Monday 31 October 2011

Halloween: NOTD October 31st: Blood Splatter

Hey guys,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)
Here's my final for today, Halloween! I did a mani that is kinda similar to one I already did quite a while back here *click*. But I think this time I did a better job :D
For the base color I chose a nude, Manhattan 95E. And the splatter was again done with a straw and 2 different reds: China Glaze - Hey Sailor! and Essence - Thirsty. I used 2 reds to make it look a bit more creepy, like wet and dried blood :D It's not too creepy, though, it's also kinda pretty :)
Here you have a swatch of Manhattan 95E on its own. It was part of the Manhattan and Buffalo collection, and I'm so glad I bought this one, because it's a perfect neutral nude that just needs 1 coat if you paint a little thicker! YAY!
I like this mani a lot, and if I went to a costume party tonight, I'd be a vampire :)
And btw, I'm totally gonna do this mani with dark blue one day, so it'll look like splattered ink :D
What have you planned for Halloween? Are you even doing something? Or staying at home like I do?
See you!
xoxo, Misch

Sunday 30 October 2011

Polish Finish Series: Holo

Hey there!
Today I want to continue my Polish Finish Series with the Holo Finish.
There are basically two types of Holos available, the linear and the scattered holo.
The linear has the stronger effect, and is most often referred to as "the" holo. When you move this polish in sunlight or other direct lighting, you can see a prismatic rainbow "linear" effect.
The scattered holo has just small glitter particles that sparkle in all kinds of colors in direct sunlight. It's not as bright, but still apparent.
In case you want to franken a holo: there's a certain glitter, called SpectraFlair, used for it. You can get that at a few online stores.
Some linear holos can be a little problematic in application, but they normally don't need more than 2 coats. Scattered holos apply nicely, too.
There are a few really popular holos, like China Glaze OMG Collection, Nfu Oh Polishes, Chanel and stuff like that.
I don't own a clear linear holo, just one with a more dull effect, which is H&M Sinful Senorita. It barely needs 2 coats, and is a nice pink shade.
The scattered holo I have is Kiko 281, which I showed you here *click*. It's also a pink :)
Some brands (I'm looking at you, Essence) call a Duochrome a Holo, but that's not the same. I'll talk about the duochrome in another episode of this series!
See you later,
xoxo, Misch

Saturday 29 October 2011

NOTD October 29th: Jack O'Lantern Nail Art

Hello there!
This is another nail art design for Halloween, the Pumpkin design that's kinda obligatory for a Halloween series. And it was a lot of fun to do it!
For the pumpkin orange base color I used a orange franken. It's a tad too dark, but I'm fine with it. Then I added some glitter stripes to add a little something extra, and for that I used L.A.Colors Nail Art Deco in Copper Glitter. And the faces were drawn with Essence Fatal and a toothpick. It's really easy to do, and so perfect for Halloween. And it also looks great on short nails because the rather round form of them makes it look more like pumpkins ;)
Do you like this one?
One more design is missing, and I'll see you on Halloween with that!
Until next time,
xoxo, Misch

Friday 28 October 2011

Use-It-Up #4

Hey everyone,
today I want to show you finally finally a new part of my Use-It-Up Series! I'm so glad I managed to use up some stuff again, even if it's not that much.
Here's what I used up in the past time:
Florena Bio Olive Oil Hand Lotion - I like this hand lotion a lot, especially for the cold time. Here *click* I reviewed it.
Nivea Happy Time Shower Cream - Another thing I like a lot, like I already expressed in my review *click*.
Isana Vitamin&Yogurt Body Lotion - This body lotion is great, here I reviewed it *click*. But I think it's too thin for the colder season.
Synergen Anti Pimple Gel - My skin has turned a bit worse lately, maybe because of the stress with school starting and stuff. So I used it quite often.
Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer - You guys know this is my favorite top coat, like I said in this review *click*. Already repurchased it.
Yves Rocher Baume Nourrissant Lip Balm - This is a really great lip balm, but right now I'm using a different one.
Alverde Hair Tip Fluid - I already repurchased this many times, but I'm not so sure if I will anymore, because it doesn't have that much of a great effect. It's good, but not extraordinary.

Unfortunately I didn't use up any decorative cosmetics, but I guess this is better than nothing. And maybe next time ;)
Did you use up anything recently?
I'll see you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Thursday 27 October 2011

NOTD October 27th: Frankenstein Nail Art

Hi everyone,
here's the next Halloween nail art design, and it's Frankstein Monster Nails! I got the idea from Kayla Shevonne *click*, and I loved it!
I didn't want to draw just Frankenstein faces, so I also went for the lines with the stitches. I like that a lot!
For the base color I used Essence Color&Go - Check Me Out. All of the black parts were done with Essence - Fatal and a toothpick, and the white part of the eyes was Essence - Ahoy.
It's surprisingly easy to do, that's great :) And I love the design, it's kinda cool!
Do you like it?
Until then,
xoxo, Misch

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Spotted: Essence Re-Mix Your Style LE

Hiya!
My drugstore was really bad with this LE, normally they get them very soon, and this one only yesterday :P But at least they got it, right?! It's a nail polish LE, so I was sure I had to get something ;)
Here *click* you can see the promo pics of it.
It basically contains 4 effect nail polishes and 6 basic polishes, and most (all?) have a cream finish.
I bought the Dance Top Coat 01 Waking Up In Vegas. Guess what it is?! Flakie-like opal thingies! YAY! And pretty much a dupe for all of these famous polishes like Nubar 2010 and Nfu Oh 38, yay :) I can't wait to wear this one, but I'll have to wait till after Halloween because I have some more things planned...It's a effect polish, and not meant to be worn on its own. I'm seriously thinking about getting a back up of this. Should I? Great job Essence on this one, I absolutely love it and so does everyone else!
And then I got a teal cream polish, called 06 Show Me The Way. It's opaque with 2 coats, dries a bit darker than in the bottle and for me isn't too green.
Did you already spot this LE? And did you get something?
I'll see you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Tuesday 25 October 2011

NOTD October 25th: Bat Nail Art

Hello dear readers!
Today I want to show you another Halloween Nail Art design, and this time it's bats! YAY :D
I wanted the background to be a gradient, and had first decided on purple. But unfortunately that turned out to be too dark, so I took a lighter gray. I first applied Manhattan - Gossip Girl, and then sponged the tips with that Manhattan polish and a drop of Astor - VIP Grey, which is a dark gray. On top of that I used a coat of a Essence Glitter Polish that I don't know the name of. It's just a thin layer of glitter, not too noticeable.
For the bats I used Essence - Fatal and the Essence Stylist. They were really easy to draw, you can achieve the typical bat shape really fast.
I especially love the contrast of the dark bats and the lighter background, and also that the background has some glitter, and the bats not.
Do you like this design? What have you planned for Halloween?
Until next time,
xoxo, Misch

Monday 24 October 2011

Book Review: The Hunger Games - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Hi guys!
Today I have the review for the second book of The Hunger Games series. I reviewed to first one here *click*.
Now, since you can read the main plot in my first review, I'm gonna start with the actual book right away. I can't promise this review will be without spoilers, sorry!
At first I had no idea how this book was supposed to work, because Katniss has already been to the arena. But it was way different from what I expected anyway. It's kinda hard to explain to a person who didn't read it, but I'll try my best ;)
The book starts with Katniss and Peeta having to do a victory tour through all of the other districts. But they find out that there are rebellions happening in certain districts, and that Katniss is kind of a symbol for the rebels.
And then there's something being announced: Because it's the 75th year of The Hunger Games, one of the so-called Quarter Quells (every 25 years), the tributs of this year have to be people who have already won once. And that means that Peeta and Katniss have to go back into the arena.
I left out quite a few things, but I want to make the main story short for you. NOw, this whole book felt a bit like rushing to me in some parts. All of the new, detailed things of Book 1 can't be done that detailed anymore, because they were already mentioned. So sometimes it was a bit quick in my opinion.
But then I also liked a lot of things, for example the thing with District 13, which I guess will be the basis for Book 3. I also liked the whole thing with "friends" in the arena, and that it was also way less cruel, at least it seemed to me like that. Of course a main part did play in the arena, but it wasn't as bad as in the first book, and definitely very different.
The whole love story still didn't make sense to me, I'm still not sure whether Katniss really has feelings for Peeta or not. But that's okay ;)
I also liked the end a lot, because I really thought that there would be one winner, and the rest would die. But luckily it came different!
And I just can't wait to read the final book, yay :) Expect another review in a few days ;)
After all, I liked it a lot, but I think I liked the first one better. I don't know why, but I just feel like that ;)
Did anyone of you read this?
I'll see you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Sunday 23 October 2011

NOTD October 23rd: Mummy Nails

Hi everyone!
Today I want to show you a nail art design that is appropriate for Halloween. It's mummy nails!
I made mine after I saw this tutorial *click* on Youtube. And I liked it so much that I just had to do it!
The white is Essence - Ahoy as both the background and the eyes. To make the mummy look a bit more real and old, I sponged on Essence - It's khaki time. And all of the black parts are made with RdLY - nail art pen black.
Do you like this design as much as I do? It's perfect for Halloween but still a bit cute ;)
I'll talk to you later :)
xoxo, Misch

Saturday 22 October 2011

Award Time :)

Hi there!
Lovely Ere *click* got me an award here *click*, so I just had to blog about it :)
It's the One Lovely Blog Award, so I'll be sharing 7 random facts and then pass the award on to 10 blogs :)
Here we go:
  • In my room it always smells like nail polish. And if it's actually a day I don't repaint my nails, I try out some designs or whatever. Always polish scent ;) I'm already really used to it, only visitors notice it ;)
  • Okay, so I'm sure you all know I love love love Harry Potter. And a few days ago I really honestly played Harry Potter with my two best friends :D No, I'm not like 10 years old ;) But it was just so much fun to be a freak for a little while ;)
  • My little sister is obsessed with unicorns. That's why whenever I see her she screams UNICORN at me and writes it all over my things ;) People ask me all the time why there's unicorn standing on my stuff ;)
  • I know a lot of people get these Autumn Depressions (don't know the actual name, sorry). I really do understand that, and feel sorry for these people. But I myself just never had these, and that's because I love fall :)
  • It snowed yesterday here in the south of Germany! Yes, in October. I'm excited about it :D
  • I would love to get my hair curly, but I never ever works. I try my best, and then either the curls won't work at all or they start to fall out immediately. My hair's just not made for that :D
  • I love doing someone else's make-up, but I'm always afraid I mess something up. On myself, when I place the eyeshadow wrong, I just go over it and make the best out of it. But when I do like my friend's make-up, I'm always so careful to do it all right :D
These were my facts for today! :D
Now I'm giving the award to these 10 lovely blogs:

Thank you so much for stopping by :)
I'll see you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Friday 21 October 2011

NOTD October 21st: Catrice - Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans with Spider Nail Art

Hello dear readers!
Today's polish is by Catrice, and it's called Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans, and unfortunately it got discontinued this fall :/ It's a dark denim blue creme, with jsut a few tiny bright blue glitter particles. But you can barely see themm when I applied it I wasn't even able to tell the glitter.
It applied nicely and evenly, it's opaque with 2 coats, really great.
And then, because it's gonna be Halloween soon, I did a design with it. I used a nail art brush and Essence Stampy Polish in white for the spider's webs. And over top I applied randomly L.A.Colors Nail Art Deco in Silver Glitter. For the spiders I used p2 - eternal, and a nail art brush again.
It's so simple, but perfect for Halloween. The only thing I don't like is that the background is a bit too dark for the spider. But, oh, well ;)
Do you like it? And what kind of Halloween designs do you like?
Until next time,
xoxo, Misch

Thursday 20 October 2011

120 Palette: Final Review

Hi everyone,
in the past couple of months I showed you swatches of all of the 10 rows of the 120 Palette. Now I want to share some final thoughts!
Here are all of the swatches:
1st row: lighter Blues *click*
2nd row: darker blues *click*
3rd row: lighter greens *click*
4th row: darker greens *click*
5th row: yellows *click*
6th row: oranges *click*
7th row: grays and blacks *click*
8th row: dark greens and blues *click*
9th row: violets *click*
10th row: violets and pinks *click*
11th row: pinks and reds *click*
12th row: nudes and browns *click*
As you can tell from the swatches, all colors are nicely pigmented. There are a few bad ones, of course, but there are more good ones. Mattes tend to be a bit patchy, but shimmers are always greatly pigmented. And there are also a ton of different finishes available.
They tend to be a bit chalky, and that can cause quite a bit of fall-out. And some colors blend away.
The size of the individual eyeshadows does look quite small, but they will last forever, trust me.
The eyeshadows all last a long time with an eyeshadow base, without creasing. I don't know how the wear will be without a base, though.
The whole palette is clearly very colorful, and there are only a few neutral shades.
Now, if you want to get this one, keep all of the mentioned things in mind. I got it for 28 Euros from eBay. That is a great deal for all of these colors, and also the quality is great for that. But that is only nice if you wear a lot of colors. If you prefer neutrals, this might not be the right choice.
Does anyone of you also own this palette?
Talk to you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Wednesday 19 October 2011

EOTD October 19th: Cranberry Look

Hi guys!
Today I want to show you an EOTD. When I showed you the latest 120 Palette Swatching episode here *click*, my dear friend Salander asked me to do a look with the cranberry color. So here it is!
I tried to step out of my comfort zone a bit, and this this cranberry brown red look. It's blended a lot, and in the inner corner I used a copper gold glitter. In the pictures you unfortunately can't tell it that well that I used more colors, but that's okay.
On the lid I used Catrice - My First Copperware Party, and then the cranberry from the 120 Palette over that, and in the crease, as well as on the outer part of the lower lash line. The golden copper color is Catrice - Spiced Bronze. For the brown eyeliner I used Essence's BBC All Night Brown gel eyeliner, and on the water line p2's perfect look kajal in brown. My mascara is Catrice Evolution To Revolution Volume Mascara.
Hope you like this look, Salander :) And all of you others, too, of course ;)
Until next time!
xoxo, Misch

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hey everyone,
I just lately read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and now I wanted to tell you what I think about it.
I'm sorry already now, but I think I can't write this review without spoilers, so if you don't want to hear them, please click away ;)
The story plays in the future, in a country called Panem, which is where now the United States of America are. It's parted into 12 districs, and they are all ruled by the rich people in the so-called Capitol. Every year in the country The Hunger Games take part, a kind of game the Capitol invented to remind all of the districts that they can't ever defeat the Capitol. That's the way this game works: out of every district a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18 has to come to a certain arena, and there fight for their life. Only one of the teenagers can win, and that way only one can survive.
That's the main background information you need to have.
Now, the story: The main character, a girl named Katniss, lives in District 12 and has to feed her family because they have no money. When the tributes for the annual games are being chosen, Katniss's little sister is selected, and because she loves her, Katniss goes instead of her. With her, a boy named Peeta is chosen, and he seems to have feelings for Katniss.
I'm not gonna give you more details, and this way basically just what they say on the back of the book.
The book is also parted into 3 parts of story, btw. And there are often jumps in it, like something happens, and the next paragraph is like 3 hours later or so.
Now, more of my thoughts: One thing I really liked was that even thought this plays in the future, they're all poor and have to go hunting for their food, like in the past. That contrast is a really interesting thing.
Then, the idea of The Hunger Games itself is really cruel. When I first heard about it, I was like "What The Fuck? How cruel!" But it does make an interesting book, you have to admit that.
Everything was described really detailed, especially in the beginning when they prepare for the games. It was always thrilling and all book long I had no idea how it was gonna end. That way I enjoyed every page of it, also because it's a page turner and you always want to know how it goes on.
In the very end it felt a bit like rushing to me, I didn't like that. But it was still good!
Now, the love story. This does have a love story part to it, but it's pretty small actually. I thought it would make a bigger part of the story, but in the beginning I couldn't even tell which of it was true. To those of you who read it this might make sense ;)
So after all, I really liked this book! It was thrilling, exciting, and really good. It's not only something for people who like love stories, since that part is not that big. But if you are very very sensitive, it might be just a tad too cruel for you.
As soon as I finish the second book in this series, I'll review that one, too :)
Did anyone of you read it?
I'll see you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Monday 17 October 2011

NOTD October 17th: Kiko - 241

Hiya!
Today I want to show you another Kiko polish I got lately, in this haul *click*. It's called 241.
It's a bright hot pink, with glitter. The glitter is multi-colored, and that makes a scattered holo effect in direct sunlight. What that is exactly? I'll do a Polish Finish Post about that soon :)
In the shade, or indirect lighting it looks like a cooler pink with just little glitter particles, and it looks very jelly. I like that look a lot, too :)
It was easy to apply, and I used 3 coats, because after 2 I had a bit of visible nail line peeking through.
Pink is normally not a typical fall color, but it's great for this month: October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. So all of you guys, raise awareness by painting your nails pink :)
Will you do that? Or did you maybe already?
And do you like this Kiko polish?
Talk to you soon!
xoxo, Misch

Sunday 16 October 2011

120 Palette Swatching Series: Lower Half, 6th Row

Hi guys,
today I want to show you swatches of the last row of the 120 Palette. This row has the most neutral shades.

1 Here we have a slightly shimmery off white shade.
2 This eyeshadow is a shimmery yellow white that looks like too-yellow vanilla ;)
3 Here we have a light brown with a lot of orange in it. It's shimmery.
4 This warm light brown eyeshadow has a small shimmer.
5 Here we have a medium brown with a strong silver shimmer.
6 This is a matte brown with a tiny bit of purple in it.
7 This matte brown looks almost a tad green.
8 Here we have a warm shimmery rosé brown shade.
9 This is a shimmery cranberry.
10 And last but not least, a medium shimmery warm brown, leaning towards copper.
Swatches:
in the shade
in the sun
in the shade
in the sun
That's it for this row :) I like all of the colors a lot, especially since I mainly use neutral eyeshadows.
All of the swatching episodes are done now, but in a few days there's gonna be a conclusion up, about the whole palette in general, and my final opinion :)
See you all soon!
xoxo, Misch