Butterfly nails using the Leadlight Nail Art technique

Hey Lacquer Lovers!! I am so excited to bring this look to you today, it's a technique I am a total noob at but holy crap is it beautiful if you have the polishes to accomplish it.

So what makes a leadlight nail art you ask? Simple it begins with a light neutral base color like white or cream which you then stamp your chosen image over in black. From here is where you will need sheer or jelly polishes, you want the brightness of the white and the black lines to show through but be painted like stained glass. I personally used the four OPI Sheer Tints polishes, but there are lots of tutorials out there that will show you how to make your own from regular nail polish and top coat if you don't currently own any translucent polishes. The only other thing you really need is a dotting tool, and for me personally I also used a small flat brush for the larger areas of color.

It looks complicated but it's really simple guys you just paint in the images with the colors like you would in a coloring book. It can take a little time if you are a real perfectionist but it is so worth it. This is easily my favorite nail art all year it's so light and bright and airy.

What do you think guys? Have you tried the leadlight technique? Do you like it? What are your favorite polishes to use for this technique? Let me know in the comments :)

Until next time guys
Much Love
Jenn :)

Born Pretty Store Sailor Moon stamping plate review

Good Morning Lacquer Lovers! I certainly hope that your day is going well. I am here again today with another press sample from Born Pretty Store :) Other than the nail art brushes I received and reviewed a few days ago here this is the item I was the most excited to try out. Can you possibly guess why? Yes, you likely got it right, it's because it's a freaking Sailor Moon stamping plate. I am a huge Sailor Moon fan so yea Nail art plus Sailor Moon = Happy Jenn. Anyway here we go with the review!

Pictured above is the stamping plate as I received it. Like all stamping plates I have ever encountered it came covered in a layer of protective film and a proper backing to avoid injury and scraping.
I have also pictured the stamping plate just after I removed the protective film. As you can see even the fine lines are properly engraved. I had no issues getting this image picked up using a normal non stamping grade nail polish (also pictured above)  as it is very well carved and smooth.

There aren't a lot of qualities I ask for in a stamping plate other than it be functional and have a kick butt image to make my nails as pretty as they can be. This stamping plate performs excellently in both of those regards and it is only $1.99 from Born Pretty Stores website . Born Pretty has a wide variety of low priced stamping plates, there is something for everyone :) .

I am hugely satisfied with this stamping plate, I could not have asked for more, it is on par with the quality of my Pueen and MoYou London stamping plates for sure, and I strongly recommend it and let's take a look at why...

BAM look at those nails! I don't like to toot my own horn but holy crap are they awesome! I love the fact that this stamping plate is a continuous image like a big collage. This design allows you to pick up a large section of image and stamp onto more than one nail if you have a stamper large enough to allow that technique. The one large image aspect also allows you to pick and choose which part of the image you put on each nail while still creating a cohesive manicure.

So all in all guys I love it, and I hope that you check out Born Pretty Store for yourself and pick up some rocking nail art gear for very reasonable prices. Don't forget if you shop at Born Pretty Store you can use my discount code AZEW10 for 10% off your entire order :) Happy shopping guys!

Until Next Post

Much Love
Jenn :)

(for those interested the polishes used are Sally Hansen Cinna-snap and Revlon Copper Penny)

Sassy pink animal print nail art

Hey again Lacquer Lovers!! Now that things have settled down after my Dads passing I have been able to get into nail art more again, thankfully I have such a therapeutic hobby.

So for this nail art I've used two lovely colors from the OPI Hawaii Collection called Suzi Shops & Island Hops, and Just Lanai-ing around. I also used a black nail art paint pot for lining by Kiss nails and the tan color is Essie Sand-Tropez.

So I just painted my nails with Suzi Shops & Island hops and allowed it to dry. I then painted the diagonal Sand Tropez parts onto my accent nails (Thumb and ring finger). Next I took a dotting tool and used Just Lanai-ing around to make random oval-ish dots all over the pink areas of the nails. When it was all dry I went back in with my black liner color and filled in the details to complete the look :) . I must say I'm not a HUGE animal print fan but when it's done right I do really like it.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post today :) I look forward to sharing my next nail art with you soon!

Until Next Post
Much Love
Jenn :)

Born Pretty Store nail art stamper and scraper combo review!

Hey lacquer lovers! So today I have another review of a nail art product from Born Pretty Store for you :) This time I'm coming at you with my opinions on a cute and useful little stamper and scraper combo. Let's see how this stamper faired against others that I own.

So I also own a Konad stamper and a MoYou London stamper. This stamper from Born Pretty Store is the exact same in marshmallowy-ness and texture as my MoYou stamper. I did not have to prime this stamper as you do with rubber stampers like my own from Konad. As you can see the scraper is pretty standard and functional also very comparable to the brand Konad. The only thing is, unlike the other brands this one can be purchased on the cheap for $3.74 if you are on a tight budget but want to get into stamping. It works just as well as the other brands, but is more price friendly and might be a good way for beginners to get into stamping without devoting near $10.00 to stamping before you know if it's even for you.

I have included not only photos of the stamper, but also a short video where I showcase how soft and marshmallowy it is, which makes it easier to transfer the images onto your nails without screwing up any polish underneath, it also helps to line up your stamping design because you can just look at the design, line up your finger and smoosh it into the marshmallow stamper for a greater success at perfect placement than with a rubber stamper in my own personal opinion.

Next I wanted to give you all some examples of how it picks up images. Keep in mind that I did not use proper stamping polish so forgive me that it isn't as vibrant as some stamping images are. I have yet to budget proper stamping polish into my nail art rotation. The images transferred to the stamper and then to my nail just as well as either of my other two stampers performed the same task. Even though this stamper and scraper are cheaper than other brands I would still give it a go if you are a beginner stamper or if you want to have a few extras lying around for advanced stamping etc. It never hurts to have a spare stamper and with Born Pretty Stores prices you can't really go wrong.

Without further ado...here are a few shots of the completed nail art I accomplished with the stamper and scraper from Born Pretty Store which can be found here . If $3.74 isn't a low enough price for you :P I encourage you all to use my discount code AZEW10 for 10% off your entire Born Pretty Store order.

I hope this post has been informative for you guys today. I will also have another nail art up today for your viewing pleasure. See you all next time lacquer lovers!

See you next post!!
Much Love
Jenn :)

kawaii kitty Born Pretty Store water decals review

Good morning lacquer lovers :) New experiences abound today as I bring you a review of some super kawaii kitty water decals from Born Pretty Store. Now, I am a total noob with water decals but I wanted to try these adorable little kitties so I figured it would be as good a time as ever to give them a go! Here we go..

So the photos above and below are how the decals came packaged. The backing is a little crinkled but it does not effect the decals themselves, they are all still adhered to the backing and are not cracked or harmed in anyway that would change their functionality.

In the package is one sheet of water decals with 20 little kitty decals in total. There is a small piece of cellophane to protect the images in transit or in storage to prevent them from being damaged so at a super low price of $1.59 I would say it's a good value.

So since I am such a noob with water decals as I mentioned before I quickly googled how to apply them and then went at it. If you are also a noob all you have to do it cut out one of the small images, remove the protective film, saturate the image with water and then separate the decal from the backing with your finger and apply to the nails you want the images to be on :) Of course I follow up with a top coat for extra security but they were securely on there without a top coat as well. It's the same principal as a temporary tattoo but for your nails. These decals are super easy to use, I was scared they would rip or bend while applying them to my nails but they didn't at all, it was a really easy way to get a cute fancy image onto my nails.

At the super cheap price, and ease of application I would definitely recommend these to anyone, especially those of you who love nail art but maybe don't have the time or haven't honed your skills enough yet for intricate nail art. Like nail wraps this gives you a quick and easy way to add a little something extra or special to your nails without a lot of effort or frustration.

If you are interested in picking up some of these cute little kitty water decals, you can get them here from Born Pretty Store. Don't forget that when shopping Born Pretty Store I have a coupon code you can use (who doesn't like discounts??) the code is AZEW10 and you can get 10% off your entire order! So go check them out and get a haul of stuff to do amazing nails! I have other links throughout the post but for ease you can visit them at their website which can be found here -> Born Pretty Store

Here they are applied! Aren't they adorable guys!? I am going to do a more intricate nail art featuring them soon but I really just wanted to apply them over clean white polish for this review so that you could really see the focal point of the decals :) I love them and I can already imagine so many cute nail arts that could be done with this little kitty buddies!

I hope you guys have found this review helpful and that you consider building your stock of nail art supplies through Born Pretty Store. I'm a nail artist on a tight budget and good pricing is really important to me which is why I like to work with Born Pretty Store. I hope you guys can grab some good stuff for pretty nails of your own :)

Until Next time Lacquer Lovers!!

Much Love!!

Jenn :)

An Introduction to Espionage Cosmetics : Make up for all us nerdy gals

Hey Lacquer Lovers! How are you today? Good news!- well at least I consider it good news. I have decided that I am going to move from being just a nail art and polish blogger to also branching out into beauty and fashion. I will also be starting a secondary blog (the nerdy cupcake) that will host some other content about my nerdy loves and interests.  On that note I am very excited to be doing my first beauty post about one of my favorite indie makeup companies Espionage Cosmetics.

Espionage Cosmetics not only makes awesome cosmetics, they make awesome cosmetics based around wicked nerdy themes like Borderlands 2, the Steampunk scene, the Otaku scene,Firefly, girl gamers, and first person shooters. Being a lover of makeup and ALL of the aforementioned things naturally I am a huge fan.

Of course you all know that I love nail art, but that doesn't mean that I don't also love nail wraps. Nail art is complicated, not everyone can do it, and sometimes you don't always have time to put in all the effort for banging nails -but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to have them! Hence the beauty of nail wraps. Many other companies do nail wraps as well but the wraps available from Espionage let us nail art lovers show off our nerdy side with prints ranging from a collage of kittens to circuit boards and D20 and all the way to kickass prints from Borderlands 2.There are even some inspired by Tim Burton for all of us Burton lovers :)

But there's more!!

Something new you may be learning about me is that I love bright colorful eyeshadows, and Espionage Cosmetics has no shortage of fan-tabulous in your face colors. All of the themes I mentioned before do not just apply to Espionage Cosmetics nail wrap line, they also apply to the beautiful eye shadows available.

You can either purchase the shadows one by one slowly growing your collection, or you can purchase them in a stack getting all the themed shades together, heck if you REALLY love it you can even purchase the whole stack of shadows WITH matching nail wraps :P (frankly this seems like the most sensible option to me...).


Now Let's just take a closer look atsome of those shadow collections shall we?

Take it from an avid Borderlands player these colors perfectly match the vibe and art style of Borderlands 2. Just looking at them I see huge laser weapons, loot chests, and beautiful chunks of Eridium ...crap now I need to play Borderlands again (not that that is a bad thing :P)!! I personally can't wait to get my hands on this collection.

Find it here for $35.00

Moving on to the Neo-Victorian collection. Now, I don't know about you but I think these colors look about as Steam Punk as you can get. Evoking thoughts of Bustle skirts, top hats, and sweet sweet metal gears and Steampunk inventions this set is perfect for both those who love the Steampunk scene/ style and also those who just want some fantastic earthy metallic shades in their shadow line up.

Find it here for $28.00

This is another collection that isn't negotiable for me. I need this one as I clearly un apologetically put MANY hours into fps games each week...perhaps each day...anyway..The colors are a perfect mirror image of tanks and guns and camo. Personally I can identify a lot with these colors and the color palettes in the Battlefield series, but they are cohesive with the whole genre really. They also remind me of Poison Ivy so it's kind of double duty for me.

Get it here for $28.00

The Paranormal collection will get you noticed for sure, with a super vibrant red and a deep purple with some ghostly grey and copper to blend the colors out. These colors are for sure the eye shadows you can find on the vanity tables of the most discerning female spectres and spooks.



Find it here for $28.00

The last collection of eyeshadows that I will show off here today is the comic book collection.
There are many more collections on the site but I wanted to feature a good spread without telling you everything that's available. I love to leave some things for surprises when you are shopping :P
What better way to illustrate comic books through color than with some high voltage glitters? All the attitude and ferocity of your favorite heroes an villains can be found in this combo of knockout colors.

Find it here for $35.00



As I mentioned previously the shadows can also be purchased one by one. The prices of individual shadows range from $7.50 to $9.00.

For you lippie lovers don't worry you haven't been forgotten! Espionage Cosmetics also has an ever growing range of lip serums. Pictured above are Rounds 1-3 of their "kiss of death" series. The lip serum shades featured in these two packs face off against one another for superiority and the privilege to adorn your lips! Single lippies are $9.00 and two packs are $17.00.


This company is run by mostly women and can be purchased both online and in booths at many sci-fi and fan conventions throughout the year. If you are in the Calgary area you can stop by their booth at Calgary Expo April 16-19 which is their next convention stop! Don't fret if you aren't in an area that doesn't have conventions because all the products as I have mentioned before can be purchased online here .

So if you guys are nerds who like to be beautiful like me don't forget to check Espionage Cosmetics out. I guarantee you won't be disappointed by what you see.

Until next time guys!!
Much love
Jenn :)

Born Pretty Store nail art brushes review

Heyo lacquer lovers! Exciting news! Today I have a fantastic set of nail art brushes from Born Pretty to review for you! Of course I had some nail art brushes from before from Bundle Monster, but I've had them for nearly two years and they just were no longer standing up to the test of time (heads detaching bristles fraying and falling etc)..therefore I was very excited to spot this super fine (literally) set of nail art brushes on Born Pretty.
The first thing that drew me to this set other than it's amazing price ($3.87 for five nail art brushes!!!) was the fact that the the tips are so fine and therefore I imagine a lot of intricate work that I could accomplish with this set. So here comes the review :) Enjoy!!

So the above photos are when the brushes just arrived in/ just out of package. They do not have a case of their own but this to me is not an issue because I have a setup for all my nail art stuff and I just keep them in the bag with my other horde of goodies. The super fine tips are protected by plastic caps so that the bristles were not damaged during transit and so they stay fresh during storage.

The first thing that I noticed was that the bristles are not too soft but not too stiff, perfect for nail art. You can apply enough pressure behind your strokes to get the details you are after without pulling the polish off the nail. The bristle length is good and not difficult to maneuver or clean, you can get super good control over your art with these brushes. Another key factor in liking these brushes for me was that they don't shed bristles (yay!) and upon arrival and throughout the first few uses none of the metal heads have come unglued from the handles!! I know this doesn't seem like a lot to ask, but I had a serious issue with this using my last set of nail art brushes so I was happy that it doesn't seem to be an issue this time around.

Next I wanted to get you guys some close up pics of the brush heads so you can see detail of how fine they are. These photos are straight out of the package, the photos in the collage below are after the first use. The only thing I could say is that because I used black on white bristles for the flat brush I got a bit of staining on the bristles, but it has not affected their functionality and it is just staining, there is no black that comes off in other colors so frankly I'm not bothered by a little bristle staining.

I tried to exhibit how fine and controlled of lines you can create with these brushes in a simple black and white patterned nail art. This nail art has no particular theme, it was purely designed to show a stark contrast between the work accomplished with the nail art brushes and the background. Creating these lines and details took little to no time and effort as the brushes are extremely easy to work with, I would highly recommend them to nail artists of all skill levels, with their price point you can't really go wrong.

If you are interested in these nail art brushes you can find them here on Born Pretty. Don't forget that if you want to pick them up you can use my coupon code AZEW10 for 10% off your entire order :)

Well I hope you guys liked this review, and that it gave you some insight on nail art brushes. Don't forget to check out Born Pretty, it's a great budget friendly place to get lots of nail art and beauty supplies :)

Until next time Lacquer lovers!

Much Love
Jenn :)