Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Quite honestly I wasn't feeling very inspired by the supernatural for today's challenge. There are lots of ways this could have gone, but I was not in the mood for anything loud and crazy so I decided to keep it simple. Plus, I wanted something that I would be able to wear in public :). I chose to do another take on galaxy nails and throw in a few UFOs for the supernatural effect. Yes, those little silver blips at the top of the nails and one that landed on the tip of my index finger are supposed to be UFOs.

It may not be the best take on the challenge, but I do like the manicure and I hope you do to...

The polishes used for this manicure:
- Borghese - Mezzanotte Blue (base)
- LA Colors - No name metallic blue
- Rimmel - Violet Metal
- Essie - Braziliant
- Wet 'n Wild - Silvivor

I'd love to know what you think. Are you sick of galaxy nails yet or still loving them?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 28 - Inspired by a Flag

For the flag challenge I had to pay tribute to my birthplace of Belorussia which is a big part of my childhood memories. Even though I moved to the US as a kid and have now lived here twice as long as I ever lived there, it is still near and dear to my heart.

For the manicure I used two coats of Sinful Colors Sugar Sugar for the red (both the base and the stamping). The green is three coats of Wet 'n Wild SaGreena the Teenage Witch. The white is French White Creme also from Wet 'n Wild. Sadly the red seeped through the white and discolored it. I even tried covering it with white acrylic paint, but the red still seeped through. This happened before in my 4th of July manicure, but I completely forgot until seeing it turn pink right in front of my eyes again.

For the border pattern I used Bundle Monster plate BM-213 which I thought was an excellent match for the flag pattern. Slightly less detailed, but who am I to complain :)

Here is the flag of Belorussia that was my inspiration today...

Image from Flags.net

Let me know what you think! :D

Thanks for looking,
Anutka :)

Day 27 - Insipired by Artwork

This challenge was inspired by a piece of art work that I stumbled upon on another blog. I have never heard of the artist before, but there was something about the painting that caught my eye. It is from a California based Swalla Stuido. As far as I can tell, this painting, which is no longer for sale, is called "Hope & Dreams".

I went with slightly bluer tones for the background than the original painting (you can see the original at the end of this post). For my base, I used an unnamed Cosmetic Arts polish. I really dislike that it has no name, but the polish is gorgeous. I'll post swatch photos of it eventually. All the other colors are hand mixed acrylic paints. I have been having a lot of fun with acrylics lately. So here is my interpretation of "Hope & Dreams"...

Here is the original painting from Swalla Stuio. As you can see it has a lot more green than I chose to use.

What do you think? Did I do it justice? :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

I have wanted to try the plaid pattern on my nails for quite some time, but have been too intimidated by the fine lines. I knew I couldn't avoid it any longer when today's challenge finally rolled around. The fine detail in the pattern took me so long to paint that I gave up after these four nails and this sadly never made it to a full manicure. I do love how it turned out and hopefully after I get more practice drawing tiny lines, I can recreate this on a full manicure. The whole time I couldn't help but think that it looked as though I had a cozy flannel shirt on my nails :D

I started out with two coats of Wet 'n Wild Red Red. It is a bright, classic red with a touch of raspberry thrown in. I forgot to take swatch photos of it by itself. Must have been too excited to start. For the pattern I used black, white, and red acrylic paint. I mixed the three colors to create the two shades of gray for the wide stripes. Then I accented them with pure black, white and red stripes.

Here is the result...

I definitely need more practice with the lines and keeping a steady hand, but I think it is not bad overall.

I'd love to know what you think, so don't be shy :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. I decided I would take the time to list a few things that I'm thankful for. I'm only listing things that pertain to this blog because lets face it, you wouldn't want to read my whole sappy list :D

Here they are in no particular order...

• I'm thankful for... this blog itself because it gives me a great creative outlet for my artistic side. I'm always wanting to discover new things, try new techniques, improve my photo skills and share it all here on this little piece of the web. The blog also forces me to take better care of my nails for which I'm very thankful :)
• I'm thankful for... every comment from those who take the time to read my blog and let me know what you think about it. The comments truly keep me going especially on days when I want to just give up blogging or am feeling to lazy to photograph, edit, or write about the manicures. I saw a sidebar button on someone's blog that said "your comments feed by blog" and I have to say that is 100% true. I know not everyone who reads this or glances at it has time to comment and I completely understand since I often do that myself, but for those who take the time I'm extremely thankful!
• I'm thankful for... all the followers. I don't say this enough because I don't want to concentrate on just numbers. What I'm really thankful for is just the fact that there are those of you who take the time to follow and read my blog. I'm not too concerned if you choose to follow publicly, privately, via Google Reader, Facebook, or just bookmark the blog and stop by sometime... :)
• I'm thankful for... all the other wonderful blogs out there. It is through these blogs that I have discovered the true art of the manicure. I have learned how to file my nails, care for my cuticles and clean up after polishing. I have learned what B3F means and what the safe polishes are so that I'm more conscious of what I purchase and what I put on my nails. It is thanks to these ladies and their gorgeous manicures that I have been inspired to try stamping, sponging, water marbling, and so much more. There are still so many things that I want to try... I can't express my gratitude enough for all their knowledge and inspiration! Although it is also thanks to these ladies that I have discovered what a lemming is and that is something I would rather not know ;)
• I'm thankful for... the girl time that I have gotten to spend with my friends while playing with polishes. I hope there will be many more gatherings of this nature in our near future! :)
• I'm thankful for... those in my life who support this endeavor. One such supporter has always been and still is my boyfriend. He is always willing to comment on my manicures when I stick them in front of his face, whether it is with a shrug, a "cool", a "meh", or some other brief statement of acknowledgment. There have been plenty of times when I'm so wrapped up in working on the manicure, the photos, or the blog post that I have ignored him completely and he still somehow manages to be patient with me. So I'm extremely thankful for that!
• I'm thankful for... the 31 day challenge. I look back on where I started and see a huge difference in my manicures, my photos and my skills. Even though this challenge is taking me soooo much longer to complete than it really should, I'm glad I did it. I'm also thankful that I'm almost done with it and will soon be able to move on to new things :D

Yikes, I can't believe I had that much to be thankful for in this little blog. I'm sure I could think of more things, but I think I'll stop here. If any of you read even a small part of this you deserve a gold star! :)

I tag all the other blogger reading this post to think about or write about what you are thankful for in your blog!

Thanks for reading!
Anutka :)

Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

Fashion is not and never was something that I chase, obsess over or even follow much, but I think hearing about the Missoni collection for Target was something that even I couldn't avoid. This by no means implies that I made any attempts to purchase things from that collection. Honestly, the thought never even crossed my mind. I did however admire a few of the pieces online, particularly their color combinations and patterns.

In the end, it was a photo of luggage that inspired my manicure for today's challenge. I started out with two coats of Color Club Nomadic in Nude as my base. Then, using Bundle Monster plate BM-201, I stamped the zigzag pattern, which in my opinion is a great match for the Missoni pattern. The colors used include Color Club Chelsea Girl (blue), Color Club Wham! Pow! (orange) and Barielle Tight Knit (brown)...

Below is a photo of the luggage that inspired me. As you can see, I wasn't able to get all of the colors from the inspiration piece into my manicure. A little dash of black would have been nice to really make it pop, but the stamp method does not allow for such precision (or maybe I'm just not good enough?). I still love how it turned out and no one said it had to be an exact copy... :D

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

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

Whoever said "don't judge a book by it's cover" certainly didn't have this challenge in mind. I chose to head straight for my bookshelf and see if any cover would stand out to me. As soon as I saw this aromatherapy book with a sweet peach speckled cover, I knew I had to try it.

I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Sweet Pea, which is the closest color that I have to match the cover. A pretty peach with a very subtle pink shimmer. You can see swatches of it in the sun here (taken back in May when there was actually sun around here). Then, using Zoya Kelly I added some very, very light sponging followed by stamping. For the stamping I chose random floral patterns from the plates M88, M72, M75 and M69 that I ordered on Ebay. Topped the whole thing of with a topcoat and voila...

And just in case you are curious, the book is called Aromatherapy, written by Anna Selby. You can see parts of the cover in my photos, but I was too lazy to photograph the whole thing since I knew I could find an image online... so below is an image of the cover taken from Amazon.com. It is not as pink in real life as it is in this picture. The colors in my photos are truer to life.

So so what do you think of the manicure? Is it OK to use the cover for inspiration or did I cheat ;)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Guest Post on Red Hair and Black Nail Polish...

Head on over to Red Hair and Black Nail Polish to see my very first guest post!

Thanks so much Teodora for letting me have fun with this one! :)

Anutka :)

Nail Prisms

I wanted to show you some beautiful new polishes that have made their way into my life. I won them in a contest/giveaway held by nailXchange. What made this giveaway a challenge was having to guess the names of the polishes to enter the contest. The bottles were obscured so that you couldn't see the color and had to look throughout the blog to find the answers. It was quite a fun and a great chance to see all the other amazing manicures on the blog. If you have not seen this blog before, do check it out for amazing swatches, colors, and stamping!

Can't wait to play with these! Thanks so much :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie

The movie I chose for the challenge inspiration is the cute animated film called Nemo. I'm sure most people have at least heard of it, if not seen it. It is about the adventure of a fish named Nemo as he tries to find his way home. I thought the colorful characters would make for a great manicure.

Index finger is a fish named Dory, followed by the most adorable baby turtle ever named Squirt on the ring finger, Nemo himself on the ring finger, and a little starfish named Peach on the pinkie... Overall I'm happy with how this turned out, although the base color for the middle finger is much darker than I had intended. It looked more fitting in the bottle :(

Here are the characters that inspired this mani if you have not seen them before... Nemo and Dory in the top row, Squirt and Peach in the bottom row.

Polishes used for this manicure:
- Index: Color Club Chelsea Girl and Almost Famous + black acrylic paint
- Middle: Picture Polish Camo, Barielle Tight Knit and Cashmere or Loose Me
- Ring: Color Club Wham! Pow! + black and white acrylic paint
- Pinkie: NYC Lincoln Square Lavender, Essence Enchanted Fairy and Everybody's Talking About

What do you think about this mani? Do you wear manis with each nail done differently?

Personally I think it would be fun to recreate each of these as a full mani... would you like to see any of them as a full manicure?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Color Club Repackaged...

Do you recall all the Cosmetic Arts polishes I showed in my 2 month haul post? One of the polishes I got was this beautiful flakie which I have also seen on a few other blogs identified as Color Club's Covered in Diamonds from the Untamed Luxury Fall 2010 collection.  Cosmetic Arts is owned by the same parent company as Color Club so it is most likely the same polish just in a different bottle. I don't own the glitter half of that collection so I was excited to get my hands on this, but it made me wonder if any of the other Cosmetic Arts were just repackaged Color Club polishes...

Then I noticed that they most certainly are...

Here are some of the "dupes" that I got...

From the Foiled collection (left to right): Cold Metal, Lumin-icecent, Hot Like Lava, Foil Me Once

Back to Boho (l-r): Nomadic in Nude, New Bohemian, Shabby Drab, Red-Ical Gypsy

Back to Boho (l-r): Artsy Crafty, Blue-Topia, Rebel Spirit

Alter Ego (l-r): Get a Clue, Give Me a Hint, Secret Rendezvous

Untamed Luxury (l-r): Pretty in Platinum, Positively Posh, Soft as Cashmere

I'm certain that some of the other colors I got are also dupes, but I don't have their Color Club counterparts to be 100% sure. I will however be heading back to the store to return these Cosmetic Arts without even opening them. Once I return them, does that mean I can buy more nail polish? :D

I'm really curious to know what colors are actually Cosmetic Arts originals... it is really hard to tell from their promo photos... anyone have a clue?

Thanks for Looking!
Anutka

I'm in awe...

I couldn't wait to show you these stunning works of art from Laurel Roth. I fell in love the moment I saw them on Elle-Hime's blog post...

They are made up of nail polish, fake nails, barrettes, jewelry, swarowski crystal and a few other things. The result is just beyond words! Take a look for yourself on Laurel Roth's website. What I would like to know is what that shade of blue 5th row down, 7 nails from the right is... just kidding :D

Birds of Paradise (2009) stands 50" tall and 50" in diameter...

Plumage (2010) is 61" tall and 37" wide...

Regalia (2011) stand 63" tall and 40" wide...

Make sure you visit Laurel Roth's website to see the rest of the amazing birds!

What do you think? I would love the see these in person... I think they would look perfect in my imaginary mansion :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Dr.'s Remedy - Jolly & Joy Collection - Part 2

The glitters make up the second half of Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy collection this holiday. Both of the polishes are full coverage glitters with a foil feel to them. They dry a bit rough and need a nice layer of a thick topcoat (or possibly two with a thinner topcoat). Both are gorgeous and right on trend with all the other foils and glitters this season. Just right to bring a little sparkle to the holidays.

Serene Silver Glitter - This is a complicated mostly silver glitter with some red, pink, and baby blue thrown into the mix. Application was great and I got full coverage in two coats. In my opinion this is the star of the whole Jolly & Joy collection. It was the first one I pulled out of the package and fell for it instantly. Make sure you click on the images to zoom-in for the details...

This is two coats with a topcoat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dr.'s Remedy Collection: Jolly & Joy Color Name/Number: Serene Silver Glitter Number of coats: 2 Top Coat:Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Enriched with: Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins C and E, Wheat Protein

Resolution Red Glitter - This is a mix of pink and silver glitter creating a beautiful soft pink. Application was flawless with full coverage after just two coats. The polish itself is very shiny, but as with most glitters I had a very difficult time capturing the shine on camera for both of them. Not sure if it is me (most likely) or the camera at fault.

This is two coats with a top coat... again, you can click on the images for a larger view of the details...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dr.'s Remedy Collection: Jolly & Joy Color Name/Number: Resolution Red Glitter Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Enriched with: Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins C and E, Wheat Protein

As you can see, the glitters still look a bit rough even after a thick topcoat. They are not nearly as rough to the touch as they look, but probably could have benefited from a second layer of top coat. I also recently saw this post from the girl over at I Drink Nail Polish suggesting to use a base coat on top of the glitter first and then apply the topcoat. The base coat is supposed to do a better job at filling in all the gaps and ridges than a topcoat. I have not tried this myself yet, but next time for sure... have any of you tried this technique? Are you a glitter fan? If so, how do you tame your glitter manis?

Also, I should mention that the removal process for these two was much easier than other glitters I have tried. This is a huge plus for me since I usually shy away from glitters due to the pending removal process. I was pleasantly surprised with these polishes, making them very wearable for me.

** These polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Dr.'s Remedy polishes are available at www.remedynails.com. You can also like them on facebook or follow them on twitter for more information.

Free shipping and price special on Essential Emerald, and both of the glitters until 11/18/11.

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Dr.'s Remedy - Jolly & Joy Collection - Part 1

Today I have for you the three shimmers from Dr.'s Remedy Jolly & Joy collection. I'm really loving this brand so far. Not only are the colors gorgeous, but they are also good for the nails. They are all B3F and enriched with good stuff such as Tea Tree Oil and garlic bulb extract which have anti-fungal properties. Perfect for pedicures? They also contain vitamins C and E along with wheat protein for healthier nails.

Revive Ruby Red - A darkened red with a beautiful golden copper shimmer. It has a very classy holiday look to it. Not a unique color in my collection, but one of my favorites. In the bottle it looks a lot like Zoya's Isla with a dash of coppery shimmer. It applied well despite the brush being a dud. My sad little brush is about 1/4 of the size of the rest of Dr.'s Remedy brushes so I'm pretty sure it was just my luck :)

Two coats with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dr.'s Remedy Collection: Jolly & Joy Color Name/Number: Revive Ruby Red Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Enriched with: Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins, Wheat Protein

Passion Purple - A plum shimmer that applied beautifully in two easy coats. Just like the rest of the shimmers in this collection, it is shiny enough that I chose to skip the topcoat all together. This is probably my favorite from the shimmer half of the collection.

This is two coats with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dr.'s Remedy Collection: Jolly & Joy Color Name/Number: Passion Purple Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Enriched with: Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins, Wheat Protein

Essential Emerald - This is unique in my collection since I don't have too many greens. A lovely emerald with a silver shimmer throughout. Applied well with full coverage in two coats. Making me start think of all the evergreens and holiday trees which will be appearing before we know it.

This is two coats with no top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Dr.'s Remedy Collection: Jolly & Joy Color Name/Number: Essential Emerald Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Enriched with: Tea Tree Oil, Vitamins, Wheat Protein

Since the collection is called Jolly & Joy, do you think the shimmers are the Jolly or the Joy part of the name? :)

Stay tuned for swatches of the glitter half of the collection tomorrow...

** These polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Dr.'s Remedy polishes are available at www.remedynails.com. You can also like them on facebook or follow them on twitter for more information.

Free shipping and price special on Essential Emerald, and both of the glitters until 11/18/11.

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)