CHINATOWN:: Acrylic Powder Nails

i'm so so sorry for being MIA for so long!

i am now back at uni and the workload is just piling on at 60mph!

whenever i finish a piece of work, there's always something else waiting for me :'(

but i thought i'd just give a quick post about a little experience of mine.

i was shopping with my best friend around china town about a month ago,

and we spontaneously decided to get our nails done 

in the nail salon in china town market.

we decided to get the acrylic (powder) nail set 

which was priced at £30 on the sign outside,

and i'd never had my nails done before so i was next to clueless!

as we were close to finishing, they encouraged us to get designs

but they "forget" to inform you that a 3D design per nail is an additional £5..

thankfully, we'd read the price list beforehand so we decided to get 

3D designs on just our ring fingers.

major tip: 

make sure you agree on a price before getting anything on your nails!

and make sure they stick to it!

we ended up paying £45 each even though they'd quoted £40 beforehand,

they charged £35 for the full set and £10 for the two ring fingers.

the woman that was doing my nails decided to stick a small diamond 

on my pinky fingers and apply gel polish (permanent) 

which would have originally costed at least £60 -

even though i had not asked for them.

there were two members of staff in the salon.

although they were both friendly at first, i was wary of one of them.

if i picked up a phone call, she'd ask me, "do you want to finish this or not?"

which i just laughed off but that's not something everyone else can do!

you just get the feeling that if you mess with her, 

she'll definitely mess up your nails! :s

the quality of the nails are relatively impressive as it lasted for about a month

but the diamonds on the Chanel 3D design started falling off after 2 weeks.

nonetheless, this was my first try so i can't make comparisons yet.

as they peeled off, my nails were in horrible condition - dry, thin and brittle.

so i definitely wouldn't recommend having false nails applied 

if your nails are already weak.

i'm not sure as to whether or not i would recommend this salon

solely because of the service that i received 

and the way they presented themselves.

but if you're daring and willing to try something new,

then i would definitely recommend googling some local nail salons

which charge reasonable prices for good quality nails.

read reviews from other customers because every experience is different.

here are some piccies of our nails!

my nails:

carmen's nails:

have you guys had your nails done before?

do you have anywhere you could recommend?

♥

FOREVER 21:: Earrings

i've visited forever 21 a few times now but have never actually bought anything

so i decided to dedicate a few hours to the store on oxford street

with the aim of buying at least one outfit for uni..

i was actually quite disappointed with what they had for this season,

there were a lot of blacks and whites along with some sharp colours

like royal blue and red which i thought weren't the best choices for autumn.

and although their sales racks were jam packed with clothes and people..

unfortunately, i didn't find anything that i wanted :(

i ended up leaving the store with two pairs of underwear and two pairs of earrings.

the earrings were retailing at £3.15 each so i spent about £12 in total

which i thought was a little more than what it would usually cost

if i were to get these items from another store (eg. h&m/claires?)

but i have been on the look out for some really cute flower earrings

so i thought i'd grab myself a light blue pair (which matched my nails at the time)

and a crystal silver pair which i thought would be perfect for dinner dates! :)

i'm definitely planning on making another trip with the hope that i'll find stuff i like

as i always hear such great things about the store in america etc :)

what are your opinions on forever 21?

do you guys buy from there?

let me know!

♥