Review: Born Pretty Store

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about my experience shopping with Born Pretty Store! BPS had a Chinese New Year 15% off coupon code running, so I decided to make an order! ^.^ I ordered on the 1st of Feb, and was immediately informed via email that they are on holiday until the 7th of Feb for CNY. I forgot about the order untill the 26th of Feb, when I decided that I would track my order. I was extremely surprised to see that the tracking showed the package being picked up from BPS on the 25th of Feb. 

That means that after the one week holiday for CNY, BPS took three weeks to package and post my wee parcel. I emailed the customer service to inquire why it took three weeks to send the package. Their reply was that they sent it after one week, and that the Hong Kong Post was to blame instead. I have no idea what happened, but the package arrived one week after being "picked up", making the order/shipping time (minis the holiday) almost one month long, despite the actual shipping taking only one week.

I origionally wanted to make an order from BPS because I wanted some super cheap and super tiny bows for nail art! ^.^ So what did I end up purchasing?

Lovely Cute Black Rhinestone Crystal Bowknot Bow Tie Adjustable Ring 
1 Pair Lovely Bowknot Black Rhinestone Crystal stud earrings 

These are a super cute earring and ring set! The ring is a perfect size and super sparkly, but I find the earrings a little big and pretty dull in comparison to the ring. :S You can see the difference in sparkle in the middle photo. 

 Beautiful Crystal Flower Delicate Lady Earrings Accessories

 These earrings were so cheap that I couldn't leave them behind! >< They're a little bigger than I initially expected, but the real issue is the backing of the earring. In the middle photo you can see that it has a sizable circular metal bond connecting the flower to the stud, which makes the earring droop downwards while in the ear because they don't sit flush to the earlobe. They're still pretty cute though! I wore them in my guest post at Lani Loves!

Pretty Heart Shaped Necklace Gold Plated Necklace Boho Collar Necklace

This is so super dainty and cute! For $0.89 I consider this a good bargain, although it has that cheap metal smell, and after two days of wear it's begining to fade into a more coppery colour than the bright gold it started life as. But look how teensy and cute it is! ^.^ It also flips over for like no reason!

  Rhinestone Gold Plated Pearl Bead Bowknot Hair Holder Band 

This is SUPER CUTE. I really do wish that the band was a little smaller with a lot more stretch (thick hair problems!) because the band is just a little ugly. I just tie my hair up with a normal hair tie and add this one for decoration ^.^

Multi Candy Colors Elliptic Shape Rhinestones Glitter Nail Art W/Box 5.88*3mm
 400pcs Round Square Fluorescent Lighter Colors Stud Rhinestones Nail Art
500Pcs 1.5mm/2mm/3mm/4mm Black Round Rhinestones Stud Nail Art

I'm absolutely loving all of these nail decorations! A lot of the coloured studs got mixed up on the way over here, which is irritating, but just requires a little organization ^.^

 Gold & Silver 3D Steel Ball Nail Art Glitter Bead Decoration 

Wow, there are so many of these little beads! They came in separate little baggies and I had to pour them into the wheel (super messy) but I still had like 3 bags left, so I'm pretty sure I won't run out of these! They're not exactly the same size, but from a distance you can't really tell.

 Nail Water Decals Sticker Transfer Sticker White Black Flower Pattern
Funny White Cat Printed Nail Art Water Decals Transfer Stickers 

The little lace decals come in black and white, and I totally thought I was getting ripped off because I couldn't see the white decals untill bf pointed them out. -.- The cats are amazingly cute too!

10 pcs Bowknot Shaped Rhinestone 3D Nail Stickers
 10pcs Cute Sweet White Pink Bowknot Resin 3D Nail Art Stickers 
3D Nail Art Sticker Resin Colorful Round Bowknot Nail Decoration 
  100Pcs 2.5mm*2mm Punk Simple Spike Rivet Stud UV Gel Nail Art Decoration 
 10pcs Cute Heart Flower Bowknot Resin 3D Nail Art Stickers 

I absolutely LOVE the little spikes, but they totally need nail glue to keep them in place for more than 5 minutes. Super cute though! The rest of the plastic parts are well made and very cute!

Half of my package was wrapped in this thin wrapping while the nail deco wheels were left roaming around the package. I didn't take a photo because ... well I don't know, I think I was just distracted playing with all the pretty things!

What I Love
- Cheap and super cute products
- Fairly good quality
- Frequent sales and coupon codes
- So many options!


What I Don't Love 
- Notorious for long shipping times


Final Thoughts

I'm not really sure how I feel about shopping with Born Pretty Store. On one had, everything is super cheap and cute and they have a huge range of nail deco, but on the other hand I've heard a lot of stories about the long shipping time. Waiting one month for my package is definitely not the end of the world, you can just forget about it and it's just a nice surprise, but I'm just not sure. I will definitely be shopping with them at least once more in the future, their nail deco is just too adorable! ^.^

Have you princesses ever shopped with Born Pretty Store before, and what was your experience like?

Manicure Monday: A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That

Hello Princesses!

Today I have a somewhat different manicure for you all, a super soft grungy mani! This manicure came about when my package from Born Pretty Store (finally) turned up! There were so many cute accessories to play with, I couldn't just chose one aspect to play with, so I just had to try them all at the same time!

 

Not too bad right! It definitely doesn't have a very good flow or construction, but I quite like the nails individually! I'm pretty picky with what manicures I feature each week (I probably change my polish 3-4 times a week because I get bored, photograph them all and chose what to feature) but I thought I would show this one because I thought it was just so cute! If you look super close you can see bits of fluff stuck to the nail polish (forgot to check the sponge for fluff) and bubbles in the top coat (probably needs thinning) but I like it anyways! ^.^

I'll be doing a haul and store review next Wednesday so you guys can see what goodies I picked up and what I thought of the customer service!

What do you princesses think of this manicure? Too aggressive with spikes, or too cutesy? What do you like to see on my Manicure Mondays? :3

Guest Post from Lani Loves: Nature Republic Provence Blossom Blusher #1 Pink

Hello Princesses!

Today is an extra special post, because the lovely Lani and I are guest blogging for one another! ^.^

Hey lovely Little Porcelain Princess readers!

I'm Lani and I blog over at Lani Loves. The beautiful Becca and I share a love (and crippling weakness for) Korean cosmetics & beauty products, so we decided to do something fun - guest posts! 

Today I'll be talking about Nature Republic's Provence Blossom Blusher #1 Pink, a super pretty product I've been loving lately. 

This blush is packaged beautifully in a floral cardboard case. Despite being cardboard, the packaging feels really sturdy and would probably survive being toted around in a make up bag. That being said, I prefer to display this on my make up cabinet where I can easily admire it :)

Inside the case there is a soft puff for applying the blush with. I've alternated between a blush brush and the puff included and I do think the puff is a great way to apply this product. Using a brush kicked up a little too much powder while the puff pick up just enough. 

The blush itself is a soft shimmery peach-tinged pink. Because it's quite pale, sheer and shimmery, I don't actually use this as a blush, and I can't imagine it working as a blush on many skintones. Where it excels is as a highlighter. The shimmer is finely milled but visible and the product blends and lasts well.

Here it is in action on my cheeks. Subtle, right? You can just see the shimmer glinting away at the top of my cheek. Hopefully. Highlighter is hard to photograph! ;)

Swatched on bare skin heavily on the right and sheered out on the left. This is a little easier to see! Swatched heavily you can see it's a tad powdery, but it blends out beautifully. I haven't experienced any fallout from the shimmer either.

And finally, worn as part of a full make up look. A nice subtle glow! Love it.

What I liked:

• Soft, blendable texture
• Just enough shimmer to add a glowing highlight, not so much that you'll get mistaken for a disco ball!
• Gorgeous packaging
• Wonderful as a highlighter

What I didn't like:

• Too pale, sheer and shimmery to use as a blush

Where to buy:

• Ebay, Korean cosmetic etailers - I bought mine from glory-yp on Ebay.

What do you think of this product? Do you have any make up you prefer to use for other purposes? Thanks so much for reading, and to Becca for having me :)

X

Lani

First Impression: Lush Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioner

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about Lush's Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioner! I was given this sample at the same time as I received my Big sample. The Lush ladies recommended this conditioner as the perfect follow up to the amazing Big Shampoo!

What Does It Do?

"Happy Happy Joy Joy, so good we named it twice. Start spreading the news – you need this today. If you want beautifully perfumed hair that turns heads." (1) "Finally, another vegan conditioner! A rose water, orange blossom water and almond milk base soften, beautify and condition hair. It works wonderfully on bleached and over-processed hair, and on everyone else too as it is rich and moisturizing, but doesn't weigh hair down. Orange flower absolute, rosewood and grapefruit oils perfume your hair to make you feel Happy Happy all day long." 

Features;

Light and Creamy : It's moisturizng and conditioning, but not quite as thick as the other conditioners.

It's Vegan! Our vegan friends have been asking us for another conditioner for a while, so we made this one in addition to Veganese

So good, we named it twice! This conditioner has such a cheerful perfume, and makes our hair so soft and silky that we had to name it Happy Happy Joy Joy!" (2)

I was really on the fence with this conditioner. As usual, I needed to condition my headful of hair twice to get the moisture I needed, but it just didn't work as well for me as a regular conditioner would. I always brush my hair before getting into the shower, and I give it a gentle (wide-tooth) comb after my first wash of conditioner, but I had a lot of tangles while using Happy Happy Joy Joy. It also didn't have a stronger scent than my regular shampoo and conditioner did, and using it with Big, meant that Big's scent overpowered Happy Happy Joy Joy, which I think is weird because Happy Happy Joy Joy is marketed as a perfumed conditioner.

Edit: I talked to the Lush ladies, and they said that it didn't de-tangle my hair because it doesn't contain Lanolin (made from sheep's wool). If it had Lanolin, it wouldn't be Vegan, but it's also marketed towards finer hair so I guess this just isn't a very good product for me!

 Would I Purchase This Product?

Maybe. Happy Happy Joy Joy is a great conditioner, don't get me wrong, but I have very dry hair ends and this just doesn't give me enough moisture to warrant spending almost $30NZD on a bottle. (Also because I went through the conditioner very fast so it's just not very financially viable for me at the moment.) I might grab one of the small bottles and give it a good second chance with a more moisturizing shampoo! If you are looking for a light, vegan conditioner, go over to Lush and grab a tester of Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Manicure Monday: Iconoclast

Hello Princesses!

Today's Manicure Monday features my first Rescue Beauty Lounge - Iconoclast (which I used in this manicure too) and Sinful Colors Green Ocean! I'm totally in love with today's manicure, and really gutted that I couldn't capture what I see in real life on camera :C but bear with me! 

 

I tried to do a glitter gradient (failing pretty miserably, again) but I think it still looked super duper pretty! I painted these at night time, and since I moved my room around there is just never enough light in my little nail corner, so some of my fingers are a little uneven >< I think I might invest in another lamp for the nail corner!

I really liked the way that these turned out, even though the camera doesn't capture it accurately! What do you princesses think?