Showing posts with label decal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decal. Show all posts

8 November 2016

Baby Announcement and Gender Reveal Mani

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on


For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you might have heard the good news already.
I am expecting a baby girl the 1st of March 2017.

As some of you have noticed I have been absent from the blog for a while. Pregnancy so far has not been the easiest on me, and I feel like I have been running back n' forth to the hospital and home for months now.
At first it was breathing issues, then a severe chest infection, and lately a slipping disc from being inactive and not looking out for my spine.

I am getting a lot better now, and the baby belly has dropped a little so I can breath easier. Making my life a bit more manageable.

I just wanted to log in here and let you all know what's going on in my life. I have done a couple of hauls both nail polish and nail art items that I am excited to show you all.




Baby Shower Nails
Bundlemonster Occasions Collection - Family Ties Mani 

For this mani I used Barry M - Silk - Orchid as a base colour, for the stamping I used Bundlemonster Occasions Collection - Family Ties in BM-S231 and BM-S232 in Wet N Wild - Black Creme and filled in with Barry M - Gelly . Acai Smoothie and Barry M - Gelly - Fondant making a decal for the ring and middle finger.

If you are going to / or have a Baby Shower, this set from Bundlemonster is the only set I have seen that delivers what you need for such an occasion.

I have heard the Moyra - Childhood might be a good stamping plate for this purpose as well, but I have not seen or heard of any other stamping plates that has these kind of images.

I absolutely adore the finished look, and been wearing it for about 2 weeks now.

12 February 2016

Pretty Serious Wired Nails

Today I have for you another Wired Nails look, you might have seen my previous Wired Nail designs, if not here is a handy link for you.

  1. Speedy Wired Nails
  2. Wired Nails

To make Wired Nails you need a sandwich bag or something similar to make decals on. If you got the Über Chic Beauty stamping mat, then count yourself luck and use that. You also need a dotting tool and some nail polish. 



If you are wondering why you have not seen the Red Wired Nails design that I did in this video, on my blog. Then I can tell you that Wine and filming nail art tutorials is just asking for problems. No Wine or Polish was spilled while filming this video, but mistakes were made.

Today I did the Wired Nail look using Barry M - Cardamom. I got away with only one coat so very happy about that. I think I got pretty much the entire Barry M - Gelly line now. They are quickly outgrowing their A - B drawer in my Helmer. If it continues like this, I will have to move out A and use the drawer for B only.

Barry M - Cardamom


Wired Nails using Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom and Pretty Serious - Nightopia

I really like this technique and it is something you don't see around very often which is cool. So easy to do and creates a unique look.
What do you think about Wired Nails?


19 September 2015

HPB Presents: Autumn

 HPB is running a blogger-link-up, and the theme is Autumn/Fall.
I know I recently posted about not being ready for summer to be over just yet, but as I just got my Ãœber Chic Beauty - Stamping mat, I thought this would be a great opportunity to test it out.
Make some leaves on it, and fill in. That sort of thing.

Where I live it doesn't look autumn-like at all. The trees are still green, there are still flowers around. I think that's why they call it the Emerald Isle. Haha. So my manicure might look at little too green that what would normally be considered to be a autumn look.

I started out with a coat of clear polish to my Über Chic Beauty - Stamping mat, then I used the leaves from Bundlemonster - Polynesia - BM-XL109. You can read my post about the plate by folloing this link. I I used Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom for that, and filled the leaves in using Barry M - Matte - Mocha. (looking at the ready manicure, this was not a good combination)

I promised you more indie polishes so this time I painted all my nails with Pretty Serious - VT100 that I recently bought.
Looking at it on my nails I think I got a KIKO polish that is a dead on dupe. More on that in another post.

I then took Moyou London - Nature Collection - 07 and stamped some branches on the other nails, using Barry M - Matte - Mocha.

HPB Presents: Autumn. Using Pretty Serious - VT100.


Check out what the other girls did for the HPB theme!


30 August 2015

GuestNails

We had so much fun last time I did her nails, so we decided to throw ourselves at it again.
This time we swapped the wine, for a non-alcoholic wine spritzer, which meant more stable hands and more intricate work could be done.
This was perhaps the most elaborate mani I have done so far.

I showed her my most recent purchases, and we had a little brain-storming session going.
Minions, smiley-faces, school art... ideas was thrown around.

She works with kids, so we wanted to do something that would be fun for them to look at.
That's when we came up with the idea to try a pond manicure with koi fish. I had just received some nail mail from Bundlemonster, and one of the plates I bought was BM - 725, and it has some lovely koi fishes on it.


For this manicure we used Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic for base manicure, and stamped with BM - 725 in Wet n Wild - Black Creme, filled the koi fishes in with China Glaze - Midnight Kiss, Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer, Kiko - 492 and lastly Kiko - 493. I made the kelp using a striping brush and Kiko - 531, and Kiko - 534. Let the decals dry and cut them up to fit the nails.

Guest-Nail at Secretary's Nail Art

To finish it all off, I added a few drops of Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic to a clear polish and added 2 coats of that over the design, added the waves and the kelp, and then two more coats of the Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic with clear polish mix and one coat of topcoat to seal the design.

Guest-Nail at Secretary's Nail Art
I had so much positive feedback from the last time I was showing Sam's nails here on my blog, so we decided to aim at making this a regular thing. I teach her in the ways of a polish-aholic, and she lend me her time, and nails.


Guest-Nail at Secretary's Nail Art

The kids loved her nails, and she reported to me that they had asked to see them many times. So I would say that these nails where a definite hit.
I do not think we will do something THIS elaborate nex time.

Thank you Sam for your patience!

17 August 2015

Speedy Wired Nail

This design was invented by NailYourIdeas and is called Wired Nails.



For this manicure I used two new polishes that came out to the Speedy line from Barry M.
Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic and Barry M - Speedy - Turbo Charged.

First I started with a sandwish bag and applied two coats of Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic, and took a dotting tool and started making lines in the polish. You have to work quick here.

When you are happy with the look, let it dry before topcoating it.
Two coats of polish was enough for all my nails.

I applied one coat of 
Barry M - Speedy - Turbo Charged to all my nails except middle finger where I used Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic, and added the decals over.
One the middle finger I added a 3D bow for extra pow. 


Barry M - Speedy - Supersonic and Barry M - Speedy - Turbo Charged

What do you think?

9 August 2015

Wired Nails

This design was invented by NailYourIdeas and is called Wired Nails.



For this manicure I used Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer and Collection - 20 - Storm Grey. 

To make Wired Nails you need a sandwich bag or something similar to make decals on. If you got the Über Chic Beauty stamping mat, then count yourself luck and use that.

I started out with 4 coats of 
Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer and made lines with a dotting tool, after it had dried I added topcoat. While it was drying, I made another decal using Collection - 20 - Storm Grey and did the same with that.

I applied 
Collection - 20 - Storm Grey to all my nails except the middle finger, which got Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer on it. I added the alternating wired nails decals on top.


Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer and Collection - 20 - Storm Grey

Seventeen - Bronze Shimmer and Collection - 20 - Storm Grey

As you can see from middle finger, Collection - 20 - Storm Grey did not show up that well over the base. It makes for a cool shaded effect, but if you want it to show up crisp, be sure to use a more opaque polish for these designs.

25 July 2015

Morgan Le Fay's Flowers

Contains affiliate link. Contains product previously sent for reviewing purposes.

It's been eons since last time I used A England - Morgan Le Fay. I feel kind of sad for it. I just can't seem to figure out just exactly what to use it for. I have today made another attempt to use it for a manicure. I think the end result is interesting, but it just doesn't sit right with me. Better luck next time I suppose.

I still wanted to post this manicure on my blog, as I often find that I am my own worse critic. 

First I started out with Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop. I think this is a gorgeous shade. Light colour, but still not white.

Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop

Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop

I then proceeded to stamp using Bornpretty Qgirl - 022 with Barry M - Vintage Violet.
I filled the flowers in with A England - Morgan Le Fay.

On the rest of the nails I used one stroke of A England - Morgan Le Fay.

A England - Morgan Le Fay layered over Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop

A England - Morgan Le Fay layered over Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop

I like the look of A England - Morgan Le Fay layered over Barry M - Speedy - Pit Stop, but i don't think it works well for filling in the flowers. I should have used another polish, me thinks.

If you want to get your hands on the Chic Flower Nail Art Stamp Template Image Plate Pattern #Qgirl-022 it is found at BornPrettyStore and it's sold for $ 2.99.
BornPrettyStore also offers free shipping worldwide, and if you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.






16 July 2015

Bright Summer Flowers

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

I wanted to do another bright summery design, it's been great weather here in Northern Ireland lately, and I wanted to celebrate with some bright nails as well.

I recently received some stamping plates from BornPrettyStore for review and among those was the Qgirl - 022 plate.
While I was organizing my stash of nail polishes and swatching sticks I came up with this great combination using Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow, Maybelline - Street Artist - Boom Box Black and L.A. Color - Splash. The Qgirl - 022 gave me just the image I had been wanting to use for this combo. 

Maybelline Street Artist - Boom Box Black:
Clear base with large and medium black and green hex glitters, small green bar glitters, and tiny round black and green glitters.


The lighting was acting up a little so here is a picture from last summer showing how Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow looks like.

Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow


I was very happy to have several stampers for this design. It would have taken too long, if I had only had one stamper head. With more on their way I am quickly approaching 6 stampers (!), and a month back I only had 2...
Making decals is so much fun, and for this design it gave me the placement of glitter, just the way I wanted, without it interfering with the stamped image.

I stamped using Sinful Color - Snow Me White, filled in using L.A. Color - Splash, and dabbed some Maybelline - Street Artist - Boom Box Black around the flower. 


Barry M - Superdrug Limited Edition Yellow stamping in Sinful Color - Snow Me White, filled in using L.A. Color - Splash, and dabbed some Maybelline - Street Artist - Boom Box Black around the flower. 

 The Qgirl - 022 plate has a nice selection of flowers. I think most of the flowers on this plate will fit great for "scandinavian designs" (see what I mean here), but will also work great for more colourful displays like the one I did today.  The Chic Flower Nail Art Stamp Template Image Plate Pattern #Qgirl-022 sells for $ 2.99.
If you will be placing an order, feel free to use my 10 % off coupon: RAMG10
There are plenty of products to choose from at their site, not just nail related items, and the prices are very affordable and they have free worldwide shipping.
Click the image below and you will be taken to their site.





26 June 2015

Autumn Fields

Contains affiliate link.  Contains product previously sent for reviewing purposes.

When I first got the Qgirl plate, I had so many ideas in my head on what I wanted to do with it. That's why this is my second post with this design.

For this manicure I used Qgirl-032 from BornPrettyStore,and choose the "wheatfield" looking design again, which I absolutely love.

To make this I first dropped a few drops of Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika on a plastic sheet. Then I took my Creative Stamper, and picked up the polish with a little twist and lift. I transferred this to one of my nails as an accent.
The other nails got painted in two coats of polish in the same colours.

Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika

Then I proceeded to the stamping, after making sure it was all dry enough. I used my trusty Wet n Wild - Black Creme to stamp with. I have been using this polish for all my black stamping since I first discovered it in 2011. It has never failed on me, and when I moved to the UK, I got a US friend to send me some backups, without here, I would be lost.

Barry M - Gelly - Cardamom, Barry M - Gelly - Mustard, and Barry M - Gelly -Paprika stamped with QGirl - 032 from BornPrettyStore

It reminds me of a field in the various stages of growth. Clay-like earth, freshly sowed, and ready to harvest. Makes me happy to look at. 


BornPrettyStore offers free shipping worldwide, and if you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.




Until next time, have a great weekend everyone!

17 June 2015

For the Love of Coffee


I am a bit late to the party here, but it was Secretary's Nail Art's 3 year anniversary the 1th of June.
I was celebrating with a well deserved holiday in Finland, and I am all Sauna'ed out (if that is even a thing), and ready to hit the keyboard again and show you all the new designs I have made.

I have also completed my Nail Cave aka Office Room at home, so there will be pictures of that coming soon as well. I love sitting here, and working, I feel so at home.

I have almost finished my project on swatching all my nail polishes to swatching sticks, and reorganizing them in alphabetic order in my Helmers, so that will be an exciting post as well.

I am very excited to show it to you all, but for now, that will have to wait.

One of the first nail art designs I did way before there even was a blog was cupcakes and coffee nails, so when I got my hands on Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection - 04 I knew I had to do that again. So since I did a Throwback Thursday  last year, I thought I would do a Coffee Nail. Last years Coffee Manicure was a bit tame, so I decided to turn up the heat.

I chose three different design from the 04 plate, and used Essie - Little Brown Dress to stamp with.

One a plastic surface I placed a few drops of Barry M - Cappucino, Barry M - Matte - Mocha, and Barry M - Gelly - Almond (I didn't have another polish with a coffee related name, so had to choose a non-coffee named polish for the third one). With my Creative Stamper Head I pressed the three shades together and transfered that to my nails. I really like how this makes the background more interesting. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of this step as it was too dark, at that point.
But I have some OttLights on it's way, so that won't be a problem much longer.

Moyou London - the Cook Book Collection - 04 manicure (before topcoat)

Moyou London - the Cook Book Collection - 04 manicure (after topcoat)

I LOVE this design, and could not stop looking at my nails, neither could one of my coworkers. Haha. He was gobsmacked over how gorgeous they where.

14 May 2015

HPB Presents: Russian Flowers

I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

I wanted to join in on the Llama Nails Challenge this month which is: FLOWERS, and at the same time participate on the Hobby Polish Bloggers (HPB) Link-Up this month which is also Flowers. May Flowers. So Two Challenges in one go!
I have been terrible at keeping up with Challenges here and there, but every now and then I like to pick them up and join in.

For this manicure I used four coats of MISA - Russian Sage. I never quiet agreed with this polish. I thought it would be more opaque when I bought it, and I don't really care for VNL, so I wanted to find a way so that I would like to wear this polish. What better than to pull out a sponge and make a gradient(!).

I sponged the tips using Yes Love - 27 - Shiny Glitter. A polish I got while I lived in Spain. It is actually a brand from Portugal, but it was widely available in the shops around Madrid. I never came across this brand on my many trips to Alicante, so it might not be available all around Spain. Just so that is said.

Misa - Russian Sage gradient with Yes Love - 27 - Shiny Glitter. With BornPrettyStore flowers.
I wanted to add some flowers to this, and I received some lovely water decals from BornPrettyStore that I wanted to use for this Challenge.  Purple Floral Butterfly Pattern Sticker T112.

The instructions are pretty simple, take protective film of, soak in water, add decal to nail, remove backing paper, top coat to protect your design. Easy.

The decals comes with a protective film you have to remove. That was not a problem as it was not attached in any way to the paper with the actual decals on them. When I pulled the decals out of the pocket/pack the protective film stayed behind. This did not effect the design in any way.

Like with all water decals, you cut out the pattern you want, drop it in some water and let is sit for a little bit. I was expecting it to be kinda like water tattoos where you put the image on to the surface you want to it go, and then slide the backing paper off.

Notice how my manicure is sporting some white flowers with a purple outline, and some full on purple flowers?

If you used the T112 decals like I described above: that you place them onto your nail (backing paper up, image down), after it was done soaking in water, you would get the white flowers with the purple outline, but you could slide the decal of the backing paper before adding them to your nail.
I found it to be easiest by placing my thumb on the image and slide my index finger down over the backing paper, as the backing paper would follow the index finger and reveal the decal, you could choose which way you wanted them. Purple flowers, or white flowers with purple outline. Since they are different on each side.

On the BornPrettyStore shop you see them as purple flowers, little do you know, that they can actually be both. In my book, that my friends, that is a huge bonus.


T112 from BornPrettyStore.

By having them like this, you can create unique look by mixing and matching the decals on your nails. I really like this feature, and I love the finished result. As you can see from the picture above I was able to overlap two of the designs to make it look continuous, with the vines that goes off the flowers meeting together in a loop at the bottom of my nail.

If you want to get hold of the T112 - Purple Floral Butterfly Pattern it is sold for 2.86 $ but at the time of writing this post, on sale for 2.15 $ .BornPrettyStore offers free shipping worldwide, and if you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.


Happy Polishing!


An InLinkz Link-up


I received this product of my own choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

25 March 2015

Let's Hit The Beach!

I received this product free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

It's been very sunny lately here in Northern Ireland, so I was getting in the mood for spring and summer. I would like to start by saying sorry to those in my home country, Norway, that was just hit with loads of snow. So if there is snow in your country, and you don't want to hear about how sunny and lovely the weather is here, you might want to come back to these nails at a later stage.

First I started with two coats of Savina - Coral. This was one of my first polishes that I ordered online, and I haven't used it for a long time. Sadly, it is turning gooey on me, so it will need a couple of drops of thinner next time I pick it up. It is also past half empty, and I am considering getting a new one, or a Coral in a different brand, as I don't have that many coral shades.

If you have a Coral to recommend, please let me know in the comments below.

I then proceeded to take a fan brush and brushed my nails with Barry M - Superdrugs Limited Edition Yellow and ESSIE - Mojito Madness.

Savina - Coral, fan brushed with  Barry M - Superdrugs Limited Edition Yellow and ESSIE - Mojito Madness

Savina - Coral, fan brushed with  Barry M - Superdrugs Limited Edition Yellow and ESSIE - Mojito Madness

The first picture is taken in direct sunlight to really show off how great Savina - Coral looks. It really gives an instant Summer Feeling (even on my winter pale hands).

Of course I could have stopped here, but I had a vision that I wanted to get out.

For this I needed my BP53 plate that I recently received from BornPrettyStore to review. When I first saw this plate, I know straight away I wanted to do something with the summery looking beach balls.
You might not have noticed them on the plate, but it was the first thing I saw. 

I did some freehand using FNUG - Runway, on my stamper and then made a decal out of it to transfer it to my nails easier. I found out that the size of the little green stamping head from Konad is the size of my ring finger nail at the moment. I wrote "Beach Party".

I used FNUG - Runway to stamp with, and made a decal with BP 53 and filled in the beach balls using FNUG - Bandana and Sinful Colors - Exotic Green. I wanted to add something more beached themed and made another decal with Bundlemonster - BM309 and filled that with Sinful Color - Exotic Green as well.

After a lot of waiting the decals was ready to go on my nails.
I simply added a coat of clear polish to make them bond, and topped it off with some topcoat.
I added a little dot of Savina - Coral to the beach balls and it was all done.

Here is the final look.

Beach nails using BP 53 and BM309
All ready for the beach!

Which look did you like the best? Here is a snap of the before, so save you the scrolling. 

Fan brushed nail art over Savina - Coral

I really liked to work with this stamping plate,  BP53 has a lot of cool images on it. I have some other ideas for manicures using this plate. For one, I would love to make a decal with the petal flower on this plate, as I think that would be totally awesome. And the "watermarble" looking heart image would be really cool for Valentines. To throw out some ideas to you all. 

You can find BP53 by following this link.   it cost 2.99 $. It comes with a protective blue film that needs to be removed before usage, and it also has a protective backing, so no sharp edges here. 

If you will be placing an order, feel free to use my 10 % off coupon: RAMG10
There are plenty of products to choose from at their site, not just nail related items, and the prices are very affordable and they have free worldwide shipping.
Click the image below and you will be taken to their site. 


I received this product free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

11 March 2015

Beauty and The Beast

I received this product of my choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

One of the things I like about living in the UK, compared to when I lived in Norway, is Poundland, and Pound World and what not's. There are always nail polishes to find, beauties looking for a good home. On one of my trips to these stores I came across Sally Hansen - Black Tie.
Since that day, it has been a part of my stash.


Sally Hansen - Black Tie

For this manicure I used the Y003 plate that I recently received from Born Pretty Store to review. I have already done a manicure using this plate, and you can find that over here. 

There is no hiding that I am a huge lover of Disney movies, and one that I love in particular is Beauty and The Beast. After having started watching Once Upon A Time (if you have  not seen the show, I would highly recommend it. I am on season 2 now), my love for Belle has rekindled. 

When I saw this design on the Y003 plate, I knew I had to make a decal with it, and fill in the rose, and the leaves. 

For the stamping I used FNUG - Runway, the grey tone in this polish would make it visible against Sally Hansen - Black Tie, as well as not interfering with the depth of it.

I filled the rose in with Barry M - Vintage Violet and Barry M - Crush, and the leaves with Sinful Colors - Exotic Green and Essie - Mojito Madness. I didn't want the design to seem one dimensional, therefor all the polishes.

Sally Hansen - Black Tie, with Y003 stamped over in FNUG - Runway.

Sally Hansen - Black Tie with a stamping using Y003 as an accent
I really like how this manicure turned out, and I think next time I use this image from the Y003 plate, I will try to fill it all in, and not just the rose and leaves. I love this stained glass / mosaic look on my nails. It really adds some elegance to it all.
If you wanted to get hold of this plate, at this writing moment Y003 is back in stock at Born Pretty Store.

If you will be placing an order, feel free to use my 10 % off coupon: RAMG10
There are plenty of products to choose from at their site, not just nail related items, and the prices are very affordable and they have free worldwide shipping.
Click the image below and you will be taken to their site. 




I received this product of my choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

2 March 2015

Arabesque Nails

I received this product of my choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

I needed something that would match my outfit, but still be interesting enough to talk about. Just in case anyone were to take a glance at my nails.
After all, it was a classical concert, and there would be wine and chatter.



I had just received some stamping plates from Born Pretty Store, and I had been eyeing BP L002 for a while. This would be the perfect opportunity.

Since I would be wearing a cream coloured dress, I decided to stay on the neutral side of my nail polish collection. After carefully considering every shade, I chose W7 - Buff as my base colour.

BP-L002 from BornPrettyStore
This is the part of the plate that I decided to use. There was something about those neat lines, that was dragging me towards it. Almost like a tentacle, almost like a sweet lace pattern. I did spend quite some time with this plate in order to find "the perfect" section for my manicure. I have a notebook where I sometimes do test stamps in, and I filled a full page. Crazy right?

BP-L002 from BornPrettyStore, filled in and on the stamping heads

For the stamping I used Barry M - Coconut and Barry M - Vanilla. I thought those two shades would be perfect together with W7 - Buff for this look. It is not often I wear shades like this, so why not wear them all together.  The dots are done using Barry M - Coconut.

After they had dried enough, I could proceed to getting them on my nails. Making it look something like this.

BP-L002 from BornPrettyStore decal ready to go on the nail
I wanted the design to mirror the other finger, I find this a lot easier when using the decal method, and it worked very well for this look. I finished it all with two rhinestones in a soft purple, on the index and little finger. 

BP-L002 from BornPrettyStore with rhinestones 

BP-L002 from BornPrettyStore with rhinestones 
I really like how this look came together, specially with the rhinestones and the mirror-image stamping in the middle.


If you want to get hold of this plate, it is sold for 5.99 USD, BornPrettyStore offers free shipping worldwide, and if you use my code (RAMG10) you get 10% off your order.


The plate was easy to work with, and the etching was very good, and I had no problems picking up the images with my Konad or my Moyou London stamper.
As you can see from the image, it comes with a backing piece, so no dangers of cuts here. It also comes with the protective blue film, which you are expecting to find on plates now a days.


I received this product of my choosing, free of charge for my honest, non-bias review from the Born Pretty Store.

18 February 2015

Watermarble in Green

I loved playing around with the water marble, so when I sat there putting it on my nails, I wanted to keep practicing and make another manicure using the decal method for water marble. I am trying to use different techniques when dragging my needle over the design. I have seen some alternating on dragging up and down, so I tried doing that here. My design bled out a little creating an interesting look. I am much more pleased with this try, as it is more solid, with no large empty spaces like the previous one.

I was sticking to green for this design too, but I swapped out some of the colours.

The Green Watermarble - Just out of the glass, and patted dry


ESSIE - Mojito Madness
ESSIE - Navigate Her
Barry M - Lime Green

I had a little mistake on some of the tips, when adjusting the decals, and cutting them, and when I grabbed a polish to paint over, to make it blend in seamlessly... I grabbed the wrong polish. so the errors was corrected using ESSIE - School of Hard Rocks. Oops. Did not mean to do that.

Green Watermarble

Green Watermarble


I still think it all turned out well. To make it less obvious I grabbed ESSIE - School of Hard Rocks, and a dotting tool, and "went to town", by adding some dots here and there. I think it worked well.
You know, sometimes the coolest manicures starts with a mistake of some kind.

I wasn't quite happy with just the dots and the water marble, and was advised by some lovely ladies on Polish-aholics Anonymous Facebook group, to add Out The Door - Northern Light. So, I did just that, This is actually the second time I use the topcoat(!!) I have had it for a long long time, just never ended up using it. I think I overloaded it a little bit on the middle finger, but it all turned out very nice. I think I am falling in love with water marbling this way.

Northern Lights over a green watermarble

Northern Lights over a green watermarble


This is not the last time you will see watermarbeling on this blog. I got some cool ones coming up, so I hope you are all not too tired of my marble adventure.

17 February 2015

An Essie watermarble

I wanted to experiment with water marbles, specially since I have been seeing so many of them in my feed recently. I wanted to go with green shades since I live in Northern Ireland, and it's all about green.

Essie Watermable starting point, still in the cup

As I wanted to have more control of each nail, I used the decal method. Which means that I did the marble as normal in the water, but instead of dipping my fingers in the water, I allowed it to dry completely over night, before sticking it to my nails.
This also allowed me to make more than one design, and rather spread it out when I was wearing them.

Essie Watermarble - Allowed to sit over night, picture taken before patted dry


I used a handful of polishes for this design, and they where all ESSIE polishes.

ESSIE - Navigate Her
ESSIE - Mojito Madness
ESSIE -  School of Hard Rocks
ESSIE - Turquoise & Caicos

Essie watermarble manicure - cut to fit, and after clean-up


As one of the nails didn't turn out the way I had planned due to bad positioning of the decal, I made a flower using NYC - Flat Iron Green. First I stamped using MASH 46, but it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, so I traced it with a brush, and made the flower a bit bigger, using an angled brush to make the petals the way i wanted.

Essie Watermarble manicure - with an accent, and added topcoat

I am quite pleased with the end result. A lot of work went into this manicure, even though it kinda look effortless...