Born Pretty Store: Fimo Canes and Pearls

Hello ladies,

Do you want to add a cute element to your manicures? Fimo cane from Born Pretty Store is the perfect option. Many of the designs coordinate well with the bright colors in summer nail polish collections. 

I found slicing fimo to be far easier than I had expected. While I used to purchase pre-cut slices, I much prefer having 100 canes to choose from to embellish my manicures. Keeping my fimo in a crystal sugar bowl makes for a pretty storage solution. I enjoy being able to see all the patterns with ease. 

I have also been adding pearls from a warmer palette of color to my manicures.  My recent manicure featured fimo rose blossoms and lemon wedges as well as golden and pink pearls.  

100 pieces of fimo cane in a crystal sugar bowl.

You can click to view the assortment.

A cheerful bouquet.

Pink hibiscus blossoms.

Bright saltwater fish.

Dragonflies.

Kitty faces.

A safety razor I purchased at a local hardware store.

Colorful pearls in a warm palette. 

Slicing fimo canes seemed a bit daunting at first, but proved easy once I began. I purchased a safety razor for $1.00 and used a wooden kitchen cutting board. I admit the man at the hardware store looked elated to finally find the perfect customer for a neon pink safety razor!

T from amused polish suggested I warm the fimo canes in my hands before slicing. If you are portioning fimo for friends or clients, I would recommend this method. Personally, I get the best results by warming the fimo in my cleavage.  When fimo becomes more pliable from an increase in heat, it is easiest to achieve the thinnest slices.

To adhere fimo to natural nails, use a dab of thicker formula topcoat. You can utilize tweezers or a moistened pick up tool to place the designs. I work nail by nail when positioning fimo, adding a layer of sealer topcoat on the first nail before placing fimo on the next. I finish with an additional layer of sealer topcoat on all ten nails. Two coats keeps the fimo secure for days without lifting. I typically work with Art Club Sealer Topcoat or So Easy, For Rhinestones Only Topcoat. 

I definitely recommend the fimo canes from Born Pretty Store. The assortments vary with each order, but  customer service will search for specific canes if there are designs of particular interest. 

The pearls I am showing are similar to the set I reviewed recently, but with warm tones. I love having yellow and orange pearls for decoration. These will be used often throughout the summer moving into the autumn season. I suggest owning both wheels for more nail art options. 

Have you ladies tried using fimo to embellish your nails? Do you have any favorite items from Born Pretty Store or something you would like to see reviewed at painted Lady fingers? 

There is currently a discount code for 10% off your purchase: PLFK31. Enjoy! 

The 100 fimo cane assortment and colorful pearls were sent to me for review from bornprettystore.com. 

Happy painting, ladies!

Fentiman's Rose Lemonade: BB Couture Aphrodite

Hello ladies,

Today I am bringing you a whimsical manicure inspired by my favorite beverage, Fentiman's Rose Lemonade. I am often seen walking through the garden with a parasol in one hand and a bottle of Rose Lemonade in another. I believe a proper manicure was in order.

I began with a base of BB Couture Aphrodite because it would not surprise me if the Goddess of Love is drinking Rose Lemonade at this very moment, while inspiring scenes of beauty and romance. I painted a stripe at the nail line with Art Club Gold Glitter. From Born Pretty Store, I chose rose and lemon fimo to create a funky French. I love how the placement of the rose blossoms and lemon wedges looks like little bows! With a variety of pink and yellow gems and pearls, I formed jeweled dots to reflect the natural carbonation in Fentiman's Rose Lemonade. 

Apologies the roses were not blooming with their usual grandeur and Pennsylvania does not offer the best climate for lemon trees. My bottle of Rose Lemonade certainly embodies both flavors on its own. 

My right hand.

Aphrodite is hot pink with a cooling, frosty finish. Pale pink shimmer is stirred throughout. I am showing three coats. Easy to apply, Aphrodite is certain to delight pink lovers. 

Have you sampled any varieties of Fentiman's sodas or ever enjoyed a rose flavored beverage? I admit to regularly bringing an extra bottle of Rose Lemonade to share when meeting a friend. Only my recycle bin will truly tell the tale of how many bottles I enjoy weekly. What is your favorite drink of the summer? 

Mention of Fentiman's Rose Lemonade was done purely out of love. Discover more about the full range of sodas at drinkfentimans.com and in the UK at fentimans.com.  

Aphrodite was sent to me for review. Part of the BB Couture A Touch of Greece Collection/Ladies, Aphrodite can be purchased at overallbeauty.com. 

Would you like a chance to win the entire A Touch of Greece Collection/Ladies along with six eye shadows from Overall Beauty Minerals, an owl pendant and two serums from The Skin Society? Head over to the You're A Goddess: Giveaway! to enter. Hurry, because the giveaway closes at the end of the day, last time zone worldwide, July 9th!

Happy painting, ladies!

Born Pretty Store: Heart Rhinestone and Pearl Nail Wheels

Hello ladies,

For the past several months, I have had a chance to experiment with the heart rhinestone and pearl nail wheels from Born Pretty Store. I have had a positive experience with all three nail wheels I received and have enjoyed using them to embellish my nails. 

The heart rhinestone wheel features 12 colors. The shades are bright and the facets are even. The hearts pick up the light beautifully. These rhinestones are salon quality and I would definitely recommend them. My Butterfly Season nail look is an example of how these hearts can add a sense of joy and candy sweetness to your manicure.

The colorful half pearls are a simple way to add elegance to your nails. I used the blue pearls in my Butterfly Fantasia manicure. For help visualizing, these are the size of standard rhinestones in a nail wheel. You will notice in the photos that some of the pearls cling to the top of the wheel. They will settle over time when stored flat. As you first use the wheel, rotate it open slowly. This will keep the pearls from popping out. I find it easiest to apply pearls and rhinestones over the sink with the drain stoppered. If any escape, they are easy to capture.

I absolutely love the pearls in the three sizes nail wheel. I employed the largest and the smallest pearls in my Garter Toss manicure. The pearls included come in approximately 4mm, 3mm and 1.5mm sizes.

Application for the hearts and pearls is simple. Place a tiny dab of topcoat on the nail. Use a pick up tool to add the decoration and seal with one or two layers of topcoat. Even if your prefer a simple manicure, one heart or pearl placed near the cuticle is a quick way to dress up a basic look.

For more examples of my work with their products, you can explore posts with the Born Pretty Store label. Have you ladies had the chance to try out any nail art supplies from Born Pretty? Is there anything catching your fancy?

The heart rhinestones, colorful pearls and pearls in three sizes were sent to me for review. These are available at bornprettystore.com.

Happy painting, ladies!

Stars, Skulls, Swirls, Sponging and Stamping. (Giveaway Winner, too)

God, I love it when an alliterative post title comes together.

The whole shabang for you today, I went a little stamp crazy...

All photos in natural light

Please ignore the smudge-tasic index finger! After all that work, there was no way I was re-doing it haha!

I'd been wanting to use the Skull image from the new Bundle Monster Image Plate set for a while, but was in danger of utilizing it to create some kind of gross emo-dream/Pirates of the Caribbean tribute! I decided, in the end, to keep the colours light, and add some swirly pattern and some stars :D

I started with a base of Barry M Turquoise, and sponged on Models Own Blooboo in differing places on the nail. I then repeated this with Silver, from Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. Now, I've mentioned this before, but however wonderful this silver is (and it is), it gives you the WORST glitter herpes ever. You can scrub and scrub at your silver-stained cuticles but it Just. Won't. Go. Away. So, I apologise for the sparkly cuticles haha! I also added a little bit of Rimmel Sky High to the sponged base too :)

After adding a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out, I stamped the swirly, planty image from BM225 using Konad White Special Polish onto different parts of each nail. Then, using THIS method, I mixed my own pastel Special Stamping Polishes and stamped some pink, green and purple Skulls from plate BM211. I then did the same with the Star image from BM206, adding them sporadically to make a pattern. I added some coloured rhinestones to the Skull eyes (a later addition - I liked it without, too) that you can get from Nail Art online store Born Pretty.

If people like this look, I may do a sponging/stamping tutorial, because it looks rather busy and difficult, but it's really very simple, when you know how!

Also, I'm going to quickly announce the Giveaway winner (I know it's been a long time coming, soorrryryyyy).
I have contacted her and she's accepted, the winner is...

Lily over at Beauty's Bad Habit!

Congratulations! I'll be posting your goodies after my exams (next week :D)

I used Random.org to select a random number, then simply found that numbered entry in my spreadsheet!

(Didn't want to include your email, Lily!)

So, there we are! My first Giveaway, over and done with! As you can see I had a colossal amount of entries, so they took a while to verify - thank you for your patience, and for entering in the first place!

I hope you enjoy your prize Lily, check out her blog Beauty's Bad Habit!

I also got some great feedback from the giveaway question "What would you like to see from me in the future", so I'll be sharing some of the suggestions with you soon! 

Thanks Everyone!

She's My Cherry Pie

If you haven't been over to www.bornprettystore.com, seriously, check it out! I get a lot of my nail art supplies from there (my brushes, rhinestones, fimo canes etc), because they are so affordable, and it's free international shipping - always a bonus! They often run little contests and give away freebies too, which is great - they're a really customer-friendly company with a wide range of supplies.

I was sent some of their heart-shaped rhinestones to try out,* and was struggling to think of a design to incorporate them into. I've wanted to do a Manicure along these lines for a while, using cherries, and thought I may as well use some of the red heart rhinestones :D

I started with a base of American Apparel Palm Springs, a lovely peach nude, and used a dotting tool to add some red dots in Boots 17 Knockout Red. I added some highlights and shading with Nails Inc Shoreditch High Street and Claire's White Nail Art Pen, and some stalks using Claire's Jade Green and Barry M Spring Green. On the accent nail, I used Born Pretty Store's heart-shaped rhinestones as the cherry fruit, rather than painting them :D

With Flash!

And there we are! Because it's a nude base, it reminded me of cherry pie :D

Here is the wheel of Heart Shaped Rhinestones, they come in 12 different colours, and you get around 30 of each colour, I'd say:

my own photo

my own picture - much less in there!

Here is the picture they use on the website:

stock picture

As you can see, the stock picture is rather misleading regarding the amount of rhinestones you actually receive. where the stock picture is jam-packed, the reality is you probably only get half that amount - if that. Nowhere in the item description does it specify how many rhinestones you will receive. This is really the only criticism I have here, as they really are a great product, some people may be disappointed, however.

The packaging is a good idea, the top of the wheel rotates round to reveal each segment at a time, however the rhinestones do become statically charged, and stick to the top, which leads to the colours getting all mixed up. It doesn't really bother me, as I still think it's a better method of storing them than having them stuck to a sheet of acetate, like the Kiss ones I bought from Superdrug. 

The hearts really are sweet, and are a great alternative to regular circular rhinestones - I love them! They're the perfect size, around 2mm, and the range of colours mean you can literally incorporate them into any design.

The wheel costs $3.33 (£2.06), with free shipping, which is fantastically cheap considering the quality and amount you get (even if you are misled in the stock picture!). They also get cheaper the more wheels you buy, for example, if you buy ten wheels, you get a 10% discount.

These took around 2 weeks to reach me in the UK, I'm not sure how long it would be for anywhere else in the world, but the website says to allow up to 4 weeks. The service is great, though, and there's always someone on the email who is quick to reply to enquiries you might have.

To pick up your own set, or check out some more cheap nail art supplies, you can click on the banner at the side of this page :D

Let me know what you think of the nail art, guys! xxxx

*This product was provided by the retailer for review. I am in no way influenced by any affiliation with the company. All opinions are my own, and honest. For full details please read my disclosure policy page

Counting sheep: Color Club Chelsea Girl

Hello ladies,

I am showing another bright blue manicure as part of the Light It Up Blue initiative for Autism Awareness. Throughout April, I will be featuring nail art with vivid blue polishes to promote the cause. Today's look was created with Color Club Chelsea Girl as the base.

With the emergence of Spring bulb flowers and the lengthening of days, I tend to experience a few weeks of insomnia. As everything in Nature is awakening, I don't seem to favor going to sleep. I find myself counting sheep amidst the stars. The stamping design I chose may be more accurately described as counting rams. There is your whimsy for the day!

With white Konad special polish, I stamped the sheep and stars from Born Pretty Image plate M54. I created a funky french by alternating placement of Art Club holographic stars. A silver Moon is aglow in the sky.

There is a hairline of separation in the design on my ring finger. This was caused by the brushstrokes of Konad topcoat not meeting precisely. It is only visible under magnification. The stamping image from Born Pretty transferred to the nail cleanly and precisely.

Chelsea Girl required extra layers for perfect opacity, but the formula is quick drying and easy to apply. I began with two coats of a whitening base and sealed this initial layer with CND Air Dry. Next, I added four thin coats of Chelsea Girl. I believe ladies with shorter nails would be satisfied with three coats. I love this vibrant blue!

I am curious! Are any of you counting sheep along with me as a rite of Spring?

Color Club Chelsea Girl was sent to me for review. Part of the Poptastic Collection, this shade can be purchased at victoriasnailsupply.com.

Image plate M54 was provided for my consideration. The nail art stamping set #518 can be found at bornprettystore.com.

Happy painting, ladies!

World Autism Awareness Day Manicure: Zoya Tallulah

Hello ladies,

In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, I painted my nails in vibrant blue. Part of Light it Up Blue, around the world nations adorned their monuments in commemoration. Today's manicure is a small part of the blue being shown as a reminder of those who live with Autism.

A client of mine has an Autistic child. I was really struck by his devotion to his family and the positive energy he offers his son. Through him, I was able to have a fuller understanding of what these special children can go through each day.

What we consider simple tasks can require consistent effort and months and years of trial for an Autistic child to master. He had expressed to me was how precious it was to see each success his son was able to win. I often think Autistic children have the same determination as Olympic athletes. To see the look on the face of an Autistic child trying to learn is to understand our place in the world is match their efforts with love and encouragement.

The subtle cobalt duochrome is visible in the softer light beneath the cherry blossoms.

With Konad white special polish, I stamped the filigree design from Born Pretty plate M08. I alternated the placement of rhinestones every other nail. I used royal blue and clear round gems as well as soft blue and clear Marquis jewels.

Tallulah was easy to apply and brought opacity in two coats. This polish has a faint cobalt duochrome that reflects subtly from the vibrant turquoise. A lovely and eye catching shade!

A special thanks to Jasmine from colourcoated.com for contacting ladies in the blogging community about World Autism Awareness Day. Her friend Jessica Scott is participating in Walk Now For Autism Speaks. Please stop by her donation page to learn more about her experience as the mother of a child with Autism and about the charity walk for the cause.

Please share your own stories in the comments. I am curious how many readers have had Autism touch their lives.

I purchased Tallulah from zoya.com.

Sent to me for review, image plate M08 is part of the nail art plate collection #518. These stamping design plates are available from bornprettystore.com.

Happy painting, ladies!

Hello Kitty

Morning everyone! I received my Free Gift Hello Kitty Stamping Plate from BornPrettyStore yesterday, so decided to do a Hello Kitty themed Manicure for your viewing pleasure.
I started with a Skittle-patterned base of Models Own Blooboo, Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and Elegant Touch White, here is the swatch, as promised! Remember, you can always click to enlarge these photos, if you really want my hand all up in yo' grill.

Pinky and index are Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, Ring finger is Elegant Touch White, middle finger is Models Own Blooboo. A wee smudge on the pinky but sssshhhhhhh.

I then stamped white polka dots on to all but the ring finger from Konad M79. I stamped the Hello Kitty Image off the BornPretty plate, and filled in the bow and nose in Barbara Daley Neon Pink and Miss Sporty Taxi! respectively. I added a pink rhinestone to the middle of her bow using Nail Glue, and free-handed a silver tip with Claire's Nail Art Pen Striper, topping it with 2 coats of Claire's Holographic Glitter Topcoat. Here's how it came out, all without Flash, in natural light. Colours are accurate.

The glitter is really pretty IRL, it's a shame it was an overcast day today.

you can see a bit of that holo glitter in this one

There we are! Let me know what you think :) I have a habit of running my hands through my hair quite a lot, so the little rhinestones snag and annoy me a bit, but apart from that, I like it! I realise it's not very original and there are a ton of other Manicures like this one out there, but I really wanted to try the new plate, so I'm sure you can forgive me :D

In other news, the Blog Round-up that we took part in yesterday was a success, I hope you got to see some new designs and we helped to broaden your bloggy horizons! Tune in next week where there will be even more collaborators. If you're interested in including some of your artwork, please please get in touch! The more the merrier!

Bundlemonster, the creators and distributors of the image plates I own, are also holding a contest over at their Facebook page so if you own any of their products, get involved! There are 25 prizes to be won! 25! waheeey! I'm definitely going to enter (what have we got to lose....right? Gulp.) so may be asking your valued opinion on a few designs and ideas before submission day!

Anyone else in the UK watching Friday Night Dinner?! I've just watched this week's episode and it made me creeeeaaase! Bloody love it!

In with the Cat Theme of this post (and trust me, there won't be many as I am hideously allergic to the bloody things and have therefore developed a general dislike for any and all feline creatures - except Lions. Lions are sik), Katy Perry has a cat called Kitty Purry - Baaaaahahaahahaaaaaaaa, it's funny cus it's like her name but for a cat, innit.

Finally, Happy Blogiversary to Sam at Nailasaurus :D