A Little Cuteness In Our Lives....

Japanese "Kawaii" culture is known to the world where the distinctively Japanese breed of adorable and cute attributes is injected into all aspects of the consumer culture, and this includes nail art too. While I am not a fan of cute nail art, I do have a soft spot for Hello Kitty accessories and I think every girl do have a favourite cute character which they grew up with.

In November 1, 1974 Sanrio company introduced the first picture of Hello Kitty with a red bow in her left ear and blue overalls. In her own make-believe world, Hello Kitty wasn't even Japanese. She lives in the suburbs outside London with her father, George White, mother, Mary White, and twin sister, Mimmy White.  Hello Kitty is a nickname for Kitty White and on her birth certificate states Kitty White.
Much issue has been made of Hello Kitty's mouth, or lack thereof. A handful of feminist scholars say her noncommunicative nature perpetuates the submissive female pre-teen type. While others attribute Hello Kitty's appeal to her blank stare -- onto which fans can project their own emotions.

According to Hello Kitty's official bio on Sanrio's website, "Kitty is a cheerful, warm-hearted little character baking cookies is her forte, but what she enjoys most is eating a slice of her Mama's apple pie!" We also learn that her favorite things include candy, stars, and goldfish, as well as the inevitable "small, cute things." Hello Kitty is in third grade. She weighs the same as three apples and stands five apples tall. Her blood type is A.

So anyway, Ros & I found this adorable Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae in Seoul, Korea recently and we checked it out !

The interior was pink and cosy

Lots of Hello Kitty deco everywhere

They even have an beeper to tell you that your order is ready for collection at the bar. The food and drinks were too cute to eat

The whole building was designed with total Kawaii-ness !

We had good fun exploring this place, a must visit for all Hello Kitty fans :)

NAILS April Cover : Behind The Scenes

Viv Simmonds and myself working on hand model Tracee King at NAILS

It was a spring "Bird" theme

Viv working on left hand focusing on the colors of earth and plants. She made a fairy and a humming bird that I absolutely love, it was adorable !

I was working on the colors of the skies. I made colorful birds and texture of feathers 

The end result was a complementary design of birds in the skies and on earth, assimilated into nature.

 We usually start with an idea, and talk about colors and concept, but we never know how the end result would be until we finish working on the nails.Viv and I really love working together this way and the end result almost always turns out to be a pleasant surprise.

Gina was also at Nails doing another cover which will be out sometime soon. The 3 of us had such a blast together and she was our tour guide in L.A :) :) (that's another story....)

Vu the professional photographer expertly captures the essence of our designer nails....(thank you Vu!)

The awesome NAILS team behind the scenes

The end result !

Haute Couture

Haute Couture literally means high fashion. It is a fancy expression for made-to-order clothing and only 14 brands in the world qualify. The brands that make couture have to invest in the best designers, materials and craftsmen, and precious few people can afford to buy the results. Why do they do it ? Because it's the highest example of fashion as art - a chance for designers to showcase their most imaginative creations, unburdened by ideas of what's practical, commercial and saleable. And when you see the clothes in real life,you will understand why. The designs are elaborate, the construction - flawless. The fabrics are visibly luxurious and expensive. The colours are rich, vivid and multi-toned. If you can produce couture, it means you're among the best.

To me, couture nails are the same. They are every nail artist's dream, to be able to create without any boundaries and unlimited posibilities using the best materials and technology available to us. Made-to-order nails for every occassion and express art in a miniature wearable form.

Fashion and beauty are inextricaby linked. Nail technicians should not just be limited and contented with caring for people's hands and feet but they should be able to play an active role in the world of fashion and  explore their skill and talent beyond just a manicure, pedicure and a polish job !

New Colors, New Creation

Sitting in front of more than 60 new color samples of acrylic color powders, my head starts spinning and adrenalin starts pumping. I feel like a little girl in a candy store ! It's finally narrowed down to 48 colors and now begins my journey of making a difference with the designs that I'm about the create with these new amazing colors which will now be part of the ONE new acrylic collection by Odyssey.

To make art wearable, encapsulated or embedded art is not only long lasting and stunning in appearance, it gives a "looking into glass" effect. I'm taking it one step further to introduce movement, layering and realism into my embedded art which is all created with brushwork in acrylic and still maintain a reasonable thin finish.

Moda En Unas (Mexico) Cover

 What fun it was to do a cover for ONS in Mexico for the nail magazine Moda En Unas in this issue. After a long show and classes, all of us got together to get the cover nails done for the photoshoot the following day.

Our beautiful hand model Eva Luz

Also stay tuned for the next hot sizzling cover with design by Viv Simmonds as we shared the hands of the same model.

Year Of The Rabbit 2011

Year of the Rabbit, painted with The ONE Gel Paint

Year 2011 for me started off with an exciting trip to Seoul for the 5th Global Nail Cup. The weather was freezing and hovering between -5 to -16 degrees celcius and for the first time in all these years to Korea, I was caught in the middle of a heavy snowfall right in the heart of Seoul ! Our team took home 13 awards from the event including the Best Team Effort award. I had the privilege of showing the new gel painting (The ONE) in the super demo together with five other international nail artists from Korea (Nam Gung Soo & Lim Hee A), Australia (Viv Simmonds), Netherlands (Tamara Bhagoe) and Japan (Jurry Sato). My theme this year is the Rabbit all painted with gels and I hope you like the design :)

What's New in 2011

Cheers to the New Year 2011! It's time to celebrate life and reflect on new resolutions.

 I've been searching for inspirations during the holidays and feel anxious to get back to work again. This year, I will be releasing a series of nail design classes for miniature folk art painting available in both paint and gel medium. I am especially intrigued by Russian folk art styles and so I've incorporated a fusion between the eastern and western folk art styles to my designs. Strong and vivid colors are used with lots of layering to create depths and movements to make the designs look delicate and lively.

Beauty Asia Singapore 21-23 February, 2011

Working on Magazine Covers with the Pros

 

Had the pleasure of working with two very established magazines in the nail industry while in the US and looking forward to their 2011 issues. Kudos to these very dedicated and passionate people who have been supporting the nail industry with all the behind-the-scenes work and keeping the industry updated with the latest information/news and giving nailtechs the opportunity to express their art.

VIVCAT L.A with Guest Artist GINA Silvestro

What a great bunch of nailtechs!  VivCat had so much fun at the recent Los Angeles class at Beverly Hills. I have to say that L.A is a little over-rated for me, with all the traffic and fog/pollution, it's not my favourite city in the US, however the great people that came to our class and the people that we met & worked with at the magazines made up for the city's shortcomings. We managed to get lost while driving (using the tomtom navigation) and almost made it to Santa Barbara and back. The shopping experience was great though, I would go back just for Camarillo :):):)

Carolina won a set of nails by Viv,Cat & Gina

Completed extension before 3D work

Viv working her magic

Winner set of nails with 3D work

Going natural...I took off my long over the top nails and went for the "celebrity nail look" by Gina, short, classy and natural :)

We're missing Tonya in this photo! Check back later for an update ^^

Amazing Mexico

Mexico has a special meaning for me this year as I met all my Mexican nail friends again and I was able to work alongside other international educators like Trang, Viv, Carmen, Max and YeoJung, I also saw a lot of good quality work coming out of the techs whom I met last year. They are very artistic and have a good grasp of color concepts. We did a cover for UNAS, the leading nail magazine in Mexico and the photographer did an amazing job. I'm looking forward to see it in print.

Mexico City - Watch this Space !

For Mexico: please contact Gerry at email : gerardo@odysseynail.mx

NAILQUEEN Presents The ONE - 2 Days Of Spectacular Design Madness 2011!

Register for this highly anticipated event of February 24 & 25, 2011 now !

Click for Early Bird Registration

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