Three Peaks

As promised here are my 3 peaks nails, went for a basic flag design for each country, they aren't brilliant- the welsh dragons kind of look like dogs and my right hand is pretty shoddy. But hopefully these cheer me up when I'm up a mountain in the middle of the night in the rain and the snow- weather forecast looks awful. Please try and avert your eyes from the 'keep calm and go beyond san' tee- freebie from a technical event I did a few weeks ago and definitely only suitable to wear in bed ha.Off to Scotland tomorrow morning - super long coach journey awaits me, then the 3 biggest mountains in the UK... in 24 hours. Still have NO idea why I'm doing this. Wish me luck x

Zig Zag

barry m: blueberry icecream & berry icecream


Here's my nails from the weekend, I went for pastel colours to try and remind myself that summer is just around the corner despite the awful weather!! 

Apologies for my lack of posting again this past week I've been busy at home with my sisters birthday and 3 Peaks training- it's come round so quickly, I start the climb of the first mountain on Sunday at 5am... I am literally sh*tting myself. I'm all prepared though and have lots of energising food (the girl in Tesco's must have thought I was a right fatty when all I bought was chocolate, sweets and flapjacks aha), and all my walking gear; most of which is borrowed, but I did buy myself my first fleece this weekend and... a headtorch, well cool ;) 

On the plus side I've raised £465 so far which is amazing (you can still sponsor me if you like www.justgiving.com/yasmin-colley). I plan to do pretty 3 Peaks nails to cheer me up on the mountains and at the request of a friend 'you can do it, put your ass into it' is going on my iPod playlist to motivate me ha. 

Colourful Emotions

When my acid wash nails started chipping I really didn't want to get rid of the design, so I had the idea to pop another colour on top and do the whole cotton bud removing all over again. I actually loved the way it turned out - I couldn't stop staring at my nails all day aha. It's just as easy to add another layer, you don't have to be creative in the slightest and looks so cool.

This weekend has been such a chilled one- lots of tv and exercise; I walked to and from the gym yesterday (about an hour each way) and did an whilst hour there, not sure what's got into me. Maybe the fact that this time in 3 weeks I will be up a mountain or travelling to one of the three I'm doing in 24 hours. Arghhh.

Acid Wash

barry m: matte white & bright purple

A while back Vicky posted her acid wash nails here, and I've wanted to do it to ever since- basically you paint your nails one colour, then go over it with another once that's dry. Then, with a cotton bud and nail polish remover you rub off sections of the top layer. This design definitely looks better in real life, didn't get a chance to photograph these in the daylight to show them off properly but I'm sure I'll do them again. I'll try and get a picture of my new tattoo soon, I'm so happy with it even if my right leg is currently at least 2 dress sizes bigger than the other because of the swelling aha.

Island Escape

 

barry m: blueberry icecream & spring green

Here's my second attempt at ombré nails, I think I'm getting better(ish) aha. Had a really good day, I found out that I won the Style Eyes ethical outfit competition, I came first!! Can't believe it I'm so happy :) the competition was such a good idea and all the outfits were amazing so go and check them out. I won a £100 voucher for spartoo.co.uk can't wait to spend it, another pair of vans are definitely on the cards ahh yay. 

In other good news Alix from I Covet Thee just tweeted me to let me know I won her 1000 follower giveaway and have a set of The Real Techniques Core Collection brushes on their way to me. I never spend a lot of money on these things so my skin is in for a right treat. I recently found Alix's blog and have fallen in love with it, its the perfect mix of outfit and beauty posts, so if you're not already an I Covet Thee follower get on over there and check it out. Thanks Alix!! 

I was going to wait until I received this but I just can't believe I keep winning things so I have to tell you now aha, the other week I won the lovely Kristy's giveaway over at Smug Pug Sunday and won this gorgeous skirt from Lavish Alice (she's also made me fall in love with this store and my bank balance is definitely suffering); and I think I mentioned that I won Lucy's competition to win a beautiful pair of lacy levis, she's making some amazing things over at Champagne Diamond at the moment, there's cat print everywhere and I love it. I'd never won anything before this and at the moment I feel like I'm on a roll, too happy. 

Pastel Infusion

Here are some nails I did the other weekend- I decided summery nails were on the cards so I did a pastel design, I'm really loving pastel everything at the moment. I definitely want some jeans and maybe a blazer for the office. How nice was the weather this weekend?! Not appreciating being in the office today I want to go and make the most of the sunshine! Had yesterday off and it was so nice, chilling in the sun and BBQing it up, I'm going to be upset if it doesn't stay like this forever aha.

Winning

These are some nails that I did the other weekend and they were completely inspired by Kristy's amazing Cath Kidston nails, they are nowhere near as good but actually quite easy to do so I'll definitely be doing them more often. I haven't turned my computer on all weekend and it's actually been quite nice, but I will be catching up on all of your blogs during the week I've missed SO much!!

Now to announce the lucky winners of my giveaway...

Congratulations to Katharine & NaThalia you've both got a $30 voucher for Unestablish on it's way to you, I'll email you with the details now :) :)

Ombré

nails: models own purple ash & purple grey, rimmel matte effect

Many of you will of seen these over at Katy's blog earlier in the week but I'd thought I'd share them for those who haven't- here's my first attempt at ombré nails; I want to do them again properly when I get the time- look for a youtube tutorial if you want to try them out, it was pretty simple :)

Just a quick post today, had such a lovely weekend in sunny Bristol it's really given me a taste for summer, I want BBQs and to chill ar St Andrews with a fruit cider... now!! Hiring my replacement tomorrow, I get to meet the new me- exciting!! It's definitely time for bed- goodnight, hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway- it closes on Friday!! 

Strawberries & Cream

models own: red red wine & barry m: matte white

You might have noticed these nails in my last post or on instagram but I thought I'd put on a close up so you can see them properly :) I was completely inspired by Dixi's blogpost- they look SO much better than mine. Used an old liquid eye liner to do the specks, I'm not very good with nail art pens yet ha. 

Ohhh I got given another award :)  Ellen from Ellen-Atlanta has given me the Creative Blog Award  :) her blog is soo good and she's got the best style! Thank youuuuuuu  

Who Knows...

Ahh you might have noticed that I have a new header!! I gave my friend Lucy the task of creating something for me as I seriously lack creative skills and here it is. I say here it is she actually created about 8 for me to choose from, such a babe. For those of you that use tumblr you should check out hers, cocoa blush, she posts some really gorgeous photos and I'm completely addicted to it.

These are just some nails I did the other week after work bored, you might have already seen them if you follow me on instagram... and if you don't then it's @yasminnjade :)

Another busy week at work ahead I'm phone interviewing applicants this week, exciting! Feels like I've only just got there and already I'm finding my replacement... time has honestly never gone by this fast. Bedlam was amazing in Bournemouth, the O2 academy is an old opera house and such an amazing venue- I'd definitely go again!

Also I'd like to say a massive thank you to Mikaila, The Fashion Launderette, for giving me the Liebster Blog Award- she said the loveliest things about me and my blog!! I've just realised that she's a friend of a friend from back home too and I didn't know she had a blog- it's strange who you stumble across in the blogging world. Get on over to her blog she's got such gorgeous style... check her out!!

Happy Valentines day for tomorrow :)

GOSH

After seeing Sabrina's review on GOSH Nail Glitter a while back I've been meaning to try it out and I finally have. Basically you just paint your nail a base colour, I used Models Own Nude, and dip your nail into the glitter while the polish is still wet. Then, use a small make-up brush to remove excess glitter and you're done. I love the effect as it's totally different to glitter polish and is really easy to do. However as you can see from the pictures it's extremely messy there's glitter everywhere in my room now aha. I also noticed that Sabrina has a handy hint of how to remove glitter from nails easily, we all know it's a complete pain so check it out here.

Magnetic

I finally bought some magnetized nail polish, went for the one by 17 because it was only £5.99, not bad. It comes out like a metallic polish and then when you hover it over the little magnet that is on the lid it pulls all the magnetic bits up and it makes the wave type effect. It's pretty simple and dries really fast so if you've been thinking about getting it I'd say do it, I went for the lilac but I think the 'gun metal' looks really cool too. I need to apologise as well, I know a lot of you have done posts on magnetic nails but I can't remember who as I'm a little late jumping on the bandwagon- so if you've done a post/ review on it, feel free to leave your link as I haven't!

Summit

London tomorrow, scary presentation to do which I am so under-prepared for! But on the plus side a few of us are off for drinks after which is always good fun and usually freee :) All night I've had Skrillex ft. Ellie Goulding- Summit on repeat, it's amazing and not like Skrillex at all it's a lot more chilled out! Attempted dotty nails and then matte'd them too- don't know which I prefer- think I got a bit 'dot happy' on the middle nail too aha, also swore I'd be in bed before midnight as I have a super early start- it never happens.

 

 
                                                             collection 2000: angel wings, nail art pen (eBay)

Poppy

I actually cannot believe it's 2012 tomorrow, this year has absolutely flown by. I'm getting well excited for Motion tonight, a few good acts have dropped out but been replaced by some really good house DJs apparently so hopefully they'll be just as good- I'm looking forward to the 'dance-off', should be interesting I don't really know what to expect. Apparently the dance-off is something that happens at a few festivals and my friend said she ended up in one at Motion before and she had to run across a clay pit. Leaving her shoeless for the rest of the night ha.

Post name- Poppy is my lush dog that gets away with everything and gets way too much attention because she's just too cute. She was brilliant yesterday I was really hungover and she was more than happy to tend to my hungover affection cravings, I had cuddles all day! I popped into town the other day and wore this outfit, I picked up this shirt in one of the Stroud charity shops and my Chelsea boots were a christmas present, I've had my eye on them for a while.

Also, last festive nails which is a little sad but I'm looking forward to trying instant effects silver glitter tonight which I got free when buying two other Barry M cosmetics, amazing. Hope you all have a great night tonight :)

Shirt: Charity Shop, 

Leggings: H&M, Shoes: Topshop

Pendant: Peaches and Nothing

Nails: Models Own Beetle Juice 'Emerald Black', 

Red glitter nail art pen

Timeless

 

Shirt: Charity Shop, Skirt and Shoes: Primark, 

Cross Ring: Boutique73, Other Ring & Broach: Vintage,

Nails: check on my post on Marbling

Christmas is crazy tiring, I hope you're all still enjoying the festivities. I'm trying to put off sale shopping for as long as possible but I'm unsure how much longer I'll last, there's so much I want. I've seen some of the lovely presents you've all got and will do a post showing off all my lush presents soon. The ring on my left hand was just one of the lovely presents I got, it was a friends great nan's so it's super vintage I love it it's gorgeous- and I love knowing where vintage pieces have come from, adds so much more character. Talking of nans, mine is trying to persuade me to sell this shirt, I picked it up for £6 and apparently it's worth lots more- but I just don't want to!

Marbling

 At the 90s night my friend had done marbling on her nails, I hadn't seen it before and it's so cool so me and my little sister gave it a go- it's pretty time consuming but fairly easy. Here's what you do (I would suggest watching a YouTube tutorial too!)

Firstly tape around your fingers so only your nail is showing, apparently it works better if you use a white base coat too which I completely forgot about, so do that too.

Then fill up a container with room temperature water, drop the colours you want to use one by one (you have to do it fairly quickly because they dry super fast) then use a cocktail stick or some kind of substitute- mine was a plastic fork ha- to swirl the polish around to make a cool pattern.

Dip your finger into the design where you want it to print onto your nail and scrape away the excess.

Take the tape of when your nails are dry, remove any polish from around the cuticle, apply a top coat and you're done :). Some of my nails came out really good and some weren't so great but I'm definitely going to try it again, using a white base too! I think you need to make sure the design is really small so you can get all of it on the nail.

Fluro'

I bought Models Own Fluro' Orange a while back and finally got the chance to try it. Verdict? I absolutely love it. It's got a matte effect and drys almost instantly. I've put on two coats and the only downside is that maybe it could have done with a third on the longer nails as you can see where the white bit starts buttt as it dries so quickly tit's really not an issue. In real life its way more fluorescent- especially in daylight it's so bright!

I went to London yesterday for my team meeting, had to present which was scary. We then went out for our Christmas party at Las Iguanas for food and drinks, these drinks led on to more drinks and a whole load of free champagne and mojito's at a bar called Madison  which is the top floor of a shopping centre and has an amazing view over St Pauls. I'm loving London at the moment.

Amazing

My weekend at home has really given my time to actually do things (dye my clothes... paint my nails... get my hair done... watch the new Twilight- which I loved!!) and I've missed it soo much, it's made me really look forward to Christmas, 12 days off work at home with my family just chilling and having me time. I wanted to try out something festive on my black nails- I think the two straight ones ruin the design a little but apart from that I quite like them. Also I now have my dslr (canon 550d, the best birthday present EVER. My parents are amazing!) so hopefully the quality of my pictures will start to be much better, I just need to figure out how to use it aha.

Barry M: Black & Clear, Gold Glitter: Nail Art Pen

Oooh and I've had the hair fixed, it's kinda back to normal only there's a subtle dip dye effect going on, might make it blonder next time but for now I'm just happy that I no longer look like an 'emo gone wrong'.

OH and Skrillex was AMAZING. I have literally never been sweatier in my whole entire life it was mental. At the end of his set he got crowd surfed out and I managed to get a cheeky kiss, cuddle and picture with him. massively starstruck.

Humbug

I've well and truly had a 'hair-mare' this weekend, I asked for my dip dye to be redone and a little higher up and it's ended up way too high and bloody black (the plan was for it to be brown) and the pictures don't do it justice to how bad it looks aha thank god!! But all is fine as I'm getting it fixed tomorrow, don't know what to do with it yet, might have to go back dark all over?! 

Spending the weekend at home I actually had time to do something creative with my nails and try out my nail art pens (24 pens for £6.60 eBay!) I did a humbug theme to match my dress which was a present for my birthday, alongside the cross ring, love love them both. This is what I wore out for my birthday celebrations in Cheltenham which consisted of a few too many rum and cokes in The 2 Pigs although I opted for black tights when I got to pre-drinks because it was just too cold.

Dress: Yayer, Shoes: eBay

Blazer: Urban Outfitters

Cross ring: Boutique 73

Other Rings: Peaches and Nothing

Humbug nails: 

Black & White Barry M, Nail Art Pens

Hospitality

I've recently moved to Reading to do a placement as part of my uni course, I really like my job but I miss Bristol soo much, especially now all the students are back... although doing a placement does mean I get another year of being a student which is definitely not a bad thing!

So you'll notice I'm in Bristol at every chance I get- this weekend was Hospitality at Motion - the first of the In:Motion series. As usual the line-up was amazing and as an added bonus Camo and Krooked launched their new album Cross The Line, it's already probably my favourite album ever! There's not one song I don't like and it's constantly on repeat at home and in the car. My friend Melissa came to Bristol with me and loved it, although we both some how managed to miss Danny Byrd and we've wanted to see him for ages! Ah well... it just gives us an excuse to go to the next one :)

I thought I'd add an outfit post from this night-

Top: Topshop

Shorts: Topshop

Belt: Vintage

Bracelets: Vintage/ Custom-made

Mini Casio: ASOS

I also painted my nails a 'galaxy' design and they actually look OK in the pictures but they looked pretty awful close up- think I need to practice more.

I'll end this post by telling you to check out the autumn line-up for Motion they have some incredible nights on and are well worth the money.