Celebrating Malaysia's 55th Years of Independence!

Today marks Malaysia's 55th Years of Independence! And I feel my patriotism kicking in! I thought for awhile how I should do my nails in conjunction of today's celebration. I knew I love how well the colours of Malaysia's Flag goes together. They are all so vibrant and lively! Since, I've never attempted a proper chevron nails, I went ahead and did one for this special day!

To all Malaysians out there : 

Happy Independence Day!  

Oh, I must admit, I was anxious of the final result. And I'm so glad they turned out well! :D My index finger nail gave me a lot of problems though because the shape isn't the same as the rest. It was chipped a little so I had to nub it. Anyway, I'm loving these! Hope you will like these nails as much as I do! :D

Nail polishes used:

• BeauKiss (BK) - #02
• Etude House - COR202
• Revlon - Pretty In Papaya
• Elianto - Blue Splash

More Fun Stuffs about Glitters

Good morning! I have here some knowledge about glitters which I think are very worth sharing. Have you ever had times when you wonder if it is your application technique or the glitter bottle just holds too little glitters? Well, I know I did wondered that. And off I go to google - tap tap tip tap tap pap! what is the best way to apply glitter?

Oh what a realization moment dawn upon me when I saw the dabbing technique. No wonder it was so hard getting those glitters on my nails those days. I was probably doing it wrong! Perhaps not wrong, just not the best way it could be done. Here's one tutorial I find very useful regarding the dabbing technique:

wait, did any of you actually know of this method and no one told me? whyyyy?? *sobs*

Let Happiness Ring!!!

Well, most of you may not know but just few weeks ago I was blessed enough to be one of the four fortunate people to win Gold polish from Tip Top Nails South Africa. Last Saturday morning, I've finally receive my gift!! How thrilled I was as I unwrapped the carefully packaged gift. I opened up the box, carefully slitting the sellotapes and pull out the polish bundled up with perfect care of bubble wraps and as I started unwrapping it - "wait...what? this feels like... omgosh, am I dreaming..?"

No, my good senses did not fail me. Instead of 1 gold polish, I've been surprised with 3 more polishes that greeted me on a Saturday morning!! Woohooo! I was literally jumping up and down with much joy!

So so happy! And I quickly head on to do swatches as soon as time permitted me to. I have a lot of good things to say about these polishes. Particularly how blessed I am by God and by Tip Top team! These colours were colours I've been searching for but fail to find them around in Malaysia. What joy it is to find them sent to me in a parcel! :D

Red Rendezvous is a gorgeous deep red and the colour is just right for my skin tone. I was just thinking of buying a solid red but thought they won't match my skin and maybe I won't wear it. Totally changed my mind after seeing this colour! I'd totally wear this! Great application and opaque in two coats.

In The Navy! is a very rich navy blue colour, one of the colours missing in my blue collection so you can imagine the joy I got when I saw this in the package. I love it. This is my favourite blue colour of all times! Smooth application, also opaque in two coats.

Super Trooper is a warm grey, slightly greenish. Totally a grey I was looking for! You won't believe how high and low I've search for a grey in this shade! Many I came across with were cool tone. This is just perfect! Like most of the polishes, smooth application, no streaks and best in two coats.

Last but not least, the gold polish that I've won - Gold Drop Glitter. As you can see, I've swatch it over all three of the other colours so you may have a taste of the variations. Although I did use two coats of glitters, they are pretty much compact with just 1 good coat of glitters with the dabbing technique (I'd talk more about this technique in my next post). But this is certainly yet another gold glitter that's  missing in my stash. And boy am I ever so glad to have receive this! And I must say I really love Gold Drop Glitter over Super Trooper. Oh did I mentioned its so sparkly? ;)

To conclude my post, these are certainly one of the best nail polishes brand I've ever tried. I love that they are absolutely fuss-free and super smooth application. Oh and seems like I got too carried away with my excitement I almost forgot to mention, Tip Top Nails South Africa's nail polishes are Toxin free, Formaldehyde free, Toluene free, DBP (Dibuthyl Phthalate) free and Camphor free. So they are totally safe to use! And thank you Tip Top Nails South Africa once again for the opportunity to experience such wonderful products.

Here's their contacts: 

Website : Tip Top Nails South Africa

Facebook page : Tip Top Nail South Africa Facebook Page

Oh Basketballs!

Hello dearies! I've just came back from celebrating my brother's birthday. And so I thought I should do basketball themed nails (since both of us likes basketball :D - although I have no talent in it) in conjunction to celebrating this wonderful day. Also, a chance to try out the black stripper I just bought recently!

Scrape nail art Tutorial : Toothpicks/Small dotting tool

Just sharing a tutorial which I've delayed for sometime. I did this nail art which I've come to call it Scrape nail art, in Makeup Savvy's Nail Art Challenge Day 7. Its a method very much similar to the Chocolate Mint Tutorial. A little different though.

click image for larger view

Steps Explained:

Step 1 : Prepare 3 coats of desired base colour. Yes, this is a must or else your base colour will end up getting scrapped off showing your nails underneath instead of just the colour. *optional: protect the base colour with a clear top coat. Allow drying time.
Step 2 : Using a contrasting colour (or any colour you desire), apply 1 fairly thick coat of selected colour onto a single nail. Work 1 nail at a time.

Step 3/4/5/6 : These steps need to be done fast. While the top colour is still wet, using either a toothpick or a small dotting tool, drag the toothpick/dotting tool (lightly) from the cuticle to the tip of your nail forming a middle line. Doesn't matter if its straight or crooked. Then do little lines that seem to converge to the center line. Until you get results similar to image in Step 6. 

Step 7/8 : Using your finger, gently tap down "pointy ends" to smooth the "frays". Allow this nail to dry and move on to your other nails repeating Step 2 - Step 8. 

Step 9 : Now that you're done with the designs, go ahead top it off with a top coat. 

So, I hope you find this tutorial and the explanations easy to understand. I've realized there were lack of explanations in the mint tutorial previously made (I have editted it a bit though). Anyway, this is a super flexible and experimental technique. Go ahead and explore! :D 

Etude House PBK 801 (Swatch/Review)

Its morning here, so I'd say Good Morning! I dare say I've found an awesome polish from my previous shopping trip. And happy to know that Etude House is finally having new batch of nail polishes in their store! However, most were rather unappealing to me (see, fussy pot I am). Almost all, except this one!

Oh, I don't really know how to put in words how I felt when I saw these and used the testers there to test out on my hand. It was an instant grab! Etude House PBK 801 (MYR 19.90) is a jelly black base colour with various size red glitters. The brush is mighty huge! (well, broad) and soft too. Application wise, very smooth and I love that it makes application on thumb such a splendid experience. However, the brush is too broad for my remaining four fingers, but no worries! I turned it to use the "thinner" sides for a much more controlled application to the four fingers. It takes about 4-5 coats to get it to look like in the bottle because its really sheer. If you're not a fan of too many coats, consider layering. But I really love it on its own. In my pictures, I've used 4 coats on each nails. Oh! Before I forget, its rather smooth to touch and the removal process isn't too hard.

:D I really love it!

August Hauls

So, I went shopping yesterday. I must say, of all the shopping malls I've been to, Sunway Pyramid sure is my no.1 spot to go if I want to buy nail polishes (around Klang Valley). I've even spotted a couple of new nail polish brands available. Although, mostly are Korean brands; Holika Holika is one of the new beauty stores there - but no, I didn't grab any from there. I did try out their testers though, and find the application quite alright. I'm gonna apply the 3 days rule before I decide whether or not I'd buy one of the duochrome nail polishes there. Still its all good to see more choices available for nail polish consumers in Malaysia.

Okay, now to stay back in topic, I realised I've bought a lot of nail polishes for the past weeks of August! Which somewhat scares me, because I've never bought so many in a short time before! (haha!!) So looks like I'd be needing to control myself a little more from now on.

Etude House

Pretty2U Store

 Essence

Bloop

Skin Food

As you can see, some of them I've already used them in the previous nail challenges. But I've not swatch them. Only time will tell when I'd find the time to swatch all of these. Haha! Oh, I will be swatching a new polish from Etude House in my next post because I love it so much I just can't wait to share~! 

A little Sharing on Giveaways from other blogs~!

Good morning readers!

Nothing much today as I'm in such an uninspired mode (many sighs), which is why there's no NOTD to show you, sorry! I do however, have som news from other bloggers to share with you. These lovely ladies have decided to hold giveaways as an appreciation to all their fellow followers! Do take some time and stop by to check them out! :D

Criminal Nails is having a giveaway in conjunction of a merry celebration of reaching 100 GFC followers milestone! - Congratulations! 

Jennifer from Little J's Nail Corner have also recently reached 100 GFC followers and also holding a giveaway to celebrate it - Congrats to you too, Jennifer!

Carla from Deuce Beauties is currently holding a few giveaways! This Giveaway here is specifically opened to US readers of her blog only. And another giveaway here is opened internationally (yay)! So don't forget to stop by and join in the fun! 

~~~~~~~~~

Lydia from Lydia's Nails has announced that she will be planning a Butter London Nail Lacquers Giveaway as soon as she reaches 25 followers on GFC! 

And, that's about it I guess. Before I exit for the day, I would like to take this chance to also wish all my muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Hope you lovelies are having a blast!  ♥ oh, and stay safe! 

NOTD - Jeans of Vintage Florals

Oh, I just remembered its Friday!

Well, honestly I never thought I'd be doing NOTD after the previous galaxy nails. But after I posted that post, I got a little busy and didn't have time to actually do it on my left hand as previously mentioned. In a way, that is good because shortly after that I've got a spark of inspiration by one of my favourite hat that I have which was lying on the bed. Its a jeans sort of material with a cotton cloth that have these gorgeously distressed vintage florals prints sewed on the inside.

So what do you think of these? They sure took some time. And look! My topcoat's been polluted with glitters from the pearly topcoats I used in the Galaxy Nails (haha!). So yes, unintended glitters there. But still all good, since it matches the holographic black polish that I have used in order to mimic the black jeans colour. I do love how these turned out, although given the chance, I'll do the lines thinner, if my skills may allow me so. Not to forget the topcoat application flattens out thus adding thickness to the lines. 

Here's a closed up look so that you can see the beautiful subtle holographic in the black polish and its very opaque, in the above pictures are all just 1 coat. Its one of my firsts holographic nail polishes. This and a purple. Actually, they are the only holographic nail polish I've ever owned. I really should expand holographic collections. hahaha! (I can't believe this is the first time I've used it after all the years sitting in my storage.....the drying time is very slow. I'd suggest dipping with icy cold water to speed up drying time)

Nail polishes and Tools used to accomplish this look :

• Toothpick that has a sharp end
• RUBI - Blue suede shoes
• The Face Shop - GR501
• The Face Shop - YL701
• Skin Food Nail Vita - BW704
• Revlon - Pretty In Papaya
• Inglot - 730 (solid black nail polish)
• L'elan Vital - Black Holographic Nail Lacquer (there isn't a name, and I believe this collection have been discontinued)
• Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Chocolate Nut (used this for outlining the florals)
• BANDI - Crystal Brown (its a very sheer polish, so I've used it to sponge a little on the florals for a distressed look) 

A little challenging to attempt, but the patience pays off well. So, looks like my duo hand galaxy nails mani will have to wait for some other time while I enjoy wearing this manicure for the weekend. ;P

* a few words about L'elan Vital: its a nail polish brand that's only available from Cosway (as far as I know, I've not seen this brand sold anywhere else). The one that I've used for the above manicure, is a really old collection. I've got it around late 2004 or early 2005 but I vividly recall wearing the purple one for CNY in 2005... anyway, you get the idea; a really, really, old polish... hahaha. 

Oh Another Award : Versatile Blogger !

Hello!!

A fellow friend from Jamegackie have awarded me with Versatile Blogger award! So a huge thank you to you, Jackie!

The requirements :

• Nominate 12 bloggers who are relatively new to blogging.
• Let them know you have nominated them.
• Share 7 random facts of yourself.
• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated by linking to their blog.
• Add versatile blogger award to your post.  

7 Random Facts about Lacqueerisa : 

• I am hardly ever good at activities I enjoy doing but does them anyway. 
• I suck terribly at games like Bejeweled. (seriously, my scores are at best about 50k)
• I enjoy the view of beautiful clouds forming in the beautiful sky.
• I can be really fussy about the littlest things at times. Like topcoats that bubbles destroying the whole manicure. (ROARRRR)
• My favourite time of the year is Christmas! 
• I strongly feel that nail polishes are one of the best things ever made.
• I love my red puma shoes I got for last Christmas :D

And now for the list of wonderful bloggers I'm passing this on to :

• The Nail Artiste
• The Lacquerologist
• Lackaffen
• beckawoo
• Diamond In Rouge
• agirlwithsomenailpolish
• Lydia's Nails 
• Blackfox Nails
• AbbieNail
• The Polishatorium
• [kossori hana]
• Colour at your fingertips

Makeup Savvy Nail Challenge Day 15 - Anything!

Congratulations too all who participated in Makeup Savvy's 15 Days Nail Challenge! I would like to take this chance to thank Fee for organising this Challenge and welcoming all to join! It's been a fun journey, although I've only started since Day 3. Honestly, I wouldn't have been diligently posting up NOTDs if not for this Nail Challenge. So it's likely I'd go back to once a week NOTD or twice a week.

For today's challenge, we are free to attempt any designs and any methods that we wished to. Ever since I've done my first successful galaxy nails in the challenge, I knew I wanted to do another one but with a faded look to it; the ones that I'd love to recreate on shirts! In a way, I've long planned what I wanted to achieve for Day 15.

This time, I've tackled Galaxy Nails with sponging technique and subtle dottings (well, the stars). Prepared two coats of white base (Skin Food Nail Vita BW704) and sponged on desired colours for the Galaxy look. I've used Elianto Sparkling Diva Indigo Shine,  Elianto Sparkling Diva Persian Indigo, Revlon Pretty in Papaya, Nails Top Shop Mermaid, and Etude House COR 202. For the stars, I used the same white as the base and dotted with toothpicks. Topping the designs with my beloved Skin Food Nail Vita Crystal Pearl Top Coat and sealing the whole design with Konad's Top Coat.

And the results? I love them. Of course, they didn't come out 100% the way I wished they would, but I'm still glad with the end outcome. I've also manage to get some good orange hue in it this time! So, I am absolutely happy and so glad I've attempted this for today's challenge. I'd be keeping them on my nails for awhile! Hehe!! Ok, enough for the texts, pictures time!

Ahh, I really can't get enough of these! Gonna go and do these galaxies on my other hand now! Actually, I love galaxies so much now I want them on everything! Caps, shirts, tank tops, shoes, jeans? hahaha!! Anyway, hope you enjoyed them as much as I do! Its likely my blog will be silent for awhile since I don't have the heart to take these off any soon. Haha!!

Makeup Savvy Nail Challenge Day 14 - Dots

Dots, dots, dots! One of the most challenging nail art to attempt, in my opinion. Simply because of its simplicity that I often find myself asking, "How can I make them a little more unique?" - and more often than not, I hit a dead end.

While wondering about the house and internet for inspirations, I came upon this lovely box which is a mooncake box that's in my house. That's one thing about mooncakes, they always come in pretty boxes! So I kept a lot, didn't have the heart to throw any away (they are thick too!) And here's the picture of it which I have drawn my inspiration from :

And the nails! :

I am liking how this manicure turned out. A little bit more of randomness to add to my personality! The whole look reminds me Chinese New Year though, haha!!

First I put on a layer of yellow (Etude House COR202), and sponge on Revlon's Pretty in Papaya, Top Shop Nails' Country Bumpkin, Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle #10 as well as a little bit of Etude House COR 202 to add in a little bit more of yellow. And then for the fun part, dotting the whites! I used Skin Food Nail Vita BW704 for the white dots finishing with Konad's Top Coat.

And that is all for today! Tomorrow marks the 15th day of the nail challenge. The theme is "Anything", its still not too late should any of you wishes to join in as well!