Converse x X-Girl

Yo where my Converse lovers at?! 

I've got another sneakers & nails match up for you today, and it's inspired by the X-Girl x Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Hi. I'm so bummed I couldn't make the cop for this one, cause the one site that carries them only ships within Japan! Anyway, I'm really excited about today's mani, so let's get on to pictures, shall we?


I actually don't own any pairs of Converse yet, but this particular pair SCREAMED my name. (That's how I know I need something, when it obnoxiously calls out to me.)


I love the colorway on the kicks. The tye dye print is fun and whimsical, while the black trim adds a punch of contrast.


As for this mani, I guess it's a little bit of everything, depending on what you want to call it. Watercolor nails, marble nails, tye dye nails, border nails, framed nails, outline nails--take your pick! (:


To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the border nails trend at first. It repulsed me at first, because it resembles my nails after I clean my car's intake filter--LOL.


I didn't plan on getting into the trend, until I stumbled on the X-girl Converse and thought about possible designs for it. This design came into my head, and I thought it could work! The watercolor design took a bit of work, because I had to experiment with all of my mediums to get it just right.


I filed my nails just for this design, because I prefer the trend on oval nails. I'll probably nubbinize them after this mani so I can start fresh again.


How do you like this nail shape?
Are you a fan of the border nails trend?
Should I do a tutorial for watercolor nails, or has that been done already?

Thanks for looking! :D

The Real Teal

PA Nail Color A72

Okay, so this isn't the most unique color ever, but look how pretty it is!!!!! The bestie picked this one out for me, and surprisingly, I don't have a dupe of it in my stash :D

Two coats is shown above. The formula was pretty thin--it's somewhere between a creme and a jelly. It's definitely glossy enough to get away without a top coat, but it doesn't have the super shiny "squishy-ness" of your average jelly.

Love At First Lavender

Today I have the last two swatches from my latest Sation haul. The purpley polish you see here is Love At First Lavender. I was looking forward to this shade the most because it's such a cute color, but truthfully, I'm not really feeling it. It's just one of those colors I like on others, but not so much on myself... if you know what I mean?

The formula for this one was the best out of the 3 cremes I picked up. It had a thinner consistency and applied really smoothly. This was two coats.


Here's Love At First Lavender topped with one coat of Summer Night Sparkle.
Doesn't Summer Night Sparkle look like anti-bacterial sanitizing hand gel in the bottle?! It's pretty much a clear base with tiny white glitters--perfect for those who aren't a fan of obnoxious glitterbombs!


For purchasing info on Sation polishes, feel free to check out my first Sation swatch post here. Thanks for looking!

Summer wouldn't be the same without you

Nike Air Max 1 Melon Crush/Hot Punch

Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to introduce you to my summer kicks! I'm so glad they arrived before summer started, because I wouldn't have felt right starting summer without them. And seriously... it took them long enough!!!

I had originally ordered these off Crooked Tongues at the beginning of April. They were a pre-order that were set to be shipped out sometime in May. I found it odd that I hadn't received any shipping notification around May 20, so I sent them an email regarding my order. They didn't respond in a week, so I had to send them another email. When I finally received a response, it was to inform me that their shipment got cancelled and they'll be refunding my money.

... Seriously now?

I waited two months, only to find my anticipation crushed in disappointment?! I was pissed. How long had they known about the cancelled shipment, and why wasn't I informed sooner?! They withdrew the funds from my account when I placed the pre-order in April, too! Not to mention, I caught the pair on Sneakersnstuff in May for cheaper than what I had originally put down for my pre-order. However, by the time I found out about Crooked Tongue's cancelled shipment, my size was already sold out on Sneakersnstuff and I had to frantically search for another retailer. Considering that this was a pair I had on my wishlist from the beginning of this year, it's kind of a big deal.
I suppose I should mention the 10% coupon they included in the email, but I thought it was useless after the whole pre-order fiasco. A pre-order is supposed to secure my pair, and a 10% discount on my next order does not compensate for compromising my trust.

Anyway, I ended up putting in an order for these at the KIX-FILES Store. I was a bit apprehensive placing an order with them, since I had never done so before and it made me uneasy knowing that they were coming from Hong Kong. Rest assured, they arrived soon after and they're definitely authentic.

A happy ending to a cheerful pair of kicks ♥

If You Were a Booger

Julep Leah

This is another polish I got from my first Julep Maven box. Leah is such a pretty, bright green in the bottle, but I'm not sure how I'm liking it on my nails. It's the kind of green that makes me think of aliens, boogers, acid, and Nickelodeon goop!

The formula wasn't terrible, but it's not the best out there. It was quite runny and thin for a creme, so a second coat was needed to make up for my uneven first coat. A subtle shimmer is evident in the bottle, but it doesn't translate onto the nails--my camera picked up on it better than my eyes did! I hate to say it, but I would definitely not shell out the original price of $14 for this polish. It's very pricey, especially considering that it only contains approximately half the amount of your average OPI/Orly polish!

Robin's Egg

Sation Oh My Oceania

Here's another Sation swatch and this time, it's two coats of Oh My Oceania topped with Seche Vite. This one also has a secret shimmer, but this time it's blue!

The formula for this one was excellent but again, I had problems with the brush being too wide and dispensing more polish than I'd want. So if it weren't for the brush, this polish would be perfection!

For purchasing and pricing info, take a peek at my first Sation swatch here.

Let the Sunshine In

The Face Shop YL703

Here's three coats of YL703 topped with my Jelly Pop top coat by Etude House. The application for this one was excellent, like that of a typical creme polish. I needed a three coats for this one, because it tended to get streaky as it dried.

I'm really liking this color, it makes me feel like I've got sunshine at my fingertips :D

Boba

I got a chance to pick up the last few Pretty and Polished lacquers I've been eyeing! The one I've got on here is Bubble Tea. I kinda got it for the name, cause I love boba!

Have you had bubble tea before? It comes in a variety of flavors, but it gets its name from the boba (the round, chewy, sweet tapioca balls) that settle at the bottom. I suppose it's a drink/dessert hybrid, so you can quench your thirst and satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time!

Boba shops are really common hang out joints over here. People meet up to get boba for everything, whether its to catch up with friends, go on a casual date, study, or just kill time in general!

I forgot how uncommon it is in other parts of the world, until I took my friend Lemara to try it one time. (She's a graduate student from the UK, who traveled all over the States to interview lady sneakerheads for her dissertation on female sneaker culture.) Her reaction was priceless! She was so astounded by the fact that Americans can stand their teas cold, and she compared boba to boogers lol!

I usually get honey green tea, milk tea, Thai tea or hot lavender milk tea, but I got green apple milk tea this time around, because I thought it'd match this polish perfectly. Was I right or was I right?! :D

I would have liked to shake my drink prior to taking the shots so that it would look more like the polish, but my cup had one of the snap on tops that would have totally exploded if I tried doing such a thing.

Okay, enough backstory. I think Chelsea was really on point with this polish! What do you think?


Hit the jump for close up pictures (:

Twinkly Love

Sinful Colors Cinderella + Revlon Whimsical + Kleancolor Twinkly Love + Etude House LUCIDarling 07

I'm really excited about the mani I have to show you today, because I finally got Whimsical to work for me! You can tell from the bottle how much I've used this polish, but this was the only time that I've liked the result enough to post it.

For this mani, I started off with Cinderella. It's a relatively sheer polish, so I used three coats to get a perfect finish. Then I layered on one coat of Whimsical. I didn't have a toothpick on hand, so I used the polish brush to pick out individual hearts from Twinkly Love and placed them where I wanted them. After all those steps, my mani still seemed a bit incomplete so I took LUCIDarling 07 and dabbed extra blue glitter where I felt was necessary, and sealed everything off with Seche Vite top coat.

GRADUATED!

Hey everyone! I want to show you guys my mani from my commencement ceremony yesterday (:

I decided to go with a Ruffian mani because I wanted something trendy but classic at the same time. For this very look, I started off with Topshop Hidden Treasure and freehanded the white using Wet n Wild French White Creme. Then I topped the white with China Glaze White Cap, and mattified the entire thing using Essie Matte About You.


I think this look would have been striking if I had used black instead of white, but I went with white because I wanted it to complement my dress.

Here's a glimpse of my dress, by the way...



I actually didn't get a chance to shop for a dress, but I had this one in my closet and thought it'd be appropriate for the occasion.
But anyway...

Cotton Candy

American Apparel Coney Island

Here's two coats of Coney Island--a cute, cotton candy pink! This is one of my favorite shades of pink, although it's really bright and can be unflattering if you don't like polishes that make your skin appear darker.

Popsicle

L.A. Girl Shocking

Shocking is a vibrant neon coral that has the juicy, jelly finish that I adore so much. It's not the craziest neon I've seen, but it's definitely bright enough for my liking! I used two coats of Shocking with Seche Vite top coat in the swatch above.

I've been debating whether to pick up the Essie polishes from the Poppy Razzi collection, but then I remembered this shade from my stash! I can't say if it's a dupe for any of the Essies, but it's definitely in the ballpark if you're looking for a neon jelly polish (:

I found this at a local nail supply store. They didn't have a huge collection or anything, there was just a tiny rack full of random LA Girl and CND polishes running for $1-2 each!

Un-DSing

Nike Air Max 1 Julep/Liquid Lime
Long Beach Convention Center

I can never leave a pair of new kicks unworn for very long.
I broke these in for the first time at Motion Auto Show last month.

This model is surely becoming a favorite!

I Can Transform Ya

Revlon Lemon Meringue + Dare to Wear Disc Jockey

Since I didn't like Lemon Meringue on me so much, I decided to add a coat of Disc Jockey--a polish I've been dying to use ever since I got it! It's a holographic glitter that also contains holographic bar glitters and holographic hexagons. I thought the glitters were suspended in a clear base, but the base actually has a green tint that transformed my lemon-y yellow into this fun shade of lime green! (:

Lemon Meringue

Revlon Lemon Meringue

This polish is part of the Revlon Scented Treats collection. By the looks of it, you'd assume that it's an innocent polish... but be warned! This is possibly one of the worst polishes I've ever tried :(

The color is nice, but the formula is where this polish just sucked really bad. From the bottle, I thought it was perhaps a jelly... but much to my dismay, the translucency of the polish in the bottle is due to its runny consistency! It was so runny, I felt like I was painting water onto my nails, because the polish just didn't want to adhere. The second coat wasn't as bad, but it was very streaky and left terrible patches everywhere, so I needed a third coat to touch up all the bald, uneven spots. I couldn't get away without using an additional coat because the polish tended to glob up or get worse when I tried to fix it while wet. The finish wasn't glossy and I ended up getting bubbles, so I needed to finish off with my Seche Vite top coat, in an attempt to camouflage the bubbles and compensate for the lack of shine.

I usually don't have a problem with scented products, but this one was was really overwhelming! It's a sickeningly sweet, sugary smell that stampedes into my nostrils even after two layers of top coat. It eventually fades over time, but while it lingered, I felt like my head was going to explode.

As you can see from the pictures, it's not impossible to work with. I managed to make it look decent; however, considering all the trouble that it's worth, I'd suggest checking out other options if you're really into this shade. Have any of you tried this polish before? Do you think it's worth the trouble?

Wild Things

Have you seen these leggings from the Leah McSweeney line?! So dope! It's too bad they're currently sold out!

I really dig the bright, vibrant design, so I decided to do a mani inspired by them. Here's my take on the  florals:

Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as some of my other designs! The pattern on the leggings isn't too intricate, so I didn't have to get worked up on the minor details.


I really like how it turned out. I'm currently living away from home (and away from most of my polishes and nail art brushes!) so I had to layer a bunch of polishes to get the shade I wanted. I ended up layering with a bunch of jellies, and it added a whole new dimension to my design!


What do you think of my hand poses? I did a bit of experimenting haha.


Thanks for looking!

Re-FRESH

I've been blogging for over a year now, but it wasn't until more recently that I discovered what I like to blog about. I started off doing a bit of everything... sneakers, makeup, nails, cars, and just random photography in general. I generally prefer blogs that are more focused, so it always kinda bugged me that my posts where all over the place.

Then just the other day, I was scheduling posts and looking over my more recent posts when it clicked. Nails and sneakers were always a focal point of my posts, but it's been even more so as of late. I didn't have to ponder over my blog's topics anymore, because it seems I've already weeded out topics without realizing it!

The other thing is, I've been dying to change my layout since forever, but never got around to it.

So with my recent epiphany, I've decided to completely revamp my blog--name, layout, and all. I hope y`all like the new look (:

Oh, and before I end this post, I'd like to send a HUGE shout out to Lita! I have absolutely no experience in graphics design or Adobe Photoshop whatsoever, but with her helpful tutorials, I was able to figure it out and get my banner and blog buttons somewhat resembling what I had envisioned. Thank you thank you Lita! I couldn't have done it without you :D