Shades of Triangles

Hey everyone! Today's nails are inspired by all the beautiful triangle pattern prints that's been around for quite sometime. I've been wanting to get try create those repetitive triangle patterns but didn't have the courage to do so. Every time the thought of doing it pops up, I simply brush/push it away with this very excuse that goes in my head : It's going to be tedious, you're going to lose patience. You're not going to get the lines straight anyway. 

Well, my usual brush, although at size 0, was still too thick to attempt such designs. But ever since I modified one of my old nylon brush, I don't see why not! So, I finally sat down and gave it a go. 

Gradients On A Beautiful Cloudy Morning

Hello Readers! Sorry for the lack of updates. Was on a few days holiday and I've just finally found time to post this gradient nails I did on my short holiday. The colours are inspired by the colours of the outfit I put together--unfortunately, I didn't have much time to photograph, I didn't take any pictures of my outfit though (ah, pity). And on one of the days during my holiday, we went to the beach. Its been quite sometime since I last been to one. It was early and the weather was so good. Not too hot, not even cold. Just nice. And while I was busying myself photographing the beautiful scenery by the beach, I took the chance to photograph the gradient nails. 

Woops, miss a little bit of clean ups there. Hopefully, the excuse that these were done under low lighting is acceptable :P And here's a quick view of the beach :

Ahahah, I couldn't resist putting up a picture of the waves 'crawling' onto the shore. Such a cute sight! I really had a great time at the beach there. Played Frisbee for the first time! But of course, nothing like the real game. Just a simple beginner's sort of play. It was really simple, but fun! It was a really beautiful morning we were early, and had the beach all to ourselves! Nothing's better than having a whole huge space to run about freely X) 

And that concludes my post for today. Hope you readers have enjoy the simple gradient NOTD. Can't believe weekend is already here! Have a great weekend!

Nail polishes used : 

• Etude House - BL501
• Nails Topshop - Country Bumpkin
• BeauKiss(BK) - #12 

Fun with Colours!

Hello everyone! How's your day? Before I share my NOTD with you, here's a quick note to all nail polish lovers that Tip Top Nails South Africa Facebook Fan Page has just reached their milestone of 20,000+ fans on their facebook page and is holding a very short giveaway to 20 lucky fans! Here's the link on how to enter : Tip Top Nails South Africa Giveaway! It ends today at 5.00pm SAST. So be quick, last I check its already about noon SAST time! 

To those who have yet to know about Tip Top Nails South Africa nail polishes, they are team of dedicated people who are dedicated to provide people with great quality nail polishes. Their nail polishes are free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP (Dibuthyl Phthalate) and Camphor. Also cruelty free as they do not test on animals! I've swatched some of their nail polishes before that I've won in a previous lucky draw you can view them HERE. From my experience, they are definitely great quality and worth getting! :D 

So, today's NOTD is yet another Saran/Cling wrap fun! The outcome of these weren't planned. Just randomly placing colours and voilà! Haha!! I don't know about you, but they reminded me of eggs - like easter eggs, egg shaped jewellery storage, egg decoration or those chocolate easter egg wrappers. Well, somewhere along those. :P

I'm not sure what to call these so I just went with Oriental Porcelain Egg Inspired because they were the closest to what the nails reminded me of. I did see a really similar one in one of the chinese shops in Malacca but I'm not allowed to take a picture of it and its really too bad I can't find similar ones on the internet to show you. 

So, what do they remind you of ? Hope you enjoy today's nails :)

Colours used:

• Etude House - COR202
• Nails Topshop - Country Bumpkin
• OPI - Teal the Cows Come Home
• Skin Food Pedicure Series - #10

PS: Don't forget to join in the giveaway by Tip Top Nails South Africa here!

Stippling the Fall

Hello everyone. Today's nails are inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest. Its a lovely paper sculpture by Yuko Tadaka Keller. As well as a little vision I had in mind when I thought of what I wanna do for the nails. I wanted to create the look of lights dangling down using the stippling method. Initially, I've pick warm and cool colours to work with but I saw that Chalkboard Nails is holding a nail art contest and themed only either Warm Tones or Cool Tones nail designs and I thought I'd take it as a challenge to create a nail art inspired by only warm or cool tones. Honestly, I find it rather hard at first since I really loved the contrast between warm and cool palettes. I've kept to my original idea of inspiration and pick out some of the warm tones in my stash and got myself stippling.

It's rather unfortunate that the nail art contest is only open to US Residents only. I would have love to enter even for the sake of fun. But nah, I don't think mine will make the cut since its really simple. If you are a nail art enthusiast and from the US, please by all means, take this opportunity to participate in the Nail Art Contest. Who knows, you might be a winner! ;)

Anyway, for my nails I've started off with nude base and sponge on a little yellow covering only a quarter of my nails. Since I want the dots to be able to be as mini sized as possible I used a toothpick and go on started off with stippling white dots acting as a highlight and a rough guide for all my other colours to follow on. Little did I know that they turn out to look very suitable for fall! Almost winter-like too (thanks to the white haha!)

I think it turned out okay, didn't happen like how I visioned it to. But I'm feeling very inspired! You can expect to see more stippling action to come! ;)

What I've used :

• Elianto - Light Coffee
• Bandi - Crystal Brown
• The Face Shop - YL701
• The Face Shop - WH002
• Etude House (Matte) - 06
• Nails Topshop - Country Bumpkin
• Sally Hansen - Chocolate Nut
• Toothpick

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!

NOTD - The Odd and Awkward

This post was suppose to be just a simple swatch and review post of Nails - Country Bumpkin by Top Shop.

Here's what happened. I was swatching Country Bumpkin because I thought I've been using it pretty often but have yet to provide a swatch on it.

Country Bumpkin :

1 Coat

2 Coats

A few words about the polish first, I do adore the nail polishes by TOPSHOP. The brush although pretty small its flat and has a wide coverage. All those combining with the awesomely smooth nail polish formula provides such a wonderful experience in applying the polish. They are about 9ml per bottle. Its rather pricey (MYR 29.00 ?) but hey, I think its worth it.

So what happened? If you noticed in the above picture, I kinda messed up the application a little bit, and I thought I should redo it. But, I've swatched this before the Mermaid and I didn't want to take it off. Then I thought I'd just do it on my right hand. But, on my right hand's ring finger, lays a painstakingly freehand rose which was done in an attempt to create another "Grey and Mustard" nails theme (which only the rose succeeded). I couldn't bring myself to wash it away....

So, I painted on Country Bumpkin alongside with the rose. This is a better version of two coats of Country Bumpkin. And after much debate, I decided to turn it into a NOTD instead of leaving the flower wasted because I couldn't come up with a combination to match the rose. So, why not clash it good? That's when I added strips with my trusty dotting tools.

There you go! The Odd and Awkward. Do note though, the irregular strips are intentional. Because the odd one is the Yellow Rose and the awkward ones are the awkwardly arranged together strips and colour combos. (hahaha!!)

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really liking this NOTD. Something to humour me throughout the day~!

Nail Polishes and tools :

• The Face Shop YL701
• The Face Shop WH002
• Nails TOPSHOP Country Bumpkin
• Skin Food Nail Vita GR901
• Rimmel French Ivory
• Small and Medium Dotting Tools

Swatch/Review: Nails Top Shop (NCOTD)

Today I planned to do a review/swatch of two polishes from Nails Top Shop. However, because they are heavy with pictures I've decided to split them up into two posts. 

In this post, I'll be swatching and reviewing this very lovely Mermaid nail polish by Top Shop.

This is just 1 coat. I was quite surprised it turned out to be pretty sheer. Hmm, I think it looks pretty good as well although just in 1 coat.

This is 2 coats. You can see that its really starting to transform into the "mermaid" colour. Ahh, but I really wanted the rich colour I see in the bottle so I went for another coat.

Opaque on the third coat. Although not as dark as the colours seen in the bottle, its satisfactory for me. I love it at three coats. This Nails Mermaid by Top Shop has some really pretty colours blended together. It has this silver shimmers, light blue shimmers and slight purple tint to it. And the best part is the little small gold flecks that are present in this colour that makes it special.

Here's an angle to show you guys the colour shift. You can see how the colour changes that gradually changes from silver to light blue to purplish-grey hues. And spot those little gold flecks shining like little jewels under the big blue sea.

Out of curiosity, I've decided to matte-iffy these lovelies. And they WOW-ed me completely! Look at the complete transformation from a mysterious silver blue colour to a light and extremely enchanting fairy tale finish! This nail polish is no doubt one of my favourites! I can't decide which I like best. Gloss or matte? I like both the same. What do you guys think?

Vintage Lace Nail Art Tutorial

Hello!

For today's post, I'd be showing a simple tutorial of the vintage lace nail art I did on Saturday. Its based on a tutorial by Nailside.

click image for larger view

Step by step:

1. Prepare two coats of desired base colour (here, I've used two coats of muted yellow). Next, I used my green nail polish's brush and strip it gently creating the broad but narrow line. 

2. Repeat the striping technique next to the first and start off a little lower.

3. Strip again using the nail polish's brush starting a little lower than the second strip.

4. Using a the smallest dotting tool you have (or toothpick), dot three dots using the base's colour in an arc shape as pictured.

5. Using a medium size dotting tool (or blunt pencil), dot a slightly bigger dot of the base's colour just below the arc. This would create the illusion of holes.
6. Repeat step 4-5 to the other two columns.
7. Repeat step 1-6 with a red colour, changing the dots' colour to the previously used green.
8. Repeat step 1-6 with a teal colour, changing the dots' colour to the previously used red.
9. Allow drying time and because there are quite some layers, clean up and top it off with a fast drying top coat.

Tips: Do allow drying time in between layers (dipped nails into a bowl of icy cold water to speed up drying time).

Its going to take sometime before you get the hang of this. Feel free to experiment with different colour combinations. :D

Enjoy!

NOTD : Vintage Lace

Good Morning Saturday!

So for today, I'll be sharing this NOTD that is inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest. I really think Pinterest is an awesome place to gain inspirations! People are pinning stuffs from all over the world! Now, ain't that wonderful?

Here is what the card look like :

PictureLink

And my interpretation:

For this look I have used the cloud manicure tutorial by Nailside (if you haven't check out her blog, please do! You won't regret!). I have simplified the laces that was inspired by the card. Well, my nail plates aren't broad, therefore, I pretty much have quite a limited space to work with and a lot of frustrations to deal with. I do, however, really love how these nails turn out! But, I really dislike how my top coat is bubbling >:(

I'm using Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Anti Chip Top Coat. Its great in many ways. It doesn't smear the designs, true to its usefulness (dry to touch in 30secs. not dried completely, but dry enough that you can touch and it won't smear). It also helped in drying some of my glitter/normal polishes faster than usual. And super glossy! Just that, if I blob too much it tends to bubble. Blob a little less, it dries too fast. As in, before I'm able to apply a full coverage on the nail. I have of course, known of Seche Vite Top Coat but the stated harmful chemicals in it refrains me from buying (do they bubble too?).

Is there any way to apply a fast drying top coat effectively without the bubbles forming? Anyway, I hope you guys like the Vintage Lace Manicure. Have a fabulous weekend!


Nail Polishes and Tools Used :

The Face Shop (YL701)

Sasatinnie (FCGR001)

Top Shop (Country Bumpkin)

Essence (Let's Get Lost)

Dotting Tool