piCture pOlish Swatches...

For the sake of not overloading the Blog Fest post on Monday, I would like to show you my swatches of the piCture pOlish shades that I used for the manicure (and one more for the heck of it), today. I was going to show them to you yesterday, but I somehow got pulled into watching Ukraine Got Talent on YouTube all night instead of writing the post. I admit it, it's my guilty pleasure. Half the time they speak in Russian and I can understand it and the other half they speak Ukrainian and I'm looking at my bf for translation. His translation is always along the lines of "they didn't say anything interesting" so I gave up, but the acts on there are still pretty amazing to watch. Well that was pretty random, so let's get back to the swatches...

Citrus - "looks as good as it tastes!"
A bright orange cream that lives up to it's citrus name. I'm a bit confused by the tag line though since I would think it looks better than it tastes although honestly I have not tested that theory. The formula on this one is nice and smooth. It took just two coats to reach full opacity. No problems with application. These swatches are with no top coat...

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

Flirt - "WARNING get loads of attention..."
A bright fuchsia pink cream. I can't say I'm pleased with these swatches. The color is a lot more vibrant and a bit more fuchsia in real life than it appears in these photos. I'm not sure why my camera was determined to dull the color so much. It really will get you loads of attention. The formula again is very nice and smooth. Two coats for full coverage and the swatches are with no top coat...

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

A peek at the gradient that was the base of my sunset manicure for Blog Fest on Monday. I started out with Citrus as the base and then sponged the two colors on top using a cosmetic wedge to achieve the gradient. See the previous post for a tutorial...

Tiffany - "diamonds with breakfast"
A cool minty blue cream that I think as the name suggests would best be described as Tiffany blue. This was not one of my Blog Fest colors and I've already shown it before, but I wanted to use it as a base for my Splash swatch later on, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to re-swatch it as well. The formula on this one is nice although it needed three coats to reach full opacity. No top coat was used for these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: piCture pOlish Collection: core Color Name/Number: Tiffany Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Splash - "if Daryl can you can too!"
A clear base with a mix of small and large blue hex glitter. I'm a bit lost on the tagline reference, but the glitter needs no explanation for me. It can be easily layered over many different colors for a touch of sparkle. I thought it looked great over black in the sunset mani, but I'm equally loving it over this blue. I used one coat of Splash over Tiffany. It applied very easily with great glitter distribution. Swatches are with a top coat...

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

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 **

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013

I'm so honored to once again get the opportunity to participate in the annual piCture pOlish Blog Fest. This year, piCture pOlish is celebrating the Year of the Blogger by challenging the participants to create our ‘most amazing nail art manicure ever’ using 3 piCture pOlish which were sent to us. In addition we were asked to create a step by step tutorial for the look. No pressure, right?

Actually, if that wasn't pressure enough, there is the promise of an amazing Blog Fest Award. Three lucky bloggers who are participating in this year's Blog Fest will get the chance to collaborate with the gals at piCture pOlish and create their own shade. One winner will be chosen by all the lovely fans, one by the participating bloggers and one by the piCture pOlish gals themselves. Since I have already had the privilege of creating Sea Jewel, I'm not eligible for the Award, but I'm so excited to see all the manicures and vote for my favorite. I hope you'll be doing the same.

With the Award off the table for me, the pressure was lessened and I got to dreaming up my manicure using the 3 shades sent to me... Citrus, Flirt and Splash...

For this manicure, I used black acrylic paint and the 3 piCture pOlish shades:
Flirt, a bright fuchsia pink with the tagline of 'WARNING get loads of attention!'
Citrus, a bright orange cream with the tagline 'looks as good as it tastes!'
Splash, a clear base packed with blue glitter. The tag line on this one says, 'if Daryl can you can too!'

My boyfriend nicknamed the dolphins Michael Jordan because he said I made them jump unrealistically high. I was just excited he recognized them as dolphins... ;)

And now for the really fun part, the tutorial...

Supplies:

• 3 piCture pOlish shades, Flirt, Citrus, Splash...
• Black acrylic paint or nail polish
• Makeup wedge or sponge for gradient
• Small detail paint brush

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Start out by painting your nails with an orange base
2. Create a gradient by applying the fuchsia and orange polishes directly to the makeup wedge as shown in step 2a. Tap the sponge on the nail and gently move back and forth to blend the colors as shown in step 2b. Reload the sponge with polish and repeat as necessary until you get the desired effect.
   Tip: it is better to do multiple coats to build opacity than overload with polish from the beginning. Lighter coats also helps avoid the polish getting too sticky and ripping pieces of the sponge and creating a mess...
3. Draw black wavy tips along each nail using black acrylic paint (or nail polish)
4. Go over the black tips with the blue glitter
5. Draw palm trees using black acrylic paint as desired
6. Add birds and dolphins or other details using the black paint
7. Finish the manicure with a top coat and enjoy!

You can purchase piCture pOlish directly from the pOlish On-line Store or any of the Network sellers...

Plus, there are lots of ways to connect with piCture pOlish. Find them on...
* Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Instagram * YouTube * Google+ *

You can see all the Blog Fest manis on Pinterest and make sure to vote for your favorites!


What do you think, did I meet the challenge of creating my ‘most amazing nail art manicure ever’? :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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Be sure to check out all the other beautiful Blog Fest 2013 manis...

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

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

Rays Through the Haze...

I'm back from a fun birthday getaway and want to thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes that you sent my way! Thank you! Thank you! I was without internet access on my trip (since I choose to live in the stone age with no smart phone) and I was so excited to read all your comments when I got back home. They mean so much to me!

I'm also thrilled to see that you like Sea Jewel. I wore it for my entire trip and spent my free time dreaming of what fun nail art I could create with it. I would like to show you today the one look that I had to try out first...

This look is pretty simple to achieve with striping tape and some patience. I started out with a base of Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. After the base was completely dry, I applied the striping tape and two coats of Sea Jewel, working one nail at a time. For a fun accent, I added Swarovski Crystal rhinestones at the base of each nail...

The top coat I used decided to be stubborn and bubble along the silver tracks, but they are hardly noticeable in real life...

Thank you again for all your wonderful birthday wishes and comments on Sea Jewel! <3

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 **

Presenting piCture pOlish Sea Jewel by Wacky Laki!

I have written over six hundred posts for this blog, but I have never been nearly as excited about any of them as I am for this one. That is because today, I finally get to unveil and show you Sea Jewel, my collaboration shade with piCture pOlish. This shade has been nearly a year in the making and I have been sworn to secrecy and anxious to tell you about it since day one.

When I was first asked if I would be interested in this project (as if there is any possible answer other than a resounding YES!), I read and reread the email and then replied asking if they had made a mistake and actually intended it for someone else. Upon being reassured that it was not a mistake, I sent the girls at piCture pOlish a few images for inspiration. One of the images was of sea glass and the other of my favorite pair of earring that I made a few years ago...

As the girls at piCture pOlish and their team worked on perfecting the color to match my inspiration, I waited every so patiently to see the result. In the process, the launch date of Sea Jewel has been moved a number of times, slowly inching it's way toward summer and finally settling on a very special day for the launch, June 18th! What's so special about June 18th you might ask? Well, it just so happens that June 18th is my birthday and I am thrilled to be celebrating it with a Sea Jewel by Wacky Laki manicure. If you could only see the dorky grin of excitement on my face right now...

Sea Jewel is a mesh shade, small silver glitter in a green teal jelly base. It is all bling, all the time! Photos can't quite capture the amount of sparkle that is in this. It provides good coverage in two coats although I did use three coats in these swatches since the lights of Hollywood (otherwise know in my house as the light box) can be harsh. The formula and application are good. As I'm just every so slightly biased, I will spare you reading me going on and on about it. These swatches are with a top coat...

In my excitement to show you this shade, I took over 250 photos and then had the daunting task of narrowing down the ones to show you. I hope you like these swatches, but if you feel that you need to see more, you know where to find me...

Swatch Details
	Brand: piCture pOlish Collection: Collaboration Shades, Limited Edition Color Name/Number: Sea Jewel Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Sea Jewel is a Limited Edition lacquer and is now available for purchase directly from piCture pOlish. You can also take a look at their International Network page for a list of online sellers in your country.

You can find piCture pOlish on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest...

Please let me know what you think of this lacquer! I would really love to know :)

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 **

Raining Hearts - Valentine's Day Nail Art Contest Entry

There was something intriguing about the Harlow & Co Valentine's Nail Art Contest, so I decided to join. The challenge was to create a manicure using at least one polish sold by Harlow & Co. I only have a few shades that they sell, which is what made this a fun challenge for me. I ended up using three shades, all of which are available in their catalog...

I started out with a base of piCture pOlish Aphrodisiac. The name alone seemed really appropriate for Valentine's Day, but it also happens to be one of my favorite vampy plum shades which I have used a number of times before (such as here and here). Using Bundle Monster plate BM-319, I stamped with Color Club Harp On It from the Halo Hues collection. It is a gorgeous silver holographic...

I then added small hearts using a detail brush and Color Club Halo-Graphic, a pink holographic shade from the Halo Hues collection...

A bit of blurriness really shows off the rainbow of colors in Harp On It...

It is not the usual fluffy pink Valentine's Day manicure (although I've done that too), but I really like it and I hope you do as well!

Please take a moment to check out the Harlow & Co Valentine's Day Contest page and vote! If you choose to vote for me, I would be ever so grateful, but don't feel obligated. Just vote for your favorite :)

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

Nail-aween Challenge Day 9: Pumpkins

It is hard to believe that the Nail-aween challenge is almost over, leaving just one more manicure to complete in time for Halloween. The theme for today's challenge is none other than pumpkins. Since I already did a stamped Jack-o-Lantern manicure, I wanted to try something with freehand art. I'm really excited about how it turned out and I hope you like it too...

The base of this manicure is the very dark and vampy piCture pOlish Aphrodisiac with the perfect tagline of "this potion leaves you with a magic touch!" For the pumpkins I used a variety of acrylic paints and attempted a one stroke technique. Turns out I need better brushes for the technique, but I think the pumpkins turned out cute anyway. I'm ready for the fall harvest...

I'm pretty sure a few fresh swatches of piCuture pOlish Aphrodisiac were in order. This is another one of my favorite fall vampy shades. A dark plum purple shimmer with a wonderful creamy formula. It is pigmented enough that one careful coat can be enough, but I used two to even everything out for the swatches. No 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'd love to know what you think of this!

P.S. Don't forget to take a look at all the other lovelies participating in the challenge...
datyorkLOVES, Erica's Nails and More, DreamyMM Nails & Make Up, Tes Did It Nails, Sassy Paints, Nicole gets Nailed , glitznglammer, Finger Food, Wicked Tips, Fancy Schmancy Nails, Delight In Nails, Polish Groupie, My Nail Journey, Get Polished Up!, Just A Girl and Her Polish, Spellbound Nails, Le nail's corner d'Alex, Hello.Lacquer, Countess Nails , Color the world with polish, Nail Crime Nail Art, Coat of Mani Colors, Cutie Cuticles, Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge, GLAMOROUS NAILS, Over The Topcoat, Polish Gone Crazy, tragedystipsandtreats

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)