Japanese Nail Art ~ Pray for Japan!

I'm sure by now most of you know about the tragedy in Japan that happened March 11th. I've been following the whole thing closely since it happened and its really upsetting to me. I wanted to do some Japanese nail art as a tribute. I got a new white polish since the one I had before was streaky and thick. I bought Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On and it isn't any better. I really need to invest in a good white polish! I used LA Colors Art Deco striper to paint the kanji and Joe Fresh Cherry for the red. The two kanji together mean "Japan" in Japanese. The kanji is prounounced "Nihon".

This whole disaster feels somewhat close to me since I've been involved in Japanese culture all my life. I've mentioned a few times that I'm learning Japanese. Its been going well and I've been making Japanese friends online. I also follow American bloggers living in Japan. When I heard about the earthquake and tsunami I was immediately concerned for all my friends and bloggers/youtubers I follow. Thankfully, they are all safe but things are rough over there.

There is a lot of information out there, some is accurate and some is not. If  you're looking for reliable sources there are links at the end of this post that are helpful. Especially the first link.

http://www.tofugu.com/2011/03/11/the-biggest-earthquake-ever-recorded-japan/ - At the end of this post there are some really good sources of accurate information.

I've heard that the news here is somewhat exaggerated, especially concerning the Fukushima nuclear situation.

If you can please donate to Japan...any amount helps. I don't really have any money to donate but I'm going to see about doing some fundraising at my school. This seems to be the best way to donate:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Peace and Love,
Serena

Iridescent Shatter

こんにちは!

 I got OPI Black Shatter a few weeks ago and I was thinking of something fun to do with it. The week before last I tried shatter over one of the OPI Texas "sorbets" and I didn't really like the way it looked. I wanted something really cool to put under it and I finally thought of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I put China Glaze Four Leaf Clover on first, then put Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over it. Hidden Treasure is one of my favourite polishes because it transforms any colour. I especially like it over green and purple. Lastly, I put OPI Black Shatter on top of it all.

As always, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger! (I also think they look better in full size.)

Unfortunately, Hidden Treasure isn't available anymore but Nubar 2010 is pretty  much an exact match. I love how the yellow and green shows through the shatter effect.  I still haven't checked out the China Glaze Crackle polishes yet but I like the look of the white, grey and purple one. It seems like crackle polishes are the big thing lately. I really like the look of it but I have a feeling its going to be way overdone.

Do you have Black Shatter? (Or any other crackle polishes)
How do you feel about the crackle trend?

Peace and Love,
Serena

Odd layering combination - Zoya Kelly+China Glaze Lighthouse

I can't believe its March already! The weather is really nice today which is great for taking nail photos. I recently got Zoya Kelly in mail (it was backordered from the 3 free promotion) and I also bought China Glaze Lighthouse. I didn't know which colour to get from the Anchors Away collection so I had Chase choose. I was surprised  he chose Lighthouse since he normally hates yellow. He describes it as "the sun in a bottle". When  he saw Zoya Kelly he told me I should layer Lighthouse over it. I didn't have any other ideas of what I should do with my nails so I tried it.

I was skeptical at first but I really like China Glaze Lighthouse. I don't think I would wear it on its on since its so sheer but I do like it for layering. I tried it over a turquoise colour on a nail wheel and it looked really pretty. It has a green-golden look to it when put on top of Zoya Kelly. I really like it.

I really want to wear Zoya Kelly on its own sometime. Its a gorgeous grey that leans slightly purple. It was almost a one coater. I might even do a Konad with this colour soon...it seems like it would work well for that.

On an unrelated note...I mentioned a long time ago that I got a 28 dollar nail file for Christmas. Since I mentioned it on here I want to a review for it soon. So tell me in the comments what you want to know about it...and what you look for in good nail file. I would appreciate your feedback so I can't write a good review. =)

Peace and Love,
Serena