The Snake...

While swatching the 365 Days of Color Horcrux collection last week, I thought it would be fun to create some nail art to go with one of my favorites from the collection. I love the beautiful color of The Snake and decided that stamping a bit of snake print would be just perfect for it...

To create this manicure I started out with a base of 365 Days of Color The Snake. I stamped the snake print from Bundle Monster plate BM-215 using SinfulColors Moss Have. They two laquers are very similar in shade and I love the subtle print that resulted. For my accent nail I stamped the snake from Mash plate Mash-50 using Essence Stamp Me! Black...

I would love to know what you think of this! Leave me comments below :)

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 **

Bird Tattoos by Fake Tattoos...

I was recently given the opportunity to try out some temporary nail tattoos by Fake Tattoos. These Fake Tattoos are very easy to apply and come in a variety of fun designs. Today's manicure features two little tattoo birdies...

For this manicure I started out with a base of Color Club Evolution and Pearl-spective, which I showed you a few days ago. To create a little scene for the birds and make them feel at home, I stamped some white clouds and branches from Mash plate Mash-34. The clouds were stamped using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme and the branches using Sally Hansen Coco a-go-go and Color Club Wild Cactus for the leaves.

Once the 'scene' was set, I added two birds from the Fake Tattoos Bird Design sheet...

Applying the tattoos is very simple:

1. Cut out the desired tattoo and remove the plastic cover
2. Press onto the nail in desired location. They are a bit sticky so should easily stay in place when you position them.
3. Apply water to the back of the tattoo using a wet cotton ball or paper towel and hold for a few seconds.
4. The paper backing should easily slide off to reveal the tattoo.
5. Allow tattoo to dry for a few minutes and then add a top coat!

You can see some of the different designs that are available. As an added bonus, these tattoos can be used on the skin as well as the nails...

A few more shots of the manicure...

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

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

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

Holo-gator Alligator...

Whatever you do, just don't ask me what that dorky title means. I'm sleep deprived and it rhymes and seems amusing as I write this. I'm sure I'll regret it in when I read it later, but oh well. You didn't really expect any different from someone who rhymed their blog name, did you? Anyway, this is another manicure from the "find time to post" folder. I'm sneaking this one in before it sits in that folder too much longer...

The base of this manicure is Color Club Beyond, a beautiful strong black holo. I stamped the print from Mash plate Mash-42 using Color Club Kismet. I was in the mood to experiment with stamping holo over holo to see if it would somehow change or mess with the linear effect. It appears to be unaffected and the holo still dominates...

That's it for now! I'm off to sort some swatch photos before heading to work...

Hope you are having a tolerable Monday :)

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 **

Sunday Stamping: Inspired by Shoes...

Today's Sunday Stamping challenge in Adventures in Stamping is to create a manicure inspired by a favorite pair of shoes. None of the shoes that I own have stampable (let's pretend that's a word) patterns, so I resorted to finding a "favorite" pair online. Luckily, nowhere in the challenge did it mention that I had to own the pair of shoes that inspired me. Since my nails are long enough to flash their underside that could only mean one thing...

... Louboutin! The shoes with the red soles have inspired more than one manicure creation on this blog and I'm sure will continue to do so. In fact, I already have a few others lined up for replicating some day. Today's manicure was inspired by this wild pair...

To create this look, I started out with a base of Color Club Earthy Angel from the Back to Boho collection. I sponged over it with Color Club Positively Posh from the Untamed Luxury collection to create a mottled look at the tips. Then I stamped the leopard print with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme using Mash plate Mash-40.
Using Liquid Palisade, I blocked off the tips where I wanted to protect the stamping and painted the rest of the nail using Black Creme. After removing the Liquid Palisade, I finished off the tips with loose gold glitter and a matte top coat over the leopard print... How is that? Clear as mud?

I love how this turned out, but I wish I would have skipped the glitter just left it as leopard print on the tips. I'm not a bit fan of how the gold tips look on the shoes and should have taken the liberty of leaving them off the manicure as well. Maybe next time I'll remember to stop while I'm ahead.. :D ..

I little collage just because I just couldn't help myself :)

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

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

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

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all! I've mentioned before that my boyfriend and I don't really celebrate the holiday besides exchanging the "Happy Valentine's Day" greeting. Matter of fact I will be working this evening leaving him to fend for himself as usual. Since I work in a hospital, I thought I would do something to fit the theme. The beeping of heart monitors is well ingrained in my head and although I will not be working in the critical care units tonight, I thought a rhythm strip manicure would be fun. I will say however, that anyone with an actual rhythm strip that looks like this would not be having a happy Valentine's Day... so maybe this is an anti-Valentine's Day manicure after all?...

The base of this manicure is two coats of OPI The Spy Who Loved Me, a gorgeous red with a golden fleck shimmer. I stamped the rhythm strip from Mash plate Mash-38 and the heart from Bundle Monster plate BM02 using Essence Stamp Me! Black stampy polish. Playing color within the lines, I used a small detail brush and OPI Goldeneye to fill in the heart outline..

I hope you are all having a wonderful day regardless if you celebrate the holiday or not!

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

** Some polishes in this post were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

2013 Year of the Snake...

Yesterday marked the beginning of the year of the Snake according to the Chinese calendar. This year the snake's element is water and it's color is black. I wanted to feature both of these characteristics in my manicure. For the water element I used water decals as accents and the snake itself of course had to be black...

I wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous Year of the Snake!

For all except the accent nail, I started out with a base of Sinful Colors Black on Black and stamped using OPI Just Spotted the Lizard and Cheeky Jumbo plate D. I then added water decals from the BornPrettyStore.com. For the ring finger I used the base of Just Spotted the Lizard and stamped the Snake using Essence Stamp Me! Black and Mash plate Mash-50...

My mom made this little snake out of polymer clay to celebrate the New Year. The snake is actually contoured to fit on a rock where he will be spending his free time in between photo shoots. Isn't he adorable?..

The nail decals from the BornPrettyStore.com come in one large sheet and feature six different themes. The decals are silver with a transparent background...

The decals are very easy to apply, simply:

1. Apply base color and allow it to dry.
2. Cut out decals that you wish to use and remove the protective plastic film. 
3. Soak the decal in water for 10-20 seconds
4. Gently slide the decal from the paper backing onto the nail. You can move the decal around a bit on the nail to position it as long as it is still wet
5. Pat the nail with a paper towel to dry
6. Apply top coat and you are done!

The decals do come with instructions which are great for a chuckle...
Influenza A?!? Should I be thankful I got my flu shot before using these?

Feel free to use the coupon code AG5J61 for a 10% off discount on any purchases at the BornPrettyStore.com...

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

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

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

Shimmer Irene Goes Wild

I am not often inspired to have animal print on my nails, but there is something about the sweet little Shimmer Irene that screamed at me to show it's wild side. Lest you get the wrong impression and assume that it is quiet and innocent. Irene is one of the newest Shimmer Polish creations by Cindy and she is a beauty. You might know by now how crazy I am about Cindy's glitter bombs and this is certainly no exception...

For the manicure I started out with a base of Shimmer Irene on all the fingers except the ring finger. I stamped over Irene with the leopard pattern from Mash plate Mash-40 using Sinful Colors Black on Black. Then using a small detail brush and black acrylic paint I added the ruffian along the cuticle line to accentuate the pattern. For the ring finger, I used a base of Black on Black and added some gold square studs from the BornPrettyStore...

I like this manicure so much that I may have gotten carried away with photos... hope you don't mind :)

Shimmer Irene is described by Cindy as a "champagne golden silver". To me, it looks like sand with lots of little colorful glitters mixed in. It provides full coverage at just two coats which are seen in the swatches below. The formula is great and I had no problems with application. This glitter is top coat hungry, so it took two layers of top coat to get a nice smooth finish.

You can see some of the different colors that are mixed into this nude sandy color...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: main Color Name/Number: Irene Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

You can find more information about Shimmer Polish on:
Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShimmerPolish
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShimmerPolish
Blog: http://www.shimmyshimmer.com/

You can see more of my swatches of Shimmer Polishes here!

Do you like animal print on your nails?

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

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

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