Basic nail art tools

Hy guys how are you today? 

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now. I finally got time to do it and I'm quite happy because I think it would be usefull for everyone who's entering the nail art world.

I would very much appreciate if I found something like this when I first started, it would save me a lot of time. 

I'm gonna show you things I believe are must haves to do some basic nail art... so let's get started ..

1. Basic nail care kit

 This is one relly useful set of tools that I belive everyone should have, weather you paint your nails or not.
The one that I have is from Born Pretty Store it's 12 pcs set that have all kinds of nail clippers, scissors and tools to tend both nails and cuticles.

This particular one came in a gorgeous and really elegant packaging. And the quality is really good. All peaces are made from stainless steal and the packaging is made from hard and long lasting material.

Front side of the packaging - gorgeous and very elegant design

back side - I took this pics in my hand so you can see approximately how big it is

 

Look at this super cute smiley face =) <3 it

 They have a lot of different designs and shapes on their site so if you need something like this definitely go check it out since the prices are really affordable  

overall one very useful and high quality kit =)

2. Nail files - who don't need a good nail file =)

 The ones that I have and would recommend ( for natural nails) are the medium file, I use it for shortening my nails and the fine file for shaping and removing smaller cracks and to give my nails a final shape.. I rarely use scissors and clippers to shorten my hand nails, I mostly use nail files. But I do use them for my toenails tho .

3. Dotting tools 

These are the basic tools for everyone that's entering the nail art world.  So many designs and nail arts cam be done just using these. They are really affordable , I bought mine, when I first started, on ebay i think they were like 1$ (set of 5)
Ps there are a lot of tutorials how to make you own dotting to so you can check that out if your into those kind of things. But I personally think they're way to inexpensive to bother with making them.

these are my dotting tools =)

4. Striping brush

A long with dotting tool I believe these are the must have for nail art beginners.
I bought mine on ebay again for like a 1$ (set of 3) and I been using them for a year now and I'm quite happy with them ;)

I think its better to buy the set of brushes for few $ because you can use them with every nail polish you own. It's hard to buy nail polishes with striping brush in all the colors you want , it can be expensive! 

So these are the tools I started with and I think are the basic.
Of course at the beginning it's a bit hard to make some beautiful and clean design, I used to think that my brushes don't work lol but with time you'll get better and better and your designs will look more prettier and prettier.

I hope this post will help all of you nail art beginners to start this colorful and great polish adventure :)

  

don't forget to use a code for 10% off if you decide to buy something from Born Pretty Store =)

Till the next time xoxo

Northern Star Polish summer 2014 collection

Hi guys =) how are you today? I'm so happy for todays post =)))
I'm gonna introduce you to one new (for me) US Indie polish brand called Northern Star Polish.

This is a 5 - free independent nail polish brand created and hand mixed by lovely Kristen.
Shop has been opened since 2012 and she ships worldwide even free for all orders over 50$ =)

Like I said this is the new for me brand and now since I've swatch it I can say that it has one of the best formulas I have ever try, both from indie and mainstream brands. And I'm being 100% honest saying this.

I have 2 colors from her new summer collection 1 from spring 2014 and one cuticle oil to show you today =)

First of all I want to mention the packaging because at least for me the first impression is really important. I received the products in a cute little box that was so nicely filled =) It was all well protected and wrapped with green paper.
The thing I want to mention are the boxes in which every polish was separately packed. And on every box are the ingredients, name, and a little thank you note <3 I never received or bought a polish in the box so this was so cute for me and must say great idea. So good job Kristen :D

 

 

First color I'm gonna show you is called ORCHIDS IN BLOOM - this is a shimmery lilac jelly base filled with pink, fuchsia and purple glitters in different shapes and sizes.

Being a jelly it's not completely opaque in 2 coats but it looks really nice. If you add another coat  it build up nicely and receive a full opacity. The formula is great and I absolutely love the color , it's really special and unique.

2 coats

you can also layer it over some other color 

3 coats

with white orchid 

BURNING EMBERS is a red holographic polish with the darker flakie glitters to add that extra sparkle and extra touch =) The formula is amazing opaque in 1 coat!! Dries fast and stay for long time. It looks amazing when the sun (light) hits it <3
The photos are without top coat

 

 

SPARKLING SEAWEED - is a jade green holographic polish with light blue shimmer. The formula is amazing,  opaque in 1 coat but I did 2 coats for the photos just to see the difference (it's very small ). I really love this color and how it compliments my skin tone <3

 

 

 

 

 

 And last but not the least is the Twisted poppy scented cuticle oil . Its packed in a 10 ml bottle with roll-on which makes application so simple and easy. This particular one has a gentle fragrance that reminds me of cinnamon =)) Its really moisturizing and leaves cuticles nice and smooth. You can find a lot of different fragrances on Northern Star Polish Etsy page and also other than with roll-on there are the ones with the brush.

 

So what do you think? I love all the polishes as well as the oil, I think they're amazing and have the best formula. This would be the indie brand that I would recommend  to anyone.

What is your favorite?  Let me know in the comments below :*

till the next time xoxo 

  

Unique nail polish

Hi guys hope your doing great. =) Today I'm gonna show you two unique handmade nail polishes from Polish Alcoholic.
I already had the opportunity to show you guys some of the gorgeous polish from this European indie polish maker, so if you didn't already you can read everything about it here.

You can find Polish Alcoholic lacquers on Etsy. The polishes are all 5-free, 10 ml and can be shipped worldwide.

I'm gonna show you two polishes, one from the new summer 2014 collection and one from The X-files collection.


KOHOUTEK  is a green shimmery base filled with small purple, fuchsia, green and blue hexagonal glitters and some bigger green and blue ones. It's part of the summer 2014 collection, it retails for 10.47$ and it's named after comet  =).
3 coats to gain a full opacity, formula is good and the colors reminds me of peacock feathers =)

 

 

 

  

MYSTERY MAN is a black base filled with multi colored glitters and silver shreds. It's part of the X-files collection and also retails for 10.47$

Formula is good , 3 coats to gain the full opacity =) I think it would be great for my galaxy manis =)

 

 

 

Overall I like both of them very much and I think they're super unique <3

Don't forget to follow me on instagram and twitter  ;)

What do you think about this polishes? Do you find the review helpful ? please let me know in the comments below 

till the next time xoxo 

Sailor's (summer) nail art

Hi guys, hope you're doing great. Today I have to show you a super fun, summer nail art that I've done few days ago.

I think these kind of manicures are really suitable and popular for this time of year so I said to myself why not, I have to do it too =)

 It's a sailor kinda manicure for which I've used born pretty store water decals.

You can find them here : http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-water-decals-transfers-sticker-compass-chain-anchor-pattern-k069-p-6207.html only $1,99 =))
 

right hand

left hand

You can see how the accent nails are different, let me tell you why.

At first my idea was completely different. I wanted to use blue,white, red and gold polishes and do like a stripes with those colors and then put the decals on top.. but this particular decals does not work good over any darker base.

These are the decals. First of all I want to say they're absolutely gorgeous. They came in a pretty small package so they are enough for like 2 manicures. And on the back you can find how to use them. Although that's really easy to use.

Now let me show you my "problem" and why I had to change my nail art idea.

 

As you can see the decals don't stand out on the darker base and they loose their purpose :/

I didn't wanted to take that off so I used my detail brush and I filled out the images

So I ended up using a white base and blue franch  tip, and I think it looks pretty good.

 

OVERALL : The decals are pretty good quality, really easy to use and they are beautiful. Just keep in mind (if you decide to buy them) to layer them over white or some similar lighter base so they can stand out and be beautiful =)

Don't forget to use a code to get 10%off your order ;)))

Don't forget to use a code to get 10%off your order ;)))

Gothic Gala Lacquers

Hi guys, how are you today? I'm not feeling very well :( I think I'm gonna be sick :(( hope not..

I've been meaning to write this post last week but I was so busy with preparing my exams so I didn't make it.
Finally I found some time to introduce you guys with my first Gothic Gala Lacquers nail polishes :) 

I purchased , like couple months ago,  tree polishes from this indie brand. They have finally arrived last week and I'm so excited to show them to you :)

Ps they were so nicely packed!!

 

 

The one I'm supper happy about is simple cream polish... you must think how boring is that... but you'll know what I mean when you see the pictures *.*
It's called Crush and it's a most gorgeous baby blue color that I've ever seen..
The formula is great, fully opaque in 2 coat and it dries really fast... I absolutely love it <3

It comes in two options : with or without glitters. I've bought without.

the pictures are 2 coats without top coat

 

 

Second one is my first thermal polish.. these kind of polishes are so fun with their changes of color lol..
It's called Lilac Dreams and it goes from lilac to dark purple.. the color shift is visible the most when you put your nail in water... so this polish will be great for summer.
Formula is also great, needs 2 coats to be opaque and it dries to a satin finish. . The only thing that I would change about it (if I could) is the range of colors that it transfer to.. I would love if it had a little bit more contrast between the lightest and the darkest color..

 

transformation 

lightest color 

The last but not the least is a holographic top coat Holo-y Goodness. I was super excited when I bought this one because I didn't own any holographic polishes at that time .. but while I was waiting this package to arrive I received a holographic top coat from PolishAlcoholic I wrote a review about that one : here so I'm kinda sad I didn't pick something else from the most amazing and unique choices that Gothic Gala Lacquers offers.

Anyways the formula is great as for the previous ones.. only one coat is enought for the effect. I'll be doing comparison between the two holographic top coats soon so stay tuned :)

 

this is how it looks in the shadows 

 

Overall I really liked all of the them, formulas are amazing the only thing that I don't really like is the brush. It's really soft and not so easy to work with. I would prefer the flat one..

l Hope you liked the review..

Until the next time xoxo