Inspired by... my paintings

Morning! I recently found out there's painting by numbers for adults as well, and I couldn't resist giving that a go! I remember them from when I was a child, I don't think I did them often, but from what I recall they were usually animals and had a plastic white frame, and they never turned out the way the were on the box, lol! But luckily the adult version turned out good :) I still have plenty acrylic paint left, so decided to go for a mani with a bunch of the green colors. I didn't really have a plan in my head, but it turned out like some sort of messy camo plants. Yeah, that sounds about right!

Here's a pic I showed on Instagram before, when I just started the first herb and was still quite overwhelmed by all those tiny spots! Well, at least it gave me plenty good practice with a small brush, so at least my right hand should be better with nailart brushes now, heh.

And here's how they turned out :) The gold frames shown on the box weren't included (you can purchase them seperate, but they're not really my taste), I'll probably go for white or wooden frames.
If you're also interested in doing this, this set was from a brand called Schipper and I was pleased with the quality. But there's only 1 brush included, so I ended up buying some more! The paintings are done on cardboard with a linen structure, and the size of these (18x24cm each) made them easy to turn around and work from different sides. The backgrounds are more beige/brown than most images on Google (they showed more grey), but I like this more, it looks warmer.

Here you can see a little of the paintpots in the background, I have 24 colors on 4 strips of pots. They're small pots though, so I worried if it would be enough for all the paintings, but I didn't finish a single one and I have so much left of most!

For my mani I just used most of the greens and randomly dabbed some on. Then I took a stamping polish which looks a lot like a few of the green colors, and stamped a plant image. Messy and a bit unusual, but I like it :) And working with acrylic paint on my nails really was so much nicer than I expected, I can totally see why it's used a lot! Next time I'll try something a little harder I think, because creating this background for the stamping was about as easy as it gets, although I'm slightly worried for the result on my right hand then :D

Basecoat with acrylic paint stamped with Mundo de Uñas Lime and Born Pretty Store plate QA27.

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Fossils on my nails!

I showed some awesome Messy Mansion plates in my previous post, and here's another mani done with them. This time I went for the dino plate, and instead of going for the usual, using a full nail image, I randomly stamped some of the smaller images. Or well, smaller... as you can see, they're still pretty big! :)

Catrice Lost In Mud with Mundo de Uñas Bones and Messy Mansion MM47.

I've reviewed the stamping polish in this post, but I wanted to show a bit more of it. What better way to test it than on a darker base and with an image with larger areas to cover! And it's clear that it has no problems with that, I couldn't have asked for anything more from it ♥
I'm not fully sure what dinosaurs are on my nails here, I think one's a triceratops, but the other 2... ? Check out the full plate here! Have a great weekend and thanks for looking :)

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4 Messy Mansion plates

Hi all :) Messy Mansion recently added some new plates to their collection, and I received 4 of them to show you, so here we go! I'm showing all the plates in this post, and only 1 mani, but you'll be seeing more nails done with the other plates soon too. I just couldn't resist sharing them all straight away!

The plates arrived with blue protective foil on the front, which easily came off. They don't have a protective cover on the back, but they're not sharp at all, so I'm not missing that either. The plates are $7 each and can be found on the Messy Mansion website. Let's take a look:

MM46 is a floral plate, and it's prrrretty! I think the bottom left image with the thicker lines will be great in a bolder colorcombo, and they'll all be great in tone-on-tone. And the middle right one might work great for a messy base with various colors, stamped in black or white!

MM47, what a unique plate! This will be perfect for the dino lovers, but don't forget those fossil images either! In this setting they're clearly fossils, but I bet they'll look quite different with some bright colors. I've already done some with the dinos, and will show that in my next post. This plate made me think of Ross from Friends, haha. Oh, and I think there's a new Jurassic movie coming out, if you're going there and want a matching mani, look no further!

MM48 is the plate I used for today's mani, if you love paisley prints, you neeeed this plate! Aren't these designs beautiful?

MM50, meow! Yeah, what can I say really... I'm glad it's a part of my stash now, it's SO cute! ^^


I'll of course update my stamping plate comparison, but I'll tell you straight away, the full nail designs on these plates are BIG. How big? This pic will give you an idea I think! I stamped that image sideways, the width of these designs is big enough to fit on the length of my nails! The full nail images on these plates measure 2.3 x 1.75 cm.

And I think it's clear, they work fantastic! I stamped the 4 nails you see on this photo in 1 go, without cleaning the plate in between. It had no problem transferring all those tiny details and I could just keep going, love it! ♥ These plates will definitely make a great addition to any stash :)

Essence Absolutely Blue with Essence Hard To Resist and Messy Mansion MM48.

What's your favorite of these plates? :) Thanks for looking!


The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Beauty So Fly exclusives

Morning :) Femme Fatale Cosmetics has 2 polishes that are exclusives for the Beauty So Fly webshop, and here are my swatches of these 2!

First we have Glass Carnival, and just like most FFC polishes, there's a LOT going on and I found it quite hard to capture it all. So yes, this is better irl :) A bright blue base, a very strong pink/purple shimmer, a lot of holo goodness in various sizes, and some magenta pink glitters to finish it all off. This was 3 thin coats with top coat (1 layer was enough to smooth things out).

I took the macroshot at a different place, to try and show a bit more of that strong shimmer. So pretty!

Next up is Sideshow Sparkler, my favorite of these 2. It has a purple base that leans a bit dark grey at times, I guess that's because of the green shimmer? So yeah, there's that green shimmer, and on top of that there's reddish-pink glitter and holo sparkles. There's just so much going on here! And yet, it's not too much, it's still balanced and simply beautiful :) Again 3 thin coats with 1 layer of top coat.

Macroshot shows it well, yummy!

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Essence I ♥ Trends combo

Hi all! I bought a couple of Essence polishes a few months ago, did a mani with them, and still didn't show that here. Time to fix that!

These polishes are from the 'I ♥ Trends - The Nudes' collection that's currently in stores and is a part of the first display. The cremes covered well for me, in 2 coats, but on Instagram it became clear that that's not the case for everyone unfortunately. The lightest color did apply a bit streaky and uneven for me as well. But I do like the color, and considering the price, especially during a 2=1 sale, I'm glad I took it home anyway! The glitter topper has small rosecolored glitters and silver and yellow barglitter. I didn't really notice they were yellow until I saw it on the nail, not loving that as much! But matte top coat pulled it all together a bit more I think :)

I've shown the plate I used for this mani in this post, have a look if you wish to see more of it! Thanks for stopping by & take care :)

Essence I N**e It with China Glaze Poetic and BornPrettyStore plate 05, accentnails of Essence I'm Lost In You with Essence Cupcake Topping, and BornPrettyStore Super Matte.

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Hearts with Bones

Nono, there's no actual bones stamped on my nails, but this Mundo de Uñas polish is called Bones! And it matches its name well, it's a warm, light beige stamping polish that leans to the yellow side. Here it's shown in a lighter, somewhat pale mani, but just like the other MdU polishes that I tried, you can stamp this on any color. It covers perfect on light and dark!

Bones came in a 14ml bottle, but is available in the 5ml minibottle as well. It was a little bit thicker than the other stamping polishes I tried from MdU (shown here & here), but it still worked like a charm. The transfers aren't as perfect, but that's because we're getting warmer weather and I simply need to speed up my stamping a little on such days, haha! But I didn't mind it as much with this combo, I think it turned out cute nevertheless :)

I am very impressed with these stamping polishes, the huge range of colors and the quality ♥ Needless to say, you'll be seeing these a lot more often on my blog! Check out the Mundo de Uñas website for their stamping polish (they have SO many great colors, I'd bring out your wishlist when you go look at them!), or for their other stamping related products. They ship worldwide and carry a lot of plates too! *drools*

Have you tried any MdU polishes, and if so, what's your favorite color? Thanks for looking & take care!

Catrice Steel My Soul with Mundo de Uñas 67 Bones and Bundle Monster BM-317.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Mundo de Uñas gradient tiger

What better way to start off a sunny weekend than with fun & bright nails! The Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes that I used here are perfect for such a mani :) They're closer to neon (they dry more matte too), and you know how that goes with capturing them! So yes, they're showing too soft in color here.

These 3 colors came in the mini bottles that I mentionned in my previous post (where I showed the Lime polish), these cute bottles contain 5ml. If it's a color you'd use a lot, you can of course always get the 14ml bottle. The pink one is #55 Orchid, the turquoise #61 Fiji and purple is #60 Fantasy. They're all great colors to have in your stamping polish collection, and just as Lime, they work like a charm on any color! You can find these on the Mundo de Uñas website and in various webshops.
For this mani I used a tiny drop of each color on the side of the image and scraped it into the image. I didn't continue scraping until the gradient had really smooth transitions between the colors, since I wanted to show the colors how they are as well. Thanks for looking and have a great weekend! :)

Catrice How I Matt Your Mother with Mundo de Uñas Orchid, Fiji and Fantasy and DRK XL Designer plate 1.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Jamberry Nail Wraps

Every once in a while I review some nail wraps, because I think they can be a great solution for people that struggle with polishing or nail art, people that want a unique design that really lasts long, or people that simply love easy accentnails. Jamberry is a brand I didn't try before, and they were so kind to send me 2 of their designs. Let's have a look!

The designs I received are First Frost and February Host Exclusive. Each set has 18 wraps in different sizes, and all are long enough for me to easily get 2 nails out of 1 wrap. I think I can get a full pedi out of the biggest wrap even!

The first design I tried is February Host Exclusive, a lovely pink design with various other colors. It looks fun, fresh and perfect for Summer!

There are clear instructions on the back of the package, you need to warm the wraps until they're soft and more flexible. I used a blow dryer (which was suggested as well), and it was indeed needed, these wraps are a bit thicker and not as soft. After applying them, you warm them once more so they bond well to the nail. And yes, they got really stuck to my nails, so if you're looking for a longlasting wrap, check these out!

The downside of their thickness, was the filing down of the remains. My fairly fine glassfiles couldn't easily get them filed smooth, as you can see on my tips. However, I could get the tips smoother by getting a different type of file I'm sure (which I definitely would if I'd wear wraps more often!).

I tried the next design, First Frost, on a later date. But as you can see, I didn't get them on as nicely this time :( This is a big downside of most wraps for me, they can get a bit flexible, but not enough to easily get them smooth on each nail, especially my thumbs seem to have some wobbly parts that don't match well with wraps.

The design First Frost really matches its name; it's a sophisticated, softer design with a beautiful bit of frosty sparkle. The glitters don't give a thicker result, as you would get with polish, which is a big plus. Smoooooth ^^

Even though I really like these 2 designs and the HUGE variation that Jamberry offers (seriously, so much lovely designs! ♥), I'm not loving the wobbly result, but the bubbles is a thing I keep encountering with wraps unfortunately. I wish I was better at applying them!

How about you, do you find wraps easy to apply, and do you get them on smooth and even on all nails? And if you have uneven nails, do you have any tips for making the result better? Thanks for stopping by :)




The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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Bright green with Mundo de Uñas Lime

Hi guys! I recently received some stamping polish from Mundo de Uñas, a brand that I was very curious about. I tried some out already and well, I now want ALL their colors, haha! These stamping polishes are simply perfect! I'll of course show them all soon, and here's the first, Lime.

Please note; I had a hard time capturing the colors of my mani, the green base turned out lighter and on the blue side, and more important, the lime leans a bit too yellow on my pics. The bottlecolor and the stamping on black/white are more color accurate! It's a fresh limegreen color, especially great for the coming seasons.

As you can see on the left, it might be a lighter stamping polish, but it has no issues whatsoever with a dark base. It's a real stamping polish, which means it's a little thicker, smells a bit different (funky sweet) and is very pigmented, but this color didn't stain on my fingers at all. Yay for that! And I just needed a tiny drop of polish to easily cover the whole design on the plate, love it!

The Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes come in 2 sizes, 14ml and 5ml, and can be bought on their website and in other webshops. Those 5ml bottles aren't just cute, I think they're handy as well. If there's a color you'd like to have in your collection but you won't use as often, these babies will do the trick :)

Miss Sporty #464 with Mundo de Uñas 65 Lime and MoYou-London Pro plate 06.

The product(s) in this post was/were send to me for review. For more information, please have a look at my Disclosure Policy.

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World Autism Awareness Day

As you may know, I have PDD-NOS, which is one of the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders). Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and even though I usually don't join in for whatever-day-it-is-events, I wanted to make an exception this year. When people think of autism, they often straight away think of classic autism, and the movie Rain Man. They don't think of a young woman that comes across as normal, and doesn't seem to have any issues at all. But there's a lot more to autism than the standard image that a lot of people have, and I think it's a good thing to become more aware of that, so that's why I'm joining in today!

Essence Enter Wonderland with saran wrap-sponged Essence Chuck and Essence Absolutely Blue, with China Glaze Scandalous Shenanigans and Bundle Monster BM-319.

I hope people will realise more that, just as with a lot of disorders or diseases that can't be seen on the outside, there might be a lot going on that's simply not visible for them. Now I found it pretty hard to write this post, should I explain what autism is, should I just leave it at the mani, should I explain what having autism means for me? But since it's awareness day, I'll go for a personal example which hopefully will make people more aware of some things:

I recently went out to dinner with my family for my dad's birthday, and what you'd see is a normal woman having dinner with her family. What you don't see, however, is that my parents booked the restaurant and requested a table in a quiet part, near a wall, so I could sit with my back against the wall and prevent even more information from coming into my mind (I process sensory information different). You don't see that I looked up the restaurant way before the actual date, the menu and what to choose, images of the interior if possible, that I decided on what to wear, and in general try to come as prepared as I can be. You don't see that I find it hard to keep a conversation going, and that I'm often thinking ahead in my mind about what to say next. You also don't see that I go home completely knackered, and often go bed straight after and hide under the blankets to make everything as dark as can be, and that I need up to a couple of days to recover and deal with all the information my mind took in that evening.

Please don't jump to conclusions when someone has autism and it doesn't show to you, that person might've learned to hide it well, like I think I have. That doesn't mean I don't need support or people around me that try to understand my story, quite the opposite even! I'm blessed with a wonderful family and boyfriend, who support me and think along, making a lot possible that otherwise wouldn't as easy be possible for me ♥ And how I described that dinner might sound like a huge thing for something so simple, but with the support I have, it's not. For example, I don't need to ask my parents to book a table like that or where we go, they tell me in advance and arrange that without me asking. With such support, I have more energy to do other things, or to do/deal with unexpected things. And that's just 1 small example of how the people around someone with autism can make a big difference with little things!

Simply put, don't judge a book by its cover, and if you know someone with autism, you might be able to help them more than you realize. Thanks for reading my post :)

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Collage of the Month: March

Hi guys! Here's the March collage, the coming month will have more like it. I have some reviews planned (including some stamping polish that arrived this morning and I'm very excited about!), there will be some nail arts, some glitters, and there's gonna be a winner of my giveaway! Don't forget to enter if you haven't done that yet :) Have a lovely day ♥

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