Raiding the Charity Shops of York

Hello my lovelies, sorry I've neglected you for a whole week. I planned on posting at the beginning of the week when I got back from York but I've been so tired. I've also got an ear full of wax (nice I know) which feels yucky and blocked (and it's a pretty crap excuse for not blogging!) But hopefully this post will make up for it!


I fell in love with York, the little shops, the smell of chocolate everywhere, the beautiful historic buildings... sigh... why don't I live there?!

Anyways thought I'd share some of my purchases...

Monsoon top (never been worn!) Scope £5 and 100% silk - bargain! Scarf from the 'Vintage' range at the British Heart Foundation shop £5 (and huge!)

Printed Top Scope £5 and a close-up of the print!

Books from Arthritis Research UK altogether about £8

Illustration in the Robert Browning poetry book.

From A Christmas Carol

Not from a charity shop but nevermind! A silver and onyx ring from Pia reduced from £75 to £30.

Finally my Lucky Cat!

Phew! I also bought my mum an amazing owl tape measure (I'll post that sometime soon) and some sweets from the John Bull rock shop!

Now I'm going to settle down with my new book...

Has anyone read this? I'm looking forward to it!

... with cotton wool in my ear (and olive oil drops!) feeling a bit sorry for myself...pardon?!

Love, S
xxx

P.S. If you're wondering about the shopping ban my contact has been extended until October (yay!) so I thought a few treats were in order!

Getting ready for the Races

Well it's finally here, I'm off to York tomorrow and to the races on Saturday! And this is my dress. 

I bought it in March from Reiss, you might have seen that in June Kate Middleton copied my style by wearing the same dress to the Epsom Downs (grr!)

I'm currently trying to summon the energy to pack (you'd think I was going for two weeks not two nights) Hopefully I'll be able to get a picture of the whole outfit on the day.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm going to win any money but I'm just looking forward to seeing all the pretty ponies, because I'm like 5. I had a look at the riders (based purely on names of course) and there are some pretty epic ones:

One Kool Dude, Love Over Gold, Hoof It, Ginger Ted, Midnight Martini, Bang Tidy!

But of course I'm not going to be basing my bets purely on names, I'll have to study the form.

Haha I even had myself going for a minute there!

Love, S

xxx

Nail'd: Girls with Attitude Nail Wraps

Girls with Attitude Glamour to Go Nail Wraps - Neon Orange, Crackle and Cheetah

I've been wanting to try nail wraps for a while now. I like the idea of a smooth finish first time (without me having to try and get nail polish off my cuticles with a cotton wool bud!) And the intricate designs they can give that my hands could never produce!

Looking at videos on YouTube I was a bit apprehensive about how fiddly they are where you have to use a hairdryer to heat them up. Some of them are pretty pricey - you could buy a decent nail polish for the same price.

However these Girls with Attitude nail wraps don't require any heat, they just stick on, so they're a lot simpler to use. And they're only £3.50 so they're not such a weight on the purse-strings, so you can give them a go without the fear of your money being wasted if they go wrong.

Here's the results...

I'm wearing the Crackle Nail Wraps!

Not bad for my first time I think! I definitely think it takes a bit of practice, especially with filing them to remove the excess. You have to be careful not to file off what is on your nail. And you need to make sure they're stuck onto the nail properly, mine are lifting a little where I should have spent more time pushing out the creases with an orange stick.

You can see on this one where I need a bit more practice!

I applied a top coat which gave them a super shiny finish, and incase you were wondering they stayed on in the shower!

These nail wraps are available from Boots and from Girls with Attitude (with free delivery!) where there are loads more designs check them out here!

What do you think? Have you tried nail wraps before?

Love, S
xxx

Friday's Fashion Fix

This week jewellery... that I really want!

Rock 'n Rose

Zoe and Morgan

Galibardy

Me and Zena

I need all of these, and more, there were so many great pieces to choose from. If you're into jewellery these sites are definitely worth checking out!

Love, S
xxx

Nail'd: Toes and False Nail Update!

I'm giving my fingernails a bit of a rest following the false nails I had on all last week, so thought I'd do a bit of toe nail art!

My false nails came off at the end of last week. One of the nails on my thumb just kind of popped off so I took them all off. I must stress that the box says don't use force and soak them in nail polish remover. But because the glue was weakened I kind of pulled mine off (which was really satisfying!)

Underneath my nails were in pretty good condition, just with a bit of glue stuck on the surface. It came off gradually with nail polish remover and soaking in water. My nails still feel strong, they're just a bit dry so I've been using lots of cuticle oil and a gel treatment. But I'm happy to say there was no damage!

Love, S
xxx

Friday's Fashion Fix

This week my line up of the top high street Floral Dresses!

L-R - Warehouse, Oasis, Topshop, Joy

L-R - Miss Selfridge, French Connection, AWear, Dorothy Perkins

Well I've been a bit AWOL this week (for which I apologise) because it's been a bit of a rollercoaster work-wise. Today was supposed to by my last day but at the last minute my contract was extended by another month (phew!)

So I hope you enjoy these floral dresses, I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about the state of my natural nails following a week of false nails!

Love, S
xxx

Nail'd and Review'd: Perfect Girl Natural Fakes

Perfect Girl Natural Fakes available from Superdrug and Savers and at their website here!

Have you ever tried false nails? 

I’ve been moaning about how I want to grow my nails so Perfect Girl kindly sent me some of their products to test out, including some Perfect Girl Natural Fakes false nails. Retailing at £5.00 they’re much cheaper than acrylic nails and last for up to a week.

My nails before, not growing very quickly and with a yellow tinge from all the polish I've been wearing!

Application was easy. I picked out which nails fitted onto mine. There are 48 nails in the pack so there are plenty to choose from. Because they aren’t labelled I found it hard to pick out ones that were the same size for for both hands. I accidentally ended up putting different sizes on my ring fingers but it isn't noticeable.

The nails bare.

Gluing them on was easy – the glue is extremely strong so you have to be careful not to stick your hands together! But it also means you don’t need to worry the nails that the nails will come off! You only have to hold the nails down for a couple of seconds and they’re stuck solid. Once applied you can see the pink on your own nails show through and they look quite natural. I decided to paint mine as you can apply and reapply polish to these nails as long as you use an acetone-free remover.

 They were really easy to paint and my nails had a smooth and professional looking finish, so I decided to do a bit of nail art on them!

Overall I’m quite surprised at how much I like them! I'm really impressed that once painted they look really natural, my friends have seen them and just thought they were my nails! They also feel good, I'm not worried that if I do anything they'll just fall off, the glue is really strong and they feel like they are my nails rather than something just stuck on. 

I think it would be more helpful if the nails could each be labelled with a size to make it easier to find the right size for each hand. This may be tricky due to the packaging, perhaps numbered stickers attached to the nails.

When I used to think of false nails I pictured really long tacky talons, but these nails do look and feel natural and are a much cheaper alternative to false nails from the salon. I just need to get used to typing with long nails now!

Perfect Girl Natural Nails are available from their website here! You can also pick them up from Superdrug and Savers stores.

Love, S

xxx

Friday's Fashion Fix

This week Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

Top row - Zara, Middle row - Topshop, Bottom row - ASOS

I love the raffia ballerinas from Zara (going for the sensible option there!) All the shoes on Zara's website are in the sale so check it out for some bargains.

I'm also loving the Topshop glitter Mary Janes, they'd translate well into Autumn/Winter and would look great with tights!

I've got so many pairs of shoes but only ever seem to wear a few, looking at these makes me want to put something different on today!

Love, S
xxx