Back From Thailand!

I’ve just gotten back from a trip to Thailand. It’s just a short hop from Singapore, but it was still fun to get away. I was hoping to score some Thai nail goodies, but there wasn’t a lot of unique stuff there.  Some rhinestones/pearls, but nothing really compelling.

I did find a brand of nail polish which I haven’t seen elsewhere, called Beauty Buffet. It’s supposed to be cruelty-free and “natural” but I’m not sure if I was just getting the old hokey-dokey from the staff. I wanted to buy the whole store but I just got a few colors that I’ll swatch for you later:

Some other goodies I got:

Scrapbook albums, a denim purse with bling (shock!), some loofah soaps, nail polish, incense, scarves, an elephant change purse, a teeny glass dragon, and a tiny poreclain dish. The sparkly nail polish is pretty super-stinky so I just may have to bin it.

Besides hunting for nail goodies, we went to the weekend market, Wat Pho/Grand Palace, and did plenty of eating. I got a couple lovely massages and a root beer float at A&W. Not at all Thai, but delicious and I don’t know of any actual A&Ws still left in the US, or at least none in New England. I never turn down a root beer float, even if it’s not particularly ‘authentic’ to wherever I am.

Here’s a few of the snapshots I took, mostly of Wat Pho. It is a temple next to the Grand Palace and is blingy beyond belief! Loads of shiny tiles, gold, and porcelain tile work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And since no post is really complete without some nail art, here it is:

L-R: Thai palace guardian statue, tile work, orchid, gold leaf, and the Thai flag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are  more inspired by Thai textiles and art, rather than any specific item. One of my favorite parts of Thai art is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Crumbly statues, peeling paint, etc. is all part of the charm. I’m not sure if it’s accidental or on purpose, but I like it!

Book News and Some Gothic Nail Art

I’ve got some more LA Girl colors to show you soon, though the second palette I tried out was not exactly cooperative. In the meantime, I’m getting my work together for a book to be published in fall 2013. I need to re-photograph (and in some cases, re-create) some nails. Natural light is always best, but the weather has been very uncooperative. I can’t release any specifics yet, but it will be a big ol’ coffee-table book of NAIL ART published by a German company. It’s not just my work, of course, it features a lot of contemporary nail artists. I’m pretty excited about it and am looking forward to the publication.

I’ve been working on some gothic looks too, and on my acrylic sculpture in particular. It’s not my strong point. I hate the smell of it, and being a very nearsighted perfectionist, I always have the nail about an inch from my nose and get a snootful of stinky acrylic fumes. I do have a good mask with filters that makes me look like a Hazmat technician, but it’s very uncomfortable and makes me sweat like crazy. So I’m not always eager to practice the sculpting, but I’d like to improve.

This set was inspired by Victorian tapestries and jewelry, but with a bit of a gothic influence:

I really like black and gold together! I might do the roses in a different color next time, though.

I also love black and red, especially when there’s glitter involved! I could not resist adding red rhinestone eyes to the skull. The roses are aluminium so they are very vibrant and light-weight, but boy, the get snagged on hair and clothes.

These are not gothic, but I had fun doing them recently. They’re inspired by Turkish tiles and of course, the Turkish Evil Eye!  I haven’t been to Turkey yet, but it’s high on the list of places I’d like to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And since Feb. 20 was National Cherry Pie Day in America, I made these up just for fun. I generally post new nails daily on my Facebook fan page, so be sure to check it out if you like a steady supply of off-the-wall nail art. It’s available to public view even if you don’t have Facebook.

That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to lately. I’m headed off to Bangkok later this week- it’s one of my favorite cities and the art always inspires me, plus the food is just plain fabulous. The Thais like shiny things almost as much as I do (Wat  Phra Kaew is a must-see for anyone who likes sparkles).  I also have a new nail art hero who is Thai, Pisut Masanong. No, I’m not going there to stalk him or anything. But maybe if I practice painting about 12 hours a day for the rest of my life, I’d be that good. In addition to his insane painting skills, he is a fantastic sculptor as well. It’s rare to excel at both. I’ll just settle for painting skills like his- I’m not greedy!

 

Eyeshadow to Nail Polish Fun with LA Girl Palettes!

I confess, I still have a thing for David Bowie. I mean, the 80s version with the crazy makeup.  That long-buried desire was probably what motivated me to buy this wacky eyeshadow palette. Pale jewel tones? Pale METALLIC jewel tones that I will never wear in a million years? Yes, I blame you, DB. ::skitters away, humming ‘Golden Years.’::

LA Girl is a drugstore brand aimed at teens, but it’s vegan and cruelty-free. This is great, especially for affordable mass-market cosmetics.  I can’t speak to its qualities as an eyeshadow, because I haven’t found an occasion to wear metallic gentian purple eyeshadow anywhere yet. Plus, in 90 degree weather with 95% humidity, I’m sure no cosmetics will perform terribly well. The texture is very, very dry and powdery with very little binder, which might not be great for eyeshadow but makes a lovely polish. In fact, it is so powdery that I’d recommend wearing a dust mask when working with this, unless you want your lungs to be very colorful. This is the 10 C0lor Palette called “Nightlife.”

To make eyeshadow into nail polish, you’ll need some clear nail polish, a little mixing dish (I always use a silicone baking cup for easy cleanup) and an brush or applicator to get the polish out.

The short version of how to do it: Use a brush to loosed the eyeshadow into your mixing dish, then add clear nail polish drop by drop. Swirl it around, and test the opacity and thickness as you go. When you’re satisfied, start painting your nails! There’s more in-depth tutorials here and here.

Since the finish on these eyeshadows was metallic, the resulting polish was also metallic. The metallic shine on the eyeshadow does go all the way through, it is not just a dusting on the surface. I hate that! Due to the metallic finish, the polish was a bit brush-strokey, but not too awful. I found the paler colors lacked a bit of oomph, but  this palette yielded some pretty nail polish shades.

This is two coats of each shade with a coat of Seche Vite. You will need a topcoat with these, since it lacks shine on its own. If you like a satin finish, you could leave them as-is, but they don’t wear as well. I did a pedicure with the warm gold polish- we’ll see how the polish performs and I’ll report back.  I will spare all my lovely readers the view of my toes. Usually these eyeshadow frankens wear pretty solidly on me, at least as well as regular polish.

The subliminal power of David Bowie also made me buy two more of these palettes in different rainbow shades, which I will show in the next few posts. Thank goodness LA Girl isn’t too expensive, or he’d be really dangerous to my wallet. In Singapore, where cosmetics prices seem double or triple the US price, these cost me around $12USD each. Scandalous, I know, but it seems like a deal when a single MAC eyeshadow is around $25-30US.

Seriously?!?

I just read this recent article on CNN about nail art. It shows some nail art, NY Fashion Week,  the growing nail art market, and discusses nail art being shown on social media. Nail art has been taking off in the past few years, and it’s a fun, non-permanent form of art and self-expression.

That’s all well and good. What really bothered me from the article was the comments. They are really appalling. Most of them are not-so-thinly veiled racism/classism, with a few random idiotic comments thrown in for good measure.

Since I’m apparently a low-class, trashy, uneducated slob because I like nail art, it should be no threat to any of the erudite commenters if  l pull a few quotes from the comments and expand upon them (comments in italics, my response in bold).

Comments About The Correlation Between Nail Art And Having A Crap Job

“I really like these nails. When people show up for job interviews with these talons I know I can cut it short because I would never hire an individual with junk like this on their fingers.”

“A new form of self-expression, indeed…This form of self-expression says “I want a low paying job, but will be eager to complain I can’t get a higher paying job.“

“Those talons are gross and are “low class.” Good luck getting a job or being promoted into a better one. Nails should be simple, clean and well groomed, IMO.” 

“Eeek! As a female VP in a multinational corporation, I would NEVER dream of doing this… And I would never hire someone with this mess either. Does not read as “serious” enough, nor someone I could put in front of executives.”- Really, before I ditched the corporate life, your position would have reported to me. Luckily, all the executives I’ve worked with/for seem to value talent and skill rather than focus on my nails. Perhaps you need to blend in to keep your job, since you have no other particularly distinguishing talents?

Well, me and my trashy hands with “junk like this on my fingers” worked in a very high-level job at a major corporation where my only boss was the CEO. Granted, it was in Japan, but I have to say their work attire is more conservative than the US, not less. 

Hey Folks, If You Don’t Paint Your Nails, We Can Go Back To Eden!

“The entire world is crumbling and America is going down daily and all these twits can do is play with their damned nails? Give me a break! You are doing artwork on your NAILS while innocent people are dying all over the world? You are a bunch of ignorant and stupid females that have NEVER grown up!“

I hope you have NEVER spent money or time on ANY grooming, entertainment or ever had any fun while innocent people are dying! In fact, what on earth are you doing: a) reading CNN; and b) commenting on articles when you should be out SAVING people?! We need you to tell us how to grow up and be smart like you. I bet you’re a blast at at parties.

Just Put On Your KKK Gear And Be Done With It..At Least I’d Respect Your Honesty

“I’d like to see the correlation between nails like this and voting for Obama.”

“Where I’m from, we call those nails “ghetto talons”.  Only a crackhead would walk around thinking those nail designs look good.“

Nail Art Fans Are Useless Fatasses!

“Did you ever notice that a lot of fat women have awesome nails and get them done?  Instead of sitting on your a** getting your nails done take the money you spend on nails, and buy a membership to a  gym you can get one for about 15-30 bucks a month and get on a treadmill and start walking soon you will see less of a need for nails.”

I’m scrawny as heck and I have awesome nails. Oh, and where’s this mythical gym that costs $15? Also, if you lose weight, you lose interest in your personal appearance? And…if you’re so smart and you know the solution to everyone’s problems, how come you can’t write a decent sentence? Did you lose your commas at your mythical $15 gym on the magical treadmill?

Just Plain Stupid

“I wonder how many women spending money on this expect free birth control?”

???? Ladies, unlike the commenter, don’t go to any nail salon where the tech does your nails, turns around, and then whips on a lab coat and proceeds to give you birth control injections as a Gift With Purchase. Likewise, don’t go to any gyno who checks your ladybits and then starts painting your toenails while you’re still in the stirrups. Nail art and gynecology are two different things. Don’t go anywhere where it’s a one stop shop.

“IME, the more outlandish the nails are, the uglier (inside and outside), less confident and less educated is the woman sporting them.”

I am a hideous hosebeast who dropped out of school in kindergarten. Just kidding, I had a top-notch education with a good variety of scholarships thrown in. No one has ever told me I’m horrible to look at. My insides, however, are probably pink and slimy. I’ll give you that one.

“It’s amazing how far people will go to try and make themselves feel that they are something special….even if they are not! I’m not sure how walking around with bizarre designs on your fingernails helps you feel good about yourself….maybe the folks who do this have too much money and too little sense.”

Are you the Grand Poo-Bah Of Specialness? Are you the only person who can decide who is Something Special? And, if it’s not YOUR money being spent, what business is it of yours how others use their money? Please tell me you don’t have tattoos, designer clothes or anything else that might prompt others to judge your “specialness” against their own standards.

“So men can tell women these nails are crap and not attractive in the least.  A plain solid color ( except black ) or frenched nails will do and have much more class.  If this is personal expression then you need H E L P.”

I need H E L P!

***************

Why is everyone frayed so thin, so ready to snap and judge over something like nail art?  I mean, apparently, I’m ignorant, unemployable, stupid (and also demanding free birth control!) because I like to paint stuff on my nails. I mean, heaven forbid I actually just think it’s a fun thing to do. Aren’t we past the “only-prostitutes-wear-lipstick” phase yet?

Why so much hatred and judgment for people who do things differently from you? Is it hurting you? Is it hurting them? Is it dangerous? Heck, it’s not even PERMANENT.

There are folks who take time to register and leave comments on my blog reaming me out for being an N-lover and promoting N-word nails (they used the whole word, of course) which makes no sense since I was showing nails from the Tokyo Nail Expo. Apparently, the Japanese nail professionals there just had on *really* good disguises. But you can’t use logic on people with closed minds. It simply does not work.

I can see the “it’s a waste of time” argument. OK, for those who have a problem with the perceived lack of productivity, do YOU have any downtime? Do you watch movies or get your hair done or read a book or mess around on the Internet? I hope not! I hope your every waking moment is spent Doing Important Things To Save The World.

I can also see the “it’s tacky” argument. So what? Lots of things are, it’s in the eye of the beholder. I have fun and enjoy myself with it, and my nail art brings a smile to people’s faces more often than not. I don’t paint my nails for the general public, I paint them for myself. It doesn’t hurt anyone else. It can start a conversation or give me a little pickup on a dark day. What’s so wrong with that? If you don’t like nail art/Ugg boots/costume jewelry/Hawaiian print shirts, then don’t buy them! Simple. So simple, in fact, that an uneducated ignoramus nail art fan can come up with it!

And if you’re slamming people who (you perceive) are into nail art because you don’t like “their kind” as a whole, that is just pure cowardice.  At least stand up and have the guts to admit you’re a racist and everything “those people” do disgusts you, and there is nothing “they” could do that you would approve of.  Because it’s really not about their nails at all, is it?

Phew. Rant over. I usually don’t focus on the negative, but I was just so appalled. Just a little note for the prolific N-word users: I am moderating ALL comments.  If you want to post hateful/racist/classist comments, my blog will not be a vehicle for you.

ETA: For the folks who contacted me and said I was taking nails as overly seriously as the original commenters on CNN, you’ve missed my point.  What really bothers me about these comments is not the fact that some people don’t like nail art. Of course it’s not for everyone and I don’t expect it to be. People call my nails tacky all the time (and I tend to agree with them, LOL!)  What really bothered me is how the commenters stereotype a whole group of people as being ghetto-dwelling, unemployable, uneducated, Obama voters demanding free birth control because they like nail art. THAT’S the real issue.

Next post will be back to our regularly scheduled sparkly fabulousness.

Some Quick and Easy DIY Valentine’s Nail Art Ideas

Hello all! With Valentine’s Day fast approaching (with Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras all stuffed into the same week!), I have a couple last minute nail art ideas for you. For those of you who are still a wee bit hesitant about the nail art, I recommend just doing one accent nail. It’s a great way to be festive without going too over-the-top. Paint 9 nails in a simple color of your choice, then do art on one finger! I can paint both hands with some fairly intricate art, but this is a skill that takes forever to get good at. Unless you invest a lot of time into it, your dominant hand will never look quite as good as the other one.

Here’s a nail wheel of some simple ideas. I made most of the hearts with a dotting tool- check out my mini-tutorial here if you’re not familiar with these. I also used some tiny heart confetti from a craft store. If you add these to a wet coat of nail polish, then seal with a clear topcoat, you should get a day’s wear out of them.

Left to right: Little envelope sealed with a kiss (this is not my idea, I’ve seen it floating around but it’s really cute and easy!), French heart cutout, pink and black hearts with dots and silver confetti, Love pills with tiny heart confetti, a simple lace doily, and a heart with dots and flourishes. If these looks are a bit too much, you can also get tiny heart rhinestones from the craft store and stick one on for the day.

And, for those of you who aren’t feeling the love:

Just for fun, of course. I’m a happy old married lady now but I can’t resist a good old anti-Valentine’s manicure.

And since V-Day is tomorrow, here’s my (totally unsolicited) love advice: If someone is a creep to you once, they’re gonna be creepy again. I’m not talking about innocent creepiness, like forgetting a date or buying a hideous present or blurting out the wrong thing. I mean: hurting your feelings on purpose, playing games, and doing the hot/cold thing where one day they’re in love with you and the next they ignore you. Lose those people with a quickness! Don’t sit around waiting for them to change- ship out and distract yourself with something fabulous instead. Oh, and don’t “be friends” afterwards except in the rarest of circumstances. If they disrespect you in a romantic relationship, they are not going to become wonderful and caring people in a friendship. Spare yourself future drama and run like you’re on fire! Then paint your nails with something dark and vampy.

Happy Chinese New Year, Everyone!

It’s officially the Year Of The Snake as Chinese New Year is underway! It’s a multi-day celebration with lots of food, family and fun, but being alone with just the Mr. in a foreign land, I painted a festive mani and ate a Cadbury bar instead. 

There’s a gold leaf nail, a snake, the Chinese character for “prosperity” and a 2013/snakey nail on the thumb, along with plenty of gold glitter.

I wish everyone a happy and safe Snake year! 恭禧發財!

And..Tuesday is Mardi Gras, then Thursday is Valentine’s Day. Phew, this is quite a packed week of fun (?) events. Here’s a little bit of Mardi Gras dazzle- you will be the queen of the ball with these on. Heck, you may not even need any beads.

Let the good times roll!

China Glaze Hologlam 2013 Swatches And Review

Howdy everyone! I went out last night and picked up a few more shades from the upcoming China Glaze Hologlam collection. This particular collection has been hotly anticipated and I wanted to see if it lived up to my expectations.

First, the swatches, then my overall review. There were 3 shades I didn’t get, since they were sort of silvery/gray and I have quite a few of these in my collection already, so I focused on the more unique colors. I reviewed two of the pink shades here as well.

Here we go!

Sci Fly By. A metallic light blue with a good color shift to it. The formula on this was was a bit more watery than the others,for some reason, but it had good coverage after 3 thin coats. Very futuristic looking and one of the flashier shades of the collection.

When Stars Collide. This is a warm toned purple with the strongest holo in the collection, I think. This one has a very obvious color shift. I like darks, so this is fine with me, but if you prefer more girly colors, then this might be a miss since it’s pretty bold on.  Reminds me of old velvet movie theater seats, for some reason!

Galactic Gray. This is not gray at all, it’s much more brown, but it does lean a bit gray in the photos. This has a pretty nice color shift even in lower light- it looks more holo than frosted. It seems the darker tones can show off holos better, for some reason. Maybe with the pale shades, there’s not enough contrast or something. It is kind of an unusual color for spring but I’m liking it. Not a dupe for OPI’s My Private Jet, but we have seen a brown holo before.  I prefer the formula on this one, and OPI is no longer cruelty-free, so this will be my go-to brown holo from now on.

Not In This Galaxy. A warm pinky coral that has a pretty good color shift in it, especially in brighter lights. I’m not in love with the particular color but this has a better holo effect than the paler shades. It’s brighter, too, so it’s a bit more fun to wear.

OMG A UFO. If I saw a UFO, I’d try to shut my thoughts off to avoid detection by the aliens, but I guess the folks at China Glaze figured panic was more in order. This is a swampy kind of khaki green, which could have been really fascinating if it had a stronger holo.  It looks more like a frost to me in most lights since the holo in this one is very fine. I would have liked this to be a touch darker- it seems somehow like it’s not saturated enough, for some reason. But that’s just my personal preference. It just doesn’t really ‘pop’ enough for my taste.

Don’t Be A Lunat-Tic. This is kind of a pale silvered seafoam-green. It has a flash of holo-goodness in the brightest of lights, but looks like a frost to me in most lighting. Pretty but leans very close to a silver. It might look better on other skintones, but on my ghostly white hands, it just looks a bit washed out.

The formula on these was pretty good- not streaky or clumpy, and had a pretty fast dry time, but 2-3 coats will definitely be necessary for the full effect. You can also try layering them over a similar creme shade to build up the color. Topcoat is also a must to get the surface smooth for maxiumum holo goodness.

I’m just not as in love with these as I thought I’d be. The paler shades seem a bit washed out, like they are under-saturated and the holo is a bit weak, so they just look like metallics or frosts unless you look closely in bright light. I’d like to see a collection of holos with really rich, saturated shades, but this is unfortunately not it. It’s definitely worth a look, though, and if you like dark shades, When Stars Collide is a unique shade with very nice application and good color shift.

I *may* be sacrificing these babies to my franken  palette to see if I can come up with something I really like, but I have no idea what the results will be. I’m guessing I can tint the paler shades with a sheer polish but no work on what the end result will be. If it’s either awesome or hideous, I’ll share the results.