Overdue Daisies

Some time back, I saw a design on Simply Rins and decided to use Mummy as my guinea pig! Moreover, I was dying to try OPI You Don't Know Jacques so I combined both and killed 2 birds with one stone. Hahaha.

It really is an extremely easy design and I was very satisfied with the end product! So was mummy. (:

As such, I'll be having a promotion for this design!

Going at $10 (inclusive of express mani)

Available only on 17th/24th July

Book an appointment now!

valerie.gmh@gmail.com / 94577783

Mum's first french

Sorry for the lack of updates! This time of the year is one of the busiest moments for most early childhood teachers out there. Portfolios and parent teacher's meetings were haunting me for the past week! But I'm glad everything went well and parents are very satisfied with their children's learning under my care. (:

That aside, here's a long overdue picture of my mum's first french manicure experience. I was disappointed with the french that I did for her. Partly was cause it was done at 11 in the night with bad lighting (mum's thinking of changing the lighting in the living room) and the white that I used was extremely thick! Gonna spam it with Seche's restore.

The base colour that I used was OPI's Passion - a famous base colour for french. It's a very light pinkish colour, making your nails look very natural for french manicure application. I used OPI's Alpine Snow for the tips before drawing the flower outline with black acrylic paint. Lastly, I layered it with OPI's I Juggle Men before topping the center of the flower with a pink rhinestone.

Though the french was disappointing, I absolutely loved the flower. Looks extremely elegant and perfect for weddings in fact! Would love to do this design on someone's fingers. If you're interested, do contact me at valerie.gmh@gmail.com I may give a big discount for this design since it's something I really wanna try! (:

Roses & Springtime

Miss Mary came over on Wednesday to change her nail design before going for her Genting trip today. She brought He Laoshi along too! (He laoshi's my ex-colleague who was my partner when I was teaching in my previous school. A really nice lady. (: )

I showed them my nail mags and they had a hard time deciding! Spoilt for choice. Hahha. I did He Laoshi's nails first. She picked a nail design from the magazine and I tried to replicate it. Was quite disappointed with the pictures. It doesn't do justice to the design! Looks A LOT better in real life. My Canon camera was flat, so I had to use the Olympus one.

 

He Laoshi wanted this particular shade of pink polish, so she brought it from along with her. It's from TheFaceShop, not the usual OPI range that I use. But the application was still manageable. I was quite worried at first because some of my faceshop polishes became rather streaky after a while. But it turned out well. (: On the index and ring fingers, I covered half of the nail with black acrylic paint by painting it diagonally to give a contrast with the pink. I then swirled roses with pink and white. On the middle finger, I created a half moon design before swirling roses with black and white. On the thumb and pinkie, I just swirled roses as the nails on her thumb were rather short. I painted the leaves with green acrylic paint before lining the "partitions" with my silver striper polish.

Miss Mary couldn't design what to do! She said, "Okay I choose this colour. You can do anything you want!" The colour she chose was 'Who The Shrek Are You' from OPI's Shrek Collection. It's a really nice shade of green, that is striking yet not flourescent kinda striking. A very pleasant shade of green in fact. It's one of my favourites too!

Since the polish was rather striking, I decided on drawing white flowers for her with acrylic paint before outlining it with black acrylic paint. Lastly, I added random swirls and dots to make it look more natural. I was really happy with the end product! Miss Mary showed off to He Laoshi and said, "You see! My nails longer... can draw nicer lor.." Hahaha..

They were so cute! Miss Mary suggested holding my name card and doing free advertising for me. See the gimmicks they came up with.

 

I sure had a fun time painting their nails. It was a night of laughter. That's how manicure sessions should be - light hearted and relaxed. (:

Swirl Roses

I invited my ex-colleague, who is also my mum's very close friend, Miss Mary, over to my place the other day to get her nails done. She has a really nice nail bed that's long - exactly what I need to practice nail art. Hence, she brought her OPI Polish over and I did a manicure and pedicure for her f.o.c.

I used OPI's Planks A Lot from the latest Pirate's Collection for the base, before swirling the roses with white and purple acrylic paint. I added the leaves with dark green acrylic paint before adding details with light green acrylic paint to give it more depth.

I really liked the outcome of it because it was a vast improvement as compared to the first time I tried swirling roses. Practice makes perfect eh? (:

Miss Mary has a habit of painting the exact same thing for her hands and her feet. Hence, I created a matching set for her toes. Felt bad cause boyfriend dropped by my place and was waiting for me to finish. Miss Mary was so afraid that I'd just forget about her toes. Hahaha.

Tadah! I'm happy with the end product. How about you? How would you rate the design?

Miss Mary will be coming by again on Wednesday to change her design. Stay tuned! (:

SJC Funfair 010511

The funfair at St. Joseph's Church yesterday was a blast! The church organized a funfair in conjunction with their 165th anniversary, and I took up a stall there since I'm from that church as well. The church will be undergoing renovation after next week, so all proceeds from the funfair will go toward the church's building fund.

My Primary 2 cousin, Fhilis, stayed over at my house on Saturday to help out on Sunday as well. Hence, I took the opportunity to use her as my model. Some of the designs were taken from http://www.rina-alcantara.com/ and I tried them out.

Tadah !! Decided to try out designs that I've never tried before. Some are repeated cause I really couldn't think of 10 different designs at 9 in the night.

A closer view on her left hand. Featuring a few characters - the cow, bear (which turned out like a hamster), panda which I've done before during the Singapore Poly event, the minnie mouse ribbon and a simple flower. I really love the cow! It was the love of many parents at the funfair as well.

A closer view on her right hand. Featuring the usual polka dots, cupcake which I really love as well. The "cherry" wasn't suppossed to be so big! Somehow the OPI polish for that was exceptionally runny and it flowed down. Tried to rectify it and that was the best I could do. The heart, need to brush up on my outlining! The tree with clouds in the sky, wanted to add in the sand, but her nails are too small. Probably workable for adults. And the bumble bee! It looks opposite in the picture because of the angle I took the picture.

Business was really good! All my OPI were sold out. So were the mother's day packages and top/base coat bundles. Majority of my customers who did manicures were children! They were so cute. According to the parents who told me, in past years, their children would pull them to the game stalls. But this year, they pointed and said they only wanted to come to my stall to do their nails! Hhahha. All of their coupons went to their children's nails already. It was a waste that I didn't manage to take pictures of their nails cause many were queueing to get their nails done. If any of you have the pictures, do tag me in facebook!

Some parents approached me and asked if I do nails for children's parties and functions. Why not! Just call me. I'd definitely be more than happy to go if my time allows me to. It feels like a great joy to be able to integrate my job as a teacher into doing nails for children. I see a little link there now. (:

The children were really sweet. One of them even turned around to say thank you to her mummy for giving her the money to paint her nails. It's a joy to paint for children. Will want to do it more in future!

Swirl Roses

Last night, I decided to try out the swirl roses on my mum's toes! I think I did a horrible job, but I'm not afraid to post up the pictures cause I believe it'll get better with more practise. And I don't believe that just because I'm not trained, I cannot do a good job.

This was done on a light blue base with pink and purple for the swirled roses. I think it looks nicer from far than near. Hahahah. But most importantly, mum's really happy with it. Was telling her that I should change her nails every week so that I have more pictures added to my portfolio. But she said "no la! so waste!" hahaha. typical mama.

And just in case you didn't read my previous post, black shatter is back again! Going for $10.50 per bottle. Email valerie.gmh@gmail.com to order now. While stocks last!

Nail art examples that put my manicure to shame

Work has been taking it's toil on me. Assignments doesn't make it any better. As it is, I have 3 on hand on top of my crazy work schedule. I know there's been a lack of updates on this website. Sorry babes. I'll definitely be working on new designs soon I promise. Give me some time to settle my assignments..

I've edited the gallery, so you can now view the prices of each set of design. Thought that'd be easier for customers.

Was googling and thought this was interesting! Gotten it from this website -> http://forladiesbyladies.com/index.php/2009/04/13/12-extreme-nail-art-examples-that-put-your-manicure-to-shame/

Truly. Nail art examples that put my manicure to shame.

Bow & Polka Dot Duo

Mummy got bored with her black shatter-ed toes and wanted me to re-do them. This time, she didn't request for any particular design, but gave me the discretion to do anything I wanted. She didn't look at it either, till the entire pedi was done.

She has had her fair share of floral designs, and I decided to try something different. I've always wanted to try drawing a bow, and this time I finally had the chance to! Chose a darker tone of pink as the base (I didn't use OPI this time round. It was a colour from TheFaceShop) and used white acrylic paint for the bow with black acrylic paint for enhancements and details. Added polka dots as well as "accompaniment" for the lonely bow. (: To end it perfectly, I topped it up with a big rhinestone in the middle of the bow.

I really really loved the end result. In fact, it turned out better than how I expected it to be. Looks really cute and retro. Reminds me of the 80's retro era with polka dot dresses and big bow hairbands. (: What do you think? Share with me your thoughts. (:

New Creations !

Today marked the last day of training for us at HQ. For those who don't know yet, my full time job is actually a preschool educator with MindChamps. Many customers often ask, "Why do you do such different things?! Teaching and nails don't link at all!" Well, we all have passion and interests. For me, teaching young children has always been my passion while doing nail art is my new found interest! (: Anyway back to the topic! We actually had 2 colleagues from Indonesia as MindChamps is opening a preschool in Indonesia. As a farewell gift for them, I did their nails free! In return, they promised me free lodging and food when I fly over. (:

Indrie gave me a challenge! I asked her what design would she like to have. She thought through the night and sms-ed saying that she wants a blue base with a pink jellyfish! I was so distracted in night class and instead of paying attention to human resource management, I started thinking about how to paint a jellyfish! It turned out better than expected and I was happy! I felt that it looked really different from the usual flowers and polka dots. It's not very clear from the picture, but there's green seaweed at the tip of the nails with the jellyfish, fish and bubbles. Looks so cute! The other fingers were just the seaweed and the fish. It's a new addition to my collection. (:

Rahil opted for butterflies. Something that I've never done before either. I felt that I didn't do sucha good job. But Rahil was amazed and fascinated. She was so happy with her nails that she was looking at them every 1/2 hour. Hahhaha. I'm glad that she really like her nails! And she was telling me that her daughter in Indonesia will be so excited to see her nails. This is the similarity between teaching and doing manicures. It's a joy just to be able to bring joy to others. (:

Price Revision

I've done a price revision on my nail rates. I've made it even cheaper so that it's even more affordable to every lady who seeks pretty nails. Plus, I really want to experience the feeling of doing nail art on different nail beds. Do refer to the navigation at the side for the new prices of manicures and pedicures. (:

Been really busy lately. With work, training, and night classes. That pretty much explains why I haven't been coming up with new designs. Will try to work on it as soon as I can. Found quite a number of nail art tutorials through youtube and I really wanna try doing those designs! Hope I can do it this weekend. (: Stay tuned!

My CNY Nails !

And it's finally my turn too! Reused the most popular CNY design on my own nails cause I really love it. It's bling, yet not too bling. Plus I really love how the sparkle-y glitter stands out from the pinkish base colour. Didn't want to go for the usual red with white flowers, so this was perfect. <3 Looks a bit bridal too don't you think? (:

Mummy's CNY toes

After waiting in the queue for so long, it's finally mummy's turn to do her toes! She wanted Malaga Wine ( yes again. haha.). I drew a full set of free hand white flowers for her. The main focus was on the big toes, while the rest had a couple of leaves and dots. The gold beads in the center of the flower brings out the CNY feel even more.

And yes, I definitely need to work on making it more symmetrical. But I do see my own improvement. My hands are more stable when I draw the flowers and they're looking better at each try. But there's no end to improvement! Mummy was sleeping when I drew her toes when she was amazed when she woke up! Glad she's lovin' it. (:

妃丽

1 week before CNY, I promised my primary 2 cousin(Fhilis) that I'll do her nails for her during CNY, and told her to go home and think of a design that she wants to do. After our reunion dinner on the eve of CNY, Fhilis told me that she wanted ang pao nails! But because her nails are really small, I suggested painting an ang pao on each of her thumb while drawing flowers on the rest. She chose a light pink base with red ang paos and red flowers!

After painting her nails pink, I asked her what ang pao design does she want. She said she wants chinese words in the ang pao. She thought for a while on what words to write before deciding to have her chinese name - 妃丽 inside the ang pao.

This is my virgin try at chinese characters, but I think the end product was rather good! Well, at least the words are readable. Hahaha. I added gold dots along the edges of the ang pao as well. Fhilis commented that the flowers looks as though they are stickers. I was happy when she said that! Because if it looks like stickers, it means my drawing/painting skills has improved. Hhahaha. =D

Fhilis was so happy with her nails after everything was done. We were even jokingly saying that when we go bai nian, Fhilis should show her thumbs and say "hong bao na lai!" Hhhaahah!

Bling-Bling !

Shuyi and Michelle came to do both mani & pedi for CNY. They were 2 very cute girls, who kept thinking they were difficult customers cause they spent quite a long time at my place. Hahahah. They definitely brought a lot of joy as we talked and laughed through the nail session. (:

(pardon the "oily" look. just applied cuticle oil (: )

Shuyi didn't know what to do for her manicure, so I told her about the design of the previous customer (Sihui). She decided to give it a shot, but she wanted 1 finger to be different from the rest. I suggested adding a set of rhinestones on the french line of both ring fingers to make it stand out. It turned out really nice! It was different from the other fingers. Special, but didn't make it look weird or mismatched. A new design added to my profile. (:

Malaga wine once again! It looks nearly black in this picture, but it's probably the lighting. Still looks very red in real life. Shuyi went for white flowers on malaga wine. It was a breeze painting on her toes because she hardly has any cuticles! But I got to work harder on making the designs on both toes symmetrical. Need alot of improvement on that.

It was Michelle's turn to do her nails! She chose the same design as Shuyi. This design was a very popular design for the day. Probably because it's not too elaborate yet at the same time, it's very suitable for CNY. She kept asking Shuyi if it was alright if they had the same design. Hahaha. But Michelle chose a different colour combination.

Michelle chose a pinkish base topped with blue glitter and a line of blue rhinestones near base of the nail bed. Lovely design don't you think? Her nails were perfect for such a design because they were already rather long. This design further brings out the elegance and length of her nails. Lovin' it !

Michelle did her toes too! She thought of this design on her own. Credits to her! She was innovative enough to tell me she wanted an inverted nike sign, somewhat like a candy cane. And if you notice, when you imagine both toes to be together, it actually forms a heart. Interesting!

It was such a joy having these 2 ladies at my place. And not to worry! You 2 are not difficult customers! Hahaha. (:

Sparkle-icious, Malaga Wine, Color So Hot It Berns

Sihui brought her friend along to do an express mani for CNY and they were well-prepared! They knew what they wanted and even had the picture in their phone. Hahaha. Sihui chose a nude colour as the base colour topped with a glitter french with a sponging effect.

(Before I forget, credit to Sihui and her friend for the pictures in this post. As I had another customer after their appointment, I forgot to snap a picture of their nails. Thankfully, Sihui and her friend were nice enough to send me pictures of their nails!)

It looks A LOT more shiny and glittery in real life as compared to the picture. The glitter is actually from OPI's Burlesque Collection, which is already very shiny and bling on its own.

Sihui did an OPI pedi as well. She chose Malaga Wine for her base colour, which is indeed a very very lovely colour. It's a very nice dark shade of red, very suitable for the toes. 2-3 coats will give you a nice wine colour. I'm loving that colour as well! She chose to paint white flowers on her big toes and topped it up with rhinstones.

(I apologise for the blur picture!)

After Sihui was done with her mani & pedi, I proceeded with her friend's mani. Sorry I didn't get your name! So I got to keep addressing you as Sihui's friend. She chose a bright chilli red colour as the base and did white flowers on selected fingers. This design was taken off directly from one of my ready made designs, just that it was altered slightly and she chose to top it up with rhinestones as well.

It was a joy doing their nails and I look forward to seeing them again. (:

Pre-cny

Just a week before CNY, I painted my nails pink. I love this particular shade of pink! It isn't really hot pink, more of a purplish type of pink. When I woke up the next day, I was bored of it already and decided to spice it up with some dots!

The usual Val will probably use plain white dots on a pinkish base. But I wanted to be different this time round! Used a combination of baby blue & white dots instead, and the effect turned out to be better than how I expected it to be! The index and ring finger turned out to be my favourite, cause they look like a zigged zagged design. Lovin' it!

Sweet Pink Roses on Yellow

Joycelyn came over to get her nails done on New Year's Eve. Felt quite apologetic actually, cause initially, she was going to do a classic manicure at a nail salon before coming over for the design. But she couldn't make it for the nail salon in the end so came straight to my place. My white had already finished cause I thought she was painting her nails before coming, and had to settle for yellow in the end. Sorry babe! But nevertheless, I felt that the end product was pretty nice! Joycelyn will be doing an advertorial for me on her blog @ http://www.joycelynquek.blogspot.com/ Stay tuned!

The. Irresistable Snowman

Lucy came over to get her toes done just before Chrismas. After looking through my designs, she selected the snowman design. She went for an express pedi + sponging effect + snowman nail art. Looks irresistably cute!

Hello Mr. Snowman!

Hey all !

Last night, my mum asked me, "What are you going to do for my nails on Christmas?" And so, I specially designed this for her! I really like it! Makes it look like snowman is standing on the snow. Really cute design! What do you think?

A Try on Pastel Colours

Bought some new pastel-coloured nail polishes the other day from The Face Shop. I hardly use light colours on myself, in fact I'm very accustomed to using dark colours with light decorations on top. However, I've come to realise that pastel colours are really sweet colours and they bright out a gentle look.

Starting from the left... ...

The heart looks pretty cute! This design reminds me a lot about relationships. Love was never meant to be perfect, just like how I didn't manage to paint the heart to perfection. But just as long as we never quit trying, things will get better. It's a simple design, but I like the combination of colours and how it reminds me of Valentine's day! (: The yellow design reminds me of batik painting! I saw this design online the other day and gave it a try. The design I saw used a brown base with yellow and orange dots. I don't have brown nail polish, so I swapped the colours around! A brown base will give out a more batik feel though. Will try it when I get brown nail polish! The middle design is my top voted design of the year! My first try at this design, but I really love it. It's a really sweet design. 100% handpainted ! I love this particular shade of green nail polish. More towards a pastel green. Did a simple design on this as I felt that the emphasis should be on the colour of the nail polish and not the design. The purple is something probably very similar to my past designs from the floral series.

All in all, a great day achieved ! (: