Shimmer Leslie & Brooklyn

Today is 12-12-12, the last of the major numerical dates for another century. Are you planning anything memorable today? More importantly have you done anything with the past eleven? I really can't say that I have and today will be no different. I plan to dedicate the day to sleep since I'm exhausted after the past week/weekend at work. If you are worried for having nothing special planned than have no fear. According to some numerology experts the real 12-12-12 is in 2019 since 2+0+1+9=12 and by that theory today is just 12-12-5. So relax, enjoy the day and take a look at these Shimmer swatches... ;)

Shimmer Leslie (over Barielle Rio's Rockin' Bands)
A mix of different shades of blue and lavender in a clear base. I was in a the mood to match, so layered it over a metallic lavender. My favorite is the pop of darker blue hex glitter among all the lighter blue/lavender shades. It is gorgeous and sparkly as usual. Application is very nice with a great mix of glitter in every brush load. I've gotten in the habit of dabbing on glitter after seeing a video tutorial and get really good glitter distribution using it. These swatches are one generous coat of glitter over the base plus a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: main Color Name/Number: Leslie Number of coats: 1 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Shimmer Brooklyn (over Barielle Wanna Samba?)
A clear base with a mix of teal glitter with larger gold hex and some beautiful iridescent purple glitter. This could look great over just about any color. I chose to layer it over a pewter gray. Again the formula is very nice to work with and has good glitter distribution. I like this one a lot, but I seem to say that about every Shimmer glitter bomb. This is just one generous coat of glitter over a base plus a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Shimmer Collection: main Color Name/Number: Brooklyn Number of coats: 1 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

You can purchase any of these by emailing Cindy directly at shimmer484@gmail.com or through ShimmerPolish on Etsy. Cindy even makes custom polishes so don't hesitate to ask her!

Also, take a look at her blog and Facebook page where she hosts giveaways of her creations. You didn't hear it from me, but she is about 120 likes on Facebook away from hosting another give away, so go join in the fun...

And don't forget to let me know what you think of these!

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 **

Sunday Stamping: Precious Gemstones

I was really stumped this week by the Sunday Stamping challenge in the group Adventures in Stamping. The theme seemed simple enough, to create a manicure using precious gemstone colors. I have been agonizing over it all week trying to decide on the color/stone. I really wanted to stay away from the "typical" colors such as emerald (been there, done that). My first attempt was opal, but even though I loved the manicure (will show you soon), it didn't really look like opal, so back to square one...

Finally it dawned on me that today is my grandmother's 95th birthday and I wanted something inspired by her when I visit later today. She loves garnet and amber and since amber is not really a stone, the choice was clear. I guess sometimes all it takes is a personal connection to what you are doing to get inspired...

I started out with a base of Zoya Mikka and stamped using Dashica Beauty plate SdP-O. The images on this plate are large enough that I can stamp either length or width-wise which makes it easy to rotate the image and each nail comes out looking slightly different. I'm absolutely crazy about this plate. The quality and clarity of images is amazing...

For the stamping polish I used Revlon Princess, a baby blue foil. It worked perfectly for stamping...

For the flower centers, I used amber colored rhinestones. Love the bit of contrasting color plus I got to use my grandmother's other favorite "stone" color...

Just for fun, this is a pair of earrings I made a while ago using the garnet chips that I'm holding in the photos above. I just might have to wear them today to match :)

Zoya Mikka is a shimmery garnet :) color. It has a great formula with full coverage in two easy coats. No problems with application. This has been sitting in my untried pile for way too long. Happy to finally be wearing it today. Swatches here are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Pulse (now main line) Color Name/Number: Mikka, ZP457 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

piCture pOlish Festival with Aphrodisiac

What is it about flakies that is so magical? I can't seem to get enough. I have already worn the combination of piCture pOlish Aphrodisiac and Festival twice. Both times for at least three days. That must be some sort of record for me. I even went into Sally's Beauty with this and they had the nerve to ask me if it was one of their flakies. After a gentle hint that their flakies are impossible to hunt down, I told them about a lovely brand called piCture pOlish :D

First up is Festival with a tagline of "come together and flake it flake it!" This is a multi-color flakie in a slightly milky base. I used one coat over the dark piCture pOlish Aphrodisiac. Application was great and the flakies spread evenly over the nail. I really like the way it looks with just one coat, but can certainly see this with two coats for a more dense flakie look.

A close up of the flakies...

The color shift...

Swatch Details
	Brand: piCture pOlish Collection: Flakie Cover Color Name/Number: Festival Number of coats: 1 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Aphrodisiac is a gorgeous dark, vampy purple with a nice subtle shimmer. It is such a rich, velvety looking color. The tagline for it reads, "This potion leaves you with a magic touch!" I can say that I most certainly fell for it's spell. Even though this may not be the most Spring appropriate color, I love these type of dark polishes throughout the year. Application was good. Two coats for full opacity and even coverage. Swatches are without a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: piCture pOlish Collection: main line Color Name/Number: Aphrodisiac Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I would love to know what you think of these!
Do you try to match your polish to the weather/season?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Barielle End of the Rainbow with Starry Sky

Today I have two more Barielle polishes to show you. A teal named End of the Rainbow and a glitter named Starry Sky. Starry Sky consists of hex shaped silver glitter in a clear base. I applied one thick coat of Starry Sky to get all the glittery goodness. It was easiest to apply by first placing a drop of polish with glitter on the nail and then spreading it around with the brush. This seemed to give me better control of where the glitter went to avoid empty spots. It is nice to just add a touch of sparkle to a manicure. I can picture it looking like a true starry sky if layered over a dark blue or black.

I chose to skip the top coat with this as it was shiny and smooth enough on its own...

A close up here. I had used a top coat over Even of the Rainbow before applying Starry Sky so it looks as though the glitter is floating above the polish. It is the little things that fascinate me so... :)

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: main line Color Name/Number: Starry Sky, 5222 Number of coats: 1 (over Barielle End of the Rainbow) Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

On it's own End of the Rainbow is a shimmery teal. It leans closer to the green side than blue and with it's name makes me think of St. Patty's day. The polish itself is very sheer. Three coats were used for this manicure and the nail line was still visible. I also had a hard time wrapping it around the tips. The color itself is beautiful and I'm definitely planning on trying this over a teal cream to capture the color and shimmer while hiding the nail line. Also, layering Starry Sky over it (as above) helped hide the minor flaws...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Barielle Collection: main line Color Name/Number: End of the Rainbow, 5229 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I'd love to know what you think of this. What do you think of these polishes?
Are you as crazy about covering up the nail line as I am?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

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

Comparison: Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together vs. OPI Dutch'ya Just Love OPI?

A comment was made that the new Target exclusive Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together resembles an OPI purple shimmer named Dutch'ya Just Love OPI? from the Holland Collection. I must admit they do look very similar in the bottles so I was intrigued to try them side by side...

As you can see that while they do look very similar in the bottles they are different on the nail. Purple Yourself together is a lighter purple with a strong gold shimmer that does not hide. It also has a thinner formula which results in needing three coats to be fully opaque. Dutch'ya Just Love OPI? is a darker purple and has a more pigmented formula which required only two coats to be fully opaque. Possibly because it is so pigmented, the shimmer does not show up as much as in Purple Yourself Together.

Index and Ring fingers: OPI Duch'ya Just Love OPI?, 2 coats (no top coat)
Middle and Pinkie fingers: Nicole by OPI Purple Yourself Together, 3 coats (no top coat)

Another bottle shot to show how similar they look in the bottle...

Both polishes are gorgeous...

Hopefully this was a useful comparison! Let me know what you think of this :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Black and White Challenge Day 8 - Sponging

It is day eight of the Black and White Challenge which means a sponged manicure. I had in mind a marble or granite look, so I turned to the internet for inspiration, as I often do. Somehow it helps to have a picture to stare at as I work. While searching for black and white stone, I stumbled upon a photo of Emma Stone in a black and white dress that I just couldn't resist...

Emma Stone photo Source

I started out with Borghese Tempesta Black (swatches below) and then using a corner of a cosmetic wedge, I sponged on white acrylic paint. As I was working on the manicure I decided it probably would have matched the dress more if I had started out with a white base and sponged with black. This led me to wonder if a zebra is really white with black stripes or black with white stripes, but I digress. I will have to try a black over white version of this at some point...

Just as I was done editing all the photos, I remembered that I finally got my hands on a bottle of Essie Matte About you, so I added the matte topcoat at the last minute to match the satin look of the dress. I love how it turned out. I hope you don't mind if I matte everything from now on. :D

Here is the shiny, regular topcoat version. I though I would share these since I already had them done and ready to go. Plus, I do like the shiny version as well. Which do you prefer, matte or glossy? :)

Borghese Tempesta Black
A black base with a fine silver shimmer. Application was perfect, I love the wide brush. Two coats for full coverage. This is very similar to Essence I Love My Jeans that I used just a few days ago, except that the shimmer in Tempesta Black is a bit larger.

A close up to see the shimmer...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: Main Line Color Name/Number: Tempesta Black, B370 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Don't forget to check out all the other lovely ladies participating in the challenge...
Biba's beauty corner , Biberlee-Džumbus, Colores de Carol, Emerald sparkle, Hooked on polish, Lacquered Tips, Mateji ustvarjata, My Little Vanities, My Nail Grafiti, Nail crazy, Oje Gemisi Kalkiyor, Omgnoodles, Pink Polish Addict, Polish nail art, Purple Glitters, Taya, The Nail Buff, Welcome To Brianna's World!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)