Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts

Friday, April 19, 2013

Nail Polish Haul: Essie, OPI, China Glaze

Hello lovelies! Thank goodness it's finally Friday! I don't know about you but I always like to paint my nails on Friday so that I have a fresh manicure for the weekend. Over the course of the last year, I developed a bit of a nail polish obsession where I really can't stop adding new polishes to my collection every few months. Whenever my friends come over, they always ask me, "So Tiff, any new additions to your nail polish library?" Luckily, over the past week, I was able to answer, "Why yes, there are!" Below are the new polishes that I've purchased either in stores or online. Now, I'm not going to lie. When I look at these, I feel like a kid in a candy store. Then again, when I'm actually in a candy store, I become a kid all over again. Heh. 


Aren't these colors perfect the spring and summer?! I've really been into pastels with a creme finish lately, just because they're so cute, carefree and wearable. Along with these 8 nail polishes, I also bought a glass nail file and nail dotting tools. To avoid any confusion, I have to add that the nail dotting tools were actually purchased from eBay. They're super cheap so if you're looking to make cute polka dot designs, then I highly recommend you to purchase them. Or you could just use a toothpick or the end of a bobby pin. That works too :)


From left to right: Essie's "Where's My Chauffer?", Essie's "First Timer", Essie's "Under Where?"

I've purchased two out of the four polishes offered in the Essie Spring Nail Polish Collection 2013. Contrary to what you may see, I chose "Where's My Chauffer" over the actual collection polish "In the Cab-ana" because I found these colors to be sort of similar to the point where I didn't really need both. I preferred "Where's My Chauffer" because it veered closer to the bright, light turquoise color found in Tiffany and Co. So gorgeous! "In the Cab-ana" is more of a aqua azure that would look brighter with a deeper turquoise hue than "Where's My Chauffer". 

I haven't tried "First Timer" but it's described as "an adorable, newbie green"on Essie's website, and I really loved the soft creamy green with a minty finish. It sort of reminds me of a Shamrock Shake. Mmm, Shamrock Shake. Too bad those only come once a year. Wow, I really need to stop talking about sweets in this post! My sweet tooth even comes out in my posts unrelated to food. 

Anyways, I digress. I've already tried Essie's "Under Where" and I have to say that I just might use up the whole bottle by this summer! I'm definitely looking to do a NOTW (Nails of the Week) for my blog and "Under  Where" is going to be the first one, so stay tuned for that.


From left to right: OPI's "Pink Friday", OPI's "Are We There Yet?"

"Pink Friday" is part of the OPI Nicki Minaj collection from 2012. It's a lovely bubblegum pink color with a creme finish. As for "Are We There Yet", I had been on the lookout for a creamy coral but had a little trouble finding the perfect one. However, this one seemed like the closest. It's a very pretty coral melon color with just a hint of shimmer. 


From left to right: Essie's "Good to Go Top Coat"", China Glaze's "Kinetic Candy", Revlon's "Whimsical" 

After a horrible experience with OPI's Top Coat, I decided to try Essie's "Good to Go" topcoat in the hopes of a better experience. Alas, it was definitely an improvement in terms of drying time and I didn't start to see chipping until around five days later. 

"Kinetic Candy" is such a gorgeous pale creamy blue. I plan to use it both separately and with Revlon's "Whimsical" since I think these colors will go beautifully together. For those of you unfamiliar with "Whimsical", while the polish looks colorful and sparkly, the actual polish is extremely sheer and works best layered on top of a more opaque polish. 


Another purchase that I was excited to try was my new glass nail file. I don't file my nails often but I thought it would be handy to have on hand, just in case. I've heard great things about glass nail files since apparently, they last longer and are better for your nails in general. Have you ever tried using a glass nail file or do you prefer the emery board nail files?


What's awesome about these nail dotting tools is that they come in a variety of sizes so that you can make different sizes of dots, depending on how large you want them. There is also one tool with a smaller, sharper pointed end for making other designs. My only gripe about these tools is that while they do come in a variety of sizes, between most of them when I actually put them to use, I'm not noticing much of a difference. 


It's okay though, they were relatively cheap at a little under $2. And I'm sure I'll be putting them to even more good use since I have many pastels on hand.

What did you think of these nail polishes? Do you happen to have any of these colors or are there any that you would like to buy? Let me know in the comments below! And if you have any suggestions, please let me know some of your favorite polishes because I'm always on the lookout for new colors to add to my nail polish rack. Thank you for reading! 

With love, Tiffany 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Nail Tutorial: Watermelon and Gold

Hello! I wasn't really expecting my first blog entry to be a nail tutorial, seeing that I haven't really gotten into nail polish until around six months ago. But I've been meaning to start this blog for a while now and somehow, writing about my nails of the week just seems right.

My friend is having a birthday party in Los Angeles at a club this weekend and I was inspired by one of my high waisted skirts which also happens to be hot pink. To match this skirt, I always break out my light gold heels since the colors complement each other beautifully. And so, my nails have taken on the form of my outfit this weekend. 


To create this look, I used three nail polishes. 


Essie's "Watermelon", Castledew's "9845", and OPI's "OPI Top Coat"


Just like the name suggests, "Watermelon" is a bright, juicy hot pink, similar to that of a watermelon. Although Essie's website states that it's a "creamy and refreshing, juicy red", it definitely veers a lot closer to pink on the color spectrum. 


Castledew is a Korean brand and I got "9845" a while ago in Korea. I apologize in advance that you may not be able to find this nail polish easily in the US, but Essie's "Beyond Cozy"is pretty close to it in terms of color. "9845" can be described as a cool, light silvery gold and is very glittery and grainy. I'm not quite sure if "Beyond Cozy" would go on smoother but color-wise, it's a pretty good match. 


I painted all of my nails with "Watermelon" in two layers, except for the forefinger, which I've painted with "9845" in three layers. I also applied the top coat afterwards. It's pretty self explanatory at this point. However, I decided to take it up a notch by adding a small gold cross onto my index finger. 




To make the cross, I used masking tape and a pair of scissors. You can use any kind of tape you want. In hindsight, I should've used scotch tape, since it's stickier and has better staying power, but I didn't have any lying around. 


I took "9845" and painted a small section of the tape in three layers. You can do two to three layers depending on how thick you want it to be. After it dries, cut the section into small, thin pieces or into whatever shapes you want. 


Stick the sectioned pieces to your nails according to how you want. After you have the pieces positioned the way you want, use the scissors to cut them as close to the edge of your nail as possible, making sure that the pieces don't stick out. And to further secure the pieces, paint a layer of top coat over it. 

You can make stripes, criss-crosses or use one of the strips per finger to separate the nail and the tip to make a cool French tip as well. I think another super cute idea would've been to cut a small gold heart and stick it onto one of my nails. Hmm, perhaps I'll do that next time.


And here's one more shot of the finished look.



I love painting my forefinger in a different color to contrast against the rest of my nails. My go-to color so far has been "9845", just because it matches wonderfully with pinks and pastels. I just think it adds a cool and fashionable dimension to your typical, uniformly painted nails. Most of my guy friends have told me that they don't really get the whole painting-your-forefinger-a-different-color. But who really cares? I guess this is one of the beauty trends that guys won't really get such as orange lipstick or brightly colored eyeliner. What do you think? Let me know in the comment box below! 

With love, Tiffany