Christmas Nails Day 5: Rudolph Nails!

Its day 5 of my nail series!
This is the last character type tutorial and the last one which will be up tomorrow is still very festive but more for being fancy than fun.

So Rudolph nails are perhaps the easiest in this series its just dot,dot,dot done.

Lets go!

Start with a brown nail

Using the black nail pen put two fairly large dots in the top third of the nail to make eyes

Next, using your red nail pen to do a big red nose in the middle of the nail

Now, you can leave it there if you like. He totally looks done already but I like to use the teeniest bit of white nail polish and dot it on the eyes (the same as the penguin tutorial)

And you're done!

So cute, so simple!

If you give any of my nail ideas a try please let me know!

See you soon,

Chloe

Christmas Nails Day 4: Penguins!

Todays festive nail tutorial is penguins!
This is a pretty easy one though I will say getting the "m" right proved more than a little challenging to me as I dont have a steady hand at all.

Lets get started!

Start with a full white nail.

Using the black nail art pen draw an "m" across the top third of the nail and fill the top third in.

Like I said - not so much with the steady hand on this bit!

Using the same black pen do a dot either side of the point for eyes

Then using the teeniest white polish dot a bit in the black to make eyes

For this last bit you can either use an orange polish if you have it or a gold nail pen.
Draw a little triangle as a beak.

All done!
Once its all dry put on a clear coat just to seal it all in nicely.

How are you enjoying the nail series?

See you soon,

Chloe

Christmas Nails Part 3: Candy Cane

Its day 3 in my Christmas Nails series and today Im going to show you how to do candy cane nails!

So start of with a pretty red nail.

For the stripes there are 2 different ways you can do it:
1)
Once your nails are dry, you can cut some tape into little stripes, put them on your nails and paint over with white polish.
Once the white is dry, take off the tape and you will be left with perfect straight candy cane stripes.

2)
Taking your nail art brush, start by doing a line through the middle of your nail from corner to corner.

Use this as your central stripe and do one more either side.

When dry, paint over with clear nail polish.

Done!

Now you have pretty candy cane nails. This would look cute on all ten digits or as accent nails.

Have you tried this?

See you tomorrow for day 4!

Chloe

Christmas Nails 2: Fairy Lights

Welcome back!

Here is the first nail tutorial in my Christmas Nails series - fairy lights!

Lets get started!

Start with a plain, white nail:

Then, using the black nail pen draw the wire for the lights, from one corner of the nail to the other.

I put a little twist in mine just to make it something different but you don't have to.

Once this is done you can then pick whichever pen colour you want to dot on the lights. The technique is to dot the light and then use the pen to drag the polish to a point.
When dry, just paint a clear coat over the top to seal it in.
You're done!

It's one of the more simple nail looks but its pretty different and I get lots of compliments on it.

Did you try this look?

See you soon,

Chloe

Christmas Nails pt 1

Welcome to part one of my Christmas Nails series!

I love making anything festive and the top of my list is always nails. Sometimes Ill be tip tapping away on the keyboard at work, look down and remember how festive they are and it makes me happy all over again.

Here are the looks Im going through this series:

We have fairy light, candy canes, penguins, Rudolph and a snowflake.

To start off I thought I would detail what you will need.
You dont need any special nail tools for any of these looks though if you have the dotting tools you could use them for the circle work.

The base colours you will need are:
White
Red
Brown
Blue

I didnt go for any specific brand, just ones I plucked from my collection but they did the trick!

You will also need these:

 These are the nail art pens from good old Primark. They are £2 for two which is a total bargain!
One end has these little gems in, the colour in the middle is the nail polish. Now, at the other end You have these little pens that looks like this:

You just (gently) squeeze the nail polish tube and it comes out of the pen, making it much easier to do those festive designs!
But then, if you put the cap back on and unscrew that side you get the nail striper. An extra long nail brush that you can use to make straight(er) lines.

So now we have the kit out of the way, check back Wednesday to find details on how to do the first design!

See you soon,

Chloe

Little Heroes

So the weather has changed and its all about trying to keep your skin hydrated.
At home its not a problem but I'm not going to be lotioning up in work!
I've got a little kit which I keep on my desk that works perfectly at keeping my skin lovely and smooth which I thought I would share as well as my all time favourite that I cannot be without!

Left to right: The Body Shop Almond Hand Cream, Nivea Vanilla & Macadamia lip butter & Grab & Go Antibacterial hand foam.

This stuff is so moisturising! You only need a little bit and it will cover your hands and make them feel so soft and the smell is amazing. Not almondy like marzipan but in a more naturally scented way. I also use this if my arms are feeling a little dry during the day which helps stave away dryness til I got home.

This is more of a hygeine essential but I like that its foam, has a little pump and doesn't smell super chemically.

Nivea Vanilla & Macadamia lip butter.
Ok. This smells AMAZING kind of sweet with the richness of the nuts. Its really softening and really hydrates my lips when they've been suffering with the air conditioning. I wish they did this in a tube though as I don't really like putting my fingers all in it (even though I will have used the anti-bac!)

Here is my bonus item *drumroll*

Oh Nivea Milk & Honey lip balm. How I love you and your sweet scent, your silky smooth texture and the way you hydrate my lips.
This is always on me. Either in my bag, pocket or hand just in case I need a little lip balm. Its less than £2 in Boots, and for how amazing it is, its a major bargain.

What staples do you use in winter?

See you soon,

Chloe

Review: Elf Mineral Booster Powder

Name: Elf Mineral Booster Powder.
Size: Regular or large.
Price: Regular - £5 Large - £7

Description:
"Achieve the ultimate, translucent "photo finishing touch" to your makeup, our Mineral Booster melts into your skin, infusing it with key vitamins A, B and E to promote healthier skin that's noticeably silkier and smoother. Completely sheer and ideal for all skin tones, Mineral Booster gently absorbs oil and minimises the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and pores for a beautiful even finish. "

My review:

Packaging.
As with all ELF products, the packaging is clean and simple. Not bulky and it doesn't giv you a false impression of how much is inside.

 

Price: Normally the regular size which I got is £5 which is cheap as chips in itself for a mineral powder but I got it for £2.50 in the 50% off discount which is even better!

Overall review:
This was the product I was most looking forward too trying when I placed my order. I have super oily  skin so the more matt and shine free my face can be the better. The dream is to find a powder that keeps the oil under control so I don't look in the mirror at lunch and almost get blinded by the shining mess that is my face. I tried the well blogged about Rimmel Stay Matte powder but it did less than nothing. I tried the Bare Minerals powder. Literally the worst powder I ever used.
Then this came along.
Its super finely milled and easy to apply. You just dip in your brush (I've been using the ELF Complexion Brush) tap off the excess and swirl it all round your face.

It goes on really nicely, doesn't clump up or shrink. It doesnt melt off after a few hours (I'm looking at you Bare Minerals). It gives a lovely matte finish without the skin looking dull and dead. I would go for the large size next time as I feel the brush would be able to get in the pot just a little better.
I can't comment on the coverage because I got the sheer powder but I will be trying the tinted one next time as I do like just a little pep of colour sometimes!

Lets get onto the brush.
Super soft.
No fall out.
Awesome.

I know it seems like I just rave about these products but Im so shocked by the amazing quality of such cheap products.

Love. Love. Love.

What products have you tried?

See you soon,

Chloe

Review: ELF Eyebrow Kit

If you are on Twitter you may have seen ELF Cosmetics really campaigning for 20,000 followers and that once they got it, they would release a 50% off their already super cheap make-up.
I had heard a little about ELF through various Youtube Beauty Gurus and was kind of curious so after a little research I placed my order.
4 days later it was here!

The first thing I wanted to try was the ELF Eyebrow kit:

I got the shade medium as the gel/wax side on the left looked pretty dark to me.

It comes with the dark wax on the left that you use for definition etc and a lighter powder to set your brows in place.

It also comes with a little two ended brush. One with more stiff bristles to use with the wax and a much more fluffy end for the powder.

The brush sucks. Just putting that out there.

I like the packaging. It's not too bulky and feels pretty sleek in your hand. The mirror is a good size for the inside of a compact so you could touch your brows up on the go.
Thing is. You won't need to.

I love this! The wax is super thick with good pigmentation and, with the right brush, applies brilliantly. You can easily get a super defined sculpted eyebrow without too much fiddling about.
If I'm honest I didn't notice a massive difference with the powder over the top but it stayed put all day.
No muss. No fuss.
Brilliant.

Basically this has become a staple for me and because its a steal at £3.75 I don't see that changing.

Expect more ELF product reviews soon - I have a few to get through!

Have you tried ELF? What can you recommend?

See you soon,

Chloe

Review: Argan Oil Hydrating Mask - From POUNDLAND

Argan Oil.
Its everywhere and in everything. Body lotions, shower gel and, of course, hair products. Most of these products tend tend to be on the pricier side.
Brand name Moroccan Oil can set you back £31.85 for 125ml. I'm sure its brillant and makes your hair so soft and shiny that puppies are jealous but I just won't spend that sort of money on haircare.
Luckily my local Poundland had the solution a Argan Oil Hydrating Mask so I had to snap it up!

I used it for the first time last night and loved it! The consistency was very thick and smooth kind of like a body butter and it just smelled clean which I really liked. So I slathered it on my towel dried hair and let it soak in for half an episode of The Mindy Project. Once I rinsed and dried my hair I was really able to see the difference. Before, my hair had been punished by the sun, sea and chlorine from a recent holiday but after using this mask it looks and feels so much better.

I've tried Argan oil before and didnt see such a huge difference but with this I can really tell that its making my hair healthier.

So the next time you are in your local Poundland don't dismiss the hair treatments!

See you soon,

Chloe