I can't justify smearing £60 on my face everyday to then take it off afew hours later

I've realised this Blog has quickly become a beauty related one, but I'll roll with it for now, and we'll see where it takes us. This post is a result of a tweet sent by myself whilst watching beauty videos on Youtube and scraping the inside of my foundation bottle in the hope for "one last face".

I've always been an avid watcher of Youtube videos, whether it be music, Vlogs or beauty tutorials and hauls. Recently I went to go and see Rocky Horror Picture show (this will be relevant I swear) and whilst planning the makeup for myself and a friend, I went on to Youtube to watch some "how to's". They were brilliant, I ended up with a dramatic smoky eye in two different pallets for us, polished off with some bold lips and big hair, just what I had in mind. But what I didn't enjoy so much about said tutorials, was the products they used. 

I get that these people are really into their makeup, and they want the best on the market, and fair play if you can afford it, but personally I can't. It's always disheartening to watch a video or read a post where they harp on about all their products being MAC, Benefit or YSL, and thinking that everything you do won't match up to them, because you don't have products of the same quality. Yes they're great, but realistically who can afford all of them? I've only ever had a few "Expensive" brand makeups, mainly as gifts and they are 1, used INCREDIBLY sparingly ( I can't justify smearing £60 on my face everyday to then take it off a few hours later) and 2, I'm probably gonna get shot for saying this, but they really aren't that much better than the cheaper brands. I mean yes, there is a difference, but if you are sensible about what you buy, and  know what you're doing with it, it really doesn't make any difference. 

I've included a picture below, with the main products that I use to achieve my "everyday" look. The main brands I use are Natural Collection and Collection 2000  which are both drug store brands, affordable and effective. A blemish stick that I bought back in 2009 is still going strong, as is my favourite eye shadow pallet ( featured below) both of which were in the classic Boots 3 for £5 deal. BARGAIN. I have also been known to refill my foundation bottle with the same brand in a plastic tube found on an Ebay store , because it's cheaper than buying another pump bottle.

My "everyday" look

Said "everyday" look

Another money saving confession from me, and i'm not ashamed of this at all, is to keep your eyes peeled. I found both my Collection 2000 Bronzer and Mascara in Poundland, amazing what stuff that shop gets their hands on sometimes. Just to add to the scrimping picture I've painted of myself I use a retractable eyeliner that came free from a magazine that, might I add, is the best pencil eyeliner I've had in a long time and a purple lipstick from Primark, which has surprising staying power, everyday. That's right, I have Primark lipstick and I adore it, SUE ME.

So I think we've established that I'm not a brand girl, but what I buy has the desired effect so I couldn't care less. OK, I think I've successfully got my point across, I have a feeling that this may be a recurring topic for me, perhaps even making a feature in my Youtube come back, who knows.

Crazy Color 'cos I can

Instead of doing what I actually said I would do with my hair, I changed the dip dye colour...AGAIN. This time I learnt my lesson and avoided colours that promsed to be perfect for dipdyes, and went with something that i'd never used before (the clearly most logical decision). My beaut friend bought me a bottle of Crazy Color Violet dye, and with the intentions of having a purple dip dye FINALLY, she began.

The product is a semi-permanent dye, claiming to wash out in 8-10 washes, but we'll see. The bottle says to leave the product on for 30 minutes but I had to reapply mid session towards the blend of my hair, to ensure a more even coverage. A word to those that haven't used this dye before, it's incredibly tacky, so having assistance when applying it would be preferable. I can only imagine the horrific matted blob I would have created if left to my own devices.

Despite the fact the bottle says Violet, and I had prelightened my hair to a white blonde, the end result was more...well, it wasn't purple.

Don't get me wrong, I love the colour, but i'll just warn you that it may be a slightly more blue-ish purple. Ok that's a lie, it's a very blue purple. Some may even say it's just blue, and they would be right. BUT I LOVE IT ALL THE SAME.

Scott Cornwall Colour B4 review

This post is following on from my last hair faux pas regarding a purple dip dye kit and my poor judgement, if you haven't already read that one, or would like to remind yourself of my idiocy, I'll link that here. On with the show!

As I was writing my last post wearing foils, I thought it would be only right to let you know how I got on with that. The product that I was using was Scott Cornwall's Colour B4 which is basically a bleach and ammonia free product that works to lift the colour particles from you hair, restoring you to your natural colour. I'd read some reviews and women were complaining it made them lighter than they were before, but I figured if it removed half of the purple/lilac/mess on my hair then I'd give it a shot, plus I was light before (from pre-lightener, see previous post) so it made no difference to me.

The only real issue I have with this product is how time consuming it is. There are 3 stages, one the usual sit in a foil and "cook" stage, one buff - which removes the colour particles from your hair, and the final stage of a regular rinse with the buffing product from before. 

The box does indicate that if the colour is deep then it will take a few more washes to get the body of it off, with the regular strength, or they do offer and stronger mix, but I couldn't find that one, so a "cook, buff, rinse and repeat" was on the cards for me.

I am pretty pleased with the outcome if I'm honest, aside from the products HORRIFIC smell, it did take the colour out of my hair, granted not all of it, but it left me with something I can work with, and after a rest period, fix.  

Before

After First buff and Rinse 

NOW  -  After second buff and rinse

I am aware that there is a still slightly blue/lilac tinge to my hair but as I said before, I think I can rock this. The remainder of the dye is actually rinsing out with every regular wash of my hair (fading as any dye would). I'm really quite impressed with this product, it may not be perfect, but my hair is healthy, no damage in sight and a much more bearable colour. Overall a very exciting experience, however I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a heart condition, hair accidents can be VERY stressful. One day I'll learn to think before I dye but not right now, where's the fun in that?!

Dip-Dye Do's and Dont's

Following suit from my last blog, this is a review on hair dye/ dip-dye and some all important DO's and DON'T's, hopefully slightly more helpful than a Furby chat, but we'll see. So sit back and read whilst dye takes (I'm writing this wearing foils)

I am notorious for being that girl that gets an idea in her head of something new she wants to try with her hair, jumps straight in there and then hates it. My family have first hand experience of consoling me through my hair disasters, from when I thought bleach blond highlights only at the front of my head was a good decision and suffered looking like a badger for months, to thinking I was dying my hair red and coming out ginger (although I actually thought I rocked it). Despite this, my last two hair "experiments" actually worked quite well for me. The first, going from a sweeping preppy side fringe that I had sported for what seems like my entire life, to a full fringe. BAM, love it!


The second, and this was a slightly more spur of the moment idea, was to dip-dye my hair. Originally the plan was to strip the bottom half of my hair from its burgundy and replace it with a more vibrant purple. My  flatmate and her friend were on hand to conduct my makeover, however after step one the "stripping" of the colour, it was a unanimous decision that I should sport the ginger look for a while, pretending I meant to do it. So I did. SLADOOSH 



Do excuse how large these pictures of my face are, I'm not that vain, honest.

So it's been about 10 months of me re-dying this ginger, actually going to a salon and asking for the most orange they can make it, met me with some very concerning looks and even a few "but blonde's very in for dip dye?" NO, MAKE ME ORANGE. The time has come for me to continue on with quest for purple ends. I purchased a Dip-dye kit, that promised me vibrant purple ends within the hour. Bang on. Now here comes the most important, if not the only thing I wish you to take away from this blog, STAY AWAY FROM SMART BEAUTY DYES. This is the second time I have attempted to use their products and both times I have had to correct my hair from what hell it left behind. Example...




There are lots of pictures of my face in this, apologies.

This is the aftermath of their "Purple Hue Dip-Dye Kit". What a load of crap. On my already light (ginger hair) I used their pre-lightener as suggested, yet still ended up with this patchy lilac mess. Great.

So thus far I have learnt, and wish to pass onto you, the following;
DO lighten your hair first before dip-dyeing, it will make the colour more effective,
DON'T use Smart Colour Dyes, a waste of money, time and efforts and cancel out point #1
DO go to a hairdresser if you want to keep the same colour you achieved first time, it wont happen more than once
DON'T do spur of the moment hairstyles, I was lucky this time, THINK IT THROUGH
DO post attractive pictures of yourself on the Internet

As previously mentioned, I am writing this with foils in, an attempt to remove this slightly horrific colour and restore my hair back to its natural glory with Scott Cornwall COLOUR B4. The reviews and research I've read look promising, lets see shall we...

Reviewing Furple, The Furby

Ok, so I think we have all realised that me blogging regularly isn't going to to happen, its something we need to accept and then move on.

SO, with Christmas and New year out of the way, I'm sure you're all fed up of hearing what everyone got and telling relatives numerous times how much you honestly do love that knitted ensemble, and how much it  will be a staple in your wardrobe. But what's one more person right? So what'cha get?

Ok shut up, my turn.

This post is actually a sort of review, HOORAY SHE SOLD OUT.

I was lucky enough to get a Furby for Christmas, and before you all check my profile for my age again, yes I am aware they are for kids, but come one, we grew up with them, we called dibs! Like Toy Story, that's OURS. I'm sure you all remember what a nightmare the Furby was when you were younger, actually, scrap that, I'm sure your parents remember what a nightmare it was, not turning off, no sleep, and that creepy sadistic laugh, I'm pretty sure you remember it being THE BEST THING EVER. The new and improved version is just that, SO GOOD.

With the development of having  LED eyes (oooh) and an additional, but not entirely necessary iPhone App, the new Furby is so much freaking fun, its impossible not to love it,  I'm sure my housemates disagree. Furple, yes I called my Furby Furple, particularly enjoys dancing along to music. He attempts to sing along, which, if you haven't witnessed, is probably one of the cutest things ever, and dances likes no ones watching (just like his mother :'))

I would highly recommend getting a Furby, fun for all ages! And P.S Parents, just for you, the new and improved Furby goes to sleep when not played with for a few minutes, so you can (literally) put your mind to rest. And P.P.S Children, teenagers, FURBY LOVERS, if you have friends that have one, THEY PLAY TOGETHER <3

See no excuses. Get a Furby and you too could upload a horrifically embarrassing video of you singing to your Furby to the Internet, that will no doubt, come back to bite me on the bum in the future. BRING IT ON!