TEST TEST TEST

La la la loely travel test one

La la la lovely home post test one.

Claire's Accessories Glitter Nail Polish, £2.50 each

(L-R three coats, two coats, one coat)

Over the festive period, like most beauty obsessed girls, I was craving glittery nails. If it was socially accepted I'd wear glittery shades all year round. Being out of work at the time I resisted with all my might buying the blogger fave OPI rainbow connection, and demonstrated impressive self control when Model's Own released a glitter box set. I was, however, going to allow myself one small festive treat, so I set out to purchase Model's Own Juicy Jules. To my disappointment it was sold out in my local Boots. Not a surprise really as I've seen it on so many beauty blogger's fave lists.

Imagine my surprise and delight when on a whim I popped into Claire's Accessories of all places and found a whole row of glitter nail polishes for the bargainous price of £2.50! They had so many colours to choose from. I chose a lovely royal blue colour and a holographic silver glitter that from what I've seen, is a good dupe for Juicy Jules at half the price!

The polishes give good coverage considering how cheap they are and the glitter particles are quite densely packed in. I had to use three coats to give an opaque coverage, but I'd have used less if I'd have opted for a base coat. On the whole I think these are brilliant nail varnishes that I'll happily buy again next time an occasion calls for a little sparkle!

What's your favourite glitter shade? Have you tried any of the Claire's Accessories nail polishes?

I love this time of year. Everyone has finally gotten over saying "Happy New Year!" every five minutes, the days are creeping ever so slightly lighter day by day and all the magazines are hailing what they think are going to be the big trends for the coming season. I always find it so strange that A/W fashion week is so soon and we've barely started planning our spring outfits!

However, one of the key things that I've picked up on from looking back at the S/S'12 shows, and from the new collections that have been hitting the shops lately, is a gorgeous colour that I predict is going to be a huge hit for our wardrobes over the next few months. The colour in question is chartreuse. So named after the French liqueur with the same yellowy-green colour (thanks Wikipedia;) ) I've already seen items in this fab neon-sunshine shade on the rails in Next, River Island and Topshop this week and have noticed that the new OPI Nikki Minaj collection includes a chartreuse shade. This is a hot colour for beauty too.

I have picked out my highlights of what's available to buy right now so that you can start working this lovely spring colour into your collection. I've broken down my findings into three sections; chartreuse for your wardrobe, your make-up bag and your home. Enjoy!

1. River Island blazer, £50
2. Topshop long line blouse, £34
3. Topshop tapered trousers, £60
4. Marc Jacobs bag, £435 via net-a-porter
5. Topshop point heels £48
6. Asos enamel ring £10
7. Dannijo necklace $965

This is undoubtedly a very bold colour so unless you're a supermodel or feeling very brave, it's best to work this colour in with more muted tones. I think it goes really well with charcoal grey, so for this outfit I've paired a vibrant River Island blazer with a sheer shirt and grey trousers from Topshop. If you still think that this is too daring for you, you could opt for chartreuse accessories such as these heels, again from Topshop, or this drool-worthy bag from Marc Jacobs. Jewellery wise, it's best to avoid clashing with gold so go for silver or pewter tones such as this stud ring from Asos or this amazing necklace from Dannijo. A girl can dream, right?

What do you think about this colour? Will you be buying anything chartreuse this spring?

Ps. keep an eye out for parts two and three of my spring trends part #1 picks :)

Image credits: S/S'12 runway images via Vogue.co.uk