A little bit of everything, a teeny best-of-both-worlds.
Uhhh, yes – I just got myself a gold chrome x nude pink x hand drawn flower manicure. Why, you ask? I mean.. Why not? I’ve had my eyes on the chrome nail trend ever since its debut into the realm of crazy interesting Pinterest nail trends in 2016. Except I’ve never gotten them because the whole mirror-ish silver looked a little tacky (especially since my nails weren’t very long to begin with), and Chrome’s friendly neighbour; the Iridescent was a little over the top. What happens when brands start exploring their possibilities with more than silvers being chromed and rainbows being the only “holographic”? You get more types of Chrome to play with.

Gold chrome nails were in it for me; I knew I had to get them the moment I saw them on 8Twenty8’s nail colour range. There were surprisingly more than 5 different shades of Chrome-type nails, clearly out of the silver-mirror league. I mean.. These babies look like freakin’ legendary seashells, gurl! If chrome nails are your thing, please, do yourself a favour because 8Twenty8 really is the place to go. You can thank me later, cuz they’ve got THE range, Mami!

Since it was my first time using Chrome nail powder, I watched the magic happen in front of my eyes. Loved it. So satisfying to watch. I wanted to pair the Chrome nails with something more neutral to even out the craze on my fingers, so I picked a nude-pink colour to go on as my base, thinking it would fit the gold rather well. And yes, the results? Tried, tested and proven: A stunner.

I’ve never actually left a manicure salon with plain, no-design nails. I’m quite a maximalist, I want little details to draw my own eyes to! Since 8Twenty8 also mentioned having hand-drawn nail art as one of their specialties, I told them I’d leave them to decide what they wanted to do on my nude-pink nails. You know, just to get the whole negative space effect going. The manicurist said florals were quite her forte, so ahead she went, with black motif-type flowers to complete the set. I’d say they were really pretty cute, heh.

Oooh by the way, the salon was really insta-worthy. If pink-white icing aesthetic is your aesthetic, you’ll love it here. They even had etiquette-quotes plastered around them, cute/not cute? :’)

Once everything was done, I rushed down to one of the coolest coffee spots in town, vibin with that “gurl, pamper yo self” inspiration and got myself an Iced Latte at the Providore to counter the weather while enjoying the last bit of the week’s golden sun. If you’re a sucker for modern x rustic, cozy x class environments, photogenic spots and photo-ops, you’re gonna love Providore. Pssst, second to loving their food, duh!

Simple, but just about the perfect way to spend some mid-week time off from all the hustle and bustle. What do you think?
