whats on my face?

I hope its not egg.. hahaha ew.

Today I bring you the staples of my make up bag that have made their way there in the past couple of months and intend to stay there for the summer.

First is this amazing new mascara, that gives me a really nice lengthened look for the day time without thickening too much like my favourite Retro Glam mascara. It is Max Factor's Clump Defy in the pretty 50th Superdrug birthday packaging. The brush is curved with little spindles/spikes that fit perfectly to my lashes - covering as much area as possible for quick application. The look it gives is really natural looking, but still making them look longer without that really false lash effect despite the range its from! 

Next we have the sample of Benefit's Pore-fressional that I got free with a magazine, probably Vogue but I'm not 100% today! It is a miracle mattifying balm that reduces the appearance of pores. And it works, really well. I love it and use it under my foundation powder one my nose and chin to stop my pores looking like craters. I am thinking of investing once I run out!

Another fab product that I adore is my new concealer - Stay Time 18 hour concealer from 17 - it is wonderful. It stays under my make up all day, it is a lovely shade that fits perfectly to my pale skin and blends in really well. It hides my red blemishes that are particularly bad this week! :(

Now for a bit of colour with a favourite that made it into my April favourites post - The B.Brilliant Morello lip gloss. Never been a huge lipgloss fan, I'm more into lipstick but this is lush. Whether I dab some on for the day or heap it on for the night - i Love it with a capital L.

And more purple - a huge trend on S/S 14 catwalks - with purple shadow. This is my B. Stunning Shimmer in Royal. Its a creamy eye shimmer so I can put on as little or as much as I want. I like wearing a little in the day now its summery, not so that my eyes look bruised but so they shimmer purpleyey. :) It also doesn't crease into my eye creases like a normal cream shadow which is both surprising and great!

So there they are some lovely bits that I currently LOVE and you should def give a try :) see you soon for a nail update :D

contour-ime & prime time

the typical title for a post about primer! and a contour kit..

It's a big day for the blogeroo as it's been renamed and reloved. The reason I picked Paws and Claws was because I intended to stick to nail art, but when I realised how much of a beauty hoarder I was I realised it was best to put it to good use and share it with all of you. So now we are Curiouser and Curiouser, not only because it is one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite films (Alice In Wonderland obvs) but because that is what I am, curious, about beauty! And by the looks of things you are too! :D

Here is a cheeky post on my new amazing additions to my make-up kit...

Primer is something I've never used before and never thought of using, it's not a staple you grow up with like foundation, mascara, blusher. A lot like my contour kit, it just never occured to me how much it would change my make-up.

The first primer I used was the L'Oreal Paris Lumi-Magique Primer (click the link to see it/buy it from Boots' website) which was undoubtedly great. It gave me a really nice illumination to my skin and cooled down the reds slightly. I loved it and it is one of my only empties! I would definitely recommend this for those of you with dull, patchy skin - it's especially good for winter when the weather really gets to your lumination.

However, now that summer has started (well kind of spring time-bursts of sun have seen me apply some sun cream) I have founded the perfect priming and mattifying product to stop my oily nose from getting in the way. The GOSH Prime 'n' Set (again click to grab it from Superdrug's website) is absolutely perfect for this! It hides all my imperfections, soaks up and unwanted oiliness on my skin and primes my face for my foundation. It's a lovely pale white as well, which means us pale skinned lot could wear it without foundation as it gives amazing coverage. I would 100% recommend this for all year round oily skin types and everyone during the hot summer season where all our skin gets a little 'sweaty'. 

Another new addition to my make-up bag is my Sleek 'Face Form' Kit (available if you click through to Beautifeye)- something I never thought I would understand or be able to do right is defining and contouring - but it's actually very easy, especially with this palette. You get a bronzer, highlighter and blusher. Personally I stick with the bronzer and highlighter due to my naturally rosy cheeks, but the option is always there and available for those without the blessed red glow I have grown up with. All you need to do is follow these four easy instructions when 'applying' your contours:

• bronzer: Suck in your cheeks to define you cheekbones and dab a line of bronzer on the underneath of the bone. You can also apply to the sides of your nose, inner eye lid and jawline for extra contour-iness.
• highlighter: again suck in your cheeks and apply the highlighter to the top of your cheekbone this time and under your eyes. Also apply to the edge of your chin, brow bone and centre of your forehead.
• blusher: we all know where blusher goes (and the best way it suits us) add to the plumpest part of your cheeks to add some life to your skin - and always remember to keep it as natural as possible.
• Like as said, as natural as possible is key here, you don't want it to look really obvious. So my top top with contouring is to BLEND - blend the hell out of your bronzer and blusher with a powder that matches your skin to keep yourself stunning and not camoflage. 

Hope these tips and new products that I love help you all look even more beautiful than you already are! Look out for these products in my make-up looks posts that will start in a few weeks time :)

Bah byeee xxxx

New tags for my social media life:

@curiousitybeauty for both Insta and Twitta