Nails - Minty Greens

L-R
Turquoise Gloss, Greenberry, Mint Candy Apple, Pool Party, Blossom Dandy

I know the seasons are changing and we are moving into Autumn but I still love minty greens, especially for on my toes - it's nice to have a pop of colour hidden away under socks. I've probably done a post similar to this before but I've had a few new additions over the last few months so I thought I would do an update.

Whenever I'm looking for a polish that will last I always reach for the Models Own Hypergel in Turquoise Gloss as I know it will still look good after a few days. Turquoise Gloss is definitely a very blue toned minty green but it looks really nice against my skin tone. For high shine I like to reach for Barry M Gelly in Greenberry which is more on the green end of the scale of minty-ness, a lovely fresh colour. 

For a pale green I tend to reach for Essie Mint Candy Apple, it's a cult favourite amoung bloggers but it isn't my favourite. it's a nice polish with a good finish but not one that I would rave about. Moving down to the most green toned end of the scale I've got a Topshop polish in Pool Party which is a really bright turquoisey/green - I love this for really sunny days although the finish isn't as long lasting as some of the other polishes.  

Finally we have my favourite of all the these - Essie Blossom Dandy. I picked this up when I thought I had lost my Mint Candy Apple and needed a replacement but couldn't find MCA in Boots or Superdrug. Blossom Dandy is the warmer cousin of  MCA. It is so much easier to wear then MCA, plus I could wear it all the time! 

Just a few of my favourites at the moment - I think it might be time for me to put these away and dig out my autumnal shades but for now I'm loving minty greens - what greens are you still loving? xx

Photography - Shoreditch, Spitalfields Market & Brick Lane

I've been working on my photography recently, something to fill my time with during the summer holidays and it's something I've wanted to learn about for a while. So I treated myself to a groupon voucher for a walking photography course, booked the course and waited for the date.

When the day arrived I made sure I had a fully charged camera with an empty memory card and headed into London. Trains were a bit of a mare that day so I turned up a little late but a quick e-mail to the tutor to let him know and they waited for me near Shoreditch station. He quickly went through what I was aiming to do and really encouraged us to look carefully before taking a picture. We had to play with what level we took the picture from, standing in different places, sitting on the side of the road - never did I think I would be sitting on a kerb in the middle of London.

We wandered then round to the market at Spitalfields where our tutor set us the challenge of asking if it was OK for us to take a picture of them working or their stand - this was really scary for someone like me who is normally very shy but I manned up and did and got some great pictures as well as feeling incredibly hungry around the food! A little bit of wandering around, he pushed us to take pictures of people without them really being aware, being 'natural'. We also worked on our people photography, finding nice places to stop and getting someone to pose, I ended up sitting on the step of a gorgeous house, it was slightly embarrassing as I hate having my picture taken! From here we walked round to find the graffiti! 

When we found a good spot filled with amazing art work - spent about 30mins here taking pictures before it was time to head home. Once I got home I hit up a bit of editing of the pictures, I took so many and I'm still working my way through editing, playing around with contrast and brightness - its great fun really and something I never thought I would have the courage to do!

So here are just a few of my edited pictures, some are my favourites, others are ones that work, but I've never put my work up on the Internet before for people to see so I would love some feedback! 

Let me know what you think!

Healthy Snack Ideas

I'm really enjoying my healthy eating at the moment, I feel like I have a lot more energy, I've cut out a lot of overly processed crap and am finding a balance with food that is better for me as well as still being tasty.

I thought I would show you some of the things that are living in my cupboard for grabbing when I need a quick snack. I keep a lot of these items in my desk at work for when I need them.

Caramel or chocolate coated rice cakes - I didn't think I would like these but they are amazing! I picked these up in the free from aisle in Tesco and keep these in my desk when I'm at work or in my bag when I'm out and about - perfect as a little pick me up.

Graze boxes - I love these, I've been getting them for ages and I adore them. I love that these are all calorie counted out so you can easily track them plus there is such a wide range of boxes - my favourites are the popcorns, flapjacks, beef jerky or all of the dippers - especially the caramel dipper! you can choose how often you want delivery and then chuck them in your bag and you're good to go!

 Fruit - My arch nemisis, I'm really not keen on eating fruit, I'm really fussy about texture of food and fruit has bits in it so I only pick 'smooth' fruits that I can make into a smoothie or eat quickly but it wouldn't be my first choice of snack!

Peanut Butter - Since taking the pictures for this post I have discovered Pip & Nut peanut butter and it is love! I've always loved peanut butter but paired with apple, in a smoothie with frozen banana or just straight from the jar and I'm happy, perfect for a quick energy hit!

So there are some of my favourite healthy snack ideas, I have a load more if you would want any more ideas! Would also love to know what snacks you go for!

xx