Sunday Stamping: Autumn

Today it is time for the Sunday Stamping challenge in Adventures in Stamping. The theme today is Autumn nails. I've got just a quick manicure to show you. I didn't create it specifically for the challenge, but it happened to fit the theme and I since I have not had time in the past few days to play around with nail polish and create something new, I figured I would share this one...

I started out with a base of Shimmer Trisha over OPI Lost on Lombard. For the stamping I used Winstonia plate W119 and Maybelline Bold Gold. I should really stock up on Bold Gold because I'm making good use out the small bottle that I have. I'm tempted to stamp everything with it because let's face it... gold just goes with everything and this particular gold works perfectly even over glitter...

Are you all ready for turkey time? Gobble, Gobble! :D

Shimmer Trisha is a clear base packed with a variety of  glitter colors and sizes. It is predominantly on the warmer scale with glitter in orange, gold and copper shades, but it also has beautiful blue glitter peppered throughout for a bit of contrast. I used one generous coat over OPI Lost on Lombard. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: core Color Name/Number: Trisha Number of coats: 1 (layered over OPI Lost on Lombard) Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I would love to know what you think of this manicure!

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 18 - Half-Moons

Today I would like to show you the half-moons manicure for Day 18 of the 31 Day Challenge. I was initially playing around with Shimmer Candace for the glitter challenge yesterday, but Candace seemed to be too sophisticated to just be a glitter accent and demanded to be the center of attention...

For this manicure I started out with the beautiful Shimmer Candace over a base of OPI Peace & Love & OPI. Using black acrylic paint, I free handed the half-moons and added bullion beads along the edge of the half-moons...

Somehow this makes me think of jewelry and all things expensive. My boyfriend called it 'fancy' and even said the photos 'don't do it justice' while I was photographing this. Where does he come up with this stuff? ;) But truly, photos don't do Candace justice since it is packed with holo glitter that sparkles nonstop!...

Shimmer Candace is a clear base packed with gold, holo and black glitter. It also has a touch of red and other glitter peppered in. This is probably one of my favorite Shimmer glitter bombs now, although I think I say that with each one that I try. They are just so unique and it really depends on what you layer them over for a different look each time. I used one generous coat of Candace plus top coat over OPI Peace & Love & OPI...

Look at all that holo...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: core Color Name/Number: Candace Number of coats: 1 (layered) Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

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

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 3 - Yellow

For today's challenge of yellow, I wanted to try something a bit different for me. I am always admiring beautiful one-stroke art manicures done by everyone else, but don't make the time to practice for myself. It is however always on my to do list and what better time to try it than for a challenge...

For this manicure I started out with a base of Zoya Claudine which I topped off with a coat of Shimmer Adrienne. Using a one-stroke (in name only) technique, I added the flowers on the side of each nail in yellow and white acrylic paint. I then added a few blue dots with acrylic paint to the centers of the flowers and some yellow dots around the flowers to complete the look...

Calling it a one-stroke technique is rather deceiving since it took me a lot more than that! The great thing about working with acrylic paint is that I can easy wipe it off with rubbing alcohol and start over without destroying the base. I'm not even going to tell you how many tries that took to get it 'right', but I'm really happy with the result and encouraged to keep trying the technique...

Shimmer Adrienne is a clear base packed with blue, gold, holo and more glitter in various sizes. There is even some small red glitter in there. I used one coat over my base of Zoya Claudine. I love how the blue glitter pops against the dark base. The formula is very nice, each brush stroke is loaded with glitter and it spreads evenly. I used just one generous coat plus a top coat for these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: core Color Name/Number: Adrienne Number of coats: 1 (layered over Zoya Claudine) Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

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 **

PCOS Awareness with Shimmer Strength!

September is PCOS Awareness Month and I could think of no better polish to create a manicure with than Shimmer Strength. Donations are made to support PCOS with the sale of each Shimmer Strength polish. The beautiful teal glitter coordinates perfectly with the ribbon supporting PCOS awareness. I just love the the motto of "Fight Like a Girl!"...

For the manicure I used Barielle Ocean Breeze as my base. I topped the whole thing with Shimmer Strength and then stamped the ribbon pattern using Essence Stamp Me! White and Bundle Monster plate BM-321...

Shimmer Strength is a mix of small teal, silver and holo glitter as well as some larger silver hex and even a few hearts. Since there are so few hearts, I did have to 'fish' it out for the manicure, but personally I like that it is not overflowing with the heart glitter. I prefer the smaller glitter that I can just brush on and I'm willing to 'fish' for the larger pieces to place as accents. The silver hex and hearts do seem to have an ever so slight curl to them. The glitter is easy to apply and as most Shimmer polishes it is loaded with glitter in each brush stroke. This is just one coat plus top coat over my base...

As you can see it has lots of micro glitter. Although I have not tried it on a full manicure yet, I think you can reach full opacity with using Strength alone in about 3 coats.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: core Color Name/Number: Strength Number of coats: 1 (layered over Barielle Ocean Breeze) Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

For more information on this and other Shimmer Polishes visit the Shimmer Polish Etsy store or Facebook page.

And remember to Fight Like a Girl!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

* PCOS Awareness logo found online at multiple sources via Google search...

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

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

Avoiding Fall While Embracing the Colors...

So I admit it, I am nowhere near ready for Fall to get here, but I am starting to get into the Fall colors. It could be due to all the pretty Fall collections that I have started to swatch. Stay tuned for lots and lots of swatches to come. Today though, I would like to show you a manicure that really hits the spot for my current color mood...

The manicure started out with Nicole by OPI Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary, a bright carrot orange cream. To add some sparkle, I topped it off with Shimmer Carmen. Stamping was done using Maybelline Bold Gold and Cheeky stamping plate CH7...

A contrasting rhinestone to finish off the look...

Shimmer Carmen is a mix of orange, gold and holographic glitter of various shapes and sizes in a clear base. I love the way it compliments the orange although next time I will need to try it over something more contrasting to show the glitter better. As usual, the holographic glitter is being camera shy, but it truly sparkles in real life. I used one generous coat of Carmen of my orange bast. The formula is very nice and there is a good amount of glitter and distribution with each brush stroke. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: core Color Name/Number: Carmen Number of coats: 1 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Are you starting to get into fall colors or still rocking neon nails?

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 **

Shimmer Nichole for 4th of July!

The count down to 4th of July has begun and I hope to fill the next few days with themed posts, assuming my brain doesn't melt from the heat wave that has hit Seattle. Today's post featured the gorgeous Shimmer Nichole which is truly a 4th of July glitter bomb in a bottle. It was sent to me for review quite a while ago, but I was saving it just for this special occasion...

Naturally Shimmer Nichole needed to be paired up with some Nicole by OPI shades if for no other reason, but the name. The base shades used here are Nicole by OPI Challenge Red-y (red), Others Pale by Kim-Parison (off white), I Sea You and Raise You (blue).

I added the stars from Bundle Monster plate BM21 using Essence Stampy White...

Shimmer Nichole is a clear base packed with red, silver, blue and holographic glitter. Even with no stamping it can easily create a fun holiday manicure. I especially love it over white as it allows the red and blue glitter to really pop. The formula is what I have come to expect from Shimmer polishes, easy to apply with great distribution of glitter in each brush stroke. I used two coats for this swatch along with a top coat...

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

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 **