Tammy Taylor Nails

Tammy Taylor Nails has sent me some of their products to review for you guys. Tammy Taylor started her own product line in 1983, and apparently she is well known by nail professionals because her products are used in many salons. She carries a lot of acrylic and gel products as well as regular nail lacquers.

First of all, I was really impressed with their packaging. These foam star cut outs are PERFECT for shipping nail polish. It keeps it snug and in place with plenty of protection from breakage. Then each other item was bagged or sealed in some way. The box was also stuffed with packing peanuts to prevent the items from shifting. So already Tammy Taylor gets 5 stars for packaging!

 Since I'm being honest, here is a negative. I really dislike the website. It is terribly hard to navigate and I couldn't even find the direct links to the polish colors she sent me. For example, you would think to find a polish color you would click "Nail Polish (Colour)" but no. That just has topcoat, thinner, and remover...... Ok well let's click "Polish (Nail Colour)," no such luck. Just links to the gel topcoat and her Polish Accessory Kit.... No actual nail colors.... Then I decided to utilize the search box and type in the name of the polish colors I was sent.... Still can't find it. :( Disappointing!

Z-Coat is her non yellowing topcoat that dries fast and prevents polish colors from fading. 

Found here for $12.

I really enjoyed it! I found it comparable to Seche Vite (my current favorite topcoat), dries fast, self levels, and the quality of the brush itself made application easy.

The other polishes used for this french look are called Ca. French White & Ca. French Pink, but I couldn't find them on the website.

 I masked off my tips with tape, then applied 2 thin coats of Ca. French White before removing the tape. Once that was dry I applied 2 coats of Ca. French Pink over the entire nail and it did a really nice job of softening the entire look. It went on smoothly without being streaky and added a soft pink color to the nail bed. I then used the Z-Coat over everything and it dried quickly with a very glossy finish!

This color is called Pinkalicious, but yet again I couldn't find evidence of it on the website. :(

Pictured is 3 thin coats topped with Z-Coat. The polish was really easy to apply, but didn't self level real well. The formula was very opaque, I imagine this polish would work well with stamping, but I have yet to try it. I thought I could stop after just one or two coats, but it wasn't seeming to self level. I had darker areas and lighter areas. Not quite what I'm used to when I think of a streaky polish, but similar.

Another thing included was the "Cutie-File" 3-in-1 cuticle pusher, shaper, & smoother.  You get a 50pk for $16.95. I was confused at first, but figured it out. You get one pink piece which is made of a thick plastic and each file piece is 320grit on the dark side, and the white side is a cover over adhesive. So you peel off the white backing and it sticks onto the pink plastic. On it's own the file piece is too flimsy to use, but attached to the pink piece, it's perfect. This would be great for any nail professional that needs to switch out files for each client. This would make it really easy.

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Quick French

Here is a pretty simple french tip design I did, and quickly regretted. The rhinestones drove me nuts. 

 A regular white french tip (I used Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud), you can freehand or tape them off, whichever you prefer. Then I used a skinny striper brush to line the smile line with Sally Hansen Rapid Red. Then secured a red rhinestone when I applied topcoat.

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Disney Dumbo French Tips

Disney's Dumbo! Who can say they didn't love that cute baby elephant? I want to get back into doing more cartoon manicures, so I'm easing back in. These are inspired by his little neck ruffle collar. Then I perched his little hat on my thumb.

Here is the step by step of how to do the ruffle nails. I used China Glaze Recycle, Sally Hansen Insta Dri Rapid Red, and Sinful Colors striper in black. The yellow is acrylic paint.

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Disney Princess French - Tiana Inspired

Here's another princess design! I painted her as her frog version self on my thumb. I hoped it would turn out better, but I should have used a different background (it's Orly Ancient Jade). 

It simply blends in too much... :(

I started with masking off my tips and painting Essie Navigate Her.

Then I stamped an image from Konad m36 with Orly Ancient Jade 

(it transferred very lightly which was my intent)

Then I took China Glaze Adore and used my smallest dotting tool to go along the french tip.

Topped it with Seche Vite topcoat.

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Disney Princess French - Belle Inspired

A random throw back to my Disney Princess Inspired french tip nail art design series. 

I wanted to try out Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I started with Duri Rejuvacote as my base coat.

Then applied Barielle Lemondrops as a french tip. Freehand or use tape, whatever you prefer.

Then I mixed up some acrylic paint to be just a little darker yellow. I painted this on like the draping of her ball gown. Overlapping the french tip a bit.

Then I used Konad white polish and Mash-36. It has a rose image with a long stem, but I just used the bud portion of the image. 

I wanted to make it a red rose to fit the movie better, but it didn't turn out. It just looked like red blobs and not roses, so white roses it is!

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Teal and Coral Leopard French

These were directly inspired by Beautopia Nails. She did a beautiful set of teal french tips with a bright coral/orange OPI leopard spots. I used China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, and Kiss Nail Art Striper in black.

These are so bright and fun! I just love the combo of teal and coral too. :)

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Born Pretty - Marquise Studs & Beaded Chain

Another couple of items provided by Born Pretty to review. 

First up are these marquise shaped gold studs. They can be found here for $5.83.

I didn't have any trouble with them. They lie flat and adhered with just wet topcoat. My only preference would have been if they were smaller. They are quite large which limits what all designs you can do. I have another idea in mind that I will try and post at a later date.

For this look, I used KleanColor Cobalt to paint a french tip, then I placed the studs with a dot of topcoat. After that I painted the gold accent swirls with Essie Good as Gold. Then I topcoated the entire look.

The second item is this beaded chain that can be found here for $5.61. It's 100cm in length and that'll allow for a lot of different uses.

In this look, I was trying to line up the beaded chain along the half moon. You can see it didn't really work. :( The chain is too stiff to bend much. I used cuticle nippers to trim off the length I wanted to use, and it cut easily.

 

You can see the edges stick up even under topcoat.... I'm just not loving this beaded chain. I need to find another way to use them perhaps.

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Born Pretty - Foil Metal Bows

I recently received these gold metal bow decals from Born Pretty to review. Here is the look I came up with.

They can be found here for $8.80. 

There are 1,000 bows in each pack.

I stated by painting a basecoat, then taped off french tips and added Sinful Colors Let's Talk (it's much more purple IRL, less blue). Once that was dry, I placed gold striping tape along the smile line. Then I used my topcoat to attach the bows, and 2 coats over top of them to seal them in.

The bows are completely flat, so they wanted to stick up and have rough edges. The material is a thick foil, so I was able to bend them around the handle of my dotting tool with just my fingers to curve them. That helped them to sit better on the nail, but it didn't fix it entirely.

My opinions:

• I wish they would sit better on the nail. They still managed to stick up some which irritates me. 
• The quality is very good and unlike some cheaper alternatives where half of the bows would be defective... all of these were just right. 
• I wish it were offered in smaller quantities for a lesser price. I don't see myself ever being able to use all 1,000.

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French Wolverine

Another superhero inspired french tip. I like that this one is vague enough that not everyone would get it right away. ;)

Tutorial, anyone?

 

Freehand some blue french tips, here I used Sinful Colors Rainstorm.

Then add a yellow stripe to the bottom. I used yellow acrylic paint and a skinny striper brush.

Then add 3 parallel lines coming from the corner. Make sure the middle line is slightly longer than the other 2. I used Kiss Nail Art Striper in silver glitter. Add a thick layer of topcoat!



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French Spiderman

Another superhero inspired french, I'll try to keep coming up with designs and make this a mini series. I'm enjoying it!

 

Spiderman

 

Tutorial:

1. Tape off your tips and paint them a dark red. I used Color Club Red-ical Gypsy.

 

2. Stamp the spiderwebs from BM13 along the french. It's ok if it extends onto the nail bed, spiderwebs are naturally messy. I used China Glaze Millennium to stamp.

3. Stamp the spider from MASH38 onto an accent nail.

I used Konad Special polish in black to stamp.

4. Apply a thick coat of Seche Vite topcoat and while it's still wet, attach some royal blue rhinestones.

 

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French Batman

My Disney Princess French Tip nail art series has proved to be quite popular, especially on Pinterest. (Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas)

 

After my most recent Superheroes nail art I was inspired to try the same thing, but with comic book characters. So first up is a Batman inspired french nail art design.

 

 

 

Tutorial anyone?

 

1. (Should probably apply a base coat and let it dry, which I didn't do here.)

Tape off your tips and paint them with yellow polish. I used Barielle Lemondrops.

 

2. Freehand a small black line along the bottom of the french. I used Kiss Nail Art Striper in black.

 

3. You could be daring a freehand the Batman symbol on an accent nail, but I chose to take the easy route and stamp the bats from the BM13 plate. (I double stamped one of the guys)

 

4. My guys didn't transfer terribly well... probably because it was on my naked nail, so I took my same striper polish in black and darkened them up a bit.

 

5. Allow enough time for your black polish to dry before applying a thick coat of Seche Vite. (Otherwise you'll potentially drag in some places like mine did)

 

What do you think?

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