Thursday, January 31, 2013

etude house ppk006 party lover swatch & review

Another beloved polish from Etude house Dear My Party Nails Line. This one consists of beautiful multi-colored hexes glitter with a few silver bars here and there and lots of tiny glitters throughout to give it that little shimmer. It looks absolutely marvelous especially after I shortened my nails. The glitter concentration is quite high, and the distribution is very nice. I did 4 thin layers here because I wanted to have more control over the glitter distribution. Unfortunately, with all glitter polishes a heavy layer of top coat is needed to to give it that awesome shine.


Etude House PPK006 Party Lover Review:
  • it dries quick: 4/5 
  • even application: 4/5
  • flat glitter: 5/5 
  • scent: 3/5
  • coverage: 4/5
In terms of formula, it is very similar to the previous swatch of PPP503 Celeb Girl except this one has more glitter concentration. Another one I Absolutely love

Monday, January 28, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 3 Yellow

Sweet Lemonade 

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 3 Yellow

this week I was supposed to do yellow nails, so I did a yellow ombre with purple topped with a soft sparkly shimmer.



Using:
  • china glaze ~ Lemon Fizz
  • china glaze ~ Sweet Hook
  • china glaze ~ Fairy Dust

Monday, January 21, 2013

etude house ppp503 celeb girl swatch & review

finally received my nail mail for etude house ~ PPP503 Celeb Girl, I absolutely adore this blue jelly glittered polish!!!

etude house PPP503 Celeb Girl blue jelly with gold and blue glitters
under artificial light


etude house PPP503 Celeb Girl blue jelly with gold and blue glitters
under natural light
I was not too impressed with previous two etude house polishes, but this one i absolutely love!!! The larger blue and gold hexes barely have a "taco"ing shape. The amount of gold and blue hexes glitters were in a good balance with their shapes. This is one of the best glitter jelly polish I have used, glitters were fairly even distributed on application. All the images are of the polishes on 3 coats with clear base coat and top coat.

Etude House PPP503 Celeb Girl Review:
  • it dries quick: 4/5
  • even application: 4/5
  • flat glitter: 5/5 
  • scent: 2/5
  • coverage: 4/5


etude house PPP503 Celeb Girl blue jelly with gold and blue glitters


etude house PPP503 Celeb Girl blue jelly with gold and blue glitters

Absolutely love!!!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 2 Orange

grapefruit punch

This week's challenge is orange nails, like red, i don't like to wear it. I found something that's within the realm of an orange'y color. This is American Apparel's Manhattan Beach, a pretty orange/coral jelly sandwiching American Apparel's Meteor shower, a scarce gold flakes polish.

american apparel polishes, meteor shower, manhattan beach, jelly sandwich
gold flakes seems to be floating around


american apparel polishes, meteor shower, manhattan beach, jelly sandwich
i love how squishy it looks


american apparel polishes, meteor shower, manhattan beach, jelly sandwich
my favourite shot of it under sunlight

I love how the color looks liked under sunlight, the non-sunlit shots were a bit more red


american apparel polishes, meteor shower, manhattan beach, jelly sandwich

a very squishy look :3 which i currently love


Monday, January 14, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 1 Red

cute red bunnies manicure

as a part of of my week one challenge i had to think pretty hard on what to do because red isn`t a color that I love on me. so in order to incorporate red, i decided on something cute... like bunnies :P 

this cute red bunnies manicure is very simple and easy to do, everything can be done with dotting tools :P i decided to include a simple pictorial as well to show how my bunnies were done.
how to do cute red bunnies manicure nails

so here they are:

cute red bunnies rabbits manicure nails with polka dots

here is an image of before i added the polka dots, what do you think? with or without?

cute red bunnies manicure nails



this mani was done using:
  • china glaze ~ make some noise
  • nicole opi ~ razzle dazzler
  • opi ~ alpine snow

here is me spamming its cuteness lol






i hope you enjoyed it :P

Sunday, January 13, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge

I have always wanted to do one of these challenges because I almost always struggle on picking a mani to do. I came across the Bexberry blog post ran by BexCaroline and they suggest to do over in weeks. I love this idea so I am going to join in as soon as I am done experimenting on my current nails.

the 31 day challenge
in weeks instead of everyday 
I am pretty excited as it would be so much fun :)

First week is red nails, I am not to fond of red but i think i will stick with it just for the challenge

Friday, January 11, 2013

elmer's glue as peel off base coat x etude house PGR701 helium balloon review ~ part II

after the successful peeling of elmer's glue as base coat, this time i want to see how long it can last on my nails :P and here are some images of it before drying entirely

elmers glue peel off base coat
it is a bit difficult to try and apply the glue evenly, after trying my best it still looks gloppy as it dries but it dried to feel even.


elmers glue peel off base coat
on my pinky nail the elmer's glue is dried matte, on other three fingers, the elmer's glue is still wet which has a glossy look
it takes roughly 10 minutes to dry complete

after the elmer's glue dried, i used 4 coats of etude house Dear My Party Nails pgr701 Helium Balloon and plenty of top coat for it to feel even.

etude house pgr701 helium balloon dear my party nails collection
Etude House PGR701 Helium Balloon ~ Dear My Party Nails Collection

this mani was done using:
elmer's glue ~ peel off base coat
essie ~ grow stronger
etude house ~ pgr701 helium balloon
essie ~ good to go top coat

did you noticed how everything started with an "e"? hahah <- so random :P

I also wonder how long it can be worn, but judging from the number of layers, i feel that its pretty sturdy, if it lasts 3 days i would give it a perfect score as i don't think i would want to wear it any longer :P



Etude House PGR701 Helium Balloon Review:
  • it dries quick: 4/5
  • even application: 3/5
  • flat glitter: 2/5 
  • scent is strong: 2/5
  • coverage: 3/5
i wasn't too impressed with this glitter because i like my glitters flat. because of the glitters' "taco"ing, it took 4 coats to get this coverage, and it sucks all the top coat, i had to use three coats of essie ~ good to go


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

elmer's glue as peel off base coat x sinful colors x etude house

elmer's glue as peel off base coat 


i have been quite skeptical to try elmer's glue as a peel off base coat because i am afraid of its ability to stay on my nails. but the little time that it will need to remove glitter polish was too much to resist. it would be the easiest way to remove glitter polish if it does work. luckily, although it is not something i am proud of, i don't actually do enough housework to wear out my nails nor do i have to worry about it chipping into my food. therefore, there's no excuse to not try it out.

etude house nail polish dear my party nails


this new awareness that it is okay to wear as much glitter as to my heart's content is pretty awesome. with that awareness i decided to wear a glitter polish that i find super hard to match, its an etude house Dear My Party Nails ppp502 Halloween Day because it has very small purple and pink glitters of different sizes 
etude house nail polish dear my party nails
i do find the polish a bit sheer so I am unsure how many coats it needs to swatch like the above image. 

my current mani is using:

elmer's glue as a base,
essie ~ grow stronger
sinful colors ~ purple diamond
etude house ~ ppp502 Halloween Day

it turned out quite pretty, but i am really really tempted to start peeling my polish to see how it works
i know i didn't go too close to my cuticles as its my first time to try and peel of the polish, i wanted to give myself some room :P

etude house dear my party nails nail polish ppp502 halloween day with sinful colors purple diamond


elmers glue as base coat peel off


elmers glue as base coat peel off


elmers glue as base coat peel off


and this is me peeling it off  ~~ it's so much fun actually, but i couldn't get mine to come off in one piece like i have seen in many other blogs

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

deborah lippmann ~ candy shop? ~copycat


I have been wanting Deborah lippmann's candy shop polish for a while but it is quite pricey for me to buy this one polish when I have dozens of polishes that I equally love and want to buy in a fraction of that price. So, my solution is to use what I already have to create the look :)
Opi ~ heart throb is a pretty pink jelly in my collection


using:
China glaze~ it's a Trap-eze (1 thin coat)
Opi ~ heart throb (2 thin coats)


In applying China glaze~ it's a Trap-eze I tried to control the amount of glitters because the glitter concentration is too high in the look that I want, so one coat is more than enough
Then I simply applied 2 thin coats of Opi ~ heart throb
I wonder how close am I with the color comparison with swatches of Deborah Lippmann ~ candy shop
I hope you enjoyed my post
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my 2012 new years eve mani


For my new years eve nails I wanted to go back to something simple and feminine
Here I did a jelly sandwich of OPIs~ kiss on the chic & pirouette my whistle which is one of my all time favourite polishes
I did one coat of kiss on the chic and one pirouette my whistle twice to get this effect
It's just something really pretty and sweet

using: 
OPIs~ kiss on the chic
OPIs~ pirouette my whistle 

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hand painted roses


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Hand painted some hand roses, I wanted to practice a bit :)

I used:
American Apparel~l'esprit
opi~heart throb
opi~ don't talk Bach to me
china glaze~something sweet

imaginary snow


20121213-205829.jpg
For some reason there's still no snow in toronto yet (from a month ago when I made this post) so here's some imaginary snow :)

using:
konad stamper & scraper
Konad colors
white
pink
yellow
Essie~good as gold
konad m20
konad m57
konad m59


I didn't want to polish my nails with a color so I just stamped a whole bunch of designs
A very easy to do design with random arrangements of snowflakes and flowers with random colors :)
I hope everyone will enjoy wonderful weekend!

natural products


My order from iherb.com finally came but I only ordered it 2 weeks ago. Most products if not all, are derived from natural ingredients. My logic is since I'm trying to buy skin care products to protect my skin, why not use the natural stuff? I'm not saying that only natural skin care is good, and to be honest not all natural ingredients are good, especially when everyone's skin type is different. I was really excited to give natural skin care products a try. I just feel that the chances on natural products may be better because there's still a lot of unknown effects from man made ingredients and processes with the advance technologies and we did advanced quite quickly. And you may disagree, everyone is entitle to their own opinion.
The prices for these products were quite reasonable, and with referral code (JTN814) for first timer purchase you get 10$ off from a 40$ purchase and 5$ off with purchases below 40$.
So from this is my order
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First impressions~
From the first day, I have tried Thayers~ Peach Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula $7.96, I am already in love, this I uses as a toner is peach scented. Within one hour of it used alone, the scent was still noticeable and it also felt quite soothing and my skin seems to be lightly moisturized with it alone. I also used this after washing off my make up, I did realize the cotton pad did get a little yellow from probably from left over foundation that was not entirely cleansed after wash.
within 1 hour of first use
  • peach scented
  • soothing
  • feels moist
  • cleanses
With this product, I feel that I can also use onto my hands and cuticles for extra moisture and pampering. I love this one

Thayers, Peach Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Formula

$7.96
Description
  • Since 1847
  • Natural Remedies
  • Astringent
  • Softens
  • Cleanses
  • Vitamin C
  • With Certified Organic Witch Hazel & Aloe Vera Formula
  • No Animal Testing
A gentle Native American remedy that smoothes and softens dry skin while it gently cleanses. The more you use, the softer and healthier looking your skin will feel. With its unique blend, this old-fashioned formula is perfect for today's health-conscious customer.
  • Peach leaves
  • Kiwi
  • Aloe vera
  • Orange flower
  • Passion fruit
  • Tangerine
  • Vitamin C
Thayers developed this all-natural astringent for healthy looking skin. Witch Hazel can help to tighten pores and to smooth skin. Thayers proprietary Certified Organic Witch Hazel (derived from the bark) is not distilled, thereby maintaining all the beneficial natural tannins. Assay of hamamelitannin shows that Witch Hazel bark extract is 31 times richer in hamamelitannin than the leaf extract and 87 times richer than the stem extract (Resource: Vennat, B., "Tannins from Hamamelis virginiana" Planta Medica 54 (1988):454-457).
Suggested Use
Apply with a cotton ball or soft pad to cleanse, soften, refresh and moisture skin. Use anything throughout the day as a softening refresher.
Warnings
For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. If contact occurs, flush thoroughly with water. Keep out of reach of children.
with Avalon Organics~Vitamin C Renewal, Vitality Facial Serum $15.92, it would take more time to see actually results, this serum is meant to be used after toner

Avalon Organics, Vitamin C Renewal, Vitality Facial Serum

$15.92
Description
  • New
  • More Sustainable
  • NSF Contains Organic Ingredients
  • Contain 70% Organic Content
  • Certified by QAI to NSF
Antioxidant-intensive treatment stimulates cellular renewal and provides Photo-Aging Defense
Safe, Effective, Certified, Natural Skincare Without Synthetic Fragrances, Phthalates, Harsh Sulfates or Parabens.
Even minimal exposure to UV light can cause free radical damage. This kind of oxidative stress, known as photo-aging, causes collagen and elastin deterioration, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, freckles and sunspots. To fight photo-aging and help repair damaged skin, we use a powerful form of Vitamin C shown to help neutralize free radicals while naturally stimulating cellular renewal to help boost collagen and elastin production.
Vitality Facial Serum
This highly concentrated treatment serum is designed to target hyperpigmentation, sagging and lines, the most visible signs of UV-induced stress. Our unique combination of antioxidant-rich Vitamin C, Lemon Bioflavonoids and White Tea help reactivate cellular renewal and promote collagen and elastin production while evening skin tone. As you soothe oxidative stress, you help fight the visible signs of photo-aging, resulting in smoother, softer skin with improved tone.
Suggested Use
After cleansing and toning, apply to problem areas. Use morning and evening.
Warnings
Caution: For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Keep out of reach of children.
I also bought:

Jason Natural, Brightening Apricot Scrubble, Facial Wash & Scrub

$5.71
Description
  • Natural Pioneer Since 1959
  • Pure Natural
  • Exfoliates & Polishes with Natural Apricot Oil & Walnut Powder
  • Natural Deep Pore Cleansing for Women & Men
  • No: Parabens, Sodium Lauryl/ Laureth Sulfates or Phthalates
  • New Look Same Great Formula
Pure Natural Face Wash & Scrub Brightening Apricot Scrubble
This naturally gentle, soap-free foaming scrub polishes away impurities, oil and makeup for a clean, comfortable feel. Brightening Apricot Oil and triple refined walnut powder gently wash away dead skin complexion. Mild enough to use everyday, it's a gentle way to wake up your skin, with no pore-clogging residue.
Born in 1959, Jason was one of the first to offer natural products without harsh chemicals. For over 50 years, we have delivered wholesome no-nonsense, natural products that happen to really work. Our products don't contain petrolatum, sodium lauryl or laureth sulfates, parabens or phthalates. And we never test our formulas on animals. We invite you to try our entire line of safe, effective, body-loving products.
Suggested Use
To use as a scrub: Apply to clean, damp skin with fingertips in a gentle circular motion. Rinse well with warm water. Pat dry.
To use as a pre-shave (for women and men): Use as a gentle scrub before shaving, rinse well with warm water. Then apply your regular shaving lotion or cream.
Warnings
Caution: Avoid eye area. If skin is sensitive or if using Retin-A, patch-test a small area before applying, or consult your dermatologist. For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Keep out of reach of children. Discontinue for a few days if skin becomes sensitive.

Mad Hippie Skin Care Products, Vitamin C Serum, 8 Actives

$27.19
Description
  • Advanced Skin Care
  • With Konjac Root, Ferulic & Hyaluronic Acid
  • More Actives. More Results.
What are Actives?
Active ingredients are those with known antioxidant & skin rejuvenating properties.
What is Ferulic Acid?
Found primarily in plant cell walls, ferulic acid has been shown to double the UV protective effects of Vitamin C.
Uplifting antioxidant blend that brightens, tightens & smoothes the skin.
Genuine flower power, natural antioxidants & active essentials work hand in hand to enhance your body's ability to heal & protect. By leaving out harmful chemicals, parabens, synthetic color & fragrance, Mad Hippie helps your skin achieve true harmony.
Suggested Use
Lightly massage serum onto face after washing in the morning & evening. Follow with Mad hippie face cream.
Warnings
No animal testing.
Again, the prices for these products were quite reasonable, and with referral code (JTN814) for first timer purchase you get 10$ off from a 40$ purchase and 5$ off with purchases below 40$.
Some Random facts:
I looked at some of the products, and noticed how they emphasize on not having parabens, although I simply just looked it up on wikipedia, there's a few theories of its harms, I think one that concerns me most in terms of skin care is this one:

Sun exposure

Studies indicate that methylparaben applied on the skin may react with UVB leading to increased skin aging and DNA damage.
~Osamu Handa, Satoko Adachi, Tomohisa Takagi et al. (3 October 2006). "Methylparaben potentiates UV-induced damage of skin keratinocytes".Toxicology 227 (1-2): 62–72. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2006.07.018PMID 16938376.

China Glaze~it's a trap-eze


20121210-105754.jpg
I have been craving for this particular polish since the time I found out about it. It did not disappoint!! Totally love the sprinkle like effect! I really understand why it would be a member of the cirque du soleil collection, the colors and excitements!!
This is 2 coats and it covers well, although the glitters doesn't spread out evenly, the clustered look seems to make sense to me. Doesn't that remind you of the circus? It attracts all kinds of people and brings them to the same location forming crowds and crowds of excitement? Just a random thought. Don't know how that has to do with application of a nail polish. Have a nice day :)

my american apparel swatches


20121207-105156.jpg
these were my purchases of the american apparel polishes, another "meteor shower" has joined my friend's collection :)
20121207-105205.jpg
Original ~L'esprit was the first AA polish I swatched,
  • amazing coverage
  • almost a one-coater
  • smooth application
I am super impressed with this formula!!!
20121207-105213.jpg
Sheer~Moonlight Beach
  • very sheer indeed
  • color is hard to apply evenly in thin coats
however, I do like its sheer-ness for jellies
20121207-105221.jpg
Glitter~Supernova
  • pretty colorful glitter of different sizes
  • good pick up of the glitters
20121207-105232.jpg
to complete my jelly of course, applied another coat of moonlight beach

how to take off glitter polishes ~ pretty easy glitter removal


How to take of glitter polishes
what you need:
  • cotton
  • foils
  • nail polish remover
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20121130-110017.jpg
Cut the foils and cotton into smaller pieces
  • cotton pads (into quarter sizes)
  • foils (roughly square about 2 inches by 2 inches or 6 cm by 6 cm)
20121130-110106.jpg
  • wet the quarter sized cotton pads with nail polish remover
  • position it on top of nail
20121130-110113.jpg
  • use sized down foils to wrap around nail
20121130-110119.jpg
  • fold in the edges to help secure
20121130-110126.jpg
  • repeat with other fingers
20121130-110134.jpg
  • pull off  while pressing down on the nail after ten minutes
It takes of about 98 % of the polishes and glitters, but easy final clean up is needed.
Its an easy way to take off glitter polishes that usually takes about an hour with all the rubbing for me :P

I have heard the white glue method, but I am a bit reluctant to try as I am worried that it ll come off while food prep...

ugly sweater nails


20121126-113420.jpg
ugly sweater nails
This combination would actually work of it was a pink sweater with beige or brown polka dots, its hard to even find a beige sweater and pink polka dots
What I used:
konad stamping scraper and stamper
konad plate m84
konad plate m79
konad pink polish
OPI~Don't pretzel my button 
China Glaze~I'm not lion
You can always do polka dots by using dotting tools too

dreamy stars ~*


20121124-233226.jpg
Dreamy stars
I used previous manicure as a base to create this look
The pattern is made with:
  • Konad white polish
  • Konad plate m84
  • Konad stamper and scraper
I loved the jelly, adding stars to it just feels right. What do you think?

jelly of all the franken jellies ~ pretty easy nail pictorial 21


20121122-202146.jpg
jelly of all the franken jellies, u too?
Lately I saw a lot of pretty franken/indie jellies and I became very jelly myself but the costs to get them to me become very high :(
so here's my solution to get the look :)
what you need:
  • sheer polish (OPI~Care to Danse)
  • pink glitter polish (Essie~A cut above)
  • silver holographic glitter polish (China Glaze~Techno)
apply base coat to minimize color staining (I used Essie~Grow Stronger)
  1. sheer polish (2 coats of OPI~Care to Danse) - number of coats base on opacity preference
  2. pink glitter polish (1 coat of Essie~A cut above)
  3. silver holographic glitter polish (1 coat of China Glaze~Techno)
  4. sheer polish (1 final coat of OPI~Care to Danse) - number of coats base on opacity preference
here is what it looks like from step 3 to 4, I thought about stopping at step 3 because it was already quite pretty :) but i was set on a jelly look so...
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I hope you enjoyed my post, and I would love to see your take on this :) tag me!!!