I went to watch Maleficent a little while ago and I've been a bit obsessed with the soundtrack ever since. While most people tend to liken themselves to Disney princesses, I am weirdly proud to say I share more similarities with Maleficent! It's a running joke with my friends that I prefer puppies to children so Jolie's indifference towards the young Aurora definitely fed into that! The film got me thinking about my other favourite villains and since it's been ages since I drew or painted anything, I decided to embrace my inner villainy with some watercolour paintings. Then it struck me - I could take this one step further and  create an OOTD and NOTD to match! First up is my polar opposite, the devilish dog-hating Cruella De Vil!
 

White shirt - Primark Leather look leggings - Dorothy Perkins Dalmatian Print Creepers - Fashion Union

Whilst I admire her commitment to monochrome, I'd never ever wear fur so I went for a slightly more modern take on the De Vil classic! I bought these Dalmatian Creepers probably over a year ago now but I've hardly worn them; I've been too scared to get the Dalmatian print dirty! I love them though, creepers are perfect for adding a subtle bit of height but are still comfortable and casual. My leather look leggings are probably one of my staple items, so easy to style and great with all types of top, from smart shirts to baggy tees!
For my nails I used Barry M's Matt White for the base and then Maybelline's Onyx for the paw print and the Dalmatian print spots. I had a bit of help from a wooden skewer to write the 'woof' but overall, I'm pretty proud of this nail art attempt!

In Part 2, I take on the Evil Queen from Snow White. Deliciously devilish!
 

Follow me here: Bloglovin' | Instagram

Follow me here: Bloglovin' | Instagram 

 

I scheduled a few posts in advance this because the next few days will see me in the last stretch of my dissertation! All efforts will be directed into that, leaving little time for anything other than sleeping, eating, researching and writing! I featured this little patchwork nail art attempt on my Instagram a few weeks ago and I was (embarrassingly) really quite proud of it! I'm loving white-based nail art at the moment, it's like doodling on paper only far harder. This wasn't even too time consuming and since I had no black nail varnish to hand, I improvised with black liquid eyeliner. Worked a treat!

Bloglovin' | Instagram 

I am in love with this new Urban Outfitters nail varnish - the perfect colour for early spring. My little brother was lucky enough to take a trip to New York in February and brought back an amazing snowglobe and this Gotta Have It nail varnish as a belated birthday present. I gotta say, boy did good!

I paint my nails too often. This is a fact of life and one I am not at all ashamed by! With Christmas literally just around the corner, I thought I'd use some of my presents from last Christmas to create a simple Christmassy NOTD.

 

I've had a few Christmas related events recently, including a friend's Christmas party last Saturday, a day trip to Winter Wonderland and Oxford Street with one of my closest friends and an early Christmas day with family coming up on Monday. So I wanted some seasonal nail art that would work with multiple outfits and this is what I came up with: the perfect combo of glitz and glamour!

 

 

The Gold Mine Glitter and the Gold Foil varnish compliment each other perfectly and it isn't Christmas until there's a splash of glitter! Red is such a festive colour too, so two birds, one stone!

 

Have you any other Christmas nail art recommendations?

 

Jade :)

 

Firstly, it feels so good to have a working laptop again! Well, partially working - we've actually had to order a new one since it would really not have been ideal for this one to completely conk out half way through my final year at uni! So I have that arriving to look forward to, though I'm a great barrier to change so trying to get used to Windows 8 is going to cause a bit of a problem!

 

As for my NOTD, hardly any problems were caused in creating this easy-to-do nail art. Spots and dots are done all the time but I like the simplicity of the design. I really wanted to make the most of my bright yellow Barry M varnish before summer leaves England for good and it's back to stuffing poorly painted autumnal nails into two pairs of gloves!

I used the yellow as the base and used the blunt end of a cheap wooden skewer (the type for BBQs!) to dip into the pink FCUK varnish.

It's bright, it's playful and so quick and easy to do. Dots are always my nail art back up and I love how these ones turned out. I'm always on the look out for new nail art designs to try, what are your favourites?

 

Jade :)

I'm not working much at the moment which means I finally get to spend time painting my nails. It's usually my go-to procrastination activity at uni so it was nice to take time and try something new now I'm at home. It's not exactly inventive but it was seriously simple and makes my nails look longer than they are. 2 birds, 1 stone!

I wanted to make the traditional french manicure a bit more summery, so a few splashes of the Sour Apple confetti worked a treat over the top.

 

 The 3-in-1 base coat, top coat & hardener is probably one of the best things I've bought and I've got into a routine of applying it both before and after any coloured varnish I'm using. My nails have definitely strengthened recently because of it but the real challenge will be if I can keep my nails long and strong during my upcoming final year at university!

Today I started with the base coat and then painted the white tips as usual. Then after waiting for them to dry, I applied 2-3 layers of the confetti varnish over the tips and voila - a fruity french manicure! If only it smelt of apples too..



Anyone else a fan of the confetti polishes?

Jade :)
 

I'm procrastinating. With glitter. Or to be more specific, with Barry M's Amethyst Glitter (and friends.)

I feel a bit like a series one Ted Mosby: I have fallen in love with my new glittery purchase very, very quickly.

 

 

I like to think it's fate - my birthstone is Amethyst. Of course, I could instead just be loving the time it took me to paint my nails because I am running out of reasons to keep putting off my uni work, but I've been on a massive HIMYM hype this week and couldn't resist a Mosby mention.

 

I saw a design pretty similar to this on Instagram (only the one I saw was much better. Manly hands don't necessarily make for steady ones.) However, it goes to prove that if even I can make this look half decent, this design is pretty much a given for everyone else. Go you!

 

Putting on the glitz (I swear these jokes will stop soon) using my left hand ended up being annoyingly frustrating, and my right hand has a dodgy looking paint job on the thumb and forefinger as a result. But after a lot of perseverance (and mental proliferation) I managed a half decent job and from a distance, I actually like this design a lot.

It's pretty simple: a base coat followed by painting on the white tips. After the tips have dried, on goes the glitter and the best thing about this design is that the glitter hides the unsmooth application my french manicure usually produces. To top it off, add a top coat of clear nail varnish - I put on an extra top coat to be on the safe side.

 

 

 So there you have it :) A bit of glitz is always good, right?

Jade :)

So peaches isn't technically correct but its a little bit catchier than satsumas with white dots. I blogged about my new Gel Shine Barry M nail varnishes a few weeks ago but I love this one so much it's making a return, this time with a friend.

Normally reserved for my poor attempts at french manicures, my white Natural Collection nail varnish has now found itself a spot in the limelight. (These "witty" puns are getting worse and worse. Sorry.)

This design has probably been done so many times by other (far more artistic) people but it's such a good design to do when you've got a pretty boring morning ahead of you. Which I did have on Sunday.

I am forever painting my nails - without nail varnish, my man hands look even more manly than these pictures depict. Honestly, they're huge. As you can see, I've struggled a bit with smudges but that has more to do with the fact that a) I'm a massive fidget and b) that I have an overactive dog to contend with than the design itself. Oh, and the fact that my man hands really aren't that steady.

Still, I'm looking forward to trying a lot more nail designs this spring and summer. I tend to opt for block colours in winter because my hands are almost always covered with gloves; spring and summer are when I like to experiment a little bit more, with lighter colours and more interesting designs.

If that's not an incentive for this awful wintry weather to disappear, I don't know what is!

Jade :)

At long last, Spring seems to be on the horizon. I'm so happy to be seeing a bit of sun in the mornings and it's almost reached an acceptable temperature to not need gloves and scarves every time I leave the house. Which is nice.

If Twitter is anything to go by, pale greens and bright corals are the colours to crave this spring which is something I can definitely see myself embracing. It'll certainly make a change from my typically all-black attires. Maybe turning 21 really has changed me..

 

Although it hasn't changed me that much as I have added yet another two nail varnishes to my ever-growing collection. Clearly got my student priorities in the right order (who needs food anyway?)

 

I've been after a few of the Gel Hi-Shine Barry M nail varnishes for a while and after popping into Superdrug for a much needed new mascara (a week of applying stage make up really batters your make up bag) there was an offer on nail varnish that I was obviously never going to ignore.

 

Without exaggerating, I probably spent a good thirteen minutes trying to decide which colours to purchase and eventually settled on these fruity fellows.

 

 

 

 

 

I hadn't been able to wear these both yet for dance-related reasons but as soon as this weekend is over, the man hands will once again become manicured (and I cannot wait. I hate not having my nails painted.)

I really didn't wait long at all. Woke up this morning, had breakfast, jumped in the shower and pretty much smother my nails with colour. Hence the atrocious application pictured below (apologies.)
 

 Anyone else tried any the Barry M Gel range? So far, I'm pretty sold. And I can class wearing this as one of my fave a day, right?

 

 

Although looking out my window as I sit in my uni room, it would be more appropriate to title this post Fields of Snow. We've had a good couple of inches the last couple of days and everywhere looks so pretty. Perry, our snow creation, also looks pretty. (Pretty odd.)

Meet Perry :)

In an attempt to stop my revision-driven comfort eating, I tried out a box from Graze. I think the idea of graze is brilliant but it turns out it's just not for me. Surprise, surprise. I am probably the world's fussiest twenty year old and whilst there are tons of healthy snacks to choose from, my palette is particularly limiting. Nevertheless, it's worth a try if you're a fan of healthy food or just fancy something a bit different.


Another reason I'm glad my exams and essays are finally over? I can paint my nails again. I don't cope well (at all) with exams and have a terrible tendency to bite my nails when I get nervous. Accordingly, I haven't bothered to paint my nails whilst I've been working because either my nails are too short or I chip all the varnish. But after handing in my last essay, blitzing my bedroom and having a celebratory browse online, I sat down, caught up with Big Bang Theory and painted my nails. It's the simple things.



You can't see particularly well but I used the gold foil varnish as a base and the Gold Mine Glitter for the tips. I got these two nail varnishes as a Christmas present from my mum and I love them. I wear black a lot: both for dance and for day wear so these colours match at least 80% of my wardrobe. My mum is way more than just a pretty face.



Who else has been bombarded with the white stuff? I can't wait to head home (trains permitting!) and take my dog out in the snow. Like I said, simple things :)

Perfume is one of my favourite things in the world. I'm not a one-perfume person: I very, very rarely stick to the same one. I was lucky enough to receive 3 different perfumes as presents this year. My brother bought me DKNY Red Delicious as part of my present and I'm already addicted to it. I've had so many compliments on it too so looks like I'm going to have to up my game for his present next year. Jammy boy.

Excuse my man hands.

I also got Barry M's Red Glitter in a set of three nail varnishes from my parents and I've worn it almost every day since Christmas. It's such a strong colour and really adds impact to my otherwise plain and boring winter ensembles. And anyway, you can never go wrong with glitter. Reverting to my childhood loves since 2009.

 

Revision however is most definitely not one of my childhood loves but is a necessity nonetheless. So whilst I go and spend the rest of the afternoon revising and essay writing, I thought I'd leave a little Red Army propaganda (of the chocolate variety of course. I haven't revised enough to warrant any other.)

 

 

I've seen a few blog posts about this Rimmel Disco Ball nail varnish and though I'm usually an avid Barry M buyer, on Friday I finally caved after my mum and I saw an offer in Superdrug for 3 Rimmel nail varnishes for £6. My mum bought two and I bought this one. My opinion? I love it.

I wasn't sure whether to wear it on its own or over another colour, so my indecisive self obviously opted for both. I kept my ring finger clear, putting about 4 coats of Disco Ball on it and then used a light pink Barry M varnish for the other fingers.

So far, very impressed. The Disco Ball hasn't chipped yet and it was very easy to apply, even with my non-dominant hand. I'm still a sucker for Barry M but if the 3 for £6 offer is still on next time I go shopping, Rimmel will be top of my list!

Anyone had much experience with this or other Rimmel nail varnishes?

I love all the glittery nail varnishes surfacing at the moment but since I haven't got round to buying any of my own yet, I decided to have a go at a make shift one instead!

All I used was grey Primark nail varnish and some glitter that I had lying around my room.

In hindsight I should have used two coats of the nail varnish, applying the glitter on the second but in the picture below, I sprinkled the glitter over the first coat so there are a few gaps that need filling! I put the glitter on immediately after applying the varnish so the glitter would stick easily to the nail and after about five minutes, I put a clear coat over the top just to add to the shine and keep the glitter in place.

What I do love about these nails is the texture because the pieces of glitter are quite big in comparison to the size of my nails so they don't lie particularly flat. Obviously this means that this style is practical for every kind of event but I thought they were a fun little experiment to fill my morning and since I don't have a very steady hand for nail art, this is far more up my street!

Anyone a fan of any good summer nail art designs? I saw some in a magazine I might try the next time I'm bored :)