Born Pretty Microbeads Review

Accent nails have been very popular lately, so I decided to go crazy and dress up my favorite nail polish (Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black) with all sorts of accent nails.

Layla Hologram Effects 

(with Born Pretty microbeads, Hot Topic holo bar glitter, and American Apparel Light Year)

When I got these micro beads from Born Pretty to review, I originally had a full "fish eggs" manicure in mind, but once I got it, I realized that there wasn't enough of each color. I think this wheel of microbeads is more for nail art using the bullion pieces to create patterns like Sammy's manicure inspired by fashion. If you're looking to do a full fish egg manicure, I'd probably go with the jars of microbeads instead.

The container these came in is a little tricky.  Every time I turned the top clear piece to move the opening to a slot of beads, micro beads from all over would stick to it (static cling) and migrate into the other colors. You can see what I mean in the picture below.  It makes them a little bit hard to use as solid color accent nails, but I would imagine it'd still be fine for delicate nail art.  

The Born Pretty microbeads can be purchased from their site as well as a lot of other awesome nail art decorations and polishes and nail wraps! You can also use the code GG5J61 to get a 5% discount on your order!

Layla - Flash Black: Swatches and Review

LOOK AT THIS POLISH!

LOOK AT IT!

Layla Holo Effect - Flash Black

Holy rainbows, Batman! Isn't it incredible?! I can't get over it.  It's too perfect.  I've worn it three times in the last two weeks, which is a record for me!

Flash Black is an amazing charcoal linear holo.  It applies like butter in two easy coats over an aqua base coat such as Nfu-Oh Aqua Base or the Jessica Hologram Chic base (although I've heard it's a pain to apply without the aqua base).  It also doesn't dull with a topcoat!   In short, it's perfect, and I need a backup bottle.

*swoon*

And here's a shade (indirect sunlight) pic to show that it still has a holo effect even in lower lighting:

Layla Holo Effects can be purchased at Harlow & Co, as well as on Aveyou.  They run about $15-16, and there have been rumors that Ulta may carry them soon as well.

Katniss, Girl on Fire: Hunger Games Midnight Release Mani

Edited to add sun pictures.

After re-reading the Hunger Games in the last couple of days, I was reminded that Katniss herself had her nails done for the interview directly preceding the beginning of the Games. In the book, Katniss says Cinna's team decorates her by "painting flame designs on [her] twenty perfect nails." So of course, I had to do a flame design.

(sun)

(sun)

(artificial light)

For a background, I used Orly Iron Butterfly. I wanted it to look a bit like smoke and ashes as well as being representative of District 12's coal industry. It's an easy one-coater matte black with silver shimmer, and it resembles China Glaze Stone Cold from the Colors from the Capitol collection.

(artificial light)

I wanted a flame design but I wanted it to look a little more natural than the typical hot rod flames. So I opted to paint the flames right over the charcoal instead of using a more opaque base. I started by freehanding the flame design in China Glaze Riveting, a red-orange glass fleck.  At first I'd planned the flames coming up my nails from the tip, but decided since Katniss was the girl on fire, the flames should be coming from her nails instead.

(indirect sunlight)

After doing all the red, I used Zoya Tanzy to fill in all the flames, leaving a bit of a red outline around the edges. I went over it twice to make it a little more opaque.

(indirect sunlight)

Lastly, I added some Milani Gold Glitz to the base of each flame (at the cuticle), to make it fully opaque and add a little bit of extra sparkle. It also toned down the fire to a bronzey-gold. Again, I didn't want bright hot rod flames, but more natural coppery flames.

(indirect sunlight)

I tried so many "versions" of flames (including the "hot rod type" which were made by painting black over the flames instead of the flames on the charcoal), but these actually came out exactly how I wanted them to.  I had a heck of a time trying to get pictures of these in natural light because the glare wanted to wipe out the flame shapes.

I won't lie, these were NOT easy, and it took a LONG time. But the result made it all worth it to me. I feel like the Girl on Fire.

Some Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolors

Here are my picks from the Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolors collection. I find myself buying a LOT of glitters lately, and I'm actually WEARING them all, despite the dreaded removal. (If I'm completely honest...  I peel glitter off a lot of times.  I know it's not good, but it actually doesn't seem do do much damage at all, or I wouldn't keep doing it).

Nicole by OPI - Kendall on the Katwalk (over Khloe Had...)

What an awesome blend of glitters! How had someone not done this combo before (that I've seen)?! I used to think glitters were best on their own (built up to be opaque), but lately I think that they seem to have more depth over a similar base color. Plus they're easier to remove that way. This is stunning in person. Super shiny and eye catching!

Nicole by OPI - Disco Dolls

We all know how much I LOVE gold glitter, and this is no exception. The multicolor glitter in this and it's bronze-gold glitter base just set this one apart. This is two easy coats and it's perfectly opaque. My favorite here, and I knew it would be. *swoon*

Nicole by OPI - Follow Me on Glitter

Seems to be the same formula as Disco Dolls, but with pewter color glitter instead of gold. And somehow, the colors seem to be a little "lost" in this. It is still an awesome color (along with every other charcoal grey glitter), but just not as showy as Disco Dolls. This was two coats on it's own.

Nicole by OPI - Follow Me on Glitter & Wet'n'Wild Diamond in the Rough

I managed to compare this to Diamond in the Rough before I took it off the other day. I think this is the reason I feel that Follow Me is a bit... dull. The holo glitter amongst the grey is just so much more flashy than the colored glitter. Diamond in the Rough also had a slightly bluer base glitter.

Nicole by OPI - Khloe Had a Little Lam Lam

Not sure why I liked this one so much to get it, but it's an awesome teal. Smooth and glossy on it's own, and just plain pretty. Two easy coats.

Nicole by OPI - Khloe Had..., OCC Blackboard, and RBL Teal

I thought I might have a dupe in my collection, but I don't. The two closest I had were Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Blackboard and Rescue Beauty Lounge Teal. Blackboard is obviously much lighter and much greener. Teal looked like a dupe in the bottle, but on the nail it is obviously a tad bit lighter (hard to tell here) and more blue. The funny thing was that Khloe got darker and greener when it dried than when it was first applied. Both Blackboard and Khloe had more of a jelly formula than Teal, which is a very opaque creme. I think my favorite of them was Khloe, because I like green base tones with the darker shade.

Which were your favorites from the Kardashian Kolors?


If you haven't already, be sure to enter my giveaway here to win Essence Nail Art Twins Bonnie and Clyde!

Sephora by OPI - To the Glitter End

There's kind of a funny story behind getting this polish. I'll tell it after the swatches. To begin with, I got this because it looked like a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's I Love the Nightlife. I don't know if it's a perfect dupe since I don't have Nightlife, but it looks pretty much the same.

Sephora by OPI - To the Glitter End over ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly

This is another one of those chunky hexagon glitters like the Milani Jewel FX in silver and gold (by the way, I actually found Silver at Wal-Mart the other day!!). It'd be difficult to get to be "opaque," but probably possible. But I love the dark charcoal color of the glitter. I'm pretty sure that every time I want "black glitter," this is the color I REALLY want.

Now here's the story:

I went into Sephora at Union Square (the one at the end of the Powell cable car line), and asked one of the sales reps if they had this color. I had picked up the display one to show her which one I wanted. She made a big show to say "Wow! That's not even supposed to be out there! We're not allowed to sell that one yet!" Yeah right... I'd been to at least two Sephora's in the Phoenix, AZ area and they were all sold out of it, and it was available online but I didn't want to pay shipping. I told her both of those things, but to no avail.

Let me tell you, she was just MAKING SHIT UP. Maybe was just too lazy to go get some from the back, but whatever.

So later, my sister went in to see if she could get it. As it turned out, the guy she asked went right in to the back and put more on the shelf and gave her two to buy. I was SUPER happy that she got one for me, but still pissed about the lazy, full-of-bs sales rep. I kind of wish I would have gone back to her and warned her that she's losing business for her store and it will probably come bite her in the ass...


If you haven't already, be sure to enter my giveaway here to win Essence Nail Art Twins Bonnie and Clyde!

Wet'n'Wild - Diamond in the Rough

Yet another beauty from the Wet'n'Wild Ice Baby collection (Coloricon): Diamond in the Rough.

Wet'n'Wild - Diamond in the Rough

This time I decided to layer the glitter over a solid color. I used one coat of Zoya Raven (doesn't matter if there are slightly bald spots - they're covered by the glitter anyway) and two coats of Diamond in the Rough. As it turns out, I kind of think it has more depth at only one coat, which is what I did on my other hand (not shown). It looks pretty much the same color (maybe a tiny bit darker, but not really noticeable), but for some reason, one coat of the glitter seems to have more "depth" than the two coats. It's also smoother and less "lumpy."

This one is either very close or a dupe for China Glaze Some Like it Haute, Sally Hansen Glitz Gal, and Nails Inc Sloane Square. Some of those may be a little easier to find since this was limited edition, though a tad bit more expensive.

Some Manglaze Swatches and Review

After reading so many good reviews and seeing awesome swatches of ManGlaze nail polishes, I figured I should try some of them!

First of all, can we talk about how AWESOME the names are of these polishes?? They all go right along with the attitude of the company, which is straight-forward, brutally honest, and not in the least bit "work safe." And yet because of their antics ("If we don't hear from you, we will assume we sucked ass" on the receipt), they are incredibly likable. I'm not one to throw obscenities into my daily speech, and I think it's for that very reason that I can truly appreciate how amazing it is to have a polish named something as perfect as "Fuck Off and Dye." I suppose my blog may get a "mature filter" for that statement, but oh well, SOPA is going to censor the internet anyway, right? (Holy gooses, I hope not... please sign Google's petition here if you haven't yet!)

Manglaze - Mayonnaise

ManGlaze - Mayonnaise (with top coat)

Mayonnaise was really the reason I wanted to try ManGlaze. Gotta love the name, and the color is awesome too! I have a couple shimmery whites, but this is the only matte one, and also the only one that is an off white instead of stark, bright white. It's as wonderful as I'd hoped, though it took three coats instead of two.

ManGlaze - Fuggen Ugly

ManGlaze - Fuggen Ugly (with top coat)

This is one I threw in to the order just because it was on sale... and it ended up being my favorite of them all. Not only does it look so drab chic matte, but it turns out to be a stunningly edgy gunmetal shimmer with a top coat. I don't know which I like better! Two easy coats.

ManGlaze - Matte is Murder

ManGlaze - Matte is Murder (with top coat)

And last is their matte black shimmer: Matte is Murder. This is one of the blackest mattes I've seen, although with a top coat it becomes a lovely charcoal shimmer that has amazing depth. Could be my new favorite black shimmer. Two coats and super easy to apply!

All of these can be bought directly from ManGlaze on their website, or from their Amazon store or Facebook store (all three link can be found here).  Fuggen Ugly and Matte is Murder are still on sale for $6.66 as of this post!