WILDFLOWER SUMMER NAIL ART

I like to keep any nail art that I create quite simple and easy so that it looks pretty with minimal effort. I've been loving wearing this wildflower design on my nails for summer - it adds a pretty touch to white painted nails and i've had so many compliments whilst wearing it!

Paint the whole nail with a white nail polish - I used Barry M Matt White.

For the design:

Step 1 - For the grass/reeds effect I used Essie Mint Candy Apple. I wiped as much of the product off the brush as I could by wiping the brush on edges of the bottle and then just flicked up the nail.

Step 2 -I repeated this process with a darker green - No7 Totally Teal. This brush was easier to remove most of the product and gave a really good wispy grass effect so I applied this over and around the first grass colour.

Step 3 - Adding your wildflowers! I chose to use Rimmel sunshine as my main colour to make the flowers really stand out. I dotted roughly 10 flowers on each nail working from top to bottom to give that pretty wildflower look.

Step 4 - I then added pink flowers using Barry M Gelly nail paint in Grapefruit. I added less of these (around 7) and used a smaller dotting tool again to give it a sparse, wildflower effect.

Step 5 - You could skip this step and go straight on to the topcoat, or choose another flower colour but I thought a fuchsia glitter would look really pretty and brighten up the nails. I dotted Barry M Magenta glitter all around the grass/reeds to finish the design. 

I then added Sally Hansen Insta dri topcoat to finish the nails.

(I used these nail dotting tools from amazon, they are a great set for only 85p!). 

Tweet me a pic if you try this! - @sophiesmakeup

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK #2

I thought I would continue on with my 'things that made me happy' post this week. I find that writing down all the things I'm grateful for in the week really helps me to keep positive and I just love making lists!

I posted the second picture on my instagram yesterday, it's pretty autumnal but it was so stormy and rainy and the little leaf blew right in my home whilst I was taking the picture!

Monday: Berry tones. I've been rooting through my make up and pulling out some berry and gold tones ready for autumn. Essie Bahama Mama is always a staple nail polish for me in autumn, Orly rage is a beautiful rose gold and I've just recently got MAC Rebel, which is the perfect shade of lipstick for autumn.

Tuesday: Restarting Harry Potter for the 10000053747 time.

Wednesday: Drooling over the amazing biscuits in Great British Bake off whilst consuming half a pack myself. 

Thursday: Tea tea and more tea. I've been really enjoying drinking cinnamon tea, peppermint and liquorice tea, chamomile tea and ginger tea especially whilst browsing the new Ikea catalogue.

Friday/Saturday: Me and Alex are planning to pop into town to run some errands, look at the new A/W pieces and possibly stop for a cheeky Wagamamas. Yasai Pad Thai or a Yasai Katsu Curry?! - decisions!

What has made you happy this week?

FIVE THINGS: I LIKE TO DO IN SUMMER

Although I'm not the biggest fan of summer, there are a few things I like to do to make the most of it! I love Lazy summer mornings, eating brunch and dining al fresco and painting my nails in hot coral pinks. Here are a few things I've tried to do this year:

1. Spend time at the beach: The cool sea breeze is always welcome on warm summer days, I love to dip my toes in the sea, collect pretty seashells, have picnics on the sand and skim stones!

2. Eat well: My diet consists of a lot of fresh fruit, ice cold smoothies made in my nutribullet and salads in the summer. I've been enjoying a cous cous and grilled halloumi salad for tea and strawberries with some Nutella if I want a treat!

3. Buy fresh flowers: I love being surrounded by fresh flowers during summer and so I always try to make sure that I have some for my desk. I've discovered peonies this summer and I'm absolutely in love with them. Unfortunately I think peony season is over now but I've loved having them on my desk!

4. Wear bright make up: My wardrobe consists of black and grey all year round but in the summer I love to wear bright lipsticks and nail polish. I've been wearing Essie Peach Daiquiri non stop on my nails and Revlon colourburst matte balm in Unapologetic on my lips. 

5. Stay cool and Hydrated: Adding lemon, frozen blueberries and cucumber to water is a great way to keep cool and hydrated in the summer. I always make sure to wear SPF and try to avoid the sun at the hottest points of the day!

What are your favourite things to do in Summer?

DATE NIGHT MAKE UP

Me and Alex rarely go on date nights, instead if we want to spend time together then we normally put our jammies on, make some chocolate covered popcorn and watch films, play lego games on his Xbox the or bake! When we do go out on a date night I like to make a bit of an effort, using luxurious items and some of my favourite products:

For my nails I love wearing Nails Inc Tate as it's such a lovely dark cherry red, it gives a touch of sophistication and lasts well on my nails.

For blusher, I'm normally drawn to Nars Orgasm. Probably one of the most well known blushers in the blogosphere, it's such a pretty golden peachy pink that gives a lovely flush of colour to your cheeks.

My favourite lipstick at the moment is Revlon Sultry Samba which is a bright cool toned matte pink. I like to pat a small amount of this onto my lips and rub it in to make a stain so that it's long lasting and a bit more subtle on the lips.

For highlighter I love MAC Soft & Gentle, it's probably my all time favourite champagne highlighter. It gives such a beautiful glow and you only need a small amount brushed on the top of your cheekbones and on the brow bone to really make your skin look luminous and glowing.

I always reach for MAC eyeshadows to wear on evenings out and I love to use my MAC Quad when I want to create a subtle date night look. I use Naked Lunch all over the eyelid and then Sable blended into the outer corner and under the eye to give a subtle smokey eye. The plum pearl in sable really helps to bring out the brown in my eyes whilst Naked lunch (a pretty champagne pink) really helps to brighten and open my eyes.

I then add some winged liner, my accessorize statement necklace and I'm ready to go!

What are your favourite date night products?

SUMMER NAILS

These have been my favourite nail polishes to wear this summer. Although I normally prefer to wear berry shades I've been really enjoying wearing brights on my fingers and toes this summer with dainty gold or silver rings!

Topshop Pool party is a lovely aqua blue/green. It takes at least two coats of pool party for it to become opaque on my nails but then lasts well. I love wearing this with dainty silver rings and it looks great with a tan.

Barry M Gelly Nail paint in Grapefruit is a high pigmented, glossy pink. I love the formula of these, I really need to get some more shades as they are so perfect for quick application, no need for a topcoat as they are so glossy and perfect in two coats.

Soigné Permission has such a lovely and luxurious bottle. It's a gorgeous bright, slightly burnt orange which I've been loving wearing on my toes.

Ciate Play Date is a warm coral pink, it's a great summery alternative to wearing a classic red and is such a bright and pretty colour!

Which is your favourite?

JULY'S CORAL FAVOURITES

Following the colour theme, these are my summery coral favourites!

Essie Cute As A Button: This is such a pretty coral pink nail polish and one of my all time favourites from Essie.

Benefit Coralista: I only own the small version of this in the Powda Wowza box but I love it. Coralista is a warm peach pink coral that gives a lovely summery flush of colour to your cheeks. I love wearing this in the summer as really makes my skin look radiant and glowing, it can be built up to intensify the colour or worn as a pretty sheer hint of colour to your cheeks.

Mac Melon Pigment: This is actually a rose gold peach colour but it can look like a light coral on the eyes. It's a stunning colour and one of the prettiest eyeshadows that I own. It blends so easily and would suit any eye colour, you can see swatches of it under my lower lash line here and on my lids here.

Loreal Dating Coral: I remember buying this after hearing so much hype around this shade, its quite a natural peach pink that has a glossy finish, you can layer it up or just have a sheer wash of colour, both look really pretty on the lips.

Revlon colorburst lipgloss in Peony: This is a lovely peachy pink lipgloss that doesn't feel sticky on the lips and has a pretty golden shimmer running through it. Perfect for subtle glossy lips and great if you want to wear bright colours on your eyes!

JUNES GREEN FAVOURITES/MAYS GOLD FAVOURITES/APRILS BLUE FAVOURITES/MARCH MINT FAVOURITES/FEBRUARYS ORANGE FAVOURITES/JANUARYS PINK FAVOURITES

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

Monday: Eating Granola with almond milk and fresh strawberries for breakfast.

Tuesday: National lipstick day. Debenhams celebrated national lipstick day on Tuesday with £5 off all lipsticks online. I may have hinted to Alex about the deal (it's our anniversary next week) fingers crossed for a Mac lipstick! 

Wednesday: Autumn drawing nearer. Is anyone else getting a little bit excited for crisp autumn mornings, wrapping up in scarves, cosy knits and drinking hot chocolates?

Also, I've been Playing with slightly darker shades of lipstick, this goes along with my excitement for Autumn. During rainy august days (I'm sure there'll be a few in the UK!) I'll wear shades like Revlon lip butter in Raspberry Pie and Revlon Wild Orchid (a similar colour to Mac Show Orchid).

Thursday: Harry Potter's Birthday. In the words of Hagrid's Cake "Happee Birthdae Harry!"

Friday: The launch of Chalk Kids. Stephanie is such a talented writer, photographer and such a lovely person, her new website Chalk kids has just launched today and It's such an amazing website full of lifestyle tips for families (although I'm not yet a mum and I absolutely love it!). I definitely want a teepee tent in my home now and the cacao granola recipe looks delicious! Stephanie kindly asked me to contribute towards the beauty section which I'm so excited about! Check out Stephanie's website here - Chalkkids.co.uk

- I've also been painting pinecones this week: Let them close (place them in cold water for a while) and then will spray them gold so that when they open again, the tips will be painted gold :)

What has made you happy this week?