Category Archives: Nail Art Supply Review

29 Apr

Useful Tools: Tilted Nail Polish Bottle Holder

Hello lacquered ladies!

Today I’m going to tell you about a super cool little tool that I have in my nail art stash. I bought this tilted nail polish bottle holder. from Born Pretty Store a while back, and it has come in quite handy, so I thought I would share it with you in case you wanted to get your hands on one too.

It’s flexible enough to hold several different shaped bottles in. China Glaze might give you a problem because the base of the bottle is so wide, but all the other imported and local brands that I own fit fairly well. A big plus is that it can hold skinny little bottles. Those little tubes of polish that come in nail art pen sets are so hard to hold while you polish your nails with them. This little gadget solves that problem.

Titled Nail Polish Bottle Holder

The downside to this design is that it doesn’t tilt the bottle as far as I would like. When the bottle is about half full (See my optimistic view on that?) you are going to need more of an angle to get the product near to the neck for easy dipping. But you can set the edge of the bottle holder on a thin book or coaster, and it will tilt a bit more and still feel pretty sturdy.

Tilted Nail Polish Bottle Holder with small and large bottles

I also love to use this to hold my bottle of nail glue. Nail glue usually comes in small, lightweight plastic bottles that tip over easily. When glue spills into the threads it makes the cap stick and hard to open. I used to need a pair of locking pliers to open my nail glue after a few uses. This bottle holder keeps it upright, and I don’t have any problems with spillage and sticking anymore.

This particular tilted nail polish bottle holder costs $2.46 from Born Pretty Store and is totally worth the small price. I would definitely suggest getting your hands on one if you are searching for something like this. BPS gave me a coupon code to share so that you can get 10% off your entire order from their store.

Born Pretty Store Coupon 10% Off Code, TEAW10

I hope you found this post useful. Have a great day and don’t forget to make someone smile!

Hugs,
Rach

25 Mar

Oh My Goodness! Jellybean Nails Using OMG Nail Strips!

Hi gals!

I appreciate you sticking around despite it being quiet around here lately. Unfortunately, I’ve been having some personal health issues in addition to keeping up with my regular mommy/wife duties and the blog always takes a back seat to real life. I’m sure you understand, but I thank you just the same for your patience. Y’all rock!

I’ve got a review for you today of a super fun product sent to me by OMG Nail Strips. They make a wide variety of nail strip designs that make for some quick and easy nail art, even if you are just a beginner!

I picked out two designs to try out and today I’m showing you the Jelly Bean design. Even though I don’t like to eat jellybeans, I do think they are so cute and colorful and a very fun idea for nail art! Perfect for a spring mani. Check out how great these look! I got lots of compliments on them.

OMG Nail Strips - Jellybean

But are they as easy to use as they boast on their site? Yes! They were so easy and quick to apply! Keep in mind that there are different types of nail strips and decals on the market so it’s important to know what you are working with and follow the instructions for each type. I really appreciate that they have a video tutorial on their website which left me feeling confident when I applied these.

Before I started, I pushed back my cuticles and swiped some polish remover on my nail surface to make sure to remove any oil or residue that might prevent the strips from sticking well to the nail. I also used some scissors and cut the sheet of nail strips into individual strips. There are 14 strips total per pack.

OMG Nail Strip Application

1. After selecting the correct size for my nail, I removed the clear plastic coating on top of the strip and then removed the strip from the stiff paper backing. I centered the strip to my cuticle line and sides of my nail. The underside of the strip is sticky so it is very easy to position it on the nail. It stays put while you work on cutting it down to size, but it’s not so sticky that, if you place it off-center, you can’t pull it off and reposition. It is also sturdy enough that it didn’t tear or stretch when I had to reposition.

2. After I positioned the strip, I was surprised to see how much of the strip was left hanging over the end of my nail. I have long nails, y’all. So these strips would still work on REALLY REALLY long nails. At this point, I used my finger to smooth out any bubbles under the strip. I used my rubber ended cuticle pusher to make sure the edges of the strip were stuck down well.

3. I snipped off the excess overhang of the nail strip with scissors, and since my nails are so skinny, I used my nippers to snip where the strip was a little bit too big for my nail on the sides. If you look closely at the picture, you can see what I did.

4. I used my finger to fold the strip over the free edge of my nail. It was a little tricky at first since my nails are almond shaped and not flat. But I just made sure to press along the edge and to tuck the over-hang under my nail.

5. See the excess tucked up under the tip of my nail?

6. Using a fine grit nail file, I filed along the edge of my nail until the excess came off. I did my best to hold the file parallel with my nail to keep the strip in tact on the tip of my nail. After I was finished, I topped it off with my favorite quick-dry topcoat from Girlstuff.

The packaging says that these last up to 10 days. I wore them for 8 days before I needed a change, but the strips weren’t peeling up around the edges at all. They did have some tip wear but not much considering they endured 8 days on my nails.

Application only took 15 minutes or so (not counting nail prep time). This really is a quick way to get some fine looking nails.

OMG Nail Strips in Jellybean

If you want to get your hands nails on some of these OMG Nail Strips, then pop over to their site and take a look. They have everything from skulls, hearts, flowers, feathers, and animal prints. These are $7.99 each or, for a better deal, you can pick 5 designs for $25 with free shipping on any orders. They even have new LED Nail Decals that have an LED that lights up with the NFC fields given off by some phones. How cool is that? Check those out here.

Have you ever tried these nail strips before? What do you think? I really like them, and I know I’ll enjoy showing off the other design I picked out soon. Thank you OMG Nail Strips for sending these to me. They sure were fun to wear!

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to make someone smile!

Hugs,
Rach

28 Jan

Girlstuff Chestnut and MJ XXVIII Stamping

Hey gals,

Sorry for being so quiet around here lately. I blame it on a wedding in the family and some related festivities, my son’s birthday party, lovely hormones, having my nose stuck in a book, homeschooling my kids, and just being busy with real life in general. You all know how it goes.

While I have been too busy to blog, I haven’t been too busy for doing my nails. Recently I’ve enjoyed wearing some of my favorites and simply polishing nails for several friends.

Girlstuff Chestnut with MJ XXVIII stamping

Today, I’m sharing a stamped design using MJ XXVIII which is available from My Online Shop. Meann was kind enough to send me a couple of the new MJ stamping plates to test out along with some gold and silver stamping polish. Yay! Every single plate I have from MyOnline Shop stamps beautifully and this one is no exception. I’ve included a couple of macro shots near the end of this post because it’s my blog and I can do stuff like that if I want to. Ha!

MJ Stamping Plates

My base is two coats of Girlstuff Chestnut. My sweet hubby surprised me with this pretty over the holidays, and I am happy to show it off now. I think it fits in with Marsala—the “color of the year”—don’t you?

Girlstuff Chestnut

I used two coats for this and had no issues with application or removal. The formula was great and it was quick drying like all Girlstuff Polishes.

MJ XXVIII Stamping Macro

Look at the detail in this stamping! I used the bottom right of the larger sections of etching on the MJ XXVIII as it reminded me of henna designs, and I liked the idea of gold over Chestnut. It’s quite pretty if I do say so myself.

Macro Shot of MJ XXVIII Stamping

Well, that is all I have to share for today. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far. Keep smiling!

Hugs,
Rach

10 Nov

Born Pretty Store Hexagonal Glitter Review

Hi there!

I’ve got another product review to share with you. When Born Pretty Store contacted me a while back asking me to review some of their products, I knew immediately that I wanted to get my hands on their 12-Color Hexagon Glitter Set I’ve heard so much about. When I received the package, I immediately set about putting tons of glitter all over my nails! I was thinking of doing something pumpkin related with these. But after I finished with the orange glitter, I realized that they looked more like koi fish scales. They were so fantastically glittery, I decided to leave them as is. Aren’t they pretty?

Orange Hexagonal Glitter Placement mani

To achieve this flashy look, I started with two thin coats of a similar base color (Caronia Bourrée in this case). After my base color was dry, I applied a bit of clear polish down the center of my nail and, using a damp orange wood stick to pick them up, carefully placed the glitter piece by piece in a straight line down the middle of my nail. Then I worked out towards the sides of the nail, applying clear coat column by column to get the glitter to stick. Using my cuticle nippers, I cut some glitter in half for the edges of my nails. After the nail was covered to my liking, I applied a generous layer of clear coat to seal it all in.

Orange Hexagonal Glitter Placement mani 2

I can’t believe that it has been a year since I did a full glitter placement mani! They are so pretty and fun to wear.

Hexagonal Glitter Review

Let me tell you more about the 12-Color Hexagonal Glitter Set from BPS.  The pack comes with 12 different colors each packed nicely in a clear pot with a screw top lid. There is a ton of glitter in each pot and the colors are very pretty.

Born Pretty Store 12 Color Hexagonal Glitter set

I have to say that some of the hexes are cut very well , like these orange ones for instance. There may have been one or two oddly cut pieces that I found while I was placing these bits, but most of them were just right. The silver ones that I used for another look, on the other hand, were not so perfect. I had wonky hexes, half hexes, and wonky half hexes (you get the picture). If you plan to use these on a matching base then the wonky shapes won’t be such a concern. But if you look closely at my other mani, you can tell clearly that they are shaped a bit off—a contrasting color makes it a little more obvious. In reality though, I wore that design for several days and had many compliments on it with no one noticing anything amiss. Maybe it’s just my OC self making note of the shape issue, but the silver hexes are the oddest of the bunch. The rest are significantly better.

I decided to include a little gallery with a sample from each pot of glitter so that you can see for yourself the general quality of the glitter. The color is hard to make out on some of these, but the silhouettes show just how well-cut (or not) each color is. Just click/tap an image to enlarge it and then flip through them one-by-one.

Overall, I think this is a great product. This 12-color hexagon glitter set usually goes for $6.85 on Born Pretty Store. They are having a sale at the moment, and you can get this set for $5.48, but the sale ends in just a few hours. If you live in the Philippines, I want to remind you again that, though there are no shipping costs from Born Pretty Store, you WILL have to pay customs fees (about 150 pesos) on any package coming from outside the Philippines. Delivery is also slow if you choose their free shipping option. So don’t expect your package soon. If you plan on ordering something from Born Pretty Store, you can use the coupon code below to get 10% off your entire order.

Coupon

Glitter placement manis are sooo eye-catching and versatile. I need to try a gradient type one soon or try different colors on each nail.

Orange Hexagonal Glitter over Caronia Bourrée

Have you done any glitter placement nail art? I would love to see! Please feel free to share a  link below in the comments if you feel like it. 🙂

I’m off to play some video games with my boy! Have a lovely day and keep smiling!

Hugs,

Rach

31 Oct

Born Pretty Store Nail Art Brush Set Review

Today I’m reviewing a brush set from Born Pretty Store. They sell all sorts of nail art supplies and products (plus makeup, jewelry, etc.) and ship internationally for free, which is great! If you live in the Philippines, you will have to pay customs and a parcel fee on the package when it arrives. So keep that in mind. It cost me about 150 pesos to claim a package with 3 items in it. Just something to consider when ordering online.

The product I’m reviewing today is their 8 pc Nail Art Brush Set.

8 Pc. Nail Art Brush Set

I am rather pleased with this affordable brush set. They cost USD$4.32 right now, which is about PHP 190. The set includes seven different  brushes and one small dotting tool. The handles are pink, which I personally love.

Born Pretty Store Nail Art Brush Set

If you look at the close-ups of the brushes below, you will see two sizes of brushes that come to a point, one angled brush, one flat brush, and two sizes of flat brushes that are slightly rounded at the end. I love these flat brushes for cleanup around the cuticle or for making bigger shapes for nail designs. If I had any skills whatsoever with one-stroke flowers, I’m sure they would be perfect for that as well. The set also comes with a very small tip brush, which is great for detail work (like the leaves of my roses in the picture below). The dotting tool in this set is a very small one and it’s perfect for making tiny polka dots like you see below and for the swirly parts of these roses. I use this size of a dotting tool to do the markings of leopard print nail art.

Close up of Born Pretty Store Nail Art Brush Set

The set is shipped with these protective covers (pictured below) to help keep them from being bent. It is best to store them with the covers on, just to be safe.

Born Pretty Store Nail Art Brush Set with protective cases

Overall, this is definitely a good set of brushes. The price is right, it has a decent variety of tools and uses. If you purchased this set, you would be able to do a lot of different designs with them. You could even cut some of the bristles off  one of these brushes to make finer tip brushes if you want something smaller. I’ll be sharing some nail art I’ve done with these very soon.

Nail Art Brush Set in hand

Well, that’s my review of this 8 pc. Nail Art Brush Set. What do you think of this set? Do you want it? Already have it?

I’ve got a coupon code for you that will give you 10% off your entire order if you get the hankering to order this, or anything else, on BornPrettyStore.com.

Coupon

I hope you have a great day. I’m off to bed so I can get up in the morning and take my two little ones (Super Mario and Queen Elsa) trick-or-treating at the mall. Yeah, we do things a bit differently here in the Philippines.
Hugs,
Rachael

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