A Leopard Can't Change It Spots

Dress & Necklace - Forever 21 // Nail Varnish - Barry M (Coral) // Shoes - Dorothy Perkins

The dress and necklace are two of the lovely items I purchased during a cheeky wee stop over in Dubai. Forever 21 is yet to come to Scotland so I tried to restrain myself when let loose in their massive Dubai Mall store. I walked away with two dresses (both leopard print), a black camisole top and three necklaces. The necklace is fast becoming my new favourite. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find either on the Forever 21 UK site however, I did find a similar dress for £18.75. This outfit was for a night out in Edinburgh where a lot of Grey Goose was consumed. It was my first time on the "Goose" and I woke up the next day hangover free - success all round.

Vegas Barbie

  

I cannot visit Superdrug at present without leaving with a bottle of Rimmel Pro nail varnish. This time I opted for shade 297 Show Off. Its the perfect Barbie pink and i added a layer of glitter for that trash-tastic all American look! After taking these pictures I decided I must have been subconsciously aiming to find three nail varnishes that match my duvet cover - green, blue and pink! (see posts Cornflower Blue and Peppermint Dreams).

I cannot praise these nail varnishes enough. Every time I have them on people comment on the vibrant colours and they wear so well. I had Nails Inc on the other day and it chipped the day after. Whereas this manicure will last a week. Yes you have to apply three layers but the result is definitely worth it.

I have collected nail varnishes since I was 11 and spent all my pocket money on £1 polishes and I have tried many, many brands and so far I cannot seem to fault Rimmel Pro...

Cornflower Blue

This is my second purchase from the Rimmel Professional Finish range in 420 Aqua Cool and it has swiftly became my new favourite nail varnish. In keeping with my love of all things pastel it is a gorgeous cornflower blue colour. My mother argues that it is air force blue... but whatever you decide to call it there is no denying it is devine! I love the brush in the professional range. It is wide enough to cover most of the nail with one stroke and the colour builds up evenly. Although, you will need at least two coats. I did attempt some nail art... I was aiming for pink polka dots but when that failed miserably I turned my efforts into a little love heart.

P.s. I've just upgraded my iPhone to the 4s! The difference in camera is unbelievable. (Compare my previous post Peppermint Dreams)

Mint Choc Chip

Jumper - Warehouse // Earrings - Warehouse // Necklace - Charity Shop // Bracelet - Topshop (old) //
Nail Varnish - Rimmel Peppermint

I fell in love with this jumper the minute I walked into Warehouse. I was on a shopping trip to Livingstone to return a dress and hit Wagamama's with my mother when I caved in and bought this. It just happened to match my nail varnish which I deemed to be fate. Although it's not obvious in the pictures there is a floral pattern across the chest and down the sleeves. (I threw in a picture of my cat for good measure. She's a babe. She is actually a he... This was discovered recently at the vets. So Bonnie Blue is now Ollie Blue. And one of my good friend Leigh and I sharing a cocktail in TGI's. She is also a babe.)

Peppermint Dreams

I absolutely adore this Peppermint nail polish by Rimmel. It's the most gorgeous, dreamy pastel shade of green and compliments so much of the high-street's S/S12 range. It is part of Rimmel's professional finish range and the maxi brush makes application really easy.


The above photo also features a Cath Kidston style duvet which I got at Tesco the other day. Kingsize and under £12 bargain. It's also double sided (the other side is pink polka dots!)

Think Pink... Missguided Peplum Dress

Dress - Missguided // Shoes - New Look // Clutch - Dorothy Perkins // Watch - River Island // 
Jewellery - Topshop // Eyes - Naked 2 // Lips - Revlon Black Cherry // Nails - Leighton Denny

I celebrated my birthday weekend by attending my friend's 30th birthday party. Any excuse for a knees up! This is my first purchase from Missguided and I was relatively surprised with both the quality of the dress for the price and the speed of the delivery. Missguided offer 10% off when you like them on Facebook and free next day delivery when you spend over £35. I ordered two items at 8.30pm on Thursday night and my outift was waiting for me when I got in from work. I am very tempted by their gorgeous collection of brightly coloured wedges and dresses.

I'm a little bit obsessed with all things pink at the moment... Baby, Coral, Candy, Nude, Fuchsia, Neon. God bless the current pastels trend! I also treated myself to the much blogged about Naked 2 palette but I'm looking for advice on which colour combinations bloggers think work best together.

Pure Barry M

My mum always sticks a nail varnish in my stocking. She explained that when it came to choosing a shade the last time that I probably had every colour except Navy and she is probably right! I don't know whether I'm over the ring finger/ statement nail manicure or not but I think the Navy looks great with the 'Instant Nail Effect' Gold Foil varnish. I love the Gold Foil effect polish. It is easy to apply and has an expensive looking finish. I'm also a fan of Barry M nail varnishes in general. I think they are better quality than the more expensive Ciaté or Models Own polishes which, despite a great colour selection, chip really easily. Next on my list... A nail art pen! What do my fellow bloggers suggest?

Shellac Nails

CND Shellac Nail Polish is a "14 day wear, mirror finish, zero dry time, no nail damage" product. The answer to every nail obsessed girl like myself? Perhaps... I have had two applications of the product recently at Shi Beauty and Nails. For my first application I went for a french manicure. A base coat is applied, followed with two coats of your chosen colour and finished off with a top coat. All layers are "cured" under a UV lamp. A french manicure involves 2 layers of the white "smile" followed by whatever shade of pink you are using. I opted for Moonlight and Roses an iridescent pale pink. In total my Shellac was on for 4 weeks although after 2 weeks you will start to notice chipping and regrowth is a problem. I couldn't get into the salon sooner so I just painted over the top of my Shellac with the sparkly Deborah Lippmann polish I received in my Glossybox. I can also safely say that there was no damage to my nails and they were the longest they have ever been.

Removal of the old Shellac comes as standard at the salon I go to during reapplication. CND have developed a wrap which is soaked in acetone, place over the nail and secured. A few minutes later and hey presto the polish slides off the nail. Any residue is removed with a cuticle stick and oil is massaged into the cuticles. For my second Shellac application I opted for a dark red manicure (I think it was either Hollywood or Wildfire) with a glitter statement nail. The glitter was applied to the colour before curing and a top coat was applied as normal. On reflection, I think I was more impressed with the overall effect of the french manicure as beautiful natural nails is something I have always envied. However, I did constantly stare admiringly at my nails for the first two weeks which was a bit time consuming! Shellac is something I would definitely have again for a weekend out, special occasion, holiday etc. It is not something I could afford to maintain on a monthly business purely because after two weeks the regrowth on my nails is too noticeable. You can expect to pay around £20 for this treatment.


Removal of Shellac:

I decided to a little section of this at the end of my review purely because I performed a DIY removal of my second Shellac application. I knew that the only way to remove the polish was to soak it with acetone... Cue fail number 1! Normal nail varnish just isn't strong enough for this job (well mine wasn't!). I made make shift "wraps" out of soaked cotton wool pads and bits of tin foil - fail number 2! Needless to say when my sister walked in my room she thought I had lost the plot! I did one hand at a time and left the "wraps" on for half an hour at a time. This was successful in removing the top layer of the colour but left behind the first layer of colour. I applied the "wraps" again with fresh cotton wool but there was still residue on my nail that wouldn't come off when scraped with my cuticle stick. I was conscious of damaging my nails so did not want to scrape too vigorously. I'm going to purchase some acetone from a chemist should I attempt a future home removal. Warning; acetone in its pure form is much stronger and so you would not need to soak your nails for 30 minutes as I had to with nail polish remover. (I am pretty disappointed I did not take a picture of my Edward Scissors hands removal procedure!) Since I removed my Shellac at the weekend 3 of my nails have broken! Proof that, while on, the polish acts as barrier against breakage.


Say Hello to Shellac - CND (official website)