Today I'm wearing another Barry M Gelly, Sugar Plum. This isn't one of the new ones, but it is new to me. It's a lovely bright, happy pink, with a touch of purple to it.
I taped off the tips with sellotape, and stamped using Konad Black and Born Pretty plate BP-21.
The black smeared slightly in places when I added topcoat. I wish I could find a black that didn't do that!
Still, I'm quite pleased with how these look, and the smears aren't obvious unless you look really closely.
Today I'm trying out some more full-nail water decals from Born Pretty Store. These are a tartan design (which BPS call "colourful grid pattern", lol!) in a red and black colour.
As you can see, you get one large sheet of water decal, which you can cut into any size or shape you want. The decals are available here for $2.18. My pattern is #14, which on the website looks pink and brown, but which is actually a much nicer red and black design.
I didn't think there would be enough decal to cover all ten nails, so I decided to do three nails on each hand and do something else on the other nails.
I started with a base of plain red on three nails, and painted the other two with Zoya Storm, a pretty sparkly black. I then put the decals over the red nails. This meant that the yellow/orange part of the design wasn't actually visible over the red, but I think I prefer the plain red and black that I ended up with.
Application is really easy - just cut to an approximate size, drop into a bowl of water, slide off the card and apply to the nail. Then dab dry with some paper towel, and add topcoat. The topcoat melts off any of the decal overhanging the nail, and adds a super shiny finish to the nail.
I do wish the sheet had been a bit bigger, as I would have liked to have done all ten nails. As it was, I did six easily, and possibly have enough for two small nails to use later. It would not have been possible to do all ten of my nails though. But at that price, it's no hardship to buy two packs!
If you want to try these decals, or similar ones from Born Pretty Store, you can get 10% off using my discount code.
These decals were provided for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more information.
I haven't used water decals in ages, and I've never tried full nail water decals before. I was a touch apprehensive about trying these decals from the Born Pretty Store as when I've used full nail foils or wraps in the past, they've been fiddly, awkward and ended up wrinkled or spoiled.
However, these are water decals, and it turns out they're very different to wraps!
This particular design is available here at the Born Pretty Store, for the bargain price of 99c! As you can see, this comes as two strips of pattern, which is just enough for 10 nails.
I started with a base of white polish (I used Essie Blanc) and then cut the pattern into nail-sized strips. I then dropped them in a bowl of water one by one. The decals slide off the card into the water, and they're easy to manoeuvre into position on the nail. I then pressed my nail into some kitchen roll to soak up the water and fix it in place. Then came the magic bit! I added a coat of Seche Vite, and the extra decal that was sticking out past my nail just melted away!
As you can see, the decals haven't stayed totally perfect - there is a tiny bit of messiness at some of the edges. However, this is only just visible in extreme closeup, and at arm's length, they look really fabulous!
I love bright colours and bold patterns, so this design is perfect for me. I really like it. Since I put these on this afternoon, my nails have held up well to cooking and washing up, and typing, so I have high hopes for the lasting quality of these.
If you want to try these decals, or similar ones from Born Pretty Store, you can get 10% off using my discount code.
These decals were provided for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more information.
Last week I received a surprise package from the Born Pretty Store to review! It was a new stamper, and some Konad White stamping polish.
As you can see, I have a few stampers now. On the left is the new one which I was sent for review. You can buy see that one here on the Born Pretty website. In the middle is a MoYou London one which I bought earlier this year. On the right is my go-to stamper which I use all the time.
The new Born Pretty stamper is a double ended one with a nice comfy hand hold. It's the really squishy, sticky type, which I believe is called a 'mushroom' stamper.
The bigger end is really large, and easily has space for a full nail design.
I really wanted to like this stamper, but I'm afraid I just really struggled to get it to work. When it arrived, the rubber head was really sticky and oily. I washed it well in hot soapy water, and cleaned it with acetone. It was still very sticky though, and I just found it very difficult to get it to pick up and transfer an image. It did work sometimes, but not at all in a reliable way.
Here it is with Konad Black - it has mostly picked up the design, but there are some patchy bits.
Here it is with Models Own Bubblegum - again, patchy in the way it's picked up the design.
Here I've tried a metallic polish, Models Own Gold Chrome, and as you can see, it's hardly picked up any of the design at all.
I found this stamper really comfortable to hold, but it just didn't work reliably enough to use with different polishes. Maybe there is a knack to it that I can't work out, because I know that some people really LOVE these types of stampers. If you know what the trick is, please do tell me! This stamper costs $2.99 on the BPS website, and comes in lots of different colours.
Contrast this with my usual stamper, which picks up the design perfectly, whatever the polish. This stamper is firmer and not sticky. I believe that I bought this stamper from the Born Pretty Store a couple of years ago - you can see it here. I did buy some replacement heads so that I had a contrasting colour - this grey one came from MoYou London. I love this stamper, and use it all the time, and I have no plans to replace it any time soon.
The square stamper is from MoYou London. It is also squishy and a bit stickier than my regular stamper, although nowhere near as much as the new stamper. It works well, and I tend to mostly use it when my nails are very long, so that I can fit a full design on. I always go back to my regular stamper though!
On to the Konad polish! I already have a Konad white and black, and they really are the best polishes I've found for stamping. If you see me stamping with white, then it's this polish. Here are some of the designs I've made using Konad White.
As you can see, it stamps cleanly and crisply over all sorts of colours. It's pigmented enough to be clear and visible over dark colours and pastels, and with bold designs or in fiddly delicate ones. My only issue with the Konad polishes is if you add topcoat too quickly, in which case it can bleed. But patience and proper drying avoid any problems.
You can get Konad polishes on the Born Pretty Store website here in a variety of colours (I've got my eye on the pale pink!) for $7.59 each.
As always, you can get 10% off everything at BPS using my discount code.
I received these products for review purposes, but words and opinions are entirely my own. I do not receive anything if you use my discount code, although when it's been used ten times, BPS will let me host a giveaway for my readers! See my Disclosure page for more details.
Recently I was sent this set of beatiful studs from the Born Pretty Store to review. Aren't they gorgeous?
This is a set of very shiny metallic studs in circles and oval shapes, in a variety of bright colours. See here for the details on the store website, where they cost $2.32 for this pack.
I decided to wear these with some of my favourite holographic polish. I used Jade Deja Vu and Jade Mystic Gold, and then stuck on the studs using topcoat.
The studs themselves are light, and have a flat back. Because they are quite large, I bent the oval ones slightly by bending them round a pen, so that they lie flush on my nails. This was really easy to do, and makes them lie on the nail much more easily.
I think these studs are pretty fantastic, and they're even better paired with a sparkly holo polish. They looked amazing in the sunshine!
If you fancy trying out these, you can get an extra 10% off using my discount code.
I received this product for review purposes, but words and opinions are entirely my own. I do not receive anything if you use my discount code, although when it's been used ten times, BPS will let me host a giveaway for my readers! See my Disclosure page for more details.
You may have seen my previous post about using liquid latex to help with nail art clean-up. I used a generic, cheap cosmetic latex. However, you may well have seen things like Liquid Palisade, which is a similar thing designed purely for nail art, and which sells for over $20. In today's post, I'm trying out Born Pretty Store's own version of this, which is a fraction of the price!
This is called Kasako Docai and is described as a "peel off liquid tape and base coat" on the Born Pretty website. It sells for $3.99 for a 15ml bottle, and is available here.
The first thing I noticed about this is the fragrance. Unlike my basic liquid latex, it has a pretty floral smell, which is much nicer than the gluey chemical smell of pure liquid latex. The brush is nice, and makes the liquid easy to apply.
I've used this in several manis over the last couple off weeks, to give this a pretty thorough testing.
I used it with this purple polish (I think it was Rimmel Ultra Violet) before doing some stamping. You can see the freshly applied liquid on my thumb is still white, but on my little finger, which has had time to dry, it's turned clear.
This is what it looked like after stamping. The liquid peeled right off, and left me with the finished design! You can see the full post here.
Next up was my orange criss cross gradient nails - read the full post here. I took some step by step photos here, so you can see the whole process.
1. Paint on - liquid is white, so you can see where you've painted it.
2. Wait to dry (liquid goes clear) and do your nail art. I used a mesh of striping tape.
3. I then sponged a gradient over the tape. You can see the strong orange polish all over my fingertips, as well as the glitter particles.
4. Peel off! The tape and the latex together made this come off all in one piece, leaving perfectly clean skin underneath!
Ta daa!
Edit: I also used this with this weekend's louboutin reverse painted nails (see full post here) where I painted behind my nails. I managed to get a better photo showing the latex peeling off - it's not easy to take a photo of this! I need an extra hand!
As you can see, this peels off really easily (I use a cocktail stick) and leaves the skin underneath perfectly clean, with no additional clean up needed.
I tried this out with watermarbling too, but found that it didn't work quite as well. It worked, but it doesn't seem to like water much, and the texture went a bit strange. It worked fine, but was a bit fiddly to peel off.
Edit: I tried this again with a thicker layer, left to dry really thoroughly before marbling, and it worked really well! It was brilliant, made clean up very easy indeed.
Overall, I really like this. It works well - it's easy to apply, smells nice and peels off easily. Almost every mani I've posted over the last month has featured this - certainly every stamping and gradient design. One thing I really like about this is that it doesn't stick to itself, which is really handy! With my bargain liquid latex I posted about previously, you have to be very careful not to touch your fingers together, as it pulls all the latex off! This one doesn't have that problem.
I certainly wouldn't want to do gradient or stamping manis without this product now: it's a totally invaluable part of the process, which makes everything much easier and less messy.
You can always get 10% off anything at the Born Pretty Store using my discount code.
I received this product for review purposes, but words and opinions are entirely my own. I do not receive anything if you use my discount code, although when it's been used ten times, BPS will let me host a giveaway for my readers! See my Disclosure page for more details.
These are the nails I've worn for the last couple of days - more thermal polish with stamping, which is one of my favourite things to do.
This is Dance Legend Thermo Trio, which shifts from a pretty pale lilac when warm, through pink to dark purple when hot. I then stamped over this with Barry M Silver Foil and Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-48.
I love how this came out, although it was really hard to capture the cold colour, as it's been so warm recently. I'm always really hot at the moment!
The Born Pretty 48 plate is fast becoming one of my favourites. The pattern is so pretty. I especially like the swirly bit on my ring finger.
