Essie- Chinchilly

My favorite color of the month so far. I can't believe the 2-layer coating has lasted me 2 1/2 weeks so far. Win.

Wildfire

While everybody was doing their Cyber Monday shopping I got a nice shellac manicure. Tis the season to wear bright red on the nail bed! Ever since I discovered and fell in love with the shellac nail polish I've been getting them done at least once a month. You know the funny part? I've only stuck to the red shades. I guess I just like the way they look, all glossed up and fierce shiny. Today I decided to try the Wildfire red. Here you can see the many other color options to choose from. I have to say, the options have greatly increases since last year. I like the red shades because they just really stand out against my skin and compliment any type of rings I wear. It definitely makes the hand look prettier and get the girls wondering what kind of secret top coat you're using. Now that I've been getting these done I can spot a shellac manicure over an ordinary one any day.

Deep in Tone

Time to bust out my dark colored nail polishes. These add a nice sultry touch to my hands and bring out some femininity.

I love the way my hands look after shiny and fresh applied  polish. It just brings more life to my fingers and makes any hand/arm jewelry pop out.

 

Shown- Burnt Sugar by Jordana

Darker red/purple tones in my collection at the moment-

Jordana- Cabernet, Sparkling Wine, Burnt Sugar

N.Y.C.- Manhattan

Essie- Carry On, Swing Velvet

Sally Hansen- Haute Chocolate (complete salon manicure bottle)

New Love- Shellac Nails

So, I finally tested out the shellac nail polish. As you might have read from my post  last year, I've been wanting to try it out.

I must say I'm very satisfied and  impressed. The process is almost identical to a regular manicure with the only expection of 2 extra coatings. The drying time is instant and the results are great.

I've had my nails done with the shellac for almost a week now and they're still shiny as if I just got them done an hour ago.

I found myself testing the strength of the polish by making sure I did the dishes every night, picked off some stickers from food packages, and also decided to do some intensive bathroom scrubbing. After all that, no chipping what so ever had occurred. Unbelievable.....this is my new found addiction.

Better yet, since last year the shellac polish have came out with more colors to choose from. I highly recommend this nail service over any acrylic and regular polish any day. Plus, we all need a little pampering now and then. ;)

Week's almost over.....

I was in the creative mood today and decided to dress up my nails for the holiday weekend. Festive, right? Having a somewhat strict dress code at work has prevented me from having my nails designed in years. I miss it sometimes.

About 3 years ago I took in the desire to decorate nails and considered going to nail tech school. (Good thing I didn't...) Here are some pics of my friends that I had the pleasure of practicing on-----

As you could see, I was into the "blingy" eye catching style. Those days are gone now..........

Moving right along-

Enjoyed some hot cocoa with marshmallow.....

I wore my cute Korean socks around the house today.....I got them straight from Korea too. :D

Had homemade jampong for lunch and it was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! The added mussels put a nice touch to it.

You know one thing I noticed about the holiday season? People don't decorate their house with lights like they used to. Before it seemed like every or every other house would participate in this Christmas tradition (including my family.) As of 3 or 4 years ago (I guess when the recession hit) it seemed like more and more houses/neighbors laid low on the decor. *sad face*

 Luckily, there's this designated neighborhood that's known for their Christmas lighting and every year they bring together all the eager people and families itching to see some beautiful lighting. Rumor has it to buy/rent a house in this specific community you have to sign a mandatory contract stating that the household will put up Christmas lights. Doesn't sound so bad....hahaha. I wonder how much the electricity bill is for the month??? Yikes.

Images are not from the neighbor but from google. :D

Shellac Nails

 
I was at work a couple days ago and I noticed my colleague's nails were nicely polished and groomed. She isn't the one to get her hair and nails done so when she did it stood out like a sore thumb.

At a glance it looked as if she got she average acrylic done. I didn't think anything of it.

"Look, Michelle!! I got my nails done! It's a new service that our spa's providing!" Chelsea was so excited to show me this  "new thing" that she volunteered to shove them in my face.

"Oh, cool. Yeah, they look nice." I replied.

"No!! Look closer......there's something different about them."

"Um, ok. They do look a little more on the natural side."

"That's because they are!! These are my real nails! I just have a shellac coating on them! It's this gel like polish that lasts for 14 days without chipping. " Chelsea was hyping this service up so much I could have sworn she was selling this product for QVC or something.

As I got a closer and better look I realized that her nails were extremely polished with a nice hardened look. I have to admit, Chelsea had me curious.......That same night I googled Shellac nails. It really got my interest!
I used to get acrylic done pretty often until my nails thinned out and I realized that I didn't want to lose the little ones I had left. T_T  This treatment is a lot better and safer. There are no drills used and no filing done on the nails at all. The polish dries with the help of UV rays and has a finishing look of gel nails. I like this idea! The polish can be removed at home with pure acetone without having to rip any of the nails off. *ouch*

In the next couple of days my next mission is to find me a nail salon that does this. Unfortunately, I wish I could just go to the spa Chelsea went to, but they ran out of the polish! *waaah* Their next order won't be for a couple weeks!! That's too long for me to wait! I need to start looking good now!! Hahaha!