More about Minx

This is the first time this week that I've had some extra time, so I decided to follow-up on my post about Minx nails

RIP, some nail pictures

I'm so sad! I got a new camera for my birthday, a Canon SD790. But, it turned out that it came broken so I now have to wait a bit longer to get it. I really like it so far, obviously one of the most important factors for me is the camera's macro mode, since that's what I use to take nail pictures. Zoom is also important to me too, and it seems to have decent zoom and macro modes, so we'll see!

Anyway, I popped in my 2GB SD card from my Kodak into the Canon to take some pictures before I realized the Canon was broken. Unfortunately, the Canon did an override or something and erased all the pictures on my SD card before the 25th. I feel stupid because I didn't realize that shuffling SD cards from one camera to another would cause such issues.

I downloaded the trial version of Card Recovery and it turns out that my pictures CAN be recovered. Of course, they tell me that I can only save my recovered pictures if I buy the full version, which is stupid and heartbreaking. Seriously, you're going to give me all this hope but then take that away from me unless I pay $35.00? No thanks...I'm not going to spend that much money on a program that I will only use once. I'm not that desperate.

I did have a decent amount of nail pictures on the card, but I will still try to find a way to recover it. Just know that there's been a setback for recent nail pictures.

Since it was my birthday though, I splurged and got two more nail polishes, a teal one and a green one =)

Blue Laguna Beach

The weather is finally turning cold here in Shanghai, which makes me happy. One thing that I've missed the most about Norcal is AUTUMN. It's my favorite season because I love seeing the leaves change colors and falling. It's so gorgeous.

Anyway, summer is long gone but this is perfect polish season, as all the limited edition summer colors are being discounted. One color to look out for is L'Oreal's Blue Laguna, which was a limited edition color over the summer for L'Oreal. It's a pretty blue color with some purple tones. Normally I don't like frosty polishes either but this was a gorgeous bright color without being too overwhelming. Here it is in the shade and in sunlight:



It really reminds me of the beach, which I also miss a lot! This picture was taken in Californian sun too...there's really nothing like it. Anyway, this picture shows Blue Laguna in three coats, although it was opaque in two. As with most frosts, you can see some brush strokes up close, but they were pretty minimal.

100th Post!

I was catching up on some beauty blog reads (still no access to ALU, Scrangie, Polish Addict, etc.), and found two quizzes on BellaSugar about nail polish history. Put your knowledge to the test!

Nail Polish History Quiz Pt. 1
(I got 6/10 on this one)

Nail Polish History Quiz Pt. 2
(I got 4/6 on this one)

Both quizzes were interesting, I knew some and guessed on a lot but it was quite informative! Well, it's been, oh my, about half a year and 100 posts....I'm looking forward to what the next 100 will bring =)

Change Myself

This weekend I got a once-in a lifetime opportunity to go see one of my favorite Chinese singers, 王力宏, or Lee Hom as he's known in English. The title of the post is the English translation of his last album title. He's super talented and super cute, and I paid a little less than $60 USD for tickets. My dad seemed to think that that was expensive, except he probably forgot how much I paid for Christina Aguilera and Spice Girls tickets...and the seats weren't too bad, all about the same. I wish the screens were bigger, but the acoustics were good. And Shanghai Stadium is HUGE! My camera never takes good pictures at night but here's a fairly ok one of the concert:
I just need to see my favorite band, Keane, performing sometime and then my life, concert-wise, will be complete.

Anyway, I've been getting lazy about my nails since I've been sick on-and-off ever since I got back from my National Week holiday to Beijing and Dalian. But, the good news is that I do indeed have new pictures of a polish I got here in Shanghai called Rose Sheer. Not really the color you'd expect though....

Sorry for the extreme cloudiness in these pictures, I thought I fixed that with Picasa but it's just the angling of my camera and the smoggy sun

I did nail decals for the first time ever!

I didn't do so well on the nail decals this time but my ones right now aren't too bad. Anyway, yes the name really is Rose Sheer, I double-checked the label and the box. It's actually black with mostly a great olive-green shimmer but also has some blue shimmer. It's subtle but I like it. The application wasn't too bad at all, but the thing that disappointed me the most was the richness of the color. It's not exactly the most opaque of blacks, and definitely not as rich as Red Earth's polish. We'll see though.

Seventh Sense retails for 68 RMB (about $10USD) and can be found at Sasa stores in Shanghai.

Minx Nails

As you guys know, one of my weaknesses is the shallow world of entertainment- I frequent celebrity gossip sites every day (then try to justify it by spending lots of time on BBC.com, ecogeek.org, and newsweek.com). Anyway, I was reading an blurb on JustJared.com about Minx Nails, which recently did Beyonce's nails for the music video for her new single, "Single Ladies. " You can read the post here. I was interested about Minx Nails based on what Jared posted, so I decided to contact them directly.

Their PR person, Janice Miller, couldn't have been nicer, and I got to find out a lot about Minx Nails. Basically, it's going to change the face of fake nails forever (in a good way). Unlike a traditional nail polish, Minx is applied in polymer strips that are heated and them applied with pressure onto the nail, where it then cools as a type of shrink wrap. The benefits of there not being an actual "polish" is that because it's a polymer, there is no chipping or smudging, and no drying time is needed. Plus, there are no fumes.

Something else that really stands out about Minx is that it doesn't require nail polish remover to remove, nor does it require prying the strips from your nails. Or soaking in any type of crazy solution. The simple way to remove Minx? Heat. Here's what their official website (MinxNails.com) advises:

Removing Your Minx Although Minx can last a awhile, you will eventually have to remove it as your nails will start to grow out. Do NOT use nail polish remover! We are proud that Minx is a green product and does not require chemicals to apply or to remove. We want to do our part in keeping mother earth healthy and happy. When you want to remove your Minx (so that you can put on a new set, of course), place your nails under a heat source (a hair dryer will do) and work loose an edge of Minx near a lateral nail fold. Slowly peel Minx off the nail plate going from side to side (not top to bottom). Apply a nail moisturizer when you are done, and have a back rub and a cocktail while you are at it.

The application process is similar to those stick-on nail strips that Avon and Incoco sell, but Minx is offered in lots of different colors, even metallics (which is a huge selling point for celebs). Or, they can be custom-made, as Janice told me that currently Beyonce and her sister Solange are sporting "OBAMA" Minx nails of black with silver letters. (To be politically equal because I try to be fair, I suppose you could customize them for McCain as well, with the Mc part on the thumb. If one really wanted to.)

Of course with such a high-tech and cool product, I admit I was a bit afraid to ask for the price. But, I am curious so I'll probably save up to try it sometime when I get back to the States. I love my polish, but it's interesting to try different products. Not to mention if Minx really does live up to it's claim of being chip-free, it would be the perfect solution for chipped nails on short vacations or especially business trips. I can sense this being a powerful asset for corporate women who are always on the go but want to keep a polished image.

Here's a picture of what "Golden Lightning' looks like (the same color Beyonce wore in her music video):

Photo credit: Michael Marker
Source: Janice Miller, Minx Nails

What do you guys think? It's a neat concept for sure though. I know it can't replace nail polish entirely (nor would I want it to, otherwise I'd have to find something else to blog about!), but I think as a once-in-a-while splurge, this could be a good short-term investment. It's definitely the most gentle alternative to acrylics or other fake nails, as there's no drilling and no industrial-strength glue. Alternatively, if anyone's tried it, I'd love to hear your experience.

Ok and as a sidenote, anyone who has a Nintendo DS and a R4 card, download Taiko No Tatsujin. It's such a fun game, and I've been obsessed with it. I love rhythm games, because my hand-eye coordination has only improved from playing video games lol.

Update

Hey guys, I know news has been slow here but I just came back from like back-to-back vacations, as well as having to deal with school and a family death. I've been really preoccupied but I've really missed blogging and I've done some stuff to maximize efficiency for me so that I can get back to blogging on a regular schedule:

• I got a SD card reader, which will make uploading pictures onto my computer faster
• I got a new SD card exclusively for taking nail pictures, which will help me so that when I do upload my pictures I don't have tosearch through thousands of my other pictures...also so that when my friends look through my camera they don't have to see like 15 pictures of my nails
  
• I downloaded Picasa, which will help me upload pictures faster to the web and will hopefully cut down on the editing time.
  

Granted I can't go crazy with taking pictures like I used to with my huge stash back home. But, I will get to share pictures of some polishes I've gotten in China, as well as some older pictures I have on my computer that I haven't shared yet. Hopefully with more efficiency, I will be able to post more. I've already got some interesting news to share with you guys about Minx Nails, a type of manicure you can get at salons that honestly sounds amazing. So please, stay tuned!

Minx Nails

Satisfaction

**Blogger's Note** Ok, so I started this post the day before I left for Beijing but I totally fell asleep in the middle of posting, sorry! I'm in Dalian right now enjoying my vacation but I had to pop into an internet cafe to post this

Right now I'm packing for a vacation, I'm going with some friends and my cousin to Beijing for China's National Day (Oct. 1), except we pretty much get the whole week off. It's a big celebration, and even though the capital is going to be PACKED, I'm excited to see all the celebrations that will be happening.

I'm a bit worn out from school and running around trying to find stuff for the trip though, so this will be a short post. It's ok to just stare at this polish though, it's really amazing. Red Earth is an Australian cosmetics brand that is super popular in China (most famously, actress Zhang Ziyi used to be a spokesperson for Red Earth) and has been along longer than mainstream American brands have been in China. So even though the products are a bit pricier, the quality of Red Earth is always top-notch.

It's evident in their polish #73. I was craving a darker color so I caved when I saw #73. In the bottle, it looks like maybe a blue/purple dark grey...

But on the nails, it looks a bit like OPI Light My Sapphire!



It's pretty, but not quite as sparkley as Light My Sapphire. This was my first Red Earth polish but I will have to save up to buy a few more. The polish was very rich and opaque in one coat, so it's definitely good stuff. It definitely satisfied my craving for a vampy color.

Red Earth polishes retail for 78RMB in China and can pretty much be found anywhere. They have stands in malls, independent stores, and can also be bought at Sephora (which is where I got mine =)).