End of Season Sale at SM City North EDSA

I don't know if you know this, but... the first month of the year is actually a good time to shop because of the many year-end sales happening. My sister Jessie said it might be because the stores are going to need some space for new stocks, so they are putting most items on sale to make way for the new items.

It's already the 7th of January now, but the End of Season Sale at SM City North EDSA is happening 'til the 13th, giving us more time to shop, shop, shop! SM City North EDSA is one of the biggest malls in Quezon City, and every floor has something to offers for us. Whether you're looking for a new pair of shoes, or beauty products to replace the ones you've emptied last month, you will find something you're looking for.

I wasn't able to really shop last Christmas season, so I might take this time to shop. On my list include: a dress (something I could wear for my cousin's wedding), a small handbag or clutch (as I own mostly cross-over bags), some cosmetics, and a cell phone as my current cell phone is showing signs of retiring. I know I might not be able to buy all on my list given the tight budget I have, but checking the sale might be a good avenue to find the one suited for me.

With items marked as much as 70% off, this surely is one sale we should check out.

Bobbie Magnet-ficient GR203

Currently, I own 50+ bottles of nail polish (not counting the top coats), and most of it I haven't really used on all of my nails. I just swatched a color on one of my nails when I did a little rundown of the nail polish I own, and after that I have bought more than 5 bottles already. I could vacate this blog and open a new blog devoted to nail polish, but that would mean buying a lot of nail polish to sustain the blog, so I guess I will stay here and just blog about my nails every weekends. That would mean painting my nails twice a week, which I will do every Mondays and Thursdays.


For today's post, let me share to you the only magnetic nail polish I own - Bobbie Magnet-ficient in GR203. I bought this in November, but it was just a few days ago when I applied this to all of my nails. Of all the nail polishes I hope to share here, I decided this would be the first one because they said the color of 2013 is green (I just found out today that it was Emerald Green and not just any green), so I went for this.

Prior to the day I bought this bottle, I have already read several blogs talking about this particular brand. I found it so unique and cute that I wanted to try it out, too, and on the day I finally decided to buy one, I went for the one with the asterisk design, as I felt it was a little cuter than the stripes one. There were several colors available that time, but since I don't own that much green nail polish and that it's quite rare to see an olive green color, I went for this.


On my nails is one coat of  Bobbie Magnet-ficient GR203. As is, it looks good already, so I had no regrets buying this one. The shade of one coat looks good already, maybe next time I'd wear this color in two coats without the magnetic design.

Oh... the nail on my pointer finger had an accident (that's why it looks that way) - I was cutting onions when the knife glided on my nail. That incident made me feel grateful I love putting thick coats of nail polish, because if I didn't have any nail polish on, I surely have injured myself already.


Anyway, if you still haven't used a magnetic nail polish, here's how:

• Apply a thin coat of the polish on your nails and let it dry.
• Take out the part of the cap with the magnetic design (as shown in the first picture).
• Apply a thick coat of the polish in one of your nails and quickly put the magnet design on top of the nail, without touching it - about 1mm close, if you can. Hold it for about 10 to 15 seconds.
• If the magnet design did touch your nail, quickly top it with another coat of the polish and repeat the process. 
• Do the same process to the rest of your nails, working one nail at a time.
• Allow it to dry and top with your favorite top coat.

Using the magnet was difficult for me in the sense that my nails are curved that only half of my nails captured the design. Even though that's the case, I was pleased to say that this manicure was easy-breezy for me - I only had to wipe the paint off one of my nails with nail polish remover because the whole magnet design hit my nail.

I did all the nails on my left hand first, and when it got dried, that's when I did my right hand - just so I won't have any accidents on my left hand.


One of the things I loved about this nail polish is that it dries quick, even if I applied a very thick coat. If there's one thing I hope the nail polish manufacturer would do in the future was to create a curvy cap, so that people with nails like mine could maximize the magnetic effect on the nails. Also, I hope there would be more designs other than the asterisk and stripes.

The thrifty person in me found this - at 80 pesos - a little expensive, especially that most local brands can be bought at 35 pesos below (10ml on the average), but comparing it to the Internationally manufactured brands, this was quite a steal already. Just this afternoon, I saw a bottle of magnetic nail polish at 300+ pesos and it also had 10ml. 300 versus 80... I'd go for Bobbie!

With or without the magnetic effect, I loved this.

My New Year's Day Nails (and how to take out glitter nail polish)

Hello all! Happy New Year!

Yeah I know, my greeting is quite late, it's just that I didn't have that much time to go online because I am doing quite a lot of things and that my sister and I share the Internet cable (the Connectify software on my netbook doesn't work with the new connection we had installed). Jessie and I will buy a new router tomorrow so we can be online at the same time.

First day of the year, it was just us three girls - mom, Jessie, and I - as brother was in Cagayan de Oro where he celebrated the New Year with his girlfriend. Mom wanted to stay at home, but during Media Noche, we had a some drinks and midnight snacks with close friends in the neighborhood, and when our neighbor Charm told they plan to go to the Quezon Memorial Circle on New Year's Day, it sparked the idea of us going out together and enjoy the day outside the comforts of our own homes. The story about our crazy day will be shared in the days to come.


Since it's Saturday today, time to share something about my nails! Honestly, I am starting to get crazy about nail polishes, but I am trying my best not to buy new bottles because I have about 20+ bottles to share here on the blog! :)

I decided to go a little simple for my New Year's Day nails. I did check different blogs as well as YouTube for New Year's Day nail art, but some were quite too difficult to make. Since I have a growing number of glitter nail polishes, I just thought of combining them together as if they're fireworks.

I used Sassy Colors "Midnight" for the base. When I first tried this idea, I used My Posh "Sapphire" as it was the darkest blue nail polish I own, but I still found it a little lighter for my taste. I hoped to find a midnight blue nail polish and thankfully, I was able to find one when I went to the mall. I used three coats of Midnight on my nails and allowed it to dry completely before moving on.


For the glitters, I used:

• Bobbie - The Big Bang
• Bobbie - Star Gazer
• Caress - Christmas Polka
• Colortrends - Gold Glitter

I first started with Bobbie "Star Gazer" because it had a whole lot of silver glitters. The way I did it, I applied most on the tips of my nails then dragging it down with the brush, allowing a little space under to show the blue nail polish. Then, I used Bobbie "The Big Bang" then Caress "Christmas Polka." Finally, I put on a dab of Colortrends "Gold Glitter" to add more color.

I do love how it turned out, but because I put in a lot of glitter polishes, drying time took forever. Hahahaha.


This wasn't the first time I used glitter nail polish, so I know how difficult it is to take it out. While watching a different nail art tutorial on YouTube, part of recommended videos at the right side panel was a video on how to take out glitter nail polishes, and I tried doing it when I decided to take out my New Year's Day mani two days ago.

What to do?

First, have some cotton balls of cotton rounds as well as aluminum foil (cut into 3-inch squares or bigger depending on how long your nails are) ready. If you're using cotton rounds, you can separate it from the middle (so that you will have two rounds) then cut each into half. If you're using cotton balls, you can go ahead and use it as is, but... I am a thrifty person (cotton balls aren't cheap if you really take it into consideration), so what I did was unroll the cotton ball and cut it into three.

Next, soak your cotton in some nail polish remover. It doesn't have to be drippy, but it has to be saturated. Place it on top of your nail and wrap it with aluminum foil. The foil will prevent the cotton to dry out quickly, so make sure you keep it as tight as possible. Keep it there for about 2 - 3 minutes, then, loosen up the foil, press your other thumb and pointer finger into the nail bed, rocking it side by side before taking out the foil. Most of the polish and glitter will be transferred to the cotton, but if there are a little glitter left, just use the cotton in the foil to clean up your nails.

Just so you know... use a mild nail polish remover as doing this might sting your skin. Don't use pure acetone as it might be too harsh, and once you're done taking out the glitter polish, wash your hands and apply lotion.

Doing this technique was really helpful to me as I didn't have to wildly wipe the cotton on to my nails, and it allowed me to save cotton balls, too (as one cotton ball was able to clean three fingers, whereas I had to use one ball per nail if I do it the old-fashioned way). If you want to save more, try to wrap and unwrap your fingers gently, so you can use the foil on your other hand, too.