piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013

I'm so honored to once again get the opportunity to participate in the annual piCture pOlish Blog Fest. This year, piCture pOlish is celebrating the Year of the Blogger by challenging the participants to create our ‘most amazing nail art manicure ever’ using 3 piCture pOlish which were sent to us. In addition we were asked to create a step by step tutorial for the look. No pressure, right?

Actually, if that wasn't pressure enough, there is the promise of an amazing Blog Fest Award. Three lucky bloggers who are participating in this year's Blog Fest will get the chance to collaborate with the gals at piCture pOlish and create their own shade. One winner will be chosen by all the lovely fans, one by the participating bloggers and one by the piCture pOlish gals themselves. Since I have already had the privilege of creating Sea Jewel, I'm not eligible for the Award, but I'm so excited to see all the manicures and vote for my favorite. I hope you'll be doing the same.

With the Award off the table for me, the pressure was lessened and I got to dreaming up my manicure using the 3 shades sent to me... Citrus, Flirt and Splash...

For this manicure, I used black acrylic paint and the 3 piCture pOlish shades:
Flirt, a bright fuchsia pink with the tagline of 'WARNING get loads of attention!'
Citrus, a bright orange cream with the tagline 'looks as good as it tastes!'
Splash, a clear base packed with blue glitter. The tag line on this one says, 'if Daryl can you can too!'

My boyfriend nicknamed the dolphins Michael Jordan because he said I made them jump unrealistically high. I was just excited he recognized them as dolphins... ;)

And now for the really fun part, the tutorial...

Supplies:

• 3 piCture pOlish shades, Flirt, Citrus, Splash...
• Black acrylic paint or nail polish
• Makeup wedge or sponge for gradient
• Small detail paint brush

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Start out by painting your nails with an orange base
2. Create a gradient by applying the fuchsia and orange polishes directly to the makeup wedge as shown in step 2a. Tap the sponge on the nail and gently move back and forth to blend the colors as shown in step 2b. Reload the sponge with polish and repeat as necessary until you get the desired effect.
   Tip: it is better to do multiple coats to build opacity than overload with polish from the beginning. Lighter coats also helps avoid the polish getting too sticky and ripping pieces of the sponge and creating a mess...
3. Draw black wavy tips along each nail using black acrylic paint (or nail polish)
4. Go over the black tips with the blue glitter
5. Draw palm trees using black acrylic paint as desired
6. Add birds and dolphins or other details using the black paint
7. Finish the manicure with a top coat and enjoy!

You can purchase piCture pOlish directly from the pOlish On-line Store or any of the Network sellers...

Plus, there are lots of ways to connect with piCture pOlish. Find them on...
* Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Instagram * YouTube * Google+ *

You can see all the Blog Fest manis on Pinterest and make sure to vote for your favorites!


What do you think, did I meet the challenge of creating my ‘most amazing nail art manicure ever’? :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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Be sure to check out all the other beautiful Blog Fest 2013 manis...

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

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

Ruby Wing Crowd Surf...

Anyone in Seattle will tell you that you have to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts because around here summer is short. I'm savoring every bit of sunshine that I can and what better way to enjoy it than with a Solar Active shade from Ruby Wing. Even if you are the type of person who doesn't like going outside, these will make you want to go out just to watch it change...

Indoors, Ruby Wing Crowd Surf is a bright neon fuchsia purple. The formula is nice and smooth, easy to apply. Three coats as seen in these swatches will provide full coverage. It dries to a satin finish which is beautiful, but I did use a top coat for these swatches...

A quick shot of what it looks like before the top coat. Satin-y and soft...

Outdoors, Crowd Surf quickly changes to a deep berry burgundy shade. In real life, the change is a bit more dramatic than it appears in these swatches as it changes from a purple to a more red and much darker shade...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ruby Wing Collection: Festival Paint Collection, Summer 2013 Color Name/Number: Crowd Surf Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

It is a gorgeous shade indoor and out. I was also excited that unlike the shades of the Spring collection, this Summer shade is unscented!

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 CVS Exclusive

Today I would like to show you some recently released CVS Exclusive Nicole by OPI beauties. The moto here is to "think neutral, not boring!" and I would have to agree. I have been showing you manicures featuring these polishes over the last few weeks and I hope you'll agree that they have not been boring. There is a nice range of polishes with colors from light to dark and finishes including metallic, cream and jelly...

I Sea You and Raise You
A bright sea blue cream with a nice and creamy formula. The application was great. Two coats for full, even coverage. It was the star of my winter snowflake manicure that I loved so much. This color would work well year round as I can definitely see this bright blue popping back up during the summer. No top coat in these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: I Sea You and Raise You, NI 413 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Always a Silver Lining
A shimmery silver with a hint of blue tint. It has tiny gold shimmer particles speckled throughout which are hard to see in these photos, but are really lovely in real life. It is very sheer, but builds up to full coverage with three coats. Minimal streaks though a few are still visible. I showed you this one just yesterday as the base for another winter manicure...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Always a Silver Lining, NI 414 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Don't Overpink It
A soft pink jelly. It dries just slighly darker than bottle color. I'm not sure why I have lobster hands in these photos, but the polish color is accurate which is what really matters. The formula is very smooth, no pulling or bald spots although difficult to wrap the tips with this jelly. Three coats for the coverage seen here, not completely opaque, but close.

My boyfriend must be tired of my crazy manicures because I was wearing this on it's own all day and he commented on how nice it looks. It kind of caught me of guard so I had to probe further, you know the whole "are you saying all my other manicures are not nice?" reaction. He clarified that each color has it's own personality that I inherit by wearing it and this one makes me nice and sweet. Luckily he didn't add "unlike the rest of the time..." ;)

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Don't Overpink It, NI 415 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Feeling Grapeful
A medium violet purple. It starts out sheer, similar to a jelly, but does get to full coverage by two coats. It remains very shiny and has a nice smooth formula. Lovely shade, great formula and that's all I've got to say about it. I'll be wearing it again for sure. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Feeling Grapeful, NI 416 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

A Pinker Shade of Pale
A silver frost with a hint of pink. This has a nice full coverage formula in just two coats. Streaks are minimal, but definitely there and can be noticeable depending on application. This has a very pretty darker pink shimmer that is barely visible, but caught my attention. It works well for stamping and you can see a quick test at the bottom of the post...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: A Pinker Shade of Pale, NI 417 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Personally Speaking...
A rosy pink frost. This is just a bit darker than A Pinker Shade of Pale, but the formula and application are the same. Also can show some streaks, but with straight application it is not too bad. I like this one a lot, both on it's own and it happens to work very well for stamping as seen in this recent manicure...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Personally Speaking..., NI 418 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Marooned in Paradise
A burgundy cream with a hidden shimmer. The shimmer was a bit of a surprise since I didn't notice it in the bottle. It is best seen on first coat, but almost completely disappears by the second. A nice fall shade, exactly the kind I tend to reach for this time of year. It is opaque in two coats, but I used three to get full coverage. Formula is very nice and easy to work with...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Nicole by OPI Collection: CVS Exclusive Color Name/Number: Marooned in Paradise, NI 419 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

As I bit of a bonus, I did a quick stamping test using A Pinker Shade of Pale (left) and Personally Speaking... (right) over Marooned in Paradise. Both stamp very well and have just a slight difference in color...

I'd love to know what you think of these!
Have you picked any up at CVS?

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 **

Polish Days: MAN-icure

You may have already heard the term Movember combining the words men and November. It is a wonderful month long event to raise awareness for men's health such as prostate and testicular cancer. According to Wikipedia, Movember started when a group of young men decided to raise awareness by growing moustaches during the month of November. Moustaches have since become the symbol of Movember.

It is only fitting then, that this month's theme for Polish Days is a MAN-icure to honor the event or the special men in our lives. I toyed with the idea of just doing the iconic moustache, but ended up with something a bit different and personal for me...

When my parents first met they lived in cities which were hours apart so they didn't get to see each other very often. On one date my mom mentioned that she liked men with facial hair and to her complete surprise the next time they got together he showed up sporting a moustache and goatee. The goatee eventually turned into a full beard which he has had as long as I can remember. In fact there is only one time that I can remember him shaving it all off and it was quite traumatic for me. I was about six or seven and came home to find my dad looking like a complete stranger with no facial hair. I broke down in inconsolable tears. It is still a big joke in the family, he is not allowed to shave it off. Hence why my manicure says I love men with beards and moustaches... Here is to their health!

For the manicure, I started out with a base of Zoya Kristen then stamped and added a few details...
Index finger: Stamped with Shany plate SH16 using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and KleanColor Metallic Fuchsia. Accented with a peridot colored rhinestone.
Middle & Pinkie fingers: Stamped with Cheeky plate CH16 using KleanColor Metallic Fuchsia and accented with a fuchsia heart rhinestone.
Ring Finger: Stamped with Shany plate SH03 using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. Using acrylic paint (black and white) I added hair, ears, and beard shading...

As a side note, I've noticed that the KleanColor metallics stain the silicone of my XL stamper, so be warned if you choose to get them for stamping. They seem to do find with other stampers...

While waiting for the polish to dry to stamp, I figured snapping a few new swatch photos couldn't hurt. Zoya Kristen is a soft shade of gray with a blue tint. The formula on this is creamy and very nice, full coverage in just two coats. On the nail it is slightly brighter and the blue is more prominent than in the bottle. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Color Name/Number: Kristen, ZP591 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

I would love know what you think of this manicure!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)