Funfetti 4 Life.

It’s not just plain ol’ vanilla. I guarantee you that, in a blind taste test, I could detect the true Funfetti out of a selection of French vanilla, vanilla, white cake and yellow cake samples.

Funfetti is different. Funfetti is… special. There’s just something about that trademark treat when you bite or slice into it… pale, fluffy cake with cheerful dots of color.

Two nibbles to paradise. (Photo from Kitchen Adventures)

Over the past decade or so, “cake batter,” “cupcake,” and “birthday” flavored and scented things have become increasingly popular. I’ve seen lotion, perfume, candles, frozen yogurt, ice cream and more, all made to smell like cake.

It occurred to me that, out of all the cakes you can make or buy, Funfetti is the epitome of all things cakey. And here’s why.

Funfetti is cake-batter flavored cake. And it’s deliciousss.

Funfetti cheesecake pops! (Photo from Bakers Royale)

Funfetti Cake Batter PIE! (From Gingerbread Angels; click image for recipe)

Whoa whoa whoa... Funfetti PANCAKES?!

I’m usually very strict about my cake… I like to bake from scratch BUT I make an exception from time to time for Funfetti. When I do whip some up, I compensate by making a homemade frosting; either rich milk chocolate, or an angelically pink vanilla.

Pretty and pink. I make mine using Sprinkles' Vanilla Frosting recipe and some food coloring. Piece of cake!

It was with pink vanilla Funfetti cupcakes in mind that I crafted the glitter manicure you’re about to see.  I was also inspired by a recent purchase — Essie’s Matte About You. I’ve been contemplating matte top coats for a while now, and my online research confirmed that Essie’s formula creates the best matte finish.

I love when frosting completes the transformation from fresh and shiny to that final stage when it has “set” with a thin, slightly crisp, somewhat matte shell or crust. Toothsome! A matte top coat would be the perfect finishing touch.

My ingredients. From left: Essie Matte About You Top Coat, Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat, Essie Guchi Muchi Puchi, OPI Alpine Snow and Milani Gem FX.

Well, nothing ever goes as planned, now does it. I started off great, but then my Milani FX went crazy on me and began really cranking out the glitter. I prefer the pinky and ring finger.

Here's the Funfetti Mani, indirect sunlight.

And here's Funfetti Mani, bright morning rays.

I LOVED the matte top coat. Its effect on glitter is revolutionary. The best way to describe it is this: normal glitter is like the shiny side of aluminum foil. Glitter with a matte topcoat over it is like the dull side of the foil; it lacks the gleam and shine, but has luster. It glows.

My very favorite nail. White speckled Funfetti cake; creamy pink frosting tip and festive glitter.

Want more desserty nail trends? Help yourself! There’s plenty to go around. And if you’ve got some desserty nails to share, send them to us! We’d love to post them.

definepolishment@gmail.com

xxo, GLOSS

TheScarletroom mustard chiffon work blouse, F21 faux leather miniskirt, ASOS claw ring.

I’m totally in love with the mustard colour of this blouse, the way the sleeves flow, and the stud detailing. I also didn’t know that the buttons had such a pretty filigree detail until I picked it up from the TSR office.

Oh, and I was wearing my River Island leather brogues that day but I can’t fit my legs into the bathroom mirror.

Here’s a crappy picture of my manicure, too:

OPI Stranger Tides from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection, with Essie Matte About You topcoat.

I think I should do a nail polish collection update soon. Bought a few more polishes recently and also attended a Sally Hansen nail art workshop 2 weeks ago!

Step 1: After applying a base coat, paint nails with OPI-Mod About You. Make sure the colour is fully opaque and no nail is showing through underneath (roughly 3 coats). Before moving on to the next step, make sure the nail is completely dry. The first time we tried this we only waited about 5 mins and the polish peeled right off.

Step 2: Cut strips of the crossword puzzle roughly the size of each of your nails. Pour the rubbing alcohol into a small bowl or shot glass, you don’t need much at all. Place cut out strips in the rubbing alcohol for a few seconds, pull out quickly and press directly on nail. Hold the strip for about 10seconds on the nail, going over the edges to ensure the ink has transferred.

Step 3: Complete on the rest of nails – the ink from the newspaper paper will not be perfect for each nail. We redid the ring finger because it moved when we were applying. We like this nail art best with faded edges and missing colour spots to give it a more aged feel.

Step 4: Once all of your nails are complete, wait about 10mins for the ink to settle in the polish before applying any top coat. Because we are working with ink, it can drag and smudge if you apply your top coat too soon. We used Essie – Matte About You, it’s a perfect flat finish and mimics the texture of the newspaper. This is a fun idea for your nails and you can experiment with different things you find in your local paper. Sudoku nails? Peanuts nails? We love them all. This nail art does take a little practice/patience, but after some trail and error it can become a quick go-to mani.

Matte-tacular!

thesparklequeenjolene:

Here I used a black base coat of sinful colors “whats your name” and from the Milani jewel FX collection I painted random confetti gems.  I then sealed it with a matte top coat- my new fav- Essie, “Matte About You”

Buying a matte top coat is definitely the way to go. It’s less expensive than buying matte colors because you can mattify any color you already own rather than repurchasing colors. It’s also a lot easier to work with; matte polishes dry quickly, which makes an even manicure difficult. Because this top coat dries so quickly, make sure the previous coat is completely dry to avoid any sticky-on-the-bottom issues. I think dark colors (navys, deep purples, dark grays, etc.) look best matte, but this polish is fun, so experiment with it. You can still use a traditional top coat under this if you’re concerned about chipping.

The downside to this is that after a day or two, some shine will return to the polish. I don’t fully understand the scientific properties of matte technology, so I can’t explain this phenomenon other than to guess that lotion could be part of the issue. Just top your tips with another coat when shininess rears its head, and you’ll be back to matte on no time flat. I don’t know if there are any other matte top coats that are better at combatting shininess because this is the first matte top coat I’ve tried. I’ll probably try butter LONDON’s next, though, to see if it keeps nails matte longer.

Am I happy with this product? Yes. Is it everything I ever wanted in a matte top coat? Not quite. That’s OK, though. It’s worth every penny of the $8 I spent on it.

This time I thought I’d try it with Essie Matte About You on it and it kind of frosted it up a bit too much, I need to find a Matte that has a little less of an effect for some of my polishes…

I went to put a clear coat back over it so it wouldn’t be so frosty and I was missing my stamping stuff so much, so I got my stuff out and stamped some stars on with China Glaze Adore.

Then I was happy!!

There is a brand they carry called SpaRituals, that I was extremely excited to try because I always hear great things about the brand.  they also have Essie, OPI, Nicole by OPI and some others.

Here is what I got… sorry these are quick not so good pics!

Heres all of them!!

OPI -Houston we have a Purple, OPI- Shorts Story, OPI- Sparkle-icious, OPI- Just groovy, Essie- Pink Parka, Essie- Matte about you, SpaRitual- Primitive, SpaRitual- Crystal Eyes, SpaRitual- Hypnotic, SpaRitual- Ilume and an extra Seche Vite top coat.

Heres some more close pics of all the colors with and with out flash, enjoy!

Pictures to be posted soon of these beauties on me!!

P.S. Happy Fathers Day!

x0x PinkGlitter

As the blog post title states, I spent money this week. A lot of money this week. It was AWESOME. Now the money is gone and I’m paying for my Subway salads with dimes again. Yaaay. ::sarcasm::

I took a wonderful little trip into Sally Beauty Supply with my buddies Paul and Alyssa and picked up four more China Glazes as part of Sally’s 2 for $10. Then, during an expedition to Walgreen’s (had to find one that carries Essie.) I grabbed an Essie polish and restocked on the brand new nail care basics. Pictures, swatches and review below! All swatches are two coats, no topcoat, no basecoat.

Dorothy Who?: A medium blue with silver and dark blue glitter. Application was amazing, even for a glitter. It just fell into where I wanted it to go. Beautiful! As with a lot of glitters, it’s very rough to the touch, but a nice coat of Seche Vite, or your favorite top coat, as long as it’s thicker. This is only two coats, no topcoat though. You can see the roughness.

Four Leaf Clover: Now, this one didn’t photograph right. Four Leaf Clover is a highly pigmented kelly green. It’s vibrant, it’s turf-tastic, it’s gorgeous. I’m not a green fan, in fact, when I post my nail wheels, you’ll see I have a whopping total of THREE green nail polishes. I don’t have anything against greens, I just don’t like how they look on my skin. But this I will wear over an over. Application was a breeze, although it did get kind of draggy. I fully blame that on the swatch wheel and the fact that there was no basecoat.

Summer Rain: How pretty! I have a necklace that is gold and coral colored pearls that I was wearing while shopping. I saw that this polish matched my necklace exactly. So I had to have it. =D The color of this is slightly more pink than this picture shows off. It’s a very coral-y color indeed. It’s shimmery, very shimmery. This pictures shows a purple flash, but I haven’t seen it off camera yet. Application was alright, it’s very sheer, so you’ll need three coats for it to be completely opaque. A very pretty color, but not one of my favorites.

Ruby Pumps: How pretty! This is a gorgeous deep red glitter. I don’t have much to say about this one. Just click on the picture and stare. It was completely opaque in two coats, finishes bumpy, as any glitter does. A coat of Seche Vite will do nicely.

Nice Is Nice:This amazing lavender pastel creme is from Essie’s A French Affair Spring 2011 Collection. While it took me until just now to figure out that the name isn’t Nice Is Nice, it’s NEECE is Nice. Like the French city. That’s how slow I am. Application was super streaky and uneven for the first coat, but was perfect and completely opaque with the second. This is my spring color. This is my jam. So happy. Love love love this polish.

The Bottom Line?
I don’t know if it’s the spring feeling in the air, but I’m loving Four Leaf Clover and Nice is Nice. Dorothy Who is amazing, but maybe is for Winter or deep into Summer. I don’t know… DW and Ruby Pumps just aren’t as fantastic to me right now. But every single person needs Four Leaf Clover and Nice is Nice. They’re colors you just need.

Sinful Colors in “Let’s Meet”
(Three coats. No top coat. No base coat.)
This polish should definitely be used with a base coat. It’s pigmented, but sheer at the same time because it isn’t very thick. I used three coats, but if I would have used a base coat or a ridge filler I think two coats would due the color justice.

Design Sampler:
Pointer: Tiger StripesMiddle: Gold and Black Scales
Ring: Leopard/Cheetah
Pinky: Matte (Coated with Essie’s “Matte About You”)

Soo excited, I got my Essie ‘Matte About You’ polish in the post today! I did a design that was party inspired by some stuff I saw over at WAH NAILS BLOG who are amaaaaazing by the way! I can’t wait to visit the salon! I got a tweet from them today saying that they liked my nail art, which put a smile on my face! What do you think of the latest design then? I know matte is getting really popular among at the moment so it’s only right that I join the fashion bandwagon on this one! I used Barry M’s ‘Grey’ for the base and Barry M’s ‘Coral’ for the stripe, using a thin art brush. Some of the top coat on the shiny side spilled over, so I’m gonna be more careful with that next time!

Oh, I Also got my Konad set today. I’m not very impressed to say the least. It’s ok, but either I need to get more design plates or I’m too attached to free hand because it just didn’t grab me. It wasn’t difficult, I just didn’t think it looked that great. I’m gonna see if I can come up with some interesting things to do with it, then maybe I’ll do some posts about it.

Can the Konad experts share any tips??

I’m sporting OPI Baby It’s “Coal” Outside! from last years Christmas collection “Holiday In Toyland”. I thought it would be fitting to wear this on Christmas Day, since it’s from the Christmas collection and all. This polish has lots and lots of silver microglitter in what I would call a jelly-ish black base. It’s totally gorgeous on its own, but after seeing Michelle’s post on the Orly Metal Chic Metallic Matte Collection, I got an idea. She’s comparing Orly Iron Butterfly w/shiny topcoat to Baby It’s “Coal” Outside, so I wanted to turn it around and put a matte topcoat on “Baby” to see if it looked like Iron Butterfly.

Let’s see how it turned out, shall we?
First pic is taken without flash under lamp light, second pic is taken indoors with flash.

While matte “Baby” is a lot darker than IB, and the glitter isn’t as pronounced, I still think it looks really great with a matte topcoat! This cements my opinion about matte polishes vs. matte topcoats. I think it’s so much more reasonable to use my regular polishes with a matte topcoat instead of buying a lot of matte polishes that I probably will get tired of in a while anyway.

The formula on this one is really good, because it’s a jellyish base you need to build it, but three coats are more than enough to get opacity. I even think I’m starting to get used to OPI’s wide brushes, because I didn’t have to do any cleanup here, ladies and gentlemen!

What do you think? Do you buy matte polishes, or are you a matte topcoater like me? Or don’t you like matte polishes at all?

Thanks for stopping by, see you later!

Além das cores, uma das grandes vantagens destas marcas americanas, é o fato de serem anti-alérgicas, já que as marcas nacionais não investem muito neste tipo de produto.  Minha opinião é que, para quem realmente tem algum tipo de reação alérgica, isso é ótimo, mas para quem não tem (eu!) isto se torna uma desvantagem, pois acho que estes esmaltes não tem uma cobertura e acabamentos tão bons quanto os esmaltes comuns. Algumas manicures que conversei concordam comigo e ainda disseram que é até mais difícil de aplicar, já que as vezes tem que passar 3 mãos para que o esmalte não fique cheio de falhas, criando dificuldades na secagem. Outra desvantagem é o preço… se aqui compramos um bom e velho Colorama por R$2,00 (aliás, sempre que quero deixar fluir meus ímpetos consumistas e estou sem dindim, eu compro esmaltes!) lá estes esmaltes estão na faixa de US$ 8,00. Entre estas duas marcas de esmalte, a minha preferida é a Essie, tanto pelas cores quanto pela qualidade.

Nem só de arco-íris vive a próxima estação… Além dos tons fluo, os nudes estão com tudo. Recém lançado pela Risqué, o Capuccino da coleção Arábia surgiu em parceria com Reinaldo Lourenço. Notem que o objetivo é realmente reproduzir o tom da pele, nada a ver com o Nude da Colorama, que puxa para o rosa antigo. O Arábia (cinza) e o Menta (verde) também estão em alta. Outras cores bem interessantes  com a mesma proposta do Capuccino são o Doce de Leite (mais clarinho), Rosé (mais natural) e o Chic Pele (também clarinho, mas mais rosado) da Colorama. Da Impala tem o Gaivota, parecido com o Doce de leite.

Uma última dica… O site da OPI tem um simulador de cores muito bom, onde a pessoa escolhe a cor da pele, o tamanho da unha, e por fim a cor do esmalte. É só ir no menu “Nail colors” e em “All OPI colors”.  Adoro os nomes das cores!

Pessoalmente eu prefiro ficar de fora de cores mais extravagantes, como os amarelos, laranja neon e azul royal. Mas o que mais me agrada é a grande quantidade de rosas, pinks, fúcsias e vemelhos disponíveis, mesmo os mais abertos e chamativos. Agora, por exemplo, estou com um pink bem legal da Avon, porém acho que a qualidade do esmalte da marca deixa a desejar.

Essie sent over some awesome manicure step-by-step instructions yesterday, and we thought we’d share the wealth! Essie’s Matte About You Matte Nail Finisher has made matte polish so easy, and now it makes nail art even easier! Here’s how to get these great looks!

* For these layered looks, wait about 2 minutes between applying each layer! *

1.  Glossy Nail with Matte Tip:  Apply base coat and polish normally, then coat entire nail with glossy top coat like Essie Good to Go!.  Carefully apply Matte About You to nail tips from side to side in a semicircular shape.  (Or use nail guides to get the perfect tip!)

2.  Matte Nail with Glossy Tip: Apply base coat and polish normally, then coat entire nail with a thin layer of Matte About You.  Carefully apply Good to Go! to nail tips as described above.

3.  Glossy Nail with Matte Moon & Tip: Apply base coat and polish normally, then coat entire nail with a thin layer of a glossy top coat like Essie Good to Go!  Using the edge of a nail polish brush, apply Matte about You to the bottom third of the nail in a crescent shape.  Carefully apply Matte About You to nail tips.

4.  Matte Nail with Glossy Moon & Tip: Apply base coat and polish normally, then coat entire nail with a thin layer of Matte About You.  Using the edge of a nail polish brush, apply Good to Go! to the bottom third of the nail in a crescent shape.  Carefully apply Good to Go! to nail tips.

Have fun!  Let us know how your nails turn out!

Nekoliko puta sam otkinula nokat (ili dva) pokusavajuci otvoriti vrata od auta. Kako je to moguce, pitate se vi. Veoma moguce, ako je suditi po meni. Jednostavno rucica isklizne iz ruku i hopala, otkinem par noktiju. Jos nekoliko nesrecnih slucajeva- dok sam vadila mobilni iz uskog dzepa, dok sam u prolazu udarila rukom u zid… posao da ni ne spominjemo. I skoro uvek se to desi na pola nokta, preko mesa. Svi u glas- ouch!!! Do sada bi u takvim situacijama jednostavno pokusala odseci ostatak nokta koliko-toliko normalno i trpiti bol dok nokat ne izraste.

E, ne vise! Kako, pitate se? Dve reci- silk wrap. Sta je silk wrap? Najjednostavnije receno-  komadici svile koji se koriste kao neka vrsta vestackog nokta ili pomagala, da se tako izrazim. Mogu se koristiti za nadogradnju vestackog nokta ili samo za popravljanje prirodnog kada je napuknut ili slab. Mnogi misle da je bolje i lakse od gela ili akrila (tako se kaze, zar ne? haha) jer je fleksibilno, mnogo tanje, lakse za koristiti, jeftinije itd. Moze se, kao sto sam pomenula, koristiti kada nokat napukne, da mu se pruzi prilika da izraste.

Postoje vec iseceni (pre-shaped/pre-cut) ili u jednom komadu, zaista nema neke vece razlike jer bi svakako trebali odseci u skladu sa svojim noktima. Verujem da ga mnoge profesionalne marke imaju u svojoj ponudi, i ne bi trebao biti skup. Ja licno imam Supernail professional swiss silk.

Sve je to divno i bajno, ali sta ako nemamo gde da kupimo to cudo, ili nam nokat napukne pre nego sto ga uspemo nabaviti?! Citala sam (ali ne i probala) da se bez mnogo problema mogu koristiti i vrecice caja (isecete komadic) kao i filtera za kafu. Ne verujem da je izdrzljivo kao silk wrap ali moze da posluzi.

Ok, zvuci dobro, ali smotana sam za te stvari, kako da to sama uradim? I sama sam mislila da je to sigurno lakse zamisliti nego stvarno uraditi, ali sam se prevarila.Nije tesko uopste! Uverite se i sami-

Potrebno-

~Silk wraps

~Lepak za nokte (nail glue ili nail rasin)

~Turpija za nokte (mislim da je najlakse sa spuzvastom kockastom)

~Makazice

~Napuknuti nokat (ha-ha GEF ala si ti zanimljiva, ha-ha! )

Predstavljam vam moj uzasni nokat (Moram reci da zbog slabe svetlosti izgleda zuci nego sto jeste, ali to nije ni bitno). Ovo crno preko nokta je tu gde je pukao. (crno je zbog laka koji sam imala kada se to desilo). Puknuo je i na cosku, ali to me nije toliko zabrinulo jer to vrlo lako mogu skratiti. Ovo po sred nokta jedino mogu eliminisati ako otkinem nokat do kraja.  Ne, hvala, danas nisam planirala otkidanje sopstvenog nokta!

Alat-

Prvo izmerim koliko mi je potrebno da pokrije pukotinu (i da pokrije jos okolo). Moze se staviti na ceo nokat, ali meni je lakse ovako.

Ovaj sw je malcice samolepljiv sa jedne strane, pa se moze lepo staviti da ne sklizne dok se lepak ne namaze-

Namazala sam jedan tanji sloj lepka preko (btw ovaj lepak ubija, oci pocinju suziti tako da preporucujem da ovo radite pored prozora)-

U medjuvremenu sam odsekla i isturpijala visak nokta…

I namazala jos jedan sloj lepka-

Kada se lepak skroz osusio, turpijala sam ne bi li izgledalo sto ravnije. Priznajem da sam bila lenja sinoc, tako da nisam turpijala dovoljno, ostalo je predebelo i poprilicno vidljivo, ali nema veze. Moze se isturpijati opet kad god pozelite.

Silk wrap spasava dan! Sada se moze sasvim normalno lakirati, skidati lak itd. Aceton (pogotovo ako je onaj cistiji aceton) ce vremenom da topi lepak ali nece od jednog skidanja laka sigurno nista da bude.

I za kraj sam nalakirala nokte (veoma brzo, verujte! Vec je bilo 2 ujutru!)

Orly Enchanted forest (iz nove jesenjske kolekcije Once upon a time) sa Essie matte about you top coat.

Sledeci dan (Sjajnije izgleda, verovatno zbog kreme itd)-

Iako obozavam mat finish, moram priznati da enchanted forest izgleda lepse sam.

To bi bilo to za danas, nadam se da ce vam ovaj prvi post iz “uradi sam” kategorije biti koliko- toliko koristan ili zanimljiv. Saljem cmokice svima. Do sledeceg citanja *ovde bi trebala biti neka zanimljiva i kjut recenica, ali se nicega ne mogu setiti. Morate mi pomoci da sklopim neki slogan *