Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Born Pretty Store Review: Metallic Nail Studs

Hello Readers!


Today's post is another Born Pretty Store Review, this time for another little nail wheel full of fun studs!


This item is a 120 piece nail wheel with plastic studs, item #40767.  It currently retails for $1.99. I'm a little confused honestly now that I'm looking at it, because the item in the picture looks quite a bit different than the nail wheel I received. The colors on the website are more iridescent colors with a couple of metallics. In this nail wheel, there are four different metallic colors: the copper (which I used on the mani), the gold, a silver, and chrome.


So, for this main I decided to try out the copper studs. The studs in this nail wheel are all a lightweight plastic with a metallic coating on them. I decided to pair them with Sinful Colors "Copper Pot" for a copper based mani.

These studs are very pretty, and have stayed well on my nail using a "gel-like" topcoat and no nail glue. I'm going on the 5th day of wearing this mani now and they are still stuck tight. I am noticing this morning that the metallic finish on the studs is just starting to wear off a little bit. They have a bit of a distressed look to them now. I don't mind it.

Thanks for stopping by today! If you decide to make a purchase at the Born Pretty Store, you can always use my coupon code, RACHX31, for 10% off your items. 

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Simple Sunday/ Born Pretty Store Review

Hello Readers!



Today's post is a Simple Sunday post that is reviewing a couple of products from the Born Pretty Store. 



The first item is a purple foil/shimmer polish that currently retails for $3.49. This polish has teeny tiny shimmer pieces running throughout it, so I thought it would also be able to be used as a stamping polish.



I have used it on my ring finger to stamp with, and painted it straight onto my other nails. I didn't have any trouble stamping with it, so I was pleased about that. This color is a very deep, shimmery fuchsia. I have shown it here at two coats. It was pretty easy to apply, just as you would expect a foil polish to behave.


I also have used a metal stud from this nail art wheel from the Born Pretty Store. I thought these studs were really interesting- I like that the wheel includes a large variety of shape (each compartment has a different shape), as well as the texture on each of the little studs. This nail wheel currently costs $1.49. I used one of the largest shapes in the wheel, the longer triangle, on my middle finger.

If you would like to purchase either of these items, you can use my Born Pretty Store code (RACHX31) for 10% these or other items at the website.



Friday, August 25, 2017

Nail Crazies Unite: Sunflowers

Hello Readers!


Today's post is for the Nail Crazies Unite group, where there are challenges every other week. This week's prompt is "sunflowers", which I was excited for since it seemed so seasonally appropriate and being a Kansas girl at heart, sunflowers always tug at my heartstrings a little bit.



I decided to pair my sunflower with a cheerful blue plaid print.


So, I started off with Sinful Colors "Quick Study", which is a matte polish but I ended up putting a glossy topcoat over the mani. I made a simple sunflower decal and placed it over the basic plaid stamping.

My plaid design comes from this very useful Born Pretty Store stamping plate. Love all the textures and the variety of plaids to choose from on this!


My simple sunflower comes from a different Born Pretty plate, with lots of lovely line art flower designs on it.


Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out more sunflower manis in the link-up below!

Monday, August 21, 2017

Turquoise inspired nails

Hello Readers!



I know, it's been forever since I've posted anything. Life has been just a little bit crazy lately with the start of a new school year and having my parents in town, but things are starting to settle down a little bit so hopefully I will start to have a bit more time to get to painting my nails and blogging!



Also, I had a bad break on my pinky nail and since then my nails have been having a rough go of it. I did this mani a while back and still haven't gotten around to posting it, ha ha.

This is a super simple mani based off of the semi-precious gemstone turquoise. I figured I would do something simple for my newly super-short nails!


I used the water pattern from the Bundle Monster + Twi_star blogger collab plate once again. I have really gotten a lot of uses out of this one pattern!

Friday, August 11, 2017

Nail Crazies Unite: Vintage Sea Map

Hello Readers!


Today's prompt for the Nail Crazies Unite group is "Nautical", which is always a fun summer theme. I've done some more classical colored nautical nails this year already, so I decided to go in a different direction and take my inspiration from vintage sea maps.



Sorry about my cuticles... ha ha I've been doing a lot of scrubbing lately. Two year olds. That's all I'm going to say about that matter.


I actually wanted to show though, the difference a little bit of sugar scrub made on my cuticles. This is the "after" picture.


This mani started out with a base of the Wet N Wild "Yo Soy" color. I did all my stamping with Sinful Colors "Rainstorm", which worked out nicely for a kind of faded map look.

The image on my middle finger comes from the newer MoYou London line, "Mix & Match". I thought this particular image would have a kind of nautical feel when paired with boats and things, and I wanted to mix things up in my design.


The rest of my images come from this Bundle Monster plate from the "Hangloose" collection. I loved the little vintage style boat, and it became the inspiration for my theme when I saw it.


Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out the link-up below for more Nautical themed manis!



Sunday, August 6, 2017

Simple Sunday: French Twist ft. MoYou London Frenchy 11

Hello Readers!



Today's Simple Sunday is one I am really excited about. When I first saw some of the newer "Frenchy" plates from MoYou London, I totally fell in love with them, especially with Sunday manicures in mind. They have so many beautiful images on them that are perfect for simple, elegant looks.

Today's mani uses more decals that I would typically use on a Simple Sunday mani, but because they are french tip decals, they are probably the very simplest kind of decals to make and great practice for beginners. I also like using decals for french tips because for me, it's a little easier to position them uniformly across all the nails than it is to stamp them perfectly on.




So I ended up with a French mani with very traditional colors, but with a little added detail for a twist.


Now, a quick word about the polishes in this mani, particularly the pink: I've been seeing some people haul these Kiss Gel Strong polishes from the Dollar Tree on YouTube for a month or so now, so I've been keeping my eye out for them at mine but yesterday was the first time I actually saw them.

I picked three colors up, though they had a bunch more, just to give them a try. I have to say, I really like this polish. These light pink colors can sometimes have a hard time getting opaque, but this was perfect at two coats for me and had a great formula. So definitely keep your eyes out for this polish brand at your Dollar Tree- it's a great deal for a dollar!


So, my image comes from the MoYou London "Frenchy 11" plate. I did make decals with this image, but each one was really quick as all I had to do was paint diagonal lines onto the top portion of the image with the nail polish brush.

I find that using the french tip images can be a bit tricky, so making a decal out of them can be a good compromise to make it easier to get them all lined up right on your nails. This trick will work especially well if you don't own a clear stamper- I can't image trying to line up french tip images without being able to see what I was doing!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Crumpets Nail Tarts: Color Explosions ft. MoYou London Mix and Match

Hello Readers!


Today's prompt for the Crumpet's Nail Tart's Challenge is "Color Explosions". When I thought about this prompt, I first associated it with "splats" or paint splatter patterns, but then I decided that neon colors would be an "explosion" of color and decided to go that route.




I also have been wanting to use some plates from MoYou London's new "Mix and Match" collection. Their 90s theme seemed perfect to pair with bright colors for an explosive look!



I started off with a white base. This time I used Essie's "White Page", but I think I still prefer the Sinful Colors white. This white was really runny and required the same number of coats as the Sinful Colors (two).

I picked some fun neons to go onto my decals. I figured since I had a white base, it would be easier to use the neon colors in decals to be placed over it.



Most of my images for this mani came from "Mix & Match 05", which has some really fun palm tree images!

The image on my pointer finger came from "Mix & Match 01". I really love the triangle designs on this plate! So fun for a half moon look with a twist!


The good thing about this mani, is that even though I made a ton of decals for it the decals were so, so easy to do. Most of them were just painting broad straight lines over the back of them with polish straight out of the bottle with the nail polish brush. It went super fast!

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out more colorful manis in the link-up below!


Sunday, July 30, 2017

Simple Sunday 7/30/17- ft. MoYou London Frenchy

Hello Readers!



Today I have a very straightforward Simple Sunday mani using one of the newer plates in the MoYou London "French" collection.



I feel like I have been doing a lot of purple based manis for Sunday lately. I guess I am really digging the color this summer! Ha ha.


The purple in this mani is a Sinful Colors/Kylie Jenner polish. I love the tiny gold shimmer running through this color- it really is a gorgeous polish.


My "french manicure" design comes from MoYou London's "Frenchy 14." This plate has a lot of very elegant, "grown-up" frenchy inspired designs. After I stamped the design onto all my nails, I did go over the top portion of it with my black polish and brush from the bottle, just to make sure it was nice and opaque.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Born Pretty Review: Colorful Sand and Chameleon Powder

**Products in this post were provided to me by Born Pretty Store in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

Hello Readers!


Today I have the final- for a while- Born Pretty Store product review, featuring a couple of specialty nail art add-ons.

The first item that caught my eye was this colorful nail sand. (item #40133) I thought it would be a fun way to add interesting texture, especially for some fun summer manis! The sand comes in six different colors, but I was drawn to the pink.

It arrived in the little standard Born Pretty plastic pot, with a little seal under the lid to prevent mishaps in the mail. This product is currently priced at $0.99 a pot.


The second item I tried in this post is the Unicorn Chrome Powder. (item #39940). This currently retails for $2.99.

This also came to me with a seal under the lid, as well as a foam eye shadow applicator to apply the powder to your nails with.

 Now, on the Born Pretty website they recommend using this product with UV gel products. But I'm sure the burning question most people have about this type of product is, "can you use it with regular nail polish?"

So, in this post I am showing you what it looks like used with just a regular nail polish. I used a quick-drying topcoat over a plain black base and sponged the powder over the top. For an even more saturated look, you could then add another layer of topcoat and re-apply the powder over that, but today I am showing the effect of just one layer.






This mani started off with a basic white polish on my pinky and pointer, and basic black on my ring and middle fingers. I used a sponge to create a gradient over my pinky/pointer, and the unicorn powder to give my middle/ring fingers some sparkle and shine.

For my middle finger, I used a stamp from MoYou London's "Holy Shapes 05" plate to section off the finger. After my topcoat was completely dry, I added liquid latex to the part of the nail I didn't want sand on.

Next, I added topcoat to the nail and immediately dipped it into the pot of sand. I added more topcoat to any bald spots and re-dipped, and removed the liquid latex as quickly as possible.

I didn't add topcoat to this for the photo, because I wanted to keep as much texture as possible, but adding topcoat would obviously make the mani last longer. However, after adding topcoat the sand does become less opaque.

If you decide to check out these products, be sure to use my Born Pretty Store code (RACHX31) for 10% off your purchase over there.

You can find the textured sand here, and the chameleon powder here.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Farm life ft. MoYou London Enchanted

Hello Readers!




Today's post is a mani I made using the farm plate from MoYou London's "Enchanted" collection. I wanted to do something bright and summery but I'm not entirely sure about how this one turned out...





I started out with some of the pastel neon polishes in MoYou London's back-to-school release for this year. I decided to pair them with a couple of neutrals to kind of tone down the bright colors a little bit.


My cow and the flower images on my pointer/pinky fingers both came from the Enchanted collection plate. I made some quick and simple decals with those images. The images in this collection really do make  quick decals, since there is so little to fill in.


I decided to add a flower pattern to the mani, which comes from my favorite floral plate, the Bundle Monster + Tanya Wish blogger collab plate.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Simple Sunday 7/23/17- ft. new MoYou London Frenchy

Hello Readers!



Ever since MoYou London released some updated plates to the Frenchy collection a few months ago, I've been dying to get my hands on them. Well, the time when I was able to do so has come and so today I have some Simple Sunday nails featuring some newer MoYou London plates.



Now, while this mani is simple to do in terms of steps and time, I will warn you that these images with intersecting lines are a bit tricky to get stamped onto your nail straight. You may notice here that my lines got slightly warped in the stamping process.


I started off this mani with 3 coats of the Sinful Colors "In your elemelon" polish. This polish is a bit streakier on the first two coats than most Sinful Colors formulas, so that surprised me a bit, but it worked out on the third.


Next, I chose a pattern to add some texture to the mani. I wanted something polka dotty since I was pairing it with stripes, and this MoYou London plate from the tropical collection had the perfect splatter pattern. 


The final step was to stamp on one of the geometric french nail designs from this MoYou London Frenchy collection plate. I really love the triangular nail tip designs on this plate. It was something I definitely didn't have in my collection and I was excited to try out!


Friday, July 21, 2017

Born Pretty Store Review: Chameleon Polish and Stamping Polish

**Items reviewed in this post were provided to me by Born Pretty Store in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**


Hello Readers!


Today I have another couple of reviews for Born Pretty Store- a couple of polishes this time.


So recently, Born Pretty has come out with some chameleon polishes that have a pretty good color shift. This particular one is "Sunset Glow", item #39970, and retails for $4.99.

You can see quite a bit of the color shift in the bottle, although on the nail I mostly see a burgundy color with a very pronounced green color shift. Here's how it looks on the nail:



Now, this polish was pretty easy to use. I have pictured two coats, and was surprised to get pretty good coverage in just one. It did dry with some really tiny bubbles that you can see in the pic, but aren't as obvious in real life, and it has a really lovely shimmer running all throughout it.

With the great coverage I got in one coat, I was hoping this polish would stamp well, but I really was not impressed. It did not show up boldly when stamped and was fairly faint, so I scrapped that idea. However, this is a lovely polish to use as a base color.

The brush in the bottle was quite a bit wider than I am used to, and I wasn't a huge fan of it. It was about as thick as the Sally Hansen Compete Salon Manicure brushes, if you are familiar with those, but had less of a flat shape and more of a bulky round shape, if that makes sense.



The second product I am reviewing in this post is a Born Pretty stamping polish.

This is a stamping polish in the 6ml size, so fairly small, and can be found in this set of colors on the Born Pretty website. (This particular color is #95.) (item #40249)

This currently retails for $2.99.

I have used this polish to stamp the leopard print onto my ring finger nail. Now, the biggest thing I will note about this polish is that it has a pretty distinctive green tone to it. On the website, it looks straight gold to me but there is not a swatch of it so it is hard to tell the exact color.


On my nails, I've paired it with Sinful Colors "Gold Medal" to fill in the tiger shape so you can see exactly what color this stamping polish is. That being said, I think it pairs interestingly with the Chameleon polish since they both have quite a bit of a green tint.

If you decide to try either of these polishes out, you can find the gold stamping polish here and the Chameleon polish here. You can also use my Born Pretty Discount code, RACHX31, for a 10% discount on the Born Pretty website.



Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Born Pretty Review: Dinosaur Plate (BP-125)

*Items in this post were provided to me by Born Pretty Store in exchange for an honest review.*

Hello Readers!



Another shipment from Born Pretty has arrived to me in the mail, which means it's time for another round of product reviews. The first product I will be reviewing is the super-cute dinosaur themed plate, number BP-125. (Item #39698)

This plate arrived to me with a blue plastic protective film on it to prevent scratching during manufacturing and shipping. The blue film must be removed prior to stamping with the plate. The plate was also protected in a cardboard sleeve to prevent damage.

I found this plate to be very well-etched, and had no problem  with the pick-up on any of the images. Born Pretty typically does a very good job on the etch of their plates.



With this plate, I decided to make a mani for my son's birthday, as he is turning 5 years old today and loves him some dinosaurs! I decided these dinosaurs needed a gradient background, so I sponged one on and created some decals with some of the images from the plate.

A lot of these dinos have very small details on them, so it was difficult to get the polish in the exact spot without spilling over in some areas. Still, these images are really very cute and different, and I'm happy to own this plate.


If you are interested in this plate, you can find it here at the Born Pretty Store, currently for $1.59 with free shipping. You can also use my Born Pretty Discount code, RACHX31, for 10% off your purchases at Born Pretty.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Simple Sunday 7/16/17- ft MoYou London Festive

Hello Readers!


Today's mani is based off of a heart motif from one of MoYou London's Festive collection plates with a Valentine's Day theme. It's not Valentines Day, but to me hearts are a theme that never go out of season.




My original plan here was to do one nail with a decal that had just one heart colored in gold. But I smudged my decal and ruined it. I didn't feel like making a new one, so I just painted my ring finger gold and stamped a larger heart motif on it.


Walgreens was having a Sinful Colors 5/5$ sale last week, so I picked up a couple of colors that I haven't tried yet. Everyone seems to love "Starfish", so I decided to give it a try, as well as "Gold Medal" because I've heard it's really good for stamping. :)

Here's a quick look at the Moyou London plate I used- the number is "Festive 51."

Friday, July 14, 2017

Nail Crazies Unite: Ocean Life

Hello Readers!



Today's post is for the Nail Crazies Unite Group, where this week we are making "Ocean Life" manis. There's a jellyfish image on one of the MoYou London "Animal" plates that I've been wanting to use forever, so I decided to base my mani around that.








I also was excited because I recently found the Sinful Colors "Rainstorm" polish in Kmart, which is one I've been wanting forever but have never been able to find. Not sure what it was doing there; if it's being re-promoted or it was just totally random, but I was happy!


So the jellyfish image on my ring finger comes from the MoYou London plate "Animal 04." I thought about using the starfish image to go with it, but was having a hard time making the mani work in my head so I decided to go in a different direction. I filled the jellies in with the Sinful Colors "Bangin Blue" polish.


The geometric print on my pinky/pointer fingers comes from the MoYou London plate "Hipster 13". I stamped it in the Sinful Colors "Sugar Pumpkin".


On my middle finger, I felt like it needed a little accent so I grabbed the Born Pretty Nail Sequins that I reviewed a while back and picked two gold ones in different sizes to add.


I hope you enjoyed this mani! Be sure to check out the link-up below for more "Ocean Life" nail ideas!



Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Monkey Business

Hello Readers!


Today I am showing you a mani I have wanted to make ever since I bought the Bundle Monster Kawaii Emoji collection. I fell in love with those bananas and felt like they needed to be paired with a monkey!

He's in tiny monkey heaven.



This mani started off as many do, with two coats of each different color onto my nails.


I created two decals from the banana image on this Bundle Monster Kawaii Emoji plate. I've already used this plate quite a few times, to create a rainbow jellybean mani, a veggie themed one, and a watermelon look.

The little monkey face comes from The MoYou London plate "Geek 13", which I have also found to be highly versatile.


I decided some bold stripes was exactly what the design needed, so I pulled out my trusty MoYou London "Holy Shapes 05" plate. Still a favorite of mine- still my most used plate.

Now, I decided to stamp some subtle texture behind the monkey face, and figured this plate from Bundle Monster's new Shape Nouveau collection would be the perfect one to run to. I used one of the larger image patterns and it worked great for a full nail design.