Black and White Challenge

I will be participating in a Black & White Challenge that was created by two fellow bloggers, Dolores of Colorful Bottle and Mateja of Purple Glitters. Dolores sent me a sweet invitation to join and I just couldn't resist. There are 10 challenges which are described in the image below and a challenge manicure is posted every 3 days starting March 1st.

I'm really excited to start the challenge tomorrow and see who else is participating. If this looks interesting to you, don't hesitate to join! Check out Colorful Bottle and Purple Glitters for more information.

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Mast LifeStyle.com

www.mastlifestyle.com

Tutorial Tuesday: Freehand Flowers

When I posted this manicure earlier this month, I received lots sweet comments along with a few requests for a tutorial. Before starting the tutorial, I must preface it by saying that I freehanded each flower using a tiny brush and it took much longer than it should have. Since then I realized there is a much easier way to get the same result, so this is how I would make this manicure if I were to do it again...

Supplies:
- Base color nail polish (I used Zoya Kendal)
- Acrylic paint (or nail polish) in white, lavender and purple. Alternatively you can use just white and purple and mix the two colors to get an intermediate.
- Accent color (acrylic paint or nail polish) - I used Sinful Colors Flower Girl which is a nail art polish.
- Brushes - one small accent brush and one larger to paint the white
- Dotting Tools in various sizes

Step 1:
- Apply base coat and desired number of coats of polish and allow to dry completely (this it two coats of Zoya Kendal)
- Using white acrylic paint (or nail polish) outline a curve covering slightly less than half the nail
- Fill in the area with white paint or polish.
NOTE:  I prefer acrylic paint for this step because it dries quickly.

Step 2:
- Using a medium size dotting tool and the darker color (purple) make 5 dots in a flower shape.
- Add a dot in the middle of the flower to fill in the shape.
- Using different size dotting tools add desired number of flowers.

Step 3:
- With a slightly smaller dotting tool, place a lavender or white dot on top of each existing purple dot in the flowers.
- There should be some purple showing along the edge of the new dot.
- Fill in the center of the flower using the lavender or white color.
- Repeat this for all the flowers.

Step 4:
- Using a small detail brush and the darker color, add a few lines from the "petals" to the center of the flower
- Add small curls and leaves using the detail brush

Step 5:
- Place a dot of accent color in the center of each flower
- Add a top coat to seal everything in and you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I would love to know what you think of it!
Let me know if you try it!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping Challenge: 3 Colors

It is crazy how fast time flies, but it is once again time for another Sunday Stamping challenge in the Facebook group Adventures in Stamping. This week the challenge was to create a manicure using three colors. I toyed with the idea of layering stamped images. For example a full background stamp in one color and then a smaller stamp on top in another, but I digress...

I chose to do something I have been wanting to try for a while. This technique involves dragging multiple colors over the stamping image at once to allow them to mix directly on the stamping plate. It took a few tries to get a nice combination and figure out how to get the colors to mix nicely, but I love the result. I started out with two coats of Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. For the stamping I used two Color Club polishes, Cold Metal and Lumin-Icecent from the Foiled collection. I just love them for stamping. The image is from Red Angel plate RA-109

I hope you liked my take on today's challenge. If you are interested in stamping, I encourage you to join the group Adventures in Stamping...

I'd love to know what you think of this. Have you tried this technique before?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle Wool You Marry Me? Gets Stamped

In keeping with the theme of manicures inspired by the color name, Barielle Wool You Marry Me? provided a few options. Since a marriage manicure didn't seem appealing, I focused on the wool part of the name. Wool made me think of sheep and sheep made think of little curls. To be fair, I must confess that I first tried drawing little sheep and failed miserably (my bf will attest to that), so I settled on just the curls. The curls were stamped using Sally Hansen Celeb City and Bundle Monster plate BM-201. The tips were added using tape and Celeb City. I think the silver really brought out the red in Wool You Marry Me?...

I would love to know what you thoughts are on this...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle Tight Knit with Pure Ice Stamping

Barielle Tight Knit inspired me with the name, so I had to find a stamping image to match. The closest that I have is a lacy pattern from the Bundle Monster plate BM-210. It reminds me of a cable knit sweater. I stamped the pattern using a Pure Ice gold 313CP to create the subtle print. I think the gold perfectly compliments this shade of brown. It was a bit difficult to get the pattern centered on my nail, but I still like the result. Just wish someone would invent a clear stamper so I can see where the heck the pattern is going...

I'd love to know what you think of this!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle Cashmere or Loose Me with Essie Braziliant in Argyle

I mentioned yesterday that in addition to swatching the Barielle Style in Argyle collection I also messed around with some nail art that I will show you over the next few days. For this manicure, I was inspired by the collection's name and decided to try the argyle pattern on my nails.

I started out with Barielle Cashmere or Loose Me which I paired up with Essie Braziliant in an argyle pattern. Green lines were added using acrylic paint. It looked a bit bland so I topped the whole thing off with Essie Pure Pearlfection. I can't quite decide which version I like best, so I will show you both and hopefully you can tell me what you think. This is topped with the luxeffects polish...

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here.

This is what it looked like before I added Essie Pure Pearlfection...

I would love to know what you think. Which version do you like better (if at all)...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle Browns from the Argyle in Style Collection

I realized that I own five out of six of the brown polishes from the Barielle Style in Argyle collection released in Fall 2010. I'm missing Aura Angora which I didn't buy when it was still in stores and now I regret it. The one thing that always baffles me is that they look the same in the bottle, so it was time to swatch them so I could tell them apart...

Cashmere or Loose Me
A creamy milk chocolate brown with a hidden copper shimmer. The shimmer is very faint, but it was a pleasant surprise since it is not visible in the bottle. Formula on this was nice, two coats for full coverage. It reminds me a bit of OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know? from the spring Holland collection. Although it is bit lighter and not as much shimmer. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Style in Argyle, Fall 2010 Color Name/Number: Cashmere or Loose Me, 5097 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Tight Knit
A chocolate brown cream. The formula on this was very smooth. Two coats for full coverage. It is probably my favorite of the browns in this collection. Looked like I dipped my nails into melted chocolate. This is with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Style in Argyle, Fall 2010 Color Name/Number: Tight Knit, 5098 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Unraveled Rust
A dark brown cream. This also had a great formula. Two coat for full coverage. I'm not sure where the "rust" part of the name comes from, but regardless, this color is a winner for me. I like that it is very dark without crossing over into black. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Style in Argyle, Fall 2010 Color Name/Number: Unraveled Rust, 5100 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Wool You Marry Me?
A reddish brown cream. I would almost call it darkened brick brown. Great formula as the polishes above. Two coats with a top coat here...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Style in Argyle, Fall 2010 Color Name/Number: Wool You Marry Me?, 5101 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Cowl of the Wild
A swampy greenish brown. I'm not a fan of this color as in some light it can look dirty milk brown and in another light the green tint shows up. The formula on this is thinner than the rest and when I applied the first coat, no good thoughts came to mind. I applied two coats plus a top coat for these swatches. A third coat probably would have been good since I could see bald spots when taking photos that I didn't see before...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Style in Argyle, Fall 2010 Color Name/Number: Cowl of the Wild, 5102 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Overall I'm really impressed with this collection. I didn't think it was possible to make a whole line of just brown polishes and still have them look so different. My favorite two are Tight Knit and Unraveled Rust.

I did make nail art with these as I was wearing them throughout the past week and I will show you what I came up with over the next few days. I hope you will enjoy it.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think of them?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Tutorial Tuesday: Clean Up...

I have been debating whether I should make a clean up tutorial or not for a while now since there are other tutorials out there that describe this method. In fact, it was not too long ago that I was learning from such tutorials. Recently I received a sweet email request from a reader asking to see how I clean up my manicures and I could not resist. Hopefully this will be useful and show a few tricks I have picked up along the way.

Supplies:

• 100% Pure acetone - Even though for removing nail polish I use my acetone with glycerin mix, for clean up I prefer to use pure acetone. This is what works best for me, but this technique will work with other nail polish removers, if you are not an acetone fan.
• Eyeliner brush - I have tried different brushes for clean up and find that the shape and flexibility of this type of brush works best for me. However, I suggest experimenting with different brushes to find one that works best for you.
• Contact lens case - Any small, airtight container should work. I happen to have lots of contact lens cases around, so I dedicated one to manicures. This allows me to reuse the acetone for multiple manicures. I just keep adding pure acetone when it runs low and I like that I don't have to waste it after each clean up because it has a cap. The right side of my contact case has acetone and the left side has water. I use the water to rinse the acetone off the brush after using it. This helps extend the life of the brush.
• Cuticle Pen - This is my favorite way to moisturize the cuticles after pure acetone. I use the Elf Nourishing Cuticle Pen that I get for $1 at Target. It has a stiff tip that allows me to apply the oil while the polish might not be completely dry yet without ruining the manicure.

A closer look at the brushes. All of these are inexpensive eyeliner brushes and all work equally well. I like the eyeliner brushes because they are flat and easily fit the contour of the nail.

• Top - This is a Wal-Mart store brand brush. It is inexpensive, but the bristles fall out extremely quickly (quicker than any other brush I've used). I bought a few at once so I have a new one to show here, but I rarely use this brush now.
• Middle - An Essence brush. This brush works very well and so far has held up perfectly to acetone.
• Bottom - This is a Target store brand brush. It is my most used and abused brush. I love it and used it for this tutorial...

Start:
- Apply a base coat and desired number of coats of nail polish
- Note: I go through the clean up steps prior to adding a top coat, but you can choose to apply a top coat before the clean up. I find that cleaning up before the top coat works better for me for two reasons. One, while I'm doing the clean up, the nail polish has time to dry and the topcoat doesn't bubble as much as it does over fresh polish. Two, the top coat is more stubborn to remove so it makes the clean up process longer.

Step 1:
- Pour some acetone into a small container (it is slightly pink in the photos from a previous manicure).
- Dip the brush into acetone
- Run the brush along the side of the container to get rid of excess acetone. This helps ensure that the cuticles don't get flooded with acetone and ruin the manicure.

Step 2:
- Place the brush at the base of the nail
- Sweep the brush along the cuticle toward the tip to remove the excess polish
- Rinse the brush in acetone
- Repeat the sweeping motion with the brush if needed until all of the excess polish is removed

Step 3:
- Starting at the base again, run the brush along the other side of the nail (I turn my nails to face me so that the the brush is never blocking my view of the nail)
- Rinse the brush and repeat as necessary until the cuticles are clean

Step 4:
- Apply a top coat (if not already applied)
- Using a cuticle oil pen, run along the nail in a similar sweeping motion as with the brush in Steps 2-3

Done!
- Allow the nails to dry and enjoy!


I hope found this tutorial useful. Please let me know what you think of it!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)