Born Pretty Store Nail Stickers Review

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I enjoy doing nail art, but sometimes I just want something easy and cute that looks good but takes very little effort. A while back I received these cute nail stickers from Born Pretty Store for review and they are the perfect accent to a mani when you don't have time (or energy) for nail art.

All of the stickers are adorable, but I love the diamonds sooo much! I decided to use a couple of  them over ORLY Fight On and Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter. After using a glue basecoat to assist with glitter removal, I did one layer of Pinky Glitter, one layer of Fight On, one layer of Pinky Glitter and one last layer of Fight On and then put two diamond stickers on the accent nail and top coated. The effect is extremely cute!

The stickers are light and thin and quite flexible so they lay very flat on the nail.Some nail stickers can curl up at the edges or feel raised, but these just felt nice and smooth under top coat. They stayed on perfectly the whole time I wore this mani and I will definitely be using the rest of the sheet! They are super, super cute and only 99c for one sheet of stickers.

Are you a nail sticker girl, or do you prefer to do more intricate nail art? I like doing both! :)

Check out some pretty nail art, nail art products and more on Born Pretty and use my coupon code "FBB10" for discounts!

Pink Hearts Valentine's Day Nail Art

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I had been struggling to come up with something for my Valentine's nails, but decided to stick with some tried and true themes: pink and hearts! Add a polka dot style pattern and glitter and voilà! Instant Valentine's Day nails.

The polishes I used are OPI Bubble Bath, Sinful Colors Pink Forever, Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter and white acrylic paint for the white accents.

What I did step-by-step:

1. 1 coat of ORLY Bonder base coat
2. 1 coat of OPI Bubble Bath on my index and middle finger and 2 coats of Sinful Colors Pink Forever on the other nails.
3. I used Pink Forever and painted heart shaped tips on my index and middle fingers. Rinse and repeat, this needs 2 coats to be even.
4. I put 1 coat of Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter over Pink Forever to give it some extra sparkle.
5. I then used a toothpick and white acrylic paint to trace around the heart shapes on my index and middle fingers.
6.  I attempted something I've never done before, which is using a toothpick to make little hearts and did a polka dot style on my ring and pinky fingers. You do 2 dots next to each other and then draw them both down in a v and connect them to make a heart. It's quite simple and looks cute!
7. I drew a heart on my thumb with the white acrylic paint.
8. Waited a few minutes to let the acrylic paint dry a little and then applied 1 coat of KB Shimmer Clearly on Top top coat applied generously to avoid smearing the nail art.

I'm really loving this, since it appeals to my love for all things pink and cute. I'm definitely doing the polka dot hearts again, since it's easy (although time consuming!) and acrylic paint just makes it that much easier. Whether this will last until Valentine's Day is another story, but if I get bored, I might just come up with something cuter :p

Show me your Valentine's (or Anti-Valentine's) manis!

Neon Orange and Textured Teal Nails

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Is it Summer yet??? I wanted to share these screaming hot neon orange and textured teal nails with you, even though it's totally not seasonally appropriate ;) I'm sooooo ready for the beach!

The polishes I used are China Glaze Seahorsin' Around and ORLY Tropical Pop. 2 coats of Seahorsin' Around with no top coat and 2 coats of Tropical Pop over a coat of white (to really make it "pop"!) plus top coat. I did the dots with a dotting tool and I'm loving the effect! The contrast between the texture and the smooth creme polish is to die for.

I hope you like this look, even if it's not quite beach weather in many places yet.

Black, White and Silver Bling Nails for New Years

I haven't been in much of a holiday mood when it comes to my nails, but New Year's is a theme I can definitely get down with. Blingy and dramatic are what I think of when NYE rolls around and this black, white and silver combo will add that extra pop to a dressy outfit. I had seen a manicure in one of my facebook nail polish groups which had these pretty white 3D bows and I decided I had to incorporate them somehow into my NYE nails. Working around the bows, I arrived at this extra sparkly look.

I used a few different polishes to achieve this, the black is China Glaze Liquid Leather, the white is China Glaze White on White, the silver holo is Orly Mirrorball (my favourite silver polish to date!) and the glitter is OPI I Snow You Love Me, which I fished out and placed on the nail. CG Liquid Leather and ORLY Mirrorball have to be two of the best polishes I've used lately.The are both gorgeous and go on beautifully. The bows I got in a Secret Santa swap. but you can easily find them on ebay. They are so cute, I want AAALLL the colours. I usually use super glue to put them on, as nail glue doesn't quite cut it for staying power, whereas super glue usually stays on well until I remove them with acetone.

I'm in love with my nails right now! They are the perfect mix of elegant B&W and sparkle. The Mirrorball + I Snow You Love Me glitters are so ridiculously blingy that I catch myself just staring at them all the time. This is a simple design, but I think it works really well. Other than the black and white theme, the little rhinestone in the bow complements the silver sparkly nails perfectly.

I don't have any big plans for NYE, we'll probably just watch the countdown on tv and have some drinks, but I can still get festive with my nails! What are your plans/nails looking like for NYE?

OPI Bubble Bath + Gold Shimmer + Glitter Gradient Nails

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Just wanted to share my recent mani with you all. I bought OPI Bubble Bath from a girl who was selling a bunch of polish and wanted to try it out, so I put on 2 coats and LOVED the result. The shiny, sheer beautiful nude shade is to die for! But of course I couldn't leave it like that, so I did a coat of Sinful Colors 24 Karat which is a lux gold shimmer, and then applied loose iridescent glitter in a sort of gradient.

I'm so in love with the result and I can definitely see this being a beautiful look for any time of the year. Nude and glitter are so perfect for each other and a combo that I find myself using time and time again.

What's your go to mani that suits all the seasons?

Red, White and Blue 4th of July Nails

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Ok, so I'm not even American, I'm Australian.... but I can still participate in the holiday by doing my nails! I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I sat down to start this mani, I just kind of picked my polishes and played around with it.

The polishes I used were a Color Club unnamed red cream polish, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Revlon Royal and OPI Get Your Number. I think it turned out pretty nice, unfortunately when I was applied topcoat it messed up my gradient a bit, but I'm still working on the magic touch when top coating to not smear my nail art :'(

I think it looks pretty cool, who knows if it'll make it to Friday though, I may just take it off and try something else! I get bored with my nails so easily. I hope this gives you a little inspiration for your own 4th of July mani, or any red/white/blue mani you might be doing! Happy 4th of July if you're in the US :) Happy Canada Day too I think? Hope you're having a good one!

White and Neon Nails with Born Pretty Neon Nail Studs

Press Sample I Bought This

I love the look of neon for Summer. It looks so bright, fresh and fun, perfect for the beach or a Summer pool party! One of my favourite combinations is white and neon nail art, every time I have this colour combo on I can't stop staring at my nails it's THAT gorgeous and eye-catching. I was lucky enough to get to try out these neon nail studs from Born Pretty, so I decided to try them on a white base. The white gives a clean backdrop for the neon to really pop and looks amazing against tanned Summer skin (do you think I said 'Summer' enough yet?).

The nail studs come in 6 different eye-popping colours and 2 shapes, circles and stars. I really love the look of these and will definitely be using them a lot this Summer! They are slightly raised, but sit flat on the nail and are perfectly sealed with one coat of top coat. They stayed put for 5 days until I got twitchy and picked them off =_=;; I have that problem with anything that isn't completely smooth on my nails. One thing I did notice is if I didn't do a thick coat of top coat, the nail stud's color scraped off a little if I knocked it against something. On one of my nails I hadn't done a very thick coat, so it got a little scrape on the stud which showed through silver. The other studs on the rest of my nails were perfectly fine though.

For this manicure I did 3 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White on all nails except my ring finger, which had 3 coats of ORLY Mayhem Mentality. I then used Kiss Nail Art Paint Beach Purple to paint the triangle on my ring finger and topped it all off with the Born Pretty studs. I did a thick coat of top coat and was done! This is one of my favourite manis to date, and SO bright that even my dad noticed my nails when we were Skyping. I think I'll be using the white/neon combo a lot throughout Summer and possibly even into Fall if I can get away with it :p

Check out some pretty nail art, nail art products and more on Born Pretty and use my coupon code "FBB10" for discounts!

Pure Ice Jaguar: Gold Heart French Accent Nails

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Ever had one of those days where you have no idea what to do with your nails? I always have days like that and I sit and rack my brains for ages and then just end up doing something super simple. This time I decided to do a simple gold with two heart accent nails. Pure Ice Jaguar is a pretty gold metallic nail polish with tiny silver glitter in it. Jaguar is a little brushstroke-y but it's nice enough for me to overlook that.

I like the look of the gold hearts against the 'negative space' as they call it. It looks classic and clean and next time I might try it with red :)

My Bloody Valentine Drip Heart Nail Art

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Something for the people that aren't into the cutesy side of Valentine's Day, here's my version of bloody dripping hearts for your viewing pleasure. It's the drip manicure, now with hearts!

I did 3 coats of Wet n Wild French White Creme (because it was streaky :( what's a good white polish??) and used Kiss Nail Artist Paint in Red to do the hearts and drippy bits and then did 2 coats of a red Color Club polish for the other nails. Simple and easy, but effective! It really gets that point across of having stabbed a heart against a wall. If that's what you're into.

Pink Heart French Nails

I Bought This

One of the prettiest and most classic nail art styles that I think is perfect for Valentine's Day, is the Heart French. My nails aren't quite long enough to do a full heart, but I still think they look pretty cute! This is one of the easiest nail art styles to do and it looks clean and sophisticated.

I did one coat of Wet n Wild Megalast Private Viewing as a base and then used a pink Kiss Nail Art striping polish to do the hearts. I basically painted the two top curves and then filled in the bottom, super easy! A thick coat of quick dry top coat and you're set.

I think this is a perfect date night manicure, cute and sweet and not too distracting! I'll get to the not so cute, super distracting nail art a little later in the week ;) After all, gotta have something for everyone!

Peacock Nail Art for Short Nails

You know that urge you get to start off fresh with something, like getting a super short haircut? Well I get that feeling with my nails ALL the time and I'll go through stages of having long nails for a while and then just decide to chop them all down to nubs one day. I got this urge yesterday and as a result, my nails are the shortest they've been for a long time.

Thanks to Leticia, I've been inspired to do nail art on my little nubs, and I wanted to use this beautiful shade from Gap called Peacock Blue. So what else than Peacock nails!

I started off with two coats of GAP Peacock Blue and two coats of OPI Funky Dunkey on my ring finger and thumb. Then I sponged on Color Club Port-Folio over all nails but my accent nails, to give them the iridescent look of peacock feathers. On my accent nails I freehand drew a peacock feather-like design using Sinful Colors Open Seas, Wet n Wild The Gold & the Beautiful, GAP Peacock Blue, Essie Good as Gold and Revlon Royal.

I really like this look, but next time I think I might make the lines for the feather a bit darker, there seems to be too much contrast between the light strokes and the darker 'eye' of the feather. I am LOVING these shades together, they have a luxe feel that's perfect for the holiday season.

Now I need to wait for my nails to get a bit longer so I can get them back to an oval shape!!

Guest Post for Jeanie at Midnight Manicures: Halloween Jack O' Lantern Nails

Hey guys, I did a guest post for Jeanie at Midnight Manicures featuring these Jack O' Lantern nails for Halloween!

Go and check out my post on her blog!

Easy Halloween Nail Art: X Marks the (Blood?)Spot.

I Bought This

Halloween!! One of my favourite holidays... Sweet treats and dressing up in cool costumes, what else can you ask for? I actually did these nails as an entry for a giveaway Destany was having, but I thought they'd make perfect Halloween nails! You could wear them as a complement to a zombie costume, pirate outfit, insane bloodthirsty murderer ensemble... They're just the right amount of dark and gritty 'Halloween chic'.

I used OPI Spotted as a base, then drew red X marks with a red Kiss nail art polish and topped with Out The Door top coat. So simple and easy, but it really screams Halloween! (Get it, screams... yeah) >_> If you don't have OPI Spotted, get a black nail polish and wipe off the brush until it's almost dry, then brush and dab on the nail to get a similar effect.

I'm hoping to get a bunch of Halloween nail art and makeup looks done and posted on the blog for inspiration! I have a couple of ideas of what I want to dress up as, so I'll be trying out different looks :) What are you thinking of being for Halloween? If you participate in it, that is!

Revamp Your Style: Add Instant Glam to Nails with Rhinestones.

There are so many weddings, beach parties, and other special events in the summer that it's the perfect time to revamp your style and add a little glam. Adding rhinestones, and maybe a little glitter, too, to manicures is a super easy, yet effective, way to bump it up to a sparkling new level.

Rhinestones are an affordable and easy to find nail art material. You can find wheels of the crystals in many shapes and sizes at any beauty or nail supply store for under $5.

Check out these ones from Born Pretty Store!

It's as easy as...

1. Paint your nails with 2 or 3 coats of your desired shade.
2. Pick up a rhinestone with tweezers/a wet toothpick and place it on your almost dry polish. You can  make a pattern, such as a flower or bow, or place one at the top of your nail for a modern glam look.
3. Seal with a thick layer of top coat and viola! It adds an extra dimension to a boring old style.
4. Done!

TIP: If you place the rhinestone and dont like it, just push it into place gently with your tweezers/toothpick. It should move easily, as long as your polish isn't too wet.

Below you can see a couple of ways I've added rhinestones to enhance a manicure look.

The rhinestones and the glitter gradient that you can see in my first manicure example above, are super easy, pretty way approaches to nail art. They add that extra something to both looks that instantly glams up the manicure. This is such a simple trick to add a bit of sparkle, I can see myself using it time and again for special events.

The rhinestones are quite durable in the nail polish. I've never had an issue with one coming off or chipping. The rhinestones I've used in these examples are also small enough to be practically unnoticeable in daily activities. I'm a big fan of over-the-top deco Japanese nail art, but sometimes the designs are complicated, and a little impractical. A simple rhinestone design is reminiscent of the deco style, but a lot more manageable.

What do you like to do to give your nails a bit of instant glam?

This post is part of BlogHer's Revamp Your Style editorial series, made possible by Schick Hydro Silk.