Zoya goes down a 'Storm' (boom boom)

Hi all, hope you all had a lovely weekend! I'm scheduling this post for Sunday as I'll be running a 10K in Aberdeen to raise money for Cancer Research UK that day - so wish me luck! 

today I have some swatches of Zoya Storm. I was SO. EXCITED. when I got my hands on this, I've wanted it for ages! However I was left a little cold. don't get me wrong, this is a stunning polish! It;s a nice thick black full of holo silver glitter particles which catch the light even indoors. But despite it's beauty I had a few issues with the polish iteself. Application was thick and heavy (which is why my hands are a mess in the pictures, I can only apologise!) and I'm thinking I might even add a drop of thinner before trying to wear it again. But wait, there is more! I don't know if you've picked up on this but Zoya's are very difficult to get in the UK, average cost new is around £10 GBP, and if you live in the UK you can't even order from the Zoya website! So all this means that I was more than a little disappointed when this started chipping. I was getting great big clumps coming off after 12 hours of wear! I reapplied patiently but every time I was getting chips. So frustrating! So that was my experience - stunning but doesn't last long, not worth the hassle to apply or the cost to buy it I'm afraid! 

Bx

Alice Bands Nail Art

Something simple for you all today! 

I did this a while back and I thought it was really cute! I did a basic french mani with a MeMeMe that I forget the name of and Essie Sugar Daddy, then I drew a straight line along the nail line with a Barry M Nail art pen, then drew in the little bows. Added some gold Nail Inc Lanesbourough place to liven up the other nails and there we go.

Not much more to say about this so I'll keep it short and sweet. Enjoy the weekend! 

Bx

OPI Muppets Most Wanted

Hi all! 

So if you're anything like me you couldn't wait to see the new Muppet film and though it was the best thing you've seen all year! If not, at least we all have OPI's new soft shades collection based on the film to get excited about! 

This is the second time OPI have worked with the Muppets and I just think it is genius. The last collection was about celebrating the vibrancy and colours of the Muppets but this one is a little more muted and not so obviously Muppet based, other than OPI's usual plot based names. Although I think it's a great idea nothing majorly stood out for me in this collection, there were one or two I thought were interesting, and there are some glitters which are pretty, but the one I chose to start with is Chillin Like A Villian (fab name).

This polish is hard to categorise. It's not a nude, I'd say it's more peach, it definitely has more orange to it than pink. Once it is on it's lovely and easy to wear, and because of the pale finish it can still be eye catching without being too a bold statement, however I had a big problem with application! The formula is so thin that this took 4 or 5 thick coats to get the coverage and colour density I wanted and to hide the nail line, which was super frustrating! It wasn't streaky though and was easy to get the smooth creme finish. 

I don't think the below pictures do this polish justice, I think it looked at it's best from a distance, like if I held my arm outstretched in front of me. 

After a few days I decided to jazz it up a bit so sponged on some Nails Inc Amber nail jewellery (Justice Walk)

Let me know what you think - I think you'll either love it or be totally unmoved.

Bx

An InLinkz Link-up

Mentality and a little bit of Eurovision!

Hi all, I have a Mentality holo for you today.

This is my first Mentality polish, and only my second or third holo, and I can't decide how much I like this polish. Although before I start I'll be honest - I live in Scotland, the lack of sun doesn't make the best situation for trying holo polishes. 

Seduce is a love mid blue - reminded me a bit of blue jeans! It's packed full of silver and red glitters and holo particles which makes it a bit more interesting, but without the sunlight it didn't really stand out. It was really frustrating because when I was indoors you could still see the colours and it was so full of potential but I just never got the chance to see it really shine (literally!). The pictures below do show all the different colours but I just could not get the holo glow! 

the other problem I had with this is that despite a Seche Vite top coat this just didn't dry!! Beady eyed readers may notice the not-so-well-hidden chip on my index finger which happened two hours after I applied the top coat, so I wasn't best please. Also I would then have take pictures of my other hand if the middle finger didn't also have a massive chip! 

The pictures below were three coats, application was a doddle and not too much scrubbing required to remove. 

So there you are - it's a pretty polish, I just never got to release it's full potential, and without the holo it doesn't stand out from other polishes in my collection. 

Moving on to the nail art - To all my European readers it was Eurovision weekend! To all my American readers - off to Google with you. I was having a few girls over to watch the show so I threw on some last minute nail art - free handed a Union Jack for TeamUK and used a BarryM nail art pen for the writing. did any of you do any Eurovision nail art? I'd love to see it! 

Bx

piCture pOlish Shocked!

Hi all, hope you are well! 

As I mentioned in a previous post I'm not usually a wearer of pink, give me a blue, green or grey any-day, but a few polishes have recently drawn me to the Bright Side, one of them being Barry M Birthday as reviewed the other day, the other is the simply stunning piCture pOlish Shocked.

I am a huge picture polish fan however there is no way I can afford to make a habit of buying these! So this was a major treat. My wish list is almost entirely made up of picture polishes :)   

Shocked was designed in collaboration with a nail and beauty blogger, which is another reason I am such a fan, I love the fact that they reach out to and work with bloggers. But enough of my love for the brand, now for my love for the polish.

This polish is a lovely jelly pink full of holo glitters which applies in smooth thin coats, three used in the pictures below. I just love the almost transparent finish, which may sound funny but it reminds of stained glass. The jelly finish is so jelly-like that even after having this mani on for a good few days it still looked wet and squishy! I adore this polish, it is smooth and classy but the holo brings it alive and keeps it exciting, I wore this for an entire week and never got fed up of it! It isn't quite hot pink either, it's a lot more toned down, making it easier to wear for any occassion. Can I sing this polish's praises enough?! I'll leave it at that for now :) 

Thanks for reading guys, until next time! B x

Mermaid Mani

Hi all, Happy May Day! Hope those of you living in the UK are enjoying the long weekend. As for me, I plan to do absolutely nothing and enjoy it. Today I have a little bit of nail art for you! 

I had been wearing a mani of Pillow Talk from Rimmel's new Rita Ora collection (review to follow shortly) when Emma from NailsXO gave me the inspiration to try out Mermaid scales nail art. She posted a really simple nail art tutorial which I just had to try (see HERE). Mine is maybe not the neatest but still pretty effective I think, especially for a first time! 

I used No 17 Holo polish to draw little crescent moon shapes with a dotting tool until I covered the entire nail. The glitter is Mermaid from Barry M's new Aquarium collection, one coat gives the coverage seen below with big green, blue and gold flakes. I thought there was a pretty decent amount of glitter coverage in that one coat and the colours are lovely. Also pretty convenient that I had a polish called Mermaid when doing Mermaid scales nail art! 

Hope you like it, and swing by Nailsxo for a nosy at her nail art - it's really something! 

Bx

Bathelen Returns - Celebrating 50 Years Of Superdrug

So it's been a while!! But Bathelen is back. Nearly six months since my last blog post but I am working now to get back into the blogging frame of mind. I've missed it! Thank you to all my followers who are still here, Hello to any new ones who have dropped in along the way, and major apologies for bailing for the last six months! 

Anyway, back with a bright pink BANG to celebrate 50 Years of Superdrug. 

This beautiful pink polish by Barry M (appropiately called Birthday) is a lovely thick hot pink jelly full of different sizes of pink, purple and white glitters. The photos below only needed two thin coats to get nice full coverage.I really loved how deep this polish looks and the colour is fab - I'm not usually a big wearer of pink but this Birthday polish has totally converted me to the pink side! 

This polish is Limited Edition and only avaliable in Superdrug stores - when I was in it was 3 for 2 so no excuse not to drop by and pick this up (and a few extra treats too :P) 

See below for pictures, thanks for reading! Bx

An InLinkz Link-up