Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Melon Polish

I can't believe I haven't done a Manicure Monday in close to a year! The last one was the Fault in our Stars polish that is still getting so many hits for some reason. Who knew, right?

If you've been following this blog, you probably know the reason why I haven't done one in ages. You would know that I'm both very manicure-challenged and terribly obsessive-compulsive, so I rarely ever do my nails. It's major effort for me, so I just get them done at a salon when I actually have the time and energy for it, and that's also a rare thing. I also do my nails sometimes but ruin them before I get to photograph them, so really, it's tough trying to blog about nail polish when you're like me! Well, this year I'll be trying my hardest to do more manicures just so I can use up my nail polish collection! Why I have tons of polish, I have no idea. Okay let's catch up, shall we?

Oooh orange!

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - The Fault in our Stars Nails

It's just another manic-ure Monday. I don't "wish it were a Sunday" though because it's Game of Thrones night and I'm rushing this post so I could watch with the hubby!

Anyway, today's manicure is a bit special because I saw The Fault in our Stars last Saturday. I loved the book by John Green and I couldn't wait to see the movie. I'm so glad A has a crush on Shailene Woodley because of Divergent, so he was totally willing to see it with me. I'm going to do a post on the movie itself soon so I'll just focus on what this entry is about. 

That, my friends, is Hazel Grace Lancaster's nail polish. Augustus Waters described it as an almost black dark blue. "But her hand was still her hand, still warm and the nails painted this almost black dark blue and I just held her hand and imagine the world without us and for about one second I was a good enough person to hope she died so she would never know that I was going, too." 

When I first saw Hazel's nail polish I immediately thought, hey, I have nail polish that's just like that! It's NYX Advanced Salon Formula nail polish in Royal Blue. Why it did not occur to me when I was reading the book a long time ago, I have no idea. And so, this happened today. 

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Retro Blue

I have retro blue nails this week, thanks to the nail polish that my friend Sheva got me during a stopover in Thailand (on her way to India). It's an old skool kind of blue, but it's bright enough for summer.

It's Maybelline Color Show Nail Lacquer in Shocking Seas. It really doesn't remind me of the sea in any way. It's more of the kind of blue that you find in old porcelain teacups or china, that sort of thing. It is shocking in the sense that it's a really attention-grabbing bright blue though.

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Hello Summer Polish

Here in the tropics, summer arrived about a week or two ago. I was feeling the heat already last week, so I thought I'd welcome my favorite season with fun, bright polish.

I chose an orange shade of course! If you know me or you've been following this blog, you'd know that orange and blue are my favorite colors. I also knew that I would be spending the weekend swimming, and that orange would be really pretty against the blue color of pool water.

I did my nails a few days before and did a late-night rush job of it on Thursday because I had an event to go to on Friday. I picked out Y'All Come Back Ya Hear by OPI from the many orange lacquers in my collection because I knew it would apply easily and I'm not likely to make a mess with it. Despite being manicure-challenged, I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to nails and I can't stand it when manicured digits look uneven or simply don't look as neat as I would like them to. When a polish formula is giving me a hard time, I would take hours just doing my nails over. That's why when I'm in a rush, I pick lacquers that have super smooth, manicure-challenged-proof formulas. 

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Rosy Valentine Nails

It's just another Manic Monday, but I had to make this quick post during my lunch break because it's Manic-ure Monday. (Yes you saw what I did there, heh.) 

When I was deciding on a nail polish color yesterday, I remembered that Valentine's is coming up. Since I'm feeling cheesy and it's always fun to work with a theme, I chose a bright red color this week for Love's Day.   

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Rose Gold New Year's Eve Nails

Hello! The Blue Purse is on holiday break at the moment (life is pretty darn hectic this time of the year) but I just had to make a quick post because this is all about tomorrow, New Year's Eve!

Stacked love rings and bangles from Forever 21

I was planning on glittery nails this year for NYE, but I went with metallic instead. Orly Rage was just too pretty to resist! I've been obsessed with rose gold for a while now, as well as mixed metals, so the polish was simply perfect. 

I had my nails done at David's Podium earlier and found this shade randomly. I need to get my own bottle because I'm obsessed!

I'm using my phone to post this entry and my phone camera didn't capture the color that well. I'll post a better picture taken with my camera in daylight sometime. 

Happy Holidays!

Other lacquer love posts can be found in the Manicure Monday tag. 

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Silver Glitter

Monday is almost coming to a close, so I'm rushing this post. I didn't do Manicure Monday last week because I knew I was having my nails done later in the week. I attended a wedding last Thursday with the hubby, so I went to the salon to get a blow-out and a mani-pedi that morning. 

The thing is, I have some standards when I get my nails professionally done. I'm really super critical of manicurists because come on, if they do a bad job, I might as well just do it myself at home. I have only found two manicurists I like at two separate salons that are both at the Podium - one from David's named Flor, and the other at Bench Fix that I forgot the name of because I've only been there once. I haven't tried the Nail Spa at Shang and the nail salons at Megamall though. If you've tried any of them, please let me know in the comments! Don't ask me about other places that aren't in the general Ortigas/Kapitolyo area though, because I just go to the salons near my neighborhood for convenience.

That day though, I was pressed for time so I decided to just go to the David's along Shaw. I really don't like the manicurist there, because I have had my nails done multiple times there before (since it's the closest proper salon near me), but it really seems like she doesn't make enough of an effort to do her job well. I had no choice though, and I thought I'd give her yet another chance, but sadly, I was disappointed once again. Sorry but I just have to rant.

See, I usually bring my own nail polish, especially the ones that I have a hard time putting on myself since I'm so manicure-challenged. Since I was wearing glittery silver shoes and accessories that day, I decided to do silver glitter on my nails. I brought Forever 21 Love and Beauty Nail Polish in Moonbeam for the base and Nicole by OPI's Make U Smile from the Justin Bieber collection to put on top of it. We accidentally ruined one of the nails (the manicurist and I moved in opposite directions at the same time) but I noticed after I left the salon that she didn't bother doing it over. She just tried to patch it up with more nail polish which turned out looking a bit lumpy. She also didn't bother spreading the glitter around my nails. I told her to do two coats so the glitter would show up more and she did, but she didn't make sure that the glitter was visible on every nail. It looked very inconsistent. There were also some blank spots. They're hardly noticeable but they're there. Frustration!

Anyway, bad manicurist aside, I liked the combination of Forever 21's Moonbeam and Nicole by OPI's Make U Smile. Metallic nails just add instant bling to a look. 

I wanted an elegant look since I was going to a wedding. The silver foil of Moonbeam looked great with Make U Smile's big hexagon and small dot glitter. 

My Instagram pic of it last Thursday didn't quite catch the details but it looked very classic and polished.

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Gunmetal Silver-Gray

Hello! I know it's technically Tuesday because it's past midnight, and I almost missed Manicure Monday haha, but it's still pretty much the same day (more like night heh), and I'm just late in posting. Okay, enough with the excuses and let's get on with it.

This week's color is gunmetal silver. I'm starting to sense fall coming even if this country only has two seasons and autumn isn't one of them. It's probably this chilly, crisp weather we're having (though we're still smack dab in the middle of the sucky rainy season), so I'm feeling dark colors at the moment. I'm not excited for the holidays yet though, and that's a long way away, so no to sparkly stuff for now. Dark and moody is my jam, so I chose Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail polish in Gunmetal.

Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Deep Orange

I have a confession to make. I hate doing my own nails. I usually go to the salon to have them done. I suck at giving myself manicures, that's why. Each manicure takes ages for me, and I have to redo each nail a few times before I get it right. My hands aren't suited for applying nail polish. They slip and slide and get nail polish everywhere except on my nails. This is why I rarely ever make the effort to do my manicures and pedicures myself.

The thing is, I love nail polish. I have a large collection and I've been feeling bad that I haven't been using my nail lacquers. Plus, I rarely ever get myself to the salon nowadays, and I miss having color on my nails. This is why I'm starting Manicure Monday. It will make me try very hard to give myself manicures to use up my collection, give me the practice I need, and I can do nail polish reviews at the same time. Please don't expect my manicures to be perfect though. They'll most likely be messy, but who knows, maybe I'll get better at it someday. 

For this week, I went with a deep orange lacquer -- The Face Shop's OR202. The weather has been really gloomy, with rain pouring down in torrents in the afternoons, and I felt like wearing something bright.