The Black Diva Edge

Edge Nails Infill & Design Change

(Original Set)

Most of the people who've known me for a while would know that I can't wear the same design twice and neither would I stick to the same design when I do nails for others. This is why every nail I create has to be unique to the wearer, and it's always an adventure for me. I LOVE my job ! So, the original set of (blue/red) nails was filed down about 20% and filled with a new color (blue/green) and motifs and voila....
(After infill and design change)

Raspberry Ripple

Sheila's nail is 4th in line for this edge look and the first person to wear this style in Malaysia.

Pyramid aka The Edge Nails

Abstract butterfly inspired design on Serene's lunar new year nails. That was fun to do, and we added some 3D roses in metallic blue and purple to spice it up.

Pyramid Nails on me

Nails New Shape ! ...Pyramid Inspired :)

Eversince Oxane showed me the pyramid inspired nails which started in Ukraine, I've been smitten and fascinated by its sexy appearance. To me it's nail architecture. I couldn't wait to try out creating this set on Diane and she's the first in Singapore, or dare I say in Southeast Asia to wear these pyramid nails ! This shape is a perfect combination between the traditional square and the sexy stilletos, it's strong, durable and contemporary. Definitely a hit in 2009 !

ONS Global Cup 3 in Seoul Jan 10 & 11

ONS Global Cup 3 in Seoul recently brought competitors from more than 10 countries together with more than 1036 registrants. We had a fantastic time and so many memorable experience. I am also overwhelmed that our team improved in all technical aspects during this trip and they have raised several bars in the standards of the nails they create. My mixed media entry won 1st place in the professional division.

Sculptured Gels with Silver Polish

After sculpting Vanessa's nails in pink & white gels, we painted Nfu.Oh silver polish at the free edge to come up with this look.

Season's Greetings

Nails are sculpted in acrylics and painted with Nfu.Oh nail polish - Opal collections and embellished with gold diamond flakes. Absolutely love the effects of the polish using 3 different green shades.

Acrylic French Tip Overlay

Lights Up and Sparkle

Blinged my nails with the help of Joey today using Akzentz Aurora purple to sculpt and embedded with decorative stones and embellishments.

The power of Internet

December 6, 2008 Words cannot describe my joy in finding a very long lost childhood bestfriend by chance on facebook today.

Couture Nails...create your niche

When Dolce magazine published this article, there were a couple of nail artists around Singapore being featured for their creations and their charges for nail art typically starts from $1upwards and suddenly the price of "couture nails" priced from $300+ makes one blink twice to see if there was a missing decimal point ^^. Couture nails are one-of-a-kind, original designs that is customized for each client. When making a decision that calls for such extravagance, clients will look forward to an outcome that exceeds expectation. Therefore, a professional nail artist must always innovate, upgrade their skills and stay current in trends and product technology. Take pride in your work and charge accordingly if you can deliver a great set of nails.

3D Roses in Blue & Gold

French bling

Stephy and I had some play time today with the new Akzentz competition white. The nails were sculpted long at first for practise, and we had them shortened for the hand model. Nails were finished using Options clear sparkles and gold diamond flakes.

Seasons greetings, nails are blinging...

Senoritas, Margaritas and Mariachis....

Visiting nail artist America Garcia and travelling companion, Rocio all the way from Mexico spending 2 days with me doing nails and exchanging our cultures and ideas. America is an exceptional talent and a natural artist and Rocio, a warm and bubbly personality who taught me much about tequilas, quesadillas, and mariachi...it is a great pleasure having you girls in Singapore. Hope to see you in Mexico next time !

Long Sculptured French in Gels

Nothing can be more challenging than trying to sculpt long french nail using gels especially if you've always been an acrylic artist like me. It becomes an obsession just to get the right combination and consistency of pink and white gels to work on perfecting the look and application. Yet, perfection like beauty, is really in the eyes of the beholder.

Cotton Candy

Love the black acrylic powder from ONS new primary collection for sculpting, it's strong, true black color and no mess or stains unlike regular black powders. The pink is lovely, it's from the Ezflow carnival collection.

Art In the Eye of a Needle - Video Link

Check this video out, it's truly amazing and inspirational.
cut and paste on your browser:
http://www.maniacworld.com/art-in-the-eye-of-a-needle.html

White Tiger

Taught a class recently for folkart which included handpainting on animal features, these are work done by my students on their first attempt at animals.

First Nail Art Competition in Penang, Malaysia

I had the pleasure to be in the judging panel for the first nail art competition organized by Nail Haven in Penang. This competition saw more than 25 participants in each category of handpainted nail art - food theme and 3D nail art - bridal theme. There are many budding talents and their skills are getting better with each competition. Participants from the state of Johor went away with the most trophies. Thank you Celine for your kind hospitality.

Koi Pond

I've been wanting to try the "koi" themed nails and finally did a set combining ONS and Nfu.Oh powders/technique to achieve the desired effects.

Dusk to dawn....

Inspired by colors of dawn to dusk and accented with blooming roses and an ethnic touch.

Grape & Vines

OPI lookalike with Nfu.Oh Logo....What's NEXT ????

Incidentally, I came across an article while surfing about how to identify fake designer labels and I saved the article.

It doesn't take an expert to identify some fake designer products.

1. Price - If it's really inexpensive, it's probably fake. There may be some little old lady who died and left designer bags to her children who don't know what they've got, but that's rarer now with more brand/value awareness.

2. Design - Designer products come in a limited combination of colors and patterns. Learn the patterns and designs that you like, go to the designer store (if there's one near you) and look at the real thing. That will give you an "eye" for the fakes. Patterns will be too big, too bold, or not big and bold enough. Color schemes will be different.

3. Description - If the description says: "like " or "compares to ", or similar language, it's a knock-off. In some industries, fakes are okay. In designer and brand name products, ALL fakes are illegal, even if they're actually described as fakes.

4. Quality - As others have mentioned, how the product is put together can identify a fake. But many people don't know the fine details that differentiate designer-quality goods. For clothing it may be additional stitching in the seams, hand-sewing vs. machine-sewing, the quality of the materials, etc. For handbags, it may be the type of hardware and how much hardware is on the bag, quality of stitching, quality of leather, size, shape, color, pattern, etc. The inside liner may have to be a specific color. Logos alone do not always help you identify the fakes.

5. Labels - Read labels CAREFULLY. Sometimes the designer's name is misspelled. The grammar isn't correct. Trademark information, if appropriate, is missing. The logos or font face are wrong.

6. Source - Are you buying this item from a reputable source? Be aware that length of time in business, price for items, and number of satisfied customers does not make a source reliable. Lots of buyers who don't know how to identify a fake will accept a fake as real and be very happy with the product because they think it's genuine.

It does take an expert to identify others.

7. Sometimes you can't identify a genuine brand name item without expert knowledge or resources. In particular, fine jewelry may be marked "Tiffany" or "Cartier" and be fake. Unless you know the specific year/mark identifiers or the models of jewelry produced by the company, it's not always possible to identify a fake. Tiffany & Co. charge $500 to authenticate items (last time I checked a couple of years ago). Rolex watches are notorious for fakes. I've heard that Rolex has a list of x ways to identify a genuine Rolex, some of which require taking the back off the watch and inspecting the works. Only an expert should attempt this type of verification or you risk damaging the watch. Fine jewelry stores that routinely sell Rolex should have this list and some pawn shops that pawn or buy high-end watches may have this list. It's very unlikely that they'll show or give you a copy of the list because if the list got into the wrong hands, it would be a way for a faker to know what to fake.

The bottom line is -- if you want to know for certain that you're buying the genuine article, your best bet is to 1) pay full price at the designer's store or authorized source, or 2) really dig into the details of the item you desire so you know it inside and out.

I can understand the reason behind knock offs for designer goods because it's not really affordable for most average people, but nail polish ??? C'mon they can't be serious ? They couldn't copy the bottle, they decided to copy the color :(