diagonally divine

i love doing my nails, and the funkier the better. here's how you can create diagonally divine nails too!

enjoy!

what you need:

nail polish remover

2 or more colors - depending on the look you want

top coat

nail file & nail buffer

cotton swabs & q-tips

how to:

1. use nail polish remover and cotton swab to wipe your nails, make sure they're completely clean

2. file your nails to make sure they're nice and neat. 

3. buff your nails to make them nice & smooth.

4. choose what color you want to be your base color, it can be light or dark - whatever you like.

5. apply two coats of your base color, let dry between each coat.

6. for you second color, it's easier to apply if you use a color with a thin brush.

7. make a diagonal line, then fill in the side you want the second color to be. let dry.

8. use the q-tips and nail polish remover to sort out any mess

9. apply your top coat (clear polish) and that's it!

i used:

cutex stubborn color nail polish remover

charlie (revlon) long lasting color in late night (609)

charlie (revlon) long lasting vernis in naturally coral (204)

revlon clear top coat (076)

sally hansen nail file & buffer combo

hope you try this out! 

peace & love

xxx

i wore:

gold two-finger round ring - forever new

perfume - gucci guilty

create nails that make headlines

if you'd like to make headlines this holiday season by letting your fingers do the talking, you're going to love this! 

what you need:

a glass bowl

vodka (you only need a little bit for this so the rest is yours! lol)

light shade of nail polish (white, soft pink, soft blue, grey - go wild!)

clear nail polish

nail polish remover & cotton swabs

square pieces of newspaper clippings (or the phone book)

how to:

1. paint your nails with the light shade

2. use cotton swab to fix any messy bits. usually i take a shower afterwards

3. once nails have dried, paint over light shade with clear polish/top coat

4. let your nails dry

5. pour some vodka into the bowl. dip your nails in the vodka then cover the wet nail with square piece of newspaper. do that for each nail

6. once you're done, add another layer of top coat and you're done!

your headline stirring nails should last about a week!

have fun with this, let me know how it goes and please send me pictures (kmashalaba@gmail.com)

xxx

kookin' with khanya

yesterday, my housemates and i had friends over for sunday lunch and this is one of the dishes that we prepared. i looooove to cook and i'll randomly share some of the things i'm experimenting with.

 

large potatoes, cheese (preferrably chedder), spring onion, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper, bacon, and butter. i like using garlic and herb flavored butter

microwave the potatoes for about 4 mins. be sure to puncture them with 

a fork so they don't explode

  

let them cool for a bit, then cut in half and scoop out some of the potatoe 

flesh, but be sure to leave enough to make sure your potatoes keep their shape

 

this is what they should look like. scoop the flesh into a big bowl

 

chop up some spring onion

add the sour cream to the scooped out potatoes

 

add cheese (about 2 cups, but its up to you), green onion, butter, milk (about 1 cup)

salt and pepper

 

mix it all together until smooth

 

scoop the mixture back into your potatoes

 

fry your bacon until it is crispy and golden 

 

cut your bacon into little peices

 

mix the cheese, spring onion and bacon together in a seperate bowl

 

sprinkle your mixture onto the scooped out potatoe

 

one of my housemates kelly trying out the potatoe mixture :)

 

place on a baking tray and place in the oven for about 15 minutes 

then:

you're done and ready to serve!

hope its been helpful! if you try the baked potatoe out, let me know how it went!

xxx

how to: color block

color blocking is one of the biggest and funnest (is that even a word?) trends this year for both spring and summer. i've seen pictures in magazines of runway looks, but how does one translate these very high fashion looks to the streets? my girlfriends bulelwa, shibu and i were talking at length about how much we love the trend but we we're all alittle apprehensive because we don't want to look like we're wearing a clown costume. i did some research on how to choose colors to combine and hopefully this will help any other fashionista's get on this trend 

the color wheel

colors that work best together:

• colors directly next to each other : yellow and yellow-orange; yellow and yellow-green; violet and blue-violet and so forth
• colors that form 90degree angles: yellow&green; blue-violet&blue-green; red&violet; orange-yellow&red-orange
• colors directly across each other: yellow&violet; blue-violet&yellow-orange; blue&orange
• colors that form a T: blue,orange&violet-red; yellow,violet&red-orange
• colors that form an X: blue,orange,violet-red&yellow-green; blue-green,red-orange,violet&yellow
• brown (and the brown family) are neutral color so any color will work but cobalt blue and fuchsia work best
• white and black can literally go with anything!

the curvy fashionista suggested colors that aren't necessarily in the color wheel that can be combined together:

• cobalt blue, yellow and orange
• chocolate brown, pink and peach
• purple, bright blue and teal
• deep blue, bright pink and white
• coral, grey and ivory

i tried my hand at color blocking on campus...

[i wore coral cardigan from old navy, teal lace cropped top from miladys, denim shorts from jayjays, teal and white belft from my granny and floral print espadrilles my mommy got for me at a flea market in france]

i color blocked colors directly across eachother: blue-green and red-orange

also check out nangi's mann-equin blog to see how she color blocked in her weekend looks. she chose colors that formed a 90degree angle: yellow and green

some more images:

gucci spring collection 2011

image sourced from gucci

images sourced from trendhunter and edited using photobucket

how to: maxi skirt your maxi dress

maxi skirts are all the rage at the moment, and i've found a couple awesome ones at second hand stores and regular chain stores. but now, a lot of us bought maxi dresses through out the years, and also want to be on trend. your maxi dress can double up as a funky and stylish maxi skirt too! 

 put on your maxi dress but do not wear the straps

fold the straps of your dress into your dress and also tuck in some of the dress itself.

smooth out any lumps and bumps 

add a thick belt to the top of the skirt to keep everything in place and you're good to go! 

[nautical striped maxi dress - mr price, denim shirt - edgars, leather belt - the space, orange cardigan - mr.price]

xxx

how to: make your own earrings

if you've ever wanted to make yourself a cool pair of earrings, this is your chance. 

this is a quick tutorial on how to make earrings out of buttons. its quick, easy and really affordable

enjoy :)

super glue R10 at checkers, buttons R6.50 each at jacksons -in town, i got the backs under the arch for 50cents each and the butterflies also under the arch for 20cents each

squeeze a pea sized amount of super glue onto the back of the button 

place the back on the super glue, then put a little more glue around the back for added support

give everything about ten minutes and your earrings are ready to wear!

hope this has been helpful. have a great weekend

xxx

*Jacksons is on High Street, on the Mr Price side. its a material shop