Ombre Nails!

There are whisperings in the fashion world that Ombre is out, yet increasingly it's been boldly making it's way back into our lives and what I'm loving at the moment is Ombre nails! They are super stylish, incredibly easy to do and actually don't take a lot of time! Perfect for a quick fix!

First off, make sure you have all of your tools, you don't want to be getting up half way through and having to rummage for the rest of your tools! you might ruin your nails!
You will need:

• The nail polishes in the colours you want to use. You can almost literally use any colours, it's a great chance to experiment and have fun!
• A good top coat! This will smooth out the nails and make sure it lasts longer and stays perfect!
• Toothpicks. Great little mixers.
• Something plastic. preferably a plastic sleeve of some sorts that won't make the polish dry out and won't absorb it.

Step 1: Choose your lightest colour and paint all of your nails as normal. wait for this to dry as much as possible for a good base coat.

Step 2: Using the plastic, paint the polish straight onto the plastic so the colours touch, make sure you use plenty so there is no gap.

Step 3: Take a tooth pick and mix the colours together in the middle (use a swirling motion so there isn't just one straight line, it gives it more of a gradient look).

Step 4: Using a sponge (I use a makeup sponge but you can use an ordinary sponge to) dab it in the polish and start pressing it onto the nail. You can do this as many times as you like to create layers but make sure it's dry in between applications!

Step 4: Once you're happy and everything is dry, add a top coat or two for protection, clean up the edges and you're ready to go!

Hopefully this will help you! The pictures aren't great because I did it late at night with a friend and this was my first ever attempt but i'm really pleased with the outcome and I will definitely be doing this again! Perfect for a night out!

The picture is a bit blurry and I haven't cleaned up the edges but here's some experimentation I did with colours! Very easy and very fun!

k.

Nail Foils

Nail Painting and decorating is something that women have been doing for hundred's of years and yet there is always a new trend around the corner, French manicure's, Heart tips, alternate colours, jewels and now nail foils have caught my eye although they are far from being new! I first noticed nail foils when I worked for Claire's Accessories, they were rather basic and un-imagenitive and also quite pricey, around £7. We never seemed to sell a whole lot of them, but why would you buy them when you could buy an amazing coloured nail varnish that was sparkly or magnetic and half the price?
No, when I first found the nail foil I wasn't particularly impressed, however recently I have been noticing them everywhere in all sorts of patterns and colours. Anything you can think of really and they're far from boring! I know there are lots of different types of nail foils about but these ones are really simple easy and work so well!
Having a general search on the internet I found these fabulous leopard print foils for 99p on Ebay and they arrived less than a week later. I was very spoilt for choice as there were thousands to chose from!They are easy on your pockets, quick to apply and leave you with amazing and trendy nails in a flash!
And I will show you how!

Step 1: Make sure your hands and nails are oil free and clean! Don't put any moisturizer or creams on your hands and then (even if you don't have nail varnish on, which you shouldn't to apply the foils) Rub nail varnish remover over the nail to make sure it is smooth and clear.

Step 2: Chose which foil best fits the nail your doing and cut it out of the pack! My nails are awkwardly thin and small so I have to cut into the foil a bit more to get the right fit, but they do provide you will good sizes!

Step 3: Put the foil in the nail and make sure everything fits and aligns, you have to be careful but with these foils you can keep removing them (peeling them back gently) and reapplying them if you need to cut them down to size anymore.

Step 4: When your happy with the shape and size, smooth down the foil making sure there are no creases or air bubbles! you will be left with a long bit of excess at the top (unless you have already trimmed it).

Step 5: Trim that top excess bit, leaving a small ledge to tuck under the nail and then file the top to create a smooth perfect line! And wa-la! funky, stylish nails quickly!

If you are worried about them peeling or chipping you can seal them to make them last a bit longer with a clear nail varnish, that's the only downside to them they can be damaged quite quickly! I use Sally Hansens Hard as Nails, because it also protects your nails!
At the moment i'm a little bit obsessed with painting my ring finger on both hands a complementary colour, as you can see, It's a new trend that has come in and I love it, it's just something quirky, fun and draws attentions to your nails!
So there you go! cheap, effective and easy, something were all looking for so definitely try these cool nail foils!


And I have even found you some good places to get your own!

Amazon has a wide range of reasonably priced, stylish nail foils starting at £1.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=me%3DANFYV56DHPFBH&field-keywords=nail+foils

This site has a wonderful range of all things nail including funky foils starting at £2.15
http://www.naildelights.com/foils-c-18.html

Although this is a fragrance site it has some amazing nail foils really cheap! check them out!
http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/make-up/nails/icat/nails

Have fun and get creating!

k.

BB Creams. What's the Point?!

BB Creams. Every time we turn on the TV or even flick a page of a magazine there is another advert for the 'magic' cream. They seem to have exploded into all of our lives at the end of 2011 but even though they have such a large following and coverage I still found myself asking, several months later, what are they? Well BB means Blemish Balm or in some companies Beauty Balm. OK that’s what it means, but what do they do and why are they so big!? As well as making your skin look fabulous, BB creams are supposed to be good for you as well! The creams were developed by dermatologists for patients who had gone through laser surgery, it’s supposed to be beneficial, nourishing and all around amazing for your skin. The Overall idea of BB creams are that they provide you with SPF protection

(Always handy to have in a skin care product), moisturization

And sheer coverage also the products boast soothing and healing properties! To me it does sound like a tinted moisturizer but BB creams are supposed to be that and so much more! One of the main reasons BB creams 'cover' so much in one product is so that you can use 'one product' it eliminates the need for having a hundred and one products (although I don't think it’s going to stop us from owning 101 products!)

MUA (make-up academy) light BB cream

My first run in with the cream, apart from through the television, was when I decided to see what all the fuss was about myself. I bought a MUA (make-up academy) light BB cream for £4 a very reasonable price I felt. What interested me about this cream was that not only was it cheap so ideal for testing the product but it boasted 'a multi-functional formula that conceals, brightens and evens out skin tone for a perfect complexion' which is what most women are trying to achieve by wearing make-up every day. The coverage and tone was really really good, I can just whack on a bit of the cream where it's needed and be done for the day. The only down side to this particular cream was that in some places it made my skin appear a bit dried out but this cream say's nothing about moisturizing or anything of the sort on the packaging so I'm not going to hold it against it.

There are a million and one BB Cream's out there and a million and one articles saying 'chose this one!' 'Pick me!' but honestly if you want a BB cream, reviews and others opinions will only get you so far. You need to get out there and try some, have a look through a selection of creams and determine what you want yours to do! Don't forget there's always tester's you can try so you can see the type of coverage you’re getting and how it will affect your skin. That's another reason why I'm not saying which one you should get because everyone's different. Everyone has a different budget, different needs and most importantly, different skin types what may be good for one, may not be good for another and products like this can affect people very differently so be pro-active and go out and test them ourselves! Take a friend for opinions and who knows you may even have a bit of fun testing them out!

But in general if you are looking for a quick, easy and amazingly good product for your skin I would definitely recommend looking into BB creams. You can wear it as a primer, under foundations, as a foundation or just on its own and still look fabulous with all the benefits of an SPF moisturizer that looks after your skin and makes you glow!

Primer Time.

Primers. Most women don't even bother with them. Some even don't know what they are. And no, I'm not talking about something you whack on your walls before painting!
Basically primers are used underneath your make-up to smooth, reduce oiliness and even out your skin. They help the state of your skin but they're main job is to make your make-up stay properly and for much longer! You can get all sorts of primer's for different parts i.e. eye primers, face primers lip primers etc.
You don't necessarily need a primer but I find they are very helpful and make your face appear almost smoother and almost flawless whereas wearing no primer can make it really obvious you wearing make-up and make your skin appear crumbly and flake-y  which is the last thing you want! Also Primers are widely recommended by make-up artists (which is always a plus!)There are tiny little silicone balls in primers that fill your pores which is why they are so effective at creating that oh so desired smooth surface ready for your make-up.
Now for the reason we are all here. Primers usually cost £10 and upwards which is all well and good but that's money you could put on your electric bill, which is where I come in! I'm going to share my wisdom and show you all how to make your own Primer-esq product using pieces you all probably already have, so you get lasting, professional looking make-up on the cheap! The one i'm going to show you is mainly a tinted moisturizer but can double up as a primer) I wore it all night at work under my make-up and it hadn't moved an inch!

You will need:

• Foundation - a liquid one that matches your skin tone
• Concealer - a liquid one that again matches your skin tone
• Body butter - Preferably unscented but it doesn't really matter. Or you can use really think moisturizer such as the Lush's 'Dream Cream', it just has to be thick and a good consistency!
• A little pot to mix and put everything in, preferably with a lid. (I've used an old Vaseline lip tin just washed out)
• A spoon
• Toothpicks for mixing.
• Also you can use any aloe Vera gel, but I didn't have any handy!

Step 1: Making sure you have a clean tin, pour some foundation in, you don't need a lot, just about an almonds size, depending on the size of your tin and how much you want to make.

Step 2: Add the same amount of liquid concealer, this makes it mix well with your skin tone, provides even coverage and helps keep everything light and bright.

Step 3: Using the back of the spoon start adding the body butter to the pot. Aim for the same amount as the concealer and foundation but once you have mixed it, if you feel like you need more you can keep adding to get a nice thick consistency.

Step 4: Using a tooth pick mix it all together, careful not to spill any. Once you're happy with how it looks, and how much you have then you're ready to go and now you can try it out!

It really is that easy, takes less than 5 minutes and can save you a lot of money. I know it doesn't sound like much but it really is useful and really does work, I didn't quite believe it would do anything till I made it myself and now I live by it! I even told my best friend all about it and she didn't believe it until she saw it! So give it a go! Experiment a bit and hopefully you'll love it too and save a bit of cash in the mean time!

Here I have out eye shadow on my hand on it's own and on top of the Primer. The eye shadow on it's own is really smudgy and weak looking almost like it's watered down and it's not consistent, it's bolder in different area's whereas the eye shadow over primer is instantly bold and strong, the colour is much more prominent too and it will last 3x as long as the shadow without the primer!

 k.

Left - Eye shadow on its own
Right - Eye shadow with primer.