Born Pretty Review

Another review for you guys today!

*I received this product in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

31DC2016 Day 18 - Half Moons

Very rarely do I do half moon designs, but whenever I do, I remember that I love them. They look so good and can somehow make your nails look longer. 

Since I basically phoned in yesterday's design, I thought I'd try a little bit harder today. I did love the glitter placement, though, as I find it oddly soothing. I did another glitter placement design today but I went with a more cheerful, brighter feel.

Neon Gradient

Boy, oh, boy! It's hot! It's in the 90s here in Michigan and it's just so darn humid! I guess the heat wouldn't be SO bad if it wasn't for the humidity. I work at 5am and when I walked outside this morning (at 4:45) it was well over 70 degrees and steamy. Like, almost sauna steamy! Ugh! 

I, personally, HATE summer weather. I don't like heat, I don't like being uncomfortable, and I don't like sweating because of the heat. 

Summer does, however, bring out my love of neons. I'm all about bright eye shadow and bright nails! I got an urge to throw on a neon gradient mani so that's just what I did.

Bright Blobbicure

I have had a crazy couple of weeks. Hubby and I spent a week down in Tennessee visiting my family, staying with my litter sister in her new home. We had so much fun. We came home to Michigan and the very next morning, hubby and I woke up sicker than dogs. I'm still sick now, a full week later. I'm very slowly getting better but I am beyond ready to be over this! 

For today's nail design I used a new polish that I got from my bestie for my birthday last month. :)

Just a Quickie: Glittery Neon Gradients

Why are neons so great? Super bright colors in normal light, outrageously bright colors in daylight, and fun glowy colors in black light!

Colors: Funky Fingers Highlighter, Like Clockwork, Atomic Poppy, and Aloha!

Glitters: China Glaze Fairy Dust and Sally Hansen Open Mica Night

Nude/Neon Gradient and Glitter

Lately, I've been gravitating toward neon polishes a lot. A LOT. When I found myself reaching for my neon stash once again, I gave pause. I almost talked myself out of using them but at the last minute decided on a compromise...with myself... I paired a neon color with a nude and a glitter for a mani that I ended up loving so much that I never wanted to stop wearing it!

Neon & Holo Glitter

Everyone close to me knows that my favorite color is orange. I seriously have to fight the urge to not just ALWAYS have my nails painted orange. But haven't you ever gotten a new nail polish and it's just the only thing you want to reach for whenever you do your nails? That's how I am right now with ORLY Mayhem Mentality. I bought it because it's orange. But every time I look at it I love it more and more.

Neon Gradient & Spots

Have you ever gone to the store for one thing and ended up getting far more than you planned? That happened to me today. I stopped by my local Ulta for something and they didn't have it. I ended up leaving with four new nail polishes, instead. Afterwards, I thought, "Well, I'm right by these other great stores; I may as well pop in for a bit." I did and bought stuff at both of the stores I stopped at. So, basically, instead of spending the $20 I planned to, I spent quite a bit more and didn't even get what I needed. 

So, anyway... I used two of my newly acquired polishes today and did some bright summery stuff!

Neon Waterfall

I was hanging out with my amazing sister-in-law the other day. She lives out of state and we don't get to see each other all that much. We watched movies, and I did her nails. I really do just adore that woman! It's always such a treat to see her!

After I did her nails, I wanted to do mine. I didn't want to spend too long doing them so I knew right away I wanted to do a super-quick waterfall design. I just had to pick a color to start with! Well, Tracy made that decision for me. :)

Studded Stamping

One of my favorite nail polishes for Spring/Summer is ORLY Fancy Fuschia. It's my bestie's favorite, too; she reaches for it just about every time I do her nails. She loves it! So much so that I bought her a bottle of her own for Christmas. Anyway, I saw it the other day and decided to wear it.

Just a Quickie: Neon Marble

This is a cling wrap marble design I actually did a couple of weeks or so ago and, apparently, I never got around to posting it. 

Base color: Nina Ultra Pro Pearly Brights

Marbled color: Funky Fingers Let the Beat Drop

Water Marble Week - Day 3

Due to the success I had with my Funky Fingers polishes yesterday, I decided to use them again. This time, though, I wanted to use my Funky Fingers neons. It may be rainy and cool but I'm always up for a fun, neon manicure.

Neon Watercolor Skittles

I know I've mentioned my pets a few times. One of them is our Corgi puppy, Oswin. He just turned seven months! Anyway, he got neutered yesterday and it's just the saddest thing. He has to wear one of those cone collars and, since his little legs are so short, it makes him so clumsy! He doesn't hold his head high enough so the collar gets caught on the ground and he trips over it. He's also mopes around because he isn't allowed to jump and run around. 

Sad puppy! Aww...

Meanwhile, my nails!

I wanted to do some watercolor using neons. All of my Funky Finger neons, specifically. Since they make a nice neon rainbow, I thought I'd do skittles nails to show them off.

Dry Spotted?

I think I've discovered a new technique for myself! Well, I was trying to figure out something quick I could do with my nails. I had just grabbed two of the new Funky Fingers Electric Neons (which are amazing!) and thought that they worked very well together. I tried something new and LOVE the end result...

Neon Fiery French

Being that it's summery out, I naturally gravitate toward bright colors. Be it my makeup, clothes, jewelry, or nail polish; I can't get enough. So, I was eyeballing my neon Funky Fingers polishes and I HAD to use them. I thought a French manicure would be fun using them but I couldn't do something quite that simple...

Fun With A Striping Brush

I knew exactly where I was headed going into this manicure. I just didn't know what to call it. I still don't, for that matter. I did know, however, what colors I wanted to use and that I needed a striping brush...

Neon Dry Marble

I've been eyeing my neon polishes for a few days now. I used them a little bit during the winter months to break up the monotony of dark colors but now that it's spring, it's time to put them in the forefront. I was trying to think of something I hadn't yet done with my neons. Dry marbling came to mind. I may be wrong, but I don't think I've ever done an all neon dry marble before. I'm so glad I thought of it, though...

Gone Fishin'

A well known fact about hubby is that he is a big outdoors-man. He loves all things related to the outdoors. This time of year his thing is fishing. Tomorrow he is going on a fishing trip and he's giddy with excitement. Wait, burly men like him don't get giddy, do they? He's excited in a manly-man way. Ha ha! Well, a while back I promised him that I would do some fishing inspired nail art and I thought that this was the perfect time! So, I had him grab his fishing lures (which, by the way, he has tons of) and picked a few that inspired me. 

 

Movies and Manis

Friday was Movies and Manicures night again. We are smack in the middle of the 90s in our chronological Disney Classics. Some of my favorites are in this stretch. Anyway, here are the girls' nails:
 

For Heather's neon yin-yang nails, we used a base coat of Sally Hansen White On. The pink is Funky Fingers Power Play and the purple is Funky Fingers Riot.

Trisha wanted red and gold so I used Julep Myrtle for the red. The gold is Butter London The Full Monty and I accented with Wet n Wild The Gold and The Beautiful.

 

Lisa Frank!?

I've been a bad bad blogger. I've been on vacation (tomorrow is my first day back to work) and blogging has been kinda put on the back-burner. I've been doing nail stuff, I just haven't been posting it. Sorry.

Friday, Hubby and I went to the Zoo! It was so much fun and the weather was almost perfect; just a little humid. Before we went, I wanted to do a zoo themed manicure. I bought a t-shirt just for the trip that inspired me. It's a zebra wearing shades with neon rainbow hair. (I meant to take a picture of the shirt, but totally forgot.) Here's the manicure that it inspired!

 I used a base of NYC French White Tip on all nails to make the neons pop. From thumb to pinky I used Funky Fingers Atomic Poppy, Art Club Neon Green, Funky Fingers Riot, Funky Fingers Highlighter, and Funky Fingers Aloha. Believe me, these colors are WAY brighter in person and obnoxious in direct sunlight. The stamping is all done in Art Club Black. The snake print (which is absurdly crooked) is from BM-215, the alligator print is from BM-224, the cow print is from BM-222, the leopard print is from BM-221, and the zebra print is from BM-223.

The neons with animal print reminded me so much of the Lisa Frank school supplies that all of us girls loved so much when I was in elementary/middle school! All it needed was some sparkle, so I loaded it up. I used a coat of Nubar 2010 and then China Glaze Fairy Dust. Both of these glitters are fairly subtle until you take them into natural lighting, so they were perfect for the zoo!