Nail Art: Winter Themed Snowflake Nails!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I am sharing some wintery themed nail art with you. I thought it would be nice to take a break from Christmas specific nail art for a bit. I love LOVE snowflakes. I love using them in nail art and hanging them on my tree at Christmas time. I live in Georgia so we rarely see snow. As such, I have a weird fascination with it that my friends in colder climates just don't understand! Anyway, I have two snowy manis to show you today, let's jump right in!

Let's start with one of my favorite and most sparkly manis of all time! I used three polishes from the M Polish Winter 2015 collection to make a gradient on my nail. I started with my favorite base coat - LynBDesigns B-Stronger. Once that was dry, I used a latex free makeup wedge that I cut in half to make it more the size of my nail. I placed Frost first, followed by Bells, and finally Carol so that my colors were lightest to darkest starting at my cuticle. Now if you've ever done gradient nail art before, you know that it usually take several passes with the sponge to get the blended look that you're going for. With these polishes...ONE FREAKING PASS! I did bounce the sponge up and down a few times but I never reloaded my sponge. This is one coat with the makeup wedge! I added a quick dry topcoat  - mine is KBShimmer Clearly On Top to protect my base from smudging when it came time to stamp.

Once my base was dry, I used my Creative Shop Stamper and scraper along with M Polish Figgy to stamp an image from a Cici&Sisi plate for the snowflake image. I sealed everything in with another round up topcoat and that's it! Let me show you the macro:

The other mani I have to show you is a little less glitzy, but only just. Its also a bit more abstract and less traditional snowflake. That's because the images I used are from Bundle Monster's most recent holiday set and the plate with the large snowflake images are too big for my tiny baby nails right now. Oh well! Onward and upward, I say! I stamped an image from BM-S213 using M Polish Copper over 2 coats of Powder Perfect Deshret. I'm not sure if this Powder Perfect is still available but if you can get your hands on it - DO IT! Its a garnet textured polish with scattered holo glitters in it and such a gorgeous base for winter manis! Garnet happens to be my birthstone so I think that's why I'm drawn to it. Since its textured, I did topcoat with one coat before stamping so that my stamping wouldn't look textured. I also topcoated the whole mani again after the stamping so in the end, my base didn't feel or look textured anymore. Check out the macro!

That's all I have to share with you today! Which mani was your favorite? What's your favorite winter design? 

Thanks for reading!

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Black stamping polish from bornprettystore review

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a review of the Temix black stamping polish from bornprettystore to share with you. This is a pretty good black stamping polish in terms of quality but I do have a few reservations about it, so let's jump right in and I'll let you know all of my thoughts! 

First impressions about this polish were that its consistency and formula were pretty standard for a stamping polish. I found the polish to be very thick and inky, which is to be expected from a creme stamping polish. I was slightly off put by the smell - the only other polishes I stamp with are either regular nail polish or M Polish stamping polishes, neither of which have a very strong smell in comparison. Temix has a smell more similar to Seche Vite or other polishes that are not 3 free. That being said, I do not know the ingredients of this polish nor is it listed on the sight. I did email my contact at BPS to see if she could find out but she was unsure and told me that they would update the website when possible to reflect the ingredients list. 

As far as actual stamping goes, Temix kinda hit right in the middle for me - while definitely more opaque than nail polish, it didn't play nicely with my Creative Shop stamper, and I had to use a sticky marshmallow stamper in order to be able to pick up an image without patchiness. The polish worked wonderfully with my marshmallow stamper but considering not everyone owns multiple stamping heads, I can imagine that this polish might be frustrating for some to use. 

The image transferred nicely to my nail - in this case I used it to make a decal. The other polishes didn't smear the black around when I was filling in my image, nor did my topcoat smear the black image either. 

Overall - I didn't really have issues with this polish and do think it works well, but it bothers me that I don't know the ingredients, particularly in light of the nail communities recent issues in transparency with another brand (looking at you, Mentality!) and I don't like that I can't use my preferred stamper with it. If you'd like to see a more in depth review and demo, check out my live demo on Youtube. 

If you're interested in purchasing this polish, you can find it HERE. Don't forget to use my code, PPPQ10 for 10% off your orders! 

Thank you for reading!

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M Polish To Have And To Holo!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a new polish from M Polish to share with you. Feast your eyes on To Have and To Holo (how cute is that name?!) from M Polish - a silver linear holographic stamping polish. To Have and To Holo was available for preorder as of August 10th and I just received my order a couple of days ago - I used it the very first day I got it. I'm going to show you the mani I did with it...ready? Let's go! 

To Have and To Holo is a silver super holographic (linear) stamping polish that shows beautifully over lighter or darker colors. In my mani, I paired it with Powder Perfect Melusina which is a teal based jelly glitter bomb. It was my first time using both polishes - and they played so nicely together. Since Melusina has some circle glitter in it, I picked this swirly image from a Cici&Sisi plate to stamp over it with To Have And To Holo. My experience with other M Polish is that my images pick up flawlessly on the first go and this one was no exception. Look at the detail in this macro! 

To Have and To Holo is currently sold out but will be restocking at the end of August so keep your eyes open - this is definitely a must have for stamping lovers. (EDIT: To Have And To Holo is back in store! Go get yourself one!!!) I think its going to look so beautiful over many different colors which is exciting with fall coming up and then the holidays being after that. Can we say holo stamped Christmas manis?! 

Will you be picking this beauty up from M Polish? 

Thanks for reading, 

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bornprettystore Rectangular Stamping Plate Review!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a review of a rectangular stamping plate from bornprettystore to share with you. I am SO excited to share this with you guys - this is my first rectangular stamping plate from BPS and I was super pleasantly surprised with how nice it was - keep reading for more pics and to see the video review I did! 

First impressions of the plate itself is that I adore the sleeve it comes in - BPS packaging has really gotten a lot nicer and though their plates aren't expensive - you feel like you're getting a more high end product when it comes in this sleeve.                                                    

It comes with the standard blue film over the plate to protect it which was easily removed by peeling from a corner down toward the other side of the plate. The plate is also mounted on a hard plastic backing to protect the user from the raw edge of the plate which is a really nice addition for any plate, in my opinion.

First impressions on the images of the plate - this plate has a really nice compilation of images that are diverse enough to give you lots of options for different manis but cohesive enough to feel like the plate "goes" together. For this review, I used the right half of the plate with the dense floral images. I LOVE that half of the plate because I think it would make excellent reverse stamping decals or would work well for lead lighting manis. 

As far as the actual stamping goes - this plate gets many thumbs up. Its etched deeply and evenly across the plate and the images pick up crispy and neatly on the first go. I used M Polish Cayuga black stamping polish and my Creative Shop Stamper from Whatsupnails to pick up the images and was thoroughly impressed with the cleanliness of the images! I also did a video review and demo on my Youtube channel, you can watch it here:

Final thoughts on this plate - a really great plate, especially given the cost of the plates from BPS. If someone gave me this plate, I would never imagine that it was so inexpensive. I highly recommend picking these up if you were thinking about trying them. I doubt you'll be disappointed. You can find this plate HERE.

Don't forget that you can use my code - PPPQ10 for 10% off your order of originally priced items. 

Have you tried the rectangular stamping plates from bornprettystore? Which is your favorite? (I want to go buy it! lol) 

Thanks for reading! 

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**I was sent this plate free of charge in exchange for my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. I was not compensated.**

Bestie Twin Nails with Acidicice! And story time!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a bestie twin nail collaboration to share with you, along with a little bit of story time. There's kind of a long story that goes into this collab so let's jump right in!

Here's a little backstory for you - Acidicice and I met in a blogger group and were randomly paired together to do a guest post on one another's blogs. I think she was actually originally supposed to be paired with someone else who couldn't do it at the time so we were reassigned to one another. Funny how the universe brings certain people into your life, isn't it? Anyway, we did our guest posts but kept chatting on Facebook and realized that we had SO MUCH in common. We have become fast friends, dear friends, bosom buddies, mom friends, and more. I share so much with her and literally the only negative to our friendship is that we live in different hemispheres - yep. I live in the United States and my darling friend lives across the world in South Africa. :(

Over the last 6 months or so, we have chatted a lot about the differences in our countries - one of them being her lack of access to a lot of wonderful nail things. Indies, cheap nail cleanup brushes and liquid latex from Amazon, etc, etc, etc. I knew that she was REALLY missing out on so many things so I started putting together a small box of nail goodies for her. Well, that ballooned out of control and what started as a handful of items actually wound up being barely able to fit into a medium flat rate box from USPS. When time came that I wanted to ship it - I found out the sad truth, that I wouldn't be able to afford to send it due to the cost of shipping and the crappiness of the postal service and customs department in South Africa. How was I going to send this box of goodies to my BFF?! 

Enter a long time friend of Acidicice's that now lives in the States! Her mother was flying from South Africa to visit in the States so I was able to send "The Box" to the friend, who's sweet mother packed it into her luggage and brought it back safely to South Africa. It MADE IT! Safe and sound - nothing broken, everything in tact. Acidicice was able to go the very next day to pick it up and we did a video call so I could watch her open everything. She cried, I cried. It was such a special moment - knowing that a piece of my life went all the way across the world - the people that were involved in making sure that it made it restored my faith in all that is right with the world. 

So we decided to do a twin mani so she could use her goodies that I have similarities to or dupes of. Check it out! Here's mine: 

I used Delush Polish 50 Shades of Yay as my base on the index and middle fingers and Indigo Bananas Phlogiston Paradise on my ring and pinkie. I then went back and stamped using M Polish Dancing In The Streets and Fresh Perspective and a handful of different stamping plates. 

Check hers out:

She used a different Delush Polish from the same collection - A Peony For Your Thoughts and Zoya Belinda and also stamped with M Polish Dancing In The Streets and Fresh Perspective. I love how they are similar images but still different than mine! Make sure you go check hers out on her blog! 

So that's my story time about our twin manis - this was possibly the most special moment in my nail life since I've joined this community. It was very special to be able to share those polishes and that moment with her. I hope to actually be able to meet her and see her beautiful nails in person one day. 

Thanks for reading! 

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Stamping over one stroke flowers! **ALMOST NAIL FAIL ALERT**

Hey y'all!

Today on the blog I have this delicate flower mani to share with you. I was really happy with how this turned out even though the original plan was a complete fail- it was totally planned around the flakie polish - LaqueredUp No Ragrets. Keep reading to find out how I did this mani! 

I started with a base of Zoya Ana on my index and middle fingers and LaqueredUp No Ragrets on my ring and pinkie fingers. Once my base was dry - I did what I suppose is TECHNICALLY one stroke flowers but - let's just put it this way - if they'd turned out looking good at ALL, this mani wouldn't have wound up stamped. Yep, the stamping covers up a fail. :P 

I am calling it a happy fail though - because this image from UberChic Beauty 1-02 looks so pretty over the purple and white one stroke flowers! Once the stamp was dry, I went in with a little of No Regrets to bling out the center of the flower and top coated with Seche Vite. 

What do you think of this mani? What's one of your "nail fail quick fixes"? 

Thanks for reading! 

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Random Nail Art Roundup!

Hey y'all! Today on the blog I have a few manis to share with you just for shiggles (thank you Tamara at Dancerspolishedlife for that fun word). These are just some manis I've done recently that don't have much purpose in a post of their own so I thought I'd pile them all together. Quick and easy and fun for y'all to look at! Let's take a peek, shall we? 

Here's a watermarble using Shinespark Polish's 80's neon cremes with white stamping using UberChic Beauty stamping plates - these were so fun and summery. I love how easily the Shinespark neons watermarble! 

And one of my most favorite manis ever using China Glaze Inner Beauty and Lorelei Lacquer Faithless Lover in a jelly sandwich and stamping over it with M Polish Guilded and Dancing in the Streets. I loved how they looked matted but I also have the glossy macro to show you! 

Lastly is a clean and simple dotticure using Orly White Tips and Shinespark Polish Totally Teal. Dotticures are one of my favorite quick and easy nail art designs. I love teal and white together! 

And that's it! See, I told you it was a quick and easy post! I loved these manis but I am sort of backlogged at the moment on posts so while I wanted to write about each of them, I didn't have the time. I still didn't want them to fall through the cracks! 

Which was your favorite? 

Thanks for reading!

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FormulaX Infinite Ombré looks and review!

Hey y'all!

Let's just start off by saying, yes. It's been a bit since I have written. Life got all hectic and crazy so blogging took a backseat to everything else. I'm going to recommit myself to at least 1, hopefully 2 posts a week again so stay tuned! 

Today on the blog I have a review of the FormulaX Infinite Ombré kit. I was provided this kit by Preen.Me as a part of their Preen VIP program. The kit includes a base color called Platinum Prime and four colors that have a jelly-like finish: Boundless Berry, Timeless Teal, Infinite Indigo, and Limitless Lemon. 

Image credit: Google Images

These polishes are highly blend-able, making gradient and ombré looks easier. You can blend them with the brush out of the bottle, with a sponge, or with a nail art brush. I did 3 separate looks with these polishes to show how they work in different applications. Let me show you what I did. 

My first look is a sunset gradient with some handpainted palm trees. For this look I used the base Platinum Prime and two colors Boundless Berry and Limitless Lemon. Once the base was down and dry (one coat), I dabbed a little Boundless Berry towards my cuticle and a little Limitless Lemon towards the tip of my nail. While the polishes were still wet, I blended them messily with a fan brush. I made 3 passes to achieve this look. I gave it a few minutes to dry and then painted on the palm trees with acrylic paint. Once everything was dry, I topcoated with Seche Vite. 

The second look is a sort of stained glass , quatrefoil look using the base and all four colors. Once I had laid down the base - Platinum Prime, I used a latex free makeup sponge to dab all four colors onto my nail. I made 3 passes for complete opacity. I topcoated and allowed everything to dry. Then I went back in with my stamping plate (UberChic Beauty  3-02) and the silver base to stamp the quatrefoil design on all of my nails. I was pleased with how crisply the base stamped! I topcoated with Seche Vite.

The third look is a watermarble using all four colors in the kit over the silver base. This one was my favorite and the most surprising. Since the polishes are meant to easily blend, I expected them to get muddy when I was trying to draw the design. As you can see, they came out very neat and crisp. I started with a dry base of Platinum Prime and dropped the colors into room temp water until I had enough rings. I drew in the flower design with my watermarble tool, dipped my finger, removed the excess polish, and removed my finger. I topcoated with Seche Vite. 

Now for the review portion! I was pleasantly surprised with how these polishes performed. I have been doing gradients and ombres for over a year now, so when I saw this kit, I thought it was a tad gimmicky. Most polishes will blend just the same as these do, even if they're not part of an "ombré" kit. If you've got a silver polish and some colored jelly polishes, you basically already own this kit. Take that with a grain of salt though, as I own over 300 polishes. LOL 

That being said, these polishes all have a beautiful formula and are very vibrant when used over the silver base. They do blend very nicely on the nail and I like how versatile they are to use. If you were considering this set or a set like this, I say go for it, as I can see getting a lot of use out of it if you don't already own something similar. 

Thank you to Preen.me, FormulaX, and Sephora for teaming up and providing these polishes to bloggers and Instagrammers for looks and review. They were fun to play with! 

Want to see more? Follow me on Instagram for more nail art and swatches. 

Negative space stamping

Hey y'all! 

Today on the blog, I have kind of a special post! I'm debuting my new nail shape on my blog! 

I had a really bad break on my Cindy hand that led some nail friends of mine to suggest I try almond shaped nails. At first, I was super nervous to try it because it was such a change for me! I went ahead, balls to the wall and here we are with this mani to show you! 

This mani was super easy, let me show you what I used:

Left to right: Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Fresh Paint Burning Flame, Zoya Owsin, Funky Fingers Dark Knight, a sheer black jelly that I made, and KBShimmer Clearly On Top. 

Let me show you a closer look at the stamped image. This is from UberChic Beauty 1-03:

Rather than write out how I did it, I would love to show you a tutorial I did on YouTube. One of my first, please let me know what you think!

What did you think of this mani? Have you ever considered drastically changing your nail shape? 

MPolish "Mama Loves Polish" Mother's Day duo swatch and review!

**Press Sample**



Hey y'all!

Today on the blog, I have a swatch and review of the MPolish "Mama Loves Polish" Mother's Day duo that releases on Thursday, March 19th.

MPolish Annette and Sliver of Hope

First, let me start by saying that I absolutely adore how a handwritten card is included in all of the packages from MPolish. She even included a wax seal to close the envelope, y'all! Talk about attention to detail. It has a unicorn on the front and she hand printed inside!

MPolish Annette and Sliver of Hope

This duo was created by MPolish for a friend of ours in the nail community, Rebekah, that recently lost her best friend, Annette to breast cancer. Annette left behind a husband and three young children, ages 1, 3, and 7 years. Annette received care for her cancer but by the time they caught it, she was at stage 4. After a 3 month long battle, Annette lost her fight. That is when Rebekah decided to join the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer, a division of the Avon Foundation. She is running a fundraiser with the intention of walking the full 39.3 miles of this walk for her friend, Annette and all women and their families that suffer from breast cancer. You can visit Rebekah's page for the fundraiser HERE. 

Moving on to the swatches and review, I started with Sliver of Hope which is a gorgeous gunmetal shade of silver. It is very thick, as stamping polish should be and very opaque. I am no well-seasoned stamper by definition but the formula on these polishes is phenomenal and so simple to work with. For those of us that struggle with stamping these polishes make it so easy because in my experience with them, they pick up the first time, every time. I used a stamping plate JQ-18 from ALIEXPRESS for the design and a WINSTONIA stamper from Amazon to stamp my nails. Perhaps my favorite quality of these polishes, other than their ease of use is their ability to be used over light and dark colors. As you can see here, I used it over Zoya Tove which is in the same color family and it shows up perfectly.

MPolish Sliver of Hope stamped over Zoya Tove

The second polish of the duo, and my favorite is Annette. Annette can best be described as a delicate, metallic pink that looks lovely over lighter or darker colors. This polish has the same qualities as Sliver of Hope and is very easy to use. Whether you are a novice stamper or stamping is old hat to you, you will find these polishes a dream to work with. I did a gradient of Zoya Purity and Tove to show Annette's chameleon-like abilities over lighter and darker colors. I used the same image three times and was profoundly amazed by the completeness of the image that picked up with this polish. As I stated before, I am not a seasoned stamper and have always found it rather difficult. Its great to see that if you actually use the proper tools what you're able to accomplish. 

MPolish Annette over a gradient of Zoya Purity and Tove

This duo is a definitely a winner and a must have. I love that it is not only beautiful and has a winning formula but that it has a meaningful tribute behind its creation. The "Mama Loves Polish" duo will release on Thursday, March 19th and will only be sold as a set. The set will retail for $13.50 with 50% of the proceeds going directly to the fundraiser in honor of Annette. You can purchase this duo, along with other MPolish HERE. She has just expanded her shipping to the UK and Australia! 

As always, thank you for reading!

Have you any polishes with special meaning to you? What are they?

**All opinions expressed in the review portion of this post are my own. These polishes were sent to me by the maker in exchange for my honest, forthright opinion.**