Le crazy polish haul !

After three (or more) weeks of procrastination, I finally have time to post the swatches!
Sorry la, people had to cope with new job ma. :B

My indie polish supplier Mei Mei's Signatures had a clearance sale some time back.
A purchase of above $200 entitles you to a 50% discount + 1 surprise bottle - LIKE OMG WHY NOT.

So in the end, $102 got me 14 bottles of polish, which is $7 per bottle?!
FYI usually 1 bottle costs at least $18-$25

Rainbow Honey - Mint Flavor
Turquoise leaning mint with silver shimmer
2 coats for opacity.

Rainbow Honey - Tessie

Periwinkle purple with blue shimmer

2 coats to opacity.

I think I have a million colors like this and I'm still in love with periwinkle.

Rainbow Honey - Tiny Ruby

A slightly pinkish leaning red jelly, packed with holo shimmer and glitter.

The formula was good, so 2 coats to opacity.. though under the strong sun slight VNL could be seen.

See the holo shimmer! This red is slightly truer to color

Rainbow Honey - Hanami

A glitter topper, with white and gold micro glitter, and rose pink microglitter and hexes.

Applied over Pretty & Polished - Pretty 2.0

This was inspired by the Japanese custom of flower viewing during the sakura season. 

I thought RH did this polish very well, as the polish brought out the delicacy of the blossoms.

Powder Perfect - Iteru, The River

Royal blue microglitter holographic bomb!

2 coats to opacity

Another color I'm a sucker for.

Powder Perfect does damnnn awesome microglitters. 

This was so sparkly without any top coat !

Had to use two coats of top coat to smoothen it out.. cause shiny glitters are thirsty.

XOXO Nails - Coffee Date
A glitter topper - nude jelly base with bronze hexes.

I painted 1 coat over Dorian Gray..
One day I'm gonna try make mint choco chip nails. :D

Love, Angeline - Magical Romance 2.0
Soft purple, with silver shimmer.

2 coats to opacity, with slight VNL .
The formula was good, color built up easily and was not very streaky.

Pretty & Polished - Pretty 2.0

Pink tinted nude, with pink shimmer and gold flecks.

3 coats to opacity.
First coat was quite sheer and I honestly got a shock. hahaha.

Formula was good, built up easily despite its initial sheerness.

A england - Dorian Gray
Cool pewter grey
1 coat to opacity.

Smooth formula from A england, as usual.
No worries about streakiness!

A england - Her Rose Adagio
Metallic pink holographic polish
At some angles you can see a rose pink duochrome shift.

1 coat to opacity.
A england - still the best holographics.

Emily de Molly - Dead and Dreaming
Dark plum-red holographic polish.
The color and name made me think of dead wilting roses. :D

2 coats to opacity.

Delush Polish - Swans upon a time
White creme base with pink shimmer.

2 coats to opacity.. which is a headache.
The formula was quite thick, and it applied streaky.
A lot of patience is needed to get it smooth.

Jindie Nails - Mango with the Flow

A pastel orange crelly with silver hexes.

Er I'm not sure if I received a faulty bottle or what.. but it was horrible.

Polish was gloopy and there was too much glitter with each coat, no matter how much I tried to wipe it off.

Maybe I need to thin it more.. like a lot more.

I should like to mention I also ordered Rainbow Honey's Spirit of Wonder,  one of their limited edition Christmas polishes.
It was supposed to be a pure white base, but the bottle I got was yellowish.

I emailed Mei Mei, who kindly offered to give me a swap, but her other stocks were faulty too.
She then offered me a refund - which I declined cause its too much of a hassle, and its not really her fault.
I had emailed Rainbow Honey too, and their response was kind of disappointing.
Their representative informed me that it is a common issue for some of their polishes, especially those over two years.
Eh but most of my other indie polishes dont have the same issue leh.. and it felt as if they were just brushing it off.

But its okay. I'm in the process of frankening the polish to get out the yellow tint.
#sciencestudentFTW

My #31dc2 .. Finale !

Now that I've finished my HK travelogue, I'm free to update on my nails!

I did a small update on my first 10 themes here.

Now on to the next 20! HAHAH.

You can find my nail art gallery on Instagram via the hashtag #jtsmani.

Day 11: Flowers

This style is inspired by one of my favourite nail artists Will Paint Nails for Food, who does quite a lot of floral nail art!

I love her florals, because it has that organic feel, which is probably due to her brushstroke method.

You can take a look at her floral work here

Eh sadly I dont think I've got the method down yet.

Day 12: Intricate

Inspired by.. a pattern on my grandma's pillow.

I love the thumb, ring finger and pinky.

Day 13: Geometric 

Finally had a chance to try handdrawn houndstooth patterns!

I had fun picking out an unconventional color mix for this.

Quite satisfied with the pattern too.

Day 14: Paisley
Eh I'm not very good at this ah. 
Let me make it up by using a gorgeous base okay?

Glam Polish's Tales from the Darkside - a rich purple with glass flecks that appear pink, and give it depth.
It is part of a limited edition collaboration with Mei Mei's Signatures; the Gruesome Movie duo.

Day 15: Galaxies

I used to only utilize shades of blue for galaxies, but I decided to try something new.

Mixed in turquoise and magenta this time :D

I also dotted a bit of white and smudged it before it dried, to give it the 'distant star' effect.

Day 16: Landscape

Decided to do Singapore's city scape!

I actually layered glow in the dark top coat between the sky, and details.

Sadly the effect wasnt strong enough.

Day 17: Favourite Season

I can't decide between autumn and winter!

Used to love winter, and always dreamt of snow.

After my visit to Korea, I decided I loved autumn too! 

Super cooling and windy, plus all the gorgeous almost naked trees.

Day 18: World Culture

I've chosen to show my Chinese heritage

Red is our traditional color for prosperity and fortune, while gold/yellow symbolizes good luck. 

I've also painted a Phoenix - could you tell? - which is one of the sacred creatures of Ancient China.

It is often depicted on traditional wedding costumes, or together with a dragon.

Day 19: Art

Not on my nails, but I've fallen in love with nail polish jewellery. 

The initial idea was to capture a polish you loved into a jewellery piece.

I upped my level this year by doing nail art on the cabochon. 

It's not easy to layer them so that they show up the right way, but it's so fun and I'm addicted. 

Who says nail art is only restricted to nails itself! :D

Day 20: Supernatural

Favourite supernatural creature? Zombies!

Vampires are also loved, but zombie nails are wayyyy more fun to do.

GWARRRRARARARRRNNHHHG. 

Day 21: Holidays

This was done during the Christmas season, so it's gotta be xmas nails. Hahah.

Gorgeous sparkly emerald green holo is Glam Polish's Conjuring! 

Gifted by #buddingyeast Bimb. :D

*yup, I'm a Glam Polish Fan.

Day 22: Glitter

Glitter base and glitter placement!
Enough glitter for you? ;p

Day 23: Indie Polish

I pay tribute to my first indie - Ariel by Sea Lore Polish ! 

Inspired by my favourite Disney Princess, its a glitter bomb.

Filled with iridescent green flakes, and Ariel's signature red, purple and emerald as hex glitters.

For those who don't know, indie polishes are handmade polishes produced by non-mainstream brands. 

Majority of my collection are indies because I love the thought and creativity behind each polish.

Kudos to all the indie brands - for the effort put into the crafting, quality checking and love in each bottle of magic.

Day 24: Half moon / Ruffian. 

For this technique, your base color (mine is forest green) is your curved border color. 

Then apply the block (mint green) in a curved manner. 

No messy tapes needed! 

Hope that helps!

Day 25: Abstraction. 

Stained glass windows !

I hope you can tell its a flower on the middle finger, and a moon on the pinky. :x

I applied a white base, then drew random outlines in black.

Filled in the spaces with colors to get the imagery.

Day 26: Realism

Cracked my head over this prompt, then pok gave me the idea when he was wrestling with my penguins.

Since I've been doing cartoon penguins, how about real ones?

SO ADORABLE RIGHT. 

I love penguins, nuff said.

Day 27: Gradient

I realise this wasn't my best attempt at a gradient, but I wanted to show a fading, monochrome effect.

I do my gradients differently from most people.

Instead of a makeup sponge, I simply dab on straight with the polish brush, 

and use my fingers to tap and blend. :)

Levon (who is also into nail polish, though not as crazy) suggests plastic bags to blend as well! 

Day 28: Studs

Drew these studs by hand! Does it look realistic?

I actually lost my packet of studs which I was planning to use, oops.

I dont usually use embellishments actually.

Too difficult to remove, and has the tendency to accidentally catch on to fabrics.

Day 29: Inspired by a Polish 

Ring finger is the inspiration: a black jelly with rainbow hex glitter. Bought by my pok :D

A darkened rainbow is the result!

I did a rainbow gradient, then applied a thin coat of black over it. 

Smudged it by tapping with my fingers before it was dry. 

Day 30: Tape/Nail Vinyls

Ack not a good job. 

Lines were slightly crooked as I left the tapes on for too long.

Should always remove tape while polish is still wet, not semi-wet.

Day 31: Recreate your favourite challenge!

I would have done Favourite Animal, and featured a cat this time (Pusheen~!), but I didn't have time!

So I did a recap video of my 30 designs.

I enjoyed doing 2014's #31dc2 challenge, 

because it has helped a lot, in terms of providing me inspiration for designs.

I'm glad I challenged myself to think out of the box, yielding some pieces which I really loved!

I look forward to this year's #31dc ! 

Do feel free to comment if you'd like to know what colors I used for any designs.
I'd love to hear some feedback on my techniques as well. (:

Random Swatches !

I've decided to post a bunch of my nail swatches together.. 

simply cause I'm too lazy to post one by one. hahah.

First is OPI: Peace & Love & OPI

Steel gray duochrome, which flashes plum purple and forest green.

Three coats for opacity, I would recommend layering it over black to for easy application.

Smooth and not streaky.

Emily de Molly: Hole in the Sky

A periwinkle creme, with tiny lavender and white dots, and holographic hex and circle glitters. 

Three coats for opacity, but two coats gives it a more delicate and subtle look.

Emily de Molly: The Fifth Element

A turquoise crelly base with teal, red and silver holographic hexes. 

Opacity in two coats

Mattified.

China Glaze: Strap On your Moonboots
Holographic dark blue.
Opaque in two smooth coats.

Pretty & Polished: The Fifth Beetle

A duochrome, thermal topcoat. 

Basically 3 in 1, so worth the price.

Clear when warm and dark when cold.

I layered it over a light cream base, so I dont know the effects of it over other colors.

Pretty & Polished: Cosmos and Effect

A gorgeous holographic multichrome polish.

I layered it over black, as applying on its own made it sheer and didnt show the full effect.

It felt like a chunky glitter topcoat, so I'd highly recommend it to be worn over a base.

Oh yeah, there was so much happening in the sunlight!

First the pretty dark purple-blue-forest green multichrome effect,

then the holographic glitter effect.

I swear, Pretty & Polished makes their polishes work overtime. 

#mosthardworkingpolishes LOL.

Glam Polish: That Old Black Magic.
Black base with rainbow holographic glitters .
Two coat magic. :D

Review: Pretty and Polished Love Bytes

Review: Pretty & Polished Love Bytes (LE)! 

Love Bytes is a limited edition polish from Pretty & Polished, from its Valentine 2014 collection.

It is described as 'a gorgeous red and purple glitter topper' by Pretty & Polished.

That description is just wrong, 

because its so much more awesome !

I wanted Love Bytes ever since I saw the preview, but they sadly didnt ship to Singapore.

BUT! My favourite supplier Mei Mei's Signatures managed to get her hands on the stock.

Needless to say, I'm now a happy owner.

Formula was good.

Each coat was chock full of glitter, and distributed over the nail easily.

I reached full opacity in two coats.

bottle shot of Love Bytes.

look at the gold micro-shimmer under direct sunlight.

two coats of Love Bytes, without Top coat.

red glitter and the contrasting purple and indigo hexes.

i love the combi.

with top coat.

I'm in love :D

Love Bytes is no longer available for purchase at Pretty and Polished, 

but if you love this beauty, it is still available at Mei Mei's Signatures !

Mei Mei's Signatures offers free local shipping in Singapore, and she ships internationally. :D