Monday, October 22, 2012

The Wonder Yellow and FuschiaRama Mani etc.

 
As I promised from my last post I will be sharing some manis I did using the nail polishes that I won from Sekhmet's Purple Castle.
The first one I tried is The Wonder Yellow which is from the Wet N' Wild Summer Getaway Set.
On the pic above I used two coats, as you can see it's a bit sheer but I didn't want it to be opaque I kinda liked how it looked with just two coats.
I then swiped one coat of a blue glitter which has two sizes, I think they complimented each other I wasn't sure how this would turn out because I'm bad with color combos. ^_^



 Because I can't just let it be I then decided to stamp this design from the MASH 42 plate.
 The stamping polish I used here is actually a dark green but when I stamped it over yellow it turned into a dark olive which for me is really cool, really love how this mani turned out.





The next polish I used is FuschiaRama, I kinda decided to use the Wet N' Wild Summer Getaway set first ^_^
My initial description of this polish was it was a jelly polish but though it is sheer it dries into a matte finish. Maybe because of the fast dry formulation, it dries quick and matte. On this pic is one coat.


 This is three coats because two coats still looks off, it does still look kinda sheer but personally it was opaque enough for me. See how it's not shiny, this looks like a semi-matte finish.



  
On here I place one coat of a shimmer polish, I did this mani at night when I woke up and saw it again I felt like the shimmer polish was a bad idea. It made it look too garish for my taste, I should have used a clear top coat. So....



 
 I just stamped on it!
Too bad my camera washed out the colors of the stamping polishes I used.
The pinky and ring finger is a powder blue and middle and index is a light purple.
On my thumb are both colors.
I think it still turned out pretty ^_^




  
 I just want to share this small haul I made,
practice finger
stamping polishes blue and purple
small brush cleaning jar


 
I wanted to see how Vogue Fantastic in Morado would look like so I tested it on the practice finger I bought.
Morado looks so awesome! It's more like a shatter than a crackle I think. ^_^



  
I just want to share this mani I did a week ago I think, I was able to purchase some pastel pens on my birthday and they're great for making nail art designs. They dry better than the metallic pens but sometimes they look like neons than pastels, hahaha!


Thanks for hanging out here, I'll be doing more manis from Sekhmet's Purple Castle giveaway prizes so do come back and check it out. Thanks again! ^_^

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Sekhmet's Purple Castle giveaway prize arrived!!!

Last late August I announced that I won Sekhmet's Purple Castle's giveaway, we have been corresponding through email since then.
A day ago I received a notice from our local post office which means a package had arrived and I need to pick it up. So yesterday my boyfriend and I went to pick up the package just bringing the notice with me.
When we got there they laid the package in front of me then they asked/conveyed that they would open it. So giddy as I was I said 'Okay!'
If you could see me my eyes they were probably twinkling with happiness because I was seeing and touching the polishes for the first time and saying 'Ah they're so pretty!'
We waited a few minutes for the Customs Manager to check out the package, when she arrived she looked at the items and asked how I got them. I said that I won them from a giveaway, she then asked me for a proof that I did won them from a giveaway because unless that I give them the proof they wouldn't release the package to me. I think they're thinking that I purchased the items online and that I didn't print out the receipt. While this was going on my boyfriend is starting to get tiffed at the manager because of the way she spoke and then suddenly grabbed the package to store it inside again.
So since I didn't want that to dampen my enthusiasm I suggested we search for an internet shop nearby and print out the email conversations I had with Lydia starting with the first email she sent me that I won.
After that I went back (my boyfriend did not want to accompany me again near the Customs area :D) then gave them the email print out, she then started reading the email aloud while asking me questions in between. Since all questions were answered she had no choice but to release the package to me then I just paid the minimal postal fee of P40.
The moral of the story... if you won a giveaway print out the necessary details so they won't have the chance to tax you or worse keep your package as an unclaimed package. ^_^


Let's continue to the goodies.... yes please!




These are all pretties I received from Lydia, the press-on Manicure is a surprise because it wasn't originally included in the giveaway... Thanks Lydia!!!





I couldn't help but notice Lydia's personalized card, it's so pretty and kawaii!!!
Notice her own nail art work at the back, dancing Hello Kitty ^_^




First up is Color Club in Wild at Heart, this is my first time owning a Color Club nail polish so I'm very excited with this one. I've read that this polish might be good for nail stamping, I'll try it out soon. ^_^




This is Vogue Fantastic in Oceano it's a nail art polish, the brush is super nice and thin which is going to be great in making free hand nail art. I hope I can do justice to this one, hahaha!




Vogue Fantastic in Morado is a crackle polish, the shade is a bit intense. Looking forward to trying this one out. Must think of a good base color for this one.



Next are the Wet N' Wild Summer Getaway Set...



First I want to say that the name of  the polishes in this set are based on TV show names which I find really quirky, hahaha!
9.0.2.1.Orange is an almost metallic shimmery polish which is on the sheer side. May be great to use as a topper and since Halloween is coming I'm already thinking of using this in one of my manis. ^_^



Buffy the Violet Slayer is a deep pearl like purple, at least in my opinion. It looks so pretty in the bottle!



How I Met Your Magenta is a very bright pink almost a neon pink with very fine gold shimmers. It would be truly perfect for summer but it's a bit on the sheer side though but none the less a very pretty color!



Sage in the City looks like a dark apple green with a pearl finish. This might be a nice color to use over black.... I take that back this would be a great color to use over black! ^_^





The Wonder Yellows, out of all the polish in this giveaway this is the first one I tried. I only have a handful of yellow polishes on my stash so I was curious how this would look on my nails. This polish looks like a dark lemon yellow, it's quite sheer I think this would be better as a topper because I think you would need at least 3-4 coats for it to be opaque. I'll post the mani I did with this polish on my next post. ^_^



Last but not the least is FuchsiaRama, it's a red violet with a jelly like consistency. I'm not sure if the color will be opaque with just two coats which I'm hoping it will. I'm planning to use this then use Wild at Heart for stamping... do you think that's a good idea?



The last of the goodies...
I didn't expect this because it wasn't part of the items in the giveaway. I have no experience with press on nails before, I do have some faux nails that I use for swatching some polish but I never really used them on my nails. So I'm not sure how this would work on me because I wear my nails a little longer and the faux nails for the thumbs are kinda short so I won't be able to use this any time soon. These are really handy though when you want perfect nails in a jiffy, no drying time and no need for clean up as well.


So there it is, my first experience winning a giveaway! I am just so thankful to Lydia for taking the time and effort to host such an awesome giveaway, it has been such a great experience for me and making a friend from half way across the world is such a huge plus.
So do check out Sekhmet's Purple Castle she does free hand nail art, stamping, tutorials and swatches, what else could you ask for?! ^_^


Thanks for hanging out here, I will be posting some manis soon!



Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Cath Kidston inspired vintage floral nails tutorial ^_^

   


Recently my boyfriend bought me a faux Cath Kidston phone case, I really like Cath Kidston designs which are mostly pastel vintage florals. I find them to be sweet looking and feminine. Since I'm in my pastel phase still I decided to make vintage rose nails.

What I used:
Jocarste nail polish in #36 - flesh with peach tones
Light old rose perfume nail polish, (no brand name check the pic above)
Sassy nail art polish in Pink
Caress nail polish in Obsession
Acrylic paints in Titanium White, Viridian and Crimson.
Sponge
Toothpick
Small nail art brush
Top Coat

I first started with a flesh with peach tones nail polish as my base color. Then I sponged in the same color on my entire nail, this will help to make the base to be more opaque too.
I did another layer of sponging on my whole nail using a light old rose pink. The reason I used the sponging technique on the second layer of polish is to create an uneven base for the old rose pink polish. I didn't want the old rose pink to take over the whole nail as I am also sponging it on my entire nail as well.
I hope I'm making sense.... hahaha!
After that I used one coat of fast drying top coat to slightly smoothen the surface then let it dry.



  

 Using a large sized dotting tool and a dark rose pink polish I made uneven and different sizes of circles. This is really easy to make because it doesn't have to look perfect. The number of dots would depend on the size of your nail bed.



 

Next use a pink nail polish that is lighter than the dark rose pink but slightly darker than the base color. If you have a good lot of pink nail polish on your stash this would be easy but if you don't you can try mixing the dark rose pink with your base polish to create one. Maybe a 1:2 or 3 ratio, 1 being the dark rose pink.
Using the same dotting tool, make the same uneven circles close or overlapping a little to the dark rose pink. You can place two dots of light pink near a dark one which is what I did in here.
Let it completely dry.


 

Take a white and red acrylic paint then mix them to make a nice pinkish white. Using a toothpick (because my thinnest and smallest brush is not thin enough) I made small dots and half swirls inside the pink dots, this will be the petals. I learned this technique from CutePolish when she did a video tutorial on Easy Vintage Rose Nail Art.


 

 This time mixing a green and white acrylic paint to make a light mint green to use for the leaves. This time I used my smallest nail art brush to create small abrupt thin lines around the roses, see my thumb and pointer finger. Using just the green acrylic paint place small dots with your brush where the roses meet the leaves, see my middle finger to my pinky. This would create a contrast to make the roses more visible.
Then let it completely dry again.
Apply top coat so the acrylic paint won't wash off. ^_^


  

 Voila! 
This is one of the very few free hand nail art I can do with both my right and left hand, haha!

I used three coats of top coat because my top coat's texture dries thin :( but I think if you use Seche Vite one layer would suffice ^_^


  

This is my faux Cath Kidston case where I got the inspiration from!
 


 

A photo collage I made showing my nails, a Cath Kidston theme I got from ifansland.com and my case.  ^_^


Thanks a lot for hanging out here!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Did My Nails 150 follower giveaway!!!

Elizabeth of Did My Nails is hosting a nail polish giveaway for having 150 followers on her blog but currently now it's at 250+! ^_^
This is her first time hosting one as a thank you to all her followers and everyone who has visited her site. I myself just found her blog and I love the swatches and nail art she's done.

The swag pics....



The list...

OPI Warm & Fozzie

OPI Designer... De Better!

OPI Natural Nail Strengthener 

 Revlon Whimsical

Revlon Scandalous

Revlon Popular

Revlon Radiant 

Dotting Tools



Can't wait to join???
So just head on over to this LINK then fill out the Rafflecopter form to get 4 easy entries. ^_^
You need to hurry though because this ends in less than 5 days!

Good Luck!!!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Chevron Nails and Nail Polish Haul



Chevron design nails I finished last night ^_^
I used BM201 for the chevron design and MASH 30 for the tribal image. I didn't expect that this would turn out pretty damn well, I got some compliments from the sales ladies I encountered at the mall earlier, haha!
Base polish used is Ever Bilena in Lagoon, then added two coats of Caress in Glitter Gold. On my ring finger is the glitter franken that I made.


Okay enough of that let's proceed with the nail polish haul ^_^
My first stop was Etude House because they always have nice colors of nail polishes and I like the formula. The top coat I use is from one of their regular line of polishes which is kinda cheap, really can't afford Seche Vite :P



These are the ones I picked!
L-R: LUCIDarling Fantastic Nails Glitter in turquoise/teal, this kinda reminds me of mermaid scales, in the picture it looks like a dark blue :( stupid camera phone. Next is Etude House Tint Mint, the color is very close to a Tiffany blue color which is a total lemming for me that's why even if this polish cost P178, which is roughly around a little over $4 I still bought it. I love Etude House polish bottles, they're cute and pretty! ^_^



DGR701 Tint Mint, I believe this is supposed to be more green than blue but I prefer that it is more blue than green. I've bought some mint polishes that when I was in the store they looked bluish but when I get home it turned out be real mint colored. So I am really happy that I found this one ^_^




Next stop the department store ^_^
I like buying polishes in the dept. store because I have a lot of choices and some of them are really quite cheap.



L-R: 24K in Sugar Plum, Sweet Cherry in Glitter Gold (I bought two) and Sweet Cherry in Glitter Silver




Glitter Gold is my favorite gold glitter that I've encountered, it's the same glitter that I used on my chevron nails.
It's more like gold dust to me and there are like two sizes of the dust, the larger of the two sizes is minimal so when applied you can see the slight contrast which I very much like ^_^
You can see how much I like it that I bought back up for my back up because I don't want to run out!
The Caress glitter gold is very much the same with the Sweet Cherry brand because they came from the same manufacturing company, Kateenson Industries.
I prefer Sweet Cherry because it's cheaper but I prefer the brush on the Caress bottle so I figured that I could just pour it on the Caress bottle when it's halfway empty ^_^
So yes, I am planning to use this in most of my manis, hahaha!




Sweet Cherry in Glitter Silver
I do have some silver glitter polishes in my stash but this one has fine glitters. Since I am so in love with the gold I figured I should try this one too.


Here's a pic of both polishes side by side, I hope the silver is just as good as the gold in terms of the size of the glitters. ^_^




24K nail polish in Magic Sugar Plum
All of the 'Magic' line of 24K polishes is either duo chrome or multi chrome. This one is multi chrome because on different angles where the light hit I can see blue, green and gold. I'm just not sure that they would be very obvious once it's on the nails though. I'm really not into this kind of effect on polishes but when I asked my boyfriend if it was pretty he said yes, so why not?



The shimmer like quality of this polish remind me of galaxy nails, I wonder when I could try those...




Another angle, I can't make the other colors show up... aarrgghh...



Here's another, I think I was a little lucky with this one. Do you see the gold and bluish lines? Those are the chrome colors. ^_^






Okay obviously this is not a nail polish, I just wanted to share a pic of my new house slippers.
Isn't cute? haha! ^_^



Thanks for hanging out here!