Nail Art Review.-Curved Rhinestone Bows from The Born Pretty Store.

Hi friends!

I deserve a slap for neglecting my blog for so many months! 2013 has been a rough year for me mentally and physically, but I'm trying my best to throw myself back into the world. New year, new start, right? I have been jotting down ideas for posts over the past couple of months though, so stay tuned for lots of fun things!

Anyways! Enough about me! Let's get to the fun stuff!

I want to talk to you about a product that I received (roughly 4 months ago) from an online nail art supply shop called The Born Pretty Store. These are their 'Silver Crystal Bow Knots'.


They come in packages of 10 for $5.99. (The site always provides free worldwide shipping on orders)

As you can see, they're slightly curved, which is FANtastic!

There are so many cute bow charms out there for purchase, but the majority of them are flat, so the edges stick off of the nail on both sides. I can't tell you how many times I've seen girls sporting adorable bow manis, only to think 'how the heck does that bow not snag on things?!' Don't get me wrong, they're adorable for photo purposes, but not suitable for those of us who want to wear a 'comfortable' mani. (I can't imagine those surviving through housework.) If you can make them last, please tell me your secret!



Each of these bows has 19 tiny rhinestones embedded in a metal setting.

I have used these bows a total of 3 times since I received them. Each time falling so in love with how they accentuate a manicure.



This was the first manicure I created using these bows. I used Shell-O by China & some swarovski gem stones to complete this mani.  You can really see how nice and flat it lays on my nail here. A few of the bows in the package had a gem stone or 2 that were raised or a tad out of place, but its nothing too noticeable at average distance. I applied topcoat to adhere the bow & then i applied more topcoat just around the edges to help seal it on. Believe it or not, this manicure lasted me 1 full week & when I went to remove it, I had to literally soak my finger in acetone for 1 minute until the bow would remove. I was very impressed by its resistance!

The second manicure i created lasted equally as long. I feel like having the base of your nail exposed when wearing these bows really accentuates the look, it also looks more delicate than having the entire nail painted.  For this look, I used Shower Together by China Glaze, Snow Me White by Sinful Colors & a loose silver glitter from www.snookisofficicialtwin.net.

Lastly, I used the beautiful Wrapped In Red made by Lumina Lacquer, Did You Ear About Van-Gogh? by opi, black acrylic paint & some swarovski gem stones to create this manicure. 

I didn't keep this mani on very long because I was swatching other polishes, but I may recreate something similar to wear over the holidays! They look fabulous on red!

After I removed each bow, I used a q-tip & some acetone to clean up around the back and sides & voila! They're reusable! 

I will most definitely keep on using these beauties. Its such a quick & easy way to bling up any manicure. What more could a girl ask for? lol.

The direct link to the bows can be found right here http://www.bornprettystore.com/silver-bowknot-shape-crystal-stickers-acrylic-nail-p-4166.html

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Decmeber! I'll be back soon with another post! 

Comment below & let me know what you'd like to see from me in the future! I'd love to hear your feedback.!

xo-Jessie

Cuticle Care

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all having a great week!

I've been pondering about what my first 'official' post should be, and I thought 'why not start with the basics?' I get asked frequently how I keep my cuticles so 'nice'. To me, this is such a weird concept. Only because for years I had issues with dry skin & a habit of biting my cuticles.(gross right?) They were so bad at one point that it was literally painful. I knew i had to stop. I was creating art on my nails yet ashamed to show my fingers to anyone. I started this journey with cracked, dry, nasty cuticles. I am now proud of how healthy I have gotten them to be. I hope this post will help anyone who is in the same or a similar boat.

I will try my hardest to give the best advice possible. Please keep in mind that I am not a professional. My 'tips & tricks' are things that have worked extremely well for me.

First, lets talk about nail polish remover. It's a necessity for all of us girls who love polish. I've tried many brands. From Cutex, Sally Hansen, Opi to no name brands. None of them were satisfying. I am a girl who uses a lot of glitter so i NEED a good remover. By a good remover I mean a strong remover that still has vitamins & minerals in it to replenish your nails.

Last June, I purchased a membership to Sally Beauty Supply and thats where I found my dream remover. Beauty Secrets Acetone. This product has Wheat Protein & vitamin E infused into it. It is not 100% acetone. It removes polish without hesitation. Darks, neons, & subtle glitters. Obviously for the heavier glitters you've got to hold the remover on your nail for a minute or two until it penetrates through, but it is much more effective than any other brand(for a GREAT price! this huge litre bottle was around $8 CDN. They come in 3 sizes. Small($3), Medium($4.50) & large($8) (which is what I have.)

This company does make acetone in pure form, but let me just say, if you have natural nails I do not recommend removing your everyday manicure with it. I own a very small bottle of the 100% acetone, and the only time I use it is when I am cleaning up my manicure. I will take a small angled eyeliner brush dipped in the acetone & lightly run it across my cuticles.

When using any nail polish remover, I suggest washing your hands right after.  The last thing you want is the acetone to eat away at your skin & dry out those cuticles!



Second, cuticle products. There are 2 things that I always use.

1. Cuticle 'remover', which I promise isn't as scary as it sounds. All it does is soften your cuticles and makes it really simple to push them back. Some people use a tool to push them back. I just use my thumb on the opposite hand. To make this process even easier, apply it right when you get out of the shower. Your cuticles will be nice & hydrated, super soft, and easy to push back. I will do this before each and every manicure i do.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT EVER cut or clip your cuticles. You are just asking for an infection. If yours are way out of control i suggest going to a professional to have them taken care of.

2. Cuticle Oil. This is a must. My new motto is 'oily cuticles are happy cuticles' because it is so true! I apply it at least twice a day. Once in the morning, and once before i go to sleep. I wear latex gloves at my job for 4-6 hours a day, so mine need a little extra love. Most people can get away with just applying it once a day.

Here are the products that i use religiously. I have been using them all since last november & I have repurchased both Essie products 3 times since then.

The green tube(far left) is "Disappearing Trick" by Essie which is the cuticle remover.

The blue tube(far right) is 'Smoothing Trick' by Essie which is the cuticle oil.

& the pretty bottle in the middle is also cuticle oil by Island girl(it has pretty little dried flowers inside & smells amazing!). I prefer the one by Essie, only because i just feel like Island Girl is not as hydrating. It will work fine for those of you who just need to maintain healthy cuticles, not transform them.

That pretty much sums up my cuticle care routine. Some people use lotions on a daily basis. I don't do this very often. I find my process to be very sufficient & it does what i need it to do.

I really hope this blog post was helpful! If I forgot anything, please feel free to leave questions in the comments. Also if there are any topics you would like me to address don't hesitate to leave those suggestions down below as well.

Take care everyone & happy painting!

Jessie. <3

An Interview With Myself (lol)

Hello & Welcome to my blog! 

I figure I should introduce myself a little bit in my first post....so..

-My name is Jessica-Anne. (My friends call me Jessie)

-I'm Canadian

-I am 25 years old. 

-I have been obsessed with painting my nails & attempting my own nail art for about 9 months now. 

-It all started last April when i received a Konad stamping kit from my boyfriend. I was instantly obsessed and played with it everyday for about a month. 

.-I joined Instagram around the same time & started posting photos of my nails. As much as I loved what i was doing, I wasn't happy with my posts. I saw so many amazing nail artists on Instagram that were doing their own hand drawn nail art & their designs and photos were incredible. I thought 'Why can't I do that?!'  There are just endless possibilities. Stamping is fun but limited. 

-My first non stamping nail art that I ever attempted was a cupcake design.

-I got great feedback from my followers on these & I was honestly pretty proud of myself. I didn't have any dotting tools at that time. (if only I knew how cheap they were on eBay lol) so I was using the end of a makeup brush for large dots & the end of a bobby pin for smaller ones. 

-Over the past few months, I've done a few things.

-I've started taking care of my cuticles, they were honestly terrible before. I used to bite them. I know that sounds disgusting, I used to hide my hands because I was ashamed that I did that. I can be a nervous person sometimes, and at the time that was a way to distract myself. So gross. Anyways, I kept practicing nail art, and as I saw myself improving I was feeling more encouraged to stop biting them and start taking care of them. I didn't want to have cute nails and jacked up cuticles lol (plus it was painful sometimes). So I got myself 2 products by Essie Disappearing Trick & Smooth Trick 

(photo is from Oct 2012, about a month after i started using these two products) 

They both did wonders for me, and still do. I've repurchased both of these items a few times, as I use them every day or every second day. I will dedicate an entire blog post to cuticle care in the near future.


-I started maintaining my nails. They were always long, but sometimes too long, or uneven, or just not flattering. I regularly file them now & always wear a strengthening base coat. 


-I started paying attention to my hand poses, I try to get as straight on as possible when photographing. I also try my best to get even lighting. Natural light is the best lighting possible, but when I can't take a photo in the day, I use a lamp with a Daylight bulb(which I found at Walmart)  I will go further in depth with photo & lighting tips in a later post. 


Here is a water marble design I did a couple of weeks ago(using Fuchsia Rage-Nina & Frost Bite-China Glaze) 

As you can see, my photo quality has drastically changed.

(Glitters are from www.bornprettystore.com Use my coupon code IJNK31for 10% off your entire order. They have free world wide shipping as well.)


I have created this blog to start documenting my journey in Nail Art. I am not a professional, but I have some tips to share that I have learned along the way, and hopefully they will be helpful to some people. 

I really love doing this, and I am excited to share my work with you all <3

-Jessie 


-Find me on-
 Instagram @jewsie_nails
www.facebook.com/jewsienails
www.youtube.com/jewsienails

xox