Sunday Stamping: Colors of My Holiday Decorations

The holidays can get kind of hectic and I have been struggling to find the time to blog. That is partly why I am showing you the Sunday Stamping manicure on a Monday. This week the challenge was to create a manicure with the colors of the holiday tree decorations. I took that quite literally and went looking through my ornaments for inspiration. I wanted something that wasn't a "typical" bright color so I chose for a gorgeous matte white ornament with gold glitter and rhinestones...

To recreate the look of the ornament in my manicure, I started out with a base of Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-parison, a soft milky white. I stamped using Red Angel plate RA-120 and Ulta High Roller, a champagne gold. I filled in a few areas of the pattern and added dots with High Roller to complete the design. To match the rhinestones on the ornament, I added small rhinestones to the tip of each nail as well...

I am happy with how soft and delicate this manicure turned out. Even though it was inspired by a holiday ornament, I think this look can be worn any time of the year and that is exactly what I wanted...

Of course I couldn't resist showing you the ornament itself...

I really had so much fun with this ornament inspired manicure. It is definitely something I will do again next year!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Nicole by OPI polish was provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

Epilepsy Awareness

At the beginning of this month I was contacted by a lovely reader asking me to create a manicure in support of Epilepsy Awareness month, which happens to be November. She has been living with the disease for many years and continues to struggle with it daily. Her story just breaks my heart and creating a manicure for her and this cause is the least I can do. I'm ashamed to admit that I lost track of time and November slipped by way too fast which is why this manicure is sneaking in on the last day of the month. Hopefully this is a case of better late than never...

The ribbon color for Epilepsy Awareness is a deep purple and I did a quick web search just to get an idea of the shade. I ran across a number of images featuring butterfly wings around the ribbon and was inspired to incorporate it into the manicure...

source

For the manicure I started out with a base of Rimmel London French Lingerie. For the stamping I used KleanColor Metallic Purple. The butterflies come from Red Angel plate RA-102. I stamped the pattern a few times to cover the whole nail with butterflies. For the accent nail I stamped the ribbon from Bundle Monster plate BM-324 as well as a few butterflies from RA-102...

I added a piece of purple striping tape along the tips (and the ribbon line on the ring finger). The very edge of the nail was wrapped in Metallic Purple to blend with the striping tape. I really like the crispness of the striping tape. It is amazing how perfectly it matched the stamping polish...

Rimmel London French Lingerie is a sheer pink jelly. It has a nice, smooth formula. No streaks, pulling or bald spots. The wide brush makes application very easy. As the name suggests, this polish works perfectly for the traditional french manicure. I happen to like this shade solo when my nails are on the shorter side as they are right now. The swatches are two coats with no top coat. The nail line is still visible, but that is to be expected with a sheer jelly such as this...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Rimmel London Collection: French Manicure Pro Color Name/Number: French Lingerie, 130 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Let me know what you think!
What causes do you support?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping: Halloween

Just ten days left until the spooky day of Halloween so it is no surprise that the popular vote for this week's Sunday Stamping challenge in Adventure is Stamping is a Halloween themed manicure. I chose to skip the really dark and scary for today and go for cute instead. The idea for the manicure came from the fact that we are having some friends over later today to carve pumpkins. It only seemed fitting that I dig up all the jack-o-lantern images to play with for inspiration...

The base of this manicure is two coats of OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me. The pumpkins were stamped with OPI A Roll in the Hague, which I have to say stamps perfectly over light colors. I added /colored in the stems of the pumpkins using green acrylic paint. Stamping plates used for the pumpkins are Shany SH02 (index), Red Angel RA-119 (middle), Bundle Monster BM-222 (ring), BM-305 (pinkie)....

I wasn't pleased with the pumpkins just "floating" on my nails, so I added a bit of ground under them by sponging the tips with Sally Hansen Coco a-go-go. The black kitty happened to like my pumpkin patch and decided to sit on my ring finger. The image comes from Shany plate SH08 and was stamped using Essence I Love My Jeans....

Let me know what you think of it! I hope you like it as much as I do. :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

Sunday Stamping: Pet Day

After my failed Sunday Stamping attempt, I decided to rethink the mani and come up with something else. I was still set on a kitty manicure so I picked two other kitties that I liked. Somehow these are a little more Halloween to me which is why I didn't choose them at first, but I really like how this turned out...

For the base I used Zoya Carey and then randomly stamped skelly fish using Zoya Kelly to create a background pattern. I have been trying to find an occasion to use those skelly fish and I finally found one! I used the fish from Red Angel plate RA-107, but there is an identical one on Shany plate SH02. I'm sure lots of others out there as well. The cats were stamped with Wet 'n Wild Black Creme using Bundle Monster plate BM02 and Shany plate SH08. 

To finish the manicure, I felt it needed a black edge, but I didn't want to do full black tips. I tried something that I first saw done by The Nail Buff a long, long time ago. It is just like wrapping tips, but instead of using the base color, a contrasting color is used. I loved the way it looked on her manicure and have been meaning to try it ever since. It is very subtle here, but really finished off the manicure for me...

A few bonus swatches of Zoya Carey, a beautiful soft gray cream. Formula on this one is just perfect, very smooth. Two coats for full coverage. The swatches are with no top coat...

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

Sunday Stamping - Black and White

It is Sunday, which means challenge day in the group Adventures in Stamping. The majority of people voted to take on a challenge of black and white stamping. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed at first since I'm already doing a full ten day Black and White Challenge, but then I realized that I have not actually done a stamped black and white manicure so I'm playing along.

For this manicure I started out with a base of two coats of Nicole by OPI Others Pale by Kim-Parison followed by one coat of Nicole by OPI Lights Kim-era, Action! The layering of the two results in a pretty pearly white with a slight green shimmer. I will have full swatches up in a few days. For the stamp I really wanted a damask pattern. The closest that I have is the Red Angel plate RA-120 which I used here. Since it is not a full nail stamp, I stamped as close to the cuticles as possible and added a black tip to fill in the rest of the space. Both the stamping and the tip were done using Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

I seemed to be having alignment issues yesterday and a few of the nails had to be redone (more than once), but in the end I'm really happy with how this manicure turned out...

I would love to know what you think of this manicure!
Are you tired of black an white yet? If so, I must warn you that another one is coming up today ;)

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 :)

Avon Wicked Malice + Sunday Stamping Challenge

I can't believe it is time for another Sunday Stamping Challenge in the facebook group Adventures in Stamping. This week the challenge was to create a Valentines Day mani. Since I have been wearing lots of pastels lately, I chose a dark, vampy base of Avon Wicked Malice. I stamped using Color Club Hot Like Lava from the Foiled collection and Red Angel stamping plate RA-114. I like that it is subtle, simple and not overly girly...

On it's own Avon Wicked Malice was a bit of a disappointment. The color in the bottle has an incredible dark red shimmer in a nearly black base. You can clearly see it in the bottle on any of the photos. The sad part is that it didn't transfer to the nail. Yes, the polish is still a beautiful dark, vampy color, but without this red shimmer, it lacked that special something for me. For the most part the polish looked dark berry to nearly black. Only in direct sunlight or under the lamp was the shimmer visible on the nail. Otherwise application was very good. Two coats for full coverage. With a top coat in these photos...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Avon Collection: Main line Color Name/Number: Wicked Malice, N409 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I would love to know what you think!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Ibiza and Sunday Stamping Challenge

It is time for another Stamping Sunday challenge in the facebook group Adventures in Acetone. Which by the way, if you are interested in stamping you should definitely check out. This week the challenge was blue and you really don't have to twist my arm or give me extra excuses to wear a dark vampy blue. I usually mange to do that on my own rather frequently.

This time I chose Zoya Ibiza which has been sitting untried for way to long. I stamped it with roses from the Red Angel plate RA-116 using Color Club Lumin-Icecent. Lumin-Icecent is a baby blue foil from the Color Club Foiled collection that was released in the fall of last year. I have yet to swatch the collection, but I love the foils for stamping. I like how this turned out. I think it would be a great alternative to a traditional pink/red mani for Valentines day. A little colder and not so in your face girly :)

On her own, Zoya Ibiza is a blackened navy blue with a blue shimmer. The shimmer was more visible in the bottle than on the nail and best seen with direct light or in the sun. Application was great. This is practically a one coater, but I did use two coats plus a top coat for the swatches...

A close up of the shimmer...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Dare Color Name/Number: Ibiza, ZP491 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Playing with this polish just reminds me how nervous I was when ordering it from Zoya last April. At the time, I had never worn a dark blue like this before and was afraid I'd try it and hate it... now I love it. Question is, what else am I too scared to try that I would end up loving?

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


Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Gems & Jewels Recap...

Maybe I shouldn't call this a recap since I'm about to show three new manicures, but I did use the same polishes, so hopefully you'll let is slide ;). These manicures were inspired by a mermaid manicure done by Marta of ChitChat Nails. I just fell in love with it and had to try it. Since the Zoya's Gems & Jewels polishes were all still sitting on my desk, I thought it would be fun to try them. I think they turned out pretty cute although I wish I would have sponged the glitter on rather than using a brush...

Zoya Holly & Rina
For the base I used two coats of Zoya Stephanie, a great sheer that I love to use for french manis. Then I stamped over it with Holly using Bundle Monster plate BM-208. The same plate that I used in my original Holly/Rina manicure. I panted the tips with Rina, which for some reason is the hardest of the glitters for me to work with. I couldn't get a nice thin layer of it. Next time, it will be sponged on for sure. You can see swatches of Holly & Rina here (in case you missed them a few days ago). It makes me think of a sports field. If I ever need grass for nail art, this would be a good place to start...

Zoya Izzy & Kissy
Next up is the pink version of the mani. Again, I started out with two coats of Zoya Stephanie. I stamped with Izzy using Bundle Monster plate BM-209, same as for the original Izzy/Kissy mani. See how they all tie together? Tips were painted on using Kissy, the most holographic of the three glitters. Everything was topped off with a thick top coat to tame the glitter. You can see swatches of both of these polishes on their own here. This one turned out so sweet...

Zoya Noel & Twila
And I saved the best for last because again the Noel/Twila combo turned out to be my favorite. You can see swatches of each of them here. For this mani, I started out with surprise, surprise two coats of Zoya Stephanie. Stamping was done using Noel and Red Angel plate RA-108. Tips were then added using Twila. Everything was topped of with a nice layer of top coat and voila... :)

I think the metallic/foil properties of the Holly, Izzy and Noel made them great for stamping. I'm really pleased with the result. I hope you like it!

As a note of warning, when using these bar glitters for tips or a full mani, make sure there are no bars sticking out on edge of the nails... they are sharp little things :D

Let me know what you think :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)