Reverse Stamping / Colourful Stripes

Ever since I bought an Uber Mat from UberChic Beauty, I've been trying out stamping and reverse stamping and making some easy decals. I've learnt from this that stamping is a lot easier when you can stamp the design onto something else and not straight onto the nail because sometimes it doesn't work out how you want and in that case, you just swipe some acetone over the design on the mat and start again! Life is incredibly easy with a silicone nail art mat!

For today's nail art I picked a simple design that I could do some reverse stamping with. If you're unfamiliar, reverse stamping is when you essentially colour in the stamping design to make a decal and then place it onto your nail, it can be done either on the stamper or on a silicone mat. There are heaps of designs like this on Instagram if you want to see some videos or tutorials on how to do it!

I wanted to do all the nails with reverse stamping but did not at all have the energy to reline the circles to be darker and then colour them in, so I went with an accent nail and my go to stripes.

I used Black Out by Sally Hansen, Sweet Clementine, and Babe It's Blue both by Maybelline, and a pink Kester Black polish I got in a BellaBox a while ago.

I love how this turned out! It made me really proud that I did something I'd wanted to do for a while but hadn't been able to until I got the Uber Mat. It's one of the best purchases I've ever made in relation to nail art so expect some more designs like this in the future!

Thanks for reading!

- Melissa.

October BellaBox Review

Hey everyone! It's that time again where I review the most recent bellabox I received. This month's theme was Born To Be Wild! and was in collaboration with Nicole X Missguided.

Let's jump into reviews of each of the products! (Check the photo below to see which number corresponds with each product!)

1. ModelCo Skincare (RRP $8.00 - $35.00) - In my little package of sachets I got the following: 2x Exfoliating Cream Facial Scrub, Instant Miracle Booster Skin Brightening & Firming Serum, Soothing Moisturiser Day & Night and a Double Sided Face Wipe. Now as I've said in previous posts, I've had a lot of skin trouble this year and it's only just starting to become normal again so for that reason I chose not to use these samples, except for the Double Sided Face Wipe. My opinion of that is that it did a decent job removing make up with the smooth side and a good job smoothing my skin out with the exfoliating side which had moderate sized bumps. It did sting my eyes a little towards the end but I think I was overdoing it at that point anyway. I may try these out in the future because I don't expect too much of a reaction as it says they're natural but I'll leave that till my skin is good again.
2. Rimmel Lip Product: Apocalips in Phenomenon (RRP $15.95) - This was a fun little surprise because I didn't discover it until I took everything out as it was hiding under the sachets but it wasn't too fun when I applied it and it looked awful on me. It's a nude colour which 100% does not suit me, trust me, I've bought numerous nude lip shades only to discover I look completely ridiculous with them on. I mean, it's not as bad as their other nude shades on me, but I still don't think I'd be able to wear this without mixing it with a pink lipstick or something.
3. Nivea Stress Protect Deodorant (RRP $6.59) - This is only a small can so it's good for travelling or popping in your bag to freshen up during the day with. Mine currently sits on my Helmer and is there just incase I forgot to put deodorant on after a shower, it's very handy and it's a decent spray too!
4. Pantene Shampoo & Conditoner (RRP $7.99) - (I believe the one I've linked to is the correct one). We have a few samples of these new products in our household because mum got them in last month's box and also got three samples from Pantene to test out. I liked using them, they do exactly what they say and they left my hair feeling smooth and soft. However, they just won't replace my ultimate fave brand, Elvive.
5. Kester Black in Ruby Tuesday (RRP $20.00) - I've known of the brand Kester Black for a few years now, ever since I discovered Trophy Wife Nail Art because they sort of go hand in hand, so I was excited when I found out that every member would be getting a collab shade between bellabox and Kester Black. I was a bit disappointed when I got the red one though because it's my least favourite colour. However, I applied it and it was a very nice formula, very smooth and easily opaque in two coats. I would never pay twenty dollars for a nail polish though so I guess this will be the only Kester Black polish I own for quite some time. (Check below for a swatch photo!)
6. MOR Hand Cream (RRP $14.95) - I have to admit that I freakin' hate sachet samples, especially when they can be used more than once because when I open it and don't use all the product, (like I did with this sample) I now have an opened sachet laying around. Anyway, I wasn't a huge fan of this product, it left a very oily residue on my hands and I had to wipe them down to get rid of it. I wasn't a massive fan of the smell either, it was very sour smelling and reminded me a bit of cleaning products or washing detergent.

Kester Black - Ruby Tuesday

Overall, I was indifferent towards this months box, half were great, half were a bit disappointing. But that's not going to deter me from continuing my subscription. I love getting the boxes every month and I appreciate the effort all the people behind them put into getting them out every month with new samples, so I look forward to November's bellabox!