First Day of Fall 2018

Goodbye Summer, hello Fall! 🍁 Who else is as happy as I am, that this beautiful season is here? Let me know what your favorite Fall activity is in the comments.

Well, since Fall is my favorite time of year, I decided to do some Fall nails to welcome the season. I began with a nude polish with shimmer as my base, and chose 3 holos to stamp with. On my ring finger, I stamped a single leaf. For the rest of my nails, I chose an image with multiple leaves. To get the gradient effect, I added the 3 holo polishes over the image, and scraped a few times to get the colors to blend. Then, I picked up the image as fast as I could, and stamped it on my nails. After I finished stamping, I went ahead and added top coat.

Close-Ups:

I really like how these turned out, and I'm so ready to see more Fall nail art.

As always, thank you for stopping by. Until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Nude: Bliss Polish "Au Naturel"
Sandy Gold Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Burnt Orange Holo: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Dark Red Holo: Fancy Gloss "Red Velvet Mocha"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Clear Jelly Stamper: Born Pretty Store item #26498
Leaf Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #38741 (Floral BPX-L018)
Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool: Born Pretty Store item #32220

*Past Press Samples: Bliss Polish "Au Naturel"; Born Pretty Store Clear Jelly Stamper, Leaf Stamping Plate, Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool.

Feel Better Jay Lynn

Hi guys, today's post is a bit different than usual.

Some of you probably heard that Jay Lynn was having some medical issues recently. Well, Meghan brought a few of us ladies together to do some manis for Jay Lynn, in the hopes that it would help her feel a bit better, and to let her know that we're wishing her a quick recovery.

We didn't have a specific design for the manis, just a coral/mint theme. All the participating ladies did a wonderful job, and Meghan put together a collage of all the manis.

For my contribution, I decided to do some mermaid nails, because we all know everyone loves mermaid manis, right? Hehe. Anyway, I started with a white base so my colors would be bright, then I did some smoosh nail decals and let them dry. I used a coral jelly and a mint polish for the decals by the way. I applied a top coat on the decals and let them dry, once dry, I picked them up one by one. I actually set the decal on my clear stamper and applied a thin coat of the mint polish before pressing on the decal onto my nail. It worked pretty well, but I recommend using some kind of liquid latex barrier, or whatever you can use for easy clean-up. The coral jelly was kind of sheer on the decals, so I added a bit more of that polish with a brush. Then, I grabbed a glitter polish, and sponged a bit on each nail. Afterwards, I double stamped on the mermaid scales with a coral creme polish, and then with a gold holo polish. On my ring finger, I used that same glitter polish from before, but I sponged it on the entire nail. Last thing to do, was to add top coat.

Close-Ups:

I'm so glad I was able to participate in this collab. A big thanks to Meghan for bringing us together and organizing this.

I hope you guys liked the mani. As always, thank you for stopping by, and until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
White: Morgan Taylor "All White Now"
Mint: Bonita Colors "Frosty"
Coral Jelly: Lavish Polish "Jamaica"
Coral Creme: Bonita Colors "Honey Me"
Gold Glitter: Bonita Colors "I Could Care Less"
Gold Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Mermaid Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #33742 (BP-109)
Medium Clear Jelly Stamper: Born Pretty Store item #26498
Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool: Born Pretty Store item #32220
Cuticle Guard Peel-Off Latex: Born Pretty Store item #36614
Mat: TwinkledT Glamour Mat

*Giveaway Prizes: Morgan Taylor "All White Now"; TwinkledT Glamour Mat.
*Past Press Samples: Lavish Polish "Jamaica"; Born Pretty Store Mermaid Stamping Plate, Medium Clear Jelly Stamper, Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool.

Glam Nails Challenge: Dec.06 & 10 - Santa Claus & Jingle Bells

Merry Christmas everyone! If you're celebrating, I hope you're having a wonderful time with your loved ones. If not, I hope you're having a good day regardless.

So, I know I'm really late in posting this, but I hope you like it. This mani is for the Glam Nails Challenge of Dec.06 and 10, the themes were Santa Claus and Jingle Bells. I started with a gorgeous green polish with copper flakies as my base. Then, I picked up the bell and Santa images and did some reverse stamping. After they were filled in, I waited for the polish to dry a bit so I could stamp them on. Once they were on my nails, all I had to do was apply top coat.

Close-Ups:

I really like how they came out, I hope you do too. Also, I absolutely LOVE my base polish, it's so pretty!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. Until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Green with Copper Flakies: Supernatural Lacquer "The Call"
Gold: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Red: Jessica Cosmetics "Royal Red"
Green: Supernatural Lacquer "Avalon 2.0"
Tan: L'oreal "Shinetastic"
White: Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Santa Stamping Plate: Beauty Big Bang 06 (SKU: J3141TM-6A)
Bell Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #36245 (Celebration BPX-L008)
Black Stamping Polish: Born Pretty Store item #18135
Medium Clear Jelly Stamper: Born Pretty Store item #26498
Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool: Born Pretty Store item #32220

*Giveaway Prize: Jessica Cosmetics "Royal Red".
*Past Press Samples: Beauty Big Bang 06 Stamping Plate; Born Pretty Store Black Stamping Polish, Medium Clear Jelly Stamper, Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool.

Glam Nails Challenge: Nov.22 - Fall Gradient

Happy Thanksgiving guys! If you are celebrating, I hope you have a great time with your loved ones. I'll be celebrating with my family and relatives, which I'm very thankful for. I might even do some Black Friday shopping with my sister, so that will be fun I hope. It also happens to be my sister's birthday today, which is pretty special. I hope she really enjoys herself.

So, let's get to today's mani shall we? The theme for Nov.22 of the Glam Nails Challenge was Fall Gradient. I chose 5 beautiful holo polishes and did a gradient. Afterwards, I decided I wanted to add a bit of stamping over it to make it more of a Fall mani. I picked a leaf image since I did my gradient with leaf colors, and I think it was a perfect choice. The last thing to do was apply top coat. But unfortunately, I smeared my pointer nail by accident.

Close-Ups:

Blurry Close-Up:

I really liked the gradient, so I took pictures before the stamping.

Close-Ups:

Well I hope you guys like these.

A big thank you to all of you for stopping by, and may you have a wonderful day. Until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Dark Red: Fancy Gloss "Red Velvet Mocha"
Red: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Carol"
Orange: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Yellow: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Green: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Holly"
Black: Serendipity Polish "Building My Empire"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Leaf Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #38741 (Floral BPX-L018)
Medium Clear Jelly Stamper: Born Pretty Store item #26498
Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool: Born Pretty Store item #32220
Cuticle Guard Peel-Off Latex: Born Pretty Store item #36614

*Giveaway Prizes: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Carol", "Holly"; Serendipity Polish "Building My Empire".
*Past Press Samples: Born Pretty Store Leaf Stamping Plate, Medium Clear Jelly Stamper, Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool.

Glam Nails Challenge: Oct.08 - Pumpkins

Hi guys! The next theme for the Glam Nails Challenge is Pumpkins, and I'm so excited to finally share this mani with you. I started with a dark green base and then did some reverse stamping with a pumpkin image. The pumpkin image was actually a jack o'lantern, so it had a face which I painted over to have a simple pumpkin image. I let the image dry a bit on the stamper and then stamped it on the tips of my nails. Last thing to do was add top coat.

Close-Ups:

In this picture, you can actually see the brown jelly with glitters I used for the stem.

Blurry Shot:

Can you tell how much I love this mani? I was so happy with how it turned out, and I hope you guys like it too. By the way, I will have a video of them on my Instagram, so make sure you're following me there so you won't miss it.

As always, thank you for stopping by. Until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Green: Serendipity Polish "Cash Flow Queen"
Black: Serendipity Polish "Building My Empire"
Brown: Aliquid Lacquer "Fine Eyes"
Orange Holo: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Pumpkin Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #35741 (BP-122)
Medium Clear Jelly Stamper: Born Pretty Store item #26498
Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool: Born Pretty Store item #32220

*Giveaway Prizes: Serendipity Polish "Cash Flow Queen", "Building My Empire".
*Past Press Samples: Born Pretty Store Pumpkin Stamping Plate, Medium Clear Jelly Stamper, Manicure Saver Cotton Claw Tool.

First Day of Fall Mani

 Purchased By Me / Press Sample 

Hi guys! Today I'm showing you the mani I did to welcome Fall. Some of you may have seen a short video I posted on Instagram, well here are the official pictures. I hope you guys love this mani as much as I did.

Close-Ups:

I started off with a beige background on my index, middle finger and pinky. My sister actually let me borrow the beige polish, and now I think I have to get it myself because it's a great color, so beautiful. Anyways, on my ring finger I sponged on a glitter polish. Going back to my other nails, I chose to use a leaf image from Born Pretty Store plate BP-19 (item #17264). I picked up the image and filled in the leaves with some gorgeous fall colored holo polishes. Once I finished painting them in, I let them dry a bit and then went ahead and stamped the image on my nail. I did this for all of the beige nails. I actually did both of my hands like this which I rarely do, I just loved it so much. The last thing to do was top coat. These took me quite a while to finish, but the end result was definitely worth it.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Beige: Revlon "Bare Bones"
Golden Yellow Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Burnt Orange Holo: Fancy Gloss "Pumpkin Spice"
Dark Red Holo: Fancy Gloss "Red Velvet Mocha"
Glitter Polish: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "#15 Sept./Oct. 2015"
Top Coat: Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"
Black Stamping Polish: Born Pretty Store item #18135
Leaves Theme Stamping Plate: Born Pretty Store item #17264

*Love, Angeline "Topped With Love"; Born Pretty Store Black Stamping Polish and Leaves Theme Stamping Plate were Press Samples.

26th Birthday Mani

 Purchased By Me 

Hi guys! So my birthday was back in July, but I never really showed you my birthday mani. I did post a short video on Instagram, but I still thought I'd share the pictures since I had them edited and ready.

For this mani, I was inspired by Tee on IG. She always does some gorgeous manis, you definitely need to check her page out. I recreated one of her simple manis which I've linked here, and I changed it up a bit. Instead of using a metallic polish like she did, I used a holo polish. Well I hope you like it.

I started off with a black base on my ring finger and pinky, and added some polka dots on my ring finger. I then sponged on the same polish on my pinky instead of splattering it because I didn't want to make a mess. Hehe. To finish off, I just painted the rest of my nails with the holo polish.

Close-Ups:

Well I hope you guys liked this mani, even though it took me forever to post, lol. Thanks for stopping by, and until next time.

-Ana

Polishes Used:

Golden Yellow Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"

Black Creme: Wet N Wild "Black Creme"

Top Coat: Seche Vite

Born Pretty Store Assorted Items Review

 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.

Born Pretty Store Stamping Plates Review

 Press Sample / Purchased By Me / Gift 

Hi guys! Today I have a review of some Born Pretty Store stamping plates I was sent.

I also received a clear stamper to review, but I will save that for a future post because I couldn't make it work for me. I have been able to stamp before with regular polish, so I assumed that I'd be able to do the same with the clear stamper. After a few hours of failed attempts I contacted Cynthia from BPS and she was very helpful. She asked me about the process I used, and just went through everything with me which I greatly appreciated. We came to the conclusion that the problem might be that I was not using stamping polish. Unfortunately, I don't own any stamping polishes at the moment but I will let you know how it works when I try it with stamping polish.

So, the stamping plates each came in their own little envelope or pocket (as you can see in the picture above). Some did arrive out of their pocket, but I'm sure it happened while in transit. Luckily they did not get scratched thanks to the blue plastic that protects the plates.

So let's get to the manis shall we?

First up is this Rose Theme Stamping Plate (item #20790), it has an assortment of roses, so you can pick whichever ones you like best.

For the first mani I decided I'd do some basic stamping, plus a reverse stamp which I've never tried to do before. I picked the top middle roses, and the bottom right single rose for the reverse stamp.

Close-Ups:

Next up is this perfect for Fall Leaves Theme Stamping Plate (item #17264). If you love Fall like I do, then this plate is for you.

I really liked the reverse stamping I tried out for the first mani, so I wanted to do a whole mani using the technique. I chose the middle left image for my mani. I think it came out pretty neat with the colorful glitter crelly background.

Close-Ups:

The third one is this Birds and Feathers Theme Stamping Plate (item #20794), I just loved the feather designs it had.

So I chose to use the middle right image. It actually reminded me of The Vampire Diaries, when Bonnie shows Elena she's a witch. Lol. Anyways, I really loved how this mani turned out, it might actually be my favorite.

Close-Ups:

Additional Full Mani Pic:

The fourth one is this Nail Art Theme Stamping Plate (item #17912), it has some cute images every nail polish addict will love. My favorite is the multiple polish bottles image.

For this mani I used the middle bottom and top right images.

Close-Ups:

Last but not least is this Peacock and Rose Stamping Plate (item #29541). I'm sure we can all agree that it's absolutely beautiful. Now this plate also came from Born Pretty Store, but I guess it's a Harunouta plate because that's what it said on the back. You'll notice it doesn't have the BP letters on the plate like the others.

Anyways, I'm so happy with how the stamping came out. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to get such a crisp image because it was so detailed and I wasn't using stamping polish. But just look at it, it looks amazing!

Close-Ups:

Overall I'm very pleased with the stamping plates. They all had some beautiful images and they worked extremely well, so I definitely recommend them. Not only did I love the quality of the plates, but also the fact that Cynthia from BPS did her best to help me out when I had difficulties.

Remember, you can use my Born Pretty Store code ANNYW10 for 10% off your purchase (it only works on original priced items). If you have any questions you can leave me a comment below. I really hope you all enjoyed the review and the manis, I loved creating them. As always thanks for stopping by, until next time.
-Ana

Products Used:
Light Pink Creme: Wet N Wild "Tickled Pink"
Bright Pink Creme: Wet N Wild "Dreamy Poppy"
Pink Glitter Crelly: Stardust Beauty "I Love You Gnome Matter What"
Golden Yellow Holo: Fancy Gloss "Gingerbread Latte"
Green Flakie Crelly: Supernatural Lacquer "Avalon 2.0"
Fall Glitter Crelly: Pinwheel Polish "Crushed Leaves"
Light Gray Crelly: Supernatural Lacquer "Calliope"
Purple Holo: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Cheyenne"
Light Purple Crelly: Lavish Polish "Wisteria"
Black Creme: Wet N Wild "Black Creme"
Blue Gray Crelly: Aliquid Lacquer "Mercy, Mastery, Mystery"
Maroon Holo: Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Blaze"
Top Coat: Seche Vite
Gold Stud: Born Pretty Store item #7277
Silver Stud: Born Pretty Store item #7277
Rhinestones: Born Pretty Store item #21303
Lilac Charm: Simply Charmed Nail Art Treat Yourself Charm

*All 5 stamping plates were Press Samples. Lavish Polish "Wisteria", Daily Hues Nail Lacquer "Blaze", and Simply Charmed Nail Art Treat Yourself Charm were giveaway prizes. Stardust Beauty "I Love Gnome Matter What" was a Press Sample.