Arc de Triomphe!

Hi Lades and Gentlemen?! At times or fairly often for me all it takes is the polish name to get my imagination going in that direction. I guess one could say I'm rather easily influenced, but I like to think that I'm easily inspired. This manicure is one of those cases and although parts of it didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, I still love the idea. I will try to give it another shot some day, but for now I'll show you this attempt...

Lilac Swirls

Happy Friday Lovelies! I'm on vacation this week so I'll be showing you a few of my manicures that I haven't gotten around to posting yet. I didn't have much time before I left to write them up, so the text will be brief and I'll just let you enjoy the photos. Starting today with a manicure that I created a little while ago when I was playing around with the beautiful Polished by KPT Paris & Me collection.

OPI Mustang Collection Swatches and Review!

Hi Lovelies! Today I would love to show you my swatches of the OPI Mustang collection. This lacquer collection celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ford Mustang with 6 gorgeous shades...

Polished by KPT Paris & Me Collection Swatches and Review

Happy Friday Lovelies! I am super excited today to share with you my review of the new Polished by KPT Fall collection named Paris & Me. The collection which features nine gorgeous lacquers will be released next week. It is definitely one you shouldn't miss. There is something for everyone here from thermal to holographic to glitter. I am incapable of picking favorites here so please pardon me while I gush...

Tutorial: Abstract Stained Glass Nail Art

Hi Everyone! I apologize in the delay of putting this tutorial together. I've been in a bit of a funk lately and I'm hoping it will pass soon. A few of you requested that I share a tutorial for this abstract stained glass manicure that I showed you a couple of months ago and I have not forgotten! I had actually created the tutorial at the time of the manicure, but have just now sorted through the photos and can finally share it with you...

Supplies Used:

• Polishes: Zoya Dillon (minty green), Hudson (lavender) and Rebel (sky blue), and Brooklyn (gold)
• Small detail brush

Steps:

Smoky Egyptian

Hi everyone! I wanted to show you a manicure that I created while playing around with the Dance Legend Smoky collection shades not too long ago. My first thought was to try and create a turquoise stone manicure using the water spotting technique, but since I still haven't mastered getting polish to behave as I would like, I ended up going in a slightly different direction...

Tempting Half Moons...

I had a really bad dream last night, I dreamt that I was filing my nails and I went too far. I'm talking all the way down to nubs on my index... of my swatching hand. Oh I know, the horror! I don't know how long I spent trying to figure out ways to remedy the situation with all sorts of crazy ways to fix it. I finally woke up and realized it was just bad dream. Now I sit here wondering if my subconscious is trying to tell me something. Have I lost my mind? Inhaled too many polish fumes? Have you had any crazy nail dreams?

Crazy dreams aside, I'd like to show you a manicure that I created with Glam Polish Temptation. I love the purple and gold combo (and not just because those are the colors of my alma mater), so I had to play them up with a little bit of stamping...

Glam Polish Euphoria and Temptation...

Hi Everyone! Thank you for taking the time yesterday to respond to my question! Sounds like we all just sneak away during a free moment or two throughout the day to read blogs. I must say that I do the same thing and don't have a dedicated time to explore. I am thrilled you choose to stop by here when you can and read my ramblings or just look at photos! :)

Today I would like to tempt you with two more Glam Polish shades. These are from the Opulence Series available only from the Glam Polish website and not any of their international stockists. These two beauties contain real gold leaf flakes and plenty of shimmer...

Exotic Illusions Peacock

Good Morning! Afternoon? Evening? When do you all usually take the time to read/look at blogs? Well regardless of what time of day it is, I wanted to take a moment to show you a manicure that I created with the two Glam Polish Exotic Illusions shades that I showed you a couple of days ago. The two of them reminded me of peacock feathers so I really couldn't resist and this happened...

Sweet Daisy...

Hi Everyone! Today is the first post out of the archives and I hope you will enjoy it. I created this while reviewing the Nicole by OPI Carrie Underwood collection. The manicure was inspired by the name of the peachy shade used to create this look...

Zoya Awaken and Monet Swatches and Review!

I'm finally back to swatching post my nail break and I would like to start out by showing you the Zoya Awaken Spring collection and a special topper named Monet. The Awaken collection includes six shades which are perfect for the season and remind me of Easter candy shades that invade the stores this time of year...

Tutorial: Leopards Spots

Today I would like to show you a quick and easy tutorial for how to create a leopard spotted manicure. This is a very common technique and I've seen many tutorials on how to create this look, but hopefully one more won't hurt. You can play around with different color combinations from traditional leopard colors to wild and crazy neon ones. I think this always makes for a fun manicure and is easy to create no matter what your skill level is since precision isn't key for this look...

Supplies:

• Three polishes of choice. I used Color Club Look, Don't Tusk (ivory), Lion's Den (gold shimmer), Nail-Robi (dark purple)
• Dotting tool (don't have a dotting tool? Try one of these alternatives!)

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Start by painting your nails your nails with an ivory (or your desired) base color. Apply enough coats to reach opacity and allow to dry as usual.
2. Using a shimmery or glittery gold apply random shaped spots to the nail using the polish brush
3. With a dotting tool dipped into the purple lacquer, draw 2-3 C-shaped curves around each of the gold spots
4. Add small purple spots using the dotting tool by drawing little 'commas' in the space between the larger spots.
5. Top coat and enjoy!

Once you 'master' the larger spots, you can try making smaller spots for a more detailed mani...

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions and as always I would love to know what you think of this!

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 **

Safari Leopard...

Continuing today with manis from the archive is this ivory leopard one that I created after swatching the Color Club Safari Garden collection. Every once in a while I just get the urge to rock some animal print on my nails and this hit the spot. What better collection to create a leopard mani with than a Safari inspired one?! Rawr!

Head Over Heels Down the Aisle...

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you a bit of an experiment. I created this while swatching the Dazzle Dry Do You Love Me? collection. Two of the polishes in the collection have similar golden flecks and I felt compelled to somehow combine them. Rather than sponging a smooth gradient, I wanted to try dry brushing a rough one...

Dazzle Dry Do You Love Me? Spring Collection Swatches and Review...

I've been away from the blog for just four short days, but it feels so much longer. I'm happy to be back today to show you the Dazzle Dry Spring collection named Do You Love Me?. This collection consists of four beautiful, romantic shades...

Color Club Safari Garden Collection Swatches and Review

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you the new Color Club Safari Garden collection released this Spring...

El Corazon Shine of Jewels

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you nail art that I created recently while I was swatching an El Corazon beauty. Although I didn't have anything specific in mind when I started out, I was mesmerized (and I'll show you why) by a dragon featured on the bottle label. I picked a stamping design that reminded me of dragon scales and embellished from there...

OPI Gwen Stefani Diamonds...

Hi Everyone! Today I would like to show you some nail art that I created while swatching the OPI Gwen Stefani collection. I wanted to play around with some of the studs which are a part of that collection and these matte square ones were my first pick...

Sunday Stamping and El Corazon Rainbow...

I decided to take part in this week's Sunday Stamping challenge in the group Adventures in Stamping partly as an excuse to play with my new CICI&SISI stamping plates and to show you this beautiful El Corazon lacquer. The theme for this challenge is to stamp using a plate whose number ends in 2, which left the manicure options wide open. I chose a relatively simple pattern to create this luxurious tufted look...

OPI Gwen Stefani Collection Swatches and Review

Today I am very excited to show you the OPI Gwen Stefani collection. This collection has really blown me away with a great variety of not only colors, but also textures. It features everything from cream to chrome, glossy to satin plus glitter and studs to top it all off. This diverse collection encourages nail art like no other. You can certainly expect to see a few of my creations in the coming days, but for now the swatches...