YouTube Update

Hey guys!

So, in case you have missed my tweets over the last week I have a couple of new YouTube videos up now!

For those of you who have watched my videos so far & subscribed thank you so much! I really wasn't too sure if anyone would want to watch me chattering away in my living room to be honest but I have had some lovely supportive & encouraging comments & tweets from you!

I am having so much fun making videos that I am going to keep it up. I am just not very good with the technical side so hopefully over time they will improve.

You can watch my videos here!:) http://youtu.be/x5vDy13zh58 

If you have a YouTube channel leave the link below! I'd love to see your videos!:-) 

Artwork #3

Here is the third in the series of my Artwork posts! This painting was really a chance for me to get used to using acrylic paint again as I haven't used it for about 8 years. Also, I had never painted on framed canvas before so that was interesting. I am not sure where I am going to keep all of these paintings though. At the moment I have them lying all over the place drying. 

I now remember why I prefer oil paint over acrylic paint. Acrylic paint dries really quickly so you don't have very long to blend areas of your painting. Also, I find that acrylic paint is too watery for me and I work better with the thick formula of oil paint.

Do any of you like to paint? What do you prefer oil or acrylic paint?

Topshop High Voltage Polish

Topshop’s High Voltage polish is such a gorgeous deep pink colour that I had to post about it. If you have not tried Topshop’s nail polish I highly recommend that you do as it is just so darn amazing! Their High Voltage polish is no different. Not only is it a great colour it has a fantastic formula which applies just beautifully. The word “beautifully” really does need to be used here. Topshop polishes glide on smoothly and easily with their perfect brush. This polish was completely opaque within two coats and glossy just like a gel polish. Have I won you over yet? I basically say the same thing about all Topshop polish but it really is true. I’m now a major fan!

Have you tried this Topshop nail polish? Do you like this colour of polish? I would love to hear from you in the comments section below!

Essie's Rock The Boat Polish

Essie’s Rock The Boat polish is an awesome pale pastel blue polish with a pretty shimmer throughout it. I have been a huge fan of Essie polish since the day I tried my first ever Essie polish. There is something so lovely about Essie polishes. This one is particularly pretty as it not only a pastel blue colour but it has this gorgeous shimmer through it. It totally makes me think of summer and chilling by a pool. Not that in summer I relax by a pool as we don’t really get much sunny, hot weather in Scotland. I love how well this polish applies with its fantastic Essie trademark wide brush and its amazing formula. This is definitely a complete winner of a polish!

What are your favourite Essie polishes? Does this colour of polish make you feel summery?

Marks & Spencer Dark Coral Polish

When I received Marks & Spencer’s Dark Coral Polish as a gift I have to admit that I really didn’t expect it to be very good. From experience I know that non-brand nail polish is not usually very good quality which makes sense as it is usually cheaper and they do not necessarily have the best experts working on their polish formula. However, I have to say that Marks & Spencer’s Dark Coral Polish was much better than I thought it would be. The formula was a little thinner than I would have preferred but it provided full coverage within two coats. The brush was also a little thinner than I would have liked but that is really my personal preference. I really like that this polish is metallic. I don’t have any other metallic peachy/coral polishes and I do love a good peachy polish. It is quite nice to try something a bit different.

Have you ever tried Marks & Spencer’s nail polish? If so, what did you think of it?

Models Own Hedonist HedKandi Polish

Models Own’s Hedonist Polish is part of the HedKandi range.  I have a couple of the other HedKandi polishes so I decided I should add this one to my collection. It is such a lovely bright orangey, coral colour which will look amazing this summer. Actually, I think if we all wear summery nail polish then maybe the sunshine will come out! Why not give it a try eh?!  This polish is great to apply and is opaque within two coats. The brush was perfect for applying this polish smoothly and evenly. I love how vibrant this polish is. I feel I will definitely have to do some nail art with this polish.

Have you tried this eye catching polish? Would you like to try it?

Sally Hansen's Sweet Tar-Tan Nail Polish Strips

Sally Hansen’s Sweet Tar-tan Nail Polish Strips are this week’s polish strips of choice. I can’t resist a bit of red tartan.  Although, I am not sure if this pattern would be described as tartan or as pringle. Nonetheless, I really like them. I have had a few compliments about these polish strips at my work.  I really love that they are metallic red too. They look so cool on my nails in real life. I am not sure whether the photos show them off at their best. I could imagine the lovely girls from Little Mix wearing these nail polish strips as they are into their 90’s grunge fashion right now.  I am not brave enough to go full on grunge so I think these nail polish strips are a subtle way of integrating grunge into your everyday style.

What do you guys think? Do you like a subtle bit of grunge?hehe!:)

Fearne Cotton's Silver Glitter Polish

I had never tried Fearne Cotton's nail polish range until I received some of her nail polish sets for Christmas as they were in the 3 for 2 offer in Boots. I'm pretty sure we all adore when Boots do 3 for 2 offers! Anyway, the first nail polish that I have tried by Fearne is this lovely silver polish. I had hoped that the lovely Ms Cotton wouldn't let us down and she certainly hasn't. 

I really like this polish because it is a shimmery glitter which is a bit different to my other silver or glitter polishes. It's formula is different to a normal glitter polish which makes it really nice to apply. The formula was good and so was the brush. The formula wasn't as thick as I would have preferred it to be but the polish looks great anyway. 

If you haven't tried Fearne's polishes before I would say they are definitely worth trying if you get the chance. They might just become your favourite polishes!

Have you tried Fearne Cotton's gorgeous polishes before? What did you think of them?

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips: Sweet Marble Floret

I am excited to say that I have managed to get my hands on some more awesome nail polish strips by Sally Hansen via Amazon! These strips are called Sweet Marble Floret and they are extremely pretty. I actually think these nail polish strips look much nicer than normal marble. The strips are pearlised and there are splashes of pink, lilac and mint throughout which looks great. I love how there is a black, almost splattered effect over the pearlised background. This does make the polish strips look even more marbled. I love patterns like this anyway. 

I am really fond of these nail polishes strips because they are just so cool and unique!

What do you guys think of these? Would love to hear what you think!

You can see my full review of Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips and all of my tips for applying them here: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sally-hansen-nail-polish-strips.html

Seventeen Turquoise Rock Hard Couture Textured Glitter Polish

I was totally intrigued when I saw Seventeen's Turquoise Rock Hard Couture Textured Glitter polish. It is such a beautiful colour so I decided that I needed to try it. I haven't tried any polishes by Seventeen before so I was a little worried about how good they would be especially since I had just found the amazing Rimmel Space Dust collection. However, I am pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The polish applied nicely to my nails with a decent brush. What is great about this polish is that it applies like a thick metallic polish but dries looking like a full coverage glitter polish. I haven't seen any other textured glitter polishes in such an awesome colour as this. 

I am really glad that I bought this polish as it is fantastic. I think I will be having a peek at the other Seventeen polishes the next time I am in Boots. 

Have you tried any of Seventeen's Textured Glitter polishes? What did you think of them?

Tanya Burr Nail Polish Haul

My Tanya Burr nail polish has finally arrived and I cannot wait to try them out.

I absolutely love Tanya, as I'm sure we all do, and I am extremely excited that she has been given the opportunity to launch her own range of lipgloss & nail polish. It must be a dream come true for her. I would absolutely love if I could have my own nail polish range in the future.

So, here are the lovely polishes that I purchased from her collection. Reviews and swatches will be coming your way soon!

Have you bought any of Tanya's polishes? Which ones have you tried?:)

YouTube

I've got some very exciting news guys!...I have finally plucked up the courage to start filming and uploading videos to YouTube. I have wanted to do this for over a year so I am so pleased that I have managed to just go for it. 

My first video is up now and it's on Sally Hansen's amazing Nail Polish Strips:)

So far I have had really positive feedback about it which I have been extremely chuffed with.

Thank you to those of you who have already had a watch of it! If you haven't you can see it here: http://youtu.be/IXfUv7Fw_bM

Most of my videos will be nail polish based but I will be mixing things up a bit by hopefully doing fashion,beauty and lifestyle videos too.

I hope you enjoy my videos. Thanks for all of your kind words so far!

Artwork #2

Hey guys!

A few weeks ago I posted about one of the paintings that I did and I got a really positive response about it. So, I thought I would show you all another painting I have done recently since I started making the time to paint again!

It's pretty colourful so I thought it might inspire your nail art. Maybe you could try out some rainbow nail art.

I used oil paint for this painting. It's a shame you can't see the brush marks very well in the photo but there is lots of texture. I love putting lots of texture into paintings.

Have any of you rediscovered your love for art or being creative in general? Let me know in the comments section! I would love to hear from you!:)

MUA Constellation Nail Beads

I received MUA's Nail Constellation Beads in Leo for my birthday and I have only recently managed to test them out. I was eager to try them and compare them to the other nail beads and pearls that I have purchased. These beads are a really great price and come in a selection of awesome colours. My Leo Beads are a mixture of purple and turquoise metallic beads which are two of my favourite colours. I have chosen to wear them with a lovely lilac polish which I think looks great. 

I had hoped that I would be able to put a top coat over them so I could wear them for longer but unfortunately the top coat ruined them which is a great shame.

Overall, as nail beads go these are an awesome colour and an awesome price. If you want the look of Ciate Caviar Pearls but know that they will only last you one night these beads definitely give you a similar look for a fraction of the price.

What do you think? Have you tried MUA's nail beads before?

Ciate Confetti Glitter Polish

I couldn't resist pairing up Ciate's lovely Confetti Glitter polish with Nails Inc's Baker Street polish and I think the combination looks awesome. Ciate's Confetti polish is a gorgeous fine silver holographic glitter which is the perfect top coat if you crave a fine sparkly finish. The photos don't do it justice at all as you can't see just how holographic it is. I love putting sparkly glitter polish over other colours of polish. It just changes it up a bit so you never get bored. Ciate's Confetti polish applied smoothly with its fairly wide brush. I'm really glad I got this polish in my Ciate Mini Mani Month advent calendar this year as I can never have too much glitter in my life!:)  

What do you think of this polish? Have you paired up blue polish with a glitter top coat before?

Models Own HyperGel Turquoise Gloss Polish

Some of you will know that Models Own held a half price sale recently where their brand new HyperGel polishes were being sold at half the price. I couldn't wait to snap up a few of the new polishes let alone get them half price so I couldn't resist trying them out as soon as I could.

My first offering from their new collection is the HyperGel Turquoise Gloss polish. I love turquoise so turquoise polish is a must have for me along with mint polish of course. This is such a vibrant colour and it really brightens up the dark winter months. The formula is similar to the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shines which I had hoped would be the case as I love them. The brush is great and provides good coverage. I applied two coats of the polish for total opaqueness. I was really impressed at how quickly this polish dried leaving a glossy turquoise finish. 

I really like this polish and cannot wait to try out the other HyperGel polishes that I purchased. 

Have you tried any of the new HyperGel polishes yet? What do you think of this colour? I would love to hear from you in the comments section!:)  

NOTD: Lilac & Silver Glitter Polish

Thought I would do a quick NOTD post to show you guys this random but pretty design. I am wearing Topshop's Flying Saucer lilac polish and Rimmel's Shooting Star Space Dust Polish. I decided I wanted to do a silver accent nail and then thought why not put even more silver on my nails! So, I painted a random design which I really can't describe properly but it looks a bit like I've placed silver foil on my nails! It's very random but I think its quite interesting.

What do you think? How would you describe my random creation? Let me know in the comments section!

Nail Art Nail Tattoos

I was so excited when I got these Nail Art Nail Tattoos for Christmas. I was hoping that they would be the perfect nail tattoos that I have been waiting for since the 1990's when nail tattoos were amazing!  These are from Boots and there are 60 nail tattoos in the pack. The tattoos were just so cute I couldn't wait to try them. 

As you can see from the photos I chose to use some stars and a heart. Firstly, I really liked that to apply them all you had to do was place the tattoo onto your nail. It was such a bonus that you didn't have to use water. However, I noticed that even if you place the nail tattoo really gently onto your nail the backing would always stick to your nail polish and pull it. This ended up looking a bit messy. I had let my polish dry for I while before applied the tattoos but this still happened. Then I noticed that some of them were not sticking down properly. I thought I could rectify this with some top coat but I am not too sure if it helped. The packaging says to use top coat over your nail tattoos however, when I did this it dragged the black ink from the tattoos all across my nails. 

I'm pretty disappointed as I had such high hopes for these nail tattoos. Maybe it is worth wearing them for the cute designs and I can just hope that no one sees how the ink has been dragged across my nails.

I think I might try them again but with totally dry polish and using my top coat very very lightly. 

What do you think about these? Have you tried them? Have I just had an unlucky experience with them?

Stud-io Time Nail Polish Strips By Sally Hansen

 Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips in Stud-io Time are different to all of the other amazing nail strips that I have tried because they are 3D. They are made to look like your nails are completely covered in silver metal square studs. I love things with studs on them so think this is an amazing design as it allows you to pretend you have studs covering your nails with the added bonus that they won't fall off. This is such a great idea. I don't know why it has taken me so long to buy these and try them out. They are seriously cool. So, major thanks to Sally Hansen for coming up with these beauties!

If you would like to see my top tips for applying these nail polish strips then here is the link to my original review: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sally-hansen-nail-polish-strips.html 

Maybelline Color Show Street Artist Polish: Alley Attitude

I was instantly drawn to Maybelline's Color Show Street Artist polish in Alley Attitude when I saw it on the shelf in Boots. So, of course I NEEDED to try it out. I'm extremely impressed by it. Actually, I love it! As you can see from the photos, I painted this polish over a white base as I thought it would make it stand out. I think it looks awesome. This gorgeous polish consists of black & light blue hexagonal glitter particles and strands of varying sizes. I found that it applied really well and the glitter particles spread out evenly. Therefore, I can say that the formula was great, very light rather than sticky, and the brush was good too. This polish dries really smoothly so you don't have to worry about catching your nails on your polish even after applying a top coat. 

I think this is a fantastic polish which totally adds a bit of edge and excitement to your nails. I love how it is slightly different to the normal matte glitter polishes that have been released.

What do you think of this polish? Let me know in the comments below!:) 

Black & Silver Glitter Polka Dot Nail Art

Today I thought I would show you a really pretty nail design which is really simple to create. After applying a base coat I painted my nails with Nails Inc's Black Taxi polish which is my all time favourite black polish. It's super shiny, dries really quickly and sometimes you can get away with just applying one coat. Once my nails had dried off a bit I got my amazing Rimmel Space Dust polish in Shooting Star and used a dotting tool to create pretty silver sparkly polka dots all over my nails. My top tip for doing this is to make sure you have enough fresh polish on the dotting tool for each dot as if you keep using the polish that has been exposed to the air it goes thick and does not create pretty polka dots. 

I really love the combination of these polishes, especially the Rimmel polish as it has a great formula which almost has a metallic full coverage base to it but dries looking like a perfect full coverage glitter. This is a textured polish which makes the polka dots look really cool in contrast to the sleek and shiny black polish. If you want your design to last longer you could always apply a top coat. However, that would take away from the contrasting nail polish textures. 

If you are looking for a new polish to try I would definitely recommend trying Rimmel's Space Dust Polish in Shooting Star. You could team it up with your favourite black polish to try out a polka dot design.

This is such a pretty and easy design to create. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments section!

Models Own Sale Haul

Hey everyone! I really like to see what people have been buying in terms of fashion and beauty and I'm pretty sure most of you do too! So,I thought I would let you see the bargains that I got in the Models Own half price sale. This was a highly anticipated sale in the beauty & fashion blogging world and I'm sure lots of you will have ordered some awesome products. I think it was such a great idea for Models Own to launch a half price sale in January and to include their brand new HyperGel polishes.

I am so excited to get stuck into all of these polishes, try out the nail art pens and get creative with their awesome nail beads.

Thank you so much for your fantastic half price sale Models Own!

Topshop's Pluto Glitter Polish

Topshop's Pluto Glitter Polish is a gorgeous lilac hexagonal glitter polish. It comes in a clear polish so it is great for using as a sparkly top coat over other polishes. As you can see from the photographs I used it over a Foil Effect Nails Inc polish and I think it looks great. It really adds a uniqueness to the foil polish which I love. I think you could probably build this polish up for full coverage but I haven't tried that yet. I also cannot wait to try it with other polishes. It might be really lovely to use when creating a galaxy nail design. This polish applied really nicely. It has a really good glitter particle to polish ratio. I love the brush and the formula too which is a natural reaction as it is a Topshop polish.

What do you think of this polish combo? Have you tired this polish? What colours should I try it with next?

Artwork #1

I've got a slightly different post for you today but it is a creative one nonetheless which you can hopefully take some nail art inspiration from. 

I studied art all the way through school but when I went to uni I felt that I didn't have time anymore as I was always stressing about the reading, the essays and the exams. After I graduated from uni I went straight into a job and again just never had the time to paint or draw anymore. However, recently I decided that I needed to make time to paint again because I loved it and was good at it. 

I am hoping that this year I can find a creative job that I enjoy. Maybe it will involve painting or nails?! I am absolutely loving writing this blog and showing you lots of lovely nail polishes and nail art. I am also loving painting again so hopefully I can keep up my hobby. 

I thought showing you guys my paintings might make my blog a bit more personal and also inspire you to create some pretty nail art! Nail art inspires my paintings and paintings inspire my nail art. :) 

I hope you like my painting guys!

Essie Naughty Nautical Polish

I am so glad that I have added Essie's Naughty Nautical polish to my collection as it is too gorgeous to resist. Now I am an absolute sucker when it comes to mint and turquoise polish so there was no way I could resist Naughty Nautical which is a bright turquoise/teal shade. It has a lovely shimmer throughout which I'm sure looks amazing in Summer sunshine which I obviously haven't seen yet seeing as it is still winter. I don't think that Essie could ever disappoint me. Their formula is always 100% fantastic, with perfect opacity in just two coats with its delightful soft but wide brush. I adore Essie polish so much and find that they are long lasting but I always wear them with a top coat. I feel like I'm repeating myself here but its true!

Are you a fan of Essie polishes? Which colours are your favourites?

Red & Silver Glitter Leopard Print Nail Art

I wanted to do something totally different from the normal leopard print design and I think I have managed that with this red and silver leopard combination. 

I used Nails Inc's St James Gel red polish and Rimmel's Shooting Star Space Dust silver glitter polish. I think the red polish looks awesome with the silver metallic glitter polish which I used for the leopard print. Also, I love that it is quite unique. I will be trying this Space Dust polish in other leopard print designs.

What other colours combinations do you think would be good? Which other colours could I use this silver Space Dust polish with in a leopard print design?

If you want to see my step by step guide for creating your own leopard print nails then check out my Leopard Print Nail Art Guide here: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/leopard-print-nails-guide.html 

Raspberry & Blue Leopard Print Nail Art

My third leopard print nail art post is on these raspberry(it looks purple I know!) and blue leopard print nails. My Models Own black nail art pen/brush was really dried out when I did this design so please excuse the scruffy black polish! Again, I thought it would be great to use some nice bright colours for this leopard print design. I use Topshop's High Voltage raspberry polish and Essie's Rock The Boat blue polish for this design.

I thought it would be cool to do one nail that was blue with raspberry leopard print as it would make the design a bit more interesting. I think it looks really good. I will definitely be creating this design with other colours in the future.

Do you like this combination? What is your favourite colour combination for leopard print designs?

If you want to see my step by step guide for creating your own leopard print nails then check out my Leopard Print Nail Art Guide here: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/leopard-print-nails-guide.html 

Yellow & Peach Leopard Print Nail Art

So,right now I'm all about brightening up the dark dreary days with some pretty nail polish. These yellow and peach leopard print nails definitely warm up a cold day with hints of the spring and summer that is yet to come.

I used Nails Inc's Notting Hill Carnival yellow polish (my all time favourite yellow polish) and Essie's Tart Deco polish. I really love this yellow and peach polish combination and can't wait to wear this design on my nails when it is warmer and the sun is shining! Ahhh to dream!

Would you wear this leopard print design in yellow and peach? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

If you want to see my step by step guide for creating your own leopard print nails then check out my Leopard Print Nail Art Guide here: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/leopard-print-nails-guide.html