Lady Queen's Holographic Transfer Foil

I love holographic polishes, but great ones are SO hard to find. And often, when you find a good one, its counterparts in other colors aren't as good. What's a girl to do when she needs some uber-glittery nail art? Well LadyQueen.com's transparent holographic transfer foil (I used #XK-54) is the solution! Rubbing this transfer glitter sheet over your base polish makes any polish holographic. It's amazing! Use foil glue to achieve a clean transfer, or test your luck with tacky-wet polish… both can work! The gold criss-cross ring comes from LadyQueen.com, too. So check that out if you need some trendy jewelry!

This picture is a little out of focus to show maximum SPARKLE!

**This product provided for review by LadyQueen.com

Lady Queen's Peacock Water Decals

I love peacocks. They're probably the most beautiful animal out there--especially with their richly colored feathers. I mean, how gorgeous! So when I saw that LadyQueen.com had nail art options for peacock lovers I jumped at the chance to get some water decals. There are a lot of peacock water decals, but I chose pattern C196 because it was the one most true-to-reality. These decals are beautifully opaque and yet very delicate. Be careful not to tear them! The silver lining to delicate decals is that it makes them super easy to clean up with a brush. The color on these is great and it sure beats gluing real feathers to your nails! The gold criss-cross ring comes from LadyQueen.com, too. So check it out if you need some trendy jewelry!

**This product provided for review by LadyQueen.com

Lady Queen's Hollywood Icon Decals

Remember those posters of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn that everyone had up in their dorms in college? Well now, thanks to LadyQueen.com, we now have it in nail art form!

These particular water decals (YB-698) are pretty neat because they aren't just photos--they have some stylistic elements to them.  I love the purple and peach hues. The decals are well made with a nice color quality to them. Towards the end of the decal is some glitter to make everything extra fancy (great for longer nails)! Plus, they don't crumble under Seche Vite!

The lovely, gold criss-cross ring is from LadyQueen, too! 

Ordering anytime soon? Don't forget to use my coupon code: PLLC15!

**This product provided for review by LadyQueen.com

Born Pretty Store's Blooming Flower Water Decals

At this dark, cold time of year I constantly find myself dreaming about the spring. These water decals from Born Pretty Store make me not miss the spring so bad. Just look at them! Bright, colorful flowers adorn every decal. They're super pigmented and very strong while still retaining flexibility, so they're easy to apply. They come pre-cut so you get those nice cuticle edges that are hard to achieve when you have to cut your own nail shapes. This pattern mix is a bit odd, but they do work nicely all together!

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Born Pretty Store's Geo Pattern Water Decals

Painting straight lines on nails is always a nightmare. No matter how you do it, there is always a great chance of ruining your work with a small bump or polish smear. So, imagine my happiness when Born Pretty Store sent me these geometric pattern water decals! All the hard work is already done for you!

These water decals are pretty sheer and would probably look best over a white base coat, but if you want something more subtle (like I did), use a nude base coat. Choose something pearlized if you want to add some shimmer and depth. These decals are also very fragile and thin but they hold up fairly well against Seche Vite, unlike a lot of water decals which crackle underneath it. Try to position the darker shapes against the tips of your nails to avoid the look of tip-wear. A few of mine look like they have chips at the tip, but it's really the result of bad selection of placement!

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Born Pretty Store's Space Nail Wraps

Remember a while back when everyone was trying to get galaxy nails (and most were failing)? Well now it's ultra easy with these space nail wraps from Born Pretty Store!

These wraps are fairly thin and easy to work with, but you do need to have longer nails to get the whole effect of the design. As you can see, I was often left with space and stars instead of celestial wonders, which was a little bit of a bummer. But other than that, these wraps looked great! They have bold colors, pigmentation, and shine.

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Born Pretty Store's Flower Pattern Adhesive Decals

I love flowers and I love easy nail wraps, so when I saw these flower pattern adhesive nail wraps from Born Pretty Store I was psyched! The flower design has great pigmentation with gorgeous pastel colors that would be perfect for Spring. I applied these with no wrinkles, too. They stretch nicely over the tips of the nails without any pattern distortion. The adhesive seems pretty strong. I've had them on for a few hours at the time of posting and there doesn't seem to be any lifting! These wraps are A+!

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Born Pretty Store's Color Painting Water Decals

Do you, like most of us, suck at water marbling or blending colors together? If yes, these color painting water decals from Born Pretty Store are perfect for you! This pattern set really simplifies everything since you no longer need twenty bottles of polish to get a colorful design. As always, soak 'em, put 'em on, top coat 'em and you're done!

Two tips with these:

1. Seche Vite top coat chews these up pretty bad since the decals are relatively thin, so if you're picky I would use something else.
2. Again, these decals are thin, so if you want a bolder color use a white base coat.

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Born Pretty Store's Hot Pink + Black Lace Nail Wraps

The look of black lace overlay is pretty difficult to achieve with real lace… not to mention functionally difficult to wear (since it's so stiff and scratchy), so these hot pink with black lace overlay wraps from BornPrettyStore.com make getting that look incredibly easy. Just peel, file, and admire!

I was nervous about these wraps. They were thin (usually a sign of weak adhesive) and didn't appear to be made of anything pliable (like nail polish strips), so imagine my surprise when these went on nicely with minimal wrinkling! Was there some? Yes, but that's to be expected with almost all nail wraps. You can stretch these out a little bit to minimize wrinkles, but there is a point where the pattern will start to distort. Take a look at that color quality, too! It's so bold and bright and shiny to boot!

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com

Tutorial: Glass Nails (Without Gel)

There hasn't been a really good and innovative nail trend in a while, so when glass nails emerged out of Korea people naturally tried to join in as fast as possible. I've seen many hits and misses as well as misinformation about how to achieve this look.

So, let's break this look down:

• They're called glass nails because the cellophane or holographic nail foil used is cut up to look like pieces of broken glass. Remember, real glass is transparent so you shouldn't be using anything that's opaque in nature. If you're using something like shimmery silver paper or gold leaf you won't get the same effect.
• Also, with this look, the finished nails should be smooth to the touch. Glass pieces shouldn't be sticking off the nail. It doesn't look great and it's scratchy and uncomfortable for the wearer, so the goal is to avoid roughness. When the nails are smooth on the surface the top coat gives it another layer of shine--kind of like how pools sparkle in the sunlight. Remember, this look isn't about glitter, it's about shine!
• I've also seen people say that you can only use the "glass" pieces with gel nails--FALSE. I haven't used gel for any of my looks. It's not easy, but you can create good looking glass nails without gel.

HOW TO DO IT:

1. Cut up your pieces first. Lately I've been using BornPrettyStore.com's Holographic Nail Foil #4 (see bottom of post for a coupon!). Small pieces work best because long pieces have a hard time sitting flat against your curved nail. Most cellophane/holographic foil isn't very flexible either, so err on the side of caution.
2. Plan on applying the pieces one nail at a time. I knew that I wanted my second coat of polish to be my last before the glass was put on, so I applied one coat to all of my nails at once then started painting my second coat just before I put on the glass pieces. Remember, a thicker coat of polish will be better for holding the pieces.
3. Right after I paint my final coat of base polish, I start sinking the glass pieces into the polish one-by-one. I use a dotting tool to apply the pieces (wet the end to pick them up) and to push the edges down into the polish. Don't push too hard. Just tap on them until they sink a bit. I would avoid overlapping the pieces.
4. After adequate drying time, apply a top coat. A thicker one like Seche Vite is better. Now wait.
5. Your top coat should flatten out a bit and leave some rough edges around the glass. So, add another top coat. It might flatten out again, and that's okay! You may want to wait overnight and add another top coat (or maybe more) until the nails are 98% smooth on top.
6. Finally, after all of your top coating is done, there may be the occasional sharp point sticking out from the top coat. Use a cuticle cutter stick lightly along the surface of the polish to shave those sharp tips off. Remember, the nails should be 100% dry when you do this or you risk pulling the polish. If you accidentally take a huge chunk off, just add another layer of top coat.
7. If everything was done correctly, you should have smooth, glossy-looking glass nails!

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Post sponsored by BornPrettyStore.com