Patriotic Water Decals!

Hello again!

I am back today with my patriotic nail art as promised. I got these just in time for the holiday from Born Pretty Store. I really loved how this mani turned out and it was my first time trying water decals which turned out to be even more easy than I thought it would be. For some reason I had never heard good things about water decals but I decided to give them a try anyway. I can definitely say it won't be my last time....I'm kind of addicted!  

I used a white polish from Born Pretty Store as my base and then did 1 thin layer of LA Girl 3D Silver before adding the decals. I cut out each design and soaked it in water for a few seconds and the design slid right off the paper. I just used my finger tip to pick it up and place it on my nail. It dried within seconds and stayed put with no wrinkling once I put on top coat.

Have you ever used water decals before?

This design can be found on the Born Pretty Store site *here*. You can also find the white polish I used *here*. As always, code AMG10 will get you 10% off your order!

*Products sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

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.

Born Pretty Neon Studs Review + My 600th Post!!

*Press Sample*

Hey guys!

This is my 600th post on this blog! That's pretty crazy, right?! I hope to have many more to come. :)

I mentioned in yesterday's post I have more Born Pretty Store items to share, so here's another review this time for neon studs! I think these are pretty cute and the size is just right...not too big or too small. Very easy to pick up and work with. And you can't go wrong with neon! I love that it's so popular everywhere...I don't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon. ;)

These studs were an extremely easy way to jazz up an otherwise plan mani. I placed them in a half moon shape over a still wet coat of NYX Salon Formula in Acid Pink (almost a one coat polish!). I know they seem small and annoying to deal with but trust me, they really aren't and I finished both hands in record time.

Would you use these neon studs in your nail art?

You can find these studs and many more 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.

Hello Kitty Foil Appliques

*press sample*

Good morning!

I have a fun Born Pretty Store product to share with you today. In fact, I recently got a bunch of fun things from there to review so you will be seeing more Born Pretty items pretty frequently here in the near future!

Look at how cute these little appliques are! First off, you get a TON of these (1,000 to be exact!). I don't see myself running out ever...this pic isn't even all of what comes in a bag. These are super thin metal/foil pieces that can be used in nail art.

I kept it pretty simple because I felt like these appliqués made a statement pretty well on their own. I never get tired of anything Hello Kitty! My base is Orly Oh Cabana Boy and the accent is Orly Luxe with Jordana Funky Gold Town on top. 

My nails are super curved so these didn't lay flat on my nail without some coaxing. All I had to do was gently press a foil piece against the corner of a table to get some bend in it that would help it sit flush with my nail shape. I just stuck in in my polish once it was slightly tacky but not too wet and topped with topcoat. These stayed on for about 48 hours before any began to fall off. Considering how often I do my nails, I thought that was pretty good! haha

Do you like the idea of these metal nail appliqués?

I don't currently see the Hello Kitty design available on the Born Pretty site, but there are a bunch of other designs to be found *here* including some wheels with a variety of shapes included.

If you use my coupon code (AMG10) you can get an extra 10% off your order! There is always free worldwide shipping, plus Born Pretty's prices can't be beat. 

Do you plan on picking any of these up?

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

Born Pretty Store Luminous Candy Color Polish Swatches!

Hi ladies!

This is a pic heavy post full of bright, fun colors so I'm gonna keep it short on words.

Today I am showing you a set I was recently sent to review by Born Pretty Store. These are all bright, some neon and they glow in the dark!

 As with pretty much all polishes from Born Pretty, there aren't names given to the polishes, just numbers.

This is #18. A super bright neon orange. Even brighter in person!

#16 is a tad lighter than #18. Sort of reminds me of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! haha

#2 is a bright yellow creme. There was a random streak of pink in my bottle, but that didn't come out on the nail. Weird.

#3 is a bright, pastel green. I love shades like this.

#4 is a super bright neon green! Another one that's much brighter in person.

#6 is a medium blue creme.  I was hoping this would have more of a neon quality, but still a pretty shade anyway.

#10 is a neon purple creme. Love this color for summertime.

#9 is pastel purple. I really like this shade and it might even be unique to my stash!

 #11 is a happy pink. This one is a tad brighter in person.

And finally, #13 is a lighter, bright pink. I think this is one of my favorites from the collection, I wore it as a full mani for a few days and was really impressed with the lack of wear I had.

So here are the polishes under a blacklight. You can see that some are stronger than others. 

But in terms of glowing in the dark, they all really glow! This is a crappy pic, but you get the idea. With the pink I wore as a full mani, I forgot that it glowed in the dark and at night I was so surprised with how brightly it was glowing. I think these glow brighter on the nail than the bottle shows.

And there they all are again...which ones are your favorites?

The formula on all of these were really good and I think they are fun colors for spring and summer. You can purchase these as a set, or individually. The bottles are 7mL, so mini but not small enough that you can't use it a good amount of times. You can find them on Born Pretty's site *here*. I have a 10% off code that you can apply to your purchase as well: AJ10W21. Plus, there is worldwide free shipping, as always!

*Products sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions. 

MeLissa Lacquer Polish Swatches and Review

Hi!

I took an unexpected break from blogging this week...oops. I guess I needed it. :) 

Today I am sharing a new indie brand with you called MeLissa Lacquer! I'm just gonna get right to it:

This is From Your Valentine. I layered one coat over Orly Fresh...I am just now realizing how unflattering this color is on me! haha So if you can look past that, From Your Valentine is a pretty glitter. The flowers were very easy to place, as well. 

This is the The One That Got Away. One easy coat over LCN Lilac Blossom. Such a pretty combo!

And finally, this is Spring Fling.  I layered one coat over a green jelly from Born Pretty Store. The matte glitters had some issues spreading where I wanted them but I managed to make it work. I think the end result is fun...definitely springy!

So that's it! Which ones are you eyeing?

You can see more of Melissa's creations in her Etsy shop *here*.


*Polish sent for review in exchange for honest my opinions.

Born Pretty Bow Nail Stickers Review

Hey everyone!

By now we all know Born Pretty Store has a plethora of nail related items and their selection of nail stickers is pretty big. I love bows, so I knew I would like these stickers. I was surprised at how many you get! Below is a pic of the actual  sheet of stickers...excuse the funky lighting. It's definitely going to take me forever to use them up.

What better to go with bows than a pink polish? This is 2 coats Kleancolor Glamour Barbie. This is super pretty! It's a very shimmery, almost metallic base with silver glitters.

 The stickers applied very easily and laid perfectly flat. They have kind of a soft, puffy texture to them which is interesting.

I think these stickers are an easy alternative to stamping because the end look has a similar effect. I topped these off with topcoat and the mani lasted perfectly until I was ready to remove it.

You can find these stickers for sale *here*. I also have a 10% off code to use on your next order! It's AJ10W21. :)

What are you thoughts on the mani I did using these stickers?

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

Shimmer Polish Recent Releases Swatches and Review

Hi readers!

Today I've got some newer polishes from Shimmer Polish to share with you. I have reviewed lots of Shimmer in the past and you can view those posts *here*. For reference, I did one coat of all of these and the formula as always is great. I love how one coat gives the perfect amount of coverage.

Sarah is pretty fabulous. Probably because blue and purple glitters are my favorite. ;) I layered this over China Glaze Aquadelic. Such a pretty combo!

Adrienne is mostly about blue and gold glitters. I thought it would really pop over Kleancolor Pastel Blue and I was not disappointed with the outcome! Love it.

Karen is made up of mostly fine/small glitters which makes this easy to still do stamping or other nail art over. I layered this over Sweet Polish from Born Pretty Store.

Liana has a bit of a dark tinted base...it's really not noticeable over darker colors but I first tried this over a white creme and it wasn't looking so cute. haha So I tried it over China Glaze Elephant Walk. Much better!

And finally, Wendy. This one is pretty awesome! I think the combo of glitters are perfect together and I really love how it looks over Zoya Monica.

Tell me your favorites!

You can shop Shimmer's Etsy shop *here* and on their blog *here* and like them on Facebook *here*!

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

Different Dimension Part II Swatches

Happy Friday guys!

I've got the second part to the Different Dimension post from Wednesday for you today. Get ready for more glittery goodness!

On Wednesdays We Wear PINK is a fun one! Although, I'm not sure where that random purple glitter on my middle finger came from. haha I layered one easy coat over Color Club Yum Gum.

Rainbows and Butterflies is so whimsical with it's butterfly shaped glitter. This is 2 coats over Revlon Aloof.

I can't stop looking this macro! So pretty!

This is Selene. The shimmer in this is to die for. I did one coat over Zoya Monica, but this could go over literally anything...love that versatility!

Next is Hanna. This can be a full coverage glitter in 3 coats. Here though, I decided to layer one coat over Sally Hansen Ruby Rush.

One of my favorite combos...here is 2 coats of Gumdrops over Sweet Polish from Born Pretty. I love how awesome the 2 look together!

And finally, this is Rock, Paper, Scissor, Lizard, Spock. I layered one coat over Orly Frisky. I like the mixture of matte and metallic glitters this one has.

Here are the bottle shots of all the pretties I have shown you this week...a little something for everyone, I think!

And an overview of the swatches...you can find more about the other half in this post.

Different Dimension can be purchased on Etsy. And to be in the know on all things Different Dimension, like the Facebook page! 

Tell me your faves!

*Products in this post were sent for review in exchange for my honest opinions.