Mani Monday - The Ruffian Reloaded!

Hello! 

A while back, I showed you 2 ruffians (purple & blue). I had a very important job interview and did not know what to do with my nails (I had done light pink with roses twice already), but then I thought of The Ruffian! After going over it in my mind a couple of hundred times, I came up with the following colour combination: lilac and gold. I used NYC "Full Metal Jacket" and Essence "Ballerina's Charm", one coat of each, and topped it off with Sally Hansen Insta Dri. The how-to is explained here. Put it on last Thursday evening, still wearing it today! Did not have time to redo my nails all weekend, but it is hardly noticable from another person's perspective ;) Anyway, I thought this look is very chic, don't you?

One day later, I wanted to try out a ruffian with silver and maroon on my aunt's nails, so I did, with one coat of NYC "Platinum Card" and two coats of "Prune" by Europ Cosmetics that my friend brought me from Paris. I topped it off with Seche Vite. Look at that shine! Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera, so I had to make do with my phone and artificial light (never good), but one can still make out the shine :) 

Ruffians Rock! Cheers!

xoxoxo

Captain

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The Hundredth Post - Celebrating with Preenification Nail Art Water Slide Decals review :) [very pic heavy]

Hello lovelies and welcome for our one hundredth blog post!

We hereby present you Preenification's Nail Art Water Slide Decals!

A while ago, Preenification posted on instagram that she was looking for nail bloggers to try out her nail decals, so I did not have to think twice! Yes please, pretty pretty! So she sent me 5 sets to try out:

Exciting! So I started thinking up designs. The decals come with instructions and are really easy to use. You cut them out, soak them in water for half a minute and lift them carefully off the paper. I used a pair of tweezers to do that and place them on the nails. Make sure your base of nail polish is completely dry before placing on the decals. Then seal them with a layer of top coat. Here goes!

 676

 Catrice "Aretha's R-E-S-P-I-N-K" with Essence "Alpha Better Gamma" and Etos white sponged on.

Although soooo pretty, The decals didn't pop because I used white as the base. I tried again over a dark base, so that you can really see the decals in all their beauty :) This is Essence "Prom-berry" with "Cool Breeze" (swatches here):

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 This is Rimmel "Sky High" with dotticure in various colours.

Or, just the decals:

SY - 189

A ruffian with Essence "Prom-berry" and "Hello Marshmallow!"

091

Catrice "Hugo Moss" 

110

 Our frankened polish "Pocahontas", Aretha's R-E-S-P-I-N-K and 

Essence "Upper Green Side"

The beauty of the decals w.r.t. stickers is that they are so thin, they blend into the design as if painted on. It is beautiful. A nice and quick way to prettify your nails! The best way for these decals to pop is to think about the background colour; when too similar, the decals will fade into the background colour. This almost happened in my first design..

I had so much fun with these! They are specifically designed for nails, each decal will fit perfectly while enhancing the shape and length of you nail. PERFECT!

You can buy them here (the ones I reviewed will be up soon). 

This is her instagram page for more pretty pictures and she is setting up a Youtube channel and a website up too! She ships worldwide (while based in the UK) and since the decals are really lightweight, it won't cost much :) With one set of decals, you can decorate 20 nails. They're 2 pounds, or 2.50 euros or 3 USD! Cheap and easy DIY nail art :)

I had a great time with these and I hope to review more in the future! 

xoxoxo

Captain

How to make your nails look longer part 2

Hey lovelies! 

This is a follow-up on the previous post. One of my dear friends requested a ruffian on her short nails, so here goes!

I first applied 2 thin coats of Essence "Miss Universe" (swatches coming up soon!) and then I did the ruffian with Essence "Absolutely Blue". Then I applied some glitters from the Essence Silver Nail Art Kit "in a pattern (ahem, as you can see that wasn't easy ;) ).

What do you think?

xoxoxo

Captain

How to make your short nails look longer: The Ruffian

Hello there!

Today I have a really easy to recreate mani for those of you who have trouble growing their nails! It is the so-called "Ruffian Manicure", but what it has to do with ruffians, well, I haven't the slightest idea! If anybody knows, please comment! 
This is my first ruffian:

This is how you do it, and how you optically lengthen the nails. The latter depends on the colour choice, so that is why it is specified here:

You need:

1. a base coat

2. a top coat 

3. two lacquers with good opacity (and preferably short drying times); 1 darker colour and one significantly lighter colour.

Now to work!

1. Apply a base coat

2. Apply one layer of the darker colour. If it is not opaque enough, apply a second layer, but otherwise don't worry, most of the nail will be covered with the lighter polish anyway.

3. Take the lighter polish, and carefully polish the nail, while leaving a gap between the light polish and the cuticles. Polish towards the tips and also leave some space at the sides of the nails. The dark polish has now created a frame everywhere around the nail except at the tip, which creates the lengthening effect. If needed (probably) add the second layer of the light polish. 

4. Let it dry a bit and then add top coat! 

And you're done :) For this, a bit of a steady hand is needed, but it is not hard, so with a little exercise you will quickly master this technique!

I used Essence "Prom Berry" and "Hello Marshmallow!", which are part of the new collection. I will have swatches of Prom Berry on Sunday! ;)

I feel girly with this mani! ^^

Don't forget, feedback is very welcome!

xoxoxo

Captain