What do you plan to do on Christmas? Me, I just want to eat all my favorite things, and maybe go out to watch a movie with my family. ^_^ All very straightforward. I want to finish reading the books on my list and just relax during the holidays.

Of course, Christmas is not complete without the requisite red and glitter upon our persons. I'm celebrating this whole weekend with my Etude House nail set in Christmas Miracle!

Christmas Tree is a set of three polishes that is designed to give a gradient glitter nail effect. The red base has some fine gold shimmer - absolutely gorgeous - and is opaque in only one coat.

I've been doing this for four years but I still get giddy whenever I receive a product that everyone seems to love. I want to know if I will get the same experience, I want to know if it's something that I can proudly add to my kit. More importantly, I love the act of running to you and saying "Hey you should try it, it's absolutely amazing!" That's why I find beauty blogging so fun! It never gets old. 

The said, the Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation arrived on my doorstep a couple of hours ago. It's one of most requested products for me to review, so I hope I do it justice! I'll let you know what I think of it soon.

For now I will be reviewing the Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel (P325). This comes in 30 drool-worthy colors and is supposed to last for 11 days when used with the accompanying base and top coat. Well, I'll tell you now that 11 days is simply unrealistic, but it does stay fresh for four to five days on me. That's not bad considering most nail polishes would disintegrate in three days tops.

I haven't heard of NCLA until Monica of Polish Please, an online shop dealing in popular and hard-to-find nail polishes, contacted me and asked if I wanted a bottle. There can only be one answer to that. ;)

NCLA is a fairly new brand off Los Angeles that first became famous for their no-heat DIY nail wraps (or stickers). They decided to expand to nail polishes, and right now they have 24 drool-worthy colors like Santa Monica Shore Thing.

Santa Monica Shore Thing is a tiffany green shade that's ultra posh. It has a lovely, opaque creme finish with a smooth texture. It dries pretty quickly - 20 minutes - and stayed on for three days without chipping. That may be due to the new topcoat I'm using though! See these swatches? I have actually been wearing this color for three days already. It still looks fresh no?

Chipped nail polish is inevitable, like sore feet from glam heels, panty lines in tight pants, and well, leg hair. Still, one shouldn't take the inevitable to be an excuse to be lazy. It's impossible to be perfect but it is possible to be neat at the very least. Nothing says "lazy girl alert!" more than obviously chipping nail polish!

Still, I get you. I get that you're busy with work, your social life, your hobbies, etc. so I'm sure nail polish is the least of your worries. But with great nail polish comes great responsibility. If you don't want to bother with the upkeep, then just don't bother putting it on and/or leaving it there. Seriously you won't miss much! If, however, you have a bit of time to retouch your chipping nail polish, then this tutorial is for you!

This is super easy and not at all time-consuming - well, not factoring in the drying time of course. All you need is the original polish color, a nice top coat, a toothpick and a scrap of tissue. Let's do it!

I wish that women would remove their nail polish as soon as it starts chipping obviously. I think that leaving cracked and fading nail polish on looks shabby; if you can't maintain it, don't wear it. Just keep your nails au naturale if you don't have time to touch it up!

Hmm, I should make a tutorial on touching up nail polish. For the meantime, I just want to share my current favorite polish eraser: the Etude House Nail Remover #3 Sensitive Nail (P278)!

This is all new to me. It's acetone-free and also supposedly infused with orange oil. It's oily and smells like tangerine, if that's any indication.

Last May I saw Agoo Bengzon (Summit's beauty director) in an Instagram photo wearing gorgeous hot pink nails. I thought, "Damn! I bet that's Chanel or something equally expensive!" The color stuck to my head for a couple of days. On the third day (I kid you not) a box from Korea arrived on my doorstep with almost that exact same nail polish color in it. What a happy coincidence!

The Etude House Dear My Blooming Nails in #3 (P178) is a hot pink shade that sizzles without being neon. It has a very smooth, very glossy finish that's characteristic of Etude House polishes. I can not believe it's only P178; it feels much more expensive than that.

Today I want to talk about the Color Club Professional Nail Laquers (P310). The distributor, Beauty Lane, kindly sent over a couple of nail polishes for me to try. I've been curious about the brand ever since I heard that it's finally available in the Philippines last year, so I'm only too glad to finally get my hands on 'em!

Okay, first off, they're not exactly cheap. They don't look expensive like O.P.I., Orly, or China Glaze but the price is curiously in the same range. What gives?

The Makeup Suite, a local online store that sells UK makeup, recently sent me a package containing some Models Own cosmetics. I've seen Models Own around, but I didn't think much of it. I should have paid more attention though, because I am really liking these products!

Models Own Powder Blusher, Hyperbrite Lipstick, and Nail Polish

First surprise: the packaging looks and feels expensive. The cases are made of glass or thick, sturdy plastic, and has some heft in them. If I didn't know that Model's Own is a drugstore brand in the UK, I wouldn't have guessed that they're are just P350-400! I've tried more expensive products that aren't packaged half as well as these.

But I am getting ahead of myself. I will review everything separately, so for now I'll talk about the Model's Own Nail Polish in Tangerine Queen (P350).

This nail polish looks like sunkissed oranges on my nails, all sweet and loud at the same time. It's very pigmented - two coats and I have an opaque coverage.

We can't all be gods, professional nail artists, or innately ambidextrous when it comes to applying nail polish. I for one have been painting my nails for years now and I still make a mess, depending on my lack of practice! Nonetheless, people always wonder how I paint my nails so neatly. It's simple: I just clean up the mess with an eyeliner brush.

From messy...

To OC!

Yes, a brush! I saw the technique being used in Dashing Diva. The nail attendant used a straight, short-bristled brush to remove excess polish quickly and efficiently. The brush is kinda hard to find, so I used a disposable lip brush and then an old eyeliner brush to see what works best. I now go with the latter since it's bigger, angled, and thus cleans up faster in a more precise manner.

You can do this yourself as easily as I can. All you need are a few basic materials! 

I kinda stoppped wearing nail polishes regularly after I got my dog. Snaps is always running about, so he ends up ruining wet nail polish whenever I bother trying. Hmp! That's not to say that I've sworn off nail polish forever. I sneak in a nail job when he's napping, but I only risk it when I have an important event to go to.

That said, the Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel (P325) is heaven sent for busy women who can't afford to sit still for long. It gives me glamorous tips in 15 minutes, and that's a guarantee (I counted)! I love that this polish hardens in such a short amount of time.

I've tried other "fast-drying" polishes before but some of them can be misleading. Sure the top layer feels dry, but the lower part is still wet and tacky. Everything WILL fall apart if you happen to bump your nails on something, which totally defeats the purpose.

That's not the case with Revlon Top Speed.

I loved the concept of the Etude House Party Queen Gradation Nails from the minute I saw it. Frosts and silver glitter, oh, count me in! It's a gorgeous set of matching polishes that'll really draw attention to your hands in any party.

I've had Etude House nail polishes before and really enjoyed using them. They're easy to work with and dry quickly which makes them such a steal at only around P50 each. Please do read the review for a few more details, but the short of it is that these polishes are pretty good considering the price. 

To use this gradation nail set, all you have to do is apply them in three layers, from the lightest to the darkest.

Free services at a fab salon + cupcakes + beauty bloggers is always a recipe for WIN. When FAB Salon invited us to a beauty boot camp, we were so ready. 

Obvious ba? Lol.

FAB Salon is a relatively new salon in Newport Mall, Resorts World. It's owned by the same guy who is behind Bruno’s Barbers - but not to worry, FAB Salon is specifically for women and the staff are trained by none other than celebrity hairstylist Lourd Ramos. The staff also underwent a workshop on professionalism and ettiquette by Patty Betita. 

Even with the suave interiors and the mid-range to high-end products used on the clients, FAB Salon has attractive prices. A basic cut starts at P300, color at P1,300, and hair treatments from P800.

I bought this nail polish maybe two months ago, at the height of my green phase. I was looking for a nice yellow green, specifically! This nail polish called Cutex in Green Tea (P110) looked like the best choice out of all the colors in the mall at that time.

I applied it as soon as I got home but I was disappointed by how sheer it was. As in, it was super sheer. For a P110 nail polish, you'd think it would have more to offer. The drying time was also dismal plus you'll only get 7ml for your trouble.

Yesterday though I was looking for a new color to use, and decided to give Cutex another chance. These are the results, after FOUR layers:

I absolutely love the color on me.

This is what my vanity table looks like right now. I know, it's messy! Even though our helper cleans it up immaculately, I always trash it after putting on a full face of makeup. I need more space or I need to get rid of my stuff. Leaning towards the former, I love my stuff!

You can see One Day by David Nicholls there. I read it last Sunday, and all I can say is if you haven't read it yet, you should! It's one of the best books I've had in a while. It's a story about two people's paths crossing in a span of twenty years - like 500 Days of Summer, it's not a love story, but a story about love. The ending is quite painful, but I love how the author made it bittersweet.

So anyway, moving on to the kikay stuff! I did my nails today because I'm going to a dinner tonight. I only intended to wear the NYX Girls nail polish in Pacific Blue, but I suddenly had a brilliant (though not-so-original) idea: what if I do a French tip using another color?

I know, Tony Moly again! Can't help it, I have quite a number of TM products here. They're too intriguing not to review! This time, I'd like to talk about the Tony Moly Nail Polish in NEO2 (P178), a traffic cone orange that really grabs attention. This is the brand's latest color and will be out later this August.

To be honest with you, I didn't think I'd like it. I've never worn orange on my nails, much less a bright neon one that can go dangerously wrong in so many ways. I was afraid that this kind of orange will look tacky, but surprise surprise, it actually looks quite classy on the nails.

During the SuperSale Bazaar at Rockwell a couple of weeks back, I got a chance to chat with Sol of Digital Traincase about our favorite topics: makeup and nail polish! That aside, I find her to be one of the most inspiring businesswomen in the online beauty niche. Even with a hectic job at an international organization, she managed to start her online store selling NYX cosmetics, a venture which later on proved to be a major success. Even celebs like Pia Magalona buy from her!

So anyway, while I was at her booth at the bazaar, I was browsing for some NYX Girl Nail Polishes to buy. She said that she didn't like these polishes before, but the revamped version, which she has, really impressed her when her supplier offered her to try samples. That coming from a nail polish fanatic who has Dior, Chanel, and other expensive brands in her extensive collection, I was sold.

I got three NYX Girls Nail Polish bottles: Luscious Green, Fire Amber, and Pacific Blue. Did I say these are only P150 a pop? It's pricier than local drugstore brands, but I swear, the quality and finish is similar to high-end polishes! The formula is smooth, easy to apply, extremely pigmented, dries fast and has pretty good staying power. I've been wearing them for the past two weeks so I can say with conviction that they're awesome.

I tried Pacific Blue first.

I saw a swatch of the OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (P395) polish in a blog somewhere and couldn't stop thinking about it. This particular nail color was from a limited edition collection so I don't know if I can find it again. Good thing that the only OPI collection that Market Market carries is the Swiss Collection for Fall 2010 - the one that has Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous! Ha!

The shade is a gunmetal grey with micro sparkles. It's unexpectedly smooth to the touch once it dries, with a high-shine finish to it.

It was a slow hour at work when I saw the Zoya Mod Matte Mini Trio at Digital Traincase. I didn't really intend to buy anything online, but I have wanted to try Zoya and matte nail polish for some time now. I slept on it for a couple of nights but I decided to get the set anyway since P800 for the set is an ok price plus the colors looked fantastic.

Well I was going to write a few more lines saying how I was so excited about this set, but I'll save myself the trouble and say that I am sorely disappointed by these Zoya matte polishes. They are smooth, pigmented, dries fast and the colors looked even better in person. However, even with a base, these nail polishes will chip within a day. If you carry something heavy, or open something with a planed edge, or if you just happen to wash the dishes, several of the nails will already have big chips. :/

Phoebe, Lolly, Mitzi

An insightful article published on the New York Times posited that nail polishes are the new lipsticks. That, in times of economic stress, nail polishes have replaced lipsticks as our means for instant gratification. The second reason is that, in a celebrity-driven world, nail polishes makes us feel closer to our favorite celebs without actually having to buy their thousand $$$ shoes, bags, and clothes. A Chanel nail polish is still Chanel at the end of the day.

I enjoyed the article, but the comments below it also deserve to be read. This brings me to the question: How do you feel about wild nail polish? By wild we mean bright colors, glitter, shatter, and nail art.

Personally, while I find crazy nails fun, they're not something that are always appropriate.