Stamping Princess Part Duex

Happy Friday my lovely readers!!  I hope you're week went by without a hitch and that you're ready for the weekend!  Today I have a review of Born Pretty Store stamping plate, the one I used for my artsy 3-D nails, seen here.  I picked this stamping plate for the image I'm showing you in this post.  I love the shape and the swirly prettiness.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

First up, I would again, like to apologize to Daisy from the Born Pretty Store, for the lateness of this review. I did receive this product quite some time ago and am now just getting to reviewing it.  As always with the Born Pretty Store, I'm so impressed with their shipping, not only is it free, but it gets here incredibly fast considering it's coming from so far away.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

For this mani, I used the Born Pretty Store black stamping polish that can be purchased individually or as a set of 5, which is the one I got.  The set includes red, yellow, blue, black and white and retails for $6.93 (or you can get them individually for $2.05).  The stamping plate (plate number QA48) is one of the Born Pretty Store's own creations, as I said above, I choose this plate for the image I used here, but I do really love the Snow White image that also is included on this plate - both a larger version and a smaller one as seen below.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else. 

Born Pretty Store covers their plates in blue plastic film, so there's no way you'll forget to take it off.  The plate itself is a little sharp around the edges, so I recommend handling it carefully.  As for the designs themselves, they're well engraved and sized appropriately.  I didn't have any problems picking up the image on my trusty stamper and as you can see, I'm not the best at lining the stamps up but the image is abstract enough that it doesn't really matter.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

If you're interested in picking up this plate, you can purchase them here or search the Born Pretty Store for item ID:  4861.  The great thing about Born Pretty Store stamping plates are, that they are reasonably priced, this one retails for $2.99 and there's also great selection.  Want to get this for yourself, here's a coupon code for 10% off your order - bonus!!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

Holla, N

Stamping Princess

Happy Monday all!  Today, I have a long overdue review of Born Pretty Store stamping polishes I received.  I want to apologize to Daisy from the Born Pretty Store for the lateness of this review, I'm feeling really bad for letting this sit for so long.  I have a bit of the blogger blues, while I love to paint my nails, I find having something interesting to say hard to do.  I'm not ready to give it up yet, maybe I'll do a giveaway or something to get out there more - hmmmm.

Back to the purpose of this post.  I received some Born Pretty Store stamping polishes a while back, as I've said before, I'm pretty impressed with the shipping from BPS, it's free and gets here quickly, something we nail mail lovers appreciate!  The stamping polishes can be purchased individually or as a set of 5, which is the one I got.  The set includes red, yellow, blue, black and white and retails for $6.93 (or you can get them individually for $2.05).  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I realize that's a little messy and it didn't really turn out how I wanted, but I wanted to show you how the stamping polish shows up on a variety of different backgrounds.  My least favorite of the bunch was the yellow, it worked okay on white, but on the other colors you couldn't see it very well - you can see a little poking out on the blue and you can see it wasn't very opaque.  The red and blue fared better, the blue was opaque enough but the consistency was thinner than the red, white and black.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I like the white and black the best, the consistency is thick and goes on great.  I will show you the black stamping polish in an upcoming review.  I'm not the best stamper in the world as you can see, but after doing this I really loved how my pointer finger turned out so I decided to try something a little different.  Whip out your 3-D glasses and check this out.  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

I really love how this turned out and it totally came out as I envisioned it.  Anyone with 3-D glasses out there?  Can you tell me if it actually works??

If you're interested in picking up some of these polishes, you can purchase them here or search the Born Pretty Store for item ID:  1323.  Here's a coupon code for 10% off your order - bonus!!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

One last shot of my snow white 3-D nails!  Disclosure:  this product was given to me to review, all opinions are my own and are in no way shape or form influenced by anyone else.

Holla, N

Friday Review

Happy Friday - the best day of the week!!  As promised, I have a review of the Born Pretty Store's black flocking powder for you today!

I've been dying to get on the flocking powder band wagon for a while now but have had serious trouble tracking the stuff down that 1. wasn't the price of my first born and 2. that didn't have glitter in it.  You can get Martha Stewart flocking powder, but it's super pricey and has glitter in it.  The Michael's in my city used to carry flocking powder as part of it's recollection line, but they have stopped carrying it - they have every size of glitter and even some micro beads, but no flocking powder!!  So you can imagine my excitement at getting the opportunity to review some flocking powder for the Born Pretty Store!!

This flocking powder comes in clear plastic resealable container - you get quite a bit too!  Application was a breeze, I just slavered on the polish, used my trusty tweezers to grab some powder and dumped it on my nail.  You have to press it down once you have some on your nail - you also need to make sure the polish is still wet - I learned this the hard way.  That ring finger was cheetah once upon a time, but I let it dry too much and the flocking powder did not stick. Once I pressed the powder down, I knocked my nail over the container and the blew the remaining off - I did use a paint brush to get some more of the excess off, but I didn't want to ruin my design because I did use a good dose of polish.  You can get a kit from the Born Pretty Store that comes with a special set of scooped tweezers and a soft brush or you can order those separately  but if you have some regular tweezers and a clean dry paint brush, you're set!

I wanted to do something different than coating my whole nail with powder so I pulled out my trusty tape and  binder reinforcements and went to work!

If you're interested in picking up some flocking powder of your own, visit the Born Pretty Store and look up Item ID: 4507 or click here.  You get a HUGE container for $5.80 - total deal!!  Plus, here's a 10% off coupon code - double the deal!!

I can't wait to try out more designs with this fabulous stuff - have you tried flocking powder?  Do you love it?!?

Holla, N

Monday Review

Hiya!  Today I have a review of Born Pretty Store's silver square studs.  I love love love studs - the nail accessory, not the man variety, okay I like the man variety just as much.  Justin Timberlake is my weakness, his voice - dreamy, his bod.....oh wow, his bod - to die for!

Now that I've cleaned the drool off my face, let's get back to business!  Studs are everywhere these days, I picked up some of the sticker variety a while back and used it for my Tell me About it, Stud mani.  I loved the simplicity of what I did with them, but you only get a few in a pack and I wanted to try out some designs using more than one.  The package you get from the Born Pretty Store comes with about 100 individual studs (likely more, I've never been good with guess how many jellybeans are in the jar games!).  They come in a resealable clear baggie so they are easy to get at and easy to store.

Application was a little difficult for me because I don't own any inexpensive top coat - I'm a loyal Seche Vite user (yes, despite the shrinkage).  I think if you used a coat of inexpensive top coat to stick the studs on, it would work out way better.  I used nail glue - it totally worked, but you can see the line of glue I applied even though I applied a generous coat of Seche.

This design was inspired by Nicole at Polish Me, Please first attempt at a studded manicure.  Nicole is the QUEEN of stamping and her mani's always inspire me to break out the ol' Bundle Monster plates - which she recommended I buy!!  Check out the inspiration here.  If you're not following Nicole, DOOOO it, she is fabulously creative with her stamps and is also the sweetest nail blogger out there - she was the first person to comment on my blog AND follow me on Twitter!!

Just to show Nicole my stamping skills - I still need some practice, but I'm glad I managed to get the stamp on the  whole nail!

If you're interested in picking up some studs of your own (unfortunately no man varieties for sale yet!), visit the Born Pretty Store and look up Item ID: 2859 or click here.  You get the whole package for $5.73 - total steal!!  Plus, here's a 10% off coupon code - major score!!

Tune in Friday for my review of the Born Pretty Store black flocking powder - super excited to share this mani, so don't forget to stop on by!

Holla, N

Tipped Review

Hello friends!!

Today, I have a review of Born Pretty Store's french tip stickers.  I've been dreading writing this review because I wasn't a huge fan of this product, but I've promised myself that I will always be honest with my reviews, so here it goes.

I received these with my glequins, the review can be found here, so the shipping was fantastic.  I'm always surprised how fast items from the Born Pretty Store ship, plus it's free shipping - double plus.  I know french tips are a little passe, but I thought these would alleviate my complete inability to do a french mani with two colors. The package comes with stickers to do chevron tips and also a swirly one, which is kinda neat.  The main issue I had with these was that the stickers are so thick it's hard for them to stick flat against your nail without some gaps, which of course leads to bleeding lines.  Plus, the stickers were too sticky and ripped off part of my mani - mind you, it could have been because I didn't let the base color dry enough, but it was still sort of a bummer.  I tried the "stick to your skin a couple of times before applying" trick and then they didn't stick!!  It was a bit of a balancing act to say the least.  The neat swirly stickers were so long, you loose the cool swirl and only end up picking up a slight swoop.  I also found that the stickers for the french tips were a little too straight for my nail, I think this is also due to the length.  Out of the three types of tips, I preferred the chevron ones, although I did have to maneuver my fingers so that I was holding down the sticker to prevent bleeding.

Despite the negative experience with this product, I would totally continue to buy products from them even if they choose not to ask me to review products for them again.  The value for what you get is just too good to write them off for one bad experience.  Plus, the total cost for this was $1.58 for three sheets with enough to do your all of your nails twice, which is so worth it.  If you think this product would work for you, you can order it here, or search the Born Pretty Store with item ID 4093 or 3pcs French Circle/Arrow/Fancy Manicure Tip Guides Strip Nail Art Toes.

Bonus right hand shot!!

Here's what I did with the regular french tip stickers, you can create some cool cut-outs , but again it was hard for the stickers to stick.

Until Jan 31, 2013 you can use the special code found in the banner below to get a 10% discount on anything you order from the Born Pretty Store - the selection is huge and it's not just nail products, they also sell phone cases, make-up and wigs.  There is so much to choose from, I promise it will totally be worth your while!

It's too bad these weren't thinner stickers with a little more stick, because then they would be fabulous for those of us newbs who can't do two toned french tips!!

Holla, N

Lazy Oceanic Review

Hello Friends!  I'm a little late with this post, it was supposed to be up on Friday, but I had plans on Friday and then headed up island bright and early Saturday morning for my auntie's 50th birthday bash.  It was a fun time, but no internet access so I felt a little cut off from the world!!

Friday's prompt for the Lazy 15 Challenge was underwater creatures/water mythical creatures.  I was having major polish block and couldn't think of what to do, so I went with more of an ocean theme.  This mani also gave me the opportunity to finally review my glequins I got from the Born Pretty Store!!  I've been holding off on using these because my nails are SO short, but they've grown a bit and turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!

This is my second set of products from Born Pretty Store for review, you can see my previous review on the 3 Star/Round/Heart Rhinestones Acrylic UV Nail Glue Clamp Kit here.  This time around I was so excited to try the hexagon loose glitter, most widely known as glequins.  You get a set of 12 different colors in individual containers for a total price of $5.35 USD.  Everything ordered from the Born Pretty Store is free shipping, so these are a steal.  You get a TON glitter and I'm not even exaggerating - it would take a while to use up this supply.  As usual, this came within a week of ordering, which I think is very reasonable coming from China.  They package items in a bubble envelope so everything arrives secure.

Application of these are a little tricky for someone as anal as me, I need to have everything uniform and in the right order, so it sometimes was a little difficult getting everything lined up.  I wasn't quite sure how to adhere these beauties, so I tried a couple of different things.  First, I used white glue and put a little on my nail, not my whole nail as that dries way too fast, but just the area I was working in.  I then used an orange stick with a little of natures glue (read spit) to pick up the glitter and placed it on my nail.  Using white glue gets a little glooby, you have to be really careful and put a very thin layer of glue on the area you are working in.  Next, I used the same method to pick up the glitter and placed them in tacky nail polish.  This wasn't my preferred method because if you accidentally drop a glitter where you don't want it, it's harder to correct without ruining the polish underneath.  I'm wondering if I used a coat of Seche Vite and once that was dry, use a layer of clear nailpolish to place the glitter - this will be what I try next as I think this will be the best method. I also had some issues with the glitter falling off the the tips of my nails - I had to put the ones on the end back on a couple of times and as you can see from my daylight picture, one of the glequins fell off before I could photograph them.  I'm thinking if I change up how I adhere them to my nails, they will stay better, but don't let that discourage you from getting these pretties, because they are SOOOO worth it!  I will be using these again, though if anyone has any tips on how to get these puppies to stay put, I'm all ears!!

I really loved what I came up with and it really reminds me of the ocean.  If you are interested in getting this product, you can click here or go to the Born Pretty Store website and search Item ID: 3103.  Until Jan 31, 2013 you can use the special code found in the banner below to get a 10% discount!!  That's not a huge discount, but any discount is SUPER!

And to finish off this post, here's a shot of both hands together, I ended up doing 'bubble's' on my right hand because I had run out of time to finish the pretty stripes!

For the gradient I used:  Sally Hansen:  Pacific Blue and Finger Paints:  Tiffany Impostor.  For the stripes, I used Finger Paints, Papier Mache and the bubbles were done with acrylic paint.

Hope this review was helpful and that you enjoyed my blinged out mani!!

Holla, N

Lazy Cupcakes

Hello, short post today, I've got an awful headache and still need to paint my nails.  On the plus side, I did manage to make dinner tonight - the hubby was incredibly impressed :)  Without further ado, day 8 of the Lazy Day Challenge - dessert!

Holla, N

Mooned Review

Hello everyone!!  So glad it's a short week this week - Thanksgiving weekend was great, we had two turkey dinners - yum!!  I swear, I'm still full!  Warning - text heavy and picture heavy post - click the x at the top right of your screen if you're already bored :)

Today I have two things to share with you:  one - my half moon mani for the 31 Day Challenge and two my review of the 3 Star/Round/Heart Rhinestones Acrylic UV Nail Glue Clamp Kit I got from the Born Pretty Store!  I'm actually doing both in one to be honest.  I got an email from Daisy at the Born Pretty Store asking me to review my choice of products - which I was pretty stoked about.  This may seem like an easy task, but really, it was extremely difficult - they have SOOOO much stuff, the choices were endless!  It took me a while to figure out what I wanted and I gave Daisy some choices of what she wanted me to review and she sent the rhinestones set.

I honestly thought there were going to be a few rhinestones a cheap tool to pick them up and some glue - boy was I wrong.  You get a ton of rhinestones and the choice of colors is fab!  And I didn't realize there were different shapes - circles, stars and hearts - how cool!  Also, the tool they include is heavy duty and two bottles of glue - perf ma gerf!  Now for the deets:  for a set of three packages of multi-colored  rhinestones (in a really cool holder by the way),  one set of circles, one of stars and one of hearts, with a picker upper tool (I have no idea what the real name is) and two bottles of glue, it costs $8.58 - that's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.  I'm having some issues with the site, but I think that is in USD and the shipping is free - well it was when I ordered stuff from them I purchased myself - before I was contacted to review something by the way (and I used my personal account, not my nearlynailed account).  I got the package within a week, which is pretty quick considering the product is coming from China.  And, it was the same time frame when I ordered the stuff I paid for - that's pretty good if you ask me!  If you're interested in picking this up for yourself, click here, the product number is 3116 AND until Jan 31, 2013 you can use the special code found in the banner below to get a 10% discount!!  That's not a huge discount, but any discount is SUPER!

Onto the good stuff, what I did with these products!!

Here's some photos of what I got and the code to get your 10% discount!

   

For the half moon mani I used:

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Moons:  Revlon - Raspberry Rapture - this stuff is scented, it wasn't too offensive, but a little much when you have a headache!

Main Color:  Wet n Wild - Black Creme

Black Rhinestone from the Born Pretty Store

Top Coat:  Seche Vite

For the blue mani, I used:

Base Coat:  Orly Bonder

Main Color:  Maybelline - Sapphire Siren

Top Coat:  Pro FX Quick Dry Top Coat

Please show my nail buddies some love by clicking on the links below and check out what they did for their half mooned mani's!!

Also, have I already asked you if you've entered my giveaway?  I have?  No, not me!!  Well if you haven't yet, please enter my giveaway - lots of awesome stuff - just click here!

Holla, N

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
 -Greta at How Was Your Day?
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish
-Robin Sparkles 

Disclaimer:  Rhinestones used for these mani's were provided by the Born Pretty Store for my review.  The opinions expressed were mine and mine alone and were not influenced by the Born Pretty Store.