Innisfree 108 Aquarius

Collection: Star Sign (2012 Summer)

Clear base with multi-shaped glitter. At first glance, the glitter appears to be purple with a sprinkling of green. But when you take a closer look, there’s also a bit of pink, blue, silver, gold and red. It’s basically a purple version of Libra (108).

I didn’t like the how crowded my nails looked the previous time, so I loaded the brush with less glitter this round. That’s why the glitter looks sparser here even though both bottles have the same formula – which is rather thick.

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting in the last few weeks; my hands went really dry all of a sudden. The skin around my fingers (and thumbs) started flaking and peeling so I decided to take a short break.

Polish peels:
• Nature Republic PP402 (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• Innisfree 108 Aquarius (1 coat)
• American Classics Gelous (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Nature Republic GR602

In my previous post, I used this as base for my fimo nail art. But it wasn’t accurate color-wise, so I decided to swatch it to show how vibrant it is.

I found this polish to be thick even after I added thinner to it. Whenever I tried to do thin coats, it came out very streaky with plenty of bald spots. To prevent that, I discovered it was best to do thick coats with as little pressure as possible.

But it’s not all bad. It self-levels and is very glossy without any top coat. It also dries a bit faster than average despite the thick coats.

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• Nature Republic GR602 (3 coats)

Fruit Fest!

Over the weekend, I decided it was time to try out the fimo nail art that I got from Ebay a few weeks ago. My intention was to use a cheery color for the base and I settled on a green cream from Nature Republic.

I bought my fimo pre-sliced so I didn’t need to do any extra work. Some might prefer to buy the whole canes instead as it is cheaper. The canes can be cut with a penknife, and you can decide how thick you want the slices to be.

I found the thinner slices more flexible and they contoured easily to the curved surface of my nail. However, when it’s too thin it lies rather flat on the nail; a thicker slice gave me a greater 3D effect.

I used clear eyelash glue to stick the pieces on my nails before adding a thick coat (or two) of Seche Vite. SV really helps to secure the slices as it creates a thick protective layer over the. I also found SV to be a good substitute for the glue.

My biggest problem with this was that my hair kept getting caught on it. Three pieces got pulled off within a day and I was worried every time I washed my hair.

As this is my first time trying 3D nail art, please ignore the imperfections that can be seen. Still, I think it’s a decent attempt as I got positive reactions from my friends. I don’t mind trying it again, just not so soon. Or maybe with less slices or as an accent nail. (:

Here’s a close up of my favorite nail. I just wanted to show this as I thought it came out the best! I hope you find this as cute as I found it!

What are your opinions on fimo nail art? Will you try it? Or is it not for you?

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Nature Republic GR602 (3 coats)
• Fimo Nail Art
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

China Glaze Black Mesh

Collection: Crackle Glaze (2011 Spring)

A black crackle matte. It's my first crackle polish and I love it! It dries matte as most crackle polishes do but a top coat will solve that. It was very fascinating to see the crackling while my nails dried. I stared at my nails the whole time, trying to guess how and where the polish will crackle. The end of the crackling also meant that the polish was completely dry.

The base color I used was a light purple cream from Nature Republic, a South Korean brand. The code for this polish is Color Waltz PP402.

Polish sandwich:
• Poshe Fast Drying Base Coat (1 coat)
• Nature Republic Color Waltz PP402 (1 coat)
• Seche Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Black Mesh (1 coat)
• Seche Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)