Haute for polka

I've had Essie Haute as Hello sitting on my shelf for ages. I kind of forgot that I had it because I've always thought that it was a warm-orangey colour and those colours definitely do not flatter my already very yellow hands. Boy was I wrong.
Essie Haute as Hello is a light coral that is almost neon in colour. Because of this, the polish itself dries in a semi-matte state that is rather sheer (requiring at least 3 coats but I got lazy and managed to get away with only 2). Polka dots and random cloud-like shapes seem to do the job of disguising the slight uneven streakiness.
I love how this polish is both warm and cool at the same time, almost like a neutral shade that is able to accomodate just about any skin tone. You're more than welcome to prove me wrong.

Beware, cougar!

I've kept my promise from the previous entry so here's the second post of this week. I'm rather excited about this and you'll soon see why.

Dear Whiney had brought back some brilliant nail stickers from Japan. I wish she had packed a whole suitcase full of them because they are simply gorgeous! Remember when I was raving on and on about Minx and other foil-like nail manicures? This is the next best thing, if not even better! I'm a sucker for the reflective result that normal nail polish cannot achieve.
These little babies are actually stickers, rather than foils. The application is absolutely fool-proof. Just trim to size, sticker and rub. No creases, just sexy smoothness.
I love you, Whiney! Thank you so much for bringing back such a wonderful creation! I wish Australia was less deprived.

Diamonds in the air

First up, I'd have to apologising for not posting since over 2 months ago (dear oh dear). As a very bad attempt to justify this uber long period of inactivity, I'd have to blame China because that country has blocked just about everything that is even remotely entertaining. No Youtube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Wordpress, no Blogger, no Facebook and just about every other 'social' sites.

Now let's get onto the more important things. I've been feeling very lazy lately. I'm still not used to uni's insane workload. I also had to cut my nails extremely short while I was in China because somehow my nails just kept on breaking, so I don't want to show the world my bald fingers. My nails are now finally at an acceptable length! I had to do something to celebrate, right?

I used 2 coats of China Glaze Light as Air because I haven't gone nail polish shopping in quite a while and I've used up every single colour because I am that deprived oh wow I'm rambling because I am that sad and now how many "because" have I said? So I don't know why but it ended up being kind of streaky. Had my nail painting skills deteriorated? So what better way is there to cover up streakiness than with plenty of glitter (Essie Silver Bullion)?
I couldn't help decorating my ring finger since I haven't done a proper nail art in ages. I regret not doing the whole manicure in it as personally I believe it had turned out pretty darn good. I promise to update again this week so stay tuned!

Strawberry surprise!

This is 10 days late but happy new year to you all. My unspoken new year's resolution of blogging more frequently is an absolute failure. I still paint my nails a lot but I always forget to photograph them and by the time that I do remember, the tips are worn and sometimes even chipped. Nothing's blog-quality these days.

Moving on. I've been wanting to do strawberry nails for quite some time. I had finally gotten around to them last night. I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out, exceeding my expectations, even.
3 coats of Zoya Gilda was used as the base. The sparkly fuschia pink is an amazing shade in its own right. But I was pleasantly surprised when it was coupled with China Glaze Four Leaf Clover for the tip. Four Leaf Clover is one of the hardest colours to photograph. It is a lot greener in real life, leaning towards a forest green. Gold bullions are stuck on to represent the strawberry seeds. Strawberry seeds are yellow. Don't try to argue otherwise because I know I am right. I've been through this with countless people.
The gold bullions feel really funky when I run my fingers over them (in a good way) because they're so bumpy.
I hope I've inspired you to strawberry-fy your hands. Yellow nail polish can be used instead of gold bullions if you find that they are difficult to locate. I've seen small bottles of bullions in Morning Glory. But I get them from Ebay in those wheels. Now I need to get some whipped cream.

Put a rose in your cheeks

Sydney's weather is really whacked up this summer. Summer feels nothing like summer. Today was such a gloomy day. In order to cheer myself up, I've decided to jump on the floral train, although I am a bit late in joining the parade.
I used Essie Mint Candy Apple as a base. Surprisingly, it only took 2 coats, considering normally Essie requires 4-5 coats for complete opacity. I'm the sort of person to stick anything and everything onto my nails. The flower on my ring finger is actually made out of paper and meant for scrap booking and other non-nail art purposes. I can't help myself. Topcoat is the solution for everything. But the flower is really getting on my nerves now. I can't even seem to wash my hands properly with that attached. I really shouldn't have used so much nail glue.
The little flakey thing on my ring finger is the residue of the nail glue that doesn't want to come off no matter how hard I scratch at it. I'm not sure if you can see but the flowers are drawn using white over pink. It was absolutely agonising repeating the same process on my right hand.
Personally, I think this is rather successful considering that I very rarely draw roses because I know that they would also turn out looking like squished bugs. I've surprised myself this time. I hope this will bring back the warm and sunny summer weather.

These roses could also be painted using acrylic paint and topped off with a layer of topcoat. Acrylic is much easier to handle as they can be washed off with water and does not dry as quickly as nail polish so things can be altered if mistakes are made.