My 25th Birthday Nails

Happy 25th birthday to me! I watched Catching Fire today in IMAX and I loooved it! Can't wait to watch it again. I didn't have time to do a proper birthday manicure, but these will have to suffice. I used Color Club Beyond and did advanced stamping using MoYou London Pro 14 XL in Konad Black and filled it with OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips. It kind of sucks I have so many new stamping plates with images that are perfect to use for a birthday and I just ran out of time this week. Now I have to wait a whole year =[ Does that ever happen to any of you where you plan a mani for a special occasion and just can't get around to it?

Bundle Monster Revised 2010 Nail Stamping Plate Collection Review

Press Sample

Happy Humpday! Today I have something "new and improved" to show you. It's actually old and improved, but that just doesn't sound as cool does it? Bundle Monster has revised their 2010 set of 21 nail stamping plates. The full size and french tip images have been enlarged to match the size of their other sets (2011, 2012, and 2013 sets) and now the set consists of 23 plates. I've had the old 2010 set since they came out with it, but to be honest, I have used the set about 6 times over the past 3 years. I have tried using it more, but some of the images just weren't engraved deep enough and the others were just too small. Here's a look at the revised set.

The plates come in this recloseable pouch. 

The plates all come with the protective blue film that needs to be removed before use.

They also have a protective backing. I'm a stamping O.G. and when their first set was released, there was no backing on the plates at all so this is a nice change from the old set.

Here's an image I had trouble using the first time around. With my Konad stamper, I wasn't able to pick up the image at all before, but now I have an XL squishy stamper that picks up images better. Even with my squishy stamper, you can see a noticeable difference in how the images pick up and transfer.

I was finally able to create this fall manicure I had in my head for years with the new set! I used She' Nail Polish Lyght and stamped using BM 004 in Konad Green, Konad Red, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Orange Impulse.

Here I tested out the full nail images and they have full coverage and transfer perfectly. I used Color Club Eternal Beauty and stamped using BM 016 in OPI Miss You-Niverse. I just reversed the colors on the accent nail. 

I saved the best for last. Here's a mani I've been wanting to recreate ever since I saw it on Rebecca Likes Nails page in 2011, but the image was too small. I love how it turned out and that the zebra print is chunkier than every zebra print stamp I have seen. I used OPI Kiss Me on My Tulips, Color Club Pucci-licious, and China Glaze Sunday Funday and stamped using BM 022 in Konad Black.  

Below you can see how much the size improved. Now they're the same size as all other BM sets.

You can click these for enlargement to see the images up close. It's a bit hard to see since I resized the pics, but the flowers on BM 012 and the leaves on 023 aren't engraved deep enough so I won't be able to use those images.

I'm so happy that Bundle Monster decided to revise this set because now I can actually use them! Aside from the 2 images that aren't engraved deep enough, the set is engraved better and the images are larger. It's rare, but if any of your images aren't etched deep enough, contact BM and they will be happy to replace them for you. Bundle Monster is known for their wonderful customer service. The only downside about this set is that it has more French tip designs and single images and less full nail designs than their other sets. You can purchase this revised set here for $17.99. I'm pretty sure coupon code "thanks" is still valid until November 15, 2013 to get 10% off your order. 

Check out Bundle Monster on their:

Website: http://www.bundlemonster.com/

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Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/bundlemonster/

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Polished by KPT Hot Like Wasabi & Kelvin Bleu Swatches

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I was practicing advanced stamping over the weekend so I will be sharing a few of those attempts with you soon. Today I have a couple Polished by KPT polishes to show you. I have already shown you a few in October, but today I have ones that are both thermal and holographic--Hot Like Wasabi and Kelvin Bleu. These 2 are my favorites that I have tried so far because of the nice formula and the scattered holo effect.

Hot Like Wasabi--cold. This color reminds me of the Disney Movie Princess and the Frog. Maybe that's why I like it so much. 

Hot Like Wasabi--warm.

Hot Like Wasabi--in transition.

Full transition

Kelvin Bleu--cold.

Kelvin Bleu--warm.

Kelvin Bleu--in transition.

Full transition

You can purchase these polishes from http://www.polishedbykpt.com/. You can also follow Katherine on Instagram for more swatches and updates on when she has a restock.

Celestial Cosmetics Seven Kingdoms Swatches

Calling all Game of Thrones fans! Today I have swatches of some polishes from Celestial Cosmetics Seven Kingdoms collection. Celestial Cosmetics, an indie polish brand from Australia, did a collaboration with Color4Nails and created 9 polishes for this collection. I have 5 of them to show you. The collection consists of duochrome, thermal, and holographic polishes. All photos are shown with topcoat.

King Slayer--2 coats. Navy to purple duochrome. Super hard to capture the color shift so I had to use my phone and try a million different lighting settings!

Sapphires of Tarth--3 coats. Another lovely duochrome that was super hard to capture. Teal to purple duochrome.

High Garden--3 coats. Thermal polish. Here it is cool. 

High Garden--warm.

High Garden in transition.

House Arryn--3 coats over a white base. Thermal polish. Here it is warm. It's very sheer and white undies are a must on this one. 

House Arryn--cool. 

House Arryn--in transition.

Arya Stark--3 coats. Thermal/holo polish. Here it is warm. 

Arya Stark--cool.

Arya Stark--in transition. 

These polishes should be available any day now from Color4Nails on their website here. For more info on purchasing and availability check out their FB page here. 

Winstonia Store--3D Nail Art Charms Review

Happy Humpday! Today I have some 3D charms to review from Winstonia Store. I received 2 different designs: heart charms with rhinestones and bow charms with pearls. Check out the super girly manicures I created with them!

Zoya Layla and Color Club Harp On It with 3D heart charms.

China Glaze For Audrey and OPI Liquid Sand Solitaire with 3D bow charms

I applied the charms using topcoat, but if I were to wear them out, I would highly recommend using nail glue instead. Nail glue would help the charms to adhere to the nail better because the charms are large and not all of the bottom surface is flush to the nail. What I did like is that these charms were easy to apply, are super eye catching, and reusable. I will admit that at first when I got them I thought they might be too big, but after putting them on, I really loved how pretty and girly my nails looked. You can purchase a set of 10 3D charms here for $4.95. Use code "HEARTNAT" for 10% off this item until Aug. 31. 

Born Pretty Store--Holo Polish #8 Swatch & Review

Happy Friday! Today I have a new product from Born Pretty Store to show you. They now carry holographic polish. The one I chose was #8 (they don't have names, just numbers). Let's look at the swatches!

Here's 3 coats with topcoat. The photos are shown with flash.

The photo on the website of #8 looks like a dark teal, but the one I have does not look teal at all. It pretty much looks like a medium blue color--still nice, but not what I was expecting from the photo. The polish has a linear holographic effect which is my favorite kind of holo so that was a plus. As for the holo effect, I would say it's medium. The Color Club Halo Hues polishes have a stronger effect than this one. The thing I didn't like about it is the size. It's tiny--only 6 ml. They are on sale for $5.59 on BPS, so that's almost the price of a regular 15 ml polish, but you get less than half of that. I wouldn't say you get your bang for your buck, but you get a holo polish with good formula, good application, and moderate linear holo effect. You can purchase the holo polishes here for $8.99. Use my code "NV7X31" for 10% off your entire purchase.