NOTD - Gothic Vines

Hello there lovely readers!

I was wearing a neutral manicure not too long ago as I had an event to go to & something low key was order of the day. As much as I do love a sleek & chic simple nude mani, I probably lasted about a day after said event before I was already itching to add something to it haha!

So to jazz up my nude pink manicure, which was pretty while it lasted by its onesie & came courtesy of Nails Inc Alexa Chung's collection polish in Pink Cashmere, a delicate & feminine shimmery pink, I decided to freehand on a simple vine design.

For my vines I opted to go for a dark gothic purple creme polish from brand Filthy Gorgeous in the shade Pulp.

To create your vines is super simple. Using a fine nail art brush, I first applied two swirly lines vertically down the whole nail.

Then using the same brush I just added on some teardrop like shapes for the leaves to my vines.

Still feeling like something a bit more was required I dug out one of my favourite textured polishes from Barry M in the shade Duchess which is an almost rose gold chunky glitter, so pretty! I added on a few sparkly rose gold leaves in between the purple.

Don't forget a slick of topcoat to finish. Hope you liked this quick & easy design to jazz up a plain mani! Thanks for reading!

Lots of love to ya!

NOTD - Dream Catcher Nails Tutorial

Hi there my lovely readers!

Long time no speak! If you follow me on social media you'll know I've been off having adventures on the other side of the world, Koh Samui to be exact. 10 days in glorious weather on a beautiful island was just what this girl needed, though the journey sure is a killer, 20 hours travelling through 3 different time zones really does a number on you! Only just starting to resemble some form of sanity, I can also get back to blogging with some new nail art!

Today's design is Dream Catcher or Chandelier nails if you like! These pretty ornaments looks as lovely decorated on the nails as they do hung up on your walls & you can totally play around with different colours & glitters ;) I've gone for a black & nude look with silvery blue sparkles!

First you need to apply your polish whilst leaving a semi-circle gap for your Dream Catcher. I went for a lovely cream nude courtesy of Models Own HyperGel in Naked Glow.

To help create the curved space I simply used some hole punch reinforcer stickers which are perfect for this. Just stick these onto the bottom half of the nail as shown.

As the formula of the HyperGel polishes is quite thick I got away with applying just a coat for a nice opaque finish. Once applied remove the hole punch sticker whilst the polish is still wet (using a tweezer makes this task easier) & clean up any smudges with a fine brush & acetone.

Now to get to drawing your design. Grab your black polish, or whichever colour you like, & a fine nail art brush. In to the bare nail space apply a criss cross net pattern by drawing 3 diagonal lines & 3 more on top of those in the opposite direction. Apply a thin line of the black polish around the curved edge of the nude polish.

Then using a dotting tool, apply 3 dotted lines coming down from the net, gradually reducing the size of the dot & making the centre line slightly longer than the others. And hey presto you have your Dream Catcher!

And now time for the glitter! Here I've used a holo glitter from ColorClub. Using whichever shade you like, grab your dotting tool again & apply a blob of the glitter at the bottom of the two outer streams. 

At the bottom of the centre stream I applied a pretty rhinestone, but you can stick with the glitter if you prefer!

Wait for your polish to dry for a wee bit before sealing your design with topcoat. And thats it!

Hope you liked this design my lovelies, do let me know if you give it a try! Thanks for reading!

Lotsa love to ya!

Kco Cosmetics Natural Glow Review - My New HG Bronzer!

Hello there lovely readers!

Now this post is way overdue & I'm annoyed with myself that its taken me so long to blog about this brand, one that many I'm sure are unaware of, because basically you NEED to know about them beauts! So here's me rectifying this & you can thank me later.

Kco Cosmetics is the creator of the Natural Glow Original Compact powder which has now become my HG contour/bronzing powder as it has literally blown ALL others out the water.

I first came across Kco Cosmetics at a beauty show a while back, I'm actually talking a good few years! I stopped by the stand as I'd never heard of them & naturally the blogger in me is always intrigued with newbies in the makeup world.

It was there that I was introduced to their signature product, the Natural Glow Compact. This face powder promises an instant healthy gorgeous glow to your skin, adding warmth & covering blemishes.

Now I confess this is where I get a teeny bit miffed with the products main concept, as you can probably see looking at my pics here, its clear that the Natural Glow is a bronzing powder of sorts mostly...to me anyway, however I've heard (& looking at some reviews too)  that it can also be used as a face powder, in place of foundation as well? Perhaps that may be the case by using a lighter touch with a kabuki face brush to give an all over glow without looking like you've been tangoed.

I know for certain that this would be way too dark for me to do that & unfortunately on the website there are no swatches, which is a bit of a downside as clearly you will want to see what you are buying...hence why I've done my best to swatch for you here. There also doesn't seem to be much information on the origins of the brand either on the site, disappointing as I always love to read up on how a brand came about...hopefully they will rectify this too.

The formula of the Natural Glow Powder is amazing & what makes it now my favorite bronzer of ALL TIME. I have never come across a powder that not only blends SO perfectly on to the cheekbones, but also defines them, contouring so beautifully & leaves your makeup with the most glorious warm & healthy finish. No muddy patches here!

There is a very slight element of shimmer in the Natural Glow Powder, however this doesn't transfer on to the skin leaving you looking like a vampire out of Twilight at all! In fact, I may be in the minority here, but I've always been more fond of bronzers which have a touch of shimmer in them, Barry M Natural Dazzle was my first bronzer LOVE & still is...or 2nd love now next to the Natural Glow!

I use an angled brush to apply the powder under my cheekbones to define & add warmth, as well as along my jawline, forehead & anywhere else I want to add a touch of glow! If I use another bronzer then I always find myself reaching for this still & using my ELF contouring brush, tap along the cheekbone for added definition.

I've almost hit pan on my current compact it has gotten that much usage but the beauty of this product is that a little goes a long way, it is very pigmented & you only need to touch your brush to the pan to pick up enough product to sweep along your jawline, cheekbones etc & I've had mine for ages! But I know for certain that I will be repurchasing the Natural Glow powder till the end of time. Unfortunately though it seems the brand is only available online via their website....they NEED to expand out! 

The Natural Glow Powder is £24.99 & worth every penny in my opinion, try it & see for yourself my beauts. I've also recently been using the Blonde Terracotta bake highlighting powder* which has....like the Natural Glow, SERIOUSLY impressed me. But seeing as I've gone on quite a bit already, I'll share the Terracotta Bakes delights with you in another post & babes...if you have a soft spot for highlighters then you will LOVE THIS, so stay tuned! 

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Geisha Nails!

Hello there my lovely readers!

As much as I adore nail art there are times when life gets in the way meaning that quick solutions are required when wanting to pretty up those nails but finding oneself lacking in time!

One nail hack that I love is the use of water nail decals. These are designs/images which you can transfer on to your nail, either polished or bare, after soaking in water, a concept rather like those quirky tattoos you used to get in sweet/bubblegum wrappers as a kid, remember those?  

I usually get  my nail decals from my favourite place for nail art supplies, Born Pretty Store, not only are they super cheap, but they have a huge range to choose from! FYI you can also get 10% off your order using my code TRUW10

On a recent little haul I picked up some of the Geisha nail decals that I'd had my eye on for ages, I mean how could I not, how beautiful are they?

Depicting pretty painted images of the stunning Geisha ladies, the design is so intricate & beautiful, I couldn't stop staring at them & was eager to get them on! 

I wanted to place these on a nude base to really show them off so applied a couple of coats this Cynthia Rowley nameless biscuit toned nude creme.

Your polish needs to be completely dry before applying the decals so you can always apply them the next day or just use a speed dry topcoat like I did with my one true topcoat love CND Air Dry as I have no patience!

Now the fun part of adding the decals, its best to have everything in front of you so have your sheet of decals, scissors, tweezers, kitchen towel & a cup of water at the ready & do one nail at a time. I wanted to do a step by step pictorial for you but it was evening & the lighting was bad (blogger problems) so I'll just explain each step!

Pick which image you want, cut out & using the tweezers, dip the decal into the water for about 10 seconds. Lift out the decal & pat on to the kitchen towel to get rid of excess water. 

Then using your finger, push at the image & your decal should slide right off the backing card, if not then just place back into the water for a few more seconds.

Again using the tweezers place the image on to the nail, sliding back & forth until your happy with the placement, then using the towel, press firmly to flatten any creases. If the decal is a bit big, trim with scissors & if you find some of the image going over the nail onto the skin then you can also remove this with acetone & a brush to clean around the edges.

Do the same on each nail & once all ten are done, seal everything with a nice thick slick of topcoat to not only protect the design but for a lovely glossy finish.

And the finished look you are left with is a stunning,  gorgeous intricate manicure design that looks like it took hours but twas done in literally minutes! I will definitely be getting more of these beauties & you can to...just head on over to Born Pretty Store now beauts.

Thanks as always for reading!

Lotsa love to ya!