Geometric Color Block

Hi Lovelies! I really debated long and hard whether to show you this manicure or not. I totally loved the idea and how it came together, but then I made the mistake of putting my topcoat over fresh, wet polish and everything shrank away from my cuticles, but worst of all from the tips. Ugh, it was so sad to actually watch it shrink right in front of my eyes as I was trying to take photos. I will definitely have to try this one again at some point...

Tutorial: Simple Stripes

Hi Lovelies! How about a throw back Thursday post for you today? This is a tutorial for a manicure that I showed you back in April of this year and somehow just never got around to posting the tutorial. I guess I need to dig deeper through my archives and see what else I've forgotten to post. Shame on me!

Supplies:

• 2 polishes. I used OPI 4 in the Morning and Over & Over A-Gwen
• Striping tape (any color). I purchased the striping tape that I use on Ebay.

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Apply desired base color and allow it to dry completely. Shown here is OPI 4 in the Morning.
2. Arrange 4-5 short segments of striping tape to each nail in a random crisscrossing pattern.
3. Apply the 2nd polish shade over the entire nail (making a mess as I did is optional!). I used OPI Over and Over A-Gwen for my red shade. 
4. Quickly remove the striping tape before the polish has started to dry to ensure clean lines
5. Clean up the cuticles if needed, seal with a top coat and enjoy!

I hope you find this simple tutorial helpful!

Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

For a little bit of variation, you can also create this look with a gradient on top. Check out my tutorial here for full instructions!

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 **

Dazzle Dry Color Block

Hi Lovelies! Today I have a manicure to show you that I created not too long ago while playing around with the Dazzle Dry Global Beat collection. The two creamy shades complimented each other so beautifully that I wanted to combine them into one manicure. I've been having fun with striping tape recently and decided to continue that streak...

Nail Art Tutorial: Neon Triangles

Hi again! I guess I have been in a tutorial making mood so I'm just rolling with it. Some might be quite simple, such as this one, but I hope you enjoy them nevertheless. This is for the manicure that I showed you this morning featuring neon accent triangles. They are fun and easy to do. Try them out in different color combinations...

Supplies used:

• InDecisive Nail Lacquer Jawbreaker
• OPI Blue it out of Proportion (also used OPI You Are so Outta Lime!, Life Gave Me Lemons, and Pink Outside the Box for the rest of the manicure)
• Striping tape

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Apply desired number of coats of base color. Here I used 2 coats of InDecisive Lacquer Jawbreaker
2. Arrange 2 pieces of striping tape to create a triangle at the nail half moon. Add another 2 piece of striping tape parallel to the first as shown above
3. Using your desired accent color, paint inside the half moon triangle and between the striping tape. For this tutorial, I used OPI Blue it out of Proportion.
4. Quickly remove the striping tape before the polish begins to dry to ensure a clean line
5. Add a top coat and enjoy!

Easy peasy, right?

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Would you like to see more simple tutorials such as 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 **

Fashion Inspired: Red Ankle Boots...

I want to start out by saying thank you for all your lovely comments congratulating me with my 3 year bloggy birthday! I'm so touched by your sweet words and encouragement! I'm truly lucky to have such wonderful readers!! <3

For today, I would like to share with you another gem out of the unposted stash of manicures. I created it while playing around with the OPI Gwen Stefani collection. It was inspired by a pair of red shoes that kept popping up in the side ads of my Facebook page. I had seen the ad for days and finally it clicked (no pun intended) that I wanted to do something similar on my nails...

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...

Color Club Lady Holiday & Williamsburg...

Today I would like to show you two shades from the Color Club Fall collections. I decided that the two of them complimented each other so well that they had to be combined into one manicure...

31DC2013 Day 4 - Green

Today is day 4 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge which means a green manicure. I initially envisioned this manicure with black lines instead of gold, but when I finally created the manicure I quickly realized it was too dark so I started over and tried it with gold instead. I'm glad I didn't scrap the whole manicure idea entirely because I love how it turned out in the end. It's a lesson I keep learning with nail art time and time again. Just because it doesn't turn out perfectly the first time around, doesn't mean we should give up...

Polish Days: The Number 5

The theme for this month's Polish Days is the number 5. I'll admit it didn't immediately bring to mind anything interesting for me. I was actually set on skipping this challenge until two days ago when images of Cinco de Mayo celebrations started popping up. I was mesmerized by the gorgeous, colorful dresses. It took me back to my childhood dream of having a gypsy skirt that I could twirl around in. Let's face it, I would still love to have a skirt like that to twirl around...

Nicole by OPI Kellogg's Special K Lacquers...

Today I would like to show you three Nicole by OPI lacquers created in collaboration with Kellogg's Special K to encourage women to “show off your confidence with color.” The shades are available with proof of purchase of eligible Special K products. I had fun creating color blocking nail art with the three shades and of course couldn't resist taking a photo with my favorite Special K Red Berries cereal...

Tutorial Tuesday: Striping Tape and Gradient

Today I would like to share with you a tutorial for the technique used to create the striping tape and gradient manicure yesterday. If you read my spoiler alert at the bottom of that post, then you were probably already expecting this. It is a manicure that I think looks complicated, but is actually pretty easy to make. The fun part is experimenting with colors and tape placement for endless manicure possibilities. If you have not tried this technique yet, I hope this will encourage you to try it...

Supplies:

• 3 polishes of your choice (Barielle Banana Drop, Lilac Jelly Bean, and Green Apple Chew used for this manicure)
• Striping tape in any color 
• Makeup wedge or other sponge

Steps:

Instructions:

1. Apply desired number of coats of base color and allow to completely dry
2. Cut and apply pieces of striping tape in a desired pattern
3. Paint a stripe of each gradient color directly onto makeup wedge or sponge
4. Gently tap the sponge over the nail moving it slightly back and forth to blend the gradient
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 by applying more polish to the sponge and gently tapping on the nail  for a second coat of gradient. This helps build color opacity for the gradient
6. While the polish is still wet, carefully remove the striping tape one piece at a time
7. Using a Q-tip clean the cuticles of excess polish.
   Tip: clean up any fine details with a brush as demonstrated here
8. Add a layer of top coat (or two if the sponging is bumpy) and enjoy! 

As always, please let me know what you think of this or if you have questions!

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 **

Barielle Sweet Treats, Striping Tape and Matte-inee

I had quite a bit of fun playing with striping tape and a few of the beauties from the Barielle Sweet Treats collection. The resulting manicure is something that I have been wanting to try for a while and I am loving the result. It feels a bit like the cold gray winter transitioning to spring...

Tutorial: Rainbow Stripes

I wanted to make a quick tutorial of how I did the rainbow stripes manicure using striping tape from challenge day 9. Here is a reminder of what it looks like...

	Supplies: - Base and top coat (not pictured) - Black nail polish (I used Wet n Wild Black Cream) - Striping tape in rainbow colors (Red, Orange/Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet) - Cuticle nippers to trim the striping tape
	Step 1: - Cut each color of striping tape into pieces slightly wider than your nail
	Step 1: - Apply one layer of base coat, then - Apply desired number of black polish coats (I used one coat here)
	Step 1: - Apply the green striping tape across the middle of the nail, dividing it into equal halves
	Step 1: - Leaving a space above the green tape, place a piece of yellow tape
	Step 1: - Repeat with the red tape by placing it above the yellow, leaving the same amount of space in between the colors.
	Step 1: - Place the blue tape below the green, closer to the cuticle
	Step 1: - Lastly, place the violet tape below the blue.
	Step 1: - Using cuticle nippers trim the extra tape as close to the nail as possible
	Step 1: - Apply a top coat to seal in the manicure and you are done!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I'd love to know what you think or if you try this!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Day 9 - Rainbow Nails with Striping Tape

For the rainbow manicure of the challenge I decide to put the striping tape that I got from ebay to use. Unfortunately the tape set didn't have any orange, but I'm still so excited about how this manicure it turned out. This is definitely one I will be wearing again. I started out with one coat of Wet n Wild Black Cream and then added the striping tape. I don't have much more to say about it, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking :D

UPDATE: Tutorial for this manicure available here!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)