Hello everyone! I’m sorry that things have been so busy there- I had a lot of nail art that I wanted to show you, but things have just been too busy! I’m on my way to Hawaii at the moment, and I don’t even have a Hawaiian mani! Unthinkable!
2010 should be a little calmer than then end of 2009, and I look forward to blogging then and showing you the usual frankens, nail art and only-in-Japan goodies! Until then, have a wonderful holiday everyone!
Thanks everyone for your hilarious entries to the “Worst Gift” contest! Some of them had me cracking up all day!
I did pick the winner randomly, not the person who had the worst gift because that’s just so subjective! I generated a random list of all the usernames in the comments (duplicates not included) and then ran a random number generator.
The winner is…Eunhyung! But I don’t have an email address for you, so please contact me by email at nevertoomuchglitter [@] gmail and I’ll get your prize out!
Thanks for all your comments and entries.. it’s given me a lot of chuckles. And if you’re really bummed about not winning, I do have another bottle to give away after New Year. In fact, I have quite a stockpile of Japan-exclusive goodies to dish out in 2010!
I’m sorry I haven’t been posting- thigns have been crazy busy here and I haven’t even painted my nails in a week! Gasp!
Don’t think I’ve abandoned you, because I haven’t! I’m leaving for Hawaii on Friday, and it won’t be a moment too soon. But before then, I wanted to do a giveaway to say thanks for everyone’s continued support and Happy Holidays to everyone! There’s not a lot of time before I leave, so this is a 48-hour giveaway!
Here’s the prize! It’s fun for making a gradation or color fadeout on the nails. Here’s some more details and a tutorial here.
But…there’s a catch. In the comment section, you have to tell us the worst present you ever got! Please make sure that your username has a blog or email address linked to it (most do) or let me know in the comments so I can contact the winner. Also included will be a bottle of Pa nail polish and some nail decals! Winner will be chosen randomly on Thursday morning, Japan time. Open to all readers worldwide!
As many of you may be aware, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has new mandatory guidelines (laws?) for bloggers who review products. As I understand, the gist of it is that bloggers must disclose if they are compensated, etc. for the review. Failure to disclose may result in penalties. Presumably this is to protect consumers from unethical bloggers who will offer favorable reviews for free product or payment. But what about all the blatantly false advertising that goes on in the cosmetic world? You won’t have to look hard to find dozens of visual lies, inflated product claims and outright lies in health and beauty advertising. Shouldn’t the FTC be out policing that?
It burns me up when I see makeup ads where there is obvious airbrushing and/or use of enhancements- mascara ads are some of the worst. Many ads promises longer, healthier lashes, but the model is clearly wearing fake lashes. I’ve seen a disclaimer in British magazines stating that the model is wearing false lashes, but never in US ones. Talk about needing disclaimers! How about “Even our professional makeup artists couldn’t get the look they wanted with our product, so they had to add fake lashes.”
What about airbrushing? Why don’t models have any pores? Why can companies marketing face creams edit out wrinkles so it appears their cream is more effective? To me, this is much more serious than some bloggers getting samples to review.
So, while I understand the why disclosure is beneficial, as far as I’m concerned, the FTC can go pound salt since I’m not in the US. I also generally don’t get samples either because I mix my own polishes rather than reviewing commercial ones. I don’t accept any advertising at all. But why is the FTC holding bloggers to a strict legal standard that professional media are not expected to attain? If they’re so concerned about truth in advertising and disclosure, then it needs to apply to everyone. Period.
Hey folks, sorry for the lack of posts. I’ve been trying to make a black jelly glitter and I’ve hit a big wall of Fail. The black base has to be transparent enough for the glitter to show, but so far, all I can get is a sickly mold color. So I’ve been holding off on frankening for a while, and I’ve been busy with my online shop- soon I’ll have my 100th sale! Thanks everyone!
So, while I don’t have that fabulous black jelly glitter to show you, I will show you some super-wacky Japan Nail Expo pics. I’m sorry if you’re tired of them, but I love them! (Or, maybe I should say I love the idea of them…) Click to enlarge.
Wow…a wedding dress, chandelier, bouquet of roses, wedding cupcakes (?)- this one has it all. Plus check out the acrylic flowers sculpted onto the bases. The Japanese seem prefer the nails to be “upside down”- or at least to me, it it- the design is facing outward, so when you look at your nails, it appears to be upside down. For the contest all the props and add-ons with the nails also have to be made of acrylic or gel, but most of what you see is actually attached to the nails. Just don’t sneeze, or you might poke your eye out.
Classic interpretation of the “Love and Soul” theme, with classically bad Japanese English. “I swear by the moon and stare in the sky, my abidi true love for you?” I wonder if the cherub was handpainted or transferred on with one of those nail art transfer copier thingamajiggies. The wings look like it would be physically impossible to paint them. Nice job, shame that they didn’t check the English. But then again, it doesn’t matter because I’m sure no one knows it’s incorrect.
These just blew me away. Probably uncomfortable as heck to wear, and could cause grave facial injury, but these are brass castles. Brass. Castles. Attached to nails! I am at a loss for words.
And in the Truly Terrifying category, we have an evil dragon, skeletal wings, ominous clouds, a beehive hairdo and something that looks like the rubble of a city that got bombed out. Anyone know how this relates to Heart and Soul? Is there a story I’m not getting here? Because if I see anyone wearing these, I think I’ll give them a wide berth.
And more nails from the Tokyo Nail Expo 2009! I have some frankens I want to show you soon, but these crazy nails are just too amazing not to show you today.
Yes, the Cinderella is attached to the nail. This one features a glass slipper, acrylic flowers, a moon, a clock, and the Prince’s castle. Personally, I would have made one hand Cinderella the abused house-maid and the other hand Glamour Cinderella. Wouldn’t a tiny scrub brush and bucket look cute on a nail?
Are these amazing or what? All handpainted. I think it’s supposed to be a stained glass window. I’d never wear these, but they are true works of art.
These nails are carved out in a filigree design with giant roses, Cupid’s arrow and a swing. Very unusual design. Don’t the little people on the swing get seasick from flopping around all the time?
And….what the heck is this? How does it fit in with the love and soul theme? Leopard print nails, hearts, sleazy red lips, and a cigarette that apparently gives off second-hand glitter hearts. Beware of the glitter lung! Very strange indeed.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, some of these nail tips are true works of art. These are all the finalists, but I didn’t find out who actually won as that was announced on the Monday, the last day of the expo. The theme was “Love and Soul,” and some nails appear to have nothing to do with the theme, which others reflect it. And some just…wow. Just wow. Click to make them bigger!
Here’s a few for today:
Lightning bolts, rhinestones, and hearts. Not sure how it relates to the theme, but they did write L&S on one of the nails. If I had a machine that could transform Jamz into fake nails, this would have been the result. Besides Brooke, did anyone have a pair of Jamz? Maybe the Europeans and Asians are lucky enough to have been spared the truly awful fashion that was Jamz, but somehow I doubt it.
Here’s a pair of super-long tips with elves, ominous-looking sacks, snowflakes, chain bullion, giant bedazzled clovers, and…robots. The elves look vaguely panicked but powerless to stop whatever terrible fate is about to befall them. The elf second from the left looks like he is getting molested by Rudolph. Check out Rudolph’s evil grin. Something very, very bad is afoot here. Or is it “ahoof?”
A more traditional interpretation of the “Love and Soul” theme. I think that’s Kannon, the Buddhist godess of mercy. I could be wrong, but itn any case, it’s very fine work with tiny, perfect details.
All these bits are actually connected to the nails. We’ve got a clock, a cross, a moon, some flowers and a giant butterfly connected to black nails with gold filigree detail and jewels. What does it mean? Also, what if you sneeze while wearing these? I would have loved to seen them modelled but didn’t get the chance.
And, last one for today:
Flames made of tiny foil dots, sequins, a giant heart that says “Love and Soul,” and a yellow poppy PLUS rhinestone chain bullion. I always knew love and soul was made up of sequins and rhinestones. The flames are just the icing on the shiny cake.
One of the biggest nail art events in Asia is the Tokyo Nail Expo. This year, it was held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Tokyo Big Site, which is a huge convention center on an artificial island in Odaiba Island. This was incidentally the scene of my recent Design Festa debacle. But I’m pleased to say my time at Tokyo Big Site was much more pleasant than the last!
All the big Western polish companies were there, as well as a few Asian ones. It was a madhouse. Seriously mayhem. Some of the deals /highlightsthat sent people into frenzies were :
OPI for $11 per bottle. It usually retails for $22 in Japan. I bet they’d croak if they knew if sold online for $5. No special Japan-only colors this season, which surprised me.
Zoya had a booth where they were selling polish for around $7 a bottle, same as the website. I scored a couple.
Nail decals: 8 sheets for around $11, they usually retail for around $4 each. It was a total feeding frenzy. I got 16 sheets which I’ll probably never use, but I couldn’t resist a good deal.
Nail art deco sweets: little cookies, cakes, candies, etc. I got a bag of about 20 for $10. The epitome of tacky Japan nails. Now all I need is some caulk whipped cream.
TiNS: The Japan glitterbombs that are almost impossible to get outside of Japan. They are usually $15, but on sale for $8 and discontinued colors were 5 for $10!!! Woo hooo! I got some for a giveaway! Update: I can’t get Google Friend Finder on a WordPress blog. Boo! I wanted to allow people to follow the blog and do contests via the follower list, but stinky old WordPress says it’s a security issue. There are other ways to do contests, but still. I feel cheated.
Glitter: I bought tons of $3 pots of microglitter in the hopes that it will work as well as MAC, which is $20 per pot. We’ll see…I haven’t had the time or the nerve to see if it turns silver when it hits the nail polish. I sure hope not!!
Here’s some photos of the event- the haul photos and some more contest photos will be following through the week:
The entrance…before the frenzy!
TiNS!!!
Everyone’s favorite frankener/glitter troll getting interviewed on Japanese TV. I sounded really dumb, I’m sure, but it’s hard to be on TV in another language! It was just a couple minutes but it seemed much longer!
And the highlight was the Nail Art contest, with contestants from all over Asia, but mostly Japan. I’ll be showing the entries over a few days, because there are so many amazing ones. The theme was “Heart and Soul.” Even if you hate giant long nails, you’ve got to admit these are true works of art.
And here’s my favorite part of the haul: CS brand nail polish from Bonjour drugstore. I went to at least three different Bonjours to try and get the whole collection! They’re numbered from 1 to 25 and I got most of them but not all. They’re duochrome microshimmery polishes that look great layered but can be opaque on their own after three coats.
They don’t smell too bad, and the brush caps look like witch hats. There were a few too many pinks- pink with gold shimmer, pink with purple shimmer, pink with blue shimmer, etc. but they make nice topcoats. I also hope they will make nice frankens!
My current NOTD is the black one:
It does need a good topcoat to even it out and add shine, which I am not wearing in this photo. Good coverage for a $2 bottle of nail polish!
I’m sorry for not posting last week. Technical problems, a busy schedule and my messy house kind of gobbled up my time. I did go to the Tokyo Nail Expo today and it was AWESOME, both in the surfer-dude meaning of the word and the literal one. It was mayhem- like the wedding dress sale at Filenes in Boston, or perhaps like people trying to escape a burning building. All the Western brands like OPI, Spa Ritual, Zoya, etc. were there as well as TiNS and some other Japanese brands. I also got interviewed on TV! But that’s another post for another day- I have LOTS of photos that I want to show you later. I also got a mega glitter haul as well as some exciting new polishes.
For now, let’s talk Hong Kong nail polish. The good news: they have an amazing range of colors available- plus they love glitter almost as much as I do. Glitterbombtacular! Bad: Ingredients? Is this polish going to make my nails fall off? I’m almost sure it’s not safety tested at all, so I’m not as worried about animal testing as I would normally be. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just dumped glitter in nuclear waste and bottled it up.
So, let’s take a look at the first part of the haul, from safest to sketchiest. (Swatches at the end).
SasaTinnies. Sasa is a big drugstore chain in Asia, but none in Japan. I bought four of their house brand polishes. They had flakies and all kinds of shimmers and cost about $3.50 US each.
All in all, not bad polishes. The bottles are pretty small, I think it’s about 9ML, compared to OPI or Essie which are 15ML. The unusual colors are nice but sheer (4 coats to be opaque) and definitely need a topcoat to have any shine.
Moving on, here are two bottles of Needme. The gold looks like a party- gold and silver microglitter with larger rainbow glitter. The pink is a duochrome glitter, opaque in two coats. I don’t care if this makes my nails fall off, the colors are fabulous. This was around $1 US.
Clatty Brand. Periwinkle purple shimmer, opaque in two coats. Another one that I’ll risk wearing due to the fantastic color. I think it was about $1.
No name or brand, but it’s a khaki/black base with antique gold shimmer that flashes khaki. Yes please! About 75 cents.
Now we’re headed into the sketchy zone:
Eleanor. Not bad quality, but a smell that could knock over an elephant. They had some very unusual colors- I have never seen a yellow quite like that. The silver with pink and red glitter is so festive and fun, too. These were around $1.
Me Me Me brand polish. These can be used in place of teargas- in fact, I think I saw the Marines around the US Embassy with these polishes strapped to their belts. This polish actually made my eyes water when I opened them. Perfect for the girl who wants to be fashionable and needs a serious defensive weapon at the same time. Chemical warfare at its glitteriest! All kidding aside, they applied well, but the periwinkle shimmer had funny clumps. These are not going on my natural nails.
And the award for “Toxic Glamour” goes to Docile brand nail polish. Rich, opaque cobalt blue that I’d bet is made with either ultramarine or cobalt pigment. I can tell by the shade of blue and the stain it left when I removed it from my toe. This would stain your nails until they grew out unless it poisoned you first. Too bad-it’s a great color and was opaque in one coat!
Top left to right: Me Me Me periwinkle, Me Me Me aqua glitter, Sasa Tinnie gray, Sasa Tinnie purple.
Bottom row: Needme pink shimmer, Me Me Me pink glitter, Sasa blue, Sasa blue with flakies
Top row, left to right: Eleanor silver glitter, Eleanor forest green, Clatty blurple, no-name khaki/blue shimmer, Me Me Me periwinkle glitter
Bottom row, left to right: Eleanor yellow, Eleanor pink foil, Docile Blue, Needme metallic shimmer with rainbow glitter, Needme pink shimmer
The best part of the haul is yet to come, but I thought this was enough for one day. I also have some Christmas nail art for you, as well as all the details from the Tokyo Nail Art Expo!
