Navy/Pink with Hearts

Blah, been so busy with school lately! I'm a full-time student x2 so I don't have as much time to do my nails. I'm trying to make some time, though. It's a hobby of mine and I do it to relax. I did find out that my esthetician class allows pretty much anything on your nails as long as the polish isn't chipped and your nails are short, yay! 

Anyway, here's what I've had on my nails recently, first pic is from a magazine. Please ignore the tip wear, these were taken a couple days after I did my nails (oh, and a couple pieces of glitter are missing!).

I tried using the little gold bullion beads but it was too difficult, the beads and glue were getting everywhere. It would have been a lot easier to use a tiny pop ball chain but I don't have one (yet). So, I thought some hex glitter would be a pretty good substitute. Also, in the magazine it looks like they used both pink and a peachy color, but I thought it would be a little too random-looking. It ends up looking pretty random anyway but I actually got lots of compliments (I think people like hearts!). The navy blue jelly is Nfu-oh 119, the pink is Essie Neo Whimsical. I do really like the contrast of the navy and pink, I'll have to keep that in mind.

Nfu-oh 65

So I think my laptop is fried but at least I'm able to use my old PC for now. It's slow but it works!

On to the polish. Finally got my hands on this one! It wasn't even in stock when I was in Korea so I had to wait to order them from fabuloustreet.com.

Nfu-oh 65 is a light blue linear holo. I like it, but it's not as holo as my 61, I wonder if this one is a dud? Still very pretty. The formula was the same as all the linear holos I've tried, a bit liquidy but easy to work with. I wore one coat of Aqua Base, then one coat of polish, then another coat of AB, then another coat of polish (no top coat). I heard this would make the mani last longer but I didn't notice much of a difference. Also, maybe that would account for the polish not being quite as holo as it should be? In any case, still a very pretty color!

Marble Confetti Mani

I've always thought that water marble manis looked cool but I had no idea how difficult it was! I had to experiment with a few different polishes before I got it right and also messed up a few nails before I got some decent patterns (decent, not great!).

I started with a white base, MAC Vestral White:

These are the colors I used:

L to R: Diamond Cosmetics Orange Blush, Color Club Almost Famous, Nfu-oh 553, American Apparel Office, Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau

Here is the first nail:

I couldn't find tape so I had to clean up all the polish from my skin later (didn't want to use Vaseline or something oily b/c it might leave a film in the water, preventing the drops of polish from spreading correctly).

Afterward, I added some heart-shaped glitter and colorful rhinestones. Here's the finished product:

It's not quite what I hoped for but I still think it looks fun, like birthday party decorations!

For more detailed instructions on water marbling (and better designs) check out this blog:
http://mysimplelittlepleasures.blogspot.com/
She's so pro! Hopefully I'll be just as good some day!

Nfu-oh 51

Here's another color from my Korea/Nfu-oh haul!

Nfu-oh 52 is a purple jelly base with multi-chrome flakes and mini glitter. They flash pretty much every color from red to teal. I tried to show it in the pictures but it's hard to capture. I am wearing two coats and the VNL in the pictures is much worse than IRL, where it was actually very hard to see. Formula was great to work with and the polish lasts a long time; I believe this picture was taken three or four days after I did my mani and there's only a bit of tip wear, no chipping. It does take longer than average to dry but it's not too bad.

This polish is said to be a Clarins 230 (a.k.a. Unicorn Pee) dupe. It's clearly not a true dupe as 52 is a flakey and Clarins 230 is a shimmer, but there are definite similarities. I will have to do a comparison sometime.

Nfu-oh 70

I know everyone goes crazy for Nfu-oh flakies and holos (as well they should), but I also really love their foils! There's only four true foils that I know of, 68-71, but they are lovely! This is one of the colors I was most excited about, number 70:

It's a lime green foil! Pretty unique. It was quite sheer for a foil, this is three coats. They dried rather slowly for a foil as well but about average for most polishes. The formula was about average too, not amazing but not too hard to work with. I really wish more brands made unique colors like this!

Nfu-oh 52

I really wish I had purchased more Nfu-oh now that I'm back, but I'm just glad I was able to score the beauties I did. Here's number 52:

It's a sheer blue-based purple jelly with flakes that shine blue or green depending on the angle and lighting. This is four coats with no base or or top coat. There's still a bit of VNL but it's not very visible when my nails are this short. This color is beautiful, I really could not stop staring at my nails. My only complaint is that it did not dry very quickly, took quite a while actually. Still, the color is worth it and it lasted quite a long time.

Here it is with Essie Matte About You on top:

Mattifying it tones down the shimmer/microglitter and brings out the flakes. Very pretty.

Still have quite a few untried Nfu-oh but so far I have not been disappointed!

My Visit to Korea Part 2: Super Cute Makeup!

Polish and samples from Missha

The color names seem to be HGR01 (teal/green duochrome) and HKH01 (sparkly bronze with lots of holo glitter)

Heart-shaped bottles!

Etude House WH004 (black with teal/pink duochrome flakes)

Etude house samples, lip gloss in "4 purpley holy beam" (translation), peach lotion in a panda-shaped container

Banila co. Spring Temptation lipstick in Jealousy plus samples

Pucca eyeshadow duo and false lashes plus samples

Nfu-oh lotion in Sweet Peach plus nail buffers and can openers

Adorable bottle (just like the nail polish bottles)

I actually showed quite a bit of restraint, haha. I wonder if I should have bought more...

My Visit to Korea Part 1: Nfu-oh (The Mothership)

So I hate to admit it but one of the things I was most looking forward to doing on our trip was going to Nfu-oh headquarters. I'm sure you fellow nail polish addicts understand, though! It's a pretty big place, it looks like it used to be an actual salon but now it's mostly a warehouse/showroom. As always, click to enlarge the photos.

*drool*

Holos and flakies (among others)

My haul:

GS14, 39, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 66

68, 69, 70, 119, 435, 534, 553, 557, Aqua Base

Here are some quick 'n' dirty swatches:

Thumb to pinky: GS14, 39, 51, 52, 59; one coat of each, no top or base coat

Pinky to thumb: 60, 66, 68, 69, 70; two coats of 66 and 70, one coat of the rest, no base or top coat

Better shot of 66

Thumb to pinky: 119, 435, 534, 553, 557; three coats of 119, two coats each of the rest, no base or top coat

And of course, the famed 61. Even in this picture it looks amazing but the picture really does not do it justice! It's truly amazing IRL.

Here are some swatches of their gel polish line, Gelist, but they are not available for export yet. Please enlarge the pictures, some of them have very pretty shimmer and microglitter finishes.

Whew! So much polish, I hope it doesn't get confiscated!