Polished to Perfection

I have always been a fan of nail art. My nails are like an extended accessory. I feel bare without nail polish and it’s an easy way to spice up my everyday work wear. There are times when I would get bored with just one plain color on my nails. Here are a few ways to give your plain manicure an instant upgrade.

The Diagonal French Manicure:

The French Manicure has been around since the 70’s. Sometimes it can look old-fashioned if you stick to the usual pink and white combination. Time to modernize it. You can play around with bolder colors.

The traditional French Manicure is usually a thin white line on the tips. With our French Manicure with a modern twist, we used a nude shade for the base and two shades for the diagonal tips.

We used Orly’s Coffee Break for the base and Orly Luxe and Liquid Vinyl for the gold and black diagonal tips.

Half Moon Sparkle:

Another design that’s been around for a while is the “Half Moon”.   Most of the time, sparkly nails are only done during the holidays. But you can create a very subtle nail art design using the glitters only for the half moon.

Just apply your favorite base color and add the glitters to add a little drama.

 

We used Orly’s Mirror Mirror for the base and Orly’s Halo for the half moon.

 

Minimalist Chic:

For this design, I chose colors that aren’t used very often but can look so chic and modern together, black and white. I chose opaque white for the base color and using black nail polish, just drew a line on each nail going in different directions. This is quite easy to do and the lines don’t need to be straight nor perfect. It’s part of that “hand-drawn” kind of look.

We used Orly’s White Tips for the base and Orly’s Liquid Vinyl for the lines.

 

Have fun creating your own nail art designs. They don’t have to be so intricate. Sometimes a simple line or a dot here and there can already create something very chic!

Nails by: Honeyca Obena and Diane Noriel for Belle & Cat Nail and Wax Studio located in 131 Sterling Centre, Esteban Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City.

*Photography by Nico Nuyda

 

Balik High School

About a month ago, my partner and one of my bestfriends, Isabel (The Belle of Belle & Cat, hehe!) asked me if I would be willing to do a workshop with her at Assumption, where we both went to High School! 🙂

“What exactly would we be talking about?”, I asked Isabel.  I couldn’t believe that we were invited to give like a career talk to these High School students.

I remember back in High School, I attended a Hotel and Restaurant Management talk conducted by Miss Liza Chan.  And I was so inspired by her!  That was the course I really wanted to take in college but my dad had other plans for me.  Which was a big fail, by the way. HAHAHA!

So I felt quite nervous thinking that I must, in a way, inspire these kids just the way Liza did when I was in High School.  So we decided to do it.  What the hell! Hehe! 🙂 It would be nice to go back to Assumption also.  I haven’t gone back since High School.  Batch ’96 YO! Proud to be part of this batch!

Once we got to AC, this was last October 24, 2012, I suddenly felt like I was transported back in time.  Seriously… There was a Back to the Future moment there…

We were led to the Speaker’s Lounge, which was actually my classroom, freshman year!

We moved on to the third floor where we will be conducting the workshop 🙂

Whoa??? May flat screen na sa classrooms???  At whiteboard na??? Excited pa naman ako to write notes on the blackboard using chalk. Hehe  Wala na bang ganun?!

… at aircon??? Lucky students!!!

Our energetic participants are ready 🙂

It was so much fun talking to the AC students.  Felt like I was in High School again… Same wavelength lang kami 🙂 Haha! I will always be a teen inside!

I had a blast doing the makeup demo because these girls loved doing makeup on themselves!  Love it!!! 🙂  They’re just as kikay as me! Hehe (But believe it or not, I wasn’t into makeup back in High School…)  So children, what you think you want to be when you grow up, may not be what you end up doing!

I see some makeup artists in the making…

The girls really wanted to learn how to do a black smokey eye makeup, one thing almost everyone wants to learn 🙂

That’s Mika below.  Future makeup artist? 🙂

And of course, we brought one of our nail technicians from Belle & Cat Nail and Wax Studio, to do a demo on nail art 🙂  Some of the girls were more excited about nail art! 🙂  So here is Jane, one of our most talented nail artist, doing some color blocking with bright colors for the students 🙂

Check out these cool nail designs!!! 🙂

My students were so happy with how their makeup turned out 🙂  They were all prom-ready! Hehe

Thanks to all the AC students who attended our Makeup and Nail Art Workshop! 🙂  I had so much fun teaching you all how to apply makeup 🙂  I’ve always wanted to have a little sister.  LOL!

And there’s Isabel on the far right, the reason why we were here.  Thanks, Isabel!!!  Glad we did this!

Thanks, AC!!! 🙂 I remembered how much fun High School was!  The friends I’ve made here in Assumption remained the truest of friends, like blood sisters.  One of the best years of my life!

We shall return, AC!  You were my home during my teenage years!  I surely missed you! Thanks for bringing us back!