Shopping abroad: little Drogas aka Latvian Superdrug haul & mini reviews

Doing my travel beauty products overview I discovered an old picture of a little haul from Riga.

In Latvia and Lithuania, there is a drugstore chain called Drogas, that is the Baltic version of UK's infamous Superdrug chain. As Superdrug, Drogas carries everything from lipsticks to underwear, only with slightly different brands and less discounts. (In some countries the store operates under the name Watson's, but all these stores belong to same international business group, budding business geniuses can find out more here.)

So I did a small haul there, and picked up Superdrug Cranberry and Pomegranate Shower Gel (1.49 LVL or 2.20 euros) & Body Butter (1.99 LVL or 2.85 euros). These smell divinely of pomegranate juice, are both quite moisturising and the body butter sinks into my skin much faster than The Body Shop body butters. The negative side is these contain SLS and paraffinum liquidum, but this does not bother me so much.

I also bought Watson's tweezers (0.99 LVL or 1.40 euros) that are OK, although I expected them to be sharper and double sharpener (0.89 LVL or 1.30 euros) that works super well. The pink crackle polish (1.79 LVL or 2.55 euros) was one I had missing from my Flormar crackle polishes line, review here.

My last purchase that time was InterVion natural fibre hair brush (2.59 LVL 3.70), that became my favourite fast. It detangles and smoothes hair in a second.

I also oggled Essence stand and might or might not gone back to make further aquantance with it :P

What can I say? Next time I'm in Latvia, I'll definitely drop by. As far as I know, the biggest and best Drogas store in Riga is in the Alfa shopping centre on Brivibas iela.

Have you been to Drogas? Do you have it (or Superdrug) at your country? Would you like to hear more about my beauty shopping abroad experiences?

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

UK Superdrug'idest võime siin maailmanurgas vaid unistada, kuid Lätis ja Leedus on olemas Superdrug'iga samasse ärigruppi kuuluv poekett, mis kannab koledat baltipärast nime Drogas.

Ennevanasti oli Eestis sama (kosmeetika)pood Watson'si nime all, aga nüüd kahjuks enam mitte.

Muidugi ei müüda seal sama laia kaubavalikut, mis Superdrug'is, aga üht-teist põnevat siiski leiab. Näiteks on Läti Drogase poed Eestile lähim koht, kus müüakse blogimaailmas kuulsat Essence kosmeetikat. Mind paelusid ka Watsonsi kaubamärgi all pakutavad superodavad (ja täitsa kvaliteetsed!) ilutarvikud. Kindlasti lähen Drogas'e poodi veel.

Kas teie olete Drogas'esse sattunud? Huvitab teid üldse lugeda väljaspool Eestit shoppamisest?

Siiralt teie,
Tolmu Rull

Question Wednesday {Nail Polish Edition}

I discovered this fun tag via Miss L.  This originates from Nykki's Mane Blog. Of course it's already Thursday, but slow life is lux life, you know :) (On that note, I noticed I haven't blogged over a month now. I hope the remaining few readers will forgive me. Sometimes life is just crazy.)

Spa Ritual Dreams Becoming Reality+ Nubar 2010 + China Glaze matte topcoat

Off to the questions.

1. Favourite everyday nail polish colour?
Definitely reds and corals. I just feel so comfy and "me" and not overdone wearing them. I'm just so classic and happy and colourful :P Followed closely by blues and dark blues.

2) Favourite nail polish trends?
Crackle and other interesting topcoats, of course! While everybody else claims that they are so over crackle, I'm SO not over it. Come on, it's a lazy girl's way to turn a plain manicure into interesting one and also hide all those nicks in a second! And crackles come in every colour now. How could you not love them?

3) Acrylics or natural?
Neither. Acrylic nails smell bad and my natural nails break so easily.
I vote for gel nails. I have had them over ten years (yes, it's true!) and will probably continue to have for another ten. It takes a whole post to explain the advantages.

4) Favourite nail polish brand?
I have a few favourites, because my nail polish collection is so big it's virtually forcing my husband out of our bedroom :) My most beloveds are China Glaze, OPI, Alessandro, Eveline, FlorMar, Spa Ritual and Avon.

5) How often do you change your nail polish?
Umm... shame on me, but only once in week :S On toenails too.

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

Yes, I know my nails were slightly grown out while taking the picture :P

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Kuulge, need vastused on päris lihtsad ja keelteoskus tuleb elus kasuks :)

Siiralt teie,
Tolmu Rull

Bye-bye Essie ehk hüvasti Essie!

This post is mostly in Estonian again, because it's about Essie's nail polishes sale being discontinued in Estonia.

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Nojah, nagu lugesite, siis lõpetab BeautyPro Essie küünelakkide maaletoomise. Täna kinnitati mulle BeautyPro'st, et hetkel on käimas lõpumüük, kus iga lakk maksab 3.50 EUR ( muidu poodides 8-9 EUR). Soodusmüügis - 40 % on veel kõik Essie alus- ja pealislakid (neid on võimalik osta ka nn. hulgikoguses suurtes pudelites). 

 Vähemalt Tallinna esindustesse on jäänud müügile valdavalt küll “igavad” roosad, tumepunased ja valged/läbipaistvad lakid, aga näiteks osad sügiskollektsiooni 2010 lakid olid täna veel olemas. Kes toona ilma jäi, siis nüüd on veel võimalus. Soovitan kindlasti tšekkida ka alus- ja pealislakke! Näiteks To Dry For kiirkuivataja-pealislaki kombo tundub mulle väga hea ja praegu imelise hinnaga 3.50 EUR.

Hetkel ei osatud BeautyPro-st öelda, kaua lõpumüük jätkub ning kas edaspidi keegi hakkab Essie't Eestisse maale tooma või ei. See selguvat, kui neil on leping Essie'ga täiesti lõpetatud.

Minul on sellest muutusest kahju, sest Essie lakid meeldisid mulle. Aga nagu klassikud juba ütlesid – we'll always have eBay!

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

* Palun taas vabandust nõmeda pressipildi pärast, aga tahtsin uudise kiiresti teieni tuua ja pilti teha täna õhtul tõesti enam ei jõudnud. 

** BeautyPro'l on hetkel sünnipäevanädal, seega ka palju muid soodustusi. Vaadake soodukaid ja lahtiolekuaegu siit.

I found a dupe! China Glaze Techno dupe!

Today I was randomly looking through some swatches of China Glaze upcoming Electropop collection on Scrangie's blog, when something very familiar caught my eye.  

Hmm ... I already have this polish, I thought checking out a picture of Techno, a silvery glitter polish with small and large holographic glitter pieces. Damn, this is MY MANICURE was my next reaction, when I saw Techno layered over Wicked Style from the same collection (you have to scroll down when looking at Scrangie's swatches, Techno swatches are at the end of the post).

One coat over Orly Belle Of The Ball.

Aren't the polishes and the mani similar? I had this manicure planned for New Year's Eve, but as usual, life was what happened and I ended up  wearing totally different shades. But that's why I have the swatches and pictures ready :)

The polish that could be a twin of Techno is Alix Avien nr.110, a clear base packed with large hexagonal and small round silver holographic glitter particles. (See, even the descriptions are an exact match!) It covers quite smoothly and evenly and the drying time could be described as "normal", as opposed to "superfast".

Techno is actually not a new polish, but a repromote from China Glaze's 50 Specialty Colors collection that was launched in 2009. This is the collection that had Atlantis, Nova and Cosmic for example.

While I don't own Techno (nor are planning to get it), deciding from the picture the differences between these two polishes are minor to my eye. Might be that the Turk has a bit more glitter particles and they might be slightly larger, but surely this is not something to complain about. Both polishes can easily worn by themselves, but look amazing as layering polishes too. 

One coat in the left, two coats on the right.

Alix Avien polishes are sold in Estonia in L-Cosmetics stores. I believe they cost about 3 euros or so. There are some other great holos in their collection.  

I don't engage in determined dupe hunting, but this was fun discovery. Do you do dupe hunting? Have you discovered any good ones?  

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies: 

Vaatasin netist China Glaze uue kevadise Electropop kollektsiooni swatch'e, kui korraga pauh! jõudis mu ajju teadmine, et täpselt selline lakk mul ju on ja täpselt sellist maniküüri kui pildil kavatsesin uusaastapeol kanda. Tuleb välja, et Alix Avien'i lakk nr. 110 ja China Glaze Techno on üsna täpselt ühesugused!

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Burlesque revisited: OPI Simmer and Shimmer, Show It and Glow It and Glow Up Already

These polishes are nothing new – they came out at the end of 2010 as a part of OPI Holiday Burlesque collection. The collection was dedicated to the musical Burlesque with Christina Aquilera and Cher starred as leading characters. While the musical has certainly some nice songs and dances and offers lots of eye-candy to burlesque lovers, it's plot is quite naive and even boring in my opinion. A small town girl becoming a big star and finding love, that's highly unique storyline, eh? So I was much more excited about OPI nail polishes than the actual movie :)

OPI Burlesque collection actually consisted of 12 polishes, six of them were glitter polishes in different hues and the other six were red and orange shimmers. You can see full swatches here.

I really wanted to get my hands at the time this collection came out, but they were quite expensive in Estonia. Regular OPI polish costs 10 euros in Estonia and glitter polishes even more. Besides, my favourite shades of this collection were constantly sold out in eBay shops I frequent. So I decided to postpone the purchase and eventually forgot all about Burlesque polishes.

Simmer and Shimmer, three coats.

When I noticed them in a Douglas store discount bin during my trip to Germany last autumn I was immediately hooked and Simmer and Shimmer, Show It and Glow It and Glow Up Already found their place in my luggage in no time. I was sooo-ooo lucky all three were among my initial favourites! 

Show It and Glow It

All three polishes have multi-colored glitter particles in clear base and can therefore be used as layering polishes too. The quality is OPI-worthily great and seriously sparkly. Achieving opaqueness (as on my swatches) takes three coats and I would certainly use a top coat, as the finish is quite gritty.

Needless to say, I wore them several times during holiday season :)

Glow Up Already

These polishes were 7 euros each and I got some free scent samples with my purchase. Cool! I only wish there would have been more shades from Burlesque collection (especially Sparkle-iscious!) available.

Are you sometimes happy to find your old favourites from bargain bin? Or are you just interested in latest hits and forget all about previous ones?

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

OPI Simmer and Shimmer, Show It and Glow It and Glow Up Already pärinevad 2010. aasta pühadekollektsioonist, kuid minust sai nende õnnelik omanik alles tänavu sügisel kui nad Saksamaalt allahinnatuna müügilt leidsin. 

Kas ka teie olete soetanud mõne ammuihaldatud kosmeetikavidina soodusmüügist, tükk aega pärast seda kui sellest müügihitt sai? Või tunnete huvi ainult parasjagu kõige kuumema kauba vastu?

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull

Flormar Graffiti Nail Enamel polishes: review & a small contest!

Remember, some time ago I promised to show you some interesting crackle polishes? Here they are!

Flormar is a Turkish company and an old favourite of mine. It's very popular in Turkey, but not so widespread elsewhere, including Estonia. But their products are super and these polishes are no exception!

To be fair, I discovered Flormar Graffiti Nails polishes via MyLittleVanities blog. When I learned that they are finally available in Estonia, I just had to go and get them. Actually there are twelve colors in this line, but all of these were not available at the moment.

Just look how bright and beautiful these colours are! Texturewise, different crackle colours differ a bit: some are metallic, some are regularly matte and some are satiny and stay somewhere inbetween. Qualitywise these are a lot better than China Glaze Metallic Crackles: these are a lot easier to apply evenly and the cracks are much more consistent. They also dry very quickly.

I like the bottles too, I think they are fun and beautiful. The paper caps on the bottles will probably be lost soon. But on to the actual swatches:

I think the blue and silvery colours are my favourites and the yellow one is the least favourite. They don't have names, only numbers. I think it's not necessary to mark them down here.

And the promised little contest. You have to guess, what nail polish I'm wearing under these crackles. I want you to guess the company's name and the shade of the polish. The first person to guess correctly will receive a small prize from me! Hint: the prize comes straight from Turkey! Please leave your guesses at the comment section. A small hint for you: this is an extremely popular polish and it was launched this fall :)

The contest is open to all my GFC followers, no matter where in the world you live. New followers and multiple guesses are also allowed!

And a close shot of my nails. Please excuse the regrowth, it was not so visible if not looked through the macro lens. 

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Palun saage tuttavaks Türgi firma Flormar Graffiti Nail Enamel pragunevate lakkide sarjaga. Ma ei hakkagi pikalt heietama: need lakid on suurepärased, China Glaze kräkk-lakkidest oluliselt paremad!

Aga nüüd võistluse juurde! Arvake ära, mis lakk on mu küüntel praolakkide all. Ära on vaja arvata nii tootjafirma kui laki nimi. Esimesele õigele arvajale saadan Türgist toodud auhinna. Arvamused kirjutage palun kommentaaridesse ja ärge unustage seejuures olla ka GFC -followerid. 

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull

Freebies from L'Oreal Paris & L'Or swatches!

In last post I was telling about the freebies I got from L'Oreal makeup workshop. Now I finally picked them up and made some swatches! Here they are.

First, Color Riche Intense lipstick in 387 Ruby Explosion.

This is a very good lipstick: soft, pigmented, non-drying and stays on for hours. Not to mention that the shade is my favourite!

And on my hand. Notice that the tiny shiny particles are not really visible IRL.

On to the nail polish: Resist & Shine Titanium 739 Bronze Goddess. It's slightly thin, so this is four coats. Not really a bronze, is it?

And the making of this swatch. Now you can see why the back part of this nail plate is slightly smudgy :) And you can see my current manicure.

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Siin on värvinäidised (milline kohmakas sõna!) ehk swatch'id L'Oreal Paris koolitusel omandatud toodetest. Lakk on selline so-so, aga huulepulka fännan täiega! Just minu toon ja nii hea koostis ning püsivus! Täh-tähh, L'Oreal!


Siiralt teie,
Tolmu Rull

L'Oreali meigikoolitus Lana Valloga või Lana Vallo meigikoolitus L'Orealiga

I'm very sorry,  this is from Lana Vallo website.

This post is in Estonian only, because it concerns a make up workshop that is held in Estonian I attended last week. If you need more information, please ask!

For my lovely Estonian readers: 

Kas mäletate, paar kuud tagasi kutsuti FB-s inimesi L'Oreal Paris tasuta meigikoolitusele Lana Vallo stuudiosse? Tookord mul osalejate sekka mahtuda ei õnnestunud. Mu imestus oli suur kui eelmise nädala algul sain meili, et olen reedeks kutsutud koolitusele!

Loomulikult ei jätnud ma võimalust kasutamata ja olin määratud ajal Lana Vallo stuudios kohal. Lisaks minule oli tulnud veel kuus tüdrukut. Kahjuks pilte koolitusest pole, sest ei taibanud neid teha.

Lana Vallo meigistuudiosse polnud ma varem juhtunud. See on tegelikult meigistuudioks muudetud suur (stuudio)korter, s.t. avatud planeeringuga katusekorter Pärnu maanteel. Kööginurk ja mõnusad diivanid lisavad hubasust, ent ei tasu lasta end näilikust kodususest ära petta – kerge kardinaga eraldatuna on korteri “südameks” siiski pikk rida kenasti paarikaupa asetatud meigilaudu :)

Enne koolituse algust paluti kõigil osalejail meik maha võtta. Selleks olid laudadele valmis pandud L'Oreali puhastuspiimad ja toonikud. Minul oli meik juba kenasti kodus maha võetud ja nägu kreemitatud, seega jäi kõnealune etapp ära.

Koolituse alguses palus Lana ühe vabatahtliku modelliks ja jagas modelli peal ette näidates ning pabertahvlile kirjutatud märkuste abil põhiteadmisi meigipõhja ja silmameigi tegemisest ning kulmude-põskede-huulte meikimisest. Loomulikult kasutas ja tutvustas ta seejuures L'Oreal Paris tooteid. Pabertahvlile oli valmis joonistatud silmameigi skeem, mille põhjal valmis ka koolitusmeik. Etteruttavalt võib küll öelda, et sõltuvalt silmakujust ja värvivalikust tuli igal tüdrukul meik isesugune :D

Seejärel avanes igaühel võimalus vastomandatut praktikas proovida. Esimese sammuna aitasid Lana ja tema abiline valida sobiva jumestuskreemi L'Oreal Paris True Match jumestuskreemide seast, keegi vist proovis ka True Match mineraalmeiki ja Infallible jumestuskreemi.

Esmalt kandsime igaüks omal käel peale praimeri Studio Secrets Professional Resurfacing Primer ja tegime meigipõhja. Kas teadsite, et True Match Liquid jumestuskreemil on kolm erinevate tähistustega alaliini: W (warm ehk soe kollakale nahale), C (cold ehk külm roosakale nahale ja N (neutral ehk neutraalne neile, kes jäävad sooja ja külma vahepeale)? Mina ei teadnud. True Match jumestuskreem jättis mulle üllatavalt hea mulje: toon C2 sobis üsna täpselt mu Mac NC15 nahatooniga ja oli väga mõnus peale kanda. True Match kattis väiksemad iluvead ära, kuid seejuures mõjus nahal äärmiselt loomulikuna. Ainus väike etteheide oleks, et pärast 3-4 tundi nahal muutus mu nahk üsna läikivaks, kuid seda juhtub mul paljude jumestuskreemidega. Samas on kindlasti tegu väga hea jumestuskreemiga ja kui ma peaks kunagi vajama uut jumestuskreemi, siis ma kindlasti kaaluks selle ostmist.

Peitekreemina kasutasime True Match Touche Magique Concealer'it, nii silma all kui mujal. Eraldi peitekat vistrike jaoks L'Orealil polnud. Samuti tuli tolmpuudri asemel meigi kinnitamiseks kasutada True Match kompaktpuudrit, mille toonide numeratsioon vastab samuti True Match jumestuskreemide omale (nagu ka Touche Magique toonide numeratsioon). See häiris mind veidi, kuna olen juba aastaid kasutanud tolmpuudrit ja olen veendunud, et kompaktpuuder sobib pigem meigi värskendamiseks.

Nüüd oli käes põskede ja silmade kord. Silmade värvimiseks oli igaühe laual suur kosmeetikakott erinevate toodetega, mille seast valida, ja pintslikomplekt Real Techniques Starter Set by Samantha Chapman.

Need pintslid ei meeldinud mulle üldse! Ilmselt olen harjunud paremaid kasutama:D Kulmupintsel oli liiga suur, see, mida Samantha Chapman nimetab Accent Brush liiga väike ja ebamugava kujuga ja üleüldse olid need pintslid kuidagi liiga pehmed ja libedad. Põsepunapintsel oleks minu arvates kõlvanud rohkem puudri jaoks, põsepuna tarvis oleksin soovinud väiksemat ja täpsemat pintslit. Minu arvates Real Techniques pintslid pigem loopisid värvi laiali kui seda laule kandsid. Ainsana saab mult armu Base Shadow brush, mida kasutasin silmakoopa rõhutamiseks ja värvide hajutamiseks. Samas saan aru, et need ongi ainult hajutuskomplekitidena mõeldud ega peagi erilist professionaalsust pakkuma.

Minu arvates on odavamatest pintslitest näiteks elf Studio sarja pintslid oluliselt täpsemad ja annavad parema kontrolli oma tegevuse üle. Mac'i jt. heade firmade pintslitest muidugi rääkimata. Aga eks see maitse ja harjumuse asi ole. Igatahes minust jääb see komplekt küll nüüd pärast proovimist poodi. Kes veel on kõnealusele koolitusele minemas ja harjunud kvaliteetseid pintsleid kasutama, soovitan oma pintslikomplekti kaasa võtta!

Palusin Lanal valida mulle silmameigitoonid ja teha ühe silma minu peal oma käega. Lana valis minu rohelistele silmadele ja heledatele juustele kombinatsiooni tumesinisest, hallikast sinisest ja kahest beežikast toonist (Smoky Blue Duo Eyeshadow 22 ja Star Secrets Quad Pro Eyeshadows 333 Freida Pinto). Ise ma poleks iial endale meigiks tumesiniseid toone valinud, aga see tegigi asja põnevaks minu jaoks :D Lõppude lõpuks läksingi koolitusele ju selleks, et midagi uut ja huvitavat (enda kohta) teada saada.

Tulemus sai ülimalt kena, ehkki igapäevaselt nii tugevat meiki ma ei kanna. Kuigi koolituse eesmärk oli õpetada pigem (kergemat) päevameiki, siis minu meik päevameik küll enam ei olnud, vähemalt mitte minu jaoks. Tulemus oli pigem rohkem modern smoky eye liinis :P

Pärast silmade valmissaamist korrigeerisin veelkord põsepuna, panin kergelt värvi kulmudele ja roosat läiget huuletele: Glam Shine 6H toonis 106 Forever Young. Leidsin endale ka uue mõnusa huulepliiatsi Contour Parfait toonis 656 Honey.

Pooleteise tunniga oli kõik valmis. Tehnika polnud iseenesest raske, aga mõni kogenematum pliks jäi vist küll veidi jänni. Mina sain aja piires võimaluse veel L'Oreal Paris erinevaid tooteid näppida ja Lanale hulgaliselt küsimusi esitada, ent lahkusin siiski ligi tunni enne kolmetunnise koolituse lõppu. Ma arvan, et ma uudishimuliku ilublogijana esitasin rohkem küsimusi kui kõik ülejäänud tüdrukud üldse kokku. Ja Lana oli väga lahke vastama!

Lahkudes sai igaüks kaasa kingikotikese. Minu kotikeses oli imekena tomatipunane huulepulk Ruby Explosion 387 kollektsioonist L'Or ja kuldne küünelakk 739 Bronze Goddess samast kollektsioonist. Mis teistel oli, ma ei tea, ehk samad asjad. Huulekas on tõesti hea: niisutav, kauapüsiv ja ideaalne toon minusuguse edeva blondiini jaoks!

Need olid minu kingikotis :)

See oli üks vahva koolitus, vaatamata asjaolule, et igapäevases meigis kasutan tegelikult keerulisemaid tehnikaid ja rohkem tooteid. Ka läks Lana õpetus veidi vastuollu tehnikatega, millega mina olen harjunud. Aga oli värskendav näha teist vaatenurka ja õppida tundma l'Oreal Paris tootevalikut. Uskuge või mitte – täna töistele kohtumistele minnes on mu silmadel üsna intensiinve tumesinine meik!

Suur tänu L'Orealile ja Lana Vallole toreda koolituse eest. Kui võimalik, osaleks teinekordki!

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull

P.S. Kes ostis Cherry.ee voucheri Lana Vallo koolitusele, siis Lana ütles, et see tuleb põhimõtteliselt samasugune. Ainult et Jane Iredale ja TheBalm toodetega. Ja võtke fotokas kindlasti kaasa!

Catrice Iron Mermaiden NOTD

When I first saw this polish in the store, I thought: “Ha, this is one of the polishes people buy for the name only!” I didn't think much of the color there and then and even considered passing it by. But I somehow bought it anyway, must have been the name, the name...

Turns out I was completely wrong about Iron Mermaiden. Yes, the name is hilarious, but it is not the best thing about this polish! I really like the multichrome effects this polish has! In the bottle it looks as if it were a kind of dark grey with some green-blue reflections, but once on the nail it becomes dark lilac with tiny sparkles instead. Yet it manages to reflect dove grey and metallic green at the same time! 

The multichrome effect is unusually strong. All in all I find the polish very elegant on my nails. 

The only downside of this polish is that it is very thin and requires at least three coats to get a decent result. I did four coats. Fortunately this Mermaiden goes on smoothly and is rather quick to dry.

I bought it from one of the DrogerieMarkt stores in Germany. It cost me 1.75 euros.

Unfortunately Catrice is not being sold in Estonia. Now I'm a bit mad at myself I didn't take a closer look at their polishes while in Germany.

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Saksa firma Catrice küünelakk toonis Iron Mermaiden (ha!) valmistas mulle tõelise üllatuse. Pudelis tagasihoidlikult hallikana paistnud lakk on küüntel imekaunis sirelililla, mis erinevas valguses peegeldab ka halli ja rohelist...

Kahju, et Catrice tooteid Eestis ei müüda. Järgmisel korral Saksamaal olles revideerin nende letti hoolsamalt :)

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull

A NOTD with China Glaze Tarnished Gold

When I saw China Glaze Metallic Crackles on sale at the Estonian beauty trade show, I wanted to try these at once.

I decided to try Tarnished Gold at first and pair it with black polish to go with my black sweater dress. I shopped my stash for the black polish and thought for a moment that I didn't own one. Fortunately I found this ArtDeco one I had completely forgotten about.

To add some interest, I did one accent nail on each hand, trying to reverse the colors. I think that went well. Although Tarnished Gold shatter and China Glaze Midnight Kiss from 2010 holiday collection are not complete dupes, they are close enough to work together with the shatter. Midnight Kiss is a bit yellower and lighter than Tarnished Gold.

The black shatter is from Turkish company Alix Avien. Alix Avien polishes are being sold in L-Cosmetics stores in Estonia, but the shatters are not available here. I bought it from Istanbul last year. It cost arould eur 2. I really like it's quality and have used it a lot.

The quality of Tarnished Gold was a not so nice surprise to me. I found it quite hard to work with, because I had to be extremely careful with the application. If the layer of polish was too thick, the crackles were too big and it clumped. If the layer was too thin, the crackles came out tiny, almost invisible. I had to re-do several nails because of that. I think there are better options out there, but it's still a beautiful polish. I paid eur 4.20 or 4.50 for it.

Here are the polishes I used: (L to R) China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat, China Glaze Midnight Kiss, Alix Avien Nail Deco black cracle polish, ArtDeco black High Gloss Nail Polish number 39, China Glaze Tarnished Gold Metallic Crackle. I didn't use any base coat, as gel nails don't need it really.

Sincerely Yours,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian beauties:

Nagu olen juba kirjutanud, nägin China Glaze metalliktoonides pragunevaid lakke müügil ilumessil. Loomulikult tahtsin neid kohe proovida ja otsustasin kuldse tooniga Tarnished Gold laki paari panna esmalt mustaga. Et asi põnevam oleks, tegin kummalegi käele ka ühe aktsentküüne vastupidise värvide paigutusega, kasutades põhjana China Glaze lakki Midnight Kiss ja pragunevat Alix Avieni musta lakki (Eestis minuteada ei müüda).

Kuigi toonid pole 100 % sarnased, jäin tulemusega rahule. Rahule ei jäänud aga Tarnished Gold lakiga, mida kasutades tuleb väga ettevaatlik olla, et lakikiht saaks õige paksusega. Muidu ei jää tulemus ilus, praod tulevad kas liiga laiad või kitsad. Seega, Tarnished Gold lakki ma soetada ei soovita. On palju parema kvaliteediga ja soodsamaid pragunevaid lakke. Ka metalliktoonides.

Siiralt Teie,

Tolmu Rull