Caroline Burke | Burkatron

well I've finally got round to sharing my giveaway (about time!)

I wanted to organise one when I reached 800 followers (BIG thank you!!) but I decided to wait as I thought it would be nice to buy some things when I was in NYC and make it a bit more special.

I just wanted to do something to thank you for all of your support and for being so damn lovely! every like, retweet and comment on my posts never fails to surprise me and make me smile! the fact that anyone takes the time out to comment or contact me is the most wonderful feeling so thank you all again.. 

so without further ado here's whats included in the giveaway...

you may remember seeing a big apothecary cabinet full of nail polishes on my instagram; well I couldn't resist raiding it to get some bright colours for you! I prefer the American urban outfitters bottle shapes to the ones we have in the UK so I grabbed quite a few! these are bandeau, hot tub & flip flop.

lemon drop is a scented top coat; I've never seen anything like this! it smells of lemon but dries clear like a normal top coat (I thought it was pretty fun!)

I picked these up from kukee when I got home as I wanted to add a few little extra trinkets. a simple double above the knuckle ring and a druzy ring for something a little different. 

I was nearly charged with excess luggage sneaking back bags of American candy! I've always been a bit obsessed with Americana so I've included a selection of some of their well known chocolates and a big new york mug for you too.

some more kukee jewels, this time some pretty necklaces for the spring. 

this glitter polish called lollipop is actually my favourite at the moment! I have one and its a perfect mix of chunky and fine multicoloured glitter! the oyster polish is really gorgeous; you can use it over colours or by itself for a mother of pearl finish. super cute.

well I couldn't not get a NY tee! 

one of my all time favourite summer tees with a pair of denim cut-offs I wanted to bring one back for this giveaway (size medium)

I love American apparel neon polishes; I saw this bright blue and had to have it. definitely a summer colour for statement nails!

well I hope you like what I've included! 

you must be a follower of burkatron on bloglovin' and GFC to enter (since it's a follower thank you!) 

(if you're already following on GFC just write 'following' in the entry box for me to moderate) 

...that's it, easy peasy!

you can also earn extra entries by following me on twitter/facebook and I'll be posting about the winner on them both so stay tuned! (please note it's just the items I've listed below that are included! due to the weight this giveaway is UK entries only this time)

the snow has melted, spring is in the air (I just purchased my first bunch of daffodils so it's official!) I feel like  painting daisies is the sensible option ..plus I'm getting bored of darker winter shades!

so if you want to have a little spring fling with your fingers here's the steps to creating your own! it's not hard it just takes a little patience so grab a cup of tea and some cake and check yourself in the DIY nail salon..

what do you think? it's not to difficult when you break it down (plus they look so cute so it's worth the effort!)

hope you like them... back soon!

caroline xx

bugger.

my attempts not to shop took a hit when I spotted this tapestry blazer in river island at the weekend (darn tapestry temptation)

the knowledge I'll be wearing it all winter does make me feel better though! I think it's my favourite thing at the minute along with woolly hats and hot soups.

it's definitely one of the more wearable tapestry trend items I've come across; the boyfriend style fit is really nice too (I think every girl needs a few blazers in their wardrobe.) I've just paired it with a vintage bag from the little deer and a casual topshop tee and skinnies today, easy peasy.

I'm always on the hunt for new nail art!

 when I was at the look show last week I spotted several of the guests wearing tartan and thought to myself hmmmm tartan nails? 

well I gave it a shot but I'm not 100% happy yet; I've thought up another version after looking at some tartan patterns but not had time to paint them yet! (keep an eye on my instagram I'm sure I'll be trying out other versions over the next month)

anyway here's what I did if you fancy trying it yourself... the good thing about tartan is you can change up the patterns and colours to create your own!

next I applied two horizontal black lines across the nails. I wasn't quite happy at that point so I added one more vertical stripe; this time in yellow for contrast.

I didn't have any pictures of tartan for guidance so I stopped at this point.

after looking at some patterns I would now recommend adding another horizontal stripe under the top one to create a bit more depth!

overall it's not the hardest nail art I've tried; the key is getting the stripes fine and straight, so relax and keep your hands on a flat surface!

hope you like them! good luck fellow nail art lovers!

caroline x

I'm a nail polish addict. there I said it, I hope this means I'm on the first steps to recovery (hmmmm)

as you may have guessed I'm a huge fan of models own polishes (did you all take advantage of the 50% sale? I bet you did!)

however I've had my head turned by a new kid on the block; american apparel nail lacquer! 

ok, they've actually been around for ages but I've never tried them until now.

oh lord they are preeeetttty! I splurged on three colours, they're not the cheapest coming in at £7 each (but you can get 3 for £17 which is a slight saving!)

the neon colours are beautiful, I went for the violet which I can't rave about more! sometimes it looks pink other times purple, it's pure gorgeousness in a bottle.

(the only problem to report is it has a slight matte finish so I have to wear a clear top coat to make it shiny.)

I also went for a pretty grey/blue which is really lovely; I'm having a real fling with blues and turquoise colours this month. 

lastly I nabbed a chunky glitter called galaxy, big fat rainbow coloured glitter which look rather pretty over other polishes! even though there's bucket loads of glitter the varnish is rather thick so two coats are needed for best effect.

anyway rather than me rambling on any more; have a peek yourself!

'galaxy' polish

'the valley' polish