Happy Thanksgivukkah!

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgivukkah (Thanksgiving + Hanukkah). Did you know such a term exists? I didn't, but I like it. Another one to add to my vocabulary for today is menurkey (menorah that looks like a turkey). I'm looking forward to a relaxing day off and a yummy dinner with my family. Hopefully you are having a wonderful day too!

My manicure today was inspired by this very image that I found online. I had been trying to decide how to combine the two holidays in one manicure and thought it would be fun to either paint a menurkey or a turkey lighting a menorah. Once I saw this image, I knew it had to be the later...

For this manicure I used a base of KBShimmer You Autumn Know. I purchased this beauty on the day it was released, but have not gotten a chance to wear it yet. Now that Fall is almost over, I wanted to make sure I didn't miss my opportunity to wear it. Swatches of it by itself are further down in the post....

All of the drawing was done using acrylic paints except for the menorah for which I used Essie Good as Gold  over black acrylic paint. I 'lit' the candles on the menorah with gold holographic glitter. It blends a bit too much with the glitter already in the base, but it does sparkle beautifully in reality. I absolutely love how this manicure turned out. It definitely makes it to the top of my favorite manicures...

Oh and if you are wondering what is on my Cinderella (right) hand... well it's just You Autumn Know with no added art. There is no way I can get this detail onto both hands so I decided to just leave it as one 'accent' hand. I actually do that occasionally, especially when I'm doing detailed freehand. If I had more time, I would have created decals of these image to mirror on my left hand, but this took too long as it is :)

KBShimmer You Autumn Know
A white crelly filled with gold, orange and purple glitter in various shapes and sizes. It is so beautiful, I just can't get enough of it! What is it about glitter packed white crellies that I find so irresistible? The formula is great. Applies easily and is loaded with glitter in each brush stroke. I used three coats to get full coverage. Swatches are with a top coat to smooth out the glitter...

It even has bar glitter which I'm not usually a fan of, but it is so teeny tiny and works perfectly with this combination that I really like it...

Swatch Details
	Brand: KBShimmer Collection: Fall 2013 Color Name/Number: You Autumn Know Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday if you celebrate either Thanksgiving or Hanukkah!

Let me know what you think of this polish and my manicure! :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Holiday Snowmen

Just a quick post today with some holiday nail art I did recently. I was thinking about families spending time together this holiday season and that somehow manifested itself as little snowmen on my nails. Maybe it is a sign that I have not been spending enough time with my family recently. On the other hand, maybe it just means I'm ready to head to the mountains and play in the snow. Whatever the reason behind it, I really enjoyed this manicure...

For the manicure I used NYC Pier 17 as the base. All of the drawing was done using acrylic paint and a small nail art brush. I really like the pop of white against the dark blue background...

On a completely whiny side note, I wish my nails were at least a little bit longer than they are now. I don't like doing nail art when my nails are this short, but they are not liking the cold and keep breaking so I have to settle for nail art on these shorties...

NYC Pier 17 is a dark navy blue shimmer. It has just the slightest hint of purple which my camera did not pick up. The shimmer itself is perfect and seems to glow from within. Application was good and it only needed two coats for full coverage. The first coat went on patchy, but it all evened out by the second coat. I'm really impressed with the color and I really like the flattened brush. I don't have very many NYC polishes, but I might have to change that if they are all like this one...

Swatch Details
	Brand: NYC New York Color Collection: In a New York Color Minute Color Name/Number: Pier 17, 208 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle Cashmere or Loose Me with Essie Braziliant in Argyle

I mentioned yesterday that in addition to swatching the Barielle Style in Argyle collection I also messed around with some nail art that I will show you over the next few days. For this manicure, I was inspired by the collection's name and decided to try the argyle pattern on my nails.

I started out with Barielle Cashmere or Loose Me which I paired up with Essie Braziliant in an argyle pattern. Green lines were added using acrylic paint. It looked a bit bland so I topped the whole thing off with Essie Pure Pearlfection. I can't quite decide which version I like best, so I will show you both and hopefully you can tell me what you think. This is topped with the luxeffects polish...

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here.

This is what it looked like before I added Essie Pure Pearlfection...

I would love to know what you think. Which version do you like better (if at all)...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Kennedy in Lace

I have been seeing a lot of lace manicures around and have really been wanting to give it a try. Zoya Kennedy was perfect for the occasion. Since I don't have any lace stamps, I went the freehand route. Starting out with Zoya Kennedy, I added a black stripe and lace details using black acrylic paint. This definitely gave me practice with detail painting and made me realize just how much more practice I need...

On her own Zoya Kennedy is a lovely beige cream. Full coverage and great application in two coats. The formula does not disappoint. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Feel, Winter 2011 Color Name/Number: Kennedy, ZP595 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

As always, I'd love to know what you think! :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Kendal with Freehand Flowers

This is Zoya Kendal and what could possibly be my favorite manicure (of mine) to date. I had an inspiration image for this, but I can't find it right now so if I stubble across it again I will update this post. I started out with Zoya Kendal for the base and added a wide white stripe along the side using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme. Then, using acrylic paint in white and two different shades of purple I added the flowers. Flower centers are using Sinful Color Nail Art in Flower Girl. It reminds me of a china pattern...

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here!

Zoya Kendal is another sweet full coverage cream. This one is a pale lavender with great application. Two coats plus a top coat for these swatches. Not much more I can say here, just lovely...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Feel, Winter 2011 Color Name/Number: Kendal, ZP594 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Kristen in a Winter Wonderland

I figured I better post this before winter is over and this is no longer relevant. I got to play with the Zoya Feel collection that I won in a giveaway from Fab Fatale. This is actually from about three weeks ago when it snowed in Seattle and everything was a winter wonderland. Driving conditions were awful, but the view outside my window was gorgeous and I was inspired to create a wintery scene on my nails.

I started out with Zoya Kristen as the base and free handed the trees and snow scene using Wet 'n Wild French White Cream. Then, I added a few highlights and snowflakes/dots using Sinful Colors Out of This World. I like how these turned out, in particular the tall tree on the ring finger :)

On it's own Zoya Kristen is a beautiful periwinkle blue cream. It applied easily in two coats. Just the perfect pastel. I actually like this color a lot for spring. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Feel, Winter 2011 Color Name/Number: Kristen, ZP591 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

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

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Ulta Blue For You

This is the final Ulta polish in my current collection and it is yet another blue. In the bottle it appears very similar to Love My Blackberry that I wore just a few days ago. Both are a blue purple that photograph blue. However, even those they looked similar in the bottle, Blue For You was actually blue on the nails, while Love My Blackberry was purple.

I added some free hand art using Sally Hansen Celeb city, a dense metallic silver glitter. I think I was aiming for flowers, but  got snowy pine cones instead. I like them regardless. Can never get enough of the blue with silver combo...

UPDATE: I finally located the tutorial from Tartofraises that inspired this manicure. You can find it here.

Blue For You is a dark navy blue with a blue shimmer. In the bottle it has a strong purple shimmer, which didn't translate on the nail at all. Application was decent, although I had a hard time getting it to wrap around the tips. This is two coats plus a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ulta Line: Professional Color Name/Number: Blue For You Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I realize I have one too many dark navy blues in my collection. Note to self, stop buying them! :)
Is there a color you gravitate towards buying every time?


Thank for looking!
Anutka :)