JOIN MY APOTHICA GIVEAWAY!!!

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APOTHICA is giving away $25 worth of gift certificate to one of the followers of Art of Nail

APOTHICA is an online boutique that provides makeup, hair care, and many more beauty and skin care products.
They carry premium beauty brands such as Clinique, Too Faced, SkinMedica, DuWop, La Roche-Posay, etc.
Apothica have Master Estheticians available who are willing to help clients choose the right product for them.
Check out their site for more amazing products.

Here's how to join:

Mandatory Rule:
• Become a follower of my blog Art of Nail
And visit APOTHICA and tell me which item you prefer if ever you will win. (2entries)

Optional :
• Become a fan of Apothica on facebook (1entry)
• Follow Apothica on twitter (1entry)
• Mention this post on twitter (1entry)
• Sign up for their newsletter - found at the bottom of their page (3entries)
• Mention this post on your facebook (1entry)
• Mention this post on your blog (1entry)

• Total of 10 entries

Pls. Provide a link if you post , retweet, etc. So I can check it!


P.S the winner will be notified thru email. Don't forget to include your email address so that I can inform you if ever you win! Goodluck!
giveaway ends on : JULY 15, 2011 at 11:59 pm Philippine time.

You have read this article apothica / CONTEST / GIVEAWAY with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/join-my-apothica-giveaway.html. Thanks!

Candy Mani (part 3)

Hi there~

Yay, another Candy Mani! I'm really addicted to this kind of mani. It's so juicy and summery looking.
For an explanation on what is a Candy Mani and more info on how to do one, please go here.

2 coats of Haute as Hello (Essie) + 2 coats of Sparkle-icious (OPI) + 

index and middle finger: Guy Meets Gal-veston (OPI), 1 coat

ring finger and pinkie: In The Spot-Light Pink (OPI), 1 coat

I suggest you click on the pictures to enlarge them and see the details better!

 

So for the base, I used Essie Haute as Hello (Summer 2010). It's a bright coral/peachy nail polish with a neon finish. It dries matte as most neons :p I'm not a neon sucker that's why I decided to do a cany mani with it in order to hide the neon finish under a juicy and glossy jelly. It gave brightness and a summery look to the nails but allowed me to circumvent the inconvenient of the too flashy neon finish. The color itself is really pretty and like it very much.

The application of Haute as Hello was a bit tricky because it's on the thick side but if you're careful it's all right. It's very opaque but you will need 2 or 3 coats to have an even finish.

I've got to try other combo (not necessary a cany mani) with Haute as Hello because I really like the color! Maybe with stamping I would like the neon finish better! I've got to try that!

Haute as Hello (Essie), 2 coats, without top coat, without flash

Haute as Hello (Essie), 2 coats, without top coat, with flash

Now let's add some glitters! I used the gorgeous and very festive Sparkle-icious (OPI, Burlesque collection, holliday 2010).It's a mainly a gold glitter polish but it contains also some pink, blue glitters.

Haute as Hello (Essie) + Sparkle-icious (OPI)

Finally I added on my index and middle finger one coat of Guy Meets Gal-veston (OPI, Texas collection, spring-summer 2011) and one coat of In The Spot-Light Pink (OPI, Femme de Cirque collection, spring 2011) on my ring finger and pinkie.

I added the last picture because you can really see the sparkles and glossy look on this blurry picture (esp for the index and middle finger). And it represents everything I like about candy manis. You can see the glitter embedded into the jelly and you've got this sparkle from within impression!

I also really like the look of In The Spot-Light Pink over Sparkle-icious. The glitter has a completely different look under the sorbet/jelly. Even the color of the glitters look different! I find it funny!

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them!

You have read this article candy mani / coral / ESSIE / GLITTER / neon / OPI with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/candy-mani-part-3.html. Thanks!

On How To Do A Candy Mani

Hi there~

I've heard a lot of people being interested in Candy Manis lately and having a lot of questions about them! In this post, I will try to describe the different steps as well the different polishes you can use to achieve a nice Candy Mani. If you have any questions or requests, I will be pleased to answer them, if I can :p I'm not an expert, but I will try to do my best!

How to do a Candy Mani?

Basically to do a Candy Mani, you will need to start with a base coat of your choice (it can be a colored one), then a glitter coat should be added on top and finally a coat of jelly or sorbet should be applied to creat the juicy finish that caracterizes Candy Manis.

What are jellies or sorbets?

I've heard a lot of people asking what jelly polishes are. They are translucent or sheer polishes that possess a shine and glossy finish. They look like syrup on your nails. They are called "jellies", "sorbets" or "jelly syrups".

Which polish should I choose?

For your base coat, everything is permitted. You can  let your imagination go and choose any color that you feel like wearing. Normally, a cream polish is used but you can use a pearl or foil finish as well. Concerning the color, normally again (but you can experiment different things! ;D ) I choose a color that belongs to the same family as my glitter and jelly color.

Glitter nail polishes are rather easy to find and nearly every brand has a few glitter nail polishes. So I will not add much explanation here. Any glitter polish should do the work! I personally prefer when the glitters are densly packed, it gives a more uniform finish.

Finally, to create a Candy Mani, you will need a jelly/sorbet polish to give your mani a final juicy touch! I personally like using polishes from OPI Texas Collection (Spring 2011) which are called "sorbets". They are perfectly suited for Candy Manis. Their colors range from berry, pink, and purple to orange.

I've also tried "In The Spot-Light Pink", which is part of OPI Femme de Cirque Collection (Spring 2011). It's a very sheer, slightly pink color that will give a milky but glossy touch to your mani.

Revlon has also launched some jellies perfect for Candy Manis called "Just Tinted". They are 4 colors: pink, coral, orange, and red/plum.

Nfu Oh has also launched a whole gamme of jelllies which is called "The Jelly Syrup Series". This collection consists of 45 different shades! Yeah, you read well, 45!! The variety of color is just amazing!

Nfu Oh Jelly Syrup Series

Source: Fabulous Street.com

Cathy Richardson has created a FB group where you can find a list of a lot of jelly nail polishes! The name of the group is "Ask Cathy" and you can access it if you click here.
I've also found a link where you can also find a list of jelly polishes here.

I hope this post will help you creating beautiful Candy Manis. But be careful! This type of mani is really addictive. Once you've done one, you want to try different combos because it always looks so juicy, glossy, and summary that you will love it! Have fun~

I've got 2 examples on my blog: a pink and a blue Candy Mani. I have experimented others so I will post them soon!

You have read this article candy mani with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-how-to-do-candy-mani.html. Thanks!

Holo time! Gem by Nubar

Hi there~

Here is my mani of the day! This is the gorgeous Gem from the "Nubar Prism Collection", a gorgeous collection of 8 holographic glitter polishes: Spark (a pale beige), Jewel (dark brown), Brilliant (medium pink), Essence (coral), Absolute (light blue), Treasure (grape purple), Prize (berry pink), and Gem!

This collection was realised for Spring 2010.

According to Nubar...

Inspired by the colorful play of light through a prism, those bands of light and color are embodied in nubar’s Prism Collection. Each shade in the Prism Collection is filled with holographic glitter reflecting every color of the rainbow, with base colors just as varied, ranging from subtle neutrals to vivid pink to pale blue. Going a step beyond holographic nail lacquers, nubar’s Prism Collection is a celebration of color and light. As all nubar products, they are free of formaldehyde, toluene, and (DBP) phthalate, as well as vegan and cruelty free.

So here is Gem!

2 coats of Gem (Nubar) with an accent finger with Red Shatter (OPI), with flash

I suggest you click on the photo to enlarge it and see the details better!

So Gem is a hard-to-define and very interesting color. It's a light taupe base that leans towards muted mauve/pink with peachy reflects. In the shade it looks more taupe while in the sun it looks more peachy.  So I would call it a duochrome nail polish! The color is awesome. I can't find any other polish that is close to it. Totally unique to my collection! ;D

The holo effect is due to its very rich and dense glitters that reflect all the colors of the rainbow. Nevertheless, the color you can see the most (even if the light is not so strong) is green and red.

The holo effect is the strongest when the sun hits your nails and when your nails are in movement. So it's not so easy to show with "static pictures" the whole beauty of this polish.

A top coat was useful to even the slighly gritty finish. The polish dries into a lovely satin finish. It's not really glossy but a top coat helps a lot for this.

The application was flawless which is due to its very nice formula! The first layer was a bit sheer but with 2 coats you can easily achieve full opacity.

2 coats of Gem (Nubar), this is the most color-accurate picture.

2 coats of Gem (Nubar) with flash.

Its more taupe side.

Sparkles, sparkles and sparkles! In real life, it's even more sparkly!

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them! You will be able to pick the details and the holo particles better!

I took several pictures so that you can see the different colors the base color can take (taupe - peachy pink).

Final verdict: Gem is a must-have for every holo lover becaue it's so unique. The color is really pretty and not so in-your-face. It would nearly be work appropriate because it's a kind of neutral color. Nevertheless, the color is so original. I haven't seen any taupe that shifts towards muted mauve-peachy color in the sun  (duochrome) so far. The holo is really strong and makes your nails shine like crazy with thousands of glitters that reflects all the colors of the rainbow. It feels like you have jewels on your nails! ;D

You have read this article BROWN / GLITTER / holo / NUBAR / taupe with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/holo-time-gem-by-nubar.html. Thanks!

Franken with sparkling glitter powder!

Tadaaam~

Today I wanted to play with glitters and create a super glittery nail polish! This is my very 1st Franken polish! :p I hope you will like it!

Franken using NYX - GOG23 Disco Ball Sparkling Glitter Powder and a Clear Top Coat (Essence)

The picture might seem a bit blurry but it is not. Only the nails look like that. This might be due to the over sparkly nail polish that gave a hard time to my camera that couldn't  manage so many glitters at a time! Even in the dark and without flash, it sparkles like crazy!

In fact, I bought some time ago a beautiful sparkling glitter powder bottle from NYX called "GOG23 Disco Ball". This is sincerely the most sparkly thing I've ever seen in my all life! This is just crazy! The glitter powder looks silver with a tones of glitters that reflect the light to give a beautiful rainbow pattern. The different colors are really strong. They bump into your eyes! Impossible not to notice them.

As this was my first Franken, I tried to do it on a small glass plate and not in a full polish bottle.

For this I started to put some glitters, about half of a tea spoon on the plate and then added a few drops of clear nail polish. Then I mixed everything with a toothpick and applied it on the nails.

Here is a picture of my preparation desk.

NYX - GOG23 Disco Ball Sparkling Glitter Powder - Clear Top Coat (Essence)

And now, let's watch the final result!

  



This was insanely sparkly! I did it on bare nails but I guess it would look even better on a dark base color like dark blue.

Then I added some stamping (BM 19) and did an accent nail with OPI Black Shatter.



You have read this article franken / GLITTER / NYX / SILVER with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/franken-with-sparkling-glitter-powder.html. Thanks!

Giveaways

Hi there~

Let me introduce you to 3 great and wonderful giveaways!

Check this great giveaway that the lovely Tracey has prepared for us! Follow her if you don't because her blog is really great!

 _____________________________

The 2nd one is from Jeanie from Midnightmanicure
This is a totally awesome giveaway! You've got to participate! And her blog is really great and full of precious info!
For more details on the price, go on her page!

 _____________________________

The 3rd one is  from Prettyedgynails to celebrate her 300 followers! Yay, congrats!!

Prize #1: OPI Sparkle-icious, OPI Teenage Dream, OPI Simmer &Shimmer AND your choice of one mac eyeshadow from the upcoming semi-precious collection

Prize #2: OPI Mermaid Tears, OPI Sparrow Me the Drama, Opi Planks a lot AND your choice of one mac eyeshadow from the upcoming semi-precious collection.

Prize #3: A coach keychain "Coach <3 Poppy" (I bought one myself this weekend, it's adorable!)

in the little coach pouch and the store bag AND your choice of one Mac MSF from the upcoming semi-precious collection.

You have read this article with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/giveaways.html. Thanks!

Zoya - Purple comparison

Hi there~

Some people sharing their love on Zoya Facebook Page wanted to see a comparison picture of Dannii and Zara. They seem indeed quite close in the bottle but are really different on the nails!

Here are some pictures to show you the differences between these 2 gorgeous nail polishes! I've also added 2 other Zoya purple polishes I have, i.e. Yasmeen and Mimi. This is 3 coats for all nail polishes, without any top coat so that you can see the different finishes better.
Application was perfect for all. Nevertheless Dannii was slightly more difficult to work with but application was still flawless.

Index: Zara

Middle finger: Dannii

Ring finger: Yasmeen

Pinkie: Mimi

You can see the difference in color and in finish! Zara on the left, Dannii on the right.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them!

As you can see on the pictures, Zara is lighter and softer than Dannii. 

Compared to Dannii, Zara tends to lean towards pink. 

The finish is also different, Zara has a softer, smoother finish while Danni is more foil-like with a metallic finish.

Zara is also a bit sheer with a kind of jelly texture, but with 3 coats you can easily achieve full opacity. Dannii is more opaque, you only need 2 coats.

Zara is an incredible duochrome nail polish that flashes gold very strongly. It's very soft, sophisticated and work appropriate, I believe.

Dannii with its kind of metallic finish and its beautiful purple color with red and gold shimmer is really a stunning polish as well!

Yaseem leans towards burgundy and has a very smooth glass-like finish.

Mimi leans towards blue but is still more purple than blue, I think. It's a very glittery and shimmery nail polish.

You have read this article COMPARISON / PURPLE / ZOYA with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/zoya-purple-comparison.html. Thanks!

Candy Mani (part 2)

Hi there~

Candy Manis look so fun and pretty I wanted to try another one. In fact, I tried 2 different candy manis today. I'll post one now and the other later.

So for the first one, I used Absolutely Alice (OPI) as the glitter polish. Absolutely Alice is one of the most gorgeous glitter nail polishes I own. It is part of the "Alice in Wonderland Collection" which was launched in 2010 and inspired by Alice in Wonderland the movie.

I already wrote a small post about this gorgeous nail polish here but as I changed my way of taking pictures, I will add just some pix to show you all the beauty of the polish! It's basically a royal blue glitter polish in a clear base. The glitters are so densely packed that it's easy to reach full opacity in 2 or 3 coats. There are also some gold glitters that remind Alice's gold hair. 

Application is really good. The removal of the glitters might be a bit difficul as with every glitter nail polish but the overall result is so gorgeous that I don't care spending some more time to take them off.

Here, I used 2 coats of Ski Teal We Drop (OPI) and then 2 thin coats of Absolutely Alice.

2 coats of Asolutely Alice (OPI) over 2 coats of Ski Teal We Drop (OPI)

2 coats of Asolutely Alice (OPI) over 2 coats of Ski Teal We Drop (OPI)

2 coats of Asolutely Alice (OPI) over 2 coats of Ski Teal We Drop (OPI)

Then comes the jelly/sorbet part. I used 3 different jelly/sorbet nail polishes to achieve 3 different colors. Here are the polishes are used:

- 25 Glisten Up! (Essence): It consists of a light blue base with really fine silver glitters and larger green glitters. The green glitters look rather like flakies. The overall effect is a light green/teal effect.

- In The Spot-Light Pink (OPI): This lacquer is part of the "Femme de Cirque Collection" launched for Spring 2011. It has a sorbet finish and is really sheer. Concerning its color, it's a very light baby pink, but very sheer as I said. So it gives a milky and glossy finish to the nail polish you applied on.

- Guy Meets Gal-veston (OPI): is part of the "Texas Collection" launched for Spring 2011 as well. It's a coral sorbet.

Base color: Ski Teal We Drop (OPI) + 2 coats of Asolutely Alice (OPI) +

Index: Guy Meets Gal-veston (OPI), 2 coats

Middle finger: In The Spot-Light Pink (OPI), 2 coats

Ring finer and pinkie: 25 Glisten Up! (Essence), 2 coats

 

I really like the overall effeect! It's so shiny, glossy and juicy looking and moreover very sparkly due to Absolutely Alice's glitters!
For index and thumb: Guy Meets Gal-veston makes Asolutely Alice purple and the gold and blue glitters turned to pink. The above pictures don't do any justice to this because in reality it's much more sparkly and you can see a lot (really a lot) of pink glitters. Much more than what you can see in these pix. And it looks really dark purple and not blue.

For middle finger: the final look is a blue jeans color with gold and blue glitters. In The Spot-Light Pink changes the royal blue of Absolutely Alice into a more cooled down blue but it's still really pretty because it now looks like jeans! It also gives more shine and a juicy and glossy finish.

For ring finger and pinkie, 25 Glisten Up! gives a so pretty final look by adding some green flakies to the base polish that now looks green/blue. It reminds me of mermaids and the caribbean sea.

25 Glisten Up! (Essence)

This is one of  my all time favorite mani!

You have read this article BLUE / candy mani / GLITTER / GREEN / OPI / PURPLE / sorbet with the title June 2011. You can bookmark this page URL http://ojezevki.blogspot.com/2011/06/candy-mani-part-2.html. Thanks!