The Nail it Good: December 2012

Just before Christmas

6:33 AM

Just the other day, I went back to the Nylon office to film some nail art tutorials, and I'm super happy with the outcome (and the fact that this shot got over 1,000 likes on nylon's instagram account - pretty normal for them, but it's big news for me!). Can't wait till they hit youtube! I'll definitely be leaving you guys a link here when it's released.

In the meantime, check out the new colour I got as a present from 2 awesome people. It's butter london's Fishwife. Honestly, when I read the name of the polish, I did a double take. Its a holographic colour - my first one yet. I may do another Christmas manicure since we've still got time, and I'm definitely using this colour..

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Let it snow

4:09 AM

Alright, so it isn't exactly snowing outside. Though we do have rain right now, so all we need is for it to be past freezing point..

Did my nails while watching the dog whisperer on tv. The initial plan was actually to use my strip tape again, but after much deliberation, I decided to keep it simpler. Pretty excited for tomorrow, for what you might ask? You'll see soon enough.

Edit - just got out of the shower, and about 5 beads came off. Really should've used seche vite first before I put the matte coat on. Just fixed it with a new coat, so it should be pretty reinforced now.

The base colour is from FaceShop. I used Seche Vite to seal the beads in, then added a layer of Essie's Matte About You to give it a matte (duh) finish!

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The Christmas Nail

8:17 AM

'Tis the season to be jolly. All those Christmassy designs I've been seeing so far has got me inspired to do this one. Mistletoe is still pretty under-done in terms of nail art (to me, at least). Maybe it's lost it's charm. Come to think of it, I've never actually seen actual mistletoe before.

Regardless, they gave my nails such a neat & tidy look. The Christmas tree was left simple without too many bobbles - of course, you can add as many as you like. Or you could even replace the star at the top with a tiny jewel. Most other mistletoe designs I found around the interwebz had more traditional leaves which looked spikier, but I prefer to draw them to look more like vines. Overall, a quick design to finish.

If you don't have strip tape, I suggest you get some now. So far, I've only come across them at Deco Den in Bugis Junction (#03-06), they do have other outlets too. Its a pretty good place to get your supplies - it's got brushes (including the stripe brushes I used in this video), dotting tools of various sizes, nail studs & jewels, fimo nail art, and acrylic nails. Hmm maybe I should try using fimo some time soon..

Base coat & colour (WH002) from FaceShop. The red is OPI's Meep-Meep-Meep. The green is OPI's Green-Wich Village, and the gold is from Skin Food (BR613). Top coat from Seche Vite.

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The Eye & Bone Nail

9:13 AM

Besides the fact that my title does not make grammatical sense, my third tutorial is up. Yes, I got really distracted for awhile and forgot about my little project. But like I said, its going to change now that the holidays are here. Plus its the festive season - plenty of reason to deck the nails with glitter and some red and green.

Back to the tutorial though. I took two of my favourite Halloween patterns into this simple tutorial, and it got done in about half an hour. Recording my own face at the beginning took longer. Seriously. Plus my hair ~~was~~ is a mess.

If you haven't ~~watched it~~ subscribed to my YouTube channel, please do! It's the quickest way to know when I've got new stuff up (which will become more frequent, I promise), plus it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Really.

Base coat & Base colour (BK901) from FaceShop. Blue colour by Fuso. Top coat by Seche Vite.

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'Tis the season

8:59 AM

When I get stressed out, I usually paint my nails. But believe me, this exam stress got me wanting to do nothing but sleep. My nails were blank for about a week or so while my finals were underway, but now I'm done with all the papers and back to doing what I love.

Too bad we don't get snow here. Decided to paint some dainty flakes on my nails, and added a light glitter to make it a little more interesting. The matte top coat makes the glitter disappear till it catches the light and gives a strange green tinge to the design - nice. If you look closely, you'll see where I had my little booboo. I really should remind myself not to run my fingers through my hair while the paint's still damp.