Review of Born Pretty Crystal Sand Top Coat Nail Polish

Normally I’m not a huge fan of textured polishes. You know the type I’m talking about. They usually have microbeads or other small artifacts in the formula to create a rough surface on purpose. While some of these polishes have been useful for certain nail art designs, the majority of them stay tucked away in storage.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this Crystal Sand Top Coat offered from Born Pretty and actually loved the look of it?

This product comes in the new style Born Pretty packaging, so it is a small 6 mL bottle of top coat inside a white and gold printed box with a window cut out in the front so you can see the product. The back lists the ingredients, and the top flap is sealed with an easy to remove sticker.

The brush is nice and pliable and a medium width so it is easy to control.

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Textured Leaf Manicure

Happy Fall! I’m transitioning into the season with a sophisticated yet simple manicure.

I picked a pretty sage green from my collection for an understated look. The leaves haven’t started changing colors yet in NYC, so I didn’t want to rush into the typical color palette for fall yet! My pick was Fearless from Formula X for Sephora. I then applied a generous coat of BK Super Matte Surface Oil to create a flat finish.

2 coats of Fearless from Formula X for Sephora look even more elegant with a layer of BK Super Matte Surface Oil applied on top.

Review of Beauty Big Bang 5 Piece Mirror Metallic Lacquer Set

Today we’re going to look at set of chrome polishes from Beauty Big Bang. It’s always fun to try different brands, so let’s take a look!

The polishes from Beauty Big Bang don’t have clever names. They are placed into separate categories according to the polish type (e.g., holographic, thermal, stamping, etc.) and then numbered. The type is designated on the box but not on the bottle itself, so you can see that these polishes belong to the “Metallic Polish” series.

Cute feature: heart shaped cutout windows on the front of the boxes so you can see the color of the polish inside.

The boxes all have the ingredients listed on the back and the creation and expiration dates on the side which are roughly 2 years apart from each other. However, I’m sure the polishes are still usable past the expiration dates as I have plenty of bottles that are way more than 2 years old and are still ok.

The colors in this set make up something close to a metallic rainbow. You get 9 mL of polish in each bottle which is a little less than what you would find in a typical drugstore brand, but it is still a lot of lacquer. You only have to ask yourself when the last time was when you completely finished a bottle to know how much use you will get out of this size!

Colors from left to right: Metallic Polishes 05, 02, 03, 04, and 01.

Review of Born Pretty Magnetic Nail Polish in Aurora Borealis BP-MA06

Recently I showed you a galaxy manicure that featured a gorgeous magnetic polish from the Born Pretty 3D Magnetic Aurora Series called Aurora Borealis. It’s so stunning that I wanted to do a quick review on it, so let’s get started!

This polish comes in the updated Born Pretty packaging. The box instantly makes you think the product is more high end than your drugstore brands, but it also serves the purpose of listing the ingredients and protecting the bottle during shipment. The front side has a cutout window so you can see the color of the polish clearly.

The top of the box also has a sticker sealing the top flap closed while the bottom of the box lists the name of the polish on a sticker.

The bottle itself holds 6 mL of lacquer, so it’s about half the size of what you would normally get from most drugstore brands. No mixing ball is included inside, but you will find a medium sized flexible brush.

Magnetic Galaxy Manicure

Today I’m going to show you a cute little galaxy manicure that was inspired by a nail polish that I recently obtained. Because it’s a magnetic polish, I first painted my nails with Johnny from Julep to provide a dark base.

2 coats of black polish (Johnny from Julep) were applied over a base coat prior to doing anything.

The stunning polish I’m about to show you is Aurora Borealis from the Born Pretty 3D Magnetic Aurora Series, and it’s absolutely beautiful! It has a chameleon effect that shifts from turquoise to a reddish purple in addition to having magnetic qualities. I applied one coat of this over the black polish and then immediately held a cat eye magnet over each nail at a diagonal angle for a few seconds while the polish was still wet so the pattern could form. I swear that my nails actually do look like a real aurora borealis!

Aurora Borealis is a very appropriate name for this polish from Born Pretty.

Review of BeautyBigBang017 Stamping Plate

Hello! Today we’re going to take a look at a stamping plate from Beauty Big Bang. I was super excited when they came out with their own line of plates, so here’s a peek at BeautyBigBang017!

This plate is the same size as other square sized plates from other manufacturers. It is packaged inside a small envelope made of cardstock that is printed with the company information. The back has a simple picture tutorial of how to use the plate.

The packaging can be resealed by tucking the flap into the slit on the back of the envelope.

My only complaint is the same one that I have for a lot of plates: I wish that the packaging had a picture of the plate that was inside of it or that it had a plastic window on the front so you can see what is inside the envelope. As much as it protects the plate from getting scratched, I prefer not to keep my plates in these types of holders because it’s too much of a hassle to have to keep taking plates out from their encasements just to see which designs are on them.

The surface of the plate itself is covered with a thin plastic film (tinted blue) to prevent the surface from becoming scratched during shipment. This layer needs to be peeled off and removed prior to using the plate.

Do use caution when handling the edges as they can be sharp enough to cut you if you handle the plate aggressively. The corners are at least rounded so you can’t injure yourself that way.

Once the plastic film is removed, the true beauty of the designs can be appreciated.

Rainbow Streamers Manicure

Three cheers for surviving the first week back at school! I’ve created rainbow streamers on my nails to celebrate.

The first step is to paint all your nails white. I used a shimmery version from Julep called Steph.

Steph has a slightly pinkish tint to this shimmery white polish, but you only need 2 coats to get full coverage.

For the streamers, I used the image from the top left of the BeautyBigBang017 stamping plate.

To create a rainbow gradient across my nails, I used two colors at a time on the image, scraped the polish twice with a card to blend them slightly, and then stamped it at a diagonal. The polishes come from the Beauty Big Bang Metallic Polish series where 001 is purple, 002 is chartreuse, 003 is kelly green, 004 is turquoise, and 005 is red.