Born Pretty Rainbow Lips Water Decals: Review & Swatches

I've reviewed a lot of cool products for Born Pretty Store over the years and if you've been following Nailed for a while, then it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that I'm kinda obsessed with their water decals. Nail art n00bs like me need all the cheats we can get and water decals are one of the best!

If you've never used water decals before, they're super easy! They work like a temporary tattoo: cut them out, submerge them in water for about 30 seconds, peel off the paper backing and then stick the decals wherever and however you like on your nail. They look really impressive on the nail and they seriously could not be any simpler to use, which I why I adore them so much!

These particular decals are only 99 cents(!) and they come in all kinds of awesome patterns, which you can see on Born Pretty's site HERE. The design I chose, QJ-028, features some lip designs in a neon rainbow of colors!

 I keep thinking of the video for Meghan Trainor's "Lips Are Movin" whenever I look at my nails now.

Anywho, my base here is Jessica Banana Peel, which is the cutest shade of pastel yellow. I wanted something that wasn't as plain as white, but that wouldn't be so pigmented it would distort the color of the decals and Banana Peel was the perfect "in-between" shade.

I used a ton of decals for this mani and still had plenty left over afterwards. So you can easily stretch this one sheet out into multiple manis--gotta make the most of that 99 cents! ;) That price definitely can't be beat and the decals themselves are great quality. They're a fun way to bring a pop of color to my nails for summer!

If you would like to purchase anything from Born Pretty, they offer 10% off for Nailed readers:

Disclosure: This product was sent for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Jessica Banana Peel

I have a special affection in my heart for pastel yellow polish. Today's example came into my life courtesy of my friend and fellow Twinsie, Amanda. Jessica isn't sold in my neck of the woods, so any of their polishes I have in my collection are all thanks to her! :)

Jessica Banana Peel is a creamy pastel yellow. Despite the name, I'd say it's closer to the color of a banana itself than a banana peel. It's not quite as yellow as, say, China Glaze Lemon Fizz--there's a bit of an off-white undertone to it that I really like. Anyways, I'm rambling way too much about the minutia of yellow polish, which I'm sure no one other than me cares about, haha. However you wanna hash it, this is a gorgeous color!

Banana Peel has a nice formula, especially for a yellow, which can be notoriously difficult to work with. This is three coats.

Guest Post From Elizabeth of Did My Nails

Hello everyone! How's your week going? Homestretch! TGIF! Let's celebrate with an amazing guest post from Elizabeth of Did My Nails, shall we?

One thing I definitely lack here on Nailed is nail art, but luckily I have some very talented friends! Elizabeth is sweet as can be and to top it off, the girl has got some mad nail art skills! I'm so pumped to show you what she came up with today. I cannot believe she freehanded this gorgeous mani! Isn't it just so perfectly ladylike and elegant? Very modern-day Scarlett O'Hara! It definitely inspires me to want to try this on my own, although I'm sure I'd botch it. :-/ Oh well. Show 'em how it's done, Elizabeth!

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Hi! My name is Elizabeth, and I'm thrilled to be able to pitch in while Chelsea is away! To be honest, it took me a while to decide what to do for this post. I just wasn't sure whether simple or fancy was the way to go, but in the end I think I landed on something that's a little bit of both, my second stab at some easy, freehand roses. 

 

 

At heart I'm a total sucker for glitter. And for flecks, foils, shimmers, duochromes...I love any and all kinds of eye-catching polish. Sometimes a nice creme finish makes for a refreshing change, though, and this design uses two of my current favourites, both of which happen to be movie tie-ins. The base colour, OPI Skull & Glossbones (from the 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean collection), is a greyish beige. Much lighter than most greiges, it's reminiscent of driftwood or sun-bleached bones. The roses are Orly Grave Mistake, a beautiful blood red from this year's Dark Shadows collection. I don't actually own a dark enough green that isn't a fleck or foil, so for the leaves I just added a single drop of China Glaze Liquid Leather (black) to 4 drops of Jessica Mint Mojito Green.

 

 

There are probably a dozen ways to do more perfect, polished roses than these, but I can't imagine any of them is much easier. All I did was use a small dotting tool dipped in red to paint some comma-shaped swooshes. Just start in the middle, then work your way around and out until it's about the size you want. They don't have to be perfect by any means. Then just give them a couple of minutes for the polish to settle and spread, and dot on some leaves. Once it's dry, add a top coat, and you're done!

 

 

These freehand roses are a fun, easy nail art design for any skill level. Whether you use a dotting tool, a bobby pin, a blunted toothpick, etc., if you can paint a comma, you can paint a rose!