Paw Palette Ring

                                                                      -ring provided by BornPrettyStore-


Hello!

I thing by now you know I love stamping and gradients, and can't do free hand nail art if it saved my life :) That's why I wanted to challenge myself and order this ring palette from BornPrettyStore:

Basically, it's a little palette for when you're making decals: you drop polish and place it on your ring so it's easier to do stamping decals, or painting things on your nails, if are unlike me and can actually do free hand nail art :) Plus it comes in paw shape and is very adorable, so I went ahead and tried.

I wanted to make some decals for nail art contest I am participating in (find it on Instagram with hastag #clairestelle8feb), so I put FoxyPaws Polish Too Lost In You and A England Saint George, stamped and image from my BP-73 plate (I love this plate so much!),  using my clear jelly stamper, also from BornPrettyStore, placed the ring on my finger and started. And I did it! Look!

While my first decal was drying, I took my chances again, on another stamper

I know this is not an essential nail tool, but it made my life SO MUCH easier! I use to drop polish on plastic or hard paper I could find, and the drop would spread, making the polish dry faster and basically, if I wanted a decal, I had to use several drops of polish to make it work. In the palette, the polish stays wet longer, therefore, so much easier to work with, and you don't waste as much. Plus, it's on your finger, so you can work fast, no need to look where your polish is because it's right there! I love this little ring palette! It looks so cute you can wear it as a ring, or, if you feel like it, you can drop polish in it and make it an extra special ring :)
I will, however, keep it as my little helping hand in making decals. Who knows, maybe I'll venture to free hand nail art with it :)

This is my final result:

This is where to buy it, you'll have 2 options, paw shape like mine, or classic palette shape: http://www.bornprettystore.com/mini-finger-nail-palette-free-hand-manicure-ring-palette-p-23985.html

Don't forget to use RAPYX31 for 10% off your order :)

xo

Stefi

BornPretty Store Black Stamping Polish

                                                                               -stamping polish provided by BornPrettyStore-

Hello!

Today, I am reviewing one of the most essential tool in a stamping lover life: black stamping polish.
Everyone who ever tried to stamp their nails knows that a good stamping polish is basically the most important for getting clear, sharp images, and probably also knows how hard it is to find a good black stamping polish. It needs to be pigmented, it needs to work well with the stamper, and it needs to be really, really black. I present, black stamping polish from BornPrettyStore: 

This polish is everything a stamping polish needs to be: very black, very pigmented, easy to work with. It will, like most black polishes, stain your skin a little if you get too much of it on it, but nothing a little acetone and a good brush can't fix, or you can use one of many latex barriers on the market for protecting your fingers while stamping. I won't do much talking, I will just let pictures talk:

Well, I think that's enough? :) Anyway, this polish is so very good, I didn't use anything else for black stamping since I got it.

This is the link:  http://www.bornprettystore.com/15ml-born-pretty-nail-stamping-polish-black-nail-polish-p-22322.html

It's a great bargain for just $4.79 for 15ml bottle, it goes a long way.

And when you buy it, don't forget to use my code RAPYX31 for 10% off your order.

xo

Stefi

Parrot Polish Black Magic

Hello folks!

By now, I'm sure you know I like Parrot Polish very much, and have quite a few of them. You also probably know I love dark polish, and it doesn't get darker than black :D And when that black polish is holo, and it's thermal....

This is Black Magic, a thermal polish that is black when cold, and grey when warm. It is simply gorgeous! 

The applications, like all Parrot polishes is flawless, two coats, top coat, and you're good to go! 

I love stamping in complementary colours on thermals,  the stamping slowly appearing is magical :) 

They have a lot of thermals, and I plan to get my hands on a few those very soon :) 

Find Parrot Polish here: http://www.shop.parrotpolish.com/ and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parrot_polish/  and Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/ParrotPolish

xo 

Stefi

BornPrettyStore stamping polish #4

                                                                                               - press sample -

Hello everyone!

As I promised, I have another stamping polish from BornPrettyStore for you :) This one is white, because we all need a good white stamping polish :)

Again, this is also very pigmented, stamps beautifully and dries fast. Also, your top coat will probably not smudge it, which of course depends on your top coat (I use Seche Vite fast dry).

I used my pretty roses stamping plate, BP-73 :)

If you need a good white stamping polish, search no more: http://www.bornprettystore.com/15ml-born-pretty-nail-stamping-polish-newly-sweet-style-nail-polish-p-22179.html

Polish number is 4 :) 15 ml for $4.79 is a bargain, don't you think? 

This is the plate: http://www.bornprettystore.com/rose-flower-nail-stamping-template-image-plate-born-pretty-bp73-p-20790.html

I used it with a MoyouLondon plate, just so you see it works well with all the plates :) This gorgeous green holo is FoxyPawsPolish Accidental Boob Graze :)

Don't forget to use my code RAPYX31 for 10% off your entire order :) 

xoxo

Stefi

BornPrettyStore Feather Decals

                                                                         - water decals sent to me by BornPrettyStore -

Hello everyone!

You know, I am really starting to like water decals! They are so easy to apply, and you get a cute manicure in matter of minutes.
BornPrettyStore sent me these for review, and I really liked them:

They are quite easy to apply, take the foil of, cut the feather you want to use, then dip in in some water for about 30 seconds, and transfer to your nail. Be careful that your nail polish is completely dry, and you can dip your nail in water, that way placing the decal will be easier. After you have your decal where you want it, put on top coat. Just be careful, if you put too much top coat, the decal might become smudgy, they are quite delicate. This is my manicure with these adorable decals, a did a gradient of Barry M Berry Cosmo and Essie Bahama Mama

As I said, I like water decals and I sure will be ordering more from BornPrettyStore.

You can buy these here: http://www.bornprettystore.com/sheet-peacock-feather-nail-water-decals-black-white-feather-pattern-stickers-p-20711.html
Item number is 20711, decals number D463, and they are currently just $1.17 which is a great price!

Don't forget to use RAPYX31 for 10% off your entire order (because we all know you'll buy more than just the decals :) )

xoxo

Stefi

Rhinestone nailart with BornPrettyStore

                                                                                           - rhinestones sent to me by BornPrettyStore-

Hello folks!

Today we have a quick and sweet manicure with some rhinestones. You know I love stamping and rhinestones are not my thing, I think this is the first time ever I put them on my nails, so I decided to branch out a little and try these from BornPrettyStore.

I got the black ones (item number 20993, #7) and thought they would go pretty well with a berry polish, so I chose Zoya Thea.

I placed the rhinestones on wet topcoat and pressed, and they held up pretty nice. But still, if you are clumsy like me and tend to bang your fingers against all doors in the house, I recommend glue :) All in all, I think these are a really easy and fun way to spark up a simple manicure :)
Buy them here: http://www.bornprettystore.com/50pcs-shining-rhinestone-nail-decoration-flatback-nail-studs-charms-nail-manicure-p-20993.html

Don't forget to use my code RAPYX31 for 10% off your entire order :)

xoxo

Stefi

Nail care with Cuter Cuticles

                                                                                                            - all items purchased by me

Hello friends!

How are you? Are you looking forward to autumn? I have to admit, I am. We've had a pretty hot summer in Croatia, I feel like we were on heat wave alert for 2 months, and my migraine was acting up during those hot days, so I am very much looking forward to autumn crisp nights. However, I am not looking forward to all the fog: I live in a town with 4 rivers, and sometimes I think the fog here is a living, breathing, scary creature. :)
Anyway, back to business. :) I always talk of nail polish and stamping plates and all sorts of nail art here, and I thought today we might go back to basics: nail care. I'm sure you all know all kinds of tips and tricks for having healthy nails, so I will just tell you what I do.
First of all, I have to tell you that I've been blessed with good genes, my nails are basically healthy and they are really very low maintenance. They are quite hard, which means they are prone to breaking, and that's why I need a good moisturizing routine, to keep them flexible so that they bend and not break. As far as a base coat goes, I always use one, these days it's either The Knight by A England or Essie's Help me grow. But, the real secret is the cuticle oil. For a very long time, I've been using products from Cuter Cuticles.

Cuter Cuticles is a Canadian indie brand with nail care products, and I got myself addicted to Coffee Bean Cuticle oil. I have my own oil blend I made at home, and I use it, but I always go back to my Coffee Bean, I am never without it :) It smells like freshly ground coffee, but the scents is not overwhelming, just enough to make you sniff your fingers all the time :)
This was my last order:

Yes, I am the coffee monster :D What can I say, I really really love coffee. :)

There are a whole lot of scents in the shop, and if you would like a scent that is not listed, just ask, and the owner Sammy will hook you up :)

Except oils, Cuter Cuticles has balms, they are called Barrier Butter and they are perfect, especially for winter, when our hands, nails and cuticles are more prone to be dry and suffer from the harsh weather. There are also mani bombs, and mani tea. I bought mani tea with my last order, and it's excellent, smells divine and after you soak your hands in it, they feel so smooth and nourished.

They work like tea for your hands, take a bowl of hot water, put the bag in, wait for a couple of minutes for the water to cool and the tea to soak, and then you can enjoy a little bath for your hands, and your feet. :)  I usually soak my hands after I file my nails, once a week, sometimes more often if I was gardening a lot

See how my nails are healthy? I know they are yellow, that's what you get when you wear dark polishes most of the time, but still, they look quite nice :)

Cuter Cuticles also has liquid latex called Cutie Guard, it's a latex barrier you put around your nails when you do messy nail art, like gradients, and it's a life saver for me.

I can't recommend Cuter Cuticles products enough, so please go and check the store and order something, you will not regret it! The prices are reasonable, you won't pay a lot for shipping, and I'm sure you will get yourself hooked just as I did :)

This is the shop: http://cutercuticles.com/shop/  
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Cuter-Cuticles-748037935244372/timeline/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/canaildian_girl/
What do you use for nail care? Tell me in the comments :)

xoxo

Stefi

Obsessed With Tropical

Hello, friends! :)
A lot has been going on these pas few weeks. My brother in law was getting married, and that included a whole lotta organizing to do, because my Dad didn't want to go to the wedding and the party, and we had to figure something out because we can't leave him alone for a whole day and night (he's in early stages of dementia). He was at his sister's house for the weekend, so we were able to attend all the wedding stuff. Maybe I should clarify, in Croatia, if someone close to you is getting married, the wedding basically starts at around noon, we gather at the house of the bride or groom (depends which one are you related to), then you go pick up the bride (or wait for the groom), then the church, and then the party, which usually lasts the whole night :) Anyway, it was a very fun day and night. Of course I had to have special nails for the occasion, so here they are:

I did a gradient with Essence white and Parrot Polish The Lioness of Brittany, and stamped with MoyouLondon Tropical 02 plate.
They kind of matched my dress :)

Tropical theme seems to be my favourite these days, and I did quite a lot of those. There's a hash tag on Instagram #hawaiianshirtmani, it was started by LadyAndTheStamp, and we do hawaiian shirt themed manicure every friday, and I think I might have gone a bit overboard with it. I think it's because it's been so hot here for the last few days all I can think of is being in a tropical paradise :D
Here are a few of those manicures:

This is a gradient with Catrice Will You Berry Me? and China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, then dry brushed with Barry M Cotton, and then stamped with my go to tropical plate, MoyouLondon 02.

This is a gradient with Essence love is in the air, Eveline 922 and Barry M Berry Cosmo, stamped with, again, MoyouLondon Tropical 02

The base for this manicure was Misslyn Bikini season from their Neoprene Collection, stamped with A England Fonteyn and then Essence Black Stampy, all using images from BundleMonster BM-313 plate. :)

Which one is your favourite? Do you like tropical themed manicures?
Tell me in the comments, on hop on over to my Instagram @therapywithnailpolish :)

xoxo

Stefi

Nail Art Challenges in June

Hello, friends!

Last month I joined 2 nail art challenges on Instagram, and it's been so much fun, I continued it in July.
Sometimes I don't have any inspiration and have no idea what to do on my nails, so this was a very nice way to get ideas, enjoy other people's manicures, and find some very talented ladies to follow.
The first WNAC 2015 challenge, basically, you get a theme of the month and an idea, a subtheme if you will (is that even a word, subtheme?) for every friday. This were my manicures for that challenge.

If you are interested in the details, you can check my Instagram, but I think my favourite of these is this one:

This is Colors By Llarowe Young Turks, a beautiful holographic turquoise polish, stamped with black Essence Stampy and Moyou London Fashionista plate. The necklace I'm holding is hand made by my friend and polish partner in crime SecretJewelGarden, go check out her Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/thesecretjewelgarden. There was no sun when I took this photo, but this polish is pretty either way.

The second nail art challenge I joined was ClaireEstelle8, this one is very fun. These are the manis:

I'd say my favourite of these would be this one:

It's and ombre with Essie's Garden Variety and Essence play with my mint stamped with Bundle Monster BM-315. It's the first time I did an vertical ombre, and I think it turned out very well.

One of the prompts for this challenge was new technique. So, I decided to tackle watermarble. I've been trying to do it since I started blogging, and it always ended horribly, so I am quite proud of this manicure :)

There is still room for improvement, of course, but this is the first time I managed to get the polish to spread and make a decent design :) All polishes used were A England, details, of course, on Instagram :) 

What do you think? 

Do you have a favourite among these? 

xoxo

Stefi

Parrot Polish Holo Goodness

Hello friends!
It's been a while since my last blog post, but that's just how life goes, sometimes other stuff comes first and you have to deal with the real world. :) To be perfectly honest with you, I haven't had much inspiration for writing, so I didn't press my self.
But then, I got invited to join a group Hella holo customs group on Facebook. Basically, it's a group that has custom holo polishes made from indie makers, 2 of them every month, and than you have the exclusive chance to buy them. The month I got in, Parrot Polish was one of the makers, and, since I a a faithfull fan of Parrot Polish, I jump on that train. Usually, members of the group vote on a color they want for a custom, and the makers does another, exclusive color of their own choce. David and Sonja made a blackish holo polish as an exclusive, and my black heart can't pass on a black holo, so that's what I wanted. Here it is, it's called Midnight.

 

It has a huge holo flame, and some blue glitter in it. Very sparkly, and very special. :)

I loved it so much I left in on my nails for 2 days, but I had to do some stamping :)

The plate is Moyou London Fashionista 08, one of the first I ever bought, and still my favourite.

There was another Parrot Polish in my order, one I've been wanting since I first saw it: The Lioness of Brittany, in all it's holo glory

I adore this polish, it has such a unique colour, and, as always, super strong holo. The best thing about Parrot Polish is that they dry really fast, and are a breeze to apply.

Do you have any Parrot Polish? If not, you are missing out. I've linked their shop and IG feed (you see them bold), so go check them out. :)

xoxo

Stefi

Blobbicures

I suck at freehand nail art. Everything I try painting without some kind of stencil or stamping plate looks like it was made for a not very good cartoon. That's why stamping is, and probably will be, my biggest love :) But, blobbicure is different, and if I can do it, anyone can. It's simple, you put a coat of base and let it dry. Then you put your second coat of base polish, and while it's still wet you just drop little blobs of your chosen polish. The blobs should spread and the you have it. There are a bunch of tutorials on you tube, so check them out. My advice would be, don't be shy with blobs of polish, they should be quite big so they can spread on your wet base polish.
This was my first try:

I used Barry M Vintage Violet for my base, and A England Sleeping palace for blobs.
I liked this so much, I had to do another one, and I think this one turned even better. I even took pictures of my right hand, which rarely gets to be photographed :D

I usually paint my right hand first when I do stuff for the first time, so I can see how it works and correct myself on the left one, and I thought my blobs were to big, but it looks like that's the whole point: big blobs you leave on your brush and then drop on your nails spread much more nicely, creating and interesting pattern. I used Kiko 849 for the base, and A England Tristam for blobs.
This is the left hand:

Have you tried doing blobbicure? Do you like it? Tell me in the comments.

xoxo
Stefi

Turquoise Stone Nails

Ever since I started this blog, and doing my nails on a daily bases, I wanted to be good at water-marbling. Unfortunately, I have yet to succeed in getting to spread my polish and making an actual design, so I take the fast road and stamp, sponge or use nail vinyls.
I so wanted to do the turquoise stone nails, and I watched a bunch of tutorials, but I was also to lazy to try the spraying technique, so I came up with my own. I did a base of Essie "garden variety", then I cut off a piece of sponge, took my tweezers and sponged the gold polish (Essie "jiggle hi, jiggle low) and then did the same thing with black polish. I think it turned out quite good:

Next time, I promise, I'll try water-marbling and spray :)

xoxo

Stefi

Nailland Hungary haul - A England Lady of Shalott

Today marks a very special day for my young little blog. I've been asked to review a polish for someone.
Recently, I discovered an online shop nailland.hu. It's a hungarian nail polish shop and nail art shop, and when I discovered the shipping price (6 euro to Croatia, free after 50 euro), I teamed up with my friend Iva @secretjewelgarden, and we ordered some polishes. Nailland also has a contest in which you hashtag a manicure made with polishes bought from them, and if you lucky (and good) you win 10% discount in their shop. I won with a fleur de lys manicure, and naturally, we had to order again. That is when I was contacted to review an A England polish for them. Since you know I have a huge crush on A England polishes, of course I said yes. And as if Nailland knows my dark loving soul, they added Lady of Shalott to my order.
Lady of Shalott belongs to A England Gothic beauties collection, it is a black creme packed with blue and a little bit of purple-magenta shimmer. I adore dark polishes, blue is one of my favourite colours, so this was a perfect fit for me. It looks like the night sky, it's not entirely black, but not entirely blue either, and it's true blue soul comes out in the sun. As all dark polishes, it was quite a challenge to photograph it and show you it's true beauty, but I did my best. This is Lady of Shalott in the sun, with flash. All pictures are two coats along with top coat:

Sun, without flash: 

Do you see the shimmer? 

One of the reason I love A England is their perfect formula, so easy to apply and it dries fast. Naturally, I had to do some nail art, and it seemed a shame to cover up this beauty, so I added a little satamping. I used A England Tristam, and Moyou London Suki plate for this. 

Another close up, so you can see the shimmer in Lady of Shalott:

All A England polishes are available at Nailland. They have a lot of other indie brands, and Moyou London stamping plates. They ship all over Europe, and as I said, for Croatia (and I suppose other countries in the neighborhood), shipping is 6 euro. The shop is available in English, just find the little flag in the upper left side of the site. Also, after you buy your polishes and get them (I got mine in 2 days), tag your manicures with #naillandmani for a chance to win 10% off your next purchase. 

What will you buy? 

Tell me in the comments. 

xoxo

Stefi

Smoothie nail polish from Misslyn

I think by now you guys know I like holographic polishes, and I was very happy when I ran into Misslyn Smoothie polishes from their Forbidden fruits make up collection in my local Mueller.
I don't buy many mainstream polishes anymore, because, lets me frank, the indie makers spoiled me with their creativity, great formulas and different finishes. I do, however, buy Misslyn, I like their colours and they have some great polishes for stamping, so colour me impressed when I saw those Smoothie polishes are holographic. Also, I don't really care for the colour green, but my oh my, was this one pretty. Just look!

This one is called Kiwi bomb, and it's a very strong green with holo effect. All the polishes in the Smoothie collection are a little textured, they have dots that really look like you have a smoothie on your nail :) The cats on my nails are water decals I got from a friend.

There are 3 polishes in Smoothie collection, but I bought only two, kiwi bomb and Sweet blackberry, a hot pink, magenta holo with tiny dots. It's very, very pretty :) The third one is pink, the colour I only wear in neon shades :) This magenta however, is my kind of colour :)

I did some stamping on it, with Misslyn's Snow white polish and Moyou London Tourist plate.

I liked these polishes very much, the formula is ok, they're easy to apply, and I did apply a top coat because I don't really like textured feeling on my nails. I do own a few of Misslyn polishes and they are all very good formula wise, and, as I've said, I like when a mainstream company gets what goes on in the indie market and follows accordingly. :)
I don't know where to buy Misslyn polishes overseas, but here in Croatia (and most of Europe, I think) you can find them in all Mueller drugstores.

Do you buy mainstrem polishes? Which ones? Tell me in the comments.
xoxo

Stefi