31DC2013 Day 14 - Flowers

Today I have for you a floral manicure for Day 14 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge. I have had this manicure in head ever since reviewing the OPI Euro Centrale collection, although I didn't get a chance to try it at that time. It has been begging to be brought to reality ever since and I'm so excited to finally be 'forced'/ have an excuse to try it thanks to this challenge...

For this manicure I used six lacquers from the spring OPI Euro Centrale collection, starting with a base of My Vampire is Buff. I roughly sponged five petal flowers using You're Such A Budapest (violet), My Paprika is Hotter than Yours (coral red) and Can't Find My Czechbook (baby blue). I also sponged the center of each flower with Oy-Another Polish Joke!, a gold glass fleck polish. Using a striping brush, I drew the petals and dotted the flower centers with black acrylic paint...

I just love how this turned out and seriously, I'm so happy to finally get this out of my head and onto my nails to share with you! I really wanted to try this abstract short of flower...

I figured that a fresh swatch of My Vampire is Buff wouldn't hurt either. It is a beautiful soft ivory cream. Good application and it is opaque in two coats. I initially wasn't planning to re-swatch it so my application was messy and because of that I added a third coat to even everything out for these photos. This is one of my favorite neutral bases for nail art. Swatches are with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: OPI Collection: Euro Centrale, Spring/Summer 2013 Color Name/Number:  My Vampire is Buff, NL E82 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I'd love to know what you think of this manicure!
Do you have any ideas floating around in your head that you just haven't had time to execute?

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 9 - Rainbow

Today I would like to show you a manicure that I spent half the night working on right before taking off on vacation. This is actually what I'm wearing right now and thinking that one week of looking at it might not be enough! I don't ever want to take it off. This is my manicure for Day 6 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge the theme for which is rainbow....

For this manicure I used five of the six shades from the Color Club Spring Halo Hues collection. I sponged three coats of gradient on each nail...

Thumb: Eternal Beauty (violet) to Miss Bliss (pink)
Index: Miss Bliss to Cosmic Fate (peachy)
Middle: Cosmic Fate to Kismet (light green)
Ring: Kismet to Over the Moon (blue)
Pinkie: Over the Moon to Eternal Beauty

I don't think you can get any more rainbow than a holographic rainbow gradient! Sponging the holos killed their linear rainbow effect and made it more of a scattered holo, but who cares, they are still super sparkly. I wish I could get some sunshine photos, but as I said, this was made LATE at night... 3 hours before I had to leave the house to head to the airport!...

Let me know what you think of this!

P.S. This post is pre-scheduled while I'm on vacation. I may not be able to respond to comments until I return, but I greatly appreciate them and will respond as soon as I return!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

31DC2013 Day 6 - Violet

It is time for Day 6 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challege and the theme today is a violet manicure. I just had to play with my most recent favorite PixieDust violet, Zoya Carter. It seemed to be just the type of color that pretty little gold dragonflies would be drawn too...

The base of this manicure is Zoya Carter from The PixieDust Fall collection. I stamped it using Maybelline Bold Gold and Messy Mansion plate MM17. This is from the same 'bugs' plate as the ladybug manicure a few days ago. This particular image is double wide allowing you to pick different sections of it for a continuous or slightly different design on each nail. So much fun!

I added a some baby blue rhinestones to the dragonfly bodies on my ring finger. I'm not quite sure what I think of this, but they seemed to want rhinestone accents. Maybe a different color would have been better. In any case, there are three different sizes of rhinestones there to correspond to the different sized dragonflies, all purchased on ebay...

Let me 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 **

Zoya Lovely Collection

The Zoya Lovely collection for Spring 2013 is just what it claims to be, lovely! The beautiful pastels are ready to put you in a Spring mood and make me think of Easter candy. The collection contains three shimmers which Zoya classifies as metallic and three sweet pastel creams. I present to you my swatches...

Zoya Piaf - "Fresh Forsythia Yellow Metallic" - (Originally designed for Fashion Designer Zang Toi.)
A buttery yellow with a translucent shimmer. The shimmer seems to be made up of tiny flecks which are pearly in most light, but do reflect a golden shine at times. This has a wonderful formula which is easy to apply and provides full coverage in just two coats...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Piaf, ZP652 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Zoya Gie Gie - "Blushing Cherry Blossom Pink Metallic" - (Originally designed for Zang Toi.)
A soft ballerina pink with a pearly shimmer. This has the same type of pearly flecks as Piaf. There is just something so sweet and delicate about it that I can't resist. Great formula with very smooth application. It has fairly good coverage at two coats, but I used three for these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Gie Gie, ZP651 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Zoya Julie - "Soft Wisteria Purple Metallic" - (Originally designed for Zang Toi.)
A soft lilac with a pearly shimmer. This again has the same type of little translucent flecks as the two above. It has more purple tint in real life than what turned out in swatches. These swatches are a bit too blue. The formula on this is very nice. I used three coats for these swatches, although two coats provides coverage that I would consider enough for daily wear. This is truly a beauty!...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Julie, ZP650 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Zoya Blu - "Lucky Hyacinth Blue Cream"
A pastel baby blue cream. There is something about my skin tone that makes this pop. It seems to have dried brighter than bottle color, which is very unusual. A gorgeous baby blue that I'm crazy for. Formula is very nice, smooth an creamy. Two coats for full coverage as seen here...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Blu, ZP653 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Zoya Neely - "Earliest Spring Green Cream" - (Originally designed for Peter Som)
A minty green cream. The formula is nice and creamy, maybe a touch thicker than I like, but still very workable. Definitely one of my favorites from this collection. I am loving this beautiful green. Two coats for full coverage...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Neely, ZP655 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Zoya Jacqueline - "Perfect Magnolia Nude Cream" - (Originally designed for Peter Som)
A sweet pastel yellow cream. The formula is similar to Neely, a teeny bit on the thick side, but still manageable. Two coats for full coverage here as well. This was the base for my sugar spun manicure a few days ago. This is really a perfect color in my opinion. Simply lovely! :)

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Lovely, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Jacqueline, ZP654 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Camphor, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

What do you think of these pastels? Do they put you in a Spring mood? Do you have a favorite?

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 **