Day 27 - Insipired by Artwork

This challenge was inspired by a piece of art work that I stumbled upon on another blog. I have never heard of the artist before, but there was something about the painting that caught my eye. It is from a California based Swalla Stuido. As far as I can tell, this painting, which is no longer for sale, is called "Hope & Dreams".

I went with slightly bluer tones for the background than the original painting (you can see the original at the end of this post). For my base, I used an unnamed Cosmetic Arts polish. I really dislike that it has no name, but the polish is gorgeous. I'll post swatch photos of it eventually. All the other colors are hand mixed acrylic paints. I have been having a lot of fun with acrylics lately. So here is my interpretation of "Hope & Dreams"...

Here is the original painting from Swalla Stuio. As you can see it has a lot more green than I chose to use.

What do you think? Did I do it justice? :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Color Club Repackaged...

Do you recall all the Cosmetic Arts polishes I showed in my 2 month haul post? One of the polishes I got was this beautiful flakie which I have also seen on a few other blogs identified as Color Club's Covered in Diamonds from the Untamed Luxury Fall 2010 collection.  Cosmetic Arts is owned by the same parent company as Color Club so it is most likely the same polish just in a different bottle. I don't own the glitter half of that collection so I was excited to get my hands on this, but it made me wonder if any of the other Cosmetic Arts were just repackaged Color Club polishes...

Then I noticed that they most certainly are...

Here are some of the "dupes" that I got...

From the Foiled collection (left to right): Cold Metal, Lumin-icecent, Hot Like Lava, Foil Me Once

Back to Boho (l-r): Nomadic in Nude, New Bohemian, Shabby Drab, Red-Ical Gypsy

Back to Boho (l-r): Artsy Crafty, Blue-Topia, Rebel Spirit

Alter Ego (l-r): Get a Clue, Give Me a Hint, Secret Rendezvous

Untamed Luxury (l-r): Pretty in Platinum, Positively Posh, Soft as Cashmere

I'm certain that some of the other colors I got are also dupes, but I don't have their Color Club counterparts to be 100% sure. I will however be heading back to the store to return these Cosmetic Arts without even opening them. Once I return them, does that mean I can buy more nail polish? :D

I'm really curious to know what colors are actually Cosmetic Arts originals... it is really hard to tell from their promo photos... anyone have a clue?

Thanks for Looking!
Anutka

Day 21 - Inspired by Color

Happy 11-11-11 everyone! I really wanted to post this at 11:11am, but my camera battery died at the worst time and I didn't make it. :D

Today's challenge was to be inspired by color. Not being one that can settle on just one color, I was inspired by all the colors of fall. I love seeing the red, pink, orange, gold and green (just to name a few) on the trees this time of year. Plus all the leaves on the ground making gorgeous mosaics. Who could resist that?

I sponged different color polishes over my base and then stamped it with a leaf pattern from Bundle Monster plate BM-205. The technique is the same as used to create galaxy manicures, so here is my galaxy of fall colors...

For the manicure I used:
- Barielle - Cashmere or Loose Me (base)
- Zoya - Isla
- Essie - Braziliant
- Color Club - Almost Famous
- Rimmel - Rags to Riches
- Cosmetic Arts - (no name gold foil)
- Bundle Monster plate BM-205

And just a little fun corner snapshot of 11-11-11 at 11:11am as I was working on the images for this post :D

I'd love to know what you think! Have you made a manicure inspired by the colors of fall?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

2 Month Haul...

I have had a really bad migraine for the past two mornings and just the thought of the smell of nail polish is making me queasy, so instead of doing my nails this morning I thought I would show you the reason why I should not be allowed anywhere near Ross or nail polish for that matter with a credit card...

In addition to the 50 polishes from the Wet n Wild haul, over just two short months, I got...

Cosmetic ARTS polishes. These are from the Forsythe Cosmetic Group, the same brand that makes Color Club. Unfortunately none of them have names, but most are from the Fall & Winter Collections that you can get more info on here.

Color Cub Back to Boho sets 1 & 2 and Foiled

LA Colors - Modern Metallics

Prisma - Fresh & Fabulous and Pastel... has anyone heard of this brand before? They look identical to LA Colors in packaging and bottle shape...

Elf sets -
Top set (l-r): Twinkle, Golden Goddess, Cranberry
Bottom (l-r): Mod Mauve, Sunset, Plum

That's it from Ross for now... they had lots of other LA Color and Prisma sets, but believe it or not I had to stop somewhere...

At Ulta I got...
Ulta Salon Formula (I just love the new bottle shape)
Top (l-r): Ruby Slipper, Army of 1, Chic Peek, Wild Night, Femme Fatale
Bottom (l-r): Chocolate Kiss, Devious, High Roller, Love my Blackberry, Smoke Screen

Essence Colour & Go (l-r): Irreplaceable, Choose Me!, Walk of Fame, Movie Star, Where is the Party?, Date with the Night

From Apothica, I got..
Sparitual minis:
Top (l-r): Epicurean, I Feel the Earth Move, Howl, Delight, Sacred Ground, Running with Wolves
Bottom (l-r): Spellbound, Emerald City, Idyllic, Smoke 'n Mirrors, Surreal 

Drugstore finds...
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear (l-r)- Plum Power, Red Carpet, Lacey Lilac, Flirt, Midnight Sky, Deep Purple, Grey Area

Sinful Colors (clockwise starting from the polish with "http://" on the cap :D)
Tokyo Pearl, Envy, Gogo Girl, HipHip, What's Your Name, Out of This World, Rise and Shine, Nirvana, This is It, Seaweed, Rich in Heart, Under 18, Easy Going, Daddys Girl, Amethyst, Hot Spot, Mercury Rising, Mint Apple

Wet n Wild Fast Dry -
Top (l-r): Gray's Anatomy, Buffy the Violet Slayer, Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire, Silvivor, Hannah Pinktana, FuchsiaRama
Middle (l-r): Teal of Fortune, Everybody Loves Redmond, The Gold & the Beautiful, SaGreena the Teenage Witch, 9.0.2.1.Orange
Bottom (l-r): How I Met Your Magenta, Cougar Attack, Behind Closed Doors, Buy Me a Drink, Ready to Pounce, Jungle Fever

Other (l-r): Wet n Wild Diving for Pearls, Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, Rimmel Rags to Riches, Oke.doke in Camo Loco, Goldilocks, and Pink This

Well that should last me a life time...

I'm putting myself on a self imposed no more hauling until I swatch at least half of my untrieds... although even as I type this I have a feeling it won't stick... :(

My mission after I finish the 31 day challenge, is to swatch like crazy!
If you would like to see any of these sooner rather than later, please let me know, because I have no idea where to even start!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 16 - Tribal Print

No Bundle Monster plates were harmed in the making of this manicure, but they were put to good use. I was nervous about doing free hand tribal print for the challenge, so I decided that my Bundle Monster plates would be perfect. I used partial designs from plates BM-202, BM-204, and BM-213.

For the base color I used Cosmetic Arts nail lacquer. Since it does not have a name on it, I'm guessing it is either Pink Rush or Pink Lust from the Neon Collection. Trust me when I say this color really is neon and bright. My camera freaked out and made it look red which is why I didn't bother posting swatches. They are not color accurate at all. When I figure out how to take proper photos of this color, I will post swatches.

I love the result, now I just need to find a faster way to do this :)

My inspiration for the manicure was a tribal print dress worn by Blake Lively. I'm not a big fan of yellow, so I did not have an exact color match to her dress in my collection. I chose to switch the base color entirely to a neon pink and I'm really happy with the result. I think for me that made the manicure more wearable, but if I ever get a yellow that shade, I will have to try this again :)

I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Cosmetic Arts Sky Blue stamped...

This adorable little lizard from my new stamping plates wanted to be the first one stamped and I was more than happy to fulfill the request. He did however try to escape my finger and got dangerously close to the edge. I managed to snap a few photos before he ran off... :)

Tips and stamping using Wet and Wild Black Creme over Cosmetic Arts Sky Blue...

It all seemed kind of flat so I topped it off with Pure Ice Oh Baby! for a gorgeous blue/green/purple microglitter shimmer...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Cosmetic Arts Sky Blue?

I'm not entirely positive of the name of this color as it has no name or number stickers on it. Looking at the bottle photos on the manufacturer's website, I think it is Sky Blue from their Spring collection. Even though I'm not certain of the name, I am certain that I like it. It is a cross between baby blue and gray. The formula is a little on the thin side, but built up very well. This is three coats plus a top coat...

Outside in the beautiful sunshine...

In the shade, more of the gray aspects of the color come out...

If you can confirm/deny the name of this color I would greatly appreciate it :)

Brand: Cosmetic Arts Collection: Spring Color Name/Number: Sky Blue (not 100% sure)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Cosmetic Arts Fairy Dust...

I debated if I should post this or not because I don't think the photos truly represent the color and I couldn't get any better ones. This is a multi-colored, holographic glitter from Cosmetic Art. It is manufactured by Forsythe Cosmetic Group which is the same company that produces Color Club nail polishes. The name/number sticker was not on the bottle so I think the name is Fairy Dust by looking at the company's website. If anyone can confirm/correct this it would be great!

This polish looks like what you see in the photos below indoors with no direct light on it. As soon as the light or sunshine hits it, the nails just lights up. However the camera refused to photograph it :( ... I applied two coats of the glitter and two layers of topcoats for this manicure...

Outside in the sunshine, the camera still didn't capture the true beauty of this glitter.

I don't usually like blurry photos, but this was the only way I could get some of the colors on camera. As always any of the photos are clickable to zoom in!

This was definitely a fun color to wear. I cannot wait to layer it over different colors...

Brand: Cosmetic Arts Collection: Spring Color Name/Number: Fairy Dust (I think) - please let me know if I'm right/wrong if you know! DBP, Toluene, and Formaldehyde Free

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)