colors around, and my cats aren't in the mood for playing background (they're too busy destroying my Christmas decoration xo ). But a glittery mani would still be perfect!

So here it is, 2 coats of China Glaze Jolly Holly with 1 coat of China Glaze Party Hearty, both are from last year's holiday collection. Party Hearty thickened up a bit, which actually made the application a lot easier! With bigger glitters I often end up with a lot of it on my tips and having to dab them in place, but now that the base was thicker, the glitters automatically spread well. I added 2 coats of top coat, and it looked all shiny and Christmas-y on my nails. But even though I enjoyed it like that, I'm not so used to these kinda sparkly manis and I couldn't capture it well either. So to solve that I added a coat of Essence Matt, and I think it looks great like this!

Here you can see how it looks shiny, which way do you like it best? :)

Have a great holiday season and a fantastic new year all! Ivana I hope you get well soon and that someone can polish your nails for you in the meantime, and thank you so much for having me on your wonderful blog :k

Christmas on your nails Bregje. :L I always loved Party Hearty, it reminds me on christmas tree full of red lights but I never added it to WL, because green isn't my favorite.  Mattified glitters are so special, but both versions are gorgeos! <3

I'm sure you all know Bregje and her lovely blog Oooh, Shinies! but in case you don't, be sure to check her blog and her lovely stamping manicures - she really makes awesome color and pattern combinations. <3 Thank you so much for this lovely post Bregje. :k

What do you think about this lovely manicure? Does it remind you on Christmas? What will you wear on Christmas Eve? Merry Christmas Eve dear readers and folowers and thanks for reading! <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

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps

What did you pick to wear on the 1st December? :i I decided to go with something red and sparkly. :)

There's something about this red polish that doesn't make me feel old when I wear it. :D If you say Christmas, I think of Ruby Pumps - red, glittery, sparkly. <3 I'm sure you all saw it so many times, but here it's once again. :$

Ruby Pumps is a reddish jelly base with lots of golden red glitter. I added 2 coats, great application, fast drying time and my nails are so sparkly. :) I just noticed that there are 2 version of this beauty and I have no idea which one is this. Oh well, both versions are beautiful. :)

All pictures below were taken under daylight bulb and black background. 

Nail Tek - Foundation II

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps / 2 coat

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer 

It's hard to capture all its beauty on picture so you must believe me that this beauty is amazing in person. :) I took blurred picture to show you how it sparkles and even this picture doesn't show all it gorgeousness.

Believe me, you need this one. :) What do you think? Do you already have it?

Have a nice and relaxing weekend! :rainbow

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

Back to the 50's with Lightning Bolt

I didn't wear this because I added a coat of super pretty jelly and made jelly sandwich but I took some photos to show you how Lightning Bolt look like. It's a white creme crackle from China Glaze. I don't know why but I'm so over these crackles, I want something fresh, new, no more new crackles, please. xo

It dries fast and matte, I added a coat over Back to the 50's from Essence.

Daylight

Sun

Close up. :i

 Nail Tek - Foundation 2 / 1 coat

Essence - Back to the 50's / 2 coats

China Glaze - Lightning Bolt / 1 coat

What's your favorite crackle? Do you want more crackles in your collection?

That's all for today, thanks for reading and leaving a comment! :rainbow

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Essence TE 50's Girl Reloaded Haul

I'm so behind with my posts and comments but I decided that I'd write something today. Thanks for your lovely comments on my previous post. Next day I shorten my nails, like I said my thumb's broken so the difference was too obvious and I'm so allergic to different lenghts, okay thumbs can go through but if my ring finger is broken... No way! xo 

So as I already said Essence has gone crazy with Trend editions this summer. Ballerina Backtage and Nails in style is alread sold out everywhere but recently 50's Girl Reloaded hit our DM. :) So I actually wasn't planning to buy anything but when I saw how everyone's loving their lipsticks I had to get mine. I wanted a nice red polish too so I bought that one, you can't miss with that price at all. :$

Here's what I got:

 Nail polish - Back to the 50's

Lipsticks - 02 I’m Sailing and 01 Back to the 50’s

Let's start with a nail polish. It contains 15 ml of polish! :e In case you don't know, Essence bottles are usually smaller, Multi Dimension polishes contains just 8 ml. So you got lots of polish for a nice price. One polish costs 1,89 €. Back to the 50's is a creme red, very opaque. First I used it for my pedi, the brush was perfect, I think I never painted my toes so perfectly, almost without clean up. :D Then I moved on my mani and the brush just didn't work on my hand as on toes. Maybe's just me but my nails was a mess before clean up. :$ Like I said it's very opaque, you can get away with one thicker coat especially if your nails are short, but I added 2 to hide VNL but it's still there, on picture even more visible as in person.

 

Daylight

Sun

I feel so old with red on my nails. :D I think that red is more classy, elegant and I'm still not in that phase. :D

Swatches of lipstick after a click. :)

China Glaze - (Failed) Pool Party

Huh I didn't even want to post these swatches but I think I'll never be able to take color accurate picture of this radioactive nail polish. :D That's why I'm talking about failed Pool Party by China Glaze from Poolside 2010 Summer collection. I wanted it sooooo badly, because it looks sooo awesome and when I got it, I's in love. Until I put it on my nails... xo

It's still pretty, don't get me wrong but I expected a real neon pink color but this beauty looks so orange on me. :D And it's even moreee orange on pictures as in RL. I gave up from trying to catch its real color so here are some failed and totally not color accurate pictures. :D 

I added 3 coats, dries super fast and matte so you have to add a layer of TC to get that shiny finish. Are you ready? :D

Sun

Shade

This one was taken with my laptop camera.

It's orange on me but still not so much as these pictures. xo I checked lots of swatches to show you how does it look like for real on me and I think Elaine from Lacquer Laine really catch its color. I really expected a neon pink so I's a little dissapointed but I still need to layer it over white to see if I'll like it more. :D

My nails are naked for two days now and I still don't have any inspiration. I hope I'll work something out till tommorow. 

Do you have any from Poolside collection? Do you wear such bright colors? I must admit I didn't like them before but now.... I want every single neon pink polish on this world. :$

Have a nice and looong weekend,

Ivana :k