Manicures

me-time is nail time.

May 12, 2012 / 11 Comments

i woke up at 7.30am today and decided that while the entire household is still in snooze land, i am going to paint my nails! at the same time, i decided to take pictures for a step-by-step tutorial.

have been dying to try half moons manicures for the longest time, but had never gotten round to it.. i almost never could find the time! so here you go!

I didnt cut my nails because i just trim it a week ago, so i just filed it down to neaten it..


base coat. i use seche vite matt finish nail treatment. and yup, some of my nails are peeling from the weeks of wearing gel polish. i think, while gel are lasting, i prefer normal nails anytime.


i used a natural looking color for the base. as usual, i opted for my favourite orly orlon.

how to create the half moon? you’ll ask. I draw them freehand!! Haha. i wish. well, i did attempt to but decided they dont quite cut it, so i use reinforcement rings sticker, one of my favourite stationery products when i was schooling. and i do happen to have a box left over lying in the house from my schooling days and they came up useful.


paste them over slightly into your nail bed, or more, depending on the look you want. heck, if you have small nails, you can even use them for your french tips. the thing to note is, do ensure that your nails are dry before pasting on the stickers else they’ll rip off the polish you have painted for the base.


paint over the nail color of your choice. I used orly’s it’s not rocket science here. i have been wearing reds/pinks for the past 1-2 months and wanted something different and happen to pull out this bottle from my stash. do make sure, however that the sticker is fully stuck on the nail bed, else the polish may seep under the tape and ruin your half moons. I painted 3 grand coats of polish here so that the polish stands out.

and then WAIT. *drum fingers*

wait till the polish is DRY before start peeling off the stickers. i dont have that much patience nor time (halfway through, Jerry woke with a cry) so i cheated and peel it off semi-dry.


here how it looks! ignore my last 2 nails because i forgot about taking a picture and went on to bling up the nails.


all bling up!! You can use an orange stick to pick up the diamantes from a dish. I use a special pen (seen here in my shanghai post) for it. I don’t know what the pen its called, if you know.. tell me! by the way, i bought the storage containers for the diamantes in daiso. very useful and ‘stackable’. i have loads of them to keep my stash of diamantes and pearls for my nails.


splash on a layer of topcoat and you are done! ok. maybe not splash.. and then clean up the bits of polish on the skin. If you are feeling lazy (like me) or want to save some time (like me too), you can wait till you are in the showers (and done with your bath) and gently scrap the polish off. It comes off like magic and it always work. easy peasy.


It’s not rocket science.

and more pictures!

ignore my crinkly skin/fingers. they say, you can always tell one’s age through their hands..

and the feet! I actually painted the feet first before the hands, but i’m shy about flashing my feet first. LOL.

same procedure, but a lot easier since i only did it for the big toe.

I hope you got some useful tips out of this entry. If you try it, drop me a comment and let me know if it works for you. now, i gotta put down the computer because Jerry is snatching it from me.

I hope you’ll have a great weekend!



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Hi there! Thanks for popping by. I'm Cherie, a ftwm (full-time working mum) to 3 lovely kids (2 boys & a princess) and my motto in life is to BE HAPPY. Sure, life isn't all that smooth but it's the mentality that counts, no? This blog documents my life. Or rather, snippets of my life that has passed me by. I love capturing life memories in the blog and being able to read back and laugh at myself (or anyone). I love to eat (A LOT), travel and paint my own nails so the blog is mostly about that. Is that considered lifestyle? Of cos, the family is also very much an integral part of me so there would be loads of memories about the husband and my kids - Jerry (9yo), Jerome (7yo) and Leia (2.5yo) and everyone else that's close to me. I like documenting the kids' milestones, their growing up years, their achievements (and sometimes, mine), and my struggles and battles with motherhood. It sure ain't easy. I love seeking out good food and travelling, is trigger-happy, love new gadgets, love exploring new places and strives to live life to the fullest. I aspire to travel the world as much as I can, to soak in the different sights across the various continents and visit all the Disneylands in the world (almost there!). Have fun reading and do drop me a comment to say hi! Love, Cherie Lim Find me on Instagram.

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