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