Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Today I would like to show you a manicure that I created quite a while ago, but have not gotten around to posting. I have been sick the past two weeks and my energy for creating manicures is at an all time low. Luckily this candy filled manicure is just perfect for a day which has become synonymous with candy overload...

For this manicure, I created a gradient using Nicole by OPI Candy is Dandy and I Liliac Gumdrops. I stamped using Essence Stamp Me! White and Bundle Monster plate BM-306. Fun and easy...

Here is a look at the gradient before the stamping. To create this gradient, I simply brushed on I Lilac Gumdrops over Candy is Dandy when it was dry. I think because they are textured, this sort of rough gradient still looks good and is much quicker than sponging...

How will you be spending your Halloween?

I will be spending my Halloween at work, leaving my boyfriend home to tend to the trick or treaters. We get lots and lots of them every year. I am sad I won't see all the cute costumes, but also kind of glad I won't have to be jumping up and down every 20 seconds to open the door.

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 **

Zombie Nails...

Halloween is tomorrow and I want to show you my totally grody zombie manicure. I actually created these earlier this month, right before cutting my nails. Figured I might as well jack up the edges if I'm going to cut them anyway. I got the idea to do zombie nails from this manicure by More Nail Polish. Hope I'm not grossing too many of you out...

I started out this manicure with a nude base polish. Shame on me for not remembering which one, but trust me, you can't see it here anyway. For the rest of the dirt and grime, I used acrylic paint. There is a bit of OPI It All San Andreas's Fault in there for some texture and Barielle Dinner at 8 for the 'blood'...

My boyfriend is grossed out and not impressed, but I happen to think it would be a fun look to go with a zombie costume. What do you think?

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 **

Incoco Spooktacular

With Halloween just a few days away, I would like to show you another fun set of nail polish appliques from Incoco named Spooktacular. These are glow in the dark nail strips which feature what are quite possibly the most adorable ghosts ever...

Each set comes with 16 double ended appliques to fit different nail sizes. There is plenty for a full manicure and a bit left to spare. They are sealed in an air tight package and must be used shortly after opening. Application of these strips is quick and easy. If you are not familiar with how to apply them, take a look at my previous Incoco reviews or the Incoco website. I followed the instructions on the package to apply them, except I used acetone to gently remove the strips at the tip rather than file them off...

As far as nail wraps go, these seemed a bit thicker than other Incoco strips, but were still very easy to stretch and perfectly mold to the nail. I'm so in love with these adorable ghosts...

Just look at them glow! Ahh, they are even brighter in reality...

What do you think of these?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

Incoco Halloween 2013 Collection: Fright Night

I would like to show you the new Incoco Halloween collection, Fright Night, which will be released today! This collection includes four designs that are perfect for Halloween. Two are rich glittery orange shades and two are fun glow in the dark appliques. I decided to show one of each style today and the remaining two I will show you another day...

Incoco After Dark
A gorgeous black to orange glitter gradient. The glitter base of these makes them a bit thicker than other polish strips, but they are still very stretchy and pliable. For full application instruction visit my previous Incoco polish strips review or the Incoco website. Rather than file off the excess at the tips, I used a q-tip and gently melted it off the excess as I showed in my previous post. This helps me get a nice wrapped look to the tips which is not quite as cut and sharp looking as what I get with filing...

This makes me think of flames...

The strips come in a package with 16 double ended nail strips to fit any nail size. They are made of real nail polish and start to dry out upon contact with air so they need to be used right after opening...

Incoco Bone Rattling
A fun glow-in-the-dark skull design. I'm wearing this right now and they are so cute that I truly don't want to take them off. Maybe they will last until Halloween? These were also a bit thicker than other nail strips that I have tried, but they were still stretchy and pliable, easy to apply and smooth out...

They glow really bright in the dark. I couldn't stop staring...

Each package contains 16 double ended nail strips to fit any nail size. There is enough here for a full manicure plus some to spare. I put my leftovers back in the package and sealed it with tape in hopes that this will preserve them for a bit longer so I can play with them again before Halloween. They do dry out on contact with air so only time will tell if I sealed them well enough...

Aren't these fun?

For more information visit incoco.com

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

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

Sunday Stamping: Halloween

Just ten days left until the spooky day of Halloween so it is no surprise that the popular vote for this week's Sunday Stamping challenge in Adventure is Stamping is a Halloween themed manicure. I chose to skip the really dark and scary for today and go for cute instead. The idea for the manicure came from the fact that we are having some friends over later today to carve pumpkins. It only seemed fitting that I dig up all the jack-o-lantern images to play with for inspiration...

The base of this manicure is two coats of OPI Don't Talk Bach to Me. The pumpkins were stamped with OPI A Roll in the Hague, which I have to say stamps perfectly over light colors. I added /colored in the stems of the pumpkins using green acrylic paint. Stamping plates used for the pumpkins are Shany SH02 (index), Red Angel RA-119 (middle), Bundle Monster BM-222 (ring), BM-305 (pinkie)....

I wasn't pleased with the pumpkins just "floating" on my nails, so I added a bit of ground under them by sponging the tips with Sally Hansen Coco a-go-go. The black kitty happened to like my pumpkin patch and decided to sit on my ring finger. The image comes from Shany plate SH08 and was stamped using Essence I Love My Jeans....

Let me know what you think of it! I hope you like it as much as I do. :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

OPI So So Skullicious Mini Set with Decals

Today I have a really fun OPI So So Skullicious set to show you. It comes with four mini nail lacquers and some fun skull decals which are perfect for Halloween. Believe it or not, this was my first time using nail decals and I love them. They are really easy to apply and a great way to add something special to a manicure. I ended up with a fun skittle manicure that I hope you'll enjoy...

Usually I shy away from skittle manicures because even though I love them on other people, I can't quite get used to them for myself. Surprisingly this flows so well together that I really love it. Luckily the decals have similar colors and patterns which pulls everything together. All the nails except the middle finger have decals from the set. For the middle finger I sponged it slightly with Mourning Glory (black lacquer from the set)...

Here is a prime example of what happens when you get too excited with the nail decals. The little green skull was initially meant to go on my index finger, but I forgot to remove the plastic off the decal before placing it in water. Such a simple thing, but I got too eager to try them! The decal neatly lifted off the transfer paper and onto the plastic. There was no removing it from there. Now I have a little souvenir of what not to do...

The OPI So So Skullicious set contains four mini polishes:
Index Finger: Hi, Pumpkin! - 2 coats + top coat
Middle Finger: A-Rose from the Dead - 2 coats + top coat
Ring Finger: Candlelight - 3 coats + top coat
Pinkie Finger: Mourning Glory - 2 coats + top coat

The formula on all of these is lovely, only Candlelight needed three coats, the rest were opaque in two. The yellow and orange would be perfect for candy corn nails! I can picture them already...

Have you started getting into the Halloween spirit yet? Planning any fun manicures? :)

Want to see more of this set? Make sure to check out the water marble featuring these polishes...

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 **

Happy Howl-o-ween!

Happy Halloween or Howl-o-ween everyone! I hope you are having a fantastically spooky day and enjoying lots of yummy treats!

For my manicure today I chose to attempt a free-hand wolf howling at the moon. I'm pretty excited about how it turned out, especially the moon! I started out with one coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme followed by one coat of Sinful Colors Fiji. On it's own, Fiji is pretty sheer, but I think it looks amazing over black. The moon was panted using white acrylic paint and sponged with Fiji. The wolf was painted using black acrylic paint and the whole thing was topped off with a nice top coat.

Polishes used for this manicure:
- Wet n Wild Black Creme
- Sinful Colors Fiji
- Acrylic paint in white and black (not pictured)

What do you think? Is it worthy of being worn on Halloween?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Halloween Week: OPI Pair'em Scare'em

This is my second time around swatching the OPI Pair'em Scare'em set that I received from the girls at Glambo. Earlier this week I could not get a photo of the glow in the dark effect no matter how hard I tried. I finally found a nice tutorial that is meant for photographing glow in the dark polymer clay, but it worked perfectly for me.

This is three coats of Zom-Body to Love with no top coat. It is very sheer with visible tiny glow in the dark particles. It would probably work well layered over a nice lime color, but since I was planning to cover it with a shatter, I didn't bother. Application was very nice with this one.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that to get a good glow you have to "charge" it by holding it under direct light otherwise the glow is pretty faint...

Lights out time... fun!

Topped with Black Shatter, which cracked very well even with my rather thick coat on the middle finger...
(Oops, looking at these photos I just realized that I forgot to apply a top coat. Oh well, I'm too lazy now :P)

Lights out time again... look at it glow! I must be getting better at photographing it :D

What do you think? Are you a fan of glow in the dark polishes?

Brand: OPI Collection: Pair'em Scare'm Set 2011 Color Name/Number: Zom-Body To Love Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Brand: OPI Collection: available alone or in sets Color Name/Number: Black Shatter Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

This concludes Halloween Week, I hope you enjoyed it. I know I had lots of fun! Now all that's left is the mani for Halloween itself. Can't wait :D

Thanks for Looking!
Anutka :)

Halloween Week: Black Cats...

This is the manicure that almost broke my printer... yes, printer. It would have been a very expensive manicure had it actually stopped working. It all started when I saw some adorable cats that I wanted on my nails. I realized I could never do such detail freehand, so one thing led to another and my printer almost didn't make it. It is still spitting out pieces of plastic with every page it prints... Don't ask...

I started out with Sinful Colors Tapping Nails and I did manage to get enough cats for one manicure...

My bf loves the big fat one on the ring finger and I can't decide which I like best :)
What about you?

Here are the inspiration cats. I found it on 123rf.com

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)