Rose Gold Hearts Stamping

I have to say that out of all my nail looks this one isn't my favorite. I wish I had used a darker polish for the hearts but I still wanted to post these.

My base color is Opi Canary ate my Berries. I used the baggy method by using cut up pieces of a Walmart bag to apply Milani Bombshell, China Glaze Spring in my Step, and my original color. After I got the opacity I wanted I used Seche Vite to help blend the colors and speed up drying time.

Once dry I used Essie Penny Talk with Mo-You London plate 10 from the Princess collection and stamped on the hearts. I used a different stamper this time and so far I am very happy with it. I am planning to do a more in depth blog post about it very soon so be on the look out for it.

A final top coat of Seche Vite really makes the metallic color pop. I think because it is so reflective and bright that that is why I am not in love with this look. I plan to try something similar with a darker stamping color.

Macro of thumb

I managed to get a video recorded for these nails. I am still working on learning the best way to edit so please forgive the choppiness of the video.





I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha 

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.
-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Valentine's Day Tulips

For my first Valentine's Day mani of the year I wanted to do something that could also be just a pretty look on it's own. My new Pueen Buffet Leisure plates came in so I wanted a chance to use them as well.

For my pointer and ring finger I put down two coats of Color Club Je T'aime. I added two coats of Finger Paints Santa's Lil Topper on my ring finger as well.

My thumb and middle finger have two coats of Orly's Powder Puff. I used the tulips from Pueen plate 97. I stamped with Mundo de Unas #39 for the leaves and #55 for the blooms. I went in and filled in with Color Club's Warhol.

My pinkie is China Glaze's The Grass is Lime Greener. I love the color of this year but the formula is horrible. Even after three coats it is still a bit patchy.

Macro of middle finger

I used Glisten & Glow Hk Girl to make the decals. I finished everything off with Seche Vite. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

*Use code RA4X31 for 10% off all your Born Pretty Store purchases.

-All photos were taken in my lightbox

Galactic Nails

I started off with a base coat of CND Sticky base. After applying two layers of Orly's Royal Navy I went in with my first color, Rica Whiteout, with a sponge making diagonal lines across each nail. I did the same thing with Color Club's Wicker Park and Take Me To Your Chateau. I sponged the colors along the outside of the white I had originally laid down.

I wanted to add a bit more dimension so I added some of my original blue through the center. Instead of adding white dots for stars I used Opi's Pirouette My Whistle which has silver hexagon glitters as well as holographic glitters.

 On my middle finger I used BM 610 and Rica Whiteout to stamp on the cute little design.

  After everything was finished I added Seche Vite.

Macro of middle nail

 I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha 

*All photos taken in my lightbox

Unicorns and Clouds

Base color is Opi Put a Coat On

Clouds are a gradient of Color Club's East Austin, Wicker Park, and Blue-Ming using plate W113

Unicorn is Rica Blackout stamped from plate W217

Top coats are Seche Vite and Glisten & Glow Hk Girl

Macro of thumb

 I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha

*All photos taken in my lightbox

Sea Creatures

I am over the 7 degree weather here. What better way to pretend it's not freezing by putting cute sea creatures on your nails! I am still not that great at advanced stamping but definitely getting better. My favorite has to be the bright yellow fish on my pinky. He reminds me of Flounder from The Little Mermaid.

Base color is Essie Mint Candy Apple

Waves were stamped using Rica Whiteout with plate BM 509

Thumb is Mundo de Unas Avocado filled in with Opi Taupeless Beach from plate Mo-You London Sailor 01

Pointer finger is from the same plate with Essie Carry On

Middle finger is Essie Aruba Blue filled in with Opi Funny Bunny also from same plate

Ringer finger is Essie Peach Daiquiri from same plate

Pinky is Nina Ultra Pro in Blue Blaze filled with Orly Glowstick with Mo-You London Sailor 08

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha


*All photos are taken in my lightbox  

Sally Hansen Velvet Collection Swatches

I knew as soon as I saw that Sally Hansen was coming out with a velvet line that I had to get my hands on them. I dislike most texture polishes. They tend to be too gritty, even with some chunky glitters I have to use multiple layers of top coat. The velvet polishes are just slightly textured.

First up is Lush. It's a darker taupe color. It reminds me of Opi's I Sao Paulo Over There. This is two coats with no top coat.

Velour is this gorgeous purple color with a blue undertone. I actually don't have a color in my collection similar. This is two coats with no top coat.

Plush is a slightly darker aquamarine color. This looks like Essie's In The Cabana. This is two coats with no top coat.

Velveteen is your typical black. This one actually had the best formula out of all of them. This is two coats with no top coat.

I wanted to try out stamping over top to see how well it would do. The stamping actually turned out great. The slight texture gave something for the image to grip to.

Overall I think that these are a great concept but they just do not last. I didn't expect them to stay on for a long time but they barely made it an hour before chipping. I figured maybe they would last a day or so. These would be great for special occasions where you don't plan to have the polish on for long. I am thinking of returning them. For the price of $5.99 each I just don't see me using them. You could always top coat to help last but then you lose the point of the texture.


I hope you all have a wonderful day!

-Samantha


*All photos were taken in my lightbox. 

Stardust Blush Swatch

 

I have no idea what took me so long to try out FingerPaints polish but I am a total addict now. My local Sally's had a ton of different colors in their clearance bin so I figured I would give them a try and "Wow!" Stardust blush is this beautiful glitter polish that has fine light pink microglitters along with hot pink round glitter. I had the hardest time getting my camera to get an accurate photo. You can somewhat see the gold reflect this polish gives off. I will say that I used a coat of gellous and a coat of seche vite and you can still feel the glitter texture. I do prefer a smoother glitter because then you are less likely to snag it on something but the color makes it worth it. Two coats got me to the opacity I wanted.

I hope you all have a wonderful monday!

-Samantha


*All photos were taken in my lightbox 

Top 10 Looks of 2014

I wanted to do a collage of all my favorite manis from 2014 as we are now officially into 2015. A new year means plenty of new looks but first at look back. I am so proud of how far I have come with my nail art. I am still learning everyday but I feel much more confident now.

First up is a neon mermaid mani. Here is where you can see the original post.

Next is a pastel swirl stamping look. Here is the original post.

Cath Kidston nails are next. Here is the original post.

One of my all time favorite looks is my Lisa Frank nails. I am a sucker for bright colors. Here is the orignal post.

There is no way I couldn't show my micro chip nails. Too much of a geek for that. Here is the original post.

Cherry blossom nails=sucker again for bright colors. Here is the original post.

So hands down my favorite look ever (well so far) is my Sherlock mani. Original post here.

First time ever trying out the Leadlight technique. Original post here.

Cutesy little snowman scarves made the list. Original post here.

Last but not least we have these sparkly snowflakes. Original post here.


I hope you all have a wonderful 2015!

-Samantha