Beach Shell Nail Art kit from Claires Accessories

Walking past the sale stand at Claire's Accessories, I couldn't help but notice this lovely set! The bottle is a really cute shape and I thought the little filler you get with it would also be great for putting my Caviar beads back in their bottles, so I had to buy it. I thought it was very reasonable for €6.99.

 Looking at the pieces of shell in the bottle I thought they would be much chunkier, so I was very happy to see how thin the shells are sliced. I was also worried about scratching myself with them, some of the corners looked quite sharp, but I think because they are so tiny and lightweight they'd pop off your nail before they do any damage. I think it helped that I put on a thick top coat to hold them in place. To get them to look layered I painted my nails with a Color Club frosted pink, dipping each nail after I had painted it and before the polish had a chance to dry. Then I done a top coat, dipped again, followed by a final top coat to help secure the shell fragments in place.

Some did come off I think they lasted pretty well, they survived a full day's work and a shower! They were pretty easy to remove using the tinfoil / nailpolish remover method :)

The bottle still looked full even after doing all my nails, I'd estimate you would easily get 20+ full applications. It is probably a bit much for day wear, but is a lovely and simple statement for a night out. Just don't pick at them - no matter how tempted you may be!

It Begins! (Again!) plus Cheeky Plate sneaky shot

Hello, nice of you to stop for a read! 

Welcome to my blog / personal journey towards my goal weight, or welcome back if you subscribe! I set this blog up when I first became a nail art addict. While I stopped posting a loooong time ago (eek!) I didn't stop collecting nail polish! I have a lot lot lot of pics to share, as well as posting about my other addiction - Weight Watchers!!!

I'm going to try incorporate in my weight loss journey including recipes, tips, exercise and any other sparks of inspiration. One of the best weight loss tips I can share is Paint Your Nails!!! I'm an evening snacker, 9pm the tv goes on and the fridge door opens, revealing all its glory. My main distraction is my beautiful nail polish collection, which hides neatly in a Helmer locker so guests won't judge me. My collection at the last count was over 700 bottles, so I've stopped counting :)

I'm a 'big' girl, in more ways than one, I'm 5' 10, busty and overweight, so unfortunately at the moment clothes are not my best friend. I'm not huuuge, I'm a size 16, but I would like to be a 12. I'm ashamed to admit I was before, and not so long ago. This time last year actually - I had lost over 3 stone in 8 months thanks to Weight Watchers, so I know the plan works. That's just the first hurdle. The next is maintaining it. I know now I can't go it alone, I need the classes and the weigh-ins to keep track of myself. Once I stopped going (only 3 lbs from goal!!) I really didn't notice two stone creep back on. Over time I stopped going to the gym, I started ordering take aways again, treat night became every night, lunch became rolls and crisps and skinny latte's became full fat lattes...I lived like I'd never have to watch my weight again. 

I went back, tail between my legs, to face the scales. I was up two stone.

So now I'm three weeks in, with weigh day #4 on Thursday. After loosing 6 and a half lbs in the first three weeks I'm bracing myself for a gain this week. I did not have a good week this week, I had a Chinese meal on Saturday and then on Sunday I had cramps from hell and the only cure (in my mind) was Dominos pizza. With Gourmet garlic bread. Washed down with a bottle of Blossom Hill white wine. I remain too scared/ashamed to point my weekend.

Since Monday I've been much better. I made a lovely Greek salad with falafels for lunch each day and had it with a small (2pp) wholemeal pitta. I will start photographing my lunches and hopefully come up with a nice little recipe base, I think lunch is one of the hardest meals to keep interesting.

One thing I should mention about myself, I'm vegetarian. I've been a veggie for over six years (for ethical reasons), I firmly believe a proper veggie diet works great alongside the Weight Watchers propoint system. Most vegetables are 0pp, while meat can be quite high. Quorn is my savior, it helped me give up meat overnight without any cravings I couldn't handle, plus it filled up the empty space on my plate that steak or chicken leaves behind!

That's enough for a first post back, I have some beautiful photos of nail designs to share, which I will hopefully post over the next few days. I have 3 sets of Cheeky plates to review, they only arrived yesterday so I'll take pics as I swatch.

Here's a taster, please pardon the dodgy clean up, it was a late night effort and I'm out of cotton buds. I also top coated waaayyyyy too soon :)