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

Not so green with Envy

I have been very queit on my product reviews lately as I have tried to concentrate on my nail art as it is the original reason I opened this blog up. However, that doesn't mean the beauty posts will come to a halt, don't worry your little noggins. This post is actually a nail produt review for the week and I have a few Christmas and winter themed posts in the upcoming weeks .. I am even going to try something fashion-y this weekend, see how you like that :)

So.. O.P.I Nail Envy.

What did I think? When my mum told me she had ordered us both a bottle I was ecstatic. I paint my nails ALOT and have always applied my trusty Avon Nail Strengthener or another favourite Sally Hansen Diamond Strength (which I have featured on here a fair bit), and I've not had much cause for complaint with them. HOWever... My nails do seem to break frequently, probably down to my clumsiness and excessive handbag clutter. So when the package arrived I was rather giddy.

I tried the routine for a week -

2 coats on day 1 > 2 coats on day 3 > 1 coat on day 5 > remove on day 7.

And I honestly wasn't all to impressed with the results, I think I got overexcited and expected a little too much. So I waited a few weeks and tried again, and this time I noticed a difference!..

A few weeks later I tried again again.. and now my nails are so tough it took a bowling ball to break one. They feel thicker, are growing faster and seem to be invincible. The protein must take a few goes to really get to work on them.. If you aren't a nail painter, then I do suggest you keep this on and repeat the process over and over to have impeccable nails for those special occassions when you do lacquer up. If you are a nail painter like myself, then I suggest giving yourself a week break every 3-4 weeks on this formula. Just like your skin needs no make up days, so do your nails.

Take care ladies.

nail art: winter sparkle

Adding a lil bit o' winter sparkle to my life and yours. It's finally December so I will be giving in to the Christmas cheer I do love so much, when it's not October.

P.S. Sorry it's been a while.. I'm a very busy final year student who has taken to living in the library!!

Hope you enjoy the video below...

I love this look for two reasons - it's simple and it's sparkly.
I used:
- GOSH Matte Silver Polish
- Barry M White Polish
- Tape (from eBay any colour should do)
- Sponges from Primark
- Brushes (from eBay of course)
- Avon Quick Dry Spray (My secret to happy nail-hood)

Steps:
- Apply tape
- Apply two coats of white polish
- Sponge on your sparkle
- Allow to dry
- Remove tape
- Clean line and around nail
- Top coat and spritz!

Taping tips:
- Be careful when applying a thick layer of anything on top of tape .. make sure it dries completely before removing the tape
- Pre-cut your tape for each nail.. of course
- Clean your negative space with a thin brush dipped in polish remover
- A top coat will even out the bumps and edges, don't worry!

Gradient tips:
- I do gradient a lot but not with glitter because it's hard to clean... Use plenty of polish remover, cotton buds and brushes and keep at it!
- Any remaining glitter will come over over night/with time, don't worry about the odd speckle
- Use a make-up sponge to apply.. of course

Please please do take a quick second to check out my other videos on YouTube (click here!) and subscribe away my dears!

nail art: great gatsby

A couple of years ago when Great Gatsby actually came out I did an inspired design in black and gold; it's one of my absolute favourite freehand designs from my collection.

Follow this link to see the full video on my YouTube channel! 

I used:
- GOSH Nail Lacquer in Gold 554
- MUA Polish in Pitch Black
- Thin brush for black and gold seperate!
- Avon Instant Dry Nail Polish Spray


Tips:
- Use the thinnest brush you can find for creating your design
- Have a dollop of the design polish on a piece of paper next to you
- Don't let the dollop dry! - Obviously
- Use black to neaten the design - so don't worry about smudges

nail art: an easier way to marble

I have now (well my dad has now) invested in a tripod so I can film all my tutorials from now without the scary balance of my phone on a stack of books! SO without further a due I give to you my dry marbling tutorial!

This design is a super easy way of getting an interesting 'how did you do that?!' design. It works great as a feature nail and you can use just 2 colours or as many as you want!

I used:

• Models Own Polish in Pukka Purple
• Barry M Nail Paint in Matt White
• GOSH Cosmetics Polish in Deep Purple
• Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days Polish in Crystal Clear
• 1 small dotting tool (smallest you can find - a needle or anything sharp & pointy can work)

Tips:

• Use a fair bit of polish for your base colour
• Act fast
• EXPERIMENT with design
• I use my nail to clean up any wonky lines or leaks in the polish (this can happen when applying a big dollop at once.. use a fine brush dipped in polish remover if you aren't a fan of the nail to nail clean up I use)
• Enjoy :)