Barielle Velvets Collection Swatches and Review!

Hi! Today I have prepared for you swatches of the Barielle Velvets collection. The six Velvet shades make up the soft, romantic half of the Spring collection...

OPI Oz The Great and Powerful Collection Swatches and Review

Today I'm excited to show you the beautiful new OPI Oz The Great and Powerful collection. This is a limited edition collection inspired by the Disney's new movie.  I have not seen the movie yet to know where the inspiration for these shades is coming from, but I don't think that matters when deciding what I think of these lacquers. The collection is made up of three sheer jelly shades, three glitters and a new Liquid Sand shade...

Epilepsy Awareness

At the beginning of this month I was contacted by a lovely reader asking me to create a manicure in support of Epilepsy Awareness month, which happens to be November. She has been living with the disease for many years and continues to struggle with it daily. Her story just breaks my heart and creating a manicure for her and this cause is the least I can do. I'm ashamed to admit that I lost track of time and November slipped by way too fast which is why this manicure is sneaking in on the last day of the month. Hopefully this is a case of better late than never...

OPI New York City Ballet

I may have mentioned once or twice (who am I kidding, at least a dozen times) how much I love sheer polishes. It will come as no surprise then to say how much I love the new OPI New York City Ballet collection. The collection contains five sheer jelly polishes and one glitter polish which can be layered over any of them. This may be the first collection where I can't pick favorites. I definitely foresee some french manicures in my future...

Sunday Stamping Challenge + Zoya Stephanie

It is a good thing that I'm stubborn because otherwise I would have given up on this manicure about five takes ago. It was just one of those days when everything falls, acetone spills, the tape rips off the layers underneath, and just when you redid the problem nail(s) for the 3rd time and it is as good as it will get given the circumstances you bump it into something. Ugh! However, I'm glad that I didn't give up because I actually like what I came up with for this week's Sunday Stamping Challenge. The challenge was simply to make a manicure using any stamping plate that ends in 7. The hardest part is having too many choices :)

For the manicure I started out with a coat of Zoya Stephanie then added french tips using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme and topped it off with a second coat of Stephanie. The flowers were stamped using Color Club Hot Like Lava and Ebay plate m07. Flower centers were added using Sally Hansen Celeb City. I had originally intended for the bottom branch to lie along the tip of the nail, but since I stamped lopsided, I added a slanted tip using Hot Like Lava to accentuate the slope. Let's just pretend that I intended it the whole time because I like it so much more with the foil tips than as just a plain french mani...

I have swatched Zoya Stephanie before, but that was on my little shortie nails, so here are some fresh swatches. This is three coats plus a top coat. Application was good, but not perfect. I kept getting bald spots that did eventually even out by the third coat. The color is lovely, a sheer peachy pink. Perfect for a french mani or on it's own since it covers nicely by three coats. 

I love wearing sheers like this by themselves quite a bit. In fact, before I started blogging I used to wear sheers all spring/summer and dark colors fall/winter. Just take a look at my first Zoya haul back in May of last year... oh how different that order would be now... :D

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Spa Essentials Color Name/Number: Stephanie, ZP364 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor

Have you noticed your taste in nail polish change over time?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Sabrina Starring in a French Manicure...

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went the wedding of two very good friends. We had a great time and I'm so glad that I was able to get the day off from work to attend. For my nails I went with the traditional white french tip. I know a lot of people think the french tip is outdated, but I still like the look, so I wear it for special occasions.

I started out with two coats of Zoya Sabrina, a soft milky pink which was perfect for this. I added tips using Wet 'n Wild French White Cream and another coat of Sabrina on top. To spice up the french tip I added blue stamping using Zoya Ibiza to match my navy blue dress. Then, topped the whole things off with a topcoat and was ready to go! In hindsight, I probably could have used only one coat of Sabrina to begin with and gotten the same result...

In the shade...

What do you think, is french tip outdated or classic?

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Stephanie... Dotted...

Sometimes I just need a little change. I love having long nails, but sometime I want to cut them really short. Yes, that's right, just cut them for no reason at all. Can't even blame it on a break... instead I blame my Gemini nature that makes me bored with things easily. On the other hand it is probably this same Gemini nature that makes me love nail polish for the ability to change it as often as I want.

Whenever I have short nails I love wearing sheers. This time was no exception and I chose the lovely Zoya Stephanie which is a soft milky off white polish with a hint of pink. I applied three coats and it build up very nicely. It even surprised me by covering up most of the nail line which I did not expect it to do.

I decided to practice with my dotting tool. The outer columns are Zoya Nina and the middle column is Essence Just In Case. I really like how it came out even though some of the dots ran a bit when I added the topcoat...

I stumbled on this article named What Does Your Nail Polish Say About You? I wish I could remember who posted this link so I can give them credit... According to this "A woman who chooses off-white is classic and confident" so I guess that would be me... today... tomorrow I'll be someone else. What about you? What does your nail polish say about you?

Brand: Zoya Collection: Spa Essentials Color Name/Number: Stephanie, ZP364 Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor free Vegan friendly

Thanks for looking!
Antuka :)

Zoya Lucy

I was a little worried about this color when I first saw the bottle, but I should have know that with Zoya I have nothing to worry about. Zoya's Lucy is a very sheer milky white that is perfect for french tips. It brightens up the nail for a nice alternative to the sheer pinks that commonly accompany french tips.

At first I swatched it all by itself, just to see what it would look like, since I do often just wear a nice sheer polish when I need something quick, clean and professional. This definitely meets the above criteria. This is three coats of the polish (no topcoat).

With it being so light, I wanted something to really contrast with it, so I painted the tips using Zoya Sam which was still conveniently on my table from yesterday's post and this mornings comparison fest :).
The silver line is using Essence Nail Art freestyle & tip painter. I need a bit more practice keeping a steady hand with that one, but overall I just love this combination!

And of course I had to know how it would look with a traditional french tip. I must say it did not disappoint.

Overall, this applied beautifully. It is very sheer as expected, but it works great for a nice clean french manicure. For those that don't mind the visible nail line, this can easily be worn on its own.

Brand: Zoya Collection: Spa Essentials Color Name/Number: Lucy ZP330 Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor free Vegan friendly

That's all for now :)
Anutka

Zoya Grace

This weekend ended up being a bit of a hectic one trying to host a mother's day brunch. Everything went as planned and my house is even a little cleaner than when we started. We had mimosas, ate great food (I was in a food coma for the rest of the day), and had a great time... at least as far as I know :)

My manicure was Zoya Grace. It survived all the cleaning, cooking, dish washing, and still managed to look great. It is a sheer creamy peach/pink. It would work well for a classic french manicure, but I love these colors on their own as well.

This is outside in the shade...

With the sun peaking through (not full sun...)

This cute little birdie decided to watch and see why this crazy lady is photographing her nails...
As you can see it was cloudy and overcast, so the sunshine pictures are not full sun by any means...

Besides the really dark colors, these sheers are another big weakness of mine. I have a few more Zoyas coming in my Earth Day exchange order :)
I applied three coats and it was just right for me. Truly lives up to it's name, so graceful!

Brand: Zoya Collection: Spa Essentials Color Name/Number: Grace Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Camphor free Vegan friendly

That's all for now :)
Anutka

Comparing the sheers

I love these light colors. They usually look great with my skin tone. I have tried a few that I wasn't a fan off, but these four have been my go to colors when I need something quick and clean looking. I did a swatch of NYC Nail Glossies 215 yesterday, so I thought I would do a quick comparison to my other light colors.

The colors are as follows:
Index: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Sheer Vanilla
Middle: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Sheer Ivory
Ring: N.Y.C. Nail Glossies 215 (wish they would name it)
Pinkie: No brand "French Pink" that came in a gift set someone gave me :)

I did three coats of each polish, except for the French Pink which was four coats. Even with the four coats though, it was the lightest of the bunch, with the most visible nail line. Non of them completely covered the nail line, however, as they are all pretty sheer. No complaints on application for any of them. NYC had the best brush in my humble opinion, just a tad wider than the rest and slightly flattened.

Both of the SH colors were nice and creamy. Sheer Vanilla is just a bit off white, giving it a nice soft look. Sheer Ivory is more toward beige. Had it been any more yellow, it wouldn't be a keeper for me. NYC is very similar to Sheer Vanilla except that it has a very subtle micro shimmer. French Pink is very, very light as evident by the number of coats it took. However, it is probably my 1st choice when doing a traditional french mani. It is just enough to soften the stark white without covering it completely.

My favorite for everyday wear is definitely NYC. I just love the shimmer when the sun hits it... here is hoping for more sunny days in Seattle :)

Take care!
Anutka

NYC Nail Glossies 215

NYC Nail Glossies 215 is a nice off white with just a hint of pink. I did three coats + a top coat and it is still fairly sheer with a visible nail line. When the sun catches it at the right angle it also has a very pretty micro shimmer that just didn't want to be photographed. It must be my luck since whenever I put on a color like this, the sunshine dissapears. Maybe it is is one of those "as soon as I wash my car, it will rain" things... Or maybe it is just a living in the Pacific Northwest type of thing :)

I tried my best to catch the shimmer and this is my best shot :)
You can click on the photo to zoom in.

Brand: New York Color (N.Y.C)
Collection: Nail Glossies
Color Name/Number: 215

Thanks for looking!
Anutka