Balls....beach balls....

Today was interesting.  I went with George, my mother and my aunt to visit my aunts, best friends mother.  Do you still follow?  Well my aunts best friend had given us the apartment number 305.  So when we got there we called this lady's mother and said we were there and she said she would see us in a bit.  Cut to us knocking on 305 for the next 2 hours.  Did I mention the lady we were visiting was 92?  And when we tried calling her back there was no answer and the phone was off the hook.  We decided to wait and get the super, because  we were worried she might and fallen and something may have happened to her.  Finally we got a hold of her daughter. "She lives in 504".  ............... -_- ............  Anyways long story short she was very much alive, I got to paint a 92 year olds nails and someone in apt 305 was probably wondering who the crazy people at their door were(despite no one answering we think someone was there). 

Anyways on to the nails!  Today I have these full nail stickers from The Born Pretty Store.  If you have been here for a while you probably know by now I am a big fan of nail appliques.  I find them for the most part easy to use especially when you want some easy nail art. 

My first impression of these stickers was two of them don't match(3rd from the left 2nd from the right).  My second impression was these smell like something familiar.  Beach balls. I used to like sniffing them...is that weird?

So I always read the instructions first and I think this is the first time I looked at the instructions and thought "What?".  If you get these here are a few things you should know.  The pictures up top depicting how you apply them reads backwards.  If you are reading the instructions it pretty much says take off the clear front, size it, and then put it on your nail.  It never actually says take off the back of the sticker(Step 1-4).  Regular top coat worked fine(Step 7).  And for step 8 skip everything and just remove excess with a small brush and remover.

I applied them like I do all my nail appliques.  Took off front, took off back, stuck and adjusted to nails, then melt away excess with acetone.  I would say these are comparable to the NCLA wraps.  They both have a rubbery finish and because it's not polish I find that more detailed designs look better.  Here's where this one differed.  It wasn't as thick, so you really couldn't adjust it nearly as much because they were more prone to tearing.  Because you only had a shot or two to adjust  I ended up with lumps in all the nails(which TC covered up nicely).  Another thing that stood out to me(and the reason I only wore them for a few hours was, soon after I put them on they started to lift by the cuticles.

Overall they have some pretty neat designs, but these are the kinds of nail wraps I would buy and wear for a night out, not 3-5 let alone 7 days.  And you know what?  For only $1.99 USD for a pack of 14 honestly does not bother me.

If you would like a pack of these head on over to their website.  And don't forget to use out 10% discount code EAL91!

*Product sent for honest review

Born Pretty Nail Strips - Checkered Watermelon Nails!

These nail strips from Born Pretty actually feature checkers AND leopard print. "Checkered watermelon" is the reaction I got from a friend who noticed them after downing a mug of rum.

I really wasn't sure about this design at first - Kas picked them out and surprised me! Once they were on, though, yes. This pattern is amazing. Check it out:

I did have some issues with application, however. The package doesn't indicate if they're real nail polish strips or stickers - we think they're stickers, but very thin ones. They can stretch a LITTLE bit, but be careful as they can tear! Because they're not very forgiving, I found it difficult to apply them completely flat and most nails had a few bumps in them. I suggest placing them along the centre of the nail first and then smoothing them out along the sides.

This is what happens if you try to "clean up" the edge with acetone. It's not pretty. Be sure to cut them to size and place carefully!

Kas wiggled the thumb sticker around a bit for me, but it ended up tearing. Watch out for that! Fortunately, it wasn't really visible from a standard hand-to-face distance.

These lasted me well through an evening, but they started to look pretty ratty after 8 hours. If you're planning to wear these for more than a night out, be sure to wrap your tips well and use the hardest-wearing topcoat you've got.

Final Verdict: These are not the best. But for $2.99 and free shipping, they're worth the price for a fabulous one-night manicure! Now that I know what to avoid when applying them, I would happily try them again in many of the very exciting designs available.

Go check out Born Pretty Store for these and more fabulous nail art supplies! Always remember our coupon code for 10% off!

 

*Product sent for honest review