Summer Parrots…

So these parrot nail stickers were sent to me for review back in May’16 and I’ve not used them since. If you didn’t bother to follow the link, the sheet also contains bananas and toucans so it’s not really the kind of item that I’m reaching for all the time.

They turned out way too summery for this time of year, to the point where I was sort of annoyed by them. They were almost taunting me with their summer vibes, whilst outside the weather is blowing a gale and bucketing with rain…

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BornPrettyStore: Metal Wheel Design Stickers

So I’ve been just super busy with general life, and it’s unfortunately meant that I’ve been neglecting my product reviews a little. Fear not though, as today I had time to try out these ‘Metal Wheel Design Stickers‘ in option 2240 sent to me by BornPrettyStore.

The stickers come on a clear backing which takes the guess work out of sizing them for your nails. There’s also plenty of them in various designs and sizes, (don’t you just hate it when there’s just one of something?) some of which are super cute – I mean look at the tiny cogs!

The stickers are strong, they handled perfectly well either picked up by fingers or with tweezers. Fortunately they’re not thick meaning they hug the nail nicely with no poking out or curling up, this is also helped by the strength of the stickers adhesive.

As some of the cogs are quite large, I wanted to test out how well they would cut. They cut like butter, no weird edges or anything, and still stick just as well after the trauma.

For my first design I chose to do a dry brush background to give an industrial feel, but kept it in quite light in tones to show up the stickers. It really helps to show how shiny the metallic effect is. Super pretty and a bit of a distraction if you’re driving!

For my second design I went with a magnetic polish in gunmetal silver for the base and just had to add the little clock parts I have. They’re are also from BPS, which I personally purchased (find them here) and are handy for crafting not just nail art.

 

I mean you can’t get a better combo than cog stickers with actualy 3D cogs! It tickled me. Obviously not that practical, unless you did them in acrylics, so here’s the stickers without the cogs. I had to scrape off the polish I’d used to attach the parts which is why there is some damage, but impressively it’s only minimal and still perfectly wearable.

So which design did you prefer – blue and industrial or the 3D magnetic one? If you decide to purchase anything from BornPrettyStore, use my code ‘AZYW10’ at the checkout for 10% off all full priced items in your basket. And remember – free delivery, wooo!

BornPrettyStore: Real Shell Decoration…

So today’s post includes a review of some ‘Real Shell Decoration‘* from BornPrettyStore.

At first I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a sticker of a shell or the actual real deal from the sites product description. I can tell you what turned up was definitely the real thing. It’s been shaved super thin and then applied to an adhesive backing. Look at those beautiful colours!

I definitely recommend used a (sharp) craft knife to cut the shell. Scissors just seemed to splinter it and crush it in to tiny pieces, they were also too clumsy for maneuvering correctly. Cutting the shell with a craft knife help to keep it mostly intact as it was a smoother motion, if there was any slight breakage the adhesive backing helped hold the shell together anyway.

The self-adhesiveness is great, as I’m not sure what I’d attach the pieces with. Once applied they do have a slightly rough looking edge, so I decided to hide this with some striping tape. I was worried the shell would stick up and catch horribly on everything but actually it’s pretty flush to my nail, I think the two coats of Seche Vite helped smooth it off.

I did notice BPS suggests the shell to be used in acrylic nails, and I can understand why. I think it would maybe have more potential as it could be layered in to the acrylic and would be completely flat and be used with more 3D elements. But I tried my best, I think it’s got quite a classy feel.

I absolutely love how the shell has loads of different patterns, it’s so beautiful and irridescent! It makes each nail way more interesting, so which is your favourite? I think mines is the index finger.

I enjoyed using the shell that much, I wanted to use it again in a different style. This time I went for triangles on a light base and it gives off quite a sci-fi feel don’t you think. Like a shifting cloud storm on an alien plant or something.

Again just look at those colours – greens, blues, silvers, purples, browns – beautiful! Which look did you prefer?

The shell comes in nine different colour options (amazing right?!), the one I have been using is option #4. If you fancy ordering this product or anything else from BornPrettyStore, use my code ‘AZYW10’ to get 10% all full priced items upon checking out, and remember free delivery!

BornPrettyStore: Pink Flower Stickers…

So today I’m bringing you a review of some ‘Pink Flower Stickers‘ from BornPrettyStore. Aren’t they pretty!

The stickers have lots of delicate, pastel colours and are semi-transparent so I was pretty stumped on what to do with them – did I go bright and busy, quiet and minimalist or even blinged up. I settled with a subtle base, in hope that it would show off the stickers better.

They weren’t too sticky so tweezers weren’t 100% necessary  (I’d still recommend using tweezers anyway) and they weren’t thick or brittle meaning they hugged the nail well. Unfortunately, once applied, the edge of the sticker was pretty obvious, at a distance not so much but it still kinda bugged me. I’m not sure who’s to blame as maybe it was just the base colour I’d chosen or possibly the stickers themselves. So more testing required!

With the stickers being semi-transparent, a really cool thing to do with them is to layered them up. I think it really gives a look of some depth and dimension and I bet they’d look smart in a ‘pond mani’. It’s nice that the sheet includes flowers of all sizes and shades – I tried to stick with the pink and purples for this design.

It may not be one of my most inspired designs but it’s delicate and I think it helps to convey how pretty the flowers are. To bling them up a little I added a pearl to the centre of the flowers (I think we’ve all done that move no?), and a slight tickling of glitter top coat.

If you fancy trying out these stickers, or anything else from the gazillion of nail art items that BornPrettyStore supplies, you can receive 10% off all full priced items by using the code ‘AZYW10’.

BornPrettyStore: Birds and Bananas Nail Stickers…

So what weird and wonderful combinations BornPrettyStore come up with; a sheet of stickers with toucans, macaws, cockatoos and… bananas? Why not!

These bird and banana* stickers retail at $3.69, and you get a fair amount for that money. I was really impressed with how vivid they are, and they’re actually quite detailed. The only real transparency I noticed was the white tip of the toucans wing, all the other stickers seem to be solid.

At first I was using my tweezers to pick up the stickers, but found that they weren’t too sticky meaning they wouldn’t stick to my fingers, also they weren’t too delicate to manually handle so I ended up using my fingers to pick up and place them.

The stickers are very pliable, just look at how much that toucan is hugging my nail. It is a super flat finish, I genuinely struggled to feel the edge or even see it! Even more exciting than that, is that the toucan didn’t melt with a top coat – hallelujah. Is it only me that’s had nightmarish experiences with nail stickers melting? Please tell me I’m not the only one. No curling, no sliding, no melting, nada. And that’s just the way I want and like it.

Moving on to bananas. I fricken hate real bananas, the texture and taste is just disgusting I don’t know why anyone would subject themselves to that. Boke. But banana nail stickers, hell yes! These applied to the same quality as the toucan – no obvious sticker edge, no top-coat melting, super flat sticking. (It wasn’t a surprise really seeing as they were off the same sheet, but you just never know!) How about a really boring game of spot the difference – which bunch of bananas has been topcoated? It’s pretty hard to tell huh?

So lets zoom out about now and get a look at the whole mani. I think these stickers are so fun, and just right for coming in to summer. I bet there’s loads of different things you could do with them, to suggest a few; brighten them up, make them classy or get playful with them (did anyone spot the bananas with the gorillas running up them?!). I chose to use the dry brush technique in several green polishes to create a jungle feel, then lightly ‘sketched’ on some foliage.

If you’d like to order these bird and banana stickers, remember you get FREE delivery and can also get 10% off all full priced items in your basket at BornPrettyStore by using my code ‘AZYW10’. Let me know if you’ve ordered these, as I’d love to see how you use them!

BornPrettyStore: Pink Flower Stickers…

So I received these super pretty ‘Pink Flower Nail Stickers’* from BornPrettyStore to review. At first I didn’t really know what they were, as the product description is rather confusing (check it out and let me know how you get on), however once opening them I soon worked it out that they were in fact stickers. And good ones at that!

The stickers are on a transparent sheet, which is so handy as you can have a ‘trial run’ as to where you want to stick them. Once I was happy with how they would look on my base colour, I used tweezers to apply them. The stickers are very adherent (nothing worse than a dry sticker huh, it’s kinda in the name that they need to stick), and also thin. This meant that they didn’t really need a top coat – literally a stick and go sort of nail art which is great! Think about wearing a plain colour for a few days and then brightening it up with these guys, totally different look for minimal effort.

I was feeling a little more adventurous than the ‘stick and go’ approach and noticed the stickers (as pretty as they are in their original state) have a lot of potential to be customised. I opted for the simple addition of little pink pearls. How cute do they cute!

How would you customise them, or what colour would you wear them with? If you fancy trying them out for yourself, use my code ‘AZYW10’ to get 10% off everything full priced in your order and remember free delivery!

BornPrettyStore: Gold Sealife Stickers…

So I feel as if I’m getting back in to the swing of things after a flat period, so I decided to review these ‘Gold Gilding Summer Style Nail Art Stickers‘* from BornPrettyStore! Aren’t they just the cutest? (Or maybe it’s me as I’m pretty in to fishkeeping)

So on the sheet itself you get plenty of creatures to use including corals, seahorses and fish. The stickers are definitely gold, they really have that true metallic effect.

The stickers are very sticky, which is fantastic, but I’d wouldn’t advise using your fingers to peel and place them. I found that the stickers stuck to my fingers too easily so tweezers are definitely a must for these guys! I know it’s better etiquette to use tweezers for stickers anyway but sometimes, you know, fingers are used…

Once top-coated, the appearance of the stickers didn’t change. Occasionally with gold effect nail art items, the gold dulls or smudges off but not with these fish – still as bright and as gold as when they were first placed. If you’ve ever used a bad sticker you’ll be familiar with top-coat lifting if not, what happens is after being top-coated the sticker starts to curl and it’s edges lift up meaning they catch or fall off easily, but not these ones! There was zero lifting or curling, maybe it’s down to the stickiness of them or maybe even the material they’re made out of but it’s a great relief that they didn’t curl up.

The shine on these stickers is amazing, and I love that the packet includes so many different styles and sizes of creatures. I can’t wait to use them again in a different style. If you fancy ordering them or anything else from Born Pretty Store remember to use my code to receive 10% off full priced items.

Now it’s time for some close-ups!
(As my index finger is still damaged I am still painting a false nail to cover it up)