Shimmer Tammy and e.l.f. Lilac Glitter Jelly Sandwich

Playing with all the pretty e.l.f. jellies from the Summer Ready collection, I couldn't fight the urge to create a glitter jelly sandwich. It really is such a wonderful way to play up their strength. I chose to pair Lilac with the gorgeous Shimmer Tammy* which is a purple, gold, holo, hex, bar glitter bomb just waiting to explode...

I sandwiched one coat of Shimmer Tammy* between two base coats and a single top coat of e.l.f. Lilac. Most prominent of the glitters under the jelly top are the hex black and gold glitters peeking through. There is a wonderful depth to layering such combos that I'm crazy about...

I've previously swatched Tammy* over a dark base and loved it, so I really wanted to see how it looks over a lighter color and it did not disappoint. It plays so well with both end of the spectrum. The black hex is much more prominent over a lighter color. To be honest I didn't even notice it when I swatched it before and had to do a double take...

A closeup of the gorgeous glitters. The one thing that my camera couldn't capture is the holo. There is a lot of small, hex and bar holo glitter in the mix here. Sadly on the swatches they just appear silver...

A quick reminder of what Tammy* looks like over a dark base. The lighter color come out to play more and the black just disappears. I love that this glitter works so well with both a light and a dark base. There is something to make it special over any polish...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes marked with an asterisk (*) were provided to me for my honest review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

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

e.l.f. Summer Ready Collection

There is still officially 10 days of summer left and I'm determined to swatch and show you at least some of my untried summer collections. I have accumulated more of them that I wish to admit and not swatching them year after year is just a shame. To start out is the e.l.f. Summer Ready collection which is from summer of last year. It contains five lovey jellies...

e.l.f. Blue Mist
A pretty aqua blue jelly. The formula is very sheer and the first few coats are pretty streaky. It took four coats (more than I normally prefer) to get it to the opaqueness seen below. The nail line is still visible. Lovely color, but not something I would wear on it's own. It would, however, be perfect for glitter sandwiches! I cannot wait to try it for just such a purpose...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Blue Mist Number of coats: 4 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Lilac
A soft lilac jelly. Again this is very sheer and something I would save for glitter jelly sandwiches rather than wearing it alone. Nail line is still visible after three coats as seen here. The formula is better and less streaky than Blue Mist. Such a lovely color...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Lilac Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Mango Madness
A coral orange sheer jelly. This took three coats to get it semi-opaque with the nail line still visible. This is a fun color that I have already used in some nail art. I'm sure it will make an appearance again in layering experiments. Formula is pretty nice, not streaky...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Mango Madness Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Fuchsia
A dusky raspberry jelly. The color is slightly richer and deeper than what appears in the photos. It is sheer as the rest of the collection. Three coats is shown below. No problems with the formula, applies smoothly...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Fuchsia Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

e.l.f. Purple Pleaser
A plum purple jelly. This is a bit more opaque than the rest of the collection I think simply because it is darker. Three coats for the coverage seen below. Nail line still visible in real life. I do love a nice purple polish so I cannot wait to try this one in layered combos as well...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: Summer Ready, Summer 2011 Color Name/Number: Purple Pleaser Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Overall I'm torn on this collection. The colors are very soft and pretty. They will be perfect for glitter sandwich combos and I cannot wait to try them as such. The downside of the collection is that these jellies have an impossibly long dry time. Even with a quick dry top coat, they were dentable after hours of wear. I tried a few of them solo for a day and each time the manicure was ruined by the time I came home from work. Another issue, although easily fixable, was the hairy brushes. Most of them had uneven bristles that needed to be trimmed prior to use...

Do you have colors you are torn on... Love the color, but hate the formula/brush??

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Fashion Friday: Coral Summer Wish

After last week's fashion inspired manicure, I seem to have gotten the message via everyone's sweet comments that you would like to see more of such fashion inspired posts. So, in response to that, I present you with another fashion inspired look. As usual, I stumbled upon this on Pinterest and the colors really caught my eye. With Fall so close on the horizon, this summery dress is just what I wish to hang onto...

source

When I first saw this dress I was pretty certain I would try it as a tape manicure, but the more I looked at it, it just didn't seem to fit. The strict lines of the tape wouldn't quite portray the movement of the dress. Instead I decided to try the "cloud" technique to hopefully capture some of the waves in the dress...

If you are not familiar with the cloud manicure, it was created by Jane for her blog Nailside which has swept through the nail blogging community like wildfire. I have been meaning to try it since she first posted it, but as most things I want to try, it just sat on the "to try" list. In a complete coincidence, when I pulled up Jane's tutorial to link in this post, I realized how close the color combination that she use is to this one...

For the colors I used e.l.f. Mango Madness for the base. Mango Madness is a bit more coral than orange as it appears in the photos. It more closely matches the color of the dress in real life than it does here. Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet and Colorama Missao Azul were used for the waves...

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Fashion Friday! I'd love to know what you think :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

e.l.f. Coral Polish Set

I think I may have broken some sort of record for myself. From purchasing a set to swatching it in less than a month. I'm issuing an official apology to all my other polish sets that have been waiting for a year to be swatched. I even have another e.l.f. set from last summer still untouched that is now giving me a guilt trip. This set would have probably joined the untried box as well if it was not for the Sunday Stamping manicure a few days ago that used three out of the four of these polishes...

Sadly this e.l.f. set does not have a unique name to identify it. I'm calling it the "coral" set. My bf called it the "carrot" set...

Coral Dream
A soft coral peach cream. The formula on this one was a bit thick and goopy, but still workable. I would thin it for next time. On the plus side, it only needed two coats for full, even coverage. The polish dries with a satin finish so the swatches are with a top coat for shine. There is something about this shade that makes my skin tone look darker. Easy way to fake a tan! :)

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: No Name 4 Piece set Color Name/Number: Coral Dream Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Flirty Fuchsia
A coral pink cream. The formula has a bit of a jelly finish to give it shine. It does start out pretty sheer and requires three coats for full coverage. As a benefit, however, it is easier to apply than a thicker cream. Application was great, no streaking of balding.

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: No Name 4 Piece set Color Name/Number: Flirty Fuchsia Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Party Peach
A bright orange cream. The formula on this is very similar to Flirty Fuchsia. Three coats for full coverage since it starts out a bit sheer. Same slight jelly finish for shine. Very easy to apply.

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: No Name 4 Piece set Color Name/Number: Party Peach Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Smokin Hot
A poppy red cream. The color is hard to describe. In some light it looks more fuchsia in other light more coral. It is definitely a bit more red than the photos show (at least on my monitor). Love this color for summer. This also has a similar formula to the two above. Slight jelly cream, three coats for full coverage, very nice formula. I'm rockin this smokin hot color as my manicure today...

Swatch Details
	Brand: e.l.f. Collection: No Name 4 Piece set Color Name/Number: Smokin Hot Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Overall I'm really impressed with this collection. The colors are perfect to put me in a summer mood as the weather has been nice these past few days...

Just in case you missed it, here is what a gradient consisting of Coral Dream, Party Peach and Smokin Hot can look like. For more photos of the gradient and some nail art, check out this post...

Let me know what you think of this!
Are all the bright colors putting you in a summer mood?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)