Evil Eye Nails

I don't often attempt nail art (mainly due to lack of skill and imagination), but when I saw this picture on Katy Perry's Instagram, I loved it so much I immediately saved it to my phone for future reference. One night when I was particularly bored and had a lot of time on my hands, I attempted to recreate it. It seemed like a design that wasn't overly challenging to duplicate, or at the very least sloppily approximate.

(Source: @katyperry)

One of the advantages of having a stupidly large nail polish collection is that I generally don't struggle to find the colour I'm after. Even if I might not have the exact same shade, chances are I'll have something similar. For the neutral, sandy base, I opted for Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Café Au Lait, a polish I found intolerably dull painted on my nails alone, but in the context of this design, surprisingly works well. Of course, I had a white and black polish handy (NYC Nail Colour in Lili White and the glittery black Chi Chi Salon Formula in Wednesday respectively). The hardest part was trying to pick the kind of blue used on Katy Perry's toes. While I do love my blue polishes, I have mostly ice/baby blues, greenish/seafoamy blues or dark marine blues. I lack a medium, bright, Santorini-esque blue. Consulting good ol' Wikipedia for "shades of blue", I guess the closest to what I was looking for is Persian blue or Egyptian blue. In the end, I picked Essie Bikini So Teeny because it was the least wrong.

After Café Au Lait dried, I painted freehand the white half moon shape. Being right-handed, my left hand fared much better than the right, where things got a little outta control. If I was supposed to remain faithful to the original inspiration, I faltered since the white area was too large. It was also difficult to get an even curve without expanding the white half moon even more, a problem compounded by the fact three layers were needed to achieve full opacity. Painting over the white with Café Au Lait to correct any mistakes was out of the question since that would've resulted in a super uneven, patchwork job.

Pressing on nonetheless, I then dotted Essie Bikini So Teeny in the centre of the white with the nail polish brush (no nail art tools here) and made a smaller dot with the black polish. Once again, my left hand was much more uniform and presentable than my right, which was all over the place. Uneven sized black dots, wonky placement, out of proportion blue dots compared with the white crescent.

But that's the perfectionist in me talking. All in all, as William Hung said, I gave my best. I'm unlikely to attempt this again any time soon, but I do like the end result and have been enjoying something new and different on my nails. If only I had the accompanying Greek islands vacation to go with it.

Bring It On Home

So remember my flirtation with procuring Dose of Colors Love Potion but how I simply refused to spend $12.75 shipping on a $16 lipstick? During that time, I was casually browsing Myer and stumbled across the lipstick stand of Australian brand Chi Chi. Naturally, one of the purple shades caught my eye. I'd never heard much about Chi Chi lipsticks except from Tegan, and ordinarily I would be loath to spend $18.95 on a single lipstick, but I tried on the colour and couldn't pull myself away. It's probably the closest thing I'll find to Love Potion that's available locally, and thankfully, it's unlike any purple lipstick I already have.

l-r: Lime Crime Airborne Unicorn, Chi Chi Bring It On, Revlon Berry Haute

Chi Chi Bring It On is a matte, medium pinky violet/orchid shade. While it has a good level of pink to prevent it from being too "out there" and more difficult to pull off (like the much cooler, darker Lime Crime Airbourne Unicorn), on my lips, it's still distinctly purple which I like. Rather than being neon, it has a relatively muted quality and leans almost pinkish-berry, but at the same time there's hints of brightness coming through that stop the colour from appearing draining and dull.

The matte formulation is one of the best I've tried. It's smooth, feels very lightweight, doesn't cling to lip lines and the texture isn't chalky at all, and while it's not the most hydrating, it's still surprisingly comfortable and not overly drying for a matte finish. It's not crazily pigmented either, which I prefer as it lets you to build up the intensity as desired. One single, light coat, dabbed in with the fingers, still allows hints of your natural lip colour to peek through. The versatility of this lipstick is the many ways it can be worn depending on your mood and the occasion: from a fresh, casual, lived-in whisper of a stain, to a full-blown, party-ready, statement lip. This could very well be the purple of my dreams.

Wonky Snowmen

Merry Christmas! To mark the occasion, I attempted some festive nail art following this tutorial by Jen from From Head to Toe. It seemed simple enough and I had all the colours she used. I had fun trying to replicate the design and the end result surprisingly wasn't a total disaster. I already was wearing Sinful Colours Cinderella (now available at Priceline for $4.95!) so I left it on rather than taking it off and painting a periwinkle base as Jen did. My nails are short at the moment, so I only had space for two white dots to make up the snowman's body. I used Chi Chi Wednesday for my black dots and hat, Rimmel Tangerine Queen for the nose and Ulta3 Mermaid Green for the scarf. Top coat was OPI Pirouette My Whistle which I thought perfectly emulated snow falling. Instead of a dotting tool, I just used a toothpick.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. My family isn't really huge on Christmas and we don't really adhere to any traditions, but it's always a memorable and special time of the year. There's more goodwill and cheer in the air, a sense of excitement and festivity, gift giving, an abundance of chocolate, and much needed time off (even if it's just two days, as it is for me). Happy holidays!

Foiled Again

My newest nail polish acquisition is Chi Chi Go Go Girl, a predominately silver foil with bronze/gold tones depending on the light. It fluctuates between a silver-based old gold and a bronze-tinged pewter. I was hoping it would be a more rose gold but it leans more brown than pink, and overall is very silvery.

The finish is super reflective and shiny, to the extent it's almost blinding in direct, strong sunlight. For me, the polish is too loud and blingy for everyday wear, but it's a good alternative to glitter for a party/NYE nail. Application was fairly smooth and only very slightly streaky. It has an almost spongy texture when half to near dry that helps to even out the polish over the nail.

Chi Chi, Go Go Girl

With flash

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Celeb City

Celeb City on index finger, Go Go Girl on middle finger

Compared to the other foil polish I have, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City, Celeb City is clearly a more whitish silver. However, given how silvery Go Go Girl is, the two are very similar. I'm sure you can find a cheaper dupe of Go Go Girl (possibly Ulta3 Envy), but I've no complaints about the formula or application. I just wish it were not as overpoweringly silver and more saturated in terms of colour.