NOTW #2 ~ Purple Glitter Gradient and Foil

Here's another Nails of the week post. :i I wore this manicure for a whole week because I loved it. I don't know why but I'm in love with glitter gradients lately and yes, I'm wearing one at the moment too. :$ They're easy to make but they look so stunning.

I decided to dig out the foil from Essence I already tried once for this cute manicure, as an accent nail. :D

 Nail Tek - Foundation II

Color Club - Vintage Couture / 2 coats

Sponging: Orly - Bubbly Bombshell & OPI - Servin' up Sparkle

Ring finger: Essence - Style me Love / 1 coat & Transfer foil set in Style me Pretty

Essence Better than gel nails Top Sealer
 

 Let me know how do you like it. :i

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Video Tutorial: Chanel Fall 2012 Inspired Nail Tutorial

Another tutorial I wanted to make was Chanel Inspired nails I did a while ago. I decided to go with same colors as before, because I loved it and now I'm loving it even more, because my nails are longer now. :i

Daylight

This video was easy to film and edit and I hope you'll like it. :$

I feel so elegant with this mani. :D

Nail Tek Foundation 2
China Glaze - Cheers to You / 2 coats

OPI - Sparrow me the Drama / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Let me know if you have already tried it out and what color combo is your favorite. :)

I think I'm done with video tutorials for some time now, because I have no idea what to film next. If there's a video you would like to see, let me know. 

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Video Tutorial: Saran Wrap Nail Technique

If you follow me on instagram you would know I made my first video tutorial. :$ I spent hours on basic editing and almost gave up when my lap top died in the middle of saving. It also took so long to upload on YouTube and the video is less than 2 minutes long.

This is my first video tutorial so be nice. ^_^ I'm not super satisfied but for the first time I did more than great. Main problem I have with this video is the angle of filming but I didn't want to rotate it, so I just left it like that and played with editing. Next time, if there will be next time, I know how to film. :i

This is one easy tutorial of Saran Wrap Technique I tried the other day and of course there's tons of tutorials around. :i

Saran/Cling Wrap with Love's a Beach
Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Piece of Saran/Cling Wrap & China Glaze - Snow

Essie - Good to Go

Enjoy! :$

Leave comments here or on YouTube, rate and subscribe if you would love to see more tutorials. I'd really love to hear your feedback. Is there a tutorial you would like to see? Please let me know and I'll do my best.:)

Thanks for watching and reading! :i

Xoxo, 

Ivana :k

Saran/Cling Wrap with Love's a Beach

I'm having problems with wrist again so I will probably post even less than before. Anyway August is almost over so I wanted to wear a neon again. :L

I already had this color on my toes and I loved it, so I knew I picked the perfect color. I'm talking about China Glaze's . Perfect name, perfect color. :i

It's part of China Glaze's Summer Neons 2012 collection and I'm so happy I own it with Hang-Ten Toes. It has really great formula, two easy coats and layer of top coat to make it shiny.  It looks way too orange as in person but this polish is pink.

Daylight

Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I was a bit scared because I thought this polish is like a shimmer version of Pool Party and I'm really not a fan of PP but they look close when you compare the bottles but once applied PP is orangey and this one isn't. :e

I spent a day at pool and it started chipping so I decided to try Saran Wrap / Cling Wrap technique I saw around. I don't know who came up with this technique but it's such an easy technique and it gives a lovely result. 

Daylight

Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Love's a Beach / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Piece of Saran/Cling Wrap & China Glaze - Snow

Essie - Good to Go

You start with fully dry base color. Then you paint one coat of 2nd color over base color. When that layer is still wet, you take a piece of saran/cling wrap and tap it over that's how you get this effect. Now all you have to do is clean your cuticles and seal everything with coat of top coat and you're done. :)

Did you ever try Saran/Cling Wrap technique? :) Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Inspired by: Sophy Robson EEK Nails

Yap, another inspired by manicure. :) Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post, I was so happy when I saw you like it so much and I didn't expect a feedback like that. ^_^

I tried to find more manicures and when I saw this manicure, I had to try it out. It's simple but cute! :L

Here's a picture:

http://www.sophyrobson.com

This manicure was done by successful Sophy Robson, who paints the nails of celebrities. :) All the colors were made just for the Giles SS11 Show.

I tried to match the colors but I just couldn't find any similar blues in my stash. It looks like a blue with green undertones and I don't like them so I picked another one instead.

I made googly eyes with dotting tool and black and white polish. This manicure is so simple but it looks so cute. :)

 Nail Tek Foundation 2
Thumb: Orly - Pure Porcelain / 2 coats
Index: China Glaze - Sugar High / 2 coats

Middle finger: Essence - Sunny Side Up / 3 coats

Ring finger: Essence - Chuck / 2 coats

Pinkie: Essence - Replay! / 2 coats

Eyes: Dotting tool + Essence Stamp me! White & BPS  black stamping polish

Essie - Good to Go

Daylight

What do you think? :i Thanks for reading! :h

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Inspired by: Chanel Fall 2012 Couture Nails

Few days ago I was spending my time on Tumblr checking nail art pictures, when I spotted this gorgeous manicure. Of course I googled more for details and after seeing more detailed pictures, I knew I had to try it myself. The manicure I'm talking about was done by Chanel and here's a picture.

http://www.vogue.co.uk

For the autumn/winter 2012-13 couture show, nails were painted in a limited-edition Silver shade from 2007, before spring 2012's May was applied in an oval shape.

Two colors that were used on Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2012 runway were Silver (2007, discontinued) and May (Spring 2012). 

I don't own any of those, well I actually don't have any Chanel's nail polishes, because they're too expensive, so I decided to make something similar. :i

Two colors I decided to use were China Glaze Cheers to You and OPI Sparrow me the Drama. This is some kind of ruffian manicure but a lot easier version, because there is more free edge on sides of nails and with a flat brush like OPI has, you're done in 3 brush strokes. :) 

I made lines even cleaner with brush soaked in remover. I gently removed the pink where needed without ruining the silver foil underneath, because foils really stick on nails. Of course you can always apply top coat over silver and before pink. to be really sure you won't ruin the base color with brush and remover.

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Cheers to You / 2 coats

OPI - Sparrow me the Drama / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I'm very excited to post this manicure today and I hope you'll like it too. :i I did my best to show you my both hands, but nothing can't compare to the original though... So, all you need is a metallic or foil silver and bubblegum pink and you can rock these as models did. ^_^

Let me know what do you think about Chanel's nails, would you wear them? :) Thanks for reading! :h

Edit - 20h September 2012 ~ Adding video tutorial :)

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Sweet Thing Pacific Blue

Can you tell I'm absolutely in love with twocolored manicure? Well I'm wearing third combo in a row. :i I hope you're not already bored with them. :P

 

H&M Dress

New Yorker Bracelet

Yap, neon pink and royal blue. :L Both a bit hard to catch on picture, but you get an idea. ^_^ Do you remember I had an wrist operation in December? Thatt's why I'm havng a scar on my right hand. :$

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue / 2 coats

Ruby Kisses - Sweet Thing / 2 coats

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

 Let me know what do you think! Thanks for reading! :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Aquadelic Fancy Fuchsia

Huh, can you read me now? xo This malware problem almost made me stop blogging. But it should be fine now. If you're still having problems please let me know. If you have this malware problem, try to remove your blogroll, ads, favicon,..., check Google Webmaster Tool and ask for another check from Google and it should be fixed in a day if you removed everything you should.. :) I also extended a BPS $18 Giftacard Giveaway for two days and added a Google form instead of Rafflecopter, because I'm not really sure how safe Rafflecopter is.

It's finally super hot here and because I love neons atm so much I decided to wear my new neon top. <3 I usually don't mach my nails with my outfit, that's why I decided to wear another fun combo with neon pink and turquoise. I think I finally found a way to wear turquoise and green shades more often :)

I played with taking pictures to catch my nails and my outfit in the background. :)

H&M Top

Tally Weijl Shorts

New Yorker Bracelet

Daylight

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Thumb, Ring finger: China Glaze - Aquadelic / 2 coats
Orly - Fancy Fuchsia / 2 coats 

What do you think? :) Do you like this combo?

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Atena the Holographic Goddess

It's June but the weather is nothing like it. And when I woke up into sunny day, I knew what I'll be wearing next days. :)

Blurry photos show the real thing... :rainbow

Sun

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Mr. Big / 2 coats

Hits No Olimpo - Atena /  / 1 coat

Atena is a bit sheer so I decided to layer it over a berry creme and save some holo goddess for next time. :L The only downside of Atena is that it's not B3F so it stinks so bad but okay, I looove holos like this. ^_^

Do you like Atena? :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Replay Very Berry

I wanted to share both hands of my current manicure I already showed you here but I couldn't get a decent photo when I posted it few days ago. :) I'm still wearing it, because I love it so much. I don't know really why but I love when my mani is something special. ^_^

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Essence - Replay / 2 coats

Essence - Very Berry / 2 coats

You can see my PJ's in background. xD

How would you call this manicure style? I think I'll make another color combination tommorow for sure. :e

Because I only have one picture, here's another of  my big boy in action. :i

Let me know if you'd wear a manicure like this. :P

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Very Berry Replay

I wasn't really sure what to wear on my nails when I removed my Houndstooth Nails today so I picked just 2 random polishes and played with them. :D

Daylight

I have this combo on my left hand and reverse combo on my right hand and I must say I love it. It's kind of weird and funky, but I love when my nails are something special. :P

I used Very Berry and Replay from Essence, but both are discontinued now. :/ Such a shame, because I love them so much! ^_^

Sun

 OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Thumb, index, middle finger: Essence - Replay / 2 coats

Ring finger, pinkie: Essence - Very Berry / 2 coats

Quick post for today! Would you wear a combo like this? :)

Have a lovely start of the week! :h

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Berry with Gold Glitter

I'm really into sponging lately. :e Sponge is such an easy tool to use but it gives really amazing results. :L

Traffic Jam is a part of China Glaze's Metro Fall 2011 collection. It's a berry creme with really great formula (if you're careful, you can easily get away with just one coat). It's not so pink as on the pictures below but it's really hard to capture with my phone.

I didn't want anything from that fall collection at first but when I saw this manicure from Elsa I just had to have it! :L I still need to try out that combo, but this time I decided to go with gold. I usually sponge the glitter on the tips of my nails, but this time I decided to sponge them on the base of the nails.

The gold glitter I used is Make it Golden from Essence. I just love everything about this polish - gold hexagonal glitter, tiny glitter and gold dust in clear base. <3 I already showed you in combination with nude or blue. :) I definitely need a back up!

Sun

Daylight

Sun - Blurry

OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

China Glaze - Traffic Jam / 2 coats

Sponging: Essence - Make it Golden
Nail Tek Intensive Therapy II

I had to include the last blurry picture, because the gold really pops out. :L Just gorgeous! <3

What do you think about this manicure? Would you wear it? :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Blue & Turquoise Gradient Nails

Can you believe it's already May here? :o Time flies by so fast....

I have another gradient manicure for you. :) I must say I'm really loving this trend, because they look so amazing and I got lots of compliments when I wore them. :$

Last time I picked a pink that was really hard to capture on picture and this time I picked a turquoise that looks blue on the pictures but I really hope you can see 2 colors on the pictures below. :D

Anyway, I applied a turquoise (China Glaze - Aquadelic) and baby blue creme (Essence - Fall for me) polish on the sponge and sponged it directly nails, moving the sponge a bit up and down while pressing so the colors really mixed together on the nail. I repeated this step 3 times to get a bit more opaque colors.I think I should add another coat but it looks better in person as on picture (I still can see some bald spots here and there).

Daylight

Sun

Here's how I applied 2 colors on the sponge. :)

Sponging: China Glaze - Aquadelic & Essence - Fall For Me

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

There's a lot of techniques to do a gradient effect. You can do it like I did, or you apply one color and sponge the second on the tips,... I really love this tutorial from Sammy at The Nailasaurus so you should really check it out to see how she does it. I'll definitely try her method soon. :e

What do you think about today's color combination? Like it or not? :)

Have a lovely week and thanks for reading!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Pink & Orange Gradient Nails

I'm a big fan of sponging so I had to try out this technique too, because the final result is just so pretty. :)

I'm talking about gradient nails, which are very easy to make but they look so gorgeous! This is the first time I tried it and I think I'll do more in the future. I only have one crappy picture, because Fancy Fuchsia is really hard to capture and all pictures are even worse and color inaccurate. :/

Daylight

I saw this technique with 4 colors a while ago on YouTube, but since my nails are short, I decided to go with just two - pink and orange. :)
The secret is applying both colors on the sponge (I'm using kitchen sponge). Then you press the sponge on the surface (paper, foil, plastic cup,...) to remove excess and sponge your nails. This is how you get a thin coat with gradient effect. To get a full opacity, you should re-apply nail polish to the sponge and do the same steeps couple of times but always wait till bottom layers are almost dry so you don't ruin it.
I also tried it without pressing the sponge on the surface first. I sponge directly on the nail and move the sponge a bit up and down so the colors really get mixed on the nail and you get a bit more opaque coat, which I prefer a bit more. :)
When you're done, don't forget to clean up your cuticles, because they can get really messy, apply a coat of top coat and you're done. :)

 OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

Sponging: China Glaze - Peachy Keen & Orly - Fancy Fuchsia

Beauty Secrets Top Coat Fast Finish Polish Dryer

What do you think about gradient nails? Do you like them?

Have a lovely Sunday and thanks for reading! :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

China Glaze - Aquadelic

 Let's show you something not pink, okay? :P

Aquadelic is a first polish from Electropop collection that I'm showing you on my nails. That collection really stole my heart (just like Up and Away) and I still want 2 of them (Kinetic Candy & Electric Beat) to complete my WL. :D

Aquadelic is everything you want from a turquoise creme nail polish. Great formula, easy application, you can easily get away with one thick coat but here I did 2 thin. Dries fast, looks fab. :D

I really love the color in the bottle, but I'm really not sure how it looks on my nails. I'll try it one more time when I get Dance Baby, because they go so perfectly together. :D

Btw... This polish is so hard to capture on picture! I ended with way to blue toned pics, but this polish really has lots of green undertones, I did my best with pictures below. Compared with For Audrey it's a bit brighter, so they definitely aren't dupes, in case you were wondering.

Daylight

Sun

 Nail Tek Foundation 2

China Glaze - Aquadelic / 2 coats

I think it stained my nails a bit and I wore it only for an hour, so be sure you're having 2 coats of base coat to prevent any major staining! :P It's such a pretty color - this is a good example how green I can go. :D

What do you think about Aquadelic? Do you already have it in your stash?

Have a lovely weekend dear readers and followers and thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Step by Step: Pink Leopard Manicure

I'm so in animal prints lately, can you tell? :D So here's another one... But unfortunately I love this manicure in person more as on this pictures. Some of them I took 3 days ago when the weather was so grey and rainy so they aren't the best. And everything looks so better in person. :(

Anyway another step by step, easy as always but I took some pictures in between and I want to post them all together. Another layering and stamping... Here's the final result. :)

But it's much prettier in person, because that holographic glitter doesn't show up at all. :( More after a click.:)

OPI - Kiss me on my Tulips

OPI's Holland collection is probably the first one this year that made me sooo excited. I still didn't get my picks from Holland but my sis' Veri did a swap with Canadian Nail Fanatic and she got a few of them, so she kindly borrowed them to me so I can already try them out. <3 She was so excited when she got her package and this was her first swap she made, so we both want to say thank you mrsrexy. :)

First one that I decided to try out is Kiss me on my Tulips (I love this name :D ). This one or Nicole by OPI All Kendall-ed Up - they're dupes (you can see a comparison here), is a must have for all pink nail polish lovers as me. :$

It has really great formula, you probably can get away with only one thick coat but I decided to add 2 thin layers. It's a hot pink creme, that just stole my heart as soon as I put it on my nails. :L

The color is a bit hard to catch on photo, especially on sun, but let's say it's much prettier in person. :i

Daylight

Sun

Nail Tek - Foundation 2

OPI - Kiss me on my Tulips / 2 coats

 Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

Last photo was taken today and I already have this polish on for 3 days. :L I wanted to stamp something over it but it's so pretty color I didn't want to add anything to ruin it. I think it goes perfectly with my skin tone and I already know I'll wear it more often. :L I still need to check if I'm having any close dupes in my stash. If not, I'll probably need a back up. :) 

What do you think? Is this your type of pink? Which one did you get from Holland collex? :)

I can't believe it's already April. :o And it's Fools' Day today. Did you manage to fool anyone? I didn't, I'm really not having a good day today, so let me know if anything funny happened to you today. :)

Xoxo,

Ivana :k

Pink Caviar Manicure

I'm sure you're already familiar with Caviar manicure, because I'm seeing it everywhere at the moment but in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll tell you one more time. :P

Ciaté released a Caviar Manicure set, where you get a base nail polish and pearls aka beads. Long story short, great idea but the whole set is a bit overpriced. Okay, you get a tray and mini funnel to pour back all beads that fall down but you can put a tiny box under and make your own funnel from a piece of paper. :D The idea about caviar manicure is to pour pearls over wet polish, gently push them to stick even more and get a 3D manicure that looks like caviar. :D I think we all got same idea when we saw this set....
 

All you need are beads. I got mine on Born Pretty Store ages ago, search for 3D Steel Ball Glitter. This set costs a bit more than $5 and you get 12 colors so you can easily mix them together and get funny combinations. You can use my new code J10X31 to get 10% off. Btw... If this code will be used two times more, BPS will sponsor a giveaway. :)

Step 1: Apply a base color. Or if you already have nail polish on, you can just add a layer of top coat to have sticky surface. Do one nail at a time.

Step 2: When polish is still wet, put your finger over something that will catch fallen beads. Sprinkle beads over your nail to cover the whole surface.

Step 3: Gently push the beads down so they stick a bit more and you get rid of a beads that didn't stick to the nail.

Step 4: Apply a coat of top coat to seal the beads and make them "long lasting".

Daylight

I did my ring finger yesterday and it seems like the topcoat changed color to light pink so it looks like I did an accent nail. :P

Sun

 Base color: Essence TE Circus Circus - Cotton Candy

Mix of pink, light pink and purple 3d Steel Ball Glitters

Beauty Secrets TC Fast Finish Polish Dryer

I was done in less than 10 minutes, but I only did my left hand. I'm sure I'll do a full manicure once in the future, because it's really easy to make it.

My nails are super short, excuse me for that, but the final result looks funny and cute even on my nubs. :) So yes, no need to spend so much money on that set. :e You can mix as many color as you like so you're not limited with specific color combinations of beads, that's another plus!

What do you think? Do you like this new trend and idea about Caviar manicure? It's not super long lasting so I'd definitely wear it for special occasions or when you want to do something special. :D

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

Guest Post at Fashion Polish

Yap, at Fashion Polish!!! :o Can you believe this? I think I'm dreaming. <3

Click on the picture above to see the whole post. :)

Xoxo,
Ivana :k

1 Dot, 2 Dots, 3 Dots, .... ∞

Sarah from Chalkboard Nails is hosting a lovely nail art contest. :) I usually don't enter any contests, because themes are way to complicated for me or I just don't have time to actually make something out. :) But I really loved the Sarah's theme: The Dotting Tool. Everyone knows how to use a dotting tool or if you don't have it, you can use a toothpick or a bobby pin. Simple but you can get a lovely polka dot pattern. <3 I'm a big fan of polka dots so I almost made a plain manicure with dots for this contest but then I decided to challenge myself.

I always wanted to try this out but I never actually had patience for this. I came home in a bad mood because of my exams yesterday, so I decided to do something with my nails and cheer me up. I had a bad cut with a razor few days ago so I shorten them as short as possible again.

So, I started with a coat of BS. So "naked" nails, dotting tool, a white and bunch of pink and  polishes. :D Another manicure that just screams my name. :$

I added dots on background with CS3, I just loved the heart theme before and I can't stop trying more and more. :) Pictures aren't best, because this weather makes everything just worse. :(

Daylight

I'm holding China Glaze - Empowerment

All the polishes I used are on the picture below. :) I used those two sided dotting tool for dots.

 China Glaze - Snow, Something Sweet, Empowerment, Sugar High, Laced Up,  Rich & Famous, Heli-Yum

Orly - Fancy Fuchsia, Frolic

Catrice - Hot or Not

p2 - Crazy Love

Essie - French Affair, Splash of Grenadine

Essence - Very Berry, Mr. Big

It's not hard to make a manicure like this. You just keep adding dots until your nail is fully covered. :) You probably need a bit of patience and that's it. :)

I'm not expecting to win anything, because lots of gorgeous manicures already entered but I had a great time doing this manicure. So if you're a dotting tool fan or you would like to try something out, enter Sarah's contest too! 

Let me know what do you think? Will you try it out? If you don't like pink, you can choose your fave color, I'm really wondering how would this manicure look in purple or even blue. :D I'd need more blues in my stash to get a manicure like this. :D 

Xoxo,

Ivana :k