Nail-job craving: I’ve been trying to do my own nails for a few weeks now, and while it’s been fun to change it every few days, I really missed having something fancier than a single shade (one single colour is all I can manage; I don’t have the skills or patience to do any nail art), and so I booked an appointment with Leeanne at Tips Nail Bar (I took it as a sign that she actually had an opening in her cray cray schedule that the appointment was truly meant for me!).
I wanted something fancier than one colour, but nail art that was easy to wear for three weeks (for me, the cray cray styles are fun, but a bit hard to pull off for a long period of time).
How I satisfied that craving: I went with a V-gap mani (which I’ve done once before in black and white; I prefer it over the silhouette mani, on my fingers, anyhow), and Leeanne helped me choose the two shades. The silver is Artistic Color Gloss in Trouble (and Leeanne knows me so well — it was very, very close to another silver, but I automatically chose Trouble. “You chose it cuz of the name, didn’t you?” Yup, guilty!) And the muted green is OPI GelColor in Thanks a Windmillion (which I’ve worn once before as a regular nail polish — the shade is so serene).
How this nail colour make me feel: Ah, pretty nails make everything better — all is right in my nail world once again. Subdued enough for me to wear for a few weeks, but interesting enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Love it or hate it: Love.
January 21, 2013
Nail-job craving: I just spent two weeks hopping about London, Mallorca and Rome on vacation (hence my disappearance blog-posting-wise, sorry!). For my trip, I just wanted something cheerful, more summery since the weather was going to be warm in my latter two stops.
How I satisfied that craving: At Tips Nail Bar, Melissa Forrest proposed doing a silhouette mani (have never had one before) and then suggested Entity in Not Off the Rack (that’s the coral-ish shade) topped with Artistic Color Gloss in Tease.
How this nail colour make me feel: Good — got loads of compliments on my nails during my trip.
Love it or hate it: Love the colour combination. I’m not so sure on the silhouette mani overall for me; I like the simplicity of it, but I think I prefer the V-gap.
October 10, 2012
Nail-job craving: After having my marathon manicure (the incredible chevron-dot nails) for two full weeks, I was thinking I’d return to something less out there — simple, maybe two tones (maybe even just one shade). For day to day, I tend to prefer something less busy. But then I went into Tips Nail Bar and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Leeanne Colley more excited. “I’ve got something in mind!” she announced. And, as I’ve learned, when Leeanne has something she’s cooked up, you just go with it.
How I satisfied that craving: Leeanne showed me a tester nail she’d done the design on — a swirly pattern of neons, and black polish overtop in a graphic pattern — WHOA. It reminded me of “black magic” (remember doing that as a kid? Colouring on paper in colours and then putting black crayon overtop and then using something pointy to “draw” by scraping the black crayon, revealing the rainbow underneath??).
Yowzers. I wanted. My only request was that we do a different colour on top. So this is what Leeanne used:
Artistic Color Gloss in Spotlight on the base nail.
Swoops of neon gel polishes overtop: Amazon Flirt, Shake It til you Samba and Coco Cabana Banana, all Gelish, and Hype from Artistic Color Gloss.
Then Leeanne applied China Glaze Custom Kicks (a regular nail polish) over the entire nail, and using a brush dipped in acetone, swept away the nail colour in a graphic striped pattern — it’s almost like a reverse version of the colourblock manicure she did for me last year for a half-marathon race, only now the stripes reveal the nail art underneath.
On one pinky, we tested out China Glaze Bahamian Escape, and decided to keep it as an accent nail.
And three hours (yes, three hours!) later, voila!
How this nail colour make me feel: Energetic (which is good as I’ve slept very little this week!). The name — OP Magic — well, Magic from black magic craft-y thing, and OP because the blue pinky especially made us think of that clothing brand Ocean Pacific that was hot in the 80s (or was it early 90s?).
Love it or hate it: Love.
May 25, 2012
