Simple Leaf Nail Art Inspired by Jaunty Juli & Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat Review!

Hello my lovelies! Today I have some simple leaf nail art to share as well as a top coat review!

I'm sorry I've been posting so sporadically guys, I'm really going to try and get into some routine with my blog even if it means just one post a week! I am very overwhelmed and unmotivated at school lately and I think that lack of motivation has carried over into my nail life. I haven't even put away and reorganized my nail polish all semester and that's something I do often and love to do! Would you guys be interested in seeing an updated collection post when I finally get organized? I'd love to know!

So about three weeks ago in this post I mentioned that I ran out of my absolute favourite top coat (Essie Good to Go) and so did London Drugs, and instead I picked up a bottle of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat. I went from loving it, to thinking it was okay to hating it in the last three weeks. As you can see from these pictures, my nails are bubble and bumpy city! The bumpiness is the first thing I noticed about this top coat; it doesn't even smooth out a layer of polish as thin as a stamped image! That is why I thought this polish was alright for a little while. Now I've discovered it either doesn't play well with certain polishes or needs the polish under it to be completely dry (which is exactly not the idea for fast-drying top coats) for it to not bubble up like crazy. Either way, my Essie Good to Go has none of those problems so I've already picked up a new bottle! I do like that this top coat smells kind of like vinegar (yum!) and dries quite shiny and pretty quickly though! However, I am also finding that I get tip wear quite a bit faster with this top coat. Usually in one day or less in as opposed to four or more days in with my Essie one.

Now, onto the nail art! These were inspired by these nails by the lovely JauntyJuli! I started off with a base of two thin coats of Revlon Espresso and a coat of top coat. I wore that alone for a day (complete with a ton of bubbles from the top coat). The next day I went in with American Apparel Mac Arthur Park (green), OPI Did Somebody Say Party? (orange) and Essie San Tropez (nude) on either my Winstonia Kolinsky #0000 or #000 Brush (I used both for different leaves).

I allowed my nails a lot of time to dry, and then I decided I wanted to add some gold leaf top coat to the empty spaces. I used Jessica 18K Gold Leaf Top Coat for this, but it doesn't have a lot of flakes per volume of top coat so it was a struggle. I then waited a while longer and applied a coat of top coat. The lack of gold flakes per clear base also caused those areas to stick out very badly because as I said above, this top coat does not level anything out at all.

Here is my camera-shy right hand! This is seriously the only pose it can do so I'm just going with it haha.

I think I would have liked these nails a lot better if they didn't look so bad in macro pictures! What do you guys think of these nails or this top coat? Do you use it and love it and is it just me having problems?

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I've ordered a bunch of Hex Nail Jewelry charms so I'll probably have a post up on some pretty soon! Happy Tuesday! =)

Born Pretty Store Glitter Set Review Featuring Light Blue Iridescent Glitter Nails!

Yo yo yo my lovely readers! Today I have some iridescent glitter nails and a Born Pretty Store review to share!

School has been kicking my butt lately, as I'm sure you've noticed based on my lack of posts. I say kicking my butt but I have been doing well, it just takes a lot more time because there is a lot more material and the tests can test on any little thing from the notes or the lectures. I'm finding university quite a bit harder than college test-wise, to the point where I feel like going to college first didn't make it an easier transition. Anyways, I'm on a reading break right now so I have time to breathe and write blog posts! Onto the nails!

I started off with two coats of Essie Bikini So Teeny (over a base of OPI Nail Envy) and let that basically dry. I then went in with the blue/purple looking glitters from this Born Pretty Store glitter set and a nail art brush dipped in top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri)! After applying each glitter I pushed it down lightly with a finger in attempt to get them to lay flatter. I then applied a coat of top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) followed by some cuticle oil and I was finished!

Some of the glitters were stuck together so I accidentally applied two glitters stacked on top of each other on some of my nails (I found that out when I removed these babies). The biggest problem with this mani though was the top coat I used; I've come to find that Sally Hansen Insta-Dri does not level anything out whatsoever so these glitters popped off quite readily. I've done other glitter nail art before with Essie Good to Go and none popped off, so I really need to buy another bottle! After eight of the eighteen glitters had popped off, I tried popping one off with my nail and they flew off very easily and with a lot of force (one actually went into my eye :P).

I still quite like how this mani turned out though! I posted a video of these gorgeous glitters in action on my Instagram, so check it out if you're curious! I really enjoyed working with these glitters, they didn't seem to make my super peely nails peel (which glitters usually do). The set comes with some gorgeous holographic glitters too, including black ones that look SO cool.

What do you guys think of these nails or these glitters? I'd love to know in the comments!

Be sure to check out Born Pretty Store if you're looking for any nail art stuff, they have quite a lot of awesome things to choose from! You can also use my coupon code (SKBQ10) for 10% off!

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone! I know I've said this a lot lately but I'll really try and post more regularly! I'll have one more Born Pretty Store review for you guys soon and then probably some cool nail art with my new tiny Winstonia brushes! Happy Wednesday! =)