Nailing It.

Back in 2nd Year Uni, I wore nail polish the entire year. Mostly black, sometimes red, at times a hot pink or a lighter shade. But that was it. I was not experimental. At all. Later on, I finally tried gel nails for the first time ever! It was the coolest thing that ever happened to my nails! Basically, it was a clear polish, with a very light purple sparkly polish and some small 'crystals.' Sandy and I got it done at P-mall, and it cost us a small fortune. $60 for the bare minimum with those 20 crystals, and $5 for each added bow or flower or whatever you wanted on top. The price was ridic, and so, I have not gotten my nails glammed up like that for years after... not until recently when I went on my Asia trip. I pampered myself and treated my nails to a different colour, pretty much every month.

Here's my nails when I was in...

Shanghai Nothing super crazy or special, I just needed to glam up my nails for my last night in SH! It was a fun night only cuz Arina and Cecilia were there, not b/c of the pretentious event host, grrr. Don't let me see or hear of him again!!

Taipei I was inspired by my famfriend Mish who is not afraid to play with her nail colours. She has every colour under the sun... gray... yellow... turquoise, you name it. I'm a changed girl now, I think I can even go for nude-coloured nails! Woo! You can get Chanel polishes on you for an additional 100 TWD, but I just stuck with O.P.I. cuz I didn't have a lot of TWD on me that day and their banks close at freaking 3pm!!! It caused me so much trouble the first few days upon arriving in Taipei. Anyway, they did such a fantastic job on my nails. Especially when the nail artist helping me took extra care in removing my HK gel nails. I thanked her profusely, because a lot of the time, people don't care about your nails and they just rush on it.
The owner of the shop is Aimee. She was originally from TW, moved to Canada for school and work and then back again to TW to open up her own nail salon. We had a lovely chat as I was in there for a couple of hours, and she definitely inspired me to kick myself in the butt and open up my own business already! But my broke ass can't afford that just this moment, so I will have to live vicariously through her. If you're in Taipei, check out Aimee's Nail Salon. You won't be disappointed!
Btw, here's a pic of my shoes to off-set my feet pics. I love them all, but my least favourite is the 2nd from the right. But it actually fit me and it was comfy, so I convinced myself that I could make use of that pair when I go to Miami, Florida or wherever there's a beach/pool! Plus, shoes are cheap in TW, and it definitely helps with my bargaining when I buy a few pairs at once =P

Manila It was totally unnecessary, but since it was part of my spa package, I did another colour swap. The lady didn't do a very good job so I had to get it re-done. She was so nice and patient... then she told me how she was a single mom putting her daughter through uni... and so lady got a heartfelt thank you and big tip. When I'm on vacation, my mentality is always like, 'it's cheaper than back in Canada!' But that's what gets me into trouble!!!

Melbourne Did some mad retail therapy at Alannah Hill. It's quite possibly my favourite clothing store in Melbourne! I scored a lot of nice stuff at great prices. The dresses were on sale for about $20-$30 AUD and were exceptionally well-made, with high quality material. The owner was super stylish and nice too, but I can't say the same for some of her staff (who tried to sell me their broken merchandise and acted like she didn't know about it when I returned it the next day)!
Anyway, let's focus on my nail varnish on the 2nd pic. I fell in love with it when I put it on: I Vant to Be A-Lone Star by O.P.I. I opted for the same hue when I came back to Toronto and got my nails done again. I was really into the pale, robin egg blue this summer and I want to kick myself for not getting that cute bag in that shade at Argyle Centre in Mongkok. :'(

Hong Kong
The ultimate gel nails I had on for a portion of my HK trip and during all of SE Asia... get ready, cuz here it comes!!!
I had always wanted these cute, crazy, 3-D nails, but it was just too expensive back in Canada. This would've cost about $100 after a little bargaining. I don't know if it's more affordable now, but it's always going to be cheaper to have them done in Asia! They were heavy and always in the way when I was typing or putting on my contacts, but so worth it :) I loved them and I would do it again. Probably something along the lines of the one with the little pink bow on the silver nails, but for all the fingers.
My toes were painted a hot pink with tiny silver 'crystals' on the big toes to balance out the crazy nails on the fingers.

The next nail art I want to try is having the nail artist actually do freehand drawing designs on a couple of my nails. The nail artist who helped me at Aimee's Nail Salon is able to do just that - she drew on her own nails and it looked super cute! If I were doing gel nails that day, I totally would've added a sanrio character or two.
Anyhow, I hope I've inspired you to get out there and do something crazy or different to your nails, especially if you are looking down at your nails and they are completely bare (as mine currently are!!). Even choosing a colour you wouldn't normally think you would like would be a great start. The combinations are endless and it's always fun just pampering yourself and doing something girly!