Freehand with Born Pretty Nail Art Pens

*press sample*

Hello and happy Friday to my awesome readers!

More Born Pretty products today. Hope you aren't getting to sick of it! :) 

I decided to try these nail art pens even though they are very outside of my comfort zone. I have never considered myself good at freehand nail art in any way. haha These seemed pretty easy to use though. You have to do a lot of shaking and pumping of the tip before your first use and throughout use. It gets kind of annoying after a while but I still got the job done!

I quickly discovered that my planned design was going to have to be much more simplified and I was going to have to roll with the punches in terms of not having every flower turn out the same. It sort of looks like something a 5 year old could do but I also think it's cute in it's own way. ;)

My base is OPI Pink Friday. After I drew my flowers and dots I added a thin coat of NOPI Kim-pletely in Love for some shimmer.

To attempt to make the design a little better I added some black rhinestones in the middle. I think this helped a bit...after a while the whole mani grew on me. I went into Sally's with this mani and the lady working there was so impressed I did these myself...I just had to laugh. :)

I really think the pens I used made a big difference in how easy and mess-free the whole freehand process was. I am still intimidated by freehand, but not as much as I used to be!

Do you prefer freehand or stamping nail art?

You can find these nail art pens (there are more colors available) on the Born Pretty site *here*. You can use my code (AMG10) to get an extra 10% off your order as well!

*Product was sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

My Birthday Nails: A Dotticure!

Good morning!

Today is my birthday and I did some simple but fun nail art to celebrate. I chose to use my 2 favorite colors in various shades (mint and pink) for the dots. I used China Glaze Hang Ten-toes, LCN I Love Mint, Sation Plenty of Frogs, and OPI PInk Friday. On top of a simple white base there is one coat of It's All About the Glam from NOPI's Kardashian collection to add a little shimmer. These are such fun nails, perfect for a birthday!

Today is going to be mostly low key, but my husband and I have planned a quick trip to Atlanta next weekend to do a little birthday shopping and get a break from life. I am SO excited!

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Muave

Hello everyone!

I have a sick toddler and she hardly slept last night and neither did I. And this probably means we are going to cancel our Atlanta trip this weekend. ;( 

At least I have nail polish for a pick me up, right?! haha Dustin bought me this NOPI a while back and I am happy he did because it's so fun for fall. This is called Just Busta Mauve. I am loving the blue glitter/shimmer! This is 3 coats:

What do you ladies think of this shade? I wanted to do some sort of layering or nail art with this but was having a hard time coming up with a good color/theme to use. 

What nail art or layering would you add this base?

Born Pretty Store Floral Nail Decals

Hello ladies!

My manicure today features some nail stickers from Born Pretty Store. These are a very easy, no-brainer way to get nail art and sometimes that all I have time for. haha 

So here is what I did with the stickers I got:

I layered Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White Out and then one coat of NOPI It's All About the Glam on top. This shimmer is pretty subtle but still adds a little something to the overall look. 

The stickers lay flat and adhered well to my nails. They are a little delicate but that's to be expected because of how thin they are anyway. They are super cute and girly...totally my style. ;)

You can find the stickers I used and many more from Born Pretty *here*. Also, you can get 10% off your order with this code: AJ10W21. Don't forget about free worldwide shipping too! :)

And finally, you have a little less than 12 hours to enter my Born Pretty Giveaway! Enter *here* if you haven't already! :)

What do you guys think of these stickers? Would you use them?

NOPI Iceberg Lotus + China Glaze Optical Illusion

Hey readers!

The base for the manicure I am showing today is Iceberg Lotus from NOPI. This is an emerald green shimmer with a purple duochrome that doesn't show on the nail unfortunately. But despite that, this is a very pretty polish. Below is 3 coats.

Next, I did a gradient with China Glaze Optical Illusion. This photo really doesn't capture it though. I was a little disappointed because of that. But still, this was a fun combo to wear!

Thanks for reading!

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My First Half Moon Mani

Happy Friday! Even though it's been a 4 day week, the weekend can never come soon enough! 

My manicure today is a bit of a fail, but I like the idea of it...had I used different polishes I think it would have come out a lot nicer. For the base, I chose Revlon Aloof, from the Edgy Elegance collection. I really like that Revlon is coming out with colors that I like recently, but their formula almost always bubbles up on me. You can probably tell in my pics. Even when I layered NOPI My Lifesaver on top the bubbles came through making it look terrible!

I used round stickers to make the half moon, but probably should have moved them down a little further.

Thinking another coat of polish would maybe fix the bubbles, I added Revlon Whimsical on top. I think I should have just given up at this point. haha Whimsical is another one I wanted to love but the glitter is SO sparse. I ended up doing about 2 coats of this before bed, and by the time I woke up it was a wrinkled, bubbled mess! Do any of you know if Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air is more dense in glitter with one coat?

So that's my nail fail for ya today! ;) What are your experiences with Revlon polishes?

Gold Skittles with NOPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

Hello readers! 

I am on day 3 of this mani! I think that's a record, seriously! I used Out the Door fast dry topcoat and it still looks perfect. :)

So the base for this is Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam from the Kardashian collection. This pic is from my swatch post of this collection. I am so obessed with this color! It's a one coater. And the creme shade is so unique. The fact that I have had this on for almost 3 days without getting sick of it is definitely saying something!!

My mani inspiration comes from a fellow blogger that I follow. I tried so hard to remember which one and I just couldn't. So if you happen to know who this idea came from, I would love to give them credit! 

Middle finger: Claire's Gold Glitter topcoat as the base and striping tape used to make the design.

Ring: Milani Jewel FX in Gold

Thumb: ELF Golden Goddess

I will probably take this off today, but even if I had to wear it for a week I wouldn't be complaining. ;)

Super Random Swatches!

Hi readers! :)

Today's post is definitely all over the place. But these pics have been sitting around on my computer for a while and I didn't want them to fall between the cracks and be forgotten!

This is Orly Frolic. This was part of a giveaway I won recently. Good in one coat.

This is OPI DS Signature, also a part of the giveaway I won. Yummy holo! This is 3 coats.

This is Sephora by OPI Just a Little Dangerous. This is 1 coat.

Here is OPI Ink matte suede. This is 2 coats.

And finally, here is a franken Dustin made over NOPI Kim-pletely in Love. A fun spin on all those rainbow glitters out there!

What do you think of these? Randomness is fun sometimes right? :)

Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolors: My Picks

Hi everyone! I am back from a road trip this weekend and it's always good to be home. I keep saying next weekend I will actually relax, and then something always comes up. haha

My post for today consists of my favorites from the NOPI Kardashian collection. As much as it pains me to contribute to their empire in any way, I can't deny watching them on E! was a favorite pastime of mine once I hit about 34 weeks pregnant last year and was justified in sitting at home all day watching tv. :P 

Ok, so my first pick is It's All About the Glam. I occasionally fall hard for a soft but beautiful shade. It happened twice in this collection! This is 3 coats, you can see it could have gone for 4th, but I still think this looks ok. The shimmer in this polish is PERFECT for winter!

Next is Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam. This is a deep dark teal creme perfect in one coat! I like that this is unexpected, yet still simple and chic. PS the sparkles you see on the bottle are from my husband's franken supplies and this bottle made it a little too close to the glitter explosion that was our kitchen table. :)

Kendall on the Katwalk is one of my faves but also nearly impossible to capture! I tried for a while, but my camera was apparently not up for the task. This is predominantly blue glitter with green and purple mixed in as well. I believe this is 2 coats below with topcoat.

This is Kim-pletely in Love. Not sure if this title rings true for her IRL anymore, but that doesn't stop this color from being gorgeous! This is the other understated shade I fell in love with.This is a sophisticated pastel pink with a shimmer that shows mainly blue, but also a hint of purple in some light. This one is very sheer...this is 4 coats below. Although I could have stopped at 3 and been happy.

And for my final pick in this collection- Follow Me on Glitter. This is basically China Glaze Tinsletown with rainbow glitter throughout. It's such a funky combo that works so well together! This is 3 coats with topcoat.

I will say that there would have been another pick, but it is very very similar to one of my husband's Christmas frankens, Golden Rainbow, so I didn't feel the need for both. That one is Disco Dolls. Funny how you think you have an original idea that really isn't so original after all. haha

So that's it for this collection! I picked these up at Walmart. 

Until next time, thanks for reading! :)

Hard Candy Breakup

Hi everyone! I am finally getting around to posting today... I was with my BFF since first grade today. I never get to see her anymore :(. She took some family photos for us and I am so excited to see how they turn out! We also bonded over our mutual love for cosmetics. <3

So today I am showing you Hard Candy Breakup. Besides their matte topcoat, this is my first time using Hard Candy polish. This is a glitter topcoat and it's super pretty! I haven't come across anything like this before, but I think the China Glaze 2011 re-release of Snow Globe is slightly similar. 

All the Hard Candy colors come with cute rings that match the shade. 

Rather than doing a full mani, I wanted to show what this glitter looks like over different colors. Although, I am wondering if that was pointless because I am not sure how available this shade is anymore.

Regardless- here is the first batch I tried Breakup over. L-R China Glaze 3-D Fantasy, Color Club Pucci-licoius, Wet N Wild Creme Black, and Color Club Get Your Lem-On.

And with Breakup on top:

And since I love glitter with a matte topcoat I slapped some on before taking this off. I used Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love.

And the second set: L-R Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Nopi My Lifesaver, Dr.'s Remedy Bold Baby Blue, Color Club Yum Gum.

With Breakup...LOVE these combos minus the blue...I don't think this looks that great with shimmer.

And again matte- I am so loving the white with matte glitter!

You can find Hard Candy at Walmart for $4. Also be sure to like their Facebook page because they do have the occasional giveaway! So which combo do you ladies like best?

*Hard Candy was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Ombre Manicure

Hey! I am back finally... things have been crazy lately. I never really got better from being sick 2 weeks ago...I just went to the doctor today and I have MONO! ugh I really hope it doesn't affect my posting. At least I can still do nails even when I don't feel good right?!

So this mani is from last night and I really wasn't into it since I wasn't feeling too hot. This is an ombre, or gradient look. I chose to use my favorite color...although my middle finger (NOPI My Lifesaver) looks a lot more blue here. A tip if you don't have 5 different shades of a color: mix in white to lighten it up.

Thumb:  Sinful Colors Rise and Shine

Index: Sinful Colors Mint Apple

Middle: Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver

Ring: Revlon Minted

Pinky: Sinful Colors White on White with a layer of Revlon Minted

We topped it off with Bundle Monster plate 208. Sorry for the overall quality of the mani...I know it's not the best!

To make up for that, here are some more baby nails for you guys!

This is Sinful Colors Rise and Shine with Nubar 2010 on top.

Then we did Zoya Charla with Zebra print...but don't worry, as soon as she got in the bath an hour later, her mani came right off!

My little polish lover. <3 (She only has a nail polish bottle for this pic!)

Hope those of you in the USA have fun Memorial Day weekend plans. Don't forget...my giveaway ends in 5 days! Click the pic in the top right of my blog to enter! <3

Multicolor Scotch Tape Manicure

Hi polish lovers! I hope everyone is having a great Friday...it has been snowy and cold today where I live and it's almost May! Pathetic! haha

Anyway...here is the design Dustin came up with recently: 

I'm calling it a scotch tape mani, but we really used striping tape. It's easier to ensure even lines that way! 

I love how this turned out and I love this color combo!

Here's what we used:

Sinful Colors 24/7, NOPI My Lifesaver, and Claire's Tiger Lily, Pure Ice Busted

Doing these types of looks are always suspenseful because you never know if it's all going to look good until you peel the tape off! :P

Have a great weekend for me...my little town has nothing to do so I am sure whatever ya'll are doing is going to be a LOT more exciting! :)

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston

Hey guys! I have OPI's Guy Meets Gal-veston from the Texas Collection for you today. These (and most pics I have seen) really don't do this polish justice. There is a little shrinkage going on because I used Seche Vite on top. Kinda disappointing, but I know better now! I love this polish and am dying to try Houston We Have a Purple.

This "sorbet finish" is so fun...I wish this finish came in every color! You guys probably think I'm crazy because it just looks average here. But in person, and especially in sunlight, this color looks so juicy! Like a cherry Jolly Rancher melted on my nails! haha

And here is the design Dustin and I decided on. Inspired by the juicyness of Guy Meets Gal-veston, what better than cherries?

Here's what we used: 

Bundle Monster plate BM17 and 2 and Born Pretty plate M73

Stamped with Konad White, and Dustin filled in the ring finger cherry using Sinful Colors Innocent and other colors from Born Pretty's stamping polish set.

If you haven't already checked out this polish, I highly recommend it! And it looks 123649987 times more amazing sunlight! Of course I tried to capture it, but it won't be real summer sun here until June. How depressing is that?!

Thanks for being so awesome and checking out my designs! Have a great day!