This morning, I got an email informing me that The Chain Nail is one of the Top Manicure & Pedicure Blogs by Online Cosmetology School! 

I'm truly honoured to be featured on this list, and I'm glad that people out there find my blog to be a helpful resource. I would like to thank the Online Cosmetology School, and also my fabulous readers, as this blog is nothing without all of you =)

You can find the list here. Also be sure to check out all the other great blogs that have been listed there :)

CosmetologySchool.org

Hema is a Dutch drugstore brand which sells nail polish, among other products. Unfortunately, it's one of those brands which numbers their polishes instead of naming them *meh*

This one is number 81. It's an aqua blue which was impossible to photograph. I tried all lightings and settings, with no luck :(  The colour is so bright and vivid in real life that it freaked my camera out. My camera refused to focus on the colour. I've honestly had lesser problems photographing purples and neon yellows! After about an hour of  dancing on one leg and standing on my head trying to photograph this polish, this was the closest I got to the colour....Imagine it with a bit more green to it, and deeper than what my photos show. 

As far as application is concerned, the polish is neither too thin nor too thick, and requires three medium coats to become completely opaque. The colour is bright and in-your-face, which I like and it has a very glossy finish. Swatches are with top coat.

I will be reviewing some more Born Pretty products today. I received a box of acrylic paints and a set of glitters.

The acrylic paints are great for freehand nail art. They are quite easy to use and as you can see, my first try wasn't bad. I love gradients on nails, they look different and eye-catching but they can be a pain to create with regular nail polish. However, it was a piece of cake with these paints; they blend so well and are very saturated  =) I also painted black hearts on the first nail and I think it looks pretty darn awesome! The set consists of 12 acrylic paints, 2 brushes(size 000) and 2 mixing palletes, so it's got everything you need to start with freehand nail art.

The glitters are sooo pretty! Some of them flash different colours, like the orange glitter that I used below flashes lime green . Born Pretty also sells nail glue which I used to stick the glitter dust.

Born Pretty ships internationally at affordable prices. There is such a huge variety of products, which are inexpensive and are of great quality to go along with that =) It's a dreamland for all nail art enthusiasts!

*These products were sent for review by the company/ PR firm for the company*

I'm really loving the image plates by Born Pretty and I did a manicure for Mum using one of them. 

First was a base of Essence-Surferama, which went on really smoothly and took two thin coats to be opaque and even. I then stamped the floral design with unnamed white polish and Born Pretty plate m05. Still, I felt that the mani need a little something extra, so I got out a Nail Star nail art pen and did a random dot pattern. 

I'm having loads of fun experimenting with these plates and they have widened the options of the different types of nail art designs and combinations I can create =) They are a great product for all those interested in nail art, being really affordable and easy to use!

There are a variety of nail art stamping sets available at Born Pretty, ranging from $3.49 to $22.32. Born Pretty ships internationally for really low prices. So what are you waiting for? Go check em out!

*These products were sent to me for review by the company/ PR firm for the company.*

Today I have a manicure using one of the image plates that were sent to me by Born Pretty. Born Pretty is an etailer which sells a wide variety of nail art products at really affordable prices. 

For this manicure I used two designs from image plate m07(scroll down for a pic of image plate). I think it turned out really cute. The Born Pretty stamper is a little stiffer than the Konad one, you need to apply more pressure while picking up the image. The scraper though worked pretty much the same as the konad one.  

The image plates themselves have some really interesting and cute designs. Unfortunately, it took me took about one hour  to realize that these plates have a thin plastic protective sheet, which you need to remove before use. You should have seen me at first, desperately trying to get the stuff to work, I was hysterical :p And then I think I scraped a bit hard, and scraped off a bit of the plastic, only then did I realize that there was a protective sheet on the plates, haha :P

 I am looking forward to playing around with these image plates and creating  more manicures with them =) I'm sure I'm gonna be using these a lot. I'm one happy girl right now!

Image plate m07:

There are a variety of nail art stamping sets available at Born Pretty, ranging from $3.49 to $22.32. Be sure to check them out =)

*These products were sent to me for review by the company/ PR firm for the company.*

Yup, that's right =) Hahaha! In my previous post I showed you swatches of Cheeky Monkey-One Nite Stand. I really liked the colour, so I decided to use it in my next manicure for Mum. 

  I did one thick coat of it as a base, and then stamped the pattern with Konad image plate M57 and another polish from Cheeky Monkey, that is Raunchy Bitch. & that's the same polish on the tips and sides. The white lines are my Nail Star nail art pen, topped off with one coat of some  cheap W7 top coat. I quite liked how this manicure turned out =)

& also check out Varnish Vixen's giveaway here

 Doesn't Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics have the most awesome names for their polishes? Whenever I'm wearing one of them, I always hope that someone will ask me what polish I'm wearing ;D

This one is called One Nite Stand *giggle* It's a soft pink (although not pastel) with subtle, but noticeable pearl shimmer. It was pretty nice to apply. Smooth and opaque in two coats, though one has to be a tad bit careful with application to avoid brush-strokes. However, even if you do end up with brush-strokes, they will disappear completely with one coat of topcoat.

This was such a nice and fresh colour, I did enjoy wearing it =) 

This is the last of the Superstar nail lacquers that I have to show you. It's called Teterboro Teal and belongs to the Party in the City Collection. 

It has a gorgeous blue base with green shimmer, giving a combined teal effect. These kind of colours have been a big trend this summer, and I can see why. It looks incredible on the nails and the colour definitely makes a statement. I got quite a few compliments on this lacquer. But now I'm gonna wait till next spring/summer to wear it, coz this colour is not really for fall. 

The swatches are shown with top coat. The polish is actually greener than the pictures show, not as blue. Okay, enough blabbering, enjoy the pics =)

Check out their website here. You can buy Superstar Nail lacquers for $45 for a set of 5 or $10 each.

*These products were sent to me for review by the company/ PR firm for the company.*

This mani has been appearing all over the internet since quite a while now, so you have probably seen it before. But of course I had to try it out myself, so here is my version. I have only one konad plate, M57, but luckily that is the one which is needed for this mani, yay! 

For the base, I painted two buttery coats of Catrice- Sold Out Forever, which is a dupe for the much coveted Chanel Jade. It is an absolutely gorgeous pale mint green with subtle shimmer that only comes out in strong sunlight. It's a shame that I let it sit in my untrieds for so long. I then stamped on the leopard print with Glitter Gal 3D Black, and filled in the colours with Nail Star nail art pens. 

This is a really fun manicure and  having loved it so much, I'll definitely try it out again with different base colours =)

Close up: