Le Geek - C'est Chic!

So I must admit that it took me a while for me to jump on board with the whole 'Geek Chic' trend, but due to the fact that Geek glasses seem to have become as contagious as glandular fever and thanks to my undying obsession with Zooey Deschanel and her new show 'New Girl', (it's amazing - watch it!) I actually really like the 'Geek Chic' glasses that are going around at the moment! (Obviously disregarding the fact that I have perfect 20:20 vision here) They're pretty easy to get I think, but these pair are from H&M and are only €6.95.. Yes please!


                                          

Round Shoulders - Spring 2012

Hmmm.. Would you be willing to try this look? An odd opposite to any 80s trends that still linger, round shouldered dresses, jackets and trenches have been seen in their droves at various fashion weeks - and done right, I think it bizarrely works!

Left to right: Yves Saint Laurent, Loewe, Rick Owens

Spring 2012 - Bra Tops

Bound to arouse comments from Grandmother's all around the world, it's the return of the bra top and honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one! It's hard to know what type of body type can ultimately pull this look off but I think if you have the tummy and the confidence - why not?! Although try not to wear them with cropped trousers or double cuffed jeans if you want to avoid the Steps Reject look. 

Versache and Dolce & Gabbana were all over this trend for Spring 2012, but if your budget doesn't stretch quite that far, Topshop has some really cute ones at the moment!

                                                

Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Curls Beach Hair Review

As someone who is forever trying out new hair styling products to replace my GHD and curling tongs, I have often found that nothing really works except for mousse and hairspray. Yettt, I continue to try everything in existence, and so I found myself most recently falling victim to Trevor Sorbie's Beautiful Curls Beach Hair.

This comes in the form of a salt spray which is supposed to create tousled curls by absorbing excess moisture from the hair (which really doesn't sound great if you're looking for a product to prevent you from using heat products which dry out your hair), but I really really loved this stuff!

This can't be used on wet hair, and a little goes a long way, which means that the bottle lasts forever = happy purse! I'm not really sure what the definition of 'beach curls' is, but I think this comes pretty close to achieving them! It left my hair looking really natural, and was great to use just after blow-drying. However, if you have dry hair, I'm guessing that you would want to go easy on it to a certain extent as it does dry out your hair a bit.

The price depends on the shop, but comes in at around €6/€7 - definitely worth buying! It also smells good enough to eat...

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips Review

These arrived to me in my Christmas stocking this year, and I must admit, I immediately thought "Great, another fiddly, awkward to use nail product - exactly what I need!" - but Sally Hansen really proved me wrong on this one.

Firstly, the sheer selection of strips to choose from is amazing, from floral patterns to lace patterns (and some plain strips for the less brave of us!), these LOOK amazing. I decided to first try out Misbehaved.

These truly differ from ordinary nail wraps, as you simply apply them and they stick immediately. Each pack comes with instructions, a wooden stick, a three sided file and buffer and of course, the strips themselves. The instructions are pretty clear and simple - but do follow them, as if you don't prepare the nails properly, the strips won't really stick right.

The pack comes with 16 differently sized strips, as such, each a lot longer than your nail, with the end slightly tapered to provide a choice regarding the size needed to fit individual nail. Once you've worked out which size is best for each nail, you simply peel off the backing on either side, and align the base of the strip with your cuticle - they don't still immediately, so it's okay if you don't get it right away. You then flatten the rest of the strip down over the nail, using the flat end of your wooden stick to smooth it down on the nail. You'll notice that there is a huge piece of the strip left over - you can either cut this off and use the rest of it another time, or else you can just use the file to file it off. Once you've removed the excess, use the buffer to give a finish to the top of the nail - and voila! You're done! I realise my instructions mightn't be as clear as the ones that come with the strips - but hopefully it will give you an idea of what they are about.

Sally Hansen claims that these are to last up to 10 days, and although I'm not sure if they last quite that long, they do have more wear in them than the best of nail polishes. I tend to be quite hard on this sort of thing - any nail polishes or wraps I've used chip very quickly as my nails are quite brittle and I somehow manage to ruin them as soon as I do them - so I wasn't expecting these to be any different. However, it wasn't until day 4 that chips appeared for me (and they were only minor) - this was a miracle! After a week, they did begin to look a bit scraggy, but I thought that pretty good going - and once again, I must stress how little these things last on my nails, so I'm guessing that for a normal person, they might have made the 10 day mark whilst still looking good!

I've since tried my other set (Girl Flower), and put a layer of clear topcoat over them, which I think should give them a bit more wear. It says in the instructions that these can be removed with nail polish remover, but I found it took a good bit of scrubbing to get them off this way - I'm all for just picking the things off!

These will only set you back €8.95 and are definitely worth it if you want hassle-free but fabulously eye-catching nails. Good job Sal!

Have a look at them yourself;
http://www.sallyhansen.com/products/nails/nail-color/salon-effects-real-nail-polish-strips