ULTIMATE & REALISTIC - MAY 2014

SUGARED ALMOND ADDITION

You know what I love? Sugared almonds! That thick sugar shell and soft, sweet nut within - eat ten of them and your halfway to diabetes town, but I challenge you to just eat one. Not only are they delicious, but the look bloody lovely too - I would love a mini prom dress made out of sugared almonds, might be some bare flesh by the end of the day, having a little snack when I'm hungry.

All those lovely candy shells in pastel shades are so hot right now - you can't move through the highstreet without feeling the sugary vibes from all the sweet shades. Usually I am a fan of greys or bold and bright, but I think pastel shades have won me over, I have already bought a pair of mint jeans and once I have more than lint in my pockets I plan to buy more....most likely on the realistic side of things.

ULTIMATE: Tate Dress, Goat - £450; Durham Green Leather Biker, J Brand - £829.50; Leather Pumps, Gianvito Rossi - £415; The Rockstud Medium Neon Leather Trapeze Bag, Valentino - £1,465.
Total: £3159.50

REALISTIC:  Lace Cape Dress, Warehouse - £58, Light Green Cropped Biker Jacket, River Island - £60; New Look Turret Purple Sling Back Heels, ASOS - £17.99; PU Shopper Bag, Next - £28.
Total: £163.99

Just a saving of 3 grand, I'm not sure it's worth it!

What do you prefer, the Ultimate look or the Realistic look?

Gems x

HOUSE OF HOLLAND FOR ELEGANT TOUCH NAILS

For those of you that know me well, you will know that I am seriously into having fabulous nails, but being the thrifty type, I'm not going to go for a professional manicure every week, unless they will accept a little dance or a rant about boys in skinny jeans as payment - I mean come on boys, give your 'boys' some room.

So that leaves me to be my own manicurist and don't get me wrong, I love my nail varnish, but it can be such a bloody pain. Nail art is out of my league because I have the shaky hands of a 100-yer old that drinks 50 cups coffee a day, so it's just your basic single shades for me. Applying it can also be a bit of a chore, it can look like I've just threw the bottle of varnish at my hand and hoped some lands on the nails.

It can take a ridiculous amount of time to do and then 10 minutes later you get a big bloody chip in one of the nails - That just turns me into the Incredible Hulk: "GEMMA SMASH, GEMMA DESTROY". So I have no idea why it has took me this long to discover false nails, I think I was scared that I would end up with nails stuck everywhere but my fingernails and hands permanently bonded together.

I've got over my fears and I am seriously loving the House of Holland collection of nails for Elegant Touch. I have tried a few styles and in just 10 minutes (including nail prep time) I have some seriously gorgeous nails that make me feel like a total glamour-puss - my hands do get waved around a lot more, they make me theatrical!

Tie Dye For By House of Holland for Elegant Touch - Same Here.

All you need to do to prep your nails is push the cuticles back, buff the surface of the nail so they are nice and smooth and clean with a nail polish remover to remove any residue - then you are ready to get sticking. Elegant Touch have a great range of professional tools, to make sure your nails are perfectly pampered, all of which are available at Boots, online and in store.

To apply the nails, spread a thin layer of glue over the entire surface of the nail and apply the nail at a 45 degree angle from just above the cuticle to tip and press down to bond for 4 seconds. If there are any rough edges you can file those away and then enjoy your super exciting stiletto nails, wave them around a lot, make sure everyone notices them, who cares if you look crazy.

Easy to apply and even easier to enjoy, I'm just in love with false nails, I am a total convert and what is the real selling point, is that they look just as good when trimmed down to be computer friendly for us writers and social media addicts.

You can see a more comprehensive review and tutorial of the House of Holland nails on Femside.

Are you a fan of falsies?

* Nails sent to me by Elegant Touch as part of a review for my work with Femside, all opinions are my own.

Gems x

SORRY FOR MY ABSENCE

I want to say a huge apology for my delay - life sometimes gets in the way of doing something you really love, which for me is blogging. I was going to crate a blog on Friday because I knew I was going to be busy at the weekend, working and visiting family, but in the end it seemed like Friday had other plans for me - plans of the disastrous variety.

In the morning I started to feel really anxious, for no real reason, but those of you out there that have issues with anxiety will know that there doesn't have to be a reason for antipoverty to pitch up, it is a bitch like that. Well later on that day I needed to go up and pick up by repeat prescription for my crazy pills - Boots handle it for me so I just have to go in store to pick it up.

But when I get to Boots to pick it up I'm told not only is there no prescription for me (not the first time it has happened), but I have also been kicked out of my doctors surgery following my move without being informed. When I rang the doctors they told me they had sent me a letter informing me of the situation, but they sent it to the wrong address. They couldn't blame me for that because the doctor wrote down my address - so faced with no doctor and no prescription the water works kicked in - I did not want to go through medication withdrawal.

Thankfully everything was sorted and I have a new doctor now who seems quite nice, so my old doctors surgery, who lost prescriptions and just took items off prescriptions for no reason, can kindly suck it!

So, that is why there has been a slight delay in posting - I have been a little bit stressed! Here is some fashion stuff, dress and boots rather standard - *Saying fashion things*

Dress - River Island via eBay - Similar Here.
Boots - New Look - Similar Here.

What stops you from doing what you love?

Gems x

GETTING SHIFTY

Eurgh! I can't believe it is Monday again - People often think it must be amazing to work for yourself because you can take the day off whenever you feel like it. That is just rubbish; you actually probably work more than most, because if you don't work you don't get paid. There is no sick pay, no holiday pay and no personal days - before I start taking time off, I better consider whether or not I feel like continuing to enjoy food and shelter.

So this Monday the blues have hit me hard - Monday you can kindly *Bleep* *Bleep* *Bleep* and go *Bleep* yourself right in the *Bleep*. I suppose I can't complain too much, I do something I genuinely love, I wish I just didn't have to do it so blooming often.

So rant over, on the the fashion bit. This is one of my amazing charity shop finds, a gorgeous printed shift dress from Primark that was brand new - tags, little spare button, the lot. It looks better on than I could have hoped and I seriously love the little pockets in the front. Because the print is so beautiful I kept the accessories to a minimum, just adding some studded boots and bag, and a contrasting nail polish.

Faux Fur Coat - Next
Shift Dress - Primark via Charity Shop
Studded Boots - I Don't Remember (Sorry)

HyperGel in Blue Glint - Models Own

How do you guys deal with the Monday Blues?

Gems x

CHARITY AND EBAY HAUL ACTION

Money has been tight recently, but as a fashion blogger, I feel constant pressure to be always wearing something new and my bank balance can't handle that, plus the cobwebs that line my pockets are getting lonely for the company of money. I'm probably not the only fashion blogger to feel this way and it probably isn't right - The vast majority of us don't have big collaborations with retailers and everything we buy has to come out of our own pocket.

With finances not at their best, I have been spending a lot less recently and when I do buy something, it has to be a great deal, or something from eBay or a charity shop.

 I have to say I have been seriously impressed with the quality of clothing in the charity shops - long gone are the days of musty smelling pieces you are sure someone must have died in. Their death was caused by the frightfulness of their hideous clothes. I bought two gorgeous Primark dresses from the British Heart Foundation shop for just £5 each - one of them was brand new and the other was in great condition, so I don't think anyone died in them, which is a bonus.

I have worn both and I love them, so keep a eye out for some outfit posts coming in the future. The yellow and monochrome shift dress is particularly lovely on, it's one of my new faves.

Now to eBay - how difficult is it to go crazy bidding on some heinous crap, just because you don't want anyone else to beat you. Well I have managed to curb that competitive instinct and have learned to put a maximum bid on a desirable piece and then just walking away. I have been so lucky recently, paying no more than £4 for any of these dresses and the Topshop number I got for free as my sister bought it from eBay, but it was too small for her.

H&M Conscious Collection

River Island

Topshop

But i have done the tiniest little bit of high street shopping. I fell in love with this minty kimono in H&M a few weeks ago and at just £9.99 I knew it would be a great investment for summer, now I just need some sun.

Kimono, H&M - Same Here.

 What do you guys think of eBay and charity shops?

Gems x

LIKE A BATTENBERG!

Battenberg is easily my most favourite of cakes - it has the sinfulness of cake and then it has the extra naughtiness of marzipan around the outside. What more could you want - If I have to die, I seriously hope it's death by Battenberg. I would quite like to live forever, but not if you have to get older and more dusty with each passing year, until you become a walking corpse, easily confused with an old dead twig.

Again, I digress! Yes, I love the Battenberg, which is probably why I loved this dress when I saw it a few years ago in my local New Look - it totally reminds me of the colored cake. It's sweet and yummy, but enough about me back to the dress - it is such a great shape, nipped at the waist with a flowing skirt and the contrast black against the girly pastels gives it enough of an edge for me.

I've given myself the challenge of wearing everything in my wardrobe more often, instead of the same old things over and over again. It is quite the challenge since I mostly work from home, which involves throwing myself from my bed and onto the sofa, without getting out of my pajamas. Still, that does not stop me from buying more dresses, so I have to start wearing them, or I don't deserve to have them...

Shirt Dress, New look - Similar Here.
Biker Jacket, Matalan - Similar Here.

My love affair with Elegant Touch continues - I was immediately in love as soon as I applied these Sweet Tooth nails from the House of Holland collection. The stiletto shape made me feel like a serious glamour puss and the cute ice cream design had me watering at the mouth. They were so easy to apply and were stuck fast within a few minutes - such a quick and dramatic transformation is difficult to a achieve with nail varnish.

I enjoyed having super long nails all weekend, but had to trim them come Monday when the computer had to come out, but they still looked so lovely I kept them on for a week and they felt secure all that time. I have my next nails already picked out, the colour popping Tye Dye For nails, they will look so amazing with all my summer looks.

I also cant wait to try out their Candy Dips, they are so clever. You pop a sticky tab on your finger and file it into the shape of your nail, and then you pop that into a pop of glitter and voila, perfect glitter nails - I'm going to try and ombre effect, be all adventurous. Stick a top coat on the top and you are laughing...all girl should go glitter at least a hundred times in her life :)

You can check out my review and tutorial of Elegant Touch Express Nails on Femside, hopefully it give you the help and motivation you need to try out some falsies.

House of Holland Sweet Tooth Nails, Elegant Touch - Same Here.
Dopamine Necklace, I Love Science Store - Similar Here.

How do you feel about false nails? Have you tried them out yet?

* Nails sent to me by Elegant Touch as part of a review for my work with Femside, all opinions are my own.

Gems x

DOPAMINE MAKES ME FEEL GOOD

When you have clinical depression, like I have and still do at times, you have problems with the chemical signalling pathways in the brain. You aren't producing enough of those 'feel-good' neurotransmitters, which leaves you feeling inexplicably down. So, imagine my delight when my boyfriend surprised me with a necklace featuring the chemical structure of Dopamine, one of those feel-good neurotransmitters.

I now always have that little bit of extra feel good when I need it - I seriously almost cried when I opened it, and I am not usually the mushy type. I love the simple silver design and I am going to wear it everyday - so expect to see it a lot. I think he bought it from the I Love Science Store, but they seem to be out of stock, but they do have super adorable Dopamine Earrings, which are on my wishlist for sure.

I think it may be the nicest gift I have ever received, it is both super personal and appeals to my mega nerdy, science-loving side. Go on admit it, I know you're jealous - your envy sustains me :)

Dopamine Necklace - I Love Science Store.
Denim Skater Dress - Primark.

Shoulder-robing like a pro.

Nail Varnish - Aqua Violet Beetlejuice from Models Own.

What has been the best gift you have ever received?

Gems x