Euro Cup

As promised, a nail-art post!! Hehe. The vibe for Euro Cup is so high here, so I decided to make some easy nail-art for this once-in-four-year event :D

without topcoat

with topcoat

Well, I wanted to have this done with the tape technique for the infamous crisp lines it gives,
but I never be patient enough for this techniques. so yeah, I ended up free-handed them all. LOL

So.. Do you find the team you're rooting for in this mani?
Or better, could you guess which team I'm rooting for? LOL
Find out which one in the next couple of posts ;)

I'd love to hear from you, so please share your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!


Color used: Revlon Black Lingerie (black), Revlon Golden (gold), Face Shop GR502 (green), Etude House WH702 (white), Etude House BL501 (blue), Pokari (red)




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24

Okay.. So I'm not gonna show you a nail post yet.. But I will tomorrow, I promise. Hehe.

Yesterday I'm officially 24 y.o. Man, can you believe it?? No, I can't LOL. Well anyway, although there were no parties or similar fancy things, I still had a blast! Especially with the presents I received. Haha. It's not exaggerating to say that those were the best birthday presents I've ever received! XD

Now relax, I won't be blabbering around showing off all the presents. I'll just go with one. And this one, I know you'd like!!

Let me introduce you to my first O.P.I: Green-wich Village and JUST SPOTTED THE LIZARD. My aunt gave me these random pair of O.P.I and that was it, I just got myself the most sought polish from the newest O.P.I collection! For FREE. LOL. Excuse my overrated excitement, I might be earning my own pennies right now, but my polish budget is still on college-student level, so O.P.I surely belongs to the "hardly achieved" brands.

Okay. I'll leave you here with a terrible bottle shot of my first pair of O.P.I. Of course I'll be back with their swatches, but right now, I need to get working on the nails I'm gonna show you tomorrow. Hehe.

In the meantime, why won't you share your first 'high-class' brand of polishes with me in the comments below? What was the brand, which shade, and how you get it. I love hearing your thoughts and opinion, whatever it is :)

Finally as usual, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ;)

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Giveaway: Super Aussie Blogversary Giveaway

I know I should give you a nail post by now. But hey, I found this amazing giveaway with lots of Aussie polishes as the prize, and it's opened worldwide. So I thought, why not join? :D

Details:

- opened internationally

- closed on June 30

Prizes:

4 Super Aussie Prizes sets! more details here

How:

Rafflecopter here

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Giveaway: 3000 Follower Giveaway by Nails by Kayla Shevonne

Hello girls. I know I'm late for yesterday's post. So I'm going to make it up by sharing this amazing giveaway news!!

Details:

- opened internationally

- closed on June 30th.

Prizes:

Nail-Venturous Lacquers in Floam, Pinkerbell, and Flying Blue Jay

(told you this giveaway is amazing!!)

How:

Rafflecopter here.

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#Karolinestripecontest

Hello! Time for another contest mani. Made this one totally for the contest's sake, but I failed, again. LOL.

How do you like this design?
Please share your thoughts and suggestion in the comments below.
Thanks for stopping by, and I'll see you next time ;)

Color used: Etude House PK002 (pink), GR605 (teal), YL802 (yellow), BL501 (blue), Face Shop PP401 (purple), V.O.V Nail Art Pen #3 (white striper)


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Swatch: Face Shop OR201

Welcome to my second swatch post. Hehe. Still with Face Shop, today I'd like to show you Face Shop OR201. It's a kind-of sheer orange polish, with subtle orange shimmer. I'm sorry you cannot see the shimmer in the photos. It's so hard to catch since the shimmer is very soft. Oh yes, I said kind-of sheer, because in one coat, you'll have see-through nail-line, but it will gone once you add second coat. I had no problem with the formula. But as I mentioned before in my last swatch post, Face Shop formula thicken really quick. Thinner always comes handy in this kind of situation, but I know some of you just don't like fast-thickened formula. Pictures are two coats without topcoat ^^

Face Shop OR201 is retailed for IDR 30k-ish (about USD 3)

What do you think of this shade? Do you love orange for summer?
Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ;)


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OTON: Fimos and Sticker

*OTON: On the Other's Nails

Today is a bit different, because I'll show you some mani that were done not on my on nails, but on others. Hehe. My guinea pig is usually my cousin. She loves almost all things I did with my nails and often asks me to do hers. Unfortunately though, I'm not good at painting people's nails. I guess that's because: one, I don't have the freedom to maneuver the nails as needed; and two, people's liking is different one to another, what is cool to me, doesn't always cool to them. Painting other's nails is a lot different and I'm sure need lots of practice.

One of my colleagues' hands. She selected the color and the fimos she wants.

One of my colleagues' hands. She also selected the color and the fimos she wants.

My cousin's nails. She also wanted some fimos, and an Angry Bird maniac.
So I added some anger there :P

My cousin's other nails. She wanted the other hand with stickers. Funny really.
But I just followed what my customer wanted. LOL

All of them are very simple mani. Maybe with more practice, one day I'll be confident enough to actually draw something on people's nails. Hehe.

Have you ever painted other's hand? Do you feel that it's more difficult to do too?

Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ;)

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Giveaway: Summer 2012 Polish Giveaway by The Nail Junkie

The Nail Junkie just officially released their new Summer 2012 Polish Line which include gorgeous shimmer shades that are so perfect for summer (of course, duh). Together with this awesome news, Aleta has decided to give her followers a chance to grab one of the shades in this line for free!

Details:

- Opened internationally

- Closed in 22 days, hurry up before your time runs out.

Prize: 

Winner's Choice of Polish Junkie brand new Summer Line.

How:

Rafflecopter here.

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Review: Revlon Cuticle Massage Cream

Hi lovelies! Today I'm gonna introduce the one and only cuticle moisturizing cream I have right now, Revlon Cuticle Massage Cream.

Besides its greasy feeling, I had no other complaints for this products. The only thing I need to do is massage my nails for about 15-20 secs each nail, and voila! My cuticles are saved from severe dryness. The cream also soften your cuticles, so you actually can remove some of the dead skins while massaging, which is good. I apply it daily and I can see some improvements on my cuticles. What's more is that you don't even have to afraid the cream will dull your manicure, because it won't, just like the label said. So it's definitely 'safe' to use on daily basis :D

This cream is retailed at a very affordable price, IDR 30k-ish (about USD 3) which is very cheap considering the goods it can give you. Like other Revlon products, you can easily get this cuticle cream in every drugstore retailer around you ;)


Have you tried this product before? What do you use for your cuticle maintenance?
Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time :)


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Giveaway: Sally Hansen Pedicure Salon Effects Giveaway by Jenna

Hi all, time for a another giveaway!!
The fantastic Jenna from I'm Still Thinking.. held another giveaway for us! In case you missed her first, click here.

Details:

- opened internationally

- closed on July 5th

Prizes:

two sets of Sally Hansen Pedicure Salon Effects in Puppytooth and Pink Boa

How:

Rafflecopter here.

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Nail Care: Lemons to the Rescue

Hello lacquered ladies! Yesterday, I showed you the easy but cool-looking map nails (in case you missed it, click here). I really love the coolness of this mani, that I was considering to redid them with different approaches. Well, it was before I removed it from my nails. Gosh. My nails were terribly yellow and dry I almost cry. Then I remember reading The Lacquerologist Stain Removal receipt here, and decided to give it a try. Andddd guess what?! It works like magic!!
I never use pure acetone to remove polish because I'm terrified by the dryness it can caused, so for the first step, I use regular acetone-less nail polish remover. Also, my baking soda + lemon juice wasn't turned to paste no matter how many times I tried, so I improvised a bit, and soak my nails in the mixture instead. LOL. Well, thanks God, it still works. For me, it's already working the time you finished brushing your nails with whitening tooth paste. So I guess, if your staining isn't very bad, you're good to go with only the tooth paste method.
Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures, so this was my naked nails a few weeks back, with top coat on. Please imagine the before picture here more yellow and dry.

before

after

The after picture really don't do justice because my nails are almost-white after this easy homemade treatment. Moreover, after I moisturized them with my Revlon Cuticle Cream and Watson's Hand Cream, it became glossy. Yes, my natural nails are even glowing! Now, I can have a day without any polish with proud!! :D

What do you think of this homemade treatment? Have you tried them? Does it work for you? Or do you have another magic secrets that you want to share?
Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ;)


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By Request : Map nails, in case you're lost

Hi! Today I have a very easy but cool-looking mani for you guys. I saw this mani when my friend tagged me the pic on Pinterest (here) way looonggg ago, and asked me to give it a try. So I tried it, and loveeee it!!

When I shared this on Facebook, it wowed my friends, and received many likes, even from my (ex) Deutsch teacher. lol. Well, they didn't know that I 'cheated' :P Most of them thought that I free-handed the maps. God, I don't know how much time and training I need to have before I can actually free-hand a map on my nails. 

I used the newspaper technique for this mani. But instead of using pieces of cut newspapers, I used pieces of cut maps. For you who don't know what's newspaper technique, here's a great tutorial video provided by cutepolish . It's a very easy technique really. And you'll love it, I'm sure. It's the aftermath (if you used alcohol like I did) that's terrifying, but I'll talk about it on the next post :)

I use maps that you can easily get in airports. These are Bangkok's 

You'll get some excess of the maps at first, but you can easily rub it off with your finger

Left hand with top coat

Right hand with top coat. I've got the hang of it, so the images were transferred better. 

Right hand final product. I redid most of my right fingers so that it has the same
image quality as the left. I left my ring finger without base color, and I actually like the effect.
Made it as if I have some tattooed nails. LOL

What do you think of this mani? Have you tried newspaper nails before? Do you like it?

Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time ;)

Base color used: Face Shop BR801. Yep, it's the other designed I made using this color. Click here for swatch.

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What's Cookin': Don't Forget the Chef

Hello! As previewed yesterday, today I'm gonna share the first design that I made with BR801 (swatch here) as base color. I made this design for a blogiversary nail contest that Khuu from Copy That, Copy Cat held. The theme was What's Cookin', and the first thing that popped in my mind after I read the theme was the chef.

instagram ver. (follow me @lenny_cheng)

the plastic bag decal

I started off with one coat of base coat then added two coat of Face Shop BR801 and Etude House WH702 on selected fingers as shown. BR801 is the perfect shade for the chef's face, no? After the base coat is dry, I started painting according to the design I've drawn beforehand. As for the white toque and the flame, I made it the night before on a plastic bag. Anutka from Wacky Laki have a great tutorial for this plastic bag decal technique here. The final product is pretty much how I wanted, if only my top coat didn't smear some of the design *deep sigh inserted*

I didn't win the contest. Like always. LOL. My main purpose in participating contest is to train myself, so I'm sure with lots of training, one day I'll win something. Haha. 

What do you think of this design? Too simple for a nail-contest? What design would you came up with for What's Cookin'?

Share your thoughts on below comments.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.

Colors used: Face Shop BR801 (nude), Etude House WH702 (white) V.O.V Nail Art Pen #3 (black striper), Anne&Florio (grey), Revlon Black Lingerie (black)


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Swatch: Face Shop BR801

Today I'm gonna share with you my first swatch post. I choose this one to be the first because I did two designs with BR801 as the base color. So yeah, this is also a preview of what you might see in the next couple of days :)

BR801 is a nude creme polish that I personally think would be great for wedding mani. Hehe. The code "BR" stands for brown, so I guess it's more appropriate to say that this is a very very light brown.

bottle and brush shot

As you can see, the brush is kind of bulky, but I had no problem with it. Tiny nails might suffer from flooding  though.

Application was great. It's a bit streaky on the first coat, but became opaque on second coat. When it comes to formula, however, Face Shop is not the greatest. It is great the first time you use it, but it won't be as great as it was when you use it the second time. The formula thickened very fast, if you get what I mean.

Overall, I say BR801 is an OK polish. It is retailed in a similar price to Revlon, 30k-ish IDR (around 3 USD). Do the quality match the price? Personally, I prefer Revlon's formula, so I'd say 50-50.

What do you think of this shade? Do you also have Face Shop polishes in your stash?

Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below ;)

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time

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May Haul (picture heavy)

First haul post!! and might be the last in the next couple of months. I'm saving for my August trip to Taiwan, where I'll have access to NARS, Deborah Lippmann, cheaper OPI, and other nail goodies I can't get here. So yeah, I'm saving for a bigger haul which would be totally worth it!! :D

Left-right: Revlon Golden, Revlon Decadent, Face Shop PP405, Face Shop BL602, Face Shop OR201, Face Shop PP401

Face Shop PP405 (vampy dark purple with tiny shimmer) and BL602 (blue-purplish duochrome)

Face Shop OR201 (orange with tiny shimmer) and PP401 (creme pastel purple)

Revlon Golden and Decadent

Revlon Decadent closer shot 

Revlon Golden closer shot

V.O.V Nail Art Pen #4 and #3 (black and white)

Some hand and nail care product:
Watson's Olive Hand Cream, Face Shop Cuticle Oil, Revlon Cuticle Massage Cream

Another back-up brush for cleaning.
It's the cheapest I have bought so far, IDR 7,500 (around  USD 0.7)

So excited I found this pointed Q-tips!!
This one gonna help a lot on cleaning.

I accidentally flooded my nails while testing the black striper. Let's give the Q-tip a test.

Easily cleaned!! :D

So how about you? How many have you bought in May?

Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time :)

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