paisley video tutorial

Paisley is the first design I did with my original Rio Nail art pens, I now use a very thin design brush and dotting tool. For this particular sweet pink design (perfect for valentines day) I used Avon Pink Creme Nail Enamel and B. Complete Red Nail Polish, I topped it off with Cheeky's Matte Polish.
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Good Luck ladies.

'Avon it

Another one of my presents Santa left under the tree, an Avon Selection Box. This was a gift I spotted on Instgram and instantly sent the picture to my mum, subtle hint, and it worked. She emailled Santa and there it was.. 12 stunning nail enamels.

I didn't own many Avon polishes before I got this Selection Box (just my Opal glitter that I adore) but my mum has had them in the past. I am so happy with the quality of the polishes, I've only ever heard good things about these enamels so I wasn't surprised, just happy! The colours I got were quite varied, including another Opal polish (never can have too many), 2 Gel Finish polishes in a pale pink and red that again are really good quality polishes.

 My favourite is so hard to choose! I love the pale pink Gel Finish P805 Sheer Love because it is perfect to use as a base for my nail art, but I also love my classic Real Red Nail Enamel. It's so hard to choose a favourite.. I cannot do it.

One thing I would say against this selection box is that there are a few polishes I won't use, like perfectly flesh and romance and maybe coral reef. If Avon continue the selection boxes next year (which they should!) I would advise making them more tailored. For example, soft and sweet with pinks and light colours; glitter me happy with glitters and metallics; bright and bubbly with brights, neons and stand out polishes; mix and match with completely random polishes. That is what I would do!

Here are the swatch pics I took:

Coral Reef

 

Opal - Opalesce (on top of Real Red below)

Real Red

 

Decadance

 

Viva Pink

Perfectly Flesh

Pink Creme

 

Romance

 

Golden Vision

  Sea Breeze

denim transformation

 For years I have struggled with jeans. From being too skint to by nice Toshop jeans that actually fit my length of leg I have had my fair share of Primark jeans as they have the best length availability for the price! But the only problem is they are pretty ugly...

The best pair of jeans I have ever owned are a super tight acid wash high waist jeans from Topshop... Unfortunately I have stretched them out and worn them out to the point of no return, unless I put a stone of two on (lets be honest that's not likely to happen just for a pair of jeans). And now I am in a total money rut being slung back into student life full force I have been forced to turn back to Primark jeans to get me through these very very cold months.

A few years ago, in the very same position, I purchased a standard pair of blue skinny (not that skinny) low waist jeans from Primark and I dipped the ends in bleach to vamp them up a bit. Many compliments later I want to do the same with a similar pair I've had for a few months now and actually hate wearing because they are so blah. And they also are way too big around the ankle.

So here is what I have done step by step to tailor them and jazz them up..

1. I grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, an empty spray bottle and a bottle of bleach I found in the cupboard
2. I lay the jeans in the bath tub and with a spray bottle filled with pure bleach I sprayed away to my own pleasure.
3. I then hung the jeans on the door to allow to dry, then I could see if I had sprayed them enough.
4. Once happy, I put them in the drier to make super sure they were right.
5. Now the complicated bit that I've taken snaps for...
6. I took the in seam of the jean and pinned it to the size of my ankle
7. Next I removed the jeans and cut a V to remove the old seam
8. I did a very simple overlay stitch around the edge of the jeans to keep them in place. Do try to make sure the seam looks moderately presentable as we are going to fold them up next.
9. So once the stitch us done, fold the jeans a do a simple stitch inside the fold to keep in place on either side.
10. Repeat on the other leg.
11. Now wash the jeans to make sure the bleach is out and the stitches are stable enough.
12. Dry and add a belt if you like. Et voila. 

Baked (like golden bread) by Urban Decay

Always being a make-up lover, when it came to my best friend buying me a little present for Christmas, it was really quite easy to pick something.

My first Urban Decay shadow... I was so excited.

It is the most beautiful golden shimmer named Baked. It reminds me of golden baked bread that my dad makes.

When I went to apply it I wasn't sure the style of look I would go for so I used my MUA brown trio palette to create a nice base and contour and highlight my brow bone. I then applied this stunning shimmer to the lid. I decided it reminded me of Arabian nights looks I've seen on Sex and the City 2 and Instagram, so I teamed it with a thick black cat eye eyeliner and applied my Avon liquid look eyeliner pencil to my lower waterline, something I never do! To complete the look I used my GOSH forever shadow stick in Bronze to add shimmer to my browbone and under my waterline.

This was the result...

Once I teamed this with a brown lippy of my mums from the 90s I had my new fave look!

 This shadow is available online here... Urban Decay Eyeshadow Single in Baked.

mo you for me

It is time after a quiet (but not actually quiet in real life) Christmas and New Year.
I hope you all had a merry one, I sure as hell did and this review is about one of thee best presents I got from Santa (slash my mum).

Before I get into the story and picture show here is a link for the YouTube video I pulled together on how to use my new gift that I'm about to tell you about. Mo You London Tutorial
Please subscribe while you are there!

For a long long time I've seen stamping plates used by great nail artists all over Instagram and I am not going to lie.. I actually always thought it was cheating. For me nail art is about being talented enough to paint those tiny enamel things on the end of your fingers, that way you can get much praise for a detailed design. Buttttt then I changed my mind.. Why did I change my mind?

I discovered Mo You London stamping plates. I saw someone do a very pretty detailed design and at first I thought it was freehand .. when I realised it was a Mo You London stamp I was kinda gutted tbh. Once I followed them the idea of stamping became a little more appealing.

So I looked around Mo You and decided my student sized pockets weren't keen on spending that much on something I wasn't sure about, I ended up on Ebay buying rubber stamps and scrapers for 99p as well as a couple of simple round stamping plates for the same cheap as chips price.

And.. It didn't work. I just couldn't do it! At first I thought it was a skill thing but then I decided it was the cheap plates and discretely and hopefully put the Mo You plates I kept admiring online on my Christmas wish list along with socks and chocolate.When I opened up the four plates my mum had looked at with me I was so happy and scared..

I really hoped I could actually do it after my mum spent the money on them!

And I could.. the first time!

As the credits of BIG rolled on the TV screen I had mastered my first design :)

Here is a little gallery of the rest of my plates:

Fashionista plate 09:

Fashionista plate 07:

Bridal plate 07:

Artist plate 09:

nail art: alternative for clean up

My Christmas list this year left my mother searching far and wide for nail art products and tools she had never heard of. One of the things I asked for with high hopes of tearing open the packaging on Christmas Day was Kiesque's Liquid Palisade. Obviously, my IG feed is filled with nail artists pro and amateur, bloggers and experimenters alike as way of inspiration and a tool of learning :) and lately I had seen over and over again the same min tutorial video for this magical product.

I have always struggled with clean up.. always removing part of the design or ending up with red smudges all over my finger. Then there is the ever enjoyable sellotape application I endure when water marbling..

Liquid Palisade is a product that eliminates a lot of these tedious tasks I have endured these past few years. And so as soon as I found the website I scribbled the name down and prayed to Santa.

A week later my mum came up to me and said.. "What is liquid palestine?.."
And after much googling and frustration, we realised, there wasn't a way I could purchase it without a hefty shipping fee for it's travel from US to UK ground. But mother was determined..

Next thing I knew I came home to this tiny pot of blue masking fluid placed next to the kettle. A few hours later mum sprang up and and remembered I didn't know it was for me... Explained how Salon Geek had explained to her that this fluid does the exact same job and it was a meer £2.. with free delivery of course.

The result of all this mahem, is this video...

 

Pop onto my YouTube channel here... Curiosity Beauty YouTube to see it full screen, like and please please subscribe!! :)

And keep even more up to date with my nails, face and cat on my Instagram & Twitter - @curiositybty

 Products: Terry Harrison Masking Fluid 30ml, B. First Base Coat, Models Own Silver Nail Glitter, Rimmel Pro Matte Finish, Avon Nail Experts Freeze Dry Spray

Colours: B. Complete Polish in Matador, Cheeky Polish in Purplexed, Barry M Nail Paint in Matt White

Tools: Two small brushes (one for fluid, one for glitter and clean up), Tweezers, Make-Up Sponge, Needle, Nail Polish Remover, Cotton Pads, Cotton Buds.

pre-christmas winter christmas new years party make-up

Doing what it says on the tin, this blog post is about winter make-up trends from the catwalk and mags as well as friends and celebs that are perfect for Christmas work does, family does and New Years parties. These are just a couple of ideas I loved the look of and have adapted as my new make-up styles for this years cold and flu season.

Have you been in a fight?

My favourite area to come up with make-up ideas for is for when you are going'out out' with your girls and with your cocktails and your best dress. Something I am going to be doing in a few weeks time.. I have decided on my dress so this make-up is made to match of course.

Deep purple eyeshadow - now this is an unbranded palette I got many a Christmas ago, but it works. I would recommend however - a palette I would buy if I had the pounds to spend - Vintage Romance or the stunning Arabian Nights I Divine palette by Sleek (both going on my xmas list). Bad Girl also has some stunning purple hues. When applying it is difficult to make it look like you haven't got a black eye... So to avoid the ruffian look I tried to keep neat lines and blended a lighter shade into a darker shade. Using liquid liner as my guide at the edge of the eye.

ombre ombre

I have been seeing ombre lips all over my instagram feed for a few weeks now and decided it was high time i give it a go. I tried a red and pink colour combo first but I think I was a little too daring using a dark shade of red for my first ombre! So I started again with purple and pink. These light hues are colours I don't normally wear but they felt very Christmas and cold and actually worked quite well despite my pale complexion.. I am now in love with ombre lips...

To get this look is actually quite easy (but easier said than done). I started by applying a line of Make Up Revolution Lipstick in Depraved around the outer line of my lip. I would recommend using a liner instead for your outside line or at least a brush to apply, as it will make the blend less messy. Then I applied GOSH Velevet Touch lipstick in Romance 156 to the inner part of my pout and smudged the two together with a brush. Blotted. Et Viola.

glitter underline

Another look I have seen a lot of on instagram actually this one.. I've seen it many times before of course but witht he glittering sequins we love to wear in winter and the approaching Christmas holidays everyone seems to just want more glitter! And I am not complaining. 

 

 

I used MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence to shade in and blended my cut crease subtly. Blending light into dark (rule 1 in shadow application).

Then I use a very thin (wet) brush dipped in lots of 17 Eye Dazzle in Bronze to create a glittering underline. So so simple to do and so so pretty. 100% using this one come Christmas Eve!

Other products I used include: Avon Extra Lasting Eyeliner in Black, Shavata Brow Perfector, Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara in Black