Christmas Nails

So, I'm getting pretty obsessed with nail polishes, again. I think this blog is going to turn into a nail blog pretty soon~

For Christmas this year, I decided to do something special for my nails to embrace the Christmas spirit, hence, Christmas nails!

It's a mixture of several types of nail art, the most common one, French mani (though not the typical white and nude), Ruffian (some call it reverse French mani, basically you do the edge at the top instead of the tips of the nails, and I'm loving it more than french!!），and plain old cello tape (for the Christmas tree).

I did not design the tree myself, Kai Ru showed me a pic of it and I just duplicated it, but for the overall mixture of nail arts, yeaps, it's by me! Though there's nothing to shout about, they're pretty simple. I just have a thing for simple nail arts, as they are less messy and thus would result in a more professional and classy look.

Polishes used are Skin Food Nail Vita Gold Polish #BR612 (I just love this gold! it's a dirty gold chrome colour so it doesn't look goddy, Sasatinnie Red Polish #SPN104 and topping it off with my trustee Seche Vite (See the gloss!)

I'm so reluctant to take them off my nails now, they're so pretty~ But at the same time, I'm dying to try other nail combinations, especially since I got 2 new colours from my secret santa <3 a="a" br="br" complicated="complicated" i="i" in="in" m="m" now....="now...." right="right" situation="situation">

Big Bad Wolf Sale

My haul from Big Bad Wolf Sale Wave 1 + 2!!!! Went there twice and snagged all these back, a total of 70 books. Just in this sale, I have bought more books than I've had throughout the year, awesome eh? Spend about RM600++ (yes, i spent close to a thousand in just 2 visits).

But guess what, I just realised the sale added in new titles!! They have Roald Dahl and Tales of Beedle the Bard, and I spent hours during my 2 visits looking for them, and now they add it in when I'm not going anymore, WTH?!?! _)(*&^%$# seriously, I really want to scold bad words... Some of us actually purposely went early to try to snag the good titles, and they add it in later to try to coax you to go again and spend more =.= and well, people who goes later, are able to snag these titles without having to endure the agonizing first day sale. It's a little unfair don't you think? I've also read some people commenting that they came from out of the state to attend the book fair and you can't exactly expect them to come again isn't it? I'm pretty annoyed with them now. What's the point of the effort of rushing there early then? Late comers could actually get better titles than us. For me, it's a really cheap trick and despite being one of the largest book fairs and having cheap prices, I don't have much respect for them using such sales tactics. I was actually pretty psyche for the book fair and fully supported their effort, but not anymore.

Sasatinnie Nail Polish

I found a brand of polish that is pretty cheap and decent, at RM3 per bottle (after discount, np:RM4), there's nothing much you can complain about!

Sasatinnie Nail Polishes from Sasa. It's their own brand and as stated on the bottle, the polish is made in France. They come in cute little mini heart shaped bottles with 5.5ml. Come to think of it, it's actually not that cheap, as a full sized bottle which is around 12ml from Korean cosmetic shops like Face Shop and Elianto is only going for RM6. But I have to say, the quality of this polishes is actually superb!

 The Little Minatures

This is one that I would like to highlight from the batch, Super Dolly Fantasy Colour Q34 (this is the larger bottle, price RM8 after discount, np: RM9) They don't have names for their polishes, just codes.

The first one, Q34, is a black polish with very fine shimmer in in, giving it a chrome finish. I bought this because I saw a similar China Glaze colour (can't remember the name) that I really liked. So I went rummaging the pile of Sasatinnie polish and to my luck, I stumbled upon this! However, comparing to the China Glaze, this has less silver shimmer, but it's the closest match I could find.

And what can I say, move aside all you quick drying polishes, we have a new winner!! This polish dries in literally seconds! I haven finish smoothing it out on my nail and it begins to dry, imagine. But that ain't good news, it makes the polish really hard to apply as it appears all streaky and uneven. It also has a really thin formula and only appears opaque after about 4-5 coats! But thank goodness it's quick drying, if not I wouldn't be ablt to stand waiting for 5 coats to dry.

See at the end of the first line, "Quick Dry"

It gives a matte appearance after it dries, which isn't my preference, I prefer gloss. So, I applied a layer of my Seche Vite

Ta-da!! *enlarge to see glossiness*

Overall, despite the many layers and the a litlle too fast drying, I still really like the colour, so it's well worth taking the effort layering it. After all, like I've said, it's quick drying, so it's pretty easy to layer.

Another one that I really love out of the batch is SPN104. It's a chilli red polish that is superb in quality and glides on super smooth! There aren't many cream polishes out there that are smooth but this is definitely one of them. Totally no streaks and even first layer is smooth.

This is after layer 1, yes, you did not read wrong, LAYER 1! Smooth ain't it? Pretty opaque too, but I still feel a 2nd coat is needed to give it the perfect finish.

That is the finished mani. In the above picture I applied a coat of Seche Vite, but even without a top coat it finishes really shiny too, and there's actually not much difference even without the top coat. However, I heard from friends that the gloss goes off really quick, expose your nails to a few wash and it's gone. But nothing a top coat can't save, and for RM3, it's well worth it's price!

Overall very impressed with the Sasatinnie range! Looking forwad to try other colours!


P.S. do pardon my poor manicure job, am a little lazy to clean it up. And also, the lighting in my room isn't very good, so it might not do justice to the pictures.

Secret to a Salon Finish Manicure

It's been awhile my friend, and now I am back!! This post will be about nail polished, as I've recently found a fondness towards them again, was a little lazy to apply them for quite sometime due to projects, all the effort of applying a perfect coat to get it ruined by models and uhu glue. But now, I am back applying them ;)

I've recently found out the secret to a beautiful manicure, and the answer is: a good top coat. I used to neglect the top and base coats previously as I don't like having to pile up my nails and wait for it to dry (believe me, it takes forever), and nail polish tends to get really goopy and streaky as you pile it up, which is really annoying as it end up turning your manicure to a mess.

But now, I found that a good top coat is the answer to a salon finish manicure. It gives a nice gloss, smooth finish and it makes even the crappiest of polished appear good!

What are the difference between a top coat & a clear polish?

A lot of people out there wonder what are the differences, even I used to wonder the same, aren't they both the same? Well, they look the same, smell the same, but aren't the same.

Clear polish are basically just nail polishes without the colour. They aren't made to last or shine like how a top coat would.

A top coat, on the other hand, is used to seal the your manicure and make it last, not to mention shine for a longer period of time too.

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So there you have it, the differences between both, that should clear the mystery of why a top coat cost so much more.

So, in my search for the perfect top coat, I have done hours of research for a reasonably priced top coat. I did come across a few but unfortunately, is unavailable in Malaysia. So, instead of wasting more time and effort, not to mention petrol of having to drive around to look for it, I have decided to just splurge on one bottle of the holy grail of top coats, Seche Vite.

 Yes, I splurged RM45 on a top coat, I know it's wasting money, but I shall look at it as a form of investment~

I bought this from Isetan. They have a whole bunch of China Glaze too that are free for trying, so you can always head over if you're curious towards high ended polishes ;)

Seche Vite (pronunciation: Sesh Veet) is said by many, to be the holy grail of top coats. But, from what I know, you either love it, or hate it. It's really pricey no doubt, and it gets thick after sometime and that would be the last thing to expect from a high ended polish. Not to mention it causes shrinkage to your nicely applied nail polish. But why did I still purchase it you ask? Because it leaves a great lasting shine to your nails that almost no other top coat can achieve!

I've tried applying the sample one in Isetan which has turned all goopy and thick, and it still works pretty well, you just have to bear the thickness that's all. As for shrinkage, so far, I have not experienced it yet. I think the technique to apply it is to wait for you bottom polish to dry off a little first instead of applying straight.

This is a quick drying top coat that takes under a minute to dry! Just finish off all your fingers and you will find your very first finger already dried. But however, although the surface has dried, bear in mind that the coat underneath still requires some time to dry, but you're basically good to go to do some light activities.

As for lasting power, it makes my many last for a day more that's all. But I did not apply base coat I can't really say much.

For me, I am in love with this top coat. I was unable to take pictures that does it justice so I shall not post any for now. If you're interested just google it out and you'll find many other bloggers have also blogged about it. ;)