Normal Stamping Vs Reverse Stamping

Hey guys! 

I posted this mani on instagram (@chronosz) last night and wanted to discuss the pros and cons of 'Normal stamping Vs Reverse Stamping'.

The photos are not very clear but hopefully it will suffice for this brief explanation. 

I used reverse stamping on the pointer finger whereas the others were done using the normal stamping method. From my observation, the design is clearer and neater using the reverse stamping method. On the other hand, the normal stamping allows for missing pieces of the pattern and the design can sometimes come out crooked. 

This can be explain by the following:

1. You did not stamp the design properly
2. Part of the polish dried 
3. The polish you are using is not suitable

For me, I am still looking for a good stamping polish. my favourite black polish from The Faceshop is too sheer for stamping. So far, I have purchased black polishes from Laval and Rica. Truth be told, I was incredibly excited when I got my Rica polishes. I had seen so many beautiful manis using her polish but to my dismay it was not meant to be. The Rica polish was impossible to stamp with, even with the reverse stamping method. I'm not saying that it's not good but there were other factors preventing me from using it properly. I'll comment more on this in a different post. 

Getting back to the topic at hand, reverse stamping is done by top coating the design when it is on the stamper, wait for it to dry, peel it off, top coat your nail and paste it on like a nail wrap. Basically, it's a DIY nail wrap. The reason why the design comes out neater is because reasons 1 & 2 do not apply here. The downside is that it could come out uneven when you're putting it on your nail. I still have difficulties with it and most of the time, the side of the 'nail wrap' doesn't stick on the nail and it leaves air pockets. 

It is best to press it down onto your nail and make sure it's stuck on hard first before cutting off the excess and applying another layer of top coat. Here's a video tutorial from the amazing Sveta Sanders. Check here instagram out for more amazing manis!!

http://youtu.be/9n4nGUIRNqI?list=UURPFF7dilXyhmtp_TP8qT1A 

In my opinion, normal stamping is all good if you've got a good polish while reverse stamping is good when you have some of the problems above like I do or if you want to add a little colour to the design. 

That's all for this post! 

Cheers!

Wedding Dinner Nails

Hey guys!

So...I went for my cousin's wedding last night and of course I wouldn't go with naked nails!

Matching my dress which was red with black lace around the waist, I went for a nice simple design using Bundle Monster stamping plates.

(Photo at the bottom of the post)

I used Faceshop's black polish to stamp on a rose design onto OPI Big Apple Red.

My bf decided to call this mani Roselle. 😂

I still had to 'paint-by-numbers' cause the black polish doesn't come out opaque after being stamped. All in all still pretty!

Hope you like it!
Cheers!

#HalloweenChallenge2013 Day 5 - Zombie

Hello all!

More challenge manis!

So October 5th's theme is zombie...

gwahhhhhhhhhhhh

(did you just think the gwahhhhhh in a zombie voice?)

=P

As you can see, I am terrible at drawing zombies...thus only the hand it visible! XD

I was going for a gory look for the framed nails...I think it looks good =)

This is the pic with the instagram filter.

I think it looks more gory! Which is awesome! XD

That's it for this post!

The next theme is witches which I am quite excited about!

I've got some designs prepared and might be using some konad stamps as well 

Till next time!

Cheers!

^^

A new month and a new challenge! - LacquerDreams #HalloweenChallenge2013 - Day 1 - Ghosts

Hey all!

So it's finally Ocotober! 

The months just seem to past by so fast, I have less than a month of my degree life to go through and into reality I go! 

This month, the challenges all revolve around Halloween and of course @californails came out with a challenge of her own but I decided to challenge myself to LacquerDreams' which I found from @nadeekay's profile instead. 

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CHANGE!

Not to sound mean but @califonails challenge for the month has much easier themes than LacquerDreams' challenge. As you can see, the first theme is GHOSTS!

*BOO*

Did I scare you? =P 

I really love this mani! 

The ombre turned out well, the shape of the stamp is clear on the pointer finger, and the ghosts are cute and scary! Well, that's what I think =)

It looks better with the Instagram filter too!

Am I right or am I RIGHT! 

That's it for this post!

Look forward to the next theme!

Cheers!

^^

#Nailartsep 19 - Feathers

'Even though it hurts, I can't slow down

Walls are closing in and I hit the ground

Whispers of tomorrow echo in my mind

Just one last time~~~'

Sorry for the singing hello but I'm seriously addicted to David Guetta's song Just One Last Time at the moment. Oh yes and I am late once again with posting. Gonna get hectic with the end of my final semester but I'll pull through. I CAN and I WILL!

For the 19th of September, the theme was feathers. 

I did a really nice feather design before coupled with a dream catcher...I think...It was so hard to find the photo in my phone gallery!

Remembering that mani kinda made my head swell and in the end was wayyyyyyy too confident with drawing the feathers and it ended up super crappy. =(

The final result!

 As you can see, I am still super curious about konad. There was a feather design on one of the plates so tried it out. Was going for a 'leaves falling in Autumn' kind of feel. The colour was so light that you can't really see the feathers but it's the better compared to the free hand feathers. The yellow feather is the worst! It looks like a durian now...

I realize that I am getting very lazy in my designs. I have to admit that assignments are piling up but nail art is way for me to relax. Doesn't really help when the design comes out bad but @californails nail art challenge gives me something to paint. If I had to think of my own themes to paint then I think I would be stressed out of my mind by now! 

A lot more posts are coming your way people! 

Get prepared!

Cheers!

^^

#Nailartsep 16 - Fav. Flower

Hello all!

Today is Malaysia Day and I'm a Malaysian NOT in Malaysia...

Oh well!

So for @californails #nailartsep Day 16, the theme is my favorite flower. 

And what is my favorite flower?

It is...

A SUNFLOWER!

This................ISN'T 

my favorite mani and I have to say that I am so sad for my favorite flower for painting it so badly...=(

I used China Glaze Happy-Go-Lucky for the flowers with was sunny enough but it was really hard to tell where the petals ended. So, I used China Glaze Solar Power which is a darker gold shimmer polish to outline the petals which did not work so well. =(

It became worse when I added the gold stud...

I outlined the petals with black polish this the morning after just to see if this would look better. 

I could only do one nail since I had to rush for class. 

I do think that it looks so much better after the black outline was added.

I think the yellow only petals would work with acrylic which I wish I have but don't. ><

I guess that's it for this post! 

Can't wait to do the next theme!

Cheers!

^^

#Nailartsep 13 - Glitter

Another day, another mani.

So today's theme is glitter!

I'm not really a big fan of glitter especially since removing it is such a hassle.

I don't really like this mani...I was going for a simple look but I really wanted to play with the studs I just bought thus it came out like this.

Yeah...

I really like the stud gradient but as usual, nothing can stick on my nail.

I might consider using nail glue but I don't like what it does to the nail.

I've been using top coat to stick fimos, studs and rhinestones on.

The glitter is OPI Teenage Dream!

I haven't used this polish in so long...I remember the first time I ordered a set of OPI minis and it was the Katy Perry series!

I really want the Mariah Carey liquid sand series as well as the OPI neon generation set! 

><

Can't wait to get them!!

That's it for this mani!

Cheers!

^^

Konad noob in the house!

Yo!

Konad noob here!

Ha ha ha ! 

Hey guys!

I got a whole bunch of konad plates from bornprettystore.com and is super into trying to stamp stuff on my nails now!

^^

This is my nail mail from that day! Konad plates, studs, brushes and was surprised to find an extra hello kitty nail decal as a gift!

SCORE!

ANYWAY!

Here's my NOTD!

This is actually NOT my first time using konad plates.

I tried it out when I firstly started doing nail art...which was around 3 years ago...

WOW...how fast do the years past!

I wasn't all that good at it back then and I don't think that I'm any good at it now either.

I do think that this came out pretty nicely! =)

For the base, I used Dotti Light Blue!

I just grabbed this off the store counter because it was so pretty and absolutely NO regrets whatsoever! Light blue is a great polish which is easy to apply, opaque and even in 2 coats, and does not stain!

The pattern is from the konad plate M65.

I couldn't help myself from trying out the plates as soon as I could.

Behind the scenes notes; while I had the football mani on my left hand, I had a different mani on my right!

Kinda hard to see the clouds. Mostly because it wasn't stamped well and there isn't much of a contrast between the colours. I just thought it would match and it would look cute! ^^

I used this plate for this mani.

Sorry for the unrefined edges of the plates.

Been experimenting with Photoshop which obviously did not come out well.

><

Oh well! Live and let learn!

If you guys haven't tried out konad then I suggest you do! 

It's pretty fun and simple to use. 

That's it for this post!
Cheers!

^^

P/S: I've already painted the next mani for @californails #Nailartsep 13!

Look forward to it! 

#Nailartsep 11 - Football

Hello all!

I'm a day late on this one, better than the last few. =P

So for the 11th of September, the theme for @californails #Nailartsep is Football.

Just to make things a bit more clear...

In Malaysia, we call this a football.

Photo credits to www.ebay.com.au

And, we call this a rugby ball.

Photo credits to www.kitgroup.com

Thus my mani looks like this.

So sorry about the horrible lighting >< 

There was no sun so had to make due. 

Really really basic and the pentagons aren't so sharp...I was trying out this new brush I just got from bornprettystore.com.

That's it for this post! XD

Wonder what's next!

Cheers!

^^

#Nailartsep 04 - Gold & Teal

Hey nail art lovers!

Sorry this is a few days late but I swear I did it on the right day! 

^^

So as I've said in my previous post, I am currently attempting @californails Nail Art September Challenge on Instagram!

So for the 4th the month, the theme is Gold & Teal.

Frankly speaking, I had no idea what colour Teal is...and I don't I will be able to differentiate Teal from the green colours ><

Anyway, this is what I ended up with!

With my personality, if you said pink & green only then I would only used those colours which gives me a hell of a headache when coming up with designs. 

Which includes other aspects in life with similar situations.

However, I have learnt that it is not necessary to only use these two colours, as long as the main point of the design is of the two colours. 

So, breaking out of my insecurities little by little I used black and white polishes as well as gold and teal in the mani. 

Although, some people do not consider black and white colours.

I hope those with the same problem as I are able to improve.

Gambatte!

That's it for this post! 

I have another mani for the 7th which was 2 days ago.

Sorry for the untimeliness but I seriously assure you that I painted them on the right day!
If you don't believe me then check my instagram at @chronosz

Cheers!

^^

September...A Month of Challenges...Day 1

Hello all!
It is the 1st of September,

I am currently on Spring break,

Today is my mother's birthday,

and it is the first day of @californails #nailartsept challenge!

The first deems it is time for camo nails!

Camo is short for camouflage...if you didn't already know! XD

This is actually my first time attempting camo nails. 

I don't think it's the best but looks good to me! 

Look forward to more designs yeah!

I've got a really great swatch for you guys which I will upload tonight.

That's it for this post.

Cheers,

-Jing-

Miss Ashleigh Baby's Got Blues Swatch

Hey all!

A bit outdated but better now than never XD
So I won Miss Ashleigh's repost competition on instagram!!

My prize was 20% off all products from her webstore!

http://www.missashleigh.com.au/ 

Check it out!

She's got a lot of nice colours!

I only bought one bottle cause I already went wayyyy over my nail polish budget for the month TT

*sobs*

It was a hard decision to make but I chose Baby's Got Blues in the end!

=)

This shade of blue gives me the light and fluffy feel! 

This is 2 coats btw.

I can't wait till her thermal polishes come out! ^^

Cheers!

P/S: Miss Ashleigh only ships within Australia right now. 

A not so white mani for the White Night!

Hey guys!

Apparently yesterday, February 23, 2013 was Melbourne's first Nuit Blanche a.k.a White Night!! 

I totally did not know it existed and probably wouldn't have known that it was going on if I didn't have plans to yum cha with my friend. 

Melbourne CBD is CROWDED!!!

and I mean 

CROWDED!!!!

I have never seen so many people in the city before! 

It felt like the Connaught Pasar Malam cause it was so packed.

=P

My NOTD yesterday.

I thought I would try the Burberry design!
It turned out really messy in the end ><

Darn it! 

Back to White Night!

Here are some pics! 

^^

There were laser shows on a lot of old buildings! 

It was so awesome!! 

XD

Cheers!!

^^

Catching my Breath for Valentines

You know...

I really wonder what you guys a.k.a my readers think about my oh so corny blog titles!?

Want to know the reason for todays cheesy title?

Well even if you don't, I'm still gonna tell you! XD

'Catching my Breath' is because I was listening to Kelly Clarkson's song at the time and the 'Valentines' is because I'm gonna show you a Valentines design! 

I know I know! 

I haven't been posting so often and more seldom than ever...

Sighhhhhh gonna be flying back to Aussie soon so I'm trying to fit in as much friend, family and boyfie time as I can...I'll probably be back to blogging regularly back in Aussie since I'm so free XD

Anywayz...this is my NOTD a.k.a Nails of the Day!

Yes! This is from my instagram! 

Do follow me at @chronosz if you have one! ^^

I painted this for a wedding and thought plain french would be boring thus added the hearts for a Valentine's day effect! 

I wonder when I'm gonna do a Chinese New Year design...it's the year of the snake and me has no inspiration =S

Oh well!

I'm sure it'll come to me! XD

Cheers!

X'Mas '12 - Prezzies

Hey nail art lovers! ^^

Are you all done with your Christmas shopping yet?

I bet you aren't!! =P

Do you wrap your presents in bright green wrapping paper and tie it with a bright red ribbon? Maybe some of you do and some of you don't. 

Christmas colours are definitely red and green to me. 

Classic never gets old. How ironic.

Here's my Prezzie mani.

I really like this mani! 

I wish I would get a Christmas present wrapped like this XD

Wouldn't it be awesome?! 

Somehow...these days...I've been thinking of doing manis for other people but so far I've only done manis for friends and family. The main reason I don't what to do it to strangers is because I usually take a long time to paint depending on the design. Wouldn't it be so embarrassing to make your customer sit for like 4 hours straight while I paint her nails? Doing my own nails is one thing since I actually enjoy it but sitting down and doing nothing is just frustrating >< 

Sorry about the small rant peeps.

Needed the let out! 

^^

Happy Holidays All!

Cheers!

^^

P/S: Just in case you guys didn't know, I started making accessories and are selling them on etsy.com. XD If you haven't heard of etsy well I suggest you go to www.etsy.com right NOW! =D

Here's one my best sellers!

Antique Silver Infinity Pluggy w/o Chain

One of my buyers told me that she bought this for her best friend as a Christmas present!

I was so happy when she shared it with me though the reason she started a convo with me in the first place was because her package hadn't arrived yet. In the end, the package was at the post office waiting to be collected =P 

If you guys haven't found a present yet for anyone.

If anyone at all, then how about this?

It makes me happy when you guys and everyone else out there likes my nail art designs and the accessories that I make!

^^

| Click the link below to go to my shop on etsy |

CRAccessories

#nailsfornewton

Hey there everyone.

Before I post up any Christmas designs I have to ask...

Have you heard about the Newton incident?

I'm pretty slow on these kinds of news but better late than never rite?

I was pretty shocked at what happened but what can't happen in this messed up world we live in now? 

Newton may be one of the big ones but we have to be aware that there are smaller and sometimes more terrible incidents happening out there. 

Nail artists on instagram have been passing on the hashtag #nailsfornewton around, asking nail art fans to paint white nails to pray for the poor children and others from the Newton incident that did not make it home for Christmas this year.

So here's my prayer for them...

I don't know why I haven't thought of this design before but it goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere...even in sadness....

FYI: The second pic is to show the glitter on the pinky finger since the effect in the first pic made it unnoticeable. 

Let their souls find peace...

#NAILSFORNEWTON

Bunny mouse?

Hello all! 

^^

So how've you all been? 

Enjoying the holidays?

Am I being overly nice?

Yes, yes I am! 

XD

Ok enough with the weird stuff.

So my brother and sis-in-law have been going to a bunch of dinners lately so my sis-in-law asked me, 

"Eh! When can you paint my nails ah? Remember the bunny nails I shared to you on Facebook? Can draw that ah?"

...ok so that isn't EXACTLY what she said but something along those lines =P

Yeah! So I drew some samples for her before attempting the actual thing since I couldn't find the photo she shared.

Had to pick the background colour too...couldn't really see the background colour in the end though ><

Anywayz...here's the final product XD

Without filter

With filter

All photos were taken using instagram!

Do follow me yeah ^^

--->@chronosz<---

Her nails were more square-ish so the ears ended up a little too short thus making them look like little fat white mice XD 

All in all, still cute =D

Don't you love that feeling when you paint someone else's nails and the design comes out nicely ^^

Cheers! 

^^

Instagram inspired

Helllllooooooooooo!!!

You should all know by now that I instagram a lot =P

----> @chronosz <----

There are so many awesome nail artists on insta and is a great way of getting inspiration for new mani ideas. So here's a mani I did referring to a tutorial on insta by this girl @simplenailartdesigns.

I am currently obsessed with effects so please excuse the effects and just stare at the mani XD

Here's another cliche from the Blast from the Past post!

I know I have no sense of colour coordination but I think maroon goes great with gold! Don't you?

This is a pretty simple mani to do but you have to be careful since the lines gotta be straight to be nice. I suggest a good stripping brush for this mani!

Cheers! 

^^

Paint splatter meets matte

Elo elo everyone

I thought I would mix it up a bit and use a different font this time XD

Alritey then!

I've always wanted to try out paintball!

YES!

PAINTBALL!

You know the game where you get guys that shoot vegetable oil pellets at your friends using heavy ass guns while wearing super uncomfortable head gear?! 

THAT PAINTBALL! XD

So to commemorate my first paintball experience I thought splatter nails would be appropriate XD

I've done paint splatter nails before this.

Check it out HERE!

There are many different types of nail splatter styles and I thought I would try the literally SPLATTER technique where you take a brush and just splat the polish all over your nails. It didn't work for me though so I went for a different style XD

 Colour cliche I know but I find these colours are an awesome combo for splatter manis XD This pic is obviously from instagram =P 

For this splatter mani, I used a stripping brush and dipped the brush in polish and randomly drew on the OPI Alpine Snow coat I painted making sure that the whole length of the brush is on the nail. 

To make it more interesting, I topped it off with a matte top coat! Loving the matte effect on this mani XD

You guys should try this mani out! 

It's super fun and super easy to do XD

Cheers!

^^

P/S: Don't forget to follow me on instagram XD 

@chronosz

Back & Bark

Hello fellow human beings who love nail art XD

I've been back in Malaysia almost a week now and FINALLY got my hands on some mavala nail polish remover XD

If you follow my instagram @chronosz then you would know that I bought everything bottle in the store and reserved some from the next shipment XD

Stocking up for the future is so crucial I tell you! CRUCIAL!! 

Anyways, I broke a couple of my nails at the airport and was just heart broken </3

HEART BROKEN!!

Oh well, that's what I get when I don't paint my nails or at least use nail envy for more than 2 weeks ><

Getting on with the mani!

Shorts nails always turn me off since I can't draw much on them 

not that I draw much in the first place 

so I usually stick to single colours and in this case RED 

my friend did give me and idea to make it less plain tho

Check it out! ^^

This is obviously from my instagram and with filter XD

And this is without the filter =)

I quite like the effect of it. This kinda makes it look like tree bark to me XD
Hence the title =P

Can't wait for my nails to grow back XD
Cheers!