[HEMA] Head Clover Heels (#285)

During my brief visit to Rotterdam, I had the chance to explore local stores and stumbled upon this vibrant green shade! Hema, a popular Dutch high street department store, is known for its charming stationery and unique small gifts, making it impossible for me to leave without grabbing something.

headcloverheels285_batch

I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth application and excellent (i.e. opaque) coverage of this nail color, not to mention the captivating shade itself. Although there was some slight chipping after two days, overall, I was quite content with it. I’m already looking forward to wearing it again soon.

headcloverheels285_1_batch

headcloverheels285_2_batch

headcloverheels285_3_batch

headcloverheels285_4_batch

headcloverheels285_5_batch

headcloverheels285_6_batch

[A England] Hope

This is one of my favourite summer polishes, grass green Hope, with golden and emerald glitter and a scattered holographic effect. I’ve been wearing this a couple of times now and it looks amazing in the sun.

hope_batch

Two coats applied. Photos were taken a while ago, I’m much more tanned now. 😎

hope1_batch

hope2_batch

hope3_batch

hope4_batch

Close-up picture.

hope_m

Any plans for the rest of the summer? I spent the past two weeks in my Nienburg home and am off for a few days to France next week, looking forward to “EMAG” (which is European Mensas Annual Gathering).

hope0_batch

[Chanel] Harmony (#755)

November already and we are right in a mini lockdown (which doesn’t feel real, as long as schools stay open and working from home is not granted by certain institutions). There were quite some incidents; I learnt that a COVID-positive person had been at a swimming pool I went to while I couldn’t use public transport (because they were affected by a strike). So it was just an exception, but with consequences, obviously. In the end, my COVID-test was negative but that’s how fast one can get involved although I am usually super careful and rarely go out anyway. Moreover, I was told only about twelve days after the incident, so if I had known on time, I would have cancelled any other activity. Even I went out quite a lot, I was at Chanel, went for groceries, attended a small meeting of Mensa (just five people, all working from home and being extra careful). While I was waiting for my test result, I stayed home of course.

But since it’s a mini lockdown until the end of this month, pools are closed and I miss swimming … even though I know that restricting contacts is the best thing to do now. While I spent the lockdown in March in Nienburg, I’ll stay at Hamburg now because the government recommends that we avoid unnecessary travelling, and I don’t want to go by train and through regions with very high COVID-19 infection rates (although Hamburg itself belongs to those).

That was a long introduction … now on to the actual topic, which is Chanel Harmony, a petrol cream.

harmony-755

Two coats shown below. (The rest of this post is going to be short, haha. 😎 )

harmony755 0

harmony755 1

harmony755 2

harmony755 3

harmony755 4

It’s not a typical colour for autumn I guess, and photos were taken during summer, but still it is a bright colour, which will stand out.

Stay safe!

[Dior] Vibes (#712)

I’m not yet back in Hamburg (but will be from Wednesday – so much for further planning) and having a quiet and peaceful time in Lower Saxony. Although it’s raining today and temperatures have dropped again, being here feels just right. I even discovered local delivery services, since I won’t eat out for the time being, preferring staying home and safe.

With that said, I hope you are doing fine too. I am quite aware that self-isolation is not for everyone. I am used to it because I’m an introvert but if you are not, I hope you will be able making the most of the current situation.

Blue and green nail colours remind of the sea, don’t they? At least they carry good vibes – which is what Dior might have intended when releasing Vibes. This one combines blue and emerald green (unfortunately, none of the photos is really colour-accurate) with a slight silver shimmer.

vibes712

Two coats shown below (under artificial lighting). I will be wearing this again and probably take better photos when outside in the sun.

vibes712 1

vibes712 2

vibes712 3

vibes712 4

Close-up photo.

vibes712 m

[A England] Punk

Seeing this makes me actually miss Hamburg – although I’m happy being in my small hometown. I’m definitely enjoying the time here, despite the COVID crisis, but I’m in a safe place. Our town itself is still not affected by infections, concering the county, there are about 30 people, who I hope will get well soon!

I’ve started to refurbish the house (which my husband had begun with before he became ill and died) and it can be fun sometimes.

But this post was actually about Punk – to me, this is one of the most stunning colours I’ve seen by A England. Holographic green (and we are speaking of bright green) with golden and green holo glitter.

punk

I told you so – it’s amazing. Two coats applied.

punk0

punk1

punk2

punk3

punk4

Managed to take a photo outside (this was still in Hamburg).

punk5

Close-up.

punk m

Stay safe!

[Essence] Be Passionate

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I was just happy about having two days off work; it’s been really hard during Christmastime, in addition to the grief. Of course …

I might be catching up with all those amazing nail colours next year. Until then here’s Be Passionate, which was a birthday gift by my daughter. It’s a blue-ish green metallic, hence pretty for Christmas too.

be passionate

Two coats applied.

be passionate1

be passionate2

Artificial lighting.

be passionate3

be passionate4

be passionate5

be passionate6

Close-up.

be passionatem

One more day at the bookshop tomorrow and then we will be spending a week in Lower Saxony.

[Dior] Rush Hour (#502)

My favourite colour from the current Dior nail varnish collection for autumn is Rush Hour. Of course – because nothing beats bright acid green (although this one contains a visible proportion of yellow).

rush hour502

The formula is a bit on the jelly side, and shown below is two coats.

rushhour502 1

rushhour502 2

rushhour502 3

Daylight brings out the yellow in Rush Hour.

rushhour502 4

rushhour502 5

rushhour502 6

My first thought was that Rush Hour might be close to Caprice, but the latter is in fact a bit darker and more green-ish.

caprice501 rushhour502

[Chanel] Radiant Verde (#723)

Chanel’s latest release is six ‘radiant’ shades, alluding to already existent colours. I bought them at Beauty Boutique Hamburg at the beginning of the week, and the first shade I tried is Radiant Verde, the shimmer version of Vert No. 19. Hence this one is a blend of mint and turquoise green too, and golden shimmer was added.

radiant verde723

I can’t say why I expected a formula more on the sheerer side, but much to my surprise, Radiant Green is actually a one-coater! (Exclamation mark quite necessary. 😉 ) With just one coat it is fully opaque. To achieve a more even result, shown below is two coats. I also apologise for the bins in the background; our neighbour had the hedge and bushes removed. 😦

radiant verde723 0

radiant verde723 1

radiant verde723 2

radiant verde723 3

radiant verde723 4

Artificial lighting.

radiant verde723 5

radiant verde723 6

Close-up photo.

radiant verde723 m

[OPI] Envy the Adventure

My first emerald green with crème finish, Envy the Adventure. It’s from the Nutcracker and the Four Realms collection, and I also realised that it’s been ages since my last OPI nail colour.

Envy the Adventure

Application was two coats.

envy the adventure1

envy the adventure2

envy the adventure3

envy the adventure4

envy the adventure5

I’m basically ‘back to business’, i.e. my flu has gone. Finally! Today I went swimming again, which I wasn’t able to do for almost two weeks. It’s still another ten days until I will be at the house again (my mother’s house, now mine), visiting my parents at the graveyard and so on …