Hong Kong Haul- Part 1

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!

I Went To Hong Kong and All I Bought Was A Crate of Nail Polish

Hello all! I spent a fantastic weekend in Hong Kong and stayed at the lovely Peninsula Hotel. I’m a sucker for classical Asian colonial architecture and this place didn’t disappoint! I’m not really used to people turning down the covers and offering to unpack for me, but it was wonderful.  Everything was just perfect. I ate tons of great food (the Indian restaurant Tandoor is one of the best restaurants ever) and everywhere I turned, there was another tempting snack.  I’ve been to HK several times before and I always really enjoy it- it’s one of my favorite cities in Asia.  It’s much more multi-cultural than Japan and more exciting and boisterous.

I did get a hearty stash of nail polish, but I’m a little afraid to use it on my natural nails. I put some on my guy’s toenails to see what would happen. So far, nothing’s turned green or fallen off.  The ladies  in Hong Kong believe in color and sparkle- greens, purples and neons and spectacular glitter bombs. One brand looked more professional than the others and I think I’ve seen it in Korea, but I’m a little afraid of some of the ultra-cheap glitter bombs  I got. I’ll put it on fake nails or maybe use them to give a mani to one of those mean ladies who laughed at me when I had food poisoning. (Just kidding). 

I’ll be posting some photos of the haul shortly and swatch them in the next few days. Glittahbombs away!

I’m Off To Hong Kong

Hello everyone! I’m off to Hong Kong and Macau for the weekend and I’m going to keep an eye out for new, sparkly polishes.  I’ll be back on Tuesday with some new glittery bits, I’m sure!

I need a little fresh inspiration and a break from the daily grind for sure.  OPI is releasing a Hong Kong-themed collection next season, but unfortunately it won’t coincide with this trip.  Maybe I’ll just have to go back again!

Thrills in the Beverly Hills Wagon Train

I think I’ll be re-working that Opulent Cloud franken from yesterday as it seems it was pretty far off the original color, but for now I’ve got a fun shade that I like a lot. It’s a layer franken- no mixing involved!

First layer: China Glaze Wagon Trail.  It looks black in my crummy photo but it is a magical, deep khaki color. My indoor night photos definitely don’t do it justice.

Then, a layer of OPI Thrills In Beverly Hills copper glitter topcoat. I was afraid it would look too Halloweeny but I kind of like it! It reminds me of  leaves falling on a deep pond.

Then, a coat of Essie’s Matte About You.

I didn’t buy any of the nail polishes from the recent MAC Style Black collection, and I was thinking of buying Seriously Hip (it was sold out, and I just didn’t like the name for some reason), but I think this franken satisfied me for now.

Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud Franken

This is a request from ages back- sorry it took so long!

Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud was released sometime earlier this year in the HD collection (don’t ask me why they tried to make it sound all hi-tech, it’s all just nail polish) in a range of bright colors, and a somewhat random grayish blue which is Opulent Cloud.  I could be wrong on the details, as there is no Sally Hansen here in Japan.

Long story short, lots of ladies were looking for this gray and couldn’t find it. It looked intriguing to me too, but Sally Hansen is dodgy on their animal testing policies, so I decided it was best to give it a pass. Then I got a franken request for it, so let’s see what I can come up with…

In some photos, it looks almost like a bluish steel gray, and in some photos, it looks like it leans more towards taupe. I decided to split the difference between the two and mix a franken somewhere in the middle.

The index finger is slightly more blue than the others. This was actually not too hard to make.  First, I mixed up a pea-sized about of medium gray from black and white.  Then I added a quarter-sized amount of Misa On The Edge, a medium blue creme. This gave me a slightly lighter bluish-gray creme.  From there, I added (gosh, the name label is gone but I think it’s Orly Golden Halo) to the mix. It’s a slightly pinkish color with a really strong gold flash. I painted the index finger with that, then added one drop of Essie Lady Godiva (creme chocolate brown) to the mix and painted the rest of my fingers.

Anyone have the real color? As you can see, the original looks very different in different lights. I personally like the bluish rather than the taupe but that’s just me.  But for a medium neutral shade with a gold flash, this is satisfying enough for me!

Lincoln Park Before Dark Franken

I love OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark, which I got in a lovely package from a friend recently. It’s a really dark purple that looks almost black. I love dark colors, but today I wanted to show you how easy it is to franken a new color!

I know there’s a few folks who are afraid to franken, but today’s photos should convince you how it how easy it is!

Here is a simple franken: 3 drops of white to 7 drops of Lincoln Park After Dark. It yields a true neutral purple, like Grimace at McDonalds or cartoon grapes:

Just to show you what a difference a few drops of white can make, here’s the franken with the original LPAD on the tips:

To mix a new color without ruining the originals, use a brush from an empty bottle of clear polish or an old paintbrush if need be. Drip the dark color onto a palette or a muffin tin (I prefer a silicone muffin tin because I can just turn it inside out after the polish in it dries and it pops right out- no cleaning!) Then drip a few drops of white into the dark, mix with your brush, and apply! A new shade without altering the originals.

And because I just can’t resist glitter:

I topped it all off with a coat of Sinful Colors Blue and Purple Glitter.

Berry Jelly

Here is a nice berry jelly for fall that I made by adding one drop of medium blue (Misa On The Edge) to 20 drops of a creme red, and then one drop of dove gray to the resulting mix.  From there, I added about 10 drops of clear polish.

It’s more cool-toned purplish than it looks in the photo, but my camera gets wonky with blue tones.  Not a particularly unique color, but handy to make from straight-up red if you want a berry tone once in a while. I don’t really wear berries enough to warrant buying a whole bottle.

Nice, but it needs a little something else. How about some foil-y stuff?

This is technically “foil” but on a clear background. I got it from Glitterati Foil, but if you order from them, be prepared to be patient. Out of 30 foils I ordered, 8 were wrong or missing.  They were eventually sent out, but it was disappointing. However, I haven’t seen these kind of foils widely available anywhere else.

Ooh! Transparent foil!

The result:

It reminds me of an abstract painting. The same result could have been obtained with a striping brush, but I’m lazy. This took all of a minute and gave the nails an interesting look.

Migrating…

Nope, I’m not a Canadian goose, but I am thinking of migrating from WordPress, my current blog hoster, to Blogger.

WordPress doesn’t allow Javascript or Flash code to be attached to the blog, so no Google Friend Follower or other fun social tools (except for Twitter, which I don’t use because I’d bore my followers to death.) Plus Blogger has better blog templates and seems easier to use.

Anyone have any comments about a blog service they use and like? Or dislike? I’d like to hear what everyone thinks of his or her current blog hoster and go from there. I could also buy my own domain name, but dang, nails have cost me enough already. I’m not sure I want to add to that sum!

GR8 Pink Chocolate

Late last night, I heard a rustling from my nail polish stash….Upon further investigation, I found China Glaze GR8 and Orly Pink Chocolate in a very compromising position!

The offspring of half  GR8 and half Pink Chocolate  with a topcoat of gold glitter (CG Golden Enchantment) looks like this:

It yielded a warm , slightly dusty burnt sienna color that reminds me of New Mexico for some reason.

GR8 is a good polish to mix with cremes- the results can be very surprising!

Rusty Feather

I wanted to get a little more autumnal color on today, so here’s something a bit more seasonal and also super easy:

This is MAC Reflects Rust glitter and I just mixed it with some clear polish to get the shade above. It was opaque in two coats and smooth.

But, it needed a little something else, so I busted out a large Fauxnad plate that has a feather pattern.

The feather took up more space on the nail than I intended, but it was kind of a fun pattern. It makes me feel like a ’20s flapper. The Fauxnad is definitely tricky to use and I smudged my pinkie, which is why I’m not showing it to you here!