Nail Ideas: Owl Love You Forever

Oof! Time really flies and it is Valentine's Day again tomorrow! It seems like it was just yesterday when I posted my Valentine's Day nails for last year...

Anyway, this year, I decided to try my hand at another V Day mani and this is what I've got:

Yup, clearly I am still obsessed with owls. They are just so adorable! :L

This is where I got my inspiration from:

source

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and sweet Valentine's Day!

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: Baby Penguin!

I simply must apologize for not posting for the whole of the week again! I had some swatches done last weekend but didn't have the time to watermark them and blog.

To make up for it, I decided to do a quick nail art design for today's post!

A fuzzy baby penguin with some grey flocking powder from Born Pretty Store! Urgh I wish I could cuddle it properly!!

I was inspired to do some penguin nails after receiving this flocking powder set in my mail:

First, I painted my nails with two coats of Misa's Grey Matters. Then, using the pair of tweezers, I placed some flocking powder over my ring fingernail when the polish is still wet. I took care to make sure every inch of my nail is covered and patted it down gently with the flat side of the tweezer. I waited a short while before using the brush to carefully sweep away the excess powder from my nails. That should give you a nice fuzzy nail.

Then, I went on to paint the details with black and white acrylic paint using a small nail art brush. Of course, I regretted it almost immediately after that. I had a shower and, to my horror, my penguin was gone!! :c The flocking powder stayed flawless on my nail but the details done with acrylic paint were washed away. You can be sure I will be sure to use polish for the details next time!

Some pointers on using the flocking powder...

• Try to get the flocking powder to cover the entire nail. It will be hard to cover up the bald patches after that. 
• Choose a base color that is close to the color of the flocking powder so bald patches will not be so obvious.
• It is easier to use the powder over a regular polish rather than a quick-dry topcoat - the coverage is better and more even because you have more time to pat the powder down onto your nail.
• Yup, it is ok to get the nails wet. The flocking powder will be damp but it dries fairly quickly and your nails will be back to their fuzzy self in no time at all.

You can find the grey flocking powder (Item ID: 4480) at the Born Pretty Store here. They have a wide range of nail products and provide free worldwide shipping! Feel free to quote "HDL91" for a 10% discount when you checkout:

xoxo,

mich

**Products marked with an asterisk are provided for honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information**

Nail Ideas: Fall Trends with Essence!

Essence has been one of my favorite brands in Singapore - not only do they have a nice range of core colors and interesting trend editions, they are also very affordable and wallet-friendly! So, when I was offered the opportunity to work on some blogposts with Essence Cosmetics Singapore, I was more than happy to give it a shot. :$

With a nail contest just round the corner, I set out to do some nail designs with some Essence polishes! Since it is technically fall now, I've sought inspiration from some of the fall trends that have caught my eye :i

Bohemian!
The earthy colors in fall are simply perfect for rocking some boho-chic on the nails. I've always loved the bohemian style - understated, casual yet sexy and spirited. :L

For this look, I started with a clean nude base using Essence's Toffee To Go before free-handing the details with a brush with these colors: Essence's Just in Case, Wanna Say Hello, Luxury Secret, Princess Prunella, Camouflage and acrylic paint in silver and gold. I'm quite pleasantly surprised by how good the colors look together!

Splatter!
The splatter technique is a fun and easy way to give your nails a funky and edgy look! Simply dip a straw into some polish (ensure that there is enough polish in the straw) and give a strong quick puff through the other end to create the splattered look. It took me several tries and some practice before I managed to get a relatively decent splatter mani. So don't give up if you can't get it on your first try! A warning though... this can get really messy so make sure you cover up your workspace and tape up around your nails to avoid too much clean up!

For this look, I started with a nude base using Essence's Toffee To Go before creating the splatters with Essence's Just In Case, Wanna Say Hello, Princess Prunella and Camouflage. I also added a touch of black for an added contrast.

Equestrian Stripes!
The equestrian trend is also hot this season for its classy and elegant look. For this look, I decided to stick to a simple design for a more sophisticated feel.

I started with a silver base using Essence's Luxury Secret and matted it. Then, I added simple stripes using Essence's Wanna Say Hello. I'm loving the contrast between the matte and gloss! :$

Phew! That was some nail art spam!
So, are you inspired to do some nail art now? If you are, do stay tuned to Essence Singapore's Facebook page for more details about the nail art contest! you can head over to Essence Singapore to take part in their Nail It! nail art contest. Contest ends 7 Nov so get your creative juices running!

I will also be posting up swatches of the colors I've used in these designs so keep a look out for some goodies coming your way! ;)

xoxo,
mich

**Some products used in this post are provided for honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.**

Nail Ideas: Fall Fun!

It's the weekends!! *woohoo* :e
Unfortunately I had been busy for the whole of today so I didn't manage to get more swatches done. Instead, I've decided to share this nail art that I did for a nail art contest held by Kaitlin (@kaitlinferland) on Instagram:

Please ignore the tag I'm holding. It's one of the contest requirements. :)

Doesn't it look like fun?! I've always wanted to jump into a gigantic pile of leaves in fall! Unfortunately for me, we never get to enjoy the four seasons here in Singapore. :(

Here's the picture that inspired this mani:

Source

Snoopy definitely looks cuter here! :L

This is also my first attempt at nail art using water-based acrylic paint*!
Other than the base color (OPI My Very First Knockwurst), all other details were painted using this set of acrylic paints:

A picture from kkcenterhk.com because my box is a little squashed.

I've previously used purely nail polish for my nail art and I must say it is a lot easier to work with acrylic paint.

One huge advantage of acrylic paint is that it maintains the same smooth consistency for quite a while. I like to blob a drop of color on a piece of cardboard paper and work with that when I do nail art. However, polishes tend to dry up rather quickly so I find myself adding a drop of thinner now and then just to keep the polish at the right consistency for painting. As you can imagine, it gets really tedious after a while. :f Acrylic paints maintain the same workable consistency for quite a long while so that is a huge plus for me. Using acrylic paints also means that I no longer have to deal with gloopy or stringy polishes that makes painting minute details next to impossible!

Having said that, acrylic paints dries really quickly once they are painted on the nails so you don't have to wait very long to add more details or the top coat. I didn't do a tutorial for these nails but you can see how acrylic paints can be used at Polish Art Addiction. She does some amazing nail art using acrylic paints and even posts step-by-step pictorials for some of them.

I also prefer using water-based acrylic paint because I can easily wipe it off any mistake with a wet piece of tissue or cloth without having to repaint the entire nail from ground zero including the base coat. Considering how much nail art fails I have, this definitely helps me save a lot of polishes! :e

So, if you are into doing detailed nail art, I'll definitely recommend acrylic paint!
I like the consistency of these Oumaxi-s - they are easy to blend and paint. They are also well-pigmented so I didn't have to go over the same spot twice to ensure coverage.
You can find them here at KKCenterHK. (You can use the code 'ThePolishWell' for a 10% discount. Valid until 31st Jan 2013!)

xoxo,
mich

**Products marked with an asterisk are provided for our honest review. Please view our disclosure policy for more information**

Guest Post at Love. Varnish, Chocolate and More

Today, I'm excited to be guest posting for the lovely Deborah at Love. Varnish, Chocolate and More!
Click on the picture and hop over to check out what I did! :$

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: Roses and Polka Dots

Just last saturday, we celebrated our grandma's birthday with a buffet dinner at Tung Lok Seafood. The food was so-so but there was a huge variety of dishes so I went home with a really full stomach anyway.

I decided to do a vintage and girly mani for the occasion so I went for some polka dots and roses. However, since I was intending to wear a grey bubble dress with a white short-sleeved jacket, I decided to use black as my base color to match my outfit. Yes, I have a pretty awesome grandma who's cool with black (generally viewed as an inauspicious color) - heck, she even lets me wear black for Chinese New Year! I love my grandma! <3

Please excuse the sad looking 'leaves'. I overestimated the time I had left before the dinner and end up rushing to finish this mani.

I had a few compliments from my aunts and cousins (the boys were busy eating) and I have to admit I feel pretty chic with my outfit and nails! :$

The colors I used for this mani:
Black - Nails Inc Black Taxi
White - OPI Alpine Snow
Light Purple - a-england Guinevere
Dark Purple - a-england Elaine
Teal Green - China Glaze Exotic Encounter

What do you think of this mani?

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: Back to School Nails!

I was writing a short note on a little piece of paper last week when I noticed that the design on the paper was really adorable! There were numbers printed randomly in different colors... something like this:

Pastel numbered nails! I started with a white base color before painting the numbers using a small nail art brush. As you can see, I definitely need more practice with my brush. Some of the numbers look atrocious! I swear don't usually write like this. lol! xD

Apart from the light purple (China Glaze Light As Air), the rest of the pastel colors were mixed using white and some other colors (eg. China Glaze For Audrey, Electric Beat, Happy Go Lucky). I topped the nails with a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust before sealing it with a top coat.

Since the numbers reminded me a little of school, I decided to enter my design into a nail art contest on Instagram held by Casey (@dulllikeglitter):

Yup! That's the paper I was talking about. Isn't it cute? ^_^

So what do you think of this design? Yay or nay?

xoxo,
mich