The Great Return Post

Yes, it's one of those 'return' posts, complete with apologies and excuses. The truth? I'd love to be sorry, but I highly doubt I've put anyone out! also, my life has been full of boring life stuff; eating, doing the washing, going to work, paying for stuff I need but wish I didn't have to pay for, all that good stuff, totally un blog worthy. So what is that has roused me from the complacency of my everyday life, to post again?

Full Fringe.

 That's right I've had a hair cut, and if that's not worth writing about, well, put me in a top hat and call me Fred, because I'm going to go ahead and do just that. My opinion of it at the moment is...meh. I don't love it I don't hate it, it's just, meh.

Anyway here's some pictures of me posing in clothes you may, or may not be interested in.

Bag- Warehouse
Dress- New Look
Cardigan- H&M
Shoes (which you can hardly see)- New look
Necklace- Ebay

Another reason for my blog absence has been the ongoing application for a job I very want. In my opinion it's a bit posh and in a very smart environment, and amongst the millionty more important hurdles to jump in order to get it, clothes is one of them (I'd say it's towards the bottom of the list, but it's not!). I do not own smart clothes, the above is the best I can do with what I've got and even that is far too casual. So my problem, and question to youz reading is, where and what should I buy? I need something to wear to interview and then some 'things' to wear at work (should I be so lucky) BUT, and it's a big one, I am utterly skint. To put it in perspective; £15 for a dress is on the dear side in my opinion. So come ye forth thrifty folk, led me your skills, a poor person is in need of threads on the cheap!

More Jubilee nail art! Cath Kidston-esque...

I personally hate red, white and blue, (apologies patriots) it's just not me, so it was never going to make the cut for my own personal mani! So, after some thorough googling I came up with these. I got my main source of inspiration from Kokoro nails (she is a fantastic artist in her own right, definitely give it a look if you're a bit of a nail art freak like me!), with a bit of a Cath Kidston floral going on in there too. It's very satisfying to look at, I just hope it holds out over the bank holiday!

Jubilee nail art

Yeesh, I hate flash.

Desperately tried to think of something other than just union jacks. The buntings are a bit of a fail, but where all else are concerned, I'm marginally satisfied, particularly the crown. At least 'she' attached to the nails was happy with them, that's all that matters!

Happy Jubilee everyone, and since I know she's definitely reading*, congrats on 60 years of queening, Liz!

* Possibly, maybe, untrue.

Robin Moses inspired tropical nail art; First attempt with acrylics!

I finally, finally, bought some acrylics to paint with, and this is my first attempt!

Once again mumma mitten is my model (yay alliteration). For a first try I'm not displeased, but I'm eager to do better, it's the perfectionist in me, plus I'm in desperate need of a finer brush this one was just too big! Mahoosive thanks, and credit for inspiration and general awesome teaching skillz, to Robin Moses, without her I never would have even drempt I'd be capable of such intricate pieces, and she has reignited my passion for art which totally when flat after I left collage. So if by some chance she's ever reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart, thanks to you drawing and painting makes me happy again. and maybe someday I'll be able to make a living from this, that is my dream.  

Here's the video tutorial I used as inspiration for the above nail art.

                                           

and here's some links for Robin Moses's Pinterest, Blog and Facebook.

Chain gang chic

Hair- actually my own for once!
Top- Laura Ashley, v old
Vest- H&M
Jeans- Peacocks
Shoes- So old the place they're from no longer exists!

Note: I have no recollection of the spasm which must have caused me to pose my leg in such an odd fashion, which it must have been, as what normal person stands that-a-way!

With regards to the outfit; I was aiming for mildly nautical, but what I got, I think ended up looking more 'Alcatraz escapee' all I needed was an ankle chain and lump hammer. Anyway the whence at which I was rocking the prisoner look was Houghton hall, the home of Britain's first PM- Robert Walpole (Which I totally did know about before reading it on a tourist information board...). Although I had an enjoyable time there, what I did find confusing, was the amount of Hirst-esque, ultra modern art they dump it the grounds of this place, whilst still beautiful in it's own way (depending on taste I suppose), is an 18th century, stately home really the place for it? Then again, perhaps it's just a peek at the depths at which the National Trust have to bow to in order to foot the bill of the constant and inevitable up keep of these properties and their land, if it is, I hope it gets no worse. In my mind it's equivalent to buying fish and chips from the local Chinese. I don't go there for 'English', I go for Chinese. 

Apologies for picture quality, taken with a camera quite possibly made two decades ago. Lets call it vintage.

I do enjoy tiny writing!

Mushrooms, butterflies and grass

Polishes used:
BYS- Starlette// La femme-black cream// La femme- light pink cream// No.7- Luck Lilac
Revlon- Pinkish// NO.7- Pillar box// A-England- Saint george// Sinful colours innocent
La femme- White cream// Sally Hansen Insta-dry topcoat 

Sorry, that post title probably left you with a bad case of;

Moving on...

Some nail art for my Mumma. Although my mums nails are not long, I love doing them because they're a bit of a challenge. She hates a full, solid coat of colour, and thinks it emphasises the shape of her nails too much. And she can't be trusted with anything like fimo or sequins as she just can't resist picking at them, plus her job doesn't lend it's self so well to delicate add-ons. All this combined forces me to be just that little bit more creative, also, I get to do some of the more delicate and difficult work I can't do on my own nails, meaning I don't get stumped with the dreaded 'orphan hand' *shakes fist at the ambidextrous*.

A-England Princess Sabra (Tristam eyes)

Outside/ bright sunlight

Indoors natural light

Indoors/shade

With flash

How I do love a good holo. And this is a good'un. I would call this a chunky linear rather than a scattered holo, as the uniform rainbow goodness is quite clear to see in most lights, and although not strong, I can see a hint of duo-chrome in dull light, between pale mossy green and shimmering gold. The most prevalent colour, I would, say is an overall olive toned gold, such a beautiful unique shade.

As ever with the A-England polishes, the formula is to die for, smooth, easy to work with and just the right consistency. However, compared to the others in the legends collection, it's not a one coater, like Saint George for example,  but I think this is simply down to the shade and not the pigmentation. Above shows three thin coats and one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-dry. Dry time was exceptional as per usual and I waited around one minute between coats. As for durability and wear, pictures one to four were taken on day five of this mani, and I think they speak for themselves, showing only minimal tip wear. Overall I wore this polish for   seven days, pretty much a record time for me! 

As always, I try to be as though as possible when reviewing, but if there's anything I've not covered, please ask away, I'd be happy to help!

'here comes the sun, little darling'

Coat- Primark
Ring- Primark
Jeans- Topshop
Shoes- New Look

I got this coat in the primark sale after xmas last year, and I love, love, love it. It's a lot less orange than it looks in these pictures, more rust in real life (the orangy-ness is due to my 'sunny' camera setting. I shall damn well make it look like spring even if it refuses to actually feel like it. *shakes fist at English weather*). Rust is in my top four favourite colours ( below green and after brown if you wish to know) which makes this item even more pleasing.

What's your favourite item of clothing, that you own? and what is the most prevalent colour in your wardrobe?

For me, it's my trusty indigo skinnies, and green, lots of green.

The (last) week in pictures

Rubbish weather//Rainbow though my window//Pointing at cows with my mumma// Bawsey ruins// The ginger wig!// A watermark design I made for an ill fated Lush CV// Eagle eyes; The Comic Strip stole my tartan shawl!

Well, this is English spring time for you *le sigh* At least there was a rainbow to ogle a bit. Oh, and as I'd mentioned in a previous post my super ginger wig came, and I'm liking it muchly, it's longer than I'd anticipated, but that's hardly a bad thing! Went for a wee walk with the fam fam, pointed at animals, and, whilst on a 'The Comic Strip Presents' marathon, spotted a tartan scarf I picked up at a charity shop, on the LAP OF RIK MAYALL! So, I'm going to pretend it's the same one. It is damn it.