Jin Jin's Adventures

Last week I tried making a 3D gel rose and was very happy with the result. I called the store immediately the following day and booked a whole box of 3D gels in different colours! I'll be practising making different kinds of 3D nail art and hope to post them up soon.

Part of my haul last week include this very cool Silver Acrylic Powder. When it's wet it looks like a drop of mercury. However, it dries up giving a matte silver look. I really like the texture of this acrylic powder because it sets really well and was very easy to mould. This acrylic powder series also comes in gold and bronze, but I only got the silver one this time.

I'm very happy with this week's nail art, It'll be so cute to match it with a pair of silver peep toe shoes. I'm thinking of doing a matching design on the toes too!

Today is officially the most hydrated day of my life! I drank 1 and a half liters of water within half and hour and had to hold for 1 and a half hours before I can let it all out! It was such a torture. The reason behind all these drinking is because I had to get a pelvis scan done. The husband and I have been trying for a baby the past 2 years without success and we've finally decided to see a doctor to get some tests done. I'll be seeing the doctor in couple of weeks for the results. Hope everything is ok.

I went to restock my nail supplies yesterday and look what I've got! My first UV Lamp and Gel Set!


I tried the 3D gel today and it was amazing! I regret getting just 1 colour now :(
3D gels are so much easier to mould into shapes because they do not set unless you put them under the UV lamp. You can take your time to mould the gel to your desired shape and then set it under the UV lamp. With acrylic, you have to work fast. Once it dries up, your shape is fixed. Also, there is no smell at all as compared to using acrylic because there's no need to use the monomer liquid. I took off the lace on my first 3 fingers and tried painting the following 2 flowers using the 3D gel. (The lace came off easily after soaking in acetone for 10 minutes). Please excuse the mess around my fingers. I didn't have time to clean up the nail polish and dry skin because I was rushing to take these photos before the sun set. I hate taking photos using flash.

Lace nails are really getting popular now, however, as far as I'm aware, the Japanese have been using this technique for a long time. It's quite tricky to stick real lace to your nails. This is my first attempt and I'm only 60% happy with the result. For this nail art, I used nail glue to stick the lace onto my nails. The problem with it is that the lace pattern disappears once too much glue is used. It also disappears if you use too much top coat. Another problem is that the lace becomes VERY hard once it's in contact with glue or top coat. The lace bits sticking out at the edge of my nails keep getting caught in my hair, knit clothings and stockings!


Despite the above, I feel that lace nails instantly brings on the romantic feeling. It's very appropriate for weddings and special occasions. I recommend using them on fake nails and wearing it for a couple of days only. I've washed my hands several times now after getting this done last night. The lace is still intact and dries very quickly after getting my hands wet. The nail colour used this time is OPI "Isn't It Romantic?". It really is a romantic colour. I had to use 3 coats for this because the colour is very sheer.

Question now is how am I to remove the lace? I hope it comes off after soaking in acetone! hehe...

My first tag from Shanghainese Dumpling!

If you were going to allow us to spend a night at your home, we’d like to know the following:

1. What books are on your favorite shelf?
My all time favorite books which I can read over and over again are all books by Roald Dahl, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and all Sword Fighting books by Jing Yong.

My current favourite read are 1421 by Gavin Menzies, The One Hundred by Nina Garcia and Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual.

2. What DVDs are on your favourite shelf?

Mr Brain by Kimura Takuya
Sex and the City

3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?

The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
The Best Ever French Cooking Course by Carole Clements and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen

I love french cooking as well as making ice-cream. Discovered 'The Perfect Scoop' from the web and rushed to the bookshop to get it. I've never regretted this purchase, cos home made ice-creams are the BEST!


4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests.

Hahaha my never fail dishes that I've made for many parties are Stew Apple Beef, Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings and Home Made Ice-Cream from 'The Perfect Scoop' (see above cookbook).

5. What will we be drinking that’s available?

In my attempt to keep healthy, I've got no sweet drinks at home. However I have coffee, wine and a huge collection of teas. My favorite tea shops are Mariage Freres and Ippodo Tea.

Oh my goodness. I've been working every single night the last 3 days till about 4a.m.! I was so busy I didn't manage to maintain my previous nail art at all. However, the water swirl nail polish wears really well even after 1 week. It can safely be worn for another 5 days with some additional top coat. Usually, to extend the length of your nail polish, especially on natural nails, remember to add a clear top coat once every 2 - 3 days. Also, always remember to wear gloves when washing dishes and preparing food. I always keep a big box of disposable powder free gloves in the kitchen. It's a MUST if you've got nail art on and don't want to ruin it.

Back to this design, I was inspired by all those pretty yellow wild flowers all over the side walk in spring. They always look so pretty especially when it's sunny like today. I've never used Yellow nail polish before and was a little worried how it may look against my skin tone. OPI's Need Sunglasses is quite a nice yellow but it can look a little bit too mustard at times. I may want to try a brighter yellow next time. Does anyone have any recommendations?

After much hair pulling, I've finally managed to upload and modify a new blog template. It still needs a little more final adjustments but I do like the end result. Hope you'll like it too.

As previously mentioned I was meant to continue with my wedding theme, however I was so tired of light pastel colours, therefore I've decided to try a new technique.

I don't know what's the official name of this technique but I'll call it the Water Swirl Technique for now. I've seen this done several times before but have not try it personally. You'll have to use 2 different nail colours and drop them in one after another into a container of water. Wait for each colour to spread out before dropping the next colour. Use an orange stick to swirl the colour into your desired pattern and dip your finger nails flat down onto the surface of the water. Do this slowly or else you'll end up with bubbles. With your finger still submerged in the water, use the orange stick and remove any remaining nail polish floating on the surface of the water. Slowly lift your finger out of the water and allow to dry slightly. Use a cotton bud dipped in nail polish remover to clean up nail colours around your finger. Viola, you'll end up with some very interesting swirly patterens! I was up till 4 am doing this. It's fun but very messy at the same time. Not to mention the amount of nail polish wasted. However, I do like the look of it.

This week I'm continuing with the wedding theme. Decided to go with a very simple design which will suit most wedding dresses. Unfortunately I was unable to take these pictures in natural light like I always do. These pictures do not show the beautiful pearly nature of OPI - At First Sight. I personally like this colour a lot but prefer to have a more complicated design :)

I'll try to use the same colour again with a different design this weekend.

As I've mentioned before, I've always only done my own nails and that of my mom's. I've also created nail art for 3 other friends before, but they were all done on natural nails. Last Friday, a friend of mine was going to attend a wedding and wanted her nails done. I thought I'll try painting on some artificial nails. The end result was pretty good!

It's finally springtime! I love all the beautiful colours appearing all over the place. For these couple of months, I'm thinking of focusing on spring flowers design and wedding themes. I'll be helping a friend and her sister with their nails for an upcoming wedding. It'll be so much fun!

A few weeks back I had multiple nail breaks on my left hand. That's why you're only seeing my right hand all these while. It's amazing how fast nails grow back and at different speed too. I've noticed that on fingers where we use more often, nails tend to grow a lot slower. My middle finger and ring finger grows the fastest. At the moment, I'm trying to grow my toe nails for the summer months. They get a nail polish break in winter because they are always in the covered shoes (they are terribly afraid of the cold). I noticed that toe nails grow at snail speed! Also, I can't seem to grow my last toe nail at all!!! I wonder why?

Why is it still so cold? I am really looking forward to summer and sunshine!

Created this marine theme using the emboss method. I used blue and red acrylic to paint on my nails for a 3D effect, then using clear nail polish, I sprinkled on some glitter. It's a really messy process, especially when I'm still coughing hahaha. Ended up with glitter all over the place! Using the same red acrylic I also created some flowers and red dots to complete the whole sunny marine look. Oh finally on the pinky, I also tried drawing some seagulls. I'm not sure if they look like seagulls but I tried :)