Sunset Stripe - Hit the Bottle Blue Kamikaze, Purple Hooter, Bumble Bee; Chi Chi Fluoro Pink, Ulta3 Atomic OJ

My natural nails have grown out quite a bit so seeing as I had a bit more real estate to play with, I decided to do a gradient mani!

[Dust storm]

My initial idea was a sponge mani, but after rummaging around, I found that I have a healthy collection of jelly polishes that would work perfectly for a layered gradient.

Here's what I used: From left to right, Hit the Bottle Blue Kamikaze, Hit the Bottle Purple Hooter, Chi Chi Fluoro Pink, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Hit the Bottle Bumble Bee.

[Tip to base: Hit the Bottle Blue Kamikaze, Hit the Bottle Purple Hooter,
Chi Chi Fluoro Pink, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Hit the Bottle Bumble Bee]

I started out with a full coat of Hit the Bottle Bumble Bee, then painted the next 4/5 of the nail with Ulta3 Atomic OJ, the next 3/5 with Chi Chi Fluoro Pink, 2/5 with Hit the Bottle Purple Hooter, and finally the last 1/5 with Hit the Bottle Blue Kamikaze.

[Tip to base: Hit the Bottle Blue Kamikaze, Hit the Bottle Purple Hooter,
Chi Chi Fluoro Pink, Ulta3 Atomic OJ, Hit the Bottle Bumble Bee]

I'm quite pleased with this one, it's a bright pop of colour as Sydney is cooling down for autumn/winter. Picking my shades, I was trying for a sunset to night sky gradient. Although the tips turned out a little bit too dark for a gradual gradient, I think it gives a nice accent this way!

Starry Horizons - Born Pretty Holo Thermal Top Coat, OPI Can't Find My Czechbook

Today, I have a top coat colour changing nail polish from Born Pretty to review.

[Starry Horizons]

[Born Pretty Holo Thermal Top Coat &
OPI Can't Find My Czechbook]

This is Born Pretty' Holo Thermal Top Coat, which is basically a top coat with holo microglitter, that goes black when cold and goes a translucent light gray when warm. I chose OPI's Can't Find My Czechbook as my base coat, which is a faded blue creme polish.

[Top Coat: Born Pretty Holo Thermal Top Coat
Base Coat: OPI Can't Find My Czechbook]

With the Holo Thermal Top Coat applied over OPI's Can't Find My Czechbook, my nails looked like I had on a French manicure where it was mostly a dusky blue with black tips, and holo microglitter running through it. It's getting cold where I am and the thermal polish worked beautifully, maintaining the dual colour easily. I love the versatility of this top coat, because it can create a different look just by having a different base colour. My only one complaint would be how strongly it smells in a somewhat unpleasant way.

Here's how the nail polish looked when completely warm or cold.

[Top Coat: Born Pretty Holo Thermal Top Coat
Base Coat: OPI Can't Find My Czechbook]

None of these states were maintained for long. I had to run my nails under warm or cold water to achieve the look. Most of the time, the mani looked like the first photo, which I much preferred.

If you're interested in the Holo Thermal Top Coat, you can find it here, and you can get 10% off with our code for other full price items at Born Pretty.

Hearts on Sleeve - Dance Legend Danger Danger, Hit the Bottle Snowed In, Born Pretty Valentines' Day L008

I have a few lovely stamping plates from Born Pretty to review, so here's the first one...

[Hearts abound]

Haha, red + hearts...! Nothing too innovative here but it's a classic combination for a reason! 

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Danger Danger (2 coats)]

My base shade from last week is Dance Legend Danger Danger, a raspberry-tinged red scattered holo.

[Born Pretty Valentine's Day L008]

The plate I'm reviewing today is Born Pretty Valentine's Day L008. Look at all the adorable patterns on this plate! I ended up using the one on the bottom left.

[Base: Dance Legend Danger Danger (2 coats); Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In;
Plate: Born Pretty Valentine's Day L008]

Using a white creme stamping polish (Hit the Bottle Snowed In), I stamped that pattern on. These stamping patterns are fairly large which is great for wider/longer nails. My nails are pretty narrow but currently my natural nails are quite long, so I got a decent amount of hearts on!

[Base: Dance Legend Danger Danger (2 coats); Stamping: Hit the Bottle Snowed In;
Plate: Born Pretty Valentine's Day L008]

I'm pretty happy with this. It was certainly a gentle way to ease back into regular manicures!

Once again you can find this plate here. As always, our code above will give you 10% off full priced items at Born Pretty.

Endgame - hēhē, Hit the Bottle, MdU, Sally Hansen, Ulta3, OPI, Savvy

This is a tribute to Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd movie and the climax to the Infinity Wars storyline in MCU. I won't spoil anyone, but I loved the movie! I wore this mani when I went to watch the movie, and I'm so happy that I did this for Endgame.

[Stars & Stripes]

[Red & Gold]

Let me go into more detail with each one now!

[hēhē's Super Hero 001 stamping plate]

[Captain America]

This mani is a tribute to Captain America, all very red, blue and white. The forefinger and ring finger are stamped using hēhē's Super Hero 001 stamping plate. I stamp all of them onto a silicone stamping mat and then...well, I transfer onto my nails, but as you can see, I embarrassingly applied the 'A' incorrectly on my forefinger. It's flipped. /o\ Ah well... For the ring finger, I stamped the stars and stripe twice, and then colour in the red stars.

The shield is not stamped, it's hand drawn. The reason is because the way the stamping plate has the rings and stars, it's not possible to colour them in correctly based on Cap's actual shield. It bothered me the last time I used the Super Hero 001 plate, so I decided to hand draw it this time round. Honestly? REGRET. SO MUCH WORK. Hahaha... it was way too hard getting it kind of circular, next time, I'm just stamping it even if it's incorrect. On my pinkie finger, it's a hand drawn red, silver and blue stripes.

For the base nail polish colours, I used Sally Hansen Right Said Red + Ulta3 English Rose to get that red colour, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue for the blues, and OPI Unfrost My Heart for the silver that I hand drawn. For the forefinger and ring finger, I stamped using Hit the Bottle Chromeo, a chrome silver stamping polish.

[hēhē's Super Hero 002 stamping plate]

[Iron Man]

And now this tribute is to Iron Man, all red and gold. All of it is stamped from hēhē's Super Hero 002 stamping plate. Hey, I got the 'A' correct this time, haha!

The base nail polishes are Sally Hansen Right Said Red + Ulta3 English Rose to get that shade of red, and Savvy's Ginger Ale which is a gold glitter polish. For the stamping polish, I used Hit the Bottle Chromeo, a chrome silver stamping polish for the 'A', MdU Reddish which is a red stamping polish for the middle finger, Hit the Bottle's Spun Gold for the chrome gold on the ring finger, and Hit the Bottle's A Bolt from the Blue for the chrome blue of the arc reactor.  I just really love the Iron Man helmet on the middle finger, very iconic.

Anyway, I got many comments on this in person, which was kind of nice because I really wanted something to commemorate this movie. :)

Stop Look Go - Dance Legend Danger Danger

Gosh, it's been a while! Life got a bit crazy there and I had bare nails for weeks (gasp!). But here we go again... =)

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Danger Danger (2 coats)]

As usual, whenever I need to get back into the swing of things, I go for a nice red polish to pep up my nails. This one is Danger Danger from Dance Legend, a red shimmer with large scattered holo particles.

[2 coats: Dance Legend Danger Danger]

Great formula as I've come to expect from Dance Legend. These pics show two coats - dries fairly quickly and applies evenly. 

[2 coats: Dance Legend Danger Danger]

I've been on the lookout for a nice bright neutral red holo but for some reason I keep collecting ones that are just the slightest bit off. This one pulls slightly darker in real life than in these photos, and as you can tell, it's a bit more raspberry than a true red. 

[2 coats: Dance Legend Danger Danger]

Still a gorgeous polish though, and even though the holo particles give it a bit of sparkle, it's not over the top rainbows so it makes for a pretty worksafe polish in my opinion!

Royal Cruise - Sally Hansen Pacific Blue

I'm a heathen, so I'll admit it... I really like Sally Hansen's Pacific Blue... :D

[Sally Hansen Pacific Blue]

I know there were many upset fans when Sally Hansen replaced their original Pacific Blue formula with something different, and many people didn't like the new colour they got. But I kind of love this jelly-ish, royal blue shade with the slightest shimmer. It's my go-to royal blue colour and I feel no shame about this!

So I've been away for a few weeks due to moving shenanigans. Hopefully we'll be back to regular schedule after this!