NOTD May 13th: Essence - Pool Party

Hey there!
Today I want to show you a nail polish I had forever, and I was just so in the mood to wear it! I'm talking about Essence's Pool Party from their Color&Go line.

Pool Party is a medium blue with slight green undertones, but it's rather blue than turquoise. It has a very apparent silver shimmer, and since the particles are a little bigger I'd say it's shimmer flecks what it contains. With this shimmer it reminds me a little of OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam, *click*, but I don't know how close they are in real life.
Application was nice, even though I already owned this for a few years! It got a tiny bit dry, but other than that it was perfectly smooth. I needed 2 coats :)

Unfortunately this polish has been discontinued for a while now, and that's really a pity! I wish they would re-release it, it's stunning after all!
What do you think of it?
xoxo, Misch

NOTD May 10th: Essence Season Of Extremes LE - 03 Pimp My Bright

Hi there!
Today I want to share another polish from Essence's Season Of Extremes LE with you. This one is called 03 Pimp My Bright.

Pimp My Bright is a bright yellow that has slight orange undertones. It's a creme. This yellow is a very happy shade, it reminds me of summer and the sun. It's not really a lemon yellow, more of a sun shade? Dunno, I find it hard to describe different types of yellow.

Application of this one was okay, due to the formula it goes on smoothly. But the problem is that it's so sheer and thin! The first 2 coats were really streaky and sheer, not even at all. With third the coverage was nice and even, but I had extremely visible nail line! The yellow just clings to the white of my tips...to make it a little less apparent I did a fourth coat, but I wish I didn't have to...
This is actually quite wearable, it doesn't clash with my skin tone!

This seems to be a very close color to Essence's Sundancer from their Color&Go line which was discontinued some time ago. I might make a comparison in the next few days! Do you want one?
After all, I can't really recommend this polish because of the bad coverage. Essence makes so good polishes, also yellow cremes, like the old Sundancer, but this one's a little disappointing...
What do you think about it?

xoxo, Misch

Book Review: Hide*Out by Andreas Eschbach

Hey there!
Today I want to do a book review! I already introduced the novel Black*Out to you here *click*, and now I want to talk about its sequel, called Hide*Out. It's again written by Andreas Eschbach, a German author.
Please read my first review linked above to get the main ideas behind the book. It has the same topic, but the story goes on, like they normally do in a sequel ;)

Unlike the first book, this one has a lot more characters in it who actually do something. That way there are also more points of view to every part of the story. The whole book is written in a narrative style, but there's no "I" who tells the story. Every chapter has a different acting character. It also doesn't have as many flashbacks as the first book had. I guess all of the important flash-back parts were already done in the first book!
I'm really glad that in this book, nothing of the first was repeated, concerning the actions taking place. I didn't think it would be possible to write so different events taking place in the same context, but it really does work. The places where certain parts take place are really creative and described detailed. That always adds a special part to the story. What I kinda liked, because it is a contrast, was the part where the author combined modern technology with a Native American kind of outback area. These kinds of things that appear all over the book make it seem a little like it's meant to be turned into a movie ;)
Some parts of this book seemed a little weird to me while reading, I'm being honest with this. I hope not to spoil you, btw! There was a little bit of love going on, but not too much, rather in the background. But this "he likes her, no, he likes the other girl more" thing is kind of a little annoying and doesn't make much sense since it's not really explained.
When I was done with about three quarters of the book, nothing special had happened yet, and I was thinking that this couldn't be it. Luckily it wasn't, the last part of the book was really thrilling and interesting!
Computers and technology again played a big role in this book, but on a level most people can understand, luckily ;)
After all, this might not be the best book ever, I'm not utterly smitten, it was still a good read. I think it makes a nice addition to Black*Out, and I definitely want to read the final part of the series when it comes out.
Did anyone of you read this?
xoxo, Misch

NOTD May 8th: Essence Season Of Extremes LE - 01 It's Two Bright

Hey there!
Today I want to show you another Essence polish that was just laying around. Sometimes I buy so many polishes at a time that I totally forget about some of them! I know I'm bad ;)
It's Two Bright was part of Essence's Season Of Extremes LE, which might still be available here and there. Here *click* you can read my original post about the LE.

It's a double-ended polish, like Essence's permanent Color3 line. One part of this polish is a bright medium blue creme, and the other is yellow sheer shimmer that changes from gold to red. Both of these polishes are really pretty, and especially the shimmer is not that common.
Application was great. The blue has a squishy consistency, like a mix between a jelly and a creme. It applied nicely with 2 coats. The shimmer was also really easy to apply, it went all smooth. In the pictures I'm wearing 2 coats of the blue, 1 of the shimmer and 1 coat of top coat.
The polish is a tiny bit awkward to hold since it's double-ended, but that's no problem :)

I really like this combination, especially because it's really not something usual. The blue in contrast with red/golden shimmer is stunning!
What do you think of it?
xoxo, Misch

BTW: I just joined Pottermore, and I'm so excited about it! Who of you has joined, too? We could be friends there :D Let me know if you want to!

Comparison: Catrice Revoltaire LE Ombre Blush and Catrice Floralista LE Duo Blush

Hey there!

Today I want to do a comparison I was asked to do. I totally forgot about it, so sorry dear Desert Rose! But better late than never, right?! :D
So, the request was to compare Catrice's Ombre Blush from their Revoltaire LE, called C01 Color Bomb, to the Duo Blush they released with the Floralista LE in the spring of 2011, called C01 As Lively As Ever.

Let's say it right away: these are not dupes in any way. The differences become clear already when you just look at both blushes. Color Bomb is a blush that goes from a light peach to a darker peach-toned pink, and the overall color is definitely pink-toned. It also has a shimmer. As Lively As Ever is a blush that has two clearly divided parts, and one is a hot pink and the other a orange-toned peach. Both sides are fully matte.
The pigmentation of As Lively As Ever is also better than the one of Color Bomb, and it contains 6g, whereas Color Bomb contains 8g.
When you have a look at the swatches, you can also see that the colors aren't similar. I compared the orange-toned peach of As Lively As Ever to the lightest part of Color Bomb, and the pink side of As Lively As Ever to the darkest part of Color Bomb. Then you also have a swatch of all of the colors of As Lively As Ever and all of the colors of Color Bomb together. Color Bomb is more pink-toned, and it's overall color is a tad lighter.

Catrice Revoltaire LE Color Bomb, lightest part

Catrice Floralista LE As Lively As Ever, peach part

above: Color Bomb, below: As Lively As Ever

Catrice Revoltaire LE Color Bomb, darkest part

Catrice Floralista LE As Lively As Ever, pink part

above: Color Bomb, below: As Lively As Ever

each blush mixed: left: Color Bomb, right: As Lively As Ever

I hope you found this comparison helpful!
xoxo, Misch

NOTD May 6th: Essence Rebels LE 04 Rebelizer

Hey there!
I kind of forgot I still had this polish laying around, waiting to be worn, but when I saw it sitting all alone in my Helmer I immediately decided to give it a try. I'm talking about the color 04 Rebelizer from Essence's Rebels LE.

Rebelizer is a yellow-toned and very bright and vibrant green. It has a shimmer that actually glows in direct sunlight, that is so pretty! Its finish is a so-called Latex finish, which just means Satin. It dries a little matte, but not fully. When it's still satin the shimmer doesn't stand out as much.
Application of this one was nice. You gotta work a little quicker because it dries fast, but that works well as long as you have right amount of polish on your brush. It glides on easily. I ended up using 3 thin coats, it worked best that way for me. In all the pictures I'm also wearing a top coat. Make sure you enlarge them!

This polish is nothing for shy people, it's so bright and also a little odd. It's a Shrek kind of color, not like an apple green or anything. But it's actually a lot easier to pull off than I thought it would be! I kind of like wearing, but it's never gonna be one of my go-to polishes.
If you like bright, unusual colors, you should definitely give it a try!
What do you think of it?
xoxo, Misch

Polish Finish Series: Flakies

Hey everyone!
I didn't do a post of this series in a while, but luckily I remembered to do today :D We're getting close to the end of Polish Finish Series, there are only a few more finishes I need to talk about.
Today's topic is Flakies. Flakies themselves are actually just glitter particles. They're not like "real" glitter, they're rather random shaped and thinner and they shimmer a different way. Some like to call them opal particles, which is just the same as the word Flakies.
Some of these flakie particles have a duo- or multi-chrome effect to them, that means they change their color at different angles. A very popular version of that is yellow to orange to green.
Flakie polishes are most of the time jelly or sheer polishes containing these flakie opal particles. They're not always meant to be worn opaque, but rather for layering. At that point I also have to mention a special method of layering: the jelly-flakie-sandwich. It's basically a method where you first use a jelly polish, then, in-between coats, use the flakie polish and top it off with another coat of the jelly polish. That way the flakies are sandwiched :D It looks actually really nice :)
Not so long ago there were only special brands who sold Flakies, like Nfu Oh or Nubar. By now a lot of common brands make flakies in all kinds of variations. Essie has some, Zoya, even Essence! I'm glad about that, because I love flakies and it's great to get the chance to buy them more often :)
Here I want to show you 2 examples:
The first one is a very basic flakie polish, a clear polish with the yellow to orange to green multi-chrome. The one I have is Essence's Waking Up In Vegas from their Re-mix Your Style LE of fall 2011. It was limited, but now they have the same polish under a different name in the permanent line.

The other polish is another Essence polish, of their Color3 Line. It's a double-ended polish with one shimmer and one flakie part. It's called Midnight Date (City That Never Sleeps). The opal particles are blue and change to green at some angles.

After all, I love flakies :) What do you think of them?
xoxo, Misch