GLITTER NAILS

There is little in life I find more relaxing than doing my nails. Sad but true. With the trend for ever more intricate nail designs - crackled top coats, nail art, stickers etc - the simple coat of varnish doesn't sometimes seem enough. 

I found some nail glitter pots in Superdrug and decided to do just the tips of my nails in for a snazzy but super simple manicure - just clear nail polish, dip in a pot of glitter, brush of excess and finish with a top coat. 

It felt a little bit 'done' but not 'I've just exploded in Claire's Accessories'.

Jumper - Whistles 

Necklace - Made from Whistles 

Scarf - T.K.Maxx 

Jeans - Current/ Elliott

Shoes - NW3 by Hobbs

Bangles - Charity shop, Dorothy Perkins & Whistles 

GHOSTLY NAILS

Last Halloween post, I promise. 

I've experimented with Sally Hansen Salon Effects before in a glitter finish and didn't find them that great (I could have painted my nails with a glitter polish and gotten a similar effect for 1/4 of the price and half the time - tricky buggers to apply) but the image transfer ones have me hooked, as there is no way on earth I could replicate this with my own crappy shaky hands. 

The best thing about them is definitely that you don't have to wait for them to dry and you can get right on with your day or fall asleep without waking up to fabric imprints in your freshly painted nails (I never paint my nails past 8pm because it won't give them time to dry sufficiently before bed at midnight). I have leopard and cobweb ones ready to go but will be stocking up when I'm out in NYC very soon. 

All photos taken with Instagram

Rings - H&M 

INSPIRATION

Bright nails and lashings of silver. 5 inch and up is my current inspiration - her hands are super cool (I should add this...the rest of her is too).

All images from 5 inch and up

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

1. Sign taped to the Royal Opera House wall 

2. DIY metallic nails 

3. Mum's blackberry and apple crumble 

4. New J Brand Jodhpurs (fresh from Barneys Coop)

5. Giant Kerplunk on a work night out

All pictures taken with Instagram 

GLOSSY BOX REVIEW

I'm no beauty blogger (I'm the kind of person who pretty much buys all her toiletries in Boots and Superdrug - spending £20 on shampoo has never appealed to me) and I get bored of most new products after about a week, but even I got excited about Glossy Box, a UK version of the American Birchbox. 

Basically you pay a £10 a month subscription and for that you receive 5 lovely samples each month of new and established products. It's great for me as I get bored of things so easily and if they work for you there are money off vouchers included if you were so inclined to repeat buy. 

Call me shallow, but one of the main highlights for me was the packaging! It was lovely to come home to a beautiful box full of surprises and unwrap it carefully to reveal all the good stuff inside. I wish there wasn't such joy in great packaging but for some reason it just hits all those buttons and makes it feel super special. Needless to say, I can't bring myself to throw out the box. 

MY FAVOURITE DRESS (THIS WEEK)

This post was a blogger crash casualty. It was meant to go up yesterday. I seem to have all sorts of double posts and weird labelling going on. Oh well. 

I love this dress and I how I feel when I wear it. It's a super simple cut in many ways, and clearly designed by a woman who knows how some dresses feel great on for the first 4 hours, but shitty after you've had lunch and go back to sitting at your desk. This you can wear all day without it creasing too much, it crucially doesn't cling to your stomach and is still fitted enough around the bust and upper torso to not totally swamp you. 

But...the best thing about the design is the fabric. Delicious draping volumes of the stuff that swish as you move. I could not ask for more. Apart from it to also come in black, navy, red and grey. 

Muscly calf shot due to the irresistible urge to play with all that material. 

Chain necklace - Vintage Dior from eBay 

Skull necklace - Pamela Love 

Dress - Cos 

Bracelet - Vintage Dior from eBay 

Watch - Chanel 

Boots - Vivienne Westwood

Bag - Moschino 

Nail polish - Bloom in Daisy from Superdrug 

DRESS STRESS

I love garments with strange structures and fold to them. Sadly, I don't think my body does. They never look *quite* right on me. This dress would be great for a beach cover up or for lolling around in on holiday, but I'd struggle to make it suitable for city living. 

My attempt at Easter nails...

Dress - Cos 

Socks - Topshop 

Shoes - Prada 

WAH NAILS

I ran the London Marathon last Sunday. My shirt read Katy B, but I thought I should get my nails done too, so thank you to the fabulous Wah Nails for offering such an amazing range of choices of nail art. Although I do like the music of Katy B, I should point out that Katy B was my name first (after all I am about 10 years older than her) and I am not, as people have asked, a crazy fan. 

Jacket - Whistles 

T shirt - Versus x Christopher Kane 

Trousers - J Brand 

Trainers - Converse

Nails - Wah Nails, Topshop 

WAH! NAILS and outfit to match

What can I say? I'm still in my Dries Van Noten phase, and this snood is helping me achieve the look, albeit on more of a budget. Thanks ASOS for coming up trumps. 

But forget the clothes. These are my WAH! NAILS. I popped into Topshop on the off chance they would have a spare appointment on Saturday and they did. I only had time for an easy design so I went to leopard print to clash with my snood / scarf thing. I am already planning my next visit with pale purple, blue and pink Aztec design in mind. 

If you are Dalston or Oxford Circus Topshop way I can't recommend it highly enough. I've never really seen the point in traditional manicure places - I can paint my own nails in one colour well enough. But these designs are something else. Well worth the £24. More complex designs can reach £40, but for a special treat they're perfect. 

Jacket - eBay 

Jumper - Whistles 

Snood - ASOS 

Jeans - Topshop

Boots - Zara

STUFF

I am feeling a little bit uninspired outfit wise, and (let's face it) a bit fat after Christmas. Wearing clothes is never as much fun when you feel uncomfortable in them. Luckily, training for April's London Marathon means this feeling won't last too long. But still, I'm not sure why I do it myself every year.  

So in lieu of an outfit post I've gone close up crazy with my new camera again. Soon I'll invest in a tripod and start taking fancy new pics - maybe even moving from my preferred location of my 2nd floor stairs...

Winter boots of varying practical-ness L-R: Zara, New Look, Zara

Antipodium Dress - loving the cross motif 

My next nail polish project - am thinking either a green french mani / pedi or a one of each scenario with a camel colour that must be located asap. 

Whistles Skirt - a great graphic animal print that I can't wait to wear with clashing prints of various persuasions. 

My bangle drawer - Marc Jacobs, Chanel, New Look, Charity shop among others. I used to be a bangle wearer, never leaving the house without some on (okay, piled on like a trollop jangling down the street), but since getting my Chanel J12 watch 3 years ago they don't look right on my arm any more and I worry about them chipping the ceramic. 

Another Antipodium dress from the Liberty sale.