When this here blog turned four years old I decided to mark the occasion with another wardrobe challenge. I chose four tops, four jumpers (or long sleeved / warmer options), four bottoms and four dresses (although 2 dresses where quickly discarded and are yet to be replaced) to be worn for 4 weeks. This is week 2...


Saturday
Lots of chasing about running errands. I wore jeans, stripe top and added some colour with this scarf, the newest to my collection - I bought this in the summer, smitten with the colour - it's difficult to capture it but it's a pale neon - love it!


Sunday
I sat reading in the sun in just this short sleeve top. I'm getting a little bored of not having a lot of colour so I added a smidgen with this Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint in Passion Fruit. I bought it to wear in the summer too but didn't get round to it, so before I move over to darker autumn shades I thought I'd give this a go.


Monday
Cold, wet, windy, dull and generally miserable weather. The only thing for it was a long sleeve t-shirt and a woollen poncho. And slippers.


Tuesday
I met a friend of coffee, the weather was dull and rainy again but I wanted to feel a little bit dressed up (this coffee was the highlight of my social life this week), so I popped on my black jeans, embroidered top and mac with a pretty necklace and sequined flats.


Wednesday
A quiet day working from home = grey jumper dress and leggings. I didn't think it was ever going to stop raining!



Thursday
Green :) I also tried the braided tuck up-do from my messy hair post. Not an exact replica but I liked it none-the-less.


Friday
Back to the grey jumper dress and the necklace that my former colleagues called my 'Mr T' necklace. Finally it stopped raining and the sun came out for a while.

Another week over. Again it's been pretty easy and there are items that I'm still yet to wear. I'm wondering if this could be a rolling challenge? I could swap out some of the items every 4 weeks...? Let's see how I feel at the end of week 4 ;)

Love

Have you seen the film Garden State with Zack Braff and Natalie Portman? If not, watch it, it's a great film.

This is the second of the Boohoo maxi dresses I purchased recently. I'm inexplicably drawn to anything with a blue floral pattern. It's just the tiniest bit see-through, so I had to find something to wear underneath, I'm sure if I wore nude undies I could get away with it but I think I'd feel too self-conscious. I'm a lady of advancing years don't cha know! Anyway now that I have a plain white dress in my possession (good ole eBay), I think this is going to get a lot of wear.


My nails are painted with Colour Club in Glossy Seal. Blue nails always make me think of my final years at high school because I wore electric blue nail polish constantly. This particular colour has been formulated especially for the GlossyBox Stars and Stripes edition although I can't help but think of Action Man's pants when I look at it...


On my lips I'm wearing Bellapierre mineral lipstick in Mandarin, also from GlossyBox. It's a lovely orangey red and smells sweet (when did it become fashionable to make lippy scented?) but it doesn't have much staying power sadly. This is one that will require proper application, and by that I mean the faff of fill, blot, cover with powder, brush on, blot, put your left leg in, your left leg out...



As for the dress, it's long and floaty and I love that I can wear a shorter dress underneath and it'll look like one of those dresses with a sheer skirt. Or, I can do what all the cool kids are doing, and knot it at the hem. I was doing this back in college, I was such a trendsetter, ha! No matter how I chose to wear it, it's going to be perfect for all the hot days we've got coming out way *crosses fingers*.

Do you subscribe to GlossyBox? What do you think of it? My only real dislike is the shredded packaging - it covers everything in a fine dust and I have enough dust in my home as it is!

Love

When it comes to my nails I have a love/hate relationship with them. I used to bite my nails when I was younger and sometimes, just sometimes, I slip back into old habits. Needless to say my nails go from long to short, unkempt to perfectly polished and everything in between.


When my nails are short, I often find myself longing for beautifully manicured nails, mostly for an occasion that calls for being well groomed, but sometimes I just want to feel well groomed. This is what led me to try imPRESS nails. It was Nicole Scherzinger's advert that first brought these to my attention, and as annoying as I find her on The X Factor, I couldn't help but take note.

Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on nail accessories, so I bagged a few to give them a try. I wanted to road test them before I used them 'for real'.


There are no real instructions on the packaging, but there is a QR code, which when scanned takes you to a short tutorial on how to apply them. They're really easy to put on - simply clean your nails with nail polish remover, select the size you need and line them up. Starting with your pinky fingers, peel off the tabs, align to the cuticle and press onto your nail. Apply your thumb nails last.



The whole process only takes a few minutes. I loved this and much prefer it to the glues I have tried in the past. I also really like the shorter length, as they're the closest to the longest length of my natural nails that I've ever tried. You do have to file the edges to get rid of the tell tale tabs but that's easy enough to do.


They say they last for a week. I decided to get the housework out of the way before testing them... then changed my mind. I thought that if these babies could really stay put for a week they'd have to be able to withstand some housework. And they did. They also survived a pumpkin carving, baking, sewing of sock monkeys and all manor of everyday activities. They held fast and showed no signs of budging. I put applied them on Sunday morning and removed them Thursday evening but they would easily have lasted longer.


My only issue was the lack of guidance on how to remove them, so I pushed down on the tip, levered a gap at the cuticle and peeled them off. It was really easy. No harm done.

The index finger on my right hand is damaged from when I shut it in a door at the age of 11. As a result of a crushed nail and five stitches, the nail is slightly domed and other false nails have been tricky to apply and stay put, some have been really rather uncomfortable, but I had no problems with the imPRESS nails.


At £7.99 I think these are a bargain. For a quick manicure fix they're perfect. They say that they don't harm the nail but I can't believe that these can be good for your nails if worn continually but I'd highly recommend for a special occasion or the odd pamper session.

Do these sound like something you would use?

Love

Catching up with the May Challenge by Flying Saucer.

Day 10 - Cute tights
I've had this maxi skirt for ages and have been waiting for the sun to shine so I could wear it. Then it dawned on me - I can wear tights underneath (I've always been quick off the mark!). These are by Red or Dead, purchased whilst conquering my fear of hosiery.

Day 11 - Your spring essential
Body brush and cellulite cream. After months of being hidden under jeans and hosiery my legs always need a little (a lot of) TLC to get them shorts ready. The body brush I've had for ages but the cream is new to me, it was highly recommended in a magazine. I swear by body brushing and the cream isn't very expensive so I decided to give it a try. It does sink in quickly, which I love. I have a huge dislike for creams that linger on my skin and make getting into my skinny jeans difficult.



Day 12 - The outfit you've had the best times in
I've found this one really tough, all of the times that are up there as 'one of the best' I wore something entirely different. Can I come back to this one?

Day 13 - Your lazy day at home with style (in front of your housemates/bf/visitor)
Chances are that a lazy day will involve jeans. This is a typical outfit for me - jeans, casual shoes, scarf and a smattering of jewellery.



Day 14 - The item that was hardest to hunt down/buy.
Believe it or not I found a black bag pretty hard to find. It's because I am so particular. It took me ages to find one and then I found two on eBay and bought them both! Since then I have found out that one of them is a copy of a Fendi Spy bag (luckily it wasn't being sold as the real deal, I only paid £8.30), which makes me like it a little less, carrying around a fake makes me feel a little foolish. Is that silly?



Day 15 - Nail art/your favourite polish and your nail varnish collection
With a huge boost from Essie polishes being available to buy in Boots I now have over 30 shades in my collection. Essie Mint Candy Apple is my current favourite, I thought I'd hate it but once on I was smitten.



Hopefully I can catch up completely before the month is out!

I don't often post about my current nail colour but I'm so taken with the newest addition to my collection, I decided to share it with you.

My general feeling about nail colour is, the longer the nails, the paler the polish. So, when I broke a nail vacuuming (as if I need another reason to dislike it!) it presented me with the perfect opportunity to try this new colour (every cloud...)


Rimmel I love Lasting Finish Nail Polish in 270 Hot Shot
This is how it looks after two coats. It's a gorgeous bright pink, perfect for sunny days.

Wearing it makes me smile.