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

Spring Stripes

The weather here in Oklahoma has gone from blizzards to 70 degree, spring-like weather. All in one week. The weather is so unpredictable here. I really hope it stays this way for awhile but who knows what the weather will be like next week! This warmer weather has inspired me to wear spring green on my nails.

I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy as the base and L.A.Colors Art Deco stripers in purple and green. I've never seen Green With Envy before so I think its new for spring. I've always like Xtreme Wear polish. (I don't like how they spell 'extreme' though..) This one applied nicely in two coats.

Chase said this reminded him of candy. =)

I probably should have waited longer before applying topcoat...the purple stripes smeared a little bit. For Valentine's Day Chase got me something I've needed for a long time....a place to store my nail polish! For some reason I've never been fond of the nail racks you hang on the wall. I wanted something that would give me lots of space (room to grow!) and would be easy to move. Basically its a 3 drawer shelf and it has wheels on the bottom. I'll post pictures of it later, I'm typing this at school right now and I didn't take pictures of it yet. Before this all my polish was in an old Sephora box that was falling apart. The rest that couldn't fit in the Sephora box was scattered about my room and computer desk. =P

Who's ready for spring?
What do you use to store your polish?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Happy Holidays! (Red and Silver Nail Art)

I can't believe its Christmas Eve tomorrow...time flies! I'm not much of a holiday nail person, but I wanted to use some festive colours.I used 3 coats China Glaze Thunderbird as the base and then painted silver X's on my nails with L.A. Colors Art Deco silver striper.

I wish the sun would have come out today! I took these pictures this morning before going out for sushi with my aunt. She is the only one who will go with me so I'm glad she is back in town. =) I'm thinking about changing the layout of my blog after the new year...any ideas on colours I should use?

I'm really hoping to get some neat nail art stuff for Christmas this year. What's on your wishlist?

Peace, Love, and Happy Holidays!
Serena

Plum Plaid Nail Art

I love plaid patterns. I can't believe its taken me this long to do plaid on my nails. I used Essence Plum Perfect as a base and used LA Colors Art Deco polishes for the stripes. The sun is setting even earlier now...I did this design immediately when I got home and rushed to take pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera so I almost missed daylight. I charged it enough to where I could take some picture though.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. There are only 5 lines on each nail: a silver one slightly off centered, a white one on one side, a black one on the other side, and two stripes across the whole nail.

I'm working on a post soon about nail art and the tools I use. I'll probably keep this design on for awhile. Sorry about the lack of posts lately, school and life in general has gotten busier. I can't wait for Thanksgiving Break! I reached 100 followers not too long ago and I just want to say thanks to all of you. When I first started I wasn't sure if anyone would read my blog.

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Breast Cancer Awareness- Pink Ribbon Nail Art

I meant to post this a few days ago but I've been really busy lately. I had a huge essay on medieval times due. Anyway, I wanted to do a Breast Cancer Awareness manicure before October is over. I really liked this manicure, it is simple but people still realized what it stood for. I used Elf Metallic Pink for the base colour and L.A. Colors Art Deco Baby Pink for the dots. There are a variety of things you can use as a dotting tool, but I used a pencil for this manicure. Elf Metallic Pink was perfect in two coats and is a bright pink with a slight blue flash. It didn't have any brushstrokes and application was smooth.

This picture was taken after about 4-5 days of wear and this polish really held up well. I wore it without topcoat for 2 days and I didn't get any chips or tip wear. By day five I did get tip wear but it wasn't horrible. Pretty impressive for a polish that is only one dollar!

Here are a few facts about breast cancer:

• Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years. 
• You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty. 

• Approximately 1400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2000 and 400 of those men will die.

I was surprised by the last fact. Most people don't think about men getting breast cancer!

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Weird Ghost

I've been loving the fall weather lately, but I don't like how early the sun starts setting! I rely on outdoor pictures so I guess I'm going to have to alter the way I take pictures for this blog. I might start taking pictures on my lunch hour before I go to tech school. Either way, I'll figure it out. Anyway, a few days ago I did a black and white ghost design. First I used GOSH Black Passion on all my nails, except the ring finger.  I painted the ring finger white using Pure Ice Superstar. Using a pencil, I made a dotted x on my pointer, middle, pinky finger, and thumb. Using LA Colors Art Deco Black and a craft store brush, I painted the eyes and mouth of the ghost on the ring finger.

GOSH Black Passion is a soft charcoal black with fine silver shimmer. It looks extremely similar to Misa Dying Love, but not exactly alike. It applied almost perfectly in one coat, I used two out of habit. Pure Ice Superstar is the white I used...and I hate it. Its chalky, streaky, thick, and takes 4 coats to smooth out! I don't recommend it. I bought it because I needed a white polish quickly for some nail art awhile back. This is the first time I have used it on its own though. Normally I just use it for nail art. It works fine for that! 

I've got a few different kinds of posts coming up soon. One of my ideas was to do a post about nail art. I'll cover tools, where to buy them, a few tips, and sources for inspiration. (Like tutorials, blogs, etc.) The  second thing I will be posting soon is a quick dry topcoat review. I am thinking about doing several quick dry topcoat reviews because I want to try several different ones and find the perfect one for me. I want one that dries quickly, isn't too thick, won't smear nail art, and doesn't get unbearably thick halfway through. Seche Vite works great, but I need to thin it out half way through the bottle. Seche Vite is also kind of expensive, considering I use a lot of topcoat. The one I am going to review is one I have almost used all the way up. I won't do a review of anything unless I've either used half of the product or I've been using it for at least a few weeks. I just bought a new topcoat to try out so in about a month we'll see how I feel about this one. I won't say what it is until I review it.. 

Thanks for reading! =)

Peace and Love,

Serena