Born Pretty Sequin Review!

Hi, guys!

Today I have a really cool review for you of some gorgeous glitter sequins from Born Pretty. This type of sequin was brought to my attention by Sammy at The Nailasaurus. She has many gorgeous manicures using these glitter sequins, which she calls glequins. According to Born Pretty, these are Item 3103 12 Colors Nail Art Shiny Glitter Powder Sheets Tips Tool. What a name!

For this look, I used Illamasqua Lament as a base and did an accent nail using the glequins from Born Pretty. I picked a lime green color because it really pops with the pinky coral base. I hand applied each sequin using a dotting tool. In order to get the glequins to stick to the dotting tool, I put a tiny bit of top coat on it to make it tacky. This technique takes practice but it looks so cute!

Love!

Overall, I love this look. I think pink and green look great together, and these two shades particularly pop together! 

I had no problems whatsoever with the Born Pretty product. The shipping is free, and you get a TON of sequins. It seems like you could never run out of these sequins! There are a bunch in each pot, and you get 12 pots in total. There is also a good array of colors. As an example, here's a manicure I did for my mother (Hi, Mom!) with light green sequins and Barielle Lilac Jelly Bean. 

So! These are great, and I love them. I love the way they look as polka dots. It's clean but fun, and that it my kind of manicure! If you'd like to purchase these, the link is HERE. 

Use the coupon code TSL91 for 10% OFF! 

I hope you like these, and my guest star's nails :) 

- Aly 

**These products were sent for review**

Hard Candy Sweet Tooth

Hi! I am alive! I don't think I have ever gone this long between posts, and I so apologize! It has been almost a month, and I have no good excuse besides that I am busy with school. But so are tons of other bloggers, so that isn't much of a reason. I am so sorry! But I am excited to finally be posting again! :)

Today I want to show you something seriously awesome. I am a big fan of these jelly-sandwich-style polishes. A lot of indies were producing these, and now some major companies have caught on to the trend. Recently, Hard Candy contacted me regarding the awesome new polishes they have at Walmart and I jumped at the chance to review Sweet Tooth.

Hard Candy Sweet Tooth is a light blue crelly base filled with smallish blue, pink, and white hex glitters. The application was a little tough due to the thickness caused by so much glitter. However, the final look is well worth a careful application process. You could also add some thinner to make it easier to apply! This is 3 careful coats with top coat.

And what would a glitter post be without a macro shot?! Yum.

This polish is great. It makes me think of cupcakes or jellybeans, and definitely fits its name. I am really liking it. The other great thing is that these Hard Candy polishes retail for $4.00 at Walmart. That means they are easy to find and easy to afford! 

What do you think?

- Aly

**the product in this post was provided for my honest review**

ABC Challenge: L is for Lime Green!

Hi, gals and guys!

At first, I was at a loss when coming up with an idea for this week. But then, I was looking through my press samples that I have to swatch, and landed on the most gorgeous lime green crème. Inspired by Barielle Green Apple, I wanted to continue the theme. Over two coats of Green Apple, I added one coat of Sinful Colors Call Me Later for a nice sprinkling of green and gold glitters.

I want to take a moment to talk about the formula of Barielle Green Apple. Every single lime green polish I have tried has stained my nails and cuticles horribly, so I was nervous to try out this Barielle. Green Apple was recently released in their spring offering, Sweet Treats, and I couldn't find any info on whether or not this polish stains. I want to put it out there that it DID NOT stain my nails at all! Color me impressed!

I am obsessed with this color! I was on the fence at first, undecided if lime green was really my style. After wearing Barielle Green Apple for a full day, though, I am in love with this shade. The formula was great and didn't stain my nails, and the color is truly eye-catching. 

What's your favorite "unconventional" polish?

- Aly

P.S. Don't forget to check out the other "L"-inspired manicures below! 

** Some of the products in this post were provided for my honest review** 

ABC Challenge: K is for Keep Calm, Paint On!

So ... I missed last week :( Oops. I really need to get myself together with the whole blogging thing! Thanks for sticking with me :D

This week I received an amazing packing from Nicole from Nicole Gets Nailed in a St. Patrick's Day nail exchange. And she did a great job picking colors! I was SO excited to see Keep Calm, Paint On in my package. This shade really stood out to me in China Glaze's Avant Garden collection, and I am so grateful for the gift from Nicole! Thanks :)

So, let's take a look. I was pretty impressed with Keep Calm, Paint On. It looks like it would have a difficult formula, being that it's both pastel and shimmery. However, Keep Calm, Paint On by China Glaze was very manageable! This is 2 coats.

So pretty, right?! I think it leans very slightly more blue in real life than in these pictures, but just barely. I tried to get them as accurate as I could. 

Again, thanks so much Nicole! 

- Aly

P.S. Here is what the other bloggers did this week! 

ABC Challenge: I is for Illamasqua Lament!

Hi, there! Here I am, once again almost a full week late on the ABC Challenge. Boooo, Aly! Good thing I have tomorrow free because of Spring Break -- I'll definitely be posting my "J" manicure then.

For "I", I went with one of the coolest (in my opinion, of course) brands of nail polish: Illamasqua. Sadly, I only own 3 Illmasquas, but I love all of them. Plus, I purchased them at the Sephora in Times Square with my dad, which adds a little sentimental value.

The color I chose is called Lament, and it is a bold pink that definitely leans towards coral. I like the formula on Illamasqua Lament -- it's thin, but in a workable way. I used 3 thin, easy coats and this polish was super shiny!

So creamy and pretty! I like Lament because it manages to be somewhat "appropriate" while still being a bit bold. It stands out without veering into "Oh god, what is she wearing?!" territory. I find this shade to be very chic!

Do you have a favorite Illamasqua polish?

- Aly

P.S. Don't forget to check out the other ABC Challenge bloggers' posts!

ABC Challenge: H is for Hearts!

Hello!

I am currently smack dab in the middle of Midterms Week here at SLU. Though exams are rough, I decided to take a little study break to get back up to date with the ABC Challenge. I actually did these nails on time, but couldn't get around to posting them till now. But I am really loving these, so I hope you like them!

All I could think of for "H" was hearts. I tried to make the simple idea a little more interesting by stamping hearts in neon polish over white for a very bright, eye-catching manicure. My white base is a plain white crème from Kiss. I borrowed it from my roommate since I couldn't find my favorite white crème, and this polish was a disaster! It was streaky and smelled terribly! I do not recommend it at all.

For the stamping, I used BM03 from the Bundle Monster set released in 2010. The bright coral hearts are China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, one of my favorite neons. The hot pink is Rei Momo by Mattése Elite, another gorgeous neon! Finally, I added more traditional red hearts with Essie Aperitif.

I really like how the neon shades pop against the white! That said, I definitely could have stamped these a bit more clearly. I wish the hearts did not overlap so much! 

What do you think?

- Aly

P.S. Don't forget to check out all the other awesome ABC Challenge posts this week!