NOTD: MAC "Seriously Hip"

Now this is truly an archive NOTD. I think I've had this over a year. Look how long my nails were! Anyway, this is the polish from the MAC Collection "Style black" that came out in.... was it in early 2010 or late 2009? This was a limited edition but you might find it on ebay or from private seller. But let's move on to the pictures:

The colour is a golden, mossy green with golden flakes and a pearl shine. The flakes are rather small and irregular, not the bigger flakes like you get in Nfu-Oh's lovely flake polishes. I think it was the regular 3 coats on this picture. I'm not sure what base- and top coat I was using though.
Normally this kind of green isn't my colour and to be totally honest, I've only used this once. I think the colour is beautiful, it's really fall like and the flakes makes it almost glow from within, but green just isn't my thing. I can't get it to suit me somehow. Although I don't think the  colour is my biggest issue with this polish. The flakes makes it almost impossible to remove. It doesn't matter how long you rub your nails with remover, you still get dark flakes on your nails. The formula is ok for a MAC polish- it's sticky but not too thick or gloopy. I can't remember how long I wore it before it chipped though. When it comes to MAC polishes they normal only stay on for a day or two which is an outrage considering how much they cost. But then again I'm the stupid one since I've bought them.

And now for the book tip! I wasn't sure what kind of book you should read to a greenish, fall like polish. Well, I found one- The serpent and the rainbow (1985) by Wade Davis. It's allegedly a non-fictional book but I would say I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to the degree of truth but it's still a good book. It's written by a Wade Davis, an etno-botanist who travels to Haiti to do some research about zombie poison. If you're interested in culture of Haiti and the mythos of zombies, I really recommend this beacuse it's truly interesting. It's also about the political climate in Haiti which was been troublesome to say the least. So it's not the typical Hollywood-zombie-story with moaning, slow walking humanlike creatures roaming the streets. It was filmed in 1988, starring Bill Pullman. But the movie is only loosely based on the book.

Day 03 – Your parents

Instead of writing a long entry about my parents, I will share a little scene that happend just the other day. It was on Sunday (Father's day in Sweden to be exact).
Me, my mum and dad where out on a sunday quizz walk in the freezing rain.
Mum: "Now that looks really good!" Points to the overgrown sidewalk.
Dad: With hesitation: "Oh? For real?"
Mum: Sighs loudly. "Come on. Do you really think so?"
Dad: Messes with the umbrella. "But you said so?"
Mum: "It was a JOKE!"
Me: Laughing myself silly.

The small illustration is quite pointless to any other person. But in my family, irony a joking has always been an everyday thing although, as you can see, irony doesn't always work.

NOTD: Rescue Beauty Lounge "Scrangie"

Now we finally come to a NOTD! Off course its from the archive beacuse the light has been horrible recently, a bad thing about winter. This time we have RBL's beautiful polish "Scrangie". This polish was especially made with one of my favourite nailpolish blogger- Scrangie. Now let's see the pictures:

The colour is a bright purple with green shimmer and microglitter. It's very unique although Zoya's Adina has almost the same concept- purple with a green duochrome. But they aren't dupes, even though I don't have Adina, I can tell by the pictures I've seen. The formula is excellent, like with all other RBL polishes. If you fancy it I can tell you that Nailmail has RBL as this months polish and Scrangie is included in one of the "Edgy" choice. It's truly recommended.

What sort of book can we mention after a beauty like Scrangie? Well, my thoughts are this; since Scrangie is inspired by beetlewings my thoughts straightly went to a longer novell I recently read. I think most people are somewhat familiar with The metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Although that it's a misconception that the main character, Gregor Samsa, was transformed into a beetle. The "thing" he was transformed into is an unknown insect. Kafka didn't want the species of the insect to be specified which is actually a big charm with this long novell. The thing about Kafka is the uncertainty about what is going on. It's the surreal feeling. When Gregor Samsa wakes up and finds that his body now is an insect with multipel legs, his thoughts is not about what has happend but how he will get to work in the state he is. Somehow that highlights the nightmarish effect and it's all typical of Kafka. I recommend it.

The cats

Now when blogger finally lets me include photos again, I might as well show you the gruesome twosome- hahahaha. Brutus is on the left and the other one is Bina- both on my unmade bed.

Day 02 – Your first love

Now this is a difficult subject. Who was my first love? Hmmm..... but it must have been when I was around 7 I think. I've always liked hanging around blokes just as much as girls. Maybe it's beacuse I have an older brother and I'm used to have guys around. But the one that can be considered to be my first love was a bloke that was in the other first grade (or was it when we where in the second grade?). We were both at the same recreation centre after school and I think that's where we found each other. I won't mention his name though beacuse that's not fair.
Unfortunatly we were never boyfriend and girlfriend, but we were good friends. It was one of those sweet and innocent friendships where I felt my heart beat extra whenever we were together. I wasn't jelous when he had girlfriends though beacuse it never affected our friendship. Our friendship lasted until I moved with my family when I was 11. The funny thing is, when I think back, is that his and my friendship was located to that recreation centre. We didn't hang out at home or anything like that. After him I must have had about a billion different loves but it wasn't until I was 17 I got my first actual boyfriend.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself

Wow, this is going to be harder than I first expected. How do you decide on what is relevant and what you really want to let complete strangers know. Although, some of you readers that has left several comments (and some of you with blogs of your own) doesn't feel like complete strangers to me. So let's start, shall we.

I think the photo (captured with my crappy webcam) represents me really well- in front of the computer, with headphones on and, off course, with a wide smile on my face. Like most of you know, my name is Veronica and I turned 30 earlier this year. I live in a flat with my two cats, Brutus and Bina (I'll show you pictures of them further down, it's only fair) and about 50 plants of different kinds. Yes, apart from beauty products, I just love plants. I grow everything and I love to tend them- that is pure therapy. The japanese sure did know what they we're doing when they started their zen gardens. I was employed as a consultant at a company that went bankruped about 1½ years ago now. I didn't work there for long though but it was my first job and I was proud of it. When I was let go I resumed my studies and now I'm a fulltime student at Karlstad University. I'm currently studying litterature (and it's history) but after this term I'll probably start studying english since I'm going to get qualifications to apply for the translation programme (or courses) at Stockholm university. So, that means a big move for me which is scary but also very exciting. And it's a year away from now so I have time to get used to the idea.

I've been part of a swedish site devoted entirely to the author J.R.R. Tolkien (Swedens biggest Tolkien site actually!!) where I wrote articles for our weekly online magazine. We had our big time when Peter Jackson's movies where released but afterwards the site sort of lost more and more visitors and interest from the general public. And with that most of the interest to publish anymore magazines stopped which meant that no more articles where written (at least by me).

I'm a complete nerd when it comes to things that interest me. I seem to memorize everything which is sometime frustrating. You see, I can memorize every silly detail about Twin Peaks (apart from the number of Agent Cooper's hotel room) but any kind of math seem to pass straight through my head without leaving any kind of impression.

I've always been a lover of horror movies and horror stories. I can't remember how or why this strange lovestory started but it must have been something I was born with. I read my first Stephen King book (Pet sematary) when I was 9 or 10 and after that I was hooked on his book. It's actually a love that's still strong. When he was hit by a car in 1999 I was truly devastated. It sounds silly but I was. Even though King has written a lot of horror classics (and a lot of them have been turned into crappy movies), the works I consider to be his masterpieces is his series about the Dark Tower. If you haven't read them (I think it's about 10 books or so) then you definatly should beacuse they are amazing, truly amazing. I'm going to write a longer piece about the Dark towers series another day though. But Stephen King isn't my absolute favourite even though he has been my "companion" for the absolute longest. The author that's highest on my personal favourite list is Clive Barker, the man who created Hellraiser. He hasn't written as much as King has but his works has a deep quality and they appeal to the horrorlover in me. A female author I also love is Mo Hayder, an english woman who isn't so famous here in Sweden. She doesn't write horror though, they are more thrillers or detective stories, but they have a sense of horror in them. Especially her new series on "the walking man".

Another thing that's really typical of me is that I have a tendency to drift from the subject once I get started. But I have a feeling that you already know, don't you?

Oh, apparently blogger has something up it's... behind right now so I can't include a photo of the cats. But I will include them somewhere just as soon as blogger decides to cooperate.

A 30 day challenge

To kickstart the new language change I've implemented on the blog, I thought I might do a list that I've seen on two other blogs recently (Karin's and Katta's). I know that it isn't beauty related but it's a nice way for you, my lovely readers, to get to know me just a little bit better. So, here's the list of what sort of post you'll be reading here (amongst others off course):
Day 01 – Introduce yourself
Day 02 – Your first love
Day 03 – Your parents
Day 04 – What you ate today
Day 05 – Your definition of love
Day 06 – Your day
Day 07 – Your best friend
Day 08 – A moment
Day 09 – Your beliefs
Day 10 – What you wore today
Day 11 – Your siblings
Day 12 – What’s in your bag
Day 13 – This week
Day 14 – What you wore today
Day 15 – Your dreams
Day 16 – Your first kiss
Day 17 – Your favorite memory
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday
Day 19 – Something you regret
Day 20 – This month
Day 21 – Another moment
Day 22 – Something that upsets you
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry
Day 25 – A first
Day 26 – Your fears
Day 27 – Your favorite place
Day 28 – Something that you miss
Day 29 – Your aspirations
Day 30 – One last moment

Ny riktning?

Jag funderar seriöst på att övergå till att skriva bloggen helt på engelska. Inte för att jag har många internationella läsare, nä, orsaken är helt enkelt att jag behöver övningen att skriva på engelska. Jag har nämligen gjort det livsavgörande beslutet att rikta in mig på översättaryrket (engelska-svenska och vice versa) och jag behöver helt enkelt övningen att skriva långa stycken på engelska. Behöver få ett bra 'flow' i texten, så att säga. Visst skulle jag kunna skriva inläggen både på svenska och engelska men jag har försökt det och jag gillar inte det upplägget. Det funkar helt enkelt inte för mig. Möjligen skriver jag en liten text längst ned i varje inlägg, på svenska, men jag vet hur jag är- jag glömmer förmodligen bort det.
Så från och med nästa vecka så övergår jag till engelska, bara för en liten provperiod för att se hur det fungerar. Jag hoppas att ni stannar med mig ändå. :-)

NOTD CND "Sphinx"

Återigen blir det en NOTD och denna gång ska ett boktips vara med. Jag måste ha haft hjärnkollaps den sista tiden. Tentapluggande och grupparbeten kan göra så med de bästa.
Detta lack är tyvärr numera utgånget ur CNDs (Creative Nail Design) sortiment. Men med lite tur kan du hitta den på Ebay eller Tradera. Färgen är nästan omöjlig att beskriva; rosa-lila-metallic-champagne-med glitter, eller något sådant. Formulan är ganska tjock och seg men jag tror att det beror på att den förra ägaren (jag fick mitt ex genom ett byte) har lämnat det öppet för länge. Det brukar bli såhär då, tyvärr. Men det går fortfarande att måla med så det är helt ok. Men eftersom det är metallicfinish på det så blir det randigt. Men låt oss gå till bilderna:

 

Om jag inte minns helt fel så är det tre lager på bilderna. Det är arkivfoton så jag skulle gissa att underlacket är CNDs Stickey och topplacket är Nails Inc Nail Caviar med CNDs Speedy.

Men nu till boktipset! Eftersom namnet är "Sphinx" så tyckte jag att det bäst lämpade sig med en bok som centreras kring en gåta. Valet föll därför på Minette Walters Skulptrisen (1993). Jag är en hängiven Walters läsare och brukar låna eller köpa på mig hennes böcker när hon ger ut något nytt. Jag gillar nämligen upplägget- en okänd mördare, en rak historia samt inklippta notiser, artiklar och allt som kan peka ut mördaren. Allt i en engelsk miljö, som givetvis mitt hjärta alltid klappat hårt för. Skulptrisen är (nog) en av Walters första, åtminstone som gav hennes den statusen hon idag har som deckarförfattarinna. Den handlar om journalisten Roz som för inte allför avlägsen tid sedan förlorade sin dotter i en bilolycka. Hon har levt undandraget sedan dess och vältrat sig i sin sorg. Men nu kräver hennes förläggare att hon ska börja arbeta igen och hon får uppdraget att intervjua Olive Martin som sitter fängslad för styckmordet på sin syster och mamma. Hon beskrivs som en jättelik, psykopatisk mytoman som hela fängelset fruktar. Men när Roz träffar henne för första gången ser hon att det finns något mer innanför fasaden som Olive byggt upp. Ju mer Roz forskar så inser hon att Olive inte är mördaren. Men vem är det då hon skyddar? Det är spännande bok som är himla lättläst. Alla Minette Walters böcker är perfekt till långresor när man kan sitta och sträckläsa. Den här tillhör en av de bättre och den rekommenderas verkligen.

Hudens bästa vän!

Bild från Wikipedia

Nu ska jag ge er ett budgettips som är suveränt- helt ärligt alltså! Jag lider av eksemig, supertorr hud som är helt hopplös- speciellt på vintern då luften blir torrare. Inte för att sommarvärme är bättre dock. Men iallafall... Jag tror jag har testat alla möjliga krämer, jag fått strikta order av läkare att ALLTID smörja mig efter duschen men jag tycker det är så trist att kladda med en fet kräm när jag stiger ut ur duschen. Det känns ju bara som om man drar runt på den iallafall och det blir svårare att sätta på sig kläderna- usch med andra ord. Jag har väldigt svårt för att känna mig kladdig. Men iallafall så läste jag, eller hörde jag, någonstans om hur bra olivolja är. Så jag tänkte att jag kunde testa eftersom jag ändå inte har något att förlora. Och tro på fasen- olivolja fungerar sjukt bra som återfuktare för hela kroppen!

Min rutin är mycket enkelt. Jag duschar som vanligt, ni vet- tvättar mig och hela köret. Sen så kliver jag ur duschen för att smörja in mig med oljan. Jag rekommenderar att ni skaffar en plastflaska med spraymunstycke eller med ett vanligt snäpplock. Ta inte med hela glasflaskan i duschen eftersom; 1) flaskan blir hal hur du än bär dig åt. 2) du vill inte ha vatten i olivoljan eftersom det gör att den härsknar snabbare 3) helt enkelt opraktiskt.
Efter att jag är inoljad (har du långt hår som jag så rekommenderas verkligen att du sätter upp det!) så kliver jag in i duschen igen och duschar av mig. All överflödig olja förvinner därmed och jag blir bara mjuk och återfuktad.
Tänk även på detta- torka dig inte med en vit handduk efteråt för det kan färga och då har du gula fläckar på din handduk för all framtid sedan. Ha en sprayflaska med fettlösande rengöringsmedel till hands som du kan spraya duschgolvet efteråt- annars är risken stor att du halkar nästa gång du duschar. Duschavloppet blir snabbt äckligt också men det är en liten bisak i det stora hela.