OPI When Monkeys Fly Glitter Jelly Sandwich...

Happy International Woman's Day Ladies! 

I am ashamed to say that I completely forgot about today's special occasion and prepared nothing appropriate to show you. Instead I would like to show you a little layering experiment with two shades from the OPI Oz The Great and Powerful collection which I showed yesterday. While swatching, I was the least thrilled about these two particular shades, but there was something about them that prompted me to experiment further. In sandwiching the two together, I changed my mind about both of them and I must say I do like the resulting look. Playing off of the name of the glitter polish, When Monkeys Fly!, I couldn't resist stamping a little monkey accent...

Shimmer Tammy and e.l.f. Lilac Glitter Jelly Sandwich

Playing with all the pretty e.l.f. jellies from the Summer Ready collection, I couldn't fight the urge to create a glitter jelly sandwich. It really is such a wonderful way to play up their strength. I chose to pair Lilac with the gorgeous Shimmer Tammy* which is a purple, gold, holo, hex, bar glitter bomb just waiting to explode...

e.l.f. Summer Ready Collection

There is still officially 10 days of summer left and I'm determined to swatch and show you at least some of my untried summer collections. I have accumulated more of them that I wish to admit and not swatching them year after year is just a shame. To start out is the e.l.f. Summer Ready collection which is from summer of last year. It contains five lovey jellies...

Zoya Gloss Collection NYFW Fall 2012

Today I have for you the third and final collection in Zoya's fall lineup, Zoya Gloss collection. It contains three very sheer gloss shades that can be built up and worn on their own or layered over other polishes to create interesting effects...

Barielle Elle's Spell over Falling Star

I spotted this Barielle layering combination on their Facebook page a few days ago posted by another fan. The swatch was a bit blurry, but in it's blurriness reminded me of a little polish named Fantasy Fire. I knew instantly that I had to try the combination. As soon as the previous manicure came off, this is what I put on.

Essie BHG Beautiful Glitter Sandwich

A few weeks ago I received a package in the mail from Essie. You should have seen the confused look on my face as I opened it since I did not order anything from Essie and have not been contacted by them for any reviews. Inside the package was one Essie polish with the name of BHG Beautiful on the bottom. No other messages in the package to indicate why I was receiving this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about getting free polish, just a bit baffled at the source. After some investigating it turns out that I won a Better Homes and Garden Essie Giveaway that I entered in September of last year. Better late than never I guess... :D

Barielle Eli's Magic with Shannon's Attitude

Today I have two lovely Barielle polishes, Eli's Magic and Shannon's Attitude to show you. For some reason the combination of the two names to form a title seems to amuse me at the moment. I'm blaming it on lack of sleep...

Borghese Sonata Berry C with Pure Ice Oh Baby!

I'm not feeling well today, so I will keep it short and show you a manicure from a while back. This is Borghese Sonata Berry C topped with Pure Ice Oh Baby!. Oh Baby! is a sheer base with a color shifting shimmer. The shimmer changes from green to blue to purple/magenta depending on the angle that it is viewed at. It is a fun and quick way to spice up a solid color. I'm loving all the "effect" polishes lately...

In it's own Borghese Sonata Berry C is a deep berry red polish with a jelly finish. I used three coats to get nice even coverage. It is not original in my collection, but I do tend to like these colors so I end up with lots of them. Application was good, I love the wide brush in these polishes. This is with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: main line Color Name/Number: Sonata Berry C, B255 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

What do you think of the "effect" polishes that are so popular lately?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

My Entry into the Be My Valentine Nail Art Contest

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and while my boyfriend and I have chosen to mostly ignore it for the past 12 years, I do enjoy all the pink, the hearts, and the flowers. I decided it would be fun to enter the "Be My Valentine Nail Art Contest" held by Lacquered Me on Facebook. This is my entry into the contest. Please check out all the entries and if you like like mine, take a minute to vote for it!!! :D

For the manicure I started out with two coats of Zoya Stephanie and sponged over it using Korres Watermelon. A polish I got quite a while ago in a giveaway from Cel's Deconails. It has been on my "to try" list for quite a while and I thought it would be perfect for the occasion. The hearts I free handed using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme and a dotting tool. It makes me think of Minnie Mouse :)

Korres Watermelon on it's own is a pink raspberry jelly. It has a bit more raspberry or watermelon (for the lack of a better term) tint to it than what comes across in the photos. It starts out sheer, but does build up opacity. I used three coats plus a top coat in these swatches. You can still slightly see the nail line. I think this polish would be perfect for a glitter sandwich...

This was taken with the flash and turned out to be the most color accurate image. The color in the bottle here is closest to true to life...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Korres Color Name/Number: Watermelon, 19 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor, Silicone, Xylene, Acetone

I'd love to know what you think of this manicure or the polish!
If you like it and you can, then please vote for it... or vote for whoever you like. :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Ulta What a Maroon and OPI Rainbow Connection Sandwich

Today I have for you my 1st ever glitter jelly sandwich. I have seen quite a few of them, but have never tried one myself. As I was applying a third coat of Ulta's What a Maroon and thinking how sheer it was, it dawned on me that I should try the sandwich technique. For the glitter I used one coat of OPI Rainbow Connection which I got in Carolina's giveaway. It is by far the most glittery polish that I own. I'm quite pleased with the result, although next time I'll try to be "neater" with the glitter :)

Here is one coat of OPI's Rainbow Connection over three coats of Ulta's What a Maroon (before I added the final coat of What a Maroon).

What a Maroon on it's own, aside from having a creative name, is a deep red jelly. The formula is easy to work with and applied well. The polish is as I mentioned already very sheer. This is three coat plus a top coat and the nail line is still visible.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Ulta Line: Professional Color Name/Number: What a Maroon Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Have you tried glitter sandwiches before? What do you think of them? I know I'm late to the party :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Sinful Colors - Wish Collection Swatches & Review

I got the chance to review the new Wish holiday collection from Sinful Colors. It consists of five base colors and two nail art polishes. The collection has a nice variety of colors to play around with. Since there are lots and lots of photos, I'll try to make the text sweet and to the point :)

Out of this World is a nice pearly silver color. Application was great with surprisingly good coverage after two coats. I'll admit I was worried this one would never be fully opaque, but I was proven wrong. I hesitate to call this a full foil, but it did apply like one. I think it would look perfect sponged over blue, but that is for another day.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Wish (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Out of this Wold, 842 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Midnight Blue is a bright metallic blue. It is a gorgeous color although a bit too much for my skin tone. It came out slightly lighter than bottle color. Application was good with full coverage in two coats. Removal was a pain and resulted in a major case of smurf hands. Make sure to use a good base coat with this to protect your nails and remove very carefully to avoid staining.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Wish (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Midnight Blue, 13 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Sugar Sugar is a bright metallic red with a slight shimmer. This one is not new to my collection, but it is one of my favorites. I have swatched it here before. I also used it for a 4th of July manicure and the inspired by a flag challenge from the 31 day challenge. I didn't see the harm in swatching it again though, so here it is :D Application for this is good with two coats for full coverage.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Wish (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Sugar Sugar, 839 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Daddy's Girl is a purple jelly with multichrome specks. This is such a gorgeous polish in the bottle. The specks flashed everything from purple to magenta to gold and at the right angle I could see green and blue. Sadly, it came out very sheer and none of those colors showed up on the nail. I applied three coats and a top coat. Otherwise, no bald spots or pulling with this jelly so application was good.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Wish (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Daddy's Girl, 841 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Daddy's Girl over Black on Black:
Since Daddy's Girl was so sheer, I decided to try it over Sinful Colors Black on Black. This is one coat of Black on Black with two coats of Daddy's Girl. Ahhh, just look at those flecks. I love it. It did loose some of it's beautiful purple in the process so next time I will try it over a deep purple as a base and see if I can still capture those flakies. :)

You can click to zoom in for more detail...

Last Chance is a deep forest green creme. It came out darker than bottle color for me and in some light looked almost black. I have no complaints though, since I love dark colors. Application was good and it covered completely in two coats. This did stain my nails a bit upon removal, so again I recommend using a nice base coat with this.

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Wish (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Last Chance, 948 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Now on to the the Nail Art polishes in the collection...

Flower Girl is a gold foil with a nice, easy to work with striping brush. I chose to just draw a few lines and dots over Daddy's Girl (over Black on Black). I didn't want to take this one off. Came out so cute :)
The only problem I had with this is the smell. It is much stronger than any Sinful Colors polish I have tried. I'm not sure the reason behind this as it is also Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP free. :(

Fashionista is a silver glitter in a clear base. I tried it over Last Chance for my manicure. This one does not make sense to me in a nail art form as it does not allow for precise drawing. The glitter just goes where it wants, as most glitters do. Just like Flower Girl, this one also had a nasty smell. 

What do you think of this collection? Have you tried any of these colors or nail art polishes?

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

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Ulta - Paint the Town Mini Set

I got two mini nail polish collections during Ulta's 2 day after Thanksgiving sale. The first one named Paint the Town, I will show you today and the other one tomorrow. Each set contain four 5mL bottles. For some reason I have been acquiring a lot of minis lately. They are just so darn cute, although not to practical. Maybe useful for travel? :)

Overall the brushes and formula on these were very good. I had no problems with application at all. Each of these is shown with two coats and a top coat.

Left to right: Raise Your Glass, Paint the Town, Nauti-cal but Nice, Lav-ish.

Raise Your Glass: This was the one that caught my eye when I first saw the collection and it did not disappoint. A beautiful olive green with a golden/copper shimmer. I'm really hoping they will produce this in a full size bottle.

Paint the Town: This is the namesake of the collection. A standard dark red jelly polish. Nothing too unique about it, but also nothing bad to say. Applied great in two easy coats. No pulling or bald spots for me. Will go great for travel.

Nauti-cal but Nice: A dark navy blue jelly. A bit difficult to wrap around the tips, but otherwise also applied nicely with no bald spots in two coats.

Lav-ish: A pretty muted greyish mauve with copper shimmer. As far as I'm aware this is the only one that is available in the full 10mL size. I have had my eye on this color for a while and I think I will have to get the full size bottle at some point. Although the full size bottle just looks like it has a lot more polish because if it's size, but actually doesn't have that much more (only 10mL vs 5mL).

Here is what the cute set looks like. I got it for $2.99 plus I was able to use a $3.50 off coupon since I purchased $10 worth of stuff, so it was only around $2 for the set in the end. Not too bad since the set retails for $7.99 which is around $2 per bottle.

What do you think? Did any colors stand out to you?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)