BLUE MARC B BAG

When Luxembourg was hit with that intense heat wave, all I wanted to wear were short or loosely fitted clothes. I came across this random store on the Avenue de la Liberté down by Luxembourg City's central train station one day and while some things were far from what I would usually having hanging in my wardrobe (think leopard print and rhinestones. Combined) I found this gorgeous printed top that reminded me of the Alhambra which the boyfriend and I saw during our trip around Andalusia (see the post here). I love it when clothes spark a memory even if it does turn you into a perpetual clothes hoarder... but that's a whole other story. I decided to steer away from dark colours and opted for blues in different shades and textures which seem to work quite well together! I'm not sure why I'm so surprised but I wasn't expecting the Bershka denim shorts to fit that well with the top. But HOORAY!

I tend to prefer cross body or over the shoulder bags because of the problems with my elbows. I'm not sure if I've addressed this on the blog before, but basically I can't fully extend my arms. They are always a little bit bent, which you can see in the first of the side-by-side photos below. Yup - that's as far as they will extend. So if I am not careful, I can sometimes look like I'm standing with an invisible bicycle pump which cracks both Christine and I up. This is why I love strappy bags like this one from marc b and multiple compartments/pockets are ALWAYS a winner for me. I like be able to access little things like eye drops and lip balm without having to zip open my valuables as well. I also prefer having the bag over my left shoulder as well as having the zips face forward when closed so this one is a win-win-win! Does anyone else have these weird little criteria when picking a new bag? 

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Bag - Marc b

Sunglasses - Quay Australia

Shorts - Bershka

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LOVE AT FIRST SPIKE

Ohhhh do I have something good for you! When I tweeted about my galaxy blazer last week, I got a tweet back from @nailed_ituk and about galaxy nails to match. I literally sprung onto the website and within minutes I already placed an order. The online nail store is run by a 20 yr old named Lucy who just launched her site Sept '12. Last month! All designs are hand-painted by her and top coated with Seche Vite.

I chose to get the Love At First Spike design (£12) because it caught my eye and I'm just so in love with Bordeaux colours right now. Together with the gold detail I think this set is perfect for autumn. I am impressed with the quality of the nails, and in particular the precision of the gold pattern. I'll have to wait until the after the 25th to wear them though because I left my adhesive nail stickers back in Luxembourg.

If you're looking something a little extra special to wear on your nails, instead of those flimsy high street ones, then NailedItUK is definitely worth checking out! (She does ship outside of the UK!)

Happy Shopping

 This colour is perhaps the most "true" when you take a look at them off camera, but colours may vary because they are all hand painted!

Photo via NailedItUK

NAUTICAL CORALS

I really wanted to do nautical themed nails but I don't think blue suits me so I decided to go for a coral colour instead. I used a pearly white to contrast with the boldness of Chanel Distraction (549). I definitely like the pearl/bold combo on nails. I think i girls it that extra "pop". I used a gold polish to line the stripes in order to give it a neater look and added gold micro beads to create the anchor. I bought this set of stickers (shown below) when I was in Osaka with my mum. I thought the reath would come out more flat but I'm definitely going to be using a lot more of the stickers. I've been thinking of doing a Baroque themed nail in tribute to the new season's trend. 

CRAZY JEWELLED PINK

I wanted to experiment with different sized and coloured beads and gemstones so I went a bit OTT with this design but I really was just exploring. Even though I would never wear something as extravagant as this outside the house unless it was in Japan or halloween, I would like to change this to a more wearable look. I think I need to get for a softer more washed out pink and perhaps use smaller beads or just none at all on a few nails. What do you guys think?

CAMO NAILS

One of you suggested camo nails so here we go! They really are quite easy. I painted one coat of a metallic green on one nail and on the rest of the nails I painted two with white and two with a pale pink colour. Then, I had a green, dark green, yellow and darkish gold on hand and I basically dotted away. Neatness isn't exactly key here so I think this is a really easy nail to do! Don't be afraid to experiment without a tutorial. As for the remaining lonely green nail, I painted another coat of the metallic green and while it was still wet I added the studs. You could try this for halloween if you aren't going for the zombie/scary look but just want to dress up and instead go as an army officer. A few of you guys have been asking me where to get these studs. I'm lucky enough to be in Japan right now where the amount of nail-art products and accessories is absolutely overwhelming but similar studs can be found on amazon or ebay.

STUDDED x CROSS NAILS

Nail growth polish really works! Just kidding, I applied clear nails to both hands and went from there. I have clearly taken my studs obsession to the next level with this nail design! It was actually a lot more simple to do than I had originally thought but it requires a lot of patience and care. The 'blue' colour is actually a lot more green in real life. I bought a rose gold stud set and also a dark brown one which I've been thinking of using for a camo themed designed. I might film a tutorial on this when I get back to Luxembourg but on my normal length nails.

NIGHT SKY

I wanted to try something a little different and experiment with some metallics so I took some inspiration from the necklace my grandmother gave me and decided to do a night sky theme. I decided to use some star nail stickers for this to add more dimension and, well, I'm just not that skilled yet.

 I prepped my nail with my new Sally Hansen hardener which I got because I've been having a severe case of nail peeling and cracking. I then applied my Canmake 14 (any white will do, although I would have preferred more of  a pearly colour).

 I originally used those curve guidance stickers or whatever it is you call them but it peeled some of the polish off so when I moved onto my index finger I decided to draw a guideline with my metallic lapis colour (Pa aa76) and then filled the rest of my nail in. I skipped this step for my ring and index fingers and instead just coloured them all blue. I then used a gold colour to line over where the two colours meet and another line just above that.

  Once everything was relatively dry, I went ahead and added a few star stickers and silver dots. I may have gone a bit overboard with it but oh hell I had fun. I think I wanna try something slightly princess-y and pink next time or perhaps nautical but with pastel colours.

CUPCAKES

I removed the pandas because I thought they were a bit messy and replaced them with another set of cupcakes nails. I made a few changes as you might be able to tell. I used a lot more gold flitter long the pink/white line and instead of another cupcake on my index I tried to go for a candy cane look. I don't think it look that great but in the next few days I'll be experimenting. Maybe with some mint as well? I'd love it if you could make some requests and challenge me! Watermelon and pikachu are already on my list.

FIRST ATTEMPT AT NAIL ART

 L-R: OPI start to finish, OPI passion, Canmake 47, Canmake 14, Canmake 15, Canmake jewel glitter 02, DNAILS gel look topcoat (absolutely AMAZING)

I applied one layer of the OPI start to finish followed by a layer of OPI passion. Then, I applied two layers of Canmake 47 to achieve a decent colour because it's more of a gel polish than a really bold one (like my OPI Feelin' hot-hot-hot)

 I took one of the nail brushes and use it to create oval blobs of white (Canmake 14) on all my nails except on my pinky. I tried to turn it into a little candy but you will later see that I ended up covering it with my Nails Inc chelsea square (062). It's not in the first photo but it's a super glittery pink nail polish. My first Nails Inc polish actually!

 I took separate brush and dipped it in Canmake 15 to create the ears, eyes, nose and mouth of the panda. As you can see, many of them look like the they have moustaches.

God forbid what this hand would have looked like if I attempted the pandas left handed.. I don't have very steady hands. As soon as I get quite gentle and ready to do a curve of a dot my hand seems to spasm. SO I went for cupcakes! (I did clean up around the nail after but before that I was just too excited to take a photo)

SO I feel like some criticisms may be coming my way. I did a very messy job but I was in such a cheery mood and I was only having fun with it. I'm definitely going to improve on these to looks thought. Perhaps buy better brushes for more precision - maybe some multi-coloured micro beads to decorate the cupcake! OH JEEZ. I'm so excited right now. Maybe I could even turn it into a little hobby. I might have to steal some of my brother's warhammer paint brushes haha. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in seeing more? I've been thinking of doing a sort of street style post but for nail art of the girls here in Japan. Their nails are amazing.