butter LONDON Blagger

Good Morning Babes! Late post today because I forgot to put a time when I scheduled it grrrr. Today I have my first butter LONDON to show you. Blagger is a beautiful medium toned blue cream polish. It sounds cheesy but it really does glide on like butter, I love it :) . In the swatches below I used 2 thin coats and no top coat. The formula and application were wonderful and it dries pretty fast too!  I wasn't able to really get any good pictures because I just had a crappy day taking pictures, but I did capture the true color, so I decided to show you anyway because I don't know when I will get back to swatching it again.

I wasn't going to post this because the pictures are absolutely horrid. I love this color and I won't be able to get back to Blagger any time soon because I have so much to swatch through,  so I went ahead and posted it. What do you think about Blagger? I absolutely adore this color, and it looks even better in person!


Kisses
Marketta

My Guest Post Over At Nails in Nippon!

Nails in Nippon asked me to do a guest post for her and how could I resist, I absolutely adore her blog! I did an all green Bettina water marble for her. Head over to her blog by clicking on her blog name and the post by clicking on the picture :)

Kisses
Marketta

I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous 1000th Follower Giveaway!

I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous is having her 1000th follower giveaway. To enter her giveaway click here, and below is what you have a chance of winning...

Simply Sweet Sundays: Essie Raise Awareness

Hello Babes! October is almost over and I have yet to do a post for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I have a quick post of a polish that is absolutely amazing! I have Essie Raise Awareness in support of Living Beyond Breast Cancer, which a portion of the proceeds from sales go to. Raise Awareness is a soft light pink (almost baby pink but not quite, its much prettier) cream polish that has an AMAZING formula, I didn't have to do any cleanup! For the swatches below I used 3 thin coats, 2 is almost enough but I wanted the true color to pop so I did 3. I used INM OTD as my TC because I wanted it to be dry already (I'm wearing this right now), but its super shiny on its own.

Isn't Raise Awareness one of the prettiest soft pinks EVER?! I think it's absolutely amaze! Thanks for stopping by :)


Kisses
Marketta

China Glaze It's Alive!

Good Morning Babes! It's Alive is one the polishes from China Glazes 2011 Halloween Collection, the star of the collection in my opinion. The base is a sheer shimmery muddy grass green with small and big green glitter in it. To reach opacity I needed 2 coats and the formula was no problem at all for it to be so jammed packed with glitter. I would recommend a little wait in between coats to prevent dragging, and 2 coats of SV (or a thick top coat) because it dries gritty and rough (I used 1 for the swatches but should have used 2 because it was still a little gritty).

What do you think of It's Alive? I know its been swatched by everyone but I've had it for a while and had to do it before Halloween. I Love It :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Kisses

Marketta

Josie's Nails Giveaway

Josie's Nails is having a giveaway to celebrate her 900th follower. To enter the giveaway click here, its open internationally so head on over to enter because its almost over! Here's what you have the chance of winning:

OPI: Flashbulb Fuchsia, I Lily Love You, Orly: Gumdrop, Snowcone, China Glaze: Pink Voltage, Summer Rain.

butter LONDON Holiday 2011 Collection

butter LONDON has an amazing LIMITED EDITION holiday collection coming out. The trio is amazing and I can't wait to see if they translate onto the nail the way they look in the bottle. Onto what these beauties look like...

"Our newest collection was created to charm and delight! This holiday season Founding Creative Director Nonie Creme wanted to revisit the feeling of excitement and awe we felt as children at this time of year. Even the most hardened shoppers will delight in our limited edition holiday nail lacquers. The bespoke colours of our Holiday 2011 Collection include The Black Night, Tart With A Heart and Fairy Lights. These three shades offer sophisticated sparkle and shine to take any outfit into party mode."

Fairy Lights - Be a beacon to bad boys and the life of the party in dazzling “liquid metal” rose pink. *Limited Edition* (Not available UK)

Tart With A Heart - Who says pink glitter can't be girly AND sexy?! This pale pink parade of glitter carries a dash of grey to tone down the sugar and ramp up the spice. *Limited Edition* (Not available UK)

The Black Knight - A dark dazzler from butter LONDON, this glitter fusion contains black, pink, blue, and silver suspended in a black base. *Limited Edition* (Not available UK)

Are you as excited as I am about this collection? I honestly didn't think butter LONDON when I first came across this, I thought maybe I mis-read lol but these look absolutely AMAZE! I can't wait to get this to see if they look just as yummy on the nails as they do in the bottles!

Guest Post: Nails in Nippon

 This is my first guest post and I'm excited! Marketta was kind enough to ask me to do a post for her and I couldn't pass up the chance! I thought a lot about what design I wanted to show and thought this one was perfect. I did this same design last year for Halloween and got so many compliments on it even though it is one of the easiest designs I have done. I was inspired by a picture I found online more than a year ago but I can't find it now, if you know the one I talking about let me know so I can credit it. Anyways, if you would like to see my simple tutorial on black cats keep reading.
 
First I started with Osaka To Me Orange for my background, you can pick any color you like but just remember the cats will be dark so black or near black polishes will not make the cats visible. I used only orange polish, black and white acrylic paint and glitter polish for this design.

Since this has other designs and I will only be showing a tutorial on the cats I will briefly explain the other nails. For the pumpkin on the thumb start in the center of the nail and make a small triangle pointing down to make the nose. On each side of the nose make a long triangle pointing towards the nose to make eyes. To finish the face make a thin curve line for the mouth and widen it with a few squares to make the teeth. Once you have all of that, take a thin striper brush and makes lines down the pumpkin. My index finger is just a few lines extending out from one point then curved lines going across connecting them together to make a web. I put a bit of glitter on two lines to make it look shiny. The middle and pinkie finger and a couple quick lines with dots and glitter, no real reason to where. Now we come to the cat. He is super easy, trust me. Start by making a good size black circle at the tip of your nail.

Then, above that circle to one side make a slightly smaller circle. At this point you should have something that looks like a lopsided snowman. 

I didn't get a picture of this step before I top coated but from here connect the two circles by making a curved line on each side between the circles, for ears make two triangles on each side of the top of the small circle and an s-curved line connecting to the bottom of the large circle to make a tail. Top coat and you are done!

You can do all of your nails with just the cats but I love it with the lines, webs and pumpkins all together. Thanks to Marketta for posting my tutorial on her blog, it was a blast! I hope you enjoyed them and try them out!
                                                                                                                                                                  

Thanks Tera for the lovely tutorial! Tera's blog is Nails in Nippon and she has lovely tutorials and great swatches, make sure you check her out, I love her blog!

Kisses
Marketta

OPI Zom-Body To Love

Good Morning Babes and Happy Saturday! Today I have a quick post to show you Zom-Body To Love from OPI's Spookettes Collection of minis. ZBTL is a medium green glow in the dark that's sheer but buildable. In the swatches below I used 3 thin coats, but if I were going to wear it on Halloween I would go for 4 or 5. It dries a little gritty so make sure you use a light top coat if you want a smooth finish.



What do you think about ZBTL? I think its the most wearable glow in the dark, because you can actually wear it on it own if you want and it looks ok. Thanks for stopping by :)

Kisses

Marketta

Liebster Blog Award!

I can't believe I got an award and I'm only in my second month of blogging, my blog is still a newborn! This award really made me happy because its from Catharina over at Nails by Catharina, and her blog is the first nail blog I ever laid eyes on. Another reason it made me happy is because its nice to be recognized for what your doing, especially when its something that you really love :). This award is given to up and coming bloggers with a small but a growing following. Thanks so much Catharina for giving me this award :)

There are also a few rules to follow:
- Copy and paste the award on your blog.
- Thank the giver and link back to the one who gave this to you.
- Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
- Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

So, here are my nominees:

Nails in Nippon

NY Nail Diva

Strong Nails

The Posh Polish

Neglelakkmani

The 5 ladies listed above that I have chosen to award the Liebster have amazing blogs that I love going to, and always have great swatches :)

Kisses

Marketta

My First Gradient

Good Morning Babes! Today I'm showing you my first gradient mani. I used Bettina Art Deco Purple as my base and sponged with Bettina #28. Art Deco Purple is a medium toned purple cream polish. It's very watery/runny and the brush holds a lot of polish, but its easy to work with and is perfection at two coats. ADP is very pigmented, almost fully opaque in one coat, and dries to a super glossy finish. The swatches below are all done with no TC except for the stamping which I used SV as my top coat. The gradient has NO top coat, can you believe that shine?! 



With flash

  And here's a swatch of  my base Bettina Art Deco Purple. I bumped my ring finger :(

What do you think of my first gradient? Thanks for stopping by :)




Kisses

Marketta

Bettina #128

Good Morning Babes! I will be showing you Bettina #128 from their core collection. #128 is a pink cream polish that leans towards salmon with a really pretty micro shimmer. The formula is good and easy to work with, a little streaky on coat 1 but evens out perfectly on the second coat. For the swatches below I used 2 coats and no top coat. Dry time is amazing and has a very glossy finish. This color is very different for me and not something I would normally go for, so I didn't want to add anything to it.

With flash


 What do you think of  Bettina #128? Its such a different color for me and I'm very happy that I gave it a try! Thanks for stopping by!



Kisses

Marketta



Pink Wednesday! Bettina #190

Good Morning Babes! For today's Pink Wednesday I used Bettina #190 and I stamped with Konad ip M56 with Konad special polish in white. #190 which I found out is also called Wild Orchid, is a dark hot pink with purple undertones, magenta? The formula was a little watery but very easy to work with, and is opaque in 2 thin coats. Dry time is very fast and it dries to a nice glossy finish. I used SV as my top coat after the stamping.

Here's a swatch of #190 on its own with no top coat. I just can't get enough of the high gloss finish of Bettina polishes! Its darker IRL than it is in the pictures.

What do you think of #190? Thanks for stopping by :)

Kisses
Marketta

Creepy Pumpkin

Good Morning Babes! So I finally got around to doing another Halloween manicure, I've just been so uninspired. Anyhoo what I have for you today is Fantasy Makers Creepy Pumpkin by Wet n Wild. Creepy Pumpkin which is actually not creepy at all, is a orange jelly base packed with orange glitter. The formula is very thick and goopy, and you will need to allow a little bit of dry time in between coats or you will have to remove and start over again because it will drag horribly. I used 3 coats and there was still some visible nail line, but with this polish I actually think it doesn't look bad. I topped it off with INM Out the Door and let it sit for about 10 minutes, and then I stamped with BM 225 with Konad special polish in black. I used Seche as my top coat and I really like how it came out. You will need to use a good top coat because it dries a little gritty.

Here's Creepy Pumpkin on its own. I actually really like this a lot despite the bad formula.

No flash

With flash

What do you think about Creepy Pumpkin? It can be found at ULTA and other places like Walgreens for $1.99. Thanks for stopping by :)


Kisses
Marketta

H&M Notoriously Beautiful

Good Morning Babes! Notoriously Beautiful by H&M is a deep purple cream polish that looks like it has just a hint of blue. The formula is good but the brush holds a lot of polish so you will want to clear some off. Its very pigmented and almost opaque in one coat, but needs 2 to be fully opaque. The dry time is really good and is very glossy. In these swatches I didn't use a top coat.

And just to make it pop a little I added INM Northern Lights which is a holo top coat. It looks absolutely beautiful with NL but I just couldn't capture it on camera :(

What do you think about Notoriously Beautiful? I'm starting to get just a tad obsessed with the H&M polishes! Thanks for stopping by.


Kisses
Marketta

The TraceFace Philes

The TraceFace Philes is having another awesome giveaway to celebrate her 2000th follower! To enter click here, and here's what you have the chance to win...

Simply Sweet Sundays: Revlon Starry Pink

Good Morning Babes! What I have for you is the amazing Starry Pink from the Revlon Expressionists Collection. Starry Pink has a sheer soft baby pink base with small silver and silver hexi glitter. The formula is easy to work with and builds to opacity in 3 thin coats. I used Seche as my coat was good to go.

I know Starry Pink has been seen swatched all over the place but I haven't yet so here it is :)  I love how it looks against my pecan brown skin tone! What do you think about Starry Pink?


Kisses
Marketta

Cosmetic Cupcake Pink For October Giveaway!

A lovely blog that I follow Cosmetic Cupcake is having a giveaway. She hosts an annual giveaway in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. To enter click here, and here's a look at what you have a chance of winning...

H&M Hello Kitty Corall Summer

Good Morning Babes and happy Saturday! Today I have Corall Summer for you from the Hello Kitty Collection by H&M. I have been lemming for this for months and recently got it in a swap :) . Corall Summer is a dusty blue with just a teeny tiny splash of teal cream polish. An absolutely amazing formula that dries fast to a nice shiny finish. In these pictures I used 2 coats to reach opacity, and no top coat.

And just to add a little bit of fun I added 2 coats of Revlon's Blue Mosaic from the Limited Edition Expressionists Collection, and INM Out the Door as my top coat. Blue Mosaic has a clear base packed with small blue, silver hexi, green hexi, and blue hexi glitter.

I absolutely love this polish, and it looks much better in person! What do you think of Corall Summer and Blue Mosaic? I also changed around the way my page looks, I wanted something simpler as far as color scheme. Like? Thanks for stopping by :)


Kisses
Marketta

NICKI MINAJ IS GETTING HER VERY OWN OPI COLLECTION!

*GASP* I LOVE NICKI MINAJ! So you can imagine how crazy I'm going that she's getting her own collection with one of my favorite polish brands! I love seeing my sistas doing big things :) . The collection by OPI and is slated to hit shelves in early 2012! Check out what I'm going to get my hands on the very first day! :)

Edit: So apparently people were just running around trying to throw something together in excitement and had a few wrong pictures and names, but I went to OPI's fb page and here are the real colors below the picture of Nicki.

 L-R: Super Bass (Shatter), Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Fly, Did It On Em, Pink Friday.

I'M GETTING ALL OF THEM! Are you as excited as I am about this collection, I LOVE NICKI! I'm especially excited about Save Me, doesn't it look like fun in a bottle?! Metallic 4 Life, Save Me and Pink Friday look pretty fun to!


Note: I got the picture and official names from OPI's fb page.


Kisses
Marketta

OPI He's My Boo

Good Morning Babes! Today I have OPI He's My Boo for today's mani. Yesterday was just a horrible swatch session, so I threw this on because I couldn't get it right. I will definitely have to make up for that today. He's My Boo is from the Spookettes mini collection, its your regular standard orange tone. This polish is a cream but the formula is very streaky and didn't even out until 3 coats. Dry time was ok but not the best, however it dried to a very glossy finish. I used a pumpkin water decal that came in the set, Nubar 2010 (this polish is thick, try very thin coats) just to see how it would look, Seche, and then I mattified it. It was very thick because I did a lot but I said I would post whether I like it or not because I'm learning as I go, so here's how it came out...


My decal has a wrinkle in it :(



With Nubar 2010



Mattified and I bumped my ring and pinkie finger

 It looked better before 2010 and matte. Eh bleh hopefully lovely things come to me when I swatch today. How do you like He's My Boo and what I experimented with it? Thanks for stopping by


Kisses
Marketta