Zoya Mitzi stamping

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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 :)

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Indian Independence Day Nail Art

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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!

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Swatch: Zoya Mitzi

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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)

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Happy Friendship Day

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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!

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Swatch: Kleancolor Pinky Moon

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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).

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Going flaky

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Hello lovelies,


I am going flaky over flakies. For those who don't know what these are (thanks to Indian cosmetic firms that do not think it necessary to go beyond gold, pink, red and maroon polish), these are sheer or semi-sheer polishes filled with irregular flakes that usually flash different colours in different lightings. It also changes colour according to the polish you have layered it on. Now, on to the beauties in my harem. 

Yes, these ladies are from the NFU-Oh stable. Why call them ladies? Check the unveiling ;)

NFU-Ohs numbers 44, 51, 52, 54 and 56

Aren't these the sexiest bottles ever! The cap is a corset top with the bottle as a full skirt bottom. I got them through a website in the US, fabuloustreet.com. 
Give me a second to stop drooling. Next up...

Deborah Lippmann: Ray of Light

Yes, yes, yes! My first Deborah Lippmann (yep, the one and only with the double P and double N :P ) 

Zoya Flecks effect: Maisie, Opal, Chloe

These Zoyas along with the DL are from Amazon.com. The trio is part of the sampler set but I compared them to other Zoyas and these are full-size bottles. Yippee! 

Oh, there is more...

Barielle: Elle's Spell and Buddha-ful

I got the Barielle polishes from transdesign.com. And we come to the end of my American haul. But for those who would like to own flakies, Indian websites too offer some choices.

NYX: Gilded glitter

This NYX polish is now known as Gold Glitter. It contains plain gold flakies, if you can call gold or flakies plain ;). It does not change colour like the other lovelies but is an excellent layering polish nonetheless. I got it through Stylecraze.com but I do not think it is available there right now. Hopefully, they will replenish their stock soon.

NYX: Pink Avenue and Peach Avenue

To kill your lemming for flakies, NYX Pink and Peach Avenue polishes are a very good option. They are available at a couple of sites including urbantouch.com. 

LA Girl: Crowd Surfing

Unlike the other flakies which were in clear or coloured jelly base, this beauty has a touch of green gold shimmer to it. Part of the Rock Star collection, it is available at stylecraze.com.

And last but not the least...

China Glaze: Luxe and Lush

This polish is not exactly a flakie. While the other flakes are thin, flat and malleable, these are more thicker and like glitter. As it does flash multi colours like flakies, I will club it with the rest. Luxe and Lush is part of ChG's recent Hunger Games collection. I got it through beautyjoint.com. 

So, how do you like my collection and which one would you like to see me swatch first? Do leave a comment :)

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Flower power

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Hi lovelies,

I had been wearing Revlon Powder Puff for 3-4 days. It was time for some jazz. So, I stamped it with the flower design from my OB plate series I got from the lovely Kejal Shah at http://nailartandthings.blogspot.in/. I chose plate 16 and Konad Red to refresh the mani.

I missed a couple of patches and did not want to risk staining my nails (red dread! ) so I topcoated it using Revlon Slippers, a combination of silver and red square glitter and some hologram hexagons, too. After all glitter makes everything better :)

How do you like my work? Do leave a comment below.

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