Thursday 25 August 2011

Messy Bun Barnet

Hey beauties, it's nearly the weekend, huzzaaaah!!

I haven't had the best of luck over the past few days. On Saturday my little pumpkin Liza Maggs, decided that she was going to run off in the woods. It took me 25 minutes to find her, with the neighbours 2 year old in tow...VERY stressfull and upsetting. On finding her in the alotments looking very sorry for herself, both said dog and owner gave a squeal of delight. Few.  

Next I recieved a package from Topshop PR, obviously with make-up in for me to try out. The only problem being that there was a huge rip in the package, so I actually only recieved 3 things :( boo.

Then to top it all off, the hairdressing trauma. eugh. They say bad luck comes in threes right? well I've had mine now so please send some good luck my way!

So, following my hair disaster on Tuesday (please see butchered in Covent Garden) I have been very google happy looking for some easy hair-up do's. I refuse to wear my hair down like I normally would, and I am most certainly not stepping foot in any hairdress any time soon, oh no no no.

I thought I would share with you my new favourite look, I know it's nothing actually new, and really not that exciting, but for now, it's my fav. I can disguise my aweful cut and still look a little bit cute :) I especially love the ones with wavey hair.
 Here are afew of the best ones I've found, and how you can expect my hair to look next time you see me :) 


This look will also stop me my hair from being so heat abused!! I wont really be needing to use straighteners or curlers and when I leave my hair to dry naturally it does have a little wave going on. Basicly, I plan on washing my hair each night (I know this is bad but I cant help it, I feel dirty if I don't), putting some mouse in it while it's still damp and waiting for it to dry naturally. When I wake up in the morning I'll spray some dry shampoo/salt spray in to to give it some texture, and messy bun it away! I'm sure some backcombing will be involved somewehere along the line too.
So I guess, in a way,  it will be good to get my hair in really nice condition after the butchering it recieved.

Anyhooo, what are all you lovely ladies up to this bank holiday weekend then? I'm heading down to cornwall to do a spot of glamping in the middle of nowhere on a cliff above the beach. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it means "glamorous camping". Instead of a tent, I'll be all snuggley in a little wooden pod with a proper bed and heating :) How good is that? So if you don't hear from me until next Thursday, I expect it's because I have no signal.

I'll miss you my blogging beauties,
have a good one Xx

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Butchered in Covent Garden

Hey my lovely beauties, hope everyone is having a happy humpday :)


It's a big moan from me today I'm afraid...
Why is it so super hard to find a decent hairdresser these days?
If like me, you've ever had a truley traumatic hair dressing experience, I feel for you, I honestly do. Normal people are afraid of the dentist, I am afraid of hairdressers, I can't help it. Once I had the cut I liked, my mum used to trim it for me when it got a little too long.

These days, I need to knock back a glass of very large wine whilst in I'm in the chair. I get so panicy.
This trip was no exception, in fact, it was without a doubt the MOST HORRIFIC hairdressing experience I've ever had in my whole 22years of being. Last night I actually thought I was going to have a panic attack.
Edward Sciccorhands would have done a better job. It was so upsetting,




Firstly, before I go off into a huge rant, I would like to say that I am not in the habit of not paying for my haircuts. This is the first time I have ever refused to pay for a haircut, and I'm bloody glad I didn't, I'll list the reasons why...


When I walked in, the 3 male Italian hairdressers seemed to be friendly, but as time went on I felt increasingly uncomfortable and unwelcome.

The cut

The hairdresser (who was the manager/owner) didn't seem to be listening to what I wanted. He cut (or should I say hacked) way too much off (*sobs*) and then when I said it was a little shorter than I wanted, he made a joke of it, picking up a tiny bit of hair off the floor and saying that was all he cut off. This made me feel really uncomfortable and kind of insulted.


He didn't ask me where my parting was, or how I wanted it.
He didn't ask me how I wanted my layers, you probably all know that normally they'll ask where you want them to fall, short, long etc.The whole time he wasn't concentrating and seemed to be rushing through it.


He did a rough blunt cut and didn't cut back into my hair once it was dry, so it was left it all blunt and un-even at the back. It looks completely butchered, no joke. Later when I got home I realised he had attemted layers about an inch above where the rest of my hair fell, obviously blunt cut again.


At least he barely touched what was supposed to be my side fringe, imagine what he would have done to that.


After this, he came right up into my face (personal spaaace) to ask me how it was, I felt so uncomfortable the entire time I was there I just wanted to get the hell out of there!


Oh and he didn't even get a mirror and show me the back of my hair looked like, he just said it was done! The list literally just goes on and on, shocker.


Then the three of them  proceeded to have a meeting infront of me, about an advert they were placing in a magazine (peh, what a joke). Whilst being very unproffesional (surely they could have gone out for coffee or at least had this meeting in another room), it also meant that I had to listen to them complaining about how much money they would have to pay. Bloomin' awful.


The colour
My hairdresser was completely unhelpful when it came to choosing a colour for my 'low lights', saying there was only one option. I wasn't even offered a variety of colours. (Normally when you get highlights or lowlights they will put 3 or 4 different colours in, just to make sure it blends well).


The colourist barely spoke English and didn't understand that I wanted to cover certain bits up. When he was mixing the dye he had to go back and change it, this didn't leave me feeling very confident.


The results were, thankfully, not that noticable, but certainly hadn't covered up the bits I don't like, and actually just added to them in a colour that I didn't like. Later when I said I didn't like it, they just laughed it off and told me it looked nice. 


 They kept saying it looked lovely when it was in foils?! At this point I was so desperate to get out of there I genuinely considered pulling the foils out myself and just walking out. 


Then they left me completely alone for ages, whilst they stood in front of the doorway and smoked. I had to ask them to come in and wash the colour off. I couldn't believe it.


On top of all of this they didn't seem to know where anything was and were completely unorganised, and not once did they offer me a magazine the whole 3 hours that I was there (I know this point may seem silly but it all adds up ladies!).


I liked my hair better before I came in, and I was so unhappy when I left that I burst into tears in the middle of the street, and then again when I got back home. I would like to add, I wasn't upset 'cos I am super vein or anything, but it has really just knocked my confidence. I literally just don't want to look in the mirror at my hair and certainly wont be wearing it down for a while. I'm going to hermit away until it grows back. 


The whole experiance was from start to finish, in 1 word, traumatising. It's actually been painful to write about it and relive it again!!


Oh how I wish I had googled it...
I did just that today and you'll never believe what I found...eclipse hairdressing reviews (I also added my review to it!).


Don't EVER go there!! I never want any of you beauties to have the same horrible experience I had! Seriously, my dog had her fur cut last week, and she looks better than I do.
I have tagged Covent Garden in my Twitter review, hopefully they will be aware of this situation and wont recommend or feature Eclipse. I also plan on writing to Watchdog because I'm so upset and angry that they could get away with any of this. 


I've well and truley learnt my lesson, and from now on will always be picking a well established brand of hairdresser such as Toni and Guy. It is a shame though, I'm sure there are loads of really great little independant hairdressers out there, but I for one am going to play it safe from now on. That is, if I ever work up the courage to go to the hairdressers ever again.


bleeeugh, rant over.
Xx

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Why does eyeliner always head south?! A Natural collection review

Good evening beauties,
Wednesday over already, yay over the middle of the week hump, happy humpday :D
Yesterday I ran out of eyeliner *sob* so, I purchased this cheap treat From boots Natural Collection as a little top up to make do with, while i wait for pay day (when I will probably end up buying an overpriced higher end one).

(Sorry about the crapola photo, it was the only one I could find, due to the fact that I'm being too lazy to take my own tonight).

 The last eyeliner I used was Benefit, unfortunetly I didnt get on with at all. Lovely quality, but something about that pencil made my eyes water like mad. Literally streaming, not what you want on a night out. In fact, after my last venture out in Camden, I even had a little eye infection the day after, from touching my eyes so much 'cos they were watering, yuck!
Why does liner always head south?! Is it just me this happens to?!
Because of the price of Natural Collections eyeliner (£1.99)I wasn’t expecting much, however I was pleasantly surprised. As many of you will know, I am usually not too keen on the cheaper makeup that is available because from experience I have found that the quality isn't too great, obviously you wont get the best quality pencil for £1.99.
First application is brilliant it is soft enough to go on easily and to smudge into place for a smoky eye effect but not too soft that it breaks easily. One line enough of a color wasn't quite enough so I went over it once and that made it much better. The softness and smooth consistency of the pencil makes it so easy to blend and meant that there was no dragging of the delicate skin in the eye area. I would say it even feels kind of creamy. 
After a couple of hours you will find that it may look a little thin and faded and needs to be reapplied. BUT I have found this with many eyeliners so I wasn't expecting miracles from a product so cheap, and it can hardly be a bad point if loads of other liners do it too. 

I also found that it had better staying power on my top lid than my lower lid... and I was actually pretty impressed with that. It would be definitely a good idea to have a matte non greasy base on your eyelid, perhaps some eyeshadow primer. I was rather surprised that this didn't irritate my eyes at all, which just goes to show me, that the bigger brands aren't always best.
If you want somethings that's going to stay put for a long night out, i wouldn't recommend this. If its just something to use on a daily basis that you don't mind topping up every now and then, you've found yourself a bargin :) This pencil is better for a smokey look as it does smudge, but maybe it's just me as every eyeliner i use seems to seems to slide off. I actually really liked the smudgey look i got from this liner though.
If you're on a budget, and like a smokey eye look, you need this in your life. Have you tried this liner? If so, what did you think?

Sunday 14 August 2011

Kim Kardashian esq make-up storage

Hey beauties, happy Sunday! 

Firstly have to say, if any of you are thinking about going to see "Rise of The Planet of The Apes"... GO!! I saw it last night and I give it 5/5. Unbelievable CGI and even makes you teary in parts too. 

Today I'm having an R&R day, with a spot of blogging and a spot of baking. (I'll post a picture of my rainbow and cloud cupcakes when they have finished being decorated). 

When it comes to my make-up storage, I'm afraid I'm not very tidy. I promise I do try, but I always end up just throwing everything in my big white basket, which is why I can never find anything! I find it so hard to find anything suitable, maybe it's because I am a little too fussy, I don't know...

After gazing longingly at Kim Kardashian's UH-MA-ZING make-up storage, I knew that was the look I wanted.


 However after researching, I found out it came with a rather hefty price tag (no surprise there). See for yourselves, this is the link...Kim K's exact make up storage

I did manage to find a much more price friendly alternative at MUJ...
 MUJ acrylic make up storage

I bought one standard draw set for £8.50, and one with a lift up lid to go on top for £8.95. I'm so pleased with it, it's perfect and nowhere near the price tag of 'The Clear Cube'... thank god! I found these in the MUJ on Kings road (Chelsea), I know they have them in the Regent street branch too. For any of you non-London beauties wishing to purchase, that's what the website is for :)





The great thing about these draws, are that they are stack-able, so as your make-up collection grows, you can just buy another one to stack on top. Simples. So far, I have just put a selection of things that I love and use the most in here, to make them easily accessible (some of my make-up is still waiting to be stored...eek). Being able to see exactly what's in there certainly makes life in the mornings easier and a little faster. 

Along with their flawless make-up, I also love the Kardashians home style too. The good news is, these draws will always go with any kind of decor I decide for my bedroom :) Love them. 

What do you use for storing your make-up? Where did you buy it? 

Tata for now beauties, back to cupcakes, Gossip Girl marathon and R&R. Xx


Monday 1 August 2011

Tangerine Dream

Hello there beauties!

My, it's been a while. *slaps wrist*

I've been meaning to blog about orange/coral lipstick for sooo long now, (I know most of you are probably completly over this by now, but I still heart it, especially with matching nails!). I've just been rather busy of late, what with a new job (huzzah) and various other things going on in my life.

On Friday night I celebrated my sisters 31st birthday, rounders in the park and drinks in Camden.

Saturday was spent sunning outside with the neighbours, and cupcake baking in the evening for said sisters birthday...


Sunday was family lunch at The Spaniards Inn followed by a cream tea on Hampstead Heath... lovely jubly :)



 Hope you all got out in the sunshine? It's still scorching here!

So, the orange lipstick trend is not just for models and celebs, oh no no no!
 If you want a bold lip colour and are sick of classic red why not try a slick of tangerine orange :)

This is such a great look for those of you with a golden complexion who like to brighten up natural make-up. Never fear though, pale beauties also look stunning rocking this shade, why not follow suit from January Jones?

I tried Barry M "coral". This is such a steal at only £4.49, and the colour is a matte tangerine perfect, so a round of applause goes to Barry M for coming up with this one. I love this lipstick and I love this price. 


It's really creamy and has good lasting power too. I think its a really wearable shade of coral...one for the handbag ladies :) I'd love to be able to say that this didn't dry out my lips at all, but unfortunetly it did after an hour or so. It's hard for me to find a lipstick that doesn't if I'm honest. So maybe that wouldn't be a negative for the rest of you beauties.

So c'mon beauties, big up the Barry M lipstick love!!

Xx