Born Pretty Store Flower Water Decal Review and a Gradient!

Hey guys! Today I have some flower-covered gradient nails to share! I will also be reviewing the floral water decals seen here from Born Pretty Store!

Sorry about posting these late guys, I was crashing while editing the pictures so I decided to write it up this morning instead. I try really hard to post every three days but sometimes life (for me, school) gets in the way! I've been exhausted for the last week or so and I'm so glad today's the last day of school! Anything exciting happening in your guys' lives? Let me know!

A bunch of people from Will Paint Nails For Food's Beginner Blogger's Bootcamp Group Critique commented on my last post saying that my fingers were blurry and that it was a bit distracting, and I had seriously never noticed! When I saw my pictures after that, I realized I looked like some weird alien without any lines or wrinkles on my fingers haha! I increased the depth of field before taking these pictures and I think you can see some detail on my fingers now, what do you guys think? :)

For these nails I started with one coat of Essie Mesmerize, painted on NYX Girls Inkheart and Revlon Espresso, and then patted on mixtures of the two colours where they met! I think the gradient looks better and smoother in person, so I'm excited to improve on my gradient skills so they look good in pictures too! Lindsay from Wondrously Polished always does literally perfect gradients (they look like the ones you can make in a photo editing program) and often puts nail art on top, so these nails were definitely inspired by her! I really think it's an amazing and beautiful idea to use a gradient as a background for nail art rather than a plain creme!

As for the decals (link here, they're the BLE422 ones), I was completely silly at first and applied one like a tattoo, and of course the design was upside down and all black and white (see my left hand's thumbnail). I asked my boyfriend if he thought it'd be possible to slide them off and on to the nail so the designs would show, and he ended up trying it for me and it worked! I just wetted a reasonably soft brush (my cleanup brush), let the decal soak in water for 15-20 seconds and slid it off of the paper carefully and onto my nail! You can move them around once they're on your nail for a period of time (especially if you wet your nail first) so you certainly don't have to get the perfect placement right away! I decided to place two decals on top of each other on some nails and I think they look really nice layered! I accidentally crumpled and folded one up, and I was still able to flatten it back out and put it on my nail which really impressed me! The only negative thing I have to say about these is still totally avoidable; top coat can smudge the decals a bit but as long as you apply it carefully (as you would on top of nail art) they won't smudge! I was being very careless when applying my topcoat because I didn't think they would smudge, and they still hardly did! :)

Off-topic, but do you guys think I should spread my text out between the pictures so it's not a huge block of text and then a huge block of pictures? I think I'll start doing that so let me know if you'd prefer I didn't!

Onto the nails!

Here's the gradient I started with as a base!

My right hand!

If you're looking for any other nail art stuff Born Pretty Store is a good place to check! Here's my coupon for 10% off!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! Have any plans for the weekend? I'll be studying for the three back-to-back finals I have coming up and finishing a biochemistry assignment! :)

Born Pretty Store Shell Studs Review and Beach Nail Art!

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of some super cute shell studs from Born Pretty Store to show you all!

I was recently contacted by the lovely Daisy from Born Pretty Store and asked if I would like to review some products from them, and of course I said yes! I've bought from them before and everything's always packaged really well and lovely to work with! I was sent three items of my choice so stay tuned for two more Born Pretty Store reviews and nail art using those products!

The adorable gold shells featured in this post can be bought here, there are slightly bigger ones and silver ones in both sizes available, I chose the 3mm gold ones. They are curved slightly to sit flat on the nail, so one coat of top coat is all I needed to cover them and hold them in place! I tested these charms to see if they were reusable by scrubbing one with non-acetone remover for approximately a minute, and they seem to be! The stud was the same gold colour and a little less shiny after the scrubbing, but a coat of top coat would easily fix that.

And now, how I did these nails! I started with one coat of Essie Sand Tropez for the sand, then dotted on some thinned out Sally Hansen Wet Cement and finally, smeared some thinned out OPI My Vampire Is Buff on top! For the water I used Essie Go Overboard, some thinned out smears of Essie Going Incognito, and lastly, a mixture of Go Overboard and My Vampire Is Buff for the waves! I then applied dots of top coat in the places I wanted the shells to go and stuck them in! A coat of top coat and some cleanup and I was all finished :).

I'm playing around with some hand positions that I've never tried before, but I'm trying to use most of the other ones I recently decided on too! Bear with me as I figure out which poses I like best haha!

Onto the pictures!

Be sure to check out their site for other nail art stuff if there's anything you're looking for! They have an amazingly huge selection of products so there's bound to be something for everyone! Also, don't forget to use my coupon for 10% off! This picture is also in my sidebar, so it's really easy to find from any of my posts!

Thanks so much for reading everyone, I hope you're having a lovely Monday! I'll have some indie polish swatches coming your ways soon, so keep an eye out! :)

Frosty Dot Nail Art!

Hey everyone! Today I have some simple dot nail art to share! When do I not have simple nail art for you, you ask? Seldom or never because I always do both of my hands the same and my left hand is not so skilled :P.

I have my last midterm next week and my last week of school for the semester! Crazy right, a midterm in the last week of school? I agree, but obviously there's nothing I can do about it! I guess I could study for it (and I really should) but I've yet to start and the test is Monday! That's just typical Bailey though, and I do get good grades, I swear! Is there anything exciting or stressful happening next week for you guys? Let me know in the comments!

And now, onto nail stuff! If you read my last post about deciding which hand positions to use in my pictures, you'll notice I chose C, F and H thanks to your help! I really love when you guys comment about anything at all, so never refrain from commenting if you're thinking about it! :)

Finally, onto these nails specifically. I was going for a bit of a wintery fish scale design, but I didn't go full out fish scale because if you guys don't know already, I have an irrational fear of fish. It's called ichtyrophobia and it's real haha! The only fish I don't find horrendously ugly and disgusting are tropical ones. When my family and I went to Fiji two summers ago I saw some Nemos (clownfish) and my sister said it was the cutest thing because I swam down towards one (keeping my distance) and waved at it :).

So many tangents today! I started with one coat of Sally Hansen Pacific Blue (pictured below) and that's really all you need; it's amazingly opaque! I then went in with Revlon Dreamer and put a ton of dots on each nail. I included a picture of me holding Dreamer because I wanted to bring out the small amount of it that hadn't been covered up! After that, I repeated this step with American Apparel Mount Royale and finally OPI Solitare! I think some of the dots look 3-D because they're placed not quite on top of other ones (you can see one in the middle of my middle finger nail). Even though only about half of each of my nails is covered in OPI Solitare, I find this look too frosty and shiny looking for my taste. We can't love all of the manis we do though! I do find it deliciously wintery because of the frost finish, so it has that going for it!

Onto the pictures!

Sally Hansen Pacific Blue- one coat, no top coat

Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you're all doing well on this lovely Friday morning! What do you think of these nails? :)

Black Sheep Lacquer Confused Canary over a Subtle Green to Blue Gradient!

Hey everyone! Today I have another simple glitter-topped gradient to share!

I was planning to paint my nails all day yesterday, but due to a cell biology lab assignment I only ended up having time to do something quick and simple (read: I procrastinated by watching Star Trek Next Generation and shopping all weekend)! I can't honestly say the shopping was unproductive though, my mom, sister, boyfriend and I now all have wondrously soft and warm hoodies (and we match)! :P They're lined with fluffy amazingness so if anyone's looking for a hoodie like that, we got ours in the men's section of Tommy Hilfiger for 40% off! I'd seriously recommend them!

Anyways, back to the nails! I was a bit surprised by how subtle the gradient came out because I've done this same gradient before on my mom and the fact that it was two colours was more obvious. Maybe it's because I gave myself little nubbins before I painted these? Regardless, I absolutely love the two colours I used for this; China Glaze For Audrey (the greener one at the cuticle) and China Glaze Bahamian Escape (the bluer one on my tips)! I also completely adore the glitter topper I chucked on top, Black Sheep Lacquer Confused Canary! It has these silver holographic microglitters in it, so when the Sun makes an appearance on frosty mornings like this, looking at my nails makes me even happier! I topped all of this off with two coats of top coat, again, for maximum squishiness!

I saw that I hit 55 Google Friend Connect Followers yesterday I believe, and I just want to thank each and every one of you for following me! I seem to be gaining a following on most of my social media accounts and it makes me so incredibly happy, you have no idea! Thank you all so much! <3

Onto the pictures!

What do you guys think about these, are you a fan of subtle gradients? And do you love Confused Canary as much as I do? Thanks so much for reading everybody, happy Monday! =)

Mod Lacquer Swatches and Review: Mothman, Loup Garou and Misfit Masquerade!

Hey y'all! Today I have some beautiful Mod Lacquer polishes to share with you!*

I was so excited to get this package you guys, and I have to say, my already high expectations were definitely exceeded!

One of the reasons I was so excited is because of the bottles, they have the cutest shape to them! The top of the handle/brush part is rounded so if you like to store your glitter polishes upside down a few minutes before using them, do what I did and just pop the bottle inside a roll of toilet paper upside down to hold it! The brushes are also lovely, similar to Essie ones but thicker and a bit longer. I had absolutely no problems with application for any of these polishes!

By the way, Jennifer (the shop owner) is running a fall sale until December first, so you can use the code FALL15 for 15% off any order over $10 until then! She also added a retired sale section to her shop so you can pick up polishes from her older collections for reduced prices! Lastly, she has two awesome limited edition polishes available for purchase right now, Breaking Mod, a light blue jelly with different sized pearly white hexagon glitters, and Vault 24/18, an 18 and 24 carat gold topper in a clear base! I'm very tempted to buy both of them though I'm supposed to be on a no-buy! :P

Anyways, onto the pictures and individual reviews!

First up is Mothman, a black crelly polish with medium-sized red and holographic charcoal hexes, and small holographic silver microglitter! I honestly believe it's impossible to own too many black crellies with glitter like this beauty! I love the red hexes because they keep the polish interesting when viewed in the Sun or the shade. In the Sun there are constant red glitters while all of the other glitters are changing colours, and in the shade it looks like a gorgeous black, red and silver blend! Shown here is two coats plus two coats of top coat (it only needed one, but I've never double top coated a glitter polish before and I wanted to see this polish at maximum squishiness)! The formula was great, though it was a little tricky to get a smooth line while cleaning up (solely due to it being a glitter polish). I was studying for and worrying about a midterm the evening I painted these, so that could have also been a major factor for me painting sloppily and needing more cleanup!

Since my lightbox is where holographic glitters/polishes go to die, here is an Instagram video I took of this beauty!

Next we have Loup Garou, a clear base packed with red, orange, yellow and black bar glitters! This polish just screams Thanksgiving to me and I could definitely see it being perfect for turkey feathers in some Thanksgiving nail art! I had a hard time deciding what polish to layer this baby over, I really thought an olive green would be nice but I don't actually own an olive green creme (gasp!). I decided on a pale nude colour to create a Thanksgiving-ish mani! Shown here is one coat (with slight dabbing on two nails) and a coat of top coat under two coats of American Apparel California Trooper!

Lastly we have Misfit Masquerade, a glitter topper containing tiny, small and medium-sized blue, yellow and purple matte hexes! This one is just so fun and cute, I put it on both hands and I'm wearing it right now! I think this would be really cute over a pale version of one of the three colours of glitter in this, I almost did it over a pale purple and I probably will one day! Shown here is one coat plus one coat of top coat over one (yes, one) coat of Revlon Espresso (from the fairly recent Revlon Parfumerie Collection). I found a one-coater black guys!!! Anyways, onto more pictures!

Thanks so much for having a look everyone, happy Friday! :)

*These polishes were sent to me for swatches and an honest review.

Plaid Nails Inspired by MrCandiipants!

Hey guys! Today I have some plaid nails inspired by MrCandiipants' flannel tutorial (here)!

After doing this mani I was feeling flannel and plaid so hard that I actually ran to my favourite thrift store and picked a few shirts up! One of them had a rip in the armpit, but my grandma came over and fixed it after I painted her nails! She definitely did a better job than I could have done haha! I'm going to go ahead and insert a picture because we took a cute one of my hand, my mom's and my grandma's last night (she's wearing Emily de Molly Turbulence by the way)!

It was just a lovely evening to top off a lovely day! I even found an American Apparel skirt for only four dollars! Score!

Anyways, let me tell you about the nails! I watched Mrcandiipants' tutorial on Youtube (linked above) a week or more ago and I've wanted to do plaid nails ever since! I know mine aren't that similar to hers, but I like them nonetheless! I do wish that I had done the yellow (Color Club Almost Famous) stripes before (under) the black (Orly Liquid Vinyl… duh!) and blue (Essie Mesmerized) ones, but it had already taken a while so I decided to keep them like this! Also, the red base isn't just one colour like it looks in the picture, the middle square is NYX Girls Bloody Mary, the four corners outside of the black lines are Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Stunning Scarlet, and the colour that makes a huge plus sign under the middle square is American Apparel Poppy! I'm so sad that the plus sign and the square on top look like the same colour in these pictures, I made the overlapping part darker like most plaid looks and you can tell in real life! :P

Anyways, onto the pictures!

Here's my right hand! I think it looks pretty similar to my left hand and for that I'm pretty proud!

Thank you so much for reading everyone! What do you guys think of plaid or flannel nails? Or more specifically, what do you think of these? Talk to you soon! :)

More Northern Star Polish Swatches: Smuldering, Ki-Ki Ma-Ma, Storybook Love, Inconceivable and Drop Your Sword!

Hey everybody! Today I have five more Northern Star Polish polishes to show you all!

I was a total swatching machine on the weekend, can you believe I swatched seven polishes (these five and my two Emily de Mollys) in two days? I'm actually not very surprised because I should have been studying for my upcoming biochemistry midterm and doing my organic chemistry assignment :P. I am a horribly efficient procrastinator!

All of these polishes had really nice formulas that were a bit thick, but I should note that Storybook Love was a little too thick for my liking, though still totally manageable! All of the pictures seen here are of three coats and no top coat except for the first polish, Smuldering, which is of two coats and no top coat!

The last three polishes featured in this post are from Kristen's As You Wish Collection which makes me super happy! Does anyone else love the movie The Princess Bride? I've seen it so many times and just talking about it makes me want to watch it again!

Anyways, onto the swatches!

Smuldering- two coats, no top coat

Ki-Ki Ma-Ma- three coats, no top coat

Storybook Love- three coats, no top coat

Inconceivable- three coats, no top coat

Drop Your Sword- three coats, no top coat

Thanks so much for taking a look everyone, let me know if any of these polishes are calling your names in the comments! Happy Tuesday! =)