Milani Blackberry Baby

I'm starting to feel like a blog about weather... "since it is sunny today I'll wear..." and "it is still gloomy today so I'll wear..." I'll try to do that less in the future, although I can't promise anything :)

Today I chose one of my favorites since the weather is still sucky (sorry I just had to... :P ).
Blackberry Baby from Milani just seemed to jump out at me this morning. It is a rich velvety red with purple undertones that just screams high class. I have a really soft spot for these deepened red/purple colors. I'm sure I'll be showing more of them soon!

It is just so rich and pigmented that it only needed 2 coats plus a top coat to look like this.

Isn't it yummy? Like Blackberry jam...
Do you love these colors as much as I do or am I alone in this? ;)

Brand: Milani Collection: main line Color Name/Number: 49 Blackberry Baby

Thanks for reading! :)
Anutka

Petites Java

What happened to spring? We only had a few sunny days, but mostly around here it is still overcast, rainy, and gloomy. I'm ready for some sun!
Whenever it gets like this, I usually reach for my darker shades. This one is not as dark as I would normally go, but maybe that is because I'm still hoping to see the sun peeking through today :)

 

This is a reddish brown color named Java from the Petites main line. It is slightly more brown than the photos show, but the camera just loved the reddish tone.
On a day like today a nice cup of Java just sounds sooo good! This polish doesn't particularly remind me of the drink, but I'm happy with the color anyways :)

Brand: Petites Collection: main line Color Name/Number: 100 Java

What kind of colors do you reach for when the weather is not what you would like?

Thanks for looking! :)
Anutka

Cover Girl Snowflake Frost

After wearing dark on my nails, I was in the mood for something nice an light. This is Snowflake Frost from the Cover Girl Nail Slicks collection. It is a very pretty sheer pearly metallic color. Depending on how the light hits it, it is either very pearly/shiny or barely there transparent. I applied 3 coats and the nail line was still visible.

The visible nail line doesn't usually bother me, but with this polish at certain angles it looked dirty and streaky instead of the pretty pearly color I wanted. I decided to try it over white, to keep the white pearly color, but hide the nail line. I used French White Cream from Wet and Wild underneath the CG Snowflake Frost. I really like how it turned out. Looks like I'm wearing pearls on my nails. Will do this combo again for sure.

This is two coats of French White Cream followed by two coats of Snowflake Frost and a topcoat...

Here is a little side by side comparison... Snowflake Frost by itself (left) vs Snowflake Frost over French White Cream (right).

Brand: Cover Girl
Collection: Nail Slicks
Color Name/Number: Snowflake Frost 020

What do you think? Is it better on it's own or over white?

Anutka

My Little Reward...

I decided to buy myself a little reward yesterday. You see, since playing with nail polish doesn't pay the bills, I have to have a day job. Actually in my case it is an evening job, but that is just semantics ;)
I work as pharmacist in a hospital where I have to be ACLS (acute cardiac life support) certified. In other words know what to do when the heart starts doing funny things or decides to stop all together.
Lets just say I'm so glad I'm a pharmacist and only responsible for the drugs because if I was the nurse......
Despite everything I did get certified, so I decided to buy myself a little reward on the way home :)

I got two Color Club collections. Each of these collections has a 2nd set to them which I did not get (yet)...
Only thing I don't like so far is that the bottles have no names/numbers on them (they are just listed on the back of the box) so it took me forever to figure out which color is which... hope I got them right :D

The top box is Alter Ego Reveal Your Mystery from their Spring 2011 collection
Left to Right: Get a Clue, Revealed, Incognito, Secret Rendezvous, Sheer Disguise, and Give me a Hint

The bottom box is Untamed Luxury Every Shade of Indulgence from their Fall 2010 collection
Left to Right: Pretty in Platinum, Wild Orchid, Positively Posh, Soft as Cashmere, Nothing but Truffle, Jewel of a Girl, and Ready in Royal.

So excited to try all these :D

Anutka

Color Fever Black Diamond

A few days ago, the Manicured Monkey had a posted a swatch of Wet n Wild Blackmail. She mentioned that she has been looking for a black color with flecks of interesting things in it. It reminded me of this Black Diamond from the Petites Color Fever Collection that I have been meaning to try. When I bought it, it looked like a black with white/silver glitter in it. When putting it on, it looked like a night sky with stars in it... so pretty :)

It is more of a dark gray rather than black, as the name suggests. Indoors it looks mostly as I expected... dark gray with white/silver flecks... but when I took it outside. YIKES!

Here it is outside. Hopefully you can see the full beauty of this polish. Click on the pictures to zoom in for the full effect... I think it has every color of the rainbow in it! I did not see the full potential of it when I was buying, but just love what I ended up getting! It just sparkles up when the light hits it...  :)

Brand: Petites
Collection: Color Fever
Color Name/Number: Black Diamond 517

What do you think of this polish?

That's all for now :)
Anutka

Sally Hansen Merlot - a pleasant surprise

I bought this SH polish in the clearance section of my local Rite Aid. The color in the bottle was not very impressive, but I decided I wouldn't be loosing much by trying it. The first coat was kind of meh, pretty thin and a raspberry-like color. As I started to add more coats, it turned into this gorgeous deep blackened raspberry color. It was opaque after three coats, but I ended up doing four just to even it out. The pigment seemed to pull away from the cuticles making it difficult to get an even color. Maybe if I had waited a bit longer between the 2nd and 3rd coat, I could have done without the 4th :)

The name Merlot suits it very well. It is like looking at a glass of deep red wine. I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised and definitely glad that I got this color.

outdoors (no direct sunlight)

When the sun hits it all the red tones come out and it looks really juicy and jelly-like...

Brand: Sally Hansen
Collection: Hard as Nails
Color Name/Number: Merlot

Thanks for reading :)
Anutka

Sally Hansen Mocha - Yummy!

I love brown! Probably a third of my wardrobe is brown.... okay, okay, maybe a little bit less :D
Still, why have I not tried it on my nails before?
Really wish I knew the answer to that. This is a really pretty medium-dark brown with a copper shimmer. It reminds me of the copper jewelry I like to make for my mom. Which reminds me that mother's day is coming up... ahhh, how did May sneak up on me already?

OK, back to the polish... The shimmer likes to hide indoors, so it is hard to see in the next few photos...

I even tried to go outside to catch the shimmer, but it was overcast for the most part, so not much luck. You can see it a little bit, but not too strong...

Then, on my way to work, in the car the sun finally came out and so did the shimmer. Lucky for me I have my camera with me most of the time, so I was able catch it (while stopped at a red light of course) :D
Just look at that shimmer... ahhh...

Click on image to zoom in

This was three coats + a top coat. I was a little worried about it being too thin at first, but it applied great and was opaque by the third coat.

Brand: Sally Hansen
Collection: Hard as Nails
Color Name/Number: Mocha

P.S.
Here is a peak at some of the copper pieces I have made for mom :D


Thanks for reading :)
Anutka