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

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

♥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!

This is a good idea...in theory

Today I have another review from LadyQueen. Now I like this product, but I don't. Let me tell you why. Gather round kids.

The product in question is this giant nail art sticker that you cut and place on your nails. You can get as fancy or as simple as you like. And application is super easy, followed by topping it off with topcoat. My problem with the product is the actual design on it. You can't tell from the online store, but it is SUPER holo in real life(not that that is a problem), but under the holo there is a beautiful galaxy design, that the holo completely overwhelms. Also they have a bunch of different types, all of which are numbered. I didn't like the fact that the number was printed on the sticker itself. While the sticker is big, it's still not huge. You can easily use 1/3 - 1/2 of it for one manicure. That also means that you can't actually use the corner with the number on it, which could be used on one or two fingers depending on what you are doing.

Like I said I like the idea, but it wasn't pulled off amazingly. I feel like it should either be holo or a pattern, but not both. Also maybe the number should be on the package instead of on the actual sticker itself. If you would like to try it out you can check it out here, where it's currently on sale for $2.99 USD. They do have more patterns that lean more towards holo and have less or no defined background, so maybe give those ones a go. And don't forget to use our 15% discount code LAKS15.

It was near impossible to show the galaxy design. Any direct light would make the holo go nuts, so I had to take under minimal light. But you get an idea of just how pretty that design is.

 

*Product sent for honest review

*Heart Eyes*

Today's review is going to be quick, because the item speaks for itself. I have today this wax pencil for picking up things like rhinestones and studs from LadyQueen. Let me just start by saying I love this. When I would pick up things to put on my nails before I would use a dotting tool dipped in clear polish. Always cleaning the dotting tool throughout the manicure, or it became too sticky and made placement hard, and sometimes the clear polish would leave a mark. This eliminates all those issues. It picks up pretty much everything from iridescent paper pieces to larger studs, and makes it super easy to place them on your nails. And the point of the pencil you see in the pictures is the point after doing a manicures worth of picking stuff up. Judging from it, these will last for quite some time!

If you like doing nail art designs with rhinestones, or studs, or any tiny item that can be applied to the nail, I would highly suggest getting this! It makes manicures soooooo much easier! If you would like to buy a pair, you can head on over here, where you can get them currently for $1.29 USD. AND you can use our 15% discount code LAKS15!

 Iridescent Paper

 Gold stud

First Post Of 2016! (Finally)

I have been a bad blogger. Actually, I have just been a busy/uninspired blogger. Well here I am, feeling a bit more inspired and with shorter nails(which I am sad about).

Let's just hit the ground running and start with a review! Today I have some of the iridescent paper(Mine is in #5) that you see in all those shattered glass manicures sent to me from LadyQueen.

First of all the paper looked beautiful. under light colours it varied in apperence from blue, to pink, to purple. And under darker colours it brought out more of the greens and yellows. Application was super easy as well. My only tip would be to topcoat the hell out of it. If it's not stuck down it will lift.

To get the look I achieved I started with a navy blue base, and then I added small blobs of other colours(Yellow, magenta, green and orange), then I coved it with the paper.

If you would like t try these you can find them at LadyQueen. Each sheet is $2.15 USD, but for the next few days it will be on sale for $0.99 USD. And to top it all off you can use our 15% of coupon code (LAKS15)

 *Product sent for honest review