BURKATRON

I have a new addition to my fingers this week; a neon purple courtesy of qvc's 20th birthday collab with nails inc!  the polish itself is a perfect autumn shade, rich but vivid. I love nails inc polishes so I was expecting a good colour and I wasn't disappointed when it arrived.  it takes roughly 3 coats for full coverage, if you paint thick coats you may get away with 2 but my manicurist friend told me to paint thinner coats as your mani will last longer and chip less.. top tip!  as it's a neon I knew the finish wouldn't be super glossy (which is pretty much always my preference!) but the shade is a winner so I can overlook the lack of glossiness this time!  nails inc chiswick park polish and caviar top coat*  the kensington caviar top coat is lovely, it gave the perfect wet look finish to the neon purple. I like my nails to have this high gloss finish and it dried quickly so I'll be using this top coat again. there are some other lovely sets on offer at the mi...

I don't often share swatches of singular nail polishes but this one swayed me! it's from the new illamasqua creators collection that I was lucky enough to sample; a collaboration with some of the uk's most loved bloggers (including the lovely milly who's created a very wearable copper toned lipgloss which you can see here !) back to this little beauty though, a galactic inspired glitter polish from style suzi called perseid.  perseid glitter polish* glitter rich it has a gorgeous pearlescent finish with undertones of purple, blue and green. it's a tricky one to photograph as you can't catch the full iridescence on camera! you'll need just two coats for full coverage; it's described as a black polish I find it more purple toned until the second coat is applied. definitely one I'll be wearing this A/W and a good alternative to the standard black polish, well done suzi for creating this little rascal! what do you think.. one for you maybe? caroline x

eeeeep lots of little polishes! I don't know where my love of 'mini' things began (probably in the form of party food ...hello dinky sized nibbles) but there's something I love about pint sized versions of the originals. cue this lovely little set from OPI; created especially for QVC its called the discovery set and it has a taste of everything OPI has to offer! for anyone who isn't familiar with their best selling products this is a treat.. first up is a selection of autumnal shades with a good quality formula and coverage that I've come to expect of OPI polishes. I wore a few of these while I was away in iceland as they were perfect travel size companions (the deep burgundy called in the cable car pool and the navy glitter alcatraz rocks glitter are my favourites)  OPI discovery set * from left to right: peace & love & opi | in the cable car pool lane | first date at the golden gate | muir muir on the wall | alcatraz rocks now for me this is the most e...

a little mooch through instagram reminded me I haven't put up a photo post for a while so here's some of my snaps from the last week or so.. paddling pool fun (yep they're not just for children) | pear cider on a sunny day | the beginning of a white shoe affair | watermelon nail art topshop sale candy cane dress | sewing machines! gosh I want at least three of these | cath kidston nails | pretty lace trims for DIY's climbing trees with the boy | afternoon tea & cake | a lovely present from laura ashley, a set of bird night lights ! | his & hers ilcentimetro bracelets, james is so pleased with his! help the nail polishes are taking over!! | essie fiji polish | matchy matchy barry m blueberry nails & toes | lunch in cambridge at jamies italian (I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the polenta chips..!) kukee delivery! | bikini shopping for holiday, thanks primark you little shop of bargains! | summer gradient nails with illamasqua radium and nobel nail ...

yikes my iPhone has been snap happy of late, here's a look at some of it's latest adventures..  working on some nail art for laura ashley | little pretties seaside charm bracelet | fragrance direct goodies | sunny afternoon in the garden | rosie fox delivery | grazia fashion blog love feature yipeeee! | issue 4 of crafty magazine with my animal head coat hook feature- a brilliant mag for anyone who loves DIY | punktured jewellery bracelets | pink daisy nails boss jour perfume | holy moly,  refinery 29 gave my nails wraps a great review *happy dance* | superdrug nail art supplies for a feature I'm working on | liquid gold- finally mine! | fish & chips after a stressful day! | bright nails courtesty of essie fear & desire | black daisy nails, my go to easy nail art when I'm busy! | flower crown day | my bow nail art tutorial is most pinned in company mag this week hurrah! thank you lovely people of pinterest!! surprise delivery from scratch , my nails wrap...

I thought I'd show you a few new colours in my collection; both are essie polishes which I know are a popular choice with you guys!  I opted for two bright shades fear & desire which is a vivid orange and mojito madness which is a cool green shade.  fear & desire really pops on your nails, you can get full coverage in two-three coats (if you're in a hurry I'm certain two coats would suffice I'm just a fussy devil and wanted mine to look really bright!) mojito madness is one that I've had my eye on for a while, I fell in love with it when I saw a sales girl in sephora wearing it whilst I was on holiday! the formula is good, two coats gives full coverage for this shade and it's nice and glossy! fear & desire, mojito madness* the beauty of these two polishes is actually the price; £1.99 KAPOW! (I'm now looking at my essie polish collection and kicking myself for paying full whack for them!) you can pick up quite a few of their shades here  (although...

I've always liked OPI polishes (particularly the names) but I do tend to overlook them in favour of models own or illamasqua. I'm not sure why, mainly habit I think? the formula of their polishes is really good so I'm determined to invest in a few more and rectify the situation!  today I'm wearing elephantastic pink an OPI polish that was sent to me by fragrance direct , it's a gorgeous colour and the formula is a beauty. I hesitate to describe it as 'salmon' pink ....but it's the word that springs to mind so I guess I will! OPI elephantastic pink * I wouldn't normally be so eager to share a simple swatch post with you but I'm quite astounded by the prices on their website, they have dozens and dozens of OPI polishes available and they're only £3.99, did anybody else know this...?? they also sell essie polishes for £1.99  seriously £1.99  I feel a bit robbed thinking of all the ones I've brought in boots at full price! although they don...

I'm always on the hunt for the 'perfect' pink nail polish.. a classic go-to nail colour. I love bright bold shades on my nails especially in the summer and this orly polish I received from beauty expert  is so darn pretty!  orly choreographed chaos* £10.25 on first look I wasn't sure if I'd like this one! it has a slight shimmer finish in the bottle and I wasn't sure how it would translate on my actual nails.  fear not I was wrong aha! it's beautiful on and I LOVE the colour, a classic hot pink but just light enough to be uber feminine. the polish itself applies really well, the formula is rich and smooth. this is two coats swatched here and it dries quickly, I didn't find that it chipped easily (I think I had it on for three days in total)  I couldn't resist adding a little daisy nail art to mine to brighten up a dull afternoon, you can see the tutorial for this look over on beauty expert ! I think this will be the shade I reach for when I'm hav...

drum roll... this weeks nail crush goes to  illamasqua noble ! you may have noticed I have a soft spot for blue nail polishes so I was excited to receive this one as it had been on my wish list for quite a while! similar to the shade 'pique blue' that I bought in & other stories recently this turquoise blue has a more radiant finish and is 10x more glossy! the formula is gorgeous, it's light to apply (not heavy and sticky) and the pigment is as always brilliant. I love illamasqua polishes because they dry quickly and you never need more than two coats for full effect.  this is two coats swatched above.  illamasqua nobel* £14.50 I adore this colour it's really vibrant (this would look great against darker skin) definitely a contender for my top 5 summer polish colours. I'll be wearing this one with white tee's, denim cut offs (...and a slathering of st tropez aha!) what do you think? I'm a big fan of their polishes- have you tried them yet? caroline x

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...

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...

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 ...