More Chevrons Please!

{China Glaze's Kinetic Candy, Liquid Leather & I'm Not Lion}

I loved & missed my previous chevron manicure so much (you can see it here), I asked my friend if she'd paint them for me again. Voila! I love how these turned out, and my left hand looks even better, but I can't seem to take pictures with my left hand.

{OPI's My Vampire Is Buff, Pirouette My Whistle & When Monkeys Fly!}

I know I said I was on a shopping ban, but unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I keep getting tempted by new collections & makeup I see :(

I bought these OPI nail polishes the other day, I couldn't resist, they're soooo pretty! I want to wear My Vampire Is Buff and When Monkeys Fly so much but I don't want to remove my chevrons :( #firstworldproblems

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Also placed an order with Teavana for the very first time and I LOVE the selection of tea they have, they all sound delicious and the ones I got taste amazing. I'm not really loving loose leaf teas though, they're much more inconvenient than tea bags.

Ice Cream Nails!

Dark colors are all I've been wearing lately, I've been stuck in a dark red polish rut (I own 11 dark red colors, the last time I counted). 

Then I decided to force myself out of my comfort zone and go completely pastel. And... I loved it!

L to R: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Lacey Lilac, OPI's Panda-monium Pink, China Glaze's Kinetic Candy, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Mint Sorbet and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Lacey Lilac again.

All my favourite colors on my fingers. Just looking at this picture makes me happy (:

Then, I had some time on my hands and decided to add something fun to my manicure.

Yep, I painted ice cream on my nails!

Honestly, my nails are having a bit of an identity crisis. They can't decide if they're ice cream or cupcakes. Help them out?

Oh you know...

Just the things I want but can't buy because I'm supposed to be saving up for a big purchase. I'm going on a no-buy soon. & It so happens that just as I've decided to go on a no-buy, all my favourite companies come up the the most amazing things. 

I've been the biggest fan of Archie comics ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with collecting & reading them. I'm definitely Team Betty though, are you? 

I knew I wanted to own pieces from this collection when I first saw it (hello blushes & eyeshadow quad & face powder!). The packaging is too cute ♥

MAC is releasing EIGHT new pro longwear paint pots! :O I think I've said it more than enough, but paint pots are my absolute favourite thing from MAC (the MSFs come a very close second). Look at the gorgeous shade on the top row, I need them all! 

I know I'm definitely going to get Vintage Selection & Let Me Pop (3rd & 4th ones in the top row). These were first seen in the Champale collection in 2010 and I didn't get them because I wasn't into wearing much eye makeup then.

And finaaaaally, the pastels from China Glaze's Avant Garden collection. I'm a sucker for pastels. I haven't looked up swatches yet, but I probably have something similar to the lilac & periwinkle colours in my collection. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the darker pink, mint & white colour though. 

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I just need a teeny bit of self control, I'll pick out a couple of things to buy from each collection and I won't go overboard :/

New Year's Day Nails!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! May 2013 be the best year you'll have so far!

I wanted to go all out, glitter bomb for my New Year's Day nails. I love glitter, and what better occasion is there to wear glitter?! So I pulled out my most bimbo pink and brightest silver/gold polish and piled it on my nails :D

I used OPI's Teenage Dream & China Glaze's I'm Not Lion.

I layered a layer of OPI's Panda-monium Pink under 2 coats of Teenage Dream. I only had to use ONE coat of China Glaze's I'm Not Lion, I adore it!

I usually only use glitter polishes for accent nails or nail art but I went all out this time. And I really like how it turned out!

Snowglobe Nails! ❄

My friends came over to my place for some coffee & cake, and we decided to do our nails too because, why not? :D

I used China Glaze's Kinetic Candy, Shooting Stars and White on White. You can tell how much I love China Glaze ♥

I sponged White on White over my Kinetic Candy base, then did a coat of Shooting Stars over. My friend also brought over Christmas nail stickers and I couldn't resist the Christmas tree & snowflake ❄ There's also a bow on the middle finger of my right hand but I can't take a decent picture with my left ☹

Deborah Lippmann's Cleopatra in New York

This is my newest bottle of Deborah Lippmann nail polish! I don't know why, but it's named Cleopatra in New York, which sounds strange to me! I was really excited about getting this polish after seeing a couple of people post it on Instagram but I'm not sure how I feel about it IRL :(

I think it's meant to be gold glitter pieces in a black jelly base but it can look a little grey to me under certain lights. I applied 2 coats in the picture you see, and the polish is pretty much opaque. The formula is good, considering how streaky & sheer black jelly polishes can be. 

One of the reasons I liked it so much on IG is because the glitter seemed pretty spaced out & more subtle. It might be the way I applied the polish, but 2 coats made the glitter become to densely packed for my liking. I may have to try it a couple more times before I really decide if I like it or not. 

OPI's Bubble Bath & The Living Daylights

The Living Daylights was the polish I was  most excited about from the Skyfall collection and I've been looking for ways to wear it ever since I got it! 

Then I saw the best way to wear TLD ever on Killer Colours (I adore her blog, she's such an AMAZING makeup artiste, I can't emphasize it enough) and on Chalkboard Nails. It was soooo pretty I had to try it out!

Bubble Bath is a perennial favourite and needs to introduction. TLD is a polish with gold, silver, orange & green glitter pieces in it, it's quite unique, I'd say. 

I used 2 coats of BB, 2 coats of TLD and then another coat of BB. I love how it turned out!

New In: OPI Skyfall & More! ☁

I finaaaaally got my paws on the polishes I wanted from OPI's Skyfall Collection! I thought about getting the entire collection because I loved the swatches I saw online but I came to my senses and decided to just buy the ones I REALLY liked. After all, how many variations of red nail polish does 1 girl need?!

So, these are the ones I decided to get in the end.

L-R: Skyfall, The Spy Who Loved Me, Casino Royale

L-R: Live And Let Die, Goldeneye, The Living Daylights

I also decided to pick up a couple of darker Fall colors because I don't own too many of them. I tend to lean towards pastels so darker polishes rarely catch my eye.

L-R: Here Again... Aragon Tomorrow, We'll Always Have Paris

I've worn HAAT but I didn't really take a picture of it. I have a picture of it with nail art on top on my Instagram (ohheyclaudia) but it just looks like it's black. It's actually a very dark green! Opaque in 2 coats, but you can probably get away with wearing 1 thicker coat. I love polishes like that!

 This is most definitely my favourite polish from the Skyfall collection!♡ Skyfall is a deep, dark red creme polish. It looks so pretty on the nails & the formula is amazing too. It's opaque in 2 coats, and it's pretty glossy!

I probably won't be buying anymore nail polishes anytime soon. I've got to set myself on a strict nail polish ban. I'm running out of space to store my collection ☹

Pink & Glitter Nails ❤

I wanted to paint my nails the other day but I couldn't find any of the newer polishes that I wanted to use. So I pulled out a couple of oldies but goodies!

These are OPI's Rainbow Connection (from the Muppet's collection) and Strawberry Margarita (IDK which collection this is from, it seems to be one of the polishes that have been around for forever!). I adore both of these polishes, especially Strawberry Margarita, I use it sooo much & will definitely repurchase it when I use it up!

I've seen my friend wear a coat of Rainbow Connection on top of Strawberry Margarita and it was SO pretty. I wasn't prepared to have to wrestle glitter off 10 fingers so I decided to have an accent nail on each hand instead. I really like how it turned out!

That is 2 coats of Strawberry Margarita and 3 coats of Rainbow Connection! ❤

China Glaze's Harvest Moon

This is part of the The Hunger Games collection from China Glaze. I remember being SO obsessed with this for  months before it launched, and when it finally did, I went out and bought almost the entire collection. I have 9 out of 12 of the polishes. I passed on Mahogany Magic & Riveting because I didn't like those colors. 

I wasn't really a fan of Harvest Moon when I saw it too (orange really doesn't appeal to me at all) but I thought it might be alright for Fall/Winter.

This is the first time I've worn it!

I think it looks better on than I expected, doesn't make me look like an oompa-loompa, I hope? 

I quite like the metallic finish of this polish and it applies really well too. The first coat is a teeny bit streaky but the second coat totally evens it out & makes it opaque. The only downside to this polish is that it takes slightly more effort to remove as compared to the normal creme polishes. It's not a big problem though, especially if you're used to removing glitter polishes!

New In!

I haven't posted in forever, I'm sorry. I don't really have anything to post about recently because I haven't taken too many pictures. I do post very regularly on Instagram though (because it's so convenient), so check my Instagram out if you're interested (: I'm 'ohheyclaudia'.

I took a short vacation to Penang, Malaysia with 3 other friends this week, we were there for 4 days. Penang is all about the food & cafes & art galleries so I didn't take many pictures. I did, however, pick up way too many things from the airport on my way home. Duty free shopping is really my weakness :(

Anyway, these are a few of the things I bought!

My very first Dior nail polishes! They actually come in a set & the daaaaaark green color is actually a crackle top coat! I'm not really a fan of crackle but I love how this combination looks.

Also, my very first Dior lip product. I rarely wear colors on my lips so I decided to get a sheer lipbalm. It's really glossy & moisturising!

One of my friends was using this on the trip, and let us try it. It was amazing, it's super dark, goes on smoothly & doesn't budge at all.

I didn't take a picture of the other things I bought because I already put them away but I did post them on Instagram :D 

A new nail post should be up in a couple of days <3

Etude House's Juicy Cocktail Gradation Nails ♥

So this is the other thing I got from Etude House the other time I went! Isn't it pretty?! I  can't pass up anything that comes in a set, does that sound weird? I saw these nail polish sets that make doing gradient nails much easier than they already are, and I decided to get one!

These are the polishes that came in that set! The first layer is a shimmery, light peachy pink. The second layer is a fine gold glitter polish with slightly bigger silver glitter pieces. & the last layer is a big, gold chunky glitter polish. You're meant to paint the peachy color over your entire nails, then paint the second layer slightly higher up your nail and paint the chunky gold glitter on the tips, super easy right? You don't even have to use a sponge!

(Please excuse my terrible cuticles, I had to remove the glitter polish I was wearing before that, and remover makes my nails really dry!)

This is 2 coats of the peachy color, 2 coats of the fine gold glitter and one coat of the large gold glitter. The polishes are great, they're really easy to apply, very smooth & no streaking at all! The large gold glitter polish was a little tricky because I had to push the glitter off the brush so that it'd stick on my nail bed. If I hadn't, there would probably be only 2 or 3 glitter pieces on my nails. It's not a biggie though!

I think this set is great, if you're lazy like I am & you don't have to have to sponge or think of color combinations when doing glitter gradients. On the other hand, it's probably  if you wanted to make a dupe of this set by buying similar polishes from other brands!

Ppppolka Dots!

I went into Etude House ( a Korean makeup/skincare/beauty shop) with my friend because she wanted to check out their skincare range. She didn't get anything but I did walk out with 5 polishes (2 individual bottles and 3 in a set) and a pore pack mask >.<

You have no idea how much self control it took to not buy the whole selection of nail polishes. It did help that they were not inexpensive though. I saw this pastel range and I wanted them all :'( 

This is the range of polishes they have, but it's in a different packaging! I know the picture says matte, but the ones I have are glossy heh.

Credit: Etude 

Anyway, this post is going to be about 2 of the polishes I bought, both pastels! Their names are CGR702 (blue one) and CBE101 (the yellow one). I don't know if they have real names.

The formula of these polishes are pretty good! The blue one applied really really nicely, no streaking or patchiness but the yellow was slightly trickier. It was more sheer and needed 3 coats to be fully opaque, unlike the blue which only required 2 coats.

It's a pretty small bottle, only 7ml, as compared to the usual 15ml OPI/China Glaze bottles. 

I definitely want to try out more of the polishes they have, it'd be nice to have the entire collection hehehehe. 

OPI's Strawberry Margarita & China Glaze's I'm Not Lion

I decided to do the two-accent-nails thing again (did it once HERE), not a very novel idea, I know!

I wanted to paint my nails something simple & fun so I decided on OPI's Strawberry Margarita and added China Glaze's I'm Not Lion as an afterthought to jazz it up.

Strawberry Margarita is one of the most classic OPI colors, it's just a bright pink creme polish that everyone loves. The formula is perfect too, it goes on so smoothly and it's completely opaque in 2 coats. No streaks, no patchiness at all.

China Glaze's I'm Not Lion from the On Safari collection is another winner. It's a glitter polish and I'm positive it consists gold and holographic glitter. It does look different in different lighting though, sometimes I think I see silver and other times I think I see bronze. I swear I'm not cray-cray though hahaha.

China Glaze's Shocking Pink!

I have China Glaze's Shocking Pink on right now! I don't know why but I've always had the impression that Shocking Pink was from the Summer Neons collection. But it isn't, it's from the Wow Factor collection. Maybe China Glaze has too many (Poolside, Wow Factor, Summer Neons) neon collections?

This is 3 coats of Shocking Pink with one very goopy coat of Seche Vite on top (I need a new bottle).

I didn't plan on buying Shocking Pink at first, because I thought it was too similar to China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy, which I already own. I decided to get it in the end because I couldn't decide what else to get. When I compared them, I realised that FFF is much more coral, and SP is a true neon pink. They're not dupes at all!

The formula of this polish is okay, for a neon. It was a little streaky and uneven, but 3 coats was enough to level everything out and make it opaque. 3 coats is not bad at all! I'll never forget how China Glaze's Yellow Polka Dot Bikini took me 6 coats, never wearing that again!

Glitter Gradient Nude!

I wanted to paint my nails a nice nude for a change because my nails have either been super bright or pastel recently. Decided to go with OPI's Barefoot In Barcelona, which is a lovely, dusty pink creme polish I love.

This picture is from a while ago, because I didn't manage to take a picture before I got bored with it! After a couple of hours, I decided it was too boring & I wanted to add a little something to it. 

I sponged Deborah Lippmann's Some Enchanted Evening on the tips and I got a pink based glitter gradient which I thought was really pretty :D

Mint & Gold ♥

I saw a post on The Beauty Department on Robin's Egg Nails and I thought they were GORGEOUS. I decided that I had to recreate that manicure soon.

If you click through the link to look at that TBD post, you'll see that my manicure generally doesn't really look like that one. I do still really like my version though! They actually look better when they're not THAT up close.

 I used Sally Hansen's Mint Sorbet and China Glaze's Solar Flare. I've done a review on Mint Sorbet on my old Tumblr (here) and it's great-- 2 coats for complete opacity. I used one coat of Solar Flare for this mani because it's meant to be a glitter top coat, not a polish on it's own, Topped that off with 2 coats of Seche Vite Dry Fast, and tadahhhhh!

Polish Overview Part Two: Pinks & Corals

Part two has taken me a week to post, I'm a terrible blogger! Its so hard to find the time to take pictures, and I think I really need a new (better) camera that takes nicer indoor, low light pictures.

Anyway, here's part 2 which is dedicated to pink & corals! Wanted to make a special post for my coral polishes because they're my current fave, but it would have been way too short. 

Pinks

First row: OPI's Panda-monium Pink (which looks purple under some lights, strange), Sally Hansen's So Much Fawn, OPI's Dusk Over Cairo, OPI's Strawberry Margarita & butter LONDON's Snog

Second row: China Glaze's Wicked Style, Make An Entrance, Fuschia Fanatic & Seduce Me

I actually forgot to include Deborah Lippmann's Shape Of My Heart, which is a pale pink. I've post a couple of pictures of it on this blog before, you might want to take a look if you're interested (:

 Corals

First row: Essence's On Your Gracile Tiptoe, Revlon's Mad About Mangoes & China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy

Second row: China Glaze's Make Some Noise, OPI's Lunch At The Delhi & Deborah Lippmann's Daytripper

I lovelovelove my coral polishes right now, they're soooo pretty & perfect for the season now! I think the next post should come some time in the middle of this week, hopefully I get some good pictures taken! Part 3 is probably going to be yellows/blues/greens. I only have 1 yellow polish and a couple of green ones, so I'll be posting mints in that part too!

China Glaze's Manhunt & I'm Not Lion

I got a couple of polishes from China Glaze's On Safari collection the other day! I meant to get the entire collection when I first saw it a couple of months ago, but the colors don't appeal to me anymore. I still think they're gorgeous, but they're not colors I'm into right now. 

I had to get Manhunt because it's my favorite color from the collection, and I'm Not Lion because lions are THE BEST animal in the world.

I'm sorry about the TERRIBLE paint job on my pointer finger. I forgot to wipe the brush on the corner of the bottle and it glooped (such a professional term LOL) around my cuticles :/ I usually wait for my nails to dry, then take a shower so all the excess polish peels off. Didn't do that for this one, obviously.

Manhunt is a dark blue which I thought would be a dupe for China Glaze's First Mate but it isn't really. Manhunt is noticeably brighter. It's opaque in two coats and not streaky at all. Great formula! I'm Not Lion is a glitter polish with flecks of silver, gold and holographic glitter. I put on 3 coats, but that was just to be safe. 2 coats would probably be sufficient! 

I really love doing two accent nails :D

Nail Polish Overview Part 1: Reds & Nudes

A friend who reads this blog suggested that I do an overview of the nail polishes I own. And I thought it was a pretty good idea because 'nail polish collection' post of sorts has been requested on my Tumblr quite a few times, but I didn't know how to go about doing it. Anyway, we decided I could probably group them according to color. So here's part 1!

Reds

First row: Sally Hansen's CSM in Right Said Red, OPI's Big Apple Red, Essie's Very Cranberry

Second row: OPI's Quarter Of A Cent-cherry, Deborah Lippmann's Supermodel

You can find reviews for these polishes (except DL's Supermodel, it's new in my collection) on my old Tumblr (here).

Nudes

First row: China Glaze's Innocent, OPI's Bubble Bath, OPI's Tickle My France-y

Second row: OPI's Barefoot In Barcelona, China Glaze's Dress Me Up, Sally Hansen CSM in So Much Fawn.

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It's such a hassle to take pictures, because I don't have a good camera & I prefer natural sunlight. I don't really have the time to take pictures on weekdays, especially since I only get home at night. Part 2 will probably be pinks/oranges/corals!