piCture pOlish Voodoo - See the Darkness, Feel the Magic!

I'm finally getting around to playing with the piCture pOlish polishes that I won in giveaways from Sawan and Mirannie's Nails. I guess I'm failing at my New Year's resolution to try polishes with 30 days of getting them. It is crazy how quickly time flies. Did someone accidentally set it on fast forward?

Black and White Challenge Day 8 - Sponging

It is day eight of the Black and White Challenge which means a sponged manicure. I had in mind a marble or granite look, so I turned to the internet for inspiration, as I often do. Somehow it helps to have a picture to stare at as I work. While searching for black and white stone, I stumbled upon a photo of Emma Stone in a black and white dress that I just couldn't resist...

Emma Stone photo Source

Color Club All About Color Collection

I recently bought this Color Club collection at Ross and wanted to post swatches while it is still available. The collection is not new, I assume it is from 2010 based on the copyright date on the back. No names are listed on the bottles or the packaging and my attempts to contact Color Club resulted in no response. I was about to give up on finding names when Kirsten from Geeky Owl posted her Ross Haul which included this collection. Much to my amazement she had names listed! Long story short, Color Club provided the names in response to a question on their Facebook page. Yay! Thank you Kirsten :)

Black and White Challenge Day 7 - Glitter

Day 7 of the Black and White Challenge really stumped me. The challenge was to create a black and white manicure with glitter and I just couldn't decide on what I wanted to do until the very last minute. I started out with Essence I Love My Jeans for the black base, then using a striping brush and white acrylic paint I added random slices of white. I used the holographic hex glitter from Elf Golden Goddess to accent the curves. Although the holographic effect of the glitter is hard to see in these photos, it was actually there. I like how this turned out, even though it bubbled like crazy around the glitter. I really need to get some glitter itself instead of having to pick it out of polish...

Sunday Stamping Challenge - Large Flowers

For today's stamping challenge for the group Adventures in Stamping, I decided to try something I have not done before... a ruffian manicure. I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Deep Purple followed by two coats of Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac. I can't say that I love it the ruffian look on me. This could be because all the layers make it look thick or because it visually shortens the already short nails. I might have to try it again on longer nails and with one coat polishes.

Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac

Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac is a sweet lilac cream. I am loving these type of pastels for spring, so this is perfect, if only spring would actually come. Seems unlikely after the hail we had last night. The cream formula was easy to work with. Two coats for full coverage. I love the slightly widened brush in these, it makes application so much cleaner. This is with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sally Hansen Collection: Hard as Nails: Xtreme Wear Color Name/Number: Lacey Lilac, 270 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Contains Camphor

Has Spring made an appearance wherever you live?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sally Hansen Deep Purple

Sally Hansen Deep Purple is a shimmery metallic grape purple with a blue shimmer. The color is most accurate on the index and pinkie fingers. It is not as blue as it appears on the other two fingers, but the camera likes to pick up the blue shimmer. The formula was not as pigmented as I expected. The first coat does apply fairly sheer. It did build up to full coverage with two coats, but still had problems wrapping around the tips. This may have benefited from a third coat. Swatches are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sally Hansen Collection: Hard as Nails: Xtreme Wear Color Name/Number: Deep Purple, 170 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Contains Camphor

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)