Christmas Nail Art

Christmas is here! The year has flown by soooo fast!

Did this mani for a kiddie christmas party and it turned out better than I expected as it was all done in a hurry. I think once you get the christmassy colours on nails, it just goes well with the season.

Base: Chambor 510 (white), Inglot 924 (red)
Stamping plates: Bundle monster S215, S216, S217, S218, S220

Stamping polishes: MDU white, black, neon green

All topped with HKgirl

Merry Christmas to you all!!

Festive Indian Nail Art

So I missed blogging as I was taking a trip to Paris 😁 

So I'll try and start posting a bit regularly again. Meanwhile here's a mani I had done around Diwali (indian festival of lights) and It really went well with the festive atmosphere.

Base: Picture Polish Lakodom

Stamping Plate: Moyou Flower Power 10

Stamping Polish: MDU Turquoise

Blue dots: Barry M Damson

A-Maze Nail Art

MilvArt decals are awesomely good if you wanna do a quick mani without much fuss. 

And their designs are really pretty!

Base: Chambor White Gel effect 510

Milv Art water decal N604 (not available right now; link)

topped with hkgirl

I've earlier done a review of milv decals here (link). But there were a few things I missed out while reviewing these. The label on these says to use with white/black base only. There are many designs on the site with similar instruction when you move your mouse over it or try to select it. I didnt notice these at first but when I actually used one it made sense. So the idea behind these is that there are a few negative spaces in this design which will best show up with a white base. Most of the designs with this label are usually very colourful and have most of the bright/light colours. so if you think that maybe you can use a light shade or some contrasting shade please give it a good look and choose a shade that will nicely make the design pop out else stick to white/black as instructed. Sometimes it can be a bit hard to make out which is really the negative space in the design so I am literally quite happy to follow the instructions and use a white base.

Here's a pic of the decal without the paper back. It might have showed over a light blue or pastel yellow or pink too but the shades on the design will change according to your base and the effect may not be as catchy as with a white base. so read carefully and paint your base accordingly.

Chevron Nails

A simple one to just get the game going

Base: Nicole by OPI A-nise Treat (textured polish)

Plate: Moyou Fashionista 04

Stamping Polish: Kaleidoscope 81-bisgue

No top coat

Stripes

Base: Dance Legend Fly Away

Stripes using striping tape and ChG icicle

Accent: Chambor gel effect 510

All topped with SV

Here's a swatch of DL Fly Away from their Angel wings collection

Such a cute shade..like an inbetween for taupe-pink with silver and pink shimmer. Dries to a very frosty finish. So so pretty! wish I had more shades from this collection.

Beauty Big Bang Holographic Nails

By now you can tell I am obsessed with chrome and holo powders/pigments 😍

I just cant seem to get enough of them. By the time I think I've got most of the stuff in holo/chrome there comes a whole surge of new products in the market. Just fyi the next on my list is those duochrome flakies without holo. and those shiny new coloured mirror pigments. ooh and I am yet to try those coloured holo pigments and also those peacock holo pigments 😄

somebody stop me!!

Base: Bk water based peel off polish in navy blue

Pigment: Beauty Big Bang Rainbow Holo pigment (sku J2427; link)

Greek Vinyls from Angel Nail Vinyls

Topped with Top pure water based tc from Sparkle & Co

I got this pigment from BeautyBigBang (sku 2427) and I have fallen head over heels in love with holo pigments again. Never was I so happy to see the bright hot sun here in mumbai as I was today.

This pigment is really a very smooth and non-gritty. You just need to rub it on the nails with a silicon applicator or finger tips with light pressure for a couple of times and you will get that super shining smooth holo rainbow. This can be used on gel polish with a no-wipe top coat as well.

The pigment sells for $3.99 for 0.5gm and BeautyBigBang ships even one item free worldwide.

Do use my code "NAAT" for a 10% discount sitewide.

Have a look at the video to see the beauty in action.

PS. Product sent for an honest unbiased review

Beauty Big Bang Multichrome Holo Flakies

I am falling and falling hard for these holo/chrome/powder/pigments!

Even in this dull cloudy weather they show a very chromey mirror type shine and it s always a plus when the sun comes out and hits holo 😍

Base: Black Gel polish from Dance Legend

No wipe coat from Dance Legend

Powder: Chameleon Nail Holo Flakes Powder (J2419 in shade 5C)

Accent: thin bow sticker

This is a duochrome flakie in mirror finish with holo pigment (item J2419-5C; link) from Beauty Big Bang website. Yes thats a lot of attributes but those are all the effects you see in this powder. Its not a fine pigment..you can see bit of flakies and powder. The effect is best when you put this on a black base.

But there's 2 ways to put this. On my pointer and pinky finger I have rubbed it in like how you rub in a holo or mirror pigment. This gives a linear holo effect amid shiny flakies. 

The rest of the fingers I have just dabbed it on. Like take a bit on my finger tip and just lightly dabbed on the nail. Repeat till the whole nail is fully covered. This gives a very scattered but strong holo effect with shiny flakies. The pics dont show the true shades..irl the deep pink colour is bright and the holos and flakies just dazzle under direct light.

If you dont want to use gel you can also use a peel off glitter base and a water based top coat.

A macro pic (above) to capture the holo (this was rubbed into the nail).

Under a dull sky (above) which shows the duochrome effect of the flakies very clearly.

The powder has a very deep colour shift from pink-purple to green-gold.

It sells for $3.29 for a 0.2gm box. There are 5 shades in this powder with various different combinations of colours and shift.

Macro pic (above) to capture the flakies.

You can buy this at Beauty Big Bang and get a 10% discount if you use my code "NAAT"

PS: Product sent for an honest unbiased review

Born Pretty Store No Wipe Gel Top Coat Review

Recently I started using gel polish just coz I wanted to use those shiny mirror finish pigments and holo pigments. Most of these pigments needed gel polish and a no wipe top coat. I got a basic set of uv gel lamp in a starter kit but I was still short of a no wipe gel topcoat.

And then my favourite shop for all things nail came out with a no wipe tc. Born Pretty Store.

I got the no wipe topcoat (item #39795; link) with some pigments and I am really happy with the way it works esp over these shiny powders and pigments.

Here I have used it over BPS pigment 38616 over a black base and again topped it over the pigment. Can you see how shiny reflects and it certainly doesnt take the shine away from the pigment.

I used it over a glitter gel polish and the result is equally shiny and smooth look.

I have also used it below over the BPS magnetic polish

The top coat goes smoothly and is self levelling. It cures nicely in 30 seconds in a led uv lamp. No need to wipe sticky layer as this is a no-wipe top coat. I love shiny nails using the pigments and chrome/mirror powders so my main purpose to test this was for the powders and it works really well. One layer of top coat and the pigments stick nicely to it and give a proper chrome/mirror finish when rubbed on with finger or silicon applicator. 

It lasted well over 10 days for me without any chips but I removed it as I wanted to change my nail polish. This top coat sells for $2.79 for a 10ml bottle. It is very reasonably priced as compared to other no wipe gel topcoats and is easily available via BPS. If you are a chrome/mirror nails lover and need a good no wipe gel topcoat then this is certainly brings an end to your search.

PS. Product provided for an honest unbiased review.

BornPretty Soak Off Caps

Sometimes the glitter polish and gel polish get to you! In the sense they are so tiresome to remove that you dont feel like using them at all. There's always a way to use the peel off base but for me that doesnt work well always. It comes off in just a day or two and most likely in the middle of the important event that I had painted my nails for. So this comes at a really good time for me. 

Born Pretty Soak off caps.

Now I dont fear using gel or glitter polish directly. I love removing them by using these soak off silicon caps (item #39658). I have used the older variety of a small plastic bulb with a rubber cap but trust me these silicone ones are much better and easier to use. 

All you got to do it soak a piece of cotton (1/4th of a cotton pad) in acetone. Place it on your nail so that the polished area is completely covered by it. These caps have a small V opening on the under side. Fold the cap around the edge of the V and place your finger in it. Now unfold the cap around your finger. For glitter polish let it stay for 5 mins. For gel polish let it stay around 10-15 mins. 

Gently remove the cap and voila! your polish should have come out without much trouble.

I got these caps (item 39658; link) from the Bornpretty store. They sell for $2.99 for 5 pieces in a set. You can get them in green, red, yellow, purple, rose-red (bright pink). These are made from silicone material so acetone doesnt affect it and all you need to do is wash off with water once you use them and let dry. 

I find them the best so far to remove polish esp if you use gel. Although I use them to remove any mani even if its a normal one which I think would need a lot of rubbing. I am happy to recommend this product if you dont like the rubbing and tugging one needs to do to remove polish. Any polish!

PS. product sent for an honest unbiased review.

Trendy Floral Nail Art using BeautyBigBang Brushes

These days I am going all the way for making stamping decals. They are fun and creative and the results come out usually very nice. But the down side it is it take s too long with all the stamping and drying and top coating. So I decided to use a cheat way with this mani using these detailed brushes from Beautybigbang website. 

Base: Chambor Gel effect 510

Stamping plate: Moyou Trend Hunter 01 

Accent: Pointer: UCB 5-03 and Pinkie UCB 2-02

Filled in with glass paint in yellow

Stamping polish: Mdu black

Filled in yellow translucent paint on flowers and stripes using Acrylic Nail Liner Brushes (item SKU 1378 from BeautyBigBang; link)

All topped with HKgirl

These brushes retail for $4.44 and they come in a set of 3 brushes with different lengths in colours black, gold and blue. The brushes came packed in a plastic sleeve and each brush is covered with a plastic cap. Each brush is 5mm, 8mm and 1cm in length. 

The brushes are ultra thin with metal handles and very suitable for doing fine lines or free hand and filling in decals with tiny designs.  

The black brush is 5mm and is slightly thicker than the other 2; I filled this nail art using this black brush. The gold brush is 8mm in length and is thinnnest of the three. The blue one is tallest at 1cm and the thickness is right between the other 2.

I love how cute this mani turned out and it got made very soon as filling in with brushes takes much lesser time than making decals. I am not much of a free hand person but the black brush definitely did give a good control and smooth. Look forward to trying more free hand stuff with these brushes.

This is the first time I got items from BeautyBigBang website and they reached me within 4 weeks. These brushes retails for $4.44 and are reasonable for the quality. Items from this website are delivered with free shipping even for a single item. Incase you buy from the site you can use my coupon code NAAT for a 10% sitewide discount on Beautybigbang.

Aveniro Glass Nail Files

Nail Files are life! I cant do without one!

I always keep one in my purse and couple in the house so if i ever need to trim a crack or splinter before it leads to a dramatic turn I just whip it out. 🤣

Also I have started to appreciate glass nail files. I cant figure why for so many years I havent used them. You really need to try a good glass nail file to appreciate the difference. Earlier I had got some cheap ones and they wore off so pls dont get the ones that come for Rs.30-50/- They will wear off; as in the corrosive texture comes right off in a few uses. So invest some $ and get a good one! they literally last forever! have a look at the review of Aveniro glass files:

They sent me 2 DUO glass nail files: one is medium (90 mm long, 3mm thick, pointed) and one is short (90 mm long, 3mm thick, pointed- easy to be carried for travel purposes)

The big thing is a foot file.

These are their medium (135 mm) and small nail (90mm). Grinding surface has on each side of the file different coarseness, therefore it adapts to the character and quality of the nail. The rougher side is highly abrasive yet gentle to your nails and enables fast and easy shaping of the nail. It is also supposed to file toenails that are harder and their filing is often problematic. The smoother surface serves to final neatening and correction of imperfections.

The foot file is 6mm thick (size 55x110mm) made with 2 different textures.  The coarser side is meant to remove calloused skin and the other smoother side serves to gentle neatening and final smoothening.

The coarse side is visibly different from the smooth side. 

I also used the foot file and it is certainly helpful to maintain smooth skin. Its easy to use and not very abrasive. The result was smooth soft looking skin on my feet which I love. 

coarse side

smooth side

These are my nails after I filed using the medium file. No hangs nails and no rough edges.

These files help for fast and easy filing of nails. Took me 5 mins only to file all nails after I had cut them. The coarse side is also helpful for thick nails esp toes. I just ran them over my nails with the smooth side at last to take of any sharp edges or hang nails. Happy to say these are good quality and live up to my expectations.

Aveniro retails through resellers only.  Aveniro is a manufacturer and wholesale and retail export oriented supplier of glass nail files. The company is located in the North of Czech Republic in the traditional glassmaking region.

PS. Product sent for an honest unbiased review

Advanced stamping Nail art : Roses

These are the longest nails i've had in quite a while. I wanted to do a decal mani before I had to trim them a bit. Love this length but I constantly worry about breaking them or hurting kiddo.

So I made some stamping decals for this. 

Base: Dance Legend Scout

Stamping polish: MDU Pastel Yellow

Stamping plates: BM XL-205 (roses) and BP-L020

Filled roses with DL shock

All topped with HKgirl

This is a beautiful shade! I just looooooove DL polishes!!

Love love love!!! <3 p="">

Indian Stamping Nail Art

Wanted to try some different combi and did this. 

Didnt turn out as I expected. 

Base: OPI Dating a Royal

Stamping Plate: Moyou Arabesque 06

Stampingpolish: MDU Neon yellow and Neon green

Topped with Hkgirl

So I stamped in the middle two fingers with Mdu neon yellow and it didnt show up well so I double stamped it with neon green. Kinda messed up the look a bit. Eh! 

Warped Mirror Nails

Ha! Made you look!

They really do look warped or wiggly-woggly dont they?

I worked this up on the base from my previous post here --> link

Base: DL glitter base Black

Pigment: BPS Top grade chameleon Glitter pigment in shade BRB20 (link)

Stamped with BP-94 (item: #33727) from BPS (link)

Love how the overall look turned out to be spunky with a mind illusion effect!!

Hope u loved them.

DuoChrome Mirror Nails using BornPretty Chameleon Pigment

I dont know if its just me or are more of you totally in love with the duochrome mirror finish pigments that have popped up in the nail art world. Believe me guys these are so much better than anything you've seen last year. Dont believe me? Have a look:

Base: DL glitter base Black

Pigment: BPS Top grade chameleon Glitter pigment in shade BRB20 (link) item #38616

Top coat: Oceans Beauty Top Pure (water based tc)

My thoughts on the pigment: The quality is superb! 

The pigment is super fine, opaque, no bald spots and no need to rub in much or anything. The shine and mirror like finish is incredible. I have take pics which reflected clouds and the whole building from across my house with nice detailing. The colour shift is simply very obvious and pleasant. You dont need to twist your hand at funny angles or squint. Its just there. I cant wait to try more of these pigments. You can use them with gel and water based polishes both. Since I frequently like to change my polish I used a peel off black base. I have also swatched this with a white base. The difference in is that the mirror effect goes a bit mild but the pink/purple colour in the transition shift was more visible. This pigment retails for $4.29 for 0.5gm which is very nicely priced as compared to other good quality pigments in the market. (link)

Starry Nail Art

Here's a mani I did on the BPS star sequined gel polish from my last post 

(link to last post)

Base: BPS Holographic Star Moon Sequins Gel Bling Soak Off Manicure Nail Art UV Gel Polish (link ; item no: #40427; shade 1)

Stamping plate: Uber Chic Beauty 6-01

Stamping polish: M-polish Snowberry

Hope you liked it!

PS: Polish sent for an honest review

BPS Holographic Star Sequins UV Gel Polish : Swatch and review

On the blog today I've swatched a very pretty looking blingy gel polish from the house of BPS. Its called BORN PRETTY Holographic Star Moon Sequins Gel Bling Soak Off Manicure Nail Art UV Gel Polish (link ; item no: 40427; shade 1)

As you can see it is a red jelly base filled with holo chunky, medium and small hex glitter with an occasional star. It looks even better even and juicy in person with a holo sparkle in direct light. On my nails is 2 coats of gel with layer of top coat. I had cured my nails after each layer.

The polish is slightly thick as all gel polishes are. I found this easy to apply. The first coat goes smooth although I didnt get even glitter placement and I didnt want to make it thick since it is gel polish. So instead I made a thin coat and cured it. Next I put another thin layer and then dabbed some glitter and evenly distributed it with a light floating hand movement. the polish goes quite opaque in 2 coats. 

As you can see the finish is really smooth and shiny. I thought maybe the glitter would poke up and out but they didnt. The polish settles well and goes streakfree. Overall the polish feel and quality is really nice. (I will update here for how long lasts on my nails without chipping once I test it).

This polish retails for $3.99 for a 10ml bottle (link to the product). The bottle comes in a white coloured bottle. This polish comes in 10 shades and some of them have a moon glitter instead of the star. Scroll down for more closeups and pics in different lighting.

In sunlight

Indoor light

Swatch on a stick in Indoor light

PS. Polish was sent for an honest review