Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Born Pretty Store's Review - Liner Brush & Nail Art

Heyah!

It's been a really long time since I came here. Three months, more or less.

Woah.

To be honest, I have been struggling with motivation and that last weekend was the first time in a really long time I felt like doing something more complex than simply painting my nails with one color. I guess the stress from work and my personal life drained all energy I had and I was incapable of doing something more than using one polish. But, now, I *think* I am back, for realz.

 Sooo. A couple months back I received items to review from Born Pretty Store (I will have a review of the rest shortly) and the liner brush was part of the things I got. Since my motivation wasn't there I left them aside and wait until I was feeling better.

 
The liner brush came in a plastic tube (not shown on the pictures) for extra protection and really it's just a regular liner brush.
 
 
The hair is quite long, so it is really easy to draw lines with the brush. I had a little bit a problem with it at first, but honestly it was only because I hadn't done anything detailed lately.
 
 
I used the brush for the white lines (can you see I'm a bit shaky? lol) and it was really easy to work with it. I really liked the thickness of the line, you can do a define work if you're don't press too much on your nails.

 
This is the final look of the nail art I did with the Born Pretty Store's brush I was sent. I was please with how it turned out.
 
Overall, it's a good liner brush and I liked the quality of the product. I will definitely use it in my future manis.
 
Do you like the nail art I did?  Do you use nail art brush?
 
If you want to buy this nail art brush or any brush from Born Pretty Store, you can use my discount code : "DEAEX31" for 10% off :)

Happy polishing!

Irrationails xo

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Born Pretty Store's Review - Gel Soak Off Polish

Hello!

It's been a hot minute since I did a review for Born Pretty Store and I thought it was time to do one.

I was sent a gel soak off polish  among others things to try and I was pretty excited to wear it. I saw a video on Youtube from someone (I can't remember exactly who it was, sorry!) who tried their gels and I had a good idea of the quality so, yeah, I was pretty impatient to get it.

First of all, the bottle is the cutest thing!


 It's a rectangular white bottle and the cap is actually all the black cap. It's not of those caps that you screw over the actual one. I know some people found it weird the first time, but I actually loved it.  I guess it takes a little bit of time to get used to, but like I said, in my hands, it felt pretty good the first time.


The color I chose is from the Candy Colors Series, a line of cheerful colors. Super great for summer!
 

 I had zero problem with the application or the brush. It is quite large for a brush but very manageable. I did not need to do clean up because the gel polish applied so well. I remember my first time I applied a gel, it didn't get that crisp until I clean up a bit. The size of the brush is actually perfect for my nails, but I think for some it may be too big.


The name of the color is simply a number, like all the nail polishes from Born Pretty Store (regular or gel). The one I tried is 09 (item ID: #25210) from the Candy Series, like I mentioned earlier in the post.

What about the consistency now?
Let me try to explain to you. It is thick, thicker than regular polish because it is a gel, but also thin. Weird. I know. It was not too thick though, I had a good control over the application, but the color in itself was very thin.


I had to do multiples coats to get coverage. In the end I stopped at four coats because it was not getting more opaque. Now that I think about it, I think, it was meant to be a jelly finish, so it is normal that you still have a visible nail edge.

This was taken after 9 days! Impressive, right?

I wore this gel soak off polish for 11 days and could have gotten a longer wear time from it, but I wanted to change my nails after all this time. I don't remember the last time I wore a polish (or in this situation, a gel) for this long!

The removal part was pretty easy and everything was removed from my nails after 10-15 minutes of soaking in pure acetone (I add additives so my nails and fingers aren't dehydrated after the treatment!) I only had a problem with my right thumb where it was a bit more complicated, but I think it was only a glitch in my application lol.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the quality, the price and the wear of this gel and I am considering buying others colors to see if they have all that same quality!

If you want to buy this gel soak off polish or others gel soak polishes, you can use my discount code : "DEAEX31" for 10% off :)

I hope you liked it and I'll see you soon!

Happy polishing!

Irrationails xo

Thursday, July 7, 2016

40GNAI - Seaside/Beach/Holidays

Hi!

I'm late for my blog post. I know.

I did the mani last week, but totally forgot to do my post. Oops. I don't what I was not thinking.

I freehanded the mani and it was pretty cool, unfortunately, the effect was not transmit really well in the pictures. Bummed.


 
Again,  only one picture, because weeeell, you don't need much. Right?
 
I hope you like it and I'll see you very soon!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

40GNAI - Pink&Teal + Brush Stroke

Hello!

Today's Friday and it's my first day of vacation, yay!

As usual, since we're Friday, it's 40GNAI's day!

Today was Pink & Teal + Brush Stroke. For some reasons, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. YAY!

 
Distressed mermaid! It was actually easy to do and I had to restrain myself a little because I was going too heavy on my brush strokes and the distressed effect was disappearing.
 
I think it looks so nice!
 

I added a bit of bling, because mermaid.

 
A mani done in.. what.. 10 minutes? Pretty much. I really like it.
 
What do you think?
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Sunday, June 26, 2016

40GNAI - Coral + White + Aztec and Review for Born Pretty Store

Hello, hello!

This week's prompt was Coral + White with my personal one Aztec.

I decided to do a gradient and then stamped some Aztec design on top. There was no way I was going to freehand them this week. I don't know why but I find it difficult to paint Aztec/Tribal designs on my nails. It always ends up looking like a catastrophe.

 
Like I said I did a gradient with Live.Love.Carnaval. by OPI and Fiji by Essie.
 
My coral looks orange. I know. Can't figure out why. Do you have any recommendations?


After it dried a little bit I added the stamping. I use a regular white stamping polish from Born Pretty Store and use my clear jelly stamper to stamp the design on my nails.


Disclaimer: Not my picture, it is from the Born Pretty Store site

The clear jelly stamper was from Born Pretty Store, too, and I was very pleased to see that it didn't need to be "prepped". It picked the image right up and stamped perfectly. It is a little bit more squishy than my other clear jelly stamper that I got from LadyQueen.com. As a matter of fact I think I like it better. Squishier and stickier :) I guess it depends on the person :)

If you want to buy from Born Pretty Store, you can always use my coupon code : DEAEX31!
If you want to buy nail art items from LadyQueen, you can use this code too: DXYS15!

I hope you liked it and I'll see you next week!

Happy polishing!

Irrationails xo

Friday, June 17, 2016

40GNAI - Summer

Hello!

It's Friday today and finally we have some warm weather! Yeah!

The prompt for today was 'Summer'. Summer can be almost anything and for me it equals with warm and beautiful sunsets. It has been a long moment since I freehanded something and I miss it so today was a 100% freehanded design.

I only have one picture to show you because it is a mani that you have to see in a whole.

 
Imagine you're in Hawaii or somewhere else where these sunsets are a regular thing. Aaaaah.
 
I really missed doing this. It was super fun and even if it doesn't look exactly like I wanted, I think it's still good.
 
Hope you liked it!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Monday, June 13, 2016

40GNAI - Mint + Accent Nail

Hello !

As I am writing this post, I didn't have coffee..so sorry if I am confusing in my post or I make more mistakes than usual.

This last week has been gloomy and cold. It's almost like we skipped directly to fall. Ugh. I need heat and sun, please.

EDIT: Still so damn cold. Who stole summer?

The prompts were mint for everyone and accent nail as my personal prompt.

I didn't have a clue of what to do until the last minute and honestly, I am still "eh" about it,


 
I used Enigma from Gilty Girl Cosmetics (I don't know if they are still up and running) for the "plain" nails.
 
I wore this polish over a year ago and I didn't remember how the formula was. I was just praying it wouldn't be too much of a pain.
 
I was really surprised to see that it was almost a one coater. The formula was a little bit on the thicker side but very manageable. It looks almost like an off-white with a subtle hint of green/mint in it. I looove it.
 
 
For the accent nails I did a "smoosh" with Enigma, Beyond Cozy (Essie) and a white polish.
 
It looked pretty and very subtle. I hope you like it ! :)
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo
 
 
 

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Madam Glam Soak Off Polish: First Impression + Review

Hello, lovely people!

Today, I have something new to show you!

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert on this subject, it is only my personal opinion and my personal experience  :)

A few months ago, I started noticing a new brand -to me- showing up on Instagram. Madam Glam offers a wide range of regular nail polish and the most important thing for this post today, gel soak off polish. I was intrigued by the brand and the reviews I saw popping everywhere.

Usually, I don't go for the gel polishes because I like variety and I change my polish every two or three days, but I thought it could be a good thing for my mom who likes to have her nails polished. I don't see her every week and they say it can last up to two weeks so, of course, I had to try it to see if it was actually true!

I placed my first order and not even after four days I got my package! Fast shipping much?? I have to mention I'm in Canada and it was shipped from NY. I didn't expect it before a week or ten days at least. I was impressed already with the service.

I'm not familiar with the price of soak off polish, but I found it pricier than regular polish (19.95USD). Luckily, Madam Glam offers often coupon codes (30%, 40% or 50% off), so it cuts down the price to a more affordable one.

Phew, let's talk about the polish, shall we?


This is "Summer's Coming", a gorgeous pink almost nude gel polish. I love this color, because it's neutral with a touch of color and it makes your hands look good. :)

The application was pretty easy, but you have to be extra careful when you apply it because you can't use the regular clean up method with gel polish. Once cured, it's too late.

I wore this polish for a whole week and I saw no chipping whatsoever. Very impressed! I could have probably get a longer wear time, but for me it was the maximum time I could do. I was itching to wear regular polish :P

Overall the mani in itself was pretty easy to do. You do need a little bit of patience for the application but I think it's a little bit more faster than doing your nail the "regular" way.

I have a lot more Madam Glam polishes to try and I am pretty excited to wear them.

So, what do you think? Gel polishes are a yay or nay?

And finally have you wore any Madam Glam polish?

Happy polishing!

Irrationails xo

Friday, June 3, 2016

40GNAI- Wedding

Hello, hello!

Today's finally FRIDAY-YAY!

The prompt for today was wedding. We are used to see discreet/French mani for the big day. I haven't see much of extravagant nails for wedding. Why is that?

I decided I wanted some BLING for my wedding nails. I had crystals from Born Pretty Store I still hadn't used and thought it was finally time to try them.

Overall I reaaally enjoy this mani. So girly. So bling-y!

 
I used "Cosmo" from Zoya for my accent fingers (pinky and thumb). That one is a stunner in the sun. Who wants some sparkle?!

 
For the others fingers I used Beautifully Bizarre from Orly. Gaaaah. I am in love. It's such a special polish. I think the name is perfect. Beautifully. Bizarre.
 
That pink base and the blue shimmer! Did I say I love it? No, wait. I adore it.
 
 
 
"Macro" on the crystals.
 
I am wearing this mani for two days and they still hold on onto my nails. I think I'll be using these crystals in the near future. I like them!

 
It looks delicate doesn't it? (In a bling-y sparkle way)
 
So tell me what do you think? Too much? Just enough? Would you be wearing these nails at a wedding?
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Monday, May 30, 2016

40GNAI - Hot Pink + Zigzag

Hello, hello!

The blog post is late, but my mani was posted in the group on Facebook Friday, so I'm not completely late.

I had a beautiful weekend, so I didn't really have time/motivation to sit down and write a blog post.

Anyway! Onto the nails :)


 
For the mani, it was really simple, but I think cute. I used "Bye Felicia" from Trust Fund Beauty and then applied vinyls on three of my fingers (the thumb has chevrons too!)
 
 
"Bye Felicia" is such a gorgeous shade, I love it. It's vibrant in the sun and makes me so happy. I dunno why.
 
The chevron vinyls were from Nails Vinyls (I think).
 
That's it. Pretty simple, nothing much to add. Sooo. Yeah. I'll see you soon!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Friday, May 20, 2016

40GNAI- Music

Hello!

I haven't been "on time" much lately, always doing my prompt the day before Friday (or on Friday.......) that it feels weird now. We are Wednesday today. I did my prompt so early. Wow. The post won't go online until Friday, but still. You know? Wow. haha

Anyways! Today's prompt is Music! My music style is very... eclectic.. so I didn't know what to do. I chose finally something suuuuuuuuper simple and went with that instead of trying to do something over-the-top complicated. hehe.

 
I absolutely adore Ed Sheeran and decided to "honor" him with these nails (Simple, right?) I LOOVE his latest album and almost tried to write the titles on my nails, but too much haha.

 
I used High Roller from Pipe Dream Polish; the perfect green polish for this look. It is exactly the same shade as the album. Crazy, right?
 
So, yeah. Kept it simple but I love it. Do you like it? Do you like Ed Sheeran?
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Saturday, May 14, 2016

40GNAI - Neon + Waterfall

Hello, hello!

Today's what? Yup, yup. Time for another 40GNAI post!

The prompt was neon and my personal one was waterfall. I never did a waterfall mani in my life. I was not particularly attracted to them and I thought they were way to difficult to try. Well. I didn't really have a choice, so I tried.

I thought I could be clever and do a waterfall, like a real one. But it seems to much work haha. Maybe another time!

 
I used a black base (Out of the Darkness from Renaissance Cosmetics, sadly she's not making polishes anymore :( ), because I wanted to make the neons pop!

 
I, then, applied a guide for the half-moon (I'm kind of obsessed with half-moon mani lately..!) and with acrylic paint I roughly painted the waterfall.

 
After, I went over with the A Night In Vegas collection from Pipe Dream Polish in a rainbow order and then voilà! Not so bad looking, I think?
 
I hope you like it!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo
 
 


Friday, May 6, 2016

40GNAI - Florals

Hello, hello!

Finally Friday! Yay!

Well, for some, at least. I was "in vacation" for the week and damn it felt good. I don't want to go back to work Monday, ugh!

Today's prompt is floral and I thought it was the time to try again with the stamping! I am happy to report that this time, it worked per-fect-ly. YAAAS, finally!

 
For the base, I used "Vintage" from Orly, a gorgeous almost neon turquoise. (On the site, they say it's a green mint, but I dunno. It looks more a turquoise to me).  It looks washed off on my picture. I know.
 
It was easy to apply, a little bit on the streaky side on the first coat, but the second evened out everything. Be careful to not overdo it, because it is kind of thick.

 
And for the stamping I used a plate from BornPrettyStore and stamped with a clear jelly stamper (the main reason it was a successful attempt!!)
 
The nail art is pretty simple, but I hope you liked it!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Saturday, April 30, 2016

40GNAI - 3 shades of orange/red + Watercolor

Hi!

First of all, I want to say that the mani and the pictures were a nightmare to do. Sorry for that. I tried everything but nothing works. UGH.  I hate that.

My personal prompt was watercolor and it looks nothing like that on the pictures. I am sorry, but you'll have to believe me.

Disclaimer: Do not look if you don't like fails. haha.

 
Oh, I had to take my pictures outside the light box too, because the setting/lights were horrible. Not much better I admit.

 
I tried an outline thinking that would be cool. Eh. Nope.

 
Overall, that was a complete fail. Hope next week goes better.
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Friday, April 22, 2016

40GNAI - Animals

Hi, people!

Today's prompt is ANIMALS and, at first, I didn't have a clue at first. So many possibilities..!

After looking at some inspiration on Internet, I decided to do a character from a kid's movie!

Dory and her squishy (plus a few jellyfishes)!

 
She looks a little bit funny, but I liked her anyway lol!

 
Dory was painted with a mix of polish and acrylic paint and the jellyfishes were painted exclusively with white acrylic paint. I should have a pink undertone to the jellyfishes but I didn't have a pink jelly and I was shot on time, so. Yeah.
 


The gradient was so flawless, I LOVED it. You know the feeling when the gradient is just per-fect. Hmm. Satisfying, right?
 
More jellyfishes :)
 
Hope you liked it!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Friday, April 15, 2016

40GNAI - Pink+Lilac + Water Marbling

 
Hello, hello!
Today's prompt was Pink+Lilac and my personal prompt was Water Marbling/Spotting!
 
Disclaimer: For some reasons, the colors in the picture are NOT color-accurate.  I really use a pink and a lilac, but it show more coral-y and purple/blue.
 
 
Anyway. I did some abstract watermarbling with the new Zoyas (Aster & Laurel*I think*) from the Petals collection ! 
 
Oh yeah. I scratched my WM when I tried to remove my latex. Oops. And I was having one of those days when everything goes wrong so I just rolled with it.
 
 
I love the finish of Aster, kind of metallic, kind of shimmery. Me likey!


You can see more clearly my "accident" on the picture. I was trying to hide it/show my thumb cleverly, but it was an awkward handpose so I went with something a little bit less awkward. :P

Also, my nails were so long when I did this prompt! Since then, I filed them down a bit and I am currently trying some gel soak off polish from Madam Glam, so expect a review soon :)

Hope you liked it!

Happy polishing!

Irrationails xo

Thursday, April 7, 2016

40GNAI - Kids TV

Hello, hello!

I know, I missed last week prompt. BUT. I did it and then it went horribly wrong so I have to do it again. I'll post it when I redo it, but in the meantime, it's a new week in the 40GNAI and for once I'm on time! Yeah!

I haven't watched a kid show for a very long time, so I don't know what's "on trend" right now.. so I decided to do a mani inspired by the Powerpuffs (it was playing when I was younger.. does it still play?)

My mani is pretty simple and minimalistic...I think.

My job is really draining my energy and I feel like they ask us to be Wonder Woman or to have superpowers. It's crazy. I hope it calms down soon. So I guess it was an obvious choice, right?

My inspiration for the mani is this picture of Blossom :)

 


 
 
 
It has been a reeeeeaaaallly long time since I have done a detailed character, so I am pretty pleased with how Blossom turned out on my nails. It's so tiny, I thought I would never get the details because I was shaking so much lol.


I didn't do the two others, because it was way too long and I wanted to keep it simple. Plus, Blossom was my favorite. Did you watch the show? Did you have a favorite? :P

 
A close up. She looks weird ahah. I think I'll stay a little bit more far so she doesn't look so "shaky".
 
I hope you liked it!
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo

Saturday, March 26, 2016

40GNAI - Spring

Hello!
 
Spring is finally here, but not really here where I live.
We had a mini snowstorm and are expecting another next week. Canada. *sight*
 
Anyway! The theme this week is spring and I thought it would be fun to do some girly floral nails.

I don't have much photo for this prompt because I thought I had good pictures and remove the mani, but there were some problems and it was too late to do it again. Oh well.
 
 
I used Bardot (Picture Polish) for my base and used Hudson (Cirque), Azalea (Zoya) and I Cannoli Wear Opi (OPI) for the abstract flowers.

 
Super girly and pretty simple. But I liked it! What do you think?
 
Happy polishing!
 
Irrationails xo