Review: Born Pretty Store stamping plate m65

Hey ladies~I have a Born Pretty Store stamping plate m65 to share with you today. But first, here's a story on my stamping adventure.

When I first ventured out into the stamping world 2 years ago, I found the technique difficult and time consuming. So I gave up. It wasn't until I decided to give it another go with stamping plate CK-05 (again, from Born Pretty Store) did I discover the endless opportunities stamping offers for nail art! Here is attempt three of stamping from me, using plate m65 from Born Pretty Store, which is exactly identical to the original Konad version. But minus the Konad brand name on the plate, or course.

Usually, cheaper alternatives mean a lower quality product, but not this stamping plate. The etching was deep enough for a beginner like me to transfer the images easily. The plate came with a blue plastic covering over it to protect it. To use the plate, simply peel the wrapping off the plate.

I decided to start off with a gradient manicure, which has been all the rage in the blogosphere recently. I used Ulta3 spring shower (blue) and spring fling (orange) for the gradient, alternating the base on each nail. I don't think I've quite grasped the technique yet - but practice makes perfect, yes? ^^ - and so I decided to try out my new shiny plate and stamp over it. Having always wanted to have roses on my nails, I went with the rose design. I topped the mani off with a coat of OPI I juggle...men.

I'm really impressed with the quality of these stamping plates from Born Pretty Store. If my stamping adventure had started out on good quality plates like this, I wouldn't have turned away from it! Check out the store for more stamping plates. If you're a nail art enthusiast, you'll fall in love with the webstore - it offers many cheap nail art supplies along with free international shipping. And plus, you can receive 10% off with your purchase if you use my code PIJ61.

Have you tried anything from Born Pretty Store? And what are your experiences with stamping, do you do it often? :)

Thanks for dropping by.
~Sharon

Product provided for consideration. For more information, please view my disclosure policy.

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Review: Born Pretty Store dried flower

Hi everyone :) I recently received some items from Born Pretty Store to review. Today I have some dried flower which can be used for nail art. The kit comes with 12 randomly selected dried flowers and costs $7.08 per kit. I found from the two little pots of flowers I used (will have to check with the other ones to see if they're the same), there are only enough flowers included for one hand - i.e. 5 dried flower pieces. This wasn't a problem for me as I intended to vary the flowers in my mani; however, you may have to cut some up if you wish to use one type of flower for an entire manicure.

I started off with two coats of China Glaze Light as air and Ulta3 spring shower on alternating nails. Taking my Glossyblossom nail art striper, I applied the white stripes. I then chose to use the blue and purple dried flowers I received and coordinated it with some rhinestones.

To stick the flowers onto my nail, I simply dabbed a little clear polish onto the end of my dotting tool to pick the flower up. I then dabbed a little more of the polish onto the back of the flower before pressing it down onto my nail, making sure that the edges stuck down. After adding the rhinestones in the same method, I sealed my manicure with a top coat.

I can't comment on the wear of the dried flowers as my mani never dried, even after 3hrs. It was completely destroyed in my shower, unfortunately :( I'm not sure if it was the flowers which slowed the drying time down as I've used these polishes before with the same top coat and had no issues. I'll have to try this again as I quite liked the end result.

Born Pretty Store also sells many other nail art supplies at dirt cheap prices, check them out here! They offer free international shipping on all purchases, no matter how much or little you buy. If you use my code PIJ61, you'll receive a 10% discount - just enter it into the allocated slot when you check out your items.

I really did enjoy using the dried flowers and am itching to use the rest of them :P Have you used them before? If so, how was your experience with them?

Thanks for reading :)
~Sharon

Products provided for consideration. For more information, please view my disclosure policy.

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Purple and gold glitter sandwich

Hi everyone~I'm loving glitter sandwiches lately and so I decided to try a combo with purple :) I started off with two coats of Essie St Lucia lilac then layered over it a coat of China Glaze 5 golden rings and Essence Make it golden. I then added two coats of Flomar #20 to give it the glitter sandwich look.

I really love how the gold glitter looks over the pastel purple :) And the sandwich gives it a nice, softer look. Less blingy!

Do you like glitter sandwiches?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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Summery skittles

Hi ladies~ I was in the mood for skittling again and despite the cool temperature of Australian autumn, I decided to go with some bright, summery colours to match the sun we've been having. It's not the most cohesive skittle mani I've done, but it's really bright and happy so I really don't mind <3

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze Caribbean blue, Ahoy!
Zoya Tiffany, Dannii, Ivanka

I love that it's so cheery and colourful :) What do you think, is this just too random though?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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A-England Saint George

Hello hello :) I have another A-England pretty today, it's Saint George from The Legends collection. Let me start off by saying this - even though it's not the most holo of the polishes in the collection (that I have), its opaque nature really makes up for it. I only applied one coat in the photos below and just look at the awesome coverage! And even though it's so opaque, it doesn't stain! Yep, you read correctly, this baby doesn't stain! :D

If I had applied one more coat, I'm sure it would have added a little more holo to the finished look.

Are you as in love with the polishes in this collection as I am? :)

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

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A-England Princess Tears

Hi ladies~I have such a beauty to show you all today! Despite being a little late to jump onto the A-England nail polish bandwagon, I'm really glad to have finally hoped onto it! I did show a little teaser of the polishes I bought awhile ago - I decided to purchase three polishes from the recent A-England The Legends collection, and one more from The Mythicals collection. First up today though, is Princess Tears from The Legends collection.

I applied two coats of this pretty onto my nails. It has a really strong holo and even in dim, indoor lighting I can see this polish dancing on my nails. LOVE ♥ This beauty also has a slight duochrome effect to pink and green, which I was unable to capture well. The original shade is really gorgeous too - a greyed lilac? Yes please <3

These A-England polishes are my first 'expensive' nail polishes since I don't normally like to spend over $10 on a bottle of polish. Definitely a splurge for me but I'm loving it :)

Thanks for dropping by.
~Sharon

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Review: Born Pretty Store stamping plate

Hi everyone~ Recently, I was contacted by Nicole from Born Pretty Store, asking me if I'd like to review an item from their online store. I was more than happy to as it holds such a large variety of items. You can be sure to find a number of nail art items such as rhinestones, pearls, nail art brushes, stamping plates...the list really does go on! I chose to pick out an item I am not usually confident with using - stamping plate CK-05.

The stamping plate holds 42 images and retails for $8.53 - a huge bargain considering the number of images you'll be getting! The plate arrived wrapped carefully in layers of bubble wrap. I like that the protective covering on the stamping plate was in blue, just so that I can tell there is something I need to peel back before I start playing with some stamping!

I decided to try out the swirl pattern on the second last row of the plate first. Using OPI Thanks a windmillion as my base colour, I then took Rimmel Your majesty to stamp with. Being a beginner, my transfer of the image wasn't the greatest, but I found the engravings in the plate were etched deep enough to allow for easy transfer. I'm sure that with more playing around, my stamping will improve in the future :)

I love how much this design looks like a present wrapping. I'm going to have to play around with this one more!

Next, I decided to use the image of leaves on the first row. In light of it being autumn now in Australia, I decided to go for an autumn-inspired look. After applying Australis Blackmail, I took OPI Just spotted the lizard to stamp with. It's less autumn looking than I had imagined, but it still looks quite nice and I'm much happier with my stamping transfer this time. Although, I think I also have to work on some positioning haha.

I did find that the full nail images were quite small, but having no other plates to compare to, I can't say for sure the difference in size. You will see below how much smaller the leaves image is when stamped onto my thumb.

Born Pretty Store also sells many other stamping plates which hold similar images from Konad plates, and at much cheaper prices too. Check out the other selections here! Besides receiving free world wide shipping on all purchases (no purchasing limit!), you are also able to receive 10% off with my code PIJ61. Now if that isn't a bargain, I don't know what is!

I am more than satisfied with this product, and I can't wait to play around more with it! What are your experiences with stamping plates, are you a fan of them? :)

Thanks for reading!
~Sharon

Product provided for consideration. For more information, please view my disclosure policy. 

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