Category: PR Sample

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Born Pretty Store Review — Potted Plant Stamping Plate L036 item #38420

Good morning! I was recently sent some awesome items from Born Pretty Store for review & I can’t wait to show off what I received. Today I’m reviewing this Potted Plant Harunouta Stamping plate L036 (item #38420) featuring my current garden obsession–cacti! 🌵

As soon as I saw this plate, I knew I needed it! I’ve been trying to get into stamping more, even though I find it a tad challenging. This cute plate comes in it’s own little envelope, sealed with blue plastic to protect it from scratches. For this manicure, I was inspired by some outfits I recently bought for my son, & thought this plate would be perfect to recreate the look! 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: L’Oréal All in One
  • Top Coat: Essie Speed Setter
  • OPI That’s Hula-rious 
  • OPI Care to Danse
  • Born Pretty Store Black Stamping polish (from this set) 
  • Harunouta Potted Garden stamping plate L036 —item #38420
  • Born Pretty Clear Jelly Stamper 

For stamping, I used the Born Pretty Store brand stamping polish which I received as part of another set for review. I am still relatively new to this stamping thing, so it took me a little bit to get the hang of stamping. My advice–do not try to do this at midnight when you’re sleep deprived. I tried a couple different looks–including filling in the design. I also tried a couple different stampers in my collection but decided on my clear Jelly stamper (also from Born Pretty.) It took me a couple tries to figure out how to pick up the images perfectly, but as you can see when it finally worked for me, the images were perfect. 

For this particular design, I stamped both the cactus pattern on my middle finger & the stripes on my pinky. The black stamping polish was definitely the best for picking up the images (I tested with some of my other blacks & couldn’t pick anything up). You definitely have to move quick though–if you wait too long, you won’t pick up anything! But even with all the work, the end result is gorgeous. & I couldn’t stop staring at my nails. 

All in all, I love this stamping plate. For me the cactus is what caught my eye (because cactus! 🌵) but their are so many cute designs to choose from depending on the occasion. I can definitely see myself using this plate for a while slew of occasions! You can definitely expect to the cute images from this plate pop up again! 

If you’re interested in ordering this plate (or something else) from Born Pretty Store feel free to use my discount code COFFK31 to save 10% off any regular price items! I’ve been ordering from them for years, & I love the wide variety of products you can find for all your nail polish addict needs! 

Stay tuned. I have a few more items coming out to share! 

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My Nail Care Routine featuring Mont Bleu 

It’s been a really long time since I posted a nail care post, & since I’ve recently incorporated some new products I’m in love with, I thought I would share what I do for nail care. For me, I like to do my full nail care routine once a week but I obviously file & moisturizer more often than that. 

Recently I was sent some products from Mont Bleu to review. They produce Czech made crystal nail files & other nail care products. For review, I received a three piece crystal nail set, crystal cuticle pusher & cuticle scissors. I’ve always been a major fan of crystal nail files, but it wasn’t until I started using the Mont Bleu products I realized what a difference good quality product can have! 

For my nail care routine, after removing my nail polish with nail polish remover I always start off by giving my nails a good file. If I only need to tidy up my nails a little I use the medium sized filed from Mont Bleu. If I need to trim any considerable length from my nails, I prefer to use the larger size. (The mini sized file from the set I keep in my purse for potential nail emergencies!) I’ve used crystal nail files for years, but these are a step above. I find they file so easily & smoothly & leave my tips feeling much smoother. I’ve been using these files for over a month now, & they have made a huge difference in the health of my nails. They don’t leave any cracks at my tips which I’ve found can happen with other files I’ve used. Also when it comes to filing down significant length, these files do it in less than half the time of other files I’ve used. 

Next step, I used a good cuticle remover. Right now I’m loving Butter London Melt Away which I find is gentle but effective. I start by applying it along my cuticles, & then push back my cuticles gently using the Mont Bleu glass cuticle pusher before rinsing them off. This was my first time using a glass cuticle pusher & I was nervous because glass ( & the edges feel kind of sharp to the touch) but this pusher is surprisingly gentle. It doesn’t take much pressure at all to push back your cuticles, unlike using my previous rubber pusher. Also I was happy to see it cleaned & washed easily without being ruined by the product. Next, I always make sure to apply cuticle oil after using remover & pushing them back. 

Next I like to use a good hand/cuticle scrub on my nails. My Mom gave me this Mary Kay scrub years ago, & I’m still using it. I tend to concentrate on my nails/cuticles with it so I don’t end up using a lot of product. (If you have any recommendations for some good cuticle scrubs, let me know!) 

Next step of my routine is to clip off any loose skin/potential hang nails. I don’t snip my actual cuticles, but I do make sure to clip off any spots that are potential problem areas. These cuticle scissors are great because they’re sharp & precise. They’re also the perfect scissors for applying nail decals, which I’ll have a post showing soon! 

Final step? Moisturizer moisturizer moisturizer! The bottle I’m showing above is a mixture of a whole slew of creams I like including Vaseline Healthy Hands & Nails, Vaseline Intensive Care Advance Care, & even some of my sons baby cream! I make sure to always have cream on me or near me, and apply it as much as possible. 

So that’s my nail care routine! Like I said I only do the full routine about once a week but I make sure to file my nails a few times a week, & moisturize & oil my nails daily. 

If you’re looking for some quality nail care products, you should definitely check out the products offered by Mont Bleu. I thought that all crystal nail files were the same, but after using these products I know now that is definitely not true! In the month I’ve added these products to my routine, there has been a great change in my nails. On top of that, the product itself is just gorgeous! You can check out Mont Bleu by clicking the links below:

As well, you can use the code BLOG to save 20% off your purchases at their E-shop! 

What is your current nail care routine must have? Let me know in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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Rockstar Nails 

Happy Wednesday Everyone! So I recently upgraded my little iPhone 5c to the much more impressive iPhone 6s so expect my photos to start looking much more awesome! However, I still have some old pictures on my 5c left for posting in the mean time so I might mix them up. It all depends on how easily I can transfer the pictures. But for right now, I have these fun star nails to share! 

For this manicure, I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formulas Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • China Glaze Ever Glaze Optimal Opal 
  • Revlon Gwen’s Crush
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Star Spiral Stencils

Once again, I pulled out my Xroma vinyls for these nails. These star spiral stencils are great because you get two vinyls in one! I also grabbed my bottle of Revlon Gwen’s Crush which I haven’t worn longer than I can even remember. Gwen’s Crush is from the 2014 Amazing Spider-Man 2 collection Revlon released & one of the collections in the early days of my blog I freaked out about. It’s such a pretty colour–why oh why do I let these colours get lost in my stash for so long? It makes me sad. 

What are you wearing on your nails on this Wednesday? Let me know in the comments below! 💗

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SWATCH POST: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Summer 2017

I know, it’s not Sunday. But I do have some super exciting swatches to share today featuring the new Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d colours for 2017. As you might have noticed, I’ve got quite the affinity for the whole Quo by ORLY brand so I was beyond excited when these beauties showed up at my door for me to play around with. Just look at these colours! If you’re looking for some perfect Summer neon-esque shades, that need no white undies, look no further. 

Quo by ORLY  Je T’Aime L’Ocean

Holy Moses, just look! That blinding Mint is 2 coats plus the Color Amp’d flexible sealcoat. All these Summer shades are impressively saturated, & covered the whole nail easily. The brush on the Quo bottles are my favourite–they’re so wide that it only takes a few strokes to fill my whole nail. I also just love the blinding-ness of this shade. I feel like I should be wearing sunglasses while staring at them. When I think about Summer nail polish, this is what comes to mind. 


Quo by ORLY J’adore

I’m going fine honest, my camera did not want to accurately capture this shade. At all. It’s much more Coral-y in person, but my iPhone absolutely freaked out & showed it much more pink so you’ll have to trust me. Either way, this polish only needs to easy coats & its blinding neon-ness makes me want to wear it all day, everyday. These shades are perfect for me, because they really bring out my olive undertones to make me look so tanned (or compliment my tan when deeper into Summer.) 


Quo by ORLY Summer Bisou

The first thing that comes to mind when I look at this polish is juicy, like fresh raspberries. Seriously this is the hot pink of my dreams & I love everything about it. Again all it needed was 2 coats, plus the sealcoat for this dreamy perfection & lasting power. Toes, fingers… this is definitely a great shade for the whole Summer. I usually have hot pink shades on my own toes for the Summer months, so I can see myself putting this on soon! I have a pair of sandy brown gladiators this shade would look awesome with! 

If you’re a Canadian girl & looking for some perfect Summer colours, you can find these polishes right now at your local Shoppers Drug Mart for $10.99 each. If you’re wondering my personal favourite, I think I’m going to have to go with Summer Bisou but Je T’Aime L’Ocean is definitely a close second. 

Has anyone else tried out these shades yet? Let me know your thoughts & which one is your favourite in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* These items were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 

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Craving Spring with Wavy Pattern Nails

TGIF! I mean I’m on maternity leave so sometimes I forget what day it actually is. But it’s supposed to be semi-warm & sunny this weeekend & some what Spring-like so I am very excited for the weekend to come! So in honour of the sunny days to come, I did this wavy design using some Spring shades & wavy nail vinyls from Xroma Polish and Vinyls. 

For this manicure I used:

  • Base Coat: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat
  • Top Coat: Cutex Quick Dry Top Coat
  • China Glaze Ever Glaze Don’t Grape About It
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • ORLY Gumdrop
  • Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Babe Blue 
  • Xroma Polish and Vinyls Skinny Waves Nail Vinyls
  • Dotting tool

I’m loving these vinyls from Xroma Polish and Nail Vinyls! They’re just so easy to use. This manicure only took me about 1/2 hour to do (after my initial polish had dried) including placing all my vinyls. & no issues with polish bleeding under the vinyls, which I hate so much. Even better, these wave vinyls were long enough I could cut them in half on some nails which meant I used less. 


This colour combination looks so pretty together, I love it. What is it about purple & mint that looks so stunning when paired? Definitely just feels like Spring-time to me. 💜 

What do you think of these wavy patterned nails? What colours are you wearing most lately? Let me know in the comments below.