Flowers for Valentine's Day - a Born Pretty Store Review

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I know most V-day manicures involve hearts or love, yada yada ya, but I think the best part is the flowers!!!
I've never actually gotten any flowers myself; I have the luck of being single every time Feb 14 rolls around! But I love getting a big bouquet any other date of the year!!

So, my second Valentine nail art look using Born Pretty Store samples is all about hot pink girly flowers!

Item ID: 798 these are rubbery/jellyish flexible flower accents you can glue onto your nails for a little something extra. You get at least 2 of 12 different designs in a wheel. They give you 3 each of the smaller flowers, not bad for $2.77, especially since they can be reuseable.

Here's what I did with them. Warning: it is bright!

sunlight

I used China Glaze Hang-Ten Toes for a base, then applied some Seche Vite and quickly placed the flowers where I wanted them on my nails. It was very simple.

These flowers may be a bit large to fit nicely on small nail plates, which is why I used the smallest designs on every nail besides my ring finger. But for most people it shouldn't be a problem. I love the range of colours and there are 4 or 5 different designs to choose from too. I can see myself using these for a 1 nail accent in the future.

Don't forget NPA's Born Pretty Store 10% coupon code next time you make a purchase!

xxx
NPA

FioreRx Press Release

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New Company’s Nail Polish Combines

Beauty with Antifungal Protection

FioreRx Announces Initial Product Launch and Plans Contest to Pick Colors for New Spring Line of Antifungal Nail Polishes

ATLANTA, Georgia, January 28, 2013 – FioreRx, a start-up company founded by podiatrists to address the problem of nail fungus, officially announced the launch of its much-anticipated FioreRx line of nail polishes that use an FDA registered formula to fight fingernail and toenail fungus.

 “Fingernail and toenail fungus infection, or onychomycosis, is a serious health and cosmetic concern that is only going to become worse as the popularity of using nail polish on fingers and toes continues to grow,” says Dr. Jason Morris, a co-founder and one of FioreRx’s product development team. “For quite some time now, our team of specialists in the field of podiatry has been developing an FDA registered formula that uses dual active ingredients to defend against nail fungus infections on fingernails and toenails. And we invested a lot of time and effort into creating products that will appeal to the fashion-conscious as well. We are extremely pleased to offer an over-the-counter antifungal nail polish so people can feel confident that their nails will look stylish at the same time they are being protected from nail fungus.”

The initial FioreRx antifungal nail polish line offers a fashionable selection of colors including a fun and flirty Pink Peppermint Pie and a deep red classic appropriately named Red Velvet Cake. Another selection, the Almond Milk Matte, was developed with men in mind and goes on clear with a subtle flat finish. The Rock Candy Clear was designed to work as a base coat or a shiny top coat.

“Nail polish for men is a growing market,” says Dr. Morris, “and we may have hit a home run with our Almond Milk Matte, which provides a subtle finish for men who are interested in protection from fingernail or toenail fungus as much as cosmetics. The response to our matte polish and the clear base coat has exceeded our expectations and help to fuel our enthusiasm for developing more lines and selections.”

 In addition to announcing its initial product launch, FioreRx also announces the first contest to pick its forthcoming Spring Line of nail polish colors. Grand prizes for the contest include a year’s worth of FioreRx Antifungal Nail Lacquer, as well as a host of other prizes and discounts up to 70% in some cases.

“Response to our initial line of antifungal nail polishes has been wonderful,” says Dr. Morris, “and we had so much fun selecting names for our color selections, we decided to let everyone in on it. The contest rules are simple; just visit the FioreRx website (www.FioreRx.com) and click on “PROMOTIONS” to learn more. The contest runs the whole month of February.

All FioreRx products are physician-formulated and professionally engineered in a manner that combines science and nature. Each nail polish selection contains FioreRx’s proprietary blend of Undecylenic Acid, approved by the FDA to treat and prevent the microorganisms that cause nail fungus, and Propolis, a natural resinous mixture commonly used by doctors in wound care that has been proven effective in fighting bacteria, viruses and fungi.

About FioreRX

FioreRx, LLC is a Georgia based company established by podiatrists to address the void they see between real medical need and a client’s desire for beauty. Over the past decade the FioreRx doctors have seen thousands of patients with real medical needs that must be addressed to improve a patient’s standard of living. FioreRx engineers pharmaceutical grade products with an eye for beauty. All FioreRx’s products are physician formulated and professionally engineered in an FDA Listed facility. We believe this combination of medicine and science allows our clients to enjoy the benefits of improving their health and look beautiful doing it.

All our products are designed to be beautiful on, so you are beautiful when you take it off.

Visit www.FioreRx.com

Beautiful On… Beautiful Off!

Born Pretty Valentine's Day Stamping Polish Review

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Valentine's Day is creeping up again! I've seen quite a few bloggers have started posting nail art looks for February 14 and I'm gonna be posting some too!

Born Pretty Store sent me a red stamping polish they carry for review.

Item #: 4849

I pulled out my collection of barely ever used stamping plates and found all the love themed designs. This is what I came up with:

NB: It was an incredibly hot day so the stamps weren't transferring from stamp to nail too well. That's why the middle finger doesn't look like a heart!!!!! It happens to me almost every time I try to stamp, so I need to do it at night or in a really cool room next time! And I spilt acetone on my ring and little fingernail which is why the stamping is smudged. Believe it or not this was my 5th attempt at this mani, which is why I gave up on presentation.

OPI Alpine Snow with #3 red stamp polish from BPS

I used designs from OB37 (ring and pinkie), VL001 (middle) and BM303 (index), then protected them with a coat of Seche Vite.

The polish performed just as well as my Konad Special Polishes. And that's the best I could have hoped for! I just wish you could buy it in larger quantities, but I suppose 5mL bottles will last a wee while.

I'm glad to have added this red to my stamping polish collection because it's so small at the moment! I only have green, pink, black and white stamping polishes. I can see myself buying a couple of other colours (Born Pretty Store stock 12) like lilac and blue; especially because they are only $2.99 a piece.

If you want to pick up some nail art supplies go to Born Pretty Store and use my 10% off coupon code!

xxx
NPA

Wing Dust Love, Love Me Do

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Wing Dust is an indie brand I'm growing to love.

I ordered some minis last October and was really impressed, so I placed an order of full sized bottles in December. They actually got lost in the post :( Funnily enough another purchase that was posted around the same time also went missing, so god knows where all those polishes ended up?!

Luckily for me the woman behind Wing Dust, Stephanie, was super sweet and shipped me replacements as well as throwing in another full sized bottle for free! That was unbelievably generous and completely unnecessary, but absolutely appreciated.

So now I'm making my way through swatching them all. The first one I have to show you is perfect for Valentine's Day and it's still in stock so if you like what you see, order it in time for February 14!

Wing Dust Love, Love Me Do over Femme Fatale Star's Lament

shade

Love, Love Me Do is a fabulous mix of matte, holo and sparkly pink, purple, silver and white glitter in a clear base. The heart and silver hex glitters are holographic and there's medium and baby pink and white matte glitter, not to mention pink and white squares. Basically LLMD has it all!
I didn't have any trouble getting the hearts on to my brush and there was always a good range of glitter on it too. I used 1 1/2 coats (I dabbed on some of the hearts so I could place them!) for these pics, over a black jelly with silver holo glitter; so it looks ultra sparkly! I topped the mani off with 2 coats of Seche Vite to smooth that glitter!

You can get LLMD for US$8.50 at WingDustCollections on Etsy.

Hope you're weekends are going good!


xxx
NPA

Born Pretty Bow Nail Art

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I had planned to use these gorgeous red bows with pink polka dots sent for review by Born Pretty Store for a Hello Kitty or Minnie Mouse nail art design, but I was swatching a few new polishes and a sparkly red looked like a good base so I just went with it!

The bows come in 10 piece packs, packaged like above. They are plastic, have a pink heart as the knot and some pink polka dots painted on. Here is the link (item 4161), they are just US$1.41!

And here is what I did with them:

 For this look I started with 1 coat of Essie Jelly Apple. Next I added 2 coats of Elixir Lacquer Red Nose, and 1 very thin coat of Jelly Apple to make a jelly sandwich. I finished it off with some Seche Vite.
To affix the bows I added a blob of SV to the underside of the knot and centered it at the very base of each nail.
DONE!

These bows looked extra cute and the were placed out of the way so they did not interfere with typing or anything. Better yet, they are reusable. I do recommend sticking them on with nail art glue though, because the SV doesn't keep them on for the longest time!!

Born Pretty have provided a 10% discount code for my lovely readers, so next time you make a purchase enter the promo code QHL91 which can always be found on the left sidebar. Now's a great time to stock up on nail art supplies for Valentine's Day!!!


xxx
NPA

Essie Leading Lady

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It occurred to me the other day that I feature so many Indie polishes but not mainstream brands! So for today I give you Essie's Leading Lady.

Leading Lady is part of the Essie Winter Collection 2012, which I have to say was a mix of odd colours! I suppose they were trying to be unique by releasing a bright turquoise and cobalt blue in winter :) I only picked up this one because it was like no other I already own.

Essie Leading Lady

Leading Lady is a deep red with fine red glitter. The glitter really glows, it's amazing! Application was pretty good, I think it was just a tad thick, but the coverage was great in only 2 coats. I only needed 1 layer of Seche Vite too, because it's not super textured.  LL is like a sophisticated older sister to China Glaze Ruby Pumps and all of the other ruby red glitters out there. I really love that the glitter is small but not micro fine or anything like most red glitters on the market.

From other people's swatches this looks to be a darker version of Essie Ruby Slippers, which I'd kill to own! Re-release that shizz already Essie!!!!!

Are you with me?


xxx
NPA

Elevation Polish I HEART YETI

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And I do <3 Yeti!!!!
Both the polish and the Abominable Snowman! I hope they do exist out there.

Source

This was Elevation's 20 bottle LE mystery polish from the December 22 restock, but I think Lulu plans to make another batch available. So I originally felt pretty smug that I'd snapped him up and now I'm feeling a little sad :(

I Heart Yeti arrived separately and I didn't know he'd even shipped so that was a nice surprise in my letterbox!

Elevation Polish I Heart Yeti over Essie Marshmallow

I Heart Yeti has a white jelly base with tiny flecks of blue, green and gold shimmer and lots of white glitter. There's small, medium and large matte hexes, iridescent white circles and matte hearts!!! I'm wearing 2 coats over 1 coat of Essie Marshmallow. I added 2 layers of Seche Vite to smooth the glitter. The iridescent circle glitter sort of glows in direct light and that's when the shimmer comes alive too. I didn't love the application, it's streaky as most sheer whites are! I might try layering it over an opaque white next time.

It's totally gorgeous and winter appropriate, which is what I love. Feels like there's a blizzard on my nails!

Did anyone else get IHY or am I super special? Please say I'm super special!!!!!!!!

Do you own any super LE polishes, tell me!


xxx
NPA

Ninja Polish Pinkerbell & Stamping

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I had a 90 minute massage today. Phwoar! By the end of it I admit I'd fallen in love with my masseuse a little. Hot stones baby!!!!

I finally picked up Pinkerbell from Ninja Polish (created by NailVenturous) in December.
I applied 3 coats and 2 layers of Glitter Tamer. Then I stamped it using a plate from Ninja Polish too. It was a really hot day though so, the stamp didn't transfer properly. It's still really cute though.

Konad Special Polish Pastel Pink with OB15 over Ninja Polish Pinkerbell

I'm in love with OB15 Stamping Plate. It has a tribal/80s-90s fluoro vibe to all the full nail patterns. There's also some random cartoon cats on it which are pretty cute, though I'm not sure I'll ever use them...

And here Pinkerbell is on her lonesome.

Ninja Polish Pinkerbell

Pinkerbell is brighter in person. My lightbox just can't seem to photograph floams quite right. This is my favourite floam by far! It's pink, blue, green and a sprinkling of yellow micro matte glitters in a clear base. I used 3 thin coats followed by 2 layers of Glitter Gloss in these pics. I think it'd look best layered over a complimentary pink or some ridgefiller/nude undies to make it look like the coverage is perfect. Application isn't too bad, you just have to wait for each coat to dry before adding the next or the bottom coat's glitter may move, creating bald spots.

Whaddya think?!


xxx
NPA

KBShimmer Winter Collection Swatches - my picks

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L-R: Hex Appeal, Berry Christmas, All Decked Out, Cocoa Nut, Sugar Plum Faerie

KBShimmer's Winter 2012/13 Collection is possibly their best yet! I picked up my five favourites after Christmas (when they were back in stock finally!!).

All Decked Out

All Decked Out has a swampy, dark green jelly base with various sizes gold, blue, red, green, orange and purple hex glitter and little gold stars. It's not really hard to get the stars out but they fall off the end of my brush back into the bottle if I'm not careful. I  love this shade of green, but not for this polish. I just feel like it'd be a better Christmas polish if it was more evergreen, a bit brighter, you know? Very cool though. Two-three coats.

Berry Christmas

Berry Christmas has a warm red base with tons of red, pink and purple hex glitter and gold micro-glitter. Probably my favourite from the collection but it dries textured and looks kind of lumpy unless you add some thick layers of top coat. I'm not wearing quite enough in the photos. Two coats.

Cocoa Nut

 Cocoa Nut is a warm nutty chocolate brown with gold, pink and lavender holo glitters. Another two coater that does well with a couple of thick layers of top coat. Yum!

Hex Appeal

 Hex Appeal is a navy jelly with silver, blue, fuchsia and purple glitters. It's a real glitter bomb with bar, hex and fine square shaped glitters. The formula is beautiful for such a glitter paced beauty. Two coats.

Sugar Plum Faerie

 Sugar Plum Faerie is another beauty! A warm medium/light purple with green, lavender, pink and blue glitters. Again a great formula for a glitter packed lacquer. Two coats.

You can buy direct from KB Shimmer's website or Etsy shop if you are in the USA. Internationals can purchase KB Shimmer nail polish from Harlow & Co.

Did you get your hands on any?

xxx

NPA