Today's design is inspired by a pastel galaxy nail art I saw a few days ago at Makeup Withdrawal post. It instantly reminded me of the Nailz Craze NC02 stamping plate that has these little sparkly stars on it, and the fact that I've been wanting to create a galaxy mani for a long time but never did it until now. So I decided to created this whimsical galaxy design with a few of my favorite pastel colors. You can see all the polishes I used for this design at the last photo.

I started this nail art with a lilac base Luci Darling 02. I applied one coat since the coverage was pretty good and I was about to layer other colors on top of it. Then I used a makeup sponge and applied light blue (Essence Sure Azure), pink (Essie Fiji) and gold (Barry M Gold Foil) polishes on the nails, tapping lightly on the nail. The first taps were a bit sheer so to achieve a deeper color I repeated this step once they dried a bit. Then I applied the gorgeous silver holographic glitter polish - Barry M Diamond Glitter, and stamped on top of it the sparkly stars stamp from Nailz Craze NC02 plate using Konad white (which was AH-mazing! First time I use this polish and stamping with it was just perfect!). On the thumbs I stamped the unicorn stamp, the whimsical part of this mani ;) I finished the design with one coat of Poshe.

I really love my whimsical galaxy nails and the unicorn is such a pretty addition to it. As it's winter time here, I could barely get these photos at a good light since it's raining all day, but I guess this will do. They sparkle much more than it shows and the colors are prettier in real life, you'll have to take my word on this one ;)

I got this gorgeous mini trio by Models Own from asos.com and I just love it! When I saw the swatches of these three I knew I will love them, and I thought you would love them too so I decided to get one set for one of my readers as well! If you would like to win this set and more prizes you can enter the Nailz Craze Stamping Contest and submit your entry.

Models Own Mini Glitter Trio is quite a catch, the bottles contain 6 ml and the size of each bottle itself is surprisingly big. I love that they have all the details on the bottles and from the picture you can actually think that these are full size polishes. One thing I didn't get about this set is that it includes two colors from the new Wonderland collection (Southern Lights and Blizzard) and one color from the Dazzle and Sparkle (Pink Fizz). I think it would make more sense if they replaced Pink Fizz with Northern Lights which is a pink version of Southern Lights. But then again, maybe that's the reason they excluded this one from the set, maybe they are too much alike?

Southern Lights is a purple holographic glitter with slightly purple toned base. The glitters are very dense, and just one coat will be enough if you intend to layer it over a similar color. I applied one coat of Southern Light over Essence Oh My Glitter, but this glitter will be great over darker or lighter shade of purple as well. I might even try it over black or other colors than purple.

The glitters are hexagon and really small, all in the same size. The polish is packed with these beauties and it was quite easy to apply. On top of it I added one coat of Poshe to smooth it out, even though it wasn't too gritty, but it looked a bit dull without the top. It was a bit hard to catch the holo effect on camera but that's old news with holographic nail polish, right? ;) Anyways, I think this is my favorite one from this set.

Blizzard is a silver glitter with various shapes and sizes in clear base. There are large silver hexagons and squares, some of them look very dark but they are actually very reflective. There are also these lovely big and small hexagons that I find it hard to describe, but they look blue and quite transparent, and their color changes to various rainbow colors, depending on the light. These are definatly not holo but I don't know how to describe them - in any case, they are beautiful and this is what made me love this polish even more. There are a lot of silver mix of glitters, but this one is different and I really love it. Spreading it evenly on the nail wasn't as hard as I thought, it was actually nice and smooth. I did need to place a few of them to fill some gaps, but I had worse experiences with other glitter polishes than with this one. On mu nails is one coat of Blizzard over Wet n Wild Frence White Creme (2 coats) and one coat of Poshe.

Pink Fizz is pink square fine glitter in clear base.This one instantly reminded me of Butter London Rosie Lee even though I don't own this polish. This one is not very unique but still pretty. I layered one coat over Essie Fiji (2 coats), but I think it could look nice layered a few limes without a base color, or over a similar color. This one was hard to work with, it was streaky and I had areas with tons of glitter while other areas were with no glitter at all, and when I tried to pull them with the brush to even them out, they just stuck to the brush and were drugged alone, leaving bald areas. Maybe it wasn't such a disaster, but compared to the other polishes in this set, this was the hardest to work with. The result is pretty though, but again nothing special. It might be more efficient for glitter gradients, so that's another thing I will probably try.

I was very excited to try the polishes in this set and I can say that overall I really liked it. I think that whoever gets it will enjoy it. These minis are a great way to try these polishes without get the whole bottle, which most of us probably will not finish within out lifetime :) I had a hard time taking the photos since it was gloomy today pretty much all the time, which makes me think I need to get myself a light box so my photos could look like they were taken at the same day, which they were, but since the sun was playing hide and seek with me I had to improvise. So I hope you liked my swatches and the review.

I'm very excited to host the first contest at my blog!
I've been planning to do this for a while now, and I'm happy I'm finally having this contest. I'm very curious to see the entries you will submit. Hope to see you in there! Good luck!

The Prize:
Models Own Limited Edition Mini Nail Glitter Polish Trio:
Including 3 polishes: Blizzard, Pink Fizz and Southern Lights.

Cath Kidston Shower Gift Set - Wild Rose:
Including shower gel and body cream.

A pair of nail polish earrings handmade by me :)

Rules:
• Create a design using any of the Nailz Craze stamping plates (NC01, NC02, NC03).
• You must submit a NEW design made by you for this contest (you can create a post including this design but it has to be something new you made from January 2nd or later).
• The design must be made on hands, no nail wheels etc. At least four fingers showing in the photo.
• You must use only the designs on Nailz Craze stamping plates, no other plates allowed for this contest. You can combine designs from different NC plates.
• Remember that this is a stamping contest. You may use accessories such as rhinestones and loose glitter, but the stamping must be the main part of your design.
• Only one entry per person.

Send your submission to nailzcraze@gmail.com by midnight January 16th, 2013 including the following details:
• Name
• Blog URL (optional)
• A few words about your design (will be posted with your picture on the contest post)
• Please send one photo, no collage. You can post about this design on your blog and attach a link to the post, I will gladly post it along with your design.

Within 48 hours I will respond to you so you can know I've received your submission for this contest.
If you don't receive an email from me by that time, please contact me again.

Voting for the designs will start on January 17th and continue until January 24th.
Among the three deigns that will get the most votes I will be choosing the winner.
The winner will be announced on January 25th.

If you might have any question about this contest or you're not sure if your design is following the rules, just contact me and I will gladly answer any of your questions.
** All the prized are brand new and purchased by me.

Thank you and good luck!

Barbra from ILoveNP was very generous and surprised me with four (!) of her lovely ILNP polishes that were sent to me for review.

I have to tell you I was very excited about these from the start, and I was so happy I got to review them. I will start this review by telling you how much I LOVE the packaging and the design of the bottles. As a graphic designer, I think that smallest details are making the difference, and I just love the new branding and packaging ILNP did! They have achieved a true boutique look that to my eyes is very simple yet sophisticated. I love everything from little box with the heart window for each polish, to the colorful stickers on the bottles. Just perfect!

The fist color I'm going to review is ILNP - Purple Stuff. It's a mix of square, hexagon and bar glitters in different shades of purple, and also blue and white in a clear base. The bottle is stuffed with these and it's very easy to get a generous coat on the nail. I did have to struggle a bit to place them where I wanted but that wasn't too bad. 

I layered one coat of ILNP Purple Stuff over a creamy lilac base (Luci Darling 02) and applied one top of Poshe to smooth it out. I think this combination looks great, and I can't wait to try this over other colors as well. This is my favorite so far, but it way hard to pick one!

I really love this polish, the mix of glitters is very interesting and unique, and as I said before the design is very pretty, even luxurious! The not so great thing about this polish is the smell which is a bit too strong for me and it bothered me for a while even after it dried completely. But I think this is something I'm willing to sacrifice for such a beautiful polish.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sooo, this is it? 2012 is behind us and it's officially 2013!

My last manicure for 2012 wasn't too fancy but I still like it and I was pleased with how it turned out. I thought I will go crazy with all sorts of glitters but I was so tired so I went for something safe and simple.

I applied two coats of a dark blue creamy polish by Life 343, and stamped over it with Essie No Place Like Chrome. I used the fauxnad plate m83 that has this lovely design, and this is actually the first time I create a mani with it. I got this plate from Bunny Nails and I'm very pleased with the quality of this one. To finish the design I applied one coat of Poshe.

I waited about half an hour before I went to bed and I was afraid I will wake up with sheets textured nails, because I normally don't do my nails so late. But I was surprised they were perfect when I woke up. Good job Poshe! ;)

So this was my last design for this year. I can't wait to dig into my pile of new polishes I got lately and try them all. Is there a better way to start the year? ;)

Wish you all a great year full of love and happiness!