BURKATRON

so this was one of those crazy experiments, a moment of madness perhaps? I have a feeling these are nail art marmite...but they've really grown on me!  my brother described them as 'keith haring meets 80's shell suit' ...which put a big smile on my face. there's a few art influences here from patrick heron to kandinsky but don't fall asleep on me just yet I promise not to bore you with history; the basic idea is really to play around with colour and have a little fun! I just painted a white base coat and then added dashes of colours over the top. be random, experiment and let the paint do the talking! I added a few zig zags, dots and lines with a black nail art pen and voila.. finished! hope you like them!  back soon! caroline x

I love backpacks, fill them up with and off you go (my ultimate bag grab when I'm in a hurry) today I'm wearing my new la moda  rucksack, I'm such a child I love the owl print aha! it was kindly sent to me to wear in their backpack challenge (I'm keeping my fingers crossed as the winner gets £50 to spend on their site which just happens to be full of bags I'm coveting!!) this is definitely one of my low maintenance casual outfits, the shirt was a thrift find and I picked up the all saints vest in the sale a while back.  I spent yesterday rummaging in dark and dusty second hand shops.. It been ages since I've been vintage hunting and I found the most adorable little red suitcase. no doubt I'll make it's way onto here soon- I wont be able to resist sharing it's retro cuteness with you guys! ola backpack: c/o  la moda denim shirt: vintage skull vest:  all saints wet look leggings: primark watch:  river island wedge trainers: new look  (similar here) nai...

the snow has melted, spring is in the air (I just purchased my first bunch of daffodils so it's official!) I feel like  painting daisies is the sensible option ..plus I'm getting bored of darker winter shades! so if you want to have a little spring fling with your fingers here's the steps to creating your own! it's not hard it just takes a little patience so grab a cup of tea and some cake and check yourself in the DIY nail salon.. what do you think? it's not to difficult when you break it down (plus they look so cute so it's worth the effort!) hope you like them... back soon! caroline xx

I can't seem to shake my current love of stripes! I picked up this dress in primark last summer and it's one of my most worn dresses because it's so comfortable and easy to wear (nothing beats a good ol' jersey fabric in my book!) I was so excited when my parka from the lovely people at mee mee  arrived this week, it fits like a dream! I've been harbouring a crush on two tone jackets and have been umm-ing and ahh-ing about getting one for months! I swiftly bookmarked their website as it has a great selection of vintage items too (hurrah!) perfect for a high street/vintage kinda girl. my latest favourite purchase is my topshop rucksack! my bank balance heaved a sigh of relief as I was able to buy  it with some gift vouchers I was given at christmas.. phew thanks mom! I'm slightly addicted to rucksacks; I adore the casual look and they suit me perfectly (..I can fill them up with all my clutter aha!)  contrast sleeve parka: c/o  mee mee dress: primark hair bow: gi...

I've been itching to try out the latest offering from the urban decay naked range... the basics palette ! I was really excited when I was asked if I wanted to review it by hq hair ; I'd seen it cropping up on twitter and instagram and felt a little tingle of excitement when I discovered it was a matte collection (finally a palette that I may actually use on a daily basis.. yipee!) I don't know what category you guys fall into when it comes to eye shadows.. I'm a mascara/big flick of eyeliner (al la fearne cotton) kinda gal. I love the look of metallic shimmery eyeshadow but they seem to transform me from girl next door to drag queen in one fell swoop so I tend to avoid them at all costs! if you're a lover of shimmer/glitter/metallic this one probably isn't for you; I'd opt for the original naked palette or it's predecessor. if like me you want to add definition without drawing attention then look no further; this is the one for you! so the palette itself...

hello rascals! here's my latest nail art tutorial, geometric/chevron nails! I painted these when I first started blogging so many of you won't have seen them! I thought I'd show you how to create these rather snazzy geometric numbers.. it's surprisingly easy!  you'll need two polish colours, some sellotape and a white nail art pen/brush then simply follow the next few steps: I've used topshop polish in  green room  for the base colour which is a gorgeous vivid green/turquoise. the accent colour is a metallic  models own  polish in champagne another favourite of mine; but you can use any colour you like for this design!  you could also paint this freehand if you don't want to use sellotape; just make sure you put your arms on a flat surface to keep your hands steady and lines straight! I hope you like them! I'll be back with another nail art post soon.. caroline x

silence & noise metallic tee:  urban outfitters necklace: urban outfitters stackable rings:  topshop nails: in the navy by  models own just a quick little post today! I just wanted to show you some of my sales finds! I got this metallic boyfriend tee and aztec necklace in the  urban outfitters  sale and I haven't really had a chance to wear them yet!  I love the uo sales, I held out all through december as I knew their cute little gifts would be in the sales! I never knew I had such patience... and boy was it rewarded (50% off hurrah!!) anyway, earlier today I bought a little paperchase notebook that I'm going to fill with my blogging plans for the next few weeks so I'm off to grab myself a pen & cup of tea and get busy! hope you're all well! back soon  caroline xx

repainting my bedroom | today's make up | dog walking in my bf's big furry coat! brrrrr | my new iPad case, a present from my bestie |  la moda  bags, coming to an outfit post soon! | new  office  sale boots |  snow day!! | sale shoes from  river island  (only £10!) | my brothers new kitten beth, I've already become a insta-cat-spammer aha, she's so darn cute! | went to see gangster squad- ryan gosling & josh brolin heaven! | working on a nail art tutorial for company magazine woooooop, excited! | new jonathan aston  tights (look at those models legs, wish mine were that long aha!) | so that's my little instagram round up, I've not posted one for a few weeks so I thought I'd have a lot more pictures aha! I'm obviously slacking on the insta-spamming..wink. I've had a really exciting week though; illamasqua picked me to be in their new feature called beauty spotlight, my jaw pretty much hit the floor because I was the first blogger involved (wow...

another easy peasy nail art idea for you guys. I've tried this one before and unlike rhinestone embellishment this is a lot easier to work with! the pyramid studs lay flat into the polish so you wont be getting these caught in your hair or clothes hurrah! they also last well, I took mine off after 3 days (they were in perfect condition though so would have lasted longer!) it's a really easy technique, simply paint your base colour and wait to dry. I've used models own  peach sherbet here. I bought my studs in a nail art wheel from misguided  but there are also loads on eBay  here ! apply a line of clear polish over the base colour (where you want the studs to be) and push the studs into the wet polish; it acts like nail glue and hold them in place as it dries. try to get all the stud edges into the polish (I used a toothpick with a tiny piece of blu-tac on the end to pick up the studs and press them in) seal with several layers of a good top coat (I could not recommend se...

back combing, skipping conditioner, regular dying, heat damage...generally not being nice to your hair? yup I'm guilty on all counts! since christmas my hair has been really dry (also full of static, rahhh!!) so I've been trying out this new  wella SP luxe oil  I was sent to see if it can work some magic on my barnet! I'm was little scared of hair oils, I just assumed they'd make my hair look really lank and greasy! I still think they will but only if you apply too much or too close to the roots. since my hair is long I just apply it towards the ends where it's driest. I like this luxe oil, it contains argan, jojoba and almond oil so you only need one small pump for each application and my hair definitely felt noticeably softer after the first use. I've been using it to tame flyaway hairs too (if I've curled my hair I run a tiny bit between my palms and use it like a smoothing serum!) I like the bottle too, it's heavy and feels quite luxurious! My favour...

well this is more of a what I wore tonight (rather than today) post.. this is my new popping out for a 'quick' cocktail frock.  I think I've been reading too many french fashion blogs recently because I'm growing increasing fond of black (shock horror!) this classic black filigree lace number from the lovely people at red label fashion  appeals to my love of the gothic trend whilst still being princess pretty (if I had a big tiara I'd be tempted to wear it... shucks, I guess a bowler hat will have to do!)  I added a little studded collar that I picked up in the topshop sale and my belt of the month (seriously I can't stop wearing it.. send help!)  bowler hat: h&m  dress: c/o  red label fashion collar: topshop (sale) belt:  urban outfitters triangle ring:  urban outfitters stacking semi precious ring set:  topshop emerald vintage ring: c/o  regal rose I hope you're all having a good week? it's due to snow again here tomorrow so t...

hi guys! good week? it's been snowing here yipeee!  I decided the safest (ok, warmest) option was to stay indoors and repaint my bedroom this week; my poor old nails were a hot mess afterwards so I decided to clean them up and give them a lick of paint too.. I love the monochrome trend; I've been harbouring a crush on a black & white skater dress all month (hurry up payday!) I thought I'd paint my nails to match since I don't have the dress to twirl around in!  I wasn't sure what tribal/aztec nails would look like paired down to basics but now I'm converted. I think this is a good nail art for shorter nails as you can just remove a few rows of the pattern and they'll keep the proportions! tempted to try them? read on.. so here's what I used: and here's the steps I followed: paint a white base coat, I used two coats of  models own  snow white polish next draw horizontal stripes across the nail to create sections. if you have shorter nails draw on ...