Essie Coat Couture

Hello ladies!

Today I have a swatch and review of Essie Coat Couture from the new Essie Cashmere Matte Collection to share with you guys!
Coat Couture is a taupe/purple matte nail polish with aqua blue shimmer.

The formula was amazing, it was easy to work with and it was really self-levelling - especially for a matte polish. The opacity was amazing as well and it was opaque in just two thin coats.
Down below I used two coats and no top coat.

And here it is with a shiny top coat.

I love this polish both matte and shiny!
What do you guys think about this nail polish? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished.
- Louise

Flakies

Hello ladies!

A few days ago I finally got my hands on a long time lemming of mine: Essie Shine of the Times!
Today I did some nail art featuring said nail polish inspired by @sloteazzy.

For the manicure I started off with a black base of Essie Licorice on all my nails. Afterwards I made the chevrons on my ring and middle finger using Mini Chevron Nail Vinyls from Glam My Mani and Essie Shine of the Times. I mattified the flakie chevrons with Essie Matte About You. To finish of the skittlette I applied a square gold stud from Born Pretty Store (#5003) on my pinky.

I love how this turned out and I love Essie Shine of the Times.
What do you guys think about this nail art? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished.
- Louise

Decisions, decisions

Hey guys!

I have so many untried polishes right now, I don't even know which one(s) to try on first (a real first world problem, right?)! I actually made a deal with myself that I won't buy any more nail polish until I have tried them all!

Today I would like to share two of my untrieds with you guys: Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pop Art and piCture pOlish Minty.

Yves Saint Laurent is a red crelly (a mix of creme and jelly - read more about it here) that is opaque in two thin coats. I love bright reds so of course I needed this one in my life!
piCture pOlish Minty is a mint green crelly with matte white and dark pink glitter and a scattered holographic shimmer - so unique.

I love these two together!
What do you guys think about this combination? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished.
- Louise

Fancy Friday: Favorites of 2014

Hello ladies!

Today I have this year's last Fancy Friday challenge: my favorite manicures of 2014.
Down below I have chosen my personal top 5 manicures from 2014.

Number 5

My fifth most loved manicure from 2014 is this very simple manicure featuring pastel studs. I love how some studs can turn any simple manicure into something more interesting.
You can see the blog post for this simple manicure here!

Number 4

My number four favorite manicure from 2014 is this stamped christmas sweater skittlette. I just recently got into stamping and I definitely need some more practice, but I really like the technique.
You can check out the blog post for this manicure here.

Number 3

My third most loved manicure of 2014 is this dry marble skittlette. I love this simple technique and especially this one with two lovely blue shades!
You can check out my blog post about this manicure here.

Number 2

A close second favorite manicure of 2014 is this beautiful water marble skittlette manicure I wore for the first day of uni. Even though water marbling is the hardest technique for me, I love how it turns out every time!
You can see my blog post about this manicure here.

Number 1

My absolute favorite manicure from 2014 is this tribal print gradient manicure that I made for Neglenymferne! In 2014 I really got into gradients as they are so easy to do (except for the clean-up part) and look amazing.
You can see my guest blog post here and my own blog post here.

Which of the nail art I made this year is your favorite? Which are your favorite of your own creations?
Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished.
- Louise

Remember to check out what the other girls came out with for this week's challenge down below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Guest post for Neglenymfer

Hello ladies!

Today I did a guest post for Sussi & Maja at Neglenymfer.
The theme for the guest post was Pink Saturday for Breast Cancer Awareness and I decided to make a pink gradient with a black tribal print!
I was inspired by this manicure by Maria at Miss Chinchilly!

For the manicure I started off with a white base of Essie Blanc. Afterwards I used a make-up sponge to make the pink gradient with Essie Fiji, Essie Lovie Dovie and Essie Watermelon. When that was dry I used a small nail art brush and black acrylic paint to freehand on the tribal print. I topped the manicure of with a matte top coat of Essie Matte About You!

I really, really love how these turned out - definitely a different take on a Breast Cancer Awareness manicure!
What do you girls think about this nail art? Let me know in the comments!

If you want to see my guest blog post you can click here.

Stay polished!
- Louise

Essie Pinking About You

Hi girls!

As promised I have a swatch and review of Essie Pinking About You from the new Breast Cancer Awareness 2014 Collection for you guys today.
Pinking About You is a matte pink glitter.

The formula and glitter pay-off was amazing - and the best part: no fishing for the big pieces!
Down below I used one coat of Essie Pinking About You over Sally Hansen Pacific Blue (original formula).

Even though I do not care for this colour combination, I really like the glitter!
What do you girls think about this matte glitter? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished.
- Louise

Fancy Friday: Untried

Hello ladies!

Today I have some Fancy Friday nail art to show you guys!
This time the challenge is untried, which can mean both an untried technique or untried nail polishes. I decided to try an untried technique - negative space - with one of my untried nail polishes (like a boss!).

Down below is a picture of my little drawer of untried nail polishes (those of you following me on Instagram have already seen this). I keep all my untried nail polishes apart from my other nail polishes so I know which ones to try out and use next!

For the manicure I was inspired by this negative space manicure by Alice at One Nail To Rule Them All.
I followed her tutorial using a medium sized dotting tool, By K. Dandelion (yellow), Essie Mint Candy Apple (blue), Etude House OR202 (orange) and my untried L'Oréal Pistachio Drage (off-white green). For the matte effect I used Essie Matte About You!

I do not know if I like this particular negative space manicure, but I will definitely try the technique again sometime.
What do you girls think about this negative space manicure? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished!
- Louise.

Remember to check out what the other girls created for this week's challenge down below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Fancy Friday: Ice Cream

Hello ladies!

Today I have something new for you guys: Fancy Friday.
Fancy Friday is a group of Danish nail polish keen bloggers, that follows a joint challenge in the world of nail polish and nail art every friday.

My first Fancy Friday Challenge is nail art inspired by ice cream. When I heard the title of the challenge I immediately thought about my Etude House polishes, because the bottles are shaped like little ice cream cones. You can see my reviews and swatches of those here.
I decided upon using one of the Etude House polishes in today's manicure!

For the manicure I started off with a matte pink base of Etude House PK001 Stawberry and Essie Matte About You to make my nails resemble strawberry ice cream. Afterwards I followed this tutorial by cutepolish on YouTube, using Essie Lady Godiva (dark brown) to resemble the chocolate sauce, and Essie Blanc (white), Essie Mint Candy Apple (mint blue), Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi (yellow), Essie Mojito Madness (green) and Essie Watermelon (dark pink) to resemble the sprinkles. But instead of using a striper like cutepolish does in her video, I used a dotting tool to make my sprinkles round.

I love how this turned out - it really does look like strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles!
What do you girls think? Let me know in the comments!

Stay polished!
- Louise.

Remember to check out what the other girls created for this week's challenge down below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Animal Themed Manicure #7

Hello ladies!

Yesterday I was wearing Essie Avenue Maintain. Today I used that sky-blue base colour to make yet another animal themed manicure for you guys.
This time it is a Glossy vs. Matte Zebra Manicure!

As mentioned the base is two layers of Essie Avenue Maintain. On top of that I used Essie Matte About You to mattify the shiny base. Afterwards I used a nail striper and Avenue Maintain to paint on the zebra stripes.
You can check out cutepolish' video-tutorial on how to make this manicure here.

The weather is perfect for taking pictures today, so I got a really good one, that shows the contrasting effect between the glossy vs. matte finishes perfectly.

I was originally planning to do this manicure in black, but I think it went okay with the blue base.
What do you guys think? Would it have been better in black?

Matte About You - Again!

Hey guys!

Yesterday I bought the perfect violet nail polish that is Essie Warm & Toasty Turtleneck from Essies Winter 2013 collection. Of course I had to try it on right away and I have to say ladies: It is amazing! Both the colour and formula. I am in love!

Today I added a layer of Essie Matte About You and painted the tips with a shiny top coat. The result is so pretty and simple!

Warm & Toasty Turtleneck is more dusty-looking in real life.