All Laquered Up
Beauty Services is the most lucrative business in this world. You will see ladies cluttering beauty parlours and nail salons during the festive season especially during Chinese New Year.
As the gap between Lunar New Year and Valentines' Day is extremely close this year, most ladies might have burnt a hole in their pockets on beauty services over these 2 occasions. For unmarried ladies, they are considered fortunate as their expenses can be covered by Ang Pows (Red Packets). But it will still be wise to spend prudently.
The most common issue we experience is that our manicures have chipped off during the first week of Chinese New Year - if you opt for gelish, perhaps your manicure can last you longer for 2 weeks. Based on the fact that fingernails actually do grow pretty fast, your gelish after 2 weeks might not look as good as compared to when it was initially done.
In order not to spend (unnecessarily) on my manicure, I will always opt to paint my nails myself and hence the purpose of today's blog post will be on more on my sharing of my Nail Polish collection and some tips on application of nail polish.
Nail Polish Collection and Reviews
Yes, I love all sorts of vibrant colours and hence I have a vast array of nail colours for selection as and when I need them ~ be it for nail art or just as a base colour..
Base Coat - Poshé Nail Strengthening Basecoat
Applying Base Coat is like applying primer to prep your face for cosmetics. A good base coat not only prevents your nails from becoming yellow, it also acts as a layer of protection agains the harmful chemicals present in most nail lacquers. My favourite brand for Base Coat is Poshé as I can feel that the nail lacquers are doing lesser damage to my dry and brittle nails after using this for quite some time. Also, it is easy to apply and dries out fast too :)
The Face Shop Nail Lacquers (SGD2+ each)
I bought these nail lacquers because of their lovely pastel colours and I got them in shades of PK103 (baby pink), GR503 (pastel turquoise) and PP408 (pastel purple).
Although The Face Shop's Nail Lacquers are cheap and they come in many lovely colours, I would strongly not recommend you to get them as they gets clumpy pretty fast :( Also, it takes more than 2 layers to get an opaque shade on my nails and hence you will end up wasting more product with a more clumpy and chunky effect. Do not get these nail lacquers unless you are on a tight budget.
I personally think that using their nail lacquers for nail arts (i.e drawing flowers etc) but not as a base colour for your nails is fine as it gets pretty difficult to have a smooth application on your entire nail after some time.
China Glaze Nail Lacquers (SGD18)
I got crazy over China Glaze Nail Lacquers when Tiffany Blue is becoming one of the most trendy nail colours (it still is).
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| China Glaze Nail Lacquers |
My favourite colour from the China Glaze range is of course their "For Audrey" (Tiffany Blue) colour. I have also bought other colours like a very sweet Barbie Pink shade - "Dance Baby". I am also a fan of their glitters for shades "Optical Illusion" and "Prism".
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| 625 For Audrey, 1039 Dance Baby, 1028 Optical Illusion, 1026 Prism |
As for their gold shades, I was somewhat not impressed... And I bought the "White Out" just because I need White colour to do my French Tips... LOL.
Generally, China Glaze's nail lacquers do get clumpy over some time too - but it is slightly better than The Face Shop's. My "For Audrey" wasted a fair bit of my Nail Thinner solution as I really loved that colour a lot that I have to constantly dilute it with my Nail Thinner solution in order for continuous usage. As for the "Dance Baby", the colour looked great but I couldn't be bothered to dilute the nail varnish after some time.
Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle (below SGD10)
I couldn't remember the exact pricing of these adorable Pedicure Sparkles as I have kept them in my collection for a long, long time! They are like the must-have items in my collection because their glitters are not only fine in texture but sparkly too! Love the glamorous bling effect it brings especially the golden one!! Also, one bottle can last very long and the application is smooth even after being kept in my cupboard for years!!
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| Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle in Gold, Pink and Pearl |
OPI Nail Lacquers (SGD20)
Yes, I left the BEST to the LAST. I am a proud owner of the OPI Nail Lacquer collection.
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| My OPI Nail Lacquer Collection 2014 |
My favourite picks arranged from left to right...
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| It's a Girl! NL H39, Colour So Hot it Berns NL Z13, Elephantastic Pink NL142 |
I bought NL H39 It's a Girl! from Tanjong Pagar Xchange at a steal. Some people said that the nail varnishes sold at the shop are counterfeits but I personally feel that their quality do not differ from that of the Authentic OPI Nail Lacquers I purchased from retail malls like BHG. I will usually visit the shop @ Tanjong Pagar Xchange to browse the available colours and drop by BHG's OPI counter only if I cannot find a desirable colour from there.
My most favourite nail colour happens to be "It's a Girl!" as it acts as the perfect base for french manicure. It has a very sheer pink finishing which you can opt to wear it alone during the days when you feel too lazy for nail arts. It gives you a sophisticated finish and it makes your nails looked as if it has just went for a french manicure as it made the tips of my nails appear whiter upon application.
My second favourite nail colour from the OPI collection is "Colour So Hot it Berns". Not because I am hot or anything, just because I love how the red looks on my skin. This colour is very popular among flight attendants as it makes their skin appear fairer :)
Next in line would be "Elephantastic Pink" - it is a salmon-pinkish colour that is vibrant and pretty!
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| Pink of Hearts 2009 SR AL2, Can't Find My Czechbook NL E75, Need Sunglasses? NL B46 |
I bought "Pink of Hearts 2009" to support the campaign in preventing Breast Cancer. The packaging is lovely with pink ribbons printed on the brush handle. I'll normally use "Can't Find my Czechbook" and "Need Sunglasses?" for nail art purposes.
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| Pink Before You Leap NL B34, OPI Top Coat NT T30 |
"Pink Before You Leap" is clear varnish with very fine pink glitters. It is very sheer and I kind of regretted buying it. Oh yes, not to forget that my Top Coat is from OPI as well!
Past Works
Painting your nails can be great fun too! You can create different designs according to your mood and preference! I have a soft spot for pastel colours and I think they look lovely on my nails too :)
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| Nail Art #1: Pastel Pokla Dots |
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| Nail Art #2: Watermelon Inspired Nails |
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| Nail Art #3: Vintage Floral Nail Art inspired by Bubzbeauty :) |
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| More Vintage Floral Nail Art designs in Pastel Pink :) |
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| My Nail Art Designs for Chinese New Year 2013 - Pokla Dots and Vintage Flowers :) |
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| Playing around with my fav Red Shade from OPI |
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| My Nail Art Design for my Tokyo Trip in April 2013 - To match the Sakura Season :) |
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| My Nails for Chinese New Year 2014 - Floral Designs on thumb and classy french tips with my ring finger dipped in gold dust |
Nails for Valentines' Day 2014!
I have opted not to have any nail art this time round. Instead, I have decided to play with vibrant colours to cheer myself up.
Products Used:
- Poshé Nail Strengthening Basecoat
- Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss in Shade 6402 (bright turquoise / teal shade)
- OPI Nail Lacquer in Elephantastic Pink NL142
- Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle in Gold
- Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss Shine Booster Top Coat
The Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss series claim to give your nails a very glossy finish which is similar to the silicon-like texture you get from Gel manicures. Attracted by the claims of it, I bought 2 bottles to try out - the 6402 (teal) and their Top Coat (6701).
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| Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss in Shade 6402 |
The brush is flat and wide, specially designed for easy application on nail surface.
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| Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss in Shade 6402 and OPI's Elephantastic Pink NL142 |
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| Skin Food Pedicure Sparkle in Gold |
Finished Product:
Monotones are great as their are timeless classic. Who says you must have nail art in order to look more polished? You can play around with bold contrasts / matching colours to create different looks just with a single-toned finish.
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| TaDahhhh! My finished nails for the upcoming Valentines' Day! |
Ultra love how the gold dust sparkle on my fourth finger although the camera sucks at capturing blings!
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| Time to do some blogging on my Macbook Pro... |
The Downside
As I was trying the Bourjois Paris 1 Seconde Gloss for the first time, I had some difficulties in controlling the brush strokes as my nails are petite and the brush is too wide for my small fingers :( Hence I ended up painting my cuticles which forced me to remove the existing nail varnish and reapply again. Also, the solution does not glide as smoothly on my nails as I have expected - the nail varnish gets clumpy after a few applications.
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| Bubbles on my Middle Finger :( |
The top coat did not dry fast and caused bubbles to form on my nail surface and ruining the overall aesthetics of my masterpiece... And I realised that other small bubbles started to form on my other nails after a few days of application. It was really disappointing - I think I might be better off sticking to China Glaze's "For Audrey".
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| Bumpy finishing |
Tips on Applying Nail Lacquer
Many people might feel that applying nail polish by yourself is a chore because you can never get the perfect manicured effect from salons. But this is not true after you get the hang of it!Here are some simple tips in nail polish application:
- Ensure that your cuticle is tucked neatly away from the sides of your nails using a cuticle pusher (you can easily purchase it from Qoo10) - this enables you to have a wider surface area to apply your nail polish and hence prevent the staining your cuticles too
- If you have rough ridges on your nail surface, you might want to give it a good buff (of course this is optional)
- Remember to apply a good Base Coat to protect your nails and prevent it from yellowing
- Apply your nail varnish in very light strokes. I prefer to apply some on the tips of my nails first before applying boldly from bottom to top - this makes application easier somehow :) The key is that you must apply in very light strokes if you do not want to see brush marks appear on your dried varnish...
- Do not apply more than 2 layers of nail polish. Applying more than 2 coats makes your nails very chunky and the nail will be varnish harder to dry as well. A good nail lacquer is able to produce a opaque colour upon its first 2 applications.
- Apply a layer of top coat to seal your nail colour and prevent it from chipping when your nail colour is completely dry.
Easy NailArt Tutorials from Bubzbeauty
Vintage Floral Nails
Sweet Dessert Nails
Bride 'n' Groom Nails
I do hope that my review is of use to you and hope you will enjoy your Valentines' Day looking gorgeous and being loved!
Check out my nailart tutorial for my pre-wedding photoshoot here (click on photo below to proceed):
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| Vintage Floral + Bunny Nailart Tutorial :) |
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