Dusty Vintage - Born Pretty Matte Polish 015

I remember when matte topcoats became a thing... I was so impressed! I thought, wow, the possibilities! But years later, I still collect matte polishes....No regrets...!

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015 (2 coats)]

So today I'm reviewing a matte polish generously provided for review from Born Pretty. You can purchase this here, and there are 9 different shades available, all in a nice dusty vintage sort of look. Also, they are currently on sale for only USD1.99, bargain!

[In the bottle: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

The one I have for you today is 015, a slightly pinky dusty lavender shade. The photos on the nail are more true-to-shade than the bottle pic above. This polish also comes in a cardboard box with a circular cutout so you can see the shade inside.

[2 coats: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

This polish has a thick creamy formula that dries quickly as most matte polishes do. The first coat tended to be uneven and needed careful application to get a level finish. The second coat will not level it out! It actually enhances any uneven finish, so make sure to get your first coat right!

[2 coats: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

I found the thick formula a bit harder to work with and you need to take a bit more care with application. It's probably not toooo obvious to the eye, but I'm a bit fussy about an even finish.

I really love this colour though, so if you want to check out this collection, head over to Born Pretty! This is already super discounted, but if there are other full-priced products catching your eye, our 10% off code above will help you out!

Rainbow Lights - Born Pretty Magical Series M012 Destiny Fairy, Dance Legend Hell Money

Hello all! Today I have one of the new multichrome flakie polishes from Born Pretty to review.

[Rainbow Lights]

Check it out! This one is from the Magical Series - M012 Destiny Fairy. It's predominantly a green-to-purple shift but you get a hint of bronze at extreme angles, as you can see in the bottle pic.

[Born Pretty Magical Series - M012 Destiny Fairy]

This polish comes packaged in a nice matte cardboard box and a holographic sticker at the bottom with the product name and number.

[Base: LA Girl Blackout (1 coat); Flakie: Born Pretty Destiny Fairy (1 coat)]

As suggested, I used one layer of a plain black creme, and then applied Destiny Fairy over the top. These pics are just one coat over the black base! I was so impressed with the flake density and coverage. I reckon you could just use two coats of the flakie polish and skip the black base. The photos above show the green-purple shift. You can even see a hint of gold in the bottom photo!

[Base: LA Girl Blackout (1 coat); Flakie: Born Pretty Destiny Fairy (1 coat)]

In terms of dry time, this dried quite quick which is always a plus. The brush is also wide which allows you to pick up a decent amount of polish and makes it easy to paint each nail in 2-3 swipes. The flakes lay nicely flat for a smooth sparkly finish. Definitely an easy polish to work with! I'd love to try out their other shades!

[Left: Born Pretty Destiny Fairy; Right: Dance Legend Hell Money]

I noticed that I'm very prone to buying polishes which are veeerrrryyy similar, so when I received this for review, I got this feeling I'd swatched something similar before. So here's Dance Legend Hell Money next to Destiny Fairy. It looks more different here due to the different bottle shapes, but both are green-purple shifters.

[Base: LA Girl Blackout (1 coat); Middle: Dance Legend Hell Money (1 coat);
Index, Ring, Pinky: Born Pretty Destiny Fairy (1 coat)]

Can you tell which is which? I think so! My middle finger is Hell Money, and the others are Destiny Fairy. Basically, the flakes are larger and the shift is more pronounced with Destiny Fairy. Hell Money also leans slightly more to the green shift. Other than that, they are really quite similar! In fact, I'm kinda liking the finish of Destiny Fairy more, purely from a sparkly point of view!

[Base: LA Girl Blackout (1 coat); Flakie: Born Pretty Destiny Fairy (1 coat);
Topcoat: Born Pretty Matte Topcoat (1 coat)]

I ended up topping off the polish with a layer of matte topcoat because flakies always look awesome matte-ified. This photo is under nice diffuse fluorescents at work and is a really great demonstration of the flake size and excellent colour shift-iness.

If you're interested in checking out Destiny Fairy, you can find it here on the Born Pretty site. They have plenty more in the range, including matching multichrome shimmer polishes! As always, you can use our code above for a little extra discount off non-sale items. =)

Pink Delicious - Dance Legend Velvet Mini #11

Super quick post for today! We have a gorgeous polish gifted to me by Jme for my birthday this year. One of many stunners!

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Velvet Mini #11 (2 coats)]

This is Dance Legend Velvet Mini #11. I love this range - they dry with a faintly textured matte suede finish which is where the 'velvet' in the collection name comes from, I guess!

[2 coats: Dance Legend Velvet Mini #11]

#11 is a bright pink, almost barbie-like in some lights, but it's warmed up by the tons and tons of gold shimmer in the polish. Excellent quick-drying formula and dries with a matte suede finish as I mentioned above.

[2 coats: Dance Legend Velvet Mini #11]

Such an easy no-fuss polish for a quick sparkly manicure. I used two coats here with no topcoat to preserve the finish.

Fawn Damask - Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy, Konad White, Born Pretty BPL-007

Here's a manicure that I was really happy with!
 

[Nude lace]

 I wanted something a little delicate, a little bit fancy, so this is what I came up with!

[Bottle to nail: Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy (2 coats)]

I started with two coats of Rimmel Salon Pro in Oh, Mr Darcy. Gotta love that name...! This was a great buy from a bargain bin. Nice glossy formula, although as you may have noticed, I've decided to mattify the finish...

[Base: Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy (2 coats); Topcoat: Born Pretty Super Matte Surface Oil]

...using Born Pretty Super Matte Surface Oil (??), which is a pretty good matte topcoat that I recently tried out.  I've left my middle and index finger glossy here just to show the difference in finish.

[Base: Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy (2 coats); Topcoat: Born Pretty Super Matte Surface Oil]

I've left my middle and index finger glossy here just to show the difference in finish. I love a good matte polish! Especially with creme polishes!

[Base: Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy (2 coats); Stamping: Konad White; BPL-007]

Hmm, unfortunately it seems I didn't take a photo with the stamping plate I used, but this was Born Pretty stamping plate BPL-007, which is full of lovely intricate patterns. The polish was Konad stamping polish in white. This is another example of how proper stamping polish actually makes a difference. I initially tried this in a chrome polish, but it couldn't pick out all the tiny details. Although that could possible be my lack of skill... I think I also need a bit more work on stamp placement eyyy....

[Base: Rimmel Salon Pro Oh, Mr Darcy (2 coats); Stamping: Konad White; BPL-007]

Anyway! After all that stamping, I put another layer of matte topcoat over the top and that was it!

Smoky Sands - Layla Softouch Effect Stone

Apologies for being super slack-arse the past two weeks! I've been crazy busy but it's an exciting time. Anyways, I spent a few days last week in Canberra for a conference so here's what I wore on my nails...

[Bottle to nail: Layla Softouch Effect Stone (2 coats)]

You thought I was done with these Layla Softouch Effect, but I'm not! Here's Layla Softouch Effect in Stone, a gorgeous gray matte velvet/suede finish with a strong purple cast. I thought Stone was an odd name at first, but after putting it on, I think it really suits!

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Stone]

As I've said before, the Softouch series is really great for adding a bit of colour while somehow keeping in "worksafe" territory. Or maybe that's just me....?! Jme's also done a jazzed up version of this in combination with Zoya Harlow, which you can check out here!

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Stone]

I've loved every single colour I've tried from this range and this is no exception. Formula was great. I used two coats and no topcoat and it lasted and lasted! Super impressed!!
 

Deep Wine - Layla Softouch Effect Queen Bordeaux

Hello hello! I still haven't run out of Layla Softouch Effect polishes to show off here! 

[Bottle to nail: Layla Softouch Effect Queen Bordeaux]

This week is a lovely deep blood red called Queen Bordeaux. I must say, what a great name! It applies super shiny then dries to a darkened red... kinda like blood...!!

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Queen Bordeaux]

It's quite a dark vampy colour as you can tell. Even in full light, it's still a deep shade. Now that the weather is starting to cool down, this certainly makes a great autumn manicure! Great formula, almost opaque in one coat (definitely manageable if you're careful) but I used two just in case.

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Queen Bordeaux (with topcoat)]

I did really like the glossy shimmery red it was before drying down matte, so after a while I added a thin layer of top coat to bring out the shine. The lighter red shimmer is really eyecatching once you add topcoat, so it really depends what look you're after!

Champagne Bubbles - Layla Softouch Effect Golden Touch

I'm far from done with these Layla Softouch Effect polishes! Here's the next one! =)

[Bottle to nail: Layla Softouch Effect Golden Touch (2 coats)]

This here is Golden Touch, a pale champagne yellow gold with the same Softouch finish - a very lightly textured matte finish with heavy shimmer.

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Golden Touch]

These are two coats, great dry time and very easy to work with. No top coat used so that the matte finish is retained. The photos show some visible nail line but it is much less noticeable in real life probably due to the heavy silvery-gold shimmer. Wear was good despite no top coat - the shade also helps disguise tip wear!

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Golden Touch]

These Softouch finishes are great for toning down colour and shimmer for a relatively worksafe polish. I'm glad I got a whole bunch when I had the chance!

Dream Lagoon - Layla Softouch Effect Turquoise Splash

If you'd made a guess that I'd rediscovered my haul of Layla Softouch Effect polishes and was happily swatching my way through them, you would be right!

[Bottle to nail: Layla Softouch Effect Turquoise Splash]

This one here is aptly named Turquoise Splash. Most of my photos are a touch overexposed as I took them in direct lighting (rather than with my 'diffuser' as usual) to show off the Softouch look. Basically a matte shimmery finish. This first photo is the most accurate representation of the shade.

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Turquoise Splash]

Turquoise Splash is exactly that, a turquoise shade, slightly more green than my photos suggest, in part due to the heavy gold shimmer. Formula was excellent, my photos show two coats. Dry time was also quick and of course, no topcoat. You can add top coat to give a shiny finish instead if you prefer.

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Turquoise Splash]

I do find that it starts chipping at the tips within a few days, which is normal for these matte/suede effect polishes. In relative terms though, this performs better than plain mattes and matte suedes of other brands that I've tried!

Pink Delish - Layla Softouch Effect Cherry Diva

Been working too much... brain... outta juice.... Have a pretty polish! That deserves more words than I can come up with right now... 

[Bottle to nail: Layla Softouch Effect Cherry Diva (2 coats)]

As it says on the bottle, this is Layla Softouch Effect in Cherry Diva. My pics are a bit warmer than the polish actually is. The colour in the bottle is more accurate, the slightly cooler (cherry!) red tint.

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Cherry Diva]

As you can tell, this is a soft cherry shade with tons of gold shimmer which goes really well with the Softouch Effect which is a matte faintly textured finish. Very luxe and sophisticated!

[2 coats: Layla Softouch Effect Cherry Diva]

Great formula, this was two coats. The finished mani is eye-catching but not too in-your-face. Good stuff!

Red Delicious - Tribal Colours Liquid Sand Suede Glitter

Here we have the last of the four polishes from the Tribal colours texture polish set of minis from Born Pretty that Jme and I received for review!

[Bottle to nail: Tribal Colours Liquid Sand Suede Glitter (1 coat)]

This one is a gorgeous warm red jelly, made even warmer with the addition of gold flecks running through it. It seems like these gold bits are also part of the "sand" that gives this textured polish its pebbled finish.

[1 coat: Tribal Colours Liquid Sand Suede Glitter]

I love this shade, it's really bright and festive. Not just that, these are all only one coat! The formula is this thick-ish syrupy jelly but it applied with evenly and with great colour payoff. This one dried very quickly to a matte finish and the texture was much more even - not to say it's not textured, but that the bumps were all of a similar size.

[1 coat: Tribal Colours Liquid Sand Suede Glitter]

Again, I popped on some topcoat to see what would happen. It certainly brightens things up when you have gloss on, but one coat isn't enough to fully smooth it out. This colour looks gorgeous either way though!

Once again, this is set #10, which includes a mint green, soft pink, bright blue and this shade reviewed here. This set is pretty good value especially since you get to try out multiple shades. As always, you can use our  coupon code for 10% off and Born Pretty offers free shipping, yay~ =)

Crushed Mint - Tribal Colours Liquid-Sand Suede

Hello, hello! Last week I reviewed the pink nail polish from the #10 set of mini Tribal Colours Liquid Sand nail polishes. For today's post, I'm trying out the nail polish I have been eyeing ever since I received this set from Born Pretty.

[Tribal Colours Liquid-Sand Suede Glitter]

The nail polish is a slightly rough matte, mint green nail polish with medium green glitter and a green-gold shimmer running through it. It's not as rough as the OPI liquid sand, and its drying time is rather slow considering the fact that it's a matte polish. Nonetheless, I really like the colour and the glitter combination with the gritty look. It's just so pretty while looking unusual!

[Tribal Colours Liquid-Sand Suede Glitter]

I was wearing an opal ring and a colleague said that the ring matched my nail polish. I think I'm going to try to put together a mani that would be a much closer match! :D

If you like what you see here, don't forget you can get a discount using the code below at Born Pretty!