NOTD: Rose nails

I haven't blogged for about four months due to life-changing events that have been happening. Almost all of my beauty essentials have been locked up and stored away which is why I haven't been blogging. However, I have finally gotten my hands on them and am slowly getting back into what I love doing. Stay tuned for more beauty looks and reviews!

Here's the most recent look I've done to my nails. They're simple, yet totally amazing due the fact that I love roses. :) 

Nail polishes used:
American Apparel: Mannequin
Sally Hansen - Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear: Twisted Pink
Nail art striper brush

NOTD: mint sorbet

Sally Hansen is my favorite drugstore nail polish brand because they're affordable, very pigmented, and have a wide variety of colors. Not only do they have their regulars, but they have a bunch of limited edition colors that seem to come out every time I walk into Walgreens and get lucky. I'm not aware of when their limited edition colors come out, but if I did I probably would be on to it... but I must resist the temptation to splurge.

I also love the nail polishes that are available at Forever 21. I do believe they're originally L.A. colors, just repackaged for sale at Forever 21. After all, the polishes that first appeared at the store actually had the original L.A. colors brand name on it. Lately, they've been coming out with more and more colors, and have recently come out with some scented ones that I have yet to try out. However, I haven't seen them locally at any of my Forever 21s; I haven't seen any nail polishes for the longest while now. I was able to buy them online. :)

I used Sally Hansen's limited edition nail polish in mint sorbet and coated my middle fingers with a sheer  green flake/glitter type color on my ring fingers. A lot of people complimented me on this due mainly because they liked the color, and many of them were shocked when they found out it was a drugstore product. :) I love getting great looks for less.

NOTD: chocolate truffle with a touch of mauve :)

A few weeks ago my thoughtful friend Clarissa gave me a bunch of Revlon nail polishes because she thought I'd make more use of it, being that she's not all that into nail polishes. I didn't get a chance to test any of them out until today. I love the array of colors that I received from her. Thanks Clarissa!

I tested out chocolate truffle and touch of mauve together. I love the simple design that I made with a cute teddy-bear like color combination. Too bad I couldn't paint my dominant, no matter how meticulous I tried to be, so it's just plain brown.

NOTD: peacock-inspired

Hello lovelies! I hope that you all had a great New Year's Day! :) Anyways, when I came home from my boyfriend's house on Jan. 1, I felt sluggish and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and night and did absolutely nothing. This morning I decided to give my room a little makeover that I'm not entirely content with. I'm in want of some new furniture and probably a futon; I've always wanted a futon. 

Anyways, it's been months since I've actually painted my nails and designed it. It took me maybe more than an hour because I included watching TV, being on the phone, and texting in between time. Also, I wasn't prepared so I had to go looking for everything. 

Here's my nail polish collection, half of them being nail polish I wish I could let go of but I'm such a hoarder so I can't. Simplicity is truly an art and I want to master it, and because it's sort of practical even if it's not practical for every single individual, I want it to be one of my New Year's resolutions. 

NOTD: black glitter

After painting my nails three days in a row, I decided to give me a manicure that would last me more than a day... and this was it. I got to test the black glittered NYX girls nail polish I bought a few days ago. The black nail polish I'm using is actually from the Philippines. This do was simple, yet chic... loved it... too bad it is officially ruined as of today because I swatched nail polish colors on my fingernails! :-) Time for a new do. 

NOTD: Duo-tone cheetah print

Products used: left to right
Black nail art pen
Sally Hansen hard as nails in white on
Seche Vite top coat
Beauty Secrets base coat
California Colors in turquoise
California Colors in blue

Unless you've got a lot of time on your hands, it's essential to have a good top coat for nails

After using Beauty Secrets' top coat and waiting for 45 minutes then going to sleep, this is what I wake up with. Bottom line is I don't like it, personally. 

P.S. I'm not sad for wrecking what would have been uber cute nails. :) It's actually great news because I get to play around with them again.

NOTD: Keroppi + Review: Beauty Secrets base coat and top coat

Before getting to my story, note that I have a history of having butterfingers. Shocking, right? For a person who seems to have a steady hand when a steady hand is needed. Hm, I guess I've got self-control when I set my mind into it.

Prior to painting my nails, I had dropped a tin box full of generic nail polishes... and when I say generic, I mean generic. One of the nail polishes, out of the many that dropped onto the floor, managed to break and on the worst way possible. The bottle had broke and its contents dripped all over some shelves as well as the floor. I had to act quickly as to grab some acetone and cotton pads to remove it from hardening where it shouldn't be. After that, I lost my mood to paint my nails, but I did because I had already brought my needed items out. 

Also, I wanted to review the Beauty Secrets top coat and base coat. These actually belong to my sister.

Products used (from left to right) 
Beauty Secrets top coat
Beauty Secrets base coat
China Glaze n/p in white on white
Sinful n/p in innocent
Jordana n/p in holiday red

Review: Both of these products are from Sally's Beauty Supply and they hold decent drugstore quality. They're just decent, not the best. It has already been past 30 minutes and my nails hasn't dried after putting on dry coat, I tested by touching one of Keroppi's faces and now it has my finger mark. I like the base coat more. I can't tell you the outcome of it just yet, we'll have to see how I like it in a few days. I'm new to the whole use of primers in all forms (face, eyes, and nails) so I'm testing out products to see what I like best.

China Glaze n/p in white on white

Sinful n/p in innocent - my favorite drugstore nail polish line next to Sally Hansen. Majority of drugstore nail polishes tend to run sheer, but not this one or Sally Hansen. They're both well pigmented and I usually only use two coats to get a vibrant color payoff. 

Jordana n/p in holiday red - I think that Jordana has to be one of those underrated products out there. I barely ever see reviews or blog posts about them, but Jordana was one of the first drugstore brands that was introduced to me. My grandmas loved using Jordana nail polishes because it was cheap, and came in their favorite color, red. I have a bunch of Jordana nail polishes and I love them.

 A coat of base coat.

 Two coats of white nail polish.

 This is my unoutlined keroppi.

 It's amazing what a solid line can do.

 Here's my finished product, until my pinky got stuck in my charger's wire.

 Instead of painting it again, I decided to just randomly paint it green.

 I left the other one blank because I can't draw on my right hand for sheez.

Review: Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover

I was on the verge of giving myself a new nail do when I wanted to show you how my nails are doing after a week. The top coat that I use does wonders. It's seche vite and it's the best top coat that I've tried so far. There's hardly no chipping, though keep in mind that I've probably done dishes at least once this whole week. I don't like handling kitchenware to be honest. Besides the fact that my nails are growing and all the nail polish marks are due to giving others' paint jobs, and see that ugly area on my thumb? That's due to testing nail polish colors at stores and wiping it off with my bare hands, unsanitary I know but it was the only way for me to test the colors and see the consistency without doing much damage to my nails. I didn't end up buying nail polishes though... lol. Anyways, besides all of that, my cuticles are screaming for moisture!

I didn't know, as much as I'm such a nail art enthusiast, that you shouldn't cut your cuticles. I loved cutting my cuticles for some reason, it just feels good??? Haha. The fine print is: don't cut your cuticles, do use cuticle remover and push them away. Also, keep them moisturized with cuticle oil or cuticle cream, of which I'm going to get my hands on soon.

Feast yourselves on some horrible nails. :( 

Anyways, after doing research I wanted to get rid of my cuticles "the right way" with a cuticle remover and the use of an orange stick. If you don't know what any of them are, you obviously aren't being good to your cuticles! (Unless of course you don't have a need for such maintenance.) I went to CVS to buy it, since they were out at Walgreens then gave myself a manicure. I put some of this product: Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover on top each of my cuticles and let it stay for 20-30 seconds then pushed them away with an orange stick. Then I washed my hands with soap and water and these were the results:

(Please excuse my untrimmed and unfiled nails.)

Much better right? :) By the way, this product has great reviews, which is how I even discovered it. It's most definitely a must-have for everyone who gives themselves a manicure every now and then.

I'm about to give my boyfriend a manicure, that's for sure. ^___^

By the way, with blogspot's new post interface, does anyone know how to set default picture settings so that my pictures can appear while I edit this post as "x-large." I get tired of having to click on each picture and having to resize them one by one. Thanks in advance.