Current Hair Care Routine

Recently I've been playing around with the colour of my hair. Until recently I've never dyed my hair so it was a new experience for me and my hair, which has never been subject to real damage just a little bit of straightener over use in my early teens. So with my newly coloured hair I had to devise a new hair care routine that would keep my hair smooth and manageable and always optimise my colour and care for it maintaining it's vibrancy and colour. I've been trying out loads and loads of hair products in the last 6 months or so, and I'm finally happy with the products I'm currently using. So here they are!

Shampoo& Conditioner

This is going to sound majorly excessive, but I'm currently using three different shampoos and conditioners. I now...crazy. I currently only wash my hair about every four days...First day I'll wear it down and straight, second day will be wavy (using a no-heat method), third day and fourth day will be worn in a bun with a heck of a lot of dry shampoo. I do this to allow my hair to repair itself after the ordeal of being coloured. I've also noticed that my hair is growing VERY quickly as a result of not washing it too much! So, back to the shampoos and conditioners.

The one for coloured hair: TRESemme Colour Vibrance Protection Shampoo and Conditioner. This really conditions and nourishes the hair, as well as reaaally washing it. I grab this one when my hair is exceptionally greasy.

The one for dry hair: Dove Advanced Hair Series Pure Care Dry Oil Shampoo and Conditioner. This is a lovely range, and also very gentle on the hair. Probably more suited to hair that is washed every other day, or every three days, as this might have difficulty pushing through serious grease. It leaves a really rich, luxurious scent on the hair and cleanses it really nicely. This one is also great for restoring shine.

The one to give you texture:John Frieda Beach Blonde Cool Dip Purifying Shampoo and Smooth Seas Detangling Conditioner. This is a proper summer combo, great for beachy hair. It smells of mint which is really fresh and tingly on the scalp, clarifies the hair but still gives you great manageability. This one is also great for those times when you want to style first day hair, as it gives you a bit of grit and beachy texture for the style to hold on to.

The one for brassiness: John Frieda Colour Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo. This is a little extra, for any colour treated blondes out there. Every now and again when I feel like I need a bit of toning, I do one rinse of this shampoo as it just clears out any brassiness that is sitting on the hair. It also cleans the hair really well, which purple shampoos don't really tend to do.

Masks& Treatments

I think it's really important to treat your hair now and again, just to give it an extra boost of something. Think about it, you'd use face masks and olis and serums to nourish your face, so why not do the same for your hair? I have a few masks that I currently use for my hair and a couple of oils too. First up is the John Frieda Go Blonder Deep Conditoner. This won't actually change the colour of your hair, it's just part of their Go Blonder range, which is infused with camomile, a natural blonde optimiser. So, you can either use this one on wet hair, in place of your regular conditioner, or use it on dry hair (which is what I tend to do). About 20 minutes before I wash my hair, I cover my lengths and ends in this conditioner and let it sit on the hair. I then rinse it out, and continue washing as normal. It really makes a noticable difference to the condition of my hair, making it stronger and smoother. Other products that are great for this are the conditioners that come with box dyes. They are super nourishing, and usually smell pretty darn good too!

A further step I take to nourish my hair is putting a little bit of a an oil through my lengths before bed. I brush my hair hair, take about a pump of a hair oil, work it through the hair then pop it in a braid or a bun. This ensures that your ends get nourished, as the oils from the scalp don't often get down to the very ends. Two oils I really like are the L'Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil and the more budget friendly Schwarzkopf Got2B Oil-licious Styling Oil.

Styling Products and Tools

Using thin layers of different products really helps to protect your hair from all sorts of damage. I start my spritzing the Aussie Miracle Hair Insurance all through my lengths, the I comb my hair through with a wide tooth comb. I then use some sort of styling lotion, at the moment I'm switching between the Galvin&Galvin Oh! Organic Head Heat Defence & Shine Spray and the Schwarzkopf Got2B Mind Blowing Xpress Dry Styling Spray. Both of these protect the hair from heat, restore shine and do a bit of extra detangling if you need it.

If I'm really treating my hair, I'll also pop a little bit of oil through the ends, pre-blow dry.

Finishing Products

I'd class something as a finishing product when it's used on dry hair that's just been styled. So here are my favourites: The VO5 Smoothly Does It Tame & Shine Spray. This is a really light mist that gives you hair a subtle sheen. Great for finishing off up-dos! The Charles Worthington Volume & Bounce Texturising Spray- the affordable Oribe Dry Texturising Spray dupe, with even better lasting power. Lee Stafford's Messed Up putty is great for short to shoulder length hair for really ruffling up curls and choppy layers to give you even more texture and volume. My hair spray of choice at the moment is the TRESemme Ultimate Hold Salon Touchable Ultra Fine Hairspray. Does what it says on the tin....it's super light weight, brushes straight out, but really holds your style in place. And finally....my dry shampoo of choice (because every girl has to have one) is the Batiste Dry Shampoo in the Blush fragrance. It leaves my hair feeling clean and refreshed, and doesn't break the bank.

Extra Tips

Finally, I thought I'd leave you with a couple of tips that I've learn along the way for healthy hair.

Get a trim every six to eight weeks.

Use nourishing treatments.

Sleep with your hair down, or in a loose style. Anything too tight stops your hair from growing and can cause breakage.

Wash your hair as little as possible. If you wash every day, try washing every other day. If you can go two, try going three days without!

Leave you hair in a towel for at least 15 minutes after washing. This allows a lot of the moisture to be soaked up and means that your hair won't get so damaged when you comb in through.

Use a wide tooth comb on wet hair. Wet hair stretches, the wider the comb, the less chance of damage!

And there you have my mammoth post all about my hair care routine. It really isn't as long winded as it sounds and in time you'll find yourself fitting it to your own routine, depending on what suits you and your hair type.

What are you favourite hair products? Do you have any helpful hair tips?

My new bag.

I wouldn't really say that I was in the market for a new bag, however, after coming home for the summer due to finishing uni for the year I've been having routine clear outs of all the crap that I've managed to accumulate at home. This involved throwing LOADS of stuff away, including several bags that I'd either not used in yonks or were seriously out of date fashion wise. I always used to be a big bag kinda gal. It must be some sort of security blanket thing- I was safe in the knowledge that I had EVERYTHING that I might need at some point. Of course this was killing my shoulders and back, so recently I've been reaching for smaller shoulder bags that can also be used as clutches. Going through my collection I had a couple of black bags that suited this description and a tatty old tan one. Into the bin the tan one went and then I stumbled across this little cobalt blue beauty. Non my usual choice of colour for a bag, but I though a pop of colour would be great seeing as my wardrobe is predominantly monochrome.

I had actually spotted this bag a while back but for one reason or another didn't go for it. But then I found it in the sale...Knocked down from the original price of £20 to to just £5. With a Channel-esque double flap design and not-too-long shoulder strap I decided it would be coming home with me. What's even better is that when I got to the till it transpired that I was also able to get student discount, bring my brand new bag down to the fab price of £4.50. I couldn't say no!

What do you think of brightly coloured bags? I'll be doing a What's in My Bag post soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

What's in my makeup bag?

As with all beauty bloggers, collectors and general make up hoarders, I have a giant stash of beauty products. It's really not practical to be rifling through a zillion products on a daily basis before I finally decide what to put on my face. Instead, I keep the products that Im currently loving in a trusty makeup bag which sits on top of my desk/dressing table. Every few weeks or so I change things up in there depending on season and my mood, but I'm currently really happy with the contents of my make up bag, so I thought I'd share it with you all. Let's dive in. 

The Bag

A pretty floral offering from Clinique a few years back. I do own a lovely Lulu Guinness makeup bag however, due to the shape of the compartments, it's just too small for a few days away. It would probably work for an overnight jobby though!

Base

My primer of choice at the moment is the Pore Fessional from Benefit (because it's wonderful.) I have two foundations so I can switch up what I want from my skin. A full coverage and long lasting option comes in the form of the L'Oreal Infallible 24H-Matte Foundation in 11 Vanilla. A lighter and more radiant formula can be found in the Rimmel Match Perfection Light Perfecting Radiance Foundation in 100 Ivory. 3 concealers at the moment: L'Oreal True Match (2 Vanilla), for highlighting the under eye area, Erase Paste (No.1 Fair) from Benefit for covering pesky under eye bags and the Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NW20 for any blemishes or scars on my face.

My current powder is the L'Oreal True Match which is great for setting makeup and touch ups throughout the day as it's non cakey and really finely milled.The shade C2 Rose Vanilla has a slight hint of coverage too which is great for when your makeup starts to disappear half way through the day.

Brows

I'm really in to my brows at the moment so I have more products than I usually would, but I find that these three work really well together. First up is the Soap and Glory Brow Archery Pencil in Blondeshell. Then comes the powder from the Benefit BrowZings in Light, then I finish up with a slick of the Rimmel Brow This Way gel in 001 Blonde to set my brows in place.

Complexion

This is super compact thanks to the perfect face pallete that is the Sleek Face Form Palette in Light. I use the matte bronzing shade to contour and add some colour to my face, a dab of the rose goldy blush on my cheeks, then a swish of the highlighter on my cheek bones and down the bridge of my nose.

Eyes

I actually don't keep too many eye products in my beauty bag..The majority of the stuff I use on my eyes comes in palette form and sits on top of my desk (but more about that in a minute). In the bag itself, we have two cream shadows in the form of the Maybelline 24HR Color Tattoos. I have the shade Pink Gold, which is a really pretty mix between rose gold and baby pink. It gives the prettiest rose wash on the lids, great on it's own or under shadows. I also have the shade Vintage Plum, which is a gorgeous taupe-y plum colour. Next up in a tiny little quad from Estee Lauder, which is super compact but has some great colours in it. Insides we have Sugar Cube, a sheeny white, Iridescent Violet, a shimmery taupe-y plum shade, very similar to the Maybelline Color Tattoo. On the bottom we've got Lilac Whimsy, a pink toned lilac and Purple Passion, a true matte purple. These shadows are great on their own just for a wash of colour, but in particular I'm enjoying the combination of Maybelline's Vintage Plum and and Iridescent Violet from Estee Lauder, for a slightly softer smokey eye. 

I have two eye liners; the Model Co Black Eye Pencil, which is just the perfect black pencil eye liner and the Rimmel Glam Eye Liquid Liner (Black) which is my go-to for a cat eye. My current mascara of choice is the Maybelline Lash Sensational. It separates, gives volume and has the staying power of a waterproof mascara.

I also keep all three Naked Palettes from Urband Decay on my dressing table because they're wonderful and I can create any look I want from theses palettes.

Lips

And finally, lips!! It's only now I'm realising just how overboard I've gone in the lipstick department, but hey ho, I'm keeping it real! First up in the Rimmel Lip Liner in East End Snob (the perfect nude & Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Cheat dupe). Next I have four lipsticks: MUA Lipstick in shade 15 Juicy. The is a really peachy pink nude. Then we have the Revlond ColourBurst Lip Balm in Demure- another peachy pink (more on the pink side with a bit of shimmer), my current favourite nude comes in the form of YSL's Rouge Volupte in 01 Nude Beige. SO PRETTY. If I want a pop of colour I'll go for the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 01. I have two glosses; Model Co's Strip Tease a sheer nude with blue toned simmer and Clinique's Long Last Glosswear in Air Kiss. My final lip product is the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Don't Pink of It, which is gorgeous, I need to get more shades!!

So there you have my current makeup bag. I know there are quite a lot of products here, but I do like to have the freedom to switch up my makeup daily as I'm not the sort of person to stick to one everyday make up look. I also like to actually use my makeup seeing as I have so much of it! What are your makeup bag staples?

Product Rave: Maybelline Express Remover

I thought I'd start another little series of posts here on my blog which will be short snappy little posts telling you about things that I'm trying that I'm absolutely loving. Sometimes I don't want to wait until my monthly favourites to tell you about all the great things I've been using.

I'm kicking off my first product rave with the Maybelline Express Remover. This is one of those sponges in a jar that is soaked with nail polish remover. A simple concept, but it works brilliantly. 

I like to keep on top of my nail polish, and don't often have bare nails. With this in mind, I need something that will quickly take off my old polish, without leaving a stain, so I can move on to my next colour. 

I literally dip my nail in the pot, do about a half turn with my finger, pull it out and it's completely clean! No residue, no streaks and no stains. This Maybelline one is about a pound cheaper than the Bourjois offering and works just as well. 

I'll definitely be re-purchasing! 

The Nude Lip

As wonderful as brightly coloured lipsticks are, every woman can appreciate the simplicity of a great nude lip. Brilliant for an every day look or paired with a more dramatic eye look. There are hundreds and hundreds of nude lip products out there, with different tones that suits different people, so it's easy to struggle to find your perfect go to nude lip. But I think I've found mine and I absolutely love it. So here it is.

The trick to my nude lip is that it's more on the brown/pink side of things, rather than a proper my lips blend into my face type nude. I start with the Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in East End Snob. I line my lips and fill in my lips apart from the very centre of my top and bottom lip.

Next I go in with the YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in 01 Nude Beige. This almost looks sort of like a mauve-y pink in the bullet, but translates to the perfect nude once on the lips. 

I then slightly blend the lip liner and lipstick together with my finger.

To finish off, I slick on a little bit of Clinique's Long Last Glosswear in Air Kiss to the centre of my lips.

& there you have my perfect nude lip...I find that because I build this up in layers it lasts really well on the lips and its goes with any look. What's you go-to nude lip combination?

Brows 101- How I Do My Brows.

Whether you're in to bushy and bold like Cara D, or just neatly groomed ones, brows are THE thing right now. For years they've been overlooked but finally people realise what an impact doing your browns properly can have. I've spent ages working with my brows to find what suits them best, from waxing, to plucking, threading and tinting I've tried it all & I'm finally happy with my at-home from routine, so let me share with you how I take my brows from grown out face bushes to on fleek groomed things of beauty. 

I'm going to break this down into two parts: first the actual shaping and taming and then we'll talk about filling in brows as part of a make up routine. 

First step is to make sure you have nothing on your brows and the surrounding area. You need to be working with clean skin. If you choose to tint your brows now is the time to do it. I don't colour my brows anymore so I'm moving straight on to waxing. First I grab a spooly and comb my brows through. I then use the Superdrug Brow Shapers to wax. These are so easy to use as they are pre-cut and create no mess at all. Simply peel off one of the shapers from the strip and stick it on the area of your brow that you want to shape. I usually start at the bottom of by brow near the front, then work on my arch and finish up my clearing any strays on the top. Remember when you whip off the strip to pull against the grain on the hair and hold your skin taught whilst you do so. Your brows will be a little red after, but I find a cold flannel really soothes then! You can easily wipe off any excess wax with eye makeup remover. 

If there are any pesky skorter hairs that the wax could grab, or that you could reach precisely with your waxing strip now is the time to grab your tweezers. Don't go crazy- you can always take more hairs away but you can't stick them back on! 

Once you've finished waxing and tweezing, comb your brow hairs upwards. At this point if your brow hairs are a little long you have the option to cut them- not too much though. Nail scissors are great for this as they are small which makes them easier to control.

Once your happy with the new shape of your brows you can fill them in. 

I'm currently using a brow pencil, powder and brow gel to fill mine in. This might sound excessive to some people, but it's what I find works right now! My brow hairs are naturally quite ashy and dark, whilst my hair is coloured a lighter blonde for summer. The problem for me is that tinting often results in a slightly red toned brown colour, which just doesnt work! So I use a ashy blonde pencil ( Blondeshell by Soap and Glory) to map out the shape. I then pop a little warmth through my brows with the powder from Benefit's BrowZings in Light. The combination of the two gives me the perfect colour. I then set everything in place with the Rimmel Brow This Way brow gel in Blonde.

*I usually leave about 4-6 weeks between each waxing/ tweezing session to allow my brows to recover and grow back naturally without being disturbed.

And we're done. What products do you use in your brow routine? 

Welcome to....100 Days of Happiness

For those of you that don't know, 100 Days of Happiness is a sort of challenge. Whether it be through a written log/ journal, or through photographs, the aim is to take a picture, or write about something that makes you happy everyday for 100 days. It's a great exercise that helps you really reflect on happiness and positivity. Your happy thing can be literally anything. Big or small, as long as it makes you happy that day, then it counts!

Today I am starting my 100 Days of Happiness....This is definitely going to be tricky, as 100 days takes us right through to October, but I'm going to do my best to keep on track and not miss any days out! 

I'll be posting all of my 100 Days of Happiness photos on my Instagram account, which you can follow here but I'll also be doing a monthly round up on my blog, every thirty days or so, just in case you miss anything! 

I'd love it if you'd join in a post your pictures either on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #100DAYSOFHAPPINESS so we can all see what is making everyone happy! 

Here goes day one.....