FT Friday!

 I have to admit, I am not too down with the whole fake tanning obsession.  I normally slap on a bit of holiday sun and go.  The whole dedicating a whole evening to rubbing in a suspect brown coloured substance on to my skin, with the view of looking like I've just sauntered off an Ibiza beach, when in reality I end up looking like a tea stained monster of the deep.  No matter how professionally I may apply it, to then also adopt a biscuit/potato scent that will then linger for the rest of the week. No thanks!

So when I was recently invited to Eskimo's press day and given, of all fake tans to try, Lauren's Way...I was admittedly sceptical.  Now I am not really into Towie, so don't really know much about it...Bar the obvious of course, of Fake tan, Hair extensions galour and Lashes.  Throw in a Vajazzle and apparently your set for your night out.  So I thought why not.  I'll give it a whirl, after all Lauren's way was claiming like every other FT product out there, to have no streaks, give your the desired bronzed look and without THAT smell.

 So FT Friday commenced...(if I am honest it was more like FT Thursday), as I did a pre-coat just to gear me up for my gradual transformation.

 I actually didn't really do any prepping, bar ensuring I had freshly shaved legs etc.  I simply cracked on with squirting on that familiar brown cream all over using a mitt to ensure every squirt was equally rubbed in.

 Fetching pre-FT pic...pale and interesting.

 This is exactly what I did all over.

 Application was pretty painless and all of the product rubbed in evenly without any problems. after the first coat this is what you'll look like.  Not too scary.

 

First Coat done, and already I look more bronzed.  Friday was then spent applying a coat as soon as I got it, and another before I went to bed.

Now come Saturday, I am not going to like I did have a moment of panic.  When it came to washing it off...I looked very brown.  Also when I began to wash my face, this bad boy was not shifting so easily.  After a good scrub of the face all was fine, rinsing it off everywhere else was easy and I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised by the even bronze that was left behind, I probably could have gone a bit darker, but at least I was rid of that pasty hue.  Just before heading out I rubbed some of Cauldalie's Divine oil to give me a glowing sheen, I couldn't even smell a hint of that well know FT stench, only the body oil.

All in all I would definitely recommend this little bottle of bronze, especially after the compliments on the colour I got!

Lx

Always a happy sight, to come home too!

 Let's face it there is nothing better than the anticipation of waiting for your online purchases, well accept the actual arrival of your online purchases.

 Especially when your online purchases are shoes...shoes in the sale!

So here are my happy purchases, which I was slightly (just slightly) hoping one pair wouldn't fit or would look a bit rubbish......no such luck, oh well I guess I'll have to keep them both.  To justify this cause, most of us ladies will happily spend £70 more on one pair of shoes, well here I technically got two for the price of one and a pair of tights....bargain, so how can I deny myself!

 These just had to be in my life, ridiculously high...yes...but sooo pretty!  And then below we have the dress it up or dress it down wedged ankle boot, so versatile..... Two very different shoes, don't ask why I still feel the need to justify my new purchases to you.  As soon as I start to wear them I am sure the guilt will fizzle away with every step I take!

Lx

Calling all magpies....

Stuck for gift ideas?...well I was, until a friend of mine was modelling a quirky little bracelet, featuring some random wording.  Where did she get this ingenious purchase?  To which she explained, it was a gift from her friend...who actually makes her own jewellery.

Words like Geek, Nerd and Douche could be be brandished round your wrist.  Now we all have pet names or special lingo with certain friends, so to honour this exchange of language, for one of my besties I requested a bracelet for myself (of course) with Douche spelt out, whilst purchasing one for her, with the word Dude...almost has the air of a friendship bracelet theory behind it.

The brand is known as Raffles Bizarre, and the creativity behind it is non other than a fellow Make-up Artist, Jess Heath.

 I thought of how I wanted my bracelets to look, by mixing up some of her previous designs...and she promptly made it to order.

 My own is exactly as above with the wording Douche...that's sentiment for ya, however you'll definitely stand out!

http://rafflesbizarre.blogspot.co.uk/

Check her out yourself at the above link.

Lx

Gingernut biscuit anyone?

Me being me, has got bored of my usual bright rouge hair...so I fancied something new, and of course brighter.  So instead of pillar box red I opted for ginger...Don't ask!

However this was going to be more of a challenge then a simple re-dye, the old faithful red was not going to be ousted quite so easily, and me having no patience what so ever....I wanted it all done yesterday.

So here is a lovely before pic (yep phone, mirror and all, for the record I hate these kind of pics) Just so you can see all aspects of the process I put my poor hair through.

I did my research and really did not want to be going down the route of bleaching, so I managed to find a D.I.Y hair stripping kit, which claims to be kinder to the hair. (if your hair is in a sorry state condition wise to begin with, don't do it)

  I had really mixed reviews with Colour B4, horror stories galore, but then positive stories to tip the balance.  My mind was pretty set, regardless of being told my hair would go ginger. lets face it, that was the intended colour I was going for.  What really did I have to lose...plus that kills two birds with one stone.  Now let me tell you ladies, your hair most definitely does not go back to the desired colour your were once blessed with, well mine didn't.   It will go back to some kind of blank canvas yes, but definitely not one of choice, so be prepared.  This is pretty easy to use, so follow it step by step and you will have to devote a whole evening to do this, the formula does smell pretty bad and once its all over, well its over.

bearing in mind naturally I am auburn/brown.  The above was me after the B4 Colour procedure, more of a straw colour.  At this point I would say this is enough for one day and decided to give my hair a bit of timeout.  The sulphur smell did remain, so I'd say wash it the next day.  What followed was a bit bizarre, I found my hair went from blonde, to then what I can only describe as that similar to a sunset,  ginger at the tips, blonde at the roots. Having started this on the Thursday and not re-dying, by Saturday my hair had pretty much turned flame ginger....which was perfect(well for me), only my parting was blonde.

Much as I loved my new colour, the sulphur smell was still lingering, and my parting was blonde.  On Sunday I thought it was best I re-dye it, just to get rid of the smell, restore shine and all over colour, so out came the Feria.

Voila, finaly after all the palava, I was a fiery Ginger nut....Not a massive change, however I felt like I had gone through a fair few colour changes just to achieve it.

My advice is, if you have the patience and balls, go for it.  Otherwise leave it to the pros

Lx

Plait playtime..

So, I said I'd be spending some time messing around with some plait ideas and here's a few I came up with.  Now I appreciate you are sitting there thinking and how am I to do this on myself, and all I can say is, practice really does make perfect...alternatively get someone else to do the practice to then do this for you.

The above was simply done as if I was to continue plaiting in a fish plait style, but I have kept it as a fancy half up half down, taking the remaining hair into a twisted chignon and securing into place.

The above are both alternatives on plaiting around the head, from the front to the nape of the neck.  

The difference being the top style incorporates an everyday plaiting technique, with that of a french plait.  As you would start a plait with three sections i have begun to plait, but only taken hair from the underneath, sweeping it into each section using a french plait technique. I have then left the top side of the plait free to lay on the hair,  doing this by not sweeping any additional hair into the topside of the plait.

The below style uses the complete french plait technique, therefore as I plait round the head, I am sweeping hair as I go into each section, so that the plait remains secured and flush to the head.  Once I have run out of hair to plait.  I twist the end of the plaint into a bun and secure at the nape of the neck.  I'm not a huge fan of neat hair, so often like to loosen the sections of the plait just to give it a more distressed relaxed look.

Play around with a french plait, I use it to simply keep hair off my face, wear it as a feature, use it in a quiff.

I love Fish plaits, the longer the hair the better these look, and once you get where your hands are going this, like any other plait is pretty easy.  Instead of the usual three sections combo you use two to start, scoop the hair over and in to create a plait, you take hair from underneath and work it in to form the tightly weaved appearance of the fish plait, almost as if you are recycling sections you used before.

Plaits resemble weaving, its amazing how versatile this skill can become.

 The above was the look I achieved for a wedding, perfect for a special occasion.  Later in the day I let the chignon down to give the style more of a fairytale free feel.

Give them ago, and if you have any plait ideas you want to share drop me a line.

Lx

Thankyou Eskimo PR!

After frogmarching through the streets of London.  I finally made it to Eskimo PR's press day.  Which was to be showcasing some of the treasures, that will be falling upon us in 2013.  Of course I was only to happy to swing by and see what was going on.

 

http://www.laurensway.com/

Of course any thing to do with products, and I am all over it!....Lauren's way was on hand to FT (fake tan) and lash up any willing lady up, whilst divulging any FT/Lash/Hair hints and tips.

http://www.blinkshoes.com/

 Blink is the sister range to Bronx shoes, who were also featuring in the line up.

 

http://www.chineselaundry.com/

Had an array of neon strappy/Platform shoes to pick from.

 

Free bird were show casing some very feminine embroidered, almost flapper-esque pieces.  Perfect for that special night out glammed up with heels, or I would happily grunge the look up with military/biker boots and loose hanging cardi.

 

http://www.modainpelle.com/

Lush boots...loving these ankle boots, specially the distressed tan ones....want them!

 

http://danielle-nicole.com

I Loved these bags, good quality, fun and playful with their choice of colours.   Dangerously tempted, I was to purchase one of these.

http://www.helenrochfort.com/

 

A bathtub full of handbags...not just any handbags.  Handbags that actually smell of the graphics on the front...My favourite was this Refresher one, yes it smelt just like Refreshers...Yum!

Huge Thank you!

Everyone loves a freebie to be thrown in, and we were spoilt.  I have to say I am very much looking forward to giving my Lauren's way FT a go....My FT obsessed friends will be most jealous!

Have a flick through yourself, let me know what you think!

Lx