55: NOTD

Hi Everyone!

I had a little free time last night so I did my nails :) My boyfriend bought me some nail art magazines and this was inspired from Nail Up! I thought this idea was very cute! It was very easy to do and the rhinestones down the middle were a great way to cover up the imperfections..






For the 3 colours I chose OPI's Black Onyx, OPI's Alpine Snow and China Glaze's Admire. Hope you guys like it!


xx
Joyce

54: NOTD

Hi Girls



I just wanted to show you guys the last neon colour I had. This Funky Limelight from the Essie Neon collection and it's really bright! I really like to play around with neon colours and this is something I would wear to cheer myself up from a yucky day :)

xx
Joyce

53: Acrylic nails and an update

Hi Ladies!

Gosh I've missed you guys so much! Hope everyone had a good weekend :) I've been catching up with my friends and my boyfriend and I have been going out on shopping dates lately yayyy! I looove shopping! Anyways I wanted to show you guys my 2nd attempt at acrylic nails. I think I did a decent job but I only managed to do a set on my left hand because I can ONLY hold the sculpting brush with my right hand. Also I wanted to show you some pictures from my 6th month anniversary (if you aren't interested then please don't scroll down to the bottom). Kadi surprised me and took me to the Hilton in Sydney. We had a great room on the 43rd floor which was the highest and they even gave us a cute balloon printed with Happy Anniversary. The view from our room was amazing and we had a great time! And lastly I wanted to add a little something spcecial for my fellow HK FANS :D


Here are my acrylics..





Here are some pictures from our 6th month celebration :)..












OMGOMGOMG..







xx
Joyce

52: NOTD

Hi Girls!

I know I promised swatches but I was called in to work today and I'm feeling super tired. Anyways I just wanted to let you all know that Essie's Punchy Pink from their Neon collection was a huge hit today! I had a lot of people telling me that they loved this colour :)

For my NOTD I decided to play around with it a bit. I did 2 fingers with Essie's Punchy Pink and the rest with Essie's Perky Purple which is also from their Neon collection. Then I got bored and decided to draw random things on top of them. I'm not feeling so creative today so I hope you'll forgive me..

Again sorry for the beaten up cuticles. I went overboard while filing my acrylics. Note to self: please remember to give yourself a proper manicure. Thank you :p

xx
Joyce

51: NOTD

Hellooo

I just wanted to say a quick HI and also to show you my NOTD. I used Essie's Punchy Pink from their Neons collection. This swatch was 4 coats because I had so much trouble with the streaks. Sorry about the application job and the dry cuticles. I really like this colour because it just stands out and also it dried to a matte finish. The other 2 Essie Neon colours are like that too!





Hope you guys enjoyed this super quick post. I'll be back with my 6 month surprise updates and some more swatches tomorrow night!

xx
Joyce

50: Happy 6 months

Hi Girls!

I found out that my boyfriend actually read my blog yesterday! We've been dating for 6 months now and we're going to celebrate tonight with all you can eat sushi and bbq muaahhah :D

Also I tried to do my own acrylic nails for the first time today! I was surprised because it turned out NOT UGLY. It's not the best and certainly not something I would pay for but as a total newb with no experience before I think I did alright. I made the mistake of using a clear powder because for some reason I assumed that pink meant barbie pink but instead it was full on clear. The process was fairly simple and all I did was follow the instructions of the booklet. I'll try to post a full entry on how to do your own acrylic nails at home some other time. Sorry about the dirty nails..

I practiced on my index, middle and ring fingers. I couldn't be bothered to do all 10. Look at how clear the tip is!

My fingers are VERY small and not all the nail tips fit my hands so it was hard to size. Instead I chose to sculpt the nails and used a form.

The finished fingers! Please excuse the ugly looking ring finger. I filed off a lot by accident and it turned out very lumpy :(

My Colour of the Hour was China Glaze's Grape Juice from the Summer Days collection. This swatch was 3 coats.

Anyways I'll be back with a few more nail art samples. I've been hit with a creative bug lately so I hope I can make something out of it :)

PS. This is my new setup for my little nail area. What do you guys think? It's still a bit messy but I'm trying to organize everything by product..

Talk to you later!

xx

Joyce

49: Picture Tag

Hi Girls!

Everyone has been doing this so I'm glad that Kae (The Hungry Asian) and Sarah (Glittermillie's Nails and Sparkle) tagged me in their blogs. I feel so loved :) So here goes..


The Rules:

1. Open your 1st photo folder
2. Scroll down to the 10th photo
3. Post that photo and story on your blog.
4. Tag 5 or more people.



I really wanted to show you girls a cool picture. Maybe something from my travels to Korea or Malaysia but instead THIS was it lol.

This was taken back in 2006! I actually really cherish this picture because this was taken during our cottage road trip. My friends and I spent a weekend away at a rented cottage a few weeks before I left for Australia. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on. We were all very good friends in High School and after this trip it just feels like we've gotten so much closer. We still keep in touch and email each other often. My friends (Jennifer and Marlon) and I were a bit messed up because we were fighting for futon space and the girl to the left of the picture (who is cut off) was busy in her own world playing with the purple clay from Cranium. If you look closely to the right behind my friend Jennifer (the girl in the baby blue hoodie) there's an orange coloured bump. That bump is actually our friend David's bum haha. Good Times!


I would like to tag everyone who would like to have a little fun and take a stroll through memory lane. I'm off to look at my other pictures now. Thanks again for tagging me Kae and Sarah <3

PS. I'm a huge Family Guy fan. I have all the DVDs and can't get enough of it. I was browsing around YouTube and found this great clip of Stewie and Brian at the 2007 Emmys. Check it out!

xx
Joyce

48: Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo and NOTD

Hi Everyone!

I'm super happy to be updating right now. Some of you might know that I've been totally hyped up since Thursday about going to the Expo. Well Sunday arrived and I dashed to Darling Harbour (where the Expo took place). Gosh I was so surprised to see everybody there! This was my first time at an Expo or Convention so I really didn't know what to expect. There was everything from makeup to organic skincare and of course nail essentials..




Essie



OPI



This is Yuka! She works at LE M Nail Boutique (where I'm currently taking nail classes) and she entered a competition at the Expo. She ended up taking home a trophy for 3rd place in french nail and clear nail sculpting. She's such a talented and funny girl I love her!

I managed to squeeze my way through the mob of nail fanatics and picked up some goodies! Some of the more recognizable brands were OPI, Essie, CND, Zoya, Young Nails, Nfu.Oh and Japanese brand Eternal and PA (which are well known for nail art).. I bought mostly nail polishes although I did treat myself to a CND sculptor brush! There was a promotion going on (buy any brush and recieve an aluminium brush case for free!) so I couldn't pass it up :p Also I tried out Zoya's Remove + and ended up buying the regular size which is 240ml and an extra 960ml refill :D It was 50% off so I had to jump at the offer..

My student badge and Expo pass :)

My haul! Yayyy.

China Glaze @ $6 each

OPI @ $10 each. They had a promotion offer which was buy 12 get 1 free. So of course I had to buy 12 because I'm a sucker for 'free' things :)

Essie neon @ $10 each

Discontinued colour @ $5

Matte About You Top Coat @ $11

CND Aluminium Brush Case @ FREE!

Sensations Hand Wash @ $10

CND Crystal Touch Sculptor #6 @ $64 :(((

CND @ $5 each :)))

Zoya Twist Collection @ $42 (works out to be $7 a bottle)

Zoya Remove + @ $13-$14 (I can't remember the exact price)

Zoya Remove + @ $32-$33 (I can't remember the exact price for this either)

Nail Art Star @ $14

Nail Art Heart @ $14

Empty Stackable Containers @ $5 each

Just so you know this Expo was very exclusive and I wasn't allowed to enter until they checked my details on their system and confirmed that I was a student. I could understand why because these are all very serious distributors looking for placement and they most likely didn't want someone like me wasting their time only buying $100 worth each time so I'm very thankful I got the chance to experience something like this! I wanted to buy some acrylic powders but I want to finish what I already have before moving on to something else. This Expo was for me to pick up goodies and complete my collections not necessarily to see the new products out there. Although I did learn about CND's newest Citrus Spa. NOTE* I believe all the products listed at the Sydney International Spa & Beauty Expo was at least 40-50% off the suggested retail price. NOTE** One of the downpoints about living in Australia is that we're very behind on releases. VERY! I asked about OPI's Banana Bandana and Gale (a rep from OPI) told me that I would have to wait a few more months.

This NOTD is 3 coats of Zoya's Barbie. It has a great finish but I found the polish itself to be a bit thick.

PS. My boyfriend and I passed our Australian Citizenship Test today! To celebrate here's a picture I took while I was my nail class. HELLO KITTY NAIL POLISH! :D

PPS. I recieved my package from BF-Beauty a while ago but I haven't had time to play with it yet. I'll try to get pictures up as soon as I can.

xx

Joyce