For Midah

Today's nail art is a request from a colleague who loves leopard prints

Here are the OPIs used for the nail art:
OPI Pink a Peach,
OPI Strawberry Margarita,
and OPI Alphine Snow

Midah, this one's for you =)

Taken under sunlight:

Taken indoors:

And 1 picture of the right hand, indoors:

Here's the tutorial for this nail art:

Step 1: Paint base coat, base colour.
Wait a while to dry.

Step 2: Choosing a contrasting colour,

paint on spots.
Note that these don't really have fixed shapes to them.

Step 3: Using a dotting tool,

paint on the outlines of the spots.
Step 4: Paint topcoat.
Wait for the polish to dry
Step 5: Using nail art glue, add the pearls or rhinestones

Giveaway Winners and a Tag

Here are all the entries for the Christmas Giveaway

I put it into the bag that I always use to transport my polishes around the house when doing those photo shoots

Since its also partly in honour of my brother's birthday,
I got him to do the honours of selecting the 3 winners.
And they are:
Danica, Alisa and Nina

I've already sent an email to them yesterday!
Congrats! Hope to hear from you soon! =)

And I got a Tag from chocaddict of the blog Mon Coin a Moua
I'm supposed to answer the following questions with just a word each:

1. Where is your phone? Piano
2. Your hair Wet
3. Your Mom? Love
4. Your Dad? Old
5. Your favorite meal? Home-cooked
6. Your last dream? Passionate
7. What do you like to drink? Coffee
8. Your dream? Utopia
9. In what room are you? Bedroom
10. Your hobby? Nails
11. What are you afraid of? Cockroaches
12. Last travel? Beijing
13. Where were you last night? Pole
14. Something you are not? Nobel
15. Muffins? Chocolate
16. Wishlist? Long
17. Where did you grow up? Singapore
18. Last thing you did? Read
19. What are you wearing? Red
20. Your television? Huge
21. Your pet(s)? Died
22. Your friends? Close
23. Your life? Quiet
24. Your temper? Scary
25. Do you miss someone? Yes
26. Your car? None
27. Something you don’t bring with you?
28. Your favorite shop? Tons!
29. Your favorite color? Rainbow
30. Last time you laughed? Joyously
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday
32. Your best friend? Gerry
33. A place where you can go again and again? Bed
34. Facebook? Hesitant
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

Well... this tag has gone around for a while
and I can't remember who's been tagged and who hasn't
so if you haven't done it and would like to,
just go ahead =)

Sweet Pink by OPI Collection

I wanted to post these swatches asap so that my giveaway winners might have a better idea of what to choose.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of time and lousy weather conditions,
I have to use my toes again and even then the pics aren't the best.

Having said that,
I'm not terribly excited about this collection even though they're Japan exclusives.

OPI Sugar Cookie Pink,
in my humble opinion, the most boring one of the collection.
Its a plain pink jelly that is super sheer, probably good for french manicures.
I did 4 coats and you can see my nail bed there.
You'll probably need another 4 coats to get it decently opaque.
BLEAH...

Next, OPI Pink a Peach
3 coats without topcoat.

1st 2 taken on a overcast morning

Indoors.
The indoor pictures are more colour accurate

Indoors with camera flash

This one's being described by OPI as a peachy pink.
Personally, I think it could do with a hint more orange to be considered peachy.
There's some silver and pink glitter, but its very subtle,
not enough to call it glass-flecked or anything exciting.
The least sheer of the collection, 3 coats is enough for decent coverage.

OPI Pink Carmel, 3 coats with topcoat.
Maybe its the power of suggestion,
but I thought this was the most aptly named colour outta the 4.
It does remind me of toffees with those caramel fillings.
Again, there is the subtle pink and silver glitters that gives the polish that slight shimmer.

And the last and most interesting one in my opinion,
OPI Pink Cupcake.
I took quite a number of shots for this one because it was kinda hard to capture the colour accurately.

1st 4 pictures were taken at various times of the day

This one's was taken when it started to drizzle.
Next 2 are indoor shots

and the last one, taken at night with camera flash.

OPI Pink Cupcake is a bright rose-pink that is almost neon
The pink and blue glitter in this one has a more pronounced effect as compared to the others in the collection;
you can just see a blue flash in really good light.
Unfortunately, its another really sheer polish.
Pictures are all 4 coats with topcoat but I would suggest adding another 1 to 2 more coats.
Alternatively, this would probably look better as a layered polish.

Well.. I guess if you're someone who liked the OPI Princess Charming collection or OPIs like Nomad's Dream,
then this new Japan exclusive collection is for you.

However, if you're someone who's bored by most pink polishes
then you can give this one a miss

Fake polish...

Let me get this outta the way 1st
then I can concentrate on doing the draw for the giveaway

I finally got the Sweet Pink by OPI Collection in.
In case you aren't aware, this is yet another Japan exclusive collection
But to be honest, I don't feel terribly excited for this one...

From left to right:
SR AL8 Sugar Cookie Pink,
SR AL9 Pink Cupcake,
SR AM1 Pink a Peach,
and SR AM2 Pink Caramel

I've got swatches of these coming up,
probably in the next 1 or 2 posts k =)

Taken with camera flash cos I thought the polish showed up better this way:
OPI Espresso Your Style,
(I couldn't find my old bottle so I went and got a new bottle of this)
OPI DS Royal
and a fake Nfu-Oh gold glitter that my nail resource person sent over for free

and finally some lovely Nubars that I've been lemming:
Cherry Cordial,
Chocolate Coffee Bean,
and Opulent Pearl.

dang it! I should have ordered the entire brown Nubar Collection...
Cherry Cordial and Chocolate Coffee Bean are just too pretty

2nd pic taken with flash.

Giveaway reminder

Just a friendly post that my Christmas Giveaway will be ending pretty soon!
Pls do remember to submit your entries if you want a chance at 5 polishes!


Also for those of you who have already submitted your entries,
Just a note for you to check to make sure that you have included your email address!
I've already spotted some without.


To be fair, I did say I will disqualify all entries without email addresses
so pls remember that!

Pedicures of the Past

Ok, You've been warned!
As the header goes, its obviously about toes.
If toe pics creep you out, pls skip this k!
And mine are rather ugly too =P
If you do proceed, pls ignore all the injuries you see
(dancers almost always have ugly feet)

but well... my untried stash has been exploding
*looks desperately the boxes*
so I've kinda resorted to doing more frequent pedicures to get swatches

OPI Sweet Love at Ferris Wheel.
erm... I can't find the bottle for this one.
I have a feeling that I probably have swapped it away
*seriously hope its not lost somewhere*

I think this was 3 coats... erm... or was it 4??
Well.. this was really quite a while ago,
but I do remember being irritated at the nail bed peeking through =P
If it had been pigmented enough, it would have been a lovely shade of antique rose with a gold flash.

Japan Pika Nail Polish.
This one has neither name nor code,
so I'll just call it blue glitter polish (how original)
Pretty sure this one is 3 coats.
A silverish-blue that comes out a little frosted.
I remember being disappointed with the colour cos its wasn't as blue enough as seen in the bottle.

Etude House Petit Darling Nails in PP906.
A shimmery neon-ish purple with blue flash.
This one's quite pretty actually.
Definitely a 3 coater.

Isadora Diamond Blue.
Another 3 coater frosty sliverish-light blue.
This one's way more silver than the Pika one,
in fact it's probably better described as silver with a tinge of blue.

Christmas Giveaway

I hope you guys don't mind polishes that have been used as giveaway prizes.
There are going to be some new bottles,
but as I was organising my stuff over the weekend,
I had an idea which would mean that there would be more than 1 winner,
and I could also whittle down my stash =P

My brother's birthday falls on 5th Dec,
so 3 winners will each walk away with a maximum of 5 polishes.
The winners would have to choose 1 polish from Category 1,
1 polish from Category 2,
1 polish from Category 3,
1 polish from Category 4(a to d)
and 1 polish of your choice from the new Japan exclusive Sweet Pink by OPI Collection

The giveaway is open from now until 19th Dec, 2359 hrs Singapore time
I'll do a draw on the 20th Dec.
To be fair,
Winner's choices will be on a 1st come 1st serve basis
so I will email the winners on 21st Dec at 0900 hrs, Singapore time.
Winners will have to respond by 23rd Dec, 2359 hrs Singapore time with the polishes of your choice,
otherwise a new winner will be drawn.

Pls note you'll have to give me time to order the OPI Sweet Pink collection polishes but I will definitely email the winners once the prizes are posted out k =)

Pls put your entries in the comments section,
and here's how:

Mandatory!
1)You have to be a follower - 2 entries

Optional:
2) Tell me which is your current fave polish collection - 1 entry
3) Do a blog post about this giveaway. Pls provide a link - 1 entry
4) Have happyberrynaiad on your blog roll. Pls provide a link - 1 entry

As my schedule is now getting hectic,
I would really appreciate if you guys can put all your entries into 1 comment.
Pls include your email address as well!
Entries without email addresses will be disqualified
(since I won't be able to contact you otherwise)

All right then! Onto the prizes up for grabs!

Category 1:
Rescue Beauty Lounge Revamp (swatch 2X),
Japan Exclusive OPI Rosy Reflection (swatch 1X),
Japan Exclusive OPI Twinkling Lights (swatch 1X),
L'Oreal Star Magnet in Magnetic Grey (about half bottle left),
Lippmann Constant Craving (Swatch 1X)

Category 2:
O2 Skin no name polish, gold holographic bar and circle glitters (BN),
pa blue bar glitter polish, dug this out from a clearance pile so its a little dusty (BN),
Kitoko Kalani No 1235 (BN),
Skin Food Nail Vita BR612 (swatch 1X),
Etude House Petit Darling Nails PP906 (swatch 1X),
and Japan Pika Nail Polish in blue glitter (swatch 1X)

Category 3:
Ciate Paint Pots 042 Guest List (Swatch 2X),
Eleanor Silver with Hear shaped Glitter (BN),
OPI How to Jamaica Million (BN),
Essie Bootleg (about 90% left),
Essie Country Road (about 90% left),
Colour Club Object of Envy (swatch 1X),
Maybelline Express Finish in Matte Grape (about 70% left)

Category 4a:
OPI Glamour Game (BN),
OPI Kreme De La Kremlin (swatch 1X),
OPI Ruble for your Thoughts (about 70% left),
OPI St Petersburgundy (about 80% left),
OPI Pink Before You Leap (about 70% left)

Category 4b:
OPI Fireflies (swatch 1X),
OPI Midnight in Moscow (swatch 1X),
OPI Suzy Says Da! (BN),
OPI Russian Navy (swatch 1X)
OPI Heart of Gold (about half bottle left)

Category 4c:
OPI Funny Bunny (about 80% left),
Orly French Manicure JeT'aime (swatch 1X),
Orly French Manicure White Tips (swatch 1X),
Nfu-Oh #157 (swatch 2X),
LA Girl 200 Amethyst (swatch 1X)

Category 4d:
Revlon Wine with Everything (about half bottle left),
L'Oreal Jet-Set 212 Cyclamen (about 60% left),
Rimmel 60 seconds 819 Green with Envy (swatch 1X,
Depend #41 (swatch 1X),
and Qtica Half Time Polish Drying Accelerator (BN).

Good Luck Folks!