how my prom make-up should have looked

Ever since my prom, this being all of 5 years ago give or take a few months, I have said that my make up was the worst it has ever been and it totally ruined my night. Well not totally, I still had an amazing time with my best friends and I may have cried, I can't remember, you know, having slept since then. So I am now dedicating a post to how I actually wanted it. There was never any thick green eyeshadow or pencil eyeliner under my eye or tranny eyelashes in the equation (never should have been!)..

before - apologies for looking so miserable

after - I've just now discovered my wonky lip

what I used

To achieve this simple (yet my favourite) look I used all the below products and steps :)

These are the brushes I used, I keep it simple obviously, with a flat small lippy brush, one big soft brush for all my facey needs and a small shadow brush for well .. shadowing. 

skin

To start I primed with my favourite new GOSH primer (see review here) Prime 'n' Set Powder (<<remember its a link). Next I used my new concealer - never been a concealer person, I don;t know why but I've never been able to get a good 'un until this beauty came into my life - 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer. Next a light layer of my Max Factor Whipped Cream Foundation in Light Ivory (40) - also a new addition to my make-up bag but it's going so quickly which is a disadvantage next to the way it clumps on my hand but makes my skin look sooooo smooth and silky. Then I contour, highlight and blush with my Sleek Definition Kit (review also here). 

eyes - with another shot cause i care

I shade in my eyebrows with my new Shavata Brow Perfector Kit, I don't pluck or wax or do anything to my brows (I never have) I can't be bothered to make a fuss when I don't need to so I don't. All I do is give them so colour with a brow shadow (because they are invisible) - my new one is from Shavata and the shadows are cream and so go on my easier and quicker than a powder shadow. I then highlight my brow bone with my eyeshadow brush and a bit of highlighter from my sleek kit, after this I use my MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence. Here I apply a generous amount of the white shadow, it has a lovely sheen to it - and then I give my self a light cut crease ( this is a darker shadow in a line under my brow bone) in the mid brown shade, then blend with the white (keeping it very sinples). I also apply white the the inner part of my eye by the bridge of my nose to highlight, and under my eye to widen them. Next comes a thick (but not too thick) liquid eyeliner line with a love flick at the outer edge (my favourite part of this look). My new liquid eyeliner is  the best I've had to date, it is B. by Superdrug B. Dramatic Liquid Eyeliner. It's a felt type pen, which is the best way to apply liner! I followed all of this with my BEST EVER mascara, Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam in Extreme Black (review here!) - I neatened up with my Urban Decay Supercurl Mascara brush because it is very spiky and great to seperate those annoying lashes you can't get to.

lips

I got very excited today and bought two MUA lipsticks for £1, one is in this look because its Matte and beautiful and I love it and the other is a deeper red (because mine is running out so it's totally justified). This one is actually MUA Matte Lipstick in Scarlette Siren, I used my lippy brush to neaten up the edges. 

The sequel to this post will be 'how my prom hair should have looked' ... See you soon :)

my easter/spring manicures

I am going to start today's blog by saying HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE. I hope you have all enjoyed your easter weekends, mine was very interesting ranging from tedious catholic mass to a male stripper in Church to a futuristic re-enactment of the resurrection of Jesus - let's just leave you with that amount of information! - I am going to then apologise for being so absent of late. I have been really quite ill this month and so haven't had much energy to dedicate to my lovely little blog! But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy using lots'o beauty products and doing pretty nail art.. If you follow my instagram/twitter you will be able to see my updates all the times! 

Today I have a rather simple post for you, featuring my nail art from the weekend and a little tutorial on my easter pattern nails :) Now I know it's a little late seeing as Easter is over, BUT these nails can be adjusted for any spring day. Minus the bunny you have a lovely spring manicure. Easy peasey.

I started the weekend rather plainly as far as nail art is concerned, I didn't have a lot of time so I rustled up a simple dotted design and added a negative space feature nail to spice things up a little bit. I always do my nail art whilst watching my favourite current series or doing my episode catch ups, so if you think you have to set time aside to sit at the kitchen table with all your polishes around you - yeah, don't bother! - stick the telly on, get comfy with a cuppa and your mates and paint as you chill.

As the weekend went on I got more into the Easter spirit, depsite my lack of Easter eggs this year, I did a more complicated design for the April nail challenge by @californails on Instgram. I love this cute design, I haven't done something funky or themed in a while so I have done a quick tutorial on the most patterned nail, breaking it down for yah!

Easter Mani

Start with a coat or two of your favourite polish (I used my Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish in Mayfair Lane)

Then add your base stripes, in whatever colours you want, for this theme pastels and soft colours are prettiest! (I used NYC In a Minute in Raindrop, Models Own Ice Neon Polish in Pukka Purple and GOSH Cosmetics Special Edition Polish in Splish Splash)

Use a small flat brush to paint on your stripes, don't be afraid of lumps/bumps or double coating as long as you have an even base colour.

Once your stripes are dry and more evened out in the process (if you want you can do a top coat to smooth them out but it isn't necessary) you can add your designs. For this theme dotting and zigzags work best. 

To achieve a nice zig zag design us a thin flat brush dipped lightly in your chosen polish to create lines like below...

To get lovely dotting use dotting tools like below to dip and dot as your please...

Et Voila, perfect with a shiny or matte top coat of your choice (mine was the Diamond Strength Top Coat by Sally Hansen - but I am cheeky and use it on the top too because I have run out of my Insta-Dri Sally Hansen Top coat - oops, oh well, I'll do what I want)

The bunny is really easy if you have brushes or nail pens, do your pink bits first and them your black bits second and tah dah!

I added some simple dotted nails in part to make the features stand out but mostly because my film was drawing to a close and I was tired!

Hope you like these designs everyone, I am writing up a lovely make-up B&A for you all (something new!) for tomorrow :D Feel free to ask any questions I will answer as quick as possible as best I can!

See you on the tweeting and instagramming side @curiousitybty

PS Remember, all the product names I feature are links to places you can find them, as is my twitter name above (it's the same for my instagram too!)

the key to a fast and furious blow dry

I have a bit of a versus post for you all today - and I am trying to be more (yes this previously said me bore, because I am apparently really bad at spell checking or lazy, either way I blame my mother the English teacher) efficient and constant with my posts too as I know I've been very quiet this week.

These products are used to speed up the process of the blow drying your hair, convenient for those like me who have thick hair and those who wash their hair in the morning before work (it gives you an extra ten minutes in bed!!). I don't know how the technology works in these products but it works well! So here is what I love about them..

Color Wow's Speed Dry

 The Color Wow product isn't as strong in speeding up the blow dry as the Blow Pro lotion however I will explain why this is an advantage in a minute.  What I loved about i t though is that it is in the form of a lovely spray, it's light and refreshing right before a blow dry and I think the spray gives you maximum and easier coverage of your hair. I personally prefer this product out of the two, even though they are both so good at their jobs.

Blow Pro Express Blow Dry

This lotion is really strong, it does the job much quicker than the Color Wow spray - however it was a little too strong for me - it felt like my hair was too dry after I used it and as I have hair that dries out really quickly between cuts it wasn't good. It meant I had to put a lot of oil on afterwards, which I didn't love! But I would advise that those with really thick hair, that have trouble with a blow dry, use this product. It does what it says on the tin so to speak!

So overall, I would say that both these products are great and what makes them differ is if you prefer spray/lotion products or the thickness of your hair. Whatever the whether, try one at least!!

I am doing this post and other hair related posts to create the perfect blow dry kit which will go up in a couple of weeks. :) 

xxx