Gilded Nails is having a giveaway and she has the entire China Glaze OMG collection up for grabs! It's open internationally so everyone can take part so click away! (:
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The Helmer
The last time I showed you my polish collection, they were in plastic baskets but I kept having to buy more baskets so I finally bought a Helmer for my polish storage after my exams and I'm so proud that I managed to set it up all by myself! There are 6 drawers but I only have 5 drawers filled currently so defnitely more room for expansion here! :D
In the first drawer are all the random nail supplies like polish remover, cuticle remover, nail files, buffers, konad stamps, cotton wool and sponges for sponging gradients (yes, I bought a huge pack of dish sponges because they were dirst cheap)!
In the second drawer, I have base coats, top coats, glitterss and flakies, blacks, metallics, greys, greiges, whites, bronzes and yellows.
The reds, pinks, mauves, nudes and taupes are in the third drawer.
Then, I have the purples, blues and greens in the forth!
And lastly, in the fifth drawer, I keep all the boxes that the polishes came in when I buy them from sprees in there! They're all empty and I can't bear throwing them away but if I ever need more space, they'll have to go!
When packing the polishes into the drawers and then putting them all side by side, I realised how much (not even gonna use "many") polish I have. I actually stopped counting once I hit 120 because the number would probably give me a heart attack!
If you noticed, I actually bought these tiny round circle stickers from the bookshop in my school and I painted polish on them and stuck them on the top of the covers so when I open the drawers, I can get a bird's eye view of the colours so it's easier to find the polish I'm looking for! The stickers were $1.60 for 416 pieces so they're pretty cheap! Just an idea for you guys if you have trouble finding your polish!
So how do you store your polishes?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Mischief Managed
This was the mani I had on while study for the bulk of my papers! I was rampaging through my mum's polish stash and I found this baby! It's Mischief 27 from Couleur Inc and it's a real good nude. It's the closest thing I've found that'll give me mannequin nails! Here it is in natural sunlight.
And this one's with flash
This polish was such a dream to work with! It glided onto my nails and the brush was pretty nice too. Not as wide as OPI but not as thin as Essie, and it was able to fan out so painting was so much easier! The polish was also pretty pigmented and all I needed were 2 coats to achieve opacity! Best thing of all? It only costs $3.50 (usual price is $4.30 I think, but I bought it at a Robinsons / John Little Expo Sale).
I used Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base and Top Coat for both my base and top and I must say, the mani lasted really well! 4 days and all I had was minor tipwear. I don't know if it's due to the Sally Hansen Base and Top Coat or the polish itself. Or maybe even due to the fact that I was only flipping pages and writing the entire day so I didn't subject my nails to any potentially chipping activities! One drawback to the Sally Hansen Base and Top Coat was that as a top coat, it took FOREVER to dry. I could still kinda squish my nail polish around even after hours of painting so unless you have time to wait it out, use a different top coat! As a base coat, it was still pretty good, it applied smoothly and actually look less time to dry!
I may be wearing shades like this frequently during my internship cuz the office seems really strict on dress code! Byebye blues and greens, hello nude colours!
PS: Etude House at Bugis is having a 30% storewide till Sunday (tmr) and the polishes are going at pretty good prices! Got 3 yesterday after work so if you were eyeing some but they were too expensive, go get them now!
And this one's with flash
This polish was such a dream to work with! It glided onto my nails and the brush was pretty nice too. Not as wide as OPI but not as thin as Essie, and it was able to fan out so painting was so much easier! The polish was also pretty pigmented and all I needed were 2 coats to achieve opacity! Best thing of all? It only costs $3.50 (usual price is $4.30 I think, but I bought it at a Robinsons / John Little Expo Sale).
I used Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base and Top Coat for both my base and top and I must say, the mani lasted really well! 4 days and all I had was minor tipwear. I don't know if it's due to the Sally Hansen Base and Top Coat or the polish itself. Or maybe even due to the fact that I was only flipping pages and writing the entire day so I didn't subject my nails to any potentially chipping activities! One drawback to the Sally Hansen Base and Top Coat was that as a top coat, it took FOREVER to dry. I could still kinda squish my nail polish around even after hours of painting so unless you have time to wait it out, use a different top coat! As a base coat, it was still pretty good, it applied smoothly and actually look less time to dry!
I may be wearing shades like this frequently during my internship cuz the office seems really strict on dress code! Byebye blues and greens, hello nude colours!
PS: Etude House at Bugis is having a 30% storewide till Sunday (tmr) and the polishes are going at pretty good prices! Got 3 yesterday after work so if you were eyeing some but they were too expensive, go get them now!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Mavala Flakies
Finally got down to swatching the Mavala Flakies I went all the way to AMK twice to get. First time I went, the shop was closed for some event so I dropped by again after school. I actually took the red line from Jurong East till AMK (which took what, 40 mintues?) just for 3 bottles of flakies, see how bad my polish addiction is!
Right, so time for peektures!
L-R: Nubar 2010, Mavala Canopus, Vega and Orion (without flash) The Mavala bottles are really small, 5ml compared to the standard 15ml bottles that OPI and ChG uses. But I like the tiny bottle cuz once I'm done with them, I can clean them up and use them to franken polishes!
(With flash)
Canopus is a warm, off-white clear polish with shimmer and flakies.
Vega is cooler and has a slight-grey-blue tone to it. Of course when painted on, it's almost identical to Canopus unless you paint 3 coats and more.
Orion is clearly an orange-red polish and it's more opaque than the previous two. You'll see later.
Another group shot! I have no idea why Canopus has so much less polish in the bottle because it was sealed so it's not like anyone used it! But it was the last bottle at Pink Beauty so I grabbed it anyway.
One coat of each, (L-R) 2010, Canopus, Vega and Orion
With 2010, Canopus and Vega, you can barely see them on the nail with one coat. Orion on the other hand, already gave a red hue upon its first coat. Also, with the 3 Mavala polishes, the shimmer was more dominant than the flakies so most of the time, you can only see the shimmer.
Time for a second coat.
With flash, you can see that Vega is a little more opaque than Canopus and that Vega is starting to appear cooler than Canopus, which is warmer.
With the second coat on, the flakes in 2010 are more prominent and the shimmer in Canopus and Vaga are starting to show as well. The flakes are there but they're just harder to capture. With Orion, I noticed that it was hard to differentiate the flakes from the shimmer cuz they were the same colour!
On to coat number 3.
I really didn't want to waste my flakies so I stopped at coat 3. At this rate, it would probably take 5 coats to be totally opaque for Canopus and Vaga. 2010 will never be opaque because it was a clear base without any shimmer, just flakes. Orion was the only polish that got opaque so quickly but I'm not totally happy with its colour. It reminds me too much of CNY and I felt very cheena and obiang when I wore it!
Close ups:
2010
Canopus
Vega
Orion
So, that concludes my flakies posts! You've seen all 4 flakies I own and I hope you're now into flakies as I am! (:
Right, so time for peektures!
L-R: Nubar 2010, Mavala Canopus, Vega and Orion (without flash) The Mavala bottles are really small, 5ml compared to the standard 15ml bottles that OPI and ChG uses. But I like the tiny bottle cuz once I'm done with them, I can clean them up and use them to franken polishes!
(With flash)
Canopus is a warm, off-white clear polish with shimmer and flakies.
Vega is cooler and has a slight-grey-blue tone to it. Of course when painted on, it's almost identical to Canopus unless you paint 3 coats and more.
Orion is clearly an orange-red polish and it's more opaque than the previous two. You'll see later.
Another group shot! I have no idea why Canopus has so much less polish in the bottle because it was sealed so it's not like anyone used it! But it was the last bottle at Pink Beauty so I grabbed it anyway.
One coat of each, (L-R) 2010, Canopus, Vega and Orion
With 2010, Canopus and Vega, you can barely see them on the nail with one coat. Orion on the other hand, already gave a red hue upon its first coat. Also, with the 3 Mavala polishes, the shimmer was more dominant than the flakies so most of the time, you can only see the shimmer.
Time for a second coat.
With flash, you can see that Vega is a little more opaque than Canopus and that Vega is starting to appear cooler than Canopus, which is warmer.
With the second coat on, the flakes in 2010 are more prominent and the shimmer in Canopus and Vaga are starting to show as well. The flakes are there but they're just harder to capture. With Orion, I noticed that it was hard to differentiate the flakes from the shimmer cuz they were the same colour!
On to coat number 3.
I really didn't want to waste my flakies so I stopped at coat 3. At this rate, it would probably take 5 coats to be totally opaque for Canopus and Vaga. 2010 will never be opaque because it was a clear base without any shimmer, just flakes. Orion was the only polish that got opaque so quickly but I'm not totally happy with its colour. It reminds me too much of CNY and I felt very cheena and obiang when I wore it!
Close ups:
2010
Canopus
Vega
Orion
So, that concludes my flakies posts! You've seen all 4 flakies I own and I hope you're now into flakies as I am! (:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Nubar 2010
Finally managed to get a bottle of this baby! Just look at how gorgeous it is in sunlight!
And my favourite image of it, just look at the rainbow effect:
So how does it look on the nail? Well most of the swatches I've seen online shows that it really shines when applied on blue polishes so I used 4 blue shades and one green one on my thumb.
From thumb to pinkie: OPI Mermaid's Tears, Essie Borrowed and Blue, China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze Secret Periwinkle and OPI Ski Teal We Drop, all with one coat of Nubar 2010 on top.
So if you can tell, 2010 is more obvious on darker bases and more discrete on top of lighter, more pastel colours! I really like it alot on top of Secret Periwinkle and For Audrey!
It's so pretty I'm even thinking of buying another bottle as backup. And perhaps to franken some Merry Midnight dupe? I don't know, we'll see how that goes!
And my favourite image of it, just look at the rainbow effect:
So how does it look on the nail? Well most of the swatches I've seen online shows that it really shines when applied on blue polishes so I used 4 blue shades and one green one on my thumb.
From thumb to pinkie: OPI Mermaid's Tears, Essie Borrowed and Blue, China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze Secret Periwinkle and OPI Ski Teal We Drop, all with one coat of Nubar 2010 on top.
So if you can tell, 2010 is more obvious on darker bases and more discrete on top of lighter, more pastel colours! I really like it alot on top of Secret Periwinkle and For Audrey!
It's so pretty I'm even thinking of buying another bottle as backup. And perhaps to franken some Merry Midnight dupe? I don't know, we'll see how that goes!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Crushing on Flakies
I've been crushing on flakies ever since seeing this post and since then, I've got myself 4 bottles of flakies. Of course that ain't enough to satisfy my hunger for flakies so I had to do this post! I present you, the ultimate flakie wishlist:
Nfu Oh 51
Credits: Scrangie
Credits: Lacquerized
Credits: the polished perfectionist
Oh, how gorge is Nfu Oh 51? You know it retails for $40 a bottle here in Singapore? Oh, I'm not paying that kind of money for Nfu-oh. Even Chanel costs less. Even if I buy if from http://fabuloustreet.com/ and vpost it into Singapore (fabuloustreet only offers free shipping within US), it's gonna cost well over $30. SIGH. Times like these I wish I have a relative staying in the US who I can ask to help me buy stuff.
And of course, Orly Fowl Play from their soon-to-be released Birds of a Feather Collection
Credits: Gilded Nails
Oh, isn't Fowl Play amazing? And doesn't it remind you of OPI Merry Midnight? If you read my earlier entry, I managed to get a (very used up) bottle of Merry Midnight recently but after letting it sit and settle for a day, I realised there's only a couple of drops left so I'm desperately looking for a good dupe! This might be it! :D Oh, I hope this polish will satisfy my lust for flakies, otherwise I will be heading down to buy Nfu Oh 51 when my allowance (from my internship) comes in slightly more than one month's time.
I'll be posting swatches of Nubar 2010 soon! Couldn't belief my luck when I googled "Nubar 2010 Singapore" and an online shop actually sells them! Jumped on the flakies ship immediately and got myself a bottle! I'll also post swatches of the 3 Mavala flakies (with some shimmer too) once I remove my current polish to swatch them!
So, are you crushing on flakies now? (:
Nfu Oh 51
Credits: Scrangie
Credits: Lacquerized
Credits: the polished perfectionist
Oh, how gorge is Nfu Oh 51? You know it retails for $40 a bottle here in Singapore? Oh, I'm not paying that kind of money for Nfu-oh. Even Chanel costs less. Even if I buy if from http://fabuloustreet.com/ and vpost it into Singapore (fabuloustreet only offers free shipping within US), it's gonna cost well over $30. SIGH. Times like these I wish I have a relative staying in the US who I can ask to help me buy stuff.
And of course, Orly Fowl Play from their soon-to-be released Birds of a Feather Collection
Credits: Gilded Nails
Oh, isn't Fowl Play amazing? And doesn't it remind you of OPI Merry Midnight? If you read my earlier entry, I managed to get a (very used up) bottle of Merry Midnight recently but after letting it sit and settle for a day, I realised there's only a couple of drops left so I'm desperately looking for a good dupe! This might be it! :D Oh, I hope this polish will satisfy my lust for flakies, otherwise I will be heading down to buy Nfu Oh 51 when my allowance (from my internship) comes in slightly more than one month's time.
I'll be posting swatches of Nubar 2010 soon! Couldn't belief my luck when I googled "Nubar 2010 Singapore" and an online shop actually sells them! Jumped on the flakies ship immediately and got myself a bottle! I'll also post swatches of the 3 Mavala flakies (with some shimmer too) once I remove my current polish to swatch them!
So, are you crushing on flakies now? (:
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous
Went to FEP after my second last paper with my friend and we both did manis! She did a pink french mani with polka dots (but I forgot to take pictures) and I got OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous because I was craving for a dark shimmerly metallic colour after looking at Black Pearl.
It's sparkly and shimmery with tiny multi-coloured specks of glitter! The manicurist did 2 coats with a sache top coat.
I like it a lot and I wanna get it soon! (:
Friday, May 13, 2011
Merry Midnight
I'M BACK! exams are not over but I have slightly more than a week from now till my next (and final) paper so here's something to make up for lost time!
I was getting a mani at FEP and I saw a basket of polishes that the shop was selling for $2. They were mostly used up and had probably 20 drops left, probably enough to do a last manicure. Lo and behold, guess what I found? OPI MERRY MIDNIGHT. FOR ONLY $2. Granted it was mostly used up but the bottle itself was so pretty I didn't mind paying $2 just to own the bottle and stare at its gorgeous flakes!
Now I can say I own Merry Midnight! (:
Probably gonna soak the bottle in warm water to see if I can get the polish clinging on the wall to get to the bottom? People do it with lipgloss and mascara so I'm thinking it should work on polish too?
I was getting a mani at FEP and I saw a basket of polishes that the shop was selling for $2. They were mostly used up and had probably 20 drops left, probably enough to do a last manicure. Lo and behold, guess what I found? OPI MERRY MIDNIGHT. FOR ONLY $2. Granted it was mostly used up but the bottle itself was so pretty I didn't mind paying $2 just to own the bottle and stare at its gorgeous flakes!
Now I can say I own Merry Midnight! (:
Probably gonna soak the bottle in warm water to see if I can get the polish clinging on the wall to get to the bottom? People do it with lipgloss and mascara so I'm thinking it should work on polish too?
Monday, May 2, 2011
Combined Hauls
Soooo, these are what I've gotten for myself recently!
Warning: The pictures below are not color accurate so please don't rely on them to buy the polishes!
First up, these wer what I got from Gwen's last transdesign spree! I expanded my Misa collection a fair bit with this spree!
Top Row: Misa It's You, Office Polish-tics, Paint My Nails @ Work, Pay Days Are Happy Days, Coffee Pick Me Up, OPI Done Out In Deco and Bare It In Trafalgar Square
Bottom Row: China Glaze First Mate, Hey Sailor and OPI Ali's Big Break
Next, got two of the OPI Pirates of the Carribean colours, Planks a Lot and Mermaid Tears. I recently swatched Stranger Tides at BHG Bugis and I'm now tempted to get it as well! (The only thing stopping me is how close Essie Da Bush, from their Resort 2011 collection, seems to be and I'm definitely getting that one)
Got these 2 LA Girl Color Addict polishes from BHG Bugis. Went there with my friend after our guitar lesson and we both bought 2 polishes each! The first one, the gorgeous conrflower blue with a mesmerizing gold shimmer is called Idol and the second one is a grey with the same gold shimmer (in fact the entire Color Addict line has that gold shimmer if I'm not wong) is called Disorder. I love the name of the grey one. Really makes me feel like I've got a polish disorder.
I also made a special trip all the way down to AMK just to visit Pink Beauty to get Mavala Flakies (I actually made 2 trips down because the damn shop was closed when I went down the first time). I totally forgot to take pictures of the three bottles so I'll post them up when I swatch them!
Last but not least, the latest haul I got from Estella!
Top Row: Essie Mint Candy Apple, Borrowed and Blue, Lapis of Luxury, Eternal Optimist and Sand Tropez
Bottom Row: China Glaze Crushed Candy, 2030 and Millenium
Now obviously I didn't haul this much polishes in that short a period of time. I took, say, 3 months? I am planning another haul in my head as I type this though. Already got my eyes set on OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (I'm suddenly into the whole dark metallic shimmer thing now), Essie Smooth Sailing, Absolutely Shore and Da Bush from their soon to be released Resort and Summer 2011 collections, OPI Stranger Tides, and a couple more! Trying to convince myself that my measely internship allowance (yes, it's so little they don't even call it a pay) will be able to cover upcoming hauls!
With these haul pictures, I'd like to say that I'll be going on a short study hiatus as my exams are in a week's time and I really need to study study study! That's also the reason why I've been MIA (if you noticed). School's just been one crazy whirlwind this semester and my project and presentation period just ended and before I know it, I'm plunging into the exam zone. And after that it's internship time. Really got a lot of things in line and I hope I'll be able to cope!
That being said, I promise I'll post up swatches of the polishes here after my exams! I have already swatched some of them but I need to color correct them on photoshop and I can only spare time for that after I'm done with my papers! But I'm gonna leave you with some nail art I was experimenting with while I got bored studying!
Polka Dots (China Glaze Sea Spray as base and China Glaze IV for the dots) Haha, I am pointing to my Marketing Notes, pretending to study!
Leopard Preenz (Essie Jazz as base, Hot Coco as the borwn spots and I used a marker to draw on the black "borders") Really didn't know how to draw a leopard print design as I'm not a huge fan of it so I just used my imagination! I certainly know a friend who will love this mani and I'm thinking of giving her one!
Right, so toodles until next time!
Warning: The pictures below are not color accurate so please don't rely on them to buy the polishes!
First up, these wer what I got from Gwen's last transdesign spree! I expanded my Misa collection a fair bit with this spree!
Top Row: Misa It's You, Office Polish-tics, Paint My Nails @ Work, Pay Days Are Happy Days, Coffee Pick Me Up, OPI Done Out In Deco and Bare It In Trafalgar Square
Bottom Row: China Glaze First Mate, Hey Sailor and OPI Ali's Big Break
Next, got two of the OPI Pirates of the Carribean colours, Planks a Lot and Mermaid Tears. I recently swatched Stranger Tides at BHG Bugis and I'm now tempted to get it as well! (The only thing stopping me is how close Essie Da Bush, from their Resort 2011 collection, seems to be and I'm definitely getting that one)
Got these 2 LA Girl Color Addict polishes from BHG Bugis. Went there with my friend after our guitar lesson and we both bought 2 polishes each! The first one, the gorgeous conrflower blue with a mesmerizing gold shimmer is called Idol and the second one is a grey with the same gold shimmer (in fact the entire Color Addict line has that gold shimmer if I'm not wong) is called Disorder. I love the name of the grey one. Really makes me feel like I've got a polish disorder.
I also made a special trip all the way down to AMK just to visit Pink Beauty to get Mavala Flakies (I actually made 2 trips down because the damn shop was closed when I went down the first time). I totally forgot to take pictures of the three bottles so I'll post them up when I swatch them!
Last but not least, the latest haul I got from Estella!
Top Row: Essie Mint Candy Apple, Borrowed and Blue, Lapis of Luxury, Eternal Optimist and Sand Tropez
Bottom Row: China Glaze Crushed Candy, 2030 and Millenium
Now obviously I didn't haul this much polishes in that short a period of time. I took, say, 3 months? I am planning another haul in my head as I type this though. Already got my eyes set on OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (I'm suddenly into the whole dark metallic shimmer thing now), Essie Smooth Sailing, Absolutely Shore and Da Bush from their soon to be released Resort and Summer 2011 collections, OPI Stranger Tides, and a couple more! Trying to convince myself that my measely internship allowance (yes, it's so little they don't even call it a pay) will be able to cover upcoming hauls!
With these haul pictures, I'd like to say that I'll be going on a short study hiatus as my exams are in a week's time and I really need to study study study! That's also the reason why I've been MIA (if you noticed). School's just been one crazy whirlwind this semester and my project and presentation period just ended and before I know it, I'm plunging into the exam zone. And after that it's internship time. Really got a lot of things in line and I hope I'll be able to cope!
That being said, I promise I'll post up swatches of the polishes here after my exams! I have already swatched some of them but I need to color correct them on photoshop and I can only spare time for that after I'm done with my papers! But I'm gonna leave you with some nail art I was experimenting with while I got bored studying!
Polka Dots (China Glaze Sea Spray as base and China Glaze IV for the dots) Haha, I am pointing to my Marketing Notes, pretending to study!
Leopard Preenz (Essie Jazz as base, Hot Coco as the borwn spots and I used a marker to draw on the black "borders") Really didn't know how to draw a leopard print design as I'm not a huge fan of it so I just used my imagination! I certainly know a friend who will love this mani and I'm thinking of giving her one!
Right, so toodles until next time!
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