Matte Black & Nude Leopard

I recently received this matte black polish from the Born Pretty Store and I've been so obsessed with it. People seem to like matte nails and I've received many compliments from people who don't usually look at my nails twice. It looks really edgy as well.
The good thing about this polish is that it's opaque in one coat and applies really smoothly. Whilst it's drying it has a rubber look to it like the Illamasqua Rubber finish or the Orly Plastix. Although it's matte, it doesn't have that chalky unattractive look.
To cut up the boldness of the matte black I added a leopard accent nail, which I also matted of course :)

The Born Pretty Store has a bunch of other matte colours. I really want to try the white one, it looks really interesting. You can get a 10% discount if you use my code VA7J61 at the checkout.

Born Pretty Store

My Dark Valentine

Today I have a Valentines Day mani to show you. It's a little bit on the dark side but I wasn't in the mood for pink. I wear pink quite often but for some reason, never feel like wearing it around Valentines!

I've always wanted to see what NYX Dorothy looks like matte so this was the perfect occasion to do so. I love this polish, a black jelly base packed with large hex and small red glitter. I'll definitely wear it again on it's own very soon! The thumb and pointer are just a regular black creme mattified with Essie Matte About You.

I stamped the ring finger with the Born Pretty lovely heart m59 stamping plate which at the time seemed like a good idea but I'm not really a fan of how it turned out. The bubbling hearts are too sweet for the look I was going for but then again, it's the only detail that keeps it withing the Valentine these! I also added some loose hex glitter pieces to the ring finger for a slight french tip.

Hunt Me If You Can...Stud

When I removed my nail polish today, ready for another mani, I really felt like wearing something edgy and dark. Luckily enough I had recently received some studs from the Born Pretty Store which were perfect for what I had in mind.

I used Essence Hunt Me If You Can from the Vampire's Love Collection and matted it with Essie Matte About You. I was really hoping the silver flecks in it would show up a lot more when matte but they didn't. I really like this polish, it's a chic black (all the more so because of the silver flecks) and I can see myself wearing it often. I added square silver and round gold studs to the accent nail, both these are from the Born Pretty Store and cost around $5 depending on what shape and size you want.

This mani made a perfect pairing with today's outfit of black leather skirt and biker boots. I also received these spike metal chain earrings in the post which I think completed the whole edgy look:

On a different note, have any of you tried travel nail polish remover pads? I had never used them before because I always thought they wouldn't actually remove the polish in it's entirety but a friend of mine swears by them. I wouldn't use them regularly because they aren't great for removing glitter polish or to clean up of course, but they are certainly a good choice to take with you on holiday. Compact and lightweight. These strawberry ones from Born Pretty Store smell divine.

If you want to purchase any of these or other items from the Born Pretty Store, you can use code VA7J61 for 10% discount.

  
*The product(s) in this post was provided for review purposes

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.

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.

The Crackling Girl On Fire!

All this week, running up to Friday when the much awaited Hunger Games movie is released, I will be posting a HG inspired mani and my China Glaze Capitol Colors which I got in the mail last week!

I actually did this mani a couple of weeks ago, my nails are much longer now! I was toying with the idea of doing a water marble with red, orange and yellow but I really suck and those and, well... I'm really lazy!!! So I went for the much quicker and easier option!

Cinna would totally approve of Katniss wearing crackle right? Especially matte c'mon!!! Lol!

Matte About Flakies

Today I have one of my most special flakies to show you. Nfu Oh 49! I also bought this one from Viis Ilusalong and as you may know, they went on a little trip to Greece before arriving in the UK two months later. My fault of course!

#49 is a very sheer pinkish jelly base which holds up all those awesome flakes. It really does look great over dark colours, the holographic flakies are so fiery and amazingly transition from red/orange to gold/green, with a hint of purple and even blue mixed in!
I also tried it over lighter pastel colours and orange but didn't really like the effect. It doesn't "pop" in the same way it does over darker colours.

I had to change my usual hand position slightly for the pics so I could capture the full effect of the flakes. Unsurprisingly, I didn't have any sun either but I think the full effect of the polish is still there.
I can see this one featuring in many NoTD's to come!

I then mattified it with Essie Matte About You. I prefer the matte version, you?

Orly Purple Pleather + Colour Club Covered in Diamonds!!!

Hello fellow nail polish lovers J . Yesterday I showed you how amazingly pretty Orly Purple Pleather is! Ohh, I'm in love (again!)
Well this morning before I left the house for my weekend trip, I was scheduling my posts and I just couldn't resit adding something to this mani. I didn't have a lot of time so I just topped it with ColorClub Covered in Diamonds! I wanted to see what a satin-matte finish would look like with some glossy bling!!

Covered in Diamonds would look much better in direct sunlight but unfortunately, I didn't have any!

And then guess what??!! I wanted to see what Covered in Diamonds looked like matte, so I added a couple of coats of Claire's Matt Top Coat. IMO it doesn't look as pretty as the original satin finish of Orly Purple Pleather.

xoxo

Shiny vs. Matte Striped Nails

Hi guys,

Hope everyone is having a chillaxed Sunday...Umm, I love lazy Sundays :-)

Today I wanted to show you a sort of stripe mani which was inspired by Jane at nailside. Her mummy nails look really pretty and this was my first time doing one so it was also a bit of an experiment :-)

I started off with a dark purple and a pale lilac on the ring finger:

I used OPI - You don't know Jaques over the scotch tape to create the stripes. In retrospect , probably not the best choice of contrasting colour. My stripe widths are also not very uniform, next time I'll do better :-)

Also, on the pinky finger, I tried to mix You Don't Know Jacques with Lucky Lucky Lavender and look what happened...lol !!



I have also recently bought a matte top coat and thought I'd try it on this mani:

I had to apply 2 coats of regular top coat before the matte because it smudges like there's no tomorrow !! It still smudged a little and left some streaks.



Products used:
* Miss Sporty - sorry, bottle has no colour name
* OPI - Lucky Lucky Lavender
* OPI - You Don't Know Jacques!
* Claire's - Matt Top Coat

I like stripey manis a lot and will be giving these another go - with different colours obviously =D

xoxo

Ahoy Captain !!!!! - Nautical themed nails

This summer, Nautical is in again. It has been around for seasons and is sailing right into 2011..lol !!! Well, at least for me it is... I love myself a nice blue stripped or anchor t-shirt, little sailing boat pics and the red, white and blue colour combo :-)

Check out this cute outfit:

Picture taken from Polyvore

I probably wouldn't wear heavy nautical nails with a totally nautical outfit (a bit ott or what??) but I would definitely keep it within the colour scheme.

Sorry, my hands were a bit shaky drawing the white stripes. Too much coffee, not enough sleep.

I love this matte Orly Blue Suede. My favourite out of the Orly Matte Couture Collection.

It reminds me of a blue dusty eggshell surface and although its a matte, I could swear I saw a hint of sheen to it !!! Its opaque enough for 1 coat which is what I applied but a 2nd coat would do no harm, since you can't use a topcoat. It also dries twice as fast as regular polish which is always a bonus :-)

Products used:

* Orly - Blue Suede

* OPI - Alpine Snow

* Red & White Nail Art Pen & Brush

* Rhinestones