Mini Haul

Hey everyone!

I got back from Finland on tuesday night (so sad to have had to leave Helsinki, I absolutely fell in love with that place)... I will be uploading a couple of pictures of the holiday really soon to give you a little idea of how it's been! In the meanwhile, I thought I would do a brief little picture post of a couple of things I bought before I left for Finland. Nothing special, just a couple of drugstore beauty products and jewelry. 

This lipstick in a dark red-ish / purple is from Hema, a Dutch kind of department store that sells all kind of stuff, including a few bits and bobs of cheap make-up. My brow gel is from there and it's really pretty decent, so I picked up a few more pieces of make-up the other day. The formula is very moisturizing but the color is also quite pigmented, which gives a nice sheen to the lips. The lasting power isn't overwhelmingly good, but the color is just what I was looking for, a dark, velvety purple/red, and for only approx. 3€ it's quite a bargain, so I picked up a second one:

A creamy peach color, which is sort of a summery version of most "your-lips-but-better" colors. Moisturizing, cheap, average lasting power, gorgeous color, so all in all, another catch.
Then I went on to the nail varnish section, where they had a sale for the long-lasting ones, which only cost between 1€ - 1,50€ so I snapped two up that actually match the lipsticks really well!

The dark color looks nearly brown-black in the bottle, but applied it's more of a very deep, dark red/purple with a hint of brown sheen and very small sparkles. Surprisingly great lasting power! I haven't tried out the other color yet, but on the tester nail it looked like a nice, shiny nude tone.
The last couple of things I bought were a ring set from Hema, and a Moon-ring from H&M which just matches my moon tattoo perfectly...

Voilà! If you live in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium or Luxembourg and know about Hema, I suggest you go have a look because some of their make-up is actually quite surprisingly good and just sooooo cheap!
As for my traveling stories, I will get on uploading my photos soon and posting a few more articles, as I am excited to say that I got to go into the Monki Stores in Helsinki and went a little mad! It truly is my new absolutely favorite brand. Will be posting another little haul soon :) I hope you've had a great summer - let us know if there's any things you bought that you absolutely want to share. If you have a blog you want us to check out, leave your link in a comment below!

Kiko Sugar Mat nail lacquer swatch & review

I have been obsessed with liquid sand manicure lately. The Barry M Textured Nail Paints in the color Kingsland Road (which is a light pink) has been in my possession for some months already, and I have fallen madly in love with it! By the way, what I find funny is how the brands can't seem to agree on one term; for OPI for example they call this kind of texture "liquid sand" and Kiko call it "sugar mat".

I have finally made my way to the shopping mall where the Kiko Cosmetics first shop in Vienna opened in May (yes, I know I'm a bit late). When I went to Berlin in 2011, I have first met this brand and was impressed of the price-performance-ratio! The nail polishes are long lasting and quick drying. That's why I decided to buy three different colors of the Sugar Mat nail lacquer collection from Kiko Cosmetics. I chose true red, mint and lilac, I own about a billion different red tones though.

My favorite color for accessories lately is mint. This one appeared really flashy, but natural light it isn't anymore.

It might seem a bit lame, but my all time favor color for nails is red. All tones of it. In summer I prefer the richer, brighter reds and in winter I choose darker red and burgundy tones more often. 

Lilac is one of the pastel tones I enjoy most. It is a really beautiful summer color. I have never been a fan of nail-polish-outfit-matching, so I wear the brightest colors with my black dresses and boring outfits, so they pimp them.

Do you like textured nail polishes? What are your favorite colors for your nails in summer?