Geometric Glitter Nails

I have been inspired by tumblr this week to create these beautiful geometric glitter nails that look so stunning in an understated way. It doesn't scream 'look at me I'm glitter' and it won't take 10 minutes to remove, unlike a true glitter mani. 

This look took me only a few minutes to create, however I did have to wait for the base colour to dry so the process took an evening. Here's how I did it:

I started by choosing my colours. I went for a beautiful pinky-nude called Fiji by the brand Essie, and the glitter element was provided by Sugar Daddy by Angelina, a gorgeous mid-pink polish with glitter specks.

I painted my nails two coats of Fiji to ensure nice opacity, and then allowed my nails to dry completely. This is very important, if the nails are still wet, they will smudge upon the removal of the tape. 

After the nails have completely dried, place two pieces of tape across the nail in a X shape, leaving a triangle at the base of the nail. You can then fill this in with the glitter polish! It is important to peel the tape off almost immediately after painting the glitter, and then allow it to dry. As always, finish with a shiny top coat to make your nails look stunningly glossy. 

The finished look!

Five Instagram Accounts That You Need To Follow

Instagram was founded in 2010, and as of December 2014 it has over 300 million users worldwide. The social media platform is renowned and easily recognisable for its 1:1 photo scale, making your snaps look awfully nostalgic in a Polaroid shape. I, along with the rest of the world, have fallen in love with it's ease of use and the pleasure derived from sharing your favourite pictures.

But with more than a quarter of a million users, it can be difficult to find accounts worth following. I prefer to follow accounts in exotic places, with interesting people and often travel, fashion or food related photography. I have collated five favourite accounts, one from each specific category, to share with you.

Travel - Jessica Stein at @tuulavintage
Jessica Stein is a travel and fashion blogger with a large following who posts truly beautiful images of the world over. I particularly love her tropical pictures; she captures the ocean so gorgeously.

Fashion - Aimee Song at @songofstyle
Aimee Song again has a huge following on her blog, and I love admiring her style and outfit ideas on her instagram. It's a great on to gather inspiration from.

Food - Singe Leth @amillionmiless
25 year old Copenhagen student Singe is the owner of this beautiful instagram account dedicated to healthy living and bright and exciting recipes.

Inspirational - Dallas Clayton at @dallasclayton
Dallas Clayton has my favourite account on instagram, of all time. This illustrator and author creates insanely cute  and truly inspirational illustrations which truly make me smile, and often improve my mood.

Personal - Colton Haynes at @coltonlhaynes
Colton Haynes is gorgeous. His instagram features a lot of selfies. Good looks + selfies = win win for all.

N.B. @humansofny needs an honorable mention, because although it did not fit into these categories, it is a stunning account, filled with touching images and beautiful captions depicting the lives of his special subjects.

Be sure to check out my Instagram, @jenbarnyards

Bisous de Paris!

I don't know about you, but this year I was certainly spoilt on Christmas day.

Completely out of the blue, I was surprised with the present of a four day New Year's trip to Paris! Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle airport was our route, and I was not disappointed by the complimentary croissants from the air. We arrived early, and got to sightseeing tout de suite. We visited the Tour d'Eiffel, the Louvre, the Sacré-Coeur and Montmartre, and Notre-Dame. Of course, there was time made for shopping: my Sephora desires have been fulfilled, as have those of City-Pharma. 

Some highlights include the trip on the Bateau-Mouche along the Seine, and a lovely traditional French restaurant meal with some Parisian family friends. And, obviously, the photography of many beautiful landmarks was also a highlight. 

Fifth Blog

This is my fifth blog.

I caught the blogging bug rather unceremoniously back in 2011, aged 13. I had started to watch beauty videos on youtube, and decided that blogs sounded cool and I must make one right away.

Unfortunately not one blog stuck. I couldn't decide on content for my blogs so I eventually stopped posting and created a new one for a different type of content. In my repertoire include a beauty blog, travel blog, and a french language blog.

On Jen's Life I will be posting a range of different content, but for now I thought I would link my previous blogs below for your perusing pleasure.

A Sprinkling of Euphoria
By far my most successful blog with 22,000+ pageviews and over 160 posts. Mainly beauty content.

A Year in my Mind
An attempt to creatively process my thoughts.

Les Recherches pour ma Passion
A little French blog with but a few posts. Maybe I will continue this one day.

Unkeen Adventurer
An essay based, almost too sassy blog.

While I am not actively posting on these blogs anymore, I can honestly attribute them to my dedication to reading and loving the blog world. I am very excited to see where this blog takes me.