Caught In My Web

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Born Pretty Store. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another post already? Yes! I was contacted by the Born Pretty Store and given the chance to review some of their products. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I sketched out two designs, a dark and a light, and picked out products I could use for them. Here is my dark design. Welcome to my web. :)

It has been forever since I've done a border/frame nail and I struggled like crazy to figure it out again, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I started with a black base and leaving a border around cuticle and sides painted white down my nails. I went over that with China Glaze Adventure Red-y. And then finished by tipping my nails with black.

I used the web looking stamp on Born Pretty Store Stamping Plate BP12 and some white polish. It wasn't a stamping polish (and I'm no stamping genius lol) so I did have some trouble picking up the small details in the middle of the web, but I really love how it turned out anyway. After stamping I went over the border again with some black acrylic paint. The borders are a little wobbly looking in maco but looked amazing to the named eye.

I finished the design with a spider. I created this using a previously purchased Born Pretty Store 3 Size Pearls Wheel (in the largest size) and a diamond gem from the Mixed Multisize Rhinestones I got as part of my sample packet. Then I used black and white acrylic to draw on some legs.

Can I just say how much I adore these mixed rhinestones?? You get a little of everything. There's a variety of colors in small, medium, and large. I will definitely be using these in more manis!!

So, did you get caught in my web? Let me know what you think in the comments.

And don't forget to use SBN10K31 for 10% off your Born Pretty Store order if you decide you can't live without these products! :)

Until next time,
Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Born Pretty Store. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Butterflies and Flowers Mani + Video Tutorial

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from OPI and Preen.Me. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello lovelies!! I'm really excited to share today's post with you. I received a really nice sampler box of OPI Infinite Shine polishes as part a collaboration between OPI and Preen.Me. Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen a sneak peek of these polishes in my 15 second unboxing video. I immediately had my eye on the two pinks in my sampler and since it's now Spring (Is it? Is it really??? -_- The snow here says different) I went with what I think is a very Spring themed mani.

Along with the polishes I also received the OPI Infinite Shine base coat and top coat as part of the sampler. These polishes are said to have a hi-def gel like shine that wears up to 10 days without the light or the soak needed for removal!

I used the base coat on all nails but wanted to test the durability of the top coat so I used the OPI Infinite Shine top coat on my pinky and middle nail but my usual Seche Vite top coat on my other fingers.

First thoughts: I love the base coat. It went on smoothly, dried quickly, and didn't bubble or anything like that and my mani held up really well which is surprising because I've only found one (now discontinued) base coat that works well with my body chemistry. It was a light colored mani so I didn't really expect it to stain and it didn't.

However, I'm iffy about the top coat simply because it smeared my stamping long after I allowed it to 'set' for a few minutes. It also took a long time to dry - feeling tacky and not set long after applying. I know Seche Vite spoils me with how quickly it dries but the nails I used the OPI Infinite Shine top coat on still had me worried about bumping them about half an hour later. However, once it dried it had a really nice shine - on par with my Seche Vite so that's saying something! And it held up really well. I'm not easy on my nails but there wasn't much, if any, wear showing on any of my nails after the 2-3 days I wore it. Would I use this again? For a simple one color or gradient mani: yes. For nail art I've spent hours on: NO!

Woohoo!! I had a credit card offer come in the mail today so I have myself a much better scraper than that bit of cardboard from the video. This means I get a better and more complete image lol.

I still don't have the set up for a video, but I rigged up much better lighting for this one at least. :) I also realized I paint over (and over and over) my nails way too much while editing this video given how much painting I had to cut out lol.

I have so many more polishes to try out and a few more manis already done and waiting to be posted to stick around or scroll back to the top, look to the right, and follow me so you don't miss a post!

Until next time,
Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from OPI and Preen.Me. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A-Z Weekly Challenge - Q is for Quirky

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Born Pretty Store. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello, hello lovelies!!! Another Thursday A-Z Challenge post. Today's post is Q for Quirky. Quirky being something odd, peculiar, and strange. I know some of the ladies had trouble finding quirky inspiration but even from the start my mind went immediately to the Mad Hatter and then expanded to all of Alice in Wonderland. What's quirkier than that??

It's such a bizarre mismatched mani, and I used a little of everything to create these nails. It's a lot of handpainting with acrylic paints with a little help from stamping and a vinyl.

We're All Mad Here on my thumb was created with the help of a vinyl. I removed the letters from the vinyl, leaving a stencil behind, that I painted over with white. I think the small amount of smudging adds to the overall effect. :)

The index and pinky nail both use a base of Spellbound Nails Upelkuchen (from my Eat, Drink, and Be Alice Duo - can be purchased separately as well). Both the tipping, spilling tea cups and the 'Eat Me' tag were handpainted. 

I used the jumbled clock stamp (BP-39) that I received for review from the Born Pretty Store on my middle finger. If you read last week's post you'll remember that I said it would work perfectly for an Alice in Wonderland mani! ;)

And last but not least I used let's paint Moscow and her much better 'painting the roses red' mani as inspiration for my ring nail. I started with a base of Spellbound Nails Buckingham Gardens (this looks a good deal darker in my pictures than in person) and painted the roses with white, red, and black acryic, adding the leaves with various shades of green.

I think this is my most favorite mani in a long, long, LONG time! I could not be happier!!

What do you think? Is this mani quirky enough to fit the challenge? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to check out the manis from the other lovely artists in this challenge below. :)

Until next time,
Ashley

*Some products were sent to me for testing and review, completely complimentary, from Born Pretty Store. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

An InLinkz Link-up