I guess you all noticed I hadn't updated in a long time and that this has been a reoccurring theme on my blog for the past months. There has been a LOT going on in blogland which has, quite frankly, taken the fun out of blogging for me for a while. I started this blog because I love nails and nailpolish and wanted to share this with anyone who was interested in reading my ramblings. Painting my nails is relaxing for me and even when my arthritis is flaring up and I can do very little else and even the most basic daily tasks are hard, fiddling around with polish is something I can do to relax and take care of myself and my appearance. Playing with colors makes me happy. Sharing this with you guys made me happy.

This blog however, stopped making me happy. It had become a big giant Thing on my ever growing To Do List of things I don't have time or energy for next to my everyday life. My heart wasn't in it anymore and painting my nails and playing with my polish became something that drained energy instead of giving it. Where blogging and polishing my nails used to be a fun addition to my life, it now was something that life got in the way of. It took me a while to realize I did that to myself.

I do not HAVE to blog, I like it. I do not HAVE to keep up with other blogs, I like it. I do not HAVE to blog solely about nails. No matter what my blog title says, it's MY blog. I do not HAVE to have to buy myself silly to get all the latest collections and quite frankly, I DON'T want to. I have no intention of ever going professional. I have no intention of ever joining any kind of bloggers union no matter how important they think they are. I do not have to get anyone's permission to post, say or do anything on my blog and no one needs to approve. I blog for me.

So, there are probably going to be some changes to my blog over the next few hours, days, weeks, months... Or not. I won't commit to anything because that takes the fun out of it for me. If you want to stick around for that; GREAT! I really appreciate you guys and the fact that you take time to read and even comment to my blogs. I can't promise I'll respond to every comment but I will read them all and please know I appreciate them.

On a positive note: I've found something else that makes me happy. I've been growing my hair out for the past two years and it's getting to a length where I can start to do fun stuff with it. I've joined a couple of long hair fora and learned a lot about haircare and ways to put your hair up and have found a new passion: making hair sticks and forks. This means you can expect the occasional post on haircare, updo's and new hair sticks and forks I made and I'll probably catalog my hair growth here too. I might even write a tutorial on how to make hair sticks if you guys are interested.

To end this Big Wall 'O Text, here are some pics of things that made me happy today:

OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui with a gold colored holographic glitter called Stardust from Wet Glaze.


A Lazy Wrap Bun with a couple of hair sticks I made.



My bento lunch! Anyone who can look at a bunny-shaped egg without smiling should have his funnybone checked.

On the left: fried rice with red pepper, garlic, courgette, peas and tauge, a soy sauce fishy and a bunny-shaped egg. On the right: mini pancakes (poffertjes), clotted cream, strawberry jam, a couple of mini roma tomatoes and some pistachios. Not the healthiest of bento's but it's perfect comfort food!

ETA: My comment system is spacing out on me. Hang in there, I'll see if I can fix it!

I'm a winter-person. I love tweed, warm woolen sweaters and mittens. Waking up to see ice flowers on the bedroom window and staying in bed just a little longer, curled up under the blankets. Cooking typical (Dutch) winter foods like stews, hotch potch and pea soup. Taking a long walk when the first snow falls, even if it's in the middle of the night. Or should I say especially in the middle of the night? The world is a magical place when it's covered in a white layer. Everything is so peaceful and quiet.

I'm a longing for winter and I'm getting a bit sick of all the happy pastels and glittery goodness so for todays nails I used Catrice The Devil Wears Red; a nice near-black red vampy polish. I'm told TDWR is a dupe for Chanel Rouge Noir. I don't have that one so I don't know how close it is but it's a beautiful vampy nonetheless.

I've been painting my nails at night with poor lighting again (will I ever learn?) and I woke up this morning to discover a couple of spots that weren't covered completely so I decided to cover them up with a little Konad.

I used Konad plate M71 and China Glaze 2030 from the Khrome Collection for stamping. Most chrome polishes are great for stamping and this one is no exception! The result is always very crisp and clean and the shine is amazing.



Remember you can buy all your Konad supplies and China Glaze and other polishes from www.enchantra.eu at a 15% discount with the code DTCHNLBLG! They ship to most of Europe.

Als eerste een reminder om je in te schrijven voor mijn Surprise Puppy Giveaway om negen Catrice lakjes van jouw keuze te winnen!

Ik heb een klein beetje zon gehad en daar heb ik gebruik van gemaakt om een aantal shimmers uit de nieuwe Lente/Zomer collectie van Catrice te swatchen. Daarna liet de zon me in de steek dus de rest volgt nog maar daarvoor moet ik mijn lightbox uit de kast trekken.

First a reminder to enter my Surprise Puppy Giveaway to win nine Catrice polishes of your choice!

I had a little sunlight today so I used that to swatch a couple of shimmers from the new Spring/Summer Collection by Catrice. After that the sun failed me but the rest will follow, I just have to get out my light box for those.



Ik moet mijn eerdere opmerkingen over de formule van deze collectie terugnemen. Blijkbaar zijn de problemen die ik had met Poison Me, Poison You beperkt tot die ene lak want met de rest van de collectie heb ik geen problemen gehad. Alleen Sold Out For Ever was iets moeilijker maar dat is ook een pastel en die staan erom bekend.

Alle swatches zijn twee laagjes zonder basecoat of topcoat tenzij anders vermeld.

I have to retract my previous comments on the formula of this collection. I guess the problems I had with Poison Me, Poison You were limited to that polish alone because the rest of the collection gave me no trouble. Only Sold Out For Ever was a bit harder but that is a pastel and they are notorious for it.

All swatches are two coats without basecoat or topcoat unless otherwise stated.



Laat me je voorstellen aan Clay-ton, My Hero. Een greige (grijs/beige) met gouden shimmer en in sommig licht zelfs een zeegroene tint. Deze is zo mooi en delicaat!

Meet Clay-ton, My Hero. A greige (grey/beige) with gold shimmer and in some light it even has a sea-green tint. This one is so pretty and delicate!



De volgende is Blue's Brother, een staalblauwe shimmer. Deze heeft zoveel shimmer dat ze grenst aan een foil. Niet helemaal mijn smaak maar het is wel een vrolijk zomerkleurtje dat ik me wel met leuke sandalen en een rokje zie dragen.

Next up is Blue's Brother, a steelblue shimmer. This has so much shimmer it borders on a foil. Not exactly my taste but it is a fun summer colour and I can see myself wearing it with cute sandals and a skirt.



Big Spender Wanted! Roze met gouden shimmer. Deze doet me denken aan China Glaze Strawberry Fields maar deze is koeler van kleur en heeft minder rood. Mooi, meisjesachtig en zomerig maar niet erg interessant vind ik. Als je nog niet zoiets hebt is deze de moeite waard om te kopen maar het is geen absolute must have.

Big Spender Wanted! Pink with a golden shimmer. This one reminds me of China Glaze Strawberry Fields but it's cooler toned and has less red. Pretty, girly and summery but not very interesting in my opinion. If you don't have something like it, it is worth buying but to me it's not a must have.



Be My Millionaire. Een mooie koele, antiek-uitziende gouden shimmer. Ik ben er vrijwel zeker van dat Catrice heeft geprobeerd Chanel Kaleidoscope te dupen met deze. Ik heb geen idee hoe goed ze hierin geslaagd zijn omdat ik niets vergelijkbaars heb maar van wat ik kan zien heeft Kaleidoscope grotere shimmerdeeltjes. De kleur lijkt echter wel in de buurt te komen.

Meer van deze collectie (inclusief mijn persoonlijke favorieten) volgen later!

Be My Millionaire. A pretty cool-toned antique-looking gold shimmer. I'm pretty sure Catrice tried to come close to Chanel Kaleidoscope with this one. I have no idea how close they came because I have nothing like it but from what I can see Kaleidoscope has bigger shimmer particles. The colour seems pretty close though.

More of this collection (including my personal favourites) later!