B-Girl Style

This is Gelish B-Girl Style, which is a beautiful pink that reminds me of bubble gum.  On the two middle fingers I used Born Pretty Store Mirror Powder in silver.  It was supposed to have a mirror-like finish, but it didn’t really work for me.  As you can see, it looks like packed glitter rather than chrome, and it left pigment in my Top It Off brush which then transferred to other nails.

This photo was taken a few days after application and you can see it’s already beginning to chip.  I was ready for a new manicure by this point.

With all that said, I do plan to give it another try. I only paid $2 for the powder, so it is worth it even if it only lasts for a couple days.  I also need to practice getting the chrome finish and cleaning off the leftover pigment before top-coating.

On a side note – are you like me, wondering what “B-Girl” even means?  I guess I’m old, but I had to look it up. In this case the B stands for “break”, as in break dancing.  I kinda assumed that’s what it meant, but needed confirmation from the ultimate authority (the internet).

Wish Upon a Starboard

This color is Wish Upon a Starboard from Gelish’s A Very Nautical Girl collection, which was released in May. I did this set then didn’t get around to taking a photo of it for about a week and a half.  But I wanted to show you how smooth and shiny it still is after over a week.  The color held up so well that I would have left it on if it weren’t for the growth at the cuticle area.  If you are in the market for a tomato red polish, I highly recommend trying to get your hands on this one!

The lines for the French-style nails were hand-drawn with Chain Reaction, from last fall’s Urban Cowgirl collection.

Give me a Break-dance

This polish is from Gelish’s summer collection, Street Beat, and it is called Give Me a Break-dance.  For some unknown reason I thought adding glitter would be a good idea, so I sprinkled a little of Paradise (by Recollections brand) on top of three coats.  In the end I was unhappy because this polish, like others from the collection, has a really pretty shimmer to it, and all I did was mask it.

The stamp is from Born Pretty Store, XL rectangular plate BP-L003, and I stamped with white Konad stamping polish. This plate works really well, especially for the price. Highly recommended it!

I’m getting some Born Pretty store brand stamping polish soon, so stay tuned for a review of that.

Jamberry Review – Part One

I thought it might be a nice idea to do a Jamberry review from a nail tech’s perspective. I’ve been able to find plenty of reviews from at-home users and Jamberry consultants, but none from a professional nail tech.

Background: I received the small Jamberry samples in two different patterns – one floral and one blue snakeskin.  They were given to me by a co-worker, who got them from someone else who knows a Jamberry consultant.  So this is an honest review, as I don’t even know the person the samples originally came from, and I did not pay for anything.

Here’s the nail art I did with the floral sample.

On the other 8 nails I used Gelish Po-riwinkle from the Kung Fu Panda 3 Collection.

To apply the Jamberry wraps I first trimmed them to fit my pinky nails, then rested them next to a hot bulb for about 30 seconds to make them pliable.  After completing my normal nail surface prep,  I peeled the wraps from the clear base and applied them to the nail.  They applied very easily, adhered well, and had only a couple of wrinkles at the sides of the nails. I put one coat of Gelish Top It Off over the wraps.

Stay tuned for part two of this review, which will be an update on how the wraps are holding up after 1 week. I’m taking the 7-day challenge!

Rhythm and Blues

This is 2 coats of Gelish Rhythm and Blues from the After Hours collection. On four nails I stamped 3/4 of the width of the nail with Born Pretty plate BP-07 and Konad white stamping polish, then added a line of dots in Gelish Arctic Freeze.

So hot!

This is Gelish I’m So Hot from the Red Matters Collection, stamped with Born Pretty Plate BP-L002.  I double stamped this design – first with black paint, then matched up the lines as much as possible to stamp in silver.

Silver carve

For this design I painted all my nails, except the middle fingers, with Gelish Tinsel My Fancy from the holiday 2015 Red Matters collection.  I painted the middle fingers with two coats of Gelish Black Shadow and cured each coat thoroughly.  Then, I painted the middle of these nail with a thick coat of Tinsel My Fancy and carved the design into it using a small dotting tool.  When I was happy with the design, I cured it.

Simple nail art using a glitter topper

This is Gelish A Mint of Spring, topped in various sections of each nail with Getting Gritty with It.  Super easy nail art, but eye-catching!

Fall nail art

On these nails are Gelish Holy Cow-girl!, from the Urban Cowgirl Collection, over a base of Moroccan Nights.  The gold glitter toppers are All That Glitters Is Gold layered with Twinkle.  In the photo below you can see that I stamped with Meet the King on the pointer and middle finger nails.  The stamping didn’t turn out as clearly as I’d hoped, but might have worked better if I’d stamped on a darker base color.

The embellishments are from the Born Pretty Store. This photo was taken after about 5 days of wear and, as you can see,  these flat back gold rounds lost almost all their color.This began on day #2, actually, and progressed over the week with normal wear and tear.

Winter nail art

 

This is Gelish Deep Sea, with Arabesque water decals and silver flat back studs from the Born Pretty Store.

Stay tuned for a review of these embellishments soon!