This Second's Obsession

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May 31 Day Fashion Blogger Challenge: Day 15 – Nail art/your favourite polish and your nail varnish collection

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Since I already took a photograph of my whole nail varnish collection to show you how ridiculously big it is, I thought I’d take pictures of my favourite polishes (sadly no nail swatches – I still haven’t got the hang of taking decent photos of my nails) and write about them.

Left to right
1. L.A. Colors Color Craze in Tropical Breeze – if I made a April Favourites list this would definitely be the star! When I first applied it I was disappointed as the first coat is really sheer but after the third it’s a really lovely lilacy purple. It also makes a great base for glitters.
2. Maybelline Colorama in Jelly Bean – this is such a brilliant turquoise. A tad streaky on the first coat but fine after the second. They don’t make these any more but there are loads on eBay.
3. Bourjois So Laque in Bleu Violet – a beautiful blue that I don’t wear a lot because I only have a few outfits that will go with it, but that applies and dries really well.
4. Revlon Facets of Fuschia – one that I shouldn’t even need to name if you’re a make-up blogger! The cosmetics blogosphere was obsessed with this one around last Christmas, people were getting friends to send them bottles because they couldn’t find it locally etc. It is fab and I think it was limited edition (I haven’t seen it since) so I’m making it go further by applying plain black polish (a super cheap one from Miss Sporty) first.

5. 17 Nail Xtras Matte Top Coat – a fantastic, cheap, fast-working, matte top coat. I love the way this can transform a polish, though I have to remember that they usually end up looking darker once they’ve been mattified.
6. L.A Colors Nail Lacquer in Plum Wine – an amazing deep red.
7. Barry M Instant Nail Effects black crackle  – the easiest nail art method ever! Also my secret weapon for avoiding nail varnish remover – if my polish is chipped I just fill the gaps of naked nail in and slop this on top and no one can tell I did a repair job.
8. Accessorize Purple Dream – the most beautiful polish my nails have ever worn. It looks like a purple base with pink sparkles it it. Or are they blue? It depends on which way the light is hitting it, which means that when I’m wearing this I spend a lot of time tilting my hands in the light.
9. L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer in Shocker – a bright pink with a blue duochrome effect, I think this is lovely. I’ve become a big fan of L.A. Colors polishes. They’re only 99p in Beauty Base, despite the generously sized bottles. The brushes are a bit stubby but the polishes are quite thin in consistency so they’re easy to apply, The thinness also means that they wear down at the tips rather than chip off, which is great as it means that I can just pop a new coat on top of the old one and the finish will be just as smooth as it would have been if I’d taken the polish off and applied a fresh coat.

May 31 Day Fashion Blogger Challenge: Day 14 – The item that was hardest to hunt down/buy

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Now this is an old one. I bought this top in 2004 or 2005. I first saw it in H&M Bromley and being a kind-of-secret wannabe goth I loved it, but either they didn’t have any in my size or I chickened out of buying it, then returned later and there were none left. I can’t remember.

Anyway, I ended up going to H&M Croydon with my mum and my sister, and they didn’t have the top at all. I remember this day particularly well as I was feeling really sorry for myself, having spent the day at home off sick from school (I was in sixth form at the time). As I was wandering around the Whitgift Centre on my own whilst my sister tried on clothes and my mum waited for her, this guy with really long hair came up to me and announced he was going to cheer me up, and he pulled out a pop-up book and did funny voices in an attempt to make me smile.

I did end up laughing but being a self-conscious, easily embarrassed teenager I didn’t really appreciate his efforts while he was actually standing there, but after he was gone I felt really bad and have always regretted not saying a proper thank you. I even used to google appropriate word combinations in the hope that somebody knew who he was and that I could somehow send him a message to say thanks!

Anyway, a week or so later H&M Bromley must have restocked and my mum found the top in my size there. Not the longest period of searching I know but I don’t get obsessed with an item of clothing very often! The last thing I was obsessed by was a dress I saw in a charity shop which I didn’t buy then but went back and got a few days later.

I loved it but it is quite bad quality and when I lent it to my sister the elastic went in one of the straps so my mum had to sew ribbon to the backs of the straps to stop them unravelling. Because it looks pretty much like it should be underwear, to compensate I used to wear it with black jeans and later with an almost-knee-length floaty skirt. I say ‘used to wear’ as I haven’t worn it in quite a while! The ribbon on the front really needs replacing because it’s looking a bit worn, but mostly I just forget it’s there and the last time I wore it was probably when I was in second year of uni, which was the last period of time when I went clubbing regularly. Now whenever I go out clubbing it’s either for a special occasion and I have fancier things I can wear, or it wasn’t planned so I’m going in what I was wearing that day anyway!