Primark False Nails: Great Quality For A Quid

Since I was introduced to Elegant Touch nails by one of my friends, my obsession with false nails has somewhat been sparked. As I've mentioned recently, the product which has a reputation of damaging your nails has actually helped to cover up some self-induced dermotillomania damage and boost my confidence in the process. I'm very self conscious about my nails and cuticles, having compulsively picked at them for ages without thinking about the consequences (you can roughly see my odd thumb nail shape in the photos below). False nails have become a life-saver in disguising this, but I can't keep forking out for fancier branded nails. As a lover of cheap-and-cheerful Primark, I thought I'd try out there huge range of false nails to see what you really get for the £1 cost.

DinkiBelle: The Long-Wearing Nail Wraps You Need This Summer

As you might be able to tell from my Instagram, I'm getting very into doing my nails at the moment. When I started this site, it was actually supposed to be a place dedicated to nail art and the like, but it quickly developed into a much different being. I lost patience with nail art (something I developed a love for back in a school summer holiday), and found I just didn't have the time to faff around with tape and dotting tools. Whilst false nails are a great alternative, the glue can often damage your nails. Nail wraps, however, bring you wonderful nail art without having to dedicate 2 hours to the cause. What's more, these DinkiBelle nail wraps have to be the best ones I've ever tried; incredibly easy to apply, beautiful designs and astonishingly long-wearing.

Getting Festive! Christmas Gift Ideas For Beauty Lovers (For All Budgets)

It's that time of the year: festive songs are being played in shops, mince pies are being stocked in supermarkets, and your thoughts turn to the dreaded task of Christmas shopping. It's a part of Christmas that most people dread, but not me- I'm one of those weirdos that start their planning their Christmas shopping in September! Having written endless plans and lists of potential gift ideas for relatives (organisation is key in such a tremendous task), I thought I would do the job for you and compile a list of the best beauty buys that have started arriving in stores for Christmas. Whether they serve as Christmas gifts ideas for family, friends, or a little treat to yourself (go on, you deserve it), here are some of the best beauty gift sets available these holidays for all budgets.

Nail Gems: A Tacky Trend...But I Kind Of Love It

A few years ago, the latest craze in the beauty world was nail art. All forms of nail bling became available on the shelves of Superdrug, from a wondrous range of special effect top coats, to fiddly nail wraps and stickers, and the more impractical nail gems. The trend has since died down a bit, with most of us opting for a more classic, muted nail style which doesn't end up restricting us in our day to day lives. However, when these Qwerkity nail gems* were popped through my letterbox, it somewhat rekindled my love for these trends...and I'm not even ashamed of it!

SkinArt Nail Tattoos

Last week, I wrote about a new form of nail art that's hitting the market- nail stickers. The first I'd heard of them was through a brand called Skin Art, but I ended up buying Andrea Fulerton nail stickers; a cheaper brand albeit with less designs.

I managed to find some Skin Art nail tattoos in Boots when I popped back to Brighton earlier this week, and wondered how they would compare to the cheaper brand I'd previously tried. For £5.99, Skin Art offered a couple more designs; I preferred their designs to the Andrea Fulerton ones so thought I'd try them out.

Sweet As A Strawberry

Despite the sun's last minute appearance, it's nearing the end of the summer holidays. People will be coming back from their holidays, waving goodbye to most things Olympic and trotting back to school or university. This summer has been a rather patriotic one, from the Jubilee, London hosting the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to the usual Wimbledon fun, and the nation has got to celebrate all things British.

Whether it be the Union Jack, cups of tea or strawberries and cream, this summer has been one of celebrating and embracing all those British stereotypes- even the 19th century top hat and monocle combination made an appearance in the Olympic opening ceremony!

In a last grasp attempt to relive this summer before I carry my many boxes full of stuff down to the University of Sussex and up the massive hill on which I will be living (hurrah!), I tried out this bit of nail art in correspondence to the great Wimbledon stereotype- strawberries and cream. But without the cream.

Wild Thing

I *finally* bought a nail art pen recently, and with a girly holiday to Malia looming, I thought I needed a set of snazzy nails to jet off with so put it to good use. I've never been massively convinced by animal print nails, but attempted this gradient zebra print design just to try something new. I actually ended up loving it, maybe because the gradient effect of the blues underneath meant that I could tell myself it didn't look as tacky as it possibly could, but either way it's a really cool, vibrant design, making your nails dramatically stand out without being too over-the-top. Here's the how-to...