Super Cuticle Butter

Almost mids of September, my favorite season is approaching with its chilly but not to inclement weather...but also my dry skin will be more suffering.
I create most of my skin care products, and taken inspiration from some cuticle butters out there i created mine. I want to take the habit to apply it every night on fingers and toes.
I ordered lemon essential oil and lemon-meringue cosmetic fragrance 'cause i didn't have them.
But the rest was (is) all in my little chemistry corner.
The butter is made with valuable organic oils: Argan, Olive, Avocado,Yellow lemon...
And amazing organic butters: Cupuaçu, Karite, Murumuru,Pistacchio, Cocconut ...
Some actives and a nice bit of lemon-meringue fragrance.
I left little chunks of butter, because i think it adds value to the rustic, from scratch crafting.

Well already done hand scrub, cuticle butter, what's next...Hand cream!

Tiramisu' And Nails!

Hello. I need to find a way to post regularly but not spending too much time with it yet being efficient...

Ok, let me show how i make a scrumptious italian dessert: Tiramisu' and show you the state of my nails after 4 hours hard core house cleaning.

First Tiramisu' made with a technique to pasteurise the eggs, since they are going to be consumed raw, it really makes me cringe, but i found this way very helpful to avoid eating them totally raw.

1) Prepare a coffee (strong or light, is up to you), sugar is optional ( i do) , and pour in it Marsala liquor (quantity to your taste). Marsala substitutes: rum,spirit of your choice or nothing. The original recipe is with Marsala.

2) I use three eggs, divide them in whites and yolks. Whisk the eggs to a very hard consistence, and whisk the yolks with 100 g sugar till a foamy, creamy consistence.

3) Put 50 g sugar in a little casserole with a bit of water, on medium flame, heat until the syrup is still clear and bubbling with big bubbles. While whisking the whites add half of the syrup to the meringue and reform the hard meringue. And add the rest of the syrup to the yolks always mixing. (if the syrup hardens in the mixture, don't worry it will dissolve again).

4) Incorporate 350 g of  Mascarpone to the yolks and mix.

5) Add the meringue to the mascarpone mixture and mix gently. (Check sweetness level).

6) Wet the savoiardo in the coffee and cover the bottom of a pan with them. The more you wet the biscuit the more soft it will become.

7) Level the cream on top of the biscuits and sprinkle bitter cocoa. You can make levels with savoiardo and the cream, you decide. The original recipe is just one level.

 

My nails were 2,3 cm... a week ago i cleaned every corner of the living room and the whole fridge an freezer that was literally, totally freezed. I broke every nail and now just patience... i feel that my hands are sooo weightless!

DIY: Hands And Body Sugar Scrub

I think most of us, if not all, love soft and smooth skin. A very easy way to achieve this is by regular exfolation, since is going to be regular, it better be a gentle one.
And is such a nice thing to make our own scrub! they're so easy to make at home, with few (or more) ingredients.
I poured in my jar brown sugar, a bit of fine white sugar, in order to have different particle sizes for a better performance, then added bits of fresh lavender from my garden and finally poured on top a nice organic coconut oil, stir with a knife and adjust oil quantity if the mixture is dry.
Of course you can make your own variations: use salt instead of sugar or both, olive oil or another nice oil good for the skin.
I am ready to make one with grated orange peel and another with red rose petals, also from my garden.

Fyrinnae 2011 Swatches.

Good Afternoon. My new fyrinnae order. It was a long time since the last time i purchased from them, but finally they released some new products, but sadly i couldn't get the two new lip lustres and the silica gel primer i want to try: they were out of stock.
There are better swatches out there of these colors, but i am too excited to share. The colors on my monitor mostly match what i see irl, i hope descriptions can be also helpful in what pictures can't.

Row 1:

Book of the dead: A cool gold shade with rainbow-y sparkles, i think they are not that visible.
Steampunk: I got it just like so, because the definition of a "copper/brown" color is not my like, but i wanted to try it anyway, at 2 dollars a mini eyeshadow of course i could give it a try. Gladly it has pink shimmer: makes it more wearable for me.
Curioser and Curioser: Too pretty! a rich blue, somehow metallic with tons of blue sparks.
Raven's prophecy: WOW! a smooth black LOADED with purple, gold and green glitter. Now one of my favorites eyeshadows ever.
Wake not the dead: WOW, WOW! a satiny purple with what to my eyes are pink tones, and with an overload of that amazing super sparkly glitter in different well coordinated colors. Goes straight up to my favorites.
Bride of Franken: Medium teal shade, a lot more blue than green, just as i like. Sparse rainbow-y shimmer. Totally love this.

Row 2:

Purgatory. Oh man...a shimmery red, despite being too warm for what i prefer, is too beautiful to ignore.
Mephisto: a strong copper veil on top of a velvety purple, but i couldn't get the purple to show...
Alchemist curse: dark purple with amazing sparkle: how not to love?
Are you my mummy?: i got a full size of this because of the "strong pink shift", i twisted my hand in every possible angle and couldn't see any...i should have taken full size of "wake not the dead" instead.
Winter again: another shade i cherish. Icy, iridescent blue.
Nijiro: Buttery color, very smooth. The multi color shimmer is too hidden.

Row 3:

Bite me: a deep red, looks warm in here. For sure it will be bitten when i'll wear it as a lippy.
Sleepy hollow: Deep teal with gold shimmer.
Darling misfit: WOW!! a cool fuchsia/hot pink with an incredible turquoise shifting, freaking love this one.
Sugar skull (free sample): thanks God was free. Warm reddish hot pink.
Dorian grey: Dark charcoal with sparse blue sparkles.

Top 5: Best Things I've Learned Thanks To Nail Blogs.

Nail Blogs are so great not only because we share our passion with others and get hints of new, upcoming collections.
We can find out also, many nice things we had not idea about of.

Here is my Top 5

1) China Glaze "Ruby Pumps": To me is the most beautiful polish ever. Just for this i'm totally grateful to nail blogs.

Para mi, el esmalte mas bello del mundo.

"Ruby Pumps"  が いちばん きれいな あか です。
Per me, é lo smalto piu bello fra tutti.


2) Pushing cuticles rather than cutting them: Oh Boy!, this has been a MAJOR  staple, help,
step in my nail care routine, thanks to this my routine is basically this: push and moisturize.
 Before when i cutted, it was a nightmare to keep a neat, clean nail border. Now is a piece of cake, and sometimes i use a cuticle remover for extra help.

Empujar las cuticulas en vez de cortarlas, ha mejorado enormemente la apariencia de mis uñas, cabe decir que es el mejor sistema para las cuticulas.

Spingere le cuticole invece di tagliarle, é il miglior modo di mantenere il bordo
 dell'unghia uniforme e con un bel aspetto.


3) Clean-up: Another thing i'm so happy i know about. Nails look so elegant, so taken care of when you do this.
Limpiar el borde del esmalte aplicado, para uniformar su aspecto, hace ver mas bello el resultado final.
クリン オップとネイール ワロップと マニキューア が いちばん すてき ですよ。
Pulire il bordo dello smalto steso, mi ha aiutato tantissimo nel dare un'apparenza piu' curata alla mia manicure.


4) Seche Vite: How i did before discovering this amazing fast drying top coat? I don't know.
 No se como hacia antes de descubrir esta capa de brillo, que seca el esmalte totalmente en minutos.
 "Seche vite" (セーシ ビット) は とてもシャイニーです。
 Mamma mia! ma come facevo prima di usare questa fantastica top coat ad asciugatura ultra veloce?


5) Nail  Tip Wrap: Another precious tip for a longer-lasting, neater manicure.
 Aplicar esmalte a la punta de la uña, hace mas duradera y bonita la manicure.
 Mettere lo smalto anche sulla punta dell'unghia, fà piu' duratura e carina la manicure.

Polish Shown: Essie "Flirty Fuchsia".

My Red Lipstick Arsenal.

Hello to everyone. Today i present my red lipsticks. I love red lips and red nails. I have 36 red lipsticks and probably don't need more, i hope not but who knows?
They range from very cheap to high end brands, but honestly...sometimes i kinda regret expending good money for some of them when the cheapest ones are sooo good quality, but i'm happy to have them all, because it's undeniable that the most expensive ones, have that kick that worth.
More below swatches descriptions.

Hola. Aqui estan todos mis labiales rojos, me encantan los labios super rojos. Tengo desde muy baratos hasta mas costosos. Por razones de espacio escribo las descripciones en ingles, pero las marcas "Jordana" y "Nyx" las pueden conseguir en cherryculture.com.

わたし は  赤 い リップ スティックが  とても すきです。36 リップ スティック が あります。
Chanel ゛ドーラゴン ゛ が いちばん いいです。゛Jordana゛と ゛Nyx ゛は cherryculture.com を うります。

Ciao. Ecco qua tutti i miei rossetti rossi. Ho un debole per le labbra rosse. Spaziano dai piu costosi ai piu economici. Per motivi di spazio le descrizioni degli swatch sono in inglese, ma le marche "Jordana" e "Nyx" potete acquistarle da cherryculture.com.

First row, from left:

Chanel "Dragon": One of the most beautiful reds ever, more on this later.
Nyx "Extreme red": blue based red with faint shimmer and semi glossy texture. Excellent pigmentation.
Jordana "Matte rouge": truly matte and not drying. Blue based red, is vibrant with great color payoff and is long lasting too, for way less than two dollars!
Jordana "Cherry": also blue based, a delicate red, for when you don't want bunch of color.
Manic Panic "Blood red": Love this, of course blue based, very rich in color.
Maybelline 547: I think names change between the ones selled in different countries, here in Switzerland is called " Pleasure me red". Similar to "Dragon" in hue, but the vibrancy and pigmentation are inferior.
Nyx "Chic red": Another sweet, toned down blue red. In fact very chic, for a "bon ton" look.
Nyx "Cherry": Shiny, juicy red, the color saturation is a little translucent due to its glossiness. Did i forget to say is cool toned?.

Second row, from Left: 


Nyx "Revamped": Vavaboom red!, the swatch doesn't do it justice, is one of my favorites, you can detect the orange tones in it, but the warm and cool tones are so well balanced making it an extraordinary neutral red with an impact that is beyond gorgeous! Somebody could say it's garish or too loud, but i love it!!
Manic Panic" Vampire red": deep red, bloody looking.
Milani "Hot flash": shimmery red with a glossy texture too.
Nyx Jumbo lip pencil "Plush red": super cool toned red, with crazy pigmentation.
Nyx Jumbo lip pencil "Hot red": in fact is hot, a neutral red.
Sephora "Fancy red": another shimmery red in big pencil lip form.
Nyx Jumbo lip pencil"Deep red": is a darker red, it may have a brick touch.

Plus color riche "68": a brand i found in my country and i got this juicy red, very neutral.

Nyx "Snow white": a blue based deep red, very pigmented.

Milani " Royal ruby": a fuchsia red, with great color payoff.

 Illamasqua "Sangers": they say is a blood red, definitely is somehow bloody but i think "Snow white" and "Vampire red" are more.

Maybelline "625":  my mom gave this to me as a present and she bought it in our country that has the same american names, in this case " are you red-dy?".

Third row, from left: 

Illamasqua "Box": Get out of the box with this amazing blue red! love it, is so long lasting and "in your face". 

L'oreal 297: Once again the name thing, here is called "Red passion", BUT i have to say that also the price changes a lot from country to country! i paid 27 swiss francs (32 us dollars) for this, wich is also the worst in terms of staying power: less than one hour.

Nyx "Electra": is not my cup of tea, because it has too much brick tones for my skin.

MUFE 43 "Moulin rouge": OMG! the best neutral red i have, pigmentation is top notch.

Manic Panic " Marilyn": is too warm, but since i got it online didn't know, but since is called just as her, and i like her so much, i still use it to brighten other dark reds. 

Jordana "Garnet": again, for less than 2 dollars you get this beautiful deep red, totally blue based, with A++ pigmentation and staying power.

Jordana "Eggplant": a deep red with purple tones. Same nice value.

Jordana "Matte scarlet": bright, opaque red. Again,  fantastic value for your money.

Jordana "Burnt sugar": despite the name, this is a burgundy, wine red. I freaking like this, even more with a wine or black lip gloss on top.

Fourth row, from left: 

Jordana "Radiant red": is a softer red, within neutral realm.

Milani "Berry rich": it is for sure rich. Another wine red, glides on effortlessly, luscious and with complete coverage.

Jordana " Matte red": neutral, matte red.

Rimmel "500": Here is called " diva's red". Great cool toned red, creamy, pigmented.

Catrice " Luxury red": rich and vibrant red, more on the neutral side, with glossy finish yet with a lot of pigment.

Nyx " Hero": One of my top 5!, Blue based dark red, wich is dark but keeps its glow, vibrancy, i don't know, is dark but so, so red.

Nyx "Chaos": This is the bluest a red can be, i believe. Picture does not show all its beauty. Is soooo cool toned, sooo glowy. I'm in love with this red, could never be without.


And my favourite deserves a lip swatch: Chanel "Dragon".
It's not my number one, because is a Chanel, simply because, besides being an amazing cool toned red, is super long lasting, more than any other lipstick i have. I wear it for almost 9 hours before a heavy touch up.
I did my best to get a nice color picture, but i couldn't. IRL is deeper, darker, but glowy as red traffic light. 

My Polish Arsenal

Here they are!, all the polishes i currently own and wear, of course.
I don't know the quantity, but never mind about it because the total keeps on increasing constantly (there are ten coming to me this week, i hope).
I think the predominant color is red, wouldn't be a surprise due to how much i like red, but i think that purple, if is not the most abundant one, is pretty close to be.
What i know for sure is that i only have two taupes and one yellow (neon, of course) and one orange (neon too). But i will provide to this lacking, i might be willing to buy another taupe and gotta find out if there is a yellow that compliments cool skin tones and the brightest neon orange, i believe is the only way for me to wear orange.
I'm getting interested in peach colors and soft corals ala Essie Van Dgo, it will be part of my arsenal soon.

Not Polish Related...

Good morning. While i was sick i had very little hungriness. While yesterday i had a big sweet craving.

I wanted something sweet, voluptuous, creamy, crunchy, in short terms: contrasting textures when chewing.

I wanted a crumble, a strawberry crumble, but there wasn't anything to do it but flour and butter.

Then i remembered the bar of extra dark, unsweetened chocolate in my cupboard, the nuts, the sugar and i made some brownies.

These are so easy to do, i don't add baking powder and i always lower the quantity of flour, because i love my brownies to be extra buttery, extra creamy in the inside.

Since Supermarkets have plenty of strawberries these days, i need to go, pick some and prepare a melt in mouth/crispy crumble.
I know this blog is about nail polish, but we all have different interests besides polishing nails. I love cooking, learn about the Universe,decorate with Swarovsky flatbacks ( a very expensive hobby, sadly) among others, so from time to time i'll be posting this kind of not polish related parenthesis.