The Nail it Good

Assortedness

3:11 AM

I couldn't find my camera for the past 3 days, and I was getting ready for the worst when I realized my sis is on a project which requires her to take pictures - so the camera was with her this whole time. Silly me. I thought I'd lost it in the mountain of mess that is my work table. Seriously, it's embarrassing how messy it is.

If you saw my instagram, you would've seen my picture of the NCLA wraps that I got (Reflect Yourself). Here's a shot of how they look on me:

Bear in mind that I've had these on for a week now, and I am EXTREMELY IMPRESSED. I mean, I work 5 days a week at Lush, which includes numerous product demos, washing of hands, handling of the cashier, and look at the state of the nail wraps. And did I meantion, I'm not even wearing any top coat on them? The only tears are really small ones at the tip of my nails, and a slight fade as well.. But I'm really impressed.

To me, NCLA beats Nail Rock, Sally Hansen, and Loreal's nail wraps by a league. Nail Rock and Sally Hansen only lasted a week on my nails -- although Sally Hansen's wraps are the easiest to apply because they're the thinnest (you don't even need to file off the excess sticker, just a tug and it tears off). I really, really didn't like Loreal's. They were crazy thick, and I couldn't file them off at all. They're also extremely sticky, so readjusting them was near impossible. Just a huge no no for me. But NCLA, well done man.

My only issue with NCLA was that the patterns on the wraps aren't that sharp. It just irked me that it looks low-rez from up close -- however, it's something only the wearer will notice, most of my friends tell me they look really good, which they do. Other than that, I'm definitely making a second purchase. Maybe I'll put on the Madeline Poole selection next. I adore her. When I grow up, I want to be Madeline Poole. Yes.

And I owe you guys pictures of the manicures I did in the week before CNY! This isn't everyone though.. I missed out Felicia and Rayna's nails. Forgot to take pictures of them )':

The first set is Janice's -- you may remember her as the lady behind these nails (the lace ones, not the egg ones). We went mismatch this time, there's literally no one look we went for. She showed me a few pictures for inspiration, we picked the colours, and off we went. Truly unique.

Mel wanted pineapples on her nails, and I thought that'd be the cutest thing ever. Simple white base with cute little pineapples - reminded me of a pineapple skirt she got from H&M. I'm want them on my nails now.

Yes, we literally stood against a wall to take these pictures hahaha. These are Cheryl's nails, and she wanted the same design as the one I had previously with the stripes and roses. Super elegant, and I was pretty surprised to find that I did them in about an hour - quicker than when I did them on my own nails.

Both Felicia and Yi Jun wanted the daisy manicure, and these are Yi Jun's hands. Seriously they never go wrong no matter how short you keep your nails.

These are Astrid's adorbz manicure. I completely forgot what the characters stand for, but they go along the lines of 'Whatever it is in your heart, may it come true' -- correct me if I'm wrong, sorry if I messed it up! I thought it was the loveliest phrase and tried my best to not screw up the characters, and I think they turned out pretty neatly. We added cherry blossoms, gold coins, oranges, and even a horse to the mix (it's on her thumb).

And these were for my good friend Jeremy's sister, Valerie. She wanted something that wasn't too eyecathing as she works in the healthcare sector, so they were florals on a nude base. For some reason my camera made the white look beige and I have no idea how to edit it so it looks like it does in real life. Noob me.

And that's all the pictures I have for now! I bought a new Essie colour lately, and I'll prolly do my nails with them tonight.. But for now I'm going to get off my com because Wrath of the Titans is on TV.

Ttyl <3

nail art

Fully booked

3:25 AM

nail art

Nails that aren't mine

4:38 AM

nail art

That manicure

10:50 PM

nail art

Back in business

9:23 PM

It's been more than just a while. I think it's been about 4 months since my last post actually. Plus, my last post was just about bloglovin. I've got some explaining to do..

Since starting my part time job, I've been busier than I had anticipated. School + CCA was already enough, but I needed an income - however small it may be. Long story short, I didn't have enough me time.

There was once when I tried painting my nails again, but I didn't feel entirely in the mood for it. Looking back, I think you could say I was uninspired.

But now I'm back to blogging, this I promise. I've even returned to my old habits of uploading photos to a post, saving as draft, and writing the rest of it while I'm on public transport. I'm usually writing these posts while I'm on my way to school, but this time, I'm on my way to work.

While I'm on a more personal note, I also want to say that I was elated when I checked out my blog stats yesterday. I had posted a short Instagram video on my latest nail art, and I think that made quite a large number of people check my blog too - perhaps expecting a post. To be honest, I had not checked in to blogger for almost as long as I hadn't posted anything, so to find that people are still checking on my blog every once in a while was a pretty good feeling. More than just pretty actually - it was a very good feeling.

And now on to my nail design! They didn't turn out the way I had imagined them to, but they look pretty nonetheless.

I got up in the morning yesterday to buy a set of acrylic paint, because I knew that it was something I should've done a long time ago. Painting with polish is a little tougher, because you have to constantly refill your palette because the polishes keep drying of course. Plus, with acrylics, I can finally try my hand at one-stroke nail art, which you'll see more of once I've gotten the hang of it!

A few days ago I was checking NCLA's website for new arrivals. I'm a huge fan of their nail wraps (even though I've never tried them on myself), because they look AMAZING. I saw a design I hasn't noticed before: Flash Fete. It's a beautiful abalone shell design, and it looks exactly like the real deal. Needless to say, I wanted to try painting them on my nails.

And here's the result:

I initially planned to use the sparkly nail foil that I had purchased earlier in the year, but they were a complete let down. So much so that I don't even want to show you a picture of the product hahaha. I wanted to add a sheen or iridescence to the design, to make it resemble a real abalone shell, but it didn't turn out as planned.

So I just went ahead and painted it to look as natural as possible.

Steps:

1. Base coat, followed by a thin layer of white polish

2. 2 coats of Butter London's Fishwife

3. Draw black lines to resemble the abalone shell. At this stage, it doesn't have to be neat.

4. Paint greens and blues in different shades along the black lines, making sure to dilute the acrylic so that it looks translucent.

5. Redraw the black lines thicker

6. Seal with a top coat.

Kinda looks mother-earthy now. Hmm. I can prolly improve on this design. Maybe I'll try it again in the near future. But that's it from me now, but you can expect weekly posts every Saturday from now on. Adios!