Born Pretty Store Rhinestone Bows Review

I've been absent for about a week due to a heap of stuff and missed two 33 Day Challenge prompts. I know a lot of bloggers apologise for absences and explain what's happened but mine is so mostly due to uni (read life) so I don't think it's overly necessary. This blog is supposed to be fun and pressuring myself to post when I just don't have time or inspiration, takes that fun away and it just becomes a burden. Last night, I tried to catch up with the challenge but I just couldn't come up with anything worth posting. I decided to call it a night and thought I would be better off doing this week's prompts next week when I will have a lot more time.

However, I still wanted to post an idea I've had in my head for a while which meant the brainstorming part was done and I just had to get my hands moving... quickly. I received these rhinestone bows in #1 from Born Pretty Store a couple of weeks ago and goodness, they are pretty. Over a centimetre big but pretty.

I used two coats of Mimco's Jade as a base, applied one coat of Seche Vite to cut drying time, taped all my nails but the ring finger once the SV had dried to create the straight corners with two coats of OPI's Goldeneye. I applied another coat of Seche Vite on all my fingers to even out the polishes (and I got bubbles, arrrrgh!!!). I finally attached the beautiful filigree alloy bow with a drop of Seche Vite and voila! This mani was created.

These bows are big and heavier than your average nail art supply so I should have used some nail glue to attach it but I don't have any on my hands right now. I've ordered some online in anticipation of this mani but it's taken a little longer to arrive than expected. Make do with this one.

Attachment issues aside, I'm loving this mani. I sometimes can be timid when it comes to my manis and tend to keep them  on the conservative side of things. The packet of bows came with 10 units, enough to put one every finger but I figured that would be too much bling for one mani. I was about to keep it simple by just using one bow on plain teal nails but then realised it was too boring. I figured the gold would bring it all together and make the mani a little bolder. That's what I think anyway and let's face it, if I can't say what I think in my blog, where can I?

Back to nails, I brought the nails out to the sun to see how shiny they would show up but the sun was too low to get some amazing pictures, I just got good pics. ;)

I would use this mani for a special occasion and instead of a ring. I have a lot of very big rings that I use on my ring or index fingers so it'd still look similar but closer to my fingertips o_0 . It was still a bit strange having such a big piece of nail jewelry on my fingers and I kept bumping it against random things. I think that's another reason why the bow only lasted about 10 minutes on my fingers. 

*EDIT* I forgot these bows are slightly curved, which means they have more surface to attach to the nail and a more comfortable wear. *EDIT*

These bows retail for $5.99 for a pack of 10 and there are 8 different designs available. You can use the code LUCKYG10 to get an extra 10% off your purchase from Born Pretty Store.

I'm gonna sit by my letterbox and wait for my nail glue to arrive so I can wear this for longer than 10 minutes. Hold on, I have an exam tomorrow. I better get on to that first...

Till next time, 

Laura

Disclosure: 

Affilliate Link. 
Bow studs were sent by Born Pretty Store for honest review. 
All other products featured were purchased by me.

Mimco At Your Fingertips

As you guys may be aware, the Australian brand Mimco came out with a line of cosmetics (think lipstick, bronzers and nail polish) in September last year. Yes, I know I'm late for the party but better late than never, right?

Mimco's description of their polishes, as it is on their website:

Glamour at the tip of your fingers, our Mimco Nail Polish is high performance and high coverage. A superior neon pink gloss finish with a quick drying time and a smooth self-levelling formula will have them eating out of the palm of your hands. Free from Formaldehyde, Toluene, Camphor & Dibutyl Phthalate. 

Not bad, so I just wanna show you a few swatches of the three polishes I acquired from this beautiful brand. 

Jade. A bluish dark green creme, not the most original colour, but it has one of the best formulas I've tried. The polish stays where you've put it, it does it so well I didn't need any clean up on the mani below, plus it dries QUICKLY. Another benefit is that it is almost a one-coater, if carefully applied. However, it is shown below with two coats and no top coat. Can you see how shiny it is? I also find that polishes of this particular shade tend to stain my bed nails. Not this one though. It is amazing! Big tick for this one.

Bright Coral. It is bright but I wouldn't call it a coral. I would say it is more of a tangerine,  but I'm sure like Jade above, there was a reason for the name. This also has an amazing, quick-drying formula, though it is rather sheer, still a creme, just a sheer, shiny creme. If you look at the bottle you can sort of see how sheer it is. The swatch below was done with three thin coats and no clean up. Really shiny without top coat too. Another big tick for Mimco.

Riviera Blue. A very pretty baby blue with the tiny, tiny silver shimmer. If you look at the bottle below, you can see the shimmer just above the second M. Can you see it? Unfortunately, it doesn't show in the nail so I was left with just a plain creme. The formula was a little harder to work with than the two above but still pretty good for a light colour. I used two medium coats had to clean up around the cuticles a little. 

After all the swatching (very rare thing for me), I couldn't just leave Riviera Blue by itself and double stamped each nail with Essie's Penny Talk and Bundle Monster's BM-218 plate. The mani reminded me of Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage. Is that just me?

I bought this polishes just before Christmas for about $11 each at a retail shop when they had a $25% off sale. They are now retailing on Mimco's website for either $5, $9 and $15.95 + postage, depending on the colour and, as far as I've seen, they are still in stock at the shops for $15.95 each. Ooh, I forgot to mention, these polishes are Australian made!!!

Just in case, you are wondering what they look like, I've included a photo below. And in true Mimco fashion, they were given to me in a little black, satin pouch. I am impressed. Apart from the not-so-original colours, I'd put these Mimco up there with the luxury brands. Ok, I don't own a lot of the luxury brands but I could compare it to Illamasqua formulas. Yes, I went there.

So, if you are looking for a little luxury from the renowned brand without blowing the budget (who wants to pay $30 for a hairpin?), I would highly recommend these polishes. 

Til next time, 

Laura