Gifts from Australia...

A few weeks ago I won a giveaway from Miranda of Mirannie's Nails sponsored by piCture pOlish. I got to choose three shades and this time I chose Denim, Festival and Tiffany. They arrived a few days ago and they are all so beautiful! I will have swatches of them soon. It was one of my New Year's resolutions (in an attempt to decrease endless polish buying) that any polish that enters this household starting Jan 1st must be tried/swatched within 30 days or it goes back to where it came from... we'll see how that goes :D

Another big thanks Miranda for hosting the wonderful giveaway! Check out her blog at Mirannie's Nails.

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :) 

Pure Ice Year of the Dragon Crackle & Ice Duo

Today I have one more Year of the Dragon manicure to share with you. This one comes courtesy of Bari Cosmetics who kindly sent me these two polishes for review. Unlike my previous manicure, this one is a more traditional color scheme for Chinese New Year. It reminds me of beautiful lanterns with light shining through.

For the manicure I started out with the gold, which sadly does not have a name, only the number (313CP) on the bottom. In all the communication I received it is simply referred to as Gold. I topped the gold off with a layer of Show Stopper, a bright red jelly crackle. I had no problems with application. The crackle was very consistent. I love that it is a jelly and allows the gold to shine through.

When it came to the symbol to stamp, I had a hard time picking one out since there are so many plates with Chinese symbols and I have no idea what they mean. I enlisted the help of a friend to explain the meanings of them until I finally settled on the symbol from Bundle Monster plate BM-221. She translated it to means lucky, fortunate in life and so much more. So here is to a wonderful Year of the Dragon...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Pure Ice Collection: Year of the Dragon 2012, Crackle & Ice Duo Color Name/Number: Show Stopper, 569CP Number of coats: 1 (over 3 coats 313CP) Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Contains Camphor

Here are the swatches of the gold on it's own. It is a bright yellow gold foil with some shimmer qualities. Streaking was minimal with careful application and because it is so shiny you can't see any of them in the photos regardless. I used three coats to get full coverage. Photos are with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Pure Ice Collection: Year of the Dragon 2012, Crackle & Ice Duo Color Name/Number: Bite Me, 313CP Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) Contains Camphor

UPDATE: The gold is named Bite Me

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

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

Happy Year of the Dragon!

My bf's mom made this adorable little dragon that she gave us to welcome the Year of the Dragon. It is the cutest little thing and I instantly wanted to match a manicure it. Sadly, my computer decided to be stubborn and I couldn't get this posted yesterday for the 1st day of the year. My bf spent the day reinstalling the whole system and all the programs, but now I'm back to show you this cute little guy...

For the manicure I used Sinful Colors Unicorn which was just a touch darker than the little guy, but the closet color I have. Then, I and added a little ruffle design to the side of the nail using Sparitual Delight, to match the dragon's ruffle "spine". It is such a sweet color combination. Makes me think of spring :)

Just a few shots of Sinful Colors Unicorn on it's own. I've swatched it before, but let's just say I shudder when I look at those photos... so I a fresh set of swatches was in order. Unicorn is a pastel yellow cream. It is one of the only yellows that I can really wear. It took three coats to even out the color and get full coverage. The only problem with this polish is that it stains the nails yellow, but I learned that lesson last time so I had a nice base coat underneath and it seemed to help. This is three coats with a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Sinful Colors Collection: Main Line Color Name/Number: Unicorn, 953 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

And for a bonus photo, here is the little one with his matching polishes....

Thanks for looking and Happy Year of the Dragon!
Anutka :)

Borghese Plumaggio Purple and Sunday Stamping - Stars

Welcome to the 3rd edition of Sunday Stamping. Today's challenge was stars. I'm hoping this qualifies because there is some, but not a lot of stamping here. I started out with a blue polish from Borghese named Plumaggio Purple. The reason I call it blue is because that's all I saw on my nails. The purple was mostly left in the bottle. Over the blue, I lightly sponged Sinful Colors Out of This World. Then I added the large stars which were hand made decals using Sally Hansen Celeb City. An annoying process which turned out to be cute, but a pain in the butt to do. I'm wishing I had the Essence stamping plate used by Jane of Nailside here. Sigh! I would make this so much easier. Now for the actual stamping part I added small stars from a plate named m08 that I ordered from Ebay.

Here is the result... I love how it turned out (except for a few air bubbles under the decals)...

And now for Plumaggio Purple on it's own. In the bottle, it is a dark blue with a strong purple shimmer. You can clearly see the purple in the first photo, but only in the bottle. It decided to stay there and not show up on my nails. I wish this was one of those "but trust me, it is there in real life" cases, but nope, what you see is what you get. Otherwise application was good and I do like the extra wide Borghese brush. Two coats plus a top coat in these swatches...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Borghese Collection: Main line Color Name/Number: B350 Plumaggio Purple Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP

I'd love to know what you think of the color or the final mani!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Cute Blog Award

I got tagged with the Cute Blog Award by Amanda of Amandalandish. Isn't that just the cutest little owl? Thank you so much Amanda! :)

The Rules

- Link back to the person who awarded you

- Answer award questions

- Share something you haven't shared about yourself on your blog

- Award as many blogs you think are worthy of this award

- Make sure to let those you award know you did so

The Questions

What is your go to makeup product?

 A touch of cover-up and some eye shadow (yes, usually just one, nothing fancy here) is all that I use.

What was your favorite fashion trend of 2011?

I'm not the most fashion forward person, so I'll tell you what my favorite polish trend was. That would be foils. I love the look of metal on my nails, but without the annoying streaks or see-throughness (yes, I'm making up words) of other metallic polishes. And as an added bonus they are perfect for stamping.

What is your favorite dessert?

 Pretty much anything with duche de leche or sweetened condensed milk. I love that stuff... oh and making your own dulche de leche from sweetened condensed milk can't be beat! Brings back childhood memories for me.

Favorite color?

Plum and lately deep navy blue on my nails. Black/grey in terms of clothes I like to wear. I think half of my closet is black and grey :)

What is your middle name?

Nice try! Although nothing exciting, it is my father's first name with a special ending per Russian traditions... ;)

What was the last song you listened to? 

All Your Life by The Band Perry. Loving that song right now!

Cats or Dogs?

 Both, but I'm allergic so neither :P

The Share

 I have recently become obsessed with Pinterest. That site is addicting. I love seeing what people pin and getting inspired. Pinning things myself has helped me go through the links I was saving. Now I can just visually see them, so much more appealing than bookmarks or text files. It is perfect!

The Tag

If you are reading this, you have a blog and have not been tagged yet then... tag, you're it!
Let me know if you accept the tag so I can come read all the juicy details about you :)

Thanks for looking!

Anutka :)

Zoya Gems & Jewels Recap...

Maybe I shouldn't call this a recap since I'm about to show three new manicures, but I did use the same polishes, so hopefully you'll let is slide ;). These manicures were inspired by a mermaid manicure done by Marta of ChitChat Nails. I just fell in love with it and had to try it. Since the Zoya's Gems & Jewels polishes were all still sitting on my desk, I thought it would be fun to try them. I think they turned out pretty cute although I wish I would have sponged the glitter on rather than using a brush...

Zoya Holly & Rina
For the base I used two coats of Zoya Stephanie, a great sheer that I love to use for french manis. Then I stamped over it with Holly using Bundle Monster plate BM-208. The same plate that I used in my original Holly/Rina manicure. I panted the tips with Rina, which for some reason is the hardest of the glitters for me to work with. I couldn't get a nice thin layer of it. Next time, it will be sponged on for sure. You can see swatches of Holly & Rina here (in case you missed them a few days ago). It makes me think of a sports field. If I ever need grass for nail art, this would be a good place to start...

Zoya Izzy & Kissy
Next up is the pink version of the mani. Again, I started out with two coats of Zoya Stephanie. I stamped with Izzy using Bundle Monster plate BM-209, same as for the original Izzy/Kissy mani. See how they all tie together? Tips were painted on using Kissy, the most holographic of the three glitters. Everything was topped off with a thick top coat to tame the glitter. You can see swatches of both of these polishes on their own here. This one turned out so sweet...

Zoya Noel & Twila
And I saved the best for last because again the Noel/Twila combo turned out to be my favorite. You can see swatches of each of them here. For this mani, I started out with surprise, surprise two coats of Zoya Stephanie. Stamping was done using Noel and Red Angel plate RA-108. Tips were then added using Twila. Everything was topped of with a nice layer of top coat and voila... :)

I think the metallic/foil properties of the Holly, Izzy and Noel made them great for stamping. I'm really pleased with the result. I hope you like it!

As a note of warning, when using these bar glitters for tips or a full mani, make sure there are no bars sticking out on edge of the nails... they are sharp little things :D

Let me know what you think :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Zoya Noel & Twila

The last two polishes in Zoya's Gems & Jewels collection turned out to be my favorite. I'm certainly loving these so let me show you Zoya's Noel, Twila, and some stamping...

Noel
A a cool blue foil made up of blue and silver particles. Great application and coverage. I can't stop staring at this one. This is two coats plus a top coat...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Gems & Jewels (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Noel, ZP581 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Twila (over Noel)
A dense blue glitter with both small blue particles and larger blue/holographic bar glitter. The holographic effect decided to hide from the camera, but it is visible when on the nail and certainly in the bottle. This is two coats of Twila over Noel from above...

Swatch Details
	Brand: Zoya Collection: Gems & Jewels (Holiday 2011) Color Name/Number: Twila, ZP580 (over 2 coats Noel, ZP581) Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: Yes Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Camphor

Like the others, this manicure couldn't escape my stamper. I used Wet 'n Wild Black Creme and Red Angel plate RA-108. The little piece of pattern missing from the middle finger is driving me nuts, but I still like the manicure over all. Hope you do to! :)

Let me know what you think about it!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)