Happy Halloween: Cracked and bloody nails!

cracked and "bloody" nails

cracked and "bloody" nails

cracked and "bloody" nails

Doesn't he look good in orange?

Painted Hand

First time painting my face.

Zombie Nails

As Halloween approaches, I like to play around more with the gruesome inspired concepts. I cranked these Zombie Nails out just using what I had on hand, the tools included the use of nail polish, a makeup sponge wedge, a Q-tip, and a sharp edge of a disposable chopstick (you can use any tool at your disposal). This design takes very little time and this effect is great for using your natural nails! 

Step 1: Apply a base coat.
Step 2: Apply a neutral skin tone, I used my favorite french manicure base, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength #62 'I do'.
Step 3: Apply a thick coat of glow in the dark nail polish, which you can find at most seasonal Halloween Costume Branches or online.
Step 4: Take an dark red color, I recommend shades that are darker than an oxblood polish, and apply it to the edges of your nail and to the cuticle, vary the portions of the nails that get painted darkly, as you don't want the nails to look uniform. This gives the effect of aging blood. I used a darker shade that resembles a shade of eggplant by OPI 'Lincoln Park After Dark'.
Step 5: take a more realistic blood red shade of polish, as I mentioned earlier I only used what I had on hand. I used #38 Sacred Scarlet by Sally Hansen.
Step 6: Bring out your makeup sponge wedge and lightly dab over the red to spread the shade and start building texture.
Step 7: Take a Q-tip and run it along a fresh layer of polish to allow some of the fibers to stick to the nail before pressing them down with the sponge wedge to set. I used this on two of the nails that I left all red, as if the finger nail was missing. If you do this, I recommend cutting the nail as short as possible, I left my nails uniform, as I will be using another design for Halloween.
Step 8: Apply it on top of the darker shade in blood like streaks, I used a variation of a red deco art polish and the polish used in step 5. Use your imagination and whatever you feel looks good.
Step 9: Re-apply the glow in the dark nail polish on different parts of the nail, especially on the areas of the nail left nude. This gives a milky and almost bone like sheen. When you apply each layer remember to keep it thick, as you can go over it with a scraping tool (I used a chopstick) to create rivets and cracks. Afterwards, fill in the cracks with the bright red polish to give the effect of a fresh wound.
Step 10: Remember to use the sponge to keep building up a texture, as if you had ripped off part of the nail.
Step 11: Touch up on areas that that might have been dulled by the glow in the dark. Or go over a part of the red nail with the glow in the dark to create the allusion of bruising under the nail. Be creative!
Step 12: Apply a top coat and your done!

Please share or comment if you found this post helpful!

October Geometric Shape Nails

When October comes around, I'm always playing around with new nail designs. Because its always fun coming up with something unexpected. It's a great time to test my creativity. I work free hand, so for a first trail and error, the white triangles came out okay. I had fun with the color scheme and plan on experimenting more with geometric designs in the future. For those interested, here is my process: 

Step 1: Apply base coat

Step 2: Choose a base color, I chose orange.

Step 3: Next take your next color, I picked a reddish brown polish by Elf, and taking your brush start from the cuticle and swipe down in one motion. Make sure the brush bristles fan wide and stay flat. I centering the brown bar and kept it wide at the tip of the nail. This allows the orange base color to frame the nail, almost like a geometric manicure.

Step 4: Where my thumb ends and the nail tip begins, I took the 'Smoky Brown' by Elf polish, and covered only the brown bar. 

Step 5: Apply a different polish to the tip of each nail. I like 'Twilight Rays' by Maybelline Color Show. Make sure to keep everything centered.

Step 6: Creating the dot. Dip the brush into your chosen color, I chose Revlon Top Speed #320 'Jaded' mint polish, and let a drop slide of the brush directly onto the nail. Then take a flat end of a chopstick (the disposable kind), and press lightly down so that the circle spreads wider and dries flat instead of raised.

Step 7: Afterwards take a white Art Deco brush or nail pen and free-hand an arrow, starting at the cuticle, with the point just meeting the mint dot. Then take a white polish, I used China Glaze's #023 'White on White' to fill in the triangular arrow, covering the orange and the brown bar.

Step 8: Apply the top coat.

Please share or leave a comment if you found this interesting or useful & enjoy!

geometric nails

geometric nails

geometric nails

Metallic Nails for Fall

Lazy day over here, just spending most of the day in bed. Tired of Waiting by 2PM playing in my head pleasantly.

 So what better way to pass the time, than to redo my nails?

I cleaned off yesterday's nail polish with wine tinted finger tips, and tried out Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear #220 Celeb City. It's a nice metallic silver. Metallics are one of those polishes that work all year round, but there is a certain appeal about wearing it during the Fall and Winter months.

Having said that, I'll be sticking to shades of oxblood, deep blues, teals, and purples. Neutrals, metallics, and of course, black.

What shades are you going to be sporting this fall/winter? What are some of your favorite metallic polishes? 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City

"I get tired of waiting. You know?"

"I get tired and go crazy as I wait for you."

"I'm still waiting for you. Oh yeah~"

Matte French Tips

When I was younger, my mom took me to my first manicure pedicure session. It was instant love on my part. I loved being able to choose any color, the pampering, and the sleek feel of the polish once dry. Every time after that, I would sit and watch the manicurist in detail. Gaining confidence that I could apply the same techniques to my self. More and more it became another artistic outlet for self expression. Which is partly why I took up nail art as a hobby, when I was first introduced to Korean and Japanese pop culture.

This afternoon I decided to play around with french tip matte nails, in a deep shade of eggplant. I used Lincoln Park After Dark by O.P.I. It didn't turn out exactly as planned. I haven't used matte finishes enough to really get a good feel for it, though I really like the ORLY top coat. And in the end I added a silver band, as I felt that the overall appearance looked too messy. I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener as a base, and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the top coat (for the silver band and tips only). The finished look is nearly black, and while it's a change, I will probably redo the nails sometime this week. I always leave the skin around my nails slightly messy as it normally comes off overnight, and no one really sees my nails. It's a different matter if it's for an event.

Overall, I value the practice. Because even if I'm not particularly fond of the end look, I enjoy creating designs.

Here's a look at the process and my results.

O.P.I Lincoln After Dark & ORLY Matte Top

Cleaned off the pre-existing nail colors.

Nail polish free nails.

Used my ORLY Cuticle Oil freebie.

Shaped with a rough file, since I misplaced my other one.

I keep my nails curved and then thoroughly wash and clean with warm water and soap.

Diamond Strength Nail Hardener by Sally Hansen, it's been through some rough times!

I use a hardener as a base coat. 

Other than cotton balls, I keep plenty of Q-tips handy.

The matte french tips before the silver band. They look so unfinished, lol!

Finished look!

Today

Textbooks arrived today. Fall classes start in two weeks. The first two books, being the Genki integrated course in elementary Japanese, with companion workbook. I love the sleek lightweight design of these textbooks. Flipping through the pages, the structure is different than that of my textbooks from high school. I'm looking forward to brushing up on my 日本語. 

It's been a dream of mine to gain fluency in Japanese for several years now, and the learning has been slow going. However, I have listened to Japanese audio and music, nearly daily, for the last six years. Granted it's mostly slang, but it's better than nothing.

Lastly, as I'm only taking two classes this semester, is the On Course textbook by Skip Downing. It's for a College Study Skills course. I'm especially interested in seeing if I can develop and utilize time management skills. My study skills up until now have been pretty non-existent, so any improvement would be a plus. 

"Today, I don't care. Cuz we wild, we rolling stones. Today I'm free like a wind. I'm rockin' my life away."
 — G-Dragon ft. Kim Jong Wan, Today

Well, hello there hiragana! O hisashiburi da ne.

Funny how the yellow seems to match the duvet.

Day by Day

This morning we ventured out as the sun was rising. The neighbor's cat stalking us openly as we tread to the car. We watch as the streak of grey runs off into the distance at the start of the car's engine. Tennis ball securely in mouth, we begin our walk through the park. Our path highlighted by sun-kissed plants and golden beams against the horizon. Air remains refreshingly cool as it lazily warms up to the brightness enveloping the day. We find unexpected encouragement as we walk along a quiet trail. The sky above stretches vastly as we head back home.

It was a good morning.

Mom, the cat is following us!