Sparkle to see in the New Year

With 2013 ending tonight I thought I would give myself a mani with a bit of sparkle to see in the new year. I usually steer away from glitter polishes because the thought of getting them off makes me want to cry, but as its new year, I couldn't resist but to add a bit of glitter to my nail art! If you want to find out how I created this mosaic nail art look keep reading!

What will you need? 

For this nail art look I used nail varnish in the shades fuchsia, coral pink, mint, yellow, silver glitter and a colourful glitter. I also used a white nail art pen and a dotting tool and small nail art brush.
The nail varnish shades I used are: Illamasqua Harem, Lament and Harsh, Barry M Minty Fresh, Collection Lemon Soda and Colour Club Colourful Glitter.


Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: To begin I used a white nail art pen and mapped out the outline of the mosaic design. This made it much easier to fill in the mosaic sections.

Step 2-5: I took each colour in turn and filled in random sections on each nail using a dotting tool.

Step 6: Next I took the colourful glitter on the thin nail art brush and pushed this over the top of the white lines, spreading the glitter evenly.

Step 7: I did not feel that the colourful glitter was enough alone so next I took the fine silver glitter and added this over the top of the colourful glitter. If I was to redo this nail art I would probably complete step 6 and 7 the other way round in order to make the colourful glitter stand out more.

Step 8: Finally once all nails were dry I painted a top coat over each nail. This evened out the nails and sealed all the colours into place, as well as creating a shine over all nails.

I hope you enjoyed this nail art! Have you created any nail art for New Years Eve? I hope you all have a lovely new years eve and a fab 2014! I can't wait for what InSamazement has in store for 2014!

Until next YEAR! Samantha xx

My Beauty Countdown to Christmas

I know I'm slightly late posting about a beauty advent calender, but I wanted to save writing about how I counted down to Christmas until I had opened all the doors and tested out some of the beauty products I opened the doors to. I had the Boots '24 Days of Christmas of Beauty Treats' Advent Calender and it really did make counting down to Christmas that bit more exciting!

There was a great selection of brands amongst the advent calender treats including Soap and Glory, 17, Vichy, Nails Inc and Rimmel. What I loved most about the selection was the variety of both make-up, haircare and skincare gifts. I am usually a lazy one when it comes to skincare and testing out different skincare products, so receiving them in the advent calender meant I had the chance to test some out. 

Being a nail art lover, some of my favourite treats from the calender were the nail varnishes. I had not tried Mavala polishes before so I loved trying out both 'London' and 'Pure Diamonds'. You may have seen I grew very fond of 'London' the red shade and used it in all of my Christmas nail art looks!

Full products list:

Soap and Glory Clean Girls Body Wash

Balmi Lip Balm

Mavala London 53

Nina Fragrance

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation Ivory

Vichy Idealia Life Serum

Paco Robanne Black XS Fragrance

Umberto Ginannini Hair Tie

17 Supreme Shine Nail Polish

Orly Bonder Base Coat

Ghost Fragrance

Boots Salon Nail Shine Solution

Vichy LifeActiv Serum 10

Juicy Couture Fragrance

17 Tattoo Me Liquid Eyeliner

Dotty Nail File

Soap & Glory Scrub

Ghost Fragrance

Classic Calmex Moisturising Lip Balm

Mavala Pure Diamond 213

Botanics Heat Protection Shine Serum for hair

Nails Inc Porchester Square

Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Back comb in a Bottle

17 Blow Out Mascara

When I opened door number 24 I was greeted with not only a 17 Blow Out mascara but also a extra gift of a voucher offering triple advantage card points when you purchase any of the products from the advent calender.

There was one product in the advent calender which really stood out to be so this was my choice of product to get my triple points on. My favourite product of the 24 days was the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation. I was really impressed with this product and for a drug store foundation which puts you back just £5.99 I would recommend this for anyone wanting to try a foundation with a matte finish. I am not normally one for a matte look as I usually like a dewy glow to my make-up. However I found this foundation didn't matte my skin to the point where my skin was left looking dull, my skin still had a glow and the thick texture of the foundation left my skin looking flawless. This therefore left me no decision but to purchase the full size product!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I cant wait to find out what Boots will have in store for next years advent calender and no doubt the variety and brand selection will be as good, if not better, than this years. Did you try out any of the beauty advent calenders this year?

Until next time,

Samantha xx

Favourite Bloggers of 2013

I started my blog earlier this year and it has only been in the past year that I have really got into reading blogs! There are a select few who have really inspired me and through interning in the beauty world I have been introduced to sooo many new blogs. As it is coming up to the end of the year, I thought I would put together a list of my top 5 bloggers of 2013 and maybe introduce you to some bloggers that you may not have seen yet...

Little Tip Off
I discovered Amy at 'Little Tip Off' not long ago when I was browsing through nail art blogs. As you all know I'm'm a huge fan of creating nail art looks myself and when I discovered Amy's blog I couldn't believe the detail she creates in her nail art. I honestly think she is one of the best nail artists I have ever seen and if you haven't yet checked out her blog you definitely should. One of Amy's most recent  nail art looks based on the Snowman film is out of this world, I only wish I was as talented as her!

Wonderful You
Megs at Wonderful You is a blogger who I find SO inspiring. Not only does she have amazing hair, her fashion and make-up posts are always stunning and the images she captured complement her blog beautifully. I also love the videos Megs creates for her blog and YouTube channel, with my favourite video being her first Get Ready With Me post!

The Nailasaurus
Another favourite blog of mine is Sammy's blog 'The Nailasaurus'. This is another nail art blog and I have been loving Sammy's festive nail art looks for this Christmas period! Sammy produces frequent nail art posts which are all of such a high standard! She owns an amazing collection of nail varnishes which means her nail art looks are always so varied and creative!

Pearls and Poodles
Milly's blog Pearls and Poodles has been a firm favourite blog of mine for a long long time. Milly has amazing fashion and her love of beauty products mean you find out all the best beauty news from her. I am extremely jealous of Milly's hair and only wish mine could be as voluminous and shiny as hers. Milly's make-up always looks flawless and I love reading about her latest make-up picks.

One Nail To Rule Them All
Another favourite blogger of mine is another nail art blog. Alice from 'One Nail To Rule Them All' produces the most amazing nail art looks and after discovering Alice's blog a few months ago I am amazed by every single look she creates. Alice has recently been creating mini nail art tutorials for Barry M over the Christmas period which I have been loving! Alice also created amazing swatches of nail varnishes and my nail varnish wish list has grown and grown through seeing many stunning polishes on Alice's blog.

If you haven't yet checked these lovely girls blog's out I have put their links in the title of each blog and you definitely should check them all out. They have all been so inspiring to me and I'm sure they will continue to be amongst my favourite blogs for a long long time.
Who are your favourite bloggers?

I hope you have all had an amazing 2013 and have an even better 2014!

Until next time, Samantha x

Lime Crime Velvetines: Red Velvet

I have always wanted to try a product from an American colour brand so when I was given a Lime Crime Velvetine by a friend I was so excited to try it!

The Lime Crime Velvetines are very popular and the shade I have got, Red Velvet, is currently sold out online! The product claims to be a 'long wearing, kiss proof lip stain that glides on with the ease of a gloss and dries to a matte, velvet finish'. So I put it to the test to see if it really did live up to this...

Like the product claims, my Velvetine really did glide over the lips like a gloss. The ease of application allowed me apply the colour without dragging the product across my lips, and within 30 seconds my lips dried to a matte/ velvet formula. I found the velvet feel on the lips something which took some getting used to as I usually apply a gloss over any lipstick. However I really do love the look of a matte velvet lip and the speedy drying of the product on the lips ensured that I did not smudge the product after application. Therefore on first impressions I was very impressed by the liquid lipstick!

The product also claims to be kiss proof and long wearing. After having the product on my lips for around 10 mins, allowing it to dry completely, I kissed the back of my hand to put it to the kiss proof test. A very small amount transferred onto my hand, but no where near as much as any lipstick would transfer. This is also great to prevent any transfering onto your teeth! The Velvetine was long wearing on the lips until I eat a meal. Therefore, understandably, the product needed reapplying after eating, however between meals the product stayed on the lips without smudging or moving.

In the UK you can purchase the Lime Crime Velvetines from Love Make Up for £13.50. They do however sell out quickly, so if they are in stock when you visit the sight, grab yours when you can. Although I am still in search of a lip product which does not move from my lips when I eat, I would recommend this liquid lipstick for those of you who love a matte lip and are looking for a product which is relatively long wearing! Trying out this product has fuelled my need to try more American colour brands!

Have you tried any of the Lime Crime Velvetines or anything from Lime Crime as a brand? Leave a comment below I would love to hear from you!

Until next time, Samantha x 

Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer

I'm back with my second Christmas nail art and with just 9 days till Christmas Day I'm feeling very festive. I have seen lots of reindeer nails flying around the internet so I thought I would try my own! As always I have put together a step by step picture guide as to how I created my reindeer nails so if you want to find out keep reading ...

What will you need?

In order to create this nail art you will need nail varnishes in light pink, light brown, dark brown, white, black, red and glitter. You will also need a top coat and dotting tool in various sizes.
I used the following nail varnishes: Bourjois 'Rose Satin', Loreal Paris 'Beige Countess', Barry M 'Magnetic Red Sparkle', Barry M 'Matt White', Miss Sporty 'Black', Mavala 'London' and Rimmel 'Finishing Touch Glitter Top Coat'.

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Paint all nails in the light pink shade. I painted on three coats as my varnish was quite sheer and I wanted an opaque base.

Step 2: Using the light brown shade paint on semi circles at the bottom of your nails to create the face of the reindeer.

Step 3: Using the dark brown and a small dotting tool create the antlers. I began by dotting on a vertical line and then added the smaller diagonal lines after.

Step 4: Using a reasonably large dotting tool created two large white dots for the eye.

Step 5: Next take the black nail varnish and with a small dotting tool add two black dots in the centre of the white dots to create the eyes. Then take a larger dotting tool and create a semi circle for the noses on all nails apart from the ring finger.

Step 6: Take the red nail varnish and the large dotting tool and create the final nose on each ring finger.

Step 7: Taking the light pink again on a small dotting tool, add a dot to each reindeer cheek to give them a slight blushing colour to the cheeks.

Step 8: This step is optional but I wanted to add some festive sparkle so I added some fine glitter on a dotting tool to each nose of the reindeer.

Step 9: Once everything is dry add a layer of top coat to each nail. This will seal in the nail art and prevent any chipping.

I hope you have enjoyed this nail art! If you create any festive nail art I would love to see or if you have any ideas for other Christmas nail art I could create comment below and let me know. 

Until next time, Samantha xx

Snow Is Falling All Around Us

With just 17 days until Christmas day, I thought it was about time I started on my Christmas Nail Art adventure! The first design I decided to created was this snowflake/ snow blizzard look. 

As always I have put together a step-by-step tutorial as to how I personally created the nail art look below and all the bits and bobs you will need to create this look. 

What will you need? 

As in many of my nail art posts you will need a dotting tool and nail varnishes in the shades red and white as well as a top coat. However there are some tools I used in this nail art which may not be familiar! These are a nail art stamping disc, a nail varnish scraper and stamper. I got these a while ago and I always forget to use them as I am so used to creating designs from scratch! However they are the perfect tool for creating intricate designs that may be difficult to achieve using a standard dotting tool. I used the stamping disc to create the snowflakes and the design of this can be seen in the top left of the disc in the image above. 
The nail varnish shades I used were Barry M Matt White (White) and Mavala London (Red). 

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Paint all nails in a coat of the red nail varnish.

Step 2: Using the stamping disc, nail varnish scraper and stamper, stamp white snowflakes randomly over the nails. You begin by painting over the snowflake design on the disk with white nail varnish, then scrape off the excess nail varnish on the disk, leaving just the snowflake. Next you take the stamper and roll this over the snowflake to transfer the nail varnish onto the stamper. You then roll the stamper over the nail to create the snowflake design. 

Step 3: Take the dotting tool and white nail varnish and place dots in free spaces over the nails.

Step 4: Take a top coat and paint over each nail. This will seal in all the nail art, prevent shipping and give your nails a shine!

I have also created another step-by-step image so you can see each step in more detail...

I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you have created any Christmas nail art, feel free to comment below with a link to your image/ blog post as I would love to see! Also if you have any ideas for Christmas nail art designs I could try in the upcoming weeks to Christmas I would love to know! 

Until next time, Samantha x

Liebster Award

I will begin this post by thanking Bella from Miss Bella Blog for nominating me for the Liebster award! I had heard of the Liebster Award while ago when I was surfing through beauty blogs so I was so excited when I received a tweet from Bella saying she had nominated me. The award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers to help to spread the word for smaller blogs and meet some new people within the blogging community. 

The rules:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

3. Write 11 random facts about yourself.

4. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions

5. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 200 followers.

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I have an identical twin sister called Hollie and couldn't ask for a more amazing sister! We have all the same interests and she is my best friend as well as my twin. 

2. I am currently the Social Media Intern at the make-up brand Illamasqua and I am loving every minute of it. I am completing this as part of my placement year at Bournemouth University where I study Business Studies. 

3. I have a fear of dogs which started when a Labrador jumped in my pram when I was a baby!

4. I LOVE fancy dress (probably because I love getting dressed up and putting on some funky make-up).In the collage below are photos of me dressed as a butterfly from earlier this year. 

5. If I had to choose one colour of lipstick to wear for the rest of my life it would 100% be a dark pink shade as pink is my favourite colour. 

6. My biggest make-up inspiration comes from Pixiwoo. I watch all their tutorials and have picked up lots of tips from them. 

7. My favourite scent is coconut and I love bath and body products with a coconut smell!

8. As well as painting my nails, which you all know I love, I like to paint things to decorate my room. My latest creation was the box shown in the collage below, which you might recognise as my blog and social media title backgrounds are made from this design!

9. It might be hard to believe looking at me now, but when I was younger I used to be a tom boy and my favourite colour was blue! How things have changed haha!

10. I love big lashes and would do anything for my natural lashes to be longer!

11. My biggest beauty collection would have to be my nail varnishes because of my love for nail art! Here are just some of them ... WOOPS

 The Questions I Was Given:

1. What are your favourite accessories?

My number one favourite accessorie would have to be bracelets. I am also loving a fur colour (fake fur of course) at the moment to put around my leather jacket/ winter coat.   

2. What is your favourite time of year?

This is tricky! I love summer because of the weather and being out doors more but then I also love winter because my birthday is in December and I love Christmas. 

3. What is your favourite animal?

This is easy for me! Elephants have always been my favourite animal and I would love to go travelling just to ride on an elephants back! 

4. What is your favourite quote?

My favourite quote comes from Bobbi Brown 'I believe that all women are pretty without makeup - and can be pretty powerful with the right makeup' because I love the confidence makeup gives me. 

5. What is your favourite flower?

I love any flower that is pink! And I also really like daisies and daffodils as they remind me of summer.  

6. What is your favourite nail varnish?

This is SOOO tricky! If I had to choose one nail varnish I loved I think it would be Illamasqua Harem because I don't own any other shade like it!

7. What is your favourite beauty brand ? - high end and high street

Well I'm slightly biased but my favourite high end beauty brand would be Illamasqua. As well as interning for them I do honestly love their products! My favourite high street brand would be Rimmel and their stay matte powder is one of my holy grail make-up products!

8. What would you like to be able to do that you can't do at the moment?

I wish I was better at make-up. I normally stick to a smoky eye as that is what I know best, but I would love to experiment more and learn some new make-up skills!

9. Pastel or neon colours?

ohhhh I love both!! If I had to choose one I would probably say pastel because they're really girly and wearable. 

10. What is your favourite T.V show?

I am a bit of a lover of reality TV so my favourite would have to be TOWIE closely followed by Made in Chelsea!

11. What is your favourite blog posts to read?

Tutorial posts would have to be my favourite. I love seeing how other people create nail art and make-up looks themselves! 

11 Questions for My Nominees:

1. If you could use one beauty product for the rest of your life what would it be?

2. If you could invent a totally new beauty product what would it be?

3. What are your personal favourite blog posts to write?

4. What is your all time favourite beauty brand?

5. What is your current favourite make-up look?

6. Do you prefer make-up, skincare or hair care?

7. What inspired you to start blogging?

8. What is on your Christmas wishlist?

9. What is your dream job?

10. What is your favourite way to style your hair?

11. What is your number 1 beauty tip?

My Nominees...

I may have cheated slightly and only chosen 5 nominees:

Aimee from http://dress-it-up-6.blogspot.co.uk/

Samantha from http://daintyowl.blogspot.co.uk/

Rachel from http://overdosedemaquillage.blogspot.co.uk/

Demi from http://kissandmakeupblog.co.uk/

Fiona from http://girlwithlipstick.blogspot.co.uk/