Astor Elegant Amethyst

Hello my lovelies and happy Sunday! As I promised yesterday, I am back with another post in an attempt to get rid of all the pictures I gathered in my blog folder. These are from almost two months ago so it was high time for me to post them. It's been a long time since I've showed you a textured polish on the blog. I must admit that I'm kinda over the trend and I haven't purchased any new ones in a long time, so the ones I post here and there are borrowed ones. I do love the ones I already own and I occasionally wear them or use them for nail art. Today's polish comes from a brand called Astor and was kindly lent to me by a friend.

Astor Elegant Amethyst indoors, artificial light

Monday Blues: Astor 070 Divine Vishnu

Hello my lovelies! I'm so excited about today's post! Even though it's Monday, I'm sure this polish is going to blow you away and take care of those Monday Blues. I won't blabber any longer and just introduce you to the blue. 

Astor Fashion Studio 070 indoors, artificial light

This is honestly one of the most vibrant, gorgeous and amazing blues I have ever tried. The photos came out great and I'm so glad. I got this polish because it reminded me of Nails Inc Baker Street. They are not total dupes but they are pretty close. The brand is new to me and this line was introduced to the Romanian market this summer. The bottle doesn't have a name, only the number 070, but the website calls this shade Divine Vishnu.

Astor Fashion Studio 070 in the sun

Divine Vishnu is a royal blue creme. It's a tad more purple than my pictures show, but still very very blue. I first used it in this nail art and I wasn't too happy with the formula because it didn't cover well in one coat. That's why I kept postponing the use of this for a full mani. I'm happy to say though that it's a different story when you use 2 coats. It was fully opaque and it dried to a shiny finish. What I find weird about this is the fact that the polish itself has a rubbery texture and smells rubbery too. It smells like the rubber gloves you use at the hospital. The brush was also kinda uneven and tricky. But I guess I can accept that for the sake of the amazing color. 

Astor Fashion Studio 070 in the sun

I've seen this polish paired with Max Factor Fantasy Fire on Ruxi's blog and had to try the combo myself. The blue was too beautiful to cover though, so I only did an accent nail. It's definitely pretty but I think the lighter color takes some of the duochrome effect away. I've seen a lot less of the green shimmer this way compared to my previous combo.

Astor Fashion Studio 070 with Max Factor Fantasy Fire on the ring finger

So what do you think about this polish? Isn't it to die for? I also got H&M Blue My Mind recently, which is similar, and I can't wait to try that one too. 

Please check out what my Monday Blues partners in crime have come up with today: 

Gosia from Life in Color!

Mandy from Chameleon Stampede

Marisa from Polish Obsession
Joanna from The Treasure Chest

Have a great week! 

Belated leap day mani

Hello my lovelies and TGIF! I'm so excited because the Olympics are finally starting today and I can't wait. I will be watching athletics, swimming, gymnastics and some of the other stuff on the side. Will you be watching? What are your favorite sports? 

Today's manicure has a bit of a story behind it. A few weeks ago I watched the "30 Rock" episode entitled "Leap Day". One of the main ideas in the show was that on leap day you're supposed to wear yellow and blue. I just love how these two colors look together, so the combination has stuck with me ever since and I had to use it for a mani. Even though leap day was months ago, it is still leap year so I guess it counts. 

I won't call this a gradient because in my opinion it's not. A gradient has colors that fade into each other and this one can't be called fading at all. The base color is Rimmel Sunny Days from the 60 Seconds line, which I've talked about here. Here's a picture in case you missed it. 

Rimmel Sunny Days in the sun

A beautiful vibrant yellow with golden shimmer. I wore this for a day before putting the blue on top. The blue is Astor Fashion Studio 070, a cobalt blue that I'm not too crazy about formula-wise. It's the closest I have to Nails Inc Baker Street, so I guess for now it will do, but I do plan on getting my hands on the NI eventually. 

I used a sponge to apply the blue. First I sponged from the half of the nail and then a second time concentrating more on the tips. I wish my gradients were better but I just can't find the perfect sponge to do them. The one I used is a makeup sponge but I wasn't able to blend the colors properly with it. I even tried it  wet. I've tried following a bunch of tutorials and nothing works. I guess I just have to find a different sponge. 

in the sun

I really loved this mani, even if it wasn't perfectly blended. This color combo is one of my favorites and I'm sure I'm gonna use it again sometime. It's just perfect for summer! 

Essie Ole Caliente and some color blocking

Hello loves! I've been slacking again from my blogging duties but it has been a busy and stressful week for me so I apologize. I guess posting during the week is not really my thing, but I will do it more on weekends. Today's post is about a hot polish. The name they chose is perfect for this one because it's like fire on your nails. Enter Essie Ole Caliente! 

Where do I even start? This is from the Spring 2012 collection by Essie but it's not a spring color at all. It screams summer to me. It is so bright and vivid that my pictures don't do it justice. You will not be seeing any light box pictures of this one because they didn't come out true to color. The natural light ones are pretty accurate I would say.

in the sun

Ole Caliente is a hot coral creme. It's more of an orengey coral and on me it looks totally orange. I really like this polish but unfortunately I hate how it looks on my skin tone. I'm sure I'm gonna love it on the toes though. Application is ok and I used 2 coats to get it opaque. It dries really fast and to a glossy finish, so my pictures show it without any top coat. 

As I said, I didn't like how my hands looked with just this on so I wanted to do some nail art to make it work. Since it is such a bright color I immediately thought of color blocking. I used some striping tape I got off ebay as guides and painted with Astor Fashion Studio 070. It was my first time using striping tape and I needed a bit of practice. My right hand didn't turn out so great so I'm showing you my left hand. 

I would have liked for the blue polish to be a little more opaque because the coral was showing trough it in some places. I really liked this color combo but I think this manicure looked a lot better in my head than in reality. 

All in all, I have mixed feelings about this manicure. I do love this polish and I think I'm gonna wear it a lot on my toes this summer. I hope that getting a bit tanned will make it look better on my fingers too.