NOTW: China Glaze Skyscraper

A bit sloppy, yeah? But here's China Glaze Skyscaper. Same old OPI Natural Nail Base Coat and Top Coat. I used two coats of Skyscraper here, but I didn't get the same colour in the bottle. Maybe with three coats? Maybe next time. It's a nice bluish-purple with lot's of silver microglitter. Mine shows up more purple than Scrangie's, who describes it as a deep blue jelly.

Next time, I'll do a better job painting it on so hopefully it'll look as pretty as Scrangie's. I actually looked at her swatches when I was shopping for my polish back then. :)

NOTW: China Glaze Nova

I swear I should stop looking at nail polish online. My first ever bottles of China Glaze were an impulse purchase. I was looking at my favourite nail sites, Scrangie and The Polish Aholic, and bam, I had two dozen bottles of China Glaze on the way. Anyway, here is what I just painted on my just nails now.

Everyone, this is China Glaze Nova. I absolutely cannot get it to show up properly on my lowly iPhone camera, but it's freaking lovely. Lot's and lot's of small silver glitter and hex holo glitter in a clear base. I cannot tell you how much I love it. So so much. I'm willing to give up One Direction for a day just for Nova. Ugh. This is two coats of Nova with OPI Natural Nail Base Coat and OPI Top Coat. It's just so beautiful. I love Nova.

Glitter is my weakness. That is all.

NOTW: Splatter Nails

AKA the Graffiti Nails! These are super easy to do. I just used a straw, dipped it in my nail polish, and blew on my nails. It gets a bit messy so put something like paper towels, old newspaper or a rag on your surface. I have this huge UNIQLO catalog that I use and reuse. I love it.

This was really quick, easy and fun. I liked that no two nails were the same, and that resulting manicure had a bit of texture to it. Some might not like textured nails so that is one thing to consider. 

NOTW: Abstract Nails

Okay so I'm cheating a little here... This was actually last week's abstract nails. Oops! Not a tutorial, but there are tips down below to help out.

Another confession: I used to tape to get sharp triangles. My freehand is practically non-existent! My tape work was sloppy though, as you can see some smudges and bleeding. I used a peachy pink and a red from The Face Shop, a blue from Elianto and the green is Color Club's Wild Cactus, plus the usual OPI base and top coats.

Some tips for doing your own manicure like this:

• Make sure each layer of polish is dry before putting on tape for the next color.
• Use magic tape! Cello tape is too sticky.
• Put on the lightest color first, then more opaque colors on top. Use any combo you like, go crazy!
• You don't even have to do triangles, although it is the easiest and uses less tape. Make any geometric shape you like.
• You can freehand your shapes, if you like! I just got lazy to tape and impatient for the polish to dry so I painted on the green immediately. You can see that it's more uneven than my reds and blues. Not a strong point for me.
• Try to avoid getting polish on your cuticles and skin. I guess this goes for any manicure. That is my biggest waterloo. 

Nautical NOTW: The Louis Tomlinson Inspired Nails

Ahoy mates! Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been bedridden for almost a week, and I'm due at the doctor's again tomorrow. I apologize for being incoherent now, since aside from my back pain, I'm experiencing some side effects from my meds. (mainly headaches, dizziness and nausea) For now, I offer a Nails of the Week post. Here are my rather messy Nautical Louis Tomlinson Nails:

Tada! I really like the theme of this. Stripes and an anchor, nautical, yay! But, I'm not entirely sure why I'm posting this. I think did a crap job. The dark blue base is uneven at the cuticles, and my lines are just plain weird. (Note to self: DO NOT rush a nail job late at night. You will regret it.) Kinda sad, since this was actually inspired by this photo below:

Can't remember where I got this photo. It's been sitting on my desktop for a while now.

Now, Louis "Tommo" Tomlinson is known for his love of stripes, yeah? And I really like this photo of him in particular. It helps that Liam (I like his old hair here, bless him) is holding Louis' nape while whispering in his ear. I spent most of the day in pain, and reposting One Direction stuff on Tumblr, while listening to their albums. Before I say goodbye, I present another LiLo photo, below, for good measure.

This is from tumblr. From a user named luliver or something, can't remember...

NOTW: Dorothy Who? + Nail Decal

Just a quick update for my Dorothy Who? nails. I stuck this cute little dragonfly on my left thumb! I love the texture it gave my nail and the orange on blue contrast made the dragonfly pop.

I bought a pack of these little buggers at a bookstore. They were actually labeled as scrapbooking accessories. I'm weird like that, I scoured the racks with M looking for things I can stick to my nails. A few days after putting on Dorothy Who?, I painted on a thick layer of base coat and positioned my dragonfly. I let it dry then finished off with a top coat.

Check out your scrapbooking section for other small tidbits you can use on your nails! My pseudo-nail deal was very cheap too. Only Php 10 for about a dozen of these. You might be able to find them cheaper in bulk or at hole-in-the-wall places.

NOTW: China Glaze's Dorothy Who?

Happy new year! My first post, and it's nail polish! Surprise surprise! I've been a bit more into nails lately, and I dare say that I am a bit inspired as of late. Also, the new year brings a life changing activity I am about to complete. Weeeell, it's actually just the start, but every journey begins with the first step!

This year, let me present to you China Glaze's Dorothy Who?! It actually, really has a question mark. Anywoo, it's an old release but I just around to using it recently. It's a blue jelly with silver and blue glitter in it. Absolutely stunning! I may have messed up application a bit, and I probably needed another coat. But still, super beautiful, isn't it? Here's another photo, and maybe I need a nicer, glossier top coat.

Products I used: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, China Glaze Dorothy Who?, OPI Top Coat

I love this! I will be wearing Dorothy Who? again in the near future. Next time with three, thicker, more even coats and hopefully, a better top coat :)

Holiday NOTW: Candy Cane Inspired

I just wanted to sneak in a quick post while everyone's in their holiday rush. Presenting my Christmas nails: Candy Cane inspired stripes! Now I know the usual candy canes are just red and white, but I decided to add some pizzaz by striping some gold glitter in there as well. I'm absolutely chuffed by how it turned out!

Products I used: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, The Face Shop RD 301, LA Colors Art Deco in White and Gold Glitter, OPI Top Coat, 

I am a single furmom right now, just me and my five little monsters. My parents and my brother are in Hong Kong (They are very clingy! We Facetimed for 2 hours this afternoon and we are on Skype right now.) and M is in the Northern Wastelands, er, Canada, home. (Now now, that was a joke so please do not be offended.)

So there, I am alone for Christmas and I think my pudgy tummy has become less pudgy with the lack of rich, holiday food. I am currently living on fridge leftovers, but I can't complain since I have my Kewpie Roasted Sesame Dressing and crab sotanghon hotpot from Century Seafood Restaurant. Not together, of course.

So that's it! It was a bit long. Sorry for rambling. Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays from me here at Unicorns Dream!

Magic in a Bottle: Color Club Polish in Magic Attraction

First of all, I have to admit that I had a Halloween design planned in my head. Unfortunately for me, the lace I was supposed to use disappeared in a smokey green *poof!* and so I settled for a non-gruesome manicure. (Translation: I lost the lace and I couldn't find it! Boo!)

Achieved with two coats of Magic Attraction 

So about Color Club's Magic Attraction. At first glance, it looks like your ordinary glitter polish. When I got it in the mail, I gave it one look and thought, "Why did I get this again?" I stuffed it in my nail polish bin and promptly forgot about it. When I couldn't find my lace, I rummaged through my stash and picked this bottle up. It has small and tiny silver holographic glitter and a sprinkling of tiny red glitter. Once I tried it on, I was stunned. It looked like crushed diamonds. Beautiful.

Magic Attraction is very easy to use, too. The brush is your regular round brush, but we can only thank the company's formula for applying like a dream. There is a ton of glitter and it applies pretty even, not like some glitters where you have bald patches on parts of a nail. Not only that, this baby dries fast. Like, super fast. I paint my right hand, and after the left, I can confidently touch, press, and even rub my right fingernails. Magic!

Photos do not do justice to Magic Attraction. Gotta see it to believe it. So beautiful.

One thing about Magic Attraction, like most glitter nail polish, is that it feels a little sandy or gritty after one swipe of top coat. Not that I particularly care about that since I love my textured nails but some people want a smooth manicure. You can probably achieve that, but with a few more layers of top coat. Oh, and I'm not sure if it's available locally. I purchased mine online and had it shipped from the US.

These were my NOTW and I still adore Magic Attraction. One week after and I have no major, yucky chips. There is nail growth as well as tip wear, but not as much as I expected since I work with my hands for my job. I have to admit, there are a few small chips in some of the nails' tips, though they are so minor that they're barely noticeable. Magic Attraction is very easy to wear! I really love it :)