Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips : Animal Instinct

I recently tried Animal Instinct Nail Polish Strips by Sally Hansen which are bright pink strips with a black zebra print pattern. There is a hint of sparkle running through them which makes them even prettier. I have not been able to master painting zebra print onto my nails yet so I thought that these polish strips were great. These Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips are available at Boots.

Have you tried out these nail polish strips before? What did you think of them?

Here is the link to my review of Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips:http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sally-hansen-nail-polish-strips.html

I have posted lots of other posts on these awesome nail polish strips so have a look through my blog of you are interested!

OPI Blue Shatter Polish

I've had OPI Blue Shatter polish for over a year now and I thought I better dust it off and give it another go to see what I truly thought of it.    It is a really pretty metallic blue colour which sparkles when the sun hits it. It would make a really pretty normal polish. I applied this polish over a pink base and a pastel blue base. No matter how thinly I applied this polish it just wouldn't shatter as well as the black OPI Shatter polish. This resulted in large blocks of metallic blue colour. Therefore, it wouldn't shatter properly. It is such a shame because the black shatter polish is so good. I'm not too keen on how it looks on my nails which is disappointing.

What do you think? Do you have a favourite crackle/shatter polish?

Here is a link to my OPI Black Shatter polish review: http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/opi-black-shatter-polish-my-100th-post.html

The Bucket List Tag

The lovely Laura from Love & Liquor tagged me in her Bucket List post which you can find here: http://lauraloveandliquor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/my-bucket-list.html. She has a really cool blog and its one of my favourites so I would recommend that you go check her blog out. 

So here are some thoughts on what would be on my budget bucket list and what would be on my extravagant bucket list.

Budget

I wasn't able to choose just one thing I would like to do so here are a couple. You might find them a bit boring but then again you might be interested. So, this is random but I'd like to maybe learn sign language. I was thinking about how much easier it would be for deaf people to communicate with me if I could do that-I was watching big brother when this thought came to me. 

I would also really really love to either have a job that is really creative or study something creative. I was so tempted to study Art at uni because I loved it and was good at it. In the end I opted for what i thought would be a degree that would give me more chance of getting a good job. In reality though it hasn't quite worked out like that. So maybe one day I will have my own business doing something creative or I will study painting at uni. Or fashion. I'm really not sure but I need to get back to my creative roots because its what I'm best at and what I enjoy the most.

Extravagant

I absolutely hate travelling so I basically stopped going on holiday because it was just too much hassle and it made me feel too unwell. I'd also had some bad experiences with a near plane crash and once I passed out on a plane. I think there was something wrong with the air supply. So, it would be amazing to get hypnotherapy and then travel to all the places I have never managed to visit. If I had all the money in the world I would firstly go to London and see all of the sights. I would also love to go to all the amazing shops and shows. I would then go to New York and do the same. I'd like to go to LA too. It would be amazing to go to Australia and Italy too. Hopefully one day I will be brave enough to do this. I better start saving!! 

If you guys want to do this tag then feel free and let me know if you've done it! Remember to check out Laura's blog-its a great read!:-)

Lilac & Mint Combo Nails

Lilac and Mint are two of my favourite ever colours so I am really happy that I can combine the two colours on my nails. These pastel shades of polish are just so pretty. I don't think I will ever get bored of them. I think they look great together. I have posts coming up about the polishes I have used here so look out for them.

What do you think? What are your favourite polish combinations?

100 Followers :-) :-) :-)

This morning I managed to reach a massive mile stone in terms of my blog. I reached 100 followers!!! I'm finding it quite difficult to comprehend that there are actually 100 people who like what I write about and my photographs enough to follow my blog. Seriously, its just like ...wow...it's surreal! I never thought anyone would be bothered about my blog at all and thought everyone would think my blog was a bit naff because I don't have my own personal design (I'm technologically challenged to a certain degree). So, I am absolutely over the moon that you lovely people like my blog. For people to like something I enjoy writing about and photographing is awesome.

So, thank you thank you thaaaaaaank yoooou to everyone who has followed me or left me lovely blog comments or tweets. I really appreciate it. I also appreciate all of your amazing blogs and the work that you put into them. 

I am crazy chuffed! :-) 

Love Stef xxx

Rimmel Salon Pro Polish by Kate Moss : Reggae Splash

I was really excited about trying a couple of the Rimmel Salon Pro polishes because I had heard so many good things about them. I bought Reggae Splash, which is a lovely pale peach colour, from the Kate Moss collection. I actually really really like this colour because it is a totally different shade of peach in comparison to the other peach polishes that I have. So I am a big fan of the colour of this polish. The brush is amazing. It is really wide which makes application really easy.  I noticed that the brush can hold a lot of polish so you don't have to keep dipping it back into the polish as much as you would with other polishes. The formula is good but because this polish is so pale I think you might need three coats for full coverage. I only applied two coats and I think you will be able to see from the photos that it was slightly patchy. However, that was my error. I would totally recommend this polish. It's such a great colour. I love the bottles too!

Have you tried any of these polishes? What do you think of them?

Maybelline Forever Strong Gel Nail Polish : Mint For Life

Maybelline's Forever Strong Gel Nail polish in Mint For Life is awesome in so many different ways. I am loving this range of nail polish. I recently reviewed a pink polish called Bubble Gum from this range and was really impressed. Mint For Life is a gorgeous pale mint green polish which I think is very similar to Essie's Mint Candy Apple polish. It looks more blue in the photos but it is mint in real life. I absolutely love the wide brush and amazing gel formula of this polish. I think I really prefer gel polishes to normal polishes now.  Within two coats there are no streaks and the polish dries pretty quickly too. I cannot get enough of mint polish at the moment so I can never have to many! I would definitely recommend this polish, especially if you would like an Essie Mint Candy Apple dupe. 

Have you tried this polish? What did you think of it? Let me know what your favourite mint polishes are too! 

Skulls with Printed Bows : Nail Tattoos

So, I've been practicing with my water transfer nail tattoos again and this time I have chosen cute skulls with little leopard print bows on them. I decided to use Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine polish in Mango as a base colour because I thought it would look good with the printed bows on the skulls. I managed to place the tattoos onto my nails nicely but unfortunately I had not cut close enough to the tattoos themselves and so ended up with a clear film covering most of my nail and hanging over the edge on to my finger. My top tip for anyone using water transfer nail tattoos is to cut as close to your tattoo as you can to avoid the excess clear film which could ruin your pretty nails. I have to admit that water transfer nail tattoos are not ideal because they are quite difficult to apply nicely but these were the only nail tattoos that I could find. To try and disguise the mess I had made I applied a coat of top coat which went all bubbly as the bottle is almost finished - great!

I bought these nail tattoos from Amazon. They do not have a brand name but they are really cheap.

What do you think? Have you found any nail tattoos that are adhesive without water? I would love to know!

Double Polka Dot Nail Art

I decided to create a polka dot design where I had one colour of polka dot with a different colour of polka dot on top of it. Therefore, I have named this design the double polka dot design haha! Probably not a very original name but I really didn't know what to call it. I used Barry M's Prickly Pear polish for the base colour and then Greenberry for the first round of polka dots. I then used my dotting tool again to dot Barry M's Grapefruit, which is a pink polish, over the turquoise polka dots. This was the result. I think it is pretty cute. I wanted the pink polka dots to be a bit paler than they were though. 

What do you think of this design? Which colours do you use to create polka dot nail art?

Pastel Nail Polish With L'Oreal Confetti Top Coat

As much as I like bright colours I really love pastel colours too. I felt in the mood for a range of pastel colours on my nails so I chose five lovely pastel polishes. I used lilac, pink, mint, blue and peach polishes to paint each of my nails in turn. The polish looked very pretty on its own but I wanted to add more BOOM to my nails. So, I decided to apply one coat of L'Oreal Confetti Top Coat over the polish. I love the  finished result. These pastel nails have a bit of an edge which I think is great. 

Do you like the look of this polish? Would you try it on your nails? Let me know what you think!

Rimmel Lasting Finish - Strawberry Fizz

I had never tried the Rimmel Lasting Finish polish until my mum brought one home the other day in an attempt to find the perfect pink polish. I used to have the Rimmel 60 second polishes when I was a kid but had never tried the Lasting Finish ones so was interested to see what it they were like. The polish I tried was a lovely bright pastel pink polish called Strawberry Fizz. I was really surprised by the quality of this polish. The formula was great and my nails were opaque in two coats. I found that the polish applied really easily too. The brush was better than I thought it would be which was great. I hadn't realised but this polish is actually scented. Usually I stay away from scented polish but I quite liked it. 

I would definitely recommend this polish and will be buying myself some colours from this collection in the future.

What do you think? Have you tried any polish from this collection? If so, what did you think about it?

Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips -Laced Up

Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips in Laced Up are much nicer than I thought they would be. At first I was worried they might look a bit tacky but I kept being drawn to them and decided I would really like to try them. They are so cute when they are on. I love having patterned nails so they were actually totally up my street. I really can't stress enough how much I love Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips. Seriously,if you ever get the chance to try them do it! You won't regret it. 

What do you think of these nail polish strips?

Here is the link to my review of Sally Hansen's Nail Polish Strips: 

http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/sally-hansen-nail-polish-strips.html

I have done lots of other posts on some awesome nail polish strips so have a look through my previous posts if you want!:)

OPI's Flashbulb Fuchsia Polish

OPI's Flashbulb Fuchsia polish is a metallic fuchsia polish which looks gorgeous in the bottle. I felt that it was a bit dull when it was on my nails which is a shame. The formula wasn't as good as I had expected it to be. The polish was quite thin and watery so I needed a couple of coats for full coverage. I much prefer thicker more opaque polishes. I guess I am just used to the formula of gel polishes now. This polish wasn't right for me but it might be for you. I think it depends on what your preferences are when it comes to nail polish.

Have you tired this polish? Do you like thin polish or would you rather use thicker polish?

OPI Silver Shatter Polish

OPI Silver Shatter polish is another old polish I found hidden away in a box which I thought I would try out. I tried this polish over a black base and also over a pink base. This polish is pretty but I don't think it is as good as the black OPI Shatter polish which I also found. The formula is really thick and it does not glide onto the nails easily. This seems to effect it's ability to shatter in a weird way. It just about coats your whole nail in silver polish. Even when I applied a very thin, light layer of polish it still didn't seem to shatter very well. You can let me know what you think from seeing the photos but I think the black OPI Shatter polish is much better in terms of formula, application and shatter.

Here is the link to my Black OPI Shatter polish post:

http://scottishstefsnails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/opi-black-shatter-polish-my-100th-post.html

Triple Mint Nail Art

I really wanted to paint my nails with mint polish but I didn't want them to be one solid colour. I decided to use Essie's Mint Candy Apple and Barry M's Greenberry and Guava polishes to create a mottled mint nail design. I painted my nails with two coats of white polish and then dabbed on the three polishes to each nail with a make up sponge. I added more of each polish where necessary and to help blend the polishes so they were not too obviously splodged on. The end result looked really pretty although no matter where or how I photographed my nails they did not look as nice as they did in real life which is a shame! It was easy and fun to do and I can't wait to try this technique with other colours. 

Have you ever tried out this technique? What do you think?