Things I Love Thursday

☺ Great nail varnish. After giving up biting my nails last year I was thrown into the previously unknown world of nail varnish with its million colours, brands and techniques. I pretty quickly discovered that OPI varnishes were some of the best out there (and they have awesome names), but they can be a bit pricey when you start wanting all the colours of the rainbow. Being on a budget that is almost non-existent at the moment, I have to venture into the super bargain priced varnishes if I want a new colour, and I've discovered a little gem in NYC Quick Dry Nail Polish. I bought 2 colours on offer in Superdrug for just £2.99! 

The metallic one I'm showing off below is called Full Metal Jacket, and it really is a great quality polish. I am super impressed. Thankfully I still have plenty of my Save the Nail Colour Extending Basecoat, and I've yet to find a better top coat than Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat which means drying my nails takes only about a minute.

☺ Being inspired. Sometimes for no apparent reason you just stop doing something you love, and this has happened to me lately with film photography. I have a few 35mm cameras but haven't felt like using them at all. I could give a number of excuses - namely the price to get them developed and the lack of attractive places to go near me, but I know I could find something to photograph if I got my motivation back. Well thanks to a new project by Deb (Girl With Butterfly Wings), and seeing how much she loves film photography, I'm being tempted back to have another go. Her project is 52 Weeks of Film, and the new Flickr group for anyone else inspired is here.

☺ Rediscovering an old album. I have a growing playlist on Windows Media Player called Favourites Ever, and I add to it whenever I think a song deserves its place. I was listening to it today and one band that really stuck out was Haven. I saw them back in 2002-ish at a festival, and loved their first album 'Between the Senses'. I've been listening to it again this afternoon and it really is one of my favourite albums. Its always nice to bring back some musical memories. Shame they only made 2 albums.

N is for...Nails

On 31st Dec 2011 I gave up a habit of a lifetime (literally), when I stopped biting my nails. I was so ashamed of having ugly, chewed and sore nails, that I somehow managed to give up. I have had a few struggles and currently 2 nails are lower than the others, but I'm pretty sure they will catch up without me chewing them again.  It might not last forever, but while it does I am enjoying using nail varnish. I've been searching the net for some easy, but fancy, nail designs I could try out myself. There are a fair few tutorials out there, which is great for me because I've never had nails to do anything with before, so am a bit clueless. Follow the links on these photos to see the tutorials on the various sites - they are so creative and well worth a look!

Source: daintysquid.blogspot.com via Allie on Pinterest

Source: thebeautydepartment.com via Zoe on Pinterest

Source: tinytangerines.com via Diana on Pinterest

Source: chloesnails.blogspot.com via Maureen on Pinterest

OSJ

Now I have managed to keep my nails (all bar one) for 6 weeks, I've treated myself to some fabulous OPI nail varnish from eBay, and they have such great names - Ginger Bells and Can You Dig It? !!