Layering: OPI Let me entertain you over Milani Totally cool

Čudan eksperiment... Već sam uploadala swatcheve OPI Let me entertain you ali nekako mi je, unatoč odličnoj formuli.... malo pre-pink.:D Zato sam ga odlučila isprobati preko nečeg tamnijeg i izabrala Milani Totally cool, indigo jelly koji i sam već ima malo glittera u sebi. Mislim da mi ipak bolje stoji ovako nego sam - čudno si izgledam s rozim noktima.

Here's a weird layering experiment... I already swatched OPI Let me entertain you but, in spite the lovely formula and the glass-fleck, for me it was a little... well - too pink. :D So I decided to layer it over something dark and I chose Milani Totally cool, an indigo jelly with some pink glitter. I think this suits me better layered than alone - I feel weird with pink nails.

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Zoya Savita

Zijev... koja dosadna i tmurna nedjelja. Sreća da sam jučer uspjela uloviti malo sunca i uslikati ovaj lakić. Zašto sam ga htjela prodati, stvarno mi nije jasno. :D Srećom, nedavno sam vidjela predivne swatcheve na Ivaninom blogu i u trenu se predomislila. (ako već niste, navratite do njenog bloga - super je! :) ) Savita je, uz Veruschku i Harlow, dio Zoya Matte Velvet prošlogodišnje zimske kolekcije. Lak je zbog prebrzog sušenja malo nespretan za nanošenje i brzo dolazi do otkrhnuća, ali mogu reć da sam se na to već navikla jer to je neizbježno kod mnogih mat lakova. Ovu boju bih opisala kao indigo s roskastim shimmerom. Na slikama su dva sloja Savite preko Nfu Oh Aqua base a na predzadnjoj slici i jedan sloj Seche Vitea, u sjajnoj verziji. Što kažete, koja je bolja - mat ili sjajna verzija?
I giveaway update: polako slažem vaše komentare i nadam se da ću stići sve napraviti idući tjedan tako da, ako dobitnica bude iz inozemstva, ipak stigne dobiti paketić do Božića. :)

Yawn... what a boring and gloomy Sunday. Luckily, yesterday I managed to catch some sun and take some swatches. Why did I ever want to sell this, it's beyond me. :D Fortunately for my Savita, I recently saw some swatches on Ivana's blog that changed my mind. (If you haven't yet, you should check out her blog - it's awesome! :) ). Savita, along with Veruschka and Harlow, is part of Zoya's 2009 Matte Velvet Winter collection. The application was a bit troublesome since it dries a bit too fast and it chips pretty fast but I guess that's something I'm used to, since it happens with a lot of mattes. I would describe this as indigo with some pinkish shimmer. There are two coats over Nfu Oh Aqua base, and a coat of Seche Vite in the last, shiny swatch.Which one do you prefer - matte or shiny?

And a giveaway update: I'm sorting your entries and I hope I'll be done by the end of the week so hopefully, if the winner is international, she can still get the package by Christmas. :)

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Essence Once upon a time

Iz mog jučerašnjeg shoppinga vjerojatno bih se vratila bijesna (smrzla se čekajući tramvaj a nisam našla ništa od stvari koje sam tražila) da nisam na odlasku skoknula u Mueller i upikirala ovaj slatkiš. Božićno-crveni jelly s glass-fleck šljokicama za 13.90 kuna? ;;) Njam, može! Nisam uopće obožavatelj crvene ali obožavam jelly lakiće, a još kad se u miks ubaci i sitni staklasti glitter, jednostavno poblesavim. Plus, podsjeća me na moj voljeni OPI Smitten with mittens. Smitten je tamniji i ima više pigmenta i u Smittenu šljokice skoro podsjećaju na flakieje, veće su nego u Essenceu ali formula je dosta slična. Dodatni plus (kao da ih uopće još treba) je što je ovaj mališan 1-coater, tj. pažljivim nanošenjem savršeno izgleda s jednim slojem. Ja sam dodala još jedan, za fotkanje. Ovaj lak dio je blagdanske Fairytale kolekcije.

I would probably be mad as hell after my yesterday's shopping (I froze while waiting for the tram and didn't find any of the stuff I was looking for), but on the way back I spied this eye-candy in a drugstore. Red jelly infused with gold glass-fleck glitter for 2,5$? ;;) Yummy! I'm not a big fan of reds but I love jelly polishes, plus - when there's also glass-fleck glitter in the mix, I go crazy. Also, it reminds me of my beloved OPI Smitten with mittens. Smitten is more pigmented, darker and glitter particles in Smitten are larger, almost like flakies, but I'd say they are similar. Another big plus is the fact that this baby is a one-coater. I applied an extra coat for swatching purposes. This polish is part of Essence's holiday Fairytale collection.

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Essence Walk of fame

Ovom sam se lakiću baš veselila, činio mi se kao smeđi s malo rozog tona. No ništa od toga, meni izgleda kao standardna blatnjava-smeđa nijansa. S druge strane, skinula sam ga čim sam ga pofotkala pa ga nisam imala priliku vidjeti na dnevnom svjetlu. Lakić lijepo stoji, lijepo izgledaju nokti i ruke kad ga namažem ali nisam luda za njim. OK se i maže i dva su sloja sasvim dovoljna.

I was expecting this to be a brown with a pink twist, like it looked in the bottle. But it's a standard muddy-brown creme. On the other hand, I removed it immediately after swatching so I didn't have a chance to see how it looks in daylight. It's a nice polish, but I'm not nuts about it. It applies nicely and two coats are more than enough.

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Layering: China Glaze Party hearty, Take I & Giveaway reminder

China Glaze Party hearty... prvi pokušaj. OK, ovo baš nije ispalo kako sam očekivala. Lakić je super ali drugi sloj bio je suvišan i pokvario je stvar, plus - od odsjaja lampe uopće se ne vide detalji - oblici i vrste šljokica. Izgleda da ću ga uskoro morati ponovno isprobati. :D
I podsjećam da se još večeras možete prijaviti za moj mini giveaway (tj. budući da je u Honoluluu 24. 11. još nekih 12 sati, ako ste s Havaja, imate malo više vremena ;) ).

So, this is my first and not so fabulous attempt at swatching China Glaze Party hearty. It didn't turn out like I expected. The polish is great but the second coat totally ruined the manicure and on top of that, the lamp reflection hides the detail - the shapes and colors of the glitter. Guess I'll have to try it again soon. I hope that will result in better swatches. :D
And a quick reminder: my giveaway ends soon, you still have a few hours to enter (or if you're from Honolulu, you still have 12 hours to enter ;) ).

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Orly Fantasea

Orly Fantasea... jedan od meni najdražih duochrome lakova - lila jelly sa shimmerom koji se prelijeva u roskasto-brončano. Ali, nažalost Fantasea ima jednu od gorih formula. Dosta je proziran pa je potrebno minimalno tri sloja što doprinosi njegovom sporom sušenju. Suši se bolno sporo.... bolje rečeno - ne suši se. I idući dan, čak i s obilnim slojem Sechea, ostaju otisci na površini nokta. Za swatchanje sam nanijela dodatni sloj laka, da popravim otiske plahti na noktima (ako se pitate zašto izgleda tako debelo). Bez obzira na to, za ovakvu ljepotu spremna sam trpiti i dvodnevno sušenje i nanošenje 4 sloja. ;)

Orly Fantasea is one of my favorite duochromes - a lilac jelly with pink to bronze shimmer. Unfortunately, Fantasea has one of the worst formulas. It's pretty sheer so it needs at least three coats. It dries painfully slow, or, to be completely honest - it doesn't! Even with a generous coat of Seche Vite and even the next day, if you press the surface with your fingernail, it will leave a deep dent in the polish. For swatching purposes, I applied an extra coat the next day, to cover the sheet marks. In spite of it all, for this beauty I can take the slow drying and the 4 coats. ;)

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Layering: Claire's No-name blue glitter over Orly Royal navy

U gužvi sam pa slabo stignem slikati ovih dana, plus nokti su mi u komi, ali moram staviti nekakav swatch da proslavim 100 sljedbenika! Wow, sad tek imam feeling da ovo malo mjestašce na webu mogu nazvati pravim blogom! :) Znam da sam velik dio sljedbenika stekla s mini darivanjem, ali stići do 100 dobar je osjećaj, bez obzira. Hvala vam cure što komentirate i pratite moj mali blogić!  >:D<
A sad na swatch... Iako sam rekla da ću se odmoriti od šljokica do Božića, preovisna sam o blingu da bi to uspjela izdržati. Claire's plavi glitter koji sam kupila u Grazu ipak nije bio dovoljno gust da se nanosi sam pa sam se ipak odlučila za layering - dva sloja Orly Royal navy, dva sloja Claire's glittera i dva sloja Sechea. Boje lakova su jako slične. Zanimljivo, da su šljokice četverokutne, vidi se samo skroz izbliza. Obožavam ovu plavu, ne mogu je se zasititi.

I've been too busy lately to take any pics and my nails are a mess but I had to post a swatch to celebrate 100 followers! Wow, now I feel I can call this little place on the web a real blog! :) I realize many followers joined because of the mini giveaway but it still feels nice to reach 100. Thank you all for commenting and following my little blog! >:D<

Now, on to the swatch... Although I said I would take a glitter-break until Christmas, seems I'm too addicted to bling to avoid it for more that three days. Claire's no-name glitter I got in Austria wasn't thick enough to be worn alone so I decided to layer it. These are two coats of Orly Royal navy, two coats of Claire's glitter and two coats of Seche Vite. The two blues are very similar. The glitter is square-shaped, but it's visible only in macro shots. I love this type of blue, can't get enough of it.

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Ready for the holidays :)

Upoznajte China Glaze Jolly Holly, Novu, Party Hearty i Phat Santu.Božić još nije ni blizu a božićne kolekcije lakića su još malo pa rasprodane. Zato sam iskoristila zadnju priliku da ugrabim ovaj ludi glitter, pa makar i u paketu. Iako imam par božićnih lakova poput OPI Smitten with mittens, China Glaze Ruby pumps i Emerald sparkle, mislim da je Party hearty ipak najblagdanskiji od svih blagdanskih lakova (znam, ne postoji takva riječ :D ). Nova i nije iz božićne kolekcije ali svejedno odlično paše (osim čepa. Zašto crni??). Phat Santi ću vjerojatno naći novi dom (ja i crveni krem lak?!) ali morala sam ih pofotkati ovako slatke zajedno. ;) Koji ćete vi lakić nositi na Božić?

Meet China Glaze Jolly Holly, Nova, Party Hearty and Phat Santa. Christmas is more than a month away but most of the Christmas collections are almost sold out. So I took the opportunity and grabbed this crazy glitter, even if it meant I had to buy the whole Party Hearty pack. Although I have a few holiday polishes such as OPI Smitten with mittens, China Glaze Ruby pumps and Emerald sparkle, I must say Party hearty is the most festive of them all. Nova isn't a part of the collection but it matches nicely (except for the cap, that is. Why black??). Phat Santa will probably find another home (me and red cremes?) but I just had to take a picture of them together like this. ;) What polish will you be wearing for Christmas?

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Barry M Dusky mauve

Konačno, evo i swatcheva Barry M Dusky mauvea. Ovaj lak navodno je duplić Chanel Paradoxala. Hmmm, što reći o ovom laku... formula je dobra, lijepo se nanosi, suši dosta brzo... i to je više-manje sve. Moram priznati da mi nije jasna poanta lakova sa suptilnim shimmerom u jesenskim kolekcijama. Ljubičasti shimmer u ovom laku vidljiv je isključivo na suncu, kojeg u jeseni inače baš nema puno (iako je kod nas ove godine kasna jesen iznimno sunčana i topla). Ostatak vremena (negdje 90%) izgleda kao smeđi krem lak koji tu i tamo malo vuče na ljubičasto. Mislim, lak je lijep ali meni osobno nije ništa ekstra. Što još reći osim - drago mi je da nisam kupila Chanel Paradoxal. ;)

Finally, the swatches of Barry M Dusky mauve. This is said to be a Chanel Paradoxal dupe. Hm, what can I say about this polish.... the formula is nice, it applies nicely, it dries fast enough... and that's pretty much it. I must admit I don't understand the point of releasing subtle shimmers in fall collections. The purple shimmer is visible only in direct sunlight, and there usually isn't much sunlight in fall (although this fall has been unusually sunny and warm here in Croatia). It looks like a brown creme polish with a hint of purple 90% of the time. It's still a nice polish, but nothing to make a fuss about. What else can I say other than - I'm glad I didn't buy Chanel Paradoxal. ;)

Na suncu:
In sunlight:

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Austria mini blue haul: H&M and Claire's

Moj mali plavi Austrijski shopping... :) - H&M Blue my mind (činilo mi se da sam jedina ovisnica na svijetu koja nije imala ovaj lak) i Claire's bezimeni tamnoplavi glitter (nadam se da je sličan Nubar Night sparkleu). Nakon  par sati švrljanja po Ikei i ravno pola sata po H&M-u (roba je užasna, btw - 90% Polyacryla! Bljak :-S), bar sam uhvatila ova dva slatkiša. Po izgledu bočice, čini mi se da je Blue my mind baš ta nijansa plave koju tražim odavno, jedva ga čekam isprobati! :x U stvarnosti ova boja ima dašak ljubičaste, no to se na mojim fotkama ne vidi, naravno.
My little blue Austrian haul... :) H&M Blue my mind (it seemed to me I was the only polish addict in the world who didn't have this one?!) and Claire's No-name darkblue glitter (I hope this is similar to Nubar Nigh sparkle). After a few hours I spent in Ikea and less than half an hour in H&M (the clothes are horrible, btw - 90% is made of Polyacryl, yuck! :-S), at least I grabbed these two cuties. By the look of it in the bottle, seems Blue my mind could be the shade of blue I've been searching for ages (cerulean?), can't wait to try it! :x It actually has a hint of purple the pics don't show, of course.

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Claire's Chunky silver over Essence Rock'n'roll

Još jedan lak iz Magic Maid shopa. :)  Nadala sam se da će i ovaj lak imati fenomenalan efekt poput Chunky purple i Chunky blue koje si želim oduvijek, ali nema. Ipak je lijep srebrni glitter. Budući da se slabo prima za nokat, počela sam sa slojem Essence Rock'n'rolla, srebrnog foil glittera. Zapravo su sitni srebrni glitteri isti i u Chunkyju i u Rock'n'rollu, samo Chunky ima i veliki šestorokutni glitter. Anyway, ovo su 3 sloja preko jednog sloja Essencea, bez nadlaka. I puno je ljepši i blještaviji uživo.
Another polish  I got from Magic Maid's blog shop. :) I hoped this polish would have the same amazing effect as Chunky purple or Chunky blue I've been lemming forever, but it doesn't. It's still a nice silver glitter. Since I had trouble making the glitter stick to the nail instead of hanging on the brush, I started with a layer of Essence Rock'n'roll, a silver foily glitter. The small glitter particles are actually the same in both polishes but Chunky also has this large hexagonal glitter. These are three layers over one layer of Essence, no TC. It looks much better and brighter IRL. ;)

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Studio M Slamming red

Jedan od lakova koji je na mojoj wishlisti odavno je Studio M (ex Massini) Slamming red. Ovaj swatch na Scrangienom blogu me totalno očarao i konačno sam ga uspjela ugrabiti na rasprodaji kod Magic Maid. Jeee! :D Otkuda da počnem... Ovo je jedna od najgenijalnijih boja koje sam vidjela - pogledajte samo taj holo glitter u bočici! Naravno, taj efekt se jednostavno nije dao uloviti na noktu ali vjerujte, presijava se ludo. S druge strane, ovo je jedna od najgorih, ako ne i najgora formula laka koju sam imala prilike isprobati - podsjeća me na masu za fugiranje. Lak je gust nenormalno, kad se osuši potpuno je mat i izgleda kao neka čudna grbava tvorevina na noktu. Tu su tri (!) gusta sloja Seche vitea a i dalje izgleda grbavo.Kako je Scrangie uspjela ovako lijepo nanijeti taj lak, nije mi uopće jasno. Idući put definitivno moram dodati thinnera (iako me malo frka da mi ne ubije holo...) i slikati po danu, da ulovim to blještavilo. I usput, iako piše "red" a možda i vuče malo na crveno na mojim fotkama, ovo je predivna ciklama (magenta). :x

A polish that was on my lemming list for ages - Studio M (ex Massini) Slamming red. It was this swatch on Scrangie's blog that got me obsessed and I finally grabbed one at Magic Maid's blog sale! Yaaay! :D Where do I start... This is one of  the most amazing colors I have ever seen - just look at this holo glitter goodness in the bottle. The effect didn't photograph on my nails that well and it's not as strong as in the bottle but still it sparkles like crazy. On the other hand, this may be the worst polish formula ever! It reminds me of tile grout. It's unbelievably thick, it dries to this weird matte lumpy finish. Here are 3 (!) thick layers of Seche Vite and it still isn't smooth. How Scrangie managed to apply it so nice is beyond me. Next time I'll have to add some thinner (but I'm affraid it could ruin the holo...) and take pics in daylight, to catch the sparkle. Although it's called Slamming red, and my pics make it look a bit reddish, it' not red at all - it's a beautiful deep magenta. :x

Update, 11/2011.: dodala sam dosta thinnera u Slamming red - i dalje podsjeća na masu za fugiranje ali se nanosi puno ljepše i u jednom sloju. Evo i novih swatcheva! (grozni stari su na dnu posta :D)

Update, Nov 2011.: I added some thinner to Slamming red - it still has the texture of tile grout but it's much thinner and easier to apply. This is just one coat. And here are the new swatches! (the dreadful thick old ones are at the bottom of the post :D).

 

 

 

 

 

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OPI Let me entertain you

Moj prvi Burlesque swatch - OPI Let me entertain you!. Znam, znam - sigurno vam je već muka od ove kolekcije, ali što ću kad su moji lakići stigli tek sad. Kako da ga opišem... super-pigmentirani blještavi tamnorozi glass-fleck glitter. Finiš je apsolutno savršen ali nisam baš sigurna da mi se sviđa ova boja, tj. sve njene varijacije. U zatvorenom prostoru je predivna magenta, pod fluorescentnim svjetlom poljubičasti i izgleda kao da su nokti optočeni metalom ali na suncu je baš intenzivno rozi. Sve boje osim ove roze su mi mrak. Ipak, ova boja i finiš savršeni su za zimu - za razliku od, recimo, holografskih lakova koji su bez sunca isprani i bezveze, Let me entertain you izgleda fenomenalno navečer, pod umjetnim svjetlom, u oblačne dane, u magli... možda i u mraku! :D Da je samo malo više ljubičast a manje pink bio bi savršen! Što se tiče nanošenja, ono je lako - malo je rijedak pa treba stvarno dobro obrisati četkicu da ne iscuri u zanoktice i treba nanijeti 3 sloja (ali ja sam za fotkanje stavila 4). Na ovim fotkama izgleda nekako više crveno, nadam se da ću ga kod idućeg nošenja uspjeti poslikati na suncu i dobiti realniju boju. Samo jedna fotka ovaj put, sve su mi ispale isto.

My first Burlesque swatch is of OPI Let me entertain you!. I know, you're probably sick of this collection by now, but I received my two polishes just a few days ago. This finish is fabulous but I'm not quite sure I like the color in all it's variations. Inside, it looks like a beautiful magenta, under fluorescent lighting it looks almost purple and has this metallic quality but in the sun it's just, well - pink. Nonetheless, this color and finish seems perfect for winter. Unlike holographic polishes that look dull when there's no sun, Let me entertain you looks amazing in the evening, under artificial lighting, when it's cloudy, in the fog... maybe even in the dark! :D If only it was more purple and less pink... it would be perfect! Application wise, it's quite OK. It's a little thin so you need a small amount of polish on your brush to avoid flooding your cuticles. It does need 3 coats to avoid VNL (I did four) but it dries fast. In these swatches it looks more red than it is in reality. Hope I'll catch more sun next time I wear it so I can make some decent swatches.

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Something sweet

Nemam swatcheva danas, ali imam nešto slatko...Mama i beba OPI. ;;)
Ugodan vam dan! :)

I didn't make any swatches today, but I have something sweet... Mom and baby OPI. ;;)
Have a nice day! :)

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Nail mail

Još novih lakića! :x (jasno je da je moj no-buy neslavno propao :D ). Transdesign se vratio, što baš nije dobro za moj novčanik ali je bolje od kupovanja po par lakova s Ebaya. OPI Let Me Entertain You!, China Glaze Frosty i OPI Show It And Glow It! (koliko uskličnika, zvuči kao da vičem).

More new polishes... :x (by now, it's pretty clear I had failed at my no-buy attempt miserably :D). Transdesign is back, which isn't so good for my wallet, but it's still better than Ebay. These are OPI Let Me Entertain You!, China Glaze Frosty and OPI Show It And Glow It! (with so many exclamation marks, it sounds like I'm yelling).

I šećer na kraju - Seche Vite. Znam, kvocala sam zbog skupljanja laka (tzv. shrinkagea) i gadnog mirisa ali, nakon što sam bila bez njega gotovo tri tjedna, ostavljena na milost i nemilost očajnim nadlacima iz DM-a, neizmjerno sam ga se oželila! Dobrodošao, najdraži Seche!>:D<

And last, but not the least - Seche Vite. I know, for the past few months I nagged about it's shrinkage and vile smell, but after I ran out of it, left at the mercy of awful topcoats found in local stores for almost three weeks, I started to miss it terribly! Welcome back, dear Seche! >:D<

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Art de Lautrec 07B over Nubar Raspberry truffle

Art de Lautrec 07B je prvi lak koji sam zgrabila kad mi je stigao paketić s Alice & Jo's havesentials, ali imala sam malu nezgodu sa S-he nadlakom, točnije - nadlak mi je "rastopio" lak (gadan prizor koji definitivno nije bio za slikanje :). A budući da je isto smeđi, odlučila sam dodati jedan sloj preko Nubar Raspberry truffle. Što mislite? Čokoladno smeđa + holo, meni paše! ;)  Inače nisam neki obožavatelj kombiniranja više lakova (tzv. layeringa) jer obično izgleda ful debelo na noktima (baš kao i na ovim fotkama) i skidanje je noćna mora ali ipak dobro dođe kad vam dosadi lak a ne da vam se skidati ga. 07B se suši malo mat pa sam ovdje dodala sloj Catrice brzosušećeg nadlaka (OK, brzosušeći baš i nije ali bar je sjajan).

Art de Lautrec 07B was the first polish I tried from my Alice & Jo's havesentials haul, but I had a little accident caused by S-he Top coat - my polish sort of dissolved underneath the top coat (not a pretty sight :) ). Since I already had a brown polish on, I figured I'd slap a coat over Nubar Raspberry truffle. What do you think of the result? Chocolate brown holo - works for me! ;) I'm usually not a big fan of layering - it often looks like I have 6 coats on (like in these pics) and it's a nightmare to remove, but works well when you're bored with a polish and too lazy to remove it. 07B dries a bit matte so I added a coat of Catrice quick-dry top coat (not quick-drying at all btw., but at least it's glossy).

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Nubar Raspberry truffle

Opet sam pretjerala s fotkama, ali tako sam se razveselila kad sam u dnu ladice pronašla ovaj lakić da sam napravila nekih 100 fotki. :D Teške duše sam to srezala na samo šest. Raspberry truffle je čokoladno-smeđi krem lak sa sitnim rozim šljokicama. Njam, kad gledam ove fotke, odmah mi se jede nešto slatko! =P~. U bočici čak izgleda kao duochrome, šljokice se prelijevaju zlatno, ali na mojim noktima se to baš i ne vidi. Ovo su dva sloja, bez nadlaka.

Again, I post way too many pics, but I was so excited to find this beauty in the back of my drawer that I took almost a hundred shots. :D Cutting it down to only six was a hard task. Raspberry truffle is a chocolate-brown creme with small pink glitter particles. I crawe chocolate just by looking at these pics! =P~. In the bottle, it looks like a duochrome - the glitter shifts from pink to gold, but the duochrome isn't visible on my nails. These are two layers, without top coat.

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