Nail Ideas: Vintage / Retro Water Marble

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

Darling Diva Polish: Zoey Jane (new)

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.**

How-To: Swatch Sticks

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

12 Days of Round-Up: Giveaway Winners!

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

12 Days of Round-Up: Nail Art Edition!

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

Sparkles By Julie: Lost in Space & Strawberry Licorice

*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: Asian Brands to Watch

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.

12 Days of Round-Up: Indies to Watch

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.

12 Days of Round-Up: Upcoming Collections in 2013

Phew! I've just survived my first day of work training and it was more tiring than I'd thought. The best part was... I didn't even have any work to do! But really, sitting at the desk doing nothing for hours straight is really exhausting and no fun at all. I sure hope tomorrow will be slightly better!

Anyway, let's jump straight to today's post before I call it a night! As with our usual tradition, here's a round-up of some of the new/upcoming collections in 2013!

Disclaimer: Pictures are taken from everything2k unless specified otherwise!

OPI Mariah Carey

I've already posted about the liquid sand polishes from this collection but OPI also has something for those who are not loving the gritty texture! Creme, glitter and shimmers - now that's something for everyone! I love how the colors are very rich and diva-esque.

Zoya Lovely

source: zoya

Ahh... one of the early spring collections that is already available! This collection features pastel hues in cremes and heavy shimmers. I've read that the formula is slightly tricky for these though. That aside, Neely (was there ever any doubt) and Julie are calling my name.

Orly Hope and Freedom

I am not sure if these are already available but I believe these are already available through some etailers in Singapore. Of course, Peaceful Opposition stole all the limelight with the white-based glitters (swatch here). High On Hope looks gorgeous in the bottle too but not so much on the nails... Still rather pretty though! I haven't seen swatches of the other colors yet but Boho Bonnet and Coachella Dweller are pretty too and worth a look if you don't already have similar colors.

China Glaze Avant Garden

source: melva@nailvibe

Another spring collection that is already available in Singapore through etailers. I'm not too sure about the "Brights" half of the collection (on the left of the picture) but I'm loving the pastels. Not sure if there are dupes for them though.

OPI Eurocentrale

source: opi

Yessssssss! Oh how I want these so bad! If you have missed it, hop over now to see swatches of the blues by Manicurator - they are to-die-for!!!! I am also eyeing BudaPest and Polka.com (how cute is that name?!) It's been a while since I've been so excited about so many colors in an OPI collection - I feel so much love for OPI now.

ETA: February 2013

Butter London Spring 2013

source: bagfulofnotions

Pastels. Omg. They look so so pretty but I don't know if they will look any good on my skintone. That peach and turquoise are making me drool.

Essie Spring 2013

Last but not least, we also have a spring collection from Essie! I'm loving the three colors at the bottom! So pretty! Is there anything like Maximillian already?

ETA: March 2013

Moving away from the Spring collections, here are some of the other collections that are coming out in 2013:

OPI Oz

source: opi

An Oz collection with no reds or emeralds?! I am just a wee bit disappointed. But then again, the new Oz movie is adapted from the novel and not exactly what we have seen in the past so maybe the reds don't come into the picture so much. The glitters are interesting but I don't quite know how I feel about the soft shades. The NYC Ballet collection has set a pretty high bar!

ETA: March 2013

China Glaze Glitz

source: chinaglaze

Gorgeous 3D glitters, combined with black Bitz ’N Pieces create a Mosaic Masterpiece on nails.

Yes, this collection features some sparkly glitters mixed with black hexes and bar glitters! Now that is definitely edgy alright! I haven't seen swatches of these but they look pretty promising in the promo shots. I hope it won't turn out too much like Whirled Away - it just didn't look quite right to me...

China Glaze Hologlam

Yes, this is a repost but I couldn't resist including this again! The swatches seen at Polish Galore look really promising but recent swatches that appeared on Instagram seem otherwise... You can check them out here and here. I'm really hoping that CG don't disappoint me!!

ETA: March 2013

China Glaze NEONS On The Shore

Create waves with NEONS On The Shore. Twelve new SUN-sational crèmes and jellies.

Yes you read that right - JELLIES. I wonder how neon jellies look like. The teal looks really pretty in the promo shots though!

ETA: April 2013

Sooo... what do you think of these? Which ones are you eyeing?

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.

12 Days of Round-Up: Trends in 2013

It's 2013!! Did you have a great New Year's Day? :party

To usher in the new year, I will be continuing the 12 days of round-up series by covering some of the polishes to look out for in 2013! :e Of course, the materials I have to work with are very limited so this will only be a small preview of what is in store for us this year.

OPI Liquid Sand / China Glaze Texture / Zoya PixieDust

source: OPI

source: everything2k

source: zoya; swatches at manicurator

Very fine glitters that dry matte and gritty. Yup, all three of them are putting out these glitters in different colors! Heh.. makes one wonder if all the companies have a meeting at the start of the year to decide on the trends for the year. xD

I am most fascinated by how the polish base seemingly disappears to leave behind the glitters. That aside, I am not normally a fan of gritty nails so I don't quite know if I will like these. Swatches for the OPI and Zoya glitters are already floating around and bloggers agree that they are not as gritty as they look so I may give it a shot. Of these, I have to say that I prefer the OPI colors - kudos to them for adding different glitters to make it more interesting and varied. And Stay the Night looks absolutely stunning - I have a weakness for red and black.

Nails Inc Leather Effect

source: nailsinc

From The PolishAholic's swatches, especially the sun pic, the leather effect polish appears somewhat similar to the liquid sand / pixie dust glitters but Jen noted that it was less gritty - perhaps due to the creamier base? In any case, I am loving their packaging - black leather with skulls? Yes please! \m/

From what we can see so far, it appears that the companies are going big on texture for the new year!
What do you think of this trend? Yay or nay?

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.

Nail Ideas: New Year Mani!

Happy New Year to all of you!! May 2013 be an awesome year for us all! :party

Here's also a quick mani that I did to usher in the new year:

Yup! This is also my first attempt at striping tape mani! I got some striping tape* from Born Pretty Store a while ago and finally got around to using it!

I started off the mani with two coats of China Glaze I Herd That and I'm Not Lion. After it has dried (with the help of Seche Vite), I cut short sections of striping tape and stuck them firmly on each nail randomly before painting Zoya Raven over it. Immediately after painting the black, I used a tweezer to carefully remove the tape in the reverse order to ensure the lines remain crisp.

It is my first time using striping tapes and I must say I am very happy with how it turned out. The tape sticks on well to the nail but does not rip off chunks of polish when I remove it (which happened for the usual sticky tape that I got from bookstores) - perfect for all the nail art needs!

You can find the striping tape (Item ID: 1019) at the Born Pretty Store here. They 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**