Head over Lubu Heels

I feel like I should be doing a Halloween nail art because this is the perfect time for cats and pumpkins and more cats. But the fact that I can't celebrate Halloween (this is Australia and HSC is killing creativity) really dampened my spirit. So instead, I've opted for China Glaze Lubu Heels. I know this is pretty old but I am in love with this polish!

China Glaze Lubu Heels is essentially tiny red glitters suspended in a sheer, jelly black base. However, I was able to achieve close-to-opaque with 3 coats while maintaining the squishy jelly-like quality. I absolutely adore jelly-finishes and the red glitter in this polish is a huge bonus.

I'd like to keep this on for a while because it is just so beautifully mesmerizing.

The golden age

Since I have over a week until Physics, I'm left with quite a few hours to do nothing. I made these nails for the darling Samantha. Thank you for being my first customer. She had requested them to be Steam Punk inspired. Although these were kind of out of my comfort zone to create, I have to admit that I did have lots of fun making them.

It was a spontaneous process. I didn't have any plans and just whacked things down without really thinking. It was a good way to get over the awful Maths exam, I guess. I love how the little gears look together with the pointed, chrome rhinestones. I also took apart one of my old watches for the clock handles. The aggression was soothing. The acrylic stars that I was making came to good use. I just couldn't resist adding one oversized, statement piece. The fan reminds me so much of Sam.

I used a white base coat. Then a coat of a copper bronze franken that I've made using Revlon's Copperglaze Platinum. 4 coats of OPI Glizterland followed. China Glaze Medallion was added to the thumbs for that extra bit of sparkle dazzle. Nail glue was used to stick down the fan and stars. Topcoat took care of the rest. I think I've used a quarter of a bottle of topcoat for this because I'm a paranoid nut, scared of the rhinestones coming off. Enough of my rambling, check it out for yourself. Caution: lots photos ahead.

All these were completed last night. Oh it was a glorious night spent in front of the television. I've missed my TV so much.

Ski on water

Lately, I've been really sluggish and quite DS-dependent. Yet I manage to squeeze in 6 hours of maths per day (which is agonising). I still don't understand what I'm doing half the time. I don't feel motivated enough to do anything, exemplified by the fact that I only have one hand painted. I also keep dreaming about English. They are all really similar dreams where I'm studying for another English exam but nothing would go into my head and I keep reciting my history and memory essay. Last night was the 4th time that I had that dream. It is quite terrifying.

On a much brighter note, I marbled the nails on my left hand. This was actually the first time that I've marbled straight onto my nails. I've always done it on fake nails because I thought the cleaning up process would be a nightmare if I were to dip my finger into nail polish. But with the help of Vaseline, the whole process was so quick and easy.

I started off with 2 coats of OPI Ski Teal We Drop as base. Then I used various shades of green: China Glaze Four Leaf Clover, a green franken made by mixing China Glaze Sky High-Top with China Glaze Happy Go Lucky, OPI Jade is the New Black, some more OPI Ski Teal We Drop and Zoya Ivanka.

The thumb reminds me of a watermelon. Overall, I think this was rather successful. OPI Ski Teal We Drop is such a gorgeous colour. I especially love how it doesn't make my skin look more yellow than it already is. The white powery thing on my thumb is left over acrylic powder. The moulds that I've ordered off Etsy had arrived so I was making acrylic stars.

I'll definitely make a marbling tutorial soon.

I'm still alive

I haven't blogged in quite a while. Yes, I'm still painting my nails during this time. Even though the HSC is a (the word that rhymes with itch), the nail polish fumes are keeping me sane. You should've seen me during the last week of the holidays without nail polish. I'd like to thank the two Shirleys for putting up with my insanity during that agonizing period. I'd also like to thank Vivien for the lovely post, I hope you're painting your nails while you're reading this. This is beginning to sound like one of those award speeches so I am going to stop before I throw up in my mouth.

After the Belonging Paper, I painted my nails. I've reworked the Ruffian moon and made it look more like the "real" thing, whatever that may be. I used 3 coats of Colour Club Worth the Risque as base. This is a holographic nail polish that turns into disco balls in the sun. I love it. Although I failed to capture it because my home only sees the sun during the morning (I'm usually asleep during that time). This will all change when I move in a month's time! I'll be sure to take a photo the next time that I wear it.

After the base colour had dried, I used manicure guides on my middle and ring fingers but free handed the rest with Revlon Black Lingerie, then Essie's Matte About You finishing topcoat. I like the free hand effect better. I'm sure you'd agree.

I don't know if it is Essie's matte topcoat's fault for my own fault for not leaving the black to dry completely before whacking on the topcoat, the matte seems to work better with China Glaze Matte Magic. I should do a comparison later.

Go paint your nails. If my left hand was coordinated enough to free hand a Ruffian moon, then you should have no problem painting both hands.

Click me!

Procrastination. It sounds like such a bad word. It is kind of like "sarcastic". It even looks bad.

So I was thinking (this rarely happens) about the title of the previous post and because I think I have spent way too much time with Troll, immature thoughts keeps popping up. Same applies for the title of this post but I am too lazy to come up with something creative. Belonging has sucked all the creative juices out of me.

So I got off track. What I was meant to say many lines ago was that you are more than welcome to click on my photos to enlarge them and admire my beautifully nourished cuticles. They looked horrible once upon a time (I'd say about a month ago, actually). But now, with Lush's Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, my cuticles are saved and if I could use a comparative analogy: they used to look like Nicole Richie but now look like the luscious Miranda Kerr. I should get paid for this amazing advertising.

Actually, I'm just bored and don't want to write another stupid introduction. I'm killing trees while wasting ink. Am I killing your time too? Here's a little something to make it up to you, or to give you a heart attack.

I do not own this image, credits to the owner.

I found this a long time ago and saved it. Should I call an ambulance?

It's coming...

Yes, you know what I mean: the much dreaded HSC is coming in 2 days. My procrastination level has reached 99 and is ready to transcend to the ultimate epic. I also haven't blogged in a week. I honestly had nothing to blog about.

Remember my promise not to touch my nails until the HSC? Well I couldn't resist. I mean, there was a massive chip! What else am I suppose to do? Just leave it? I don't think so. The gold mani did last over a week, thanks to Revlon's topcoat. I discovered the chip after I washed the dishes (with gloves). I was pretty "grr" about it. But it gave my an excuse to paint my nails again, I guess. All's well ends well.

Other than the great big chip on the index finger of my left hand, my nails were pretty much perfect. Very faint tip wear was visible but that was probably one of the longest lasting manis ever. Look, I even circled the chip for you. What really scared me was how much my nails have grown in just 1 week. Look at the massive gap between the polish and my cuticles! I think I owe it all to Lush's Lemony Flutter. I feel a review coming soon.

The glitter wasn't as difficult to remove as I had imagined. I got to drool over Channing Tatum's hotness on TV while I scrubbed my nails. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Then I finally got the chance to paint my nails.

I used OPI Happy Anniversary. It is extremely sheer with a frosty-foil finish. The finish I feel is very similar to OPI Glitzerland, just more frosty. However, it took my 5 coats for a relatively opaque result. I would pile on more but I didn't want to suffocate my nails. I then added 3 coats of Essie Silver Bullion, a silver glitter topcoat. So altogether, I had 9 layers of nail polish on each nail (including basecoat and topcoat). I forgot to take a picture of OPI Happy Anniversary on its own but the result is pretty much the same as what I'm about to show you.

I like how dreamy this photo looks. Matches the end result which is very dreamy yet sparkly. It is hard to describe. It kind of reminds me of the Snow Queen. So clean and pristine but with a magical twist. Here's another photo of the same thing but with better details.

The glitters really come through. And a close up for good luck.

My index finger is looking very ugly at the moment. I guess I'll just have to wait for it to grow until it looks normal again. I think I might call this "Winter Wonderland" just to be cliche.

Light bulb

If you've watched Despicable Me, imagine "light bulb" the way Gru said it. I love those light bulb moments. They give me a purpose in life. No, I'm exaggerating. I've obviously been procrastinating a lot during the past few days (if not weeks) and have actually come up with quite a few new nail art ideas. So I thought that I'd better list them before I forget.

Obviously, these are going to be materialised after the HSC. Which is quite soon, actually.
♥ Tiffany & Co inspired (gives me an excuse to get China Glaze For Audrey)
♥ Minnie Mouse (who wouldn't love bows and polka dots?)
♥ Cookie Monster (his crazy googly eyes)
♥ Elmo (na-na-na-na Elmo's World)
♥ Christmas themed (I love Christmas, hopefully I can get my hand's on China Glaze's seasonal collection)
♥ Gingerbread man! (I am so excited for this one)

These will keep me going until next year.

Meemee says bye.

Bring on the burlesque!

I am so excited! OPI has released its Burlesque collection to celebrate the release of Burlesque the movie. You know, the one with Cher and Christina Aguilera. The movie doesn't look that appealing but OPI's collection of nail polish sure is amazing.

There are so so so many glitters! You should definitely go get out the swatches. Especially of the pure glitter ones. Yes, my wishlist has 2 additions: OPI Shimmer & Shimmer and OPI Sparkle-icious. They're both from the Burlesque collection. If you loved OPI Mad as a Hatter that was released with Tim Burton's movie, then you're going to love this collection. I know, I'm repeating myself. But I am just so excited! I can't wait to get my hands on those babies.

I guess I'll see them after HSC. That is in 6 weeks' time! Because I am so excited, I'll leave you with some photos of my current mani. I call them gold diggers. I promised myself that this will last me until the start of the HSC. Trying to keep this promise will be pure agony. I'm sorry that the first picture is blurry. My camera sucks. This is why I need a DSLR.

3 coats of OPI Glitzerland, 2 coats of China Glaze Gold Medallion on tips

It's like a gradient effect with glitter tips. The larger glitters are extremely reflective. I'm loving it. But it'll be a pain to remove. I'll worry about that later, I guess.

Go-Go Pink vs Mod About You

I should be studying right now. I woke up at 11AM today (wasted 2 hours already) and ended up playing my DS until 3PM. Then I don't know what happened in between 3PM til now. I really ought to be putting a lot more effort into being studious.

But instead, I bring you with a comparison of China Glaze Go-Go Pink with OPI Mod About You. Yes, this one's for you, Troll.

The first thing that I've realised is that they have completely different formulas. Well it is rather obviously since Go-Go Pink is on the sheer side while Mod About You is extremely opaque. The bottles do say a lot.

Left: OPI Mod About You; Right: China Glaze Go-Go Pink

As you can see, MAY has a cool undertone while GGP has a warm undertone. So they're not in the same groups of colour although they are both quite pastel. With 1 coat, GGP is extremely sheer while MAY is already nearly opaque.

1 coat of each

So I kept painting. With 3 coats, GGP is now opaque. MAY only required 2 coats in total. This is taken in the sun. The second photo is taken in shade. The colours look similar in the sun but completely different in shade.

In sun light

In shade

GGP is much warmer than MAY. GGP is almost peachy incomparison. Personally, I prefer MAY because my skin tends to look extremely orange with warm colours. However, the formula for GGP is quite watery for a polish that isn't sheer. It was a lot easier to apply and I did not encounter any problems.

Also, if you're looking for a dupe for MAY, I would suggest China Glaze Something Sweet from the Up & Away collection. I haven't tried it personally but I do think the formula will be less gloggy than MAY so I believe that would be something sweet to look into. Excuse the pun. I couldn't help myself.