Congratulations to the Giveaway Winners!

It is time to announce the winners of the Scavenger Hunt Giveaway and the InDecisive Harvest Giveaway!

Limited Edition Holiday Trio by Lacquer Lust, Polished by KPT and Serum No. 5

Thanksgiving is over and that means it is finally time for holiday and winter themed manicures. What better way to start than with a limited edition Holiday Trio of indie polishes. This trio is a collaboration between three wonderful indie polish makers, Lacquer Lust, Polished by KPT and Serum No. 5. Between the three of them, this set has it all... holo, thermal, glitter and glow in the dark. What more could you ask for?...

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgivukkah (Thanksgiving + Hanukkah). Did you know such a term exists? I didn't, but I like it. Another one to add to my vocabulary for today is menurkey (menorah that looks like a turkey). I'm looking forward to a relaxing day off and a yummy dinner with my family. Hopefully you are having a wonderful day too!

My manicure today was inspired by this very image that I found online. I had been trying to decide how to combine the two holidays in one manicure and thought it would be fun to either paint a menurkey or a turkey lighting a menorah. Once I saw this image, I knew it had to be the later...

Giveaway Reminder!

Hi Everyone! This is my quick public service announcement! In case you missed it, there are two giveaways going on right now and they will both end at midnight on Nov 28th! Don't miss your chance to enter!

• Enter the Scavenger Hunt Giveaway for your chance to win one of two Bundle Monster Create Your Own stamping plate sets.

• Enter the InDecisive Harvest Giveaway to for a chance to win a bottle of my collaboration shade!

Thanks for looking and good luck!
Anutka :)

PolisHaus Spectrum Snowflakes...

Hi! Today I would like to show you some quick nail art that I created while swatching the PolisHaus lacquers last night. I really couldn't resist adding snowflakes over this periwinkle blue beauty. The combination of the two really put me into the winter mood. Might as well get into the mood since it has been really cold lately and the weatherman is threatening snow next week...

PolisHaus Swatches and Review

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you a new to me indie brand, PolisHaus. I must confess that I may have squealed a little as I unwrapped each one. They are so beautiful and sparkly it was hard to contain the excitement. In addition to being gorgeous in the light, three of these lovelies also glow in the dark!

These four beauties will be released tomorrow (Nov 26th) at 5pm PST.

Sunday Stamping: The Great Thanksgiving Heist...

Is seems like ages since the last time I participated in a Sunday Stamping challenge for the group Adventures in Stamping. With the holidays quickly approaching, this week's theme is Thanksgiving or Winter nails. I chose to go with the Thanksgiving theme and I'm happy to present my manicure to you. I have affectionately been referring to it as "The Great Thanksgiving Heist"...

Nicole by OPI Modern Family Winter 2013

Hi there! Today I would like to show you the five new Nicole by OPI Modern Family shades added to the collection this holiday season. You can see swatches of the full collection, which was released in the beginning of this year, here and here. The holiday release features three metallic shimmer shades and two glitter toppers to get you into the holiday spirit...

I'll Be Counting Sheep...

After wearing Zoya Dream for a few days, I wanted to add a bit of nail art to it. As it often happens, I let the polish name inspire my nail art. I thought dreams and counting sheep went well together so one thing led to another and here we are...

Welcoming My Baby Nephew...

Yesterday evening my brother and his wife welcomed into this world a little baby boy. I am beyond excited to go meet him today so I can cover him in hugs and kisses. Of course I had to have a manicure for the occasion (even though in hindsight it probably would have been wiser not to be doing this at 3am). I would have preferred to create something a bit more colorful, but I opted to go with a subtle manicure since I'll be going to work later in the afternoon....

Zoya Zenith Winter/Holiday 2013 Collection

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you the lovely Zoya Zenith collection for this Holiday. The collection is comprised of cool shades and really puts me in a Winter holiday mood. It features everything from metallics to glitter to scattered holographic flecks...

InDecisive Nail Lacquer Harvest! (plus a Giveaway)

I have a really special polish to show you today. It is a custom lacquer created for me by Aleksandra of InDecisive Nail Lacquer. I had mentioned to her my recent fascination with small circle glitter and she responded with a most generous offer to create a shade for me. I truly don't know what I did to deserve her kindness and I'm so honored to present to you InDecisive Nail Lacquer Harvest...

Tutorial: Chevron Skittles

I got a few requests to do a tutorial for my Chevron Skittles manicure from last month. Dutifully I added it to my 'to do' list, which is about a mile long these days. Then I got to thinking that I might be able to show you how I created this manicure using the photos that I already have if you are willing to use your imagination. This really isn't my proudest moment and I still hope create a proper tutorial one day, but to avoid further delay I hope this will help those who wanted to recreate this look...

Supplies:

• 3 polishes of your choice (OPI Miss Universe lacquers used here)
• Striping tape
• Small brush (optional, but helpful)

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Start out by painting the nails using one of the polishes. OPI I'm Feeling Sashy used here.
   - When the polish is dry, place striping tape in a desired pattern (placement of striping tape illustrated here with gray lines). 
2. Using either the polish brush or a different small brush, apply your second color in sections between the striping tape. Shown here using the silver OPI This Gown Needs a Crown.
3. Repeat step #2 using the third color to fill in other sections between striping tape. Shown here using OPI Miss You-niverse.
   - Note: I did remove two pieces of striping tape on the index finger before adding the dark purple at the tip.
4. Remove striping tape right away, while polish is still wet.
5. Add a top coat and you're done!

For best results work one nail at a time rather than a full manicure as shown here. In other words, you can do step #1 to all the nails, but repeat steps #2-4 on each nail individually. It is best to remove the striping tape while the polish is still wet to get clean lines.

Please let me know what you think of this tutorial! Don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any!

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 **

Dazzle Dry Dragonfly...

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today I would like to show you some quick nail art that I created while swatching the Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery collection. I really love this dragonfly image on one of the Messy Mansion plates and I have been looking for an excuse to use it again. As soon as I saw this Dazzle Dry lacquer named Dragonfly, I knew that I had found my excuse...

Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery Collection

As promised I would like to show you the Dazzle Dry Blogger's Mystery Collection. Five of the shades are collaborations with bloggers/nail artists including Vanessa of Nail Stories, Rina of Simply Rins, Robin Moses, Jen of The Nail Polish Project and myself. One shade designed by Dazzle Dry...

Presenting Dazzle Dry Arctic Sunset by Wacky Laki!

I'm so excited today to present to you Arctic Sunset, my collaboration shade with Dazzle Dry. I was so thrilled when they offered me the chance to dream up a shade for the Blogger's Mystery Collection for this Winter. As you can imagine, I jumped up and down with excitement and gave a resounding 'yes!' at the chance to collaborate on this venture. I promise to show you the rest of the gorgeous shades in the collection in my next post, but for now a little bit about this beauty...

Pipe Dream Polish Eternal Summer Slacking

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you my manicure with the beautiful Pipe Dream Polish Eternal Summer Slacking. It is another wonderful handmade creation by April, the mastermind behind the lacquer. The fun mix of colors in this polish quickly perked up my mood and gave me a bit of a summer flash back. Forget the gray and rainy weather outside, I'm going to be doing some Eternal Summer Slacking...

Giveaway Scavenger Hunt...

Last month I shared with you the exciting news that I had been chosen as a winner in Bundle Monster's Create Your Own Contest. My prize was six full stamping plate sets, one for each design chosen. Obviously I don't need so many! I have shared a few of them with my friends and now I've got a few to share with you...

OMG Nail Strips - Blue Bubbles

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you some pretty OMG Nail Strips in a pattern called Blue Bubbles. I tried their Viper strips before and loved them so I was very excited to try another pattern. This bubble pattern is so adorable, makes me wish it was summer outside and I could go blow some bubbles...