Geometric / Ombre Combination Nail Art

As I was scrolling through Pinterest looking at all kinds of nail art designs, deciding what I wanted to create, my eyes were drawn to both a bright ombre and a monochrome geometric print. Therefore I thought why not combine the two together and this is what I came up with.

What will you need?

To create this look you will need nail varnish in the shades mint, fuchsia, white, black and a glitter. You will also need a thin nail art brush and silly me forgot to include a sponge and top coat in the image (whoops)!
I used Barry M 'Greenberry and Matt White', a Colour Club glitter and Illamasqua Boosh, Obsess and Top Coat.

Step-by-Step:

Step 1: Paint all nails in two coats of the while nail varnish.

Step 2: Next paint your ring finger and thumb nail in the mint shade.

Step 3: Take the fuchsia shade on a sponge and create the ombre effect.

Step 4: Next take the black nail varnish on a thin nail art brush and create the geometric triangle shapes. I created two 'L' shapes inter-locking each other to achieve this.

Step 5: Picking up large glitter pieces on the nail art brush, place these into a vertical line on the ombre nails.

Step 6: Finally once all nails are dry, paint a layer of top coat over each nail. This will seal in the nail art and prevent chipping. 

I hope you have enjoyed this nail art tutorial! What do you think?

Until next time, Samantha xx

Illamasqua Glamore Collection

Today I am here with a long post for you, introducing the new Spring collection for Illamasqua 'Glamore'. This collection challenges you to 'redefine your own brand of glamorous' and 'be glamor'!

There are many perks of interning at Illamasqua and getting to see the new collections before they launch is just one! The 'Glamore' collection, bringing new textures and shades to Illamasqua, is one which I think many of you will love and is certainly one of my favourite Illamasqua collections. Aside from the girly imagery and pink theme running through the collection, the satin finish lipsticks and shattered star nail varnishes are a dream to apply and perfect to add a pop of colour and glam to your make-up/ nail art look!

Satin Finish Glamore Lipstick - Soaked, Glissade & Luster - £16.50 each

As some of you may know all previous Illamasqua lipsticks have a matte finish. Although I love a matte lippy, I was very excited when I heard the new Glamore lipsticks had a satin finish and hoped they would have the colour pay off and staying power of previous Illamasqua lipsticks I have tried. Not only do the lipsticks feel gorgeous and creamy on the lips, the shades are super vibrant and the colour is there to stay once applied. 

The three shades are Luster (candy pink), Glissade (bold pink) and Soaked (vibrant orange). My favourite shade has to be Luster as it is a really girly pink with a slight neon edge. As you can see from the swatches the shades are full of colour and if a pop of colour on the lips is something you love, as I do, these are definitely for you! These lipsticks can also be applied lightly, and pressed into the lips to add a subtle wash of colour over the lips. 

Shattered Star Nails - Trilliant, Marquise & Fire Rose - £15 each

Now you all know I love a nail varnish, so this collection became all the more exciting when I saw the shattered star nail varnishes. The polishes contain different sized glitter pieces, are super girly and perfect for adding a shimmer to the nails with a slight difference. They are described as being multi-dimensional and once dried the textured finish on the nails allows you to feel the glitter as opposed to the glossy finish most glitter polishes have. If the textured finish is not for you, the nail varnishes look just as great with a top coat applied on top!

The three shattered star shades are Marquise (orange), Trilliant (champagne) and Fire Rose (pink). Im finding it very hard to pick my favourite shade as they all look amazing on the nail. As with the lipsticks the shades are vibrant and two coats are more than enough to achieve an opaque wash over the nails. I cannot wait to use these in a nail art look, so keep your eyes peeled for these in a nail art look coming up soon! 

The collection launches on 27th February, so not long to wait, and the products are available to purchase online and in store/ on counter. The textures of the lipsticks and nail varnishes bring something new and exciting to Illamasqua and are a must try for those old and new to Illamasqua. To finish off the post here is myself and Kirsty getting our 'Glamore' on in the photo booth at the Glamore launch, with a peek of a star nail art look I created with the shattered star nail varnishes in Trilliant and Fire Rose! 

What do you think of the Glamore collection? Which are your favourite shades?

Thanks for reading! Samantha xx

Tips and Tricks to Stop Eyeliner Smudging

One of my pet hates is getting to the end of the day and finding my eyeliner has smudged up into my crease. This used to happen on a daily basis for me and I used to find myself constantly checking and rubbing it away. There are a few tips and tricks which I have picked up to ensure the dreaded smudge line does not appear, so I thought I would share these with you.

The key is to apply lots of powder products into the crease of your eye, to counteract any oils lying on the lid and provide a dry base. This is particularly important if you have hooded eyes as your eyeliner will regularly meet with your crease. So what exactly will you need?

If I want to create a classic flick of eyeliner with no colour on my eyelid, I use a pressed powder (Rimmel Stay Matte Powder), a flesh toned powder eyeshdaow (Illamasqua Justify), a bronzer (Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer), a gel liner (Maybelline Gel Liner) and Mascara (Rimmel Scandaleyes). In order to apply these products I use an Illamasqua Blending Brush, Real Techniques Shading Brush, Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush, Real Techniques Pixel Point Eyeliner Brush and an Illamasqua Fine Liner Brush.

Step-by-Step:

I have put together a step-by-step pictorial as to how I use the products to mattify my eyelid and prevent creasing.

Step 1: Apply a very small amount of foundation onto the eyelid.

Step 2: Take Rimmel Stay Matte Powder onto a real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush and press this all over the lid and up to the brow. 

Step 3: Take Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Justify on a Real Techniques Shading Brush and add this to the whole eye lid and take a small amount under the lower lash line.

Step 4: Take Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer onto Illamasqua's Blending Brush and Run this through the crease and up towards the brow. 

Step 5: Next I take Maybelling Gel Liner onto a Real Techniques Pixel Point Eyeliner Brush and Illamasqua Fine Liner Brush to create my feline flick.

Step 6: Finally I take Rimmel Scandaleyes and apply a coat of mascara to my top and bottom lashes.

And tada!!!! There you have a flick of eyeliner which will not smudge into your crease and will stay put all day!

I am so glad I have finally found my tip to avoiding my eyeliner moving all day, and as I said above the key is to use lots of powder products and word these onto the lid and into the crease. I have described how I use flesh toned products, but I also use coloured eyeshadows to add a pop of colour to the eyelid and prevent the eyeliner moving.

I hope you have found this post useful! To you have any different tips to stop your eyeliner moving?

Until next time, Samantha xx

Valentines Nail Art

With it being under a week until Valentines day I thought I would get creative and produce a Valentines themed nail art. When I think of Valentines day I think of hearts and roses, so I mixed the two together and came up with the look below. If you want to find out how I created this look keep reading...

What will you need?

To create this look you will need quite a few shades of nail varnish. I used navy, white, light pink, dark pink, pastel orange, coral, lilac, dark purple, mint and a top coat. You will also need a dotting tool and a small nail art brush.

The nail varnish shades I used were, Nail Supreme Navy & Top Coat ; Rimmel Ultra Violet, Ring a Ring ó Roses & Tangy Tangerine; Barry M Shocking Pink, Vidid Purple & Mint Screen, Collection Hip Hop and Illamasqua Scorch.

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Paint all nails in the navy shade, apart from the ring finger which should be painted white. Leave the base coats to dry.

Step 2: Using the navy nail varnish again and a dotting tool create a heart shape in the middle of the nail on the ring finger. 

Step 3: Taking the light pink shade and a dotting tool, create large dots randomly across all nails and inside the heart.

Step 4: Taking the pastel orange shade on a dotting tool create large dots surrounding the previous pink dots on the ring finger and the index finger. On all remaining nails take the lilac shade and do the same.

Step 5: Taking darker shades of the previous dots (dark pink, purple and orange), use the small nail art brush to add detailing to the centre of the large dots with the corresponding colour. 

Step 6: Take the mint shade and the dotting tool, create random leaves around the followers.

Step 7: Once all the above is dry, take a top coat and add a layer to each nail. This will seal in the nail art and create a shine across the nails!

I hope you have enjoyed this mini nail art tutorial. Have you been creating any valentines nail art? 

Have an amazing Valentines day on Friday! I can't wait to go and spend my Valentines weekend with my sister and best friends! 

Happy Nail-arting! Samantha xx