Monday 29 October 2012

Holo Hestia+ Curvy Indian Nail Art

Monday...Monday! Yeah.. comes every week! no deal!
Lets get back to business! and cheer up!
Today we have a HOLO!!! HOLO! OLOOO! LOOO! (say it like an Echooo!)




Base: OPI (faux) Lucky Lucky Lavender



Helloooo Gorgeous!!
Layered wth one coat of HITS No Olimpo : HESTIA
Its a beautiful light pink...linear holo. But not very strong.

Stamping plate: XL G
Stamping Polish: Konad Black
Added dots with Lotus herbals Plum Delight

I m sooo madly in love with holo polishes!! <3>Sighhh!!

Whats on ur nails today??

Thursday 25 October 2012

Cute-Teddy Nail Art

Quick post today. The internet at my place has conked off and dont ask where I am posting this from.
(ahem ahem off..ahem ..ice). I did this cutesy mani on my hubby's bday. ^_^
I am not sure how much he appreciated this but all the neighbours's kids and gal pals certainly did!!


Base is Lotus Herbals: Plum Mist.
Nice creme finish in plummy pinkish tones. Dries in 5 mins. Opaque in 2 coats.
3 free.


Stamped with Cheeky Image plates: Ch 11 (thumb), Ch15 (pointer), Ch8 (middle) ,Ch29 (ring), Ch 15 (pinkie). All stamped with Konad Pastel Pink.


I added some detailing with a couple of other polishes.

Cute..aint it?

Monday 22 October 2012

Colourful Festive Mani: Lotus herbals:Plum Delight

Tis the festive season here in India! and I got festive manis!


First up is the Navratri (9 nights): where for 9 days people worship a deity and there is song and traditional garba dance in evenings. Also the Durga festival is widely celebrated around the same time for 6 days with a lot of fanfare.


Thats a ground where traditional garba dance happens. it draws huge crowds!!
People adorn traditional ULTRA colourful costumes for the dance.
I was in a colorful mood following the neon tiger print mani last week and hadnt had enough yet.

While my friend Nirah again recommended Plum delight from Lotus. Lovely polish! (thanks Ni!)
Smooth buttery application.. 2 coats opaque. Decent brush, No streaks! No bubbles! Dried in 5-8 mins.

Gorgeous smoky violet! *me thinks is a great dupe for Zoya Pinta.. see here
Lotus herbals Nail polishes are Acetone, DBP and Toluene free.
8ml bottle, costs Rs.110/-



Slathered some Inglot 204 blue-purple flakies on it. Turns it magical, doesnt it?

Stamped with XL C using Konad Pastel pink (yeah.. messed up on one finger)
But I had another plan for the mess.. to hide it :Dk

Added dots using a dotting tool with 3-4 polishes to make it bright


Ta-daaaa! M all set for GARBAAAA!!!

This is a bollywood song on the traditional garba dance..


Thursday 18 October 2012

Neon Tiger Print Nail Art: Using Colorbar Neons

Grrrrrr! Grrrrr!
If tigers could be fashionable every tigress would have dyed her fur like this at least once :D

Well...Colorbar finally released some Neons recently in a collection called Cocktail. Although summer's waaay over, sometimes you just need a pop of colour no matter what the season is. Thats when Neon polishes come handy.
I did search for these online but seemed online stores werent playing the catch up game very well. The only place I found these was VioletBag.com. You can see my haul post here.
I snagged Pina Colada and Lime Margarita from the Cocktail Collection. The orange, blood red and magenta-pink in this collection didnt really look like neon so I wasnt very interested in them. There is one another neon pink in this collection, but I have another similar polish so I skipped that too.

Pina Colada is sheeeeeerrrrrrr. This is 2 coats and I am certain that even 4 coats wouldnt have covered VNL (visible nail line). I tried 4 coats on the pinkie finger and VNL is still visible. But it does add a bright pop if thats what you are looking for. Maybe you could layer it over a white or a similar opaque light coloured base.


I sponged on it with Colorbar Lime Margarita (Neon green) and a Miss Claire one stroke polish in bright pink.  Lime Margarita wasnt as sheer coz it sponged on pretty well without having to add layers of the polish.



Stamped on the sponging with a tiger print plate from Bundle Monster BM223 with Konad Black.

I thought I would'nt be a fan of neons, but boy I was wrong. I am now.
It just depends on how you wear them and how you carry them. This mani grabbed a lot of attention and in a .."oohhhhhh.. thats nice!!" kind of way. 

Are you a fan of neons?
Hope you loved this one as much as I did. Grrrrrr.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

NailArt and Things Mani Featured in Cosmopolitan!!

Yay!! One of my Manis was featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine Oct 2012 (Indian) edition.




Sushmita Sen on the cover looking fab and prettty! Its the 16th Anniversary edition of the mag here in India.


Yeah Thats me!!!! :D I still cant stop grinning and whooping(a bit).

However they seem not to like to my water mark on my pics which was removed :-/

and that line quoted under the pic is not mine. Nahh!

" Polka dotted nails in icy sorbet colours (???!! Huh?) are my thing these days. They're easy to do and unusual" (or not. I think polka dots are easiest to do and so quite common) :p :p :p


Just a pic of the whole page to admire me better :D

Check my post on the retro polka dot mani here.
Yay!!!

Monday 15 October 2012

NailSpa Experience!!! Festive Glitter Mani


How would you like to get pampered and bask in serene bliss and get your nails done at the same time?
I know I'd love to :D
This mani is the result of that! 
(and this post is pic heavy coz I couldnt resist uploading more pics)


NAILSPA EXPERIENCE –Style Salon & Spa, a fast-growing player in the nails & spa industry, which boasts of a new level of indulgence with lavish nails, eyelashes, pedicures and body care treatments enduring relaxation of body, mind & soul. NAILSPA EXPERIENCEs offers 5 star services in nails like Acrylic/Gel glitter Nail extension, Pink & White Nail extension, Diamontee Nails, Bridal Nails etc for self sprucing. Whitening Facial, Body Wraps, Eyelash Extensions, Recliner Massaging Pedicures are some of the many enthralling offers that too can be experienced by visitors.



CHANEL, DIOR, INGLOT, OPI, CHINA GLAZE- these are the some quality brands that they use. There were around 11 different kinds of manicures and pedicures that the salon offers. The ambience is great with soft music and spacious.
One can relax without the 100 types of different machine sounds you'd hear in a beauty salon. They also offer rejuvenating body massages and different kinds of nail treatments for various nail problems like peeling/brittle nails, fungus, etc.
Nail art prices start at Rs500/-, nail extensions start at 1950/- (gel and acrylics). The place is open 7 days a week from 10.30am to 9.00pm. To see more services offered see their website here

Some pics of the place: 




Some samples of nail art done by their experienced technicians:

My experience at the spa was truly nice. I can be a bit finicky about hygiene in such places and I was pleased to see that all technicians and staff wore face masks, the instruments were clean and well maintained. The place was spick and span. I opted to do some nail art on my hands coz it feels really good to have someone do your nails :D (ahhhh..bliss!!)

Since the festive season is about to begin in India with the advent of Navratri (festival of 9 days of dance), followed by Durga puja and Diwali (Hindu New year), I thought it was befitting the season to have some bling on my nails. The technicians and staff suggested french glitter nails with some 3-D accent and I agreed to that. Must say I am pretty pleased with the result.

My nails were first prepped with a bit of cuticle pushing and filing. Then my hands were sanitized and cleaned before SoSo (the technician who did my nails) proceeded with the base coat. Artfully she applied loose small hex glitter in gold. She had a strict eye for detail and finish. 


After glitter was applied, she proceeded to do the accent nail on my ring finger with 3-D. I was a bit apprehensive of using acrylic on my nails but she patiently answered my questions and cleared my doubts about using it and its effects on my nails. Using acrylic powder she made and moulded the flower and leaves on my nails itself. Lastly she put a tiny crystal in the centre to complete the look. This nail art would have been priced at Rs.1200/- (as per the salon)

I love love love the whole effect. Glittery and oh-so-cute!!

I leave you to drool over some pics of the manicure.



I couldnt stop staring at this pretty accent nail!


Also if you'd like to visit the place: NailSpa Experience has some attractive offers going on for the festive season: 
Special Festive offer: French/Glitter Nail Extension + Get FREE Back Message and Back Bleach worth 1000/- all for just 2500/- only .Offer Valid from 9th October - 24th October 2012


I loved the whole experience. Do you like to get your nails done at a nailspa?



*Disclosure: Service offered by NailSpa Experience for review, free of cost. However this is an unbiased review based on my personal experience, and all opinions are my own.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Max factor's Fantasy Fire + KKCenterHk Glitter


Ever wondered what a magical dragon's breath would look like? How about a potion of liquid luck?
Swirling with mysterious sparkling colours that change shades? Yeah? Thats exactly what Max factor's Fantasy Fire looks like. And better.

When my friend Nirah (from Present Past Perfect..Tense) came out to Mumbai she came across this beauty in a store and tweeted to me if I needed it. I was like OMG it here?? But umm yeah if you pick it and if we wont meet you'll have to send it all the way back here. But her better judgement prevailed and she picked it for me and I cant thank her enough for this. :D
These tiny bottles of mystique costs Rs.245/- for 5 ml. ($5 approx) available at Max Factor counters.

Base: OPI Russian Navy
Layered: With Max Factor Fantasy Fire
Accent: Layered with Kleancolor Holo Chrome





Can you see the orange twinkle on FF?

This is a pot of hex glitter or glequins from KKcenterhk. They are 1mm in dia and easy enough to be picking by a tooth pick or orange stick and placed on your nail. However I was too impatient with them and couldnt line them up neatly on my accent finger. See the variety of colours they have here.
Costs $5.54 for a really huge pot. Just dont leave it open. It has tendency to start flying around. take some out in a dish or paper and work form it.
I have just added the glitter on the accent finger in a window pattern..and I love how it highlights.
I am going to make some manis using this loose glitter/glequins. Lets see how you like it.

Watch how the orange twinkle turns green?

What can I say.... I love love FF!!! and Glequins!



Note: KKcenterhk provided the glequins to me for review. But the reviews r my own.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

VioletBag Haul!


I realized that I have been hauling stuff left right and center but not done any haul posts!!
Ermmm maybe coz I dont want to feel too much guilt?? :D

So here's just a peek at my most recent haul:

I couple of year's ago I was feeling extremely frustrated that we werent getting konad stuff in India. I still fret over OPI and ChG not releasing their latest collections here but instead sending stuff from 2010 to India! But there is some respite atleast in terms of overall availability of things related to nail art. Thankfully now most of Konad stuff is quite easily available here.

VioletBag is one of the online shops in India to stock Konad and loads of other nail art related stuff. The offer COD (cash on delivery) and you can also earn reward points everytime you purchase from them..so after the third purchase you can start redeeming points.



Of course they also have a nice collection of other stuff including make up, bags, accessories, perfumes et all. But I couldnt look past the nail section!! 

Here's what I hauled:



I was impressed with their service. For a long time I wanted to check out the Konad double sided stamper. Its easy to pick up small designs like a single flower without picking up any other design on the stamping plate. However after I placed my order, the next day a customer service exec called me up saying that item was not in stock. Eeeeekks! 
So I told them I dont mind waiting if they could procure it for me.  And they DiD!!! I received my order in 5 days. Well packed, with polishes wrapped separately in bubble wrap.

Who can resist Hello Kitty stickers..right? ^_^
If u want some here's the link. Click here

My double side stamper set!

Colorbar Neons and Konad stamping polishes. I couldnt see Colorbar's latest neon collection online in other sites. Only Violetbag had them.


Konad M85 image plate for stamping nail art

Cant wait to try these things!!!!

What have you hauled lately?

(pssst: my other hauls : I also got cheeky plates, Bundle Monster 3 plates, loads of BK holos, a few ChGs, a turkish holo glitter nail polish :Gold Rose brand, maybelline eye color tattoos, loads of clothes)Now I need a black glitter polish. Need to catch hold of someone coming back to India from US. Anybody reading this?) :D


(P.S.: I was provided a coupon to review the site, but opinions are my own and based on my experience)