NOTW: 2011-01-21

Nail of the Week
January 21, 2011

Since it's the first week of school, I wanted something fun to try with my nails.  I ended up doing an asymmetrical french tip nail using the China Glaze polish I bought a couple weeks ago.

What I used:

- China Glaze 689 Emotion

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Black Sketch

- Nailene French Manicure (base color polish and acrylic strong top coat)

 

I did a base coat and the base color polish the night before doing the tips (which was probably a bad idea).  The next day when adding the color, I took the China Glaze polish and did a high slope swipe on one side of the nail and did a short slope swipe on the other side of the nail.  When dried, I added a black lining to the tips.  For the high slop, i made the lining pass the intersection and on the other side, i made the line touch the other.  And of course add a top coat when dried.

 The nails turned out fine until i put on the top coat.  I guess I didnt wait long enough for the black polish to dry because it actually bled and smeared when I put it on (which happens).  Something that I would have changed was to make the high sloping side thicker, which I'll try again with a different polish (I already have an idea in my mind).

I was debating about returning the "Emotion" color because I didnt like the way it looked on my nails when I applied it to the whole nail.  But as I've stated before, I'm not a big fan of painting the whole nail.  When I tested out putting it on the tips, I really liked the color after all and I love how it's shimmery.

I was a bit disappointed with the polish itself, but it was particularly my own fault.  I only applied one coat, which, when painted, looked good enough.  There was no streaking, it was not opaque, it actually looked fine.  However, the polish started to rub off after a day or two, so I had to do touch ups.

The mistake I made was applying the base polish coat the night before.  Being without the top coat and dealing with everyday business, ended up making it peel within a couple days after I DID apply the polish.  I'm not sure if that makes sense, but lets just say, it started peeling really badly.

What's to come

I'll be putting up the next NOTW by this Saturday.  I would have done it sooner, but I've been busy with school.  It's only the 4th day and already I feel beated down with stress.  Not very fun.. especially since my sleep schedule is really crazy.
Anyways, I'll go put that up by Saturday, and I'll be making a new design for the next coming week.  The polish I have on this week is actually peeling/chipping already.  Not very pretty, but I'll explain my thoughts on the next post.

In the meantime, I actually exchanged one of the China Glaze polishes that I showed in the last post for a different color, or colorS I should say.

 

(Left: Re-fresh Mint, Right: Aqua Baby)

I ended up exchanging the "Grape Juice" polish because I didn't like the way it looked when applied.  I ended up getting the two colors I originally wanted when I contemplated about whether or not I should get 2 or 4.  I'll do a review and NOTW when I get to them.

Update Success!

I'm really surprised that I actually sat here and updated for ALL that I had queued up and did so before school started.  I only have a couple days left of my break before school starts, which I'm pretty excited about, yet dreading at the same time.

Anyways, I should have a new NOTW for this week, but unfortunately, I don't.  Not because I'm too lazy to put it up, but because I didnt do my nails this week (I already broke my resolution.. haha).
I decided to let my nails go bare for now.  I do, however, have a strengthening coat applied to them right now, to make sure they don't break.  My nails tend to be weak, so they chip and break if they get too long.  I will be painting them this Friday though since I'll be going to a party on Saturday, so a new pic will be put up soon.

I just got two China Glaze polishes, my FIRST to be exact.  Yes I know, why so late, but I don't particularly paint my nails except the tips, so I don't usually need to get a whole bunch of different colored polishes.  I bought these from ULTA and they were on sale, which I was really happy about.  I was going to get 2 more, but I talked myself into only getting 2 for now.  I'll do a review of these colors after I get to try them.

 

(Left: Grape Juice, Right: Emotion)

NOTW: 2011-01-10

Nail of the Week

January 11, 2011

I didn't design these for any particular reason, I just needed a new color, and thought I'd go with black tips this time.  I wasn't particularly feeling just a black tip so I added some glitter polish over the black and outlined the smile line with more glitter.

What I used:

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Black Sketch and Art of Silver

- Nailene French Manicure (base color polish and acrylic strong top coat)

- N.Y.C 105A Starry Silver Glitter

Of course, start off with a base coat, and then apply the base color polish.  Using the Milani nail art in black sketch, i painted the tips of the nails free hand.  When completely dry, I applied the NYC glitter polish in vertical strokes trying to get the larger pieces of glitter of the tips. I then applied an outline using the Art of Silver polish to each nail.  When everything was dry, a top coat was applied.

(Sorry for the crappy quality of pictures)

These were very simple, but I really liked them and would love to do them again like this.

NOTW: 2010-12-30

Nail of the Week

December 30, 2010

I had a disaster during Christmas, so I never took a picture of my nails.  In fact, they didn't even last a day.  I removed the polish the next day.  They were a classic white french tip nail with a colored rhinestone jewel in the middle of each tips, but the polish was dry in time, so when I start rummaging through stuff they got ruined, and yeah.

For this week's, I designed these nails for a day out with my cousins and my nieces and nephews. We were going ice skating, so I was inspired to make these winter-like.  The blue and green rhinestones reflected the top I wore which is a green and blue striped, boat-neck top.

What I used:

- Nailene French Manicure (white tip polish and acrylic strong top coat)

- Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope Polish (glitter)

- Nail Art Kit gems (bought from Dollar Tree)

A base coat was applied, when dried, I used the white tip polish from the Nailene french manicure kit and applied 3 coats to all nails (yes, THREE).  When the white polish dried, on the thumb and ring finger, applying the top coat provided in the nail art kit, I applied the rhinestone gems, alternating blue and green in a descending pattern.  On the other nails, i applied one coat of the glitter polish..  Finish off with a top coat.

To be honest, I hated these nails as well.  I really shouldn't have applied that coat of glitter polish over the white, it looked better without it.  It also didn't help that one of my nephews thought that my nails were fake and wanted to snap them off, or that my mom thought it was scary that I applied the gems in that descending fashion.  "Why'd you do that?! That's weird, it looks scary". 

I bought the gems out of impulse.  I thought it was a cute idea at first, but realized that I didnt really like the shapes of any of the jewels except the blue one which is just a regular circle.  But hey, it was a dollar, and they're actually pretty good quality.

NOTW: 2010-12-18

Nail of the Week:

December 18, 2010

I was looking at fuckyeahnailart tumblr and was inspired to make these nails.  I was a little hesitant at first to do the nails like this, since it was the first time I've done them this way, but I loved the way they turned out and these were my favorite NOTW by far.

I designed these nails for my niece's first birthday party.  Originally there was supposed to be Mickey and Minnie mouse heads painted on the middle finger nail, but there was some major complications, so i decided to make them stripey.

What I used:

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Black Sketch and White Canvas

- Nailene French Manicure (base color polish and acrylic strong top coat)

- Clear sticker rhinestones (from Nailene)

As always, a base coat was applied as well as a base color polish.  The same was used from the week before.  I originally used the Nailene French Manicure white tip polish to do the whites on the nail, but the polish was not only coming out streaky, but also faint (needed about 3 coats for a nice stand-out white).  I ended up using the Milani White Canvas polish to paint all the whites in the nail which not only turned out better than I expected, but easier to paint in.

Once the white dried, I painted black streaks as an outline, added a clear rhinestone at the tips of the nail where the diagonal line ended and in the case of the middle nails, i put them in the rhinestone in the middle.  I also added some simple decorations to the thumb, middle finger and pinky.

NOTW: 2010-12-11

Nail of the Week
December 11, 2010

I designed these nails for a Christmas luncheon I had with my cousins.  I wanted to try something different since I usually just do a regular white french tip. 

What I Used: 

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Black Sketch, White Canvas and Art of Silver

- Nailene French Manicure (base color polish and acrylic strong top coat)

 

Firstly, I applied a base coat on my nails.  In fact, I actually used the Nailene acrylic strong top coat as the bottom coat.  After letting it dry, I applied the base color polish first.
When that dried, I applied a quick swipe of Milani's Black Sketch over one side of the tips of my nails.  When that dried, I applied a quick swipe of Mlani's White Canvas over the other side of the tips of my nail, overlapping over the black.

I took the Art of Silver polish and drew a thin line, outlining the smile line on my nails as well as a small line separating the black and the white. Once everything was dry, I applied the top coat and this was what the outcome was.

 

I wore these for a week, but they could have lasted longer.  Removing the silver polish was tough (as is any type of glitter polish) so you have to be patient when trying to remove it or you'll damage your nail.  

These were great for a twist of the classic French manicure.

Wedding Nails (mini-review)

Finally, I'm putting up the pictures of the nails i did for my sister's wedding.  I mentioned that this were to be a tutorial, but in the midst of decorating and painting, I just forget to take pictures step by step, so you'll see what I've done here and there, but its not really a tutorial, it's more of a "what i've done over time" picspam.  

I need to mention that I am (or was) fairly new to using the nail art brushes, which is why the designs came out sloppily, but removing the polish to start over also cannot be done as it'll ruin the nails itself.

Here I used:

- Milani Nail Art (with precision brush) in Black Sketch, White Canvas and Art of Gold

- Nailene Nail Studio in Burgundy/Maroon

 

Milani Nail Art polishes (with Art of Silver included)

 

Nails placed (in order) on a nail stand

  

Paint the thumb and ring finger nails white

        

The inspiration for the nail design are the flowers on the right which is the wedding print

I really liked my first attempt at nail designing this way, however, it could have been done better.  But with a little practice, it'll get better.

I might as well make this a mini-review since I wont be coming back to this anytime soon.
I was really happy that the Nailene Nail Studio nails came in that color.  It was just a coincidence that they matched the color scheme to my sister's wedding.  The only problem I had with it was that the color was a bit faded, it didn't have that shine that nail polish typically had.  I'm not a big fan of painting my whole nail (I stand by french manicures!), which is why I ended up painting them up with the design of the wedding.

This was the first time I got a chance to use the Milani Nail Art polishes and I LOVE them.  The brushes are very thin and long so you can make nice 'swishy' strokes, but because the brushes were long, it was difficult for me to draw the flowers on.

When it was time to put them on, it was the worst experience I've had with artificial nails. I put these on the night before the wedding.  They were perfectly fine when I went to bed, but when I woke up I was already missing one.  Luckily for me, it was still in my bed.  So I applied the glue on once more, next thing you know, a different nail pops off.  Also, another and so on and so on throughout the day.  It was horrible.  I only ended up wearing these for that day, and that was it.

It might be the fact that the nails fit rather oddly to my nail bed as opposed to the Nailene So Real nail set.  Overall, the Nailene Nail Studio nails I don't think I'll ever try again, but I'll be getting the Milani nail art polishes again and hopefully in the other colors as well

Major Lagging..

Yeah I know, I said i'd have a tutorial up a loooong time ago, and I do have it, I just havent set it up (hehe =X).
I've also got a ton of other pictures to put up as well.

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions cuz I tend to fail at doing them, but I've decided that I should make some.. at least fashion/style wise.
1) I will change my nail art once a week.
     I've actually started doing this since before Christmas, and thought I'd continue it.  I'm already on my 4th or 5th different style right now.
2) I will wear makeup to school everyday.
    I know that sounds bad, but I usually go to school as if I just woke up, and that just isnt pretty haha
Maybe I should change that to "I will make myself look presentable at school everyday" ;)
3) I will try to accessorize my daily outfits
    I usually don't wear anything extra except the same star necklace whenever I'm out.  I've recently been wearing rings and scarves and hair clips
4) I will try to fix up my hair, and not just leave it straight down everyday.

This isn't a resolution, but one time I want to be able to do a 30-day challenge where I only have a few select items that I can wear and only wear those for 30 days.. a good chance to mix and match and make up new outfits :)

Before I head back to school, I PROMISE to put up pictures and such.  Maybe if I'm not lazy i'll be able to do so tonight~

edit// HAHA, I'm so contradictory.  I noticed that my first blog post about how I am changed with my resolution for this year that "there's a place and time to dress up.. I like to bum around" to "i need to make myself look presentable."  I mean, I don't literally bum around like in sweats or pjs to school, I actually do dress up, but I'm more casual.  But I think now, I'm feeling myself wanting to dress up a bit more.