NotD - Have a Shiny New Year

There are few days as glitzy and sparkly as New Year's Eve. Even women who usually wear neutrals and subtle make-up and polish will be tempted by glitter, frost and sequins. So when the lovely Kellie sent me a bottle of Sinful Colors I Miss You I knew I had to wear it for this occasion.

NotD - Neutral Dots

Is anyone else especially lazy during the holidays? I'm just not into complex designs that take a couple of hours right now.
So for today's nail I used another two colours that I got via Kellie's giveaway, OPI You're A Doll and Icing Cocoa.

My Christmas Manicure

I was in a serious hurry on Christmas Eve amd my polish was chipped and gross. I didn't have the time for nail art, so I thought I'd wear China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. But, horror of horrors, I couldn't find it. So I did a quick layered manicure which turned out lovely enough for me to recreate it tonight.

NotD - Dainty Daisies

Last night I came home to find a package from Kellie in my mailbox, filled with polishes I won in a giveaway at her blog (I'll post the swatches in a couple of days). Of course I had to use one of them, N.Y.C. Nail Glossies 219, for today's manicure, which I call Dainty Daisies.

NotD - Konadicure - Vintage Knit

This week I finally received my bottle of Eyeko Vintage Polish and it's just as lovely as expected. So for today's manicure I chose to use it as a base for a Konadicure.

NotD - Pinked Zebra

I had been thinking about using one of my cute glittery layering polishes for some time, so I thought I would do a black and white marble with a bit of pink glitter on top.

Homemade Peeling and Masque

For the past few years I have been making various peelings and masques at home. They are cheap and you can use as few or as many ingredients as you want.
I tend to make very basic mixes and don't use anything I would have to buy especially. If you have tried a few recipes you've probably noticed that certain ingredients work better than others. My favourites were the bases for these two recipes (if you can call them that).

Scrubby Masque:

• 2 tbs. full fat natural yoghurt - Low fat can be used, but won't leave your skin as soft and moisturised.
  
• 1 tbs. honey
• oatmeal - I use a mix of rolled oats and 'Hafermark,' which appears to be similar to quick-cooking oatmeal (i.e. the oats are steamed, rolled and cut or ground)

Mix honey and yoghurt, then add oats until a sticky paste has formed. Apply on clean skin and scrub off after 10-15 minutes. I try to avoind making a mess by using this while soaking in the tub.

Dry Peeling Mix:

• 1 part baking soda - I know that my skin reacts well to baking soda, but some people's don't. So make a small batch first and try it.
  
• 3 parts rice flour - I use a true fine flour, but if you can get a slightly coarser type of ground rice go for that.
  
• 5 parts oatmeal

Throw everything in an airtight container and shake vigorously. Mix approximately 2 tsp of the mixture with a little bit of water until you get a thick paste. Scrub over your face for a few minutes. Remember to keep the peeling out of your eyes and to moisturise afterwards.

These are my staple facials and work very well for me, but remeber to use common sense. Don't use ingredients you couldn't ingest, don't mix baking soda with acids, etc.
I prefer not to use salt or sugar on my face, despite having fairly sturdy skin. The thought of scratching across my face with cubic crystals just creeps me out. I do have a couple of sugary body-scrubs, but only use them sparingly.

Do you make your own masques or peelings? Maybe even lotions?

NotD - A Night With Juliet

After a slight mishap I have finished re-painting my nails. You know, it's best just to hold still and not do anything for a few minutes after applying top coat. ;-)
Here's a little preview (more after the jump):

NotD - Neon Marble

I seen to really have figured out that marbling thing. Last night I gave the colours of my very first attempt and epic failure another try. When I started looking through the pictures I saw again that I had overlooked some polish residue aroung the edges. So off I went to clean up and re-photograph. Flash pics looked fine, but the few daylight photos I managed not to blur completely still show some gross cuticles.

NotD - Doctor Who Day Seven - The Fifth Doctor

So today is the last day of my Doctor Who themed week. Overall I'm very pleased with my manicures. If you've missed a day, click on the label 'Doctor Who' at the bottom of this post to see them all!
For the final seventh manicure I decided to feature the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) with his adorable cricket outfit and stalk of celery pinned to his lapel.

NotD - Doctor Who Day Six - Time Vortex

I have to start this blog post with a quick 'Yay, I finally manged to water-marble!' There's a weird bump on my pinky, probably a bubble while dunking in the nail, but the top coat evened it out.
Today's NotD was inspired by the Time Vortex and, as I mentioned before, achieved by water marbling. I used Colette's tutorial, which is clear and easy to follow.
Please excuse the semi-cleaned nails, I have horrible lighting and most days I can only see part of the superfluous polish until I take pictures. Today I just don't have time to re-photograph.

NotD - Doctor Who Day Five - Daleks

As they are the Doctor's ultimate nemeses I felt I had to at least attempt a Dalek manicure. And it doesn't suck, actually. One of the mixed golds looks way more yellow on the photos than it really is, but I couldn't be bothered to colour-correct that. Also, the top coat dragged a few of the dots, sorry.

NotD - Doctor Who Day Four - The Fourth Doctor

It's day four of my Doctor Who week, so I thought it would be fitting to feature the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, today. And the thing most people remember is the scarf, of course. I attempted to recreate the colours of the original scarf with the help of this website. Check it out for a comparison of the scarves and knitting patterns!

Bubbly Nail Polish

If your nail polish bubbles this can have different reasons. This is what I have observed about my own nails.
Back in the olden days I used to have a lot of bubbles in my nails every time I used nail polish. I applied very thin coats and let them dry a long time and it didn't change a thing.
Then I had a moment of d'oh. My nails were very brittle and the top layer was cracked lengthwise. And most of the bubbles were aligned along those cracks. When my nails got healthier and stayed intact, most of the bubbles vanished.
Now I only get bubbles if I skip my first base coat, a shiny treatment, and only apply a sticky base or ridge filler. Another factor is whether my nails are damp, these days I either wait a few minutes after washing my hands or I use the smoothest side of a nail buffer to speed up evaporation.

Do you get bubbles in your polish? Did you get rid of them?

NotD - Doctor Who Day Three - Cybermen

Though the Daleks are the first villains that come to mind when thinking about the Whoniverse, I tend to have Cybermen-flashes about half the time I see or press 'Delete' buttons. 'Exterminate' just isn't as ubiquitous.
So today I grabbed a bunch of grey and silver polishes and tried to replicate Cyberman-heads on my nails.

NotD - Doctor Who Day Two - TARDIS

Today I chose the TARDIS as the inspiration for my nail art. Don't we all love her to bits? Who needs a Chameleon Circuit, anyway?
This TARDIS manicure took a lot of mixing colours and using brushes that aren't meant to be used for nail art. How does Melissa do it? I will give them a few more tries, but I will definitely get some proper nail art brushes.

NotD - Doctor Who Day One - The Tenth Doctor

This is what I announced on twitter, my Doctor Who week. I will post a Whovian NotD every day for a week, starting today with the simplest design, the Tenth Doctor.

Tagged: Let's Get To Know Each Other

Another tag is making the round. This time gildedangel tagged me to answer a few more or less personal questions.

1. Where is your phone? In my backpack right now, but usually next to my laptop.

2. Your hair? My usual twist and clip. 2/3 dyed right now.

3. Your Mom? Responsible for my lovely pallor.

4. Your Dad? Responsible for my technophilia.

5. Your favorite meal? Beef and potato soup or my mother's Palatschinkenauflauf.

6. Your last dream? Can't really remember, I usually only recall a feeling of absurdity.

7. What do you like to drink? Tea and Pepsi Max (which we don't get in Austria any more, so now I drink Pespi Light).

8. Your dream? To figure out what I really want to do with my life.

9. In what room are you? The parent's living room.

10. Your hobby? Nail polish, make-up, knitting, reading, music.

11. What are you afraid of? Never getting free of the depression.

12. Last travel?  It's been so long! I think it was Bologna (Go check out the Museo Archeologico!).

13. Where were you last night? At home, I don't really go out.

14. Something you are not? Extroverted.

15. Muffins? Oh yes, Apple Muffins with rolled oats, walnuts and plenty of cinnamon.

16. Wishlist? Haven't really made one.

17. Where did you grow up? Right where I am now, in Vienna.

18. Last thing you did? Lunch with the family.

19. What are you wearing? *Spockbrow* Isn't that questions copyrighted by the League of IM Pervs? Black trousers, green shirt with 3/4 length sleeves, black socks, no shoes as I'm indoors.

20. Your television? Fairly small Philips, but because Austrian TV sucks I tend to watch stuff on my laptop.

21. Your pet(s)? Two cats, Jill (11) and Punica (approx. 4). Occasionally mice or hamsters.

22. Your friends? Not many close ones, mostly girls.

23. Your life? Meh. Could be better, could be worse.

24. Your temper? I'm phlegmatic and very quiet, it takes some work to actually lose my temper.

25. Do you miss someone? Yes. My best friend (check question 32) and I don't see my big brother as often as I'd like.

26. Your car? I don't have a car. I got my license, drove once, never again.

27. Something you don't bring with you? Huh? Is it just me or does this question lack sense?

28. Your favorite shop? Couldn't say, I'm a sucker for any kind of beauty supply store.

29. Your favorite color? Depends, I love purple eyeshadow, pink lippie, teal clothing... I don't have One Favourite Colour.

30. Last time you laughed? I'm listening to By Jeeves. I can't not laugh right now.

31. Last time you cried? Last night, I was reading some seriously angsty stuff.

32. Your best friend? Is made of awesome, one of the few people who gets most of my weird associations and random references. Currently she's finishing her education in the frozen wasteland of freaking Lappland. For the next 20 months or so.

33. A place where you can go again and again? Definitely my room. It has everything I need.

34. Facebook? Yes, for the games.

35. Favorite place to eat? At home, I love my own cooking.


I'm running out of time now, so I'll do an open tag. If you want to answer these questions, go ahead and feel free to drop me a link in the comments if I don't follow your blog.

NotD - It's a Kinda Candy?

Sometimes I have a detailed plan for my manicure. Today I didn't. I chose a colour more or less randomly and then added to it. The result reminds me of candy, hmmm, candy.

Swatches - Beige, Bronze and Brown

Today I have a few more swatches for you. Most of these polishes are older, I had a bronze phase a couple of years ago. :-P

New Frankenpolish Love Under a Starry Sky

Who would be moonbrained enough to use a runny base to franken a glittery polish? Me, that's who!
I had about half a bottle of top coat I never use any more and decided to use that as base.

The Recipe:
approx. 7 ml Astor Ultra Shine Top Coat (use a thick clear polish instead!)

50 drops Eyeko Vamp Polish
50 drops essence multi dimension 19 rock 'n' roll
50 drops Barry M Nail Paint 244 Hologram Hexograms
~ 1 tsp. heart-shaped glitter (I got this from claire's and it seems to survive the chemical onslaught)

This looks pretty neat, but it's way to runny and the glitter settles like crazy. It was so hard to get any hex and hearts on my nails. Only the fine glitter from essence rock 'n' roll stays evenly distributed.
Still, I like the colour and as it's a fairly sheer polish, the silber glitter from the second coat looks blue through the third coat.

What do you think? Fourth coat necessary?

NotD - Hugging the Tree of Pearls

What do you do when the base polish is so pretty you don't want to cover it up with a lot of nail art? Do something very simple, of course.
I absolutely adore China Glaze Tree Hugger, it's one of my favourite greens. And as I wanted to keep a lot of it visible I just added a little bit of pearly detailing to each nail.

NotD - Purple Coil

After my über-cute Spongebob manicure I really needed something darker and this layering job definitely works. It's another one on those hard to mess up  freehand manicures in six easy steps.

Tagged! 15 blogs I frequently read

The lovely gildedangel tagged me for this award! *blushes*

The rules:
Accept the award by posting this pic and linking to the person who tagged you.
Post your own list of 15 blogs you love and read frequently.


Blogs I love in no particular order:

• Wan @ I love nailpolish: Amazing tutorials!
• Melissa @ The Daily Nail: Her mission is to do a different design ever day. I envy her freehand skills.
• Berry T @ Happyberrynaiad: Beautiful swatches and nail art.
• Jeanette @ the swatchaholic: She keeps feeding my polish addiction!
• Alyson @ The Gloss Menagerie: Where I go for my non-nail fix.
• Jinnzor @ Polish Pixie: I want her nails...
  
• Diana @ Painted Lady Fingers: I really love how she manages to find backgrounds to match her manicures!
• Anastasia @ Lipsticks & Lightsabers: I adore her blog. I wish I had her blending skills.
• Monica @ beautyparler: I discovered this blog very recently, but love it already!
• Deez Nails: Lots of polish eye-candy. Extremely image-heavy!
• Colette @ My Simple Little Pleasures: This blog introduced me to water marbling, which I still have to master...
• loungie @ Polish-Lounge: Lovely polish blog, I only found this recently!
• Phyrra @ FrescoPhyrra: Mineral make-up expert! Well worth following. She might make you shop, though...
  
• Nihrida @ Nihrida's blog: Another of my drool-over-nails blogs.
  
• funkiimonkee @ funkiimonkee's Beauty Blog: I love her skincare and make-up reviews. And the random foodie posts :-P
  

By the way, I'd love you to recommend blogs that you think should be on my blog roll!

NotD - Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward

After approximately 18 hours of watching Spongebob Squarepants I started painting my nails Spongebob style. Annoyingly, my top coat smudged my already less than thrilling Squidward nail art. We are not amused.
Here's what my nails look like (pre-clean-up, sorry):

NotD - Seirios en Kosmoi

I'm wearing Eyeko again! Today I chose Cosmic Polish for space age nails, which is so awesome I only added some star-shaped foil thingies and rhinestones. Cosmic applies very well, unsurprisingly the first coat is streaky, but two coats are quite opaque and even, three are perfect. So far all new Eyeko polishes are fairly runny; they don't level out as nicely as China Glaze, for example, but with a decent top coat that's not a problem.
Cosmic Polish is black with multicoloured microglitter. Absolutely gorgeous! If you like sparkly dark polishes, you need this one. I think it's similar to China Glaze Cosmic (which I don't have), but the glitter is denser and not as fine.

Nail Quickie - Gone Dottin'

I'm still in my new-Eyeko phase, so here's a bit of dotty nail art with Eyeko Nude Polish and a few nail art pens.
First I applied three coats of Eyeko Nude over my usual base coats, it's a bit sheer, so that was needed to get an even finish and good opacity. The colour is very a nice pinky-beige with a hint of peach. Not one of my favourite colours, I much prefer bold bright or dark polishes, but good for a subtle nail. Nude applies well, it's a bit runny, but doesn't pool near the cuticles.
Then I added dots with my Two-Way Nail Art Pens (purple, red and blue) in a diamond pattern to add a bit of colour to an otherwise bland base.
A bit of Seche Vite and it's finished!

After the first three nails my blue nail art pen clogged up, so some dots are not as neat.
What colours would you choose to make a nude nail more interesting?

NotD - Midnight Lavender

I was thrilled to get my latest Eyeko order yesterday, including five new polishes (annoyingly, the green Vintage polish was not included in the set I ordered). After a bit of cardboard-swatching I decided to do a simple two-coloured nail with Lilac Polish and Indigo Polish, which I really like next to each other.

NotD - Elemental, Dear Mendeleev

Tonight's Nail of the Day is dedicated to my favourite subject back in high school, Chemistry. For a brief time I even considered taking Chem at Uni... I wouldn't have needed to cheat then, but I'm pretty rusty by now, so I used this periodic table of elements. If I ever get airbrushing supplies I will find out how to make my own stencils and do a proper PTE, with valence electrons and electronegativity and so on. (Geek Alert!)

Shades of Yellow

Today I have all my yellow polishes for you, all four of them... Yes, I know that's not much, but I never even considered yellow as an acceptable nail colour until this summer. I bought my first one on sale and fell in love.
In case you're wondering, I'm uploading all my polish swatches to Flickr, the NotD pictures to Picasa. For some reason that made sense at some point.

NotD - What is the Matrix?

Whenever I start preparing my nails for a fresh manicure I spend quite a long time trying to think of a theme or design. I have finally started a list, so I'll hopefully remember to jot down ideas as inspiration strikes. Now I just have to develop my fine motor skills to actually pull my ideas off.
Today I attempted to do some freehand nail art inspired by a movie I've loved ever since it came out a decade ago, The Matrix.

NotD - Pearls on Teal

Yesterday's manicure of essence Meet You in Budapest turned out to be more stable than Flowerfields, so I decided to add a bit of nail art. I'm still busy trying out my bunch of new nail art pens, so expect more of those in the near future.

Swatches - essence Secrets of the Past

I picked up some cosmetic-y stuff at dm a few days ago, amongst them two polishes from the Secrets of the Past collection by essence. There were two more colours, but not very exciting ones. The two I picked are 02 Meet You In Budapest and 04 Flowerfields.

Have you seen this Giveaway?

Eclecticldy, who writes an awesome blog is hosting her first Giveaway. Check it out and enter here.

By the way, I might do something similar at some point...

Swatch - Barielle Decadence

According to the Barielle site Decadence is 'turquoise metallic.' I'd rather call it teal, it can be very close to green depending on the lighting.
Barielle Decadence applies fairly well; it's a bit thicker than I prefer, but with the right amount of polish spreads well. The opacity is very nice, I applied two coats can barely see the tip.

Nails vs. Cleaning

Today was flat-cleaning day chez Cucumpear. I have found out over the last half year, since I started letting my nails grow, that if I'm prepared I need not fear those days of scrubbing.
For years I was convinced that nothing could make my nails grow without constant tearing. I filed them, buffed them, occasionally applied nail hardener and ignored them. I had no idea that my nail hardener contained formaldehyde and that long phases of completely bare nails could be responsible for the tearing and peeling.
D'oh.
Then I discovered a polish blog, then another, and I learned how to take care of my nails properly. They still tear. The nail of my right thumb peels regularly. But I actually have long nails, relatively speaking, and I love them. So I try to protect them when I have to wash my hands a lot or use cleaning products. I found that I couldn't use gloves, they just feel wrong.
What I do is quite simple and not something that needs extra effort: nail art. Or rather double topcoat. If I seal the polish pre-art and then once more post-art, my nails will be strong and easily survive the scrubbing. I also coat as much of the underside of the free tip as possible with my nail treatment du jour. This works very well for me.
Of course my cuticles need some attention after cleaning, but a bit of hand cream and 15 minutes of nail oil fix them right up. I'm lucky to have pretty good skin on my hands.
What do you do to protect your nails during cleaning?

NotD Autumn Swirl

For once I'm doing something that actually matches the season. I originally tried something more complex, but my freehand skills still suck, so I'll try it again in a couple of weeks.
But for now I have a Nail of the Day that's based on a polish I mixed a few months ago. I don't have a 'recipe' for this one, I just poured together various shades of orange and bronze and a bit of pink. The result was a very pleasant shimmery peachy orange.

NotD - Where's My Slytherin

I've been loving ORLY recently, haven't I? Today I felt like green and decided to go for ORLY Mint Mojito. It's a lovely green that's very hard to capture, every picture you find will be different! At first I didn't know what I might use to embellish today's manicure, so I just started with the basic application.

Almost Forgotten Rimmel Products

Today's post is dedicated to three products by Rimmel that I purchased years ago and rediscovered recently. I'm sure many of us have a few items hidden in their make-up bags or some drawer that they love but forgot about. It happens. And when rediscovery occurs it can make us happier than buying something new. This is such a story.

NotD NYX Jungle

To my eternal shame I have to admit that I've had NYX's polish in Jungle for some time and this is the first time I've used it. Huge mistake, this colour has blown my mind and it is now one of my favourite polishes! Though I own very few colours that I don't love, thanks to the swatches all the lovely bloggers seduce me with.

NotD - Almost Basic French Manicure

When I was a teenager I bought a French Manicure kit. I tried and tried to get it right, but the guides would either take off the base coat, leave behind a sticky residue or just fall off. In the rare case that they stuck where they should, some of the white polish would get peeled off with them. I still have several sheets of guides, but I doubt that I'll ever use them again.
Then I bought the French Tip Konad set, this worked much better, but I still had problems with the proper alignment when stamping. Maybe a transparent stamper would help.
So when I decided to try and do a basic French Manicure today I grabbed a white nail striper and went freehand.

NotD - Green Lace

After last night's total failure at water marbling I decided to do something completely different.The look I was aiming for was a sheer base mostly covered with lace-edged fabric and one nail with corset-type lacing. This would probably have been easier with the right Konad image plates (which I don't have).
I thought I'd give a step-by-step tutorial a try. It would have been better to chose contrasting colours rather than a tonal colour scheme, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Kreativ Blogger Award

The lovely Mighty Lambchop tagged me for the Kreativ Blogger Award! You can't believe how much I'm blushing right now.
Apparently I'm supposed to tell you seven things you didn't know about me and tag some bloggers (technically seven, but everyone's done that already).

1. The only one I've told about this blog in RL is my best friend. Mostly because I was afraid I'd do a couple of posts and then stop.
2. I'm fluent in German and English, but I've also learned (with varying success) Latin, French, Russian, Ancient Greek and Etruscan (well, I can read and translate Etruscan inscriptions...).
3. Like many other beauty bloggers I have cats, two girls, whom I share with my flatmate/sister. I sometimes have hamsters or mice, too.
4. I used to sing in choirs and I love being a contralto!
5. While I enjoy having pretty nails and perfect make-up, I can't do anything with my hair. I usually just twist and clamp or do a messy ponytail. I can't bear having product in my hair.
6. I love to knit and am able to produce uneven yarn with a drop-spindle.
   
7. My kitchen contains mostly ingredients, no frozen food that I haven't cooked myself. I just enjoy cooking and baking.

I'm tagging the most deserving Nora - Nail of the Week and Melissa - Daily Nail

Review - Spooky Nail Art Pens

After a long phase of fearing freehand nail art I recently decided to get some nail art pens. Bright as I am, I bought the four Spooky Nail Art Pens I'm reviewing today on impulse instead of waiting a bit and buying a bunch for less money on ebay.

ORLY Hot Shots - Recap and Swatches

As I finished the separate reviews of the four polishes making up the ORLY mani minis set Hot Shots earlier, I have decided to do a quick recap and also to show you some swatches of the polishes over a white base and mattified.

The pretty box (all photos with flash):

NotD - ORLY Blue Collar

I had hoped to wear my KoL-manicure for at least a couple of days, but a torn nail destroyed that plan So here is the last ORLY Hot Shots polish, Blue Collar. It's not a true neon, but a rather pretty bright blue, almost turquoise cream.

NotD ORLY Hottie KoLified

As I promised last night (or earlier today) I added some Kingdom of Loathing nail art to my ORLY Hottie manicure with my black Spooky Nails liner/pen. And they turned out fairly well, I think.
The following designs (pinkie - thumb) were taken from the KoL wiki:

• Meat
• Martini Tattoo
  
• Annoying spooky gravy fairy
• Knob Goblin firecracker
• Disco Bandit

with flash:

I'm loving this so much! How about you?

NotD - ORLY Hottie

Today I have a review of the third ORLY Hot Shots polish, Hottie for you. It's a pink neon and so, so beautiful. I have a hot pink habit that is only rivalled by my green polish addiction. I have tried many bright pinks, but none come close to Hottie in vibrancy. I was immediately reminded of my much-worn Kingdom of Loathing Disco Bandit shirt (sadly no longer available). I will try copying the design later.

NotD - ORLY Holla and a bit of nail art

I love ORLY Holla! It's a true neon and without topcoat dries to a not quite matte finish. If you have ever worn neon polishes you will know that the colour changes a lot depending on the light. Holla is eye-searing in natural light, but in soft yellowy artificial light it can be almost pumpkin orange.

ORLY Hook Up

Originally I had planned to do a nice NotD, maybe a funky Konadicure or something like that. But after applying ORLY Hook Up (from the mani minis set Hot Shots) I just couldn't bear the thought of covering even part of such a pretty yellow.

IsaDora Eye Shadow Palette Blooming Spring

Has anyone ever tried IsaDora products? This eyeshadow palette is the first thing I've tried and I'm ver pleased. Below the cut you'll see the box and swatches of IsaDora Eye Shadow Palette 53 Blooming Spring. It contains five shadows of 1.5g each, I think I paid 23 or 24 €.

NotD - China Glaze Let's Groove

For the past couple of days I've been wearing China Glaze Let's Groove from the Retro Diva Collection. You've probably seen it everywhere: a gorgeous deep shimmery purple. Depending on the light it can range from aubergine with golden shimmer to purple with magenta and even blue shimmer.

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful - Part the Second

So little time, so much to do! I took the pictures for the second part of my B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful feature days ago and never got around to actually writing the review. But now, with the aid of a pot of tea, I'd like to show you my second eyeshadow palette, the B Safe Eyeshadow Selection Box.

Swatch: Barry M Touch of Magic Lip Paint

As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to show you some swatches of Barry M Touch of Magic Lip Paint.
I missed colour-changing lippies when I was a kid, so there was no way I'd pass this up.

Swatches: Barry M Green Gift Set

You might remember that I mentioned the polish from Barry M Green Gift Set when I showed you my Liquid Leather NotD. I happened to apply it yesterday and thought it would be neat to swatch the whole set today. So without further ado. Here's what I have to say:

ORLY Mod Squad

As I promised on twitter I finished swatching ORLY Mod Squad today. This 'mani mini' set comprises Basket Case, Black Out, Robo Romance, and Hype:

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful - Part the First

I'm sure many of you have hears that LUSH's colourful sister B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful will be gone by the end of the year. Since I only have two eyeshadow palettes and one cream liner I can show then to you in a couple of relatively quick posts.
Today I have a B Selected eyeshadow palette and a cream eyeliner in Bondage for you.

NotD - Liquid Leather Konadified

I think I've got a temporary solution for my lighting issue, but I'll see if I can find something better, anyway. So I celebration of this 'breakthrough' I give you my current manicure: China Glaze Liquid Leather with a fairly subtle Konad pattern.

Nail Quickie: NotD China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

I got my box o'polish today, so I had the urge to try out China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, but also Essie Matte About You. As you can probably guess, I combined them.

NotD Silver Ribbon

Are you having a nice weekend? I find dreary weather ideal for nail art, but not so good for photography.
But I have to admit, I don't care much for for my current manicure. It's an experiment in freehand nail art and I'm not that talented. What I tried to achieve was a ribbon snaking across my nails, but it looks more like random lines. Fail. But you get to see it anyway...

NOTD Sparkling Bright Green

I've been lazy the past few days. Uni is starting again and I have some seriously great classes.
And because I felt like green a few days ago I tried out my new bright green with a clear glitter on top.

NOTD - Hot Punk Flowers Konadicure

Everyone having a nice Sunday?
I had the opportunity to take nice pictures of my current Konadicure in the sun, so that's why it's up today rather than yesterday.

Opinion: The Rules of Beauty

I'm sure we all have heard rules about make-up and found some quite silly.
For example 'focus on eyes or lips.' Why? I feel comfortable with bright green eyeshadow and hot pink gloss. And why shouldn't I?
Another one is 'bold lipstick to take the focus off glasses.' I like my glasses, they balance my unfortunate face shape. That so-called rule just doesn't make sense to me.

Of course some are sensible. Like taking off make-up before going to bed, proper moisturising and wearing foundation that matches one's colouring. But when it comes to colour, wear what you feel comfortable in. That's the point of make-up: feeling good.

NOTD - Koi inspired by China Glaze Japanese Koi

Ever since I got my bottle of China Glaze Japanese Koi I've been wanting to paint my nails not just in Koi-orange but like those cute white and orange, black speckled Koi. So I did.

NOTD - Frankenpolish Glamour Vamp

I tend to be quite adventurous when it comes to nail polish. I wear virtually anything and rarely do the same layering job twice. But one of the repeats is Maybelline Glamour Effect layered over Eyeko Vamp Polish. It looks amazing. So I decided to mix them up:

Greetings!

Welcome, fellow beauty fanatics.

Let me introduce myself: I shall be known as CucumPear, feel free to call me that or Pear. There's no story behind that nick, I just liked the sound.

I'm painfully shy, so why the 'hello, world' all of a sudden? Sometimes I just have to chatter about a skincare crisis or an amazing product I just discovered and I don't have anyone in real life who is genuinely interested in that kind of thing.

Which brings me to my make-up history: I started playing with cheap lipsticks et al. when I was in my early teens, like many other girls. But neither my mother nor big sister used any make-up, and my friends didn't either. So it was all trial and error for me. At one point I got a couple of books, which were semi-helpful. These past few years my skills have improved immensely thanks to practice, quality products and beauty blogs.

So what can you expect to find in my blog? Mostly I talk about nails. I enjoy painting my nails in a wide variety of styles. I usually do a fresh manicure every couple of days and post the results. Occasionally I will review or swatch non-nail products.
I use internationally available and local (Austrian) or European brands.


A final warning: English is not my first language. I usually aim for British spelling, but AE has a tendency to invade. I appreciate correction of my spelling and grammar, I don't appreciate flaming and mudslinging.



Have fun, play safely and happy painting!

~CucumPear