Born Pretty Snow Flakes Review

Hi all,

This post is kind of delayed seeing as we're now into Spring - however, we got a significant amount of snow on Saturday and I thought I'd pull these out foil snow flakes out before it's too late.  I got these from the Born Pretty Store before Christmas but I just never felt inspired to use them until this weekend.

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For this mani I started with Essie Cocktail Bling, which is such a pretty dusty mauve.  Maybe a bit more spring appropriate but I thought the gold snow flakes would look really good paired up with this shade :)

The snowflakes are a thick foil like material that's super pliable, so to get them to fit the curve of my nail I rounded them by pressing them into a nail art brush wand.  I never managed to get them to curve perfectly but it was pretty close! In hindsight I should have fitted them to my nail before I started to polish.  At least I now know this for next time!

These snowflakes can be purchased from the Born Pretty Store by clicking HERE, and don't forget to use coupon code UTL91 for 10% off of your purchase!

Born Pretty Store Water Decal Review

Hi all,

A little while ago I received these water decals from Born Pretty Store.

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I absolutely love water decals.  They're so easy to use, and I find them really tough too.  I use some pretty sharp tweezers to get the decals off the paper backing and I've had absolutely no issue with them cutting or breaking.

I even removed one of them after not being happy with the placement and the only issue I had was that a bit of polish lifted with it.  No decal issue at all.  How cute are these though?  A super easy leopard print mani with a little twist!

I used OPI My Vampire is Buff as my base, then randomly sponged on some of Sally Hansen Satin Glam Go Gold, and then placed the decals on top.  Super quick, and super easy but such an eye catching mani!

Born Pretty Store is your one stop shop for nail art supplies.  These decals retail for $2.86USD and shipping is free world wide.  You can also get 10% off your order by using code UTL91 at check out :)

Late Christmas mani + Born Pretty Store Review

Happy New Year!

I know I'm super late with this post but it's too cute not to share.

These Santa hats were 100% inspired by @keshialilly on Instagram, I just had to do them after receiving THESE really cute nail decals from Born Pretty Store.

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For this mani I started out with a base of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength - Glass Slipper, a beautiful white mylar flakie in a clear base.  I figured it kind of looked like snow flakes which seemed pretty fitting!

Then using Sally Hansen Hard as Nails - Kiss me Cream I freehanded the red tips, and used a small nail art paintbrush did the floppy portion of the hat.  The fluff on the hat was done using Rimmel's French White then topped with OPI Solitaire, which is also seen on my ring finger.

Because I don't have any nail glue handy I simply adhered the little hat to my ring finger using top coat.  Given that it wasn't actually glued on it lasted quite a while, until the tip of the hat got caught on something and came off. 

The hat is super cute though!  You get a set of 5 for $2.94USD, and they immediately make your mani festive - though I wouldn't sport it for too long as the edges are kind of rough and will get caught in your hair and clothes.

Born Pretty Store is your one stop shop for nail art supplies, and they ship free anywhere in the world!

And don't forget the coupon code of UTL91 for 10% off your total order :) 

Born Pretty Feather Review

Happy Saturday!

I hope you have better plans than me this weekend - with all of the moving and settling in the last little bits of my grad thesis have been put on the back burner so I'm working on finishing it all off for good!

I've seen a lot of cool real feather manis floating around the blogosphere, and they always intrigued me but I never really gave them a shot until I was sent some feathers from Born Pretty.  I had attempted using the feathers over a month ago and nothing worked, which actually resulted in my Peacock feather mani that I ended up loving so much - I guess I was determined to have a feather on my nail that day :P

That being said, I was determined to make this work.  So I took a piece of these Fancy Feathers in colour #5 and finally managed to get it to stay on my nail! 

I waited for my base of Orly Dayglow to dry, added a layer of topcoat and waited for it to get a bit tacky then gently pushed a cut up piece of feather onto it.  When it was placed to my liking I covered it up with top coat then cut off the little bits that were too big for my nail.

For the rest of the mani I used China Glaze Frostbite, a lovely shimmery royal blue polish.  I then stamped some feathers using the new Bundle Monster set and Konad White polish.

I really like the feather nail art look, but I like it better on others I think. 

If you'd like to give this look a try you can purchase your feathers HERE for $0.99 USD, plus free shipping world wide.  You can also get a 10% discount by using the code provided below:

Born Pretty Holo Polish Review

Hi all,

I'm sure by now you all know that Born Pretty now carries Holo polish.. right? If you didn't know, now you do.  And it's amazing!

 

I'm wearing Holo Polish #12, a gorgeous dark teal-ish colour.  The swatch above is in just natural light, what you mostly see the polish look like.

But here it is in it's full glory under full sunlight.  Look at the sparkle!  The formula on this polish is also amazing - it doesn't cause dragging or bald spots like other holo polishes do.  What you see here is two super easy coats.

It's so pretty, I can't wait to get my hands on more of these!

They retail for $4.59 to $5.59 USD but the bottles are a little bit smaller than regular polish bottles at 6mL.  The holo is super pretty though and definitely worth the wait for shipping!

If you'd like to try out the Born Pretty Holo Polishes you can shop HERE and save 10% off your order using discount code provided below:

*Product provided for honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Copy Cat Manicure

Hi all,

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.  I absolutely fell head over heels over THIS mani done by Marta of Chit Chat Nails, who's manicures continue to awe me every time she posts something new.

So in order to not mess with an already good thing, I pretty much copied her manicure.

I did change some colours because I didn't want it to be 100% the same but still.. I'd say it's 90% copied ;)  I started with Orly Purple Pleather on my pointer and pinky.  This polish is from their Plastix Satin collection and dries to a rubber like finish - it's super pretty!  I added little square studs from Born Pretty Store on my pinky.

My middle and ring finger have a base of Orly Decades of Dysfunction, then I added a little glitter gradient using Orly Pixie Powder and Halo.  Can I just say how pretty Pixie Powder is?  I know you can't see too much of it here but it added the perfect amount of light purple sheen to the tips of my nails - soo pretty.

I then stamped using the splatter image from the Bundle Monster Fan Collection plates and topped it off with OPI The Man With the Golden Gun.

What do you all think?  They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, would you agree?  I loved this mani on Marta and I loved wearing this mani THANKS to Marta :)

Happy Friday!

Glitter Placement + BornPretty Review

Hi all!

I'm so behind on this review!  I've had a few Born Pretty store items to review for a while now but with the move things just kind of got put on the back burner for a bit.  I got these diamond shaped glitter pieces from them with the idea of doing glitter placement after seeing THIS (and all of her other wonder glitter placement manis, seriously!  Can they get any more awesome?).

So.  This is what I came up with.  I obviously need a little bit more practice but I liked the look of this anyway:

I used a base of OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest then one by one using a dotting tool and some top coat I placed the glitter bits on my nail.  I had intended to cover one nail entirely but I learned that I'm not that patient :/

This polish was so hard to photograph!  The pinkish hue is nothing but my shirt reflecting off of my nails, ha.

What do you all think of glitter placement?  I think it's a pretty neat style of nail art and anyone can do it so long as you have the time and patience :)

These diamond shaped glitter are now available here in either gold or silver.  You get TONS of them in one little glass bottle for only $2.09 USD and of course Born Pretty has free shipping world wide.  You can also save 10% off of your order when you use the code UTL91 at check out!

*Glitter provided for review

Gold & Mint mixed mani

Hi all!

Earlier in September I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few nail gals in Halifax.. a few weeks before I had to move away, unfortunately :P  If you'd like to read about it, Kelsie wrote a post over on her (fabulous) blog!

This is the mani I sported for our gathering.  I chose a mint and gold combo, going with ever beautiful Essie Mint Candy Apple as my base for all but my pinkie, and Orly Luxe on my pinky and for all of the gold accents. 

I used small round studs (from Born Pretty Store, found here) on my middle finger and free handed some leopard print.  On my pinky I added a coat of Color Club Gingerbread glitter to add a little extra sparkle.

Thanks for reading, hope you're all having a good start to your week :)

Born Pretty Water Decals review

Hi all!

I'm back today with another fun Born Pretty Store review :)  I've been seeing so many fun manicures lately where water decals were involved, and they've all looked really cute and super easy so I thought I'd give them a try.

For this manicure I started with a perfect nude polish, OPI - My Vampire is Buff, then opted to do a funky french using China Glaze - Too Yacht to Handle & Sun of a Peach.

Once that dried, I cut up my cute little moustache decals found here (although I can't find the exact decal sheet that I have, the one I was sent was solely different shaped mustaches), soaked them in water for about 10 seconds, then using tweezer I carefully peeled them off the backing and placed them onto my nail.

 

Using a tiny piece of paper towel I blotted off the excess water, let that dry then topped it off with top coat.

These water decals are SO easy to use.  My initial thought is that they would be super delicate and they'd fold on themselves but none of that actually happened.  I was even able to move them around on my nail until they were where I wanted them to be.  I absolutely love love love these, a quick and easy form of nail art.  If you're on the go or just don't feel up to spending that extra time and effort on a fun mani, this is definitely the way to go!

  Born Pretty store has a bunch of fun water decals for you to choose from here, and shipping is free world wide!

Don't forget to also take 10% off your purchase by using this coupon code:

Dots & Bows (BornPretty Store Review)

Hi all!

I have another review today for cute little nail art accents from Born Pretty Store.

 

I chose these cute resin bows.  I love seeing manicures that have these adorable bows, they give nails such a girlie feel to it!

To make it even more cutesie I paired the bow with a simple dotticure:

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I started with a base of China Glaze That's Shore Bright from the Sunsational collection, then alternated between China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle and Sun of a Peach for the dots.  Then using some nail glue I stuck on one of the bows.  On my other hand to test out the difference I stuck it on with top coat.

As much as I loved this look.. the bows didn't stay on for very long at all.  Maybe because my nails are too curved and the back of the bow is pretty flat?  The bow stuck on with top coat fell off maybe an hour later, but that may have been my fault as I forgot about it and ran my fingers through my hair.  And the one stuck on with the glue fell off in my sleep so it probably got caught on a sheet.

 

Not the best quality picture but you can see how much the sides of the bow stick up off of my nail.

Regardless of the bows falling off super fast I will still use them.  Maybe for a special occasion or a night out where I'm okay with my mani only lasting a short little while.  They're just too cute to pass up!

These bows retail for $0.99 and shipping from Born Pretty is free world wide!

You can also get 10% off your next purchase using coupon code UTL91:

**Product provided for my consideration and honest review.

Another Studded Mani

Hi all

Here is another manicure that I did using the mixed studs from Born Pretty Store.

I started with Gosh Holographic Hero, a polish I absolutely love!  It applied really well too, which is always a bonus.  Once that was dry I free handed a wide stripe using China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy.

 

Then I added a few various sized studs.  I stuck them on with top coat, then finished it off by adding two thin coats of top coat on top.  

I had to take a photo with flash to show off the pretty holo, and of course the wheel with all the awesome studs!

 I don't know why I waited so long to purchase studs.  It's a form of nail art that can easily give an edgy look to so many different types of manis :)

Thanks for reading, hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

And of course, if you would like to purchase anything from the Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my 10% off coupon code UTL91

Born Pretty Store: Mixed Stud Review

Hi all

I'm sure you're all well aware of the amazing-ness that is the Born Pretty Store.  They carry a wide variety of nail art supplies at amazing price, and the best part is their FREE world wide shipping! 

Today's review was done using star shaped studs from an assorted stud wheel.

There are round and square studs in various sizes, elliptical, heart and hallow studs, in either silver or gold, with some medium sized black studs.  The nail art combinations from this one wheel are absolutely endless.

This manicure was done using OPI Stay the Night from the Mariah Carey collection on my pinkie and index finger.  Sticking with the red and black theme I applied Essie Head Mistress to my middle and ring finger, then sponged on OPI Black Onyx at the tips.

To apply the studs I simply dabbed on a bit of top coat where I intended for the studs to be and applied them using a dotting tool.  I finished it off with a generous layer of top coat to seal them on.

The assorted studs are so. much. FUN!  I absolutely love the fact that you can purchase one simple thing and end up with several different looks since there are a total of 300 studs.  The stars were a little big for my curvy nails and stuck up a little bit but I found that they stayed on really well for the two days that I wore this mani.  I did lose one but simply because I was taking my pants off and the corner of one star got stuck and ended up popping off.

If you would like to try out some of these fun studs or any other nail art goodies, you can take 10% off your purchase by using coupon code UTL91!!

*Products provided for honest review