Every Cloud has its Silver Lining
As the weekend dawned to an end, I couldn’t help but feel my spirits momentarily dampen. Yet another week would begin, yet another week would fly by. It seems that ever since I’ve immersed myself in working life, I’ve lost hold of time – and whilst I can recall & pin down specific happy or memorable events to each of my schooling years, I certainly can’t say the same for the past year that I’ve worked. *sigh*
But every cloud has its silver lining & I’ll be looking at this as building up my work experience, so that I can put it in my resume & BAM! awesome job. hahaha. Honestly, I’m the practical sort who doesn’t believe that i MUST find that dream job out there for me. To me, the perfect life is being able to have and nurture a wonderful family, so I’m looking forward to fulfilling that in a couple of years’ time! (:
til then, here’s some pretty nails to keep me uplifted for the rest of the week!
Using China Glaze no. 652 in Recycle (2 coats) with a top coat of The Faceshop WH003 (1 coat), it matches my mood and our recent weather perfectly. I wish it’ll stop being so gloomy and dark all the time, I do miss the sun!
Here’s what I’ll be thinking of when I pick out what to wear this week:
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DIY mani: Turqoise Gradient
There are so many gradient DIY tutorials on the web, but given my extensive polish collection, I’ve always found that layering different polishes is often the best (and easiest) method.
Sorry for the grainy pics – I’m too reliant on the iphone haha. In any case, arranged in the order I used them, here are the polishes I used for this gradient manicure
- Sally Hansen’s Continuous Treatment Base & Top Coat
- The FaceShop Nail Colour in WH003
- Elianto nail colour in 27 Turqoise
- China Glaze’s Four Leaf Clover
- Missha in BL201
To achieve this manicure, you don’t have to use the exact polishes I used. All you have to do is
- pay attention to how dark the colours are
- make sure that polishes 3 & 4 are semi-opaque in 1 coat and;
- polish 5 is translucent
After using polishes no. 1 & 2 all over the nails, I used polish no. 3 to paint the bottom half my nail, then painted polish no. 4 over the bottom half of the portion with polish 3.
At this point, it’s not gonna look pretty – but you need to ensure that these two polishes are semi opaque, so that they won’t disappear over the last coat. One trick to doing this is to make the edges messy instead of super straight, so that the gradient will be more gradual and seem more “natural”.
then, use polish 5 all over the nail – this is why it’s important that it’s a translucent polish, so that the colours can be seen!
tada! super pretty gradient nails (: I used two coats of polish 5.
Last but not least, layer over with polish 1 again.
Have a great weekend ahead, everyone!
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DIY nails: The Watermelon Manicure
Have fun you guys!
Colours used are Sally Hansen’s Jumpin Jade & Sonic Bloom (Insta-dri), China Glaze’s For Audrey and Missha’s Black
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China Glaze Hunger Games Collection
Remember my Youtube Magic post where I was totally mooning over the Tiffany Alvord cover of Taylor Swift’s Safe and Sound? Well, that song turned out to be the soundtrack for the movie Hunger Games, a novel by Suzanne Collins based on the novel of the same name. I don’t know if you guys are familiar with Battle Royale, a Japanese movie that is set in a dystopian society where the government forces a class of students to kill off one another and in the process, the last survivor earns immunity (warped ain’t it?) but Hunger Games has a similar plot as teens from different districts are sent to fight in a battle dome with the two winners earning glory and honour and of course, they escape with their lives.
So it is clear to see that Hunger Games is targeted at a teen audience and it has since garnered quite the following what with the popularity of the sci-fi/apocalyptic genre. I think this could be the new Twilight! So I think it is mighty clever of China Glaze to ride on this wave of fame and to produce a line of nail polishes. Tada!
The collection is called Colours of the Capitol and it is definitely a collection that favours darker, richer colours. The mossy green colour, Agro looks mighty interesting and so does that dark metallic silver, Stone Cold. But the colour that I’m most wanting to try? Probably Luxe and Lush. Iridescent white glitter? Awesome! But sadly, we’ll have to wait till March 1st for it to launch. FYI, the movie comes out March 23rd. Smart marketing tactic right there.
Colours of the Capitol can be purchased online from Ulta and Sally Beauty Supply.
Did any polish in this collection catch your eye?
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Denim Blue
I’ve been pretty intruiged with blue lately. somehow it’s a very awesome work colour in every single shade that it comes in. I can’t really think of a blue that can’t be incorporated easily into work attire.
China Glaze – Midnight Mission
This deep blue is has a denim feel to it – I’ve two! similar dark blues from Faceshop, one with multi coloured shimmer and one with no shimmer and while Midnight Mission isn’t my favourite out of these three, it’s still pretty unique. Unlike the other two blues I have (and now I think with regret why I have so many blues of the same shade…but I digress.), the silver shimmer in Midnight Mission makes it seem as if it has a denim texture. Plus, with the silver, even in the dark the polish reflects a deep blue, which I like.
& trust me, denim isn’t just for the cowboys. With the right cut and the right fit, denim can be part of a very modern look.
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Whether as a colour or as a fabric, denim blue has me in its clutches. I’m sooo much more inclined to this deep shade of blue than I am to black at the moment. & with my nail polish looking as if it’ll continue to last for the rest of the week, (I’m impressed with china glaze’s formula!) I’ll be continuing on my blue obsession with my work attire :)
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Everything is just Peachy
I decided to be bold & daring and go where I had never ventured before.. the land of *gasp* ORANGE POLISH!
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Personally, I’ve always thought of orange as a rather strange colour. Mind you, I’m not talking about its more familiar cousins coral or light brown.. Orange is a colour that is neither yellow nor red, and has a certain… air about it that makes me feel that I
- can’t pin down its “personality”
- can’t envision myself making it part of my outfit
- always think that it’s too close to my skintone to carry it off well
Raj: I’m feeling blue.
Sheldon: Blue, as in depressed?
Raj: Not so much depressed, as lonely.
Sheldon: I don’t know what color lonely is.
Raj: What?
Sheldon: Red is angry. Yellow is frightened. Green is jealous. And blue is depressed. Perhaps we can assign a color to lonely.
Raj: Nothing rhymes with orange. It’s probably lonely.
Sheldon: All right. Come in. You look positively orange with loneliness. Sheldon & Raj – The Big Bang Theory
So even with this impulse, I was rather cowardly and chose to go with the safe, lighter option – China Glaze’s Peachy Keen!
Isn’t it pretty!!
Peachy Keen was part of a muted, pastel collection from China Glaze, inspired by the now iconic Pixar animation, Up!
In my opinion, this was by far one of the best collections China Glaze ever received, & to my regret, I’ve only got one other polish from this collection in my personal stash at the moment, a gorgeous green known as Four Leaf Clover
Looking at the swatches, I’m feeling keen on the beautiful lavender Light as Air & if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve already soo many pinks in my collection, I’d go for both Sugar High and Something Sweet as well. The yellows also look gorgeous but I’m no yellow fan so those will wait until the impulse strikes me to get out of my comfort zone & try something new.
Just because it’s so bright, I don’t think that orange is an easy colour to wear, so pairing it with neutrals and toned-down colours like white and brown would be a good idea
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So what do you think? Are you a fan of lonely orange? :)
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Crackle me Up!
Til now, I haven’t yet jumped onto the crackle polish bandwagon – mostly because I think it looks messy and its unpredictability doesn’t sit right with me… and oh, I always thought that the colour combinations and crackle polishes available just didn’t cut it. That said, China Glaze‘s latest collection Crackle Metals looks like it might be the crackle collection that will change my mind.
I’m so so in love with shimmer polishes, which probably explains why I’m getting antsy for these. They’ll work perfectly with my shimmer polishes! Now all I have to decide is which one to get. muahahha. Unlike OPI that releases one crackle colour after another (which is just tedious and such a prolonged wait), China Glaze is releasing 6 colours in this collection:
Perhaps I’ll lay my hands on Haute Metal – it’ll suit the tons of shimmery pink/purple polishes i have in my collection. What do you think of this collection? Can’t imagine them crackled? well looks like we’ll all have to wait til June this year to find out from the lucky nail fanatics in US who get to lay their hands on the collection first! I’ll certainly be eagerly waiting for those nail swatches :)
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Mauve Nails
Inspired by my previous layering of polish, I decided to experiment yet again, this time with China Glaze’s Recycle and Anna Sui’s Vernis A Ongles. Here’s the result!
I absolutely love this! I can’t stop staring at my nails. It’s so easter eggish too, just perfect for the season. It’s muted, yet shimmery, which adds an interesting depth to it. I was rather surprised that the peachiness of the Anna Sui polish would turn it a mauve-ish purple, which is one of the polish colours that I’ve been dying to have but haven’t found any that seemed to be satisfactory. Moreover, it’s a multi-coloured shimmer, as can be seen in the picture. It’s really pretty!
To match these nails, here’s what I picked for my outfit:
grey chiffon blouse from MAZE, deep blue crocodile skinny belt from TANGS, Black pants from G2000
Though I was never a fan of high waisted bottoms before, I’m beginning to adapt to well fitted bottoms – it really does make one look neater for the office. In fact, this is fast becoming one of my go-to “uniform” looks for the office!
Personally I like having a skinny belt of a either a very close colour to my pants e.g. dark navy blue or brown, or have a colour that stands out to accent my outfit. I’ve even worn a floral belt to work before, to match my floral headpiece of the day :) So have fun playing with the combinations in your closet! Like the nail combination above, you’ll never know what works, and experimenting never hurt anyone. Just ensure that you’ve got an honest family member awake in the wee hours of the morning to give your outfit the ok before you leave the house, haha.
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Goth Rock
I painted my nails black, only to have my bf complain to me over msn that “eee so goth” but I didn’t want to take it off, so I just layered over with the first glitter polish my hand grabbed, only to be pleasantly surprised by the effect. I’m completely in love with this combination, I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before.
If you’re thinking that the pic on the right has such an uneven surface – well it’s because of the glitter, and after two coats of KISS topcoat, it’s all smooth and gorgeous!! I really love how this glitter brings out such depth in the black polish, and after this experiment, I highly doubt I’ll ever be wearing black polish the same way again. The most fabulous thing is that China Glaze’s Haiwaiian Blue is soo packed with glitter that it just took me 1 layer of polish to get this effect. & I never really noticed that its glitters were of different colours either! I spotted light blue, dark blue, teal and I dare say.. green! A gorgeous combination. I’m so tempted to get the rest of the set from this collection now, haha.
The full China Glaze “Fun in the Sun” collection
Since I already have so many pink polishes I might not get the pink glitter (Bad Kitty), but the green glitter (Sour Apple) and orange glitter (Dreamsicle) are looking totally droolworthy at the moment. temptation!! ah!! must. resist.
Well, since I was completely in love with my new polish combination, I couldn’t stop looking at it or thinking about ways to emphasize it! So I ended up doing inspiration boards on Polyvore to complete my obsession.
With black as a base, I felt that the nail polish combi really leaned towards gothic, but it wasn’t the emo-goth kinda look. It was goth with bling. Hence my choice of several blinged out stuff on this inspiration board. Also, since the glitter had hints of blue in it, I decided to go with some deep navy for this look. I really like the simple michael kors dress (worn by the model) as well as the structured jackets/blazers. The right outerwear can make anything and everything seem work appropriate.
Certainly, I won’t be changing my polish every day, and I won’t be wearing black everyday, so here’s my alternative take on it – a really soft look with shades of teal, green and blue.
Teal is probably one of my favourite go-to colours at the moment – it’s a pity I don’t have more of that colour in my closet. I love how blues and greens can instantly soften up any outfit without being overtly “girly” or “feminine”, which is just perfect for the vibe i’m aiming for. Chic with a touch of edginess :)
What’s your favourite nail polish combi at the moment? Do you match your polish to your clothes?
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Probably the perfect Christmas Green…
It’s a long way from Christmas, but I think I’ve probably found the perfect Christmas Green. China Glaze’s Four Leaf Clover looks slightly more pastel in the bottle but darkens upon drying, turning into a colour that really reminds me of Christmas gift wrappers and ribbons. 
I’ve actually been painting my nails + konad-ing them these past weeks (but as they were repeat colours, I saw no need to post the photos..) so I decided to pick the easy way out and layer over with a glitter polish instead. My glitter polish of choice? China Glaze’s Hawaiian Blue.
The one thing about glitter polishes is that its surface is rarely smooth due to the presence of glitter. I’m not minding the rough surface though, especially since it looks really pretty when the light hits it. Moreover, glitter polishes are a great way of “cheating” when it comes to careless manicures and covers up whatever imperfections e.g. air bubbles that might be present! With working life, I hardly have the time to sit and slowly take my time with polishes, so errors and imperfections in my manicures seem to be really common these days :( That said, Hawaiian Blue did a great job of covering it up :)
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Our Quirky Loves
