£65 Links of London jewellery GIVEAWAY - worldwide!

We all need cheering up in the winter, and I have just the perfect thing for you!

The well-respected luxury jewellery brand Links of London has kindly sent me one of their bracelets to give away to one lucky reader of Fashion Infatuation.

The £65 Links of London charm catcher horseshoe bracelet in silver and grey is a simple but classic piece of jewellery that will suit most styles and outfits. You can even make it your own unique bracelet by threading your own choice of charms on it.

In return for entering this giveaway, Links of London would like to know what you like to do (or wish to do) in our dear capital London during winter.

Whether it’s visiting famous museums, taking your picture with celebrities of wax at Madame Tussauds, shopping ‘til you drop at the alternative Camden market, or simply enjoying a good restaurant – we want to hear about it!

I’ve been to London quite a few times and I feel like I’ve done most touristy things already. I’ve got a London visit planned in March, and I am really looking forward to just going for strolls and good food with my boyfriend, but we’re also thinking of going to the Ideal Home show and perhaps Spitalfields market as well.

But enough about me! “How do I win this bracelet?” I hear you say.

Simple!

All you have to do is comment on this blogpost about your favourite thing to do in London. If you haven’t been to London we’d like to hear what you wish to do in our UK capital.

For extra entries, follow Links of London’s and Fashion Infatuation’s social channels.

The more entry options you do – the higher the chance to win!

The giveaway is open to all – worldwide!

Good luck!

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How to paint ombre nails - step by step

Want to learn how to create the ombre nail art effect?

It's easy! :)

Just see my step by step tutorial below. 

What you need is a few different nail polish colours, as well as a sponge. I chose to go for a white, a light blue, and a dark blue polish, topped with a glitter polish. The sponge I'm using is just a cut off corner from a washing-up sponge.

1. Start by painting your full nails in your lightest colour - in my case it's the white one. 

Wait until it's dry before you move on to the next step.

2. Get your next polish out - your medium coloured one. In my case it's the light blue polish. 

Add a drop of it to the tip of one of your nails, and gently start dabbing your sponge on it to spread it out over the nail. 

Go about 2 thirds down on your nail, with the focus on the middle of the nail (you don't have to care too much about the edges.) Don't try to do them all at once, but take your time and focus on one nail at the time.

3. You don't have to wait until the medium coloured polish is dry, but you can start with the darker polish pretty much straight away. Do the same thing; add a small drop (smaller this time!) to the tip of your nail and start dabbing. 

Go about 1 third down your nail. If you think the ombre effect isn't even enough you can correct it by adding a tiny bit of your medium colour again, but try not to mess with the lightest colour. 

It will look messy at this point, as you will have accidentally dabbed some nail polish onto your skin, but you can easily get this off with some nail polish remover on a cotton swab. 

4. Finally, apply a coat of either clear top coat, or like I did - a clear polish with some glitter in it. This will keep your nail polish from flaking off too easily, and if you go for a polish with some glitter you disguise all the uneven bits. 

Clever, huh!? ;)

Photography masterclass with Olympus

A couple of weeks ago myself and fellow blogger Mode of Style were invited to take part in a photography masterclass with the respected photographer Neil Buchan-Grant at Duke Studios in Leeds. The event was sponsored by Olympus, so there was an option to try out their range of high-quality digital SLR cameras as well. I thought this was a great idea to improve my photography skills a bit for my blog. Why not, hey? ;)

Although their cameras was absolutely brilliant, this master class was more focused on the set-up of lighting. A great photo is really all about the lighting, and Neil was showing us what difference it makes to a photo, by experimenting with different sources of light. We had two models to photograph, and we got to try out the big box of lights which gives even light to a portrait, the dramatic Hollywood style light, natural light from a window, as well as playing with effects; Neil placed a plant in front of the light to give the photo an interesting background.

It was great trying out our new skills by photographing the models, but Kristina and I found it more fun photographing each other, and just had to do a few quick snaps of a familiar face as well.

Over all I’d say we had a great day with this photography experience. I would have liked to learn a bit more about the actual cameras as well, and not just the lighting. As someone who has studied art I understand how important light is, but I sometimes struggle with all buttons and options on my camera!

The art of statement jewellery

Big, bold, vibrant and chunky - we're talking statement jewellery.

Does this trend get a yay or nay from you?

Personally, I absolutely love statement pieces with bold colours - as long as they're not neon!

Gwyneth Palthrow is rocking her black, white and metal statement necklace. She's the ultimate example of how you should wear a piece like this; paired with a basic or quite a toned down outfit. This way, you put even more focus on your accessories.

Too much? With these statement bracelets being of quite neutral colours I definitely vote hell yes for this style!

 Turquoise is a classic when it comes to statement pieces. I believe this is because the history of big chunky jewellery comes from the Central and South America Indian tribes, such as the Mayan and Aztek people, where they used a lot of natural turquoise stones. I've got a necklace of this style myself, which I blogged about in the summer of 2013, and you can read that particular post here. This necklace below is the one I'm on about.

I'm always interested in what's popular and trendy when it comes to new jewellery collections, and I just came across this video from Accessorize the other day, in which they talk about S/S14 jewellery trends, and showcase some gorgeous pieces from their new collection. Have a look!