Abbi's Top Tips - Nail Art

The trend for this summer was nail art and I am glad that it is carrying on for the autumn season. I thought that this month’s top tip could be how to do an easy nail art, for those who are desperate to try it for themselves.

The first thing we did was search the World Wide Web for inspiration. There are so many different designs out there that it is hard to pick a favourite, so we decided to incorporate a few ideas that we saw and make up our own design.
So lets get artistic….

Equipment needed:
 

We chose the white as it will be a nice base for the nail art. You can choose which ever colours you feel suit you best. Don’t feel limited, let your imagination run wild.

Instructions:

1. Paint 3 finger nails with your first chosen colour. You can choose which fingers you wish to paint. We chose not to paint the thumb and ring finger as they were far enough apart for it not to look silly.

2. Repeat step 1 until you feel the coat is the right colour. We did 2 covers.
 

3. Once those nails have dried completely, paint the remaining nails (in this case our thumb and ring fingers) with the other colour. Again paint those until you feel the coat is the right colour. The white we used took 3 coats.

4. You have to let these nails dry completely because we will draw the nail art on top and if you do not let it dry it will not work.
 

5 We decided to go with an Aztec design for our nail art as it is simple straight lines and you can be as creative as you want with the design. Being very soft with the pen draw your first line to see how much comes out. Doing this will stop you from making a massive dollop on your nail, which means you would have to start again.

6. Being soft and careful, slowly draw your pattern on the nail.

7. Once you have finished let the nails dry completely. Once they have dried, put a clear top coat on every nail. This will protect the nails for that little bit longer.

8. Once your first hand has completely dried it is time to tackle the other hand. For most people this is more difficult as you have to use the "wrong" hand to paint your nails - the only tip I can give you is take it slowly.
 

Then TA-DA it is done and you have attempted your first nail art paint job. Once you have done it once then go crazy with it, try news designs. We would love to see how your imagination works.

April's Favourites

Where did that month go, it went past so quick I barely feel like it happened. April was a good month for me I was very busy which is probably why it went by so fast. I have had loads of birthdays including my brother and sister, new job opportunities and lots of new Elephant Bum things going on (which is all very exciting!)

I thought I would share with you all my favourites things from April. It is a mix all of different stuff that I quickly became obsessed with throughout April. 

The first thing that I fell in love with was my Zara bag! I love it! The Office City Bag, that is what I am now, a city worker gal! It has a place for everything, two padded sections one for your laptop and the other for your ipad, two massive sections for general stuff and two massive zipped pockets. I love this bag and would recommend it to anyone who needs that perfect bag for carrying everything. 

My beautiful bag!

I love this Dove 'Go Fresh' deodorant it doesn't just smell good it actually does what a deodorant is supposed to do. The smell defiantly does help though! It is in the new compressed size for deodorants, I have now had it for a month and it is still going strong so maybe not all adverts lie. 

 Dove 'Go Fresh' pomegranate and lemon verbena scent

Now this one is a little old school. Remember when we were all 13 and declaring our love for Seth Cohan from The OC well thats me again at 21. I do not know how this has happened but I have become obsessed with The OC, I have already finished season 1 and starting season 2 this evening. 

Who doesn't love themselves a Comic Book Geek, I certainly found mine. 

The Maybelline 'Super Stay 24' have become my favourite coverage for my lips. I currently have 2 colours 'Fire Corail' which is an orange colour and 'Cherry Red' which a deep tone of red. I love them, they do last all day which is good because you don't have to think about re-applying. I am defiantly going to purchase more of these. Let me know if you have any colours and which ones you feel look good.

Well done Maybelline!

The last thing I have been obsessed with this month are my beanie hats, I have now got 4 colours but these have been my favourites. I have worn them all weathers which England have currently had this past month. 

They also hide slightly greasy hair! 

These have been my slight obsessions this month (Simon would say more than slightly). I would love to know if you have loved anything this month so please leave a link below and I will check it out.

I hope you are all having an awesome Sunday in the sun! 

YOUTUBE

I have done it, my first ever Youtube video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_LQnXs1uYo

This video was so fun to film and so hard! I would love to see if any of you have attempted the blind fold make up challenge post the link below and Abbi and I will check it out. 

April's Glossy Box

It is that time again…. Glossy Box time! April is yet again a month full of great products. Pearl Lowe designed April’s Glossy Box and it is beautiful I am defiantly going to keep this box on display and fill it with goodies.  So what was inside this months box?

Beautiful!

Crabtree & Evelyn - Somerset Meadow Hand Therapy

This stuff smells amazing!! It feels nice a soft on your hands and doesn't leave them feeling greasy which is nice when using hand cream. I hate when they feel all greasy and like you cant pick anything up without it slipping away. The packaging is nice and travel size so it will fit perfectly in your handbag. 

Nip+Fab - Dry Skin Fox Body Butter

This body butter is unfortunately not my flavour. I have read other bloggers reviews on April's Glossy Box and some people received either pistachio or mango which I would of preferred. The smell is too sweet for me BUT saying this my fiance loves it. He has said that it makes his hands nice and soft and he loves the smell. As he has raved about it I now want to try it in a flavour I would prefer (probably mango). I think with body butters you have to really choose a flavour that you like, you don't want to walk around all summer smelling of something you don't like, so my advice is follow your nose.

Yves Rocher France - So Elixir Purple Yves Rocher Eau de Parfum

This perfume smells nice it has a nice flowery after smell to it and smells very grown up. I have preferred the last two scents that Glossy Box has offered but if i ever run out of perfume I will defiantly use it. 

Illamasqua - Medium Pencil

I am a little disappointed with this product, purely because I do not know how I can use a white pencil. So if you know nice ways to use a white pencil, please let me know as I do wish to try the product. 

Essie - Nail Lacquer

Last but by no means least a beautiful Essie nail polish. Who doesn't want to own every colour that Essie has to offer. I received 'Penny Talk' a nice shimmery pink/copper colour. I love how Essie nail polishes go over your fingers and they are so smooth. Love this! 

So yet again Glossy Box has given us a great range of products, some well known others not so much. The box is such a great way to explore new brands an beauty products. Looking forward to next months box. 

Abbi's Top Tips - HD Eyebrows

For some of us make-up and beauty is hard. I love looking good but its getting to look good which is the problem! I know what I want to look like but achieving it is a different ball game and I never end up how I wish to.

Well for all of us who like to look good but are unable to achieve it on our own, I have found the answer! It comes in the shape of my sister Abbi, a professional beautician extremely handy. Once a month Abbi will be posting on this blog a top tip in the world of beauty, if there is something you need help with please email me at elephantbum1@gmail.com with the subject ‘Abbi’s top tips’ and we will try and answer it to the best of our ability.

So I would now like to proudly introduce to you drum roll please……… my sister Abbi!

Hi!

As Danni said I am a professional beautician and have learnt a lot of top tips in the past couple of years and I cannot wait to share them with you.

April’s top tip is going to be all about HD eyebrows. If you have not heard of a HD brow it is when the brow is defined this involves; plucking, shaping and penciling. It defines the shape of the brow as well as giving the effect of lifting the brow and opening the eye.

So here are my top tips on getting the perfect HD brow.

The equipment you will need for this is:

Eyebrow brush

Eyebrow pencil (the colour that best matches you)

Tweezers

Make-up wipe

Step 1.

Wipe over the eyebrow with a makeup wipe to cleanse the eyebrow.

Step 2.

Comb the eyebrow hair upwards to see the shape of the brow underneath as this is the natural shape of your eyebrow.

Step 3.

Pluck stray hairs to help define the shape of your brow.

Step 4.

Repeat on other brow, trying your best to keep them symmetrical.

Step 5.

Use a pencil that best suits your eyebrow and sketch in the colour do not draw a line try to shade and blend.

Step 6.

Using the eyebrow brush style the hair into the HD shape.

I hope these tips have helped you get the result you desire, I would love to see your outcomes so please leave a link below so I can take a look. I am looking forward to sharing with you my next top tip!

See you next month!