Born Pretty Store Nail Polish Review Part 1

Hello everyone!

Today I have part one of a review of some Born pretty store products for you all. Before I start I must say that these products were provided to me by Born Pretty store for my honest opinion, and with that said on to the post! :)

The first product I chose to review can be found here - http://www.bornprettystore.com/gold-color-glitter-nail-polish-nail-p-1313.html

I chose this polish because I absolutely love all things glitter and it looks very beautiful and like a few indie polishes I've had my eye on recently, so here's some swatches...

Unfortunately this polish doesn't have a name, it is listed on Born Pretty Store as "Gold Color Glitter Nail Polish Nail Art -80" I wish it had a proper name as it really is beautiful. As you can see from the above picture this polish contains small gold glitters and larger turquoise, red/orange and gold glitters in a clear base.

For these swatches I layered one thick coat of the polish over one layer of Revlon Lunar, to show all the colours of the glitters. I'm really glad I chose to layer this polish over black, it reminds me of Christmas tree lights and I honestly really love it! The application of this polish was also good, it was a great consistency to work with and one coat applied plenty of the glitter to my nail. I didn't need to dab glitter anywhere it applied very smoothly and evenly.

 

I would reccomend this polish to anyone who loves glitter, it is absolutely gorgeous and can be layered over ,many different colours to create different effects, or built up to be worn on its own.I can't wait to wear this polish again, it's perfect for Christmas but I can also see this looking nice over brighter colours when summer rolls around again.

Thanks for reading :)

Birthday Nails Part 2

Hello everyone :)
Just a quick update post today for my birthday nails, I added something to my pink and sparkly nails I posted yesterday. If it's possible I think I've fallen in love with them even more! :P Here's what I added...

I added two coats of Revlon Lunar to create the cloud shapes and then topped off with one thick coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust to add even more sparkle to these nails :)

I really do love these. I thought of adding one of my Hello Kitty water decals on my ring finger as an accent but thought it might look too cluttered. I'll probably add one tomorrow before I do a polish change, so keep an eye out for that :)

Let me know what you think of these nails compared to yesterdays in the comments.

Thanks for reading :)

Lazy Days of Summer Challenge - Inspired By Your Favorite Towel

Hello everyone :)

Today I have another post for you from the Lazy Days of Summer challenge. The theme for this post was inspired by your favorite towel, I had several ideas for this theme but in the end I decided to go with a towel that I've had my eye on for a while.. 

 

I love the patterns in this towel so I decided to take some of the patterns and recreate them on my nails :)

 For these nails I used two coats of H&M Berry Love for the base on the red nails and one coat of Revlon Lunar on the black accent nail. The patterns were created using black acrylic paints. I picked out the patterns that appealed to me most, I really wanted to use the swallow but I failed when I tried to paint it. This is why I have the accent nail :P

I'm actually really pleased with how these turned out, although I wish I hadn't added the black dots. The nail art looked a lot cleaner and less cluttered without them. I might have to do these nails again without the dots to show you all :P

Do you have a favorite beach towel? Would you match your nails to it? Let me know in the comments :)

Thanks for reading,

Superhero Challenge - DC Hero

Hello everyone :)
Today I have another Superhero challenge post for you all! Today's post is based on a DC Comics Hero!! I got very excited about this post and have had it planned for a while! Keeping with the theme of less well known characters I chose this guy...

 

The color Kid! You can read more about him here  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_Kid

I chose the Color Kid as I really liked what he looks like he doesn't look like a conventional Hero and I love his costume! 

So here's what I came up with...

I took my inspiration for my nails from Color Kids costume once again. I really loved the rainbow panel so decided to do a gradient to portray that. Then I wanted the gradient to stand out so used black on the other nails to frame it like his costume does.

I made the gradient over bare nails and I think it stands out nicely, although it may have been brighter with a white base, I just didn't want really thick nails after using all this polish :p I used the following polishes in order from the cuticle line to the tip; China Glaze Poinsettia, Color Club Wham! Pow!, Color Club Almost Famous, Color Club Twiggie and Jesses Girl Girls Night Out. I sponged two coats of each colour on to the nail and then sealed with topcoat. The black I used was Revlon Lunar.

I'm so pleased with how this turned out. I thought the gradient was going to be a disaster :P I had great fun looking through all the Hero's for this challenge, but Color Kid was so fun I knew I had to show him to you all, I hope you like him!

Have you ever done a rainbow gradient? What colours did you use? let me know in the comments :)

Thanks for reading :)

Also, check out the other girls who are taking part in this challenge along with me to create the Super Six!

Sammy at The Nailasaurus

Debbie at The Crumpet

Sarah at Spellbinding Nails

Jo at Northern Nails

Kerrie at PishPosh and Polish

April Showers Challenge - Spring Design of Your Choice

Hello everyone :)
Sorry for the lack of posting over the weekend, I've been ill again :( I'm okay now though so back to the nails! :P
This is the last post for the April Showers challenge :( But I have a few challenges coming up that I'm taking part in so keep an eye out for those soon!
Anyway, this last post for April Showers was labelled as the spring design of your choice. I've been thinking about this one for a while and decided I wanted to combine two things, here's what I came up with...

I knew I wanted to try gradient nails again but I also wanted to do sheep as they remind me of spring and they weren't included in this challenge. So that's how I came up with this idea :)

For these nails I used two coats of OPI What's With The Cattitude? for the base. I then sponged on Color Club Twiggie for the grass and OPI Ogre The Top Blue for the sky. I then used a dotting tool and OPI Alpine Snow to create the sheep's body, Revlon Lunar for the legs and eyes, OPI Pink Friday for the nose and Essence Twins Romeo for the ears. Wow! That's a lot of polish :P

I'm so pleased with how these turned out! You can actually tell what they are and I really like the effect the gradient gives to the background of the sheep :P I'm really going to miss this challenge I had great fun coming up with different designs, but hopefully the next challenges I have lined up will be just as fun and creative :)

What colours do you think look nice in gradients? let me know in the comments :)

Thanks for reading :)

Charlotte xxx

April Showers Challenge - May Flowers

Hello everyone :)
Today I have one of the last April Showers Challenge posts for you all! I'll be finishing this challenge off this week and hopefully be moving onto a new challenge soon, I have lots of new things lined up for you all so keep an eye out ;p
Anyway, this challenge was May Flowers and I've been thinking about it for some time. I didn't want to try and recreate a flower on my nails as I know it would look awful :P So I've been looking around for something cute and fun and this is what I decided to do!!

Pretty dotting tool flowers! :D
I used three coats of China Glaze Octa Gone wild for the base of the nails, I then used a dotting tool to create the flower shapes using Revlon Lunar and then added a center dot with OPI Rumples Wiggin'.

I'm so pleased with how these turned out, I thought they'd be a horrible splodgy mess but they look very cute :) These are so easy to create with a dotting tool and you can use different colour combinations! I really wanted to use a holo base as the sun has just come out here in the UK so I wanted something flashy :P

I'm also really happy with how my pictures came out. I've never had much success capturing holo polishes with my camera but they came out great today!

Have you tried making flowers with a dotting tool before? what are your favourite holo polishes at the moment? Let me know in the comments :)
Thanks for reading :)
Charlotte xxx

April Showers Challenge - Fresh Cut Lawns

Hello everyone :)
Another quick April Showers Challenge post today! The theme for today was... Fresh Cut Lawns. For this theme I was just going to paint my nails green as I was at a loss as to what to do. So I started painting them and then thought that I wasn't trying hard enough, and I'd be put to shame by the other girls amazing nail art! :P So I sat down and thought again and this is what I came up with...

I did a lawn mower cutting grass! :P Not the best or most original idea, but better than just plain green :)

I used OPI What's With The Cattitude? for the sky, OPI Alpine Snow for the cloud tips, Sally Hansen Going Green for the grass and China Glaze Poinsettia & Revlon Lunar for the lawn mower. I used different sized dotting tools to create the grass blades and the lawn mower and the polish brush to create the clouds.

These turned out okay but they looked better in my head :P I hate when that happens but.. oh well :P

I'm really looking forward to the next theme in this challenge...Butterflies!! So keep an eye out for that post soon :) And I have some very exciting things coming up for you all in the next few weeks so watch out for those too ;p

How would you have portrayed Fresh Cut Lawns in nail art? Let me know in the comments :)

Thanks for reading :)

Charlotte xxx

April Showers.. Challenge - Ladybirds

Hello everyone :)
Today I'm back with another April Showers Bring May Flowers challenge post. Today's challenge was ladybird nails! Originally I was going to do a scene across my nails like a garden with lady birds but I didn't have enough time :( I will definitely try it in the next few days though :) So here's what I came up with...

I decided to go with ladybirds that are more real rather than cartoon like. So I searched for pictures of lady birds and tried to copy it as well as I could :)

I used two coats of H&M Berry Love for the base on all nails. This polish is my favourite red, it's a jelly polish but it's so bright and beautiful :) I then drew on black tips with Revlon Lunar and added dots for the eyes with OPI Alpine Snow and a dotting tool. I also used dotting tools to create the spots on the wings and the line down the back.

I'm so pleased with how this turned out, I think it's obvious what they are and they're so cute and appropriate for the season at the moment :) Also, my nail art skills are getting better as my right hand looks just as good as my left and that never happens! My son has an obsession with ladybirds at the minute so we've had lots of fun making them crawl all over him :P
what do you think about ladybird nails? Have you ever tried them? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading :)
Charlotte xxx

Week 13 Ruffian Mani

Hello everyone :)
Sorry I'm late with this weeks challenge post. I actually finished it last night but it was way too late to post it by the time I was done :P So here it is now! This weeks challenge was the Ruffian mani. I started looking at colour schemes for these nails on google and I couldn't find anything eye catching enough for what I wanted. So I came up with this...

I really loved the skittle mani I did last weekend so I recreated it with softer colours for the base of this weeks ruffian nails. I used two coats of all polishes listed...
Fore finger: Models Own Pink Blush.
Middle finger: Models Own Fuzzy Peach.
Ring finger: China Glaze Happy Go Lucky.
Little finger: Models Own Jade Stone.
I then layered one coat of Revlon Lunar over the top and freehanded the curve. I really love how these nails turn out. I've had many people comment on how it's a great way to use coloured polish without it being too loud, as some people don't like bright colours etc...

Would you wear a skittle based ruffian mani? Let me know in the comments :)
Thanks for reading :)
Charlotte xxx

52 week challenge - week 3 colour block mani

Hello everyone :)
Today I have my colour blocking mani from the 52 week challenge to show you. Now, when I read it was colour blocking I had to google it as I had no idea what it was :P I looked at lots of mani's that people had done with this theme and they all seemed centred on clothing and patterns, I thought I'd base mine more on colours so I went searching and found this picture..

This shows different colour schemes and I thought I'd use one of these and incorporate some patterns into my mani. So after lots of debating I picked my colours and set out to work.

I decided to use OPI Alpine Snow, OPI Pink Friday, OPI DS Coronation, Barry M Grey and Revlon Lunar as my colours. I started off by painting my nails in alternating colours as the base and then just adding stripes/blocks of colour as I pleased, it was all a bit random this mani :P

Here's a picture of my nails in the sun to show you the scattered holo effect of the DS I used. I only got a few pictures of this mani as I really don't like how it turned out or how it looks. I really like the colour combination but the whole idea of colour blocking isn't something I really like and don't think I'll be repeating any time soon.

What do you think of colour block mani's? What colours and patterns would you use? let me know in the comments, I love reading comments from everyone :) Also, don't forget to enter my 50 follower giveaway :)

Thanks for reading,
Charlotte xxx

52 Week Challenge - Week 1

Hello everyone :)
Whilst browsing around the PAA facebook I found out about the 52 week challenge from a post by Liz Marie Rodriguez over at http://imsimply-complex.blogspot.com/. I thought it would be interesting to take part in, so here's the list for you to look at..
1. Jan. 1st - "Make it Sparkle" Mani
2. Jan. 8th - French Tip Mani
3. Jan. 15th - Color Block Mani
4. Jan. 22nd - Plaid Mani
5. Jan. 29th - Newspaper Mani
6. Feb. 5th - Half Moon Mani
7. Feb. 12th - Valentines Day Mani
8. Feb. 19th - Corest Mani
9. Feb. 26th - "Vintage" Mani
10. Mar. 4th - Polka Dot Mani
11. Mar. 11th - "St. Patricks Day" Mani
12. Mar. 18th - Skittle Mani
13. Mar. 25th - Ruffian mani
14. Apr. 1st - Striped Mani
15. Apr. 8th - "Easter Day" mani
16. Apr. 15th - Dotticure Mani
17. Apr. 22nd - "Earth Appreciation" Mani
18. Apr. 29th - Cartoon Mani
19. May 6th - Floral Mani
20. May 13th - Bows Mani
21. May 20th - Fruit Mani
22. May 27th - Splatter Mani
23. Jun 3rd - Ombre Mani
24. Jun 10th - Flag Mani
25. Jun 17th - Pride/Rainbow Mani
26. Jun 24th - Neon Mani
27. July 1st - "4th of July" Mani
28. July 8th - Gradient Mani
29. July 15th - "Rockstar" Mani
30. July 22nd - Water Marble Mani
31. July 29th - Crackle Mani
32. Aug. 5th - Needle Marble Mani
33. Aug. 12th - Galaxy Mani
34. Aug. 19th - "Bling" Mani
35. Aug. 26th - Cupcake Mani
36. Sept. 2nd - Tape Mani
37. Sept. 9th - "We Remember 9/11" Mani
38. Sept. 16th - Metallic/Magnetic Mani
39. Sept. 23rd - Dry Marble Mani
40. Sept. 30th - Animal Print Mani
41. Oct. 7th - Patchwork Mani
42. Oct. 14th - "Pink 4 Breast Cancer Awareness" Mani
43. Oct. 21st - Spider Web Mani
44. Oct. 28th - Halloween Mani
45. Nov. 4th - Tribal Mani
46. Nov. 11th - "Mustache 4 Movember: Prostate Cancer Awareness" Mani
47. Nov. 18th - Thanksgiving Day Mani
48. Nov. 25th - Feather Mani
49. Dec 2nd - Glitter Sandwich Mani
50. Dec. 9th - Snowflake Mani
51. Dec. 16th - Red Mani
52. Dec. 23rd - Christmas Mani
53. Dec. 30/31 - You've learned enough, go all out and show 2013 what it's all about!!

Other bloggers taking part in the challenge:

Liz Marie at http://imsimply-complex.blogspot.com/

Kristen at http://darlingnails.blogspot.com/

Caitlin at http://addicted2nails-caitst.blogspot.com/

Sarah at http://prncesssarah02nailloving.blogspot.com/p/challenge-time.html

Jenna at http://www.jennafroggy.com/

Rachel-Karina at http://polishedcriminails.blogspot.com/

Nicel at http://operationnailit.blogspot.com/

Lissa at http://lissasnailblog.wordpress.com/

Liz at http://nothingbutnailpolish.blogspot.com/

Olivia at http://olivia2901.blogspot.com/

Cindy at http://squarepolish.blogspot.com/

Marie at http://polishpolishpolish.blogspot.com/

Laurie at http://lauriestrodesfunwithnails.blogspot.com/

Charlotte at http://nailsactually.blogspot.com/

Kaki at http://www.glitterobsession.com/

Treselaine at http://treschicnails.blogspot.com/

Gypsy at http://gypsysglitter.blogspot.com/

This challenge will let me try all different sorts or nail art and techniques and will also give me something to post about every week. I will also continue to do post any other mani's I do between the ones listed above. I'm really looking forward to doing this as there's several things in the challenge which I haven't yet tried.  

Anyway onto the first mani of thew challenge.. Make It Sparkle !


So for this first mani I thought lots of gitter and maybe a firework type of look, here's what I came up with....

Overall I like how this turned out although it doesn't look like fireworks like I had hoped :P

I used two coats of Revlon Lunar as a base for the black nails and two coats of OPI Alpine Snow for the white accent nail. I layered one thick layer of OPI I Lily Love You over the black nails which really bought out all the flakies and glitter and I love all the different colours you can see in the light. I layered one coat of Milani Gems over the accent nail and topped it off with a matte top coat to give the nails different finishes.

A lot of people said they liked the simple colours used in this mani but the glitter and flakies really jazzed it up and make it sparkle. I really enjoyed this mani just because of all the different colours going on :P

I hope you enjoyed this mani and I look forward to continuing with this challenge :)

Charlotte-Louise. xxxx