BPS Review | Thermal Polish & Clear Stamper

Hiya! I'm back with more Born Pretty Store goodies. The one I am most excited about is the CLEAR STAMPER! I combined that with the green thermal polish they sent me to create this look:

(Almost) Monochrome Dotticure

Well, it's been far too long since I posted! Have had zero motivation to edit pics and write posts lately D: but I've still been painting my nails and getting photos! I'll get caught up... one day...

Today I have a dotticure for you, inspired by Simply Nailogical on YouTube. Specifically, a comment left on this video by Nat the Otaku (hehe, love the username) suggesting an alternate colour combination. I don't think Cristine will ever do this one since she doesn't like plain creme polishes much--so I did it instead!

I started with plain nails, wearing only a base coat, and just used a dotting tool to cover these with five polishes: Zoya Purity (white), Soulstice Spa Manchester (light grey), Essence Movie Star (dark grey), China Glaze Liquid Leather (black), and Revlon #480 Revlon Red (red... obvs).

A little time-consuming, but easy-peasy! Once the nails were pretty much totally covered, I let them dry and then topped with Seche Vite for their protection. I intentionally left little bits of naked nail peeking out here and there--I like how it looks when the light shines through them from behind.

I know these aren't the greatest photos--by the time I looked at them full-size and realised this, the design had already chipped too much to re-take, so... oh well. They look great IRL :D

Thanks for the inspiration, random YouTube commenter! This would look really cool in rainbow colours, too... or glitter placement... or contrasting finishes...

See you next time! xoxo

Better Late Than Never...! Valentine Holo Gradient

So, I'm like three days late on this, but... here are my Valentine's Day nails for this year!

I'm actually kind of sad about these! I used two holo polishes, but it decided to be rainy and grey when I was taking the photos, so I didn't get to show off their brilliance. However, I do like the pretty colours. I used Color Club Cosmic Fate, the bottle shown here, which is actually their peachy-orange Halo Hue. The red is one I made myself--LA Colors Aztec Orange (it is not orange) with a pinch of SpectraFlair added. I like how it made the other shade look more pink somehow. I swear it really is the one in the bottle pictured!

Blurry flash shot inside, since it was the only way I could make the rainbows come out

The heart glitters are from a Nicole by OPI polish called Love Your Life, and I pretty much ever only use it around this time of year, haha.

Topped with Seche Vite, of course.

It's a shame I didn't get to show off the holo to its fullest extent--it was lovely!--but, dat gradient. The red one is just a wee bit sheer, enough to make a beautiful, seamless blend.

I hope you liked these! See you next time :) xoxo

Christmas Day 2015 | Born Pretty Store Decals :)

Merry Christmas, everyone :)

(click to enlarge)

I've had this idea all month! The tips are done with a white base (OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls), red acrylic paint for the stripes, and a gold glitter striper for the frame around it. This part took ages, and the stripes aren't perfect, but considering how curved my nails are I think it came out pretty nicely. They look much better at a real-life size and normal distance :)

The stickers are from--you guessed it--Born Pretty Store! They aren't actually made of metal, as the description on the site suggests. They are, however, nice-quality stickers with pretty metallic gold accents and details. And they're the perfect size for this, even on my tiny nails! Someone with normal sized hands would have some breathing room around the cuticle ;)

This is all sealed in with Seche Vite for shine and protection.

I hope you have/had a lovely Christmas day if you celebrate it, and if not, that you've enjoyed some time off work and a lovely holiday season with family and friends.
(And of course, if you want to pick up these or any other great nail or beauty supplies at Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my discount code CITYG10 to get 10% off your order, which ships free anywhere in the world!)

See you next time for some pretty New Years nails! :D xoxo

Born Pretty Store Review | Shell Sheet Sticker

Hiya! I have another Christmas manicure for you today :D This one features a previously-untried polish from Picture Polish, as well as some pretty holographic "shell paper" from Born Pretty Store!

(click to enlarge)

Born Pretty Store Review | Floral Stencils

Good day! Just in time for the holidays, I have received a new set of products to review from Born Pretty Store! I have lots of festive, seasonal items which I will post about after this, but the one I was most excited to try is these floral nail stencils!

(click to enlarge)

Plus, Christmas means summer here in Australia, so these aren't out of place at all ;) Read on to see more!

Chic Matte Red Tips

Hello my dears :) Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US!

I have been a bit under the weather and felt like a sort of palette-cleanser for my nails. I decided on this simple, sophisticated, matte French-tip look:

(please click to enlarge)

This one's quite easy to describe :) I used my usual base coat (Seche Retain, by the way, which is discontinued and I am struggling to replace it! Why are there always a thousand things I don't need, and the one I do gets axed??) and then two coats of OPI Lost on Lombard for the French tips. I like this deep, muted sort of red. It reminds me of autumn... and wine.

The matte topcoat I added over it all is Picture Polish G'Day Matte.

This is one of those rare times when both hands match, and I've been wearing it for quite a few days now. It feels very clean... but I think next time I'll do something dazzling and sparkly. Stay tuned for that! xoxo

Metallic Crackle Gradient

Hello!
I sometimes find it hard to leave trends in the past. I bought these crackle polishes when they were cool, and dangit Bobby, I will continue to use them, at least occasionally.

Attempting to come up with different ways to use them, I painted this stripe/gradient sort of look over silver :)

Super easy to create, and nice to look at!

The base is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in #220 Celeb City. Your standard silver foily polish. Over top of that, three OPI crackles--Red Shatter, Black Shatter, and Turquoise Shatter. I presume you won't need my usual parenthetical explanations of which is which. I just swiped these on side to side, trying to vary the heights of each line (most noticeably on the thumb). Easy-peasy! It's topped with two coats of Seche Vite for smoothness and shine.

I think one could make some pretty cool designs to represent their country, sports team, etc if you had the right crackle colours :D

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the rest of your week xoxo

Born Pretty Store Review | Stamped Stars

Hi everyone! Man, I cannot seem to keep myself out of trouble. No sooner had I recovered from the flu then I sprained my ankle. It's minor, but still enough to hurt a lot and make work that much more draining. AND I broke a nail :(  it's the middle one on my swatching hand!

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

Fortunately it's just a small break on the side, and I was able to patch it up. It's behaving for now...

I got this stamping plate from Born Pretty Store and wanted to use that big star image in the middle, so that's what I did!

Matching Nails & Dress: Red, White, and Black

Hello! I'm finally getting better, woo! I'm always amazed (in a horrified kind of way) how much mucous one head can produce...

On a less gross note, I went to a wedding recently and wore a new dress, and decided to do a set of matching nails to go with it :)

I really love how these look, especially with the outfit! Read on to see :)

Zebra Stripes & Bows

Hello! The last two weeks have been insane on my end! But I found some time for nail art, and did this relatively simple design I've had on my mind :)

The base is OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, topped with a coat of OPI Happy Anniversary! for some pretty shimmer. The stripes are painted on with my black Stripe Rite striper, and then the little bow is from Born Pretty Store :)

I hope you like this one! I'm really enjoying it.

Thanks for reading today! My schedule has calmed down now, so I should be able to post with a little more regularity. See you next time! xoxo

I Love London! | Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate Review

Good day! I have one more BPS stamping plate to show you today. It's all British-themed, so I used some appropriate colours and as many images from it as I could to create this cute mani!

MUD Swatch & Review, Part 2

Good day! Today is the day of the wedding! By the time you read this, I'll have had: a very busy day of doing nails and getting ready, the privilege of attending my friend's ceremony, and several offerings from the open bar at the reception ;)

I have three more MUD polishes to show you today. Let's get to it!

Red on Red Stamping... or, Nail Fail :P

Hiya! This post is actually coming at you from the archive, because 1) I couldn't bear to take off my little goat for quite a few days after my last post, and 2) I've been preparing for a trip to Perth in a few days! A great friend of mine is getting married! :D I'm doing nails for the bride and her wedding party, so I have a whole wheel of bridal-themed nails I'll show you, as well as pics of theirs, when I get back!

I did this manicure soon after I received my last Born Pretty Store haul, and I consider it a fail. It was a lot prettier in my head, but the red I chose for the base colour was just too similar to the red BPS stamping polish, and it barely showed up. I didn't post it at the time... But I figured I should show you anyway--it was pretty at some angles, and definitely falls into the "subtle stamping" category.

Chinese New Year 2015 - The Year of the Goat

Hullo :) I hope you've had a nice weekend! I am thankful to say that although Cyclone Marcia caused some problems farther north, my area escaped with naught but some localised flooding. Everything I've read seems to indicate that no serious injuries or deaths were reported, so that's awesome!

I know it's a few days after the official start of the Chinese/Lunar New Year, but I did these cute nails for the occasion and decided I had to show you. Besides, I promised Allison (my super-sweet contact at Born Pretty Store) that I would, so... this one is for you! I know it isn't a sheep, but I just started painting and this cute little guy came out :)

(click for full-size... I couldn't bear to shrink this one down too much)

Valentine's Day 2015 - Gradient Glittery Tips & Bows

Hello! Today, of course, I have my Valentine nails :)

This design is heavily inspired by one of my favourite YouTube artists--her channel is now called ArcadiaNailArt, but her old channel is IndigoNova1, and this video is beautiful. I used the same idea, but in seasonal colours, plus some handpainted bows!

Love Roses | Valentine Nails

Hello darlings!

Yesterday's Valentine design was all sweet and cute, so I wanted something more classic and romantic today. What's better than deep red with roses?

I started with one coat--yes, one!--of the polish you see in the above photo. It's China Glaze Adventure Red-y, and it's fantastic. Buttery and creamy and a nice shade of deep red. I added a coat of topcoat and let that sit for an hour or so before carrying on.

The roses and the word "love" on the thumb are all done with acrylic paint and a tiny brush. I used black, white, and red to create a few shades of red with which to paint the roses. It's hard to explain the method--I jused used the dark shade first to create some petal shapes spiralling outwards, and then went lighter and lighter to create more definition, shadows and highlights, using the base colour as one of the shades in the rose. It's not the best nail photo, but here's a pic of what kind of inspired this--a Cadbury Roses box:

Anyway, after the roses, I used pure black to create some small leaves, and white to paint the word on the thumbnail. One more coat of Seche Vite, et voilà!

They're definitely more abstract roses. The "idea of" roses, as I think Robin Moses would say :) What do you think?

I'll have one more Valentine look up before Saturday--come back soon to see it, and have a great rest of your week! xoxo

My Take on the 2015 Colour Of The Year -- Marsala

Hello and welcome! To start off 2015 I've been giving my nails a wee bit of a break. I can't leave 'em alone for too long, but I've been trying to take extra care of them the past few days with oil and such rather than doing lots of painting.

However, I decided it was time I jumped on the Pantone Colour Of The Year bandwagon, which is something I've never paid much attention to in the past. I like exploring different nail shades and art styles without much consideration for the current trends or seasons. But the colour they have chosen for 2015 is Marsala, which I can best describe as an earthy, muted wine/taupe hybrid. It's not the type of shade I normally wear, and as such, I don't have any polishes that are an exact match. A chance to go for something outside my usual? Right on! So I went with the closest option in my stash--OPI Lost On Lombard--and did a chevron-tip look :)

Blingy Tree on Crackle

Merry Christmas, everyone! (Or Christmas Eve for some of you.) My second-to-last holiday mani features a tree made of rhinestones on a sparkly-crackle background!

The base is Ulta Snow White, topped with China Glaze Luxe And Lush, a big chunky iridescent flakie from their first Hunger Games collection. I think it makes a white base look all wintery and snowy :D

Once that dried, I added a coat of OPI Red Shatter, then Seche Vite topcoat. While that topcoat was wet, I made the little tree out of green rhinestones, then added a star glitter on top and a brown square stone below for the trunk. Cute, right? :D One more topcoat sealed that off and I'm good to go.

I'm still stuffed from a big Christmas lunch. What are you doing for festivities this year?

I'll squeeze in one more holiday mani before the day is totally over, so check back soon for that one. And have a wonderful day! xoxo

Holiday Water Marble

Hi hi! Wow, Christmas is coming up fast! I suppose it's the hot weather here, but it still doesn't feel like Christmas to me. Maybe that's why I find myself running out of time! I'll have to post every day for the next few days to get all my holiday manicures up in time :)

Today I have a festive water marble topped with a very special seasonal polish from piCture pOlish called Holiday!