Nail File: Shanghai Glitter Haul!

One of the perks about shopping in China is proximity to manufacturing source for just about any product out there. As such, everything is super cheap. I’ve been nursing a serious nail art obsession recently and Shanghai’s small knickknack stores are definitely enablers. Glitters that usually cost USD$3-5 a pop cost me a whopping $0.50. Fifty cents! Rhinestones were 100 for $1.50 (compared to 160 for $12) and stickers were $0.75 a sheet (compared to $5). Behold, my haul!! Regular glitters, holographic glitters, stickers, decals, rhinestones, gah!

One thing though, I saw a lot of polishes for sale at these stores with OPI, essie, Sally Hansen, Orly, etc. bottles and labels. There was without a doubt that they were all counterfeit, so buyer beware.

This was my first attempt at a glitter gradient. First a dusting of the white/clear glitter applied over 3/4ths of the nail with an eyeshadow brush, then a layer of topcoat. Followed by the same technique with the purple/clear glitter and the pink/opaque glitter, each time getting closer to the tip of the nail. Finished off with  just a smidge of the black glitter. For my first application, I think this was a success. Next time I’ll pay more attention to the tip and maybe use a paper towel to tamp down the glitter after brushing off the excess.

Did I mention that stuff is cheap in China? Labor is too so I indulged my first pedicure in three years, with art! This ran twenty bucks and might have been considered a little pricey but I didn’t want risk contracting a nail fungus by going to a salon that wasn’t sterilizing their stuff. Both the black and the purple was from OPI bottles but I wouldn’t kid myself into thinking they were real. Heck, they probably bought them at the same place I bought my glitters and rhinestones.

After having that glitter gradient on for ten days, I was ready to take it off once I got home. Look at what I free-handed! A french tip in essie Picket Fence, two coats of OPI Bubble Bath, and one coat of the (so rare I bought it on eBay) Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.  It’s so vapid and vain but gosh, I freaking love doing my nails.

Indulge Me For a Minute

Ever since I went to boarding school, I’ve been absolutely obsessed with doing my nails. Mostly because I no longer had to practice the piano for an hour daily, and because any piano teacher will make you cut your beautifully maintained nails at the keys with the clippers she keeps on hand just for nail brats like me.

I got lots of practice doing my own nails in high school, had my first manicure by an Avon lady my freshman year in the Ward common room (yes, I lived in a dorm named Ward), then got a couple more my first year in New York. By the time I left New York, I was “dating” my nail lady. You really can’t beat $23 french mani/pedis or a set of $40 gels in Chinatown. Upon moving to Columbus, with a dearth of reasonably priced nail salons (where are my Asian nail techs?), after bribing my brother with a Charles Penzone pedicure that ended up being $60 plus tip, I vowed never EVER to git my nails done in this town.

So I started doing them myself. LOL SMILEY FACE!! They make me SO HAPPY!! This is what I do with my nails when I don’t have to bartend!!

Unfortunately, I’ve gotten a bunch of shitty remarks from reasonably open minded people recently. Shit like: “Your nails make you look like a black girl,” “Not to be racist, but that’s ghetto,” or “Only black people get their nails done like that.” Ahem. Don’t be ignorant. Yes, you may notice stylish black ladies with fabulous nails, but it does not equate ghetto. This shit takes a lot of time and if you get them done at a salon on a weekly basis, easily a $200 per month habit. Not to mention that Japanese and Korean girls have been rocking the nail art for DECADES. There are entire magazines dedicated to nails, see Nail Venus. So, the next time you see my nails, tell me how rockin’ they are, or keep your ugliness to yourself. ELL-OH-ELL SMILEY FACE!!