Press Sample / Giveaway Prize / Purchased By Me
Hi guys! Today I have a review of some assorted items I received from Born Pretty Store. I received a black stamping polish, a white stamping polish, their manicure saver cotton claw tool, a 48 piece wheel of gold sea themed studs and one of their newer stamping plates.
If you read my last post then you know I had received a clear jelly stamper about a month ago to review, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it work for me. Well now, I'm happy to say that I will finally review it in this post as well.
First off, I'd like to start with the Clear Jelly Stamper (item #26498). The stamper includes the 4 cm clear stamper head, clear base and clear cap; it also comes with a scraper. Just so you know, you do have to be extra careful not to get any acetone on the clear plastic part of your stamper. Trust me, I learned that the hard way. I accidentally got a bit of polish on the cap and thought I could clean it off with a bit of polish remover. Well that was the worst idea because it messed up the cap, it made it all foggy and you can no longer see through it. Fortunately, it happened on the cap and not on the stamper itself. Anyways, like I said before, the first time I tried the stamper I could not pick up any image at all. I used regular polishes that I had been able to stamp with in other occasions, but I had no luck. I even tried priming the stamper, which made the stamper head a bit cloudy. (The good thing is that even though it's a bit cloudy, I can still see where I'm going to place the image once I get it closer to my nail.) So I contacted Cynthia from Born Pretty Store, and after talking we came to the conclusion that it might not be working because I wasn't using stamping polish. However, I decided to give the stamper another shot using regular polish and to my surprise, I was able to pick up some images. I think I just had to get used to the stamper and change my method. So now I can say that you don't absolutely need a stamping polish to have the stamper work, you might just need practice like I did. I actually got a bit frustrated after trying unsuccessfully to pick up an image for nearly 3 hours. I believe that stepping away and going back to it another day helped tons. Just so you know, the manis you'll see in this post have been achieved with this stamper, as well as the rest of the items I was sent.
Before Priming Stamper Head and Ruining Cap:
Now before we get to the manis, I'd like to talk about the items. The White Stamping Polish (item #18136) had a sort of milky consistency which I think made it a bit difficult to pick up a crisp image. Every time I used it, it left a cloudy look on the stamping plate, so I had to get the cotton ball soaked with polish remover to completely remove the cloudiness. I also noticed the bottle had dried polish on the rim and I'm not sure why. On the other hand, the Black Stamping Polish (item#18135) had a good thick consistency which applied smoothly on the plate. It picked up really well and was opaque on the nail once stamped. Unlike the white stamping polish, this one didn't have dried polish on the rim.
Black/White Stamping Polish Test:
While doing my manis and stamping, I used the Cotton Claw Tool (item #32220). It's supposed to save your manis from getting ruined when you're stamping or just handling cotton balls with acetone. I have seen these before and wanted to try one out for a while because sometimes I do have polish on my other hand, and it does get ruined if I'm stamping since I have to be cleaning the plate with the polish remover and cotton ball. I thought it would be a really handy tool to try out, and I was right. The cotton claw is made up of 4 little wires that come out when you push the top, kind of like a mechanical pencil, but instead of lead the claw comes out. It works very well and grabs the cotton ball nicely. The "pen" looks and feels like it's pretty strong and good quality. Definitely a good tool to have.
Using the Cotton Claw Tool:
The next item is this Sea Themed Stud Wheel (item #31476). The wheel came with 48 pieces, all gold and sea themed in various shapes and sizes which I liked. They're perfect for any ocean mani.
Okay, I'm sure you've been waiting to finally see the manis I came up with so let's get to them. I used one of the newer Born Pretty Store stamping plates, their Net Design Plate BP-109 (item #33742).
Up first is this fun mani I did using the top left image on the plate, it's like squiggly lines with bubbles and circles. As you can see, I used the white stamping polish for the design. I did have some failed tries though, I think if the white stamping polish had a thicker consistency it would work better. Also, I decided to go a bit further and filled in the bubbles with a holo polish. The clear stamper helped a lot because I was able to place the images in the center of my nails. Unfortunately, I ended up smearing the design quite a bit by accident.
Close-Ups:
The second mani is my favorite of course, so I saved it for last. To tell you the truth, I was most excited about the mermaid scales image on the plate. I just love anything mermaid, so I'm sure you know I just had to do a mermaid mani. This time I used the black polish to stamp with, the mermaid scales image on the plate and also added some of the sea themed studs from the wheel.
Close-Ups:
By the way, I have to mention the reason I chose to make it an Autumn Mermaid. I saw Felicia do a mani like this a year ago or so, and when I saw it, I knew I had to make my own Autumn Mermaid Mani. Especially because I love Mermaids, and Fall is my favorite season. Anyways, I started with an Autumn holo gradient and stamped on the scales. Before stamping it on my nail, I actually added some glitter on a few scales, let it dry and then stamped. Once I finished stamping, I got out some of the studs and began to place them on my nails, adhering them with some clear polish. I love how these came out, they actually looked way better in real life.
If you're planning to make a purchase from Born Pretty Store, remember to use my code ANNYW10 to get 10% off any regular priced items.
Whew! Well that was a long post, lol! I really hope you enjoyed the review and manis. Thank you for stopping by and until next time.
-Ana
Products Used:
Dark Red Creme: Serendipity Nail Polish "Less Whine, More Wine!"
Charcoal Holo: Serendipity Nail Polish "CE0,000,000"
Dark Red Holo: Fancy Gloss "Red Velvet Mocha"
Burnt Orange Holo: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Golden Yellow Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Gold/Orange Glitter Polish: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "#15 Sept./Oct. 2015"
Top Coat: Serendipity Nail Polish "Finishing Touch"
Rhinestones: Born Pretty Store item #21303
*Clear Jelly Stamper, White/Black Stamping Polishes, Cotton Claw Tool, Sea Themed Stud Wheel and Net Design Stamping Plate were Press Samples. Serendipity Nail Polish "Less Whine, More Wine!", "CE0,000,000" and "Finishing Touch" were a giveaway prize.
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