Author: RiaG

Dollish Polish Got Snow Cones? and Murky Dismal

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It’s about time I show you some of the swatch photos I took during the summer and never posted here on my blog. So let’s start it off with two Dollish Polish pretties. On these photos I still have some gel left on my nails and they are longer than my nails are at the moment.

 

Got Snow Cones? (Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu! base coat, two coats of Got Snow Cones? and two coats of HK Girl top coat).

Application is easy when you use a very light hand to prevent the glitter pieces from dragging bald spots on the white base. It also helps to let the first coat dry well before applying the second one. I placed some of the glitters to get a more even looking result. This is such a cute and fresh looking polish!

 

 

Murky Dismal (Glisten & Glow Stuck on Blu! base coat, three thin coats of Murky Dismal and a coats of HK Girl top coat).

This has a very good formula and application is really easy. I used three thin coats to achieve a good sandwich effect.

 

 

 

***These were sent for review.

A little update again!

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Just wanted to write a quick update here too. From my social media sites some of you have already seen that the baby finally arrived two weeks after the due date. They actually had to induce the labor and in the end the situation got a little crazy. They literally pulled him out in less than 10 mins cos the machines were giving them a lot of warnings and it was either that or an emergency c-section. But in the end all was well and baby was unharmed and healthy little boy. Cos of all that it’s taking me somewhat longer than I expected to recover but I’m getting there.

Baby boy is now three weeks old and along with his two big sisters he is keeping me pretty busy. Today I was actually able to paint my nails for the second time after giving birth :D I’ve only been wearing Essie Fill the Gap on my nails for three weeks now. I’m really trying to get back to some kind of normal day rhythm and have some time to blog again too.

I’m really nail polish deprived right now and I’m dying to get back to business :D

 

 

IsaDora Gel Nail Lacquer

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I’m still in one piece so I’m trying to get a few posts written before the baby decides to arrive :) I’ve taken these photos quite a while ago and just haven’t had time or energy to write the post. So next few posts will still show my nails with some gel layover on them. Now all the gel is gone and my nails are all natural. Just gotta get these few posts out of the way and then I can show you what my nails look like now.

So lets get this party started with IsaDora Gel Nail Lacquer review. This is a polish that dries in sunlight and doesn’t require UV-lamp to cure it like regular gel polish. I received a limited edition shade 224 Scarlet Red for testing and I was quite happy with it.

This polish doesn’t require a base coat but it is recommended that you use your preferred base coat at least with darker colors so they won’t stain your nails. After the base coat you apply two coats of gel polish and let it dry for 3 minutes. Then add a coat of IsaDora Gel Nail Lacquer Top Coat. The application of Scarlet Red was flawless. The polish was very well pigmented and with two coats it was perfectly opaque. Top coat is a bit thicker and I took a good amount of it on the brush. The top coat was still easy to apply and it gave my nails a very nice, gel like glossy finish.

 

 

 

I tested this polish on a pedicure first and the result was impressive. I used Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu! as a base coat and then followed the application instructions that are also printed on the bottles. The manicure dried within minutes and looked really shiny. I kept this manicure on my toe nails for 3 weeks before it started chipping. The polish stayed very shiny for the first two weeks and was still pretty good when I removed the pedicure after 3 weeks. For me this was a good result. Usually my pedis stay good two weeks max before they start chipping. Naturally there was minor tip wear but not noticeable enough that I needed to do something about it.

After that I did the manicure test. IsaDora promises up to 7 days of wear time for these Gel Nail Lacquers. I only had an opportunity to test this for four days though. I already mentioned the flawless application and for my manicure I used the same base coat as I did for the pedicure. Where the pedicure stayed excellent for over two weeks the result wasn’t the same for the manicure. I did not expect it to be either though. The shine started to fade a bit after 3 days and day 4 there was the first chip. My test wasn’t perfect though since my nails were still very thin and I was growing out the gel nails removal damage. Also left hand nails still had some gel layover left. So on healthy nails I probably would’ve gone more than four days without chipping.

As said the shine and glossy look stayed perfect for over two weeks on my pedicure but started fading from the manicure after three days. This is mostly caused by the fact that I have to wash my hands a lot. I wash dishes without gloves and so on. So all the soap and chemicals that I expose my hands to during the day definitely took their toll on the shine.

Removal of this polish was very easy with non-acetone nail polish remover and there was no staining since I used a base coat.

 

I’m very happy with the wear time on the pedicure and I think this performed well on the manicure too. Quick dry time makes these Gel Nail Lacquer perfect for everyone who wants easy to apply, simple and quick manicure that lasts for more than one day. Color range is pretty and there’s also shades for creating a full french manicure using these polishes.

I will definitely be using this polish and buy a few more shades to use on my pedicures and on the days when I need something reliable and quick to apply for my manicures.

 

 

 

***IsaDora Gel Nail Lacquer and Top Coat were sent for review.

Just letting you know I’m still alive!

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So it’s been quiet here on my blog lately as well as in my social media too. I have no intention to stop blogging or anything like that. This has just been an unplanned break. I have 9 days to go till I’m due to have a baby and I’ve just been dead tired as well as quite busy lately. We had to do a little house renovation to get a bedroom for the baby and so on. It’s also been a hot summer here in Finland and everything’s been left to last minute (as usual :P ) cos no one felt like working in that heat too much. My husband is freaking out cos I haven’t even packed my hospital bag yet (I’m the worst procrastinator there is) LOL But hey, at least I trimmed our dog today. Gotta have priorities ;D

Another reason for the blogging break has been the fact that most of the time my fingers are insanely swollen and red. Can’t really take nice swatch photos with the fingers looking like they are. There’s an example photo on my IG. I have some photos ready and blog post ideas too. Gotta try and write those posts asap. Hopefully even before the baby is born.

My nail growing project is going well too. I have no gel left on my nails but there’s still gel damaged parts on some of the nails. Report coming up about that soon.

So all is good here and I’ll try and get some posts up as soon as possible :)

Some Dollish Polish pretties

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Here’s some Dollish Polish swatches that I’ve been sitting on for a while now. I absolutely love Dollish Polish polishes and lately I’ve been making my collection bigger a couple of polishes at a time :)

 

EXPECTO PATRONUM

 

“This is a milky white crelly polish with a hint of Mint Green, has iridescent flakies and varying size Teal Green holographic glitters for a magically enchanting manicure worthy of Hogwarts!”
 
This polish is like a breath of fresh air! I love the simple color combination and quality on this. Application was smooth and easy. No need to fish or place the glitters. This is two normal coats and HK Girl top coat.
PURPLE NURPLES
 
“Inspired by the Cartoon Network’s Chowder, this neon purple jelly has tons of glitters, ranging from hexagons, squares, and circles, all in varying shades of periwinkle, purples, pinks, magenta, and blue/green iridescent glitters.”
 
This awesome jelly is so juicy and squishy! Such a vibrant purple glitter bomb, a jelly polish at it’s most perfect form! The formula is quite sheer so if you’re not a fan of multiple coats of jelly goodness like I am I suggest you layer this on top of a creme polish. The application is flawless and you can apply this so thin that four coats seen on the photos really weren’t a problem at all. Just created amazing depth and squishy-ness (yes, that must be a real word :P). This is four very thin coats and HK Girl top coat. (This was a hard one to photograph accurately so I did adjust the colors on the photos to make the polish look more like it does in real life).
ROCKIN’ RAINBOW SHERBET
“A pale pink crelly, jammed with tiny white squares, white stars, and a mix of neon pink, green, purple and orange hexagons and squares.”
This one has such a delicious color combination, perfect for summer! One of those cheerful fun polishes that put you in a good mood :) Application was good and this was easy to apply thinly so you can layer it for a nice sandwich effect. I suggest you turn the bottle upside down before application to help get the stars out of the bottle. This is three thin coats and HK Girl top coat.

***These were sent for review. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Back to natural nails – progress on both hands

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Today I’ll show you how my “Back to natural nails” project is going. On the photos you can see about month and a half of growth on my right hand nails and 3 weeks progress on growing out the gel layover on my left hand nails. This is always such a long and patience requiring project but so far so good. Naturally I’d like to have strong and long natural nails instantly but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way :P

So here’s where I started from 29th of May. Ultra short nubbins damaged by removal of the gel layover.

 

And here’s how they looked yesterday 15th of July. There’s still a tiny bit of the damaged part left on my pinky, ring and middle finger nails. Another week of growing and then filing them shorter again should do the trick with those nails and then they are all my natural nails and all healthy.
Index finger nail is another story though. It had some gel left on it since it was fixed one more time later than the other three so there’s still some growing to do. Now the gel layover is gone due to a moment of “Do as I say, not as I do” action. The layover started to lift a bit and in all my wisdom I decided to just rip it of. NEVER do that!! Always file the layover off GENTLY and CAREFULLY without damaging your natural nail! So now I have a very thin and damaged part of the nail to grow out for the next few weeks *sigh*

So let’s move on to the left hand. Here’s how the nails were doing 21st of June.

 

And here’s the situation yesterday, 15th of July. So on the photo you can see about 3 weeks of growth. The gel layover is still perfectly attached and I’ll leave it be for now on. I keep filing these nails shorter once a week and now there isn’t a huge difference between my right and left hand nails. Both thumbs are in the same point with these ones. About half of the nail plate showing and the rest still has the gel layover on it.

Then let’s talk a bit about the products I’ve been using.

I’m still using Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil daily and my opinion about that hasn’t changed. It’s simply amazing and my nails love it! It has made the world of good for my cuticles and my nails always look nice and well moisturized.

I have also been testing Duri Rejuvacote and I’m afraid it does the same to my nails as most nail strengtheners do, it makes my nails peel. If I use it for three or more manicures in a row my nails start to peel. I switched to Essie Nourish Me but that didn’t stop the peeling completely so I took a few days break from nail polish and just kept applying Pure Nail Oil several times a day. Then I filed off all the length and peeling parts and kept using the oil.

Now I’m going to test Sally Hansen Nail Rehab treatment and see if that works for me. I’m really dying to find a good base coat/treatment for my nails. I always use Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu! on top of the treatments, before the polish to prevent staining. I also like the sticky base it creates for the polish.

So all in all the nail growing project is moving along nicely. I’m happy to have my natural nails back and very excited to see if I can find the right products to keep them healthy too.

 

 

***Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil and Essie Nourish Me were purchased by me. Duri Rejuvacote and Sally Hansen Nail Rehab were sent to me for free. 

A little update and glitter-y gradient nails

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Hello lovelies! Lately I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to due to (as some of you already know) me being pregnant. I’m simply just too tired and exhausted with two young kids and this beached whale body of mine to get anything done. Now the weather also got a lot warmer here in Finland so my fingers are super swollen and not really swatch photo material at the moment.

I’m due in early September and I’ll try and keep posting somewhat regularly till then. My plan was to get some nail art done for some scheduled posts but we will see about that LOL I might need some guest posters too to help me keep my blog alive. So other than being huge and super tired all the time everything is ok :) I have a lot of polishes to show you and some cool nail art ideas too. I hope I can find the time and energy to get something done soon enough.

Here’s a manicure I did before my fingers started swelling up. The base is Wet n Wild Break The Ice (white shimmer), the light blue gradient is done with Dollish Polish Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Glitter (CesarsShop exclusive that is only available in Finland) and the gold glitter is F.U.N. Lacquer Gold Mark. Base coat was Glisten & Glow Stuck On Blu! and everything is topped off with HK girl top coat. This looked much better inside my head, as usual, but I’ll post it anyways :D

Today my fingers actually look reasonable so as soon as I hit the Publish button I’ll go and take photos of my nail growing progress. At least that is going well :D

 

 

***Wet n Wild Break The Ice was purchased by me, Dollish Polish Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Glitter, F.U.N. Lacquer Gold Mark, Stuck On Blu! and HK Girl were sent to me for free. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Back to natural nails – Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil

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Less than three weeks ago I received my first Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil order and I’ve been using it daily since then. I ordered the Starter/Refill Kit and grip pads for opening the oil pen. I’ve seen so many convincing photos and read so many great reviews that I was very excited to try this product myself.

As you probably know, I’m going back to natural nails after having gel nails for over a year so my nails are not in a best possible condition and I can use all the help I can get. On this blog post you can see two week result on my left hand cuticles after using Pure Nail Oil.

Today I’ll show you the before photo along with the first three days of using Pure Nail Oil on my right hand nails. After I received the package I immediately removed my manicure and went for naked nails for three days. Pure Nail Oil comes with good instructions and I tried to follow those as well as I could.

The before photo is taken right after I removed my manicure so the nail polish remover probably added some extra horror dryness on my cuticles. I also hadn’t used cuticle remover for a bit and that shows as well. You can see the damaged part really well on my ring finger nail and it really looks like it could use a serious amount of moisturizing. That is what I’m trying to grow out and have healthy nails. There’s also some gel left on my index finger nail. These photos were taken over two weeks ago and this coming Sunday I’ll show you one month of growth on my right hand nails and you can also see the condition they are in now after using Pure Nail Oil for three weeks. But that is for Sunday’s post :)

Regardless of how bad my nails and cuticles look in the “Beginning” photo they were moisturized daily using lotions and CND Solar Oil. This is just how easily drying my skin and nails are. Use nail polish remover once and all the moisturizing goes out the window.

So here is the horror I started with…

 

Pretty, eh? :P
No, not really ;) So you can imagine how much Pure Nail Oil my nails and cuticles took in during these first three days. During day one I kept applying the oil like once an hour and it all went in so fast. After a couple of minutes my fingers and nails didn’t feel oily at all. So I kept adding the oil all the time and I was stunned how fast it absorbed. I didn’t use a huge amount at a time, just a drop.
The difference between Pure Nail Oil and Solar Oil was clear to me from the first application. Compared to Solar Oil this one absorbs super fast. Solar Oil also make my skin and cuticles feel kinda rough during application where as Pure Nail Oil makes them feel nice and smooth. Pure Nail Oil also makes my finger tips silky smooth. With Solar Oil I always need to use cuticle balm/cream to get the soft result. Pure Nail Oil is enough alone.
So needless to say I was excited already after day 1. The next morning I took “Day 1” photo before applying the oil. So in this photo it’s been about 12 hours since the last application of Pure Nail Oil and I have washed my hands at least a couple of times.

Quite a difference! My nails and cuticles looked different and they felt so smooth and well moisturized. During day two of naked nails I kept applying the oil quite often. Not as many times as the previous day but it was quite a few times then too. Still the oil kept absorbing fast and it was obvious my nails and cuticles still needed some extra care.

So here’s the result on the morning after “Day 2”. Naturally not such a dramatic change anymore but I was still able to see and feel improvement. This photo was also taken in the similar situation as the previous one, about 12 hours after the last application of Pure Nail Oil.

 

 

So I continued applying the oil for the third day. Now I didn’t really need to apply the oil as often as day one and two. I used just a drop of oil for each hand and massaged it in a few times during the day. I left my nails naked for the night so I could take my third and final photo the following morning.

And here’s my three days result of using Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil. I can still see clear improvement on the condition of my cuticles and compared to the “Beginning” photo the change in just three days is HUGE!

 

 

Since the three days of nail nakedness I’ve been keeping my nails polished and I’ve applied Pure Nail Oil on my cuticles a few times a day. I drop a tiny bit of oil on my thumb and then press my other thumb against it. Now I have a small amount of oil on both my thumb finger tips and I just rub it on all of my cuticles. So a little drop few times a day takes you a long way with Pure Nail Oil.

My manicures on my right hand now last up to three days which is long enough considering the condition my nails were in. The tips still have damaged part to grow out too. After I remove the manicure I apply oil on my nails and massage my nail beds and cuticles till the oil is absorbed. Sometimes I add another drop and repeat the massage. After all the oil is absorbed I wipe my nail with Cleaner liquid (alcohol) and do my next manicure.

Only time will tell if Pure Nail Oil is the answer I’ve been looking for to help my easily peeling and breaking nails. I will know for sure after all the gel and damaged parts have grown out. Right now I’m extremely happy with Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil and it’s hands down the best nail oil I have ever tried. NailCareHQ.com has a sale coming up first week of July and I really need to stock up on this oil so I never run out of it :D

 

 

***Pure Nail Oil was purchased by me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Born Pretty Store – Black rhinestone wheel review

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Today I’m back with another Born Pretty Store product review. This time I chose to test black rhinestones. These come in a wheel that has about 500 rhinestones in four different sizes in it for the price of $3.95.

These rhinestones are super easy to use for all kinds of nail art. You can attach them with top coat or nail glue if you want to make sure they stay on. Just remember that nail glue can make them stick real hard on your nails and it might make it much harder to remove the manicure.

 

 

Since I’m growing out the UV-gel layover on my nails I decided to do a design that covers the annoying growth line nicely. I used top coat to attach three different size rhinestones from the wheel on my nails near the cuticle (I chose not to use the biggest ones this time). The base color is Love, Angeline Lunar Love from my Monday’s blog post.

I love how this turned out! I think the black stones look perfect with the delicate pink polish.

 

You can buy these black rhinestones from Born Pretty Store and they also have a wide range of other nail art supplies. Born Pretty Store offers free worldwide shipping. Please use the code “NZL91” when you order and get extra -10% discount.

 

www.bornprettystore.com

 

 

***These rhinestones were sent for review. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.

Love, Angeline – Lunar Love

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Today I have my first Love, Angeline polish to show you. I’ve seen some beautiful swatches of this around the internet and I just needed to add this bottle to my collection. I have to say Lunar Love is just as beautiful as I thought it would be. This is a very pale pink crelly with light blue shimmer and iridescent glitters.

Formula was a bit on the thick side but not too thick, no need for thinner or anything like that. I applied two normal coats and I noticed that if I tried to be too particular with the application the polish started dragging a bit. So I got the best result by applying this fast and not paying attention on the possible unevenness of the first coat. The second coat smooth everything out perfectly anyways. You also want to have enough polish on your brush instead of trying to make the coats too thin. Dry time was very quick with HK Girl fast drying top coat.

Lunar Love is such a beauty!

On the photos my nail shape is starting to be a little funny cos the gel layover growth line shows through the polish. There’s not much I can do about that right now since I’m trying to grow that layover out. I’m hoping to start swatching on my right hand soon. I’m also thinking about different nail art options for this kind of situation where you might want to hide the gel/acrylic growth line on your nails.

So for this manicure I used a coat of Essie Nourish Me, two coats of Lunar Love and HK Girl top coat.

I bought my bottle from Norway Nails.

 

 

***This polish was purchased by me. I don’t benefit from clicking any of the links on this post.