Born Pretty Store Review - Water Decals

Hello everyone! Today I have one more product from the Born Pretty Store to review for you guys! I was given the chance to pick two items and the second one I chose was some water decals to incorporate in my nail art. The package I chose is currently not available on the website, but here is a link to the section where the rest of their water decals and water tattoos are.

This is the first of three manicures that I put together to show off these water decals and I chose to start out with a nautical theme! These are really easy to use, you simply cut out the decal, submerge it in warm water for 10 seconds, then press it onto your nail. I had no problems with these smudging and I had less than perfect application skills.

The blue colour I used is OPI Eurso Euro, the white and red accent nail used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?

These come off very easily with nail polish remover and are in my opinion a great addition to anyone's collection as they are really quick and easy nail art.

There were some cute star decals on the sheets that I received so I threw together this manicure for you guys to see how well these transfer. Look at the detail on the stars on my middle finger, I was amazed that all those little dots make it onto my nails!

I couldn't resist doing a princess themed manicure with the crowns and bows that were on this sheet of decals. The light pink is OPI Mod About You.

I was in love with this manicure and I kept it on for quite a few days!

I am really pleased with this product from Born Pretty Store and I think that I will be ordering some more of their nail decals as they make nail art so easy to do. The trickiest part of using these is placing them straight on your nails, I had some troubles with this in my nautical manicure but I think I mostly had it figured out by the end.  These are another product that I wholeheartedly recommend, even for nail art beginners.

As always, Cutie-cles readers can save 10% on your Born Pretty Store purchase just by using the code BQL91 which you can find permanently on the sidebar on the right side of this page. This code can be used on all your orders, it's not just a one-time thing! 

Could you see yourself purchasing these nail decals? If you have any questions about the application process let me know and I'll answer you in the comments!

Colourful Striping Tape Manicure

Morning friends! Do you have any fun plans for the day? I have a fun striping tape manicure to show off on the blog today that I think you'll like. I did one using the first collection of Zoya PixieDusts that turned out really nicely and so I thought I would try it again - this time with cremes!

So colourful! I used OPI Funky Dunkey, OPI Fly, and Zoya Lara, as well as lots of Seche Vite to make sure that I could lay down the striping tape without pulling up the colours underneath.

Which nail is your favourite? I think the ring finger has my favourite design but I can't choose a favourite colour combination.

Do you like doing striping tape manicures, or are they just too time consuming?

Beige and Blue Skittles Manicure

Good morning everyone! Today I have kind of a funny manicure to post about because I had a little mishap with one of the nails in this skittles look that is throwing me off. Here, you'll see what I mean.

Oops, check out that middle finger. I accidentally put down the tape and then painted with both the blue and the beige leaving a textured stripe. Well, other than that, I quite like this manicure!

The colours I used for this were OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh and China Glaze Secret Periwinkle, as well as some of my blue glequins. In my true nature, I think my favourite nail is the gradient one. 

Zoya Summer PixieDust Gradient

Hello all! I hope you're having a great day. I've been playing around a bit more with my Zoya Summer PixieDusts and I came up with this little gradient look. It didn't exactly work out as I had hoped on the middle and pinky nails, but the other two remind me of sunsets!

So on the index and ring fingers I used Zoya Solange, Beatrix, and Destiny, and on the other fingers Miranda, Stevie, and Liberty. 

I feel very meh about this. I think I was expecting something great and groundbreaking and all I got was a mediocre gradient manicure. 

What do you think of this look, is it something you'd try out?

Rainbow Sherbert Chevrons

Hi everyone! Today I have a nice little nail art look for you using a colour combination that I fell in love with when I dumped out my polishes on my bedroom floor and saw these four next to each other. It reminds me of some sort of Rainbow Sherbert ice cream - yum!

The colours I used were Zoya Lara, OPI Do You Lilac It?, China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle, and Barry M Peach Melba. 

These colours are very springy and I'm loving wearing this manicure.

Have you tried free hand chevrons before? What are some of your favourite colour combinations for spring?

Zoya Summer PixieDust Stripes

Hi guys! Today I just have a little look I did using the Zoya Summer PixieDusts to make some stripes!

My lines aren't exactly perfect, and I think there are nicer colour combinations, but it was worth a shot.

Here's a photo to show off the sugary texture of the PixieDusts!

I hope you enjoyed this colourful PixieDust manicure.

Zoya Summer PixieDust - Swatches & Review

Hi everyone! I'm finally home from school and back in the posting game! I'm hoping to get back in the same groove I had last summer where I posted nearly every day. To kick off the posting season I've got a much anticipated collection to show you - the second round of Zoya PixieDusts! These were released in April and they are absolutely gorgeous. I'm so sorry about the delay in posting these swatches but the first set of these that was sent to me arrived shattered.

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The first colour that I have to show you is Zoya Stevie, a lovely lilac colour. I had no problems with the formula on Stevie and after two coats she was opaque, though some people may prefer to use three. The shimmer in Stevie is very silver.

Stevie doesn't look that great in the bottle, but once applied she looks sugary sweet!

I'm so happy to be home and be able to swatch in the sun and in the shade again, woohoo!

This is Zoya Miranda and she's a gorgeous magenta coloured textured polish. I actually did have problems with the formula on Miranda, this polish was goopy and she took much longer to dry than any other colour from the collection.

Formula problems aside, I love the pigmentation of Miranda. I really would have liked to see a hot pink PixieDust.

Zoya Beatrix is an amazing bright orange PixieDust with gold shimmer instead of the silver that we've seen so far. I think Beatrix is perfect for the summer, and that's coming from someone who is not a fan of orange polish. 

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the PixieDusts with gold shimmer are much more sparkly than those with silver.

Just look at that texture! Beatrix is perfect, definitely one of the must-haves from the collection.

Please say hello to Zoya Destiny, a coral polish with gold shimmer that did not want to cooperate for the camera. Destiny is my favourite polish of this collection. I think. Actually, I can't decide, but believe me when I say that this is a very unique colour.

Zoya Destiny was opaque after only two coats and the formula on her was quite nice. I am in love with the gold shimmer that gives this colour so much depth.

Zoya Solange...wow, wow, wow. I thought a gold PixieDust would be weird, kind of ugly, nothing special, and boy was I ever wrong. Maybe Solange is my favourite of the collection. Maybe all the colours are so nice that I can't decide. Who knows. This is by far the most sparkly PixieDust polish I have ever applied.

Yellow golds aren't always that flattering on me, but if I manage a nice tan this summer you can bet that Solange will be the perfect complement to my bronzed skin!

Last in the collection is Zoya Liberty, a very bright blue PixieDust polish. I think that Liberty is going to be a fan favourite, but I can't say I'm that crazy about it. I had no problems with the formula on Liberty, but I just am not in love with the colour.

Does Zoya Liberty do it for you? I wish it was a bit lighter and maybe a big more teal coloured, I think that would have gone nicely with the collection.

Which was your favourite from this collection? Have you picked any of these up already, or are you planning on it? My recommendations would be Beatrix, Solange, and Destiny!

Gradient + Lynnderella Love, Lace, and Lilacs

Hello everyone! I am starting to feel like it's summer, the only exam I have left is Introduction to Programming and then that same day I get to head back home for four whole months. Today I have a pretty little gradient that I spiced up by adding one of my favourite Lynnderella polishes - Love, Lace, and Lilacs.

The two polishes that I used to create the gradient are both from OPI's Spring collection, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw. 

I love this Lynnderella polish and I can see myself using it a lot more in the future. I have a bad tendency to hoard my most precious polishes instead of using them and showing them off to the world!

Gradients are my thing lately, I cannot get enough of them.

Thanks so much for reading guys!

Paintings Nail Art Series - "Bohemian Cottage Style Flowers"

Hi guys! Welcome to the final installment of my mini nail art series, and my personal favourite manicure of the bunch. This one was inspired by a gorgeous print that you can still find on Etsy by following this link. I hope you like this look as much as I do!

This took me so long to do, but I love how it turned out. 

I used way too many colours here to name them all, I can't even remember!

The bird looks a little silly right side up, doesn't he? Still cute though!

Today I have two final exams - Psycholinguistics and Spanish American Literature of Ideas, yikes. Wish me luck! After this I only have one more and then I can head back home for the summer, you can't even imagine my excitement.

Paintings Nail Art Series - "Blue Mountains"

Hi everyone! Today is the third entry in my mini nail art series inspired by paintings I found on Etsy. Today's painting, like the previous two, has been sold already. Who knew how fast these things sell! Here's the original link I have, I hope it allows you to see this lovely painting titled "Blue Mountains." I grew up near the Rockies and I love the mountains (and am heading back home in less than two weeks!)

I think this looks quite silly if you don't look at the painting for reference, haha!

Thanks so much for reading everyone, I can't wait to be finished with finals, head home, and be able to get back into the groove of painting my nails and posting for you all.

Quo by ORLY Spring 2013 Swatches

Hi everyone! I'm breaking out of my finals-cocoon to share with you some swatches of some of the new Quo by ORLY polishes! I was sent three of them to swatch and review and I think I have found the shade I'll be wearing all summer long, it is amazing. Let's see the pictures!

 

First up is My Muse, a very interesting purple glass fleck polish. I have nothing like this in my collection. In the bottle you can see a really pretty purple/gold-ish duochrome, but I couldn't find a way to get it to translate on the nail.

 

I used three coats for complete opacity here. This is one I would love to try layering over black to see if the duochrome will be accentuated.

 

Next up is Prepster, a very pretty light blue jelly with an intense shimmer. I know the shimmer doesn't translate well in this photo, but it's very apparent in person. I used three coats here since it was more of a jelly finish than a creme. This just screams spring to me!

 

Here's a shot with flash that shows off the pretty blue shimmer! 

 

This beauty is Quo by ORLY Femme Fatale. It is a neon pink that is honestly the brightest nail polish I have ever seen. My camera couldn't capture the true pop of this colour, it's even crazier than it appears in the photo. Like many neon polishes Femme Fatale dries to a matte finish.

 

This is what she looks like with a coat of Seche Vite. I wore this manicure for a few days, which is rare for me. I got so many compliments on it, these nails are begging for attention. My only complaint about Femme Fatale (and all neon polishes in my experience) is that they chip quite easily. Even with the Seche Vite the wear time wasn't excellent on that. This can be combated by making a "top coat sandwich," where you put down a layer of topcoat over your polish, then add one more layer of polish, and then another layer of topcoat if you desire.

Overall I'm really excited about these three polishes. I think that Femme Fatale is a must have and I know it'll be on my toes all summer long. Quo by ORLY polishes are available at Shopper's Drug Mart or Pharmaprix and they retail for $10.00 each!

Blue Stamping

Hi guys! Today I have another one of those manicures that I actually did a few months ago and am just getting around to posting now...oops!

The base of this manicure is Zoya Wednesday, with stamping using Barry M Cobalt Blue and the dots are Revlon Metallic.

The plate that this design is on is Konad m63. If this manicure looks familiar to you, that's because it is. A little less than a year ago I did almost the same thing but using pink! I really like spicing up a stamping manicure with a dotting tool.

Have you tried this technique for yourselves? I actually haven't done any stamping manicure in a while..