Hello lovelies,

So I'm finally back with nail post and review! I did these nails back in July when I received then brand new nail art book Nail It! by Sophie Harris-Greenslade aka The Illustrated Nail (featured in past monthly favourites). I picked a design from the book called Ditsy and I recreated it following the step by step tutorial in the book to show you that they are totally achievable!

This Ditsy design is pretty simple and easy to do yet it looks like a complicated pattern. I've painted it using Nails Supreme nail art pens (available here) and dotting tools over five new(ish) Models Own polishes. These pretty brights are the new additions to their Polish for Tans collection (which was bit more relevant in July I guess ;). I've used Beach Hut, Turquoise Sea, Sarong Wrap, Cocktail Hour and Malibu Pink shades. Some of theme have a neon element to them and they beautifuly glow under UV light.

And... as the title of this post suggests, I also want to take a closer look at the Nail It! book. Firstly, here are few pictures to give you a taste of what's inside:

This book contains 100 nail art tutorials and nail care and nail art advice sorted into topical sections.There are simple and intricate designs included and each has picture and worded step-by-step instructions so everyone can find something for them. I like how everything is clearly explained and to me even just the picture steps are enough to understand how to re-create the design. I've seen some of the designs before for example in the Scratch Magazine where Sophie is a regular columnist but I suspect this won't be the case with most people. Besides, here are all the pretty designs in one place, in one book. It might also be worth mentioning that Nail It! is a sturdy hard-back book and it's a nice quality.
 

The nail art themes covered are Picure It, Spots & Dots, French Tips & Half-Moons, Geometrics, Embellished Designs, Creative Effects, Holidays & Travel, Florals, Classic Prints and Catwalk Looks. What a range! You can find anything from Christmas and Halloween designs to flowers and abstract patterns. And most are in that wonderfuly 'illustration' style so distinctive for Sophie's work. Some might find it too cartoony but I just love it and appreciate the art and work that went into it. 

I'm a huge fan of Sophie's work and I honestly think that so far this is the best nail art book I've had the pleasure of reading and it is totally worth the money! Nail It! is currently available on Amazon UK for £13.48 and newly on Amazon US.

I always love to hear your thoughts and feedback so leave a comment ;) Lucie x

*Post contains PR samples

I chose a dress that was very close to a fishtail style because I wanted something that would 'hug' my body, nothing puffy or big. I finally found THE dress in Wedding Dress Factory Outlet in London store in Bromley. My wedding was definitely on a tight budget so not spending a huge amount of money on a wedding dress was important. My dress is called Clover and it's from their Viva Bride collection.

I was definitely happy with my dress but because of the high temperature that day I sometimes wished for something even simpler. But I did love all the lace details and sash and lace train, it's a beautiful dress. I bought my veil in the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet as well. It was a bit of an impulse buy and I regretted it for a bit. It cost £60 and later I did some research and found out I could get it online for about half the price (lesson learned!).

We took photos at 4 different locations so there's quite a variety. My favourite are the ones from local hunting chateau/palace (the ones indoors) but I also like the last two which we took at sunset on top of a viewing tower on a hill. I have tonnes of photos so it was super hard to choose just a few!

You're probably interested in my nails, right? I don't have my normal hand poses but photographer took few pictures where my nails show:

In my previous post I revealed that I wore KIKO Power PRO - 02 Camellia*. But I couldn't leave my nails plain. I stamped them with mehndi designs from Dashica Big SdP-U plate and with Hit The Bottle Snowed In white stamping polish. I put a Swarovski crystal on each thumb. I planned to put them on each nail but after I did one hand I didn't like it at all so I took it all off and did the hand again with just stamping. I was quite happy with the final result, the manicure looked soft and romantic and it matched my bouquet nicely.

Here are few pictures from the celebration after the ceremony: the reception venue - hunting lodge, our first dance, cake cutting, decorations - mostly handmade and probably the only picture of my second dress and handmade flower sash.

As I've mentioned previously, most of our decorations were handmade and I think it was a good choice because fresh flowers would 'die' very fast in the heat. I have been creating the decorations for about 6 month and they included crepe paper peonies (I followed this tutorial), different shapes and sizes of bottles and jars that I sprayed with white and gold paint and then tied them up with white lace ribbon and pink and white bunting. I wanted to bring a bit of an English element to it and bunting is such a classic! It was kindly made by my sister-in-law who is great at crafts.

We also had a lovely guest book and pen set provided by Light In The Box* e-tailer. These are such a great value for money and then you'll have nice memories in the form of messages and wishes from guests. Definitely a must-have for a bargain price!

The cake didn't came out as I envisioned or ask but guests still liked it and it was delicious! We had three tiers - one chocolate, one nutty sponge and vanilla buttercream and last one was alternating between chocolate and vanilla. Even the sugar paste flowers were yummy!

Last, but not least is my second dress I changed into later. I felt really good in it and the sash I made made it unique I think. I bought it on Asos for a bargain price of £40 and my lace pumps were just £5 from Primark. I know, hardly posh wedding clothing but I liked them :)

Overall, it was a nice but hot day and I'm glad I got to share it with all the family and guests and now with you, my lovely readers :) Hope you've enjoyed the post and let me know your thoughts in the comments :) I'll be resuming nail posts very soon!

If you've missed the previous post taking closer look at all the accessories I wore, read it here.

Have a lovely day! Lucie x