Holo-daze - Born Pretty South Area

Hello, holo!

[Holo-daze]

This is Born Pretty's South Area from their Flashing Vision series.

[Born Pretty South Area]

South Area is a peel-off with a tonne of holo glitter against a dark pink-magenta-ish base.

[Born Pretty South Area]

It's not as blinding in my photos but in person, it was definitely full of holo and glitter. This nail polish was odourless as promised, but it was very topcoat thirsty. I think it took three coats of Seche Vite's Dry Fast Top Coat to get a glossy result. And it turns out when you combine that much dry fast top coats with a peel off nail polish, what that means is that the peel off nail polish almost pops right off over the next couple days. This was a pretty and shiny nail polish, but I definitely have to try it again with less top coat, oops. :O

If you're interested in South Area, you can check it out here. Or otherwise, you can look over Born Pretty and use our discount code for any full price items.

Lights Out! - Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate, LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05

Okay.. so it's no secret that I love glitter. SO MUCH! What I don't love is the removal of glitter polish. SO MUCH!

[Super luxe]

Now, I know peel-off glitter base has been around for a while, but the ones I've tried have a really thick formula and take forever to dry so I've never really used them much. I decided to give it a go again recently and chose this item for review from Born Pretty. This is BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate from the Born Pretty White Black Series Peel Off Nail Polish.

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty Peel Off Nail Polish BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate (1 coat)]

Don't be fooled by the name! Based on the product page, I was aware that I was purchasing a black polish, and not any sort of chocolate-related colour.

[1 coat: Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate]

Onto the polish itself.. I LOVE IT. It is super super pigmented, this is just one-coat, no topcoat. Thin-to-medium formula and quick dry time. Even if it doesn't work as a nail polish, I would love it just as a black one-coater base for sheer or glitter polishes!

[Left to right: LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05]

So to give it a go, I then did a french glitter gradient and an gradient accent nail with the polishes above. Interesting note, that ZA polish is one of the first nail polishes I coveted and purchased when I was a teenager. It thickened up over time, but late last year, I saved it with some polish thinner and I'm pleased as punch with myself!

[Base: Born Pretty BP-BAW02 Dark Chocolate (1 coat)
Glitter: LA Girl Flamboyant, Missha The Style Lucid #2, ZA #05]

So after doing the glitter gradients, I topped off with two generous coats of topcoat to smooth it all out. I then wore this mani for about a week to try it out, as one of my gripes about peel off basecoat previously is that sometimes it just peels itself off after a shower.

[One Piece!]

Glad to say I had no issues here and it only came off when I started picking at it intentionally. As you can see above, it came off nicely in one piece on the accent nails! I managed to peel it off the other nails, but not in a nice whole piece which I'm pretty sure is I didn't coat the entire nail in glitter so it was only a single thin layer of the black polish so it was harder to get off in one piece.

Overall, I'm really happy with this product and can see myself making use of it heaps in future! You can check it out here - it also comes in white! As usual, code above will give you 10% off full priced products at Born Pretty. =)

Cool Summer Dusk - Born Pretty Couture Precieuse

Look at this fancy piece of work, sent to us from Born Pretty.

[Cool Summer Dusk]

This is Born Pretty's Couture Precieuse, from their Cloud Thermal series. (On the box itself, it calls the collection Cloud Mood series but it's called Cloud Thermal on their website.)

It's a thermal nail polish, as evidenced by the series' name, where it is cornflower blue when warm and royal purple when cold. The nail polish is also packed full of gold-green flakies and dries matte (Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat has turned this glossy). I love how it looks!

[Born Pretty's Couture Precieuse]

I've said it before, but I really like this new fancy-ish packaging.

[Born Pretty's Couture Precieuse]

First of all, I'm really impressed by how sensitive the nail polish is to temperature changes. Even with two layers of top coat (because the nail polish was a little thirsty and didn't smoothen out with just one :P ), the colour changes were magnificent. It's summer where I am now, and thermal nail polishes are usually quite hopeless in warm weather. But this one easily maintained a difference in colour between my cool tips and the nails above my warm nail-beds. I love the colours as well and they looked gorgeous with the flakies. I think the flakies really made this thermal nail polish extra special.

The only complaint I would have about this nail polish is the smell. It has a pretty strong chemical-y smell unfortunately.

Otherwise, it's a beauty, that's for sure!

If you're looking for some beautiful colour changing nail polish with flakies, you can check it out here at Born Pretty. The code will give you some discount on full priced items!

Juicy Fruit - Born Pretty Tropical Punch L001, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Hit the Bottle As Black As Night

Today I have the juiciest stamping plate to review, as provided by Born Pretty!

[Born Pretty Tropical Punch - L001]

Look at this beaut! This is Born Pretty Tropical Punch - L001, a collection of the most amazing tropical fruit prints I've seen. There's dragonfruit, starfruit, mangosteen, mangoes and even durians on there!

[Born Pretty Tropical Punch - L001]

But first, I have to say, Born Pretty has really stepped it up with their packaging. I really love the champagne foil accents on the protective cardboard sleeve on this plate. As always, the plate itself arrives with a protective blue film that needs removal before use.

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy (2 coats)]

My base from last week - China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, a coral neon which has faded in my bottle...

[Base: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy (2 coats);
Plate: Born Pretty Tropical Punch L001; Stamping: Hit the Bottle As Black As Night]

I just went all out with a black stamping polish (Hit the Bottle As Black As Night) and used a different print for each finger. I'm pretty impressed with the detail here. I admit that I was rushing when doing this as I need to get out of the house, but look at the detail on these designs! Colour me impressed~!

I think these designs would look great coloured in (for someone who has more patience than I do!). If you want to grab this plate for your collection, you can find it here at Born Pretty. As usual, our code above will give you 10% off full priced items. =)

Flippin Out - China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

It's a new year again! I have once again remembered to check for the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2019... However, warning in advance, I obviously had a small episode of colour-blindness when I picked a colour to match...

[Pantone Colour of the Year 2019 - Living Coral]

So for 2019, it's Living Coral - an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.... Wow there are a lot of fancy words in the description! =p

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy *faded (2 coats)]

I then somehow proceeded to pick a shade that was not similar at all but it's too late now, so this is what y'alls getting today! This is a weird one because it's China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, which is a coral neon, but mine actually arrived faded when I purchased it (yearrrrs ago), so it's now a faded neon not-quite-coral.

[2 coats: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy *faded]

 Ah, well, it's the thought that counts?? LOL. I used two coats for this, and like most neons, it dries fairly quickly but to a chalky finish. I just slapped on some topcoat and called it a day!

[2 coats: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy *faded]

Anyway, hopefully I get better at picking colours in 2019! Who knows, but hey, as long as we're having fun with pretty nails... =)

Happy New Year! - MdU Black, Sinful Colors' Purple Kraze, Ulta3's Fruit Tingle, Ulta3's Citrus, BK 06, Born Pretty BP-118

Happy new year to everyone! Let's start off 2019 with a bang!

[Fireworks!]

I chose this stamping pattern because I thought it would look a little like fireworks if I added riotous colours. The result is a fun, splash of colours in any case!

[Born Pretty BP-118 stamping plate]

I did all of this on a silicone nail art mat to start off with. First, I put down a clear base on the mat and then left that to dry. Then I stamped down the pattern from Born Pretty's BP-118 stamping plate onto the clear base polish on the mat, using the pattern on the lower leftmost corner of the plate. I used MdU's Black, which is still the best black stamping polish I have ever used. It produces the cleanest, darkest stamped lines of any stamping nail polish I have ever seen.

After stamping, I added a touch of glitter from Maybelline's Gold's Night Out, just because the bottle was sitting on my desk. XD  Then I used a fine brush to paint in the different colours. I've gone into detail on the whole process in a past post here.

[Stamping plate: Born Pretty BP-118
Stamping polish: MdU Black
Nail polish colours: Sinful Colors' Purple Kraze,
 Ulta3's Fruit Tingle, Ulta3's Citrus, BK 06]

You can see the hint of gold glitter in the picture above. I applied too much glitter for the one that went on my thumbnail. Even though it doesn't look like such here, I actually couldn't see what on earth I was painting in for half of that particular nail, which is why it's a little bit of a mess. It does look like a rather pretty mess to me.

The colours used are as such:

• Sinful Colors' Purple Kraze - a purple creme polish with a pink shimmer that doesn't really show up on the nail and has a satin finish
• Ulta3's Fruit Tingle - a neon pink creme polish
• Ulta3's Citrus - a neon yellow creme polish
• BK 06 - a teal creme glow in the dark polish

For my right hand, I decided to do it all the same colours and forego the glitter for my own sanity. 

[Stamping plate: Born Pretty BP-118
Stamping polish: MdU Black
Nail polish colours: Ulta3's Fruit Tingle, Ulta3's Citrus, BK 06

Yes, I broke the nail on my index finger. :(  Anyway, I do think this looks less like fireworks but it's still a colourful and pretty mani, in my opinion.