Haul: Models Own Sale

A while ago I posted about the 50% off sale Models Own was having for their Facebook fans. I obviously couldn't pass on that offer and placed an order a couple hours after the sale went live. I know from reading the comments on their facebook wall that a lot of people had problems with their orders. Mine went through after trying a couple times so I'm not complaining. I also noticed that they replied to comments and questions very quickly, especially considering how busy it was. So I think their customus service is excellent!

My Models Own goodies arrived last friday, a week after I placed my order (I live in Belgium). Everything arrived in one piece so I'm a very happy customer :)

I always find it difficult to get a good idea of what the colour of a certain product looks like in person from the pictures you see online. So before I ordered I searched for nail polish swatches. I chose colours that I didn't already have and hadn't seen in drugstores here in Belgium. Also added a white and a black cause the ones I have need like a million coats to get them opaque.

So here are the things I got:

Polishes from left to right (5 cremes and 5 glitters):
- Snow White
- Peach Sherbet 
- Nude Beige 
- Purple Grey
- Black Magic 
- Mixed Up
- Disco Mix
- Purple Haze
- Magenta Divine
- Silver Spangle

- Black + Purple Sparkle Powder Eyeshadow
- Natural Curl Lash

Close up picture of the eye shadow:

Blurred to show purple sparkle

Close up of the lashes:

They are called Natural Lash and when I saw the picture on the website they did look the most natural of the ones they had, thats why I got them. But they are very very long, which is actually a good thing cause I have a couple pair of false lashes that look similar but they aren't this long. They'll look great with dramatic eye makeup.



I swatched the nail polishes and tried to get the colours as accurate as possible. All swatches are 3 coats, but only Snow White and Peach Sherbert (looks more yellow on the pictures, more peach in person) really needed 3. Really happy with the glitter polishes too. Bought them to put on top of other polishes and the glitter looks really nice with one coat.
Polishes in same order as above:

Blurred so you can see the glitter better. So sparkly!

Natural light

I can't wait to try each one on my nails and use the glitters over different polishes. I'll be posting more swatches of each polish on my nails and different combinations with the glitter polishes.

I'm going to Wales for a couple days on thursday and I'll definitely check out Models Own's other products and I look forward to seeing their full range of polishes in person and possibly pick up a couple more of them.

Definitely check out there website here and thanks again to Models Own for this amazing sale!



x
Tanja

Nailart: Pokemon, gotta catch em all!

Sometimes when I'm bored and don't know what I'll put on my nails next I just ask a friend, boy or girl, doesn't matter. So that's what I did the other day. I asked Chris (who insisted on mentioning his name lol) and he said Pokemon. First I was like meh, I'm not really a Pokemon fan... But I figured it would be fun so I went ahead and painted some Pokemon on my nails. And these are pretty much the only ones I know lol (cause my little brother used to watch it quite often).

So here they are:

I used a bunch of different colours but mostly Catrice polishes. The background is a polish I made with MAC's Blue Brown pigment. I originally wanted to have a white background, but I had just painted my nails and the only white nail polish I have needs like 4 or 5 coats to get it opaque so I couldnt be bothered to do that first.

I actually had fun doing these. And I thought Pikachu was gonna be the easiest, but actually turned out to be my least favorite. Anyone got any request or ideas for what I should paint on them next?

Hope you enjoyed!


x
Tanja

Experiment: Orly Bonder + INM topcoat: final results

I came home from my exam today and the first thing I did was take off this mess lol

As you can see, the polish had started chipping and peeling. And when I see the polish coming off on the sides, I have to peel it off. I just cant help myself.The polish on my right thumb nail came off in one bit, but that was actually because the patch I had underneath was coming off. 
I have to say though, the polish actually looked like the updated pictures untill yesterday morning. , so morning of day 7. Now, I'd normally never wear a certain polish for 8 days like I did for this experiment, so I'm really happy with the results. It looked fine for a good 6 days. And if I had applied another coat of the topcoat every other day, it might have even lasted longer. And perhaps a higher quality polish would have done better too. the Catrice polishes are pretty cheap but I do like them and think the quality is great for the price.

Conclusion: I personally really like how the Orly Bonder and the INM topcoat worked together. They weren't expensive and I'll definitely repurchase when I run out of them.

Over time I might try other top and base coats just to see if theres anything I like better. I used to have the Seche Vite which I really liked, but since I didn't paint my nails as much then as I do now, It became all thick and goopy before I got the chance to finish the bottle. And at that time, I had actually never heard of nail polish thinners lol, so I threw it away. Might try it again after I'm done with the INM topcoat.


If you haven't tried any of these polishes before and you find them for a decent price, I'd say definitely give them a chance. I hope this experiment was somewhat useful lol.

So have you had better results with other top and base coats? What are you favorites?



Thanks for stopping by!

Giveaways!!

Alot of the blogs I follow seem to be having giveaways lately. And who wouldn't want to recieve a package full of great prizes?


So check out these awesome blogs!!

Nailstah

Open internationally till September 7, 11:59pm PST

Enamel Girl

Open internationally till September 9th, 8pm US Central Time.

Hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do!
 
 
 
x
Tanja

Experiment: Orly + INM: update

It's been 4 days since I painted my nails and started this little experiment. So here's a little update.
I took these pics a couple minutes ago.

As you can see, the polish has worn off a bit on the tips, which you can only really see from up close. Other than that it looks fine. I'm really happy with the results so far, cause usually my nail polish starts peeling or chipping after 2 or 3 days. So I guess the Orly Bonder is doing its job!

That's it for now. I'll be busy studying this weekend so I might not be able to post anything, but I'll defintely be back on tuesday evening with the final results of this experiment.

So have you ever tried one or both of these products? Did you like them? What's your favorite base coat and top coat?


Have a nice weekend!



x
Tanja

Models Own Sale on Facebook

Just placed my order on the Models Own website, so there will be a haul up as soon as I get the goodies. I'm so excited! I always love getting packages in the mail, but I'm definitely looking forward to this one!

They're having a 50% off sale for all their Facebook fans. Sale lasts for 7 days and started today.
So go to Facebook, become a fan, get the code and shop some makeup!


x
Tanja

Tutorial: Soft neutral look

For my second tutorial I went for a soft eye, using neutral colours. This will look great on anyone with any skin tone or eye colour.

Last time I forgot to mention what I use for my brows and brow highlight.
I pretty much every day use Brun from MAC to fill in my brows and Vanilla, also from MAC, as my brow highlight.

So here's the tutorial:

Brun...













...with a big angled brush from The Body shop (got this on years ago)

and Vanilla...

... with a flat shader brush, SS 239 from Sigma (this one is a little bigger and fluffier than the MAC 239, which makes it perfect for my brow highlight)

Next, Soft Ochre paintpot from MAC (or any other eye shadow base you like) 

 For this look, I used the NYX eye shadow palette called Versus. I used number 2, 3, 4 and 10.

 First, I put number 3 all over the lid and lower lash line with a flat shader brush (MAC 239)

 Then, using the SS 226, I put number 2 in the crease.

I also applied it on the outer half of my lower lash line using the 239. 






  

 I then lined my upper lash line with a black pencil. (You can use any black pencil you like)

 And smudged it with a pencil brush. I used the MAC 219.

 To darken the outer corner a bit I used number 4 with the SS 226 and connected it to the lower lash line with the 219.
 (doesnt really show up in the picture) It also helps blend the black eyeliner.

Next is a white eye pencil for the waterline and I put number 10 from the palette in the inner corner.






  

  

Lots of mascara. I used MaxFactor Masterpiece again.

And you're done!













And you're done! Hope you like it.
Requests for future tutorials are always welcome!




x
Tanja

Giveaway on Milan & Vanaily's blog!

These two sisters are having their first giveaway with a ton of cool prices. It's open internationally until September 17th. Go check it out!

Milan & Vanaily's Blog

And while you're there, take a look at their nail art, reviews, swatches,... Very inspiring and helpfull!



x
Tanja

Experiment: Orly Bonder + INM Out The Door

I recently purchased Orly Bonder and INM Out the door topcoat on Ebay. I read alot of good reviews about them so I wanted to try them out. I think you can find Orly polishes in nail salons in Belgium, but I don't know if you can find the INM topcoat anywhere. Instead of looking for them, I just went for the easy way and bought them online. For the Orly Bonder I paid €7.18 ($9), the INM topcoat was €5.97 ($7.49) (both prices include shipping costs), and I don't think I would be able to find them much cheaper.


So here are some pictures of the bottles

Now, as I've mentioned before, I usually don't wear a manicure for a long time. Since I have exams coming up, I dont have time to change up my manicure alot. So I figured that's a good opportunity to see how well these two last.


I painted my nails last night with one coat of Orly Bonder, two coats of Catrice's Lucky in lilac (bottle below), topped with one coat of the INM topcoat. I added a subtle (read: barely noticable, lol) detail on my ring finger using one of the designs on the Konad plate m26 (design nr. 3 on the picture), using My Little Orchid from Essence (LE from the Returnt to paradise collection)


Some pictures of what I used

And here are the pictures from last night.

Only had this on for one day so I didn't bother taking pictures. But so far no chipping or tip wear. I'm planning on leaving the polish on till next tuesday, which is the day of my last exam. That way I won't be able to spend time on my nails and I'll know what it will look like after a week. I'll probably post an update on friday or saturday.


Another tutorial coming up tomorrow!



Thanks for stopping by!


x
Tanja

Yum!

Mmmm....

Enjoying this while working on the next posts. The next one will be up in a couple hours!




x
Tanja

"Tips Only" Challenge

I've been reading Polish Hoarder Disorder for a while now and every week she posts a new challenge. I love looking at the pictures nail polish fanatics send her for each challenge. For this one, I decided to take on the challenge and send her my entry.
You could only use the tips of your nails and had to leave the nail bed bare.
So here's what I came up with:

Tadaaaaaa!
I spent alot of time on these and I have to admit, I got a little impatient towards the end. But I had fun doing them. Unfortunately, I only kept them like this for a little while. I have 2 exams coming up and they were waaaaay to distracting :)

What I used:

- Hema - 2 in 1 Ridge filler & base coat
- Rimmel - Hot Gossip
- Catrice - Hot or not?
- Catrice - Lucky in lilac
- Essence - My little orchid (LE from the Return to paradise collection)
- Catrice - It blue my mind!
- Catrice - Blue's brother
- Gosh - Ocean
- Essence - Back to paradise (LE from the Return to paradise collection)
- Catrice - Sold out forever
- Catrice - Don't feed the birds
- Catrice Nail Expert - Quick dry & high shine topcoat
- Rhinestone wheel (bought on Ebay)
- Damp cotton tip to pick up rhinestones


First I painted each tip in a colour that matched each rhinestone colour.

Then I applied my topcoat and added the rhinestones.

They were sooo sparkly and just couldn't stop looking at them :)

Hope you like them too and definitely check out Polish Hoarder Disorder for all the other entries, more challenges, swatches and reviews!


Thanks for stopping by.



x
Tanja