Recently, I received some nail art products from Nailene along with the prizes they sent for the winners of the Beautopia Nail Art Contest, and I've been really liking most everything I've tried so far. I still have more product reviews to share with you, and you'll see them soon. Among the nail art stuff, there were two sets of fun decals with four different sheets each, and this blue rhinestone crescent really popped out at me immediately. It screams for a french manicure! So I did. I used my usual basic French manicure products; Seche Clear basecoat, China Glaze Moonlight and Seche Vite topcoat. I applied the decals with tweezers just before my topcoat application and I really liked the way these looked. The stones are all placed on a clear adhesive that when placed on the nails basically disappears and makes it look like the stones were hand-placed. I likes it. Here's a photo of the decals on the sheet.

Nailene French Tip Pen - around $5 at drugstores

I recently received a few Nailene products to review and was especially happy to be able to try out this pen. I love the occasional French manicure, and while I usually freehand my tips with a soft white, the idea of a bright stark white appeals to me occasionally. Problem is, even though I do alright with a soft white, I am hopeless when it comes to the unforgivable stark white. I tried using this pen alone, and I couldn't hack it, so I used the Nailene French Tip Guides in conjunction with this pen. Upon opening the wide felt-tip pen for the first time, you have to press the tip against a tissue until the paint begins to flow freely. After that's done, you apply to the nail. I was really surprised by the opacity of this paint, there weren't any streaks to be seen even if I went over the same place twice. When used with the nail tip guides, the result was nearly flawless.

This is a French I did a while ago that I recreated with this pen. See the original design here.

Click for the rest of the review

Grand Prize pictured

So far we've had quite a few entries to the nail art contest, and the contest is nearly half over! I know that way more of you have nail art skillz! There are no rules when it comes to what you can use, use anything you've got! Be creative and enter as many times as you'd like. There are hundreds of dollars worth of prizes to be won, and it could be anybody! Who doesn't want to give winning these prizes at least the old college try? You can send them in one at a time, or all at once, it doesn't matter, I just want to see what you guys can do. Get inspired and get to work!!!! Check out the information on the original post, and get hoppin!

Additionally, starting now, there is an additional giveaway attached to the contest! Whether you've entered a nail art design or not, you can enter to win a special secret prize (it'll include nail goodies, of course) for just telling others about the Nail Art Contest!

Here are the rules for the extra giveaway:

1) Tweet the following: Enter the Beautopia Nail Art Contest before Apr 30, Follow @BeautopiaBlog and see this page for details! http://bit.ly/9x0xqf You can tweet it once a day till April 31 at midnight! Tweet it every day for more chances.
and/or
2) Post about it on your blog. You can use any of the photos in this or the original post.
3) Leave a comment under THIS post with the link to your tweet or post. Please leave a comment for each tweet or post. It'll help me keep track and help to maximize your chances to win!

The winner of the extra giveaway will be announced the week following the contest end.

Sponsored by China Glaze, Nailene, and wowsocool.com

I am so excited and beyond happy to announce the Beautopia Nail Art Contest! Hopefully in time we'll consider this the First Annual Nail Art Contest, but for now I am just thrilled to officially get started. I originally planned for it to start on April 1, but it's obviously starting a little early. I am so happy to offer some great prizes from amazing sponsors. Prize packs for the Grand Prize, and 1st and 2nd Runners-Up are below the rules.

If you're a fellow blogger, a regular reader, or you just happened upon this page, we welcome you to enter. Below is an outline of the how to enter:

• This contest will run until midnight Friday, April 30th.
• You may enter as many designs as you like
• Send entries to BeautopiaNailArtContest@gmail.com with photo of your nail art and the list of products used to create it. Make sure to put "Nail Art Contest" in the subject line.
• Please name your design and include it in the email.
• Contest is open internationally unless your country prohibits shipments from the US
• By submitting your nail art design to the contest, you're giving your permission for us to post it on Beautopia (with credit to you of course)

When you submit your designs, feel free to include a tutorial and we might post it here on Beautopia. I know that a lot of you have blogs and do tutorials already, so if you want to share it with us that would be great. Keep in mind that you can do the nail art on others, maybe a friend or family member, and it will count. Also, you may choose to make your designs on a set of false nails and this is also acceptable. The main thing is that we want to see how creative you can be, and how you can inspire others with your designs. So many of you, I know, already are doing nail art, or getting more into it, and I hope that this contest will inspire us all to be even more creative.

Prizes below may be added to while the contest is going on, so check back for any updates!! I'm going on vacation and who knows what kinds of fun things I might find to add to the pot!

Good luck to ALL who enter, I can't wait to see what you all can do! Also remember to check out the sites of the amazing sponsors who made the prizes unbelievable! China Glaze, Nailene, and wowsocool.com!! I am so happy to be able to have prizes from companies whose products I use myself and recommend to you.

GRAND PRIZE:
Full set (12) of China Glaze Up & Away Collection
Full set (6) of China Glaze Khrome Collection
$50 Gift Certificate to WowSoCool.com (not pictured)
China Glaze Ink Nail Decals 
Nailene French Manicure Tip Pen
Body by Brigitte Body Wax Kit 
Nail Art Carousel
Loose Glitter in Emerald
Package of gold metal studs
Package of square gold glitter

1st Runner Up :
China Glaze Spontaneous
China Glaze Code Orange
China Glaze Passion
China Glaze Ink Decals
China Glaze No-Chip Topcoat 
China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifier
Nailene So Real and Couture Nails
Gold striping tape
Loose Glitter in Multi Color
Assorted rhinestones
Assorted decals by That's It? and Nailene
Gold Nuggeting Foil
Body by Brigitte Body Wax Kit

2nd Runner Up:
China Glaze It's Poppin'
China Glaze Ravishing, Dahling
China Glaze Platinum Pearl
China Glaze Ridge Filler
China Glaze Non-Yellowing Topcoat
China Glaze Ink Decals
Nailene So Natural Nails
Decals by Thats It?
Assorted Laser Striping
Emerald Rhinestones
Body By Brigitte Body Wax Kit