Author Archives: MonicawithRA

Born Pretty Store: Large Stamping Plate Review

07 Saturday Feb 2015

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I have another stamping plate review for you! This time it is BP-L004 from the Born Pretty Store.

 

BPS plates 35, L-5, L-4 - Version 3-001Image links directly to product details.

 

As you can see there are some great images on here! Very abstract and right down my stamping alley! The large rectangular plates comes with 21 images which are not particularly related to one another. I don’t have any problem with this as it gives me more variety per plate and numerous stamping possibilities! If you don’t like this particular plate, definitely check out the other plates here.

 

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Thoughts:

I had a lot more luck with the plate than the previous I reviewed here. Most of the images transferred well to the stamper and then to the nail. However, I did have a lot of trouble scraping the polish. I don’t know if it was me or the plate but my scraper kept getting caught on the designs. Also, it didn’t scrape all the polish properly so I ended up with smeared pictures on my stamper. Now, on other plates…if I don’t necessarily scrape all the polish I can still end up with a crisp image. Unfortunately with this BPS plate, I ended up with a lot of pooling.

 

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Below I outlined the images I had the most trouble with (by trouble, I mean the difficulty with scraping).

I personally love stamping, and now that I have practiced more and honed my technique I enjoy it a lot more! But, I know stamping is not everyone’s cup of tea so definitely check out BPS’ other nail art supplies here.

 

Born Pretty Store ships free internationally and their prices are super low. The above plate only costs $5.99! If you are interested in placing an order with them don’t forget to apply my 10% off coupon code below!
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Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Water-Marble and Sugar-Spun Manicure for A2Z Series: M is for Multi-Color

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by in Community, Nail Art

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Check the sidebar for more information.

For this week’s prompt, I had these images of rainbow neons floating through my head but realized the keyword was “multi-color” not “rainbow”. I felt like doing a predominantly pink manicure and a sugar-spin…and this is what I came up with. As I used neon pinks for the sugar-spin this look also works for this week’s NAIL prompt!

I hope you like it!

 

A2Z Series: M is for Multi-color | The Rite of Aging

I started with 1 coat of Zoya Charlotte as my base.

I water-marbled with Zoya Charlotte, Barry M Gellys Chili, Chai and American Apparel Neon Violet.

I sugar-spun with Color Club Warhol and Pucci-licious.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other cool multi-color manicures below!

Dotticure and Stamping Nail Art: Puppy Pink

05 Thursday Feb 2015

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I had no clear vision for this nail art. All I knew was I wanted to do a dotticure stamping combination. Almost a year ago I attempted a neon combination and I was crazy about it (linked here). Since then, this double combo has become a favorite technique of mine.

Previous trends prevail and Saachi still serves as my inspiration for my manicures. I am pleased because the last time I tried this stamp I had a lot of trouble transferring the image to the stamper. This time it worked with my favorite stamping polish!

I hope you like it!
Puppy Pink Dotticure and Stamping | The Rite of Aging

I started with 2 coats of Dance Legend 373 as my base. I loved how this color looked on me! I can’t wait to wear it again!

I dotted with Milani Mauve Medley, Sephora by OPI Mr. Right Now, and Color Club Warhol.

I stamped with Essie No Place Like Chrome and a Pueen Cosmetics plate from the Love Elements collection.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

January Showcase

02 Monday Feb 2015

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This year I will try to comment on more blogs. I read the posts and continually fall behind on Bloglovin’ but I am always too chicken to comment; especially when there are 40+ already there! I am also trying to pin more. I am already addicted to Pinterest and don’t nearly pin enough…yep, I said it!

Anyways, below are 5 favorites from last month!

 

PiggieLuv - Jan15favesCan we just talk about how Narmai used real chalk for this look? She said she did not have great control while “writing on the chalkboard” but I couldn’t tell the difference. The writing is so small and perfect. It shoots me straight back to high school! Narmai really uses her nails as a canvas!

 

Lady Maid Nails - Jan15favesI became familiar with Mandy’s blog during Debbie’s (The Crumpet) 31-Day Challenge this month. I absolutely love Mandy’s freehand! I especially love her take on the reversed polarities prompt. It is a total throwback to when my mom took me to the science discovery store and I played with the electric ball. Whenever I touched it the current turned pink as I moved my hand around.

 

fixintofaff - jan15favesHow cool is this sponging?? Ali only used the three primary colors to achieve this look. The Barry Ms she used were on the darker side so the final result came out cool and vampy…click the above link to see the finished look. How cool is this “during” picture?

hourglass ambient powderI love highlighters. Especially those I can sweep on even when I am not wearing foundation. Regardless of how well I take care of my skin, it sometimes looks sallow and medicine-ridden. I wear every single one of the above shades and I always look glow-y! The colors are soft and diffuse easily. Initially, I considered only buying the more golden tone “Radiant Light” but highlighters in the palette are quite smaller than the singles and about half the price but honestly, I cannot imagine going through any of them in my lifetime. Anyways, having three shades is a lot more versatile! I did not anticipate purchasing this palette but the checkout line waits right next to the Hourglass display…

 

69a7d4a246e9db5ba47533d5a17ae5b9.jpgAnd finally…Bao Bao plays in the first real DC snowfall. Enough said.

 

Definitely check out my Pinterest pages (nails – here) and (other things – here). There are a host of AMAZING nails especially from the Fairy Tales Digital Dozen week and some seriously cool random stuff including the map of Middle Earth drawn on a coffee cup.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Water-Spotting Nail Art: Sky Blue Royal Purple

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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I have not painted my nails in almost a week! What is this? I just have not been in the mood really. What with Saachi’s recovery, my own flare and not being in the right mindset. I considered muddling through and forcing myself to paint my nails but I didn’t want my hobby to become a chore! What nail artist wants that??

Today I have an easy-going water-spotted nail art! It only took 30 minutes to complete it! On top of that, I was constantly amazed how quickly and easily this Emily de Molly polish cleaned up with acetone (even with the glitter pieces)!

I hope you like it!

 

Blue and Purple Splatter Nail ArtI started with 3 coats of Emily de Molly Candy Coated. I managed to get my hands on this polish during a Llarowe sale! I am not going to even lie: I always scroll through the sales page. I managed to get a Picture Polish lacquer once!!…Which is neither here nor there in this post but I thought I’d share anyways! 🙂

I “water-spotted” with hairspray, Revlon Parfumerie Fresh Linen and Zoya Haven. I had this image in my mind of the final result. I should have used an opaque white instead of Fresh Linen because the sheerness makes the base look thin in some spots. I promise that is not Candy Coated but Fresh Linen.

I protected the design with Seche Vite before applying a nice coat of INM Northern Lights Silver. Speaking of which, are they no longer selling the Gold counterpart? I use it for certain color combinations and recently ran out but can’t find it anywhere!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Born Pretty Store: Stamping Plate Review

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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I have another Born Pretty Store stamping plate review for you! This is time I’ll take a look at one of the large rectangular plates.

 

Born Pretty Store recently re-vamped their entire stamping plate collection and have a massive variety to choose from. No matter what your design preference, BPS probably has a plate for you. Below I review plate BP-L005!

 

Born Pretty Store Plate L-005The picture above links directly to the product’s information.

 

I received the plates in the mail a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to play around with the images a little before posting the review. The rectangular plates do not generally have a “theme” like the circular ones do and while I am used to similar images grouped together I don’t mind the hodgepodge as I get to choose from a variety of designs!

 

Thoughts:

I felt lukewarm towards this plate. In general, I had success. The images were pretty, interesting and large enough to fit my nails. However, I had trouble stamping some of these images. A couple continually smeared on the stamper and did not transfer properly to my nails. I eventually got a clear image but it was after repeated trial. The second manicure was just a hot mess. I had a lot of trouble with that particular design and I finally gave up. It was a shame since the gradient came out very nicely!

I was curious to see which other images I would have trouble with so I decided to stamp on paper. Below are my results! I outlined the stamps I had the most trouble with in the last photo.

 

The images transferred well to paper but in the end it only mattered whether they transferred well to nails. I eventually achieved the proper look but I definitely lost the patience getting there.

 

Each plate has 21 images and even though I had trouble with a few at $5.99 a pop it is still worth taking a look if you’re interested. And, if stamping is not your cup of tea, Born Pretty Store has a whole myriad of other nail art supplies to choose from!

 

If you choose to place an order, feel free to use my 10% off code below!

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Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Sponged Nail Art: Butterflies and Scarves

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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When I sponge, I always like how pink and blue mix the best. It does not matter which shades I use or which brands; just the colors in general! Maybe because the mix is not as jarring? Who knows…

Anyways, it was not until I flipped through my decals that I remembered my favorite butterfly scarf greatly resembled my current nails!

You’ve seen a similar manicure for the “fashion-inspired” prompt of the OMD 2 challenge back in July.

OMD2 - Day 28: Fashion-Inspired

OMD2 – Day 28: Fashion-Inspired

I rather like this more recent nail art better. It looks cleaner; it is fun to see how my ability evolves!

 

Sponged Butterfly Decals | The Rite of AgingI started with 2 coats of Color Club Warhol as my base.

I detailed with a sponge-tip applicator, Dance Legend 373, Barry M Matte Rhossili, Emily de Molly Candy Coated and Milani Power Periwinkle.

I used buttefly Pueen Cosmetics water decals on select “accent” nails.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.