Floral deer decals…

So I wanted something on my nails but couldn’t be bothered to paint any nail art, so I grabbed some water decals. This one is from a big sheet of animal decals from BornPrettyStore which I’ve previously reviewed here. It’s a pretty handy set as it includes 120 ‘nails’ and includes several kinds of animals in all different colours so there’s something for every occasion.

Floral Deer Water Decals close up

Anyway, I went with an accent nail and tried colour match it’s base as best as I could, then added some dried flowers for a little extra.

Floral Deer Water Decals nail art

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French (bulldog) manicure..

So with the weather being amazing lately I felt like I wanted something bright and fun to adorn my nails. I delved in to my nail art supplies and came out with gemstones, glitter and some adorable French Bulldog water decals. Perfect! I then resorted to picking two of my favourite Barry M polishes so favoured that the names have worn off…

So which do you prefer? Pink or green?

Pink French Bulldog Water Decals

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Side by Side French Bulldog Water Decals

When life gives you lemons…

So I was having a rummage through my nail art supplies and came across some lemon water decals that I’ve not used since last year. I decided to pair them with some simple gingham-esk lines to create this super cheery look, great for brightening up the week!

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Holo Jungle…

So this is another unused product that I purchased in October – some loose holo glitter. It’s quite a fine glitter and applied really nicely, it also isn’t too ‘thirsty’ as it only needed two coats to stay smooth. (Some loose glitters drink up top coat almost endlessly.)

Loose Holo Glitter BPS.png

I then applied some leaves which are actually water decals, I really like how the combo looks! I managed to melt one of the leaves however as I forgot to dry it off properly – whoops!

Holo Glitter Jungle Nail Art.png

BornPrettyStore: Silver Metal Frame

So today I’m reviewing some ‘Silver Metal Frames‘ sent to me by BornPrettyStore. I chose them because I’ve seen some super cool ways they’ve been used by Japanese nail artists whom I follow on Instagram. Unfortunately those guys are nail art wizards and I’ve came no where close to achieving their standards, but I’ve done my best to make them look as best as I can!

They’re literally just little hoops of metal, very light-weight and beautifully beveled to sit better on your nails. They come in a lot of different sizes, shapes and also you get the option of either gold or silver. As you can see I went for the Silver Circle in 6mm.

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I first applied my base coat, and whilst still wet, settled the little frame on to my nail. (As I was going to be applying UV gel top coat over it later, I didn’t think it would need any proper fixing to start with). I then filled the frame with little chunks of silver. I think it almost makes it look like a silver geode or precious rock. I’m no expert in geology terminology, any help with what I’m trying to describe here would be appreciated!

MetalFrameCollage

I then encased the whole thing in UV gel polish top coat. As you can see the polish affected neither the metal frame nor the silver chunks – hooray!

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So what do you think of using the frame like this? I think without it, the silver chunks would have looked a bit random and there’s no way they would look so neatly arranged.

For the second look, I painted my left hand. I know, I bet yous thought I didn’t have one, I hope you didn’t faint from shock. I just couldn’t bear to take off the first design as I really liked how it turned out. This time instead of filling the frame up I chose to use it as a decoration in it’s own right.

SealifeDesignMetalFrame.png

I went for a bright, summery beach look that required zero painting skills. It’s just a shame I didn’t included another frame as it’s looking a little lonesome. But hopefully you can see what I was trying for!

So which design do you prefer? For me, it has to be the first look even though the second is a lot more seasonally appropriate. The frames are currently on sale (16/05) at $1.29 for 10 which is a great price.

Have you got metal frames hiding in your nail art supplies already? Has anyone else seen the Japanese nail artist wizards that I’m talking about? So inspirational.

If you would like to purchase anything from BornPrettyStore, use my code ‘AZYW10’ at the checkout and you’ll receive 10% off all your full priced items – yaaay to savings!

AZYW10

BornPrettyStore: Big Sheet Animal Water Decals…

So this ‘Big Sheet of Animal Water Decals‘ has some super cute designs, there’s something for everyone – pandas, rabbits, cats, dogs and deer! It was sent to me by BornPrettyStore to be put through it’s paces and before I show you how some of them look on my nails, I just want to break down what great value this sheet is.

Big Sheet Water Decal Animal Sheet.JPG

You get 12 designs, each with 10 fingers worth, which equates to 120 water decals for the measly price of $2.87/$1.59 sale price (correct 29/4). This means each decal is costing you $0.02, amazing right? So the first design I’m going to show you is a good example of how to make your money stretch even further by using just one decal per mani as an ‘accent nail’.

I chose to use a decal from the deer set with a white background as this allowed me to paint the rest of my nails the same colour. Then it was just a case of cutting out the decal I wanted and applying it as normal. (If you’re unsure or need a refresher about this, keep scrolling as I’ve included a sort of step by step next) Ta-da! Simple, quick mani for $0.02.

Simple Deer Water Decal Use

Big Sheet Water Decal Deer Set

So I might have go a bit carried away about how cheap it is, so lets do the re-cap on how to actually use and apply this product properly. With them being water decals you will need; a shallow dish of water, tweezers, scissors, nail file and a tissue. I’ve chosen this super cute panda set to demonstrate the application steps.

Panda Set.JPG

The first step is to cut out the decals you wish to use. With this big sheet you need to be quite accurate with your cuts as there are no borders between each design – take it slow and steady.
Make sure you remove the clear, protective layer covering the decals and trim them to size before you submerge them in the water.
Leave them there for around 15 seconds, at this point the decal should be able to slide off the backing paper with ease and use your tweezers to remove them from the water. Place them on your nail in the correct position, gently dab with a tissue to remove excess water.
Then remove the excess that may be hanging off your nail with a file.
Ta-da!

Application Collage

The length of the water decals is quite generous and easily fitted all my nails. Personally my nails are all different lengths, so sometimes I trimmed off the top part of the decal to help the design sit better meaning I wasn’t having to file off parts that I liked.

Now came the biggest test – the top coat. Unfortunately sometimes decals melt, like the design squashes and the colours bleed and things that that. However, these guys actually look better with a top coat! They didn’t melt and it actually helped to iron out some of the wrinkles. (I used Seche Vite)

No Top Coat vs Top Coat.jpg

You may have noticed that I added some glitter on to the little water orbs the pandas are fascinated by. This totally isn’t necessary but helps to demonstrate how easy it is to customize the decals!

Big Sheet Animal Water Decals Panda.jpg

Aren’t they cute! They sailed through the top coat challenge, but how about the well known ‘3 hours in a  pool, teaching children to swim’ challenge? Amazing. Very minimal chipping, and even though the top coat may be helping this I’ve previously had the whole water decal float off my nail in to the pool. (Anyone else had that kind of problem?) But not these guys, look at the results!

Minimal Chipping.JPG

I’m so very impressed with how they did over-all, and I still can’t get over the price. I had another idea about creating a pretty, but very economical gift with them. Why not pair up a set of decals, with a matching polish for base colour, and an inexpensive but cute nail file? (Make it way nicer than the one I threw in for example…) So lets add it up, shall we say $1 for the file, $4 for the polish, $0.23 for the sheet of decals and maybe $1 for the pillow giftbox – that’s only $6.23/£4.81! How about that? A gift for under a fiver, amazing! What’s nice about these decals is that they don’t look poor quality or feel cheap once applied, so there’s no way someone would know.

Inexpensive Gift Idea

Do you ever have one of those items where you just have too many ideas for it and get a little obsessed with using it in different ways? Well I’m afraid that’s what happened with this sheet of decals. I really didn’t intend to do three different designs but after cutting out the dog set purely for the example gift set, the little dachshund was crying out to me to be used. I went for some super colourful, dry brush nails and used him as a pinky accent, cute no? And it only cost me $0.02 😉

Multi-coloured Dachshund.JPG

I can’t wait to use the little rabbits they’re so cute, but the cat set…. Anyone fancy them? I’m unfortunately not a cat person. Hope you enjoyed the review and that I gave you some ideas to think about!

If you’d like to order the whole sheet for yourself or friends head on over to BornPrettyStore. Anything in your basket that’s full price will recieve a 10% discount when you use the code ‘AZYW10’ at checkout.

AZYW10

Puppy Love…

So apparently it was ‘National Puppy Day’ yesterday? (What I want to know is when national guinea-pig day is!) To honor the occasion, I cracked out these unused dog decals and made them in to a mega decal on the silicone mat I reviewed earlier this week.

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Lucky Bag #2…

So this ‘lucky bag‘ was purchased back in June ’16 as I was previously pretty happy with the other lucky bags I’d received. For $0.99 it’s a little bit of fun and excitement! This one however was pretty horrific, which is why I’ve avoided using it, mainly down to the ‘Coco Channel’ metal decorations. I’m afraid I would never wear anything Coco Channel, least of all a knock off of their logo in the form of a  metal nail decoration. I’ve tried to hide what it is (rather unsuccessfully) by turning it on it’s side to create more of a pattern than a logo…

The water decals and lace stickers are cute enough, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.

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Lucky Bag Design.JPG

The dog’s decals…

So these water decals weren’t purchased that long ago, just in September last year  but they still count toward to the ‘use the unused’ resolution I set for myself.

I paired them with some pink chromed nails and then stamped some multi-coloured paws on top. The whole combo looks like something a 9 year old girl would wear, or at least to my understanding of a 9 year old’s fashion. (In reality they no doubt have copious amounts of designer gear, have more in their savings account than me, are already possibly ‘seeing’ several boyfriends and therefore wouldn’t ever dream of having puppies on their nails…)

Dog Decals.JPG

 

Lady Fingers…

So I bought these 3 in 1 water decals in June, (so not too long ago…) and decided to focus on the lady sheet as there’s also cat and dog sheets hence the ‘3 in 1’. I don’t know wether they had dried up or something but they didn’t adhere at all. Therefore I had to stick them to wet polish on a stamping head and create a decal of decals – a mega decal!

lady-fingers