Born Pretty Store Nail Sticker Review!

Hey everyone! Today I have some Born Pretty Store nail stickers to share!

I'm sorry this post is a day late guys (I like to post every two or three days) but I either have a mild flu or it's just coming on and it's going to get worse! I feel like a jerk coming to school and possibly infecting other people, but I have a lab due and a lab tonight that I can't really miss. I've hardly been eating and I've been sore all over and feverish so it really hasn't been fun! Yesterday I could hardly open the bathroom door at school because it was too heavy!

I was going to have this post ready for you lovely people earlier, but when I picked one of these stickers off of the white paper they came on, I realized they were see-through and not white-based. I didn't have time to do a white base first that night and then I forgot I had these for a while because my nail stuff storage area is a mess. That's why I've included a couple of pictures of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls; the base I started with for this look. This is just two coats and a coat of top coat!

I'm actually not overly keen on MBSW's formula, but I bought two when they came out so maybe this one is a bad bottle and the other will be fine! Mine is pretty thick (I could just add thinner) and it's as if the brush is too stiff because the bristles can leave bare spots from touching the nail. It also doesn't level out and dry smooth for me and you can't go over the same place a few times without some major balding action! Do any of you guys own this polish? Do you think I got a bad bottle?

Onto the stickers (link here, number YB-Q105)! On the package it says to put a coat of top coat on top of these babies for a better result (which I did here for these photos) but I found that made the stickers pull up around the cuticle which made them get caught on everything. I have a lot of hair and I brush it with my fingers a lot so after about thirty minutes of wearing these I had to take them off. I didn't notice any catching or lifting of these stickers before I top coated them so I would suggest not using top coat! Also, if you have long nails never fear! I only used around half of each nail sticker and my nails are decently long at the moment!

A few of my nails didn't fit any of the 14 stickers it came with very well (i.e. my thumb and pinky nails) so that can be an issue if you have oddly-shaped or small nails like me! I actually put the thumb ones on upside down so I had the more square end along my cuticle but even that wasn't square enough for my thumbs. I used the smallest sticker it came with on my index fingernails so there weren't any small enough for my pinky nails. I'd suggest cutting the stickers to size before applying them because they don't dissolve with acetone and I couldn't cut them at the cuticle with nail clippers or scissors after I applied them.

These stickers were really easy to apply and to take off and reposition if you didn't get them in the right place the first time! They were kind of stretchy so they were easy to pull on to make them lie flat (something I didn't have the hang of yet when I did my index finger nail :P). These stickers had a clear border around them so if they are a little too big for your nails you can see that border and it kind of wrinkles on the edge of your nail (see my ring finger nail). Taking these off was a bit of a struggle because acetone doesn't dissolve them or the glue on the backs of them. I soaked my nails in warm water like it said and scratched them off bit by bit which took quite a while. Keep in mind some of the issues I had could have been solely due to the fact that I've never used nail stickers before and this was my first try at it!

Thank you so much for reading everyone! What do you think of these stickers? I think they're really pretty and I love the tiny glitters they're covered in! Be sure to check out Born Pretty Store for any of your nail art needs, they have so many nail art supplies! Here's my code for 10% off!

Black Sheep Lacquer Duochrome/Multichrome Gradient Nail Art!

Hey everyone! Today I have a multichrome/duochrome gradient to share!

I have a bunch of homework to do this weekend and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed so I think I'll keep this post pretty short. What are your guys' plans for the weekend? Anyone else a bit stressed with school or work?

For this look I started with one coat of my favourite black polish, Revlon Espresso, for a nice and opaque base. I then went in with Black Sheep Lacquer Zaftig Zombie (green), Black Sheep Lacquer Blink (blue) and Black Sheep Lacquer Blue-Yea (pink/purple). Since these are duochromes/multichromes the colour of these polishes on their own is usually different than the colour they shine over black, which I think is super awesome! I had to take into consideration what each colour looked like over black to decide which ones to use and in which order to use them!

I have swatched each of these individually (both on their own and over black) in a very picture-heavy post you can find here! There is a fourth Black Sheep Lacquer polish featured in that swatch post called Forbidden Fruit that I didn't use here because my nails aren't really long enough!

One of my favourite things about this mani is that Blink contains small pink iridescent glitters and some ended up on my nails!

I even made a gif of me moving my nails from up to down because you can see the different colours more from different angles!

Thanks so much for having a look everyone! What do you guys think of this mani? I'd love to hear in the comments! Happy Saturday!

Multicoloured Mosaic Nail Art Inspired by a Bouncy Ball!

Hey everyone! Today I have some fun multicoloured mosaic nail art to share!

Today was a fairly uneventful day for me, I did have an organic chemistry lab where we carried out an elimination reaction though which was fun! I'd love to hear what you guys did today in the comments, probably something more exciting than me huh? I'm getting more used to being at school again now that we've been back for a week and a half, and as I expected I'm enjoying school as usual! How are you guys feeling about school or work or both?

Last Friday night my family and boyfriend and I were checking out at Walmart when my sister and I noticed they had bouncy ball machines. We each ended up buying a small one and a large one and I loved my large one so much that I decided to recreate it's pattern on my nails! I thought about mattifying my nails to match the ball but matte nails don't last as long, and I feel weird about slathering them in lotions, balms, oils, etc as it partly removes the matte effect.

I started out with one coat of Revlon Espresso, a true one-coat black creme! Then from red to pink in rainbow order, I used: American Apparel Poppy, Color Club Almost Famous, China Glaze For Audrey, Julep Claire, Color Club Pucci-licious, and American Apparel Coney Island.

I used a small detail brush for the blobs and applied a coat of top coat on top! I find no matter how long I wait before top coating I always smudge my design a bit. For these nails I waited around an hour and a half to top coat after I'd finished and there still are a few smudges!

I apologize for all of the pictures here guys, I just really love this mani! I also found it a lot easier to paint than my first mosaic mani (link to the post here). I'm not sure which of them I like better seeing as they're quite different, I'd love to know what you guys think in the comments!

Here's my right hand!

Thanks so much for reading everyone! I hope you're all doing well and I'd love to hear about anything you'd like to tell me in the comments! Happy Wednesday!

Above the Curve Friday the 13th Swatch and Review!

Hey guys! Today I have a swatch and review of a lovely Above the Curve polish to share!

I'm going to start right off by saying this polish currently sold out, but it's coming back on Friday, June 13th! I know that is quite a ways away, but I'm too in love with this to not share! This baby is called Friday the 13th and it's easily one of my favourite polishes already! I also picked up another polish when I ordered this one, so soon I can show you one that is available now, Merry & Bright!

Yesterday was arms and abs day on the Blogilates calendar and dang, my arms are weak. I think it was a pretty bad decision on my part to do the arm video before the four abs ones, seeing as the ab videos involved planks and other arm-dependant exercises. It was a real struggle getting through the ab videos and I had to take a lot of breaks. I should probably do some arm videos or exercises everyday so I can work my other weakest part, my abs.

Now, onto the polish! Friday the 13th is a dark brown creme stuffed with linear holographic pigment. I seriously love brown polishes, especially gorgeous indie ones like this! I included four pictures that I took outside of the light box, but I'm going to go ahead and insert an Instagram video to really show the holo goodness!

Gorgeous right? I could seriously wear this polish everyday, except I'd feel bad not touching any of my other three hundred or so polishes!

The formula on this polish was insanely good. This is ONE coat of this polish and not even a thick one! It's crazy how holographic this polish is considering how opaque it is!

Can you tell how blown away I am with this polish? This brand is one of my favourites already just because of this beauty. They have tons of other awesome holos so definitely check those out if you love this one like I do!

Here are a few pictures with my lamps but without the light box to show off the holographic effect! I guess it's either not quite a linear holo polish or it also contains scattered holo pieces, meaning it looks amazing in any light!

It looks like the most beautiful holographic liquid chocolate, I almost want to eat it! It definitely makes me crave some chocolate!

What do you guys think of this polish or post? Too many pictures? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you so much for reading everyone! How was your week? I've been doing assignments and labs as I get them, so for once I'm a little ahead of the game and not procrastinating! I hope you're all doing well and having a relaxing Sunday, I'll talk to you soon!

One Year Blogiversary: Then and Now!

Hey everyone! Today I have a "then and now" post for my one year blogiversary to share!

I saw this awesome idea on Lindsey of Wondrously Polished's lovely blog (link to her post here)! It was hard to find anything very interesting that I did in the first few months of blogging because unlike Lindsey, I wasn't very good when I started my blog, and because of that I didn't try any advanced nail art. My picture quality is the biggest difference I see in these pictures, what do you guys think is my biggest improvement?

For this first mani I remember thinking all of the colours were too bright and intense for a watercolour look, and even when I redid them the other day I thought I should have made the colours even less intense. The funny thing was, rather than thinning the polishes out, I decided to sponge them on the first time I did these. It was like I was trying to do a design that involves a certain technique but I decided to use another technique and still call it the original design… I'm strange sometimes :P.

Here is the link to the post this first picture is from if you're interested! I used to write a lot less in my posts and write even more awkwardly than I do now haha! These are from January 2013 and while wearing these and before writing up the post, I picked up my first bottle of pure acetone for cleanup!

Here is my recent reattempt at this look! I used all of the same polishes as in the other post (American Apparel California Trooper, Essie Cute as a Button, Essie Bikini so Teeny, Revlon Mint Gelato, and Revlon Lemon Meringue) as well as a sheer white polish on top (Essie Waltz) to achieve a more pastel and watercolour-like look!

What do you guys think about the new version of these? To me they look like a blurred floral or houndstooth pattern!

The other mani I decided to redo for this post was a black to neon gradient look. Here is the original post from February 2013! There is a cute story behind these nails because my boyfriend at the time (and current one, we're still dating) told me in detail exactly how I should do these nails and which colour to do on each nail! I just painted a black base and asked him what I should do and this is exactly what he said, down to the ring finger orange accent nail :).

I remember noticing that if you just sponged on a neon colour once or twice it looked like a dark version of the colour, so it really isn't difficult to make a smooth gradient with sheerer polishes like neons. I'm not sure why I didn't think that was as important as it was at the time haha, live and learn!

I almost used the exact same polishes as I did last time for this, but I switched out the Orly black for a more opaque (one-coater!) black; Revlon Espresso. The rest of the polishes are the same, American Apparel Neon Yellow, American Apparel Neon Green, and China Glaze Sun Worshipper! I also switched top coats to a 3-free one because that's really important to me, and as I've said many times I use Essie Good to Go!

I totally screwed up the colour scheme here as you can probably tell, I got distracted watching a crazy movie! What do you guys think of this version of this mani?

Thank you so much for reading guys! I hope I can keep improving and doing posts like this every year! I also hope you've all had a lovely first week back at school and work! =)

2013 Review Rainbow!

Hey everyone! Today I have a quick compilation of my favourite nail art from 2013!

I've gained quite a few followers on many different social platforms lately (thank you so much!!) and considering the month we're in, I decided it was a great idea to show you guys some stuff you might have missed! Looking back I realized that I actually managed to do some nail art that I still love today early last year, despite the fact that I was fairly new to the whole nails and nail art game! It's also interesting to look at all of the different lightings I've used, some of which make my skin look completely the wrong colour!

I decided to pick one manicure from each colour/shade that I liked the best for this post. I included which month each mani was done in and I also linked the corresponding post below each picture!

Red:

Red Nails with Rhinestones and Random Shapes! - June 2013

Orange:

Essie Dry Brush Mani :) - May 2013

Yellow:

OPI's Honey Ryder and Flower Stamping! - July 2013

Green:

Sinful Colors Mint Apple with Diamond Holographic Glitter! - July 2013

Blue:

Born Pretty Store Flower Water Decal Review and a Gradient! - December 2013

Purple:

More Simple Floral Nail Art! - September 2013

Pink:

Holographic Glitter Gradient over Pink and Grey! - June 2013

White:

Black and White Random Designs! - September 2013

Black:

Color Club Halo Hues Swatches: Over The Moon and Beyond =) - June 2013

Brown:

Bird Nail Art To Match My Scarf! :) - July 2013

Multicoloured:

Mosaic Tile Nail Art! - September 2013

Thank you so much for reading everyone! Which of these are your favourites? I'd love to know! Mine are the bird scarf ones and the mosaic tile ones! :)