February Favourites

Last month I didn't do a Favourites post as I had been using things from previous favourites or that I had already posted about and thought it would be a bit repetitive but some of the purchases I made at the end of last month have quickly become products that I reach for on a regular basis so I thought I would share those with you today.

Manicure Tip

Following on from yesterdays Manicure Routine post I thought I would share with you a little tip that I find invaluable to getting the perfect finish. There's nothing worse than painting your nails and you get some on your skin or cuticle (how annoying) and when you try to remove it with a cotton pad you manage to destroy the paint work you just put all your effort in to applying. Well have no fear this little tip will help you to achieve perfection. For this tip you will simply need nail varnish remover, a cotton wool pad and an orange wood stick.

Firstly take the orange wood stick and dip the slanted end into your nail varnish remover.

Take a cotton wool pad and split it apart, I normally just peel it half way back as this is more than enough and you can then reuse the cotton pad.

Twist the orange wood stick (slanted end) in the loose fluffiness of the split cotton wool pad. Dipping the orange wood stick into your nail varnish remover makes the cotton wool grip onto the stick, if its dry it wont pick up any of the cotton wool.

When you have enough cotton wool on the stick just pull it away from the cotton pad and you should have something that kind of resembles candy floss.

Smooth this down by twisting the fluffy cotton wool in one direction between your fingers, keep doing this until it is smooth and nicely wrapped around around the orange wood stick.

Now you have a nice neat tool to help you remove unwanted nail varnish accurately. All you have to do is dip the cotton wool end into your nail varnish remover and then use this to wipe away any mistakes you may have made without ruining the polish on your actual nail. 

Voila the perfect paint that looks like you just took a trip to the salon, don't worry your secrets safe with me ;)

Something a little different but I hope you find this tip helpful, I use this each time I paint my nails. Just make sure you prepare this before you begin painting other wise it could get a little messy, cotton wool and wet nails are not best friends.

Kayla xx

My Manicure Routine

A few years ago (many more than I care to admit) I was taken in by the hype of acrylic nails and committed the ultimate nail crime of heading to cheap, fast paced, no appointment necessary nail bars that were popping up in abundance around town. Now while these nails looked great at the time the techniques and tools used were not doing my natural nails any favours, so when I got bored of the expense and maintenance of these nails I had them taken off once and for all. Having had the acrylic removed the poor condition of my natural was revealed and I decided then it was time to take action, look after my own nails so that I could grow them and then there would be no need for me to have acrylic or any other kind of nails done. So from that point once a week I give myself a manicure at home and I often receive compliments on my nails and how they look. Here is my little routine and the tools and products I use.

Beauty Haul - Feb

So I kinda, maybe tripped up, fell into boots and found myself at the till making a few cheeky purchases. I didn't really need anything but it is impossible to peruse the goodies perched on the shelves of Boots and come out empty handed. I swear my purchases were just screaming out and begging to come home with me, it would have been rude to ignore them.... right?

Glossybox: February

Now I know your probably thinking that in my last Glossybox post I decided that the Birchbox won and I was going to cancel my Glossybox subscription, this was my intention. I logged on to the Glossybox site purely to go and cancel my subscription but then on my dashboard it had my Glossydots total and I noticed that I had enough to get a few free boxes, so that is my plan, after all I have earned the Glossydots so might as well use them.

Birchbox - February

My Birchbox has been delivered and its time to open up this little box of beauty goodness and see what's in store for me this month....

#NOTW

Hey guys, I know it's been a while and I'm sorry for the lack of posts this last week but I've been feeling a bit under the weather with a stinking cold, there's nothing like a fuzzy head to put you off writing blog posts. I'm starting to feel a bit better now hopefully there will be no sign of this cold in a day or 2.

There is something about painting my nails that always perks me up when I'm not feeling great or if I'm a little low, so I decided that was exactly what I was going to do this week. It was the perfect chance to try out the newest edition to my Essie collection and another chance to road test  my Seche Vite top coat.

The day I bought "Chinchilly" I must have been influenced by the weather outside as it was a freaky weather day, very grey and one minute it was raining, then hailing and snowing the next all kinds of weirdness was going on. Both the name Chinchilly and the colour of this polish remind me of that day but it is much more delightful on my nails. I'm not the best when it comes to decribing colours but I would say that Chinchilly is a mushroomy, brown/grey tone that is effortless to wear and is a nice understated chic colour. When applying this colour I found I got the best results by applying to layers, I finished off the paint work with a coating of Seche Vite top coat this is great at making your manicure last longer and it also make your nail varnish dry in no time at all.

That's the look I'm sporting on my nails this week, how about you? Do you have a favourite nail varnish brand? I LOVE Essie's nail polishes they are long lasting, totally reliable with a fab range of oclours, I'm not sure I'll ever get bored of Essie!

Kayla xx 

Make Up Wishlist

Make Up Wish List by curiouslykayla featuring a travel kit

Well its no wonder that after getting through the dull month of January a wish list has been formed. We all have to make cut backs after Christmas and my shopping habit is always first in the firing line when it comes to trying to save money so I have reigned it in but that not mean the lusting has stopped!

Here we have a list of products I would love to own but for the time being I will just have to admire from afar.... I'm hoping there is truth in "good things come to those that wait"

First up we have the Palettes. Smashbox Full Exposure palette makes me want to spend the day creating various eye shadow looks. I like that this palette comes with a good size mirror and brush that actually seems to be half decent. Im a huge fan of neutral eyeshadows for day time wear and smokey eyes for evenings and the Full Exposure palette would allow both looks to be created from the one palette. The same can be said for the NARSissist but I like that this palette has the addition of pinky/purpley shades too.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to get excited by Bobbi Brown's Uber Pink Collection, in particular the illuminating bronzer has caught my attention even if the name baffles me! Pink Peony looks like it would give your cheeks a subtle flush of pink which I think is a great look all year round. Within the Uber Pink collection I also like the look of the lipstick in Pink Kiss, this looks like the perfect everyday lip colour or great for a subtle lip if your rocking a dramatic eye.

Essie is the love of my life when it comes to nail polishes and I'm drawn to the shade Chinchilly, this maybe be because of the grey British weather that we are dealing with at the moment (and lets face it probably for most of the year) but it is more likely to be the fact that I love the colour grey and really enjoy wearing it. I really like that Chinchilly is a greyish/brown tone that reminds me a bit of mushrooms, with this it has warmth and is not your typical cool grey tone but still looks very chic.

Mascara is a vital element of my make up bag, without it would look half asleep all of the time! although Lancome's Hypnose Star is not new on the mascara scene it is one that I am yet to try out. This is mainly because I like to use up current mascaras before I buy new ones but on a plus side the one I'm currently using is a sample size so a new one will be required in the not to distant future.

I have read a lot about Soap and Glorys Kick Ass concealer and everyone seems to have really positive opinions of this. In general I really like the Soap and Glory range and with all the glowing reviews I would definitely like to give this a try.

I'm always a sucker for make up bags but mind could do with replacing as its getting a bit tatty now, an immediate purchase is not necessary but a couple have caught my eye. I really like the Zebra inspired (although the website states its leopard *confused face* print) design from Oasis, I think the faux hair combined with leather is a great look. The kisses design by Charlotte Tilbury is absolutely adorable and as much as I would love to own this I don't think this is available any more :(

That concludes my wish list! do you have any of the items on there? do you have your own wish list?  I would love to have a read or hear your reviews and opinions :)

Kayla xx

#Haul - Non Beauty

I have finally spent the last of my Christmas vouchers and I know a clothing haul is a little out of the ordinary - and totally out of my comfort zone, but I was so excited about some of these purchases I decided to put together this little haul for you all to enjoy.

The Body Shop Haul

Oh no! The Body Shop only went and had a sale and a few items may have slipped into my basket and were delivered to my door! I haven't tried many things from the body shop so what better time to try things out than when there's a sale on!

Happy Birthday L'Occitane's Shea Butter Hand Cream!

How cute are these samples? Thanks to Ceri from Curly Wurly Blog I managed to get my hands on this little bundle of free samples from L'Occitane. To celebrate their Shea Butter hand cream turning 20 these samples could be collected by entering your details via Facebook and taking the confirmation email to a L'Occitane store.

Recent Purchases

January, its not the most lavish month of the year is it! I'm sure along with many others I have been reigning in my spending this month but I have made a few cheeky purchases that I am very excited about.