365 Days of Color In Full Bloom Spring Collection

Hi Everone! Today I have for you swatches of the Spring collection by 365 Days of Color named In Full Bloom. The collection features sweet pastels with a subtle holographic shimmer and a glitter topper that looks fantastic over any of them! I always love the lighter colors of spring as they are the perfect break between dark winter shades and bright summer ones. This collection really just nails that spring feeling for me and the soft pastels are perfection...

InDecisive Nail Lacquer

I would like to start out the new year with swatches of InDecisive Nail Lacquer which were kindly provided to me by their creator. It is a new Indie brand that sets out to help you find "what to wear when you can't decide what to wear!" With such pretty colors and finishes, however, it is still impossible to decide which one to wear. It has everything from glitter packed jellies to holo to a color changing top coat.

Sunday Stamping: New Year Party Nails

I'm not fully back to blogging from all the holiday madness, but I didn't want to miss out on the last Sunday Stamping challenge this year. The challenge is to create New Year party nails. Even though this manicure won't last until actual New Years eve, since I have something else in mind, it was fun to make...

Manicure for Mom

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and since she rarely does anything to pamper herself, I surprised her by showing up with a little box of manicure goodies. In the box were my stamping supplies and a few polishes I thought she might like. She picked out a little holographic beauty and requested a Scorpio stamp to match her zodiac sign. We got to chat and spend time together just the two of us which was so wonderful. Definitely a present for both of us...

The polish she chose is a Sally Hansen Nail Prisms named Blush Diamond. I've tried swatching it before and failed miserably which is why I haven't posted about it, although I've used it a number of times. This is probably one of the best photos I've taken of it. She loves the rainbow and I love that it makes her smile while she is looking at it. I think we've got a new holo polish fan. The Scorpio is from Mash plate Mash-35 and was stamped using Sally Hansen Quick Brick on the thumbs and ring fingers...

I found out just how much I suck at centering stamps on other people. It is really hard to aim if you ask me. I cut of the tail from nearly every Scorpio in the bunch and none of them match. Guess I need a lot more practice and what better excuse than that to spend time with my mom!

The photos are not very good since they were last minute before I rushed out the door to get to work, but they are special so I hope you enjoy them...

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Ornate Collection

Today I'd like to share with you swatches of the Zoya Ornate collection. Before you proceed, I must warn you that the photos don't do these polishes justice. They are just ones that you have to see in person, especially the scattered holographic beauties. I took way too many photos and really tried to narrow it down to show you, but there is still a lot so I'll get to them...

Rimmel London Wild Orchid with Holo

My boyfriend and I spent an expended weekend out of town with some close friends. It was great to get away and just relax for a bit after a hectic June. The weather was decent, but certainly not the sunshine that I was hoping for. Even the drizzling rain didn't stop us from enjoying the beach and I even found pretty shells that matched the manicure...

Ulta Peach Parfait... holo-fied...

Following a reader's lovely advice that less may actually be more when it comes to the SpectraFlair (SF) Topcoat, I decided to test the theory. Last time I tried the topcoat, I shook the heck out of it in an attempt to re-dispense all of the powder that had settled out. In the end I ended up with an amazing holo effect, but not much of the original color showing through. This time I started out by shaking the bottle slightly and applying to my index finger, then shaking some more and applying to middle finger, etc... right over the Peach Parfait I was already wearing...

It is clear that the more SF powder that gets suspended, the more opaque the topcoat becomes, but also the stronger the holographic effect. I think my happy holo medium is the way it turned out on the ring finger. Now if only I could remember exactly how much to shake to get to that effect... :D

Outside, in the sunshine...

In the shade. Without the holo effect, it is easier to see just how much the topcoat can cover up the base color. The pinkie finger is all gray/silver, barely any of the peach color left!

Thanks for the tip to use less and as always thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Trying Out the SpectraFlair Top Coat...

A fellow member of the Facebook group Polish-aholics Anonymous created a holographic topcoat using the infamous SpectraFlair holographic powder and some clear nail polish. Mine finally arrived a few days ago, but I have been patiently holding out on using it until we got some sunshine around here. Trust me, it was hard...

I applied one coat over my existing Borghese Berry Confezione manicure to achieve this holo goodness :)

Feel free to click on any of the photos to zoom in...

Outside in the sunshine...

Just look at that gorgeous rainbow... :D

My only issues with this was that the SpectraFlair powder settles out really quickly and tends to stick together/to the bottle. It needs to be shaken for quite a while and still a good part of the powder is stuck to the bottom. I suspect it is due to lack of suspending agents...

Also, while I love the holo effect, the original color almost completely disappeared for me. I am curious to see how this looks by itself and over silver...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)