Lattice Mani

Erm...my sister called this the "spiderman-i". Lol! -__-"


Anyway, this lattice design was really simple to do since it was pretty much just straight lines of beads criss-crossing the nails. However, it was extremely time-consuming and actually took me 3 hours just to complete my left hand. >_<

This mani was inspired by a design in Nail Up. They used sequins for the entire design, but I didn't have all the different sizes needed so I just used what I had and what I thought would look good. : )

Some more pictures:

Here are the three easy steps to complete the mani! (We shall just skip the million tiny steps that occurred in between. Lol!)

1. Paint the base colour. This could be pretty much anything, just whatever that makes you happy!
2. Glue on the sequins so that they are aligned accordingly for the lattice pattern. I also used pearls for this mani....rhinestones can also be used as an alternative. : )
3. Glue on the silver beads in between the sequins to complete the design. It's as simple as connecting the dots! (Why didn't I think of this earlier?! Life would've been so much more "fun"! Lol!)

Visee BL 900

A frosted light blue polish with blue and silver shimmer. : ) I don't recall any problems with the application but the polish is very sheer and needs four coats to be opaque. I used this for some nail art that I did and thought I should mind as well swatch it for you guys. Teeheehee! I'll post the nail art pics as soon as I have them all edited! (Maybe later on today?) n_n

P.S. And OMG! Look at the super cute bottle too! :D

My First KOTD! : )

Here is my first KOTD. The sun was out yesterday so I thought I ought to stay home and work on some nail art. Lol. Isn't this really ironic? Shouldn't I be out enjoying the last bit of sunshine that we're gonna have here in Vancouver instead of staying home to paint my nails?!

Heh, I guess not. XD I just thought I should swatch more colours and take more sunny photos for you guys before it officially starts raining non-stop here. Afterall, I do live in a city where the rain falls consecutively for half the year. *sigh*

Anyway, I used Missha The Style Nail Polish in VL001 for the base colour. A very lovely lavender creme. Bottle colour can be acheived in two coats, but I used three in the pictures just because. : ) However, the formula was very thick and chalky and the stiff bristles on the brush made it very difficult to paint around the cuticles. : ( Nonetheless, I still love the polish for its gorgeous colour.

For the Konad design, I used plate M71 along with Wet n Wild Wild Shine in French White Creme. I originally used this one to paint the polka dots as well but after the first three dots I realized it was way too opaque. Since I was going for a more subtle look, I went for a sheerer white and used Essie Marshmallow instead. :D (A must have for French manicures!)

Some more pictures:

And here is a lil step by step pictorial of how it was done. : )

1. Paint your nails with your favourite colour.
2. Stamp the lacey design on.
3. Add polka dots!

Look at how easy this was! Only three simple steps! I think I have officially fallen in love with Konads! I've had my plates for quite a while now but didn't get a chance to do a full manicure with them until now. Can't wait to try out more designs! Loooveeeeeee!

Anna Sui 923

Are you bored of seeing all those bottle pics? I know I am! Lol! I had to see something swatched on nails to keep myself happy and sane. XD (I guess my haul pics will have to wait. Teeheehee!)

I've been wanting to show you guys this one for a long time, but didn't get around to editing these photos until now. This is Anna Sui 923, a sheer turquoise polish that's packed with green, gold and holographic glitter. :D
I love the colour combination in this one! It's so pretty and original because there just aren't too many glittery polishes in amazing colours like turquoise available out there. I wonder if China Glaze will be releasing something similar in their new collection? Hmm...
The formula on this is very smooth and easy to apply; I had no application issues at all. Four coats were used in the pictures for bottle colour. Since it's so sheer, you can always use it as a glitter top coat and layer it over other polishes for a more sparkly effect. Like all other Anna Sui products, 923 is also scented with their famous rose perfume. n_n

Here's a close-up of the glitter. : )

My Hong Kong Haul Part IV: The Purples

From left to right:

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail VL001- This actually looks more like a pink now that I look at it again. Let's just call it light fuchsia pink! :D
Tony Moly Partylover OC03- red-violet creme. I originally got this hoping that it might be a dupe for Chanel Cassis. I wanted to get it for my sister since her bottle is almost used up. (It's her favourite pedi colour!) However, after comparing the two, I realized that I was a bit off since Cassis is darker and a tad more blue.
Tony Moly Partylover OC11- dark purple creme
Shu uemura C891- another dark purple creme, this one looks as if it has more red in it. It's also darker and more pigmented than OC11.

Skin Food Jojoba Pure Nail VI003- pale lavender with holographic shimmer

Sasatinnie PU001- lilac creme

Pupa Ref. 2357 47- dark purple jelly with silver microglitter

Sasatinnie GL002- dark purple jelly base with silver shimmer and opal flakes.

My Hong Kong Haul Part III: The Peaches, Pinks, and Oranges

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail OR002- pastel orange with subtle shimmer

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail OR005- another pastel orange, but this one has more a bit more red in it

Revlon Peach Nectar 913- I noticed that this is in Revlon's core polish line, but I've never seen it in Vancouver. How weird!

DHC Nail Dressing OR29- sheer peach with holographic glitter and silver shimmer

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail PK005- peachy pink creme

Sasatinnie PK003- another peachy pink creme : )

DHC Nail Dressing PK28- sheer light pink with holographic glitter and shimmer

DHC Nail Dressing PK27- sheer medium pink with holographic glitter and shimmer

Tagged for 10 Random Facts : )

Thank you to Kae @The Hungry Asian, Delaynee @Dee's Stuff, Celine @Le Bazar de Celinette, and Chocaddict @Mon Coin a Moua for tagging me. It has been years since I've done one of these. I had a hard time coming up with my ten random facts because I always thought there wasn't anything too interesting about me. However, I realized that I haven't posted too much about myself on this blog, so here is a little something for you to get to know me better. Everyone elses' random facts were all really interesting, I'm afraid mine will sound dry and boring, but here it goes...

1. Aside from collecting nail polish, I also collect coat hangers. I like to have them arranged in colour along with my clothes. I have been on a continuous search to find colourful coat hangers ever since I picked up a bunch of them at a dollar store in Sapporo. I believe this obsession started because of my love for colours, it's probably the same reason why I started collecting nail polishes as well. :D

2. Exactly two years ago, I broke my right index finger after a really heavy piece of metal fell and slammed on it. As a reflex action, I immediately pulled my finger away which caused my entire finger nail to come off right from the root. I shall not get into the details, but let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight. The doctor at the emergency told me that since the nail bed was severely damaged, my nail is never going to grow back like how it was before again. I was so upset, I couldn't stop crying the entire night. Lol! However, very fortunately, my nail grew back out approximately seven months later looking perfectly normal and without any ridges at all. I'm sure this was definitely a miracle! :D

3. I love Japanese Kit Kats! They release the most interesting limited edition flavours every season.

4. I have three very wonderful sisters. (They're all older than me!) I didn't ask for their permission to post this picture, but everyone looks pretty in it so let's hope they won't get too mad at me even when they see this. n_n From left to right: Me, Lily, Wendy, and Leslie

Edit: Heh, sorry I had to take the pic off. XD

5. While I was in Hong Kong this summer, I did something totally out of my character. I don't usually exercise nor do I play sports, but I went to learn Wing Chun, a form of Chinese martial arts that specializes in close-range combat. I don't really know what made me go take kung fu lessons, but I'll have to admit that it was certainly a lot of fun! :D

6. I have three Malteses, actually they're more like Lily's. *cough*cough* They're absolutely the most adorable doggies on this planet. From left to right: Mui Mui, Momo, and BB : )

7. I love homemade cheesecakes! In fact, you must try this recipe if you haven't already. White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. It's from Allrecipes.com, definitely the Best. Cheesecake. Ever. :D

8. My name is actually pronounced [wan] as in can, fan, man, pan, van...hahaha I think you get the point; it's pronounced with a short "a". I have been constantly correcting other people throughout the past 20 years of my life since the majority of them tend to pronounce it as [won].


9. Others have always commented on how pale I am. This is in perfect correlation to my name because according to the dictionary, wan means pale, sickly, and lacking natural colour. Teeheehee! n_n

10. I love chocolates! There was this one time where I spent nearly five hours googling up a chocolate cafe located in Tokyo. They make a huge variety of 56 different flavours from Maccha to Lavender to even Basil. The flavours are named either after the place of origin from where the cocoa beans were cultivated, the variety of spice and herb that was infused into them, the type of sweetener or milk used, or the type of flavour added. My very lovely sisters got these for me when they went to Tokyo last, last fall. n_n

I don't want to pick out specific blogs so I'd like to tag all of you who would like to do this and have not done it yet. :D

My Hong Kong Haul Part II: The Blues!

From left to right:

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail BL001- baby blue creme. Edit: This one actually has subtle shimmer in it, but it's hardly noticable.
DHC Nail Dressing GR30- light turquoise jelly with holographic glitter and silver shimmer. This one has the perfect finish for gradient manis! I can't wait to try it out, maybe I'll even do a tutorial on it if the sun is out tomorrow. Let's keep our fingers crossed! :D
Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail BL004- this is actually more of a turquoisey blue in real life instead of the sky blue shown above

Missha BL02- deep sky blue creme
Sasatinnie BU004- navy blue creme
Pupa Ref. 2357 46- sapphire jelly with silver microglitter

I'm back!

Yay! I'm finally back home in Vancouver. I apologize for the lack of posts while I was gone. I can't believe I only posted four times in the month of August. Sigh...I feel so bad. : (

Well...the good news is that I will definitely be able to blog more often now that I'm back home. n_n Anyway, I had so much fun while I was in Hong Kong; it totally didn't feel like that I was there for the entire month. I was really happy to see my parents and my eldest sister (I have three older sisters ^_^) and enjoyed spending quality time with them. It's an absolutely wonderful feeling to be with family.<3 I wanted to take my semester off and stay in Hong Kong with them for longer but I figured that it was almost impossible because my parents would never let me. Lol!

I went shopping a lot since everything there was relatively cheap compared to Vancouver. I bought a lot of clothing, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, and of course...NAIL POLISH! Thankfully, the sun was out today and I managed to sneak outside and take pictures of all the goodies I got. I will be posting them up in the next few days so please stay tuned! : )

To get things started, here are the GREENS! : D

From left to right:

Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail BL 002- pastel yellow-green creme
Skin Food Milk Creamy Nail BL 003- mint green creme that's approximately two or three shades bluer than Peppermint Patti
Ettusais GR1- pastel jade green creme? Do you call this jade? Lol, I'm so confused. XD

Majolica Majorca GR444- apple green jelly with dark green and holographic glitter. This one has a striping brush in it for nail art! : D
Skin Food Nail Vita BL 514- medium turquoise creme
Majolica Majorca GR319- dark green with lots of blue, gold, and green shimmer

Docile #129- dark green shimmer that looks as if it's almost frosted when swatched
Aristocrat 016- forest green creme. This one is a one-coater!
PUPA Ref. 2371 51- greyed out army green creme. I wonder whether this would be a possible dupe for RBL Orbis Non Sufficit created by the very amazing Steph @The Polish Addict. Haha, but I guess I'll never find out because I can NOT afford another RBL nail polish. Lol! XD

I don't think I'll be able to swatch all of these anytime soon, but if there's a specific colour that you would like to see swatched, please feel free to let me know! : )

Majolica Majorca GR140

A very pretty mint green nail polish with subtle glitter. Unfortunately, the glitter is very hard to capture on camera but you can still kinda see it in the second picture. : ) GR 140 was released in this year's Majolica Majorca's (please click for link) Spring/Summer Collection called Innocent Pleasure. The formula is a bit streaky but definitely doable. I think I used four coats in the swatches if I remember correctly. n_n

Edit: This is the closest colour to Peppermint Patti that I have in my collection. However, it's not an exact dupe as it is lighter and has more yellow in it. I will try to post a comparison picture of the two polishes when I return home next week. :D