NOTD: Denim Roses a.k.a. The Comeback Manicure

Hey, dear people! I missed you sooooo much! It hurts being away from my beloved blog & losing track of everything. I changed things, the peek-a-boo hack didn't seem to agree with Blogger anymore, so I decided to move on to a "Read More" style.
I have lots of things to fix, but before that, here is a quick manicure. For the base I used Zoya Skylar, gorgeous denim blue with gold flecks. Then I painted the roses using Rimmel London Posh Spice, Rimmel London Rose Libertine, a blue by Claire's (for the blue rosebuds), Essie Sew Psyched (for the leaves), American Apparel California Trooper (highlights) and OPI Get In The Expresso Lane (shadows).




It's kind of not-so-summery and a bit vintage looking, I hope you enjoy it!

Herkese merhaba, sizleri çok özledim! Blogumdan uzak kalmak zor oldu, her şeye baştan başlayacak gibi hissediyordum ve gözümde büyütüyordum. Ben yokken bazı değişiklikler olmuş, temamdaki bazı şeyleri kaybettim, ben de yeni duruma göre bir takım ayarlamalar yaptım. Daha düzeltilecek çok şey var ama ben öncelikle bir manikür yayınlamak istiyorum.
Bir arkadaşımın çantasından esinlenen bu manikürde, tabanda Zoya Skylar kullandım. Kot kumaşını anımsatması gerekiyordu ve bence bu renk oldukça uygun. Daha sonra üzerine Rimmel London Posh Spice, Rimmel London Rose Libertine, Claire's mavi (küçük goncalar için), Essie Sew Psyched (yapraklar), American Apparel California Trooper (aydınlatmalar) ve OPI Get In The Expresso Lane (gölgeler) kullanarak güller çizdim. Pek yazlık olmadı hatta biraz fazla vintage oldu ama umarım hoşunuza gitmiştir =) Görüşmek üzere!

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

Born Pretty Store Review & Giveaway

Giveaway is over! Thank you for the participation =)

Hello my lovely friends =) This week, I received some pretty nice nail decoration items from Jessica, the owner of Born Pretty Store. I received 3 wheels of half pearls, in different colors and sizes. (Here, here and here.) I also received nail bullions, which come in separate jars. The bullions in jars are easier to work with than the ones in a wheel, because they are so tiny and they get mixed easily when they're in a wheel. I also received heart-shaped rhinestones, which I've always wanted! I love shaped rhinestones =)



I'm going to show you guys a few designs I've come up with. I want to give you some ideas, because you might need them when a certain something happens! =) *hint hint*


Here is the first design. The base is Essie Haute As Hello, stamped with polka dots from konad m79 in white. I used blue and white half pearls, and blue and clear round rhinestones to decorate the bottom side and cover some of the polka dots.


An anchor design. The base is China Glaze Paint The Town Red, the stripes were done with white acrylic paint from Born Pretty Store, and the gold glittery polish is Orly Glitz & Glamour. I've drawn the anchor using pale gold bullion beads.


Cupcake design, which is originally Rina's idea. I started off using Revlon Minted, did the bottom of the cupcake with pink acrylic paint from Born Pretty Store, did the icing with white acrylic paint, also from BPS; used pink, purple and turquoise bullion beads for sprinkles and pink heart-shaped rhinestone for topping.


Sad panda :3 Base is Essence What Do U Think?, I used black and white acrylic paint to draw the panda, orange heart shaped rhinestones and the paw print from konad m10.


This particular design was inspired by Asami's Totoro Nails. I didn't draw the little creatures, only the saplings with dark green acrylic paint, and some popcorn-like flowers in white. I added a green round rhinestone and white half pearls to the manicure. Oh, the base is Claire's #55, by the way.

Why did I go through all this stuff? Because Jessica from Born Pretty Store is so generous, that she's offering 5 x $20 coupon codes as a Christmas Gift! Also, the winners will receive the items via registered post. What can you do with this amount? I combined the following items for you:

If you're into stamping: 12 x Image Plates + 7 Stamping Colors = $27.65 $7.65!
If you're into nail decoration: Round Rhinestone Wheel + 12 Jars Of Bullion Beads + 100 pcs Fimo Canes + Wheel of Pink Half Pearls = $21.33 $1.33!
If you're into freehand nail art: 14 colors of Acrylic Paint + 4 Fine Brushes = $28.08 $8.08!
Also feel free to browse the store to make your own combinations =)

All you have to do is:

* Be a follower. New followers are always welcome! If your profiles are private, please mention your Google Friend Connect nickname. Sorry, but you have to follow openly for me to be able to track you. (Obligatory, 1 entry)
* Tweet about this giveaway. (1 extra entry)
* Mention this giveaway on your blog. You can write an extra entry, or keep it on the sidebar. (1 extra entry)
This giveaway, as always, is open internationally.
Just leave a comment to this post including your name, e-mail and the links to the terms from the above list. (Like your twitter url, your blog entry about the giveaway, your blog address, etc.) The deadline is December 23rd, 11:59 pm (GMT)! Please go with the rules for your entries to be valid. The winner will be decided randomly. Good luck! =)

Çekiliş sona erdi =) Katılımınız için çok teşekkür ederim =)

Sevgili okuyucularım, hepinize merhaba =) Bu hafta elime geçen ürünler, Born Pretty Store'un sahibi Jessica tarafından denemem için gönderildi. Öncelikle 3 ayrı çemberde dekoratif inciler, ayrı boylarda ve renklerde. (Burada, burada ve burada.) Ayrıca küçük boncuklar, her biri ayrı kavanozda geldi. Kavanozlardaki boncukların kullanımı, çemberde olanlardan daha kolay; çünkü çok çok minikler ve çemberde oldukları zaman birbirine karışabiliyorlar. Son olarak kalp şeklinde taşlar göndermiş, işte buna çok mutlu oldum! Şekilli taşlar çok hoşuma gidiyor =)
Size birkaç tırnak tasarımı göstermek istiyorum, fikir olsun diye. Acaba neden =) Merak ediyorsanız yazının sonuna kadar bekleyin =)

• İşte ilk tasarımım. Tabanda Essie Haute As Hello var, konad m79 diskindeki puantiyelerle desen yaptım çapraz olarak. Mavi ve beyaz inciler, mavi ve beyaz taşlar kullanarak alt kısmını süsledim. Ayrıca puantiyelerin bazılarına da inci koydum.
• Denizci temalı bir desen. Tabanda China Glaze Paint The Town Red var, çizgiler beyaz akrilik boya ve ince fırçayla yapıldı, altın rengi oje Orly Glitz & Glamour. Çapayı ise açık altın rengi boncuklarla oluşturdum.
• Cupcake deseni bildiğiniz gibi Rina'nın fikri. Revlon Minted sürerek başladım, tabanı açık pembe akrilik boya ile boyadım, kremasını beyaz akrilik boya ile yaptım. Pembe, turkuaz ve mor boncuklarla üstündeki süslemeleri yaptım ve son olarak tepesine pembe kalp şeklindeki taştan koydum =)
• Üzgün panda :3 Tabanda Essence What Do U Think? var, siyah ve beyaz akrilik boya ile pandayı çizdim, turuncu kalpli taşlar yapıştırdım ve konad m10 diskindeki pati desenini uyguladım.
• Bu desende Asami'nin Totoro Maniküründen esinlendim. Küçük yaratıkları çizmedim, sadece koyu yeşil akrilik boya ile yaprakları çizdim, ve popcorna benzeyen küçük çiçekler yaptım beyazla. Yeşil yuvarlak bir taş ve beyaz inciler ekledim. Bu arada tabanda Claire's #55 var.

Tüm bunları niye anlattım? Çünkü Born Pretty Store'un sahibi Jessica çok cömert davrandı ve 5 kişiye $20 değerinde hediye çeki vermeye karar verdi =) Kendinize güzel bir yılbaşı hediyesi olur bence! Ayrıca kazanan kişi, ürünleri takipli posta ile alacak, kaybolma riski yok yani. Peki bu miktara Born Pretty Store'dan ne alabilirsiniz? Sizin için şu kombinasyonları yaptım:

Eğer konad denemek istiyorsanız: 12 x Disk + 7 özel damga ojesi = $27.65 yerine $7.65!
Eğer tırnak süslemeyi seviyorsanız: Yuvarlak taşlar + 12 Kavanoz Küçük Boncuk + 100 parça Fimo Çubuğu + Pembe tonlarında inciler = $21.33 yerine $1.33!
Eğer tırnaklarınıza desen çizme meraklısıysanız: 14 Renk Akrilik Boya + 4 İnce Fırça = $28.08 yerine $8.08!
Tabi en güzeli, siteyi gezerek kendi kombinasyonunuzu oluşturmaniz =)

Yapmanız gerekenler sadece:

* Blogumun takipçisi olmanız. Eğer takip etmiyorsanız, etmeye başlayın =) Gizli olarak takip ettiğiniz zaman bunu anlayamayacağım için, lütfen Google hesabınız ile takip edin. (Zorunlu, 1 hak)
* Twitter'da bu çekilişten bahsedin. (1 ekstra hak)
* Blogunuzda bu çekilişten bahsedin. Yeni bir yazı yazabilirsiniz ya da sidebar'a linkini koyabilirsiniz. (1 ekstra hak)

Bu yazıya isminizi, e-mail adresinizi, twitter ya da blog adreslerinizi (ekstra haklar için) belirten bir yorum bırakın. Son katılım tarihi, 23 Aralık, 23:59'dur! Lütfen kurallara uygun şekilde yorum bırakın. Kazanan, kura sonucu belirlenecektir. İyi şanslar =)

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: From Grey To Blue

Guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately. I was either too busy, not even home, or I didn't even feel like polishing my nails. Today I've purchased the domain name, www.emeraldsparkled.com for a year, but I didn't transfer my blog yet. When I tried to redirect my blog to the new URL, I realized that my reactions will be gone forever. It makes me feel uneasy, because I hate like losing content of any kind. Also, redirecting may not work for a few days, so if you see that my Google Friend Connect seems produce a configuration error, you may try loading www.emeraldsparkled.com. But I'm thinking about waiting for a few days to make the transfer anyway.
Today, I'm wearing Claire's #55, and I bought it because it looked so much like Zoya Kelly. I must say it totally killed my lemming, because it looks exactly like how people described Kelly; a dark grey creme with a hint of blue/purple. I think the shade that describes this color the best would be Payne's Grey. And I must add that the purple is less obvious in real life than on the pictures, it's really close to the colordrop.
I sponged Orly Lunar Eclipse to the upper 2/3, then applied another thin coat of Lunar Eclipse to the uppermost 1/3.


Close-ups:



This manicure looked so amazing in the sun, and attracted many looks. I think it's one of my favorite manicures up to date; it's simple, yet doesn't fail to draw attention. =)

Son zamanlarda biraz seyrek güncelliyorum, farkındayım. Bazen çok meşgul oluyorum, hatta eve bile uğrayamıyorum; bazen de tırnaklarıma oje sürmeye bile halim olmuyor.
Bugün www.emeraldsparkled.com alan adını bir yıllığına satın aldım, ama yönlendirmeyi henüz yapmadım. Yönlendirme yaptığım zaman bazı bilgileri kaybedeceğimi farkettim, mesela yazıların altındaki reaksiyonlar gibi. Ve ben de bu durumdan hiç hoşlanmadım. Bu arada yönlendirme birkaç gün çalışmayabilir, eğer Google Friend Connect size bozuk görünüyorsa, www.emeraldsparkled.com'u deneyin, çalışacaktır. Ama zaten daha birkaç gün taşımayı düşünmüyorum.
Bugün tırnaklarımda Claire's #55 var. Zoya Kelly'nin tarifine tamamen uyduğu için aldım bu rengi, içinde mavi/mor tonları bulunan koyu gri bir krem oje. Resimlerde gerçek hayatta olduğundan biraz daha mor gözükmüş, aslında bu kadar belirgin bir mor tonu yok içinde. Mavimsi/morumsu bir ton içeren, ama bunun fazla bariz olmadığı bir gri olduğunu söyleyebilirim.
Daha sonra tırnağın üstten 2/3'lük kısmına süngerle Orly Lunar Eclipse uyguladım, en üst 1/3'lük kısma da ince bir kat Lunar Eclipse sürdüm.
Güneş altında çok güzel gözüküyor. Hem kremden ışıltılıya, hem de griden maviye geçtiği için çok hoş duruyor. Bu güne kadar kendi yaptığım manikürler arasında en beğendiklerimden biri oldu, yapılışının basitliğine ve sade duruşuna rağmen çok dikkat çekti. Tırnağımın köşesi kırıldı zaten, nazar. =)

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

From The Vault: Falling Star

This one was going to be a NOTD, but it chipped on the corners, and at the moment my nails are bare. Yes, bare. And they're going to stay that way overnight =) I'm just going to moisturize my cuticles and give them the love they deserve.
Anyway, as you can probably guess by looking at the name, this manicure was inspired by Barielle's Falling Star. But instead of small copper glitter, I went full throttle with bling. I applied 2 coats of Claire's slate blue polish, then a coat of China Glaze Spellbound on top. I imagined that the glitter would be very sparse, but it came out to be pretty dense. But I like the look. It looks sparklier in real life, an odd mixture of blue, orange and silver, which is very pretty from a distance! Trust me, this one looked much better IRL than in the pictures and I definitely recommend you trying out this combo =)

Bu günkü manikürüm bu olacaktı, fakat kenarlardan biraz soyuldu ve bu yüzden şimdi tırnaklarımda oje yok. Benim için alışıldık birşey değil bu =) Sadece nemlendirici sürüp bırakacağım bu gece, biraz kendine gelsin tırnaklarım.
Barielle'in Falling Star isimli ojesinden esinlendim. Claire's soluk mavi ojenin üzerine China Glaze Spellbound sürdüm. Ben Spellbound'un simlerinin tırnakta biraz daha seyrek duracağını hesaplamıştım, ama aksine çok yoğun oldu. Ama özellikle uzaktan turuncu, gümüş ve mavi çok değişik ve güzel duruyor. Hatta normalde resimlerde durduğundan daha güzel gözüküyor. Bu kombinasyonu denemenizi tavsiye ederim =)

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Seafoam & Golden Flowers

This manicure started as a gradient sponging experiment. I used one coat of a Claire's polish, which is a dupe of China Glaze Shower Together, then I sponged two different blues, starting from the bottom of the nail and getting closer to the tip. Finally I sponged some white on the tips. It looked like a shoreline without the konad =) But then I stamped using plate m73 and China Glaze 2030, and now it looks like Turkish Tiles =)




I didn't get many decent pics, and the last picture is kinda out of focus, sorry for that! =) That's all for today!

Bu manikür bir sünger denemesi olarak başladı aslında. Bir kat Claire's turkuaz oje sürdükten sonra (numarasını unuttum) dipten uca doğru sırayla açık mavi, sonra daha açık mavi, son olarak da beyaz uyguladım süngerle. Daha sonra m73 diskindeki çiçekli deseni China Glaze 2030 kullanarak damgaladım. Bana çini desenini hatırlattılar =)

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

Haul!

Hey guys =) I'm sorry for the lack of posting in the last days, I had a difficult time... But I'm feeling better now. On top of that, I broke both index nails, and therefore I shortened all my nails again. I'm out of topcoat, and I'm really broke for the rest of April, therefore my nails are bare. The lovely Golden Rose Quick Dry topcoat is out of stock, and they don't know when they will have it back in stock again. Grr! I frankened myself a topcoat using some old, gloopy Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, a new, not-so-quick drying local brand topcoat, and some leftover Golden Rose. The result was not bad at all! At least it can hold until I get my hands on some decent topcoat =)
By the way, this week I got some kick-ass package from the States =) With the help of my dear friend, Elizabeth, I was able to get my first Zoya's, Nubar and some other stuff I've been lemming for, plus some surprises! Yay! I'll shut up now and let the pictures talk:


L-R: Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime (Yaaay, Shrek Green! Finally!), Nubar Indigo Illusion, Nubar Peacock Feathers, Sinful Daddy's Girl


L-R: Zoya Envy, Ki, Adina, Zara, which I all ordered when there was a Buy 2 - Get 2 Free! sale going on.


L-R: Zoya Ivanka (Oh. My. God), Charla (*swooon*), Mimi (*thud*), and finally Alegra, which was a surprise from Liz! <3


Finally, the extras! L-R: Claire's Mood Polish in calm/wild, OPI Jade Is The New Black, OPI Suzi Says Feng-Shui, which is the tiniest polish I've ever seen; Sinful Gorgeous and Innocent (Yaaaay, another Shrek Green!!!)
I'm so happy for all those polishes, especially Zoya's. The Sparkle collection is one of the best collections I've ever came across, unbelivably beautiful in the bottles and also on the nails. I'm so happy I've almost fulfilled all my wishes in the past months =D Thank you so much, Elizabeth, you rock my little polish world!
PS: Did you notice how almost all polishes are either green or purple? =D
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

From The Vault: Mermaid Like

Some time ago we arranged a little swap with Ophélie from Tartofraises. I sent her some Golden Rose polishes of her choice, and she sent me some nail art goodies in return. I always wanted to have some hexagon flakies, and she sent me two jars of them in red and clear =) Both red and clear have a green flash.
I tried a quick hexagon covered manicure, and I think it turned out quite decent. The base color is this blue Claire's polish, and I put on the flakies while the topcoat was still wet. Then I covered the whole thing with another coat of topcoat. Although the pictures don't do the real life version any justice, I finally decided for posting them here =D




And finally, the mattified version:

Both versions looked so great in real life! Every time I moved my fingers, they looked like as if covered in fish scales or like a weird disco ball =)
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Snow Globe

Two more followers till 400! Woooot! Just crossed the line, thank you again, my friends, for your interest! I love you all!
Oh, I've gained about 120 followers within a week, and I didn't have time to check all your blogs and follow you. I'm going to go through my followers one by one and visit your blogs =) You matter!

Hey guys =) Today's manicure is inspired by the snowglobe my boyfriend got me a few years ago. It's powder blue, has multicolored sprinkles and a cheerful unicorn inside.


For this manicure I used 2 coats of the powder/tiffany blue Claire's polish I christened as "Foams", then 2 coats of China Glaze Snow Globe on top. Here are the results:





Pretty, but also a bit thick and gritty. I used two coats of topcoat, but as it dried completely, it lost quite a bit of its smoothness.
Am I the only one who finds China Glaze Glitters extremely difficult to handle? They are surely pretty, but PITA to apply and PITA to remove...
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day, for those who celebrate =) We don't have St. Patrick's Day here, but there is no harm in celebrating with green and gold! =DDD I really like the Irish culture, and I wish I could visit Ireland someday to enjoy the beautiful scenery!
Here is my mani, which was done with the Claire's polish I called "Shamrock" - which I'm also giving away - and a local metallic polish which falls between gold and light olive. I used plate m81 for the designs and also the Konad special polish in green. Although they strongly discourage using the special polish directly on the nails, I did a very thin french tip with it on the ring fingers to fill the gap. Nothing a coat of Insta-Dri couldn't handle =)
I had to use 6 coats of Shamrock, so you better use it over either a green or nude base. Jellies are a PITA to get rid of the VNL!



I hope you enjoyed! =DDD Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Cloudy Sky

Hey gals (and guys)! Thank you again for your interest in my giveaway =)
Today I only have one decent photo for you, and I'm sorry for that. I had very little time to take pictures this morning, but I'll return with a St. Patrick's manicure tomorrow =) Till that time, here is my cloudy sky manicure:


I used 2 coats of the Claire's polish I'm giving away, which I called "Sea Cottage". Then I stamped using an ordinary, thickened white polish and clouds from plate m79. I love the cloudy sky look, Konad has done some great plates this time! =)

Imagine your face,
In a sunshine reflection.
A vision of blue skies,
Forever distractions...
(From Gazebo - I Like Chopin)
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

From The Vault: Juicy Blue

I had about 5 manicures in the past 5 days, but none of them I felt like showing on my blog. This one was the only exception. I wanted to name this manicure "Juicy Blue" because it's a medium blue jelly and it's so glossy and squishy and translucent on the edges =))) I have a thing for jellies, and the only brand that fulfills my jelly needs in Turkey is Claire's.
This is 4 coats, and was stamped with plate m80 and Konad special polish in Sky Pearl. It's very very subtle, and I like that the jelly look is preserved that way =)




I'm almost done with picking stuff for my giveaway! It's going to be awesome =)
Don't forget to check out my NOTD in the below post!
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: House of Slytherin

I'm sorry guys, I didn't realize that my bandwidth was exceeded, and I can't fix it until tomorrow. I fixed this post, but the older entries are probably ruined. Please come back tomorrow, I'll be upgrading to a pro account then =)

I've had this idea for some time, and I'm glad I finally found time to bring it to life =)
I really adore Harry Potter themed stuff. I've read the series about 12 times during all those years, and the Potterverse just makes me happy. I consider myself as a Gryffindor, but still I embrace everything about HP, and I also respect Slytherin greatly =)
I started with my Nars Zulu attempt. I had a Claire's jelly polish very similar to Illamasqua Rampage, and when I got the real thing, I mixed the Claire's one with black to kill that famous dark green jelly lemming. Claire's jellies are quite streaky, and this is 4 coats:


Then I stamped the snake from plate m28 in silver, to represent colors of Slytherin.



All the Slytherins out there, I hope you like this! I'm not sure if it was done before, therefore I claimed this as my own idea, but if you know similar manicures, you can post me a link! =)
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

From The Vault: Olive & Gold

Hello guys =) Sorry for the absence ;) I have a mani from tha vault to share with you today. It's a Claire's polish, made in Turkey. I guess Claire's Turkey makes a Turkish cosmetic company do a polish line for them, so these polishes are local only. This one is an olive green shimmer. The quality is not nice, I can't put my finger on the problem with it, maybe it's the bad brush, or snail-like drying time. Anyway, I topped it with Inglot 203 flakies, aqua/royal blue. And finally stamped them with China Glaze 2030 and konad m54.



My China Glaze Up&Away Collection and real Emerald Sparkle (hopefully) arrives this week! (Thanks to my friend Lizbeth, a.k.a. Lacquered Lizard) Then I'll be able to do some more exciting manicures =)
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Green Green Vines

I got this yellow green a few days ago, and today I decided to give it a try. It's by Claire's and it's very very streaky. I had to use thinner on a brand new bottle, which is always a minus for me. I had to do 4 coats, because it didn't want to even out. This polish has a very, very subtle silver shimmer, which is very hard to see. You gotta know that it's there to see it. Then I used konad special polish in green and vine design from plate m73. This mani has a very springy, fresh feel to it.



The brush I'm using to clean my cuticles:

It's a flat paintbrush I got for 2$. It does a great job =)
I hate that the nails on my index fingers curl inwards after a certain length. The sides curl inwards on both sides and the tip appears more narrow compared to other nails. They look so uneven, is there a known way to prevent that? I'd be grateful =)
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

I'm Free!!!! And a small haul, and a NOTD =)

Hi guys! I'm finally free! Yaaaay! Sleepless days and nights of hard work are finally over. Phew! Now I can attend to my konad stuff, and post regularly again =)
Jeanette from The Swatchaholic helped me to get my hands on some Essence and some P2 stuff. She is amazing! Thank you, Jeanette!

Here are all 3 polishes I ordered, and a fourth one, gift from Jeanette =)

P2 Electric (gift) and Dangerous

P2 Gorgeous and Elegant

Essence rhinestone sets! Yaay! =D

Finally, here is a recent manicure, Claire's petroleum blue jelly with konad s09 and China Glaze DV8 for the stamping. The base color is beautiful, it's a very dark teal, on the blue side, and it's 4 coats for opacity. DV8 stamped subtle, but I like it =)



Oh, and this is my second attempt at cleaning the cuticles with a brush =) I got three paint brushes, one very tiny and two larger ones, and I'm amazed how they work =) Still need to practise to make it perfect, though. I'll post pictures soon!
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish