Born Pretty Store Review: Rose Patterned Water Decals

   Hey guys :D Hope all's been well! Today's post is another Born Pretty Store review, though is a little different to my usual style. It's simple, clean, and very lady-like :P I LOVED wearing it, it was such a change from the intricate tribal designs, and toned down from the usual neon. It's tamer than what y'all are used to, but life can't be all about neons right? (As much as I'd love for it to be :P)

Rose Patterned Nail Art Water Decals

Simply Spoiled Beauty Products Review: Black Nail Art Pen

   Hey y'all :D Today's post is a quick little review of Simply Spoiled's Black Nail Art Pen which has a striper brush and a fine point tip. For this checkered mani, I tried using both the brush and the tip, and found that the striper was much easier to use in creating the squares. 

   On a side note, I've always not seen the use of buying "art" pens, but after using this, I realized the convenience of just having to dip the striper brush into the bottle and continue painting! (As opposed to dispensing a little bit of black polish each time onto paper). Now I think I'll need one of these in white as well!

Then And Now NOTD: Square Skittles vs Clawed Skittles

   Hello hello hello and a happy Tuesday to you all! Today's NOTD is this glitzy mix and match mani, complete with leopard print and studs :D For those who follow me on Instagram, this will look reallllly familiar, probably because it's a recreation of a mani I did just over a year ago :P But back then I had square nubs and only my phone camera to snap it.

Born Pretty Store Review: Cute Teddy Bear Nail Stickers

   Hey guys :D Today's post are on these cute little nail stickers from the Born Pretty Store. They come in a pack of 14 (2 of each design, and 7 varying sizes) and are super cute and colourful! 

14Pcs Cute Bear Patterned Nail Stickers

   You can pick between these adorable teddy bears, or a couple of cat designs and snowflakes. Obviously I'm a big teddy person :P I think they'd actually make a great mani for a baby shower (minus the "Be Mine" sticker of course lol). 

NOTD: Sequin Explosion

   Hey you guys! :D *it's Friday it's Friday gotta get down on Friday* okayyyy before I permanently destroy your ear drums (and my dignity) I've got some sparkly new nails to share with you all *big cheesy grin*

NOTD: Let's Eat Ice Cream Cake

   Hey guys! So today's NOTD is a little different to my usual style, but I grew to like it over the day I wore it :p plus, in the year that I've had claws, I haven't done an ice cream mani once! And my points would have made great ice cream cones... so et voila - ice cream nails! :p

Flakies, Holo and Mylar - Which is your favourite?

   Hey you guys! I wasn't feeling too inspirational on the nail art front lately, so I thought I'd bring out some toppers I haven't used in a while. 

   First in our line up is Zoya Opal (layered over Miss Ashleigh Deja Blue) and can I just say, it blue me away (yes, im so punny :P)!! It looked like I had jewels on my fingertips! The flakes, especially when they shifted in the light, were stunning! 

NOTD: #ManiSwap with Megan from @snowglobenails over on Instagram

   Hey you guys! Like I promised in the last post, I'm toning it down a bit from all the neon that I've been bombarding your feeds with - but doesn't mean I have to get rid of all the colour right?! :P 

   This is my recreation of Megan's (@snowglobenails) floral design for our #ManiSwap** over on Instagram. I absolutely adored her original mani, and have been meaning to recreate it ever since she posted it. Then when Megan asked me to do a #maniswap with her, I thought this would be the perfect time to do so :P

   This is the collage of all 4 of our manis together:

NOTD: Neon and Triangles

   Hey you guys :D Now I know the past few manis from last week were all neon based.. not to worry though, this is the last of them (for now :P). 

   For this mani, I used Chi Chi OTT and OMG (Chi Chi really like their acronyms haha) and Australis Peek-a-boo, as well as a couple triangle studs from the Born Pretty Store (don't forget to use XFSQ10 at checkout to get 10% off your order!).

   Is it just me, or is there something about neons and triangles that just really work well together?! 

AN Monday: St Patrick's Day

   Hey guys, and a Happy St Patty's Day to you all! Though I didn't do any drinking in celebration today, I did join in on the green nails band wagon. I wore the gorgeous Emily De Molly Monet's Garden. It's a stunning green jelly polish filled with an assortment of green, purple, pink and blue glitters - it's so dense that all this took was 2 coats! 

NOTD: Ikat Turned Tie Dye

   Hey there y'all! Hope all is well, and that everyone had an amazing weekend! This weekend was a busy one for me - a weekend I wasn't actually overrun with work, and had time to go out, have a few drinks, play some bowling, eat some waffles.. you get the gist of it :P. And to add to all the excitement, I came home last night to 10k followers on Instagram! YAYY *dances* and for those of you who follow me on Instagram (@xtinemayyy): THANKS & BIG HUGS :D

   And so, at just past 4am Monday morning, I've found some down time to write up this post. Following through with the neon swing that I seem to be on, this is my version of a bright, neon IKAT design. Though it looked much better in my head, I still kind of dig it - sort of like a tie dye effect!

NOTD: Neon Skittles

   Okay so maybe I am on a neon roll. You can't stop me nowwwww! :P

   For the past couple of days, every time I sit down to do my nails, my eyes seem to always be drawn to anything, and everything bright. So why fight it? This here is Miss Ashleigh And It Was All Yellow and Like A Sunrise and Ulta3 Fruit Tingle. 

   I've been meaning to do a cut out mani for ages, but this just doesn't hit the mark. So look forward to an all out BAM in-yo-face cut out mani in the near future - hopefully :P

NOTD: Neon Mix 'n' Match + #mynailsmysmoothie

   Hey guys! So here in Australia, we've begun our descent into Autumn: last week brought a couple of cold, rainy days, the sky looming with clouds. Perfect weather to be skipping gym, staying cozy in bed, and reading a good ol' book (Game of Thrones saga.. anyone else addicted?!). But there are also nails to be painted! And who's to say I can't bring out the neons as the weather cools? 

   For this mani, I used Chi Chi OTT which I was quite intrigued by, because unlike most highlighter yellow neon polishes, it leans slightly more towards a green than a yellow. 

   Little anecdote - with my friend at the shops: 

      Friend: It's the same colour as the one you have already!

      Me: No it's not. This one is slightly more green than the highlighter yellow polish I have at home.

      Friend: But it's similar right? So you don't need this one?

      Me: Don't be ridiculous, of course I do. 

   Anyone else had a similar experience? haha SIMILAR DOES NOT MEAN SAME.

   Okay, so back to the mani, I used 4 coats of OTT. Which is a lot I know. But I didn't use a white base, and this polish was more of a jelly-like consistency instead of a creme. For the accent nail I used 1 coat of Butter London Fairy Cake and 2 coats of Australis Shimmy Shake. The lines were painted on using my ever trusty Sinful Colors Black on Black, and a small detail brush. 

AN Monday: Bridal Design

   Hey y'all! I haven't done one of these in a while, and it's good to be back! Though, since it's almost 4am here in Australia, technically I'm late for AN Monday, but hey, in some parts of the world it's still Monday, so this still counts and I'm not late :P And plus, until I sleep, it's still Monday to me haha

   The theme for this week's Aussie Nails Monday is Bridal Design. A handful of ladies in our group are bride to be's so this is for you girls! I was tempted to go with the classic french tip, as you can't possibly go wrong with wearing that, anywhere. But thinking of my own wedding, or even just a wedding I was going to attend, I probably couldn't stand just have plain french tips, so this is my little spin on the theme.

NOTD: Prismatic Triangles

   ...say what? "Prismatic Triangles" - what is that?! *shrugs* first two words that came to mind when typing up this post.. *awkward turtle hand motion*

   OKAY. Now that the awkwardness has been dealt with.. HEY GUYS! It feels good to be back, 2 weeks absence is too long - apologies! But my life's just taken an unexpected turn, and I needed time to deal with it, but in saying so, I have a great piece of news to share with you all. Starting mid April, I'll be beginning a Nail Technology course at a beauty college in the city *eep* so excited! It will be full time study, but hopefully my nail posts won't slow down too much, and I'd love to keep you guys in the loop with everything, and to also blog about my experiences (and hopefully that doesn't bother or bore you guys!). 

   And to celebrate the news, I did these, and wore them for almost a week! I couldn't bare to take them off, they even survived the week of stocktake we did at work :P 

Swatches: Aussie Indie Moonstone Nail Polish

   Helloooo and a (hopefully) Happy Monday to you all! Today's post is somewhat of a PSA - you all remember the Aussie Indie Moonstone Nail Polish I showed you in October of last year, well Caitlin has now released a new collection which goes live TODAY at 7pm (AEDST)! It is the Magic Treats Collection, and draws inspiration from the lollies found in Honeydukes, the magical sweets shop from the fantastical realm of Harry Potter. And so to celebrate, and maybe tempt you a little, I've got swatches for 3 of the 6 polishes to be released.

   First up is Levitating Sherbert Balls, inspired by the sour Fizzing Whizbeez! It's quite a busy polish, bursting with star shaped glitter, pastel yellow dots, pink, white, yellow, and iridescent hexes, as well as a pink/ gold shifting shimmer - this was the first to catch my eye when I opened up the blogger pack, which was unusual because I'm not usually attracted to shape glitter, or shimmer polish. Though after swatching it, I actually quite liked the look of it. This is one dabbed coat over Ulta 3 Citrus. 

Born Pretty Store Review: Glow In The Dark Nail Stickers

   Hey y'all, hope all's been well (: For today's post, I have a Born Pretty Store review for you guys. Something a little different to what I usually review, as I normally do all the nail art by hand or add bits and bobs to accentuate it, but this time around, I'm trying these Luminous Glow In The Dark Nail Stickers.

14pcs Glow in the Dark Nail Art Stickers

   You get 14 sticker pieces, so you can find the closest fit to your nail bed, and also comes in two different patterns. The pack comes with easy to follow instructions on the back, and are a breeze to apply. The only hurdle I had to overcome was the fact that my nail shape isn't square so I did have to adjust where and how I put the design on my nails so that I could show off the entire pattern.

NOTD: Belated Happy Valentine's Day ♥

   Hey guys! Today's post will be a quick one, just showing a little pink lovin' post Valentine's Day :D Hoping everyone spent the day with loved ones, and if not, spent the day loving yourselves, because that's important too! 

   For this year's V-day, I went down the pink path and used Ulta 3 Fruit Tingle - an amazing bright pink, that has jumped to the top of my pink favourites list - and Emily De Molly Super Vixen for the reverse gradient on top. The perfect combo for a day of love (;

Swatches: American Indie Liquid Sky Lacquer

   Hey Guys! Long time no see (talk, post, whatever you want to call it!). I've been exceptionally busy, and have therefore, shamefully, neglected the blog (even Instagram, I know, it's terrible). But I've had a little breather this past week, and so I've been able to whip up this blog post for you all! It'll be an incredibly picture heavy post, but I hope that not only do I do the polishes justice but, also make up for my absence! haha

   Without further ado, I give you all Liquid Sky Lacquer, an American indie polish brand run by Carolyn, who's been generous enough to send me a few of her polishes to swatch and share with you (: Today, I have the polishes she's released for Valentine's Day!

   First up is 24 Karat Rose, it's a gorgeous thermal polish with a gold shimmer that is a beautiful rosy pink when cold, and a delicate nude/gold when warm. When cold, the pink is opaque, but it is incredibly sheer when warm; in the swatch below I've used 5 layers on it's own, and there is clearly still VNL (visible nail line). I myself don't mind it so much, and actually quite like it's subtle and delicate feel, but for those bothered by VNL, I advise using perhaps a nude base polish first.

When Warm

Born Pretty Store Review: Triangle Nail Art Studs

   Hey y'all! Hope you've been well :D Today, I have another Born Pretty Store review to share ^^ This time it's triangular nail art studs, that are super easy to use, and can spruce up your mani in minutes. The studs are 3mm and come in gold or silver. Each pack contains approximately 200 pieces, so there's plenty to play around with. I chose to go with the silver triangular studs in this super girly - but edgy - Valentine's day inspired mani.

Packet of Triangular Nail Art Studs

   I was aiming for a heart shape at first, using the studs, but ended up with two floral shapes instead, which works out just as fine :P The studs don't need anything special to stick to the nail, I just use regular top coat to stick them on, and another coat of top coat on top to seal them in. Though, if you reallllly wanted to make sure they didn't come off too easily, you could always use nail glue to cement them in place (: 

   For the mani's base, I used Chi Chi Don't You Know Who I Am?, and topped it off with a reverse glitter gradient using Shades Of Phoenix Zeus. 

Swatches: Aussie Indie Miss Ashleigh Part III

   Hey guys! It's been a busy week for me, but I've finally finished off the remaining swatches for the Miss Ashleigh Summer Collection! The last 2 have got to be my favourites from the bunch! So without further ado, let's kick it off with And It Was All Yellow.

   This is a retina burning, highlighter yellow, neon creme that is so darn bright it glows. Even under the flash of my camera it glows freakishly bright! I'd love to see it under a blacklight to see it actually glow, but alas I don't own one so I'll settle for this eye searing brightness in daylight instead haha It's perfect with 3 coats on its own, but as with all neons, I've decided to swatch this over 1 coat of white, to help it pop a little more.

   And last, but most definitely not the least, is Let's Clown Around which is a colourful rainbow glitter topper filled with a mix of neon blue, green, pink and yellow hexes and dots. It's all suspended in a clear base, and so can be layered over anything!

   Here, I've layered it over a white to yellow gradient using OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Miss Ashleigh And It Was All Yellow. This is 1 coat, with additional "dabbing" to even out the glitter on each nail.

   Then I went a little colour crazy, and thought I'd use 4 of Miss Ashleigh's shades to create this explosion of brightness:

   Thought that with all these bright colours in the Summer Collection, may as well create a fun Summer inspired gradient mani! :D This is Show Us Your Watermelons, Like A Sunrise and And It Was All Yellow topped with Let's Clown Around. 

   And that brings us to the end of the Miss Ashleigh swatches. I hope you've all enjoyed them as much as I have! To keep up with all the Miss Ashleigh updates, you can follow Ash on her Instagram @missashleigh or on her facebook page, and if I've tempted any of you to purchase any of these shades for yourself, just click on through to her store online http://missashleigh.com.au/ (: (:

Swatches: Aussie Indie Miss Ashleigh Part II

   Hey y'all! Happy Hump Day Wednesday and welcome to Part II of the Miss Ashleigh swatches! :D Today's stars are Like A Sunrise and Show Us Your Watermelons. Both striking neon shades, perfect for Summer :D

   First up is Like A Sunrise which is a vibrant neon pastel orange creme. This is 3 thin coats over a coat of white (after 2 coats, it was still a little patchy for me, but a thin 3rd coat did the trick!). On the accent nail is a pink to yellow sunset gradient using Kleancolor Neon Amethyst, W7 Fuschia, and Ulta3 Honolulu.

   On top of the gradient, I also tried adding 1 coat of Miss Ashleigh Let's Clown Around and it matched perfectly! (Proper swatch of this rainbow glitter topper to come in part III!)

   There are no words to describe exactly how shockingly bright this colour is! It may not be a fancy glitter or a shifting multichrome, but Like A Sunrise holds its own - even indoors, and in the shade, it screams LOOK AT ME.

   Also, funnily enough, my mani matched my training shoes! It was totally coincidental too haha

   Okay, so next up is Show Us Your Watermelons. It's a gorgeous red coral creme reminiscent of the juicy fruits it's named after! This is 3 thin coats over a coat of white (as with Like A Sunrise it was still a bit patchy after 2 coats, but a 3rd evened it out. It would probably be okay with 2 coats on its own, but I like layering bright colours like these over white to help them pop even more :D).

 

   Then I thought I'd actually show you my watermelons...

   Hahaha mind out of the gutter people! These melons look much better from afar! Close up they look a little dodgy haha but I'm happy with them. I had no watermelons in the fridge, and I'm far too lazy to go to Woolworths to buy a watermelon so this is the best it's going to get :P

   I also made a Berry Smoothie Swirl and decided to pose with it :D

   That's part II complete! Stay tuned for the final installation in the next couple of days :D To get yourselves any of these polishes, just head on over to Miss Ashleigh's online store  http://missashleigh.com.au/

Swatches: Aussie Indie Miss Ashleigh Part I

   Hey guys and a happy Monday to you all! Let's start this week off with a smile and hope the weekend comes around again fast :P To help you along the way, I have swatches from Aussie indie brand Miss Ashleigh to share with you ^^ 

   Ash released 6 new polishes on Boxing Day of last year, and they're all very bright, and fun shades - perfect for the Aussie Summer ahead. Though, instead of bombarding you with 100 pictures in one post, I'll split the swatches into parts.

   So first up is (no surprise I picked up the purple first!) The Grape Gatsby. I don't know if it's just me, but I found the name amusing; admittedly, I giggled when I first read it :P It's a gorgeous purple jelly with an explosion of glittery goodness inside. This is 3 coats on its own to show you the depth of the polish and exactly how jam packed with glitter it is!

   I also tried it over a dark purple base (1 generous coat of The Grape Gatsby over Ulta3 Spring Break) and the resulting mani was breathtaking - the glitter just pops! It instantly reminded me of crushed candy - specifically Pop Rocks! Anyone else know what popping candy is?! This is it, crushed up! 

   Also tried some art deco lines over the top, and kind of failed, but thought I'd share it anyway. Maybe gold was the wrong colour to use. And striping tape would have probably helped in making crisper lines..

   Anyway! The next polish in line, is Deja - Blue! Love its name, love its colour, love its holo! There is nothing you can fault this polish on, even its application was smooth like butter *sigh of satisfaction* It's a vibrant cobalt blue creme with a hint of holo that dazzles when the sun (or a camera flash) hits it.This is 3 thin coats on its own, no undies needed. 

   And just a regular outdoor shot of Deja - Blue, though the sun refused to come from behind the clouds so I couldn't get an action shot of the holo ):

   Well that's part 1 done! Do you guys like the colours so far? For me, even though I'm tempted to pick the purple over the blue (loyalty issues :P), I actually loveeee the blue way more than the purple this time around! Stay tuned for the next parts!

   To get yourselves any of these polishes, just head on over to Miss Ashleigh's online store  http://missashleigh.com.au/

NOTD: Pretty Pink Florals

   Hey y'all! Happy Friday (yes, it's a thing!) to everyone who's living where it's already Friday! And advance happy Friday to those who aren't! :P Darn that's a lot of exclamation marks in the first few sentences haha

   Anyhows, there's not much to report today, so I've only got my recent NOTD pictures to share. First up is a pretty pink floral mani that is so pink I felt so girly prancing around the gym haha. I used Australis #totesamaze layered with Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter on the pointer and pinky nails. For the two floral accent nails, I used Australis #totesamaze and W7 Fuchsia for the roses, and Rimmel Sky High and Orly Glitzy for the leaves. I really wanted the roses to be tiny delicate flowers and the leaves to not be so ginormous haha but I guess I'll keep that in mind for next time.

   And of course, a couple days later, I switched my pink nails for something a little vampier and simple. This is 3 coats of Ulta3 Spring Break (looks like a dupe for China Glaze Creative Fantasy!) and on the accent is Face of Australia Midnight Fireworks - which is a gold glitter texture polish that is absolutely gorgeous, I'd go as far as wearing it as an entire mani one time ♥_♥

   And that's it for now, though I've got plenty more posts to come throughout the month! So stay tuned for that, there are a number of pretties to be seen :P

Born Pretty Store Review: Cute Cat Water Decals

   Hey y'all! So today I have another Born Pretty Store item review to share with you guys - these super cute, super adorable, kitty water decals! And they're so easy to use too! 

   The sheet comes with 20 kitty decals of varying sizes and designs and easy to follow instructions on the back. All I had to do was cut around the kitty I wanted to use, take the protective film off, dunk the piece in a bowl of water for 10-15 seconds and the decal slides right off the backing paper! Just slip it onto your nail, dry up the excess water and wait for it to dry out. A coat of top coat seals it all in, and your nails are done! So simple and easy, great for nail art on the go, when you're short on time, or if you're feeling a little uninspired. And have I mentioned, they're incredibly cute??

   If any of that was a little too confusing, I'm happy to create a quick pictorial to show the process! Just leave a note down in the comments section below ^^

   Also, just in case anyone was interested, the backdrop for these adorable munchkins is a gradient using OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Australis #totesamaze. 

   To purchase these super cute decals just head on over to the Born Pretty Store where they also sell other various nail art paraphernalia. Remember to also enter XFSQ10 during your check out to get a further 10% off your entire purchase.

   These were the first water decals I've ever used, and to be honest, I really like them! I'll definitely be adding a few sheets to my next order to keep on hand for days when I'm not in the mood to paint anything fancy on my nails, but still want to make a statement! 

   How do y'all like them - yay or nay?

*The item/s mentioned in this post were sent to me for my 100% honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of them. For more information, please read the Contact and Policy page of the blog*