Purple & Gold Eye Makeup Tutorial: Inspired by Dixiewolff

Some of my favourite accounts to follow on Instagram are makeup artists and enthusiasts who post stunning looks, inspiring me to be more creative with my makeup. Therefore I thought I would do a series of tutorials on my blog, showing you looks I have created, inspired by some of my favourite Instagram artists.

The first in this series of posts is a gold and purple eye makeup look, inspired by the super talented Dixiewolff. If you haven't already checked her out on Instagram you won't be disappointed when you do! Georgia creates super colourful looks as well as everyday eye makeup. Every time she pops up on my Instagram feed I only wish I could blend like her! I thought I would have a go at Georgia's purple and gold look so here we go ....

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: To begin I just washed a white shadow over the eye just to cancel out any imperfections.

Step 2: Next, using a brown shadow, I took this all over the lid and slightly under the lower lash line, blending out the edges.

Step 3: Using a purple shadow, I placed this into the inner and outer corner of the eye, blending slightly in the crease.

Step 4: Then taking a gold eye shadow I added this to the centre of the lid and also ran it along the lower lash line. 

Step 5: Next, I took a bronzer and blended this into the crease and also took a gel liner and created a flick on the top lash line. 

Step 6: Finally I took some mascara onto the top and lower lashes to finish off the look.

And there you have your purple and gold eye makeup look, perfect for a party or special occasion!

I pared by look with super dewy and highlighted skin and a nude lip. For my eye makeup I used the Illamasqua Fatale Palette, Maybelline Gel EyeLiner (my fav!) and The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara along with some individual lashes.

What do you think of this look? What colours do you love to use in your eye makeup?

Sam xx

Tropical Floral Nail Art Tutorial

One of my favourite nail art themes is floral and I have slightly neglected it for a while. Today I thought I would get back into the swing of floral designs and create one with a tropical coloured twist. Keep reading to find out how I created this look ...

All you will need is nail varnish in the shades: purple, coral, yellow, blue, green, white and black. You will also need a dotting tool and a fine nail art brush.
The shades I used were Illamasqua 'Lament', 'Boosh' and 'Scorch'; Collection 'Lemon Sorbet'; Models Own 'Blueberry Muffin' and Rimmel 'Green Grass' and 'Purple Rain'.

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Begin by painting all nails in the purple shade and leaving this to dry completely

Step 2: Next create the larger flowers on the nail using the coral and yellow polish on a dotting tool.

Step 3: Leaving the larger flowers to dry I moved onto the smaller detailing, creating smaller flowers in the blue and white and some leaves in any spare areas on the nail using the green polish.

Step 4: Next taking the coral and yellow shades onto a fine nail art brush I created some texture in the centre of all the large flowers.

Step 5: Then taking the black and white polishes onto a dotting tool I added detailing to the centre of each large flower.

Step 6: Finally once everything is dry go in and paint a layer of top coat onto each nail.

And there you have your tropical floral nail art design!

What do you think of this design? If you recreate this or something similar I would love to see a photo so tag me on Instagram @insamazement!

Happy Nail Art-ing! Sam xx

Bourjois Délice de Poudre Duo Review: Bronzing Powder and Highlighter

When I heard about the new launches from Bourjois I was extremely excited to see this bronzer and highlighter duo! I have loved the chocolate bronzer for a long long time and am so pleased to see more and more contouring and highlighting products hitting the high street. 

The product holds a bronzer on the right hand side, which is the perfect shade for my light to medium skin tone and blends out beautifully to contour and sculpt the cheek bones. On the right side is a champagne illuminating/highlighting powder. In the palette the highlighter seems to have a pearly glow with a slight shimmer, however when transferred to the face the highlighter is not as strong as I had hoped and the shimmer seems to disappear. I love a shimmer on the tops of my cheek bones and this product just gives a slight glow, perfect if you like a subtle highlight, however not as prominent as I had hoped for. Therefore the bronzer is perfect for me but I've found that I prefer to use a second highlighter over the top of the one in this duo to add more shimmer. 

I like to use my Illamasqua Highlighter Brush to apply both the bronzer and highlighter to my cheeks, blending the bronzer in circular motions under the cheekbones to give a slight sculpt and patting the highlighter onto my cheek bones. I found I had to get quite a lot of product onto the brush to create a strong contoured look, which I love, however taking a small amount of product would create a nice subtle contour, if thats what you prefer to go for. 

The image below shows my base makeup before applying the duo, then after I had applied the bronzer and highlight, and finally after applying blusher to the apples of my cheeks. I love this product for day to day use, however I will be using a second/alternative highlighter just because of my preference to have super glowing cheeks. 

You can pick this duo up from UK drugstores on the highstreet for £7.99 and Boots currently have a 3for2 offer across all Bourjois products (which I always find hard to resist!).

Have you tried any of the new Bourjois products? What are you favourite things to use for contouring?

Thanks for reading! Sam xx

Colourful Mosaic Nail Art Tutorial

Im back with another nail art tutorial. Today I was feeling colourful so I went for a rainbow of shades and created a mosaic look which is sure to catch attention. This look is super easy to create so keep reading if you want to find out exactly how I achieved this design...

What will you need?

All you will need for this look are around 5 shades (and 2 variations of each shade) and also a white polish. The 5 colours I went for were pink, purple, green, blue and peach. You will also need some nail art striping tape and a dotting tool. 

The shades I used were:

Pink: Graffiti Nails 'Butterfly Pink' and Barry M 'Rose Hip'

Purple: Barry M 'Vivid Purple' and Avon 'Lavender Sky'

Blue: Illamasqua 'Cameo' and Models Own 'Blueberry Muffin'

Green: Graffiti Nails 'Pistachio' and Models Own 'Apple Pie'

Peach: Illamasqua 'Lament' and 'Purity'

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Begin by painting all nails in a white base layer. Leave this to dry completely before moving onto the next step. You may want to paint a fast drying top coat to the nails to speed this process up slightly

Step 2: Next take pieces of striping tape and place these in an 'x' shape over each nail.

Step 3: Using your 2 shade variations, take the darkest of the two and paint this into the tip triangle, then take the lighter shade and add this to the two outer triangles.

Step 4: Remove the tape, clean up around the nails and add a layer of top coat to each nail.

And there you have your mosaic nails!

What do you think of this design? Do you prefer super colourful or more subtle designs? 

If you recreate this look yourself, be sure to share it with me on Instagram @insamazement!

Happy Nail Art-ing! Sam x

Bourjois Rouge Edition Liquid Lipstick Review

So I am a HUGE lipstick fan and so of course I had to try the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet liquid lipsticks. I have tried many liquid lipsticks on the market, good and bad, and these are definitely added to my good pile.

The liquid lipsticks come in eight shades, ranging from super brights to subtle nudes. So I picked up one of each and went for the pop of pink ‘Pink Pong’ and my lips but better ‘Nude-ist’.

The doe foot applicator makes the lipstick easy to apply and create a neat edge around your lips, however you may want to add a lipliner to begin if you want super precision, photo ready lips. The lipsticks also layer beautifully! No streaking or bleeding, the velvet formula is just right and the colour pay off is next to none!

So they have lived up to my expectations so far, but how about the lasting power? … I was very impressed! They did disappear from the center of my lips slightly after eating, however nothing a little touch up can’t fix. Aside from this they don’t budge at all and take a few washes of cleanser to remove.

Out of the two shades I have to say I prefer the bright pink ‘Pink Pong’. I am one for a bright lip come day or night and with the amazing colour pay off its definitely all about going bold.

The Bourjois Rough Edition Velvet liquid lipsticks are available online and on the highstreet. I picked mine up while there was a 3for2 offer in boots, which I believe is still on, so GO GO GO why not pick up 3 for the price of 2 while you can!

Have you tried any of the shades? Which liquid lipsticks are added to your ‘I love these’ pile?

Sam xx

Nars Laguna Bronzer Review: Does It Live Up To The Hype

So as I'm sure most of you know, Nars Laguna Bronzer is EXTREMELY popular amongst beauty bloggers. I um'ed and ah'ed for ages about whether or not to make a purchase, because I am a fan of a bronzed contoured cheek! When I was at IMATS earlier this year it was up for grabs for £18 instead of the usual £27 so I thought I would give it a whirl and see if it really did live up to the hype...

So as far as bronzer application goes, I like to apply it in the hollows of my cheeks to give myself some cheekbones, as well as on my temples and down my nose slightly. Laguna is perfect for this as it has an ashen tone, ideal for day to day contouring and warming up light to medium skin tones, without making an orange mess. For an evening out I usually take a cream bronzer under my cheekbones to begin, and I found Laguna was great for applying over the top to intensify the contour.

I use Laguna on my Illamasqua Highlighter Brush. This brush is the perfect size for taking bronzer under the cheekbones and using circular motions applies the product evenly over the cheeks and blends out beautifully!

The lasting power of the bronzer is ideal! Whereas sometimes with bronzer I find it goes a bit patchy in the lower cheek area, I have not found Laguna to do this at all and haven't had to touch it up once throughout the day. Laguna has a very slight shimmer to it, however this is not at all noticeable when applied onto the skin, making it more of a matte finish with the added benefit of giving you a summer kissed glow (shimmer acts as more of an illuminator than glitter).

The packaging is the usual Nars rubberised / matte packaging, which is a bit of a pain with grubby makeup finger prints, however nothing a baby wipe can't remove. What I love about the packaging is its super lightweight and contains large mirror inside, making it perfect for makeup on the go!

I really do think this product lives up to the hype and I have no regret of diving in and making the purchase and if you want to get your hands on it I believe its available in many retail stores as well as online! I love using Laguna on a day-to-day basis through my cheekbones, onto my temple and down my nose. I also like to apply a light blush on the apples of my cheeks to finish off the look. As you can see above it blends beautifully into a subtle contour, perfect for adding a bit of definition and warmth to slim out the face! 

Have you ever tried Nars Laguna before? What do you think of it?

Sam xx

Fruit Salad Nail Art Tutorial

Im back with another nail art tutorial and I'm probably not the only one who has seen a lot of fruit nail art flying around the internet (especially watermelons!). With this in mind and because its super summery, I thought I would create a fruit salad nail art. Cherrys, Kiwis, Watermelons and Lemons make up my nail medley so if you want to find out how I created this look then keep on reading....

All you will need for this nail art is a selection of nail varnish shades - light green, dark green, red, white, black, yellow and coral. You will also need some nail art tools; I used a mixture of dotting tools and nail art brushes to create my design.
I used a selection of Illamasqua, Rimmel, Graffiti Nails, Mavala and Models Own polished to create my design.

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Begin by painting all nails in a base of white polish. I went for 2 coats to ensure my base was super opaque. 

Step 2: Once the base coats were dry, I used a dotting tool to create the outline on each fruit. I actually ended up changing the lemons to circles instead of slices.

Step 3: Next its time to create the detailing. For the majority of the designs I used an ultra fine nail art brush, as this made it easier to create the super thin lines and dots. 

Step 4: Finally once everything is dry, go in with a top coat and paint a layer onto each nail. Also be sure to take the top coat over the tip of the nail to make them last a little longer.

And there you have your fruit salad nail art! 

What do you think of this nail art design? Which is your favourite nail?

Thank you so much for reading and if you recreate this look yourself happy nail art-ing!

Sam xx