My Acrylic Supplies

At the top I have my practice finger and then

next to it I have my Acrylic powders.

I have the Competition Line in Clear

& Opaque White.

I also have Clarite powders which is

the odorless line

in Sheer Pink & Spa White.

Then I have a roll of 500 Nail Forms used for

Sculpture. This means you don't have to

glue on a tip , you just spread the

acrylic powder/liquid ball

over the nail form and there is your nail.

All the small little containers are glitters &

I have a couple of neon Acrylics.

Bondex2 is the next thing - which is my primer.

You put this on after removing all the shine

from your nail with a file.

Next to that I have the corresponding Acrylic liquids for

the powders previously mentioned.

The Competition liquid has a strong smellllll.

So, I like to use the Clarite.

After finishing up you need a brush cleaner

otherwise you will ruin your brush.

As you can see I have the OPI

one. We only have OPI Acrylic Products here !

Sigh... : (

Going to the next row - I have a plastic dappen dish

used for holding your acrylic liquid.

I also have a glass one.

Next to that is my cuticle nipper

& false nail clipper.

After that I have my fake nails.

Im using OPI Structure in Clear.

Right now I have #7's and #3's

They are not assorted sizes in the box.

I prefer clear tips because you

can blend them easier.

Under that I have my files - 180 & 100 grit.

On the end I have my homemade cuticle oil

& Mach 5 Nail Glue by OPI

Of course you do not need all this.

In an older post I listed the basics that you need.

& you do not need OPI Products.

I just thought I'd share what my

collection is like.

Dappen Dish

Sparkly Black, Hot Pink & Orange Acrylic Powders

by Tammy Taylor.

Nail Glitters

Nail Glue & Tips

Artificial Nail Clippers

Nail Art Ive Done Recently

I was inspired by CL's outfit in the old performance

'Please dont go'

I LOVE how they wear so much Jeremy Scott Stuff

I used tons of colors and it took forever !

I did film it but I dont know if its worth making a tut...

---------------

Simple Summer Nails

White background - OPI Alpine Snow &

OPI Black Onyx.

I dipped a match in the black and created the dots

(Click photo to enlarge if you cant see)

-------------------

Rocker Princess

I used a Matte Black by Mac, OPI Alpine Snow

& a Hot Pink by Art Club

All I did was paint all the nails white except the ring

finger & using the matte black I carefully dragged it

across the nail to create the thick stripes.

For the lightning bolt I copied a pic on the internet

& used my hot pink with the thin brush to create it.

---------------

Muted Zebra - China Glaze Reycle &

Art Club Black for the Stripes.

I will do a tutorial soon on how to do

simple Zebra Nails.

I did these freehand with the thin black polish brush.

Kawaii Nails Mag Stash

A great place to draw inspiration is from 

Japanese Nail Magazines.

Of course I cant read them but just seeing the 

pictures helps a lot ! They have photo tutorials

and lots of themes with millions of nail art pics by

different salons and random people. 

Here is where I get mine :

http://myworld.ebay.com/japan-kitchen/

or

http://fullmoon07xxx.ocnk.net/product-list/40

If you get it from Full Moon then you can 

also get cute deco pieces & rhinestones

at the same time. Have fun looking around ! 

The nail and deco mags are on Page 3 & 4 ! 

I recently purchased Nail Up July 2010

& S Cawaii July 2010 from the Ebay seller

above. 

Im just waiting for it to arrive.

Exciteeeeddddd !!!! 

I love S Cawaii for its fashion stuff : )

Always so cute !  

Nail / Deco Inspo

Here are some random cute japanese

nail art pics. I lovvee reading

Japanese & Korean mags

So I thought I'd share some pics

with you.  If you guys have 

any requests on what I should

do let me know !

Are Expensive Nail Polishes Worth it ?

Im sure most people interested in nails have

heard of the nail polish brand - OPI.

OPI is one of the most expensive

nail polish and nail product brands out there but are

they really that much better ?

My answer is Yes !

OPI dries fast, goes on smooth and they

have a great variety of colors.

While China Glaze or other brands may

have more neon, bright or youthful colors OPI surely

has enough colors to choose from.

My China Glaze polishes have been annoying the

heck out of me lately. I only just started using CG

a couple months ago. These days I have been

in more of a rush to finish my nails instead of just

sitting watching tv while lounging around with

my wet nails. I have now noticed how they

take forever to set and I keep touching things

accidently & ruining the polish on a certain finger

even after waiting for 10 mins !

When using OPI this rarely happens.

I just apply my 2 thin coats and then Seche Vite.

Even when applying Seche Vite over China Glaze

I dont feel like my Seche works to its full capability.

Its just something about the China Glaze formula...

Why does it stay tacky so long ?!

Ugh.

Besides China Glaze and OPI I also enjoy Color Club,

Etude House & a couple other cheap Korean

nail polish brands. Another 'cheap' nail polish brand

that I cant stand is Revlon. Those take forever to dry as well.

Ive heard some bad stuff about Sally Hansen's polishes

too but I havent tried them.

Love her top coats though.

I do love China Glaze's color selection because they

are so bright and fun but they just

take too long to dry.

I adore Recycle, For Audrey, IV - colors that

I just cant find dups for in OPI.

By the way - have you noticed how OPI's

light - medium pink selection is so lacking ?

Other brands are really way ahead of

OPI when it comes to the pinks.

China Glaze truly has amazing unique colors

so its a shame their formula is so crappy !

If you have lots of China Glaze polishes and are

having this same problem, just buy Seche Vite

or Essie Good to go or some other type of

fast drying top coat.

If you cant find any - use a blow dryer on the

cool setting or just dunk your hands into a

basin of cold water.

Basically, OPI is great - totally worth the price.

You will get tons of applications out of that $8 , $10 or

whatever you pay in your area for OPI.

On the other hand - I do have lots

of other polishes that were under $5 &

come out just as well after using a proper base & top coat.

China Glaze comes out great in the end - that is if you

can avoid effing up your manicure.

Ultimately OPI + Seche Vite = Power Couple.

Experiment and see what works for you !