Day 4 - Green - Maybelline La La Lime

See how fast my nails grow? It is like magic... ok, so maybe more like slightly cheating because this is a manicure I wore a few weekends ago (pre nail break). When my bf and I went out of town for his birthday I asked him if he had any color requests and much to my surprise it was "lime"... I was happy to oblige, it was his birthday after all, but have not gotten a chance to post about it since we came back. I figured it would be perfect for the 4th day of the challenge which is green.

The color is La La Lime from Maybelline. The formula is nice although needs a pretty quick hand as it starts to dry and get stringy. I applied three coats + a topcoat for full even coverage. It has a gorgeous micro-shimmer when the sunshine hits it...

In the shade...

Brand: Maybelline Collection: Express Finish Color Name/Number: La La Lime, 634

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 3 - Yellow - Color Club Get Your Lem-On

I'm glad that the 3rd day of the challenge fell on a weekend because there is just no way, I would wear this manicure to work. For the yellow, I chose Get Your Lem-On from the Color Club Wicked Sweet collection. It is scented to have an artificial lemon-y smell once dry. I actually didn't mind the scent as much as I thought I would. The color itself is a very bright almost highlighter yellow with a green shimmer. It is fairly sheer, but applied well in three coats with a slightly visible nail line.

I decided that it was such a toxic yellow that I could not resist adding the toxic and bio-hazard symbols to the manicure...

The color by itself in the sunshine...

In the shade...

Brand: Color Club Collection: Wicked Sweet Color Name/Number: Get Your Lem-On Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) free

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

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Blog Awards...

I was recently tagged with four blog awards! I am so honored that these two ladies deemed me award worthy. Thank you so much!! :D

From Ruxi at Une Ruxi a Paris, I got the Best Blog, Blogger Luxury and Inspiration Award
From Minnie at Mini Nail Blog, I got the One Lovey Blog Award

The rules are different for all the awards, so I'm going to condense them and do what they all have in common...

The Rules:

- Link back to the person who awarded this award to you

- Share random things about yourself

- Pass the award on to other blogs

Award goes to...

I'm passing this award on to 10 blogs... 

please forgive me if you have gotten this before :D

Notes on Nails

Das Experiment

Love. Varnish, chocolate and more...

Nails + Whatnot

Nails by Desire

Happy Nails

hartNAT

SakuraBlossom

The Posh Polish

Whale's Nails

Facts about me...

I'm actually re-posting 10 facts about me from when I got the Kreativ Blogger Award because I'm just that lazy this morning... sorry to those that have seen this before :D

1. I was born in Belorussia, hence the name of my blog... Laki means polish in Russian
2. I am a reformed nail bitter. When I was about 12 years old, I made a bet with a couple of good friends to see who could hold off biting their nails the longest. That summer we all quit biting them :D
3. I have the first bottle of polish that started my addiction (about 25 years old and direct from Belorussia). There is not enough in the bottle to even swatch, but I just can't let it go...
4. I love getting a good deal on things (as witnessed by my excitement over my first Ulta trip...).
5. I love country music for which I get teased by my non-country music loving friends.
6. At one point I wanted to have my own business carving candles and even took a class to learn how. My mom talked me out of it (thanks Mommy!!!) and I became a pharmacist instead. Now I just carve for fun :)

7. Other hobbies include making jewelry (you can see a few at the bottom of this post) and decorating cakes

8. I suck at painting other peoples nails. As much as I love to paint my own, when I try with someone else, it always comes out sloppy. I don't have good coordination polishing toward me...
9. I really dislike when other people do my nails, which I why I very seldom get a professional manicure. They just never come out the right size or shape. I'm also very particular that they all have to match... and that never happens when someone else does it, so it is easier to just do it myself.
10. I don't like feet/toes. I can tolerate my own and even give them pedicures, but other people... just please keep your toes away from me and we will remain friends. This is another constant source of amusement for some friends... :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Tutorial: Tiger Print and Paws...

Today I have a fun tutorial for the tiger manicure from yesterday. There are two options for this, depending where you stop in the tutorial. Also, feel free to click on any of the photos to enlarge.

	Supplies For this you will need: - A base color (I used Sweet Clementine from Maybelline) - Paw print/stripes color (I used Wet n Wild Black Cream for the paws and black acrylic paint for the stripes) - Dotting tool - Small striping brush Note: You can use either nail polish or acrylic paint for the paws and the stripes. I used polish for the paws and paint for the stripes to show that in the end you can't tell them apart. For me paint is easier to work with.
	Step 1 - Apply desired number of coats of your base color and allow to completely dry Note: You can apply a fast drying top coat to speed up the drying process
	Step 2 - With the black polish or paint using a dotting tool draw a small C shape to resemble a kidney bean - If worried about doing this in one stroke then place two adjacent dots and connect them with a curve
	Step 3 - Add 4 dots around the outer curve of the C
	Step 4 - Repeat step 2 for the second paw drawing a C shape
	Step 5 - Add the dots around the outer part of the C as for the first paw (Step 3) Note: You can add a top coat and be done if you want just the paw print manicure, otherwise go on to Step 6
	Step 6 - with a small striping brush using either the polish or paint add random tiger print lines around the paws Note: I prefer to use acrylic paint for this because you can wipe it off while it is still wet to adjust...
	All Done! - Add a top coat and you are done!

I would love to know what you think about this or if you try it!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 2 - Orange - Maybelline Sweet Clementine

I'm back to shorty short nails for the 2nd day of the challenge. This time it was not at all intentional as I discovered that shopping can be dangerous to the nails (although fun!). I broke three of them in one day :(. One in actually twice, so they had to go...

For the orange I chose Maybelline Sweet Clementine. It took two coats to be opaque, but I applied three to even it out. Also, when applying the formula kept getting a bit stringy, similar to the way fast drying topcoats get stringy.

Just for fun I thought the orange needed little dizzy tiger foot prints which I really like :)

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here!

Then I added some tiger stripes to finish it off. I really can't decide if I like it better with or without the stripes. What do you think?

This is in full sunshine...

In the shade...

Brand: Maybelline Collection: Express Finish Color Name/Number: Sweet Clementine, 620

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 1 - Red - Zoya Isla

Picking out the perfect red to start off the challenge was easy. I have been meaning to find an excuse to wear Zoya Isla. It is a gorgeous deep metallic red that has been in my untried pile for way too long. I had ideas for accenting it with nail art, but it begged to be left alone so I did. Formula on this one was great. I applied two coats plus a top coat for my manicure...

Try as I might, I could not get accurate color photos in the light box so I will just leave you with these two sunshine photos which are the true color (at least on my computer)...

Are there any colors you save for special occasions?

Brand: Zoya Collection: Truth Color Name/Number: Isla, ZP495 Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor free Vegan friendly

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

31 Day Challenge

I spent the weekend away with my boyfriend celebrating his birthday and came home to a wonderful surprise... 250 followers! Thank you so much everyone! I hope you all enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy working on it :)

Here is my plan for the next few months... I first found out about this 31 day challenge on a recent post from Here Comes the Sun. For some reason it struck me as something that I want to try, so I will give it a shot.

The rules are simple enough, but I plan on going at my own pace and not trying to force myself to follow this every day just for the sake of keeping up with the challenge. I want this to be something fun and something that will encourage my skills to improve rather than be a source of frustration, so don't be surprised to see a random mani in between challenges. Especially since I can't wear some of the crazy colors to work :)

Here is the challenge:

RULES:

• Reblog this post if you’re gonna accept this challenge
• One post per day
• If you miss one, pick it up the next day
• Post a picture of each mani
• It would be nice if you listed/linked to what polishes you used
• For the inspiration prompts, SHOW US YOUR INSPIRATION/SHARE LINKS
• BE CREATIVE
• TRY NEW THINGS
• HAVE FUN!!!

NOTE: don’t want a new look every day? Go at your own pace! The big goal is to get through all 31 manicures… and notice how your skills grow!

Wish me luck! :D

P.S. Let me know if you will also be doing this challenge :)

Anutka :)

Tutorial: Dotted French

Today I have another tutorial for you. Please let me know what you think so that I can improve for future tutorials since I'm really having fun making these :)

This one is a tutorial for the Dotted French I wore last week. Hope you enjoy :)

	Supplies For this manicure I used: - 4 Polishes: Zoya Grace for the base, Wet n Wild Frech White Cream for the tip, Wet n Wild Black Cream for the flowers, and Sally Hansen Celeb City for the flower centers - Transparent Scotch tape - dotting tool
	Step 1 - Paint your nail using 1-2 coats of base color - Allow to dry completely so that you can apply and remove tape without ruining the manicure
	Step 2 - Apply Scotch tape, leaving the free nail edge uncovered
	Step 3 - Paint the tip of the nail using white
	Step 4 - Quickly remove the tape Note: When doing a full manicure, repeat steps 3 and 4 on each finger individually. Do not wait until all tips are painted before removing the tape or you will not get a clean edge.
	Step 5 - With a dotting tool, create 5 dots in a circle to form the flower
	Step 6 - Repeat step 5 to make as many (or as few) flowers as you would like
	Step 7 - With the silver color place a center dot in each flower
	Done! - Apply a top coat and enjoy! :)

I'd love to hear your comments!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

China Glaze Cracked Concrete over Rimmel Posh Pink...

This color has been on my pedicure for the past week and now my nails actually match! Don't panic, there will be no toes shown here :)

Rimmel Posh Pink from the Lasting Finish Pro collection is a bright pink. It borders on the line of neon, but is not quite there. The formula with this one was great, application very smooth. This is two coats plus a top coat...

I wanted something to break up the pink, but didn't have much time to do stamping or other nail art, so out came the crackles... In particular out came the gray China Glaze Cracked Concrete crackle. I love the pink/gray color combo, although my boyfriend still insists I should have used a black crackle...

Most of them cracked fairly even, except for the middle finger which refused to crack on one side...

What do you think of this color combo?

	Brand: Rimmel London Collection: Lasting Finish Pro Color Name/Number: 330 Posh Pink
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Crackle Glaze Color Name/Number: 979 Cracked Concrete

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)