Nail Art Tutorial

"Rocker Chic"

*Disclaimer - I am not a nail artist - don't get judgy*

Hey guys, I've been wanting to get into some cool nail art designs etc for a while now and about two maybe three weeks ago I ordered some stuff online so I'm currently waiting for that in the mail, but I saw this little kit on sale for $10.00 at Priceline. (not sure how much this one was originally) and I couldn't pass it up.People have asked me how I did it, one girl grabbed my hand when I was paying for something demanding answers, so.... Here is a step by step of what I did.

Clean nails.

Step One: Clean Nails.

I was already wearing nail polish so I just cleaned that right off, then I trimmed my talons to this super short state right here.

Nothing fancy, just basic.

The Product.

Step Two: The Product.

This is by the brand: MODELSPREFER. Its in their 'Beauty To Go' range. One thing I love about this is that in the top left corner on the box, there are some super cute nail designs there, just a little bit of inspiration if you need it.







It come with this tool as well, I didn't know this was included because as you can see it doesn't show it anywhere in the packaging, so this was a nice surprise. This is used for placing the studs on the nail. (Thats what I used it for anyway) Its a really handy tool for nail art in general, one end is slightly larger than the other, so it would be really good for 'dotting' nail polish and making little flowers - maybe I'll try that.

Three little bottles, to which I adore the packaging. The first is the colour, it has some shimmer/glitter to it, but it isn't chunky or bumpy or anything, it looks quite nice just on its own. If you can purchase it as it is the colour is called "Heavy Metal".

It also comes with a top coat, which is always very handy. FYI: These polishes dry very quickly which to me is a good thing because I'm so prone to smudging all my hard word, but I didn't do any of that with this product. The only mess that was made was by my own in ability to 'stay in the lines'. I always end up painting half my hand when applying nail polish, easier to clean it up later then to realise you've missed a spot. (my new motto)

The last little bottle is one full of the 'studs' It is such a cute little thing and there are SO many studs in there, I was scared of wastage, but honestly, don't be. I also did all of my nails with about 4 - 6 studs each, so to me, that's using a lot, I might just do a simple 1 stud design next time or just an accent nail. The options are endless.





Step Three: Painting the nail
Firstly paint all your nails with the desired colour. In this case it is the one included in the pack (next time I might use a nice deep red colour).




Step Four: Clear Coat 1
You're going to want to let the first coat dry, then coat each nail with a THIN coat of the top coat. Just to seal the first colour. Let that dry.

Then doing one nail at a time apply another clear coat to the nail,
roll one end of the tool into the clear polish (I used the larger end) use that to pick up the studs and then place it into the still wet clear coat on your nail. It might sound like a bit of an ordeal but it honestly takes about 3 seconds to put the studs in place and as you do more of it, it is so, so easy. You only need to coat the tool in the clear polish, perhaps, once every few nails? Until it no longer picks them up.

Using tool to press studs into clear coat.

Step Five: Apply to all

Told you I was messy, This is the un touched up just finished sticking them to my nails product. This is the design I chose to do. Once you have all the studs in place. Let them set - making sure not to bump/wiggle them (some of mine moved but I didn't mind so much, while the polish is still 'wet' you can move them back in place) Now that they're all dry, put on a coat or two of the clear top coat to seal it all in place and Voila! You're done. Just clean those bad boys up!

Finished Product! All cleaned up! I took this photo two days after originally doing the nails, none have flaked off, although I've had some near misses. Mainly when I run my hands through my hair, because the hair is thin enough (obviously) it can flick up the studs. So be careful. I might see if I can get my hands on some form of nail adhesive and give that a go.


I hope you found this easy to follow and you give it a go yourself!

**watch this space - youtube video tutorial coming soon**


Thanks!

Bourjois, Australis and Savvy Review

Mad about Mattes!

I am a huge fan of matte finish lip products and when I noticed a heap of them on the market lately, I'm not gonna lie, I think my bank account died a little inside. 

There are 3 brands that I've had my eye on for a while: 

Bourjois: I've been a fan of their products and their liquid eyeliner is my all time favourite.

Australis: I've used their products a lot, and I like them, I'm becoming even more of a fan of their lip products, but I've never tried anything from this range before.

Savvy: I've never used anything from this brand before, but with a price tag of under $10, I'm not gonna say no.

I have 3 products from each line and have worn at least one from each line for a full day plus I've swatched all products. Lets get into it!

Bourjois:

 Rouge Edition Velvet

 Right off the bat, I have to say that the packaging is really nice, its simple elegant and like all things French, its a little bit chic. However, one thing I will say, is the safety seal that each product is individually wrapped in was an absolute disaster to remove. Resulting in flakey plastic stuck to the packaging making it a bit of an eye sore. I know its not that big of a deal. But its something I noticed and thought you all should know. Prepare for battle when opening these badboys.

The colours (Left to Right) Grand Cru, Olé Flamingo and Pink Pong

 The sales pitch:

 "Its soft, melting texture glides on to the lips and turns into a matt, velvety and incredibly light colour. Lips are left smooth and soft as velvet.
Enriched with evanescent oils, it’s incredibly sensuous formula provides a soft, second-skin feel, without drying or fading lips."

Texture/Consistency: Its true, they are incredibly soft and it does just glide right on. Lips do feel smooth without feeling 'gloopy'. Also true that your lips don't feel dry. This is a big win in my book.

Colour/Pigment: I was so happy with 2 out of 3 of the purchases. The colours are strong and vibrant (the photos don't do them justice) But the colour 'Grand Cru' just doesn't cut it. I don't know what went wrong with this one but it is an epic disappointment.

Smell: No aroma. Smells like your average lip product.

Application: Easy. Like I said before, product just glides on, the applicator makes thing simple and mess free.

Wear and Tear: When I wore it, It lasted the whole day, I don't think I touched up and I'm sure I went out for lunch whilst wearing it. It honestly feels like you're not wearing anything, which is good and bad I think. I like knowing something is on my face before I accidentally wipe my mouth. But other than that. It is a great product. 

Price: This is one of the only downsides, of the products on review today this one is the priciest by far, the only reason I bout the three (let alone one) is because they are currently on sale. I got them for $10 each instead of the usual price of $25. Honestly they are good, but there are a lot more products out there that do the same thing or better for the same price or cheaper. Just keep that in mind. But if you see them on sale, snag them up! But keep in mind Grand Cru is a bit disappointing.

Swatches:

Grand Cru just doesn't cut it like the rest of them.

Lighting was a little off. Apologies.

  Australis:

 Velourlips Matte Lip Cream

I love a lot of Australis' lip products and I was quite excited to give these a try.

Again with packaging, these have really cute packaging (and you don't have to deal with a demonic safety seal, this one is simple to remove).

This range of lip product has cute names that are 'City' themed. When I see something like that its almost an instant purchase for me. Then I have to reason with myself, but I'm glad I purchased this.  
Left to Right the colours are: Ny-cee, Tok-i-o and Ma-li-boo

The sales pitch:

"Highly pigmented lips are the look of the moment, and this lip cream takes it to the next level with its beautiful matte finish! The creamy long-wear formula glides on easily with its doe foot applicator, finishing to a velvety matte look with intense, full coverage colour payoff. Perfect for when you want lasting, matte colour that moves with your lips without flaking."

 Texture/Consistency: Quite a lot thicker than the Bourjois ones, but its not that bad. I didn't find them as moisturising, but thats not saying they were like sandpaper to put on. They are a nice smooth consistency. But we wary, this product does 'dry' quite quick, so any mistakes better be removed quickly. They do feel a bit dry throughout the day, but nothing that is too uncomfortable or a moisturising clear lipgloss or balm cant fix.

Colour/Pigment: Amazing colour and pigment. They're more vibrant in person, the photos (again) just don't seem to cut it.

Smell: I'm not sure if it is meant to be this way, or not, but they have a kind of Cherry smell to them. I find it quite pleasant.

Application: Super easy, glide on smoothly. They do dry quick.

Wear and Tear: This product is a solid decision if you don't intent on changing lippy throughout the say. If you go with one of these, you've made a commitment. They stayed on the whole day, I was eating, drinking, talking and it stayed true to the sales pitch and "moved with my lips without flaking".

Price: These beauties are $9.99! And the pros outweigh the cons by a landslide. If the other colours in the range suited my skin tone I would buy them. (I might just do it anyway to complete the set)

Swatches

Great pigment and Coverage!

Each shade is a delightful cherry scented pop of colour!

 Savvy:

Ultra Matte Lip Colour

Last but not least, we have Savvy. A brand I've never used but since buying these I've bought more of their products!. 

 Packaging! I love the frosted glass packaging for this product. Its similar to the Australis packaging, but the frosted glass makes it (in my opinion) stand out from other lip products in the same shape.

The theme for the names for these products seem to be 'Hollywood' themed the colours here (Left to Right) are:
Miss Monroe (personal favourite)
Icon
Rodeo Drive
 

Texture/Consistency: Similar to the Australis products, however these ones are a bit more dryer and will flake (it takes the whole day with no touch ups to get to that stage though)

Colour/Pigment: I'm in love with 'Miss Monroe'. This colour is what the Bourjois' 'Grand Cru' should have been. The other two colours are fully pigmented and give great coverage.

Smell: Not really any smell.

Application: Just like the others, quite easy. This also dry's quickly, it isn't moisturising like Bourjois is, and it does feel quite dry and a little bit sticky during the day, but thats only if you press your lips together quite hard, so don't do that and you should be fine.

Wear and Tear: Just like Australis this is a commitment. But maybe up a level. Its almost an ordeal to get this off if you've made a mistake, so make sure you know what you're doing. This product will stay all day and night with minimal attention required.

Price: I'm fairly sure this product was $7.99, and that is a bargain. For that price, I can say who cares about a slightly dry feeling when the pay off of colour is so great. 

Swatches

Amazing pigmentation. In love with them all.

Overall:

I would recommend all products to anyone who was interested but keep in mind, Bourjois is pricier and 'Grand Cru' is a let down (unless you really put the effort into application). But for the price, you get moisture. Australis is pleasant and with the odd cherry smell its just the 'cherry on top' (BAD PUN) It is cheaper than Bourjois, and is a little drying, but doesn't flake. The colours are all great too. 

The Savvy products I would also recommend. They are more drying than the other two and do tend to flake, but it took me a whole day of wear and tear for it to start flaking so I think for $8. you're getting your moneys worth. Also, Miss Monroe is a gorgeous vintage deep red colour true to the name and is what Grand Cru should have been. 

A WORD OF ADVICE: For the more drying lip products, put a moisturising lip balm on before application and throughout the day if needed. It does so much difference.

If you made it to the end of this, well done!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you try out these amazing products.

Makeup, Outfit and Mini Review

MOTD + OOTD

Hey, so here is another photo of my face, I'm about to tell you the things I have on it, so stay tuned if you're interested. 

Backstory:

Today is my 'lets leave the house and do things because I don't want to stay in the house and do all the things that I have to do' day. I have these often. 

So, I slapped a bunch of products on my face and with a sassy feeling and a strange yet familiar craving for sushi, I left the house. 

I don't really have a foundation 'routine' when I get one, I'll do a post on that. I feel like I don't know enough about foundations to really review them. (TBH I don't know enough about anything to really 'review' them)

Lets get into it. 

Outfit:

Don't mind the clothes all over the floor, they're just victims of the battle that is every day life. 

This is what I wore today. Pretty basic, but I liked it. 

Eyes:

Eyeliner and mascara are the same as usual, Bourjois products for both, there is another post describing them so I won't go into it. 

For eyeshadow, I did't want anything at all really, but I didn't want nothing, so I decided to use two products by ALMAY. Almay is a brand for sensitive skin, now my skin isn't super sensitive, but around my eye area it can be, also, I like these colours. 

L-R: Crème Brûlée (shade 125) and Cashmere (shade 155)

They're super sheer, but very pretty, I didn't use any primer, but when I do, the colours stand out more. 

The packaging is super cute, they're compact and portable, and I enjoy them.

Lips:

For lips today, because its nice and cold outside, I decided to go with a nice deep/dark red colour. Todays victim is by RIMMEL LONDON.  This is from the Moisture Renew range, I have a few from this range, and I'm quite happy with them. 

This particular one is in the shade 330 - 'Sloane's Plum' I'm not sure who Sloane is, but she has excellent taste in colour. 

The product stays true to its name, it is very moisturising. The product glides on very nicely and doesn't feel 'gloopy' like some lipsticks can. It has very nice coverage and lasts a while. I have had mine on 5ish hours, and in that time, I've been talking non stop, drinking (ice tea) and gorging myself on sushi and it seemed to last, It wasn't as vibrant, it did wear a bit, but the colour turned into more of a lip stain by the end of it. I don't mind when a product comes off after you've eaten something, its when it comes off for no reason at all, I have an issue. Another good thing was that whilst I was eating, the lipstick didn't turn grainy or anything from crumbs or food residue (one of my pet hates)

All in all, a good product, I can't remember how much it cost but knowing me, I probably got it on sale anyway. 

Before and After shot:

L - R: Before and after. 

Top Left: Full face of makeup, before leaving the house.

Bottom Left: Lips just before leaving the house.

Top Right: Full face of makeup, just as I returned home.

Bottom Right: Lips, just as I returned home, after 5ish hours of life and eating and drinking. 

And there you have it! I also went to Priceline today, because I had a $5.00 off coupon that I just had to use, so I'll show you all what I bought in the next post. Either today or tomorrow. 

<3

Getting a tan..

Summer Tan?

Ok, in Australia right now its winter. -_- yay. BUT because I like to go against the grain, I put together a little group of things I love for the summer! Hopefully if someone reads this where the sun is out in full shine, it'll be some help or inspiration to you. What started this, I hear you all ask so eagerly.. Well, children, sit back and let me explain it to you..

I'm poor. The end. 

I'm poor, I need a job, I saw a place advertised at a store that sells handbags and purses etc, this store is one of my favourite places to get these such things and I've been shopping in these stores for years, so, I went in and applied. I was nervous and didn't want to burst in there all guns blazing and slam my resume down on the counter and demand they hire me… instead, I moseyed around the store a little looking at the purses. I've been wanting a new purse for a while now. So when I saw that this particular one was $24.00 down from $50.00 I thought, why not? So I went up to the counter bought it and casually enquired about the position and went from there..

This is the purse I bought..

Front: Design and Gold accents.

Inside: Plenty of card space and ample
space for coins and notes (probably
going to be filled with receipts)

The brand is MARIKAI and it is in the colour 'camel'. I fell in love with the gorgeous cutout 'lace' pattern on the front of it

Close up of 'cutout' detail

One of the things I really like is the shape of it, whilst some people may think its bulky, I like it because it already has room for all that annoying change I'm going to inevitably accumulate. 

So this got me thinking, when I'd just walked out of the store with it, I thought, "hmm, its not a very winter looking purchase, now is it?!" (firstly, it totally is, you just have to style it right) and then THAT got me thinking, maybe I'll just put together a little summer mini accessories look book kinda thing and see what I come up with… so here it is.

Gold lacey cutout 'colar' necklace.

 These two necklaces, I love. I wear the top one all year round, because its gorgeous. The bottom one I mainly wear in summer though, I like to wear it with a blue 'tie die'-ish maxi dress with a lot of gold bangles and bracelets up my arm. I feel like if 'Esmerelda' from the 'Hunchback' was mixed with 'Helen of Troy'

Gold pendant. White beads and blue accent.
"Grecian" tribal necklace.

My clever mother made this.

I like summery, light weight, dangly bracelets as well as simple ones. My very talented mum, made this for me, and I can't wait until it is actually summer here for me to wear it. 

Gold pyramid studs.

These studs were in a pack of 6, I got them when I was in Barcelona I think. I bought them from Primark / Penny's and those stores are all over the world (except for Australia and it makes me so mad) These cute studs, because of the cut out in them, add a nice little bit of detail and brighten up what are basically, plain studs. 

Silver heart ring.
Gold, Amber and cream enamel ring.

    The heart ring is one of those accent rings and I wear it on my     index finger. The other is a statement ring and I wear it on any finger really. It depends on if I have other jewellery. 

The title of this is called 'Getting a tan' because, thats generally what one does in summer, however, I do not tan very well, so instead of getting one from the sun, I go out and purchase many items of the tan colour and get me one that way. Such as this little bag. It did come with a detachable long strap, but I've taken it off for the white because I use this more as a little makeup bag at the moment rather than a handbag. Its great, cost me $20.00 from Kmart and its just what I need. 

 This next thing I also purchased yesterday and I think it is very good for summer, it is of course a candle. 

The scent, as you can see, is Lemongrass and Ginger. It smells divine! I picked it up from 'Spotlight' in the "homey, smelly, candley" section, for $19.00 I think, it is quite large and I cant wait to light it, at the moment I have it sitting in my room with the lid off as an 'air freshner' and it is doing the job just fine. Thats one of my favourite little life hacks. 

And last but not least for this little summery themed post is something that everyone needs! (especially if you're in Australia)

 Sunglasses! I picked these guys up when I was in Barcelona (it seems all I did there was shop). You can find this style of sunnies anywhere. They were very in-expensive but they do the job just fine!

So that brings me to the end of another post. Not sure what this one was really about, but hey, now you can see things that I have. Thats gotta count for something right?

Hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are in the world. 

<3

Winter Colours!

Makeup Of The Day

 Hey! So, here is my face. I was having a good makeup day and an average hair day.

I love winter, I love coats, hot chocolates and dark lipstick. At the moment I've been going around buying every kind of purple tone or crimson red, and every shade in between lipstick I can get my hands on. 

Today, I was sporting defined brows, pale face (I don't tan), double winged liner, and some purple, berry lips. 

Eyes:

Double winged liner is one of my favourite looks, and its possibly my 'go to'. Its feminine and with the slight twist on the normal winged eye, its just the pop of detail I like. 

I use a liquid black eyeliner for this, the product is the Bourjois Paris: Liner Pinceau 16 Hour

I love this product so much, I've been re-purchasing it for approx 4 years now. I might do a full review on it another time. 

For my lashes I used another Burjois product this one is the Bourjois Paris: Volume Glamour Ultra Curl, as far as mascaras go, I've used better, but this product is really good for my lower lash line, it doesn't get clumpy and gross like others do. I use this every day and its perfect for full natural looking lashes. 

For the colour on my eyes today, I used the Urban Decay Naked 3 Pallet. Its gorgeous, I went for a gold, neutral, pinky look, something soft and not too "focus stealing" as I went for the bold lip. 

 Lips:

There is nothing I can say that is bad about this product, well done Revlon. This is the Revlon Colourburst: Matt Balm in the shade 215 - Shameless. It is a great texture, full colour, it lasts me the whole day with minimum touch ups needed, it stays on through lunch all the way to dinner without going grainy like some lip products do. It is smooth but not 'greasy'. This is one of my statement winter colours. 

Sorry about the iPhone quality

Last but not least in any way shape or form is...

Nails:

These are my natural nail, they're not fake. The colour that I'm wearing on them today is the Sally Hanson: Diamond Strength, No Chip Nail Colour. in the shade 460 - Save The Date. On top of this I have a top coat, also Sally Hanson. It is the: Sally Hanson: Hard as Nails, Xtreme wear nail colour. in the shade 100 -  Invisible.

Close up of it all on my face!

Don't you just love good make-up days?

I sure do.

<3