Manicure refresh: Pure Ice Free Spirit

Greetings fellow earthlings with nail blings!

Manicure refresh!

 

This is a manicure from a few months ago, when I picked up a bottle of Pure Ice Free Spirit.  I wore 2 coats of Free Spirit alone for 4 days and then repaired the manicure with a sponge gradient using Orly Shockwave, Revlon Heavenly and---it was either Cover Girl Boundless Color City Lights or China Glaze Fairy Dust.  (I love them both and want to paint them all over EVERYTHANG).

Topped with Seche Vite!

  

I LOVE THAT GREEN.  I have a thing for green.  I really enjoyed wearing this manicure and I always find it so satisfying when I can revive an old mani and make it last a few more days.  

Have you ever refreshed a manicure?  How did you do it?  

I am having a giveaway! Have you checked it out?  Bundle monster 2013 CYO plate sets, Sinful Colors, Kleancolor, Joe Fresh...

Thanks for peeking!  Happy polishing!

&hearts:

JQ

Born Pretty Nail Art Tape Hex Glitter Review

 

Hooray! I have always been excited at the idea of receiving products for review and in March I was contacted by Born Pretty Store to choose 1 or 2 products that came to less than 10$ to try!  I was really excited to have the opportunity and I and selected  Nail Striping Tape and Hexagon Nail Glitters!! 

Born Pretty advertizes free shipping worldwide, and shipping within 24 hours.  I was told my goodies would be here anywhere between 3-5 weeks.  My order went in on March 12 and I received my parcel on April 3, almost bang on 3 weeks. I live in Canada and they ship from Hong Kong/Singapore, so I was quite happy with that.  Typically, if I get free shipping I am happy with whenever it gets here unless I'll be old and grey.  ;p

I was about halfway back to my house from the mailbox when I busted into the envelope. The items were neatly packaged, and the glitters were sealed, so there wasn't any shrapnel. Not that it wouldn't have been pretty seeing all the colours of glitter burst out into the air and land willy nilly in the snow. (Yes, we still have snow.  A lot of snow.  TOO MUCH SNOW.)

Onwards! 

 Pretty! (Canada penny for size, eh?)

Now for the nail art! I thought a skittle manicure would be appropriate.  That way I could try a few different things.  I got the pink and blue nail tapes so I chose the pink and blue hex glitters to go with them:
 

 My base white is Billie Cosmetics from the Dollar Tree.  

I'm really happy with it!  It was super fun to try the honeycomb hex manicure, even though I obviously need to practice my placement, and I always wanted to try a woven tape manicure.  It took a long time to just do that little section, but I'd love to try an entirely woven accent nail.

I like the way the tape peels off quite easily to be repositioned, but would recommend doing this as little as possible because I think it eventually discolored the tape a little wherever it bent, stretched or overlapped.  I will also have to experiment with different topcoats.  I used Seche Vite on this, and the discoloration became very noticeable on the woven tape.  Again I think this has to do with just how much I messed with it to get it just right. The tape is uniform, shiny and easy to work with, but tweezers are pretty much a must have because it is so fine.  

 

I admit I am most excited to use this tape for masking purposes, as I am not a fan of stickers on my nails, and have a tendency to pick and peel them off no matter how I try to seal them in with topcoat.  I have seen some pretty manicures where the tape was used horizontally on the nail, and I think I might try that, because it is less likely the tape will peel, or that I will pick at it.

The Color Club clear coat I used to adhere the Hex glitter didn't stick them to my nail as strongly as I would have liked.  I think if I do a hex mani again I will just use dots of nail glue and do each one individually, to ensure that I can wear it for a few days or more.  If it's gonna take that much time and effort I want it to stick around.  

 

I found the glitters to be mostly consistent, with the occasional misshapen one, or chunk where they weren't totally cut.  You can click on any of these images for a bit closer look.  You can see some of the odd shaped glitters in the shot above.  I just tipped out a bit of glitter on the paper to get an idea of  uniformity.  I think for the price I got a great variety of colour that will do just nicely for my needs.  I kinda like the odd shaped ones or half glitters for filling spaces when I am getting close to my cuticle or the tip of my nail.   You can even see one pink weirdo on the tip of my pointer fingernail.  ;p  I think it adds character. 

All in all I was very satisfied with my purchase, and will definitely be looking around the Born Pretty Store for more fun nail candy to try.  I think my next adventure will be flocking powder.  

If you are into nail art like stamping, stickers, foil, tape, glitter or flocking powder this is definitely a cool place to shop. My only other note was that I had to double check pricing on some of the products I was looking at because on the initial listing it looked like I would be paying one stellar price for a set, but once I clicked to get more information I realized I would have to pay per unit.  The pricing was still reasonable though.

If you are thinking about going shopping at Born Pretty Store, please feel free to use this coupon code for a 10% discount!  If 10  or more people use this code we can have a giveaway!

Have you tried an Born Pretty products?  Do you have a favorite nail goody?
If you have any other questions about these products I will be happy to answer them. These items have been provided for honest review by Born Pretty Store, and I appreciate the opportunity to share my opinion of these products with you!

Thanks very much for stopping by. Happy Polishing!

Blue and White China

Greetings Jelly Beans!

I've seen some blue and white manicures around the internet that remind me SO much of fine china, that I finally decided to give it a shot. I started with 2 coats of Wet n' Wild French White Creme, then stamped using a full nail stamp off #BM-224 and Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue. Finished with a coat of Seche Vite! If you look close on my thumb you'll see the nasty seam I got when I was double stamping. My right thumb turned out better, but I'm having so much trouble taking a non-blurry shot with my good hand I didn't even try to switch it up.


I really enjoy how effective this is! It's fresh and spring-y too! The fiber artist in me also sees reference to those heirloom applique quilts in blue and white.


One more shot in the bright light:


I've been rounding up some un-trieds and doubles from my stash, as we begin paring down the stuff in our house for the big move. Planning for an exciting giveaway! :)

Best wishes and thanks for stopping by!

♥
JQ