Mixed turquoise nail polish design with studs

Turquoise and teal are some of my favourite colours, especially for summer when you’ve got a bit of a tan going, but these coloures obviously work all year around. Perhaps just vary between different hues, and go for a brighter colour in the summer, and a darker and dusky colour in the winter.

Anyway, you all know how much I love nail polish, and the design I’ve come up with this week consists of three colours that all match and compliment each other.

The polishes I’ve used are:

Revlon Ocean Breeze (scented nail polish)

Barry M Mint Green

Zoya Pixie Dust Godiva

Just as with my previous nail polish design with multiple accent nails, I’ve opted to go for one main colour, with a couple of nails being the contrast nails.

I started by deciding which nails I wanted to paint in what colour, and applied two coats of each polish.

I’m not going for any crazy patterns this time, but I only painted my nails with one colour per nail.

To spice up the design a little bit I’m adding some tiny metal studs in silver.

I bought a pack of about 100-150 mini studs from Amazon for about 40 pence, including delivery. Bargain!

The pack includes both gold and silver coloured studs, and for this design I’m opting for the silver ones.

Start by placing your studs on a piece of paper with the bulged side up. Count that you’ve got the right amount before applying them to your nails.

Make sure your second coat of nail polish hasn’t dried yet – it’s easier to apply the studs then. But don’t worry if it has dried – you can always paint on another coat, or just add a drop of clear polish where your stud is going.

Pick up the studs with a dotting tool or an orange stick, by dipping it in clear nail polish and them simply touching the top of the stud. Measure where on your nail you want to place it, and carefully push it down onto the nail.

Apply a layer of top coat on top of everything to avoid your studs coming off.

And this is the finished result – a turquoise theme with glitter and stud details. I managed to keep mine for over a week without it chipping, which just shows how important it is to zeal your design with a good top coat. The one I’m using is from No7, and is rock hard.

What do you think? If you’ve created a multiple accent nail design I would love to see it! Leave your links in the comment section below.

Oh, and it's always a plus when you've got matching jewellery ;)

A taste of Sweden - giveaway

There’s all this talk about Fashion Week, and I don’t blame you. But when you think of Fashion Week, which cities spring to mind?

New York, London and Paris, of course. Then maybe Milan and some of the smaller ones…

But have you ever had a look into Stockholm Fashion week in Sweden which took place a couple of weeks ago?

We all know some brands that are typically Swedish, like Björn Borg and H&M, but can you name any other Swedish fashion brands? Did you for example know that Filippa K, Hunkydory, Valerie, J.Lindeberg, House of Dagmar and Cheap Monday are all produce of Sweden?

You can read more about Stockholm Fashion week S/S15 at fashionweek.se

But when it comes to Sweden and shopping for fashion I don’t actually prefer Stockholm. Sure, it’s a big and stylish city, but the west coast of Sweden is a lot more fun and friendly – I’m of course talking about Gothenburg (Göteborg).

Walk around in the popular shopping centres Nordstan and Kompassen for highstreet shops, or wander a bit further up the city centre for more alternative rock and hipster shops. If you’re looking for really unique stuff you want to take a stroll through the old parts of town where you’ll find independent boutiques and old fashioned cafés.

And talking about food – if you’re into seafood, Gothenburg is the place for you! Feskekörka (fish church) is a place for anyone who appreciates fish and seafood, and you can go here to buy fresh pieces to cook yourself, or to enjoy the top class restaurants.

This is just a small guide to anyone who wants to visit my amazing home country for some great shopping and food.

However, if you can’t make it to Sweden and you still want to experience some culinary products, I’ve got a Swedish food kit to give away to one lucky reader. In collaboration with Inntravel and their #MySweden campaign, I’ve put together a kit including typically Swedish food that I as a Swede miss when living in England. It consists of some sweet and some savoury stuff – the chocolate obviously being my favourite ;)

This is what you’ll get:

The sweet stuff

‘Lösgodis’ (pick and mix sweets)
Guldnougat (nougat bar)
Geisha (chocolate filled with crispy hazelnut nougat)
Marabou Daim (milk chocolate with Daim crisp)

Turkisk peppar (hard liquorice – you’ll either love it or hate it)
Delicatobollar (chocolate and coconut balls – goes perfect with your tea or coffee)
Annas pepparkakor (THE brand of Swedish ginger bread cookies)
Chokladpudding (chocolate pudding – mix with milk and put in the fridge to set)

O’boy (chocolate drink powder - mix with warm or cold milk)

The savoury stuff

Bearnaise sauce (mix with milk and heat up on the stove – perfect with steak or escalopes)
Holiday dipmix (mix with a tub of sour cream and dip your crisps or carrot sticks in it)
Gräddsås (cream gravy – mix with milk and heat up on the stove – perfect with meatballs!)
Baconost (soft bacon flavoured cheese in a tube)
Falu rågrut (crisp bread – try some of the soft cheese on it!)  
Aromat krydda (a type of allround spice, or herbal salt)

For a chance to win, first of all you have to be a UK resident. 

Just enter via the different options in the widget below.  

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com - See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/mysweden-food-taster-kit-0#sthash.ssB7r5Of.dpuf

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Sorry I'm washing my hair

In my last blogpost I spoke about the dress being an accidental purchase, and it's the same again with this t-shirt dress. I was really looking for a pair of jeans, and the ones I found was on sale so I had some more budget to spend on myself. I spotted this grey cut out shoulder t-shirt dress, and it's really not my usual style, but it just screamed 'buy me!'

Since I couldn't say no to a dress pretty much calling my name, it got to come home with me, and I've not looked back since. Sometimes accidental purchases are the best! This random dress from Lola Skye at House of Fraser is perfect for any season, and you can mix and match it with a number of different garments for a variety of styles. For this weird transition between Summer and Autumn I'm pairing it with my trusted black leather jacket (I've had it for years!), black open toe wedge sandals from Primark, and black cotton leggings from H&M.

I really love how this t-shirt dress gives you a casual but stylish look at the same time. It's like you couldn't make an effort, but you still look great... know what I mean? And the writing 'Sorry I'm washing my hair' is just hilarious! The dress is really comfortable and just perfect for a casual day - in this case a stroll around Leeds city centre on a Saturday afternoon.

I've accessorised with a Swarowski elements heart shaped necklace, which was a birthday present from my dear friend Laura who blogs over at Top Style Advice. You need a bit of bling with such a plain garment.

This magnet bracelet with a blingy accent stone was also a present from Laura. She always spoils me rotten for my Birthday!

The bag is my beloved DKNY leather bag in white and cream, that I blogged about a while ago when featuring my navy blue maxi dress.

Have you ever bought a fashion garment by "accident" - something that wasn't your usual style, but that ended up being one of your favourite pieces?

Something old, something new, something blue...

...But nothing borrowed!
Don't worry - I'm not getting married.

 I've always had a love for halterneck dresses, so when I came across this one I was absolutely chuffed. It was actually an accidental purchase - I had bought another dress through fashion website Boohoo, but when it arrived it was faulty so I returned it. They didn't have the same dress in my size, and after having had another browse through their website I spotted this dress instead.

 I'm really glad it turned out the way it did, cause this dress is so much nicer than the first dress I bought.

It's a skater dress, which is tight over the bust, but flowy from the waist down. I absolutely love the navy colour, and the lace details at the top.

 I wore this dress for my birthday meal out with friends a couple of weeks ago, and I must say it felt like the perfect dress for the occasion.

What's really good about this dress is that the fabric is really thick, so you can get away with wearing it without a bra - it still holds everything in place.

 I'm accessorising the dress with my favourite necklace of all time; a vintage silver necklace with swirly details and a blue stone that my grandma was gifted from a relative back in the 1930's. Isn't it beautiful?!

 I also painted my nails in a navy theme to go with the dress - blue, white and red, with stripes, polka dots and an anchor. Multiple accent nails are my favourite, and I wrote a blogpost about it a couple of months ago.

This brown leather bag is a so called super organiser bag from Pia. It's divided up into lots of different sections, and has a built in wallet with space for cards, coins and notes, which makes it's perfect for a night out. There's even space for your phone and makeup, etc.

 I've had these Hush Puppies vintage style mid heel shoes for a few years now, but they're still one of my favourite pairs, and I thought they went well with the rest of my outfit.

 I'm still not used to being this blonde again!!!

I was going to go for slightly ombré hair, but at the moment the darker bits of my hair is just my natural colour. I'm thinking of colouring it one step darker. 

Thoughts?

Last but not the least - this stainless steel bracelet is a so called memory locket from Seasons Online. The locket can be opened, and you can place little charms in there that float about underneath the glass. Since I'm often quite homesick I chose family orientated charms; they're all birth stones -  one is for me, and the other two are for my sisters (February, August & September).

Sharing the language of love

A bit of a random post for Fashion Infatuation, but after having seen French fashion retailer La Redoute’s latest video for their campaign ‘The Language of Love’ – where people are surprised by their loved ones through French speaking (and hot male model) Mr La Redoute - I was inspired.

The campaign is about how UK people (and Northern European people in general, I would say) don’t really have a way with words when it comes to showing what they feel. La Redoute’s motto ‘French style made easy’ is not just about fashion, but about a way of life, and in this video they are trying to teach us to be more open, and to tell our loved ones what we feel about them.

You can watch this heart-warming video below, but be warned – you will tear up!

On the back of this, I would like to tell a very special person in my life what I feel about him, so here is an open letter to my other half:

(It might be a bit cheesy, so I apologise for that)

I know I don’t say it to you very often (if at all) but I really appreciate everything you do for me. I very often feel like a lost Swede in a foreign country, which is basically what I am, and you are always there when I need help. You even do the boring but necessary stuff for me that I have no clue how to do, like book my car in for an MOT, sort home insurance, save my computer from complete virus melt down… the list is long! And if it wasn’t for you, Fashion Infatuation wouldn’t be as good as it is – thank you for snapping all my blogger photos, and for being so patient when I’m bossing you around and telling you that you need to take the photos from certain angles. 
 

As well as being such a big help for me, you don’t ever judge me, and you make me laugh – often hysterically. You are always there to share the special moments in life, and I love the fact that we share the same passion for travelling and doing exciting things when we’re out and about. Who would have thought I would ever dare going zip lining through a Caribbean jungle?! But this happened, because of you.

Your blunt personality has made me become a more confident person, I am no longer afraid to speak my mind, and I have stopped caring what people think about me. If someone doesn’t like me – so what?!

I will always be an indecisive person with one foot in England and one in Sweden, but you’ve come to understand this and you are always there to comfort me when I’m homesick.

You annoy the hell out of me most of the time and really put my patience to the test, but I still love you, and I wouldn’t know what to do without you.