Merry Christmas! / Srecan Bozic!

Danas slavim Bozic opet. 

Mnogo sam vremena provela razmisljajuci sta je to sto izdvaja Srbiju pri slavljenju Bozica, od ostalih zemalja, i nisam dosla do pravog odgovora. Shvatila sam da svi, bez obzira u kojoj zemlji zivimo, bez obzira koje smo nacionalnosti, vere itd... slavimo na slican nacin. Ono sto mislim (ako nisam u pravu, ispravite me) da je karakteristika Balkanskih naroda tokom Bozicnih praznika je sadjenje zita oko svece. Zato je moj nail art danas takav, u duhu Bozica mojih naroda.

Today I celebrate Christmas again.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what is unique in Serbia during Christmas celebration, and I couldn't find an answer. I realized that, no matter in which country do you live, no matter what is your nationality, religion etc... we all celebrate on similar way. But I think (if I'm wrong, correct me) that planting wheat around the candle is characteristic for Balkan people, during a Christmas celebration. So my nail art today is like that, in spirit of Christmas in my of the Europe.

Jako je bilo tesko ovo nacrtati. Ako ne mozete prepoznati, na druga dva nokta su venci suvog cveca. 

U svakom slucaju, mozda ste i primetile da sam skratila nokte, vreme je bilo za to. Ali ne zalim, brzo ce porastiti :). Narednih par dana, cim sredim slike, pokazacu vam par toga sto sam uradila ove nedelje, dok sam jos uvek imala duze nokte.

I da ne zaboravim, Srecan Bozic svim mojim pravoslavnim citaocima :)

It was really hard to draw this. If you can't recognize, on other two nails are wreath made of dry flower. 

Anyway, maybe you noticed that I shorted my nails, it was time to do that. But I don't regret, they will grow fast :). In the next couple of days, as soon as I transfer photos from camera, I'll show you few things that I did this week, while I still had longer nails.

I almost forgot, Merry Christmas to all my Orthodox readers :)

Starry Purple

Moj prvi nail art ove godine. Zato sam odlucila da krenem sa necim jednostavnim. Samo bih volela da sam sacekala da bude potpuno suvo, pa da sam tek onda legla da spavam, ali bila sam previse umorna. Zato oprostite na neravninama :).

My first nail art this year. That's why I decided to start with something simple. I just wish that I waited to be completly dry before I went to bed, but I was too tired. So, forgive me for all bumps :)

• Essence - Dress to Party
• b.pretty Canopy
• b.pretty Silver Spruce
• b.pretty Lilac dreams
• b.pretty Phantom

Razmisljala sam o tome da tokom odredjenog perioda (mesec dana ili dva) uradim swatcheve svih lakova koje imam. Sta vi mislite o tome? Da li da to uradim, ili da nastavim sa nail artom? Ili mozda da nekako iskombinujem po danima...?

I was thinking about, during a month or two, doing swatches of all polishes that I own. What do you think about it? Should I do that, or should I continue doing nail art? Or maybe I can combine it doing nail art on some days, and swatches on others...?

My Way to Fix a Broken Nail

Mislim da sam ja ovo izumela, i prilicno sam zadovoljna. Pretrazivala sam Google i nisam nasla da je iko koristio ovaj nacin lepljenja zacepljenog ili puknotog nokta, a ako vi znate da nekog ko jeste, javite mi. Prvo da vam kazem kako je sve ovo nastalo.
Prosle godine, dok jos nisam imala blog, na 31.12. polomila sam jedan nokat. Bilo je popodne, tako da nista nije radilo, a jedini tutorijal koji sam nasla na internetu bio je sa kesicom od caja, i lepkom. A lepak nisam imala. Vremenom sam shvatila da mi lepak mnogo ostecuje nokte, tako da ne volim da ga koristim uopste. Da se vratimo na pricu... Moj tata je otisao da kupi cigarete, i rekla sam mu da kupi i lepak ako ga nadje, i rekla mu za sta mu treba. A on je usput smislio novi nacin lepljenja. Uz pomoc papira za cigarete, koji se kod nas zove Rizla. Bila sam skepticna ali moj nokat tada stvarno jeste preziveo noc.
Ove godine, na 31.12, zacepio mi se nokat (cudno je, ali mislim da je isti u pitanju). Posto sam imala papira za cigarete od prosle godine, opet sam isprobala ovaj nacin lepljenja, sacekala sam 5 dana, i i dalje stoji na mestu. Ako zelite da saznate kako ovo radi, nastavite da citate :).
Trebace vam : 

• makaze
• papir za cigarete (Rizla)
• providan lak za nokte (ja sam koristila Isabelle Dupont - 201)
• lak za jacanje noktiju (ja sam koristila Sehe Vite Retain)
• blok turpija

Evo kako je moj polomljeni nokat izgledao : 

I think I invented this, and I am really satisfied with myself. I was browsing Google and I didn't  found that anyone has used this way to fix a broken nail, and if you know someone who is, let me know. First, let me tell you how I came up with this.
Last year, while I still haven't had blog, at 31.12. I broke a nail. It was afternoon, so almost none of the stores were open, and the only tutorial that I found on the Internet was with a tea bag and glue. And I had no glue. Eventually I realized how much damage glue makes for nails, so I don't like to use it at all. Returning to the story ... My dad went to buy cigarettes, and I told him to buy a glue if he finds it, and told him about what I need it for. And on the road, he thought about it and there was idea. With the help of the cigarette paper, which is called Rizla here in Serbia. I was sceptical then but my nail really survived that night.

This year, at 31.12, I broke a nail (weird, but I think it's the same nail as last year). Since I had the cigarette paper from last year, I fixed it again. I waited 5 days, and it still stands like there isn't any crack. If you want to know how this works, keep reading :).
You will need:

• scissors
• cigarette paper (Rizla)
• clear nail polish (I used Isabelle Dupont - 201)
• nail polish that strengthen nails (I used Sehe Vite Retain) 
• Block file to remove ridges

Here's how my nail looked broken:

Prvi korak : Sa blok turpijom, tj onom stranom sto otklanja neravnomerne ivice, blago isturpijajte povrsinu nokta.

Step one : With block file (the side that is used to remove ridges), gently file a area of your nail surface. 



Korak dva : Namazite lak koji jaca nokte (ako ga nemate, moze posluziti i bezbojni lak).

Step two : Apply a nail polish that strengthen your nails (if you don't have it, you can use clear nail polish also)



A evo kako bi trebao da izgleda papir za cigarete koji ce vam biti potreban.

And here's how cigarette paper that you'll need should look like.

Kao sto mozete videte, ovaj papir ima jednu stranicu koja sluzi za lepljenje. Ljudi obicno liznu ovaj deo da bi on postao samoljepljiv, ali ako ste gadljive, mozete ga jako malo (ali stvarno malo) pokvasiti.

As you can see, this paper has one side that serve for sticking. People usually lick that side when they need to make it self-sticking, but if you think that's yack, you can wet it a little bit (but really little bit).

Korak tri : Dok lak jos uvek nije potpuno suv, odsecite makazama onoliki deo papira (samolepljivog dela) koliki vam je potreban da prekrije pukotinu na noktu, liznite ga (ili ga pokvasite) i stavite ga preko pukotine.

Step three : While your polish isn't still completely dry, cut with scissors part of a paper (self-sticking part) that can cover your crack on nail, lick it (or wet it) and put it over a crack.

Korak cetiri : Namazite nokat providnim lakom, kako bi osigurale da papir ne odpadne.

Step four : Apply a clear nail polish, to be sure that paper won't fell off. 

Preko toga mozete namazati koji god lak zelite, ali predlazem da ne lakirate previse svetle nijanse kako se papir ne bi provideo. Ja sam nalakirala Look by BIPA #101 koji sam nosila za Novogodisnju noc.

Over it, you can apply any polish that you like, but I suggest not to use too bright shades because you don't want paper to transparent. I polished Look by BIPA #101 that I wear for New Year's Eve.  

Konacan zakljucak : Ovaj nacin lepljenja bi trebao da prezivi do sledece upotrebe skidaca za nokte / acetona. U trecem (od pet dana koliko sam ga testirala), deo laka se bio odcepio na tom mestu gde je pukotina, ali sam samo stavila malo providnog laka i vratila ga nazad. Tako drzi i sada. Veceras dok sam skidala lak sa ostalih noktiju, slucajno sam krenula i taj i to je razlog zasto ga nisam duze testirala. Pretpostavljam da bi izdrzao jos. 

Tokom svih ovih dana, nisam bila nesto pazljiva sto se tice koriscenja ovog nokta (prsta), tako da smatram da je rezultat odlican. Ako probate, javite mi, volela bih da znam vase utiske :).

Final conclusion : This way of fixing a broken nail should last until next use of nail polish remover / acetone. On a third (of a five days that I tested it), part of a polish started splitting on a place where is a crack, but I putted just a little bit of clear nail polish and just putted it back. It held until now. Tonight when I was removing a nail polish from all other nails, I accidentally start removing from this one too and that's a reason I haven't tested it longer. I assume that I would last longer.

During this days, I wasn't really careful with using this nail (finger), so I think results are great. Long and healthy nail. If you try this, let me know, I would love to hear your experiences :)

Two (b.)pretties

Danas sam odlucila da isprobam dva laka koja sam kupila u Becu. B.Pretty lakovi se prodaju u BIPA prodavnicama u Austriji, i kostaju 130 RSD / 1.29 €, i imaju 5ml. Za ovako nisku cenu, mogu reci da su odlicni.

Zuti b.pretty nosi naziv "Yellow" (veoma iznenadjujuce :D). Mislim da je ovo najlepsa zuta koju posedujem. Nanosi se u tri tanka sloja. Prvi sloj je bio malo tezi za naneti, nastajale su linije i neravnomernost, ali vec posle drugog to je sve nestalo.

Today I decided to try out two polishes that I bought in Vienna. B.Pretty polishes sells in BIPA stores in Austria, and their price is 1.29€ / 1.73 $, and they have 5ml. For this low price, I can say their great. 

Yellow b.pretty is named "Yellow" (very surprising :D). I think this is the most beautiful yellow polish that I own. It's opaque in three thin coats. First coat was little bit harder to apply, there was lines and unevenness, but after the second one, all of that disappeared.  

Bila sam vise uzbudjena zbog drugog, zelenog "Forest". Njega sam kupila jer sam pri kraju sa mojim Essenceovim - In the Jungle (koji obozavam), i mislila sam da su priblizno jednaki. Vec kada sam ih pogledala jednog pored drugog, shvatila sam da ni ne lice, ali nema veze. 

"Forest" se nanosi u dva tanka sloja, i stvarno se brzo susi. Cetkica je bila neravnomerno odsecena, ali sam ja to sredila i pre nego sto sam pocela da ga lakiram.

I was more excited for green one, "Forest". I bought it because my Essence - In the Jungle is almost empty (and I love it), and I thought that they are almost same. When I putted one bottle next to each other, I realized that I was wrong, but never mind.

"Forest" is opaque in two thin coats, and it dries really fast. Brush was not flat enough, but I fixed that before I even start applying it.

Ako imate prilike da kupite ove lakove, necete pozaliti. Imate li neki vec?

If you have a chance to buy this polishes, you won't regret. Do you have some already?

Ornaments decorated with Nail Polish

Moj prvi post ove godine, nece biti u vezi sa noktima. Mozda se secate da sam vam pre par dana rekla kako moja mama, decko i ja pravimo ove godine poklone, tj crtamo po ukrasima za jelku. Nas projekat je bio uspesan, i svima su se svideli. Za crtanje smo koristili akrilne boje i mnogo lakova za nokte. Pa pogledajte kako je to ispalo...

My first post this year won't be nail related. Maybe you remember that I told you few days ago how my mum, boyfriend and I are making presents this year, drawing on tree ornaments. Our project was successfull, and everybody loved it. For drawing we used acrylic paints and lots of nail polishes. So check out how that turned out...

Sta mislite o nasim crtezima? Za sta sve vi upotrebljavate lakove za nokte (osim za nokte)? Ja ih koristim u jako mnogo svrha. Pisacu jednog dana o tome.

What do you think about our art? For what do you use nail polishes (except for nails)? I used them in many purposes. I'll write about it one day.