12 Days of Round-Up: Indies to Watch

January 3, 2013, 6:35 am

≫ Next: 12 Days of Round-Up: Asian Brands to Watch

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Woohoo! It's almost the end of the week!! I sure miss lazing around the house during the holidays!

For today's post, I'd thought it would only be fair to highlight some upcoming indie collections as well. Unfortunately, there really isn't much information available for me to work on so I decided to blog about some of the indie brands to-watch in the coming year. I will not be touching on the wildly popular  indies (eg. KBShimmer, Girly Bits, Dollish Polish, Pretty & Polished, etc) but instead I will focus on some of the equally-deserving but less popular indie brands. They may or may not be new to some of you but they have recently caught my eye and I have grown to have high expectations of them.

Femme Fatale Cosmetics

Ranking right at the top of my list is Femme Fatale Cosmetics. Keeping true to their name and logo, FFC has churned out many bold and richly-colored glitters fitting of a sexy and confident femme fatale. I was surprised to find myself drooling over most if not all of their polishes and I definitely look forward to seeing more pretties from them this year. And... it seems like they are already off to a good start! You can hop over to their Facebook page to see some of the newest additions to their line. I'm loving Librarian's Shush, Lucent Ametrine and Party Grenade already.

Emily De Molly

Another indie that has won over my heart is Emily de Molly. I love her creative and unexpectedly beautiful mixes. I don't know what other color combos Hayley has up her sleeves (I'm not as good with colors) but I sure hope she keeps them coming! You can hop over to her Facebook page to check out swatches of her polishes.

Penélope Luz

Penélope Luz is a brand that I've stumbled upon at PAA. Penélope first started posting swatches of her beautiful frankens on Flickr and PAA and I fell in love almost immediately. She has since started her own line of polishes and is currently selling them through some Brazilian websites. At least that's what I think - I relied mainly on Google Translate to help me go through her Facebook page and her blog and you know how crazy Google Translate can get sometimes. Urgh. I need to get my hands on these somehow...

Cirque

At first glance, you might mistake Cirque for a lab-indie. The name, logo and packaging totally exudes style and class in all degrees. So you can imagine my shock when I found out that it is actually hand-blended polish! Of course, we polishaholics should know better than to judge a polish solely by its bottle - so let's talk about the polish. They have a good mix of darks and lights that are gorgeous and always elegant. Don't believe me? You can check them out at their Facebook page or simply google for swatches. You will know what I mean.

Nail Pattern Boldness

Ok ok! Last one! I promise!! Nail Pattern Boldness is another brand that recently caught my eyes. The colors are gorgeous. Just look at this Time Traveler collection! You can hop over to her Facebook page to check out some of her polishes.

There are many many many many more deserving indie labels under the radar that I've yet to cover / explore. 

What do you recommend?

xoxo,
mich

P.S. Don't forget to enter our year-end giveaway to win amazing polishes from both mainstream and indie brands! Ends 12 Jan 2013.

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12 Days of Round-Up: Asian Brands to Watch

January 5, 2013, 5:55 am

≫ Next: Sparkles By Julie: Lost in Space & Strawberry Licorice

≪ Previous: 12 Days of Round-Up: Indies to Watch

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I apologize for being absent yesterday! I had a bad day at work and couldn't find the mood to blog so I went to bed early et violà! I'm alright again after a good night's sleep! :i

So let's continue with our last two round-up posts, shall we?

Lately, I've noticed some interests in some of the Asian polishes released recently. Ok... maybe it is just me but some of them are really worth noting! :$

Tony Moly

I first saw swatches of the Galaxy collection over at Steffels and it was instant love. I bought them and fell in love again (yes, even on my short nubs and dry fingers). I recently swatched them on my swatch sticks and I fell in love all over again. They are excellent. Then I came across the milky glitters and... gosh, I need them! Yes, they did a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air but apart from that, they have been incredibly creative, haven't they?

It has been a while since I've seen anything exciting from them but I'm ready whenever they are!

Innisfree

Another Korean brand that has caught my heart in 2012. They have a huge range of polishes and they have recently upped the game by releasing some really gorgeous glitters too. Like Tony Moly, they are also not afraid to play with new color combinations and that's what I really like about these brands. Just take a look at some of the glitters that I've bought from their Star Sign collection!

Beautiful, eh? I really need to get back to swatching soon. So many pretties in my untrieds!

So, yupppp, these are two of my favorite Asian brands so far! What do you think of them? Have you tried any Asian polishes yourself?

xoxo,
mich

P.S. Don't forget to enter our year-end giveaway to win amazing polishes from both mainstream and indie brands! Ends 12 Jan 2013.

Sparkles By Julie: Lost in Space & Strawberry Licorice

January 12, 2013, 8:52 pm

≫ Next: 12 Days of Round-Up: Nail Art Edition!

≪ Previous: 12 Days of Round-Up: Asian Brands to Watch

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*knock knock* Anybody around? I'm truly truly sorry for disappearing for a week. Life has gotten a little busier this week - I am always heading out and hardly have the time to take a breather! xP Although I am quite free during work but I don't quite dare to work on my blog in the office. Heh.

I know that I have yet to complete the last instalment of the round-up series but I thought I would put up some newer swatches first before working on the last round-up post. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about the giveaway! It is officially over and I will be working on verifying the entries and picking the lucky winners asap! :$

So let's move on to the pretties that I have to show you today, shall we?

Lost in Space. 3 coats.
A sheer black filled with metallic blue, silver and holographic glitters of various sizes. Insanely sparkly and I can really get lost in the depth of all the glitters. You can of course layer this over black but I prefer to build up the color for the depth. The black base is slightly unusual though - it is filled with very fine black specks that somewhat resemble noise. I don't quite know how to describe it but it is pretty obvious on the first coat. It is no longer that noticeable thereafter but I thought it was pretty cool nonetheless. You can try spotting some of the specks on the glitters in the closeup on the left.

Strawberry Licorice. 3 thin coats.
A silver foil accented with pink, purple and silver holographic glitters. The glitters are very sparkly and I love how they go extremely well with the silver base. I am also pleasantly surprised that this is not as brushstroke-y as I thought it would be! I did not experience any difficulty during application and did not have to make any extra effort to do my nails carefully. *double thumbs-up!*




As with my previous experience with the other polishes by Sparkles by Julie, I had no problems with the formula - the consistency was just right and application was a breeze. The glitters are also well-distributed and I did not have to fish around for them. I should add that I've tried her full-sized bottles this time round and the brush is not unlike other indie labels (eg. HARE polish) - they fan out nicely and are easy to control.

So what do you think of these colors?
If you wish to get some Sparkles by Julie, you can hop over to her Etsy store or check out Mei Mei's Signature (the exclusive stockist in Singapore)!

xoxo,
mich

**Products provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure page for more information.**

12 Days of Round-Up: Nail Art Edition!

January 15, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: 12 Days of Round-Up: Giveaway Winners!

≪ Previous: Sparkles By Julie: Lost in Space & Strawberry Licorice

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Finally, the last instalment of the Round-Up posts!

I actually had other plans for this post but I was tagged on Instagram to share some of my favorite manicures for 2012 and this came up:

Yup! My favorite mani-s in 2012 are all nail art! :L

I decided to include this collage here as a New Year's resolution of sorts - to remind myself not to give up on nail art despite having to start work this year. So far, I haven't work on the resolution yet but I promise I will try once I get used to working! For now, I am still very exhausted after work each time. xP

What are some of your favorite mani-s for 2012?
Have you started working on your New Year's resolution yet? ;)

xoxo,
mich

12 Days of Round-Up: Giveaway Winners!

January 18, 2013, 5:32 am

≫ Next: How-To: Swatch Sticks

≪ Previous: 12 Days of Round-Up: Nail Art Edition!

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Sooo... the long awaited post!

Andddd, the lucky giveaway winners are:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Once again, congratulations Sabrina and Ana!
Yes, I have contacted the winners and they have already sent a confirmation reply so I will be doing some serious shopping soon! Oh goody!!

Thank you all for participating in our giveaway and we hope you have enjoyed yourselves so far! Do check back often for more updates and other surprises coming your way! <3

xoxo,
mich

How-To: Swatch Sticks

January 19, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: Darling Diva Polish: Zoey Jane (new)

≪ Previous: 12 Days of Round-Up: Giveaway Winners!

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Towards the end of 2012, I embarked on a mission to organize my stash after I realized I no longer know what colors I have. With some 200+ polishes randomly stashed in the depths of my drawers, I must admit to being guilty of neglecting a lot of colors and not giving them the love they deserve. Not only that, it is also difficult to find matching undies for the glitter toppers I have.

My solution? Swatch sticks.
Take a look:

The model: Max Fantasy Fire (5 coats on its own)

First, I swatched the polishes on the underside of the swatch sticks. I'd tried painting the swatch sticks the way I paint my nails but I realized the top coat turns the polish matte on the swatch sticks. Thankfully, a fellow IG-er suggested painting on the underside. This way, the plastic acts as the de facto top coat on one side and I can see how the polish looks sans top coat on the underside as well. Genius!

As I swatch the polishes, I took down the names of the polishes in the order I swatch them and the corresponding number of coats it took to reach opacity. While waiting for them to dry, I create labels for my swatch sticks.
Because I know my handwriting probably can't fit onto the sticks, I decided to type them out instead. I measured the sides of the sticks and created a table in Microsoft Word, specifying the width and height of the cells (in my case I used: 0.8cm x 6cm). Then I typed the brand name (in bold and caps); the name of the polish; and the number of coats applied in brackets. In case you are wondering, I used Helvetica, 8pt to make sure the words fit comfortably in the table cells. You can see how it looks in the picture below. After printing the table, I proceeded to cut the labels one-by-one.
Of course, you can save a lot of trouble if you have those label-machines and other fancy gadgets but I didn't have those so I did everything the tedious way.

Wearing OPI Steady As She Rose on the nails...

The next step? Sticking the labels on! I used 3M's matte finish tape because I love how it looks. And the width is just enough to wrap over the edges of the swatch sticks. To make sure the tape doesn't come off any time soon, I wiped the stick clean before taping.

After labeling, all you have to do is to arrange them however you like!
I organized them by color for ease of comparison and because they look so pretty like that:

The pinks and reds...

The beiges, browns, orange, yellow and greens

The blues and purples...

The whites, greys and blacks...

The duochromes and toppers

It took me a few days to finish the swatch sticks but it is definitely worth it:

• Everything is organized neatly
• It is easy to compare colors
• You can rearrange them however and whenever you like
• You can admire the colors in your stash all at once without needing 200++ fingernails 
• It is easier to find undies for toppers too 

The only drawback is that you will have to find a place to store these sticks but I can live with that. :P

Just in case you are wondering, I organize my polish bottles by brand and name (alphabetical order) because bottles from the same brand fit better together. I will pick the color from the sticks and look for it in the drawers with the brand and name.

How do you organize your stash? :$

xoxo,

mich

Darling Diva Polish: Zoey Jane (new)

January 22, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: Nail Ideas: Vintage / Retro Water Marble

≪ Previous: How-To: Swatch Sticks

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Yay!! It is finally mid-week! Clearly I have not been enjoying work too much buttttt that's a story for another day.

Today, I have a new-to-me brand to share with you - Darling Diva Polish!

Zoey Jane. 1 coat (dabbed) over OPI Steady As She Rose.
A beautiful mix of soft pastel and holographic glitters, oh, and tiny blue shimmer/glitter in a clear base. It reminds me of spring and look almost like a garden in a bottle! I've tried it over a few bases and I think it looks best over light pinks, lilacs and light blues.

If I am not wrong, there was a previous version of Zoey Jane with glitters in primary colors but that has been discontinued. They look really different though so if you had bought the old Zoey Jane, you might want to consider trying the new one too!

Application is a little tricky because of the intentionally uncut base. Some of you may prefer it that way but I will be adding some thinner to mine the next time I use it. The larger glitters may also shift around a bit if you go over the same spot too many times so be careful not to over-manipulate!

So, what do you think of this?
Have you tried any other Darling Divas? What do you recommend?

You can get your hands on some Darling Diva Polish on her Etsy store or Mei Mei's Signatures. For more updates on Darling Diva Polish, you can also follow her on Facebook!

xoxo,
mich

**Product was provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

Nail Ideas: Vintage / Retro Water Marble

January 26, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: Nail Ideas: Baby Penguin!

≪ Previous: Darling Diva Polish: Zoey Jane (new)

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Happy Sunday everyone!!

I finally had some time last weekend to do some nail art! After much thought, I decided to practice my water-marbling again:

I was feeling slightly retro-ish for some reason so I went with these colors: OPI Barre My Soul, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama and Zoya Bevin. I love the color combination but I think I still need to work on my water-marbling. For some reason, the center is not particularly neat - I tried to pull the design closer to the center but I end up with bald spots if I poke at it too much. Perhaps I should have added more drops of polish before dragging the design; that might give me more polish to prod about. :/ What do you think?

xoxo,
mich

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Nail Ideas: Baby Penguin!

February 2, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: How-To: Clean Up Brush

≪ Previous: Nail Ideas: Vintage / Retro Water Marble

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I simply must apologize for not posting for the whole of the week again! I had some swatches done last weekend but didn't have the time to watermark them and blog.

To make up for it, I decided to do a quick nail art design for today's post!

A fuzzy baby penguin with some grey flocking powder from Born Pretty Store! Urgh I wish I could cuddle it properly!!

I was inspired to do some penguin nails after receiving this flocking powder set in my mail:

First, I painted my nails with two coats of Misa's Grey Matters. Then, using the pair of tweezers, I placed some flocking powder over my ring fingernail when the polish is still wet. I took care to make sure every inch of my nail is covered and patted it down gently with the flat side of the tweezer. I waited a short while before using the brush to carefully sweep away the excess powder from my nails. That should give you a nice fuzzy nail.

Then, I went on to paint the details with black and white acrylic paint using a small nail art brush. Of course, I regretted it almost immediately after that. I had a shower and, to my horror, my penguin was gone!! :c The flocking powder stayed flawless on my nail but the details done with acrylic paint were washed away. You can be sure I will be sure to use polish for the details next time!

Some pointers on using the flocking powder...

• Try to get the flocking powder to cover the entire nail. It will be hard to cover up the bald patches after that. 
• Choose a base color that is close to the color of the flocking powder so bald patches will not be so obvious.
• It is easier to use the powder over a regular polish rather than a quick-dry topcoat - the coverage is better and more even because you have more time to pat the powder down onto your nail.
• Yup, it is ok to get the nails wet. The flocking powder will be damp but it dries fairly quickly and your nails will be back to their fuzzy self in no time at all.

You can find the grey flocking powder (Item ID: 4480) at the Born Pretty Store here. They have a wide range of nail products and provide free worldwide shipping! Feel free to quote "HDL91" for a 10% discount when you checkout:

xoxo,

mich

**Products marked with an asterisk are provided for honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information**

How-To: Clean Up Brush

February 5, 2013, 6:59 am

≫ Next: Nail Ideas: French Manicure!

≪ Previous: Nail Ideas: Baby Penguin!

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I have received a few questions on how I paint my nails so neatly so I thought it would be appropriate to do a post on what brushes I use for clean-up.

For those who have not heard of clean-ups before, it is a very simple way to remove excess polish that got onto the cuticles or the sides of the nail. All you have to do is to dip a brush in your nail polish remover and run it along the sides of the nail a few times to get a clean line!

Now, I should probably put a HUGE disclaimer upfront by saying this: 

I know there had been some controversy on this topic because there are a few people who hold strong views on clean-up. For myself, I am neutral on this because I think it is just a matter of personal preference and that's all I am going to say on that matter. So let's not venture into muddy waters, shall we? Instead, this post will focus purely on the brushes that I've tried so far and the views I have on them. 

So these are the two brushes I've tried for clean up.

The battered-looking one on the left is an angled eyeliner brush that I've got from a random beauty store in the mall. It has been with me for almost a year now and suffered the ill-fate of being dropped into a bottle of nail-polish remover. Naturally I panicked and by the time I fished it out, the black paint on the brush handle is almost gone. Nevertheless, it has served me well for longer than I've expected.

Recently, I got another brush from Born Pretty Store because my eyeliner brush is a little worn out. This time I chose a round-tip brush that is probably meant for nail art but I've decided to use it for clean-up purposes anyway.

Here's a quick comparison between the brushes:

They are very different and I like them both for different reasons. I love the angled tip of the eyeliner brush because the tip rests nicely on the sides of my nail. However, I prefer the flatter end of the nail art brush because it gives a more precise clean-up and does not leave a huge gap between the polish and my cuticles.

What type of brush do you prefer?

Just in case you are wondering, you can find the nail art brush (Item ID: 219) at the Born Pretty Store here. They have a wide range of nail products and provide free worldwide shipping! Feel free to quote "HDL91" for a 10% discount when you checkout:

xoxo,

mich

**Products marked with an asterisk are provided for honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information**

Nail Ideas: French Manicure!

February 11, 2013, 1:25 am

≫ Next: Nail Ideas: Owl Love You Forever

≪ Previous: How-To: Clean Up Brush

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HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! Here's wishing all of you an awesome and prosperous year of the Snake in 2013!

I apologize for being away for a while because there was just soooo much to do before CNY! I had been busy with the Chinese New Year decorations, preparations for the reunion dinner annnnnnnddddd doing nails for my aunt, cousin, friend, mum and sis. It was really fun but quite tiring too. I guess I am just not cut out to be a manicurist. :P

In the end, after all the hustle and bustle, I decided to do a simple french manicure for myself:

First, I painted my nails with two coats of OPI My Very First Knockwurst and topped it with Seche Vite. After it has dried, I taped a French tip guide (for some reason I have a bunch of those) over each nail and painted the tips with a metallic/foil silver.

I must say I quite like how it turned out.
What do you think? Do you like french manicures?

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: Owl Love You Forever

February 12, 2013, 7:39 pm

≫ Next: Kiko: Lavish Oriental LE

≪ Previous: Nail Ideas: French Manicure!

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Oof! Time really flies and it is Valentine's Day again tomorrow! It seems like it was just yesterday when I posted my Valentine's Day nails for last year...

Anyway, this year, I decided to try my hand at another V Day mani and this is what I've got:

Yup, clearly I am still obsessed with owls. They are just so adorable! :L

This is where I got my inspiration from:

source

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and sweet Valentine's Day!

xoxo,
mich

Kiko: Lavish Oriental LE

February 16, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: News Flash: I'm Still Alive!

≪ Previous: Nail Ideas: Owl Love You Forever

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A few months ago, the lovely Sam from Fashion Polish posted some gorgeous kikos on Instagram and had me swooning over them. I was about to throw my hands up in frustration when Sam kindly offered to do a swap with me! As you can imagine I nearly peed my pants - a swap with my nail crush?! I think I died and went to heaven :angel

Of course, after drooling over Sam's swatches on the kiko holos, I knew I had to grab these pretties:

Kiko 399 (Silk Taupe). 2 coats without topcoat.
A gorgeous nude linear holo. I really really love how it looks on me. So flattering! :L

Kiko 400 (Steel Grey). 2 coats without topcoat.
Another beauty. This is a charcoal with very strong linear holo. Super love! <3

The holo in these kikos are very strong and intense especially under direct sunlight and I love how they look in the shade too! *swoon*
Formula is pretty good. I wore them over my usual basecoat (NailTek Foundation II) but I skipped the topcoat because it dulled the holo slightly. I actually wore Silk Taupe to work for a week using the sandwich method (holo-topcoat-holo) and only experienced slight tipwear!

So if you ever come across them in stores, etc, don't hesitate to grab them. I highly recommend them ;)

xoxo,
mich

News Flash: I'm Still Alive!

February 24, 2013, 6:09 am

≫ Next: Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Librarian's Shush & Sparkleshell

≪ Previous: Kiko: Lavish Oriental LE

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Ooof! Another week has passed and I've yet to update my blog. Shame on you, mich!

Buuuuuut.. in my defense, I've been really busy making polishes to fill up the pre-orders that some of you have placed at the end of last year!
After a long two months, I've finally managed to get more suspension bases to mix up a storm. Unfortunately I had trouble securing some other supplies for Wrath, Lust and Envy. I've already been contacting some of you to confirm your orders and there are a few who did not reply so I had no choice but to offer the polishes to the next person on the list.
So... If you have placed a pre-order with me, please check your inbox (the paypal email address that you've used) and the spam folder for updates! 

Apart from filling pre-orders, I have also been working on some new colors. Here are some quick and dirty swatches that I've posted on Instagram:

Spring Kisses. 2/3 coats on its own.
Delicate pink flowers blossoming amidst a snowy white base - this is partly inspired by a picture posted on IG by A Lacquered Affair a while ago. I added some fine lavender and holo sprinkles to complete the look.

Water Snake. 3/4 coats on its own.
As this year is the year of the water snake for the Chinese, I mixed up this reptilian franken. It is a dark green (near black) with green flecks and sprinkles of gold.

Blue Bell Bottoms. 2 coats on its own under indirect light.
My first attempt at making holos! I had wanted to try duping DS Glamour but it proved to be impossible. So I gave up and focused on making a blue holo that resembles denim. This picture turned out slightly color inaccurate methinks - it is not as bright and slightly darker IRL. The holo effect is not mindblowingly strong but I'm quite happy with how it looks on this blue. I will definitely try sourcing for some spectraflair to play with next time.
Meanwhile, I will continue to pray that I will find a bottle of DS Glamour some day. I want it soooo much. *writhes about in agony*

So what do you think of these new colors?
Just in case you are wondering, I haven't set a release date yet because I am still sorting out the pre-orders and working on other new colors. Do let me know if you have some ideas you'd like me to try! ^_^

Till next time! <3

xoxo,
mich

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Librarian's Shush & Sparkleshell

March 2, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: OPI: Euro Centrale 2013

≪ Previous: News Flash: I'm Still Alive!

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Happy Sunday everyone!!
Weekends are fast becoming my favorite time of the week but, urgh, it is just too short! If I run the country, I would decree that we should all work on weekends and rest on weekdays... right. :et

So anyway, here are some swatches of my recent haul from Shoppe Eceleticco - yup, MOAR Femme Fatale Cosmetics!! :e

Librarian's Shush. 3 coats.
A soft light grey filled with a mix of white, black and silver glitters. I bought this after seeing a swatch, thinking that it was a latte with black, white and brown glitters but for some reason, mine turned out to be quite different. I must admit being a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong - this is pretty but I was hoping to get some nude glitters for work. 8|

Sparkleshell. 3 coats.
A soft yellow-white / ivory color with brown, yellow-gold, purple and periwinkle glitters. I fell in love with the unique combination and it sure didn't disappoint! I am not too sure what it is meant to resemble but Google gave me this:

and lots of other reference to World of Warcraft? I am not a gamer so pardon me if I am a bit perplexed.

Formula-wise, I am very happy to report that everything was a-ok! Not much glitter fishing was needed this time round because the glitters are not too large or heavy.

So, what do you think of these FFCs?

xoxo,
mich

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OPI: Euro Centrale 2013

March 9, 2013, 5:00 pm

≫ Next: Nail Ideas: St. Patrick's Day Manicure!

≪ Previous: Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Librarian's Shush & Sparkleshell

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Yay! I am finally done going through the pre-orders so I took some time to play with some of the pretties that I've got this week!

Presenting... *drumroll*... my picks from OPI's Euro Centrale collection!

Oh my... look at those blues!! They stole my heart the minute I saw them in the preview picture. :L

My Vampire Is Buff. 3 thin coats.
A pretty pale yellow-toned beige. A bit more beige than what this picture shows - closer to the color in the first picture. I don't usually buy shades like these (especially yellows) but I love how soft and delicate this is!

You're Such A Budapest. 3 thin coats.
A pretty periwinkle with very subtle blue and pink shimmer. You can see the shimmer in the bottle (pic below) but it doesn't show up very much on the nails (close-up on left). Oh and I absolutely love the name for this one - too cute!

Can't Find My Czechbook. 2 coats.
A gorgeous aqua blue that is both bright and dusty at the same time. It is dustier looking than what the picture shows - closer to what the swatch stick shows. Definitely more gorgeous than what I can capture. Love the name too!

OPI... Eurso Euro. 2 coats.
A vibrant deep cobalt blue - another stunner. I had a super hard time trying to photograph this - somehow my camera picks up the vibrance but couldn't handle the richness of the blue. The first picture shows how rich and deep the cobalt is.
And, yes this is almost an exact dupe of a hot favorite: Revlon Royal. Almost... but not really. I wanted to do a comparison but I realized I've used up my Revlon. I need to head out and get one asap. On the swatch sticks, Eurso Euro is slightly more red-toned and is less jelly/squishy as compared to Royal (let me know if you want a picture). They do smell the same though - probably because they used the same ingredient.

I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw. 2 coats.
Ahhh... a rich midnight blue. Another head-turner. No way I could pass it up.

Formula-wise... I did have some trouble with certain shades.
My Vampire Is Buff and You're Such A Budapest were slightly thin and streaky. I had to use three coats and even then, I am not entirely satisfied with how they look.
OPI... Eurso Euro is a crelly (creme-jelly) so application was a bit tricky as well. Too much exposure to the air and it will start to thicken up. If that happens, cap the bottle and give it a little shake before painting again.
Warsaw and Can't Find My Czechbook applied beautifully.

So what do you think of these colors? Which Euro Centrale colors caught your eye?

xoxo,
mich

Nail Ideas: St. Patrick's Day Manicure!

March 16, 2013, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Comparison: Revlon Royal & OPI Eurso Euro

≪ Previous: OPI: Euro Centrale 2013

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Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Although we don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Singapore, I couldn't help joining in the fun after seeing so many St. Patty's Day manicures on Instagram! So here's a quick manicure for the day:

Of course, it had to be green! I used OPI Stranger Tides as the base color. Then, using a fan brush, I added stripes with Color Club Kismet (for a glimmer of the mythical gold and rainbow) and a-england Dragon. Here's a quick tutorial by simplenailartdesigns for those who are interested. My stripes are a little sparse though and I thought it ended up looking a little like the spun sugar / stringing mani I did before!

What do you think of this mani? How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

On another note, I've just realized that Google is killing Google Reader for some unfathomable reason. The service will end on the 1 July 2013 so if you have been following our blog and other nail blogs via rss feed on Google Reader, you may want to consider hunting around for an alternative. There are plenty of articles floating on the net on this topic - eg. lifehacker. Alternatively, you can also find us on bloglovin'! <3

xoxo,
mich

Comparison: Revlon Royal & OPI Eurso Euro

March 17, 2013, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Color Club: Halo Hues 2013

≪ Previous: Nail Ideas: St. Patrick's Day Manicure!

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Here's a quickie comparison between Revlon Royal and OPI OPI... Eurso Euro:

Sorry for the slightly dark lighting. This is the only way that I can photograph these accurately.

As you can see, the colors are really close but not identical. OPI... Eurso Euro is a tad more red-toned as compared to Revlon Royal. Royal is also slightly brighter and more vibrant.

If I really have to choose between one of them (heaven forbid), I will go for Revlon Royal. It is more versatile - think jelly sandwich, etc! <3

Which do you prefer?

xoxo,
mich

Color Club: Halo Hues 2013

March 19, 2013, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: How-to: Nail Whitening

≪ Previous: Comparison: Revlon Royal & OPI Eurso Euro

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In 2012, Color Club took the nail community by storm with their Halo Hues - a gorgeous collection of six holographic shades with excellent formula. This year, Color Club once again lived up to all our expectations by delivering six more stunning holos:

Mindblowingly holo, aren't they? I've skipped the holos last year because they were too light for my taste but the 2013 ones come in more saturated colors so I caved in and snapped them up!

Swatches below are taken under indirect light and direct morning sunlight (super sunny - Singapore style). Please excuse any awkwardness in the sunlight pictures - it was so sunny I couldn't see a thing on my camera when I took the pictures. Please also excuse the weird red glow on the bottle in some shots - I was wearing my red t-shirt and the sunlight was bouncing off it in all directions... *_*

Kismet. 2 coats.
A lime green-gold holo. I thought this would be my least favorite from this collection because I am not a lime person but seeing as I've already started using it for nail art, it looks like I do love it after all!

Cosmic Fate. 2 coats.
An orange-tan holo. Interesting color - I haven't actually seen a lot of orange holos. It is not as mannequin on me as it looks in this picture. The morning sun made my hands look more orange than it actually is.

Miss Bliss. 2 coats.
Pink holo. I am not a pink person either but this was a medium pink that was not too coy so I am ok with it. Plus, the holo-ness redeemed it all.

Eternal Beauty. 2 coats.
Another saturated color... this is a medium purple holo. Really pretty. Not my usual shade of purple but I do like it a lot.

Over The Moon. 2 coats.
A medium aqua blue holo that reminds me of Layla Ocean Rush. I am all for blues this year so naturally I had to get this.

Beyond. 2 coats.
Charcoal black holo. Gahhh... no words for this beauty.

As you can see, these colors are really holographic so it was hard for me to capture a shot to show the base colors on the nails. I was only able to capture them on swatch sticks (on a cloudy day, no less) because the plastic swatch stick dulled the holo significantly (they blaze with rainbow goodness on the underside where I paint the polish) :

Although the plastic swatch sticks dulls the holo, be rest assured that you can add a topcoat over these beauties to protect them from chipping. Thicker topcoats may dull the holo a little initially but the holo should be back to business once the topcoat dries to a thin film - at least that's my theory. :P I've tried topping them with my usual Seche Vite and it did not seem to dull the holo significantly.

Application for these pretties were excellent. Unlike other fickle holos, I did not have any trouble applying these over my usual base coat, NailTek Foundation II, and they only required two coats for complete coverage. Really, what more can I ask for? Nothing... except more holos? *flutters my lashes*

What do you think of these holos? Which ones caught your eye?

xoxo,
mich

How-to: Nail Whitening

March 22, 2013, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Press Release: China Glaze App!

≪ Previous: Color Club: Halo Hues 2013

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Purchased By Me

Once in a while, I get a little crazy and I'll look at my nails and start thinking, "Hmm I feel like going naked today." But, of course, I never had the courage to do that because my nails are horribly stained from wearing polish almost everyday for more than a year! And that is the vicious cycle of polish: polish -> stained nails -> more polish to hide stains, etc.

So when I heard that Cuccio's nail whitening paste was available at a good deal at this year's BeautyAsia fair, I jumped at the chance to try it for myself. I didn't actually manage to go to the fair but the lovely Lauretta from A Lacquered Affair helped me grab a tube to try! Thank you, L!

The instructions are simple: (paraphrased below)

1. Wet a nail brush thoroughly.
2. Squeeze a generous amount of nail whitening paste on the brush.
3. Scrub like nobody's business. (Official instruction says to scrub for 1 min. Longer if your nails are very stained.)

Of course, I had to do it my own way. Since I didn't have a nail brush, I used a small toothbrush instead. I've tried putting the paste on the brush but I realized that it is quite wasteful as the paste gets smooshed deep into the bristles so I dabbed a bit of paste on each nail instead. I did follow step 3 to the T though. 

I was a little disappointed on my first try but I stuck to it and diligently scrubbed my nails everyday for 6 days and I am extremely happy to say: YES, it works! Take a look:

Before:

Yea... those orange tips make me cringe too. >.< Only the nails near the cuticles are "spared" because they are relatively new growths.

After:

Gosh, my nails grow pretty quickly, don't they? But, no more orange stains! I grabbed my sister's hands for a quick comparison and my nails still look slightly yellowish next to hers but she did comment that they look much healthier.

I paraded around with my nails naked and it sure felt good... for two days. I couldn't take it any longer and slapped on some color after that. :P
I did vow to scrub my nails at least once a week though to keep them looking healthy so I can go naked whenever I feel like it.

Do you have stained nails too? How do you whiten them?

xoxo,
mich