Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Born Pretty Store Review, 2mm Square Studs

**press sample**

Good evening everyone! Tonight I have a review of some Born Pretty Store Studs! 



For this mani I started with 3 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. When the 3rd coat was still tacky, I added the studs. If you are doing this and your polish is totally dry, you can use a little dab of clear coat where you want to put the stud. Once I got them all placed I topped it with a coat of Just Ricarda's Glossy Glam. (buy yours here!)After that was dry I clipped the stud on my middle finger that extended over the edge. 

Overall I really like these studs. The thing that I didn't like is that they got all mixed together in the container. I guess that can't really be avoided with something like this... but it took all of my willpower and logical reasoning to not dump the whole thing and resort them. Having them mixed up made it even trickier to pick out studs, especially if I wanted a specific color. 

If you like these studs you can buy them here. Use my code VTJ61 for 10% off!


Thanks for reading! Have a great rest of the week!!!

~casey

**The studs in this post were sent to me in exchange for a fair and honest review. For more details please see my disclosure policy.**

Twinsie Tuesday, Inspired by a Beverage/Food

Good morning everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I'm doing ok, I've been better but I've been worse so I'm going with that. :)

Today's prompt is Inspired by a Beverage/Food.Well with OPI's recent Coca-Cola collection I had to go with my very favorite soda, Vanilla Coke! Here's my disclaimer, yes I know it's bad for me. So don't even start with your lectures and facts and figures... I get it. I'm 33, I know. But it makes me happy... so I drink it. It's my decision after all. :)


For this mani I started with 2 coats of OPI You're So Vain-illa then topped it with Glisten & Glow HK Girl. For the soda and bubbles I used acrylic paint. (If you'd like to see how I make my bubbles you can see a pictorial I did on Amanda's blog here!) Then I sealed it all in again with HK Girl

These didn't turn out quite how I imagined, but they get the idea across! They also remind me of a concoction I've seen Cristina Alvarado (Her Instagram is here, you should be following her! Her work is AMAZING!!) drinking; a mixture of Coke and Evaporated Milk. I want to try it so bad but haven't yet. It isn't that bad for you is it? 

So what do you think? Do these remind you of Vanilla Coke? Or maybe evaporated milk and Coke. Any of you had that mix? What does it taste like!?! 

Be sure to go check out the other Twinsie blogs to see how they interpreted this theme!!!! Linked below!

Thanks for reading!

~casey
Amanda at Amandalandish
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
​Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Twinsie Tuesday Summer Lovin!

Hi everyone! Sorry for my late Twinsie post. Better late than never! 

Today's prompt is Summer Lovin. And what says summer more than a bright almost neon green?!? 


This is 3 somewhat difficult coats of OPI You're So Outta Lime topped with HK Girl topcoat. I wouldn't call this polish a neon, but it has a neon formula. Maybe it's easier over white, but it was still worth it. I loved wearing this one! It's neon without being NEON. :) 

Be sure to check out the other Twinsies posts! And welcome to our newest members Bridget and Jessica!!!!  

Thanks for reading! Have a great night! 

~casey
Amanda at Amandalandish
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Twinsie Tuesday, Add some 3D nail art (Born Pretty Oval Metallic Studs)

**Press Sample**

Good morning everyone! I hope you're all having a good week so far. Today I have a Twinsie Tuesday post combined with a Born Pretty Store product review. 

Today's TT prompt was "add some 3D nail art". Well, I don't do a lot of 3D nail art, so I don't own a lot of 3D nail art products. But a few weeks ago I got these neat little studs from the Born Pretty Store and thought this would be a perfect time to show them!





I did these before I had to chop off most of my ring finger nail... I miss that thing! If you don't follow my instagram I had a minor injury to the nail and the doctor said I need to keep it super short until the nail reattaches to the bed. *sigh* (#polishaddictproblems :) )

For this mani I started with 1 coat of OPI 4 In The Morning and let it dry. Once it was dry I applied a 2nd coat, while it was still wet I applied the stud using the wax pencils that I posted about here.

To be honest I'm not really that crazy about these studs. They are pretty, but they really stick up off the nail. If I applied topcoat over them I think they'd probably last a few days but I just don't love things that stick up off my nail that far. But they are really neat if you like that kind of decoration!

That's all I have for this post. If you are interested in picking up these studs be sure to head to the Born Pretty Store website and use my coupon code VTJ61 for 10% off!

Thank you for reading! Head over to the other Twinsie's blogs (linked below) to check out their manis! And welcome the always lovely Cordia from Seriously Swatched back to the gang!

~casey

Amanda at Amandalandish
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Traci at DrinkCitra


**The studs in this post were provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion. For more details please see my full disclosure policy.**


Monday, June 9, 2014

Born Pretty Store Brushes

**Press Sample**

Hi everyone. Tonight I have a very very short, not so great review for you. I received these brushes from the Born Pretty Store a couple of weeks ago to review. I chose these brushes because many others have had good luck with them. However, the ones I received were not so great for me.... 


These are the brushes I received. I don't know if you can tell from this picture but the brushes are really wonky. They are so wonky that I don't even have a manicure to show you with these. I used them for some touch up work with 1 manicure and they were so hard to work with I decided I wasn't posting a manicure for these. 

So, thumbs down on these brushes. Granted they are VERY inexpensive brushes, and you do get what you pay for. With these I got bristles that are going every which way and poking out of the part that they attach to the brush, the handle is super thin plastic that feels like a straw so there is no weight to them, I just don't like them at all. I might trim out some of the bristles and try to use them in nail art, but after one use I was so frustrated they went straight in the drawer. 

So sorry to post a not so great review, but I will always be honest with you. If you are interested in buying products from Born Pretty please use my discount code VTJ61 for 10% off, but I do not recommend these brushes! 

Thanks for reading!

Casey



**The brushes in this post were sent to me in exchange for an honest review. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.**

Monday, June 2, 2014

Twinsie Tuesday, Favorite Indie Brand

Good morning friends! Happy Twinsie Tuesday! 

Today's theme is near and dear to my heart, our favorite indie brand. For those of you that don't know, an indie polish is a handmade polish. These polishes are becoming more and more common, and there are a lot of fantastic ones on the market so picking a favorite wasn't easy. Especially since I swatch polishes for a few indie makers. 

Then it came to me, the indie polish that started my serious crush on indies is Pipe Dream Polish Pink Elephants and Lemonade. So that has to be one of my top favorite indie brands. 



Here you see 3 dreamy coats of Pink Elephants & Lemonade plus top coat. I haven't worn this one in a while, some of the glitter has floated to the outer edges of the bottle, but it still went on like a dream.

After I bought this polish and got it home and put it on I remember thinking "Oh my..... so THIS is what all the fuss is about!" And that is what started my love of indies. I purchased many of April's polishes and haven't received a bad one. Then last fall she asked me to do some swatching for her, it was like a dream come true! This polish is what made me really want to start swatching in the first place, and the woman who makes it asked me to swatch polish for her! That was an awesome moment for me. And I continue to be blown away by the fantastic Pipe Dream Polish formula and variety. 

So, this is my favorite indie brand. There are many many others out there that are wonderful too, you should check them out if you haven'. I know a lot of people think indie's are too expensive, but they really aren't that much more than traditional salon brands. Especially when you figure in the fact that they are hand crafted. It's pretty awesome stuff. 

I hope you all enjoyed this manicure! April has her shop (www.pipedreampolish.com)closed down for a few days while she works on getting her nail tech license (Go April! You got this!) but be sure to check out her store later this week for this polish and many others.

Be sure to head to the other Twinsie's blogs to read about their favorite indies!

Thanks for reading!

Casey

Amanda at Amandalandish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Kelly at Tuxarina

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Traci at DrinkCitra




**The polish in this post was purchased by me for my own personal use.**