Ombre Nails

This is my favourite look for my nails recently. I tried it with pinks as seen here and now I've experimented with my collection of blues.

The new fashion manicure has been getting a lot of admiring glance, will you be trying this trend?

Take a look at some other Ombre manicure’s i love and keen to try…

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Look out for my next nail post featuring Shellac.

Multi-coloured Mani

Some of you eagle-eyed readers may have already spotted my bright nails in my last post, so here’s a close-up.

L-R: Bourjois Bleu model 44, Revlon Pretty in Papaya 315, Nails Inc Candy Orange 121, Bourjois Lime catwalk 38, Revlon Passion Fruit 375.

After i saw Fee from MakeupSavvy post on the new Bourjois nail colours, i couldn’t wait to pick up some the neon shades. Currently on 3 for 2 in Superdrug (remember to use your Beautycard) i selected Lime Catwalk 38, Bleu model 44 and Jaune trendy 39 (not shown).

These are my first Bourjois polishes and i am impressed, all you need is two coats for full even coverage. They boast an ultra shine and hold finish which lasts for 7 days. I’m currently on day 4 and there are no signs of chipping or wear, unlike the Nails Inc and Revlon colours. So a big thumbs up from me!

In the Pink

I've been experimenting with my manicure recently and trying different colour combos. For the first time I tried a graduation colour manicure where you paint your nails using one shade from light to dark. What do you reckon?

The colours used from thumb to pinky are: Revlon Passion Fruit, Nails Inc Strawberry Hill, Nails Inc Brompton Place, Nails Inc InStyle Candy and Barry M Berry Ice Cream.

I did get a lot of admiring glances and comments so will be doing this again soon, but which colour palette should i choose next?

Smartie nails

I've been meaning to try this trend for different colour nails for a while now after spying twitpics from Fearne Cotton and Rochelle Wiseman (below).

I wish i could accessorise with that YSL ring - jealous!

With such a huge collection of polishes I'm so indecisive on which colour to paint my nails next, so choosing five solves that and it's also a great way to use up my old polishes. Before anyone complains of plagiarism i want to say credit does go to Make Up Savvy and 25Flondon who blogged about it first.

Seriously you don't know how many attempts it took to try and hold five polishes in one hand and get an alright picture!

Trying to get a bit artistic!

And the polishes in question i used are:
- Barry M Berry Ice Cream (lilac)
- Revlon Blue Lagoon (pale blue)
- Rimmel Apricot Punch (coral)
- Revlon Minted (mint green)
- Nails Inc Spitalfields (yellow)

I really liked the effect and it definitely stops me from getting bored too quickly i can't wait to try it on my toes for summer. Next up i think I'll do graduation nail colours if i can round up enough of the same shade.

What I've been wearing recently...

I think i may over the pastels that are all around at the moment and moving onto the brights and have been looking at ways to inject some colour into my working wardrobe.


Heels or flats? Flats or heels? Can you guess which one i went with?

Top - Topshop
Camel Hareems - Topshop
Jacket - H&M
Belt - Borrowed
Heels - River Island
Flats - New Look

Ah yes, well I've always been a heels girl...

Still feeling the brights i chose Revlon's Passion Fruit as the polish of choice, a vibrant purple from their limited edition scented collection.

My picture shows the colour as a reddy plum but i wanted to show you how it actually looks in normal light, so here's a pic from Chic Beauty Blog.

Don't you just love the purple against that cyan stone ring, the colour compliments perfectly!

Colour changing nail polish?

Yes, you did read that right, nail polish that changes colour - now isn't that a great invention?

Remember those 90's t-shirts that changed colour in the sun? Well, the same technology has been applied to nail polish, In The Mood have created nine polishes that change colour dependent on the temperature.

Here's the science bit!

"In the Mood nail polish will change color when heated to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Your normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees but your fingertips are slightly cooler. An elevation in body temperature, for example: running your hands under warm/hot water, going outside in hot weather, or even mood changes, will cause the nail polish color to change. The colors will continue to change back and forth as your body temperature changes."


Finally we may be able to achieve that dip-dye look at-home without a trip to WAH!

These are my favourite colour combos:



Check out the video of how it works.

Unfortunately they are only available in the US and Canada priced $8. I would love to try these so if there are any American bloggers that want to do a beauty swap for some UK products let me know, if not I'll be off to scour ebay or find a UK equivalent?

A week of nails

Colour blocking is one of my favourite trends for S/S 11 but it's not always a look that can transcend to the office.

Camilla Belle works the look perfectly in head-to-toe Gucci.

My take is to add a bright nail polish that clashes with your top and job done!

Monday - Nails Inc Brompton Place

Tuesday - Nails Inc Spitalfields

Wednesday - Revlon Pretty In Papaya

Thursday - Barry M Berry Ice Cream

Friday - Nails Inc Hanover Street

Hope you love the colours as much as i do!

Nails Inc Lucky Dip

A few Friday's ago Nails Inc had their Lucky Dip offer on again and knowing how popular they are i placed my order before work. Included are 5 full size nail polishes for £10! What a bargain, as they usually retail for £10 each. The only catch is that at least one of the polishes is a topcoat and the other 4 are random colours - hence lucky dip!

I thought i actually did pretty well with my colours - what do you think?

Augustus Street - shimmery silver

Victoria - deep cherry red

Chelsea Bridge UV Topcoat - need i say?

Elizabeth Street - pale cream nude

Brompton Place - barbie pink



I'm chuffed they've included Augustus Street as i want to try it with my Barry M Instant Nail Effects crackle polish to achieve this look from Nails Inc promotional shots.

I think that makes 9 new nail polishes in the space of a few weeks - oops!

What polishes did everyone else get?

Revlon Blue Lagoon NOTD

It seems Revlon have introduced a few new products recently including lip stains to rival Maxfactor and scented nail polishes to rival Rimmel.  I did pick up one of the Just Bitten Lip Stains and the nail polishes were on offer, 2 for £8. I chose a pale blue called Blue Lagoon and a bright coral/red called Pretty in Papaya from the limited edition scented range - reviews to come later.

As with all Revlon pastel shades you need time to get an opaque even application. You would probably need 3 coats over a base coat but my top tip is to paint a thin layer of white first and then 2 coats of the pastel shade - magic! This blue has a hint of silver glitter which you can pick up in the light. I've tried to show in the next picture the shimmer.


Can you see the shimmer?

Overall, i don't think it's one of my favourite colours and i'll only wear it during spring, but i did say that about Minted and now i love that so be prepared for a change of heart!

Blue Lagoon was one of two new spring colours, the other is called Sunshine Sparkle. Check out The Style Of Neighbourhood for Yi's review of Sunshine Sparkle.

Nails Inc Royal Wedding polish

Now you all know I'm a huge fan of Nails Inc and to commemorate the Royal Wedding they have launched three exciting limited edition products.


'Will' Union Jack Crystal Nail Polish £15 - this looks a bit like their classic Victoria & Albert which I've already got so i don't think I'll be buying this one, but would make a good present for your glamorous grannies not to mention a souvenir that could net you £££'s in years to come (well maybe!).

'Kate' Sapphire Crystal Nail Polish £15 - this marshmallow pink/nude with crystal cap is said to be inspired by Kate's beautiful sapphire engagement ring. I'm sure this would make a great base for a french manicure.

The Royal Collection £25 - Four glossy nail colours which you could only imagine Kate might wear complete with gold bottle caps - if only they were made out of solid gold eh?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this collection will be gracing my dressing table soon!

Unfortunately for me whilst everyone else will be watching the nuptials in HD on April 29th enjoying their 4-day weekend, I'll be in the office, manning the phones admiring my royal manicure!

If you too want to do the same, sign up for their waiting list here.

Hip, hip, hooray!

It's all grey-vy (sorry!)

Today's outfit was a LGD (Little Grey Dress). It was just about acceptable for my work code of dress when teamed with some opaques - I'm not sure i could ever wear it with bare legs :P

Dress: Asos

Tights: Primark

Shoes: Faith

I've cut my face out as this was taken after work and I'd been up since 5am so definitely not looking my best.

I love the design of this dress, it's quite simple with cap sleeves and pleated detailing - see below for close-up...

Apologies for the lack of flash but it was just emphasising how dirty my mirror is

And then i came home to a parcel - my eagerly awaited Nails Inc flash sale buy. On Friday Nails Inc tweeted they were having a flash sale (can't remember the occasion) with up to 77% off, so you know me, I'm a bit of a Nails Inc whore and couldn't resist the Glamour Collection which includes 6 nail polishes for £15!!!

The polishes came beautifully presented in a small box wrapped in black tissue paper....

And inside....ta-dah!

So on the top row we have from left-right....

Tower Bridge - Deep Burgundy brown
Duke Street - Mauve/ grey
Motcomb Street - V.dark navy/black - looks black at first glance but you can see navy blue running through

And bottom row left-right....

Birdcage Walk - soft marshmallow beige/pink
Chester Square  Burgundy/wine
Pembroke Close - Lilac

Now immediately Duke Street stood out as my favourite and seeing as i was wearing grey (hence the title) i thought it would match my outfit nicely - pretty pointless as i was already at home as had planned at night in watching The Brits.

Now it looks very distinctly like a flat grey in the NOTD and a little similar to my Rimmel Grey Matter as seen here but on close inspection you can pick up on the purple undertone making it more of a mauve colour. Grey nail polish has been having a bit of a moment during A/W '10 and works well with my office attire.

I'll do NOTD with the rest of the colours in due course.

Before i go i want to say a big congratulations to Tinie Tempah on scooping 2 Brit awards, i have his Disc-Overy album constantly on repeat on my ipod, its in my car and my workout CD! I'm going to post a pic soon complete with geeky glasses to commemorate!!

Nails Inc and Diet Coke

Nails Inc have introduced a few Limited Edition polishes my highlights are Foubert's Place and Porchester Square. Very on-trend for spring/summer.

Porchester Square

Porchester Square is a muted mushroom described as an "ultra delicate putty shade".

Foubert's Place

Foubert's Place is described as a cook khaki influenced by the collections from John Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent.

Now these are priced at £11 as usual.

Just to mention Diet Coke and Nails Inc have teamed up again. Boots have brought back the "Buy 2 bottles of Diet Coke and receive a free Nails Inc polish" offer back - hurrah!! Diet Coke is also on offer in Boots - buy 2 bottles for about £1.80 so for less than a fiver you can get two full sized Nails Inc polishes worth £11 each - bargain.

Now last time i left it late and the decent colours had all gone. But a trip to Boots in Leicester's Highcross revealed the choice of four colours were still available.
Tip: More polishes are at the till!

I picked up Denim (denim blue funny enough!) and Caramel (soft beige/nude).

I was keen to do a NOTD with Caramel as it's a perfect office-appropriate colour. Can't really comment on wear/chipping yet but you know i'm a huge fan of Nails Inc anyway. It's very similar in tone to my skin colour so it may wash me out a little but do i care? Hell no! I'll be awaiting some admiring glances from work!!!

Keep an eye out for a Denim NOTD but for now here's some images of the Catwalk Collection  taken from I heart Cosmetics.

You'll notice the Caramel would compliment Foubert's Place and Porchester Square perfectly and if you're buying all three you've got a great muted/nude collection.



An early Christmas present for you....

With the high street vying for your pennies this Christmas I've scoured the net and my inbox to bring you the best deals and discounts - don't go office party dress shopping without reading this!

http://www.office.co.uk/

- 10% off online purchases for 3 days only, ends midnight 25/11/10
Code - "EARLYGIFT"





http://www.tedbaker.com/

 - Free UK standard delivery on all orders placed between 22nd November and 22 December. No code needed. On my wish list: Anitah, Caza or Roverz purse please!

http://www.asos.com/

- 20% off ASOS brand items - not sure how long this is running for so be quick.
Code: ASOS20






http://www.frenchconnection.com/

 - Sample Sale 26th, 27th and 28th November.
Location: Centro One, 39 Camden Street, London, NW1 0DX
Opening Hours: Friday 26th: 9.30am - 7.00pm
Saturday 27th: 10.00am - 5.00pm
Sunday 28th: 10.00am - 4.00pm
Entrance Fee: £1 - donated to charity
Expect coats and jackets from £40 and knitwear and dresses from £20. If only i lived in London :(

- UK Glamour Magazine - the December issue comes with a free Nails Inc polish worth £11. You can choose from: Jermyn Street, Saville Row, Hampstead Heath or Warwick Avenue.
Magazine costs only £2 and includes a 25% discount for Kurt Geiger - double whammy.
I picked up Saville Row - a deep plum, v.wintry.

http://www.boots.com/

- 3 for 2 mix & match across make-up, nails and eyelashes. Doesn't apply to premium ranges, but includes L'Oreal, Urban Decay, Barry M, Bourjois etc. I picked up 3 Revlon products, a matte pale pink lipstick, a deep plum/purple lipstick and a compact blusher - swatches and reviews to come in a new post.





http://www.warehouse.co.uk/

 - Spend £50 at Warehouse online or in-store and receive £10 off - great for party dress season.
My eye is on the one-shoulder column maxi - hands off!
Online code: GRAZ12106 - valid until 30 November
In-store: Voucher in week ending 22 November UK Grazia magazine (Victoria Beckham on cover). Valid until 15 December (not concessions).






I'll update this with any new offers but feel free to post any of your own and let me know what you got with your discounts.