Adorned Nails: Etos Effect Nails No. 24


I wasn’t feeling well the other day and I couldn’t sleep. I tried reading a book but it couldn’t hold my attention. So, for the first time in many weeks, I whipped out a bottle of nail polish and proceeded to paint my nails. With this, I managed to concentrate. Yeah...that’s weird.

I eventually fell asleep after putting on three coats (and didn’t do any cuticle clean-up). I didn’t take pictures of my nails till more than twelve hours later and these were the results.



Etos is a Dutch drugstore chain. I wrote a bit about Etos a while back, if you’re curious. Etos has its house-brand of makeup products, including nail polishes, offered at affordable prices. This little bottle of probably 7ml (it’s not stated on the bottle) cost €2.49, if I recall correctly.

Effect Nails No. 24 held so much promise in the bottle. It was lilac, dense with fine shimmer particles and I thought it was a duochrome as I noted hues of grey too.

Well, it was a rather different story on the nails. It looks pink. Granted, it does have an overload of fine shimmer particles, so much so that the finish looks gritty. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel gritty to the touch. But aaaiii, where’s the duochrome?!


The following photos were taken on the third day after I suddenly had the urge to do some stamping. I’ve used a simple obscure flowery design from the Essence Nail Art Stampy Design Plate 02: Style It Up! and KONAD’s black stamping polish. No top coat was used.



I like the stark contrast of black on li...I mean pink shimmer. At a glance, they look like black velvet flowers pasted on a bed of pink grainy metal.


Hmm, nope, I still can’t see the duochrome.

ELLIS FAAS: Eye Look With Light IV



Here’s another look that I’ve put together. This one took a bit longer than expected to complete, mainly because of the wing-ed eyelining on the bottom. This is my first ever attempt at mirrored wing-ed eyelining.

The products used were:



L-R:
Milky Eyes E203 (dark blue with a hint of shimmer)
Creamy Eyes E106 (matte taupe)
Light E301 (metallic light beige)
Creamy Eyes E103 (matte black)
Mascara E401 (black)

I love the beautiful blue of E203 (left). That bit of shimmer that it has helps to add more character to the blue.

Here’s what I did:

1. Applied Milky Eyes E203 on the upper lid with finger. First, applied a thin layer all across the lid, to just above the eyelid fold. Then, dabbed on a thicker layer of E203 close to the lash line (in my case, the area where the eyelid folds).

2. Used a small eyeshadow brush to apply Creamy Eyes E106 to the outer two-thirds of the bottom lid, extending it further on the outer corner. It’s almost like lining the bottom lid very thickly, but it won’t look OTT because of the neutral subdued colour of E106.

3. Applied Light E301 to the inner corner of the eye using an eyeliner brush. Continue by thinly lining the entire bottom lash line with E301, ie a thin lining of shimmery E301 on top of the thick matte E106. Note: This isn't waterlining.

4. Used an angled eyeliner brush to line the upper lash line with Creamy Eyes E103. Wing-ed the line.

5. Used the angled eyeliner brush to line the outer two-thirds of the lower lash line with the blue of E203. The line was drawn just below the thin shimmery line of E301. Wing-ed the line to (almost) mirror the eyelining of the upper lid. This blue lining is a bit fuzzy, as opposed to the sharp and distinct lining of the upper lid.

6. Curled lashes and applied Mascara E401.

I think this look can carry you from daytime to nighttime. Personally, I don’t think it’s too much for daytime. In these close-up photos, it may look rather intense but in person, much of the intensity is drowned out.

On another note, to all the ladies and gentlemen who participated in the recent ELLIS FAAS: ELLIS EYES Light Giveaway, your email addresses have already been passed on to ELLIS FAAS. Fret not if you haven’t received from them the email with the discount coupon code. The folks at ELLIS FAAS will send the emails out to all of you as soon as they are ready.

Un-Adorned Nails


Something different for a change. I just wanted to show you my bare nails, just this once, probably.


Allow me to ramble.

If you’ve been following my writings, you would know enough to realise that nail polishing has been the furthest thing on my mind lately. In fact, I’ve been neglecting my nails. The cuticles are a bit on the dry side, but what I mean to show here is the length of my nails, ‘neglected’ as they are.

In the old days, pre-nail polish addiction, I used to have strong, healthy nails. Ever since I started my craze for nail polishing, my nails have been suffering to a certain degree. I tried to give my nails a breather of a few days between nail colours, but still, I’ve had problems with nails splitting, peeling and some yellowing.

Look at them today. Totally bare. I haven’t succeeded in growing my nails to this length for almost a year (I know, I know, this may not be considered long for some of you, but it is to me). Anyway, I think this is the longest they can grow before one of them starts to break (I just know it!). So, I just felt like capturing them on camera before the inevitable happens.

Oh, one more thing. I love to eat spinach and I’ve been taking quite a lot of this vegetable this past month, a lot more than usual. I suspect that it’s also got something to do with my presently healthy nails.

Alas, you know that I know that it will only be a matter of time before I succumb to my colourful addiction again.

[eyes light up]

Hurray!! That simply means we’ll get to see nail polishes here again!

Rituals: Eve's Kiss Silkening Lip Treatment Review


Eve’s Kiss. What an evocative name! Rituals Cosmetics explains (excerpts):

Tempting, tasting, feeling and kissing: your lips play a wealth of sensual roles. And, provided you take care of them, they will remain irresistible. Just as irresistible as the forbidden apple that Eve tasted in Paradise. Rituals took inspiration from this first woman on earth and developed a silky-smooth lip cream.

This ‘lip cream’ is essentially an apple-flavoured (says Rituals) lip gloss with shea butter. I’ve had Eve’s Kiss for many months now, having used it only occasionally. I mean, it has had to jostle for my attention given the ease with which I’ve been hoarding lipglosses of all kinds. Beauty addicts would be familiar with this predicament, no?

I’ve been on the go a lot lately. I’ve deliberately taken with me only two lipglosses, one of which is Eve’s Kiss and by doing so, I could finally do justice to this little white-and-green tube.

Let’s see what else Rituals says about Eve’s Kiss:

Moisturises and protects
• Adds a sensual, shiny touch
• Contains SPF
• Subtle, mouth-watering Apple flavour
• Long lasting softening effect
• Ultra rich creamy texture soothes and protects lips

This is the list of ingredients:

Polybutene, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Glycerin, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cetearyl Octanoate, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Cera Alba/Beeswax, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Butyrospermum Parkii/Shea Butter, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Parfum/Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Isopropyl Myristate, Ricinus Communis/Castor Oil, Bisabolol, Sodium Saccharin, Farnesol, BHT, CI77891/Titanium Dioxide.

It does say on the tube that it has SPF8. Low protection factor, but I shan’t complain.

The gloss is a thick pearlescent liquid. I give it a thumbs-up for the glossy shine. It’s super glossy!

Because of its thick consistency, I would be careful not to pile on too much as you would tend to notice the unpleasant heaviness on the lips.

It’s pretty longlasting, in my opinion. The gloss does stay intact for at least three hours. There is some fading after a meal, but that’s to be expected.

Okay, this part, I do not like. It’s Stickyville! I unwittingly gave it the Hair In The Wind Test one day (well, it does get pretty windy in the Netherlands). Strands of hair stuck like mad to my lips! Totally annoying!

But, let’s get back to Pleasantville. Eve’s Kiss smells delicious! It’s fruity sweet. Rituals says it’s got apple flavour. I must admit that they’ve lost me there. To me, it’s a lovely fruity scent but it just ain’t apple. I’ve been cracking my head for the longest time (no, really, it’s been months!). I couldn’t put my finger on this familiar yet unfamiliar scent until just a couple of weeks ago. It finally struck me. It smells rather like custard apple. It’s an ‘apple’ nevertheless, but the custard apple looks so far removed from the apple.

Some of you may know what a custard apple is, but if you don’t know, then this is what it looks like. I bought this fruit a few days ago. It's about the size of a tennis ball.


And this is what the yummy flesh inside looks like. White, soft and sweet with black seeds inside.


I’ve digressed, haven’t I?

Eve’s Kiss. Although there’s nothing wrong with using Eve’s Kiss alone on the lips, I tend to use Eve’s Kiss over my lipsticks, especially those darned drying ones. It works really well to keep my lips moist or if I want more shine on my lipsticked lips.

I use Eve’s Kiss only when I go out. When I stay in, I’d rather just use a simple lipbalm like Rituals Lip Treat. I find Eve’s Kiss too shiny, heavy and sticky for home use.

It’s priced at €6.90 for a 15ml tube. Do I recommend Eve’s Kiss? I do. I can live with the stickiness. What has won me over are the lovely custard apple scent, the SPF and the fact that it keeps my lips from drying. For the latter, I can’t say how much of that is due to the presence of shea butter in the formula or simply that the gloss merely formed a protective layer on my lips to keep them from drying out.

I'll be showing you Eve’s Kiss used over some lipsticks in future posts.

Enough said!