You know you haven't been doing your nails when...

You have no black polish, and you probably haven't had any for months.

Yup, not a single black polish. So for this manicure I used a coat of Sinful Colors Secret Admirer as the base, and black acrylic paint over it.

Honestly my nails have been looking rough the past few months. In part because I was busy, and in part because I was sick during the end of June and most of July, which totally threw my nails through a loop because I wasn't healthy in the slightest(I'm much better now). But they are finally starting to look decent. Huzzah!

So today I bring you these skull wearing crowns from the Born Pretty Store. I have been sitting on for a such a long time they no longer sell it(sorry, fail on my part). But I'm still going to review them. I love skulls and I love crowns, like any person with healthy interests, so you put a crown on a skull, I will like it.

This was honestly bigger than I expected, and would have looked better when I had longer nails. But either way they just fit. Application is always easy with these because of their size. Now for big 3D nail art like this you want to glue them down not just stick it into the polish, and don't even try and top coat it. And when you are done with big pieces like this, you can easily peel them off and use them again.

Now because I flopped harder than Ryan Lochte(ok not that badly), I actually don't have a link for where you can buy these and they don't sell them any more. So here are a couple links to some 3D skulls from them that I think you should check out. And remember to use are 10% discount code if you plan on buying them(or anything else from their site!)

 

While these aren't rhinestones to me they have the same feel, and they appear to be smaller. 5 currently on sale for $2.14 USD.

 

These ones are like a party/rave version of the ones I have. They incorporate both the skull and crown, and we actually reviewed them here before! Currently on sale for $0.59 USD. 

*Product sent for honest review

100 coats of...Hair gel? My response to #polishmountain

The post you have been waiting for since never  ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ And yes, despite the title, it does have to do with nails.

Can't go wrong with this!

Ugh, I've been feeling like garbage the past few weeks and it stinks! But I think I'm starting to feel a bit better *touch wood*. Today I have a UV polish for you guys from The Born Pretty Store. I have actually done home gel polish before, but I have no clue if I reviewed it and I'm far too lazy to check.

I decided to try this out specifically because it was matte and I have never seen a matte UV polish and I'm a sucker for matte polish. Now on Born Pretty's site they don't have instruction on how to apply it for those who may not know so I'll explain.

1) Clean your nails of residue with remover. 2) Add your gel base coat(I skipped this because...I forgot tbh), then cure under UV lamp 3) Polish nails, making sure not to get any on skin as it will cure there and be hard to take off. Then cure after each coat 4) Add UV top coat and cure. Skip this step if you want to keep the polish matte. 5) Wipe down nails with rubbing alcohol to get rid of excess residue.

Application of the polish was really easy, and it worked like all the other gel polishes I have used in the past. I was a little worried about wiping them down after they were matte, but in the end it was totally fine. Honestly the one big downside for me was the wear time. I started to peel after a few days and had tip wear early on. That being said I have tried a few at home UV polishes and they have all acted the exact same way even with a base coat.

The polish itself is BEAUTIFUL. It's a deep purple with copper flecks. It kind of reminds me of Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?. They feel like cousins. It applied easily with 2 coats.

Honestly I would recommend this polish as well as the others from the line. They are on par with polishes like Sally Hansen, but only cost anywhere from $3.82 - $7 on the BP site. Which is half the price if of most brands. Also they come in an awesome assortment of colours. Honestly when it comes to polish overall, Born Pretty is a fantastic place to go.

Have you tried gel polish?

*Polish sent for honest review

Buy This! (I swear this isn't sponsored)

So recently I have been trying to clean up my computer. I have too many useless meme and gifs that I am hoarding because I think that one day I will find the perfect text to use it as a response to. Well in that hoard there are a lot of beauty posts. So my goal is to go through them...... before I delete them.

So today I have one of my favourite blushes EVER. Normally when it comes to makeup I'm not a snob. I don't care if it's drug store or high end, if it performs well, I like it. I never like to judge a brand based on it's price, and I always believe that you can usually find comparable dupes of most high end brands for less.

Now I want you to take what I just said, and throw it out the window. This product is high end, expensive, and if there is a dupe out there I don't ever want it's name spoken on this blog.

This blush is NARS Taj Mahal. I wont lie I bought it because of all the praise I read online about it. Let me tell you, they weren't wrong. Taj Mahal is a burnt orange, shimmery blush, that is super pigmented. And when you put it on you'll look like you have been kissed by the angel Gabriel. The one potential problem with this is like I said it is super pigmented, so you have to have to use it with a delicate touch. That and the packaging has kind of a rubbery finish, so it attracts dirt like crazy.

If you have chocolate skin, you need this. Literally. I cannot stress how pretty this is on our skin. If you have lighter skin, it can still work for you, but you need to be very careful with it so you don't go into Oompa Lompa cheek mode.

If you want to get your hands on this blush it retails for $30/£23.00 and you can find it on websites like Sephora or NARS. And in most department stores that sell higher end makeup.

What are some of your favourite blushes?

Did I do that? The answer is I don't know.

It's kind of funny because I have a bunch of photos just sitting here on my laptop and I have no clue if I posted them before or not. Mainly because I have just been picking and choosing whichever one piqued my interest, and not going in any order. So my apologies if I repeat!

You know what I have been liking a lot recently. Chocolate. I have honestly never been a chocolate person, but ever since I got my hands on the Lindt Chocolate Bunnies I can not stop. Apparently chocolate has a similar effect on the brain as opium, and according to my research a lot more tasty and fun.

Anyway here are some cookie nails I did with the help of Robin Moses's Cookie Monster tutorial. I don't remember for sure what the red polish is right now, but I think it's OPI's Got The Blues for Red, and everything else is acrylic paint.

China Glaze: We've Got The Beet

I'll be honest, for over the past year or so I haven't been into buying new polish. It's rare I find anything that stands out. I find most new polishes I see unoriginal, so I was really please to see this polish. For the first time in a long time I was excited. It's a shame that feeling didn't last long.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this polish. We've Got The Beet is a beautiful magenta shade from China's Glaze's 2016 Summer Lite Brites collection(*I KNOW* I'm reviewing something that's current!). It leans purple (but photographs more purple then it actually is irl) with mostly gold/copper-ish flecks. The formula is like wet lime plaster, and it takes 3 careful coats for total opacity, and the dry time is tedious. On the plus side like lime plaster it does seem to last eons on the nail. In the photos the manicure is 5 days old.

I'm glad I got the teeny tiny bottle for now. Pretty colour, tragic formula. Maybe I will get the full size bottle one day when it inevitably goes on sale somewhere.

Better late than never!

So I have my Easter nails for you today. Generally for Easter I like doing something crazy, but this year I didn't have it in me. So Instead I just went with pretty(which is just as good). These nails were inspired by the Lindt gold Easter bunny. The week leading up to Easter I ate so many of the tiny ones. SO. MANY. It was to the point where I thought I had thrown out all my years of being retentively healthy out the door. But it was so hard to stop when they were free. Also it's a fact that everything tastes 100% better when it's free.

For this manicure I used China Glaze's Ruby Pumps for the base and Mingle With Kringle for the gold. And I used striping tape to get those sexy crisp lines. The bow was a sticker I got from Born Pretty Store.

Nails with the bunnies! (Sorry for the crappy photo with a strange filter that I thought looked good at the time)

My Travel Essentials

Find out why these things made my makeup travel essentials list! All you have to do is head on over to Jacquie's Claws Up where I was a guest blogger. If you don't follow her, you should. I have a few go to blogs, that I will always check on my own to see if they have posted something new, and her's is for sure one of them. She started out as a mostly nail blog, but over the years has seamlessly transitioned it to a blog that not only features nails, but everything from fashion, makeup to her planning her upcoming wedding! She is also ok with mismatched socks, which makes her a good person in my books.

Bioré Baking Soda VoxBox!

Wow, how time flies! How are you guys? I'm great! I have been busy/housesitting so I either don't have time or don't have a camera. But today I have time for you lovelies :D I'm here to share with you my Bioré Baking Soda VoxBox that I received from Influenster!

I'm actually not sure if I have used Bioré products before, but I feel like I have. Anyways I was really excited when I was given the chance to try these out, because I love a good pore cleaning product.

The first product is the Bioré Bakeing Soda Pore Cleanser. It is almost opaque and has a gel like consistency with a nice smell. It is very gentle when applied to the face, and slightly drying. It is meant to be used daily.

The second product is the Bioré Baking Sods Cleansing scrub. In the bottle it is a powder and then when you add water to activate it. It was also gentle on the face but dried it out waaaayyyy more. This is not a daily cleanser.

Overall after using these products form over a month they really don't do much for me.  The Pore Cleanser does do a good job taking off makeup and as a general facial cleanser, but if I want to really get at my pores I need to also use something in addition to this, like my facial brush from Sephora. Same goes with the scrub. That being said I wouldn't write this off completely. I feel like this didn't work perfectly for me, but if this is something you are interested in I would still say you give it a go. So many other people love it, and they can't all be wrong!

*Product sent for honest review.

♥Valentine Gradient ♥

I'll be honest, while I still love nail art I don't do it nearly as much as I used to. Not only that but I find when I do do nail art now I'm never really all that happy with it. I just don't think I'm that great at it anymore(not that I was some super nail artist extraordinaire to begin with :P ). But for the first time I did some nail are that I actually loved and wore for days! Yes I had a bit of help, but I'm fine with that!

I decided I wanted to do a Valentines Day manicure, nothing too over the top though. So my manicure started with these stencil stickers from the Born Pretty Store. Each pack comes with 12 stickers, but you can easily cut them in two and make them 24. Even though the stickers are thin I didn't have a problem taking them off after 3 sponged on coats of Zoya Oswin and Barry M Majesty over a base of Barry M Rose Hip. Over all these were fool proof, and I think would make a great addition to anyone collection. They are easy enough for anyone to use, they are really hard to mess up, and you can get really creative with these. The only thing I noticed that was kind of annoying was the row in the middle. The plastic backing extends out on the sides but not top and bottom, so I needed to use tweezers to peel it off.

If you want to give these a go you can find them on sale here for only $1.99 USD(Original price $3.99 USD), and shipping is free, AND you can use out 10% discount code EAL91!

So is anyone doing anything special for Valentines Day? Not me. Will probably do something with the boy eventually, but it's really just an excuse to buy a bottle of wine and adult about how it has legs and stuff.

*Product sent for honest review

Dapper Dappen Dish

This is gonna be another one of those fast reviews.

Today I have for you this dappen dish for polish remover or acrylic liquid from the Born Pretty Store. What can I say other than I love it! No more dipping your brush into a half full bottle of remover and hoping you don't drop it. And it's just so much faster with this when you do a really messy manicure because you don't have to keep reaching for a bottle. It's not something earth shattering, but it just makes life a bit easier. It also comes with a cute little lid. It's not really functional as it's not exactly fitted, but it looks good!

If you want a dish, you can get one here on the Born Pretty site, where they retail for $4.87 USD. And don't forget to use out 10% discount code EAL91!

 *Product sent for honest review

Well that's a...texture.

Ugh I have been sick for the past week and it's the worst. Last Wednesday I had a rehearsal for something I was filming on Sunday, and I felt ok, but like I may be coming down with something, Thursday I knew for sure I was coming down with something, so I tried my best to flush it out. Tea, tea, honey, honey, meds and more tea. By Friday I felt waaaaaayyyy better, then I woke up Saturday morning feeling like crap, so I tried to flush it out again, but alas the damage had been done. I woke up Sunday and I felt horrible and went through the whole day filling up on meds and teas. I currently feel better, but I still feel like poop.

Now let's move on from nasty health to nails! Today I have more polish from Born Pretty. Thankfully this bottle came in one piece :P I wont lie this polish isn't exactly what I expected, but it is still very pretty. From the photo I thought it could be something like Orly Space Cadet, but the reality is the formula is incredibly thin, and you would need more than 5 coats for full coverage. That being said it looks beautiful when added over black. I used 2 coats, but you could also go with one.

The polish is a duochrome and it shifts between magenta, copper, and green with fine holographic glitter. It is technically a peel off polish, but I have NEVER gad a good experience with those so I didn't try peeling it off, also I didn't even realise it was peel off till I got it, as it doesn't say on the site. Now there were 2 things thing that was odd about the polish. The first was the texture. It was goopy, but not old polish stringy goopy, more like slime goopy. It made application...odd. Not in a horrible, unusable way, it was just weird. The second I'm not sure if it was the polish or my top coat, but the polish became foggy when I added Top Coat, specifically Seche Vite(You can see it on my middle and ring finger). Now this happens ever now and then with my Sally Hansen top coat, but never with my Seche. So I have no clue of it was the TC or the polish as the Seche has never reacted with anything else.

Overall this is a a ok polish for layering, but it's not the best. If you want to give it a shot you can pick it up over here on sale for $9.66USD. And use can use out 10% discount code EAL91!

 

 

Sad bottle!

In all the years I have been doing my nails, I have never had this happen. When I got my package from The Born Pretty Store I could immediately smell polish. To my horror I saw that the Chrome polish I was sent by Born Pretty had leaked and the bottle looked like it had been beat up despite being in what I would consider good packaging. I honestly don't know how much polish was lost because the bottles are opaque, while it clearly doesn't feel empty it for sure feels lighter than the top coat bottle, so I was pretty sure there was luckily more than enough to use for review!

So application of this was pretty easy so long as it wasn't over a base coat. I had originally used one because I had buffered my nails a couple weeks ago and you could still see the scratches. When I tried putting this over the base coat, you could physically feel the resistance of the brush on the nail. So I took it off and tried without the base coat, and it applied waaaayyyy better. I ended up needing two coats for full opacity. At this point the polish was shinier then most chrome polishes, but it looked nothing like some of the pics I had seen online, where it looked like someone poured metal on their nails. This is the only time I wondered if having more in the bottle would have made a difference as I wasn't able to do thicker coats because of how much polish I could pick up at once.

Then I added the Top Coat it came with, and it totally dulled the super shine, and once I was in the clear of day I could see it had also caused the polish to streak a bit. So I had done the manicure at night and by the time I was up at 7am I could already see tip wear, but I decided to push through. By 10am it was coming off in sheets and leaving me with silver tinted nails. By 7pm, after a few hand washes throughout the day it was pretty much 100% gone.

I honestly didn't like the end results. If the original polish only dulled a bit when the top coat was applied I would have actually thought this was a pretty fantastic silver. But the fact that it streaked and peeled odd like sheets less than 12 hours later made this not worth it. Now with that being said I didn't try it out with one of my regular top coats like Seche Vite. Maybe that would make a difference.

If you think you can make this work, head on over here where it's on sale for $9.99 USD. And be sure to use our 10% discount code EAL91!