Drool Britannia - A British Nail Bloggers Polish

Hi all - 

So for those of you that don't know I am a member of the British Nail Blogger's group - we are a smallish group of bloggers who share ideas, promote local indies and UK brands and generally support each other and our blogs. Recently the lovely Sally from Sally Magpies helped us to organise a limited edition indie polish to promote our group and general British-ness and so I introduce to you - Drool Britannia.

The polish - designed by Lilypad Laquers - was created using ideas we discussed on the Facebook page and is a clear base (almost blue tinted) glitter bomb full of fine blue glitters, larger blue glitters and large red and white glequins  to represent the UK flag. Now I know some of the ladies involved in the creation of this polish weren't hugely fond of the finish but I ADORE it. I genuinely think it's one of the more beautiful polishes I've ever worn! It's incredibly eye catching and I had so many people notice it and compliment it - which is always a nice feeling! 

I wore this over Sinful Colours Secret Admirer - a shimmery black - and other than a bit of peeling with the larger glitters which were nearer the tip of the nail there were no problems with application or wearing time. I used one thick coat and one thin coat to ensure even distribution. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed wearing it and we enjoyed designing it. Bx

What's Lurking In The Dark??

Woooooooh! It's Halloween week this week and The British Nail Bloggers have got a wee treat in the form of themed nail art - organised by the lovely Kerrie at Pish Posh Polish!

I've missed the last few days (although I plan to go back and do a Vampire themed nail art at some point!!) but today's theme is titled 'what's lurking in the dark??'

My nail art for this is dead simple - for most my nails I used Orly R.I.P from the Flash Glam FX collection which I found for a fiver in TK Maxx earlier on today. I thought it was not only appropriately titled for a Halloween nail art but it made for an effective background to my simple statement nail. 

I layered R.I.P over Liquid Leather by China Glaze, which I also used as the base for the statement nail. I then made creepy eyes peeking out of the dark with dotting tools and China Glaze White Out (China Glaze is my go to for basic colours like black and white and they never let me down pigment or performance wise!) I really love the indie like scattered glitter of the Orly polish and love how perfectly warm and Halloween-y the colours are - I imagine it'd be really versatile layered over a brighter colour come summer though! 

Hope you enjoy my first Halloween nails :) Bx

An InLinkz Link-up

Models Own Velvet Goth

Hi all - 

So recently I read about Model's Own's new collection Velvet Goth and I went straight to Boots to buy a few of the collection. Now I'm a bit of a closet goth - I love black clothes, black eye makeup, any rock music and my hair red but I can't bring myself to fully delve into a world of monochrome. When I was younger I was a proper emo kid with dark clothes and dyed black hair but nowadays I'm a velvet goth at heart! 

The first of the collection I bought is Absinthe. Now I LOVE Absinthe. I mean it's pretty disgusting but so much fun! I'm the same way for tequila, gotta love feeling like you're breathing fire(!)

Anyway - away from irresponsible drinking this polish - as well as the rest of the polishes in this collection - has a matte finish and is packed full of glitter! It's a brilliant emerald green with black through it and although I usually love a matte finish I found this polish was just so much more special with a top coat over it (see the bottom photo in the sun for full glittery glory, it really comes to life under the sun!) 

It applied to opaque in two coats, three tops, but I found it a tad lumpy to spread over the nail. It was also a nightmare to remove! But I reckon it's worth it for a few days of blinding glitter - fair to say I will be collection more of the Velvet Goth polishes! 

More Party Dress Nail Art

Hi all - 

So as I wrote in a previous post (HERE) I have recently started taking my nail art inspiration from clothing - I find matching my nails to my dress a great way to try out new styles and keeps me on my toes nail art wise to stop me from getting boring! 

These nails I based on a dress that I wore to the opening evening of my partner's work office opening night. The dress I found in Oasis and I am so in love with it, it's a silky soft fabric and so flattering! To match the nails I treated myself to one of Barry M's Hi Shine Gelly polishes in Lychee which is a beige nude colour, which is really not a colour I would usually wear however it matches the dress PERFECTLY! 

This was a really simple nail art - just one coat of Lychee, which applies almost opaquely in that one coat - I then used the sellotape trick to do an angled tip with I Herd That by China Glaze. To then match the skirt of the dress I did a simple leopard print with Teetotal by Butter London, a chocolately brown, and Liquid Leather by China Glaze.

I'll apologise now for the bad pics and the messy cuticles - I took the pictures straight after I put on the nail art and never got a chance to take pics in the daylight. 

See below for the pics and at the bottom I've included another pic of me in my party frock :) hope you like it! Bx

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Nail Art based on my LGD (Little Green Dress)

Today I want to show off some nail art I did to match a dress I had bought to wear to my friend's engagement party. First - the dress. It's a gorgeous little green number COVERED in spangles, sequins and beads which I found in the sale in Topshop for only £15! I am not usually one to wear this sort of thing but I had lost a bit of weight when I bought it and thought it was fabulous - it took a bit of confidence to wear it but what a boost once I had it on - I had so many compliments! So I wanted my nails to match this shiny wonder.

The green of the dress almost perfectly matches one of my favourite polishes - Orly Coachella Dweller which I first showcased on the blog back in April. Unfortunately the websites I used to bag my Orly from have all upped their prices so I am now Orly-less, which is such a shame as after trying this polish they were fast becoming one of my favourite brands. 

To try and recreate the dress I decide I didn't to cover two nails with a coat of Orly Halo which is always a good match with this green, and on my thumb I attempted to copy some of the design with some studs a colleague found in Poundland and gave to me because everyone knows about my obsession with nails! (so thoughtful!) Having never worked with these before, I've only ever used studs a few times and even then only a couple to jazz it up, I did find this VERY tricky! But I think it was effective. I didn't want to overdo it and clash with the dress so I thought studs on one finger would be enough :) I did have rather stubby nails at the time as they are not back to full strength yet so I like to think it would look even better with my usual longer nails! 

Below I've included pics of the dress as well as one of me wearing it and being drunk ... laugh away! 

Bx

What a mare. 

No7 Party Nails are just DARLING!

Just a quick post today - I just wanted to show off these gorgeous sparkly nails! 

I have never used a No7 nail polish before and got this one purely because if I spent a certain amount I'd get a free goodie bag in Boots - can't say no to that!

This particular polish is the cutely named Daisy Darling - a clear-ish base FULL of tiny pink glitter and bit pink sequins. I wouldn't usually like this baby pink sort of colour but teamed with the black I loved it. This black is Sinful Colours Secret Admirer which is no ordinary black, this is more of a graphite and is absolutely stunning as it is chock a block with silver shimmer making look better than a clear starry night. I think it's the perfect base for a polish like this - hope you agree! 

For this I used one coat of Secret Admirer as it's quite well pigmented and only one coat of Daisy Darling so I didn't overdo the sequins! 

Bx

Bringing a British Twist to Mariah Carey

I feel like this is becoming a habit but once again apologies for the continued quietness on the Bathelen Front! It's all very exciting at home just now as my partner and I have been searching for our first house!! No luck yet but it's keeping us busy! 

On to the nails. Today I have for you two of OPI's Mariah Carey polishes which I think were out last Autumn but I could be wrong. I snagged these too recently from a lovely lass on a Facebook page I'm in which allows us nail junkies to buy, sell and swap our polishes. these polishes came out just as I was seriously getting into nail polish brands and were OPI's first delve into the magical world of textured polish - which it's no secret I'm a huuuge fan of! 

First up is The Impossible. This is a gorgeous almost-red which is pink enough to be warming instead of harsh which some reds can be (especially on me - hate that because I love reds!). The glitter is subtle and as you can see on the bottle (but not on my nail!) it has a few stars scattered through as well. I LOVE the idea of the stars but I just couldn't get them on the nail! Hopefully after a few more uses the stars will be more evenly distributed, but this is my only nark about this polish. It's everything an OPI Liquid Sand should be - an easy three coats, applies evenly without trying and once dried will last a good few days abuse without even thinking about chipping! I always turn to a liquid sand if I need a polish to last! 

Next is the stunning Get your number. I am a massive fan of Tiffany Case from the OPI Bond Girls collection from earlier this year but I wasn't a fan of the major finger staining - also I didn't want another dupe, so I am pleased to report that not only does this one NOT stain but that it is a much deeper blue which is scattered with pink/purple glitters which really make it something special. Again this was a perfect example of OPI goodness easy to apply and loong lasting! 

So it was while getting ready for a trip to London that I realised that the two colours next to each other were very complimentary and reminded me of the Union Jack - so I went all London Tourist and stuck a British Flag on my nails =) 

To do this I had a base of Get Your Number, put four small squares of tape on each corner leaving the cross, which I used OPI Solitaire to do a big white cross. I then used a small striping brush to do the red on the top. I was so please with the result, especially seeing as I hadn't done a nail art with textured polish before - it really is versatile! 

Hope you like it =) show your love or hate for this polish by commenting below - I love getting comments and I always reply .. eventually =P

Bx

An InLinkz Link-up

Liebster Award! (from three very lovely ladies!)

So three very lovely ladies have nominated me for the Liebster award =) if you haven't heard of it it's a way of raising awareness with newer blogs and those with less than 200 followers (although FYI ladies, I have 381 on Bloglovin so I don't technically count ... although only 61 on GFC which I assume is what you all saw =P)

I have been asked 11 questions by the girls and have replied with 11 more questions for my 11 nominated blogs =) 

Poppin Nails and Bite No More asked: 

1. What inspired you do start a blog?

First I wanted to stop boring my Facebook friends with Swatches of my new nail polishes! and secondly, and more importantly, I wanted to be able to share my love for shiny polish with the only other people in the world who can get as excited about a new OPI collection or new nail trend as I can! 

2. When someone comments on your posts, do you always reply?

Always =) even if it takes a week - which I apologies for =P I love getting comments as it shows that someone has taken the time to read what I have to say and enjoys my blog, it gives me a reason to blog! 

3. Have you ever had any negative comments? If so how do you react?

I haven't yet, I don't get a large number of comments anyway. If I did I'm not sure how I'd react, I'm always shocked by negative comments on other pages, if you don't like my nails why do you follow my blog? It's one thing to disagree with what I say as this is all my opinions, loves and hates, but I've seen some very personal comments and it's just awful and unnecessary. RANT. 

4. What's your favourite season and why?

Winter because you get Christmas, my birthday and Hogmany/New Year. And my winter jacket is just the bee's knee's. 

5. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

Giant Tortoise. 150 years of just chilling. 

6. If you could change just one thing in your life, would you?

I'd lose the five pounds I just regained! Actually I have shocking eyesight and wear contact lenses which are about an inch thick - so much hassle and expensive! So I'd have perfect vision. 

7. Do you enjoy blogging? Or has it taken over your life?

I love blogging but sometimes I do let it go for a while. And then I always feel guilty for not blogging so I suppose in that way it's taken over my life! And when I buy new polish I think "ooh my readers would love this" 

8. Has anything good ever happened to you because of your blog?

Being a part of the British Nail Bloggers has introduced me to a large group of women with one big thing in common - they are all fabulous and supportive and even though I haven't met any of them being a part of their group is definitely a good thing =) 

9. Sweet or Savory?

Savory. Nachos are my weakness.

10. Would you, or have you got a second blog?

Probably not but I may be tempted to drag Bathelen's Beauty out of a cave and have a beauty blog instead of just nails. Thoughts?

11. Where do you see your blog 5 years from now?

Hopefully exactly where it is now just with a blogger who posts more regularly .. bad Bathelen! 

Sassy Little Nails asked: 

1.What is your fav thing to do when you want to relax?

Watch crap American TV and paint my nails. 

2.Are there any products that you never expected to like but ended up loving?

Textured nail polish! Terrible idea but it's so good! That and I only recently discovered primer.

3.What is one nail polish/product you cannot live without?

OPI Nail Envy. It's the only reason my nails get so long and I've recommended it to all my girl friends and family. OPI should give me a cut of their profits the amount of sales of nail envy I've got them recently! 

4. If you could go to the future or past what year would you like to be in? 

Arrrgh this is the most awkward question! I'm a major Sci Fi geek so I'd have to say the future, but the temptation of 1920's - 1960's New York is almost too much - love the old fashioned romance of those few decades.

5.What is one quote or saying that really means something to you?

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring - Marylin Monroe. 

Or her slightly more shallow but accurate quote of "give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."

6.what's your fav top tip to give?can be anything like..cleaning tip or beauty tips. 

When you're feeling hungover, Ice Lollies are your friend. Trust me on that one :) 

Better top tip - Wine is not your friend! 

7.What was the last thing you ever said that was funny?

Everything - I'm freaking hilarious. 

8.What's one thing that most people probably wouldn't know about you?
Nobody outwith the blogging community knows about my blog .. My other half might have guessed  by now but I've never shared this with family or friends.

9.What's the beauty rule you preach.. but never ACTUALLY practice? 

Don't bite your nails! She says while chewing her nails. 

10.If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

JK Rowling. Harry Potter was my entire childhood and she is my Queen. Her and George Takei, he's such a legend and I love how much work he's doing online for gay rights. Or Bear Grylls - Cheif UK Scout

11.Are there any beauty products that you keep coming back to throughout the years?

Banana Boat Aloe Vera gel is the best moisturiser in the whole world.

What I would like to ask - 

1) what got you into nail polish/blogging?

2) what is your favourite ever polish? 

3) If you had to choose one beauty brand to use for the rest of your life what would it be?

4) Which is your favourite blog

5) How do you take photos for your blog?

6) what is the biggest challenged you've faced with your blog?

7) what beauty product could you not live without

8) What is your favourite weather?

9) Nail art or One pretty colour?

10) Meat or Veggie?

11) what is your Best Beauty Tip

Who I've nominated! (I've struggled to find 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers as the Liebster has fairly been doing the rounds with the BNB girls!!) I will add more ladies at a later date - right now it's nearly midnight and I'm signing off! 

Nail Cake

Polished Paws

Naillure

The Sequined Nail

Ginger Loves Make Up
A Sparkling Finish

The Pink PrincessZ

Very First Indie!

Here it is Ladies - Bathelen's very first Indie Polish! 

Can't believe I have never tried one before but there is so much choice a girl just doesn't know where to start! Anyway I decided to start off with Clear Blue Skies by Iconic Effect - Iconic Effect is a VERY local brand to me (she lives around the corner and I work with someone she knows so I received very special personal delivery - thanks Kelly!) and I found out about them through said person at work sending round a cheeky email with the Etsy site details because everyone at my work knows what I'm like with nail polish! I'm a total fan now after trying this and because I know that they make the polishes for the love of it and not for the money. If you look on their Facebook page she has some fab pics of her kids helping make the polishes - with her wee girl being my special delivery postie :) 

Clear blue skies caught my eye immediately because of it's gorgeous shimmer and I wasn't let down! It was a tad brighter than I expected so maybe don't wear it if you're not up for a BRIGHT blue (not an issue for me - love my brights!) but the silver glitters are exactly what that colour needs to even it out and catch your eye for all the right reasons! 

Application wise the first coat I found a tad streaky but it evened out very easily. Probably I would say three coats as I only used two and in the pic below you can see a bit of nail line and dark shadows. 

Anyway I am now properly in love with the idea of Indie Polishes so your recommendations would be much appreciated! 

Bx

An InLinkz Link-up

Rise of the Phoenix .. Place

Apologies once again for the abandonment of the blog! It's been a busy month fitting into my new full time job but I have a long line of posts ready to go! 

Today's Nail of the Day is one of the Nails Inc polishes I received as part of my lucky dip bundle a few months ago and hadn't tried yet. It is a fabulous shade of hot pink which went on in an easy three coats for full opaque coverage. For these swatches I finished off with OPIs Matte Top Coat which I think really works with the bright pink! Also I think it tones down the harshness of the colour.

One thing I have to say about Nails Inc polishes is that they are seriously lacking in longevity! I had this on literally 12 hours (8 of which I was asleep for!) and I found two chips on two fingers and was SERIOUSLY unimpressed! Am I the only one who finds this? This isn't the first time this has happened to me with a Nail Inc polish and it's such a shame because they have so many lovely colours! I hear so many bloggers raving about these polishes so seriously guys - is it just me? Haha! 

Look at that chip! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Glamourous Graduation Nails

So at the start of July I graduated from university - finally! To suit the occasion I had to have fancy nails but I couldn't have anything too over the top as they would be too noticeable in that cheesy photo you get of you holding your certificate and wearing a silly hat ... 

These were quite simply a French manicure using Nails Inc Mayfair for the tips and a coat of Essie Sugar Daddy - these two are my go to staples for a perfect French Mani! Over the top I sponged on a bit of Nails Inc's fabulous Maida Vale - suitable for all of life's special occasions I feel! A lilac/white/blue dense glitter, it's definitely classy enough for the more dressy occasions and bling enough for a party! 

So there we go - short but sweet, simple but effective I think! the photos I took outside just because it was soooo sunny, which it never is in Aberdeen, so I thought I'd take full advantage of wearing such a shiny polish in the sun! 

As always, I'd love to hear what you all think :) 

Bx

Hoot hoot - bit of fun nail art

Now once again I will totally admit to stealing this idea from Nuthin But a Nail Thing, but her nail art is completely fabulous and it's the first place I look when I'm stumped for inspiration, so if you are reading this and haven't checked out her blog I suggest you do so now! ... Well, finish reading mine first obviously ;) 

Anyway these little cuties were super simple to create. I started with a base coat of Sinful Colours Mint Apple, then taped it off and used Butter London TeeTotal brown that I picked up in TK Maxx for the tips. For the wee ears I used a small paint brush and some more TeeTotal. I tried to round off the middles but I made a bit of a mess .. 

For their bellies I used (from left to right) OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, the orange Ciate paint pot I got in my Glossybox, Butter London Scoundrel and OPI Suzi's Hungary AGAIN. I then mixed and matched with the dots. A little China Glaze Liquid Leather and White Out for the eyes and a Barry M nail art pen for the beaks and I was done :) 

Hope you like my little hooters (lol) as much as I did! 

Bx

piCture pOlish - Orbit swatches

As I mentioned in my last post, my nails were still a bit nubbined and nasty when I got back from my travels - but I was still determined to try out a brand which was I had long been a fan of but had never tried. Introducing the blogger's favourite piCture pOlish!

Now other than a really irritating name to type the hereafter to be referred to as PP have a fantastic reputation among bloggers for being stunning, unique, expensive and difficult to get hold of. The only way I know how to buy them in the UK is through the lovely Sally Magpies website but at £10-£15 a pop they aren't a polish that could become a daily staple, which is a shame, as it meant that when choosing my first colour I had to trawl through hundreds of swatches to choose the colours I liked the most. And so I chose Orbit - the perfect travel companion! Obviously being a sci-fi/space geek and love travelling I thought that the name and tagline were particularly appealing to me! 

All I can say is that finish wise this polish DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Just look at it in all of its purple glory!!

It's a purple crelly ish polish with white glitters which make it look properly space-y and also make it blue in certain lights. It glimmers in even the dimmest light and as a special occasion polish is totally worth the price tag based entirely on finish. I did, however, have problems.

Okay. A bit of background first. I had been awake and travelling for 30hours when I arrived 8am in the morning in London, where I was met by my lovely other half who took me sightseeing all day. So by the time I got to my hotel at 8pm I had been up a day and a half too long, and I hadn't painted my nails in three weeks. So I wisely decided that that was the exact moment that I should try out my expensive new polish. Clever me. So before I moan I will hold up my hands and say it may be blogger error and I will be retrying this polish on better nails on a better day!!

Application, I found was difficult. The brush was slightly too short for my talon-less fingers to get a good grip on  (here we can also blame to total knackeredness of the user!) and I also found the polish really thick, and not smooth or easy to apply. It looked okay when I was done however, and I was happy enough with the result, I just felt like I had to use waaaay too much polish to achieve the result. In essence, I felt like a total rookie again. to make matters worse the next day it chipped on three different fingers!! So maybe I applied it too thick, but not even lasting 12 hours? Disappointing! 

*Yes, it had already chipped when I took the photos. Just don't look too close at my pinkie m'kay?*

All I can say is that I hope that the external effects, including the crazy London heat, affected me and the polish and that when I try it again it'll behave - because I love it so much! It's genuinely so beautiful in photos and in person and I'm gutted to have a bad word to say about it! Anyone else have any problems with PP, or a polish that they had lemmed for so long?

Bx

An InLinkz Link-up