Kiss Everlasting Gel Nailpolish

So for christmas Santa brought me the PRO LED gel lamp from Kiss. Maybe once or twice I had mentioned that I  was curious to all those DIY gel nailpolish kits. Guess Santa picked that up somewhere. I was already kinda focused on Sensation nails. Why? Don't really know. Maybe it's because it is the (gel nailpolish) brand that is the easiest to get here in Holland. But the white bearded dude suprised me with the Led gel lamp from Kiss. Yay! So let's get started I was thinking, but too bad.... The lamp doesn't come with a starterkit included like most other lamps. And there comes the downside number one. I think it's pretty expensive compared to some other brands. The retailprice of the Led lamp here in Holland is around € 60,- and then you still have to buy your base gel, colour gel, top gel and gel cleanser. They do have a starterkit with these items which is around € 50,-. In this starterkit you'll find 3 mini's of 4ml. A base gel, colour gel and a top gel. A 12ml bottle of Gel cleanser, a mini file, buff block, manicure stick and a package with lint free wipes. Ofcourse you can also choose to get the full size bottles. They all contain 9ml and are around € 19,-. The prices kinda suprised me because Kiss isn't really a high end brand over here. Don't get me wrong... it also isn't a budget brand like Essence. Think it's somewhere in the middle. Anyway, in the end I got the starterkit. There are two choices. Lush a hot pink colour, the one I got and a French manicure kit.

Enough said about prices. Let's give it a try.

I already had shaped my nails, but before we can get polishing you'll need to buff the nails. That way the gel polish will attach better. After that take a lint free wipe and clean your nails with the gel cleanser. And now the fun part. Make sure you have everything ready to go. Put your lamp and bottles into place. But! but but but... Keep your bottles and brushes away from the Led lamp. If they are too close your polish will dry out!
Then take the base gel and apply a thin layer on your pointer, middle, ring and pinky finger. Now switch on your LED lamp and put your freshly polished fingers under the lamp for 30 seconds. And there comes pro #1. A timer is installed in the LED lamp so you exactly now when your 30 seconds are done. A beep goes off after 30 seconds and then it shuts down after another 30. So when the first 30 seconds are done you can go ahead with applying the basegel on your thumb. And again switch on the Led lamp and leave your thumb in there for 30 seconds. Now we're of to the colour gelpolish. Simply repeat the same steps as you have done with the base gel but this time leave your fingers under the LED lamp for 60 seconds. To protect the colour and give it a bit of a shine apply the Top gel and put it again under the LED lamp for 30 seconds. Then take a lint free wipe again and remove any excess gel residue with the gel cleanser.

And there you have it! Easy peasy. As we say in Holland... " A kid can do the laundry.. "
I must say I am pleasantly suprised with this kit. It was so easy to do and the result is really good. I heard stories about polishes pulling back after having them underneath the lamp, not necessarily with this brand but just in general. But that didn't happen. I think you have to really make sure you seal the edges of your nails and then that won't happen.

Quickly the pro's and cons so far:
Pro - Very easy to use. Especially the lamp with the timer.
         Colour looks nice and shiny.
Con - Fairly expensive in comparison to some other brands and less colour choices.

Now let's see if it stays on for the two weeks it promises. Very curious to the other colours in the Everlasting Gel Polish line.

Pickie.com

Just quickly wanted to share this website with you guys. Pickie.com is a personal shopping magazine for beauty, fashion and living. The cool thing is that it really is personalized. When signing up you have to go through some questions first. Don't worry, no rocket science or anything. Just a couple of simple questions to check out what your interests are. So you don't get info about the latest boho fashion when you are more of a vintage type and you'll get the latest make-up updates that will fit your skintone best.

I guess the site and app have been around for a while. Which makes me wonder where I have been all that time. But now I've found it I think it's pretty cool. So check www.pickie.com or the appstore for the pickie app. Oh... and they are also on facebook and twitter.

Have fun!!!

DIY! Photo in a jar.

I think a DIY has never been more simple than this one. The title says it all. It's just a different way of showing your pictures.

What do you need?

1) Pictures

2) Empty jars

What do you do?
Step 1: You clean the jar really really good. Don't want any leftover pickled onions hanging around with your pictures.

Step 2: You cut the picture to a size that will fit in the jar or print it already in the proper size

Step 3: Take the picture and put in the jar

Step 4: Oh wait.... there is no step 4! You are already done. How quick and easy was that?!

There you have it. A photo in a jar! If I didn't know better, i'd say we have a new DIY world record ;)

 

Have fun!!!

ROCK STARLETS ~ Gwen Stefani for OPI

Like so many OPI is also one of my fav nailpolish brands. A quick dry guarantee and most of the time not more than 2 layers needed. After having the Mariah Carey collection it was a nice surprise when OPI announced a collaboration with Gwen Stefani. What comes to mind when I think of Gwen Stefani? Definitely a fashion icon. The pale skin with the popping red signature lipstick. A real power woman with an edge. So I was really curious what the collection would look like and eager to try them.

There are 7 colours to choose from. 1) Over & over A-Gwen, 2) In true Stefani fashion, 3) Push and Shove, 4) Love.Angel.Music.Baby, 5) I Sing in Color, 6) Hey Baby, 7) 4 in the morning.
The last four I got in a mini package and so those are the ones I could make swatches of.

So let's kick of with "I Sing in Color". A deep wine red colour. If you only put on one layer it is more of a purple-ish colour. I really like deep/dark red colours. Especially in the winter. This one has a nice finish. I had put on 2 layers, but maybe it was better to get 3.

    I Sing in Color

My Rituals winter helps

Each season has its pros and cons. I love both the warm and cold seasons. I think I am one of the few people in this country who misses the winter when it's summer. Don't get me wrong, I love being in the sun and the outdoorsy life that comes along with that. Those long summer days and happy people everywhere. However I also love the weather here in the winter when it can be just below or above zero degrees, no clouds in the air and a full speed ahead sun in your face. Kinda fooling yourself that when you take a deep breath it's all fresh air....

But!.... my skin hates winter.Although the winter has been very kind to us here in Holland this year it feels tight and dry. Especially my cheeks, hands and lips. What to use for my face I am still trying to figure out. But for my hands and lips I like using the products from Rituals. In general I really like the Rituals products. I'm in L-O-V-E, Love with the showerfoams they have. For now, let's stick with the hands and lips.

Gingko's Secret, caring hand balm
This hand balm has been in their product line for a while now, but had a recent touch up in its look.
It has a sort of aluminum metallic feel to it. It consists Ginseng and Gingko Biloba.
The balm doesn't really feel like a balm, it's more of a cream. It smooths out very easily and it sinks into the skin well. Leaving the skin feeling soft and silky. The scent is rather the same. Soft and Silky. Sweet, but not overwhelming. Still fresh.
                            

I usually use it somewhere during the day, but maybe it's better to use it as a overnight hand mask.

Rituals Lip treat
At the moment this is my favorite lip balm. I take it everywhere with me. It is a caring as well as a nourishing balm because it has shea butter and eucalyptus in it. Because of the eucalyptus the scent is fresh and it feels tingly when you put it on but that gives me sort of the idea that it is doing its job. And I must say it stays on your lips for quite a while without feeling greasy.







So these are the two products that help my hands and lips through the winter.

By the way, for those who are wondering what nail polish I am wearing. It is "Oil slick" from Ciate.



Thursday's office look inspiration

It can be such a struggle to figure out what to wear to the office everyday. Of course it's so easy to settle with a regular oh so boring business suit. But if you are like me... Why do it the easy way?

For me personal it gets harder to come up with a good look during the week. Mondays and Tuesdays I had already figured out during the weekend while going through some magazines and surfing on the web. Wednesday is already a bit harder. Usually it's a small adjustment on my Tuesday outfit. Then Thursday comes. My goodness! Thursday outfit can take me ages to figure out. It isn't Friday, so no "casual Friday" outfit. It's more of a "Almost weekend! Oh no.. it isn't" outfit.
So you kinda want to go a bit more casual, but not too much. Still want to come across as "hey, I mean serious business" during meetings.

So to speed it up a bit on Thursday morning, I present to you my Thursday office look inspiration.

Have a great Thursday!!!

Timekeeping with La Mer Timepieces

About two weeks ago i ordered 2 watches from La Mer Collections and today finally a mailman stopped by with a little package sent from the US. I must say that i think that it is a fairly quick delivery, considering Christmas and New years was during those weeks and the whole world seems to stop time for those days.

Something short about La Mer Collections. La Mer was founded in 2001 by Martine Ilana after taking a year off from her design studies to travel to Africa and Asia. Her journeys inspired her to design these beautiful leather wrap watches. Every leather wrap watch is hand assembled.

Now back to the watches i received today. I am the lucky owner now of these two beauties.

  

I think it's always a bit tricky to purchase items like these from the web as pictures are always touched up a bit and the real thing can be a bit disappointing. However i was pleasantly surprised when i opened the two boxes they were stored in. The leather straps are light and soft. I was a bit worried that the chains on the watch were to heavy for my comfort, but it doesn't bother me while wearing. To me the watches are both elegant and casual. I can wear them to bling up my office outfit, but also with a t-shirt and jeans.

Retail prices in Europe are between € 100,- and € 200,-. However it's worth it to sign up for the newsletter of La Mer Collections. Not only do you receive a 20% discount coupon for your first order, you will also be informed when there is a sale. That is how i got informed by an online sample sale and could afford myself not one but TWO watches. Each watch was $ 40,- excl. shipping fee to Europe.

Go to www.lamercollections.com to check out the full collection.

New girl in town!

Being a Cancer star sign my yearly forecast for 2014 started with "new opportunities for cancer in 2014!". This obviously can be interpreted in a million ways. I decided this was a push to put my actions where my mouth is. Which is; Stop juggling with the thoughts of starting a blog and "Just do it!" .

So here i am. Putting my first words on screen to be eternalized forever on the world wide web. Having the strange urge to share my interests with all of you. And having done a bit of research i guess i am not the only one. Do you really want to know what my new favourite nailpolish is or where i got this weeks best pasta recipe from? Ah we'll see. Let's get some work done first.

" Don't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect "

Budgetproof FAB5 restaurants

So let's get started with one of my favourite subjects, Food! It is one of those things in life you can  not do without, so why not enjoy it while you're at it. Although i can really enjoy a home cooked meal, i also love to go out for a bite. But hey, let's be honest, nowadays it is not always as affordable as we like. But having a tight budget, doesn't mean you have to settle for a "ah it will do" meal.

So here you go! My 5 fav budgetproof restaurants.

#1 Vapiano

Vapiano is a pasta and pizza bar based in 26 countries. The pasta and pizza dough is made freshly everyday and your order is taken directly by the chef and made in front of you. On each table there is a small herbgarden to create your own taste.

Prices for a pastadish or pizza vary from about € 6,- to € 10,- , but check out the website for the prices in your local currency. My favourite is Scampy e Spinaci with Linguini... mmmmm..

www.vapiano.com