Zoya Mitzi stamping

Hi lovelies,

I had written this post earlier but I put it on hold for the Indepedence Day manicure.
A day after applying Zoya Mitzi, I had to go out for an engagement party. Thankfully, I had a dress in a similar but lighter shade. All that was needed to jazz up my manicure was a stamping. And I had just the perfect design in mind: Hibiscus flowers from the plate 318 in the new Bundlemonster set.

I used Konad white to stamp on the base. And picked some glitter from NYX Enchanted Forest to add highlights to the mani as well as match it to the print of the dress.

Another shot with my outfit...

Click on the picture to enlarge it. So, what do you think? Do leave a comment below. I would love to read your inputs. Thanks for reading :)

Indian Independence Day Nail Art

Hello fellow Indians,

Happy Independence Day to all of you!!! Today, India celebrates its 66th Independence Day. Yes, we are a young Republic in every sense of the way. But we have not forgotten our 100-year struggle for independence from British rule.

I remember the time we had only Doordarshan and how we would wake up bright and early (even though it was a holiday) to catch the Independence Day Parade in the national capital of New Delhi every August 15. How eagerly we would wait for the Prime Minister to unfurl the Tricolour so we could proudly sing our anthem Jana Gana Mana... standing in front of our TV sets, with our arms raised in a salute.

So, it is no surprise that I chose to replicate the Tricolour on my nails today.

The only thing making me mad was the lack of a proper white base. I had to make do with the super-duper streaky Faces White O White because my OPI Alpine Snow flew out of the window. I swear I am not joking. It really did. I picked up the polish, it slipped through my hands, flew in an arc out of the open window and smashed into pieces in the courtyard of my neighbour living on the ground floor :(

Independence Day manicure

I got the Ashok Chakra by using one of the two orange slices on Bundlemonster plate 04. It gathered quite some attention when I went shopping this afternoon. Was wondering if this is too plain? Maybe, I still have time to do something about that. Let's see.

UPDATE....

I just had to hide the streaky white, so I hit on an awesome idea to cover it up. A waving flag design (or at least that is what I think of it) using Mash plate no 38.

The design I ended up with...

Another shot...

Oops, I seem to have missed a spot during clean-up. Kindly excuse. Somehow it is not so visible on my finger... hmmm....

So, don't forget to tell me how you like this nail art. Happy Independence Day once again!

Swatch: Zoya Mitzi

Hi lovelies,

After having worn DL Ray of Light for almost a week, I was in the mood for something bright. It was finally time to break out Zoya Mitzi from the Mod Matte collection. Many bloggers describe it as a lime green matte but I think it is more of a yellow-tinted chartreuse green.

This polish was hard to apply evenly because it dried as soon as I swiped it across the nail. After a couple of tries I realised that going thicker was the trick. After a thin first coat, load up the brush with polish to get some control over the application.  These are three coats to make it opaque.

Since I left it matte without a top coat, it began chipping in 3 days. It could also be the result of the uneven polish. There was a time I would have glanced over this colour, but I confess...  I love, love, love this beauty! This is as bright as it gets without touching dayglow status. And Zoya's frosted glass bottle (for mattes) makes it look an owner's delight :)

I do own a matte top coat but matte polishes are interesting, too. While the Deborah Milano Sense Tech 4 had a satiny matte sheen to it, Mitzi dried pretty flat. Of course, a topcoat means you are not restricted. You can try it on metallics, cremes, and any colour in your polish kitty.

What do you think about matte polishes? Do you use a straight matte polish or a matte topcoat on a regular polish? Let me know in the comments!

Product: Mitzi
Brand: Zoya
Colour: Yellow-tinted chartreuse green
Finish: Matte
Qty: 15 ml
Price/Availability: Rs 405 to Rs 428 (Used to be available on blab.co.in and urbantouch.com, but it is sold out)

Happy Friendship Day

Hi lovelies,

Happy Friendship Day! This is a day that my fellow beauty bloggers at The Beauty Cafe on Facebook were looking forward to eagerly. They formed a 'Secret frand' list and sent out gifts to each other, sharing their love and admiration. This manicure is for them :)

What's this, you ask? Let me explain....

Strawberry twins: Bundlemonster 306

 The pointer shows the Secret Friends. As cozy as two strawberries in a pod. I know, I know, it is supposed to be peas. But hey, strawberries are sweeter and cuter. And these totally look like they have gone undercover.

A closer and touched-up look of the thumb:

Gift box and chocolate cupcakes: Konad M14

Sorry I could not get a better picture of this. I realised I should have kept the base more simple, but I really wanted to get the most out of the Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light ($18 polish just cannot be wasted o_O ). The stamps are gift boxes, some of which contained chocolates :) And other goodies.

Purses: Bundlemonster 307

Lips & lipstick: Bundlemonster 303

The girls gifted each other lipsticks, shower gels, creams, liners and so many many other wonderful things. These were all so thoughtful because they read each other's blogs and tried all methods (overboard and underhand ;) ) to zero in on the perfect present!
Way to go! The girls are extremely friendly, gracious and accepting. So, this post is being dedicated to them. Keep loving!

Swatch: Kleancolor Pinky Moon

Hi lovelies,

During my recent 'Amrika' haul, I got this cutesy polish from Kleancolor, a trendy but inexpensive brand from the US. Pinky Moon can be described as a sheer pink jelly with holographic hexes,  bar glitter and, of course, moon-shaped glitter.

The bottle has a nifty long cap, which gives a fine grip during lacquering. The jelly is pretty thick and the moon glitter loves playing hide-and-seek. I had to really go hunt for some and then had a tough time dabbing it on to my nails. It wouldn't get there otherwise :(

The polish is subtle and dainty. Even without the moon glitter. This is three coats and you can still see VNL. So it can be easily layered over another polish. And since there's just a hint of pink in the jelly, this is not likely to change the colour of the base polish.
I wore it on its own along with this ring. Apt, isn't it :)

WARNING: This polish smells. Worse, it is a pain when it comes to drying time. Since I had read about this on other blogs, I was armed with Essie Good to Go topcoat.
I alternated the topcoat with the polish to get it dry in record time. The polish lasted long and was chip-resistant, too.

What sort of glitter do you like? I would love to read your comments.

Product: Pinky Moon
Brand: Kleancolor 
Colour: Pink jelly with holo hexes, bar and moon glitter
Finish: shiny
Qty: 15  ml
Price/Availability: $1.75 or Rs 98 ( It is not available on Indian websites but you can get it at beautyjoint.com and amazon.com).