Matte Stamping and Born Pretty Store Review

I'm always up for a new technique, and matte stamping is an amazing one!  A fellow nail Instagrammer (@jay_jay_bee) posted her own version and I knew I would have to try it out.

The base color is Mentality Nail Polish in Sailor, the most perfect navy ever.  It's got a light shimmer and dries matte, but is equally gorgeous with or without topcoat.  I stamped using MoYou London Explorer 22, a lovely large image plate and Sally Hansen Matte About You.

The people over at Born Pretty Store were also kind enough to send me some items for review, one of which was the studs I used on my accent nails.  I really like them-they lie almost flat on the nail, so they don't get caught up in my hair, or fall off when I catch them on something.  If you would like to make a purchase of your own, there's also a link at the top right of my page, as well as my code for 10% off, UDG10.

Trampy, Vampy, Leopard Print Nails

I love these. Like, truly, madly, deeply, kind of love.

And I want my nails to look like this forever. 

Colors Used: Julep Delaunay, Sally Hansen Golden-I, Sinful Colors Black on Black

Title Goes Here...

So I've been missing for a while, I know. I was super busy and blogging just wasn't very high up on my to-do list, but I'm back! This mani is super easy and felt so appropriate for fall-I think my nails have a look that's almost like leather.

Sorry for the quality, but I am so tired, I couldn't even be bothered to get up into a better picture-taking angle. I'm so tired I can't even catch up on Revenge because I don't think I would be able to stay awake through the episode, and that's the real tragedy here. So now...it's bedtime.

Color: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal, Essie Matte About You Topcoat

Spurs vs. Thunder Game 1-Mani Laziness

I had such good intentions starting out, but trying to do my nails while watching one of the most nerve-wracking games of the playoff season ended up being pretty much impossible, so I just did a simple geometric mis-matched sort of tape mani. I mean, I know it was only the first game, but coming off of 18 straight wins...trailing for most of the game did not make me happy.

I'm also going to apologize for the quality of my nails: I did them Sunday night and then spent all of yesterday helping my dad pack up his classroom, which wasn't very nail-friendly. Related: Matte About You looks great for the first couple of days (I actually just wore Black on Black with the matte topcoat for most of the day to make sure they were absolutely dry/because it looked awesome) but it does tend to get a little bit shiny the longer you wear it-I think that's visible on my index finger. 

Polishes: Sinful Colors Black on Black, Essie Matte About You, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City

(I really need to start using some new colors, I swear I'll mix it up soon!)

How the Leopard Got His Spots

So my last mani chipped after two days...and I wasn't really that upset because I got to use my (drumroll please) Essie Matte About You AS WELL AS my brand-spankin'-new MASH dotting tools. The excitement was overwhelming, so I went with a "simple" leopard print.  The tutorial I used is super easy, and you can find it on Beautylish.

That awesome bracelet I'm wearing is from Apricot Lane Boutique-I think they're fairly new since they don't even have an online store, but I think they have a fair number of locations and are totally worth checking out. For the steps,etc., look after the jump: