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

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). 

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.

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. 

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*

NOTD: Ikat Hearts

   HI GUYS! A PINCH AND A PUNCH FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH! *pinches* *punches* :D Now that that's out of the way... NAILS!

   Oh how I've missed doing an ikat pattern - I just love how it can look messy, but look good looking messy! The ikat heart is one my most fave designs, I could never grow tired of it.

   I bought Essie Mint Candy Apple a couple weeks back, and had yet to find a mani to use it in, until now. Thought the baby blue would be the perfect background for some cutesy ikat hearts :P For the actual hearts themselves, I used W7 Fuschia (my new favourite neon pink!), Ulta3 Spring Break (my new favourite purple!) and my ever faithful Sinful Colors Endless Blue. 

   The golden heart stud and the black round studs are from here on the BornPrettyStore website. You get 3 wheels of various shaped/ coloured studs, and therefore are open to a bunch of new combinations when doing nail art. I'm slowly hoarding all the studs! :P I have a 10% discount code if you do end up purchasing anything on their website - just type in XFSQ10 at checkout!

Born Pretty Store Review: Fluorescent Studs

   Hey y'all! Hope you've all been good :D

   Today, I have some exciting news to share with you guys. The Born Pretty Store have recently contacted me to do a review for them and I happily accepted. What I have for show today are these fun and colourful fluorescent studs. They come in 6 bright colours, 2 different shapes (squares and circles) and are all organized in a handy little wheel container. I was so excited seeing these tiny pieces of goodness in front of me, I went a little stud crazy.

400pcs 2mm Round Square Fluorescent Dark Colors Stud Rhinestones Nail Art Decoration w/box

   Or was that an understatement? :P MY NAILS LOOK LIKE CANDY!! They look like little candy skittles on my nails, I love it!!

   With 6 fluorescent colours to choose from, and two different shapes... I had to pick all of them! Having such a selection means I had an awesome time mixing and matching the studs on my nails. At first I thought I may have gone a tad overboard, but I was quite liking the in-your-face over-the-top look of them, and I've been wearing them for 4 days now! Can't bear to take them off :P

   The studs look great over the colourful nail base, and work well with the crystal rhinestones too. They're about 2mm in size and are pretty flat - once pressed into the polish and after a layer of top coat, the stud isn't protruding too much off the nail.

   I used 4 BYS polishes and 1 Australis polish (all Australian brands) for the bases. From thumb to pinky: BYS Clowning Around, BYS anyone For Tennis, BYS Steal The Limelight, BYS Baby Let's Cruise and Australis #totesamaze.

   You can purchase these studs (and a bunch of other great nail art accessories - go crazy!) from the Born Pretty Store here. I also have a 10% discount code for you to use on your entire purchase: XFSQ10.

   Overall, I love these studs! They're fun, versatile, and with 400pcs, I'll definitely be using them in plenty of manicures, especially in Summer where all the bright colours come out :D    

*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*

BAM: FLORALS

   Welcome to the second instalment of my "then and now, and all the manis in between" series! And today's theme is florals! :D

   Just before we start, y'all know how the first picture in the post is what's used as the blog post thumbnail? (Unless I'm just a noob that doesn't know how to pick a thumbnail??) Well, I didn't really want my first ever floral nails to show as the thumbnail, so I'll show you a sneak peak of my most recent floral design first :P

   And here is where I started with floral nails:

We all gotta start somewhere right? I took pretty horrible photos too, 

and thought a border would make it look better! :p

   From there I just tried different representations of flower:

 

From roses to rose bushes and trees...

To more abstract floral designs.

I tried realistic looking flowers...

As well as floral patterns based off of clothes.

   More recently, I remembered one of my earlier floral designs and decided to recreate it.

Another horrible photo, but GOSH do I love this design!

   And my recreation:

Mini red roses over a blue to teal gradient, with Femme Fatale 

Cosmetics Winter Hyacinth on the index and pinky nails.

   I used Australis Aqua and Essence BBC Splash Refresh for the gradient; Butter London Pillar Box Red, Sally Hansen I Pink I Can, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Ulta3 Tahitian Lime and Frog Prince for the roses and leaves; and 2 coats of Rubi Call Me Maybe as undies  for the glitter.

   I am absolutely in love with Femme Fatale Cosmetics Winter Hyacinth, it matches the roses so well! You can purchase this from their website Femme Fatale Cosmetics or from one of their international stockists. 

   Do any of you purchase indie polishes, and if so do you have a favourite? I'm all up for finding new indies to look at and try :P

And one final photo in the sun!

   And one more thing before you go. Ever wondered where I get the studs and glitter I use in my manis? I purchase them all online (along with my brushes, thinner and other nail art knick knacks) at www.bornprettystore.com and they've now given me a discount code to share with my readers! 

   Just type in XFSQ10 at check out for 10% off your entire purchase! And that's all for now, stay tuned for the next theme: GRADIENTS!

xx Christine

Flirty Floral Print

   SO PURRRRRTY *star struck eyes*

   Of course, these beauties are inspired by Candice from MrCandiipants. That square frame is absolutely genius! Check out her tumblr for the tutorial! :D

   So for my version, I used a deep purple base colour (A Max Factor polish that doesn't have a label.. since I may have ripped it off unknowingly :P). For the flowers I used Face of Australia Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, BC Co Shade 13, Ulta3 Honolulu, Tangelo, Tahitian Lime and Frog Prince. The studs I used were 2mm silver square studs from the BornPrettyStore. 

   In other news, I'm currently using Duri Rejuvacote to help with the splitting and peeling of my nails in hopes that my nails will finally grow out like they used to. *fingers crossed*

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Winter Hyacinth

   Sophie from Femme Fatale Cosmetics recently turned 27 and had a surprise 27% flash sale,  so obviously it was too good of a deal to not take advantage of! I ended up purchasing Femme Fatale Cosmetics Winter Hyacinth, Eventide and Party Grenade. 

   First on my 'to try' list is Winter Hyacinth:

   It's a teal jelly with pretty pink and purple circle, hex and diamond glitters. This is two thin coats over Chi Chi Plastic Fantastic. For the accent nails, I topped the Chi Chi with crystal mylar sheets, and 2mm square studs, both from BornPrettyStore.

BornPrettyStore 2mm Silver Studs

Mornin' y'all! So as I said in my last post, my recent BornPrettyStore purchase arrived in the mail this week and amongst the goodies were these 2mm square silver studs. I've purchased studs before from their store, but they were the larger 4mm sized squares.

The 2mm squares are a lot smaller, and I think much cuter :P So I decided to pair them with a pink and purple half moon gradient and glitter!

I used Australis Bombshell for the base colour and Ulta3 Orchid for the purple half moon and gradient. For the glitter accents, I used KattClaws Bubblegum Princess. The studs are just placed on with a small dab of nail glue, and then the whole thing is sealed off with a quick dry top coat.

Keepin' It Cool

   This week has got to be THE HOTTEST week in Sydney in like forever! Temperatures have reached 47degrees Celsius and it's said to continue into next week *gulp* 

   So to keep it cool, I paired KattClaws Polish 'Community Pool' with Sinful Colors 'Endless Blue' and silver square studs from the BornPrettyStore online to create this mix and match mani.

   I'll be keeping this post nice and short as I've also received the new set of nail art brushes, loose glitter and mylar sheet sets, also from the BornPrettyStore, and I'm itching to try them!!