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Friday, August 16, 2013

Before & After: Skelepunk!

(Some of the products in this post were provided for review. These are marked with '*')

Hello!

Recently, Born Pretty Store sent me a few items to review. One of the items was water decals*, which I don't think I've ever used before--if I have, it's been so long I can't really remember. Anyway, because I love all things Halloween, I chose that theme out of the four available. :)

For the base of my test manicure, I chose Finger Paints Sketch-y, a reddish-brown shimmer that nearly covers in one coat (I have two here just to be sure):


Finger Paints Sketcy-y, direct sunlight

Finger Paints Sketch-y, direct sunlight

Next, I layered over a coat of Lucky 13 Lacquer's Phoenix Lament, a yellow and orange shred glitter that looks like flames licking at your polish (can't wait to use this in a 'girl on fire' manicure!):


Lucky 13 Lacquer's Phoenix Lament over Finger Paints Sketch-y, artificial light




Next it was time to test out the water decals. Here is the set I chose:


Halloween Decals FTW!

And here are close-ups of each section:









The instructions are simple, and the decals are very easy to apply. Basically, you cut out your design, soak it in water for about 20 seconds, slip off the decal from the backing, put it on your nail, and cover with polish. 





I chose the cool skeleton guy sitting behind a pumpkin, and applied with no problems at all. The decal came off easily from the backing, and was easy to work with. It stayed where I put it when I wanted it too, didn't slip and slide everywhere, but when I wanted to move it to adjust it, I was able to do so. Here is the end result: 







There is a lot I love about these decals. I love how easy they were to apply; no special tools, no wishing you had three hands. I love the detailing on the decal, with all the different colors and teeny designs, which would be hard to get with stamping or free-hand. I also love how fast these are to apply--literally seconds is all it takes. 

However, there were also things I wasn't in love with about these. Some of the images I was most excited about (the faux 'portrait' images) turned out the be too small to really see the detail; if you look at the pictures above, you'll notice the details of the spooky pictures are really hard to see, and you can't tell what they are in some cases, even. This isn't a problem with most of the decals, but you definitely want to take that into account when deciding if there are images here that you'll use for the price. I've included a picture below with my thumbnail so you can see the relative size and detail of the decals: 





For me, there are enough decals on here that I can use to make this worth purchasing at the $3.99 price; for you, that might be different. The good news on this point is that two of the other sets, the nautical decals and the mask decals, have a higher percentage of useable images: 


Okay, to sum up: First, I love my little manicure! The glitter polish is gorgeous, and the little skele-puniken guy is extremely cute. In terms of the product, I think these are great for nail art if there are enough images in the set that you feel you'll use; the ease of use is amazing and the quality is extremely good.

Don't forget that I have a 10% off coupon that you can use for these and/or anything else in the Born Pretty Store that you want:


If 10 people use the code, Born Pretty Store will sponsor a giveaway on my blog. :)

Thanks for looking, I hope you liked the manicure! Hugs and loves,
M.

(The decals in this post were sent for honest review. The other products were purchased with my own money.)

21 comments:

  1. What a fun manicure! Those water decals look great! :)

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    1. I love them. Just don't let them dry out *before* putting them on the nail--I learned that tonight when I tried to put on another one and did it a bit differently!

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  2. I really like this manicure! The decals seem so easy to use, I might have to order some soon! Also, I really need to order some more Lucky 13 Lacquer polishes and soon (:

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    1. I am starting to be a real fangirl for Lucky 13--great stuff!

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  3. I love that Lucky 13 polish (darnit, I just wrecked a drying nail typing that)! I'm glad you reviewed the decals. I just received my first BP order, and it included some water decals, which I have not tried yet. I've used everything else and it is mostly great value (I have a bone with the bottle/brush for the gorgeous holo I bought).

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    1. NO, nail wrecking is not allowed on my watch!!! :) I learned tonight when I thought I'd get cute with them that you don't want to let them dry out *before* you put them on your nail. Put them on the nail while still wet, then let it dry or dry it off. It creates a seal that way, otherwise the decal wants to stay flat. :(

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    2. Also, thanks for the information about the holo. I was wondering about those...

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    3. The polish formula was not bad-not quite as good as Color Club, but still very decent. The holo effect was fab. I needed 3 coats (I need two with Color Club), but it could be due to the awful brush/cap design. The brush itself is fab (love it!), but the wand is not long enough, so after a couple of uses I had to tilt the bottle to get polish on brush. Additionally, the cap is square, so you cannot roll the brush to use other side. I had to pause, use hand I was painting to turn brush, resume. If they would fix these issues, I think it would be a worthwhile buy.

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    4. Ugh!! That does sound like a ton of not-fun. :(

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  4. Cool review! I need some halloween decals!

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  5. I really love the decals! They're gorgeous, I love any Halloween related products but these are gorgeous. Might have to get some!

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    1. I'm with you...I'm such a sucker for Halloween. :)

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  6. I guess it must be a "cultural divide" thing, because Halloween does not appeal to me at all (not just skulls :)), but the mani is still adorable - the "Lucky 13" is amazing!!
    Ah, and the water decals by themselves are really fun & simple to use.

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    1. I can see how that would be. I have a ton of fun memories of Halloween that fuel my love of it. I think most cultures have something equivalent, but the particular direction that Halloween takes it with the costumes and such is definitely not universal!

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    2. True. And sure we have the mardi gras type of festivities and carnivals, with the costumes and some (freakishly disturbing, lol) national creatures, but with different themes/motives - of driving away the winter and welcoming the spring, etc.
      I mostly associate that time with doughnuts :D

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    3. I've always wanted to see a real-live Mardi Gras celebration...someday!! :)

      And, mmmmm.....doughnuts....nom nom nom

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