tutti frutti

As the weather has gotten to the stage of being pretty bloody gorgeous (dear Mr Sun, please don't leave us, ever. Please.) I've been trying to stick with my plan of embracing colour when it comes to putting an outfit together. However, as I've previously mentioned, my wardrobe is full of darker colours and as I've not had the chance to go on any crazy spending sprees lately, I'm currently having to make do with the very limited stuff I already own, plus a couple of new Primark bits and pieces, to get my fix of Summer colour. Fortunately though, due to the abundance of nail polishes I own (seriously guys, I have a problem), I can at least display my new-found colourful leanings on my talons;

Colours used - GOSH Special Edition Lavendar Love, Models Own Coral Reef, Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Spangles, 17 Fast Finish in Catwalk Couture and Pink Grapefruit

Not my most imaginative mani to date (or neatest - I smudged about four nails after applying my top coat - grrrr!) , but I'm obsessed with these vivid brights; every time I catch sight of them, I think of Summer fruits, ice lollys and tropical beaches... sigh...

Anyway, I've been really enjoying all these zingy, summery colours at the moment; I know 'colour blocking' and brights are big trend this season anyway, but I'm thinking specifically about 'fruity' colours if that makes sense? They're the sort of colours that make me crave fruit and I don't even particularly like fruit. I thought I'd put together a wish list of some of the brightest, zingiest stuff currently available on the High Street so that we could all feel fruity-licious...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Ok, ok, I know there aren't actually any turquoise coloured fruits, but still, that really bright turquoise has somehow fallen into my category of fruity colours... so live with it. Also how beautiferous is that Coral Bow Dress from LOVE?! And how have I not realised how fabulous their stuff is?! Definitely going to have to do a wish list for LOVE at some point, because that website is just too good.

Are you embracing bright colours now that the weather's gotten all totally tropical? (mmm Lilt) Tell me things, go on! I love to hear from you!

Product review - Nail Rock nail wraps

It is safe to say that nails are the new black. (ok, it may not make complete sense, but it's still safe to say it)

With Chanel now in the habit of bringing out a couple of 'must-have' nail colours every season (hello Black Pearl), and brands such as Konad, Models Own and Barry M launching products to help you create quirky nail designs, it is now easier than ever to have on-trend, fabulous nails.

While there are plenty of nail salons out there, for me and many other folks, it's all about the DIY. When Gem posted her leopard print liquid eyeliner tutorial back in April, I think a lot of us suddenly realised that actually, while it might look complicated, nail art doesn't have to be that difficult to achieve. Fast forward a few months and every blogger under the sun has posted their own versions of leopard print nails, not to mention countless other amazing designs. DIY is definitely where it's at!

Enter Nail Rock wraps:

It was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way for people to Minx their nails DIY-style, and these are the first ones I've seen that do just that. They're £6.50 and were available from Topshop but I think they're sold out at the moment, however, you can also get them from ASOS. I actually posted about them in October and I've had a pack sitting in my cupboard for ages, but I kept telling myself that I had to wait until my nails grew to a reasonable length before I could actually use them. Sadly, being an ex-biter, my nails are fairly weak and tend to grow to a certain length before they just give up or snap or I accidentally bite them. Anyway, this weekend I decided that most of my nails were long to enough to justify me trying them, so I armed myself with a hairdryer, a cuticle stick and a whole bunch of patience and got to it.

This the 'studs' design. I really wanted the snakeskin ones, but they were sold out.

They come with fairly detailed instructions on the pack, but I thought I'd give do a kind of step by step tutorial, adding my two cents along the way.

1. Start by ensuring that there's no shine on the surface of your nail by using the 'smoothing' side of a nail buffer. (You can get a really good multi-sided nail buffer from Primark for about a £1). Easy.

2. Select a wrap from the sheet which most closely matches the size of your nail. There's a variety of different sizes and you can trim them if there isn't one suitable.

3. Place the wrap at one side of your nail, so that the edge lines up with the cuticle. It's much easier to start from one side of the nail and work across, rather than starting at the bottom of the nail and working up.

4. Apply heat to the wrap from your hairdryer (on a low setting). On the instructions it says for a few seconds, but I'd say do it for as long as you can bear. The wrap softens with the heat, and the softer it is, the easier it is to manipulate, so the more heat your apply the better. However, please don't take this to mean that your should burn yourself. That is not my intention. I don't want any hairdryer related injuries on my conscience. I just don't need that.

5. After applying heat, take the flat end of a wooden cuticle stick, and smooth the wrap onto the nail, going from one side to the other, ensuring there are no bumps and creases on the surface of the wrap. (if you do get a crease, apply more heat, lift the wrap off your nail and start over).

6. Rub the cuticle stick over the entire surface of the wrap, to ensure it is fully adhered to your nail. (you can apply more heat here if you want)

7. Trim most of excess wrap with nail scissors, leaving a couple of milimeters above your actual nail. File the remaining bit away, by filing your nails gently, in a downwards motion. This for me was the trickiest bit as you want to get the end of the wrap to line up smoothly with your actual nail. Just take your time with it and don't be too rough. I used a nail file from Boots that had different sizes of grit on it; use a really rough grit to remove most of the wrap, then a finer grit to neaten it all up at the end.

Voila, you're done! I just read back through those steps and realised it might be better to do a video tutorial to show exactly how to apply them. There could already be tutorials online, I've not looked, but if anyone would like to see one, let me know and I might just do it!

It may look like a lot of steps, but it's really not too difficult. You do need to be patient; it took me a least an hour, though I did take a break after doing the first hand as I was getting bored. As with anything like this, it would be easier if you had someone helping you, but it's certainly not impossible to do it on your own. The bits you've got to really be careful with are making sure there's no creases in the wrap as you smooth it onto your nail, and filing it all away neatly at the end. As you can see from the photo below, creases do happen, however this was my first try and after doing that one I got much better!

I've had the wraps on for a couple of days now and they've stayed on quite well; the corners are starting to lift on a few nails, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't picked at them a bit... I think I'm going to just wait and see how long I can leave them for before they start looking crap. I hope they last until the end of the week because I'm going out on Friday night, but we shall see...

IMO they're really cool and it's nice to have an intricate pattern on my nails for once, rather than my standard leopard print or stripes. I'd definitely be up for using them again and, having looked on ASOS I've noticed there's some other exciting new patterns available now which I'd love to try. For the price, they're definitely worth it, as you potentially get two applications out of a pack (there's 24 stickers of varying sizes).

Have you tried the Nail Rock wraps? What did you think? Are you into DIY nails or do you think nothing beats a professional manicure?

zig a zig ah

Although leopard print has been quite 'fashionable' for the last couple of years, it's really taken me some time to accept it as something I'd actually wear, as I've never quite been able to shake off the images of Mel B, lunging and flailing about in all her Girl Powered insanity, wearing a horrifying variety of lycra leopard catsuits, mini skirts and boob tubes...

Scary is an understatement.

I think most animal prints can quite easily fall into the trap of looking cheap and nasty, and for me, leopard print was especially something that I'd normally associate with naff, tacky clubwear and mutton-dressed-as-lamb-type women. Take, for instance, Bet Lynch from Coronation Street;

Please be aware, I'm not really old enough to actually remember when Bet Lynch was in Corrie, but she's someone I feel that we all, as Brits, should be aware of. Like the Queen. Or Ant and Dec.

Recently though, I've started to change my mind, and thanks to the abundance of leopard print that was on the Fall catwalks, I'm starting to see the joys of leopard. With designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Balmain all doing their take on the fierce fabric (alliteration is lovely, isn't it?), I've been persuaded to give leopard print another chance.

Dolce & Gabbana

Balmain, Gucci and Mulberry

With my new-found appreciation for leopard print fresh in my heart, I recently bought and wore a body con leopard dress from H&M on a night out. Clearly my apprehensions were completely unfounded because everywhere I looked, someone was wearing leopard print (either it is really trendy or I was right about it being tacky clubwear and I need to have a serious re-think about the bars and clubs that I go to). At one point, I was in the loos and every single girl around me had on a leopard print dress/top/skirt. It was like something from The Jungle Book. But sexier.

It's no surprise really that everyone is wearing leopard print, because all the high street stores are awash with it. Remember how I thought that maybe the reason why camel coats are so popular this season is because The Big Trendy Haberdashery has got a really good deal on camel wool? Well I think their leopard fabric must have just gone into the 50% section. Seriously, just type "leopard" into the search bar on Topshop, ASOS etc and a ridiculous amount of leopard print stuff appears.

I've picked out some of my favourite leopard print bits and pieces that are in stores at the moment. I think what's great about leopard print is that it's actually very versatile. It might seem a bit loud and 'out there' at first, but because the colours are neutrals, it actually goes with most things. So even if you're not too keen on going for all-out leopardy madness, you can just throw on a pair of leopard pumps or a belt and still be on trend.

Leopard Print Moccasin, £39.99 Zara

Leopard Vintage Faux Fur Coat, £98 Topshop

Seriously considering getting a leopard coat for my winter coat. I'm so over camel. A leopard would kill a camel. Just putting that out there.

Leopard Print Jersey Pencil Skirt, £24 ASOS

Truly Madly Deeply Animal Cross Tee, £28 Urban Outfitters

Leopard Cardigan, £32 Miss Selfridge

Leopard Print Jersey Culottes, £16 ASOS

Dress, £12.99 H&M (this is the one I've got - I love it!)

Which is your favourite? Have you been wearing leopard print? Am I the only one who was scared of it?!

Also, I've been writing this post in the ad breaks between X Factor - it's just finishing now - who are you loving? I've been a big fan of Cher throughout, but I thought this week's performance was a bit boring. Loving Rebecca and Matt though - think they were the two best performances of the night. And who are you hating?! Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know how I feel about Katie... GET HER OUT!

Meow

Ever since I watched How To Marry A Millionaire ages ago, I've been thinking that "cat eye" glasses are quite cool.

Fortunately for me, it looks as though feline frames (yes, I'm a dork, but alliteration is good for the soul!) are set to be a bit of a trend this season; the Prada Fall 2010 collection featured a comical take on cat eyes, with brightly coloured eyebrows drawn across the top of the frames.

They were also featured in the Nina Ricci Fall collection, although as sunglasses rather than normal glasses;

images from style.com

I'm thinking that, since "Buddy Holly/geek" style glasses have already been kind of a big thing over the past couple of years, it's only a matter of time before other types of quirky glasses, such as cat eyes, become the norm.

They remind me of Marty from Grease, because she wears a sparkly pair near the beginning of the film and asks Rizzo "don't you think they make me look smarter?" before a rhinestone falls off them and into her plate of macaroni, bless her.

[These are some cheeky screen grabs I got from my Grease DVD (it's really tricky getting a good screen grab you know!). Unfortunately, I was focusing so much on Marty and her glasses, I didn't notice that Rizzo looks like she's having a stroke in the second shot, until I'd already saved it, and by then I just couldn't be bothered going back and getting another one. Sorry Rizzo. Also, what is that guy doing in the background?!]

While I do think that a spangly pair of cat eyes could look quite cute, I worry that once you start adding extreme amounts of bling to these glasses, you're stepping into Dame Edna territory, and I'm not sure any of us want to go down that path, do we?

"Hello possums!"

Anyway, Australian transvestites aside, I did a quick search on t'Internet and found a variety of cat eye glasses on vintage sites and eBay, although most of the best ones were sunglasses and I'm really looking for the kind with plain lenses. However, they are quite cheap, so I suppose if you found a pair of sunglasses with a really good frame, you could just buy them and then replace the lens? Or just remove the lens altogether? There's definitely options here, people! I did also stumble across a few variations on ASOS; the first pair below are definitely my favourites.

Solid Black Cat Eye Geeky Specs, £10 ASOS

Feline Crystal, $20 Giant Vintage

Cat Eye Glasses With Rhinestones, $7.99 Girl Props

I do actually wear glasses as I'm quite shortsighted, and it's been a while since I've had my eyes tested, so I probably need to buy a new pair. That being said, I'm not sure I could seriously wear a pair of cat eyes for work, (I can just imagine the sort of looks I'd get... sadly the people in my office just aren't down with the kids...) so I'll probably get a cheap pair (like the ASOS ones above) and then invest in a more 'serious' pair for when I need to be a sensible grown up type (blergh!). What do you think? Would you wear them? And will I look mad if I get a pair?!

Snuggly buggly part deux

Shearling hasn't just been confined to jackets this season; the shops also seem to be full of fluffy boots, which, after getting my crappy faux velvet Primark flats absolutely destroyed in the rain the other day, I'm thinking I definitely need. Strong, sturdy leather on the outside, fluffy and warm on the inside? YES PLEASE!

AMORE Shearling Ankle Boots, £95 and Unique Fur Cuff Boots, (this colour isn't currently on the website) £140, both Topshop

Fornarina Lace Up Boots, £185 and KG Wentworth Buckled Ankle Boots, £180 both ASOS

Leather Aviator Boot, £79.99, New Look and Korr Lace Up Brown Leather Boots, £92, Office

I've just realised that my picks are all rather expensive, especially the ones from ASOS - eeek! Also, eighty quid seems like a lot for a pair of New Look boots, but I suppose if they're real leather, they're bound to be a bit pricier. Even so, apologies for not providing a more varied selection. I know boots can be expensive, but I'm sure there are much cheaper options out there - please let me know of any you come across!

Right, back to X Factor - are you watching it? One of the things I've noticed is how well dressed so many of the contestants are! Not all of them, obviously (Chloe Mafia? Bleurgh...), but I do think it seems that more people are giving more thought to the overall 'package' of being a pop star; not just having a good voice, but also having a good image and personality etc, which makes sense really as X Factor (whether you think this is a good thing or not) isn't really a singing competition is it? Thoughts? And who are you loving/hating? At this early stage, I've got a feeling that Cher will go quite far, she's something a bit different and interesting, though I really wish she'd sort her eyebrows out....

Snuggly buggly

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's lips are ridiculous. In a good way. Ridiculous though.

As much as it pains me to say it, the cold weather seems to be well and truly here to stay. All that talk of an 'Indian Summer' was clearly LIES, because I've seen nothing but wind, rain and oh, what's that? More rain. I'm already recovering from my first cold of the season and it's not even October yet. BLEURGH! Fortunately, while it's cold outside, I can stay warm and toasty inside with a cup of tea, my fluffy pink dressing gown and Ian Somerhalder's strong arms the new series of Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries. However, while I'd love to pretend that I'm a squirrel and spend the next few months hibernating, I'm not sure how happy my job and social life would be with that arrangement so there will probably be occasions when I'm forced to leave the house and brave the elements. Conclusion? I'm going to be needing something significantly more snuggly to stop me from freezing to death. And my first choice is a big, chunky shearling lined jacket.

Burberry Prorsum

Mulberry, Topshop Unique and Wunderkind

ADAM, DKNY and Giles

If money was no object, I would absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, be sporting that khaki green Burberry Prorsum jacket (the middle one). I would wear it everywhere, probably even in bed. Sadly though, since I'm pretty sure that I don't have a spare £3000 lying around (I'll check down the back of the sofa, just in case, but I doubt it), I'll have to settle for a high street version instead.

Faux Sheepskin Flying Jacket, £78 Topshop

Pilot Jacket, £24.99 H&M

Quilted Shearling Aviator Jacket, £290 ASOS WHITE

Sessun Short Duffle Coat, £199 Urban Outfitters

Of all the shearling jackets I've found online at the moment (and there is A LOT - these were just a few picks), this is probably my absolute favourite - it just looks SO WARM! And it's very similar to the Burberry one. Sadly, I found this on the Topshop website a couple of weeks back but it must be out of stock at the moment because I just checked back to get the price and I can't find it on there - anyone know how much it costs? And whether it'll be back in stock?! I hope so, because I feel this might be the coat that will help me survive the next few months of coldness and misery...

Camelot

So, as promised last week, I'm going to spend some time focussing on the big 'trends' for this season. (Have you ever noticed how the word "focussing" always looks wrong? I just checked; that is the correct spelling, I swear.) As coats are generally quite an important factor for the chillier months of the year, I figured where better a place to start than with the camel coat?

This is another of those subjects where I feel like I have a lot to say (you wouldn't think there'd be that much to say about what is ultimately a beige coat, but you know, there really is!) so please bear with me while I try to format this into something that makes at least some sense.

The Fall 2010 shows were literally bursting at the very seams with neutral shades, with khakis, browns, greys and beiges all neutralling down the runway, proving that a stark, yet classic palette is big news this season. Camel was the neutral of choice for countless designers and, while it wasn't just coats that were seen in a sandy hue, it was the camel coat that became one of the most stand out and talked about garments since sliced bread. (what do you mean sliced bread isn't a garment?!)

Now, this might make me sound a bit stupid but I'm going to say it anyway, how does a trend like this actually come about? What I mean is, how is it that seemingly every designer under the sun decided that Fall 2010 was the season to resurrect the camel coat? Was there a really good deal on camel coloured wool at The Big Trendy Haberdashery? Or did all the designers get together for tapas and discuss it in advance? If they did, I think the conversation went something like this;

Jean Paul Gaultier: "So basically, I've been thinking, you know what colour I've not really used in a while? Camel."

Hussein Chalayan: "Camel? As in the colour of camels?"

JPG: "Exactly. Camel has so many wonderful connotations - camels...sand...er...llamas... and yet it's simple and classic at the same time. It's elegant, like a camel. Aaaah the graceful camel."

Hannah Macgibbon: "You know, I think he's on to something! Let's do it, let's do something a bit different for once...Philip Lim, can you PLEASE stop hogging the garlic mushrooms?"

JPG: "Yes Hannah! Different! Crazy!"

Carolina Herrera: "Well, JPG, I'd hardly call camel a 'crazy' colour, but it would make designing my new fall line a lot easier - I mean, camel goes with everything. Think of the possibilities for coats!"

JPG: "Yes! The camel coat! So graceful, so chic! CRAZY!"

Carolina Herrera: "Er... yeah, ok JPG, think you might have had a little bit too much sangria. But we're all agreed then, camel is the colour for Fall 2010?"

Michael Kors: "Yes, definitely, I mean JPG is a full on nutter, but he's right, the camel coat will be seen as a classic investment piece - everyone will want one!"

Hannah Macgibbon: "Then we'd better get designing! Quick designers! To The Big Trendy Haberdashery! I hear they've got a sale on camel coloured wool! We'll take the Chloémobile! Oh, and Philip Lim? If you get one drop of olive oil on my suede interiors, you're walking..."

The little curly girl - giving you an (entirely accurate) look into the minds of fashion designers since 1972.

Anyway, I understand that there are always trends; whether it's a certain theme, such as "ladylike" or "grunge", or a colour, or even just a specific accessory - if a certain thing crops up on several catwalks in a season, then it's likely to become a trend. And since fashion often recycles old ideas (albeit in new and different ways), it makes sense that if a colour or style of garment hasn't been seen on the runway for a while, then it's only a matter of time before it makes a comeback. That being said, I still find it a little crazy that so many fashion houses seemed to champion the camel coat for this season. It just seems like a quite a big coincidence, I mean there's loads of them! See for yourselves;

3.1 Philip Lim

Aquascutum, Carolina Herrera, Hermès

Hussein Chalayan, Lanvin, MaxMara

Tommy Hilfiger, Chloé, Michael Kors

[images all from style.com]

Of course, fashion being as it is, even though so many designers have 'done' a camel coat, they're all somewhat different (I LOVE the 3.1 Philip Lim one with the black piping and the double breasted 'boyfriend' style one by Hussein Chalayan) and I suppose that's part of the reason why every blogger and fashion journalist this side of Nebula 53X1 (I just made that up. What is a nebula anyway?) has been going crazy about camel coats since the Fall shows back in February. The camel coat is an easy to wear, versatile piece that goes with most things and instantly makes you look classy and chic (well it does to an extent; if you're wearing a pair of Crocs and one of those beer can hats, you can pile on as many camel coats as you want but you'll still look completely ridiculous). It's what I like to call a 'grown up lady coat'.

However, as the epitome of classy, chic, smart, grown up lady fashion, the camel coat is kind of supposed to look expensive. And most things that look expensive are expensive. Now, I've been trawling the Interwebs looking for camel coats, and while there are some high street versions, I worry that they may, in person, look a bit cheap. And I don't think you can get away with a cheap looking camel coat, it's positively paradoxical. So here's a few 'proper' camel coats, for grown up ladies with grown up salaries that can afford grown up coats.

£225, Karen Millen

£119.90, Mango

£225, Reiss

£129, Zara

See? Pricey. Maybe it just depends on how much you're willing to spend on a coat. Currently I've got about £3.64 in the Franki's New Coat fund.

But Franki! You're missing the point! As Michael Kors said in the completely non-fictitious conversation above, the camel coat is an investment piece! It may be expensive but you'll wear it forever and ever!

But I won't, will I? Because this time next year, there'll be another 'must have' coat and the camel coat will be long forgotten. Oh fashion, you are a fickle mistress!

So, in conclusion, the camel coat is lovely, versatile, classy and makes you look and feel like a real, live grown up type. Will it be my coat of choice for this season? Judging by the ones I've found online so far, possibly not. Although, H&M Magazine did recently feature this image;

and while I've not actually seen it instore yet, if the price was as reasonable as most H&M things are, I could be tempted.

The only thing that's still bugging me? What about all the camels? Haven't they suffered enough?*

*camel coats are not made from real camels.

Happy Hump Day

How my brain works:

I have a vague idea about a cartoon that might be quite funny and probably won't take too long to draw. I end up spending hours on Paint, even going so far as to Google images of camels, and by the time I'm finished, I realise it's not even that funny anyway.

Note to self: Stop being a loser.

Tin can at my feet, think I'll kick it down the street...

Well hello there! It's been a while hasn't it? How are you doing? Sit down, take the weight off, I'll put the kettle on and you can tell me all about what you've been up to!

...where have I been? Oh, well, that's a good question, you see I was...ummm...I had to...er...

I was being a bad blogger.

I've got no excuses really, I haven't been on holiday, or been kidnapped, my computer wasn't broken and I didn't decide to give up all my worldly possessions and become a Hare Krishna, I was simply being a big pile of rubbish when it came to the old blogging malarkey.

I don't know if anyone else ever gets like this but I've just been feeling massively uninspired recently. I keep a list of things that I want to blog about and even though the list currently has about seven trillion (no lie) things on it, none of them sounded particularly exciting and I couldn't think of anything new to talk about. So I didn't blog. And then the longer I went without blogging, the guiltier I felt, which in turn made me not even want to look at my blog because it would remind me how long it had been since my last post. I even started avoiding my Google Reader, because seeing everyone else in the Blogosphere, blogging away like merry little chipmunks, made me feel EVEN GUILTIER (is guiltier even a word? I'm looking at it and it looks ridiculous, so I doubt it, but still, who's to say what is and isn't a 'real word' anyway? Exactly). Basically, I was in a terrible guilt-shame spin cycle in the washing machine of life. If there is an image to sum up how I was feeling at that time, it would probably be this;

Yeah. I know.

I think perhaps one of the reasons why I've been so uninspired lately is because I've been in a bit of a rut with myself. Do you ever feel, when you open your wardrobe that you're just completely sick of all your clothes? I look at my clothes and just think

"urgh, I've worn you all!"

and I realise that I just wear the same few items every week. I think it's partly because I don't wear 'work clothes'. Although I do work in an office, there's no dress code and I hate traditional office attire so I just dress kind of smart/casual and end up wearing all my nice, interesting clothes for work, which makes them not seem particularly nice or interesting anymore. It's times like this I wish I worked back in my old horrible job in the sports cafe, where I had to wear a maroon polo shirt... actually, no, I really, really don't.

I suppose it's a good thing then, that Autumn is fast approaching, as it gives me an excuse to buy plenty of exciting new items. New coat, new boots, new knitwear, the opportunities are quite literally endless. Whenever I think about Autumn I get this image of me skipping down country lanes in a pair of sturdy tan knee boots, a big snuggly coat and a long chunky scarf, cheeks rosy from the wind, a bag of stale bread to feed the ducks and a song in my heart. In reality, it would probably be more a case of me stomping through puddles to get to the bus stop, only to realise that I've missed the bus and the song in my heart has become nothing more than a low, continuous droning of swear words.

Anyway, the point is, this is a very exciting time of year, the September issues of all the magazines have been out for about a month already, trends have been well and truly dictated (camel coats and shearling anyone? I think I might have heard that somewhere...) and the super organised fashionistas amongst us will have already been thinking about (if not already purchasing) their key items for the season. Of course, as Last Minute is actually my middle name (it's Swedish), my thoughts about key pieces for Autumn have so far consisted pretty much of me going "I'll probably be needing some new tights" and nothing more. However, I have decided that as I am now a proper grown up type (I'm 23 tomorrow - eeep!), I am going to be methodical and organised and make a list of what I'm going to buy for Autumn and actually stick to that list, instead of aimlessly wandering into H&M every now and then and going "ooh that's a nice dress I'll only ever wear once/shawl covered in pom poms/necklace made from twigs, gimme!"

In order to help me with my list, I'm going to try and do a lot more blog posts over the next week or so, discussing the big 'trends' for this season, how easy it is to translate them from catwalk to real life and where on the High Street we can find these 'key items' (the more I use that phrase, the wankier I sound. I feel like Trinny and Susanna. Feeling like two people when you're only one person is probably not a good thing) - your input will be muchly appreciated during this difficult time as I don't always have a very good brain.

I'm aware that this post has been very wordy, so here's a picture of some nice blue eye makeup that I scanned from the latest ASOS Magazine;

The line down the middle is the fold from the magazine, as it was a double page spread, but I didn't want to rip the pages out because it's Liv's magazine and I'm very considerate about what I do and don't rip.

Here's looking forward to a new season and a new, better, bloggier little curly girl. 23 and never been kissed (not really). To infinity and be-bloody-yond

Why don't you love me?

The last few days have been spent preparing for, and then attending Tash's parent's 25th wedding anniversary, (which took place yesterday at a seriously posh old manor house in Staffordshire), a seriously fabulous affair that involved lots of singing, dancing and generally getting more than a bit drunk. I wore a pink French Connection dress, which I am in LOVE with - I wish I could wear it every day. Might have to post a photo of it at some point - I rarely do outfit posts, but I'll make an exception for this dress, for it is simply beautious. Tash also wore excellent shoes, not sure I've got a photo of them, but I may have to track one down as they were epic.

Anyway, while I'm still recovering from my lovely (drunken) weekend, I thought I'd do a quick review of the Topshop tattoos. I posted about them in May and have finally managed to get my hands on some (they didn't have any in the Liverpool store so I had to buy them online). Actually, the ones I posted about previously are quite different to the ones that are currently available to buy in stores. When I posted back in May, there was maybe four or five different tattoo sheets available to buy; some just contained one large image while others had a few smaller ones. Topshop seems to have improved upon these initial designs, as there is now a pack available that contains three sheets of tattoos with lots and lots of different designs to choose from.

Temporary Tattoos, Topshop, £5

These are quite obviously Chanel-inspired, even moreso than the first batch they brought out, which did feature swallows and chains etc, but were still quite simplistic. These ones, however, are a lot more detailed and pretty, with lots of different 'bracelets' and jewelled charms to customise them with.

I wore two last weekend in London - a flower design on my foot and a bracelet around my wrist, and I was fairly impressed; the designs are very pretty and I especially like the little highlights of white in the 'jewels'.

Floral foot

Charm bracelet

Charm bracelet (other side)

When it comes to applying them, it's just the standard process of holding a damp cloth to the back of the design for about 30 seconds and waiting for it to lift off the backing paper and stick to your skin. Very easy. What was tricky though, and I imagine this would be the case for any other similar tattoos, was applying the bracelet tattoo, as you had to kind of wrap it around your wrist and hold it in place so that it didn't slip. It would probably have been easier if I'd gotten someone to help me, but of course, I never do things sensibly. You can also see, in the first picture of the charm bracelet, just above the star charm, where the two ends of the chain overlap a bit messily - I couldn't quite work out how to get them to line up, but again, I'd imagine if you had someone to help you it would be quite do-able.

Now the pictures above were taken straight after I applied the tattoos, and as you can see, the charm bracelet had already started to split a bit. They don't have great staying-power; don't expect them to last much longer than a day, especially not in the heat; I applied mine on the Friday afternoon and by the Saturday afternoon, the one on my foot had mostly been rubbed away and faded. I wore this swallow design on my wrist for the party yesterday and it seems to have fared a little better;

although, you can see that it's started to fade and the edges are rubbing away a bit.

All in all, while they don't last very long, I do still really like them; I think they're ideal for one-off wear, such as a night out. The designs are lovely, the pack has a really good range of images to choose from and they're only £5 - winner!

I've not changed my mind about permanent tattoos; I'd never get one as I'm certain I would eventually get bored and regret it, but I am a big fan of the whole temporary thing; there's just so many possibilities! Plus, I like the slightly rock and roll vibe they give off (let's be honest here, I'm about as rock and roll as Alvin and the Chipmunks, but just humour me, ok?).

So what do you think? Will you be sporting some Topshop tatts this summer?