Rock Chick Barbie (Born Pretty Studs Review)

The last time the ladies at Born Pretty Store sent me some items for review, these amazing gold plated studs were also in there! Ever since I saw Sammy's "Stud Up!" week, I set my rhinestone wheel and fimo canes aside and jumped at the opportunity to try out some studs. I can't get enough of them!

Influenced in part by the studs, here is a Rock Chick Barbie look. I used China Glaze Stone Cold and Risque Pop (which is a Brazilian brand) on the accent finger. Amy Grace also did something similar to this in gunmetal and dove gray and I absolutely loved it.

These studs are the 1.5mm gold and cost $5.86. I don't know exactly how many are in a pack but it looks like there are at least 1000.
I didn't know how easy or difficult it would be to work with these but as they have a completely flat back, they stay on quite easily. I didn't use glue, I just stuck them on whilst the polish was still wet and they stayed put.

Born Pretty also sell square studs, they come in silver, gunmetal gray as well as gold and in various sizes. Click here to check out what they have on offer. You can use my discount code VA7J61 for 7% off or just click on the Born Pretty logo on my sidebar.

Citrus Stripes

Today, I've put my scotch tape roll to good use again and have some "nudies" and some diagonal citrusy stripes for you.
Very rarely will you see a glimpse of my natural nails! Too much polish all the time means they are usually very stained and I don't often bother to scrub the staining away when I'm just going to be using more polish that stains the next day! However, I've been trying some very light and soft colours lately so I grabbed some lemon juice and baking soda and got scrubbing and buffing.

The base colour is in fact no colour at all, it's just base coat and for the stripes I used Barry M Lemon Ice Cream and Essence Wake Up, sent to me by the lovely Nihrida.

Polkadots & Bows

This week I tried acrylic paint for the first time. Well, I did try it once before a few months ago but it turned out to be such a disaster that I immediately removed that mani! I know a lot of girls find acrylic paint easy to work with and can do amazing things with them but I did have trouble with them to start with! After a few attempts on a nail wheel, I managed to draw these little bows and I am happy with how they turned out.

The dove grey polish on the accent nail is Essence Got A Secret and the other nails are OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender, a light violet pink from the Hong Kong Collection Spring 2010.

Funky Retro Flower Accent (KKCenterHK Review)

A few weeks ago I received these full nail water decals from kkcenterhk to review! I have used various water decals before but this is my first time using full nail ones. I thought it would tricky as my nail has quite a lot of curve to it but with some tweezers, a little manoeuvring and some top coat, they managed to stay put for three days.

I didn't want to overload and use the decals for a full mani so I teamed it up with Orly Purple Pleather. I like the rubbery matte look contrasting with the funky retro flower design.

If you haven't checked out the KKCenterhk online store, go and take a look! They stock a large number of beauty products at affordable prices, from polishes to eyelashes, to wigs and all sorts of nail and make-up tools.

You can purchase these water decals (code: X&D- 08#) HERE. It will cost you $5.05 for a pack of 10 decals. I was hoping the pack would include 12 decals in case there are any tares which can happen if they are not handled carefully. There are also application instructions at the top of their full nail decals page which is quite helpful.

*This product was sent to me for review. See my disclaimer page for more details.

Mermaid Tail

If you have an Instagram account and follow a lot of the nail accounts, you'll know that there is always a contest going on. Recently, there have been so many that I've lost count and completely missed some of the closing dates. Today's mani - Mermaid inspired - is an entry for my girl Nicole's contest. She is celebrating 10,000 followers and picked this theme because as a child she was obsessed with The Little Mermaid and loves all things Ocean related.

As I'm very freehand challenged, there is no way I could ever draw a mermaid like some of the other entrants did! So I left it to the pros and went for an abstract approach using colours that reminded me of a mermaid's tail.

Other than Essence Choose Me and China Glaze Luxe and Lush, I also used Stargazer 303 for the deeper blue towards the tips and "Lost In Deep Waters" which is a teal franken I made absolutely ages ago. I stamped with BM209 and a very light silver glitter from the 99p store, to create the fish scale look.

Here is my actual entry picture:

I had a little trouble taking pictures of this mani under my lamp! The glare just wouldn't go away and let me show the detailing! My iPhone pictures came out much better in this instance and it's one of those mani's that looks so much better in natural lighting and irl!

Purple Clouds

Today I have another cloud mani to show you! It was so much fun doing a pink cloud accent a few weeks ago, that I just had to try a few more colour combos! This time a purple themed one!
One of the main reasons I really like cloud manis (other than looking cute) is because they are good "quick" manis! No lengthy drying times and no fiddling with tape!

For the base colour I used Nails Inc Elizabeth Street, a pinkish nude, China Glaze Senorita Bonita and for the darker cloud I used Mavala Mexico!

Antique Blue & White China

The ladies from Born Pretty were so kind to send me a few more of their products to try out so today I have a stamping polish review for you guys.

I tried to recreate a blue porcelain pattern. I've seen something similar to this on Pinterest in the past and Fingers also did an awesome one which she has on her header. This is also my mum's favourite pattern. Most of her plates and tea cups are blue and white porcelain and just last week when we went to Ikea, she even bought bed covers with this theme. It's also a very popular pattern in Portugal and people often line the outer walls of their house with blue and white tiles.

The base colour is OPI Alpine Snow, stamped with Born Pretty Blue Stamping Polish and BM221. Also added blue striping tape to the tips.

I was quite surprised at how small the Born Pretty Stamping polish was (see pic below, it's tiny in my hand). I'm not sure why but I was expecting it to be at least 10ml.
Although in the bottle it's a dark blue, it stamps much lighter as you can see. It's perfectly thick and goopy for stamping which I thought was great and although the consistency is not quite like the Konad stamping polishes, I didn't really have any problems with transference. I messed up my pinky a little but that's because I didn't wipe my stamper properly after doing my ring finger.

If you want to purchase Born Pretty Stamping Polishes or any other nail art supplies, you can have 7% off by using my discount code -  VA7J61.

New Barry M Chameleon Pink

Yesterday in Superdrug I spotted three Barry M "Chameleon"shades, right next to the crackles and the magnetics so I gathered that was a new concept they were trying to launch (well, No.7 did have Miracle Plum).

These polishes are dubbed Chameleon because they apply one colour and as soon as a clear polish is added to it, they change to another colour, in this case from a frosty pink to purple. They also had blue (which turns to burgundy) and lilac (which turns to blue).

Right from the outset, I have to say, although I love Barry M to no end and it's my favourite British drugstore brand, I don't like this trend/ concept. This is just my opinion and I can see why a lot of people might actually like these.

I just about got into Magnetic and Crackle polishes when they were first released (I called them my lazy nail art) but this Chameleon one goes over my head. I mean, if I wanted my pink polish to have purple dots/ lines etc, I would just add an actual purple polish to it instead of adding a clear polish! And still be able to finish with a top coat to add longevity.

I would have much preferred if these colour-morphed like mood polishes instead!

The only good thing I can say about this polish is that's it's a true one-coater and it will probably make a good polish for stamping as it's extremely pigmented.
One of the many reasons I don't like this polish is because you cannot finish your mani off with a top coat for obvious reasons. I also tried a matte top coat and of course, it still ignites the change because even matte polish is wet upon touching the nail. I was so tired of this polish by the time I finished swatching my left hand that I couldn't even be bothered to do my other hand.

Definitely not for me, but seeing as it's only £3.99, you might want to give it a go yourself!

Golden Leaf

I'm back to stamping! It seems like ages since I last stamped but in fact, it's only been a couple of weeks! That's the kind of relationship I have with stamping, I can do it for four manis in a row and then go months without touching my plates! You probably wouldn't believe if I told you that 60% of my plates still have the blue cover sticker on them :(

Anyway, last night I dusted them off and stamped with BM210 and Barry M Gold Foil over Color Club Alias which I received in a swap. I also added some thin french tips (and had a bit of an accident with my pointer).

I completely forgot to take pictures of Alias on it's own, I was watching Glee and got a bit distracted. Alias, from Color Club's Alter Ego collection, is an amazing multichrome but it's so hard to capture all the colour shifts on the nail. I want that bottle look on my nails!!!

My Guest Post Over A: Clothes, Cosmetics and Chat

Hi all. Check out my guest post over at Clothes, Cosmetics and Chat. Laura is currently really busy studying for her exams and asked it I would like to guest post for her :)

I decided to go for something soft and with a "shabby chic" feel. Essie Navigate Her reminds me of just that!

Asymmetric Periwinkle Bandit

As I haven't done a scotch tape mani in a while and today I had a little extra time on my hands, that's exactly what I went for. I should probably have the Union Jack or some sort of red, white and blue on my nails today since it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee but to be honest, we're not really celebrating. In fact, we are going to the theatre to watch Rock of Ages, hopefully it's a good one.

Today's design is inspired by one of my favourite girls on IG, Nicole. If you have an IG account and want to follow her, search @nic_tchelly.

I started with Collection 2000 BMX Bandit which is a periwinkle blue much like CG Secret Periwinkle and Essie's Lapis of Luxury. Collection 2000 is usually a shelf I don't go near when I am in Boots but every now and again they do put out a mini collection that has some amazing colours. BMX Bandit (I love that name) is part of the Dynasty, Hoola Hoop, Wham collection which has been around since circa summer 2009 but I still love it.

For the asymmetric lines I also used Zoya Trixie which is one of my favourite silvers and the black with blue micro glitter is a franken I made a while ago called Starry Midnight Sky.

And here is a look at BMX Bandit on it's own! Isn't it beautiful? And gotta love the price too, £1.79 or 2 for £3!

I'm Not Lion - China Glaze On Safari Collection

I'm Not Lion is the second polish I purchased from the "On Safari" 2012 collection.

This is a cool gold toned holographic glitter and as with all holos, it really comes alive in the sun. The holo effect is very scattered but when the sun hits it, it's like tiny fairy lights sparkling away.

The glitter is densely packed and it reminds me somewhat of the glitters in the Prismatic collection. Two coats provide full opacity. It has a slight gritty finish but I quite like gritty finishes on glitter, plus it's nothing that a thick layer of top coat can't fix.

Looking at the bottle shots, I'm Not Lion is very similar to the other glitter in this collection, I Herd That. However, I Herd That is much more golden and darker than this one. Not sure if I need them both but I'm glad I got this one.