Russian Nesting Dolls

It was really convenient of Ine to pick accompanying colors in the #pantone2020winterchallenge that worked perfectly for painting the ‘R’ is for Russian Dolls prompt for #aznailartchallenge. With the power of two challenges behind me, things came together pretty quickly.

#pantone2020winterchallenge

Honestly I felt seriously spoiled when I saw the additional colors. It just made everything too easy. I used Pantone’s Burnt Henna as my base color and I had plenty of color matches for it in my collection so I used two: KADS “Creme Caramel” and Poetry Cowgirl’s “Midnight Manhattan”. The KADS polish is still quite easy to find on Aliexpress.

For Pantone’s Savvy Red I decided that Bonita’s “True Diva” was a good match, though not…perfect.

Finally, for Pantone’s Rolling Hills I felt like Revlon’s “Posh” was the best fit, although Sinful Colors’ “Exotic Green” would have worked if I didn’t have it.

Since the KADS polish was a jelly, I indulged in the pond technique: using a mustard-y polish with two full nail patterns and two more layers of jelly on top. That way I could get a little hint of color and pattern and use the same stamping polish for all of my decals.

Nail art products used

Base Polishes:

KADS’ “Creme Caramel“ and Poetry Cowgirl’s “Midnight Manhattan“

Stamping Polish:

KADS “40 Ginger“

Advanced Stamping Polishes:

Bonita’s “True Diva“, Born Pretty’s “Chameleon 218“, Revlon’s “Posh“, Sally Hansen’s “Bubble Gum“, Smacker’s “Wickedly Stylish“, and Zoya’s “Jacqueline“

Stamping Plates:

Beauty BigBang XL-003 (background pattern) (press sample) and L028 (background pattern and nesting dolls)

I was not alone in being really happy to have an excuse to use the Russian themed Harunouta L028 stamping plate that I have had for ever in my unused list. I bought it with good intentions, but in retrospect it really doesn’t feel like a theme I’d ever have a reason to visit normally since I tend to skip that part of the globe in favor of Far Eastern themes.

They are so cute though. I can see why they really caught on once someone had thought of them. Also note: I deliberately didn’t fill in the hair of the dolls in my decals. It’s just my background shining through. Laziness win!

And far…

I was rather taken with the glossy version of this design, but I’ve been matte-ing my nail art so often lately. I decided to give it a while anyway for this one. I think I like the glossy better simply because I associate Matryoshka dolls with bright, rich colors and throwing a matte top coat on softens things too much. Still pretty though. 😁

#aznailartchallenge ‘R’ is for Russia

The Harunouta plate is probably impossible to find now. I suspect the lower participation numbers for this prompt were tied in with having no idea what to paint without it. Some abstracted out more and focused on common motifs that decorate the dolls and a few freehand painted, but I think most of us were cheering as we peeled the blue film off of our unused L028s. 🤣

The #aznailartchallenge is going on hold until next year (‘S’ is for Sea) which will be due on the 13th. Lots of time to get your painting on!

This mani was a clear winner on tackling unused things in my stash so I’m ending this post feeling a little victorious (that is until I remember how much I bought during November sales. 😱). Until next time, friends! 🙋‍♀️