Nail Art Sunday

Dotticure Mani with Zoya Kendal and Essie Merino Cool

Hello peeps! Sorry I have been MIA for awhile, but for good reason (more on this later)! Today I bring you a simple dotticure mani I did using Zoya Kendal as the base, and Essie Merino Cool for the dots. Simple yet cute, and very easy to DIY too!

Dotticure Mani with Zoya Kendal and Essie Merino Cool

So I have been making my own polishes and frankening lately! I am mainly creating holographic polishes at this stage, since everybody loves holo! If you would like to see my collection so far, please visit and like my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/TooFancyLacquer. Can't wait to see you there!

Enchanted Polish Tenderheart over Zoya Miley

Enchanted Polish Tenderheart, one coat over Zoya Miley, two coats

Hello my lovely readers! Today I have another Enchanted Polish for you. Tenderheart, from the Love A Lot Glitter Collection, is a clear base polish packed with shining red hearts, holographic silver diamonds, tiny red hexes and  tiny iridescent silver glitters. This sparkly glitter combination would add a sweet touch to any mani!

The formula of Tenderheart is a little bit on the thick side, and I need to dab and place the hearts onto my nails, but it is still easy enough to work with. On another note, Zoya Miley serves as a perfect undie for many glitter toppers, it is just so versatile and compliments the glitters so well!

Glitters Gradient Mani with Shimmer Polish Leslie and Zoya Heather

Glitters Gradient Mani with Shimmer Polish Leslie and Zoya Heather

There are a few nail art manis I want to improve on, and glitter gradient mani is one of them. It is actually harder than it looks to get the 'right' amount of gradient on the nails (mine always looks like a big blob of glitters at the tip than a gradual fade away), but if you just dab a drop of glitters to the tip of your nails, then drag it to the middle with a few light strokes, you will get the hang of it after a few practices!

I used Zoya Heather, a light lavender creme which is a very good canvas for many layering options. Leslie from Shimmer Polish, a clear base polish with tiny lavender and periwinkle glitters, is then used for the tips. I am really liking the combo, because Heather shows off Leslie perfectly. I hope you like this mani as much as I do!

Zoya Storm

Zoya Storm, two coats with no top coat

Zoya Storm, from the Ornate Collection 2012, is a scattered holo black. It is so sparkly it is almost blinding! When under dim light, the holographic particles appear as silver flecks, and is pretty in its own way.

Formula is pretty much flawless, two easy coats with no top coat shown in my swatches. To spice things up, I add some dots with Zoya Aurora and Zoya Blaze on the accent nail.

I love how the above picture captures the colorful shine of my mani!

Zoya Blaze

Zoya Blaze, two coats with no top coat

Talk about taken by surprise! I have never expected Zoya Blaze (from the Ornate Collection 2012) to be this gorgeous, but I am totally blown away by its beauty! A dark red jelly with scattered holo, the prismatic effect shines through and sparkles like stars in the night sky.

Formula is perfect, an easy two coats, no streaks whatsoever. I can't wait to try the other two holos from the same collection, Aurora and Storm, so stay tuned!

A Simple & Fun Freehand Nail Art Mani

I woke up feeling especially artsy today, so I decided to paint my nails with some fun designs. Fishtail braid, leopard prints, and love hearts, which design do you like best?

Polishes used for this mani:
Pink - Zoya Dana
Blue - Zoya Breezi
Black - Wet n Wild Black Creme

Simple Nail Art - Holo Dotted Mani

After seeing The Nail Network's dotted mani (click here), I was inspired and wanted to try it out myself. I love how the holo dots make an otherwise bland creme mani pop!

Zoya Malia with Layla Cloudy Violet dots

China Glaze Immortal with Jade Magia Negra dots

Have you tried this dotted method before? Do you like it as much as I do?

Epic Swatch Spam! *photo heavy*

Sorry I have been MIA for awhile! I have been slacking off a bit, so today I am going to spam you with all my mani swatches while I was away! I hope you will enjoy this massive post! (some of these photos have already been posted on my Instagram account, you can follow me there @cacanails :D)

Hits Suspiro over Essie Smooth Sailing - a periwinkle jelly base with blue, pink, purple and silver glitters

Sonama Nail Art Custom Polish - three coats. A beige pink milky base with silver, pink and green square and hex glitters 

Innisfree #105 over Zoya Neeka - #105 is a clear base polish with matte white hex/bar/square glitters, along with rose gold and copper hex glitters

Innisfree #111 over OPI I Don't Give A Rottendam. #111 is a clear base polish with matte black and white bar/square/hex glitters, sprinkled with the random pink hex glitters.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie - I might be crucified by the polish world for saying this, but I don't particularly love this much coveted polish. Yes, the shimmer is pretty, but there is something about the shade that just doesn't look right to me

Girly Bits Visions of Sugar Plum over Zoya Tru. The undie choice is a fail, I tried to find something that is similar to the base color of VoSP, but it turns out Tru is much darker. Nevertheless, VoSP is a lovely jelly berry packed with pink, silver, orange and blue glitters 

Enchanted Polish Awesomeness with OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous as French tips. Awesomeness is a metallic purple holo. I apologize for the poor quality of the swatch, I just cannot capture the true awesomeness (pardon the intended pun) of this polish and holo to save my life! 

Last but certainly not least, we have Enchanted Polish Witchful Thinking. A clear base polish packed with dusty rose glitters and micro holographic glitters, Witchful Thinking is definitely as enchanting as it could be! Here it is layered over Zoya Pinta

Indie on Steroid: Innisfree #109 Cassiopeia

Innisfree #109 Cassiopeia - one coat over Zoya Malia, with SV top coat

The bf has recently visited Seoul for a Stag party (yes, that is how they roll), and of course I asked him to bring me back loads of Korea polishes! Amongst all the pretties, Innisfree #109 Cassiopeia is the first one that called to me most, and it certainly did not disappoint! A white version of the famous Lynnderella's Connect the Dots (click here to see my CTD post), Cassiopeia has added sporadic lilac and sheer blue glitters to make it the most unique matte white glitter polish I have ever seen! I love it to bits!

Can you spot the lilac and sheer blue glitters?

#109 Cassiopeia is from the Innisfree Star Sign Collection, and unlike many of its Asain polish counterparts, this polish has a name, and a very apt one at that! For those of you who don't know what Cassiopeia is, it is "a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty". I am certainly in awe of of Innisfree's version of Cassiopeia, are you?

A Brazilian Beauty! Sebrina Sabo Quero Amor with Zoya Pinta

Apologies for my lack of posts lately, I have had a few cuts to my cuticles so I have to put a stop to swatching, but I'm back now!

Sebrina Sata Quero Amor - one coat over Zoya Pinta

I received an awesome swap package from a very nice Brazilian girl earlier this week, and amongst all the beauties, Quero Amor, a flakie by Sebrina Sabo Passe Nati, is my favorite. Irregular duochrome flakes that shift from blue to green, Quero Amor is also packed with pink microshimmers that make this polish stands out from the rest of the flakies.  I also love the density of Quero Amor, as one coat would give you a very good coverage.

Check out that shimmer!

I always prefer to use a dark color base because it could show off the flakie better, so this time I used Zoya Pinta, a very dark royal blue creme with a hint of purple. It has the typical perfect Zoya formula, and it is a one coater! Here is a photo of Pinta on its lonesome:

Zoya Pinta - one coat 

More Lynnderella Love: Love Potion 99

Lynnderella Love Potion 99 - one coat over Zoya Yara
Check out the rainbow sparkles amongst the sea of purple glitters!

Today I have more Lynnderella for you, this time it is the gorgeous Love Potion 99. It is a purple jelly base packed with purple glitters that come in various sizes and shapes, sprinkled with micro holographic shimmers.  It is insanely pretty because this polish has so much depth, and I am also very pleased with its density because I only need one coat to get the coverage I want. I definitely need more Lynnderellas in my life!

Zoya Lotus

Zoya Lotus - two coats with top coat

Lotus, a feminine soft purple with sparkly pink shimmer, is from the Zoya True Collection 2012. I especially love this polish because shimmery polish is right up my alley! And just for fun, I added a little nail sticker as an accent :)

Yet another Cloud Mani

Cloud Mani

If you don't know by now, I am in love with cloud mani design, it is just so simple to do and yet so cute!

Polish Used:
Base - Zoya Carmen (this is a special polish to me because it is my name!)
Big Cloud - A-England Galahad
Small Cloud - Zoya Rea

Nail Art: Fluffy Cloud!

I have been lacking motivation to blog lately; perhaps it is due to the lack of comments, or loss of followers, or just pure laziness. Or it is a little bit of everything. So to make up for it, I am showing you an awesome mani today!

I first saw the freehand cloud design on Nailside (she comes up with the most awesome freehand mani designs, so check out her blog if you haven't done so already!), and immediately fell in love with it! After several attempts, I finally came up with a half-decent mani of my own.

Since Nailside's cloud tutorial is very thorough already, I won't go into the details. I have one handy tip for you though: to create the round-end 'cloud' tip, leave the brush on for a few seconds to form a pool of polish. Also I find it easier to draw the cloud with a narrower brush, i.e. Zoya!

Polishes used for above mani:

Base - Zoya Kelly
Bigger Cloud Tip - Zoya Moxie
Smaller Cloud Tip - Zoya Caitlin

Nail Art with my favorite Zoyas

Hello girls! Today I have a simple nail art mani for you, using two of my favorite Zoyas - Kelly and Caitlin!

Zoya Kelly with Zoya Caitlin for tips

I applied Kelly as my base, then used the Scotch tape technique to do the tips with Caitlin. To finish the mani off (or rather, to cover the imperfect line of my tape mani), I drew a silver line between the two colors with Nubar silver art pen.

I quite like the color combination, and I have received a few compliments from others! What do you think? Have you tried this mani before?

Zoya Marina

Zoya Marina - two coats with top coat

Zoya Marina is from my favorite Fall Collection this season, Smoke & Mirrors by Zoya.  It is greyish blue with a shimmery, semi-frost finish.

Marina may not be the star of the collection (Neeka is in my opinion), but it is still a very lovely and apt color for Fall. The formula is what I have come to expected from Zoya, where application is smooth as butter. I hear from some polish bloggers that they have bubbling problems with Zoya, and that the drying time is exceptionally long, but fortunately I have never encountered such problems.

I am still expecting Cynthia from a swap, and then I would have all the polishes I want from the Smoke & Mirrors collection. That's it from me ladies, hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Zoya Yara

Zoya Yara - two coats with top coat

So I am taking a tiny break from holo and am going to show you Zoya Yara, a polish from Zoya Smoke & Mirrors Fall Collection (my favorite Fall Collection this year)

Yara is olive green packed with gold flecks, and it reminds me of yellow fallen leaves amongst a forest of green. I am not usually a green polish person, but Yara is definitely a keeper!

As usual, formula is perfect, and with two easy coats I get full coverage. Have I told you Zoya has become my favorite brand with this collection? They have done an awesome job and I can't wait for their next great collection (admittedly, I am a bit disappointed with their Winter Collection, but that's because I am not a glittery person)!