Choi's nails: March 2015

Models Own's Marquise maroon featuring the golden apple

I've found another favourite from the Models Own's Diamond Luxe collection. It's Marquise Maroon which is a maroon red with the signature gold dust. I do have a thing for those falling in the deep red colour family.

I wanted to have a go some freehand golden apple tips so I simply did a quick attempt using Models Own's Chrome gold.

Below are some photos of Marquise Maroon on its own.

And to finish things of I wanted to see how my nails looked with 5 golden apples. I think I shouldn't be greedy and just stick with the one though :)

What other manicures would you like to see next?

Saturday, March 28, 2015
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Models Own's Asscher blue

Bundle monster

Next I'd like to show Models Own's Asscher blue and before anything I'd like to say my skin colour here is bugging me. Not an uncommon problem when it comes to photographing blues for me but they tend to make my skin appear yellow. The second picture though got the colours looking better.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Ciate mini's Underwear)
Two coats Models Own's Asscher Blue - Aren't those turquoise dust looking pretty just reflecting back.
Konad's white polish and Bundle Monster's BM 205 plate for the flower stamping.
Models Own's Chrome gold for dotting the middle of the flowers.
Seal with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use Misa's UV Bounceback)

I may still have a few more polishes from the diamond luxe collection to show so do keep a lookout for the next posts.

Sunday, March 22, 2015
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Follow up from last stationery inspired post - All polkas!

China Glaze

Here's a full polka dot manicure following up from my last post. As I was wearing the last manicure with the pink and black stripes, they felt a bit bold next to the polka dots so I erased them just to see how I'd feel about it if it were a full polka mani.

Now I'm sure that I prefer the mixed and match version but this looks good too.

Sunday, March 22, 2015
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Stripes and polka dot nail art inspired by stationery

China Glaze

I'm starting to have this growing interest in stationery, cards, planners etc. so other than nail and bunny accounts I also follow quite a few stationery instagrams as well. This design was inspired by a picture I saw posted by @kikkik_loves. Polkas and stripes have always been cute to start of with as well.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Ciate mini's Underwear)
Two coats of a basic white - Here I used Barry M's Matt white.
Misa's I will Survive - a black and Essie's I pink I can - baby pink for the stripes. Paint these on a plastic wrap, wait until it's fully dry before peeling and cutting into thin strips. Place carefully on the nail.
Alternatively you could use nail vinyls which have been trending recently to create the stripes.
With the black, pink, a yellow - China Glaze's Lemon fizz and a dotting tool, dot the colours randomly on the nail until you're happy with it.
Seal with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use Misa's UV Bounceback)

As much as I love my square nails I really wanted to see what it was like to have almonds so I went for it. This time instead of just filing my left hand I filed everything! Like last time it went wrong and it just didn't look right on me so I think I can stop dreaming about those almonds now. My nails are literally nubs right now but they're I've shaped them into sq-ovals. It'll stay like that until my nails get a bit more length. Thank gosh I have some posts lined up.

Friday, March 13, 2015
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Models Own's Princess Pink

Models own

Are you sick of all the Models Own polishes yet? I hope you're not because here's another one and you girly girls would like it.

This one is Models Own's Princess pink, a baby pink creme with the signature gold dust and it has become one of my favourites from the collection.

A good two coats is enough for full opacity and I'm not if I've mentioned this already but with this new collection I've seen a change in their brushes, being a little wider making it little more easier to paint with. I've had little to no problems with all these new polishes and brushes except for Models Own's Pear purple from the diamond luxe collection. The brush was beyond stiff that I couldn't possibly paint without having the brush scratch off the polish. Luckily, Princess Pink had no problems.

What do you think of this shade?

Thursday, March 12, 2015
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Models Own's Trillion Taupe

Bundle monster

Going nude today with Models Own's Trillion taupe from their Diamond Luxe collection.

This colour needed the standard two coats with smooth application. I didn't quite feel the shade was working with my skin tone so layering it with a dark colour seemed like the best idea to make it stand out. I wanted to see what a black on nude stamping manicure looked like so I did it. The results? Good but I'm not too concerned about it.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I used Ciate mini's Underwear)
Three coats of Models Own's Trillion taupe - taupe shade with tiny gold dust.
Misa's I will survive - plain black for the image stamping with the image on the Bundle Monster's BM 225 plate.
Seal with one coat of your preferred top coat. (I use Misa's UV Bounceback)

Monday, March 09, 2015
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Models Own's Carat Coral - Swatch

Models own

Following on from my swatch of Models Own's Oval plum, here's another one from the diamond dust collection. I've not been very good at capturing detail through these photos so you won't see the much of the 'diamond dust' unless you blow up the photos 10 times bigger. You can see a little more of it peeking out from the bottle. Regardless of that I think the shade is just a winner alone. It's so bright, so hot. It'll be great for when summer comes around.

This is Models Own's Carat Coral which is a bright red coral with diamond dust.

Here's about two coats without top coat because on it's own it's quite an outstanding colour, some nail art would've been welcome on this base. But in the end I kept it plain because it looked good as it was.

Do you own any from the Models Own Diamond dust collection yet? Which is your favourite?

Wednesday, March 04, 2015
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DIY polish nail decals with Misa and Barry M

Barry M

I've heard too much about these DIY nail decals and it's about time I try this technique myself. This is actually my second attempt. The first didn't work out after the polish as I was peeling it from the plastic punched pockets so it's important to wait until everything has dried. I didn't have as much patience for nail art back then as I do now which is why it took so long for me to have a second go at these.

For this manicure you'll need:

One coat of your preferred base coat (I use Essie's Grow Stronger base coat)
Three coats of Barry M's Matt white. I usually do two but my bottle is starting to thicken up making the application uneven so it looked best at three coats.
Misa's Skinny dipping - a shimmery turquoise and Barry M's Gold glitter for the nail decals. Paint one to two coats on a plastic punched pocket and wait until they're fully dry before peeling the polish. I think it'd be better to wait for at least an hour. Keep it aside, put your feet up and relax until it's ready.
Once the polish is dry, use the pointy end of a cuticle pusher or any other tool better for the job to peel the polish away from the plastic wrap. Cut the polish in squares or other shapes you prefer.
Place wherever you like on the nail.
Apply one coat of your preferred top coat to seal everything. (I use Misa's UV Bounceback)