31 Day Challenge: Day 9

Guess what? =)

Emerald Sparkled is 2 years old today! =) Thank you for being so awesome! I truly appreciate your company =) I'm so happy that I made so many friends, from all around the globe. I sometimes got the best support from people I've never even seen before. I'm going to celebrate with a small but (hopefully) awesome giveaway ^-^ Thanks for staying by my side for the last two years, my dear friends!
Today's theme is very appropriate for such a festive day, RAINBOW nails! I did this manicure two days ago. I had so much fun doing these. It was my favorite challenge thus far, and I hope it only gets better and better =)
I used Essie Fifth Avenue, Inglot #979, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime, Gabrini M08, Essie Mesmerize & China Glaze Grape Pop. I freehanded the rainbows with a brush, then I stamped the star images from bm20 using konad white.

Rainbow Nails

Rainbow Nails

Rainbow Nails

Have a great day & see you on Day 10!

Bilin bakalım bugün günlerden ne =) 21 Ekim, yani Emerald Sparkled 2 yaşında! Son iki yıldır yanımda olduğunuz ve muhteşem desteğiniz için çok teşekkür ederim. Dünyanın her köşesinden bir sürü arkadaş edindim bu iki yılda. Gün oldu en büyük desteği bir kez bile görmediğim insanlardan aldım. Bu yüzden biraz küçük ama süper bir çekiliş yapacağım, kutlamak ve teşekkür etmek için =) Blogumu ve beni hiç yalnız bırakmadığınız için tekrar teşekkürler!
Bugünün konusu çok güzel denk geldi, GÖKKUŞAĞI tırnaklar! Ben aslında bu manikürü iki gece önce yaptım. Yaparken de çok eğlendim, hatta son 9 gündür en çok beğendiğim manikürüm bu oldu. Umarım bundan sonraki günler gittikçe daha güzel olur =)
Kullandığım ojeler Essie Fifth Avenue, Inglot #979, China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime, Gabrini M08, Essie Mesmerize ve China Glaze Grape Pop. Kırmızıdan mora doğru saydım bu arada renkleri. Gökkuşaklarını ince bir fırçayla çizdim, üzerine de konad'ın beyaz ojesiyle bm20 diskindeki yıldızları damgaladım.
İyi geceler, 10. günde görüşmek üzere!

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Vintage Roses

Hello everyone! I've been dealing with Otitis Externa (Ear Canal Infection) for 6 days now. Today I can finally tell that it's over. No pain, no swelling and I can finally hear again =) This has been the most painful ear infection I've had my entire life, my ear canal was swollen shut completely and I was literally scraping the floor the third night, just to have some pain relief again. But thank God it's over now. =)
I first did this design on my brother's girlfriend, then I liked the look and copied it on my nails.
Base color is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Fairy Teal. It's the perfect Windows 95 Teal in my eyes. Here is the colordrop for Teal, and I think it matches this polish perfectly.
For the roses I used Rimmel London Apricot Punch, with Konad Pastel Pink for the highlights. For the leaves I used Konad Pastel Green mixed with P2 Artful, and Essie Absolutely Shore for the highlights. Here is a tutorial about my way of drawing freehand roses.

Freehand Vintage Roses

Freehand Vintage Roses

Freehand Vintage Roses

Oh, how much I love rose manicures! =)
I hope you enjoyed this post, take care until next time!

Herkese merhaba! Yaklaşık 6 gündür Dış Kulak Enfeksiyonu ile boğuşuyorum. Bugün itibariyle sanırım iyileştiğimi söyleyebilirim. En azından acı yok, şişlik indi ve yeniden duyabiliyorum =) Sanırım hayatımda geçirdiğim en kötü kulak enfeksiyonu buydu, kulak yolum tamamen kapanmıştı ve özellikle üçüncü gece artık acıdan yerleri tırmalayacak hale gelmiştim. Allah'a çok şükür geçti ama =)
Bu deseni ilk önce kardeşimin kız arkadaşına uyguladım, sonra beğenip kendime de aynısını yaptım.
Tabanda Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure serisinden Fairy Teal isimli ojeyi kullandım. Bu rengi Türkiye'de çoğu eczanede bulabilirsiniz bu arada. Hani Windows 95'in bir arka plan rengi vardı ya klasik, işte tam o renk, yani teal. Güller için ise Rimmel London Apricot Punch ve Konad Pastel Pink'i bir arada kullandım. Yapraklar için tabanda Konad Pastel Green ile karıştırdığım P2 Artful'u kullandım, daha sonra Essie Absolutely Shore ile aydınlattım. Gül yapma yöntemini bu videodan görebilirsiniz.
Gül manikürlerini nedense çok seviyorum =)
Umarım bu yazı hoşunuza gitmiştir, gelecek sefere kadar hoşçakalın!

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

Pink Wednesday: Subtle Spring

Hey guys =) Here is my Pink Wednesday mani on Thursday =) Yesterday I had no opportunity to take pictures, but today I finally found time to take pictures & write a post.
For this manicure, I first applied 3 coats of Essie Topless & Barefoot. Then I stamped the flower image from bm06 in konad pink pearl & Sally Hansen Lickety - Split Lime. I added green rhinestones in the middle of the pink flowers, and pink ones in the middle of green flowers. I'm calling it "Subtle Spring", because this manicure is subtle, yet very fresh and spring-y. =)

Essie Topless & Barefoot, stamped with bm06

Essie Topless & Barefoot, stamped with bm06

Essie Topless & Barefoot, stamped with bm06

I hope you like it =) See you next Wednesday!

Herkese selam =) Bu haftanın pembeli manikürü bir gün sarktı ne yazık ki. Dün fotoğraf çekmeye vaktim olmadı, bu yüzden ancak yazı yazabiliyorum.
Bu manikür için önce 3 kat Essie Topless & Barefoot sürdüm. Daha sonra bm06 diskindeki deseni konad'ın pembe sedefli ojesi ve Sally Hansen Lickety - Split Lime ile damgaladım. Pembe çiçeklerin ortasına yeşil, yeşil çiçeklerin ortasına ise pembe taşlar ekledim. Bu manikür hem ilkbahar renklerinde, hem de fazla göze batmayan bir tarzda oldu.
Umarım hoşunuza gitmiştir =) Haftaya çarşamba yeni bir pembeli manikürde görüşmek üzere!

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Purple Gala

I've been wanting to get my hands on this polish ever since it was released, and now I have it, yaay! =)))
Sally Hansen Purple Gala is a beautiful polish with a complex finish. It consists of equal amounts of gold and purple shimmer, and since purple and gold are complementary colors, the resulting polish is a grey foil with a purple undertone with unique golden shimmer running through it. It's absolutely gorgeous, I applied two coats in a hurry before meeting friends (while sitting on a bank outside!) and received so many compliments =) It dried fast, too!
I'm sure this polish will work with any skintone, because it's cool and warm at the same time. Sorry, I think I suck at describing polish sometimes =)




You might have heard that this polish is a dupe for Hard Candy Mr. Wrong. Well, they're not dupes but they're very, very close. Observe:


Sally Hansen Purple Gala on the left, and Hard Candy Mr. Wrong on the right. Mr. Wrong has a base which is more blue/less purple, and the gold shimmer is on the cooler side. Altogether it looks cooler, but I don't think anyone will notice the difference, unless they're a polish freak =) Oh, and Mr. Wrong needs 3 coats to be opaque.
Purple Gala is great for Fall and Winter, plus I think it's perfect for a night out all through the year =)

İlk çıktığından beri bu ojeyi almak istiyordum, sonunda kavuştum =)
Sally Hansen Purple Gala çok güzel ve değişik bir oje. Eşit miktarlarda soluk mor ve altın rengi parçacıklardan oluşuyor, ve bunlar karşıt renkler olduğu için ortaya çıkan görüntü morumsu gri, altın rengi ışıltıya sahip, folyo bir oje. (Ojeleri Türkçe tarif etmek çok komik oluyor bu arada =) Sahip olduğum en güzel ojelerden biri bu. Arkadaşlarımla buluşmadan önce bankta otururken aceleyle iki kat sürdüm ve gerçekten ilgi çekti =) Bu arada çabuk kuruduğunu da belirteyim.
Bence bu oje her ten rengiyle çok güzel durur, çünkü aynı anda hem sıcak, hem de soğuk renkler içeriyor.
Bu arada bu rengin Hard Candy Mr. Wrong ile aynı olduğunu duymuş olabilirsiniz. Ben bir karşılaştırma yaptım. Aynı olmasalar bile çok çok yakınlar.
Solda Purple Gala ve sağda Mr. Wrong var. Mr Wrong genel olarak daha soğuk tonlarda, baz olarak maviye dönük ve içindeki altın rengi ışıltı daha soğuk. Ama birinin aradaki farkı anlayabileceğini pek sanmıyorum, tabi benim gibi manyak değillerse =)
Purple Gala sonbahar ve kış için çok uygun bir renk, ha bir de yıl boyunca gece çıkarken sürebileceğiniz çok güzel bir oje =) Bire bir aynı olmasa bile benzer bir renk bulursanız kaçırmayın, alın derim!

Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

From The Vault: Fruit Love

Hi guys. I still have the pale yellow polish on, so here is a yummy manicure from the vault to feast your eyes on.
I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split Lime as my base color. Now, everyone and their grandma is raving about wide brushes, but personally, I hate them. I hate OPI pro-wide, I hate Sally Hansen Salon Line brush, I hate Insta-Dri brush... They are so ginormous! They drive me crazy! Maybe I'm the one who's not capable of using them correctly, but I must say I prefer a too-narrow-brush to a too-wide one. /end rant
This shade is more Spring Bud than Lime. Beautiful color, one-coater, great as stamping color, crazy-fast drying time, yet horrible brush. Maybe I'll love this one more with another brush.


I konaded using Konad green polish and disks m55 & m18. Aaaand that's all for today.

Selam millet. Dünkü oje hala tırnağımda olduğu için eski bir manikürümü koyuyorum buraya.
Baz olarak Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety-Split Lime isimli ojeyi kullandım. Biliyorum ki herkes geniş fırçalara bayılıyor, galiba tek garip olan benim ama ben tek kelimeyle nefret ediyorum. Opi ve Sally Hansen'in geniş fırçalarından nefret ediyorum. Kullanamıyorum ne yapayım? Belki tek beceriksiz benimdir, ama yine de fazla dar bir fırçayı fazla geniş bir fırçaya tercih ederim.
Bu renk lim diye geçiyor, süper bir renk, tek katta opak, konad ile desen yapmaya müsait, çok çabuk kuruyor ama gelgelelim, fırçası bir kabus. Belki başka bir fırçayla sürseydim çok daha mutlu olurdum.
Üzerine konad yeşil oje ve m55 & m18 diskleriyle desen yaptım. Evet, bu günlük de bu kadar.

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

Friend Haul & Water Marble Attempt #2

My lovely friend who studies in UK brought me some lovely things =) I have got my first Illamasqua polishes. Yaay!!! She brought me Rampage and Muse. I've been wanting Rampage forever, and I wish they had Milf, too, but it was sold out. It's alright though. And two OPI, Black Cherry Chutney and Chick Flick Cherry.


I love Chick Flick Cherry, it's my kind of a red. And Black Cherry Chutney is gorgeous with the red shimmer, can't wait to try it out.
And she got me Urban Decay 24/7 stash & 24/7 liner in Yeyo.


Thank you, Asli! You're the best. ♥♥♥

Btw, I tried another marbling on yesterday's mani, Sally Hansen Orange You Cute? with white She polish (ordinary white creme) and blurple Clarie's polish (which I'm yet to swatch). It's not tidy, I know, but at least I know a bit better about marbling right now =)


I wish my cuticles would heal quicker...
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

NOTD: Sally Hansen Orange You Cute?

This is actually mom's, but I nicked it for a mani =) It's one of the Sally Hansen Salon polishes, and this is 4 coats. I usually do 3, but I thought I still had VNL, so I did 4.
It's a bright, bright reddish coral, very smooth. The opacity was not great, but you probably can get away with 3 coats. The application was smooth as butter, and I just love the bottle.


I thought the name had nothing to do with the color, until I saw it through the camera in shade. The following picture is the same setting as before, only away from the sunlight. Please ignore my smurf hands =)


Tomorrow I'm going to meet a friend, who said she had a little something for me. I hope it's something that I'd been wanting for so long!
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish

Review: Fast Drying Top Coat

I've been using fast-drying top coats for a year now, and I've used 3 different ones. They are all very fast drying, but I had a few issues I'd like to share with you right now.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri


This is the first quick-drying top coat I've ever tried. It dries within a minute, and in about 20 minutes, it's non-dentable. I've been mainly using this over Konad, because as everybody knows, Konad tends to smear. This top coat is extremely runny, like water. I don't need to put a thick globe on my nail, all I need to do is swipe it across the nail with a regular amount on, and it goes on without smearing. The shine is nice and I only experience minor tipwear after day 3. Remember my last manicure, the lilac one? It's still on, no chipping, no fading. Only some tipwear, which is acceptable.
The brush is wide and soft, it doesn't pull nailpolish or stamped images. What I don't like about it is the consistency. It's really, really runny. From heaving out of the bottle to applying it on my nail, it drips. And because of it being so runny, there is always too much amount on the brush, and you have to swipe carefully. (Remember, too much swiping - likely to smear the image.)
Oh by the way, when I reach the half of the bottle, it becomes gloopy and too thick. But I managed to control it with polish thinner, now I can use almost the whole bottle.
But I really like it, it's handy and I try to keep a bottle around.

Positive: Doesn't smear, nice brush, dries very fast, shiny, protective.
Negative: Too runny, becomes gloopy after a while.
My Rating:

Sally Hansen Mega Shine


I had very high hopes for this top coat. First of all, it really lives up it's name. It's extremely shiny, dries very very fast, in 10 seconds or so. It's very protective on the nail surface and provides a shield. It doesn't cause me any chipping, any tipwear for a reasonable time, nor any nail polish coming off in large chunks. I really like the look of it on my nails.
There are two problems with this polish. Actually three, but the third one is a common issue of all fast-drying top coats. First of all, the brush is weird. It's synthetic, like made of fiber, and it smears the design crazy. I can't use it with Konad, it bleeds on the nail and looks horrible. There are 2 ways to make it work with Konad, you can either use a regular, natural haired, soft brush to apply, or you can use it on another non-smearing top coat to seal.
Secondly, it shrinks. On the sides, it's clearly visible that it shrinks, and there is nothing I could do to prevent that. First few weeks the shrinking was not too noticeable, but then it was there and I just couldn't ignore it.
And last but not least, it becomes very gloopy, even gloopier than Insta-Dri. In fact, make it a triple.
And that you can't see the inside of the bottle because of the mirror-like finish, you don't have an idea how much polish is still left. And the stuff they covered the bottle with becomes so thick around the bottleneck, that it caused me too much pain and frustration every time I screwed the cap.
I'd recommend this top coat for a nice shine and it's super fast drying time, but it's only good for the first half of the bottle.

Positive: Dries extremely fast, very shiny, very protective.
Negative: Bad brush & bottle, becomes ridiculously gloopy, shrinks visibly on the nail.
My Rating:

Mavala Mavadry


This is the last top coat I've tried, and it's so far the best. Take the good aspects of Insta-Dri and Mega Shine, and you have Mavadry. First of all, it dries really fast. Maybe a bit slower than Mega Shine, but still, very fast. The brush is soft and nice, and I didn't experience any smearing. It's super shiny, looks beautiful on the nail. I can't say anything about the protection, because I was in a bad mood those days and removed my polish far too often. But I remember experiencing some minor chips in the corners when using this top coat, but this may be due to washing/cooking too much those days. I'll update on that aspect when I repurchase.
Other than that, I don't have much to say about it. It also became gloopy the second half, but I managed to use 9/10 of the bottle, and that's saying something.
The label covers the whole side of the bottle so you can't really see what's going on inside, but I thought of turning the bottle sideways and observe from the bottom, and that it's perfectly cylindrical, you can have an idea of the condition of the product inside.

Positive: Dries really fast, very shiny, doesn't become too gloopy, nice brush
Negative: Minor chipping(?), bottle is almost completely covered with a label
My Rating:

I hope this review helps some of you folks out there!
Türkçe için tıklayın | Click here for Turkish