NAILS | Born Pretty Holographic Rainbow Powder Review

I have been seemingly having fun with the Born Pretty Store Rainbow Holographic Nail Powder* (1.5g/$2.99 USD), but it has been a TON of trial and error. It was not as easy for me as the instructions on the website and YouTube had depicted. In fact, my initial experience with this powder had me baffled as I just could not understand what I was doing wrong! I was literally doing what the videos were demonstrating and yet I was having so many issues making the powder stick to the nail surface. I have outlined three of my 17 attempts with the final photos being the ones that showcase a method that worked all the time. Come with me on this magical journey filled with unicorn dust...

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

Attempt #1

Gel Polish: J&S Gel Polish in J1BLK*
Gel Top Coat: Bioseaweed Gel No Wipe Top Coat
Cure Time: 60s between each coat
Mode of Application: Fingers

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

This was the most successful attempt of that night as the powder initially refused to stick to the top coat at all. Eventually, I HAD to introduce some tackiness and wiped the no wipe top coat with rubbing alcohol. I also had to use my finger to rub the powder FIRMLY onto the nail. It definitely was not the fairy tale application that I kept seeing people do with the eyeshadow applicator. 

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

Attempt #2

Gel Polish: Bioseaweed Gel in Black Magic, Bioseaweed Gel in Snow White, Bioseaweed Gel in Aquamarine and Bioseaweed Gel in Melon Coral
Gel Top Coat: Bioseaweed Gel No Wipe Top Coat
Cure Time: 60s between each coat
Mode of Application: Fingers and eyeshadow applicator

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

In the second attempt, I decided to change the brand of gel polish I was using. It really should not matter what brand of gel polish as it's all kind of the same, but I wanted to rule out the possibility. It's REALLY all about the top coat which I found out was my issue. In this attempt, I still had a brutally hard time with application as the powder applied patchily and still required me wiping the no wipe top coat with rubbing alcohol to get the powder to stick. I watched MORE videos and still couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, but sill managed to get a half decent manicure using the adhoc methods I had aggregated.

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

Attempt #3

Gel Polish: J&S Gel Polish in S3R (RED)*
Gel Top Coat: Born Pretty UV Gel Top Coat
Cure Time: 30s between each coat
Mode of Application: Silicone and eyeshadow applicator 

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

In this attempt, I realized that my issues were the top coat I was using as well as the cure time. I need a more tacky surface to buff the powder on and for some reason, the Bioseaweed Gel No Wipe Top Coat was too smooth. It's great for finishing off manicures, but for holo powder it just was not working! The second thing that I changed was cutting the cure time of the gel top coat in half. Having a 30s cure time gave me a surface that was cured, but still had a slight bit of tackiness.  

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

I was able to apply most of the holo powder down with a silicone applicator in up and down motions which I was not able to do at all with the other two attempts. The powder just kept getting pushed around and went nowhere, but in my cuticles and on the table!

I won't lie and say this attempt didn't have its issues either. In fact, I still had patchy application so I applied another round of top coat and then started to buff the powder in again. The second attempt gave me much better coverage. I also found that if I buffed too much in one area, the powder would actually start coming off and I would be left with bald patches so once I saw that I had an area covered, I went in with an eyeshadow applicator and gently finished it off. Once the nail was holographic to my satisfaction, I top coated and cured one more time. Be sure to load up your brush with enough top coat as you do not want to drag the powder off the nail!

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

This powder goes flying everywhere so it does get all over your hands. You can apply liquid latex, but I found that using a makeup sponge to gently wipe the nail surface and cuticles cleaned everything up nicely. 

Born Pretty Holographic Powder Review

Final verdict: I have never worked so hard to make something work like this in a long time. It just looked so goddamn easy on all of those videos with this EXACT powder that I still don't understand what I could be doing wrong! The final attempt is as successful as I can be and though it looks amazing in person, the chrome powders were MUCH easier to work with. For the price though, this holo pigment is perfectly fine though I suspect a finer pigment would be far less work to buff in. Now, that I think I have gotten the hang of this, I think it's time to try some nail art! Half moons? Vinyls? What shall we try?!




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