Stamping Plate QA27 from Born Pretty Store

Let me boast about my new stamping plates: for a while I was not buying any, but I was lucky to get some plates for review from Born Pretty Store. And below is a sneak peek of the result I got with their help:

But let me tell a couple of words about the base colour first: this is a 1EUR (sale) Alessandro Candy Floss Pink polish that I own for ages. Together with 2 other little Alessandros.

 

Alessandro Candy Floss Pink is a baby pink creme wannabe, quite whitened out and with a drop of coral. The application is everything but easy, this little b...baby makes such bald spots that you can't imagine. If you get away with 3 coats - you are lucky.

I don't think this polish is still available in stores, but it doesn't matter because I don't recommend it anyway :D The shade is interesting, but not so unique, so you can easily find a substitute. I like how it looked on my nails in the end, and it was a good base for stamping.

The duty is done - the swatches are posted, the honours are paid to the polish, now it goes to "use-them-up" bin and I move furhter to the stamping plate. Here it is, below - QA27, with a blue protection film on the left and ready to use on the right:

As you might know, I prefer the full nail designs over small ones. And for me the major factor is the size of the image on the plate, as I'm not willing to double-stamp, we are not in 2009 ;P In this particular case the size was not a problem at all, the image is 1.6 x 1,4 cm (for comparison: Bundle Monster (2012) is also 1,6 x 1,4 cm, Konad is 1,5 x 1,2 cm). Quite good, eh?

Even better is that this plate retails at $1.99 (!) - you can purchase it here. For this price, the quality was superb - I had no problems with the stamping process whatsoever, I hope it is visible from my pics, even though I used a normal nail polish for stamping - Alessandro Strawberry Daiquiry. 

I'm looking forward to testing the other stamping plates as well, but even now I can tell you - I'm quite inspired by the price/quality ratio.

And finally, here's a coupon for 10% discount at Born Pretty Store. Check their site, apart from stamping plates they have a whole huge variety of different decorations, nail art tools and supplements and other nice stuff for nails! 
*The stamping plate was kindly provided by Born Pretty Store PR team for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the product.

Baaack!

Bonjour les filles! Comment allez-vous? :) Me voici de retour du Maroc!

Oh my, I think out of nothing I acquired A1 level in French while struggling to communicate with the local population :) So yup, I'm back, I had a great time, and I hope you're enjoying your summer days too! :)

Time to tell what I was wearing in Morocco, right? My holidays were not so long, plus very active, so I spent minimum time on doing my nails. The only thing I wanted was the polishes to combine with my swimming suits :) So I took off wearing Eyeko Vintage, a polish I didn't manage to swatch, and packed 2 more bottles with me: Alessandro Pale Blue Lagoon and Andreia #93. 

First to show is baby Alessandro - I already posted about it here - but this baby blue creme is so pretty, that I can't help writing about it again. And again a warning: don't be decieved by it's prettiness, because the formula is far from being a good one. You'll need 3 coats, because the brush tends to leave bald spots. Also, the polish tends to become goopy in the bottle after the second use. But for objectivity reasons: it does stay long on the nails without chipping.

The next one is Andreia #93. For a long time I have been craving a golden glitter polish, but a swap with Akuma Kanji solved this problem very easily :) I'm still thinking of getting Butter London West End Wonderland one day when I have money. 

The "golden look" required some effort: I needed 3 to 4 coats on different nails. Was totally worth it though! By the way these swatches are unique: they were shot at 5 am. Yeah, what else to do if it's only one hour before breakfast :D

Not the best quality swatches because they were taken with a phone, but I didn't have much time and proper conditions.. And some bonus pics: 

Wrapping Paper Nails

Seriously, the konading I did to my previous manicure reminds me of a gift paper : ) I tried this pattern for the first time (because my nails length was proper) and I loved it : ) It's just sweet, no? 

Just for the note, it's stamped with American Apparel Berry. AAs are great for konadding, as any other heavily pigmented polishes. AA Berry swatches are coming soon, too! =)

Have a nice week!

Alessandros (II)

Remember some time ago I was showing you one of 3 Alessandro babies that I have? These ones:

Recently I painted my nails with the one on the right - Alessandro Candy Floss Pink: it's a pretty glossy baby pink creme with cold undertones. Application was tricky, just like with its blue sister - I needed 3 coats to cover all the bald spots. And yea, I cut my nails short. Getting serious : )

What I have to say, is that I don't really like Alessandro as a polish brand. Why? Because I think they demand waaaay too high price for the products of not such a high quality. Yeah, the shades are nice, but the application.. As I said before, I bought all these from sales for 1-2 euros each, but the original price is around 5 euros. For 5 ml (!!!!!!). Psssss. Not worth it. Or?

Alessandros (I)

In my stash there are 3 little cuties waiting for the magic moment to be taken to the seaside with me. No idea if I manage to go to any kind of beach this summer, but if I do I'll definitely include them in my luggage :) 

After seeing so many ladies wearing baby blue (manis of Miss Jones, Mrsrexy, Nailbamboo and Hermetic were my inspiration :) I had a strong wish to do the same. Actually I only have only one shade of this kind in my collection and I'll be showing it today - Alessandro Pale Blue Lagoon:

Generally I loved the quality of the polish (these are my first Alessandros), although I needed 3 coats it dried extrafast and I was wearing it for 4 days with no chipping BUT I do think these babies are fuckin overpriced!! Come on, 5 euros for 5ml polish bottle?? Is it with golden particles or what? Of course I'd never pay that price. The three I have I bought on sale per 1 euro each : )

And with some Chinese (is it?) upgrading: 

Ein Paar Tage vor hab ich ne wunderschöne Handcreme gekauft - heißt Alessandro Rosegarden. 

Normaleweise würde ich NIE fast 5€ für handpflegendes Mittel ausgeben, aber..! Erstens ist sie mit Rosenduft, den ich unermeßlich liebe. Nach Verwendung riechen die Hände noch einige Stunden nach Rose. Zweitens wollte ich auf einmal dieses Brand ALessandro ausprobieren. Und drittens gab es Superangebot: statt 10€ kostete sie 4,95€ (Angebote mag ich auch sehr - es ist eines der meinen beliebten deutschen Wörter:))) Auf jeden Fall, bin ich SUPERZUFRIEDEN :) :) :)