Faux gel nails for you?

Nope, I am not jumping on the gel nails band wagon yet. But I do get compliments that my nails look like gel nails sometimes.

I figured, if you would want your nails to be mistaken like mine, try this:

1. Grow them long and thick. I was blessed with thick nails so I havent had to succumb to nail treatments :P

2. Shape them as you like. For me, the choice is obvious! Squoval! ;)

3. Do a good base coat to protect them.

4. Cover your nails in a healthy sheen of French manicure base colour. A jellyish beige or pink will be nice. This is especially good for nails like mine which are actually yellowing from excessive use of polish!

5. Apply silver glittery polish like Mei Mei Signature's Suesha series on the white tip of your nails. (Or yellow tips, for me).

6. Use a multi glitter striper, like the one I have from Precision or a dark blue nail enamel pen from Daiso and doddle some stripes on the tips.

7. When they dry well, coat the whole nail with Seche Vite for a thick glossy shine or even Out the Door Northern Lights Silver or Gold Holographic Top Coat.

8. Do clean-ups if you like! And enjoy your faux gel nails.

Disclaimer: These are not meant to last as long as 21 days like Gelish does. But I am sure these add glamour to any outfit and make you feel feminine ;)

So why SpaRitual?

You might have noticed the badge on the sidebar that says "SpaRitual Singapore Official Ambassador".

Short of calling this post an announcement, I am very humbled by this opportunity yet also very proud to be able to represent this brand here in Singapore.

Having started polishing my digits diligently for the past few years, I have had my olfactory sense offended in many ways by the chemical fumes emanating from the glass bottles. But I am young, I thought. A little exposure to these pungent stuff wont kill me. Not until I met Seche Vite and the warning label.

Then I panicked a little. Just a little.

Then on day I got an invite to attend a SpaRitual product launch and learnt all about the brand during the event. It got me very excited. It is a vegan brand with an eco-conscious philosophy. Yes, nice sounding words but do they really live up to the claims?

The certifications of organic origins do help me to put my faith in the brand. SpaRitual is also going to apply for ECO-CERT, in which one of the criteria was that the product has to contain at least 95% natural origin ingredients. Their product is the Moisture Balm which I am hoping to get my hands on. Literally as I am experiencing a worst bout of hand eczema between my finger and on the side of my palm. I am hoping this works!

And yes, suffering from eczema forces me to examine the ingredient list more carefully now, avoiding petroleum as an ingredient for my lip balms for example and also alcohol in some skincare items.

As I start to become more aware of these companies that adopt a beauty and eco-conscious approach to business, I gradually replace the products Im using with these newbies that I have discovered. Okay, I alternate since I want to finish using them anyway :)

As I embark on this journey to bring to you the latest colours and products from SpaRitual, I hope you will become more conscious of the link between beauty and sustainability. P.S The glass in SpaRitual products are 50% recycled Italian glass! And going for organic products contribute to sustainability of the planet as well. Balance of the eco-system is the key concept behind my earlier statement.

We are living in a fast-paced world, with more and more people inhabiting the same Earth, our fields are overworked, people are overworked, the Earth is overworked. And we all know what happens when there is no rest. Breakdowns happen. Disruption happens. In short, the consequences are beyond negative. I am gonna do what I can to slow it down. This also means I have to stop hoarding. And be selective. I can't just buy every full collection from China Glaze! (I got Island Escape and Metro... =.=")

With this post, I am going to start my project of slow shopping! Not that I shop slowly... but to not return home with new products each time I head out. Or add to shopping carts online... >.<" I have some more items coming in from online orders... But this will stop. And also because, it is time to contribute back to the world and start earning my keep. $-$ *shakes head*

*ahem* So... this is why I took up the opportunity to be Ambassador for SpaRitual here in Singapore. And this also means that while the retail space is still being set up, I will coordinate orders for SpaRitual orders online. The products will be sold through me for now until the company has set up a store in Singapore. To order, send me an email at squovalicious@hotmail.com. Thank you :)

Meanwhile you can join the FB page here for latest news and have your queries answered too!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaRitual-Singapore/261110770581814

Thank you for reading this!

Nailed It: Precision Lacquers review

If you remembered, in my last mega haul I did at the Beauty Fair Asia 2011, I bought 4 Precision lacquers from Star*Like Nails Distributor whom I worked for.

I used three of the neons in my manicure and I found myself loving them! Unlike most neons that dry very matte (China Glaze's Kiwi Coolada is one), these dry semi matte...

The middle finger here is in neon pink!

Wow. I love how they look! But being a little afraid of stopping the traffic, I did some nail art- (Squoval)icious style :P

I'd call these crazy drawings haha, very stream-of-consciousness. :P

Of course, I relied on my trusty Daiso nail enamel lacquers :D They never fail me... much :P

As the nail enamels dry glossy, the contrast in finishes (semi-matte base and glossy patterns) look most interesting. But I still did Seche Vite over it and it looked like printed nails! I have had a few compliments on this, even at the clinic's! I suffered a bad ear infection a few weeks bad and had to go to the doc's. All's well now :D

And here's the other hand! For the thumb and little finger, I tried a little neon gradient with the orange and pink ones as they are pretty close... I lik the fourth finger, reminded me of an abstract lashes-fluttering eye LOL.

I did no cleanup with these amazing lacquers. The neons took me 2 - 3 coats for great coverage and dried pretty quickly for me to do nail art on. Precision lacquers are really hard to find eh. It is such a pity as their array of colours are huge and comparable to OPIs. Just without the trendiest finishes of shimmers or glass flecks. I might try the turquoise glittery shade soon :) 

What say you?

And remember to enter my giveaway! :D Here's the link: http://squovalicious.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-one-hell-of-year-soon-so-we-shall.html

dont wait! I havent decided on a deadline yet so hurry enter! :D

some crackle and some flak(ie)

Took out my MeiMei Signature's crackle and played again, this time its the ash brown one!

The dark patches are what it is supposed to look like with top coat on as the shimmers can then be seen. I used my Quick dry oil from Star Like nails after they cracked. The oil seeped into the edges and gave that 'wet look'. Hmmm. 

I tried the horizontal way of painting the crackle on as well as the normal nail bed to tip method. See the difference? Pretty cool. 

I used a non Seche Vite top coat on the right side of the nail, and it gave the shimmer look better than using SV on the left. 

Matte look of the crackle before my top coat experiments :) Also experimented with thickness of coat of lacquer.

I used Orly's La Playa as a base for all the nails. For this, I used Glisten up! by Essence for the flakies anda green shimmer look to the navy blue. Then I added Make Up Store's flakie called Linnea (another brand that names their lacquers on female names) to increase the flaki-ness. Glisten Up! adds greenish flakies but MUS's flakie was more red-orange-yellow...

It looked like there was rusted iron on my nails hehe. I quite liked it but am looking forward to my Nubar 2010 from a mega swap! :D I hope it arrives in time for my birthday heheheheeh <3

Im at the last lap of my thesis paper... I will survive! 

Ill be back!

Diamond Sparkled Nail :)

Thanks for the lovely comments :) I thought i should dedicate a post for my nails hehe, gotten much compliments on it, and i specially bought the rhinestones for the look too :D

Here's the photos:

I do like it a lot too, I had it on for about 4 days, which is REALLY long! :D 

The pink base I used was jelly-ish and Seche Vite as a topcoat did give the illusion of gel nails :) The holo glitter was actually a purple holo glitter from Daiso which was super sheer :D I used it to blend the purple tips and pink base. All was done freehanded so there was no straight edge... The purple tips were done with an Arezia polish that I got in a 'lucky bag' of nail items! (more about that in a haul post up next..) 

<3 

Scandal's Chic Purple with blue flakies

 reminds me of OPI's Teas-y Does It, and btw Burlesque was pretty awesome ;)) Cher's character is Tess but Im not sure how 'Teas' became the name of the polish lol. This is a dark purple with magenta shimmer, very vampy :)

and this is Chic Purple on crack lol. The blue flakies glowed in the bed of the deep purple goodness. Very pretty! The polish I used to layer does not look good actually, it has nice blur flakies suspended in a pool of poo-y brown gel-like jelly. HAHA, no pics! :D

and the lovely sexy corsetted nail polish bottle, Scandal. It is a Korean brand and has aloe vera ingredients in it to protect the nails :) SGD 9.90

Love it!

Last manicure of 2010!

Blingtastic!!! <3

What a way to send off 2010 and bring in 2011!

This is a gradient manicure attempted with

Finger Paint's Wicked Glitter,

Amore's Rain Glitter,

Daiso's gold hexgon glitter,

OPI Sparkle-iscious,

OPI Show it and Glow it!,

OPI Absolutely Alice

topped with 2 coats of Seche Vite (one after the other, to prevent excessive shrinkage)

<3 

On a wicked note, I won a digital massager from Kimberly, again! (won her Vampy giveaway earlier this year!) What a New Year's Eve :D 

Also received a lovely purple/red franken I named Par-rad [Parade//] from Chris <3 The package took some time, due to the season I suppose but was soooooo happy when it came!! <3

Now Im contemplating what should my 2011 manicure be! Hmmm...

And I would love to thank all of you who read and comment on my blogposts :):) You dont know how much encouragement it gives me everyday. EVERYDAY. :) Sending you some love...

Xmas Manicure #2: Pur-posely Poised (?!)

Haha! What an attempt to come up with a name for this manicure :P

The little hand on the left is my cousin's hand! Haha, they follow me around the house so much I tell ya, it's kinda impossible to study (for my exams) these days!

Purple Base: Zoya Demi

My first Zoya I tried, I got this in a blog sale for quite a bit of money but totally no regrets! Look at how gorgeous this is! Dries darker than the bottle colour. 2 coats to buttery perfection!

Glitters: Etude House LUCIDarling nails- Purple glitter with hexagon and star sequins

Etude House Dear Darling Nails no. 31 purple glitter suspended in clear base. 

The latter provides great coverage! I did 2 coats on my right thumb for base instead of using Zoya. Then one coat of LUCIDarling nails for more sparkly.

Seche Vite needed to prevent grittiness :D

Here's Stompy looking at ya!

We're bringing him to the vet tomorrow, for a checkup on his wet nose and mites. Poor baby, but he will be alright! :D

Late Oct/ Early Nov hauling~

 hehe :D

 OPI The Show Must Go On :D

 OPI Sparkle-iscious :D

 China Glaze Emerald Sparkle!!! :D

 Essie Jazz! I hope this gives me mannequin hands :)

 Seche Vite :D :D

2 Etude House for swap on MUA. Lovely colours as chosen by the 'swapper' ? lol. 

So many untrieds. I think half my stash (250+) are untrieds!! :P

Will do a Zoya soon I hope! 

Remember to vote for me here! :D

Thank you ladies! 

Brown poo-y manicure! LOL

I have 10 different designs on both hands. Not very cohesive. But at least from the same colour palette :) 

Would appreciate comments! <3

 Freehanded the animalistic print on my middle finger.. with a dotting tool~ pretty amazing cuz the polish was gloopy and thick. (The Face Shop)

Base colour is the same for all. The Face Shop brown, it has been discontinued. 

Polishes used: Swing Baby by China Glaze, You Dont Know Jacques Suede OPI, Kitoko Kalani in 1224 (golden brown), The Face Shop brown, hex and silver glitter in clear base, Ottie hex and gold glitter in clear base, Seche Vite topcoat for some nails... and rhinestones!

:)

Have a great weekend and enjoy your Halloweeeeen~~

btw Im on a polish frenzy. Some hauls coming in, cant wait to show ya'all!

CND Jade Sparkle over CASTLEDEW Planet Chocolate~

The photos for Planet Chocolate do not show up too well, in real life it is a blackened chocolatey red shimmer. Very vampy :) 

Those were topped with Seche Vite for extra gloss. Dries rather glossy too, but not enough for me :P Application was rather good I must say! This was 2 - 3 coats. 

2 coats of CND Jade Sparkle. Did this while studying for a test hehe :) 

Loved this final look! <3 

Reminds me of Zombie Zest (CG), It's Not Rocket Science (Orly). However, instead of a green base, this is with an almost black base :)