Twinsie Tuesday: Glitter Placement

Hey guys! So today we are doing manis featuring glitter placement. I've got a couple baggies of loose glitter shapes, mostly from Lumina Lacquer. She includes them with a lot of her glitterbomb polishes so you won't have to fish in the bottle for specific pieces you want. Cool customer service touches like that are one of the many reasons I love indie polish!

For this mani, I used some skull and crossbones glitters that came with Seven Year Witch.

Pink: Zoya Shelby
Black: OPI Never Have Too Mani Friends!

I really need to do glitter placement nails more often. They're super quick and fun. Just grab some tweezers and you're good to go!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Wednesday): Birds

Hey guys! Sorry for the late post. There was a little mishap involving my dishwasher and a buncha water, but that's all sorted out now so we can get back to the very important business of nails!

We are doing bird nails this week, so I pulled out some Born Pretty nail stickers from my stash (you can see more about them HERE) and got to work! This particular set has a bunch of different shapes, but I made the owl stickers the main focus here, because...hello, birds?

My base shade is cult favorite OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. It's a deceptively complex shade that looks white, but has this wonderful hint of blue-grey to it. I thought it'd be a good "clean" shade to let the neon stickers pop, but not so plain that it fades completely into the background.

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Twinsie Tuesday: Mix and Match

The theme mix and match is pretty broad, so I tried to pick several polishes with different finishes in colors that I thought would be kind of unexpected and edgy together. That was the idea anyways. Instead, I think they just came out...well, I don't wanna go so far as to say ugly, but...it wasn't quite what I was going for. See and judge for yourself.

Index and pinky fingers: OPI DS Coronation
Middle finger: OPI Did It On 'Em with KBShimmer nail vinyls
Ring finger: OPI Metallic 4 Life
Thumb: Illamasqua Scorch with KBShimmer nail vinyls

The nail vinyls are by far my favorite part of this mani. They're a great nail art cheat--super easy and fast--and I love the variety of designs KBShimmer has to choose from. My main issue is with Did It On 'Em. I thought it'd be an interesting pop of color but it seems like it threw off the cohesiveness of the rest of the mani.

Anyways, I'm overanalyzing this. This mani had some hits and some misses, but I guess that's the nature of mix and match! ;)

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Twinsie Tuesday: Ruffian Manicure

We're doing ruffian manis this week! I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd try something a little different this time. I've got these plain black Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail wraps that I haven't known what to do with. Unfortunately I no longer have the original packaging so I don't know what this design is called. I got these in a set from Target a long time ago and these are the only ones from the set I still have left, because honestly, I don't quite get the point of plain nail wraps. I like wearing them for the fun and intricate designs. If I wanted black, I'd wear black polish, ya know?

But I digress. My point is, i figured now was as good a time as any to use these wraps. I layered them over a base of Orly Key Lime Twist, a neon highlighter yellow, to create the ruffian design. The wraps had dried up a bit, so they were more stuff and brittle than usual, but they still got the job done!

I always love a good pop of neon! The nail wraps made it easy to get a smooth, even curve. I think it'd be a lot of fun to do this same concept with one of the fancier Salon Effects too.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out my Twinsies too!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Claire at Kerruticles

​ ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Thursday): Ms. Marvel-Inspired Nails

I know, I know, I'm two days late (getting over a bad cold), but I didn't want to miss this week's theme: inspired by a favorite fictional character! I've mentioned on here many times that I'm an avid comics reader. One of my favorite books right now is Ms. Marvel. This comic received quite a bit of mainstream attention when it launched, as the heroine, Kamala Khan, is a Muslim teenager. While religion is an important part of Kamala's identity, the comic isn't about religion. It's just awesome stories of a smart, brave and somewhat awkward teenage girl trying to figure out her place in the world while kicking some major ass.

Also, there's a giant teleporting dog. If that doesn't sell you, then I dunno what will.

Seriously, it's an adorable and funny read that I can't recommend highly enough. Even if you don't normally like comics, give this one a try. The writing is very contemporary and accessible, with lovable characters and fresh storytelling.

Now, y'all know I'm not super great at nail art, so I stuck with a simple mani inspired by Kamala's costume.

                           

The blue is Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like and the red is Essie Geranium. I added in one of my Born Pretty superhero nail decals for the lightning bolt. Here's how it came out!

It's nothing fancy, but I like it just the same. Sorry it was so late, but hopefully you enjoyed it too! :) And remember to check out my fellow Twinsies' manis!

                        

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Review: Born Pretty Liquid Tape

Today's review features a product that I'm sure a lot of you have seen on Instagram and YouTube: liquid tape! Whether you want to use it for nail art or you're just a messy painter, this promises quick and easy clean-up around the edges of your nail. It works just like painter's tape: put it on, do your painting, then peel it off. It takes any mess around your nails right with it!

There are quite a few brands that offer some version of this type of product and the one I'll be reviewing today is from Born Pretty. You can check it out on their site HERE.

This pretty much has the look and consistency of glue. It goes on white, then dries clear. But instead of smelling like glue, it has an almost peach-like scent to it? That's what it reminded me of, anyways. I actually liked the scent a lot. Is that weird?

The brush is a nice size and you can see exactly where you put the liquid, making application simple. Just make sure you don't get any of it on your actual nails, as then it'll pull up part of your mani when you're peeling it off. If you do mess up and get it where you don't want it, it's easy to wipe away before it dries.

I used this to help with the clean-up of my WWE Natalya-inspired gradient mani. I gotta tell ya, I really like doing gradients, but I don't do them as often as I would like, because they are such a hassle to clean up. But this made it soooooo much easier!

Here's how my nails looked before removing the liquid...

...and then immediately after removal!

The liquid peeled off all in one piece on every nail. Removing it is really oddly satisfying. Ever put glue on your hands as a kid just so you could peel it off afterwards? Then you know exactly what I mean! If your nails are still wet, I recommend peeling with tweezers, but if they're dry, fingers will work just fine too. There's no sticky residue left behind, so once it's off, you're good to go!

I've seen products like this retail for close to $30, but the nice thing about Born Pretty's version (aside from how well it works) is the price: $3.99 for a 15ml bottle. It's a good-sized bottle and you don't need very much product at a time. So long as you keep it nice and sealed up, this should last a good while.

I can't recommend this highly enough! It works great and the price is a lot lower than many comparable products on the market right now. This is going to be a lifesaver for nail art or whenever I'm short on time and my mani has to look clean and professional so I can get out the door and go!

If you've tried this product or a similar version, I'd love to hear what you thought! And 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.

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired By A Hobby/Interest

Welcome to another round of Twinsie Tuesday! This week we're doing manis inspired by an interest or hobby of ours outside of polish. I've mentioned a couple times on here that I'm a pro wrestling fan and I've even done a few wrestling-centric manis in the past. I always have fun thinking them up, so I wanted to do another one for this theme.

This time around, I wanted to do something that wasn't overtly wrestling-inspired, so I took one of my favorite WWE performers, Natalya...

 

...and made a manicure using her signature colors. Natalya is a member of the Hart family, a legendary Canadian family that has produced multiple generations of famous pro wrestlers. She is the daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and niece of Bret Hart. Even if you've never watched wrestling, you might know Nattie from the popular E! show, "Total Divas," a reality (I use this term loosely, as some of it is painfully scripted) show about the lives of some of WWE's female stars. Her colors--and the colors of the Hart family as a whole--are pink and black, often with white accents. So I did a pink gradient topped with white and black glitter.

Light pink: OPI Pink Friday
Darker pink: OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips
Glitter: Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones

My boyfriend (a fellow Natalya fan) helped me pick the colors for this mani, so shoutout to him for helping me find the perfect pair of pinks. <3 I couldn't be happier with how this came out!

Hope you enjoyed another one of my silly wrestling manis. Be sure to check out my other Twinsies too--and help welcome our newest Twinsie, Claire!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Marisa at Polish Obsession

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Claire at Kerruticles

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Born Pretty Cuticle Tattoos: Review & Swatches

 

You might have noticed that temporary tattoos are making a bit of a fashion comeback lately. I see a lot of pictures on Instagram of people sporting fancy temporary tattoos at the beach, festivals, etc. So why not let your nails join in on the fun with cuticle tattoos?

These little temporary tattoos are a fun way to frame your cuticles or decorate your hands. You can use them to complement--or in place of--nail art. When I saw these on Born Pretty, I thought they'd be really fun to play around with for summer!

BP has a couple different tattoo designs available. The one I chose is NCT-001.

Applying these works just like any other temporary tattoo: press it against your skin using a wet washcloth or paper towel, then peel off the backing after about 30 seconds. I found (after some initial failed attempts) that the easiest way to place these is to cut out the design with as little excess paper around it as possible. Cut so that you can see where the point and the curve of the design fall, rather than just cutting a square. This will help you make sure the design is applied straight and close to your cuticle.

It took a couple practice nails for me to fully get the feel of how to apply these right along my cuticle line, but once I got the hang of it, it was super easy and fast. I thought I'd dress up my Orly Cake Pop mani with these. I think it looks pretty cool!

Like any other temporary tattoo, longevity is not the best. These are pretty much a one night only affair, so you'll want to save them for a special occasion. I was hanging out with a couple friends, so I thought that'd be a good time to bust these out. I got a lot of questions and comments about them!

I do wish they wore longer, but I suppose that's just the nature of the beast. Otherwise, I had a lot of fun with these and they were perfect for a day out!

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

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

Born Pretty Nail Stencils: Review & Swatches

I've got some nail stencils from Born Pretty Store to show you guys today. These are similar to the nail vinyls that have become so popular lately, where you just paint over them and then peel them off. This is the design I tried out:

I was really looking forward to using these, so I was seriously bummed when I couldn't get them to work for me. The material the stencils are made out of was surprisingly stiff. I thought they'd feel more like a vinyl sticker, but they were thicker and tougher to manipulate. I couldn't get them to lie completely flat on the nail; there was always some type of creasing or bubbling.

I was able to finagle the stencil with the one large triangle on it to get a design onto the nail, but the ones with all of the little shapes I could just not get to adhere and transfer correctly. But here's what I was able to do:

I started with a base of OPI That's Hula-rious! and and filled in the triangle with Pixi Summer Pink. It looks cute, but I was hoping to use more of the stencils. I love most of the products I've tried from Born Pretty but this was a rare miss for me.

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.

Essie Striped Mani

I saw this adorable striped mani on Essie's Instagram account last week and I just had to put it on my own nails!

Source

Cute, right? I love the bright, summer-y shades they used. I busted out the exact same Essie polishes used in the original mani (Geranium and Bikini So Teeny) to re-create it. I didn't have the white polish, Essie Blanc, but honestly white is white, so Illamasqua Scorch was a perfect substitute.

This is one of my favorite manis I've ever done! It was my first time working with striping tape and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was. The design came out very crisp and clean and I love how the colors play off each other. I wore this all weekend as my 4th of July nails and it could not have been more perfect for the occasion!

Blobbicure With LOOK Nail Color Look Proud Collection

Walgreen's has been cranking out the exclusive polishes lately! One of their newest additions is the brand LOOK. LOOK just launched last month and their first collection, Look Proud, features patriotic shades of red, white and blue.

You might remember that I shared a blobbicure mani in this week's Twinsie Tuesday post, but my first attempt at a blobbicure was actually created using two polishes from the collection: Broad Stripes Bright Stars and Rockets Red Glare.

I left myself ample dry time and still got a bit of smudging when I applied my top coat, but other than that, I'm really pleased with my blobbicure! The designs remind me a lot of giraffe print. I gotta say, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite nail art techniques to play around with.

Before I leave you, here are some quick 'n dirty swatches of the LOOK polishes by themselves.

Rockets Red Glare is your classic pin-up red. It's not too blue or too orange, so anyone can wear it. This is two coats.

Broad Stripes Bright Stars is a white creme. For me, formulas are everything when it comes to white polish and this one is really nice. With thin coats, it has a smidge of drag to it, but if you paint on your coats a bit thicker than usual, it is buttery, creamy perfection. I used two coats here.

Oh Say Can You See is a royal blue jelly. I wanted to use this as an accent nail in my blobbicure, but it was a little too sheer for that. Still, color-wise, it's my favorite of the bunch. This is three coats.

You can purchase LOOK at Walgreen's. Bottles are 0.5 oz and retail for $6.99 each. If you want to learn more about the brand, you can also check out their website HERE.


Disclosure: These polishes were provided for my honest review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.