TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY FIVE

DAY TWENTY FIVE: Neon orange nail varnish, Orly

In a week of rain, hail and god only knows what other surprises, I've found myself digging out the heavy winter items that only a fortnight ago I was contemplating packing up for the season. Unable to wear any of my more colourful lightweight pieces, I'm back in my favourite waffle jumper today, worn over my Marni at H&M silk shorts for one tiny stab at spring.

I'm perking up my overly dark outfit with zingy nails though. My sudden love of neon has been well documented during Transition and one of the easiest ways to accommodate it is without a doubt nail colour. I've already mentioned American Apparel's awesome Neon nail colours but I feel Orly are worth a mention too as this orange from their new summer collection is bin-man-jacket bright. Seriously, every time I look down at my keyboard I have a brief moment where I go YOW!

When I first tried it a few weeks ago during that brief spell of sandal weather, I initially put it on my toenails and I got compliments on it left, right and centre. Also, if like two of the members of our fashion desk, you're pregnant, Orly is great as all of their nail polishes are DPB, Toluene and Formaldehyde free.

This particular shade is called Orange Punch and it's available [here] for £9.25.

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY ONE

DAY TWENTY ONE: Zebra nail wraps, nailease


I love crazy nails but I rarely have the patience anymore to spend a whole night giving myself a complicated manicure and I have a weird phobia of anyone else touching my nails after a few dodgy adventures in nail bars so most of the time I just end up painting my nails block colours these days.


The other day I randomly got given some nail wraps and in a fit of boredom, decided to test them out. Usually I find them too fiddly what with having to heat them up, smooth out air bubbles and so on but these won me over as they didn't involve a hairdryer and an army of other tools.


After a tricky first hand, I got into the swing of things - match your nail, peel off the wrap and gently press it on, then file off the excess. Admittedly, I had to redo one of my index fingers as the curve of the nail isn't really accounted for in a flat transfer but I'm impressed with how well these have lasted. I applied them on Thursday afternoon, fully expecting to be peeling them off by Friday morning at the latest as has always been my previous experience, even when they've been applied by a professional but these don't look like they're going anywhere.


The wraps have gone a little crinkly (I think this is moisture getting underneath) but with a quick coat of my Ciaté topcoat every day, they've stayed in place remarkably well considering everything that I've put them through over the long Easter weekend. The edges are starting to wear down like any manicure would but there's no chipping as of yet so they might stay in place for a few days still.


UPDATE: So it turns out that these particular nail wraps are by a brand called nailease, as sold at Miss Selfridge [here] for the rather bargain price £6 for a pack of 20 wraps. I actually cut some of mine down before applying them and minus one or two replacements, you could probably get two sets out of one pack. I couldn't help myself and picked up another set on my way home, definitely addicted.

AUTUMN: DAY TWENTY SIX

DAY TWENTY SIX: Gold nail varnish, MY Maybelline


Sometimes, you stumble across something so good that you don't want to share it but I figure that it would be downright mean of me NOT to share this discovery. A few weeks ago, when I was running around like a headless chicken getting ready for another wedding, I suddenly decided that my outfit would not be complete without a metallic nail.


However, I've always found metallic nails notoriously tricky - they're either super watery or so gritty that your nails feel thick and lumpen. This one is neither - two thin coats produce a beautiful shimmery effect that looks almost like Minx. I added one layer of Ciate top coat and my nails have survived a week of moving without chipping. Two sparkly thumbs up!