OPI Liquid Sand - Honey Ryder

Good morning folks, today I have the second of the Bond Girls Liquid Sand collection by OPI - Honey Ryder. This one isn't nearly as special as Tiffany Case (which,while being beautiful stains your fingers like nothing on this earth!) however is still a lovely polish to wear.

Honey Ryder (the famous white bikini wearing bimbo from Dr No) is a super shiny golden liquid sand, it lacks the glitter which made Tiffany Case so shiny but has a smoother finish and application wise is opaque in near enough two coats.  Other than that I don't have a huge amount to say about this polish, I really like it but I'm not jumping up and down excited. I imagine it'll be a great shade to wear on the beach on holiday though, the gold glinting in the sun and would really complement a tan! 

Onto the photos:

OPI Liquid Sand - Tiffany Case

Apologies for the total lack of posts, I was planning on beginning to blog more regularly now that I have finished university, put once I put on this polish I didn't want to take it off! this is day four and I still love it! I was also planning on saving this polish for a post of liquid sands and textured polish in general but this is so pretty is deserves it's own post with it's own little rave review :)  Those of you who follow me on Instagram would have  already seen me flashing this polish earlier in the week.

I order Tiffany Case and Honey Ryder from the Bond Girls liquid sand OPI collection along with two Zoya Pixie Dusts from Nail Polish Direct last week - just before the backlash about them stealing other bloggers images began (otherwise I may have avoided them!). As well as offending the blogger community by infringing various Intellectual Property rights (I did an exam on this literally last week) they have now hiked up the prices so instead of the £7.95 I paid for these liquid sands they are now £9.95 and the Zoyas have gone from £10.45 to £11.45 making ebay once again the cheapest option for Zoya fans. Unimpressed. 

Anyway, onto the polish! This is the first liquid sand I have tried but as you may have gathered from previous Zoya and Barry M posts I am already a firm fan of textured polishes! I think it's just such an easy way to have a beautiful and interesting manicure :) 

Tiffany Case is one of six liquid sands released as part of OPI's new Bond Girls collection, which I have been ridiculously excited about and feel I have been very restrained in only buying two polishes! I will probably buy the mini collection at some point though :) I am a HUGE Bond fan and have always looked up to *some* of the Bond girls. I like Tiffany Case cause she's pretty badass and cares more about getting her diamonds than waiting around for James to save her! This is a beautiful light blue with almost a teal sheen to it, it is sparkly and has big reflective glitter discs which makes it dazzle in the sun. As I said I've had this on since Tuesday and still no chips or dents, with only VERY minor tip wear on my two index fingers which is leading me towards removing Dorothy Who from the top of my list of favourite polishes and replacing it with this. Similar colours, similar glitter except one falls off my nails in about a day and the other is textures and lasts all week! I am very much in love with this polish!! 

And now for the pictures! The bottom two I took in the sun while walking home so are a bit blurry but it means you can see all of the sparkly goodness! 

And there we are! Enjoy your weekend lovelies and wish me luck - I am running my first ever 10K on Sunday and am terrified! Bx

Glossybox May 2013 (Spoilers Ahead!)

Now I wasn't planning on doing a regular Glossybox post but after this arrived I was just so excited I wanted to share it again :) but if you guys don't want to read about this then just comment below and I'll keep my box under wraps in future! 

Now I was impressed by the prompt delivery for one - I got an email on Friday saying it was dispatched and it arrived safe on Monday morning - what more can a girl ask for! 

It's Glossybox's second birthday so there was a bit of a 2 theme in the wrapping - I thought it was gorgeous! 

and here are all my goodies - four full sized samples, a small sample and a random free git! 

First up is the primer sample by Beautiful Movements Cosmetics - okay it's a pretty small sample but seeing as it's only about a third of the size of my fullsize Maybelline gel primer I can't complain much. Apparantly this can be used as primer or mixed with foundation to give an 'airbrush effect' or mixed with eyeshadow/bronzer for a 'creme effect' and so on. I will experiment and update!

Full size cost (20g): £20

Sample size: 2.5g

Nail polish! I may not have heard of the brand but that doesn't mean I'm not excited about receiving another full size nail polish in my GB. This is a gorgeous tealy blue colour by a brand called Headline Colours which I'm sure I will swatch and review soon :) 

Full size cost (10ml): £9

Sample Received: Full Size

Next up an eyeliner. I'm rather chuffed with this as I almost bought it in Boots two weeks ago but they were sold out! It's a super easy to use liquid eyeliner which stays on longer than the usual kohl pencils and has a nice long nib for smooth sweeps.

Full size cost (6ml): £2.99

Sample Received: Full Size

Now this I am intrigued about having never used Shine Spray before. This Awapuhi Wild ginger spray claims to hydrate, protect and nourish hair as well as making it glossy all day. Again I will have to experiment with this but if it works it will be some sort of God send spray!

Full size cost (125ml): £18.95

Sample Received: Full Size!

Finally, a mascara. I would never say no to a mascara - I love it! This is a waterproof, long wearing mascara called Fairy Lashes by Jelly Pong Pong and it is super light to wear - no feeling like you have false lashes on after too many sweeps on the ol' lashes (happens to me all the time!)

Full Size cost: £15

Sample Received: Full Size

and finally a wee pressie. This is a super handy idea, I actually keep and old FCUK set of these inside my purse at all times for those nail emergencies. What it is, is like a matchbook you would get in a hotel but instead of matches it has mini emery boards! Great idea, every girl should have one on them ;) 

Yes, I'm aware it's upside down .. it's not like that on my phone, honest! 

so that is May's Glossybox : £10 for the box for four full size samples worth a massive £45.94, plus a sample and a emery board set. I think it's fair to say I'm happy as nail polish and eye makeup is my downfall :) 

As ever, if anyone is suddenly inspired to order a Glossybox, do so here via my refer a friend link ( thanks to those who have used it already!): http://www.glossybox.co.uk/referal?CI=MTE2NTg0 

thanks for reading - B x

Ask a British Nail Blogger : Oldest Polish In Your Stash

So I recently joined the Facebook Group British Nail Bloggers who regularly do a 'Ask A British Nail Blogger' challenge. This weeks is rather tricky for me, and asks what the oldest polish in our collection is. 

Now some of you may know this, but before starting my blog I had really only been into nail polish for around 8 months, so very nearly a year now! Before then I wasn't allowed to wear nail polish in my various student supermarket jobs so I tended not to bother. I do remember way back when I was around 14 I had a metallic turquoise from Avon which made me feel so rock n roll and I wore it so often haha! Such a drastic change to my opinion on polish now! 

When I got into nail polish last year I went into Superdrug and bought the basics: A Rimmel Red and Turquoise, Barry M gold glitterish, and two Andrea Fullerton nail art pens in silver and black. I did so much nail art with these basic supplies and slowly my polish stash began to grow with items from Boots, Superdrug and Asda. How times have changed.

Towards the end of last year I got into reading blogs a lot more regularly. I had read some in passing for nail art ideas and tutorials (the Nailasaurous was always the one I ended up coming back to - even though I didn't realise it was the same blog!) but before then I had no idea of the scale of the nail blogger community and neither had I heard if the professional brands. Slowly I became more envious of these interesting brands and their fabulous names and I looked into it. In January I treated myself to my first ever batch of China Glazes in a job lot on ebay, as well as the two colours I decided I wanted to be my welcome mat into the world of professional polish - Ruby Pumps and Dorothy Who. 

Here is my first China Glaze batch: Thataway, Tantalise Me, Grape Juice, Towel Boy Toy and Afterglow. 

I've come a long way since I bought these polishes, starting a blog not long after this to chart my progress and my ever growing stash and also so that I could meet people who would also get as excited about a China Glaze delivery as I do. And for this reason I want to thank all of you - my regular readers and followers, the ladies in the BNB group and the bloggers who have continued to inspire me! I would not still be writing this without the encouragement I began receiving almost immediately! You are all fabulous. 

Bathelen x

VOTE FOR BATHELEN! Glammed Up Gouda Gouda Two Shoes

Exciting news!! I'm in the running for this months New Blogger of the Month with Fingerprints! Basically they promote new nail art bloggers and everyone else gets to vote for their favourite. It would be so amazing to win but having seen some of the other entries I'm worried that I'm still a bit too novice. Hopefully though people will want to take a look and like the blog long enough to say hi, so hello to all of you who came here from Fingerprints! 

If you would like to vote for me, or of course, any of the other lovelies who have entered then just follow this link. http://leavemyfingerprint.com/2013/05/01/new-blogger-of-the-month-may/

So I finally decided to actually begin an OPI collection. OPI is probably my favourite brand but I've only really used their minis and only owned two full size polishes! But after seeing them for £3.99 on Fragrance Direct (get on it ladies!) I decided to get some more :) as part of the spree I ordered Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, I have a Herring Problem, Don't Mess With OPI and Red Lights Ahead .. Where?, along with Sally Hansen Buttercup for £1.99! 

Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, from the Holland collection, is one that you would never buy without seeing swatches or it in person but it is hot-damn beautiful! It goes from a rosy-pink to a mid-brown to shimmery gold all under one light! Although I will admit to being a tad disappointed as the gold shimmer was much more visible in the bottle that on the nail. the formula and application was a dream, took three coats but only because when I held up my hand against the light I could see light from behind the nail (does that make sense?)

I decided to bling up the mani as I was attending a charity ball on the Friday and was wearing a dusky pink/nude dress for the occassion. I added a half moon of Orly's Halo to the base of each nail, similar to what I did with Coachella Dweller as I always thought that that was a simple and glam mani.

The bottom two pics I took outside to try and show the shimmer of the GoudaGouda and the sparkly goodness of Halo. Finally I was SO impressed with OPI's staying power, as with me China Glaze will chip in 24-48 hours which is a pain in the fingertips if you ask me, however this mani was applied on Thursday and was still (other than some tip wear) damn near perfect on Tuesday when I removed it, but there was a chip due to some bad application by me on my right hand. Well done OPI! 

Truth is .. My nails are Iron Man (and Barry M Nail Art Pens review)

No prizes for guessing what I went to see in the cinema at the weekend! As you may have picked up from my other Geeky nail art post I'm a bit of a nerd gal. Sci-fi, comic book, fantasy, you name it I love it, and I also love doing nail art about it :) 

I did a bit of internet trailing first as I remembered Work Play Polish doing an Iron Man nail art a wee while ago, so I used her mani as a bit of a template so I didn't just wing it and make a total mess! If you don't already follow her blog or facebook page, you should, her nail art is fabulous! 

I started off with a base of China Glaze Ruby Pumps (swatches here) which surprisingly was a perfect Iron Man red, and the I added a gradient of OPI Goldeneye from the Skyfall collection, which again was a pretty perfect gold, if a little shimmery. I think it just looked like Tony Stark was off to a disco! 

On my middle finger I used the Goldeneye brush to make a sort of weird U shape, then I used Barry M's new nail art pens to draw on the black lines and fill in the eyes with silver.

Now. About the Barry M pens. Am I the only one who doesn't understand the design. Don't get me wrong, once you get going they are fab, but the nibs are solid and you have to pump the nib to get the colour flowing down the outside of the tip, which you can't do on your nail and it will leave lovely bit dents in your polish, so you have to do it on some hard surface. Also, if you don't have enough colour on the outsides of the nib you end up just digging lines into your nails which you then have to fill in again with the colour. This was the second time I'd used them and I admit it was better now I knew what I was doing but trying to test them out was really .. weird. Is it just me? Anyway, the colour is opaque, it does lovely fine lines, so I will just have to get used to using them! 

And now some photos. I've even included the fabled right hand, as the mask looks totally different on my right hand (funnily enough) and I can't decide which looks better! 

And now to see how other British Nail bloggers have spent the week :) 

Very First Glossybox - April 2013

Look at what was sitting waiting for me at my front door when I got home!! My very first Glossybox! (be prepared for many pictures!)

For those of you who don't know, Glossybox is a monthly beauty box which comes filled with lovely samples of beauty products. For £10 + P&P you receive a box full of mystery goodies to try out.  I think what made me decide to order this Glossybox was that I saw a picture of this months box on their Facebook page with the specially designed floral box (designed by designer and singer Pearl Lowe) and fell in love. Although I admit I did cheat before ordering, as I've been humming and hawing over beauty boxes for months! The cheating came when I had a nosy on several blogs to try and decide whether or not the box was worth it by the contents. most of the reviews were encouraging so I placed my order. As I've subscribed for 3 months the next two boxes will be a total surprise (no peeking next time!) And I was lucky enough to receive exactly what I would have chosen as my perfect box!! 

Look at all its pretty-ness!

The box itself is stunning. It's pretty solid, not just some cheap flimsy thing, which makes me feel like I've got even better value for money as I will definitely be able to use this to store my ever-growing polish stash! And as you can see - it's pretty stunning. 

Leaflet containing interview with the designer and details on the products inside

The packaging was also lovely, I so enjoyed opening it, I was like a kid at Christmas! 

I will admit to a small amount of squealing once I saw what I had inside! And now a quick look at the products themselves:

First I received an Essie nail polish in the baby pink shade Sugar Daddy. I'm yet to really try Essie so I was quite excited by this, also many of the girls whose posts I read didn't receive any polish, so as a total nailphile I was chuffed that I got one! And I don't really own many normal colours like pinks so I don't have a single dupe.

Price for full size (13.5ml): £7.99

Sample received: Full size

Next is Nip and Fab body butter. I have heard good things about this brand on blogs before but never tried it, but I am always on the hunt for a new moisturiser and this smells beautiful! 

Price for full size (200ml): £9.95

Sample received: 50ml  

Next up is Sleep Makeup's blusher in Flamingo (fabulous name!) which again I was quite excited by as I have only just started experimenting with blusher and am beginning to be confident enough with it to want to try a shade like this (so far I only use brown toned blush). Although the blush isn't a crazy pink on my skin as it appears in the tub, as you can see on my hand below. It's a lovely sleek little black box with a mirror inside and I love it already! 

Price for full size (8g): £4.49

Sample received: Full size

It took me a while to figure out what this was as the instructions are all in another language (French? Italian? no idea) but the leaflet enclosed in the box informs me that this is A-Derma's Intense Repair Lip Balm. I've been wearing it for about an hour and it feels totally absorbed, no tackiness or movement, and my lips feel lovely and smooth. Think that this will be a winner as well! 

Price for full size (15ml): £7.95

Sample received: Full size

And lastly a perfume. a girl can never have too many perfumes! This is Yves Rocher France (never heard of them... suppose that's the point of the box though!) and the perfume is called So Elixir Purple. This is actually a really nice scent, again I've had it on my wrists for about an hour (and just a tiny bit at that!) and I can still smell it, it is a light fragrance that isn't too overpowering but at the same time isn't a flowery day time perfume. This is right up my street. The bottle size is generous, seeing as it actually is a bottle, and I can see that living in my handbag for the next few months.

Price for full size (50ml): £44 (30ml): £29

Sample recieved: 5ml

So all in all I am now a solid fan of Glossybox and I hope that my next two boxes live up to what are now rather high expectations! But for a tenner a month you can't go far wrong with this - I got three full sized samples, two very generous samples and a new box to house my nail polish in - bargain! 

I hope you enjoyed this post (seeing as there will at least two more to come :P)- I'd be interested to know if you ordered one and what you got inside it, or if you receive a different Beauty Box such as Birchbox.

If you have never tried Glossybox you can order them by clicking HERE

If I recommend friends I earn points which in turn can be redeemed against a future Glossybox! 

As ever please comment away, I'd love to hear from you :)