Style and Soul

It's two days before Christmas and I would like to extend all my holiday greetings to my readers in advance!

Unlike most kids I grew up with, I never collected Hello Kitty products when I was a young. Although I'm not a big fan, I can say I still do have the utmost admiration for the most popular bobtail cat as a children's icon around the world.

This fashionable feline has become a global superstar, and her face adorns over 50,000 products - from  dolls, apparels, stationery, bags, accessories, home decor and many more, sold in over 60 countries. Because Hello Kitty has become such a brand phenomenon, all I can feel is just this overwhelming gratefulness that I was one of the hosts of the "Hello Kitty Christmas at the North" event last December 8, 2012, a whole day affair which included a Hello Kitty meet-and-greet and fashion show, a collaboration between SM Department Store and Sanrio.

I'm the type who's not into dressing up for Halloween. Since wearing a costume is not an option, I found an alternative solution - right at my finger tips.

If you're like me who's ditching the prosthetic and "character" wardrobe, then why not give people the goosebumps with cool and creative nail art ideas? I'll tell you more about it plus give you a peek at my Halloween nails, which are simply perfect for the spooky season.

In case you didn't notice, fashionable nails have made it to the center stage since 2011 as an addition to existing famous beauty trends, evidently seen on blogs and websites solely dedicated to nail art and nail polish must-haves - all thanks to the popularization of behind-the-scenes coverage of runway shows. 

Early this year, pastel colors have been such a hit that these colors are carried over till the second half of the season and probably till next year (as seen on Resort 2013 collections). Pastel nails have been very prominent during spring/summer 2012 catwalk particularly in Chanel, Phillip Lim, Monique L'huillier and Zac Posen collections.

With these creamy toned-down hues, no one can go wrong. A huge portion of today's young fashionistas are more into anything dainty, pretty and ladylike so it's no wonder why pastels made their mark this year.

Despite the change in season, pastel nails aren't going anywhere. Chanel particularly kept this color (in rose blush pink) to compliment its Couture Fall 2012 collection but added a silver lining twist to it. According to MTV FORA, this is the first-time ever that Chanel did nail art for its couture show.

Hello, long time no blog guys! If you only knew how much I'm dying to blog all my rotten backlogs for you but since I'm running out of excuses except that I was just really busy, I'll just stay positive and believe that I'll get to it sooner. But if you're following me on Twitter or Facebook, you'll know I'm very much alive since I'm pretty active there because it's a lot easier to schedule tweets and status messages than blog entries, haha. 

Anyway, last week I dropped by Nail It! to get my nails done and while I'm at it, I noticed some display samples of the salon's nail art designs.  Usually, whenever I take a trip to the nail salon, I opt to have my nails painted in plain solid colors to make it easier for me to put together outfits and match my accessories.

However since last year, the practice of placing decorative designs on fingernails have been a hit and have now become such an added statement to your personal style. On my part, I never really explored nail art for myself except for this one time when I got "bee nails". So I told myself, as much as possible, I'll go and get myself one!

Here are some snapshots of Nail It! nail art designs:

Click 'read more' for full entry

I asked if Nail It! can do other designs aside from the ones showcased in the salon and turns out, you can bring a photo of your peg and they will be more than willing to do it for you as long as their trained in-house artists can achieve it.