Comparison between Jordana Pop Art and L.A. Colors Art Deco

Hi, today I'm comparing the black fine liners from Jordana Pop Art -Black Mark and L.A. Colors Art Deco - Black. Both of them is what I consider creme which is the best fine liner formula since it often covers like a one coater.

If you're interested in more comparison between fine liners I've earlier have made a huge comparison and swatch post including 25 bottles in this link;  Large fine liner/striper nail art polish swatch guide
I really recommend you to check it out if you're in the mood of getting your self some fine liners. :)

Jordana Pop Art -Black Mark
6 ML
Mixing ball - yes

L.A. Colors Art Deco - Black
7,5 ML
Mixing ball - no

As you can see from the picture comparing the brushes, L.A. Colors Art Deco might have a slightly thinner brush, at least it's equal thin all the way while Jordana Pop Art seems brush seems to be thicker on the non painting end of them. However I believe that the difference is not enough to make a larger difference. I'd also like to note that my Jordana Pop Art is much newer than the L.A. Colors Art Deco and the formula is a bit thinner. I always find fine liners to be too thin when they're newly bought, making the color less opaque. Often I let them open with the cap to make the formula slightly thicker, ie perfect. However I always keeps it in that "thickness" and thin it when it gets too thick, because making nail art is a precision thing, and both too thin or too thick easily ruins nail art. I prefer to thin mine with acetone since it's the cheapest and easiest.

My conclusion is that I find them equally good and I'd go for the one with the best price or is on the same site as other favorite polishes are at.

For a bonus I also wanted to show you  BK nail art color, picture above, which I've bought through ebay. I bought the white color and it's actually the best white fine liner I've used, mainly because it's a true one coater and I also like that the brush is fairly short. If painting this white on a black base, it stays white and doesn't go "off white" or look light gray or something like that. The short brush make small precision painting much easier. I like this white one better than both Jordana Pop Art's and L.A. Colors Art Deco's white creme fine liners. The downside of BK nail art color is that it's only 5ML and that the brush is slightly thicker than the other two, however it's very high precision. 

Hope you nail art lovers (like Natalia who asked me about this) appreciates this post! :) If you have any questions, go ahead and ask!

My different Union Jack flag nail art's

I figured that since I like the look of the flag of UK so much and since I've made three times before I figured that I'd show all three of them in the same post! :)

I actually can't decide which one I like the most since they're all so different and with different expressions. If you want to watch the full post, click each photo to get there. :)

One thing is for sure; I'll probably make more of these union jack nail art's in the future.. ;)

needme PARIS Nail Polish

I showed you guys a needme PARIS Nail Polish yesterday and during my time writing my blog I've showed some more of them so I figured I'd show everyone of all of the ones I got in one post for you to see. :)

As I mentioned before this is a budget brand bought from ebay and I've bought them from £0,99-£1.39.
The photos belove are clickable so if you want additional information about each you can check that post out.

The green one above was the first one I bought and also the one which turned out to be the best.

 A cold nuance of yellow creme above.

Above is a bright neon jelly orange. Since it's so sheer being a jelly I've used it in nail arts in gradients and such as the photo to the left.

Above is a nude nuance, maybe it could be called a pastel orange?

Above I want you to look at the brown. I sadly don't have any better swatch of it, but it's a light warm brown shiny creme looking like nougat.

Above is a glitter polish in a clear base.

 In the above manicure It's both the yellow and the pink. I've actually not used the pink more than here as sponged. But I think I should since it's a nice bubble gum pink colored creme.

Here are the ones I've got except for two more, the green and the glitter one showed in this post.

My nail art stuff - part 1, rhinestones part 2

At Saturday I started to show my nail art stuff and I'm continuing now, with part two of rhinestones. Much of the fact in the previous post and this post, and upcoming posts might be things that's obvious for some but hopefully someone at least will learn and enjoy it. :)

Regular rhinestones, also called crystal rhinestones

Above we have rhinestone wheels. These are sometime called crystal rhinestones and they are transparent but comes in a variety of colors, looking like glass or a real rhinestone. The bottom of them have silver surface to make them looking shinier. I've seen that they come in two qualities. It's possible to buy Swarovski nail art rhinestones and I think they're in glass(maybe even cubic zirconia?). All the ones I've got is made out of plastic and I think they are good looking enough. All of these rhinestones is faceted. Sometime top coat can "remove" the effect of the facets so sometime I don't paint top coat on them if I really want to keep the faceted look.

Pearl rhinestones

Above I have some pearl rhinestones (which I like a lot).  They comes in all possible sizes and colors. The wheel to the left is the classical white color. These rhinestones are opaque and the colored pearl surface is only a thin layer on top no matter color. Because of this they can show some wear and tear after some days wear. To prevent this I always paint one or two coats of top coat on top to protect the surface.

Black opaque rhinestones

Above is my favorite, namely black opaque rhinestones. The plastic is black all way through so there's no risk of wear and tear even though I usually have top coat on anyway.

There's a lot of different shapes of rhinestones.

Above here we see a wheel of crystal rhinestones with a lot of different shapes. It's literally possible to get any shape of any rhinestone, both crystal, pearl and the black ones. Above there's rectangles, stars, flowers, hearts, squares, moons, tear drops, triangles, oval and the regular round ones.

Above is two of my favorite manicures with opaque black rhinestones and another one with pearl rhinestones.

Green sloping funky french with 4MM black opaque rhinestones

Black funky french with large pearl rhinestones

If you got any questions, please ask! :)

My nail art stuff - part 1, rhinestones part 1

Hi!
I hope you're all doing fine! I'm feeling a bit down, my school assignment is going crap and bad luck is happening too often at the moment. I'm all stressed out over my upcoming diploma thesis and it was a long time ago I felt motivation. That's why I've been having less time for reading blogs, cocommenting on blogs, maintaining my own blog and even doing nail art(!). Luckily I have bought a lot of beautiful indies which doesn't need further decoration. (They will of cause be shown here at my blog.) Even though the blog takes time I think it's important that I let my self have some "free time"=blog/nail related time. And I really value every person who read and comment on my blog, that makes me very happy between all stress. :)

Now for some funnier stuff (maybe?) and I wanted to show you my nail art stuff. I have a lot of nail art stuff and I've noticed that many people doesn't like too many photos in one post so I figured that I divide them between posts. This time I'll show rhinestones. (haha, humongous amount of photos anyway...sry)

Above and below is most of my rhinestone wheels and rhinestone jars. In the photo there's also metal beads and flat glitter but I'll show them in another post.

To be able to make nail art it's not that important to have many sizes of rhinestones but I think it's fun and very versatile. I also use them and they're very cheap so I don't mind having many. Below are the sizes I've got.

In most of the rhinestone sizes I've got at least 12 colors but mostly more. The reason for is that they're often sold in 12, 16, 24packs.

1MM rhinestones

I have my index finger as a reference and also a ruler for you to get the picture.

2MM rhinestones

Between 1MM to 2MM I attach with top coat coat because they're very small and the topcoat covers them enough.

3MM rhinestones

From 3MM and larger rhinestones I attach with nail glue, otherwise they would pop of too easy.

4MM rhinestones

Up to 4MM I have no problem having them on my nails, the are easy to glue and the curves on my nails doesn't matter.

5MM pearl rhinestones

Up to 5MM the rhinestones are getting large and they are harder to place. I usually have them in the middle of my finger from the tip to the cuticles (where the nail is less curved.)

7MM rhinestones

The 7MM are harder to use, they fit my thumbs and can be applied on other nails with some tricks. I also use them on my toes as accent when it's summer.

Pink leopard spots and large rhinestones

To make the rhinestone manicure last as long as possible it is good to ad additional top coat (shown as gray) after the glue has dried. The images below is exaggerated, but I do this with the 3MM rhinestones too to be sure that they wont get stuck to anything which they will if the edge is open.

And if it isn't obvious, this is a stylized image of nails looking right in front of them at the top.

To see the funky french in the reference images above, click the image:

Humble Bee funky french

My new favorite black and white one-coater brand!

Today I will talk about something very important in the world of nail art, namely black and white nail polish and their qualities. I think that the most important thing is that they are one-coater. This is important when making dots with a dotting tool or making sections colored. Especially when making precise and delicate work, one wouldn’t want to paint the area twice just because it isn’t opaque enough. And I also hate being forced to start with a certain color just because another one isn’t opaque. Another important issue which comes with the benefit of being one-coater is that they dry quickly and if you’re going to make something advanced it will take some time, and it’s unnecessary to increase that time making it doing many coats just achieving full opaqueness, giving longer drying time.

Of cause it is important that all colors are as opaque as possible, but for me I’ve found that white and black has been the most important one. It is also they, except base coat/top coat that I use the most and must consume the most. And for that reason I don’t mind them being cheap as well.

I’ve tried several of black and whites, and I’ve actually found my favorite. Black are mostly easier, some of the ones I’ve used has just demanded two coats. White has been more of a mess, more like four never drying thick coats mostly.

So for the brand I’m about to haul a bunch of in black and white:

Kleancolor – Black
Kleancolor – White

They are both one-coaters and has worked fine for me. When I apply I don’t use the thinnest coat but not the thickest either, just normal ones.

Hope this helps someone because I’ve searched for this for quite some time before I came across of Kleancolor.

I buy all my Kleancolor from ebay-seller: joy017.
The polishes are cheaper there than at for example beautyjoint. Shipping has been fast and everything has worked fine when I’ve bought things there. And also, a free gift in each package. ;)

An advantage purchasing from an ebay buyer is that they work hard for their feedback ratio, for me it feels safer buying from them since I would get my money back if the package wouldn’t arrive. :)

Inspiration link

I was searching for fun nail art inspiration and found a page with some rather surprising nail art that made me laugh. >>link<< Fake nails are a must to be able to create it though.

Tip of the day - LOVE4NAILS

I really like searching for nail art inspiration, and if you ever have tried searching for it, LOVE4NAILS should have shown up. She is posting her weekly nail art on youtube every Friday and she is really good and pedagogic in her videos. So if you haven't already found her, below is a link to her home youtube channel, filled with awesome nail art videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LOVE4NAILS?feature=watch

Large fine liner/striper nail art polish swatch guide

I've searched for a guide like this my self and has yet not found it, so I'm creating one. If your in to nail art, you are bound to have some sort of fine liner to be able to create more advanced patterns and nail art designs. If you don't want to buy polishes with a fine brush you can also just purchase a regular fine brush and dip it in your regular polishes and wash it between uses.

I think that an advantage with fine liners is that it is possible to make the same design on both of your hands comparing to nail art pencils, they are fun but I can't for the love of it make it look similar on both hands.

First up, all my fine liner polishes and then a comparison between them. (the pictures can be clicked to get larger)

The three brands I'm grading are L.A. Colors Art Deco, Color club Art Club and Jordana pop art. It will not be a comparison between brands more about the quality within each polish. If they are worth buying or not. Everything is purely my own personal opinion and all polishes are bought by my self.

The most important thing for me in nail art is that it covers in one coat(line?), ie. it is well pigmented. If I have a black background and painting yellow stripes over it I don't want to put on white fine liner polish first and then yellow fine liner if you know what I mean. Of cause, the formula also is important, it must be easy to control the brush.

This is how I've chosen to test the polishes; over white, gray and black. As you might understand I assumed that all fine liner polishes would pass the white and that the quality ones will show on black. All pictures are without top coat.

And a simple grading:

1 = Crap polish - don't buy.
2 = Okey - in some circumstances, perhaps purchase-worthy in some cases.
3 = Love it! -Great quality, must have! I recommend it.

One finger at a time then:

The index finger:

This is all L.A. Colors Art Deco, and as you can see the names are at the right in the same order as the nails, from top to bottom.

All polishes passed white as I assumed and looked great there.

Red - A creme jelly red which has an okay formula but comes out a bit to sheer on black. Works in white and grey. =2

Metallic pink - Is what it is; metallic pink. Work great on all base colors, also black. =3

Magenta - a matte purple "wanting to be neon but is not" with silver glass flecks. Theoretically it sounds great but in reality it's not, the formula and finish are horrible, and the glass flecks makes it look dirty and texture is lumpy. =1

Hot pink - Neon pink with a hint of silver shimmer in it. Great color but a bit thin and I'd some problem controlling the polish when painting it. Some what sheer over black but great on white and gray. =2

Baby pink - A light shimmery pink with great finish and formula. Perfect over black and in whole just perfect. =3

Lavender - Is actually the perfect lavender color, just like the flowers. But that's the only positive thing with it. It is creme and very sheer. It is even sheer over the gray =1

The middle finger:

All four glitter polishes are L.A. Colors Art Deco and the black and the white are Jordana pop art.

Gold glitter - Gold very fine glitter in yellow clear base, since the glitter is so small the lines turns out great. =3

Green glitter - Green very fine glitter in a clear base, since the glitter is so small the lines turns out great. =3

Blue glitter - Blue very fine glitter in a clear base, since the glitter is so small the lines turns out great. =3

Silver glitter - Silver very fine glitter in a clear base, since the glitter is so small the lines turns out great. =3

Contemporary white - A creme white with perfect formula and covers perfectly on black. =3

Black mark - A black creme. A bit thin which requires more carefulness, but it is new, and I think that it will get better over time. =3 (2?)

(I've tried  L.A. Colors Art Deco - "black" and "white", both of them I can recommend. =3 )

Ring finger:

Here are Titania gold and Bronze from Color club Art Club and the rest is from
L.A. Colors Art Deco.

Silver - A silver shimmer, covers perfect and has a great formula, well pigmented. =3

Titania gold - Like a beige silver shimmer kinda.. A bit thin, and not as god and well pigmented as the above mentioned silver. =2

Gold rush - A gold shimmer, as good as silver. Great. =3

Bronze - A bronze shimmer and it is little bit the same as Titania gold in formula, a bit thin and not as well pigmented as silver. Still good. =2
 
Bright orange - Neon jelly colored like "coral" with some shimmer (perhaps pink?) in it. Since it is a jelly it is not that good, it is too sheer and show the gray base color to much and is too sheer over black. =1

Yellow - A creme jelly which is way to sheer..Same as Bright orange. =1

The pinky finger:

Here Electric universe is from Color club Art Club and the rest is from L.A. Colors Art Deco.

Vibrant - A purple shimmer which is great, perhaps a bit sheer, but I think it might be because it is new. =2 (3?)

Dark blue - A blue shimmer, perfect formula and well pigmented. Perfect. =3

Electric universe - A matte dark blue neon. Pure crap, way too sheer, can't almost see it in the black and the formula and finish result are just bad. Worse than =1.

Baby blue - A light blue creme, well pigmented, great formula, also great over the black. =3
 
Bright green - Bright green jelly. Too sheer, can't almost see over the black. Also too sheer over the gray. =1

Mint green - Light green jelly. Worse than Bright green, too sheer over gray and black. Useless. =1

Result:

I can recommend a lot of them, and some are really bad. I've noticed that formula, finish and how well pigmented the polishes are goes hand in hand. When they are perfect it is even easier to make ultra thin lines.

Bonus picture:

 This is my fine liner polish drawer from helmer.Some what messy.. I've actually got a small box for all the  L.A. Colors Art Deco because I like them more and uses them more often. Now since I ordered more they no longer fit in the small box.

I have a bunch of Sure Promise as well as you can see. They can be great as well, some of them are much better than the ones I graded as 1 above. Their brushes are a bit larger even though they have fine liner as well. The ones I like and is very well pigmented I actually have cut the brush thiner on so I'm able to make thinner lines. As you might know they are 2-way polishes, ie they got a "pencil" in the cap. I almost never use the pencil since I'm not as good in my left hand as my right hand and I like nail art that's the same on both hands. In the whole I can recommend Sure Promise, some of them are crap and some of them are great. Some of them dries super quick and some takes a lot of time. BUT, the price tag.. I've bought them for 1-2 SEK each. That's like 0,14-0,29 $ / 0,09-0,18 £ for each polish bottle. BARGAIN PRICE!

If you see anything wrong or have a question, please shot!

Tip - budget brands +NOTD

In the last post I mentioned Gabrini Elegant, except for the ones below I’ve got a purple, white and brown duochrome. I bought them in Crete last year and I’m really content with them. The bottles have numbers in the bottom and no names. The black and baby blue covers in two coats, whilst the blue one too the right is thinner and demands more coats. Each bottle cost 1 euro.

The picture below is an ebay bargain. It is an Asian brand, but I’m not sure what’s the actual brand so I write the whole thing out "needme PARIS Nail Polish".

First I bought one in avocado green, and I was really pleased with it, covered in two coats with a nice finish and great formula.  And then I bought some more. Each bottle is £1.39, which is about 16SEK, a real bargain.

Above is the yellow needme PARIS Nail Polish, number 10. It locked like it would cover in just a few coats, but as most yellow it was pain, and not as good as its green friend. An infinit number of coats later made drying time endless and it became bumps and damages on the nails. Colorwise I like it, it is an almost-neon-polish, a bit cold and load, and not as warm as it locks like on the pictures(cloudy outside). The bottle image is more correst, if you think neon.

The bumps on the nail didn’t do some harm since it was suppose to work as base for the nail art I’m wearing right now. It will turn up later to night.

Crystallized nail art using salt

Found this youtube tutorial which is what the title says. Salt is sprinkled over a newly painted nail and top coat is used to fixate.

 

This actually got me to think about Ciaté, which recently released “caviar nail art”. But for Ciaté the caviar was small plastic or metal balls.

I don’t know how well the salty manicure works, I read in the comments that someone had it on for three days without any problems, but another one said she had “melted” nails in the end on the day.

At the moment I’m not in the mood to salt my nails, but I like it when people are creative. :)