Elianto Torqouise & The Face Shop BR801

Was getting a little tired of the 'dull' manicure I had a few days back. It's going to be New Year's soon and I feel 'festive'.

Here is Elianto Torqouise with The Face Shop BR801(again). I think it will go well with my New Year's Eve gathering with my friends. What with all the fireworks - my nails are having their own fireworks!!! Okay, bad joke.

CND Stickey
Elianto Torqouise
The Face Shop BR801
Essie Good To Go

China Glaze Ingrid

5 more days till new year's! I can't believe it's already the end of 2010.

China Glaze Ingrid was easy to apply. As usual, 1st coat looks streaky but upon 2nd coat, it looks fantastic. It's somewhat a taupe with extra micro glitter in it. The colour is a little warm but overall, I like it. Drying time is standard for China Glaze - around 3-4 minutes.

CND Stickey
China Glaze Ingrid
Essie Good To Go

OPI Alpine Snow & Skin Shop BR801

I was trying out how The Face Shop's BR801 would be like as a top coat (it's the micro glitter polish packed in clear polish).

I chose OPI Alpine Snow as the base colour to see how the Face Shop BR801 will show. OPI Alpine Snow is not very easy to apply. It's streaky even upon 2nd coat. I'm not sure if it's my lousy application skill or the fact that the formula is not good enough.

However, upon application of Face Shop BR801, the streaks are not very visible. Phew! Face Shop BR801 looks good here. I applied 2 coats so the glitters are more dense.

I also applied another top coat as it doesn't feel smooth with all the glitters on the nail.

CND Stickey
OPI Alpine Snow (Base)
Face Shop BR801 (2 coats)
Essie Good To Go

OPI I'm Fondue Of You

I have decided that I should get a darker manicure done so I chose OPI I'm Fondue Of You this evening. It's a very lovely brown with very minimal micro shimmer in it. If you click on the picture, you might be able to see the shimmer.

As usual, this is 2 coats and I had to wait for maybe 10 minutes for each coat to dry before applying my top coat.

I hope this manicure lasts longer than the last one!

CND Stickey
OPI I'm Fondue Of You
Essie Good To Go

Zoya Nidhi

Feeling abit festive today, I decided to go with Zoya Nidhi. It's my first Zoya. I'm very impressed with the brush, it's at the right length, thickness and stiffness.

The polish was maybe 80% opaque upon 1st coat. I still can vaguely see the visual nail lines, hence the 2nd coat. Drying time is quite fast - which is a big plus. OK I take that back. The 2nd coat did not dry as fast.

CND Stickey
Zoya Nidhi
Essie Good To Go

China Glaze Devotion

Ok, I decided to do this quick manicure so I could try out China Glaze Devotion. The polish looked like it is very lightly tinted with light purple. However, upon application - it looks nothing like it is on the bottle. It looks pretty much like silver in my eyes!

This is only 1 coat. It applies so smooth! I didn't pick up too much of polish with the brush and applied really slowly to avoid any brush stroke marks. This polish will be really good for Konading. I bought this polish initally to Konad but couldn't wait to try it on my nails for a manicure as well.

CND Stickey
China Glaze Devotion
Essie Good To Go

Konad M70, Elianto Aqua, Elianto Navy & Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

Yet another off day for me today. My last manicure lasts quite a bit which was good as I was already too busy this week to even paint my nails during a work day.

Today I decided to do yet another Konad Manicure. Elianto Aqua will be my base colour this time 'round. Streaky on the first coat but 2nd coat, it goes on perfect.

Konad M70 plate is being used. Trying out Elianto Navy to stamp. It turns out ok. I couldn't even stamp properly because of the curved shape of the pattern. But oh well, what's done is done.

I topped it off with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold for the extra bling and Essie Good To Go for extra smoothness. Surprising if it's only with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold, it does not go on as smooth as I'd hope for.

CND Stickey
Elianto Aqua
Konad M70
Elianto Navy
Orly Prisma Gloss Gold
Essie Good To Go

May's Nails: Zoya Pinta & Orly Shine

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

I love Zoya nail polishes. If I had to choose between Zoya creme or OPI creme, I'd choose Zoya. Hands down. Their formula is superb. Even if you are a rookie at painting nail polish, this brand won't give you a hard time. 

I painted Zoya Pinta onto my nails this week since I haven't worn this polish in a long time. I mixed it up with Orly Shine on a couple of my digits to add a little "glam" feel to the look. Pinta is a dark purple creme polish which is opaque is two coats. Two coats! You don't get that with OPI, mind you. And you don't even have to use topcoat to even out the polish. It is just so manageable! I don't understand why Zoya is not popular here in Malaysia. Everyone seems to prefer OPI or China Glaze, but Zoya is seriously have the best formula around! Enough said.

Orly Shine is my favourite silver polish. Actually, it's the only foil silver polish that I own. I initially wanted to get China Glaze Millennium from the Khrome collection but it was always out of stock. So this was a nice substitute. I never had problems with metallic or shimmer or glitter or foil polish for that matter so this was easy to apply onto my nails. Because this polish is filled with metallic micro-glitter, you don't see much brush strokes on your nails which is a huge plus! It seriously looked like a tiny mirror painted onto your nails from afar. 

Elianto Base Coat

Two coats of Zoya Pinta on three of my nails

Three coats of Orly Shine on two of my nails

Seche Vite topcoat 

Konad S6, Elianto Deep Sea Green, Elianto Turqouise & Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

Taking some time off from work today. Decided yet another manicure.

I've chosen Konad S6 plate. I have on 2 different designs on from the same plate. I feel that the left hand one looks weird, hence the different desing on my right hand.

Elianto Deep Sea Green was very easy to apply. 2 coats here. I was trying out Elianto Torqouise for konad and it turned out ok. I top it all off with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold and finally a coat of Essie Good To Go.

CND Stickey
Elianto Deep Sea Green (base colour)
Konad S6
Elianto Torqouise (stamp)
Orly Prisma Gloss Gold
Essie Good To Go

Konad M63, Essie Angora Cardi & China Glaze V

I was going to try out another combination but apparently the konad stamp didn't show much due to China Glaze's V isn't bright enough for Essie Angora Cardi.

Haven't been wearing Essie Angora Cardi for ages. The polish dries fast and the application is already opaque upon 1st coat.

I picked Konad M63 plate today. The design looks ok, not too elaborate but it's vaguely visible. But overall, I'm happy with the result. I topped it off with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold for that micro holo effect. I love this top coat to bits!!

CND Stickey
Essie Angora Cardi (base colour)
Konad M63
China Glaze V (stamp)
Orly Prisma Gloss Gold (2 coats)

May's Nails: OPI Russian Navy Matte

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

OPI Russian Navy Matte Suede is one of the first nail polish I purchased from OPI. Because I love the colour so much, I was even willing to fork out RM59 per bottle for this polish. Amazing huh? 

Anyway, I slapped on this polish in a rush because I had to attend my Company's Annual Dinner last week. I lost track of time while doing my make up so I didn't have time to do a proper manicure. So the only option I had was to use a polish that dries really really fast. Plus, the colour of this polish matches my jacket. 

Matte polish can be quite tricky to work with if you can't paint your nails fast enough. Coz they tend to dry before you even finish putting on the first coat. However, I am glad to say that OPI Matte Suede polish is quite easy to manage. Just don't sit under a moving fan while you're painting your nails. The instructions that was on the label indicated not to use any base coat. Some nail polish blogs recommends the using of base coat. So which is which? 

Personally, skipping the base coat is my preference. Somehow it is easier for my to apply and I don't get cuticle drags.   Don't expect matte polish to last long though. The max I went wearing a matte polish without any chipping was 2 days. 

3 coats of OPI Russian Navy Matte Suede

No base coat 

No top coat

Elianto Bronzy & Essie Matte About You

Was feeling a little matte this time around.

Tried out Elianto Bronzy with Essie Matte About You. Looks a little suede to me. It doesn't look matte/suede at all in the picture. Not sure why, maybe it's too shimmery?

CND Stickey
Elianto Bronzy
Essie Matte About You

China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald & Essie Matte About You

Feeling very uninspired today, I've came up with China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald and top it off with Essie Matte About You.

The end result looks good (in my eyes that is). Ignore the white dots. I think Essie Matte About You coagulates within time as matte polishes/top coats dry faster than normal ones.

China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald goes on opaque on the 1st coat. I applied a 2nd coat just to make sure.

Please excuse the white dots and also the sloppy application.

CND Stickey
China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald
Essie Matte About You

Konad M78 & OPI Princesses Rule

OPI Princesses Rule is really sheer. I think the pink doesn't really show much, it just has alot of medium glitters. It's a really sweet colour. However, I feel that it's a bit bare on it's own.

I choose Konad M78 plate today. The stamped patterns are abit crooked. Oh well!

CND Stickey
OPI Princesses Rule
Konad M78
Konad Black
Essie Good To Go

Konad M65 & Elianto Aqua

I didn't have the inspiration to paint these past couple of days. Seeing that tomorrow is a work day and showing up at work without my nails painted, I will probably need to wear gloves.

I decided to Konad today as I haven't been Konad-ing for quite a while now.

Elianto Aqua is streaky on the 1st coat, but goes on OK on the 2nd. It's a really soft baby blue colour, easy to wear and not too bold. I chose Konad M65 plate. The design looks a little retro but I think it goes on well with the base colour. Please ignore the messy painting.

CND Stickey
Elianto Aqua
Konad M65
Konad White
Essie Good To Go

May's Nails: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

This is one of my favourite green polish. This is what I call Ruby Pumps' green-coloured twin coz they both have the same formula so it was extremely easy to apply, the same shimmer and they are from the same China Glaze Loves You Snow Much Holiday collection. 

The finish looked exactly like crushed emeralds. I've not tried this polish with a matte topcoat yet, but I suspect that it would look gorgeous. 

Pictured is three coats for opacity. This formula does not allow you to apply just one coat each, by the way, because it would look really sheer. Removal of this polish isn't a problem for me as well. If you love green polish, then this is something that you should have in your collection.

3 coats of Emerald Sparkle

No basecoat (coz I ran out of base coat)

No topcoat (coz I wasn't in a rush)

OPI Green-Wich Village

I got another bottle of new colour - OPI Green-Wich Village. I was looking around for a green and finally decided on this colour.

Application was great. It was slightly streaky on the 1st coat but after the 2nd coat, it looked perfect. This is the best paint job ever!!! OMG! I never thought it could've looked this good. Suprisingly it didn't take too long to dry, I waited for about 5-10 mins for each coat to dry first before painting the next coat. At least I wouldn't need to worry about denting this really good paint job.

CND Stickey
OPI Green-Wich Village
Essie Good To Go

China Glaze Mom's Chiffon & Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

I was getting tired of looking at my ugly cuticles and I did a mini manicure. I started off with soaking my fingers in warm water with shower cream mixed into it. After about 5 minutes, I applied Sally Hansen's Instant Cuticle Remover. This is a really great product, the extra cuticles actually melted away after about 20-30 seconds. Although the instruction did say to put on for only 15 seconds but, 15 seconds is too short to melt my stubborn cuticles. I pushed my cuticle back with the Manicare's wooden stick.

I wanted to try out the Orly Prisma Gloss Gold that I got this week. It's heaven!!!! I love it to bits. It's not your typical glitter bling in your eyes kind of glitter polish. This actually has gold & holo micro glitters (think OPI My Private Jet & OPI Designer Series) with clear gloss. The gold & holo micro glitters actually sinks to the bottom, leaving the gloss a clear lacquer. But once you shake it for about 15 seconds, glitters all over the clear lacquer.

Anyway, CG Mom's Chiffon is actually more flourescent pink that it is here. Still abit streaky after 2nd coat but I was too lazy to apply a 3rd coat. Can you see the gold/holo micro glitters on my polished nails? So nice! It enhances the normal everyday creme polish!

CND Stickey
China Glaze Mom's Chiffon
Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

May's Nails: Nubar Treasure

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

After using Nubar Jewel, I expected to have the same breezy application with Nubar Treasure. Unfortunately, I found out that this polish is somewhat sheer even after 3 coats. That made me think that maybe this polish is more suitable for layering over an opaque polish to make the colour stand out. 

In these pictures, I used 4 coats (which I felt was necessary) because I still had patches on my nails after the 3rd coat. The end product was nice though because the polish had subtle shimmer in it. And if you look closely, it is actually a holographic polish! 

Like Nubar Jewel, both polishes don't chip easily. I've had this polish on my nails for the past 4 days and other than the normal tip wear, I don't see any chip to my manicure. How great is that? 

4 coats of Nubar Treasure

1 cost of Seche Vite topcoat

(no basecoat coz I was being lazy...)

Note from the Editor: Love the colour!

Konad M63 & Elianto Bronzy

My manicure chipped on Monday afternoon and I was thinking - 'Ok, I'll get a manicure done tonight, yay!!'. I had too many things to do at home so it has been postponed till this evening.

I'm going with a shimmering manicure this time 'round. Elianto Bronzy was really easy to apply. It goes on almost opaque on the first coat. 2nd coat just makes it perfect.

I chose one of the patterns on Konad M63 plate with Konad Black. It's a very simple design but yet, black against bronze, it looks really good.

CND Stickey
Elianto Bronzy
Konad Black
Konad M63
Essie Good To Go

Konad M70 & OPI Flashbulb Fuschia

It's been a lazy week for me. I've managed another manicure with Konad M70 plate. I picked the scribble design this time.

OPI Flashbulb Fuschia is a really nice colour. It has minor shimmers and it's opaque on the first coat. But this is 2 coats. I never ever apply just 1 coat of polish on my nails.

I hope you like it.

CND Stickey
OPI Flashbulb Fuschia
Konad Black
Konad M70
Essie Good To Go

May's Nails: China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Update: Ruby Pumps is from the China Glaze Loves You Snow Much Holiday collection.

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

This was part of the Wizard of Oohz collection and one of my favourite red nail polish.

Why? Coz the application was smooth and so easy to manage. And the colour...what can I say?  I love how the red glitters looked like crushed precious stones swimming in red jelly polish.

I normally use this polish on my tootsies but coz I needed to attend a function that had a red-coloured theme, I decided to slap this polish on to my nails. And I must say, I am loving this colour on my nails which means I'll probably use this polish again some time soon. Removal of Ruby Pumps from my nails isn't that difficult, which was surprising considering it's a glitter polish. It wasn't a hassle at all.

All in all, if you love nail polish then this is a must-have colour in your collection.

One coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

3 coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps

One coat of Seche Vite topcoat

OPI My Private Jet

This morning, I had another quick manicure. OPI My Private Jet was or IS one of the most popular colours. What with the micro glitter with charcoal base colour. I really like it as it is a holo polish. Removing will be easy.

1st coat was already opaque but 2nd coat gets the base looking slightly darker. I was abit irritated with my 'long' nails so I snipped it. Now I feel so much better. And I think my nails look much better shorter.

CND Stickey
OPI My Private Jet
Essie Good To Go

Konad M78, Face Shop White & Elianto Twilight

My last manicure did not chip but I was getting a little bored of it already.

I was out today and bought The Face Shop's white nail polish. Tried it on my nails - apparently even with 3 coats, it streaks so badly I don't think I would want to be out with such badly painted nails.

Initially I was looking for a gray polish but couldn't find any. I wonder why. So I created a Frakenpolish - as they call it. I poured a little bit of Elianto Twilight Zone into Face Shop White and I've got me a bottle of gray polish. Woohoo!! It looks a little blue gray here but it really is plain cement gray. Drying time for this Frankenpolish is quick and application is good. Opaque on 1st coat but I usually will apply 2 coats regardless.

I did a little konda stamp on 3 fingers only (2nd, middle and ring finger).

CND Stickey
Elianto Twilight Zone+Face Shop White = Gray
Konad White 
Konad M78
Essie Good To Go

May's Nails: OPI Catch Me In Your Net

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

I actually looked up the swatches of this polish online but I realised that the colour is much more "blue" in real life as compared to some of the swatches that I found on the internet which showed the polish leaning towards "mermaid" green/blue.

Because this is from the mini set, the brush was not as easy to work with. The polish is quite sheer though, which meant 4 thin coats before it was opaque enough for me. 3 thin coats is bearable, but I couldn't take seeing my VNL so I added the 4th coat.

Removal of this polish isn't too bad, even though it is filled with glitter but maybe it was coz I wrapped my fingers in cotton soaked remover and left them on my nails for a good 5 minutes.

One coat of OPI Natural Nails Base Coat

4 thin coats of OPI Catch Me in Your Net

One coat of Seche Vite topcoat

 Note from the Editor: May's photo taking skills are really good.

May's Nails: Nubar Jewel

Written by May; Edited by Sharon

The formula of this nail polish is good, hence application was a breeze. The drying time of this polish is faster than the normal polish that I'm used to, so that's another plus point for me.

One thing about this polish though, it looked like it was a hologram polish in the bottle, so I was seriously expecting the polish to translate as such on to my nails too. Unfortunately, that's not the case. However, the micro glitter (which you can barely see) in the polish made up for the lack of hologram effect coz it was glittering different colours all the time (even when I'm not under any lightings) - red, green, blue, purple, yellow etc. It was seriously fun to look at.

I've not tried removing it yet though as I only had this manicure on for a day. Considering the glitter is of a barely visible size, I'm guessing that removal isn't going to be a bitch *keeping my fingers crossed*

One coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

3 thin coats of Nubar Jewel

One coat of Seche Vite topcoat

Note from the Editor: I super love this colour.

Elianto Deep Sea Green & Torqouise

Yet another manicure today.

Both Elianto Deep Sea Green & Torqouise are both 2 coats each. They are streaky for first coat but goes on opaque on 2nd coat. Not sure why it looks uneven in the pictures but when I see it in real life - it looks pretty much smooth to me.

CND Stickey
Elianto Torqouise
Elianto Deep Sea Green (left hand - ring finger; right hand - thumb)
Essie Good To Go

Elianto Grape Wine & Canmake Peach Squash Matte

Today I decided to mattify yesterday's manicure. Surprisingly, it turned out good. I'm loving it much more than the glossy one!

CND Stickey
Elianto Grape Wine
Canmake Peach Squash
Essie Good To Go
Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher

Note: Please excuse the black 'stain' on my ring finger. Was konad-ing my sister's nails and somehow the black paint got transferred to my nails.

Elianto Grape Wine & Canmake Peach Squash

My last manicure lasted till yesterday! It was a surprise that it only results in minor wear off.

CND Stickey
Elianto Grape Wine
Canmake Peach Squash
Essie Good To Go

Anyways, I've managed another manicure today. Elianto Grape Wine is abit streaky due to the sheerness of it.

Here's with 3 coats of Elianto Grape Wine

After adding Canmake Peach Squash. Ain't it pretty?

Konad M70 & China Glaze First Class Ticket

Dreaming of flying first class? Well, this is the closest I could get to 'flying' first class.

CND Stickey
China Glaze First Class Ticket
Konad White
Konad M70
Essie Good To Go


China Glaze First Class Ticket is really easy to apply, upon 2nd coat, streakiness just disappear. Apologies for the photo though as it looks purple in real life but no matter in what lighting I tried taking the photo with, it just appears blue.

Before stamping.

After stamping.

OPI Heart Throb

Another day, another manicure done! This time I'm using OPI Heart Throb. It's easy to apply, but there's still visible nail lines after 2 coats. Would've been better if I apply a 3rd coat but, didn't bother to because I think this looks good enough.

CND Stickey
OPI Heart Throb
Essie Good To Go

Ianti Silky Purple

My last manicure lasted for 4 days! But I guess it's because of the light coloured base hence the chipping isn't so obvious.

Just did my manicure and it's a 'nude' day.

CND Stickey
Ianti Silky Purple
Essie Good To Go

I love this colour!

Konad M65, Elianto Thistle & OPI Flashbulb Fuschia

Here's another Konad manicure done, just a few minutes ago.

CND Ridge Out
Elianto Thistle - base colour
OPI Flashbulb Fuschia
Essie Good To Go
Konad M65

I was trying out OPI Flashbulb Fuschia to stamp on Elianto Thistle actually and it turned out quite ok. Here's a look of my nails before stamping.

Stamped nails below. In real life, OPI Flashbulb Fuschia looks much darker than it is in the photo.