31DC2013 Day 14 - Flowers

Today I have for you a floral manicure for Day 14 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge. I have had this manicure in head ever since reviewing the OPI Euro Centrale collection, although I didn't get a chance to try it at that time. It has been begging to be brought to reality ever since and I'm so excited to finally be 'forced'/ have an excuse to try it thanks to this challenge...

For this manicure I used six lacquers from the spring OPI Euro Centrale collection, starting with a base of My Vampire is Buff. I roughly sponged five petal flowers using You're Such A Budapest (violet), My Paprika is Hotter than Yours (coral red) and Can't Find My Czechbook (baby blue). I also sponged the center of each flower with Oy-Another Polish Joke!, a gold glass fleck polish. Using a striping brush, I drew the petals and dotted the flower centers with black acrylic paint...

I just love how this turned out and seriously, I'm so happy to finally get this out of my head and onto my nails to share with you! I really wanted to try this abstract short of flower...

I figured that a fresh swatch of My Vampire is Buff wouldn't hurt either. It is a beautiful soft ivory cream. Good application and it is opaque in two coats. I initially wasn't planning to re-swatch it so my application was messy and because of that I added a third coat to even everything out for these photos. This is one of my favorite neutral bases for nail art. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: OPI Collection: Euro Centrale, Spring/Summer 2013 Color Name/Number:  My Vampire is Buff, NL E82 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I'd love to know what you think of this manicure!
Do you have any ideas floating around in your head that you just haven't had time to execute?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

31DC2013 Day 9 - Rainbow

Today I would like to show you a manicure that I spent half the night working on right before taking off on vacation. This is actually what I'm wearing right now and thinking that one week of looking at it might not be enough! I don't ever want to take it off. This is my manicure for Day 6 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge the theme for which is rainbow....

For this manicure I used five of the six shades from the Color Club Spring Halo Hues collection. I sponged three coats of gradient on each nail...

Thumb: Eternal Beauty (violet) to Miss Bliss (pink)
Index: Miss Bliss to Cosmic Fate (peachy)
Middle: Cosmic Fate to Kismet (light green)
Ring: Kismet to Over the Moon (blue)
Pinkie: Over the Moon to Eternal Beauty

I don't think you can get any more rainbow than a holographic rainbow gradient! Sponging the holos killed their linear rainbow effect and made it more of a scattered holo, but who cares, they are still super sparkly. I wish I could get some sunshine photos, but as I said, this was made LATE at night... 3 hours before I had to leave the house to head to the airport!...

Let me know what you think of this!

P.S. This post is pre-scheduled while I'm on vacation. I may not be able to respond to comments until I return, but I greatly appreciate them and will respond as soon as I return!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Nicole by OPI Tink Dotticure...

I've got a fun dotticure to show you today. This is something simple and fun that I created while swatching the Nicole by OPI Tink collection this weekend. I feel that it is a bit outside of my usual style (whatever that may be), but I just love it. It is so fun and happy and just wait till I show you what else I did with it...

For this manicure I used all the cream shades of the Nicole by OPI Tink collection starting with a base of How Fairy Nice of You!. Using various sized dotting tools, I added the dots in Tink's in the Pink, Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary, Half-Charming Half-Alarming and Sweet on Pete...

Can someone please explain to me why I don't do dotticures more often? This was so fun and easy...

I swear my hand was going to fall off trying to hang on to all of these suspended in mid air...

I hope you like this manicure! Let me know what you think of it :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Nicole by OPI Tink Collection Swatches and Review

Today I have the Nicole by OPI Tink collection to show you. These shades were inspired by Disney's Tinker Bell and give us lots of bright bold creams and a sparkly glitter topper. When samples were mailed out, two of the shades were on back order so I waited to track them down at my local store and show you the whole collection at once. These are perfect summery shades...

How Fairy Nice of You!
A pale barely there pink cream. It has a nice, smooth and creamy formula. It is opaque at two coats, but I used three to even everything out. This makes a gorgeous base for nail art. I just love starting out with barely tinted shades such as this. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: How Fairy Nice of You!, NI B02 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Tink's in the Pink
A soft medium pink cream. This is bright yet somehow has a dust feel to it. Formula is again is very nice and smooth. I used two coats for full coverage and swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: Tink's in the Pink, NI B03 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Pixie Glitter
A clear base with silver holographic glitter in various hex sizes and moons. It is quite loaded with moons so I didn't have to go fishing for them. I did have to dab for the application to get them to stay put on the nail and not follow the brush right off. The moons tend to settle to the bottom of the bottle so flip it over a few times to get them to come up before using. The photos don't capture just how sparkly and bling-y this is! Oh and did I mention that I have a feeling this would look amazing over dark blue? I used two coats of glitter over Tink's in the Pink plus a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: Pixie Glitter, NI B01 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Sweet on Pete
A bright chartreuse green cream. The formula is smooth and creamy. I'm always scared of this color in the bottle, but end up really liking it on the nail. Time to overcome those fears I guess. I used two coats for full opacity. No top coat in these swatches...

Color wise, this is a dupe for OPI Did it On 'Em from the Nicki Minaj collection last year. Formula wise Sweet on Pete is a bit thicker and creamier. Swatch sticks show two coats of each with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: Sweet on Pete, NI B04 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary
A carrot orange cream. I'm am totally craving some carrot juice looking at these swatches. The formula is nice and creamy, easy to apply. Two coats for full opacity. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary, NI B05 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Half-Charming Half-Alarming
A blood orange crelly. This is the only one of the cream shades that has some aspect of jelly to it (=crelly). It needed three coats to get decent coverage. The nail line is still slightly visible. The formula is easy to apply and not streaky. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: Tink Color Name/Number: Half-Charming Half-Alarming, NI B06 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

What do you think of these?
Do they capture the spirit of Tinker Bell for you?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Barielle Summer Fun Collection

Everyone is starting to show off the new Fall collections and I'm making a desperate attempt to hang on to Summer just a bit longer by showing you this beautiful Barielle Summer Fun collection from last year. It features soft creams that are perfect for the sunny weather that I'm hoping will be sticking around despite the rain we had yesterday...

All of these polishes have a creamy smooth formula that I have come to expect from Barielle. They tend to be on the thicker side, but easy to work with and the thickness makes them perfect for stamping. You know how much I love that. I had no problems applying them and all are fully opaque in just two easy smooth coats. These swatches are with no top coat...

Ocean Breeze - A dusty seafoam blue...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Summer Fun (Summer 2012) Color Name/Number: Ocean Breeze, 5249 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Berry Go Round
A bright coral cream...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Summer Fun (Summer 2012) Color Name/Number: Berry Go Round, 5250 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Mint Ice Cream Cone
A beautiful pastel melon green...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Summer Fun (Summer 2012) Color Name/Number: Mint Ice Cream Cone, 5251 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Peach Popsicle
A perfect peachy cream...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Summer Fun (Summer 2012) Color Name/Number: Peach Popsicle, 5252 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Pink Flip-Flops
A soft creamy pink. This beauty also made an appearance in this year's Summer Brights Collection, but was originally part of this 2012 collection...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: Summer Fun (Summer 2012) Color Name/Number: Pink Flip-Flops, 5253 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Let me know what you think of these!
Are you ready for fall or still hanging onto summer?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **