ring ring, bling bling

With my newly purchased iPhone 4 feeling a little stark and vulnerable, I felt I needed to add some bling to its life. Since I got my phone, I live in fear of dropping it, not to mention obsessively cleaning the screen of the tiniest finger marks. This little gem, sourced from eBay for a mere fee of £6.95, serves the purpose fully of protecting my iPhone and screen whilst being rather pretty at the same time.


This is the seller if you wished to indulge in a little bling for your phone too!

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treats from Tresemme

Another day, another bountiful range of hair products to hit the shelves. A month or so back, I attended the launch of VO5's new haircare range, and we were also treated to the presence of Matthew Curtis, Tresemme stylist and all round hair god, who introduced us to these latest products. We witnessed Matthew showcase the products whilst offering us tips and tricks along the way to achieve our desired style.

24 Hour Body: Amplifix Hairspray

Touchable Finish: Hairspray
I like these hairsprays, and always find myself reaching for them when I have a beehive that needs a bit of reinforcing. The products do not differ from each other that much. Both are equipped with a lovely fruity fragrance and great staying power. The main difference is that the amplifix hairspray is probably more industrial and will hold a style for much longer than the touchable finish hairspray. The touchable finish hairspray is better suited to smoothing away flyaways and frizz, and adding volume at the roots. It also brushes out much more easily than the amplifix, which can leave the hair a little bit crispy. 

Instant Refresh: Volumising Dry Shampoo

Dry Shampoo has never really been my bag. I don't think my hair ever warrants it as it rarely get greasy or oily between washes. I have passed this to a friend who has always been intrigued to road test some dry shampoo and she has been mildly impressed. Smelling fresh and zesty, it revives her greasy roots, giving them some body and lift. It is perfect in the face of crisis when time doesn't permit a hair wash, but I don't think it will become part of her complete hair routine. 


Thermal Creations: Blow Dry Potion
 This non sticky and lightweight cream promises to protect the hair up to 230 degrees whilst blow-drying, straightening and styling. It is used on damp hair, smoothed through the lengths whilst paying particularly attention to the roots. More product can also be applied to the roots after styling to add extra smoothness. Unfortunately I didn't love this product. I know what my hair likes and it has never been a fan of creamy lotions used on it whilst damp. I tend to find them too heavy, opting more for serums and sprays. This blow dry potion was a little too heavy and greasy for my hair and I found left it feeling weighed down and lacking movement and body.

Salon Sleek: Straightening Spray

Salon Shine: Glossing Spray
Salon Smooth: Serum
This is an angelic addition to the Tresemme's range. They have created a selection of products with added argan oil from Morocco, to really nourish and smooth the hair. I absolutely love all these three products when used in conjunction with each other. I previously spoke about Argan Oil in regards to the VO5 Miracle Concentrate, which is a really wonderful product for restoring dry and damaged hair, and these are no different.

The serum and straightening spray are used on towel-dried hair before blowdrying. I use the spray first, applying liberally all over my hair. I then follow with the serum, which only require a small pea-sized amount, and I smooth this through the ends of my hair. The glossing spray is a great finishing product that adds instant shine to your hair and smooths away those troublesome flyaways.
Voila, my hair straight after using these three products.

24 Hour Body: Sky High Plumping Powder

Very similar to the VO5 Instant Oomph Powder, this plumping powder is a fine white dust that has a subtle, fresh smell to it. It is perfect for adding some volume and lift to the roots, and by following the simple instructions on the packaging, you can achieve an amazing plumping effect with a natural matte texture. The hair does feel a little tacky to the touch, but for creating sky high lift for a night out, I am willing to forgo this slight downside.


In summary; 
Products to pick up: the Argan Oil range
Products to skip: Blow dry potion and volumising dry shampoo

This new range is available from Superdrug, Boots, Tesco and Asda.
Have you tried any of these Tresemme products?

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P & G Summer Spa

Ever wanted to ask the brands a burning beauty question? Well now is your chance.
P&G Summer Spa are opening their virtual doors to the blogging world. This event offers one on one advice, tip and tricks on all things beauty from the names in the know, whilst demonstrating some practical advice through tutorials. On Thursday 2nd June, ten brand ambassadors of P&G will come together and be poised, ready to be grilled and answer an array of questions.


The ten ambassadors will be made up of the likes of:
Caroline Barnes of Max Factor, Ben Cooke of Herbal Essences and Nichola Joss of Venus & Braun as well as many other names on hand to offer their expertise.

This is a great opportunity for us all to get involved, and raise any deep-seated questions we want to put to the ambassadors themselves.

There are a few ways that you can pose a question to the brands. Firstly, take a look at the poll below and submit which question you would most like to see asked during the Summer Spa event.

You also have the chance to ask your own personal beauty question by simply leaving it in my comments section below. On the night, the ambassadors will be taking 'wildcard' questions, selected from my and other bloggers' comments, and if your question is chosen, you will win a prize. A P&G goody bag filled with must-have products for all your beauty needs. So make sure you leave an email address along with your comment so we can get in touch with you if your question is selected.

The question I would like to ask is: 
"With festival season fast approaching, can you offer any quick, simple tips to achieving that perfect tousled, boho bouffant without the heat"


Results will be announced shortly after the event has taken place on 2nd June. I will follow up with details of the event and announce the lucky winners so keep your eyes peeled for that.

I am really looking forward to reading your questions!

UPDATE:

Hello all

Thank you to all who left a question to be put forward to the P&A beauty abassadors during their recent Summer Spa event. The videos from the event are now live and you can watch them here. Simply register and then click on the individual brand logos below the main video to view each one. The 15 wildcard questions that were selected and asked have been collated and if your question was chosen, I will be notifying you shortly.

Thanks again.

(this post has been sponsored by P&G)

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shawled

Shawl - New Look (sale)
Palazzo pants - New Look
Ballet flats - New Look
Nude vest top - New Look
Feather earrings - River Island
Bando - Accessorize


Ever wake up and unintentionally fashion yourself as a walking advert. Today was one of those days. It is no secret that I have been finding lots of fabulous finds in New Look of late. I feel they have really upped their game recently and consequently their prices as well!
This shawl is one of my favourite purchases and was sneakily located buried deep on the sales rack. It reminds me of an antique table cloth that my grandmother use to own. I think the intricate detailing and floaty fringing is really pretty. 


Thank goodness, it is finally it is the weekend; and I have quite a busy one planned. It is my hockey annual Dinner and Dance tomorrow night which gives our club a chance to all get together to celebrate the season's achievements and enjoy a three-course meal and a good boogie.  I am really looking forward to it and have my outfit all planned out. It will be a treat to see each other dressed in something slightly more refined that our standard hockey attire!


Sunday will see me stirring up a flurry of flour in the kitchen. I am part of a 'bake club' at work, which sees a different person each week bring in some homemade treats. Next week is my week, and I am on savoury duty. Cupcakes I can do, but savoury snacks poses quite a mission. I think I may have to enlist my chef boyfriend to give me some assistance...

I hope you all have a great weekend girls.

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MAC Style Suite Red Carpet Masterclass

On Thursday night I attend a Style Suite Red Carpet masterclass at the Pelham Hotel in London, hosted by MAC Cosmetics. As the official Beauty Partner of the British Academy Film Television Awards, which take place on Sunday 22nd May, MAC invited a few bloggers along to get some tips and tricks to perfecting red carpet makeup.
Ushered into a palatial suite within the hotel, with champagne and nibbles loitering in the corner, we were greeted by Lynsey Alexander and Neil Young, both senior artists for MAC. The atmosphere was friendly and informal, with an obviously great rapport between the two artists. They both had a beautiful bare-faced model for company and they began to create the looks on the models whilst answering questions and talking us through each stage and product used.

Lynsey Alexander, who has worked with a plethora of celebrity names, Sienna Miller, Naomi Campbell and Kelly Osbourne to name but a few, created a look entitled 'Antiqued', consisting of a bronzed-smokey eye, contoured cheeks and a nude lip, complemented with soft tousled hair.
Neil Young, who has worked on editorials such as Grazia, GQ and Cosmopolitan, and has executed his magic on the faces of Linda Evangelista and Grace Jones, created 'Show Orchid', a dramatic look with flawless skin and statement lips, emphasised with a soft up-do.

The artists gave us a real insight into the world of red carpet makeup and how it varies from catwalk and editorial work. A close partnership between the celebrity needs to be exercised in order to create an extension of their personality through their makeup. It is also important to work in harmony with hair and wardrobe, to ensure all aspects of the finished look complement each other.
Neil and Lynsey also shared with us some tips and tricks to ensure they are not responsible for the circled 'ring of shame' gracing the pages of the tabloids the following morning. 


1/ Conceal under and around the nose to appease those unfortunate camera angles
2/  Take the texture of the face down through the body; highlighting and powdering where necessary
3/ For 'camera ready' skin, prepping is key. Using a luminising cream, such as MAC's Strobe Liquid, will give the skin a glow as well as allowing your foundation to glide on
4/ Keep blotting paper close at hand to remove shine without adding more coverage
5/ Bronzing under the chin will create a more defined look to the face, and eliminate the dreaded double chin
6/ Avoid dark, heavy eyes as the flash will always whiten the appearance of the skin, making your eyes look harsh
7/ Lightly wash lips with a concealer, such as select moisturecover concealer, to tone down the natural redness of the lips before applying a neutral lipstick






Neil's model wore Show Orchid on her lips and Lynsey's model was flaunting Shy Girl, both two of my favourite lipsticks. 
The final looks were stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them being created. It was a fabulous event and I feel I learnt some invaluable tips from the experts themselves.


Which is your favourite look?

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out in stripes

Top - H&M (£2.99 and in a whole host of colours)
Skirt - Vintage (Retro Rehab, Manchester)
Jewellery - Accessorize
Sunglasses - H&M
Lipstick - MAC's Costa Chic


Evening all.
Just a quick outfit post for you. I wore this today for some luncheon in the sun with Rob. We feasted on olives and pizza which subsequently induced a food-related coma. But it was worth it! 
I really love this navy striped skirt, which pretty much skims my ankles. It was one of my wonderful finds whilst shopping in Manchester a few weeks ago. And H&M basics came up trumps again with these cute little tops available in lots of lovely colours and patterns. I am wearing Costa Chic which is basically summertime encapsulated in a lipstick!


I hope you have all had great weekends whatever you have been up to.
Thank you to all my recent new readers I have received, and all the comments you leave.

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The only way is...Lauren's Way

Everything screamed to me I shouldn't like this product. My better judgement told me that the slightly lurid packaging and the 'celebrity' endorsement was a one-way ticket to a truly dire product. But, it seems, I stand corrected. 

Lauren Goodger, tanned TV star of The Only Way is Essex, has launched her very own tanning range consisting of a lotion and a mousse. I opted to try the lotion as I seem to get along a lot more favourably with lotions rather than mousses. This product, catchily called "Gorgeous Tanning Lotion - Beach Bronze Colour: Dark" (and breathe) comes emblazoned with Lauren's unmistakable pink branding and a pump dispenser. 

Firstly, smell-wise, you are greeted with a fresh kick of cucumber, making a welcome change to the usual overly-sweet aroma of vanilla or marzipan. The lotion is thick and extremely dark, a very similar colour and consistency of Xen Tan’s Dark Lotion. It dispenses at quite a leisurely pace from the bottle which I found really helpful as I could moderate the amount I wanted to use. 

Applying this tan was pretty easy and certainly didn’t raise any problems that I haven’t encountered before with other fake tans. As you are all aware, it is essential to exfoliate well before fake tanning, paying special attention to dry patches on your elbows and knees. Lauren’s Way tan is very dark and dries almost instantly, meaning it will latch on to any dry areas and stay there…as I well discovered the first time I used it. The lotion does dry very quickly once applied onto your skin so you need to be liberal and work speedily to avoid it streaking. It is a tan that is suited to the more experienced tanner! I never use a tanning mitt or gloves when I fake tan, mainly because I have never found one I think is any good. So if you happen to know any good ones, do let me know. I just used my hands, which I always lightly moisturise before applying the tan, just so it creates a slight barrier between your skin and the lotion. I am pleased to say that the tan washed off my hands absolutely fine, and didn’t leave any staining or orange-hand-syndrome!

1. Pretty pasty

2. Applying the tan

3. Instant colour after one application

4. Developed colour after 12 hours

The reason I love this tan so much, and I really do love it, is that it gives you an instant golden colour, which then develops into a really dark tan. This makes it perfect for a last minute application, if you are heading out and can’t quite bear to expose the world to your pasty legs. I have only ever needed one application of this tan. I would be fearsome to apply another layer as I think, dare I say, it would be TOO dark, even by my standards. It is probably the darkest tan I have used to date. The longevity of the tan is pretty average and comparable to other fake tans, 2-3 days and then it starts going patchy and needs a good scrub off.

I would recommend this tan to those who are after an instant colour, and also a tan that will develop and leave you looking very bronzed. If, however, you are after a more natural-looking tan, then I would steer clear of this. Sidestepping many an Essex joke, this tan is a real triumph and is anything but orange. For £15.95, it actually is a very competitive price in this ever-growing faux tanning market. The only thing that I think lets it down is the packaging, which I think sadly markets this product to a mainly younger demographic. This unfortunately alienates a large potential group of customers who would really enjoy this product.

Lauren's Way consists of two varieties of fake tanning products...
Gorgeous Self Tanning Bronzing Mousse - £17.95
Gorgeous Tanning Lotion, Beach Bronze Colour: Dark - £15.95

The range can be purchased from Lauren's facebook page or her official website.

This tan, in one word, is REEM!

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