AUTUMN NOTD: NAIL TRENDS ALL IN ONE

Just been trying out some nails for the transition into Autumn where I've rolled together few of my must try nail trends. I conjured up a camel colour for the nude nail trend, mixing up a few old nail polishes to get a colour that would suit my skin tone (if you want to be economical and create a brand new colour with polishes you already have then refer to this post here). A tip is to use a shade that doesn't match your skin tone, so go with one that's lighter or darker otherwise you'll end up with mannequin looking hands! 

A newcomer nail trend is the new french manicure that is the subtle oval v shape which I love and previously blogged about. It definitely elongates your nails, so if you have shorter nails then you should definitely give this a go. Talking about manicures, the moon manicure has been quite a hit this year. It has been seen on Christian Dior advertisement campaigns to Chanel catwalks, so I decided to do the Lorraine Stanick odd ring finger thing and do a half moon using a chunky glitter. This was a bit tricky so my tip to keep the moon shapes looking sharp would be to use a nail art pen to outline the shape and then fill it in. And my thumbs got treated by the polish pattern graphics trend with ropes using this seasons gold and brown metallic colours.

It would be rude not to show you my new favourite addition to my wardrobe. I can't leave without sharing this fringe sleeve detailed body-con dress which I have been searching for in different Topshop stores for literally the past 2 months. I was elated when I spotted it on the rails whilst shopping when I was staying at my boyfriends, and it was just my luck since it was the last in my size. Just had a quick peek on Topshop and it's now in the sale so nab it whilst you can girls! Might do a haul post showing what I've bought recently, what do you reckon?  

PS. sorry about the awful quality of my pictures recently. It's so annoying that I've had to take them on my Macbook since I have no camera battery.

NOTD: MODERN FRENCH MANICURE

When there are grey skies and piercing rain outside your window, this depressing time of the year calls for nail painting time. I decided to grow my nails since taking off my Acrylics and spruce them up after I've been wearing the same fruit salad colour over and over for the last two weeks ('cause it was the only colour I purchased whilst staying at my boyfriends house) felt like I was living the dream only having one nail polish. And may I just add it was just my luck that it was the worst nail polish I've ever bought, the brush itself is awful and the application was uneven, looked lumpy and chipped after a day and a half - wasn't even worth the mere £1.79 I paid, sorry Collection 2000 lovers. 

Here's my fashionable version of the made over classic French Manicure (bar the odd one if you can spot it!). If you're sick of the staple white tip but still want classy and chic nails that are easy to do then try painting a subtle v shape down the edge of the nail as opposed to going the whole way around the nail. To make this less of a challenge you can do this with a nail art brush or pen which I've seen Models Own have recently brought out in Superdrug/Boots. I was debating whether to go all out and go crazy but decided on a muted pink with a black tip to keep them versatile and have an understated feel but you could experiment using the new seasons A/W shades - from metallics, sea blues to earthy hues. A nude colour with a red tip would look fab for the transition into Autumn.

THE INFREQUENT BLOGGER

After about a year of debating and convincing myself that I would start blogging again, I finally found the motivation and decided to make the return back since I've deprived myself of following some amazing blogs. In doing so I have rediscovered my love for blogging and will actively post now and then - without any empty promises this time! This is just a quick post where I'd like to thank all those who have welcomed me back and look forward to seeing some new faces. Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/lisadrivesavan xxx

STUCK ON LIKE GLUE

/Dress  thrifted/Scarf  ralph lauren/Shoes  office/Rings  asos h&m wallis/

Yes, these may not be your cup of tea but these shoes have literally been stuck on my feet since the moment I got them for my birthday from Office. I love how they bring an element of smartness to casual outfits and have the versatility to complete more formal looks. An amazing take on the loafer! I can literally wear them with anything and there is no doubt that they will be my shoe of choice next week on my work placement - but there is one problem of planning what to wear as I've never worked in an office before. What would you suggest, bearing in mind that I may be sitting in on meetings as well as being on the computer?

If you didn't already know, Office have the most amazing sale on at the moment with an extra 20% off selected shoes which you should check out and take advantage of. I definitely have my eye on a number of shoes but need to restrain myself from buying any more shoes since you'd probably think I've lost my mind if you saw my collection of shoes. And on the subject of shoes, I hope you all put your feet up and have a wonderful weekend.

MAKE DO WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT: NAIL POLISH

With a similar concept to the Sleek Makeup pout paint I mixed up China Glaze in Aqua Baby and MUA at Superdrug shade 18 to create a lighter turquoise candy colour that suits my skin tone a little more than the original China Glaze colour. This is a really quick and simple way of creating a new nail polish that makes the most out of what you already have, without costing you a penny. It definitely saves you the disappointment of going out and spending money on a new bottle that turns out to look completely different on and has a poor colour pay off. You could even transform any colours you don't like so they don't go to waste. To create pastel colours that are perfect for the Summer in contrast with a tan you will need to add white to your chosen colour. All you need is a spare nail polish bottle, just clean out an old nail polish bottle by using a small amount of nail varnish remover and shaking it up and just repeat this a few times. Let me know if you try it out!

BACK TO BLACK - AMY WINEHOUSE STYLE TRIBUTE

/Shirt thrifted/Skirt new look/Watch michael kors/

This post is entirely dedicated to Amy Winehouse - the woman who had the most incredible talent with a voice like no other in our generation who will also be remembered for her signature style and contribution to fashion. Her poofy backcombed beehive hair and winged eyeliner have inspired Vogue Paris to Chanel runways - Karl Largerfeld describing her as an icon. 

She was always seen in black or bright and bold eye catching dresses, which was the source of inspiration for this outfit. Instead of replicating her exact style I mixed the two sides of Amy's colour choices together and tied up the bottom of the shirt to show a little flesh, giving quite an Amy-esque feel as she was known for her infamous crop top and denim shorts combo that flaunted off her growing collection of ink. The knotted shirt not only adds a hint of 'sexiness' in the most subtle way of showing the least amount of skin, but is a great way to revamp an old shirt.

RIP Amy, you'll be missed! This will always be one of my favourites: back to black xxxxxxxx

EVERYDAY FACE

My everyday face routine consists of slapping all these products on with the minimum of 4 brushes and using my fingers to apply the foundation and concealer as it gives me more of a natural look, as well as working in the product more effectively and evenly. I like to keep my face as simple as possible but change it up a bit by adding a different lip colour everyday.

Mac Select SPF 15 foundation - NC30

Mac Mineralize skinfinish natural - Medium Plus

Mac Mineralize skinfinish - Perfect Topping

Mac Studio finish concealer - NC30

Rimmel lasting finish minerals loose powder foundation - 303 True Nude

Smashbox fusion cream eye liner - Runway

Urban Decay powder blush - X

Maybelline eyestudio lasting drama gel liner - 01 Black 

YSL Lip twins - 5

What products do you use on a daily basis? 

THE MICHAEL KORS WATCH CULT

After endlessly searching for an affordable chunky masculine yet feminine watch with an over-sized dial to replace my Guess watch, the time had come for me to find this little gem last week - the Michael Kors MK5325 silver dial crystal dot watch from Time2. 

The watch also comes in gold and rose gold. I was debating between the rose gold and silver but I think I made a good choice going with the silver as it looks so classic and is a practical colour for me since I always wear silver jewels. It also has a little tab for the date, so if you're someone like me who looses track of the time of the month then this feature can come in pretty handy.

Without hesitation, I would recommend looking at the other watches in the collection if you want a a watch that exudes classic style that is good quality and isn't heavily overpriced. I can say that Micheal Kors is proving to be a well known name for their boyfriend style watches, especially on the wrists of you stylish bloggers and lookbookers. I am absolutely in love with it, it's perfect for me and adds a subtle fashionable statement to any outfit. It will without a doubt be attached on my wrist during the 365 days of the year.

Odds and ends

This Sunday has been a full day of procrastinating, consisting of catching up on sleep, walking in the sunshine and painting nails - here is what I came up with for my NOTD which is all about mismatching and embracing odd nails to signify the start of Summer fun!