Simple Nail Art - Holo Dotted Mani

After seeing The Nail Network's dotted mani (click here), I was inspired and wanted to try it out myself. I love how the holo dots make an otherwise bland creme mani pop!

Zoya Malia with Layla Cloudy Violet dots

China Glaze Immortal with Jade Magia Negra dots

Have you tried this dotted method before? Do you like it as much as I do?

Lynnderella Common Sense

Lynnderella Common Sense - one coat over China Glaze Fifth Avenue, topped with SV topcoat

Common Sense, described by Lynn herself as a "clear base with copper and pink shimmer", is exactly that, a mixture of copper and pink hex and square glitters with holographic and purple microglitters. To showcase the full color spectrum of Common Sense, I decided to layer it over China Glaze Fifth Avenue, a muted rose creme that complements Common Sense perfectly.  The copper glitters twinkle like the autumn leaves in Fall, making Common Sense THE polish to wear now.

Shimmer Polish: Tammy

Shimmer Polish Tammy - one coat over China Glaze Below Deck, topped with SV top coat

Shimmer Polish is another Indie polish brand that I have been lemming for some time, and finally I caved and ordered a few! I knew I must have Tammy the minute I saw swatches of it, and I am certainly not disappointed!

A mixture in sizes and shapes of silver, pink, purple, blue, and matte black glitters in a clear base, Tammy is glitzy and yet still elegant and classy. I only need to apply one coat for layering because the glitters are so dense! I have been wearing it for four days, and I have not experienced any bleeding or curling problem. I think the quality of Shimmer Polish is definitely up there amongst the other top Indie brands, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who love glitters!

Shimmer Polish can be purchased via Yorba's Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShimmerPolish?ref=shop_sugg. You may also get your own custom polish made, simply email Yorba, she is very friendly and helpful!

Saran Wrap Mani for Fall

Saran wrap mani: China Glaze Below Deck on middle and pinky finger, Essie Merino Cool on index and ring finger, all layered with China Glaze Swing Baby

Saran wrap mani, cling wrap mani, glad wrap mani, however you call it, is one of the simplest DIY nail art techniques where you don't need to be Leonardo Da Vinci to make it look awesome and artistic!

All you need to do is scrunch up a small piece of saran wrap, apply a small amount of polish on it, then dab the saran wrap lightly on your nails, it is that simple! The finishing look is so soft and elegant, and it definitely adds an interesting touch to an otherwise unremarkable mani!

Fall has finally arrived in Hong Kong, so I pull out two polishes that remain me of my favorite season. Although China Glaze Below Deck and Essie Merino Cool are very similar,the latter lean towards a blue/grey shade, whilst Below Deck is more pink/purple based and has a warmer tone. You probably don't need both unless you are a polish addict like me!

So how do you like the saran wrap nail art technique? Have you tried it out yet? If you have, I'd love to check it out!

An Oldie but a Goodie - China Glaze Grape Crush

China Glaze Grape Crush - two coats with top coat

Grape Crush has been a long time lemming of mine, what can you say, I am a sucker for purple and holo! A scattered holo with a frosty purple base, Grape Crush is definitely a stunner!

The only downside to Grape Crush is that it has been long discontinued and is now a HTF, so you might have to brave the Evil Bay if you want to get to own this beauty. Unfortunately I cannot really think of a similar dupe to Grape Crush, can you?

Cult Nails Hypnotize Me!

I have had this layering idea popped into my mind, so I went ahead and tried it out. This is Cult Nails Hypnotize Me over two coats of China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic.

Cult Nails Hypnotize Me over China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic

Hypnotize Me is a sheer green jelly with blue and green micro glitters. The glitters are so vibrant and so dense, all you need is one coat to achieve such a sparkly effect! The formula is a little bit on the gluey side, and it dries to a gritty touch (so you would need a generous coat or two of top coat), but apart that, I love this polish so much!

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Do you like this layering combination as much as I do?

Cult Nails Let Me Fly with fluffy cloud accent

Cult Nails Let Me Fly with a fluffy cloud accent

Hello! I will be off to Thailand Koh Samui for a few days this week, so I want to do a beachy mani with a little extra! I have never done an accent nail before, but I am pleasantly surprised by the result, because it really brings out the cute cloud mani finger!

I used Cult Nails Let Me Fly as the main mani polish, a sparkly green and silver shimmer with a teal creme base. I adore both teal and shimmer, so Let Me Fly is right up my alley! Love love love the shimmers that shine through!

The formula is perfect as usual when it comes to Cult Nails, and you can easily get away with one thick coat (I did two coat here for swatch purpose). As for the accent nail, I use Pupa L316 and China Glaze Grape Pop to complete the look.

I hope you like this special mani, and I will see you when I return from Koh Samui!

From one lemming to another - Lynnderella Connect The Dots

Lynnderella Connect The Dots over China Glaze Make An Entrance

Unless you have been living under a rock, you must know Connect The Dots by Lynnderella is one of the most sought after indie polish in the polish world. Lynn is one of the first indie polish makers who is just so creative and talented, and although I was not much of a glitter fan, I definitely am a fan of Lynn, and want to get my hands on all her creations!

CTD is a clear base polish packed with black and white glitters that come in various shapes and sizes: square, circle, hex and bar. The micro silver glitters also give this polish a sparkly look, making it even more special. Here I have layered one coat of CTD over two coats of China Glaze Make An Entrance. I like how the bright color base makes CTD more pronounced, and I will definitely try more layering combination in the near future!

A Gift of Generosity: ♥Lynnderella Liquid Valentine♥

We all know Lynnderella polishes are one of the most highly sought after polishes, so when I received Lynnderella Liquid Valentine as a gift from two very kind friends, I am totally overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity! I never believe I would be a proud owner of Lynnderella!

Lynnderella Liquid Valentine over China Glaze Fuschia Fanatic

I have layered one coat of Liquid Valentine of 2 coats of China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic. Isn't Liquid Valentine just the most lovely polish you have ever seen? A light pink jelly base packed with tiny blue/purple/silver shimmers, and red, silver and purple square, hexagon and octagon glitter pieces, Liquid Valentine is just full of awesomeness!

China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic, two coats with SV top coat

And here is a quick swatch of China Glaze Fuchsia Fanatic on its own.  It is a sweet fuchsia jelly/creme that looks so refreshing, and it suits my skintone down to the T, I love it! It is also the perfect base color for Liquid Valentine too!

Nail Art: Funky Cloud Tips

Just a quick post today on another cloud tip mani I did.

Cloud Tip Design using China Glaze Traffic Jam and Nature Republic SBL031

Since I am getting some tipwear with China Glaze Traffic Jam, I covered the tips with cloud design using Nature Republic SBL031. I was going to add another color to the cloud, but decided against it because I think it looks pretty good already!

Cloud tip design has quickly become my go-to mani. It is so easy to do but looks oh-so-cute. Do you like it as much as I do? :)

Nubar - Treasure

Just a quick post today. Nubar is a light purple scattered holo, and I really like it because even though the holo effect is quite subdued,  it is not in your face and still very pretty.

Nubar Treasure (two coats) with China Glaze Latticed Lilac (french tips)

I got some minor tipwear after a day, so I did a french mani with China Glaze Latticed Lilac crackle polish to cover it up. This is such a quick and easy way to change the look of any mani, I will be using this combination more!

Have you tried this mani before? Personally I am glad to find a new way to use my crackle polishes! Do you have other suggestions or ideas? I would love to hear from you!

Manis for the Festive Season!

Hello there! Today I have for you two Christmas manis. I don't usually do fancy nail arts, but being the holiday seasons and all, I wanted to do something special!

What I used
China Glaze - Poinsettia (base, two coats)
China Glaze - Ruby Pumps (top half of nails, one coat)
Gosh - Holographic (snowflakes)
Fauxnad plate - m59

What I used
China Glaze - Poinsettia (base, two coats)
NNS - light blue holo (dots)


The reason I have two manis is because after the first mani is finished, I decided I am not good at stamping, and opted for something even simpler, dotting. Turns out I am not very good at dotting either! I guess I should just stick to boring nail painting instead.

Anyhow, I wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas, have a jolly good time with your loved ones!

Nails gone wild with Octa Gone Wild

Octa Gone Wild - 2 coats with top coat (artificial light)

Here I present you Octa Gone Wild from China Glaze, one of my biggest lemmings. Not surprisingly, it is another holo from the discontinued Kaleidoscope collection.

I remember this polish as a soft purple holo when I was looking at swatch photos online, therefore I am a bit surprised when it is actually a periwinkle blueish purple (i.e. bluple). I don't mind though, because bluple is my favorite polish shade!

Like other polishes from the Kaleidoscope collection, Octa Gone Wild is packed with large scattered holo particles, which also gives a medium linear effect. How awesome is that! A polish with both scattered and linear holo! I'm in love...

The formula however, is somewhat tricky. This is the first time I have experienced bald spots with holo polish,  and it took me 3-4 coats to even the layers out. Luckily the dry time is relatively quick, so at least the application process is less painful.

Octa Gone Wild is almost the strong holo version of Catrice Dirty Berry, another favorite polish of mine (can't you tell I love periwinkle?). Unfortunately though, both could be HTFs if you don't have access to Catrice, which is a European drugstore brand. I will be swatching more untried Catrices from my stash, so watch this space!

Zoya Tiffany + China Glaze Oxidized Aqua

Zoya Tiffany (artificial light)

Today I have Zoya Tiffany for you. Tiffany is a lovely pink foil polish with shimmery gold, and I love that it has a smooth finish. I have no problem with the application, but unfortunately it started to chip after just one day.

Tiffany + Oxidized Aqua (artificial light)

Therefore I decided to layer it with Oxidized Aqua, a metallic aqua crackle polish from the China Glaze  Metallic Crackles collection (I just received this collection + more from the lovely Jeanie, more lemmings killed!). Unlike the creme crackles from CG, Oxidized Aqua shattered beautifully. One simple coat and I got my desired effect. I cannot wait to try out the other crackles from this collection!

Christmas Come Early - China Glaze Crystal Ball

China Glaze Crystal Ball (artificial light)

China Glaze Crystal Ball has long been discontinued and is considered as a HTF (hard to find), so I was quite surprised to find it in a local shop in HK! After some consideration, I decided I need to get this brand new baby!

Crystal Ball is wine red/burgundy with tiny holo and silver glitters. It reminds me a lot of Christmas with its base color and sparkles. I believe this polish is before the "Big-3 free" days, because it has the old black label on the bottom, and also the awful strong smell that non Big-3 free polishes have. But aside from that, I have no problem with the application.

I am glad to add this to my HTF China Glaze collection besides OMG! and Kaleidoscope. I now have my eyes on Grape Crush. These lemmings just keep popping up, when would I be able to kill them all?

Just a little extra

So if you don't know already, I have a fetish with all things ribbon and bow. I guess that is the little girl in me that will never die :P

To increase the longevity of my current mani, I simply stamped bows on all my nails. I want the print to be subtle so I chose a not-so contrasting color to my base one. I used China Glaze Bogie for stamping. The pattern is the little bow on my Fauxad plate 59.

Sunday Special - Scotch Tape Mani

Base: CG Let's Do It In 3-D Tip: OPI Tease-y Does It

Inspired by various nail blogs, I decided to attempt my first Scotch tape mani over my current one. Not only does it change the look of my nails, it is also very handy to cover tip wear when you are too lazy to put on a new polish.

All you need for this mani is a piece of scotch tape (and of course, polish!)  Then follow the easy steps below:

1. Put on a base color of your choice
2. Allow the base color to dry completely
3. Take a piece of Scotch tape, stick it on your skin, peel it off, and repeat this until the tape is barely sticky. The tape could potentially remove bits of your base color if it has too much glue on it
4. Place the tape on your nails at whatever angle you wish (you can also do a French manicure using this method)
5. Apply a different nail polish to the area that is not covered by the tape
6. Carefully and slowly remove the tape before the polish is dried. If you peel off the tape too fast (like waxing), you may smear the edge which results in an untidy tip (see my index and middle fingers in the photo above)
7. Voila! Your Scotch tape mani is done! 

Step 5 - apply polish to the tip

The finish look after the tape is peeled off

A Unique Holo Beauty - China Glaze Let's Do It In 3-D

Let's Do It In 3-D, two coats with no base or top coat (artificial light)

Thanks to Chelsea, I have been able to kill one of my biggest lemmings - Let's Do It In 3-D from China Glaze. It is from the much coveted but discontinued Kaleidoscope collection.

Let's Do It In 3-D is a charcoal grey polish packed with diamond-like scattered holographic glitters. It is a special polish because its unique shade stands out amongst a sea of pink, purple, blue and black holos. Although the Kaleidoscope polishes are known for their scattered holo goodness, the holo effect for Let's Do It In 3-D is so strong,you can spot a subtle linear holo under some angles (see my middle finger and you will know what I mean).

The formula is pretty easy to apply. A bit watery on the first coat, but it evens itself out after the second coat. Rumor has it that some top coat would dull holo polish, so I am always wary when applying a top coat with holo. the photo below compares whether the rumor is valid, at least with this particular holo and CND Super Shine.

L to R finger: w/ top coat, no top coat, w/ top coat, no top coat

I have applied top coat on both my index and ring fingers, and as you can see, there really isn't much difference. The top coat initially did dull the holo effect, but it returned to its awesomeness once the top coat dried out.

Thanks to international swaps, I am now the proud owner of 10 polishes (out of 12) from the Kaleidoscope Collection. Let's Do It In 3-D is definitely my favorite one I have tried out so far. Do you like it as much as I do? Which one is your favorite from the collection?

China Glaze - How About A Tumble?

I have been wearing a lot of holographic polishes lately, because I just love the amazing sparkles!

How About A Tumble? under artificial lights

Today I tried on yet another holo polish - How About A Tumble? from the China Glaze Kaleidoscope collection. It is a soft, light purple polish with scattered, diamond like rainbow effect. It is so sparkly and gorgeous under bright lights, yet subtle enough for a daily office look, I love it!

I have no trouble with the application either. The polish might be a little sheer, but it gets opaque after two to three coats.

The above manicure is done with one layer of SV basecoat, 2 coats of HAAT, and one coat of CND Super Shine.

Who is your BFF?

I have always thought BFF is for high school kids, and that I am way past the concept of BFF now. I have a few close friends, but none that I'd declare as my BFF.

China Glaze - BFF

Anyway back to polish talk. BFF is from the China Glaze OMG! Collection, which has long been discontinued. It is a gorgeous pastel pink with linear holo effect. I love how brightly it shines under lights. Like all holo polishes, I could not stop staring at my own nails all day :)

The formula is a tiny bit on the thick side, but it smooths itself out after two coats. I have also put on a coat of CND Super Shine topcoat. Some might claim topcoat dulls the holo effect of the polish, but I don't notice such problem.