nailed it

Ah, vanity. When it strikes, no one is safe -- not even this self-proclaimed non-conformist.

One vain itch that I don't particularly like but sometimes give in to is the impulse to paint fingernails. I firmly stand by the belief that clean, natural nails are the prettiest. Besides, wearing nail polish makes me feel like I can't use my hands as much, and that sucks.

But yeah, I do give in to the occasional impulse. But when I do, I make sure it's as far from girly as it can get. Yup, that means wearing only dark colors. More specifically, black.

Black is such a versatile color, and black nails have always suited my tastes well enough. From my angsty high school days, to my emo phase in college, to my mellowed-down(?) style today, black never failed.

I recently got smitten by a nails photo I found over at Pinterest (God, the luscious stuff I discover on that site!). The look is all black, but in two textures: regular (shiny) and matte (non-shiny).

From Chloe0602

It's clean, elegant yet edgy, super creatively unique, and best of all, completely black -- in other words, my idea of a perfect nail look. Plus, french tips are hot right about now, so there was no time to lose.

There was just one problem: how the hell do I get matte nail polish?

No way I was shelling out cash to buy matte polish or top coat, especially that I was sure I wouldn't use it a lot. Too many nail polish bottles have met slow death in my dusty shelf. Besides, when I asked that Watson's sales lady about matte, she had no clue what I was talking about.

So, as usual, I took things in my own hands: I made my matte nail polish myself.

To be sure, I mixed techniques from two different tutorials. First came the mixing of black powder eyeshadow with clear nail polish. I applied this now-black polish the usual way, then when it was completely dry, all that was needed were light swipes of acetone over the painted nails. This whole DIY process was actually simple, but it took me a lot of practice to get stuff right: eyeshadow-to-polish ratio should be around 1:1, swiping the acetone should be really light but consistent, etc.

The result was indeed a less shiny color, so I went on with (shakily) applying the shiny tip. Close enough?

Featuring my favorite purse of the moment (Got it for cheap at SM Department Store Davao; check out the typo error. haha)

My work is definitely far from Chloe's perfect nails, but I actually like mine almost as much. :D

This is not the first time I got crafty with my nails. Some samples of the crazy nail 'vandalism' I did in college:

With nails and rings, I prefer to have the design face me than face outwards. Yup, I can be conceited.

Black looks so good with pink, and awesome in checks. And for the record, I did this years before Lady Gaga grew Hollywood balls.

Okay, yes, I did wear pink there. But it wasn't just any other pink -- it's a shade called "Tokyo Maroon" by this brand called Twinkle. It's the only pink I'd wear because it's bright but not flashy, and it's the perfect shade for the black-and-pink-punk-princess look. Sadly, I can't find a bottle of it anywhere now, so I'm sticking with my good ol' black.

Anyway, this post has gone too long for a showing-off-our-nails session. Maybe next time, I'm posting a full tutorial on how I do my eye makeup.

Fat chance.