Caramel Frappuccino Leopard

This is one of the only three Topshop polishes I own, it's called "Naked" and it's a warm caramel creme. It reminds me of caramel frappuccino! Topshop has a great choice of shades and the bottles are so cute and retro looking. However, they are quite pricey at£5 to £6 for 8ml!

The formula is good and opaque after a third coat. I did have a problem with bubbling on my pinky, I'm not sure why as it's never happened before with my regular base and top coat.
It's not so bright irl, more of a nude and not so much of the yellow undertones seen on camera. I like that it's one of those nude polishes that doesn't blend in with your skin tone so it looks like you actually have polish on!

I added a row of pink and green leopard print to the ring fingers and thumbs only as I didn't want to cover the whole hand with leopard print!

Boyish Chic Polka Dots & Bows

Today I have yet another review for you guys - Born Pretty m-59 stamping plate. I find this plate, consisting of cute bows, hearts and snow flakes very versatile, probably because it has some of my favourite images. It's round and the same size as regular Konad or Bundle Monster plates (unlike the m71 which is the only other Born Pretty plate I've tried).

As you'll probably know from my previous review, I have had good experiences with Born Pretty stamping plates although I have purposely chosen small picture plates as opposed to full nail plates to avoid problems with image size and full nail coverage, etc.

The images are well engraved and detailed, thus transfer with ease onto the nail. This plate retails for $2.99 and I would definitely recommend if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to Konad. To purchase this plate or any other items on the Born Pretty online store, you can use my discount code - VA7J61 - to get 7% off.

The base colour for this mani is OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam which I received in a swap. This grey toned muted periwinkle packed with silver glass fleck shimmer was my favourite colour from the Holland Collection. For some reason it looks much more grey'ish than blue on me so I shall have to use 3 coats next time.

I used the polka dot image on the plate and kept with the theme on the remaining nails too. To keep the mani quite soft and subdued, I chose a complementing silver polish - Barry M Silver Foil. I liked the final result of contrasting feminine and masculine qualities - bows and polka dots yet they look boyish and muted!

Going Bananas Leopard

Seems like forever since I last posted. I've been on a much needed holiday and my nails have grown quite a bit since the last time I posted. I'm going to try and keep them like this for a while, either until I scratch myself or they start getting in the way! Lol!

A very simple mani today. Leopard accent stamped with BM221and some loose glitter placement on the other nails.
The base colour is Going Bananas by H&M, which has been sitting in my untrieds stash for over a year. It's a soft, light, almost pastel yellow with green  and pink shimmer which was impossible to capture on camera. It reminds me of Chanel Mimosa!

H&M polishes are good, I don't own many but have never come across a really bad formula. The one thing I hate is the shape of the lid! The plastic square bit isn't detachable like Butter London, which makes for really awkward application.

Pastel Watercolour Zebra

Today's design has been on my "to do" list for such a long time. I've always wanted to try a pastel watercolour technique but I don't really like it when all the colours look too messy on the nail. So I only let the four colours I used for this design overlap slightly.

I started with a white base (OPI Alpine Snow) and also used the following polishes to create the watercolour effect - Yes Love 243 (yellow), Yes Love Y17 (pink), Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream and Rimmel London Misty Jade. All of these pastels together remind me of soft scoop ice cream :)

I finally stamped with BM223 (probably my most used BM plate) for a subtle zebra effect.

Mish-Mash of Vintage Flowers, Glitter and Rhinestones

Today I wanted to show you guys a design I did for a contest currently taking place on Instagram, hosted by the ever so talented Bedizzle. The rules were simple, just to copy a design that she had done in the past. I opted for a design that I could manage as every other mani she had done was way to complex for me to attempt!

So that it wasn't an exact copy, I changed up the colours a little and the placement of the flowers and glitter as well. So it turned out a bit of a mish-mash of vintage flowers and placed glitters:)

Polishes used - Essie Mint Candy Apple, Collection 2000 Fruit Loop and Ninja, Rimmel London Apricot Punch, Miss Sporty Gold Backstage and OPI Alpine Snow for the dots and stripes.

Remember the Mermaid Tail nails I did a while back, also for an Instagram competition? I won second place. I couldn't believe it, there were so many great entries!

My Guest Post Over at: Polish Chest

Check out my guest post for the wonderful Danny over at the Polish Chest.

I used one of my favourite summer polishes - Essie Tart Deco and created a white and gold chevron on the accent fingers.

Hits Speciallita Lambada (Mundo De Dancas Collection)

As mesmerising as OPI DS Magic is on the nail, I couldn't leave it alone. Plus, it's another excuse to tick one more bottle off my untrieds box. I was going to stamp some sort of silver pattern over it but felt a little lazy when I got home today so I just added a coat of Hits Speciallita Lambada from the Mundo De Dancas Collection, and I'm so glad I did. This pretty was sent to me by Bia a while ago and I can't believe it's taken me this long to try it.

Lambada is a gorgeous mix of green, pink and golden flakies in a transparent base. You might be able to see blue and reddish-orange on a different base colour. The pictures under my lamp don't even do it justice and I think my camera freaked out at the shine going on in this mani.
What I like about the Hits Mundo De Dancas flakies is that they go on nice and smooth and I don't have to strategically place the polish like I do with Color Club Covered in Diamonds, for instance.

I can see myself layering Lambada over quite a lot of dark polishes in the Autumn/ Winter.

Untrieds: OPI DS Magic

Today I have a very special polish to show you. Well, it's special to me because I love anything blue and it's my first ever OPI Designer Series. I received it in a recent swap with one of my IG girlies (Marcie) and couldn't wait to try it. I am also trying to decrease the amount of untrieds I have because it's gotten to the point where it's actually becoming a little silly - my untrieds box has more polish than my regular tried stash! >.< I'm not complaining though! It feels like Christmas every time I open that box :)

OPI DS Magic is a blue and purple duochrome which is very evident on the bottle but sadly doesn't translate onto the nail. It doesn't take away from the fact that it's still a beautiful rich blue packed with glass flecks. I also love the formula on these types of polishes, it's wonderfully easy to work with. The first coat goes on streaky and sheer but a second coat provides full coverage.

Look how pretty the bottle shot is! I want exactly that on my nails!
 

All Hail The Queen's Golden Glitter Zebra

Today's mani was inspired by Ivana. She always has the most amazing zebra and leopard pattern combos in all different colours and glitters. So when I received Butter London All Hail The Queen in the post a while back, I knew it was the perfect base colour for this mani.

I sponged Orly Glitz & Glamour onto the tips and halfway up the nail, to add that extra bit of sparkle and topped it all off with one coat of Milani Gold Jewel FX, before stamping with BM223 and Konad Black Polish. I think my camera freaked out a little bit  and created so much glare because of all the sparkle, I couldn't get a decent picture of it.

And here is All Hail The Queen on it's own. It's such a pretty brownish nude packed with tiny scattered holographic glitter. I love nude polish so this is a nice addition to my stash.

 

Cinderella Cloud

Cinderella by Sinful Colors had been a lemming of mine ever since I saw it on some of the American blogs when it took the nail community by storm a while back. So the last time I was on holiday in the States, I saw it at Walgreens and immediately grabbed it.

All the swatches I ever saw of it I liked but now that I have it in my stash, it's taken me 3 months to even try it.
It's a sheer baby blue with very subtle pink and gold shimmer which isn't as evident as I'd hoped. I didn't think it was actually this sheer so I had to use three thick coats for opacity which took forever to dry! I'll definitely have to wear a baby blue creme base next time.

I wasn't sure what to add to this colour and I didn't feel like stamping today so I went for the cloud on the accent finger again. I regret my colour choices now after looking at the pictures. Probably should have gone for a lighter blue instead of a teal. The base colour on the accent finger is Nails Inc Elizabeth Street.