Category Archives: Tutorials & Tips

Nail Art Tutorial: Martini Nails (New Year’s Eve Nails)

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Martini Nails Nail Art Tutorial & PicturesIf you’re underage and shouldn’t be drinking alcohol, at least you can give my Martini Nails a try – they’re a fun way to ring in the New Year!

I’ll never forget the first time I had a classic, dry martini – it was at a German restaurant. I was so excited to try it and see what all the fuss was about because you always see classy people in movies elegantly sipping martinis. (Of course, in movies, the glasses are really just filled with water…at least I hope so!)

Not sure why, but I thought it was going to be sweet or delicious like the fruity or dessert martinis and cocktails. Haha, so the second I took my first sip, my whole face crinkled up in disgust! My then-boyfriend burst into hysterical laughter and asked me, “That good, huh?” 😛 He wished that he had brought his camera.

I had no idea if it was a ‘good martini’ or not because I had no reference to compare it to. All I remember was that it tasted like the way nail-polish remover smells. (I finished it, but that was my first and last classic, dry martini.) The best part about it was the olive… Continue reading →

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Nail Art Tutorial: Snow Bunny Nails

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Flash Snow Bunny Rabbit Nails Nail Art Tutorial & PicturesSince I had so much fun wearing my Penguin Nails, I decided to try more animal nail art in the snow – Snow Bunny Nails!

Although this design doesn’t use many colours, it took much longer to complete than the penguins. So if you give this one a go, make sure you have a good chunk of time on your hands.

Like what we learned in Aesop’s Fables, slow and steady wins the race. Looks like in this manicure, the hare taught us that, though, not the tortoise.

This was my Christmas manicure. I wore it on the 23rd straight through to today even though I really wanted to wear China Glaze Party Hearty. (After spending over an hour on these ‘wascally wabbits’, as Elmer Fudd would say, I just couldn’t bring myself to remove them for a long time.)

With some minor tweaking (i.e. making the ears shorter), you can easily convert these rabbit nails into cat nails!

Also, I was extremely busy over the past few days, so I was only able to capture this manicure mainly with my flash. Although, a few are in the sunlight and some are in terrible dim artificial light. But from the mediocre photos I was able to take, you get the basic idea. Continue reading →

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Nail Art Tutorial: Reindeer Nails (Rudolph Nails)

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Sunlight Reindeer Nails Nail Art Tutorial & SwatchesIt seems like everyone’s doing Reindeer Nails (Rudolph Nails) lately, and since it’s a design I’ve never tried before, I thought there’s no time like the present!

Although I liked the way it turned out, I strongly suggest that if you replicate it, that you opt for a light-coloured background instead of a bronze shimmer like I did. (It’s better to have more contrast between the background and the antlers.)

Also, I used red heart sequins for the noses because I wanted to do something different than just dots. This proved to be both a good and bad choice. I’ll explain later on in my step-by-step tutorial featuring written instructions and photos. Continue reading →

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Nail Art Tutorial: Penguin Nails

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Sunlight Penguin Nails Nail Art Tutorial & SwatchesMy hands are usually cold during this time of year, so I thought it would be a great idea to do Penguin Nails! (Also, one of my followers on beautylish requested that I do penguins sometime. I was happy to oblige!)

This look is extremely easy to do, but the finished design appears more complicated.

Like I always say, it’s about patience more than it is about skill. Don’t be intimidated by nail art!

(Check out my tutorial where I walk you through it with step-by-step written instructions and photographs.)

I really hope that you’ll try this design. 🙂 And if you do, let me know how it goes! Continue reading →

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Nail Art Tutorial: Candy Cane Nails

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Candy Cane Nails Nail Art Tutorial & SwatchesToday I bring you more festive nail art – Candy Cane Nails! I love the way candy canes look hanging on a tree. And, although I think all the fun-flavoured ones are delicious, my favourite is the simple, classic peppermint candy cane.

When my brother and I were kids, we weren’t supposed to eat any of the candy canes from the Christmas tree until December 25th. At least, that’s what my parents would always remind us of every year.

But kids don’t always do what they’re supposed to do. We conveniently ‘forgot’. And we were naughty.

When my brother and I thought nobody was looking, we’d snatch one off the tree, make a beeline to our bedrooms, and devour them in secrecy. The whole time, we thought ourselves to be very clever.

It was always a few days before Christmas when my parents would mention how there were fewer and fewer candy canes on the tree. Counting them proved that they were right.

(They knew all along that we had been snatching them off the boughs, but always had a soft spot and let it go. Unfortunately, their readiness to forgive made it easier for us to justify snatching the candy canes off the tree when the little angel and little devil would appear on either shoulder. ;))

These days, I have way more self-restraint when it comes to eating candy canes. I can wait until Christmas. Perhaps I have all those years as a candy-cane thief to thank for that…

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Nail Art Tutorial: Santa Nails

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Sunlight Santa Nails Nail Art Tutorial, Swatches & PicturesChina Glaze Phat Santa, a red jelly polish, inspired me so much that I knew I had to do some Christmas nail art with it. These Santa Nails are the result!

Here’s Santa’s red suit with fluffy white trimming and black belt with gold buckle. It just took a few steps, and as long as you don’t rush, yours will come out lovely. And the best part? You just need 4 colours.

You know how lots of children like to put out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus to enjoy when he visits?

Well, when I was a kid, I told my parents that I was thinking about leaving Santa Claus a bowl of salad and a glass of water. No, I’m not cruel – my intentions were good.

I was concerned about his health and if Santa felt the need to finish everything on all the plates. That’s a lot of cookies! So I thought I’d at least make sure that he got his vegetables in. Yeah, I was a strange kid.

My parents just burst out laughing at my suggestion. So I didn’t put out the salad that night, but I did consider leaving a little note telling Santa that if he couldn’t finish all the cookies, he could just leave some at my place. I’d help him out. 😉 Maybe I wasn’t that strange, after all.

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Nail Art Tutorial: Snowflake Nails

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Sunlight Snowflake Nails Nail Art Tutorial & SwatchesHere are the Snowflake Nails I’ve been wearing for quite some time. Actually, I procrastinated quite a bit when it came to snapping photos, so all these photos you see are of my 4-day-old manicure.

Later in this post, I show you how to recreate it. This is one of the easiest looks that I’ve ever done, and even if you have a shaky hand like I do, it’ll turn out great. Precision isn’t required for this design! 🙂

*Plays trumpet* All the pictures (except the step-by-step tutorial photos) were taken with my new camera! *Jumps up and down*

They were the result of my first 10 minutes fiddling around with the Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR camera. Even though it was my first time using a Canon camera and my first time using a DSLR, I found it to be extremely user-friendly.

I still have to experiment with it some more because there are so many cool settings I must try out so I can get more creative. For now, though, I was pleased with how it performed…especially in dim natural light (which was my true test because my old Sony Cyber-shot always produced grainy photos in that setting). Also, shades of blue like this gave my old camera a really hard time. Seemed like it ain’t no thang for the Canon! Continue reading →

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