Neon Stud Nails.

Of course, I love studded manicures and I'm especially enjoying this neon version for summer.

I used a bunch of different colors of both round and square studs from Born Pretty over a base of Sally Hansen Hard to Get.

I'll have to think of more ways to use these neon studs before summer ends because it's the perfect easy but bright manicure.

Neon Distressed Nails.

For my last manicure of January I decided to re-use a technique that I tried for the first time in my January 1st post. 

This design actually incorporates a bunch of my favorite techniques and decorations; distressed streaks, water color, studs, glitter, etc. 

Here's the manicure before the streaks were added, I liked this tie-dye version too.

The polishes I used were Sally Hansen Hard To Get, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, China Glaze Shocking Pink, American Apparel Neon Yellow, Color Club Starry Temptress, and Sephora Formula X Dark Matter. And the studs are these ones from Born Pretty Store.

Hard to believe my month of nail art is over! But there will be more about that in a wrap-up post tomorrow!

Born Pretty Neon Square Studs Review.

During the time I've been blogging here, I've reviewed a lot of things from Born Pretty Store, many times those things being studs. 

At this point there is only so much to be said, but they keep coming out with new studs that I want to share with you! 

Most recently, I've received a wheel of their fluorescent candy colored square studs. The wheel contains twelve different colors, which basically means endless manicure options! I already have lots of ideas of how to put them to good use, but for today's post I tested out two of the colors.

My first time using the studs I decided to do a kind of creepy, neon drip manicure. I thought it would be fun for Halloween. The polishes I used were China Glaze In The Limelight and Wet n Wild Black Creme. Then I finished off my accent nail with the neon green studs. I stuck them on using my typical method, a little bit of topcoat and a dotting tool.

Since I wanted to give using the studs another shot, the manicure you're actually going to find my sporting for Halloween is the one below.

For this manicure I used the same black polish and just added orange studs to the base of each of my nails. I've really been enjoying the simplicity of this one!

In the future I can't wait to combine lots of different colors and play around with my options. Studs are already so much fun to add to any manicure, and even more so when they're in awesome colors.

If you're interested in getting a wheel of your own they cost $7.59, or you can buy different colors individually for $2.99 a bag. As always you can get 10% off any BPS purchase with my coupon code, BRJ61. 

Born Pretty Neon Studs Review.

When I saw that Born Pretty Store had new neon studs I knew I had to try them. I've had good experiences with all of the studs from BPS that I've tried in the past, but this was my first experience with a colored stud. And they're so much fun! They have 11 different color options, the ones I chose were the bright blue (#7) and light lime green (#9.) I also think the neon yellow (#1) is super cool and could make for some awesome summer manicures. (It was sold out when I chose which colors I wanted, but it's in stock now!) 

The studs come in little bags and there are 200 studs in each, plenty to create lots of different designs.

When it came time to put the studs to use, I chose a bright base color (China Glaze Rich & Famous) and went for a random design. As far as application and wear and everything else, these worked just as nicely as any of the other studs I've reviewed in the past.

The only real difference are the colors, which are of course awesome. On the nail I think they give off a kind of candy-esque vibe. You could get more of the colors and do a candy buttons manicure!

The typical metal finish studs create more of a grunge-y look, whereas these are more youthful and fun.

After testing the studs out for this design, I'm sure I'll continue to use them in the summer and spring.

If you want studs of your own, each color is $4.24. And you can get 10% off using the coupon code BRJ61!

Born Pretty Gold Heart Studs Review.

Before I get started on the review for today, I wanted to mention I took a little break from blogging as my winter break winded down and the Spring semester began. Now that I'm back I plan to be doing 3-5 posts a week. 

On to today's post, the item I'm reviewing are the gold heart studs from Born Pretty Store. These are perfect for a Valentine's day manicure. The studs are the perfect mix of girly and grunge. 

To test them out in a manicure I used China Glaze Strawberry Fields as the base color and placed the hearts on my nails using a dotting tool. I used a thick coat of Seche Vite as my top coat and it seems to have done a good job of sealing everything in place.

You can get a bag of these studs (also available in silver) for $5.83, and you can receive 10% off any BPS order using the code BRJ61.

Born Pretty Square Studs Review.

It's time for more Born Pretty Store reviews! The first thing that I was sent this time that I'll be reviewing are the gold square studs. After I tried these studs last time, I knew I wanted to test out something different! I stuck with the gold but chose a 4mm square stud to mix things up.

Studs have quickly become my favorite way to easily take any manicure from just being polished nails to being nail art. 

These studs really do quickly transform any manicure! I chose to put them over top of OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! because I've been loving the dark grey or gunmetal and gold combination lately. (The polish photographed black but it's described as a "black olive" and really looks grey.)

The only thing about these studs is that the 4mm size is definitely a bit on the large side for my nails. If the top of your nails are flatter, this size might be perfect for you but mine are very curved so the studs can't lay completely flat. I'm still happy with them because they lay flat enough that they aren't going anywhere and you can't tell unless you're inspecting the manicure from the side. However, I think that a 2mm or 3mm stud might be better suited for anyone with smaller or more curved nails.

Any of those stud choices is going to be a little less than $6 and as always you can use my BPS coupon code, BRJ61 for 10% off!

Studded Seam Nails.

Adding a few studs overtop of any manicure instantly makes a manicure a million times more fun!

For this design I used Essie It's Genius as my base color and the studs from BPS which I reviewed here.

Born Pretty Golden Studs Review.

This Born Pretty review is one I'm really excited about. I've wanted to try these round studs for a while, and they didn't disappoint!

The studs were easy to apply, I used the same process I would use for rhinestones, pearls, etc. The studs are very flat which gives your nails a really cool embossed look.

I knew the first look I wanted to try with the studs would be a border design, and I loved how things turned out. I decided to try the studs on a darker polish, American Apparel Port, which I think really complimented them. I'm already brainstorming more ways I could utilize the studs for future manicures. 

You can get a bag of these studs from BPS for $5.68, and each bag holds enough studs for many uses. If you're interested in these studs or anything else from Born Pretty, you can use the coupon code BRJ61 to get 10% off!

Born Pretty Steel Ball Wheel Review.

When I was offered to pick a few things to review from Born Pretty Store, I knew that I wanted to test out the steel balls or bullion beads. When I saw this wheel with 12 colors I knew it was perfect!

I've seen a lot of nail art using these steel balls lately for fun studded manicures, but I had yet to see them in person. They were even smaller than I expected when I got them in the mail, which means they don't stick out too far on your nails. The colors in the wheel I received are not exact to the ones pictured on the site. I didn't feel like I was missing out on any important colors though, in fact I didn't notice until I was reexamining the photos for this review! My wheel has pastel green, orange, pastel pink, pastel purple, red, teal, silver, black, gold, iridescent clear, dark green, and a different pale pink.

The steel balls provide a lot of different manicure options. (They're perfect for a caviar manicure if you've been looking to get in on that trend!) I knew I was looking to create a studded manicure.

I used the teal steel balls to create random X's on my nails. Applying them to my nails was really simple and didn't require a learning curve, although it does take a pit of patience and time. I wanted the studs to really stand out so I painted my nails with Wet n Wild Black Creme for the base color. To put the balls on I used Sally Hansen Clearly Quick and an orange stick and once I was finished I secured them with a thin topcoat.

And a thin topcoat seems to be all you need to keep things in place, I've been running my fingers over my new studded nails and admiring the texture quite a bit, and nothing has budged.

I already have lots of plans to use these in the future, they will definitely be a fun addiction to my nail art supplies collection!

If they're missing from your collection, this wheel is $3.33. And as always you can use my 10% off coupon code.

Studded Accent Nails.

One of the requests I received on tumblr recently was for studded nails. I didn't have any nail studs to use, so I decided to make do and play around with rhinestones. 

I painted my nails with OPI Lucertainly Look Marvelous, and then on my accent nails I added a row of rhinestones followed by another coat of Lucertainly Look Marvelous.

I had trouble capturing how pretty this polish is, the shimmer is too perfect.