Mags' Halloween - Poison Apple Nail Art

Hello everyone!

Today i'm kicking off the start of October with some not-too Halloween but still Halloween nail art. I've done poison apples nails. And I even give you 2 ways to do the apples, one is a bit easier that the other.

Somehow the quality of my pics is shit, i blame either Google pictures or Picsart, blah!

The first version on my dominant hand, is the easy version, and ended up being my favorite!

 The second version is on my non dominant hand ,and it a bit trickier to draw but still not super hard!

I give you close ups of the apples to have a better idea of what's happening there:

I really like these nails, not too Halloweeny so early in the month but still quite in the theme.

I'll see you next time!
-Mags

Mags' BPS Review & Autumn Graphic Nail Art

Hello Everyone!

This is the last review of Born Pretty Store. I will be showing you the Mixed Arabesque stamping plate QGirl-033.

I wanted something very simple, quick to do, so I did just an accent nail and I forgot how much it's nice to have just one accent nail. I used the leadlight technique wich consist of stamping first and then coloring. It's faster to do than reverse stamping (less waiting for polish to dry)
You may recognize the polish I'm wearing from the Autumn Flowers Nail Art I've done not too long ago, this gorgeous color will be a staple color for this autumn on my nails! So it might not be the last time you see it!

This plate can be used to do tribal nail art, and you can mix and match some of the images, and they are thin images so you can, like me, use it across like a frieze.

That was it ladies and gents!
I'll see you next time!
-Mags

Mags' BPS Review & Color Pattern Nail Art

Hello Everyone!

Today I'm reviewing a pattern stamping plate BP21 from Born Pretty Store. This plate has incredible designs, and it was hard choosing one to start with :)

The base is white, then added 3 complementary colors with the dry brush technique and finally stamped the amazing design from the BP21 plate! I absolutely adore the result!

The plate have 4 different images and they are all lovely, I can't wait to use the circles and lines on my nails. Gah it's so pretty!! This is a quality plate, nothing bad to say! You can grab it if you are looking for nice patterns. You can use the code BESG10 if you want to save some moneys (10% off).

I'm usually not too much into coral/orange but from time to time I do enjoy it. Today was one of those days :)

I'll see you next time with the final review, another stamping plate, yeah I know but they have so many great plates!

Mags' BPS Review & Feathers Nail Art

Hello Everyone!

Today I'm reviewing some water decals from Born Pretty Store. I think it is my favorite items on the website. And having them is always so useful when you want nice nail art without any trouble and without spending too much time. It really is a marvelous thing, don't you think?

Isn't it dreamy? This Dollish Polish nail polish is called Brain Freeze and I love it, it's so cute! You do need a base color (usually white, this time I used light grey) as it's very sheer and I hate packing too much polish on my nails.

Those water decals came in a little too late for summer nails so I decided to use the feathers because summer is over here :/ But the feathers do look very nice, but I must admit I can't wait for next summer to use the palm trees, ya'll know how much I love my palm trees nails!  There's really nothing to say about those, they are water decals, they work, they look amazing, grab some if you haven't already! You can use the code BESG10 to get 10%.

Once again I did a mani that didn't required 10 items, and I'm loving that. Simplicity can sometimes be best.

I'll see you next time!
-Mags

Mags' BPS Review & Wavy Nail Art

Hello Everyone,

I'm back with another nail art and reviews from Born Pretty Store. Today I'll be reviewing the BPS scraper and plate BP50.

This nail art, gold and black is perfect for a party. A very easy nail art, just a plain color and some stamping nothing else, can work very well. We tend to forget that :)

It was my first time using a plastic scraper, but I had no trouble using this one. I liked the fact it was clear. I would have liked it being just a tad harder but that just nitpicking really. It was a breeze to clean up compared to my metal one. So yeah, for less than 1$ there's no arguing! You can use the code BESG10 to grab it if you're interested to get 10% off. (I won't gain anything you using it, it's just for your wallet's happiness :))

This plate is so lovely, I particularly like the waves and leaves but the hearts are very cute too, lot's of possibilities with this plate and with reverse stamping, wouldn't you say?

Lately I've been more into simple nail art that doesn't require 10 items! Just A base coat, top coat (of course), 1-2 colors and a stamping plate or freehand accent nail. There will always have times I want to complicated things but it is not this day!

I'll see you next time!
-Mags

Fabiana's Yellow Polka Dot Bikini... Nail Art

Hello, everyone!

It has been a while since I posted. Life, getting a new community Google+ up and running, work and a touch of laziness can be a deadly combination.

I haven't stopped doing my nails though.

So for this week's prompt in Nail Art Nation, we have the "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". Which goes hand in hand with the #techniqueofthemonth "Dotticure". We are having fun with dots!

This was my plan from the start. I wanted to create a mani with a design I would want to see on a bikini. So here it is. Gradient dots over a taupe base of Essie "Chinchilly". :)

Polishes:

Essie "Chinchilly"

OPI "The IT Color"

Cover Girl "Electroglow"

Orly "Glowstick"

Yellow acrylic paint

Now, the best part. If you are looking for a great matte top coat. Look no further than Deborah Lippmann "Flat Top". It is a gorgeous, subtle matte top coat that adds just the right touch of elegance to the mani.

For now, I leave you with this super fun mani and hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Much affection, Fabiana

Mags' BPS Review & Neon Watermarble Nail Art

Hello Everyone,

today I'm doing the third review from Born Pretty Store, and this time it's nail art studs we're going to talk about.

In this very well packaged pot (trust me, the cat dropped it on the floor twice and it didn't open or exploded, phew) you get 2 shapes of studs. The rounds are full neon colors (yellow, orange, pink, green, blue and purple). The squares are 2 colors (1 black + 1 color) with different patterns. As much as the neons ones are fairly common, the square ones are quite original.

The studs are nicely flat and rest nicely on the nails. I have no cons about those really.

And as you know I had to do some nail art because life without nail art is sad!
So I went the easy road as for the studs, and picked the simple neon ones, but then I did a watermarble accent nail, so you can't blame me. I hate watermarble and I very well suck at it, but for some weird reason, I decided to do this (probably got secretly inspired by my friend +Elie Corzo ) and I did it, first try, no mess (well almost, did dip 2 fingers instead of one because i'm clumsy) and the result was great!

The Claire's Neon polishes I used for the watermarble worked incredibly, which let's face it, is a first for me.

Those neons studs over black look amazing!! Remember that you can use the code BESG10 if you're tempted (or for any other temptation ;))

We got one more review to go!
I'll see you next time!
-Mags

Mags' Paradise Palm Trees Nail Art

Hello Everyone!!

Once again I'm coming here and sharing a palm trees nail art. Can you all tell I'm longing for my vacation to start? Two more weeks to wait, so in the meantime, I'm bringing paradise to my nails.
I did those in a hurry before meeting friends for drinks and diner so they aren't as prefect as they could be. Also the pics are not the best quality for the same reason :/

I've done a gradient again, mostly because I think it's what goes best with palm trees but also because I recently bought some liquid latex (yeah I know finally!) and couldn't wait to try it out. It works like a charmed and helps reducing the clean up time. I went to an "Halloween" shop in my City instead of spending a fortune on an indie website which just re-bottle liquid latex and humph the prices.

My dominant hand which needed a bit more cover up, as I have had some trouble with the gradient (yay for heat wave!).

As usual, the black is just plain acrylic paint. Which is easier to work with than polish.

I hope I made you travel with my nails, I keep looking at them and picture me on a white sand beach with a cocktail in my hand, the wind in my hair and the waves crashing endlessly. Sigh, 2 MORE WEEKS!

See you next time!
-Mags

Fabiana's ManiSteal from Elie Corzo

Hello everyone!

It is a slow Saturday afternoon and I am doing some blog/community house-keeping. Time to turn my eyes to the Nail Art Coven. :)

I am a little at at time working my way to more current manis. Today's post is the #manisteal I did of the sunny mani done by +Elie Corzo. She did a gorgeous orange based neon sponge base and used vinyls for a silver swirl. The effect was hypnotic to me! I didn't have vynils, but I think the stamping worked pretty well. :) I did a base of pale gray and the glow in the dark "Guiding Light" from Serum No. 5. Then sponged on the neons, finally stamped with Essie "No Place Like Chrome". I had an absolutely horrible time parting with it. It was soo beautiful!

Polishes

Serum No. 5 "Guiding Light"

Cirque "Hatch"

Color Club "Wham! Pow!"

Color Club "Warhol"

Color Club "Poptastic"

Color Club "Almost Famous"

Color Club "Twiggie"

Essie "No Place Like Chrome"

Stamping Plate

Pueen 59

Here is how the mani looks under a UV light because of Serum No. 5:

Here is a link to Elie's original mani. Link

That's all for now!

Affectionately, Fabiana.

Mags' Flower Pastel Gradient Nail Art

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since my last mani, but with the crazy heat wave we've had here, doing nail art was not the first thing on my mind. But we have a bit of a breeze before the heat comes back so I took this opportunity to do my nails!

I've done a pastel gradient, and a flowery accent nail. The flowers are done using the one stroke technique but with nail polish and not acrylic paint. So it doesn't work as well but still looks nice. The outlines are done with black acrylic paint.

I am trying a new base coat, that I recently purchased, it's the P2 Brittle Stop. My nails have this stupid tendency to peel so I hope it will help with that.

Close up on the flower

The other hand

That's all for today, it was just a short post!
See you next time

-Mags

Fabiana's ManiSteal from Katolin

Hi, Everyone!

It's late on a Saturday night but I super wired. It has been exciting getting the new community Nail Art Nation up and running and seeing the enthusiasm of the new members! Not a member yet? Check us out!

So it's been a few days since I shared the massive post about neon and glow in the dark manis.
This Saturday, I want to share the manisteal I did from the ridiculously talented +Katolin O
 from Eccentric Whims. I picked her stunning lightning mani. I do not have her amazing freehand skills, but I tried my best!

Polishes

Zoya "Hunter"

Zoya "Sailor"

Serum No. 5 "Guiding Light"

Serum No. 5 "Pure Glow Getter"

Serum No. 5 "Moonlight"

Serum No. 5 "Twilight"

Picture Polish "Starry Night"

Max Factor "Fantasy Fire"

Here is Katolin's original mani and a link to her blog.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

With much affection, Fabiana.

Fabiana's Adventures Photographing Neon and Glow in the Dark Nail Art

Hi, everyone.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have a lot more to say about neons and glow in the dark polish. More specifically, I have a lot to say on photographing them. I have seen some glorious glow in the dark nail art photography out there. And also some that are less than successful. I am not impressed with the blurry ones. I am not impressed with the ones that don't look like they are glowing at all. I spent a lot of time in trial and error, so I am going to share with you what I have learned so far.

First, I had to understand the distinction between neon polishes and glow in the dark polishes. They are not the same. Neon polishes are exceptionally bright and glow beautifully under an LED or UV light. Glow in the dark polish, if you hold it under the LED or UV light for 30 seconds, will reflect the light and glow on its own for a little while! Keep in mind I have very little experience with this, but my first few experiments were so exciting I HAVE to share.

So my first attempt at photographing neon is below: I just used an LED light (Sensational LED Lamp) and photographed in darkness. I wanted to see it glow and I was completely blown away by the fact that it DID! It was so bright it was ridiculous.

The problem with this was that you have to photograph under the LED lamp. It will not glow away from the lamp. And I am really not a fan of the blue fingers... But oh well, something for me to think about.

That photo started it all! I was on a mission now to find bigger better neons and the pinnacle for me... glow in the dark.

So two ridiculously big orders of Serum No. 5 later, some of them arrived!

(I had also order a small UV light)

This is how they looked after charging them with the UV light. Not terribly impressive.

And here is the first mani I did with them. It was charged under the UV lamp. Not terribly impressive.

Attempt three. Starting to fast forward a bit. Not great, but pretty. Still too dark. Disconnected floating blobs charged by the UV light.

Fast foward to my favorite neon/glow in the dark mani so far.

This is the original mani.

Now. Let's make it glow! And glow it does. :)

So now, I start to experiment with an LED Lamp that came with the Sensationail Gel Kit.

I set it up in my bathroom and turned off the lights. Not bad... A significant improvement. This mani was a combination of neon and glow in the dark.

Next, charged the glow in the dark with the LED Lamp. Oh that glow!!! MAGICAL.

But I still wasn't getting the hair raising, bow you away glow. So further experimentation was in order. The final combination and the one that made me a fan of neon and glow in the darks for life.

The UV Light casting a glow around nail art not in complete darkness but shade.

It is a bit bizarre what I had to do since I don't have a UV light stand. I had to hold the light at a contorted angle next to my iPhone as I took the picture. Painful, but oh so worth it. Much like strappy high-heels.

One misstep. Shining the UV light directly on the nails. It has it's own charm, but it doesn't really bring out all the wonderful colors.

The first of the great success holding Serum No. 5 "Orange You Sunny". Talk about sunny!

My favorite was holding Serum No. 5 "Guiding Light". The softer glow lit up the mani just right!

 

 Woof, that was a long post, but I hope you enjoyed it! I am learning and as I go along, I will share more. :)

-Fabiana