Inspired by a Bracelet

Do you often get inspired by clothes or accessoires? I do, and I even picture the suitable manicure designs in my mind, it's just not that often that I implement them. However, I didn't even hesitate when I first unpacked and saw the bracelet I got from SammyDress store for review.

The bracelet is dark blue with gold, white and pink abstract patterns, it's very light and fits perfectly to my somewhat wide wrist. It clips easily and doesn't fall off during the day. I also like that it doesn't catch neither hair nor clothes when you wear it.

The bracelet retails at 4.43$ (!) at SammyDress store - here you can find the direct link to the item. There are also other colours and patterns, but I think you can never guess which one you get, hehe. I didn't mind about that because I liked all the colours and pattens they offer.

As for the manicure - it was very easy to create: I started with 2 coats of Layla Ceramic Effect #13 (swatch), applied rhinestones on my index and pinkie fingers, then added some drops of gold, white and pink polish and made some random movements with a needle. Easier to create than to describe :)

To be honest, I haven't done any nail design with a needle since high school, and I was happy to experiment with it again. And, what is good about abstract designs - you can never go wrong :)

Flowers'n'Gems

Long time no see from... water decals. Although they are such an easy upgrade to a manicure, I haven't been using them for ages. That's why I was happy when I got my package from Born Pretty Store with a sheet of cute white flower decals to try. Immediately I thought: what a delicate spring pattern - and did a simple manicure with them.

But hey, hold on :) I can't omit a couple of words about the base colour - Kiko #340. Oh, sorry, Kiko Celeste. But who cares, noone knows Kiko polishes by names except for the creators anyways.   

Kiko #340 is a bright blue creme with a glossy finish. The texture is pleasant to work with, opaque yet not goopy. The application was easy as hell, 2 coats and I didn't even apply a top coat - there was no need in it.

Sorry for the photo spam, but the shade is pretty (I reckon) and it was so easy to photograph. Couldn't stop. And it's not even a holo.

And now finally - on to the decals from Born Pretty Store. They arrived in a pink hard paper and with a protection film on top. Very easy to unpack and prepare for using. There was even a "user guide" printed on the back of the pink carton, but hey, who of us doesn't know how to use water decals.. :P

So, what I did was just applying the flower pattern on 2 nails and placing rhinestones on the other 3. As simple as that.

I should say that the water decals were so easy and pleasant to use that even my 7yo niece would cope with them! And the quality was great, they slid gently from the paper back, they didn't tear or fall apart during the application. Also, after I applied the final layer of a top coat the decals looked like I hand painted the flowers. People were really asking if I did!

You can find the water decals shown in this post here - they retail for 2.86$. As usual, the prices of BPS are very customer-friendly :) 

Moreover: 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.

Fake Tattoos ~ Review

*planned post; me partying on Ios*

We, polish addicts, have various stuff in our stashes to decorate the nails: loose glitters, stamping devices, stickers and water decals... but have you ever heard of nail tattoos? :) Here you are, three different manicures using a product called Fake Tattoos: 

Fake Tattoos come in a happy pink package, that was a first positive surprise :) 

The envelope contained 6 sheets (5x7,5 cm) with patterns of all kinds, the variety was a second nice surprise! :)

And the greatest surprise was the easiness of the tattoos application. Below is the detailed instruction, but basically all you have to do is: cut -> press -> go! As easy as that.

Here is the detailed view of the tattoo designs:

As for the manicures, I'll just give some details on each of them. For the first one, I used 2 coats of Essence I Like, ice cream tattoos from the 1st sheet, some rhinestones and a top coat.

Second one is made with the help of Ciate Cookies and Cream (2 coats), bird tattoos from the 3rd sheet and a top coat.

And the last manicure has the most colours: Nubar Oh Baby Pink (index), Essence I Like (middle), Essence My Yellow Fellow (ring) and Essence Bloom-A-Loom (pinkie). The bow tattoos are from the 6th sheet, and the top coat, of course. 

Fake Tattoos is a Swedish brand that retails body and nail tattoos on their web-site. You can even design your own tattoos if you wish! My opinion is that they are super easy to use, and the designs are very cute, so I can totally recommend them :) 

Have you already heard of Fake Tattoos? Which designs do you like most? 

*The nail tattoos were kindly provided by Fake Tattoos company for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the products.

Aqua Marble

Today I'm officially proud of myself - I tried water marbling for the first time, yuppeee!! So there is one tag more in my blog now : ) To be honest, my first attempt was a disaster, everything went wrong from the very beginning.. and instead of the initial idea to create a cute 'flower marble' look, I got something that reminds either of sea foam, or of malachite. You choose : )

The base colour is Avon Aqua Fantasy - a turquoise creme with silver nanoshimmer. The latter is practically invisible and just gives the polish a pearly touch. Unfortunately, I didn't take the swatches of the polish alone - I'll leave it for the next time. I just can say that it's a totally pleasant one in texture and application.. and in terms of colour too, of course. 

As for the marble, I was using Cliché Espuma, Andreia #3, Essence I Like and OPI Jade Is The New Black. As I said, it went awful: the polishes didn't want to spread within the glass, I couldn't create any nice pattern with a wooden stick because it would drag the whole film of polish. Conclusion: I need more practice : )

Girls, do you have any tips and tricks regarding water marble? I would be really grateful! : )

Pastel Pink + Dots n Bows

It's been a while that I haven't shown any cute pink polishes and manicures.. Especially taking into account that I really like them! And I normally wear pinks all year round, there is no right or wrong season for this colour. That's why I was happy when I remembered that I have a nice pink pastel in the box of untrieds: Avon Pastel Pink, which I got thanks to lovely Antallex : ) And dots and bows, they neither need any special season or weather to wear!

But first a couple of words about the base colour.. Avon Pastel Pink is a pale pink creme with a strong touch of white - exactly what we call "baby pink". However, this baby pink doesn't tend to have a baby easy application: it's a 2-coater, but one has to struggle not to leave bald spots on nails. In the "best" traditions of opaque pastel cremes that is.. Impossible is nothing though : )

Because I have so many pastel pinks in my stash, and because Antallex asked me to, I made a comparison of pale pinks. The closest I got to Avon Pastel Pink is AA Coney Island, Pupa #202 is only close colour-wise, although it has a totally different jelly texture. 

CG Something Sweet - Colour Club Vintage Couture - Pupa #202 - Avon Pastel Pink - American Apparel Coney Island - Viva La Diva #118 - Essie Guchi Muchi Puchi

And now is the time for excessive cuteness : ) I added white dots with a dotting tool, and stamped the bow with m59 plate. Pink rhinestone to make it all even cuter : )

Christmas Nails

Since some years I celebrate Christmas twice per year - it was weird in the beginning, but then I realised that two times more wishes and Xmas dinners and pleasant moments is just better than one : ) So I'm publishing a Christmas post today too : ) 

For me the main Christmas colours are red, gold and a bit of green. A bit of green will follow later and today I'll stick to traditional red+gold. As a base I painted Milani Red Sparkle, a gorgeous red glitter. Very opaque - you can get away with 1 coat already (I applied 2 just for longevity). 

Milani Red Sparkle dries with satin-matte effect, which I rather like. I usually wear it for a day as it is, and then add a layer of top coat. Compare the finish below... 

                                without top coat..                                              and with top coat.

I assume you see the difference : ) Covered with a top coat, this polish transforms into a completely different story: the glitter particles look as if they are lit form within - very beautiful effect. 

And then I decided to turn red sparkles to wrapped gifts nails by stamping them with CG 2030 and plates m59 and BM-317. Not the best result ever, but looks ok from far away : )

And finally, to all those who celebrate it today: