Rainbow

I can't believe this was the first time I put rainbows on my nails. I guess I thought I didn't have big enough nails.

I used a dotting tool to messily draw jagged lines. Looks rather childish up close in a big picture, but it was really cool in real life. Believe me.

Strawberry Ice Cream with Sprinkles

Yes, I'm back. I've been busy, but I'm back now. I intend to continue posting on this blog by keeping posts short. I'm not going to write a lot. Maybe I'll just post pictures without captions. We'll see.

Anyway, this is strawberry ice crem with sprinkles. Doesn't it look delicious?

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

I'm so sorry for spamming you with pictures, but how awesome is this? I love what comes out of me when I'm inspired. Artwork on my fingernails.

Yes, I'm complimenting myself. I'm shameless.

I seem to be totally infatuated with a male individual of my species. MY species! Believe it or not, this is the first time this has happened. Before this, I've only fallen in love with cats and dogs. Never before have I wanted a man to be mine.

So congratulate me, I feel like a teenage girl! I finally know what all those girls in secondary school were talking about. Personal growth! Woohoo!

I named this after Queen's song, Crazy Little Thing Called Love. "This thing called love, I just can't handle it." I really can't handle this feeling. I can't stand the way my heart flips when I see him after a long time. I can't stand having to avoid him because we both know and it's so awkward. I can't stand the fact that I will never have him. Not even for a little while.

Fuck. I hope I get over this soon.

Studs

This was inspired by a bag that I saw in a shop. (By inspired, I mean I totally copied the pattern.) It was a white faux leather bag with colourful fabric circles fastened onto its face with silver studs. I almost bought it, but I was rather poor at the time, so I left the shop without it. Now I'm glad, because although I love its colours, its shape and size were totally irregular and I would never have used it. 

Pretty, though, isn't it? The thumb is my favourite. 16 studs! I can't tell you how much pleasure it gives me just to look at pictures of it. Oh, I love my nails.

Venom Claws

Yeah, claws again. Green this time, so that they look venomous. That's how I felt when I painted them. Toxic, dangerous to others. I sometimes think that that's why I wear bright colours, to warn people to stay away like frogs, snakes and insects do.

Isn't the colour pretty? It reflects gold. You can't really see it on my nails in these pictures but it shows up in the bottle. Maybe I shouldn't have used a black base. I'll try it on other colours.

And yes, I showed you my chipped polish. My fingernails are always painted but never perfect. What are you gonna do?

Cookie Monster

So, the hiatus has ended a little earlier than I predicted. I've got a new computer. And it's blue just like the cookie monster.

I love cookies. Just like the cookie monster. I wanted to paint a cookie on my ring finger, but I didn't have the right colours and didn't feel like getting my acrylic paint and mixing. So, all monsters.

And yes, the picture quality is bad and there's a big chip on my middle finger. I didn't manage to take a picture until about 5 days in. School, ya know.

Dark Side versus Bright Side

I know, I've been away too long. I've got a few designs accumulated which I haven't written about. I've been meaning to, but school work, sickness and indolence got in the way. I'll get to it this week, though. Hopefully.

We all have dark sides and bright sides. Side by side. This is how I expressed mine. Can you see how the dark side glows with tiny blue and purple glitter? And how the bright side is dulled by gray shimmer? Sometimes dark sides aren't very dark and bright sides aren't very bright.

And yeah, I messed up. There are dark spots on the bright side of my left middle finger. And my right pinkie is smudged. I can make up some philosophical crap that makes them tie in with the whole concept, but I won't. Just ignore them, okay. :)

Kitten Love

 Kitten Love

You're probably wondering what this has to do with kittens. Well, it's inspired by this photo:

Yeah. I just took some of the colours in this picture and put them on my nails. I am SO creative, I know.

It's my favourite picture of all time. Look how sweet and adoring he is! I just woke up one day and he was lying up there like that. And since my phone was already in my hand after I switched off the alarm, I clicked the camera on and snapped a picture.

This still happens a lot. My cat loves to sleep near my head in the morning. Sometimes on my head. Many times, he sits on my chest and rests his face on mine. That was so sweet when he was young, it still is, but now he's so heavy. He's almost 5 kilograms heavy. He's a big boy now. <3

Cupcakes

Yes, I've finally painted cupcakes on my nails. I've wanted to for a long time, but only figured out how to do it recently. I'm in it for the colours, you see, not pictures. I'm not an artist, just a noob that likes colours.

Once I found one picture of cupcakes on nails on a blog, I kept finding them everywhere. On nail blogs, YouTube, and Flickr. Apparently, it's a popular design. 

But this was not only inspired by those. It's inspired by my friend Rev, who is the best baker I know. We sort of started baking together a few years ago, and she has progressed from a noob who bakes with friends to an expert baker, decorating and selling cakes and entering contests, while I'm still baking all kinds of chocolate chip cookies. Her cupcakes are almost literally orgasmic. You know, I think she should start a baking blog. *Overt hint*

I didn't manage to take good pictures. These pictures are crap. But it's okay, because I was going to paint cupcakes in different colours another time, anyway. I want some chocolate cupcakes. Yummm.

Claws of Gold

Fingernails are protective gear, tools and weapons, all in one. I've been using them for decoration for years, so I haven't been using them as tools or weapons, in order to preserve the decoration.

It just occurred to me that it doesn't have to be one or the other. I can decorate my nails and then use them as tools or weapons. That's why I haven't cut them. They're so long now.

Isn't the gold just stunning? Well, in this picture it isn't as impressive as it should be, but imagine it more bright and sparkly. It's tiny gold glitter particles suspended densely in clear nail polish. Two coats makes it totally opaque. It looks like I have claws of gold.

Unlike gold, though, my nails aren't soft. They're hard and strong. Ideal to use as tools or weapons.

Sari Stripes

I saw a woman wearing a stripy sari in these colours and I couldn't stop looking at it. So of course, I had to put it on my nails. Pretty, isn't it? The colours are spot-on because I just happened to have them in my collection. I love my nail polish collection. 

And yes, the black lines are jagged. I used a thin brush which I'm not used to yet. Maybe I should have just used scotch tape. And if you think those lines are uneven, take a look at the nails of my right hand:

Oh, man. I need more practice.

And why am I holding an orange? I was about to eat it, and wanted to take a picture of my nails before I use them to tear away its skin. Loodie Loodie Loodie has a helpful tutorial teaching us how to peel an orange with a spoon, so as not to ruin nice nails, but I just can't be bothered to do all that. My nails are always protected with thick layers of top coat hard as glass, anyway. No orange peel can hurt my nail polish.

School Girl Sassy

School Uniform Blue & White 

Recently, I got back in touch with a friend from secondary school on Facebook. That reminded me of the five long years I spent in a uniform.

You know, I sometimes miss those days, when I had 2 sets of the same outfit to wear to school. Now, there are so many decisions I have to make in the morning. I can't wake up, throw on a uniform, chuck some pens and files in a bag and leave for school (late) any more. I have to decide what to wear.

While I spent most of the five years feeling angry and left out, as stereotypical teenagers do in cliched television shows, there were high points. Like having friends who were just close enough, listening to the radio and goofing off instead of studying during free period, shocking my friends and developing some style by cutting off my hair, eating french fries and Snickers for lunch, eating ice cream and reading in the school library, trying to rebel by wearing a stud in my nose and six studs in my ears, and getting away with it so easily that it wasn't even fun. Going to school ridiculously late and sleeping during class, not doing any homework and playing games on my phone during lessons, and getting away with all of it because I got good grades and spoke well. Damn, those teachers were no match for me.

Also, I found a picture of myself in secondary school. Look!

Adorable, I know.

Red Points

Red Points

After I took off the black polish with red glitter, I still felt red. And a bit violent. Thus, the points. Haha.

I used scotch tape to make the points. I didn't aim right and hit the centre of my nails every time, but you get the picture. I love using scotch tape to get straight lines, it's just so easy. I've put a roll of it in my nail supply drawer. Speaking of nail supplies, let's digress for a moment.

I bought nail files online. Very pretty but second-rate nail files. Take a look:

I've got fifty of them! I won't have to buy new nail files for ages and ages. Which is good, because although I love buying nail polish, I hate buying accessories. Files, orange sticks, base coats, top coats. They're just so boring to buy. 

Anyway, back to the interesting part.

Red is one of my most favourite colours. I rarely wear it on my nails, though, because it's quite cliché. But when I do, I like it to be intense. When I use metallic reds, I use a red base colour to boost the redness. 

And even then, the cheap polishes I use may not turn out very red. That's when the expensive, quality top coat I use comes in. Look how much brighter it makes the red polish:

 Amazing, isn't it? It's like they're different colours. I had so much fun watching the colours change. From dull, subdued, pinkish red to bright, intense, orangey red. Yummmm.

Back To Black

Yes, I've done it. I've painted my nails black. But don't worry, I'm not trying to repress any feelings. The absence of colour is just as significant as the presence of it.

So what does black signify? Rage. I've felt so much anger the past few days, and I didn't have any other way to express it. All I could do was paint my nails a thick, flat, powerful, unyielding black. That's the colour of my wrath.

But I didn't leave my nails just black, because my fury dissipated immediately. Which was what I was hoping for, actually. I felt so relieved that I didn't even bother taking a picture of my plain black nails for this blog. They looked so boring, you wouldn't want to see them, anyway.

As you have already seen, I added red glitter to my nails. Red is for desperation. That's the other thing I've been feeling lately. And all my life. It glows among all the dark thoughts.

I didn't file my nails to shape them before painting them. I didn't bother to cover my nails fully with polish or try to be neat near the cuticles. I slathered my top coat onto them sloppily and let the polish shrink and chip at the edges. I got them scuffed while scrubbing cats' dishes  at the SPCA. They look dull and damaged and disregarded, which is how I'm feeling right now.

The feeling is passing, though. Come back to see how I feel next.

Ombre

According to Chloe's Nails, painting the nails of one hand different shades of the same colour, from the lightest to the darkest, is called an Ombre manicure. I did some research (i.e. googling) and found out that "ombre" means "shades" in French. As in different shades of a colour.

I liked the idea, even though the nails on Chloe's Nails were done in black, white and gray. I just can't do that. Can't. I can't live in monochrome. I don't even have any gray nail polish.

So I decided to do it in blue and pink. Blue on one hand and pink on the other. Because those colours look good on me and I had enough shades of them. Plus, lately, I had been doing nail art that involved a lot of work and wanted to just slather on some nail polish and be done, for a change. This is how it looks:

Ombre Blue

Ombre Pink

Looks cool, doesn't it? I'm getting bored, though. I might change my nails very soon. Or maybe stamp them or put rhinestones on them or something.

I need more hobbies.

Paddle Pop

Very picture-heavy, but I know you love it. Paddle Pop! Colourful, swirly butterscotch-flavoured ice cream. I never loved the flavour, but I used to eat it all the time because of the colours. The best part of eating it is looking at the colours. Lick, look, lick, look. That's the way to do it.

It got messy while I was trying to interpret the look of the ice cream on my nails. I put big, fat drops of nail polish on my nails and swirled them using a toothpick. Of course, the polish overflowed and stuck onto my skin. And the polish on my nails was uneven and bumpy. But I use a top coat called Seche Vite, which makes everything even. And when they're smooth and even, my nails look just like Paddle Pop. I'm always hungry now.

I've changed my hair colour, too. It isn't faded reddish-brown anymore. It's a deep, dark, purple-based blue, which online reviews say will fade to a primary blue. I love it. I'll post a picture if I ever manage to capture a good one.

Cosmic

Cosmic

I have a fear of sleep and lately that has led to the development of a fear of night time. So I did this in an attempt to remind myself that I'm a tiny thing in the gigantic universe, and that if I didn't live a place with so many lights at night, I could see proof of that in the sky. So night time isn't scary, it's starry and fascinating and fun!

Of course, this didn't drive my fear away. It's pretty, though, isn't it? You can't really see it on the blue base, but I used both silver and gold glitters. And glitter polish holds everything together so there was very little chipping at the tips and cuticles. I could have left this on until the weekend, but I was given something today that gave me inspiration! I love being inspired.

So now my nails are different. The next post will be soon. :)

Stamping

When I started this blog, I vowed that it wouldn't be like the boring nail blogs that feature just nail polish slapped on nails, without any "nail art" involved. But just look at this blue. Look how delicious and creamy it is. It is perfect. I couldn't help snapping a shot of it before doing some art.

I bought some nail polish stamping plates on eBay recently. The most popular brand of nail art plates is Konad. It's also purportedly the best quality. I decided to try it. Shipping from South Korea to Singapore takes a surprisingly short time. Anyway, check it out:

I stamped purple concentric circles over the blue. Very sloppily. I haven't gotten the hang of stamping yet. You may not notice, but there are smudges and overlaps.

I also haven't gotten the hang of photographing my nails. I'm a very bad photographer. When I get good shots, it's purely by luck.

But practice makes perfect, right?

I Dreamed A Dream

Believe it or not, this design came to me in a dream. I saw it very clearly - the colours, the shape, the rhinestones, and even the length of my nails. I guess I'd been reading too many nail blogs and was thinking about nail polish when I went to sleep.

This picture doesn't do justice to the colours, though. I didn't manage to take one that showed the true colours. And I can't take any more pictures at the moment because most of the rhinestones have fallen off. I got my hands very wet while cleaning cat cages at the SPCA. I'm left with 3 out of 10 rhinestones. Maybe I'll put on more when I'm not stoned on flu medicine, and stick them on more firmly. I just used a measly drop of top coat under the rhinestones to paste them on. I should have totally smothered them in polish.

I tried my best to edit the pictures to make the colours look as accurate as possible. This is as close as I got. The purple and the pink rhinestones are actually just a tiny bit deeper, but the orange on the tips is a LOT more fluorescent. To say it's bright would be a terrible understatement. I love it so much.

It's one of the polishes that cost about $2. People love to buy expensive nail polish brands like OPI and Orly, but in my opinion, they're very overrated. Most of them are very mediocre. I have a lot of very interesting, quality polishes that I bought for less than $3. Maybe I'll show you one day.

I'm holding a nearly empty bottle of vanilla extract because I'd been baking. But I don't have a picture of the delicious, fat, soft, chewy, chocolate chocolate chip cookies I baked because my mother brought them to school and fed them to her students. They're all gone. I've got quite a reputation as an expert baker at my mother's school. Her students and colleagues send me compliments through her. It's nice to know that I make people I don't even know happy.

Camouflage

Camouflage

My friend Danny is in National Service. It is such a waste of time. It's not as if the SAF will be able to defend anyone against anything if we're in war. It is probably the smallest army in the world. If we're in war, we will lose in about two minutes. All National Service does is make Singaporean men think that guns and fighting is all macho and cool, because they'll never be in war to be disillusioned.

I know my  nails don't look much like camouflage up close, but stand a little back from your computer and you won't even know they're there. Because they're camouflaged.

Okay, enough with the unfunny jokes. You get the point. I did my best with the colours I have. It looks nice from far away. War sucks. National service is pointless. The army is only good for its pretty camouflage pattern.