PolisHaus Spectrum Snowflakes...

Hi! Today I would like to show you some quick nail art that I created while swatching the PolisHaus lacquers last night. I really couldn't resist adding snowflakes over this periwinkle blue beauty. The combination of the two really put me into the winter mood. Might as well get into the mood since it has been really cold lately and the weatherman is threatening snow next week...

For this manicure I started out with a base of PolisHaus Spectrum. I stamped different snowflakes from Cheeky Jumbo plate L (aka K2) using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. If you are looking for this plate on Amazon or the Cheeky website, it is listed as 'K2', however, on my actual plate it says 'L' which is why I'm not sure what to call it. Regardless of what you call it though, it is full of beautiful holiday themed images including a variety of snowflakes...

This stamping plate was given to me by a friend earlier this year and I've been waiting patiently to use these snowflakes! I can't wait to stamp some of the other holiday images from the plate!

Spectrum glows a beautiful blue in the dark so I can enjoy the manicure even at night! I think it looks a bit like snow in the dark and works so perfectly with the snowflakes...

What do you think of this manicure? Are you ready for winter?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** PolisHaus lacquer provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

Dazzle Dry Dragonfly...

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today I would like to show you some quick nail art that I created while swatching the Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery collection. I really love this dragonfly image on one of the Messy Mansion plates and I have been looking for an excuse to use it again. As soon as I saw this Dazzle Dry lacquer named Dragonfly, I knew that I had found my excuse...

The manicure started out with a base of Dazzle Dry Dragonfly. I stamped the image from Messy Mansion plate MM17 using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. I love the length of this stamping image. It allows me to choose a different section to stamp on each nail so no two nails are the same.

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

** Dazzle Dry polish and stamping plate were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

Mermaid...

Today I would like to show you a show you a mermaid manicure which was inspired by the beautiful InDecisive Mermaid glitter. I love the beautiful teal shade over green and it really made me wish to create a manicure around it...

For the manicure I used a base of Barielle Head of the Class Green followed by InDecisive Mermaid. I stamped the mermaid and bubbles from an Ebay plate m72 (a knockoff plate of Konad m34) and the shells from Winstonia plate W108 using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes...

I really like how sweet and simple this looks. I wanted to avoid obscuring the glitter too much...

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 **

Rays Through the Haze...

I'm back from a fun birthday getaway and want to thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes that you sent my way! Thank you! Thank you! I was without internet access on my trip (since I choose to live in the stone age with no smart phone) and I was so excited to read all your comments when I got back home. They mean so much to me!

I'm also thrilled to see that you like Sea Jewel. I wore it for my entire trip and spent my free time dreaming of what fun nail art I could create with it. I would like to show you today the one look that I had to try out first...

This look is pretty simple to achieve with striping tape and some patience. I started out with a base of Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. After the base was completely dry, I applied the striping tape and two coats of Sea Jewel, working one nail at a time. For a fun accent, I added Swarovski Crystal rhinestones at the base of each nail...

The top coat I used decided to be stubborn and bubble along the silver tracks, but they are hardly noticeable in real life...

Thank you again for all your wonderful birthday wishes and comments on Sea Jewel! <3

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: Light Stamp Over Dark

Today's Sunday Stamping theme of light stamp over a dark base gave me the perfect excuse to create a manicure I've been wanting to do for a while. When I first saw this stamping pattern, I couldn't help but get the feeling of deja vu. At the time I couldn't figure out what it was all about and it wasn't until weeks later when I finally realized what it was. The trash can that stands under my desk has this exact pattern on it. Really, I mean this exact pattern. It would be a crime not to replicate it on my nails...

Are you ready for this? Here is the trash can...

And again, here is the manicure...
I started out with a pure black base using Sinful Colors Black on Black. I stamped it with my favorite silver, Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. The pattern comes from Cheeky plate CH6. It would have been perfect if I didn't hit my index finger and smudge it, but I still really love this manicure. I'll be keeping this one on the rest of the day today...

Yes, I am posing with the trash can. That is definitely a first for me :D

What was the strangest thing you have been inspired by?

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

Shimmer Leslie Stamped

I have been really enjoying stamping over glitter especially with intricate patterns that allow the glitter to peek through in spots. This is another one along those lines. It is not quite as subtle as the last one that I did, but this for me is a much better result...

The base of this manicure is Shimmer Leslie (over Barielle Rio's Rockin' Bands). For the stamping I used Dashica Beauty plate SdP-O and my favorite stamping silver which is Pure Ice Silver Mercedes (recently renamed Silver Star). To accent the flower centers, I used yellow rhinestones from Ebay. My favorite part is seeing the glitter sparkle in the flower petals...

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 **

Hanukkah

Today I wanted to show you my first Hanukkah manicure this year. I showed a sneak peek of it on my Facebook page a few days ago, so you might have seen it if you follow me there. I "lit" the candles one at a time, but of course I'm not patient enough to wear this for eight days, so they all got done on the same day. There is a little animation treat when you get down to the bottom of the post...

For the manicure I started out with OPI Into the Night, a beautiful soft silvery blue shimmer. How perfect is that OPI name of it for a Hanukkah manicure? All I can think of is Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song, "...we have eight crazy nights..."

The menorah was drawn by hand with a striping and detail brush using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. For the stamping, I also used Silver Mercedes and the stars from Shany plate SH08. It was when I did my witch manicure for Halloween that I noticed the little stars around the moon are six pointed and knew they would be perfect for Hanukkah. They even tend to stamp with the center hollowed out which makes it even better for me....

For the flames I used a dotting tool and KleanColor metallic orange and yellow. Looking at it know, I realize that I'm actually missing the candles. I think I ended up with torches instead. I like it regardless so I hope you do too...

Here is that animation of each candle getting lit up one at a time... wouldn't it be great if I could keep my hands still for it? I actually painted the lights mid air, in front of the camera, hoping the hand position wouldn't change. As you can see, that didn't work out so well, so just watch the little flame and not my wiggly fingers ;) ...

A few other notes before I end this post...

Have you entered the Fashion Inspired contest yet? Don't wait until it is too late... last day to submit entries is this Friday!! I want to see all your beautiful manicures :)

Also, I entered the NailPolishCanada.com Holiday Nail Art challenge, so I would love it if you could take a moment to check out the entries and vote for your favorite! If that happens to be my manicure I would be ever so grateful :D

Let me know what you think of this!

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 **

Nail-aween Challenge Day 10: Halloween Manicure

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Today is the final day of the Nail-aween challege and gives the freedom to create any Halloween themed manicure. I want to show you a manicure that I actually created with the Bundle Monster contest in mind. The contest was held earlier this moth and is now over. Even though I made the manicure in time to enter, I changed my mind at the last minute and didn't actually submit it. I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to show it to you and there can't be any better day than Halloween itself!...

The dark and moody background is something of a happy accident. I started out with Essence Chic Reloaded, a great dark green to purple duochrome which I have yet to do proper swatches of. Over that I sponged a mix of Sinful Colors Fiji at the base and Pure Ice Kiss Me Here toward the tips. The whole thing was then covered in a coat of OPI Zom-Body to Love which kind of blended everything and gave it a nice greenish glow that I love...

Since I had the Bundle Monster contest in mind, all the stamping images come from Bundle Monster plates. The stamping was done using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. The plates used are BM13 (spiderwebs), BM-213 (bats on pinkie), BM-224 (branches over raven, house on ring finger), BM-305 (house on middle finger), BM-323 (raven)...

My favorite part of the manicure is seen when the lights come off. OPI Zom-Body to Love is a glow-in-the-dark polish that I've played with in a few manicures this Halloween, but I think this may be the best result so far...

I've decided to name this manicure The House Next Door, although these are definitely two houses I would not want to live next to. I'd never go out at night for sure...

I hope you are all having a wonderful Halloween!

P.S. Don't forget to take a look at all the other lovelies participating in the challenge...
datyorkLOVES, Erica's Nails and More, DreamyMM Nails & Make Up, Tes Did It Nails, Sassy Paints, Nicole gets Nailed , glitznglammer, Finger Food, Wicked Tips, Fancy Schmancy Nails, Delight In Nails, Polish Groupie, My Nail Journey, Get Polished Up!, Just A Girl and Her Polish, Spellbound Nails, Le nail's corner d'Alex, Hello.Lacquer, Countess Nails , Color the world with polish, Nail Crime Nail Art, Coat of Mani Colors, Cutie Cuticles, Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge, GLAMOROUS NAILS, Over The Topcoat, Polish Gone Crazy, tragedystipsandtreats

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

** Pure Ice polish was provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

Nail-aween Challenge Day 7: Spiders

In typical spider fashion, Day 7 of the Nail-aween challenge just snuck up on me. I'm not really ready to admit that Halloween is just a week away. For today's spider challenge I was really excited to play with the spiderweb pattern on the first Bundle Monster set. It may seem insignificant  but I'm pretty sure I bought the whole set just for that pattern. It is really one of those patterns I can picture a dozen or more different manicures with. Here is one that has actually made it onto the nails...

I really wanted something with funky tips for this manicure so I added the tips with one quick coat of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and scotch tape. I stamped the spider web pattern from the Bundle Monster plate BM13 using Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. For the spiders I used two different images, one from Bundle Monster plate BM13 and the other from Shany plate SH09. Spiders were stamped either Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and Pure Ice Silver Mercedes...

To give the spiders a bit of dimension, I added a little pearl (in black, white and red) to the Shany spiders. The Bundle Monster spiders got a rhinestone heart (in clear and black) since they have a slightly larger body  (and smaller legs). I think my favorites are the Shany spider on the ring finger with a red pearl and the BM spider on the pinkie with a black rhinestone heart...

I wish I would have stamped all the spiders in black, they pop so much more against my skin tone...

Let me know what you think of this manicure! :)

P.S. Don't forget to take a look at all the other lovelies participating in the challenge...
datyorkLOVES, Erica's Nails and More, DreamyMM Nails & Make Up, Tes Did It Nails, Sassy Paints, Nicole gets Nailed , glitznglammer, Finger Food, Wicked Tips, Fancy Schmancy Nails, Delight In Nails, Polish Groupie, My Nail Journey, Get Polished Up!, Just A Girl and Her Polish, Spellbound Nails, Le nail's corner d'Alex, Hello.Lacquer, Countess Nails , Color the world with polish, Nail Crime Nail Art, Coat of Mani Colors, Cutie Cuticles, Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge, GLAMOROUS NAILS, Over The Topcoat, Polish Gone Crazy, tragedystipsandtreats

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping: Metallic Madness

Sometime you look for inspiration and sometimes it just finds you. Such is the case with this metallic zebra manicure by Chickettes that I stumbled upon on Pinterest. Usually I would repin it for "some day" and move on, but I just happened to be wearing Barielle Jordana's Skinny Jeans at the time and couldn't resist

So what does that have to do with Sunday Stamping? Good question. Every week members of the group, Adventures in Stamping, vote on that week's challenge. I rarely vote, instead I just look at chosen challenge towards the end of the week. It is more exciting for me to get a random theme (voted or pulled out of a hat) by someone else. So as this manicure was done and photographed, I thought I'd check on the poll for this week's stamping challenge. To my surprise the top two contenders were "metallic madness" and "over a saran wrap method base." This mani is so close to meeting both challenges. I guess it is lucky for me that metallic won the vote in the end so I could show you this today...

The base color is Jordana's Skinny Jeans as I mentioned earlier. A beautiful metallic blue. I stamped the index and ring fingers using the zebra print from Bundle Monster plate BM-223. The rest of the nails were done using the saran wrap "sponging" technique. It was my first time trying the technique and it was so easy and fun. The silver used for stamping and "sponging" is Pure Ice Silver Mercedes, which is my absolute favorite silver for stamping.

I added lips to the ring finger as an accent using Bundle Monster plate BM02 and Pure Ice Outrageous. Outrageous is a metallic pale pink which also works beautifully for stamping. I thought the lips on the thumb in my inspiration manicure were adorable and I had to include them...

Make sure to check out the inspiration manicure here and let me know what you think of this!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

Ulta Snow White Stamped

I'm not sure if any of you remember the Sunday Stamping gemstone manicure from a few weeks ago. I had mentioned then that it was my second attempt at a manicure for the challenge, since I didn't feel that the first one captured the gemstone look as I wanted. In any case, this is that manicure. I had attempted to create an opal base by layering flakes and even though the opal effect didn't show up well in photos, I still love the manicure...

For this manicure I started out with a base of Ulta Snow White and then added a coat of Barielle Budda-Ful followed by a coat of Pure Ice Oh Baby! Buddha-Ful is a milky, slightly pink base with blue/green flakies. Oh Baby! is a duchrome green/purple shimmer in a milky base. The purple of the shimmer rarely transfers to the nail (maybe over black) and the green shimmer over white is pretty hard to capture with the camera, but it is there in real life...

For the stamping I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Teal-y Fast and Dashica Beauty Shop stamping plate SdP-O. This pattern is one that has a mirror image available on the stamp so I used both of them and rotated the stamp each time for a different pattern on each nail. I just love the blue and white combo...

A few shots before the stamping to show the flakies/shimmer effect a bit...

A close up to see the flakes although the shimmer is still hiding from photos...

Here is a photo of the white opal I was hoping to capture. Not bad compared to the closeup photo if I do say so myself :)

source

Ulta Snow White is a pure white cream. It has a pretty nice formula with minimal streaking and was completely even and opaque by two coats. I just recently added this polish to my collection as I'm trying to find a pure white that won't bleed in nail art when combined with red. I have yet to test it out, but I have high hopes since I've seen it used in a red/white water marble done by someone else. Swatches here are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ulta Collection: Salon Formula Color Name/Number: Snow White Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)