Blue Floral

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Born Pretty sent me these pretty blue floral decals to review.

Cult Nails Evolution with water decals

These decals come connected so you have to cut each one out individually which is a pain in the ass - but other than that, these decals are gorgeous, and make for a very fast nail art look.

 

If you stop by BPS use my 10% off coupon QHL91 & remember they provide worldwide free delivery.

xxx

NPA

French Tip Lace Water Decals Review

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*Press Sample*

Born Pretty Store sent me some really cute water decals to review.

B132 (far right)

I chose to wear them over naked nails - which are obviously stained from prolonged polish use, sorry! 

BPS Water Decals

 These were so easy to use! The tips are really long (great for talon nails), so I trimmed them a lot once I stuck them on my nails. I'd recommend trimming them before you submerge them in water though, because they become very delicate and can tear easily... 

I just topped the mani with one layer of Out The Door top coat and I was good to go. They last just as long as a regular mani on me and remove with ordinary polish remover.

For all your nail art needs and free worldwide shipping take advantage of NPA's 10% discount code QHL91 at BPS

xxx

NPA

OPI Mod About You and Water Decal Review

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*Press Sample*

Born Pretty Store kindly sent me some nail art supplies to review and share with all you. Today I've got one of my favourite manis ever to share with you, involving some seriously quick and easy water decals.

OPI Mod About You with water decals

These are D211 Black applied over two coats of the pastel pink Mod About You an oldie and a goodie from OPI. I have a stamping plate with this design too, but I've never been able to make the stamps look this great before!! 

These decals are only US$1.43 per sheet and they last pretty well with a layer of good top coat, so I seriously recommend them. There are loads of designs to choose from and don't forget my 10% off Coupon code QHL91 next time you shop at BPS - free international shipping holla!!!

To top it off, I added some small black rhinestones too. I love the half circle on my ring finger. The middle finger looks pretty wack though!!

Only 4 more exams to go now!

xxx

NPA

Nautical Nails

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Press Sample

Ahoy!

I had big outdoor swatching plans today but the sky decided to be grumpy and put away the sun! Stinky winter right?

So tonight I've got some nautical themed nail art to share.

OPI Alpine Snow, China Glaze First Mate & Millennium with decals

I love nautical inspired fashion so this was a really fun mani for me. I couldn't find my striping tape so I just cut strips of regular sellotape and tried (and failed!) to make an even pattern!
I did the regular blue and white stripes on every nail except my accent which I painted silver and blue instead. I thought it'd standout but it's pretty subtle actually. In most of the photos you can't even tell. Next time I'll introduce some red, yeah?

I used water decals from Born Pretty Store to complete the look.

Compass Anchor Pattern

The pack came with four decals each, of two different compass and anchor designs. The decals aren't tiny so I had to angle them to actually fit on my nails. My pinkie finger was too narrow for any of them to fit. No skin off my nose though, because I think these look better as an accent.

These were very easy to work with. You just cut them out, remove the plastic covering and lay face down in water until the backing card is fully soaked. Then to apply, just slide the decal off the wet card and push on to your nail and leave to dry. If you want to re-position the decal all you have to do is wet it again and it'll slide around for you. Once it's perfect seal it with 1 layer of top coat. I used Seche Vite above.

If you want to get some nail art supplies of your own you can use my 10% off voucher at BPS. They offer worldwide free shipping!!!!

So... what do you think?


xxx
NPA

KKcenterHk French Water Decals Review

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Ok, Michaela is having a kind of depressing day. Not only can I not wear nail polish while in clinic, I also have to have short nails! As in Netball short!!!! Waah waah waaahhh!
That's two days a week of naked nails and 100% of the time stubby nails. These animals I'm going to be nursing had better be grateful!!!! :) Just jokes.

Awh, shit; at least I might be able to prevent breaks and splits...

 Anyway, with only one more week of nail freedom I got round to trying out these french tip water decals from KKcenterHk. I'd been putting them off because my nails never seemed long enough to carry them off, but desperate times...

I wanted to do a traditional french mani but my nails are a bit orange (I just got some Orly nail whitener so will be trying it out soon) so I first applied 2 coats of OPI Samoan Sand (my most favourite semi-sheer nude).
Then I added the decals:

 OPI Samoan Sand with KKcenter HK french tip water decals: WDB068

The decals are great, only my nails are fairly small and narrow so there was a lot of excess I had to remove with acetone and scissors. That led to a wee bit of tearing caused by trying to move the decals around while they were too dry, but you couldn't tell unless you examined my nails right in front of your eyes.

Once I slid the decals in to place, I let them dry and painted on some Seche Vite. Once that dried I used some scissors and my cleanup brush to remove all the excess decal around the sides and tip of my nail (it was sort of like nail wrap cleanup using the brush instead of a nail file). With the excess gone, I applied a final coat of Seche Vite, wrapping the tips.

I love the final look, but I wouldn't repurchase these in particular because they are just so large on my nails. I do however recommend these to anyone with long and/or larger nail plates. Luckily KKcenterHk also have skinnier french tip decals too and I can see myself trying those in the future.

These are only $2.82 for 15 decals, so cheap as chips, right?! Here is the direct link. You can use my 10% off coupon NPA10 on any order at KKcenterHk. This icon on my top left sidebar will also take you to their website:

KKcenterHk is also running an Easter promo right now:
Buy 1 product Get 8% off
Buy 3 products Get 12% off
Buy 5 products Get 20% off

Hope your weekends are off to a great start!


xxx
NPA

KKCentreHK Water Decal Review

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This review is hideously late!!
Almost a year late!
I do feel horrible about that and just want to say that it's the only product review I've let fall through the cracks! I'm very sorry. I have reviewed 2 other sets of decals from KK HERE & HERE

But the upside? It's Easter themed nail decals (which were too late to post last year) and this gives you plenty of time to think about what nail art you might want to do for Easter manis this year.

KKCenterHK is an e-tailer that sells a variety of beauty products including nail polish and nail art supplies.
They have an especially large range of water decals including heaps of Special Occasion or Holiday decals.

Source: KK Centre HK

I wanted to review these ones http://www.kkcenterhk.com/Nail-Water-Decals-Festival/c106_145/p6190/N.NAIL-Easter-Rabbit-Easter-Eggs-Water-Decals-Nail-Art-WDHHK154/product_info.html because I love all the nail art where the heads of animals are painted on the tips of girls nails and I wanted a quicker way to achieve the look.

The advantage of water decals is that you can't really screw them up! You can fiddle with their placement as much as you like without damaging your nail polish or the decal. Just add a few drops of water and the decal can be moved again.
Once you are happy with how it looks (and you give it a minute for all the water to evaporate) just apply a layer or two of top coat to seal it and you're good to go!

Dollish Polish Hip Hop Hippity Hop with WDHHK154 water decals

The colour is quite washed out because the lighting set up was less than ideal, but the photos are still true to life of the decals.
I didn't have any issues applying the decals. I managed to fold a few into themselves (because I was applying them a bit barbarically!!!!)  but all I had to do was put them back in water and they looked as good as new.
I used two coats of Revlon Color Stay Top Coat to seal the decals and they wore really well.

NB: This was the original Hip Hop Hippity Hop that Dolly reformulated and replaced when the glitter sort of melted a little and curled at the very edges. I still like this version as long as I have a thick top coat, but I really need to get my mitts on the current formula before Easter this year!

KKCenterHK's decals cost between around  $2.82 -6.39. Each pack generally contains 20 decals.

If you like the look of these ones do have a look at their website.
The Coupon Code NPA10 which KK provided for my readers last year is active until the 31 January so get in quick!  is now active until 31 January 2014. It entitles you to 10% your order and it is located on my left hand sidebar.


xxx
NPA

kkcentrehk Water Decal Review: hearts, ribbons & flowers

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 Hola Chicas!

About a month ago something really exciting happened...

Maggie from kkcenterhk (an e-tailer based in Hong Kong) contacted me to see if I'd be interested in reviewing some of their nail decals.
She told me to have a look at their products to see if I was interested, and she sent one 4 different ones I liked the look of. Today they arrived in one of those really cute old style document envelopes with the figure 8 tie clasp. Officially the coolest mail envelope ever!!!

I already had a the beautiful Girly Bits Razzle Dazzle on, so I put the full nail decals aside and chose to add the heart & ribbon decals from the 'LOVE' category to show you.
Here is the link to this product: http://www.kkcenterhk.com/Nail-Water-Decals-Love/c106_151/p5082/N.NAIL-LOVERWater-Decals-Nail-Art-WDBLE1342/product_info.html

Product #WDBLE1342

They come in a foil backed zip lock bag, I suppose for freshness? Not sure it really matters with water decals but still it's nice and tidy when it comes to storage.

Product #WDBLE1342

This set came with 1 sheet with 26 decals on it. They are white with grey outlines. They also have the usual clear plastic sheet to protect them too.

Razzle Dazzle & Decals - 3 coats - sunlight

Razzle Dazzle & Decals - 3 coats - sunlight

Razzle Dazzle & Decals - 3 coats -white light

Razzle Dazzle & Decals - 3 coats -white light

The method of application:

I cut them out, removed the plastic top sheet, soaked in a little water in the bathroom sink - you can do this in a cup etc.
I just placed them on my nails with my fingers, which was a bit fiddly but fine.
Once they dried I put top coat on them to seal & protect. I started out using Orly Sec N Dry and it completely smudged my pinky!!! I used Out The Door on the rest of my nails and there was absolutely no smudging, thank god!!!

My thoughts:

They are cute. Nails decal haven't really been my thing because I'm lazy - but they are way easier and less messy than stamping, kind of idiot proof because if you screw up you just pop them/your nail back in some water and then can rearrange them.
I put them over a pink glittery polish and even though they are white they look opaque = impressive.


I have some others they sent me to review - some cute easter ones & floral french tips which are gorgeous. As soon as my nails are long enough I'll be popping them on to show you!

I'm so disappointed in Sec N Dry; its smudged my stamping in the past and I also find it sometimes creates some cuticle drag so I'm definitely never buying it again!!!! I'll be sticking to my Seche Vite & Out The Door.

Again, if you like this mani you can purchase the decals here:
http://www.kkcenterhk.com/Nail-Water-Decals-Love/c106_151/p5082/N.NAIL-LOVERWater-Decals-Nail-Art-WDBLE1342/product_info.html

On a side note - Pam's launching her Calender Girls collection around the 25th Feb and I think she'll also start accepting orders for her past collections/polishes so check out her Girly Bits blog for info.

xxx
NPA

Breaking Dawn Part 1 - Movie Manicure

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Hey ladies,

I saw Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 yesterday (I didn't hate it, just the wolf scene really - it reminded me of the kids calling on Captain Planet and him saying "With your powers combined, I am Captain Planet! - I pissed myself laughing - not sure the elderly couple beside me appreciated it but I'm always a horror to sit next to at the movies - I pre-empt every laugh out loud moment + lots of others no one else either gets or finds amusing with my seriously loud cackle. It is fun to embarrass my friends and family though!!!) and in honour of the film I did a special (yet not nail arty) mani.
FYI I took these photos under my lamp.

I'm an on the fencer when it comes to Team Edward vs Team Jacob (who am I kidding, if Jake wasn't so young I'd be on him having his wolf babies sooner than an addict on crack. Bella is a FOOOOOL, but she gets to have pretty hot vampy sex & Edward's rich so ...), so I ordered both sets of water decals off the Evil Bay much earlier in the year.

On my left hand I'm wearing The Volturi  & on the right I'm wearing The Wolves from the Breaking Dawn trio I bought from Dollish Polish. I probably should have worn The Cullens for my Team Edward hand but I thought the Red symbolised the Vamp choice and more importantly went with the red heart on the decal!!!
I just used OPI Alpine Snow under the water decals because I wanted to make sure you could read them.

In real life the decals looked a lot clearer (but I fumbled them a lot before I actually placed them properly on my nails so that's why they look pretty cracked in macro).

I loved looking at my ring fingers the last two days (that's why there is some tip wear - I'm so rough on my hands!!) - it always put a smile on my dial :)

Lisa Stanbury, dearest friend - these are the decals I am sending you - I'm sorry this parcel has been taking me months to actually send. This week it goes out for realskis!!!

Hope you like.

xxx
Michaela