St. Patrick's Day Nail Art

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For today's occasion I did some nail art showing the Irish spirit. So here's lots of green, as well as the Irish flag and shamrocks!

Products used:

China Glaze  - Running In Circles (bright green main colour)

China Glaze - Starboard (green part of the flag)

OPI - Jade Is The New Black (shamrocks)

Manhattan - M&Buffalo Off The Socks (orange)

BornPrettyStore - White Stamping Polish (white)

Essence nail art stylist (to draw the shamrocks)

It's just a very simple and fun design to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Nothing difficult to it! What are you wearing today? Any green?

In case you're interested in a bit of Ireland-related stuff on here, check out my post on the Cliffs of Moher, Kinsale or Irish beaches!

xx, Misch

NOTD: Winter Snowflake Nail Art

With Christmas already around the corner, it was definitely time for some seasonal nail art. Here you have some snow flakes!

Products I used:
Essence Top Speed Nail Polish 26 Look At Me (very old colour, any dark blue will do)
Jesse's Girl North Star (bright glittery silver)
BornPrettyStore Nail Art Brush No. 1 to draw the snow flakes

This design definitely requires some skill, a very steady hand and lots of patience. But it is not impossible to do! You can always go ahead and draw bigger snow flakes, which makes it easier for you.

I've already done some snow flakes in previous years, in case you're interested in more colour variations. Click here for the 2011 and the 2012 versions.
Which one do you like best? Let me know in the comments below!

xx, Misch

Rhinestone Nail Art + BornPrettyStore Rhinestones Review

Today it's time for the next review and nail art design using my BornPrettyStore stuff! Here are the rhinestones.

Products used
Essence 50s Girls Reloaded LE 01 Ahoy
BornPrettyStore 2mm Rhinestones*

The rhinestones are fairly easy to apply to your nails. I painted the desired area with a clear top coat, and then, using tweezers to pick them up, pressed the rhinestones into the still wet nail polish.

You have to make sure to let them dry thoroughly, because otherwise they'll be coming off your nail very easily. Once they're dry, though, they stay in place!

What I don't particularly like about rhinestones is the fact that they are somewhat bulky. With these, though, it's not so bad, they're fairly small! But still, you get them caught in your hair when brushing through it, or on your clothes.

The wear is fine, concerning the obvious fact that these won't stick too long. When being careful, your design might last you a couple of days, but once you do some hard work with your hands, they'll come off pretty fast.

After all, I do like these rhinestones a lot, I love how they look. I'm not the biggest fan of the feeling of wearing them, but still, I do recommend them!

Have you tried rhinestones on your nails?
xoxo, M



* THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

Spotted: Essence Love Letters LE

Hi there!

Today I'd like to talk about Essence's current Love Letters LE.

This LE contains an eyeshadow palette, 2 eyeliner pencils, 2 jumbo lip pencils, 1 highlighting powder, 5 nail polishes, 1 stampy set, 1 set of powder papers and one diary. You can find an overview of all products here *click*.

The eyeshadow palette consists of all light shades but one, and they all appeared to be shimmery. I unfortunately wasn't able to try it at the store, there were not testers.

The eyeliner pencils each have the pencil on one end, and a little smudger on the other. That can be used to create smokey looks, which is rather nice. Colours are dark blue and silver.

The jumbo lip pencils are very shiny and sheer. They barely add any colour to your lips.

The highlighting powder looks very cute, it has some kind of saying on it. There was not strong shimmer going on with this one.

The nail polishes are all pastel shades but one, which is a dark grey. They are all very nice but not that extraordinary to be honest.

The stampy set contains an image plate that has some patterns themed around the topic of love, and also a scraper and a stamp. I didn't actually know that stamping was still huge in the nail art world, but I'm sure this is a lovely set of designs if you like to do it!

The powder papers are basically blotting papers, but they have a transparent powder added to them that you apply directly when blotting your face. Intrigued by the idea of this technique I bought one of these sets. Expect a review to be up soon, I'm rather curious how these work.

Last but not least, a little note book that Essence calls a diary. It looks cute.

After all, a cute little LE that definitely has a feeling of Valentine's Day and spring to it. I wasn't too interested in the products, but that could also be due to the fact that none of them were truly outstanding.
What do you think of this LE?

xoxo, Misch

Preview: LEs for February 2014

Hey there!

Today I'd like to quickly show you 2 previews for LEs that are anticipated for February.

The first one is by Essence and it's called New In Town. You can see the promo pictures here *click*. Now there is no mention of this in the preview, but normally there are two LEs per year that are called New In Town, and they always contains a couple of products from the upcoming permanent line change. So I presume that this is the case here as well. The products look cute but not that spectacular, I guess I'll have to judge them at the store.

The other LE is by Catrice and it's called Creme Fresh. Now this one looks way more promising than the Essence one in my opinion. You can see it here *click*. It's full of pastel shades, but very cute ones. Not that new maybe, but very appropriate for the season.

After all I don't find them utterly interesting so far, but maybe I'll like a product or two at the store. We'll see then :D

What do you think of it?
xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Kalinka Beauty LE

Hi guys!

Today I'd like to talk about Essence's other current LE, called Kalinka.

Kalinka contains 3 eyeshadows, 1 set of fake single lashes, 2 eyebrow pencils, 1 lip brush, 2 duo lip creams, 1 blush, 4 nail polishes, 2 hair mascaras and 1 beauty bag. You can find an overview of all products here *click*.

The eyeshadows are all shimmer, and of really pretty colours. They aren't that special but look pretty nonetheless.

The set of fake lashes contains individual lashes, which generally look more natural than whole fake lashes. These, however, come in a set of not only black but also two bright colours! Only something for more daring people.

The eyebrow pencils are one for lighter and one for darker hair types. They also have a little brush on the cap. I personally prefer to fill in my eyebrows with eyeshadow, however.

The lip brush looks fine, might be worth a try.

The duo lip creams are of very bright colours. For these you would need the above mentioned lip brush. One of the colours in each duo is matte, the other one shimmery.

The blush is of a peach colour with a nice shimmer, and it looks really gorgeous! I definitely was tempted to buy it but then decided I had enough peach shades.

The nail polishes are very cute and contain an interesting pearl shimmer. 

The hair mascaras are something that I personally find rather useless, but I'm sure there are people who use these. You can basically add colourful accents to your hair with them.

And finally, the little beauty bag in the shade of a Matryoshka. Looks really cute.

After all, I quite liked looking at this LE, and I'm sure you'll be able to find something cute you might like. But there wasn't anything utterly exciting in it, at least not for me.

What do you think about it?

xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Ice Ice Baby LE

Hey everyone!

I recently saw this LE at the drugstore, and I thought I might share my thoughts on it. This is Essence's Ice Ice Baby LE.

This LE contains 3 eyeshadows, 3 eye pencils, 2 lip balms, 1 shimmer powder, 4 nail polishes, 1 hand lotion and 1 cable clip accessory. Here *click* you can see all of the products.

The eyeshadows are cool-toned and look shimmery. Unfortunately I wasn't able to test their pigmentation, sorry!

They eye pencils are of a metallic finish and come in three different colours. They were too much colour for my taste, don't really wear colours that much.

The lip balms look very cute and bright. I doubt, however, that they will have a real visible colour pay off.

The shimmer powder appears to be very frosty. It's of a white-ish silvery color and very shimmery.

The nail polishes are of cute colours that match the whole collection quite well. They are definitely interesting and not too common. The shimmer of them makes them interesting in my opinion!

The hand lotion looks nice and promises an deeply moisturizing effect. Couldn't really tell what it smelled like, though.

Last but not least, the cable clip. Might come in handy for people who need this kind of stuff, I don't really.

After all, this is a cute, winter-themed LE that makes a nice impression. I do like how all of the products work together, but there wasn't anything that sparked my interest.
What do you think of it?

xoxo, Misch

Review: Essence Dark Romance LE Highlighter

Hi there!

I'm now finally getting round to doing this review, sorry it took so long! In the following I'll be sharing my thoughts on Essence's Highlighter from the Dark Romance LE.

Information:

• Essence Cream Highlighter 01 Light Up!
• part of the Dark Romance LE, December 2013
• contains 4 g
• costs 2,95 Euros
• is of a white-ish pale colour, rather cool-toned
• contains a very fine shimmer than looks rather pinkish
• has a thick creamy consistency

Positives:

• price
• very light colour that will make a good highlight for pretty much every skin tone
• very fine shimmer that won't make you look all glittery
• easy to apply with brush/ fingers
• easy to blend due to the creamy consistency
• you can layer it for more/ less intensity

Negatives:

• the highlight isn't really that strong
• the consistency could be smoother
• the consistency is not the best for oily skin

After all, I think this is a nice product. Whether you'll like it or not depends on what you want from it. If you're going for a very subtle highlight, this is your product. But if you expect a very strong effect from it, there are way better products available for your purposes.

Has anyone of you tried it out?

xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Dark Romance LE

Hey everyone!

Today I'd like to talk about Essence's current LE, called Dark Romance.

This LE contains 2 eyeshadow quads, 2 eye pencils, 2 lipsticks, 2 lipglosses, 1 cream highlighter, 2 velvet mousse blushes, 4 nail polishes, 1 nail art decoration kit and 1 set of body tattoos.

All products can be seen here *click*.

The eyeshadow quads are are of nice colors, but unfornately there were no testers, so I can't tell you anything about the pigmentation. The colors did look rather pretty, though.

The two eye pencils contain a slight shimmer and are of one light and one dark color. On one end there's the color, and on the other a little smudger. That can be nice to create smokey looks, even though I prefer actual brushes.

The lipsticks are of a red and a darker berry color. They are both matte and looked as if they were very pigmented, just like those from last year's holiday collection.

There are also 2 lipglosses in this LE, one almost white-silver and the other one is of a greyish color. I'm sure they are rather sheer and just add a ton of glitter to your lips.

Then it also contains a cream highlighter, and that's the only product I bought from it. It's of a white-ish very pale color and contains a fine shimmer. That is actually very fine, so you don't glitter too much. It has a thick creamy consistency. A review will be up soon.

Then there are the two mousse blushers. They are of deep red colors, very intense. Unfortunately no testers here either.

The nail polishes are all of interesting finishes, nothing standard. I wish I could have had a look at them, but they had already sold out when I got the check out this LE. Bet they must've looked great!

The nail jewels are all pretty, and if you are into that kind of stuff I'm sure you'll be able to do great nail art designs with them.

Lastly, some body tattoos. Not exactly my style to be honest.

So, to sum it all up, this is a fun LE that is very ordered as all of the products match the others. It disappointed me a bit, though, as it's the December LE, but it's clearly not that Christmas-spirited. Oh well, still a nice little LE.
What did you think of it?

xoxo, Misch

December LE Previews

Hey guys!
With December almost upon us, I thought I would share two LE previews. Both Limited Editions are supposed to be released within the next couple of weeks.

Essence will launch a LE called Dark Romance, and it can be seen here *click*. It looks rather interesting with some cool products like the velvet mousse blushes and the cream highlighter, but it doesn't exactly look festive to me. I always love Essence's holiday themed LEs, but this year I feel like we're missing out! But we'll see at the store :)

Catrice will release a LE called Celtica, which is to be seen here *click*. This isn't exactly filled with Christmas spirit either, feels more like one of Catrice's January LEs. I do quite like it on the pictures, even though it starts to remind me spring, which is not what I need right now :D But again, we'll see!

What do you think of these LEs?


And to all those of you who celebrate it: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I made pumpkin pie for the occasion, which is great :D Have a lovely holiday guys!

xoxo, Misch

October '13 Favourites

Hey there!

Today I'd like to share my favorites of the month of October with you guys :) Even though I wasn't really posting frequently, that doesn't mean that I didn't use any cosmetics!
Here are my favs:

Sleek Blush by 3 Flame - I love love love this blush palette! The colors are bright and warm, perfect for autumn, and they are great to wear :) My review can be found here *click*.

Essence Superheroes LE Thermo Effect Nail Polish 01 Fantastic Girl - even though I only bought this towards the end of the month, I am so so mesmerized by its effect that I just had to include this here! You can see it on my nails in this post *click*.

Essie Not Just A Pretty Face - this is a stunning nude nail polish, and I love wearing it on my toes! I always just reapply it, a great shade! Can be seen on my nails here *click*.

Kiko Eyeshadow 132 - a beautiful warm brown shade with a golden shimmer. Great for all kinds of looks! You can see swatches of it here *click*.

Sephora Waterproof eye makeup remover - I bought this one during my recent trip to France, and quite enjoy using it! A review will come up soon :)

So, that's it for my monthly favorites! What were yours? Share them with me!

xoxo, Misch

NOTD November 3rd: Essence Superheroes LE Thermo Effect Nail Polish 01 Fantastic Girl

Hi guys!

Yesterday I already shared my thoughts on Essence's current Superheroes LE with you, and now I'd like to show you the nail polish I bought, Fantastic Girl.

Fantastic Girl is a so-called Thermo Effect Nail Polish. That means it changes its color according to temperature. In the bottle it looks like a medium berry purple shade, without any glitter particles whatsoever. But this color varies. When I'm totally warm, it is of a bright barbie pink. When utterly cold, for example after putting it under cold water, you get a deep purple shade. The color really varies! It's also not limited to the whole nail, sometimes only the tips discolor, or different parts!

The reaction is immediate. It literally changes color within the second you put it under a different temperature water. That is really awesome!

Application was fine, it's a bit sheer at first, and with 2 coats you still have a bit of a visible nail line. I did 3 here, and no top coat as I was afraid it'd alter the color changing effect. It probably does.

I'm a huge fan of this nail polish, it's just too cool!
What do you think of it?

xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Superheroes LE

Hey there!

Long time no see, very long time! Deeply sorry for that, but I just never found the time...but better now than never, so yay, a new post from me!

I recently saw Essence's Superheroes LE at the drugstore, so this is what I'd like to talk about today! I didn't even know about this LE, there you go, that's how much I've been up to date recently!
But anyways, this is a fun LE themed around nail art and stuff.
It contains 6 effect nail polishes, 3 glitter containers, 1 brush, 2 sets of nail stickers, 1 nail polish remover and 1 beauty bag.
You can see promo pics of everything here *click*.

The nail polishes are of very different effects. From liquid sand to holo and flakies, there's something for everyone! I didn't find them to be that exciting, except for one: the Thermo Effect Nail Polish. It's called 01 Fantastic Girl and it's of a deep berry pink shade. But it changes its color according to temperature! It can go from a bright barbie pink to a deep purple, and that stuff really works! It's like the coolest thing ever! I'll be showing you pictures of it on my nails tomorrow so you get an idea of how cool the effect is!

The little containers of glitter are quite fun, they are just loose particles.

The brush is there to brush off loose particles when using glitter.

The sets of nail stickers are two very different ones. One consists of comic stickers, and the other of silver and golden stripes. I got that one because I figured it might be nice for Christmas themed nail art :) It's called 02 rescue me!

The nail polish remover is pink and has glitter in it, it's quite awesome :D

Last but not least, the beauty bag. It's rather small and very glittery, but I'm sure could be nice.

Well, after all, this is a rather fun LE that does have some cool things in it, but still didn't utterly excite me. But I love the nail polish!
Did you get anything from it?
xoxo, Misch

September Favs

Hey guys!
I know I'm horribly late with this, but better late than never, right?! Here are my favorites for the month of September!

Nivea Body Milk - this is my favorite body product of all time. Whenever it gets colder, I pull this out. It's the perfect moisturizer after a nice shower!

Sebamed Soap-free wash piece - I've been trying this new product for my face, a cleanser! It looks like a soap bar, but it's actually soap-free! It's supposed to support your skin's own processes to keep your skin clean. A review will follow soon!

Sleek Blush by 3 Flame - my friends brought me this blush from London, and it contains the greatest colors! I really love them, especially for fall, they are so great quality! Here *click* is my review on it!

Sephora Cotton Flower Eau de Toilette - this is a cute little scent that I picked up at Sephora during the summer. It smells sweet but also clean, and I really like it!

Essence Longlasting Lipstick 01 Coral Calling - a lovely peachy pink lipstick with a creamy texture. I wore it quite often! Review: *click*.

Well guys, that's it for my favorites for the month of September! What were yours? Let me know!
xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Be Loud LE

Hi guys!
Today I'd like to share my thoughts concerning Essence's current Be Loud LE.

This LE contains 3 eyeshadow duos, 1 jumbo eye pencil, 2 jumbo lip pencils, 2 blushes, 5 nail polishes, 1 nail art tool and 1 beauty bag.
All products can be seen here *click*.

The eyeshadow duos are all shimmery. They contain somewhat natural colors, all very wearable.
The jumbo eye pencil is of a greyish brownish shade, and said to be waterproof. I imagine it might be used best as a base underneath actual eyeshadows.
The jumbo lip pencils are actually called Jumbo Sheer Pencils. They are of bright colors, pink and coral, and are said to be rather sheer and shiny.
The blushes have a really fun military design on them, each consisting of 3 shades. One is rather warm-toned with peach shades, the other colder with pink shades. Both are slightly shimmery.
The nail polishes all seemed to be cremes, available in both bright and more muted colors. There is also a very bright and colorful glitter top coat among them.
The nail art tool is the same double-ended dotting tool they've had in their permanent line for quite some time already.
The beauty bag is rather cute, too, matching the theme of the LE.

After all, this is a nice little LE that is definitely worth a look. I didn't find anything I liked enough to buy, but maybe you did? Let me know!

xoxo, Misch

LE Previews for October 2013

Hey guys!
Today I'd like to show you the first LE previews for the month of October!

Essence has announced 2 new LEs.
The first one will be called Beauty Beats - Girls on Tour with Justin Bieber. You can see the promo pics here *click*. This one clearly addresses a younger group of girls. The products look quite okay, nothing too exciting. I'm personally just not a big fan of Justin Bieber, so this isn't really something for me.

The other Essence LE for October is called Metal Glam, and it can be seen here *click*. It is clearly metallic-themed, not exactly my taste either unfortunately.

Catrice's LE for October is going to be another one of their palette LEs. It contains, as in the previous two years I believe, 3 palettes with each 6 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, 1 mini brush and 1 mini eyeliner. Then there are some matching nail polishes available too, this time glittery ones. The LE will be called Arts Collection, each palette inspired by a certain period of art. You can see it here *click*.

To be honest, none of these LEs really excite me. I'll have to see them at the store, but for now there's nothing that I will be looking out for.

What do you think of them?
xoxo, Misch

Review: Essence Oktoberfest LE Multicolor Blush 01 Fesches Madl!

Hey there!

Today I'd like to review the blush I bought from Essence's current Oktoberfest LE!

Information:

• Essence Multicolor Blush 01 Fesches Madl!
• part of the Oktoberfest LE September 2013
• contains 9 g
• costs 3,25 Euros
• base is a matte light pink, has a matte dark pink heart on it with white flowers

Positives:

• price
• nice cool-toned color, especially when mixed
• good pigmentation in the dark pink part, but not too strong
• makes for a nice natural look
• easy to blend

Negatives:

• the light pink is very sheer
• it's limited

After all, I like this blush! It might not be the best I've ever tried, but it's a nice change from my usual coral pinks :D Love the cute design, but the quality could be a bit better.

Has anyone of you tried it?
xoxo, Misch

Review: Essence Longlasting Lipstick 01 Coral Calling

Hi guys!

Part of Essence's new permanent line is a new lipstick line in a black packaging. The line is called Longlasting Lipstick, and the color I have to show you is called 01 Coral Calling.

Information:

• Essence Longlasting Lipstick 01 Coral Calling
• part of the permanent line since August 2013
• costs 2,29 Euros
• shade is a coral pink shade
• has a sweet scent
• contains no shimmer particles whatsoever

Positives:

• price
• availability
• nice shade
• easy to apply
• creamy texture
• no shimmer particles, but still has a nice sheen to it, it's not matte
• doesn't dry out my lips

Negatives:

• requires reapplication after some time, doesn't last too long due to the creamy formula
• the scent might be too strong

I really like the color of this lipstick, but when I looked into my collection I realized I already own a couple of similar shades. In the comparison pictures you can see

• Alterra's Caring Lipstick in 06 Coral, which is a bit darker
• Catrice's Oceana LE Lipstick in C01 Ocean Sunrise, which is pinker
• Astor's Lipcolor Butter in 011 Feeling Feline, which is brighter but the closest match

I do really like this lipstick, it's quality might not be that outstanding, but for the price it's a great product!

Has anyone of you tried this lipstick?

xoxo, Misch

Spotted: Essence Oktoberfest LE

Hey there!
Today I'd like to talk about Essence's new LE for September, the Oktoberfest LE!

This LE contains 1 set of paper lashes, 2 eyeshadow and lipgloss sets, 1 lip balm, 1 blush, 4 nail polishes, 1 set of nail art stickers, 1 mini purse and 2 bracelets.
All products can be seen here *click*.

The paper lashes are of a very cute and fun design, with hearts. If I were the type to wear these, I'd have gotten them, but they're just a little too much for me :D

The eyeshadow and liploss sets are very cute, with a nice Oktoberfest design and everything. One contains a pink and a purple eyeshadow as well as a light pink lipgloss, the other is blue and brown in terms of eyeshadow and with a red lipgloss. I have no idea how well they're pigmented, but they did look very cute.

The lip balm comes in a tiny pot, and it is of a shimmery light pink shade, almost white. Not so much my taste.

The blush is a very cute one as well. It's of a cool-toned light pink, and has a darker pink with shimmer in its heart. Love the design, so I bought it.

Pigmentation of the background shade is okay, but it doesn't give that much color. The darker pink, however, does, and mixed together I bet they'll make for a nice, not too strong shade.
It was 3,25 Euros and is called 01 Fesches Madl!

The 4 nail polishes are red, purple, pink and green. They all looked very nice and very appropriate for the theme, but there was nothing too extraordinary to them.

The nail art stickers also look very cute, unfortunately they were already gone at my drugstore.

The mini purse is just a tiny little bag, very cute to store just a couple of cosmetic products in it for on the go.

The bracelets are also a nice little extra, they look very cute with their pink or purple ribbons and the silver pretzel as a charm.

After all, I quite liked this LE! I love the Oktoberfest, already looking forward to it now, and the products are all very cute :)
How did you like it?
xoxo, Misch

Review: Essence Me & My Ice Cream LE Shimmer Pearls 01 I-CY U

Hey there!
First of all, a very happy 4th of July to all of you who celebrate it! Have lots of fun!

Now, today I'd like to review Essence's Shimmer Pearls from their current Me & My Ice Cream LE. Here you go:

Information:

• Essence Shimmer Pearls 01 I-CY U
• part of the Me & My Ice Cream LE, July 2013
• cost 3,25 Euros
• contains 14g
• are shimmer pearls in all kinds of light colors, such as peach, mint, lilac and others in the sorts
• come in a little pot
• intended to be used for highlighting

Positives:

• price
• fun idea
• nice light color
• not too much shimmer
• looks very natural

Negatives:

• you need to layer them to get a visible effect
• they are a little bit hard to pick up with a brush sometimes
• they're limited
• they're too shimmery to be used all over your face/body

After all, these are some cute highlighting pearls, and for days when I just want a very subtle highlight, they are perfect. But there are way better highlighters out there! Can't fully recommend them.

Has anyone of you tried them?

xoxo, Misch