Oh nails, I've missed you so! As my nails gain some length I tend to go crazy in the nail polish department using all sorts of nail art equipment I can find. But the gloomy, rainy weather doesn't suit my current mood or especially crazy pops of color. That's why I've gone for a more muted look today and I really hope you like it because I'm in love with it. I've mentioned way back in my review of the shade I'm Not A Greenager – it's a darn shame Catrice nail polishes don't seem to last on my nails. For some reason, I get two days of wear – tops! It really is too bad as I adore their nail shade range and most Catrice nail polishes offer a beautiful shiny finish. But the chipping appears by the end of day one in most cases and a top coat is mandatory. I own a beautiful, truly stunning and sophisticated Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in Karl Says Très Chic (57) which, I think, was a part of the Ultimate Nudes collection. I'll just glance over the nail polish aesthetic – I personally am a fan od the bottle shape and looks, it's simple but not boring. The shade which I'm wearing is gorgeous! A pale pink, dusty pink type of shade which contains some fine micro shimmer on its own and is very pigmented. I was actually impressed how just one coat provided a good effect but the second one sealed all the sheer patches and made the application more uniform. Again, a top and/or a base coat is recommended to prolonge the longevity of the nail polish. I've resorted to a beautiful top coat which, I think, gave character and made this manicure truly ‘Très Chic’!
Oh moji dragi noktici, tako ste mi nedostajali! Otkako su malo porasli po glavi su mi se motale razne ideje kako da ih ukrasim i obicno bih posegla za svim mogucim sredstvima za kreiranje nail arta. Moj entuzijazam je pomalo ublazen kisnim, oblacnim vremenom koje je ugasilo zelju za jarkim bojama i okrenulo me ka nesto njeznijim varijantama. Iz tog razloga sam se odlucila za zenstven, suptilan dizajn te se istinski nadam da ce vam se dopasti sto sam kreirala jer meni je jako lijep. Dosta sam vam ranije spomenula u vise navrata, ukljucujuci recenziju nijanse I'm Not A Greenager, da je velika steta sto Catrice lakovi ne traju dugo na mojim noktima. Iz nekog razloga maksimalno mogu dobiti dva dana pristojne i uredne manikure. Zaista je steta jer mi se dopada dosta nijansi Catrice lakova i mnoge od njih pruzaju krasan finish visokog sjaja. Ono sto je negativno jeste sto se lak pocinje krzati, otkidati u sitnim komadicima pri rubovima noktiju vec pri kraju prvog dana nosenja tako da je nadlak i/ili bazni lak obavezan. Posjedujem prekrasan, sofisticiran Catrice Ultimate lak za nokte u nijansi Karl Says Très Chic 57 (cca 5-6KM) koji, mislim, da je bio dio kolekcije Ultimate Nudes. Glede samog pakovanja laka – jednostavno je i lijepo, nimalo dosadno. Nijansa koju nosim na fotografijama mi je prekrasna! Radi se o ‘prljavo’ ruzicastoj boji koja sadrzi izrazito fini mikro shimmer i odlicne je pigmentacije. Dojmilo me sto je samo jedan sloj ovog laka jako lijepo djelovao ali drugi je u potpunosti prekrio svaku neravninu i nokti stvarno sa njim izgledaju profesionalno nalakirano. Ponovo cu spomenuti kako su bazni lak i/ili nadlak najbolji nacin da produzite trajnost. Licno sam se odlucila na nadlak za koji vjerujem da je obogatio ruzicastu nijansu i ucinio je mnogo zanimljivijom – mnogo sik!
Essence nail polishes were amazing, perhaps the best value for money kind of drugstore nail polishes before they were reformulated. Remember the tiny cylindrical bottle? I'm not 100% sure but I think the range was called ‘Colour & Go’? I loved those! After the reformulation was introduced and bottles gained a more hourglass shape, I've noted lesser durability and longevity. Thankfully, the top coats remained excellent and the one I'm wearing over the Catrice dusty pink hue is fab. Essence Effect Twinkling Bling Bling Nail Polish in 21 Icy Fairy – a terribly long name but the polish is a stunner! Some glittery top coats look a bit all over the place and maybe I'm too picky but I'm not blown away by random piles of glitter. Especially if you know that glittery nail polishes are harder to remove so I need to know that they're worth the effort – and this one certainly is. Due to its wintry name some people see icy snow in this one but I must admit that I see more of a galaxy effect. I can see three, or maybe four different sized of hexagon pieces and some feature a holographic effect while others feature two-toned purply/silver shimmery look. This top coat would look amazing over a dark nail polish for a true galaxy effect but I think the pale pink underneath also looks very beautiful. I'm wearing this mani for four days so far and I can attest that the top coat definitely prevented any chipping. Would you try this or similar combo on your nails?
Essence lakovi za nokte su bili fantasticni, mozda i najbolji u smislu da ste za jako malo novca dobijali najbolje iz drogerijskog ranga. Takva je situacija bila prije nego su lakovi bili reformulisani. Ne znam da li se sjecate sicusnih cilindricnih bocica? Nisam u potpunosti sigurna ali mislim da se ta linija lakova zvala ‘Colour & Go’? Njih sam jako voljela! Nakon reformulacije i svih promjena, ukljucujuci dizajn bocice u obliku pjescanog sata – primjetila sam da je trajnost znacajno smanjena. Na veliku srecu, nadlakovi su zadrzali dobri, stari i prepoznatljiv kvalitet. Ljepotan kojeg nosim preko ‘prljavo’ ruzicastog Catrice laka je narocito caroban. Essence Effect Twinkling Bling Bling lak za nokte u nijansi 21 Icy Fairy (cca 4KM) – strasno dugacko ime. No, lak je fantastican i poseban. Dosta sljokicastih nadlakova mi djeluje kao da su napravljeni bez ikakve ideje, tematike ili cilja. Mozda sam postala previse izbirljiva no sljokice u sto vecim kolicinama me vise ne uzbudjuju kao ranije. Mozda je to dobra stvar ako znamo da je sljokicaste lakove teze skinuti, onda trebamo biti ubijedjene kako su vrijedni naseg truda – a ovaj definitivno jeste. Zbog zimskog naziva (Ledena Vila), ovaj lak neke korisnice asocira na zimske kristale i pahulje snijega no moram priznati da spadam u drugu vrstu korisnica koje vise asocira na galaxy efekat. Mogu razaznati tri, mozda cak cetiri vrste sjajnih cestica (kruzici i sestougli). Sestougao ima holografski efekat dok kruzici imaju dvotonsku bazu (ljubicasto/srebrnu) i zajedno kreiraju zanimljiv izgled noktica. Ovaj nadlak bi izgledao fantasticno i preko nekog tamnog laka za nokte no mislim da je jako lijep i preko njeznije varijante kakvu sam ja odabrala. Manikir koji vidite nosim vec cetvrti dan i za sada se odlicno drzi sto dokazuje da Essence nadlak produzuje trajnost sveukupno. Da li bi vi isprobale ovaj ili slican manikir na vasim noktima?
*Some of these products may have been sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclaimer.