Two-Toner.

When I first got into nail art and painting my nails as a means to quit biting my nails, I used to change my nail varnish on a daily basis, if not more than that. I must say that making my nails pretty really did help to stop attacking them and now, although I do occasionally fall back into it, I am nowhere near to where I was a few years ago, and I'm pretty proud of myself.

I think nail biting is something you just stop when you fancy it, you can't be told to or really make yourself, at least those are two things that never really worked for me.

After cutting my nails really short, it took forever for them to grow, so aside from the tie-dye (perfect for festivals) design I was obsessed with this time last week, it's taken a little while for me to get into nail art again. I picked this design after seeing a similar two-tone design on someone's Twitter at the beginning of the week with a minty green and pastel pink - and I just will always love leopard nails - I think it's really pretty and goes well with this beautiful summery weather we've had for the last few days.


Base: Nail Envy – O.P.I (amazing base coat, particularly good if you're giving your nails a break and need to strengthen them)
Colours: Sweet as Candy – Rimmel / Utopia – Models Own
Design: Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen (it's like an actual pen, couldn't recommend it enough)
Top Coat: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (hides a multitude of sins)



I must say that using better base and top coats makes all the difference to how my manicures look and feel, and I've been finding myself a lot more willing to keep the same designs for more than a day. Seche Vite, where have you been all my life?!

Bespeckled.

I guess with Easter approaching it seems only fitting to feature a bit of nail art that mimics Easter eggs, not quite as fun as my efforts last year but still a neat effect and I've definitely found a couple of polishes that will see me well into summer.


Seche Vite Top Coat and Matte Nail Envy Nail Strengthener by OPI are two products I definitely couldn't do my nails without since discovering them, two fantastic finds that I owe to browsing beauty blogs.


I first saw these on Hello Terri Lowe and knew I had to have them right away, the packaging was so different from any other polish I've ever had and they were just so cute. I do like glitter polishes but I'm always put off because I feel like they're hassle to take off, these ones aren't really any different but each layer adds a lovely mixed glitter layer like a sparkly speckled bird's egg, and at just £3.50 they're an affordable dupe of Illamasqua Speckle Polishes.

I picked them up in 'Mintchoco' and 'Strawberry Stars Candy' (because I figured they were most ice creamy and springy) from this seller on eBay as recommended in Terri's post. I think I disagree with her in that it 'doesn't dry hard' as I found it was pretty solid. With 'Strawberry Stars Candy' I found a few coats did do the trick but being a bit of a nitpicker, I ended up doing around 6 or 7 coats just to get the combination that I wanted. I'm yet to try 'Mintchoco' but I must say that it looks like it provides a thicker coverage, either way I think they're a great find and the perfect polishes to perk up my collection which is in need of a good spring clean – if spring ever gets here.


*scuse the poor lighting, I ran out of daylight, I hope you get the idea that this polish is kind of a light milky pink, the photos don't show the tiny flecks of holo glitter that well though, but that's there too!

What I Wore: Polka Dot Creep.

Here's what I wore when I went to Gathering Festival on Saturday. It wasn't too cold but it did get drizzly in the evening and I didn't want to take any chances having only just recovered from being ill for the two days previous to this. I was really pleased with this outfit, it was cosy and warm but I didn't feel too wrapped up.


Coat: Primark
Cardigan: H&M
Dress: Izabel London @ House of Fraser
Belt: Another dress, Primark
Tights: M&S
Socks: Primark
Shoes: Timeless @ ASOS


Necklace: Vintage
Pin: Cath Kidston


Bag: Marc b. @ Topshop


This dress was a total bargain from when I was having my shopping spree fail at the beginning of the month. It was originally £32, marked down to £18 but I got it for £12. I really love the shape and I don't have enough polka dots in my wardrobe at the moment. It actually came in super useful as a semi-smart-casual dress when I was shooting Nick and Cat's wedding the weekend before too. I really like the frilly waist detail and I'm just so pleased, it's definitely one of my best finds in ages.

I'm really sad that these flatform/creepers didn't get more use when I bought them in the summer, but I like styling them up the way I have here and I think I might do it more often. They were really comfortable too, great for standing around for ages, perfect for gigs!

I really hope that this coat is a real bargain and lasts, I'm not hopeful as it's only Primark but it's doing really well so far. I really like the cuffs and it definitely does the job of keeping me cosy now it's colder.


I really enjoyed this manicure. I feel like it might be my first successful attempt at Aztec/Tribal nail art, which I'm definitely putting down to the fantastic Topshop nail art pen.
Proper Copper, Top Turquoise, Vintage Rose & Disco Heaven (Hed Kandi) by Models Own
Country Bumpkin by Topshop
Nightrider, Topshop Nail Art Pen


I finally feel like I've adjusted to the seasonal change now, especially seeing as the weather is behaving more as I would expect it to. Have you been wrapping up warm recently?

Izabel London

What I Wore: Tiny Zebras.

Cardigan: Primark
Necklace: Punky Pins
Dress: Peacocks
Belt: New Look
Tights: Primark
Bag: Alphabet Bags
Shoes: Converse

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Here's what I wore when Moon's mum came down to visit us on Sunday. It's a pretty confused outfit if I'm being honest, it ended up being rather warm despite the heavy showers in the morning. I kind of wish I'd abandoned the tights and cardigan, but I do enjoy how co-ordinated I was. I love this dress, I just wish I never had to iron it, I know the difference ironing makes but it really is the most detestable task.


Sadly there was no carbooting to had on Sunday, we've got to get it right at some point this month, fingers crossed for this weekend being the one.

This took a lot longer to do than it should have, so out of practice!
Bases: 'Shelton Street', Nails Inc; 'Country Bumpkin', Topshop; 'Sunshine', Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish & 'Top Turquoise', Models Own
Design: 'Ibiza Mix', Models Own & eBay Nail Art Pens
Top Coat: 'Clearly Clear', Rimmel Lycra Pro

I've switched top-coats and I'm kind of sad I had to take this off yesterday as I could have had it forever, and I reckon it would have lasted a couple more days too. I'm still using Rimmel, purely because it sits well within my budget, but just a clear 10-day polish rather than a 'specialist' one and surprised to say that it actually works better, in application and wear.

That Barry M glitter gel I bought all those months ago is still going strong, it's clumped up a little, I think because I took it to Turkey, but it's actually made it better as now I get a lot more coverage, which is kind of the look I wanted from this one, kind of 'glam rocky' (ish), if that makes sense.

What I Wore: Cover both your ears..

Jacket: H! by Henry Holland (a few years ago)
Dress: New Look
Necklace: Anna Lou of London for Topshop
Belt: eBay
Sandals: Primark

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This was a really fun outfit to put together and wear, I just wish it had been a smidge warmer. I spent a lot of time in Moon's Dad's car yesterday but in between the sun when we left and the rain when we returned there was a bite in the air. I soldiered on though, even wearing this out in the evening when I headed out to the cinema with Long and Moon to see The Dark Knight Rises (which was incredible). I feel I've grown a little more confidence to step away from leggings and tights recently, which is such a nice feeling as I've never really felt this at ease before.


I've actually had this necklace for ages, although I'll admit that it fits well with the theme of patriotism that has run throughout 2012, I have it mainly as someone who finds it hard to resist cute animals hanging from jewellery (or printed on clothes).


I really love this dress, even if it's one of those one's where I have to worry about what kind of bra to wear as it tends to get a bit 'booby' in some cases. It even broke on it's first wearing, but I fixed it and love to come back to it as I adore the print and the cut.



Base colour: 'Country Bumpkin', Topshop
Design: 'Shelton Street', Nails Inc. & eBay nail art pens.
I'm really sad as I've yet to invest in a new topcoat, so this manicure chipped really quickly. It's one of my favourites I've done in a while too, I used the ombré cheat of a sponge to get my glitter tips. I've thrown a lot of polish out so my collection is a lot more manageable and I justified picking up a bottle of 'Country Bumpkin' and 'Gypsy Night' Topshop polishes when I was in Reading the other day. The Topshop polishes are great, they go on so well with most of them only needing two coats, they're well worth it considering other polishes in the same price range. I'm in love with this burnt orange colour, I think it will be amazing for Autumn, without wishing the year away though, of course.

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BRB, Turkey.

What a nice feeling that in just over six hours, I'll be waiting for the plane to take me off to sunny Turkey. I've been quite tired today, but I'm still very excited, I love flying and travelling so I'm even looking forward to the airport part. I've never been to Turkey before, so I hope it's nice, although anywhere has got to be better than UK is now, I just need some reliable sun.

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Moon's managed to keep my packing under control for once and we are well under our 20KG baggage allowance, I'm actually pretty spoilt for choice with the amount of clothes I've packed too. ♥


I figured I'd share this last-minute purchase with you, as I'm restricting my Internet access this week so blogging is likely to be off limits. We're down in Dorking at Moon's parents house while we wait around to head over to the airport, so we popped into town as Moon had left everything until this morning. I picked these up in the Fat Face sale, Fat Face isn't normally a shop I would even look at but their sale is pretty great and filled with tribal prints. So I got this maxi-skirt as I figured it would be perfect for the holiday, and this loose-fitting vest to go with it. I'm sure there'll be a photo of me wearing it while I'm away. I love the skirt, it's such a light material and different from anything else I own, which is surprising as I have so many clothes. I did have to sacrifice a couple of items I'd already packed to put these in the suitcase but I think it's worth it.



It's been a while since I shared any nail art with you as I'm not allowed to have them painted for work, but here are my current nails. I've been really looking forward to having painted nails all week, I hope to try out a few different things but I love this colour combination and I only wanted something simple for the moment.
Base: Models Own: Top Turquoise, Rimmel - I ♥ Lasting Finish: Sunshine & Sweet as Sugar
Flowers: eBay Nail Art Pens
Top Coat: Rimmel Pro Superwear Ultra-Shine



Excuse the phone photos, but hopefully I'll have lots of lovely things to tell you and share with you when I come back, I hope you have a great week. ♥