BURKATRON

a bumper instagram post today!  apologies for the epic amount of pictures; I always take millions of snaps when I go away and this was a trip I've been dreaming of for YEARS (no joke, I was a big kid) I wanted to share some of the best places we went to eat as a few of them aren't really in the guide books; plus I did so much research before I went I thought it would be a waste not to share it with you! lots of you have asked for my recommendations so I'll pop them in at the end of the post..  take off! | 5th avenue, I was really excited about seeing the famous yellow taxis and they are literally everywhere! | Chrysler building! my favourite of the famous skyscrapers especially at night when the art deco design is lit up! |  washington square | eataly food market | on the statten island ferry- it's free and you get good views of the statue of liberty! | meatpacking district- great bars, this is the place to go at night! | times square | urban outfitters shopping museum

time to take matters into my own hands. since the sun is refusing to arrive I'm ploughing on with my spring/summer nail art in the hope the weather will catch up.... EVENTUALLY! I love bright nails so I decided to mix up one of my favourite nail art techniques.. the good old gradient! it's a fun and easy thing to master- I did a little tutorial  here  for you guys to read if you missed it! once the base gradient dried I added a basic black and white leopard print on top. dab on white circles (I use the brush straight from the polish bottle) and outline with a black nail art pen (I use  models own )  I always paint both hands (oh boy is the right hand harder!) but I rarely get a shot of both as my camera struggles to focus on timer, luckily my mum was on hand to snap these! I tend to use a page from my blogging notebook to dab off the excess colours; I think the leftover palette's are so pretty (plus it shows you how messy I am when I'm painting.. mucky pup!) if you have

confession time...  I'm a closet phone case hoarder (especially the novelty ones!) I'm usually trying to stick to some semblance of a budget but sometimes the urge to buy something is huge! on these occasions I like to get a quick retail fix of something small to ease the demons until pay day. iPhone cases are my go-to when I want to treat myself but funds are tight! eBay and amazon are my favourite hunting grounds but I've discovered some awesome cases on my searches; these are my favourite at the minute (I have the lego one on my phone today) and I thought I'd share them with you! 1.  nutella iPhone case 2.  cath kidston iPhone cases 3.  chanel iPhone case 4.  pop fusion iPhone case 5.  kind of a big dill iPhone case 6.  casetagram iPhone cover 7.  lego brick iPhone case 8.  pineapple iPhone case 9.  rilakkuma bear iPhone case 10.  lab colours iPhone case 11.  retro game boy iPhone case obviously we all have different phones so I apologise for just showing iPhones her

I always get excited by new brands (hmmmm ...did someone say geek?) red carpet queen is a new brand to me so I wasn't sure what to expect; I was sent these awesome looking nail polishes by the hut  to test drive and I'm pretty impressed with them.  firstly I'll say they're far too much fun, the packaging is a brilliant novelty! (probably the closest I'll get to holding actual bullets- probably a good thing considering the amount of serial killer documentaries I watch!)  I've been wearing controversy for 4 days now- I'm beginning to see very small chips beginning on my right index finger & thumb but the others and my left hand remains chip free (I have a special skill for chipping polish so I'm always impressed by anything that lasts longer than 3-4 days!) they've been formulated with an extra high dose of nitrocellulose to keep them strong and long lasting so this is probably why! the colours of the polishes are really something; if you're a

well I've finally got round to sharing my giveaway (about time!) I wanted to organise one when I reached 800 followers (BIG thank you!!) but I decided to wait as I thought it would be nice to buy some things when I was in NYC and make it a bit more special. I just wanted to do something to thank you for all of your support and for being so damn lovely! every like, retweet and comment on my posts never fails to surprise me and make me smile! the fact that anyone takes the time out to comment or contact me is the most wonderful feeling so thank you all again..  so without further ado here's whats included in the giveaway... you may remember seeing a big apothecary cabinet full of nail polishes on my instagram; well I couldn't resist raiding it to get some bright colours for you! I prefer the American urban outfitters bottle shapes to the ones we have in the UK so I grabbed quite a few! these are bandeau, hot tub & flip flop. lemon drop is a scented top coat; I've neve

I love little day trips. I went to tate modern earlier this week to see the lichtenstein retrospective; I was super excited to catch the show as he was one of my icons growing up! since pop art was the theme of the day I wanted to wear something equally pop-tastic so I opted for this gorgeous mink pink dress from  mee mee  (be warned they have some fantastic new arrivals in stock at the minute!) this little number brought out my 90's nostalgia when; remember the good old saved by the bell days aha! bright florals are one of my favourite looks (I also love a dress with a good swoosh!)  I went with the 90's vibe again with my accessories; my pineapple necklace from chelsea doll and retro mondrian watch that I picked up at american apparel. since it's still pretty nippy out there I added my new denim jacket which is one of those classic transitional pieces.. yep, I'm still a closet double denim lover. vintage style floral dress: mink pink c/o  mee mee denim jacket:  foreve

wow. that was my initial reaction when I opened these nail polishes for the first time. illamasqua  seem to have finely tuned the knack of creating shades more unique than others out there on the market (and almost always better quality too)  I wanted to review these separately but they're so damn good I had to do them all together because I'm so impatient to show you them on!  if you're looking for the perfect spring/summer nail colours these may just be for you: superstition is a knockout hot pink coming soon to their collection!! (I'm super excited to swatch this one for you!) this is one crazy, vibrant, beautiful shade!  this is how it looks on: the varnish is rich, bright and long lasting. I find it really hard to critise the formula of illamasqua polishes because all the ones I've used have been pretty darn perfect.  for full intensity I'd apply two coats (it's almost a one coat polish because the pigment is so good) next up is my favourite out of the

cold days call for comfort! that's exactly what I had whilst I was away, so my go-to uniform consisted of layers (in fact so many layers that I began to resemble an onion!) I do love my h&m boyfriend jeans; it's definitely a style that seems to divide opinions between me and my friends! personally however I'm a fan of the slightly odd looser shape especially when worn with heels (for a day trekking around galleries I chose to wear mine with my well worn flat boots and simple breton tee!)  the slightly over sized bubble coat was an impulse buy from primark and the hat was a topman sale find!  hat: topman breton stripe tee: river island similar  here navy coat: primark boyfriend low jeans:  h&m belt & necklaces: urban outfitters boots: vintage after an early morning coffee we headed to uptown to the museum of modern art and the guggenheim to get our culture on! the guggenheim was the highlight for me because of the amazing architecture; I've never been inside