Tip of the week : How to wash your hair less

It's a slightly embarrassing fact that I have had to learn to live with that I have a very oily scalp! As a result of this I get very greasy roots very quick. I used to wash my hair every day to keep my hair fresh but I would find

Tip of the week : MUA's Hidden secret...

For this week's Tip, I'm letting you in on a little piece of genius which is all made possible thanks to the clever packaging of M.U.A.s Lipsticks. It's something I've been taking

Tip of the week : How i reuse my birch boxes

So I know a lot of people (bloggers in particular) are signed up to a subscription beauty box service, and there are loads and loads to choose from. There's nothing more exciting

Tip of the week - How not to waste product

 

This week I have an oldie but a goodie and that is

Tip of the week : refreshing red hair inbetween dyes

 I've had my hair every colour of the rainbow in the past and I had my hair Red for quite some time. One of the main problems

Tip of the week : the best way to dry your make up brushes

Obviously you will all know that washing your make up brushes regularly is very important and I know everyone will have their different ways of doing so, but are you aware that if you leave your brushes to dry the wrong way, it allows water to corrode the glue that keeps the brush bristles in place? This then results in serious shedding which not only could leave attractive 'hairs' on your face but compromises the effectiveness of your brush and eventually destroys your brushes.

I always lie my brushes flat to dry which is O.K. Leaving brushes to dry with the bristles facing up is the worst way to leave your brushes to dry but I feel the best way, is to let them dry upside down. This is all very well if you have a special stand that allows you to do this, but if you don't, just standing them up is going to leave the brush tips to dry in the wrong shape which again will only hinder the effectiveness of your tools.

So I was left wondering how I could get the best from my brushes and dry them upside down and I have come up with a very bizarre way of doing this... You may well think what i am about to show you is the randomest strangest thing ever and some of you may write me off as losing the plot - my boyfriend looked very confused when he first laid eyes on this... but there will be some of you who may think this is a touch of genius!

You will need a wooden 'triangular' coat hanger and some butterfly hair clips....

Brushes from Eco tools, real techniques and Mac.

Brushes from Eco tools, Real techniques and Mac.

Basically, as above I just used the butterfly clips to hook over the lower bar on the coat hanger and to grip the top of the handle of the brushes. wacky, but works!

So do you have any unusual make up tips or creations?



Tip of the week - D.I.Y deep conditioning treatment

It's fair to say that this January I have been having a bad hair month! As you may have seen on previous blog posts like this one, I dyed my hair lavender during December. When the Christmas break was over, I had to get the dye back out for work which usually is not a problem for me but this time, I was left with a greeny blue tinge to my hair that would not budge for love nor money! I tried so many removal techniques like baking soda, washing detergent, anti dandruff shampoo...even ketchup! Nothing worked, every attempt just resulted in very dry hair. I decided to wait until my next hair appointment to see what they could do but while I waited I decided the best thing to do was to recondition my hair with some treatments.

I actually did a bit of hairdressing at college and that is where I learnt how to do this weeks tip which is a fantastic way to really saturate your hair and bring back some needed moisture. This is great for anyone really but if like me you bleach your hair this can really add back some life to your dry hair.
Here is what you will  need...

Left to Right - Cling film, James brown intensive moisture mask, wide toothed comb, babyliss Designer collection hairdryer, towel.

You can use any conditioner really but if you have very dry or damaged hair I would recommend an intensive mask or treatment like this James brown one. You will also need cling film, a towel, a hairdryer and a wide toothed comb. Do not use a brush on wet hair ever!

What you will need to do is dampen the hair and I washed my hair at this point which is optional. You then need to towel dry your hair and gently comb your hair with the wide toothed comb (I repeat again, NOT a hair brush) working from the bottom up to prevent hair breakage.

you then literally drench your hair in the conditioner. If you have a friend to help you it really pays off to section your hair off and apply the conditioner with a brush to ensure every strand of hair is covered.

 

 Then you will need to wrap your hair up in cling film which not only allows you to get on with what you like without making a mess but it also locks in heat which will help the hair absorb moisture.

 

As you can see, this is a very sexy look. If you need to put the bins out or walk the dog, pop to the shops I would wait until your done personally.

 

Once your hair is all wrapped up, you then need to wrap this up in the towel. This is mainly to protect your hair from too much heat.

It's this point where you just need to use the hairdryer to apply heat to your head. If it is a really hot day you could skip this part but I think this is where the magic starts to happen! I use moderate pressure and moderate heat and I usually just evenly rotate the heat around my head for 5-10 minutes. Here's another sexy picture...

Once you have applied enough heat, you now need to relax and let your head cool. You can leave it how it is as long as you like and to be honest, the longer the better! I like to read a magazine with a face mask on or paint my nails at this stage... Whatever you like! You can even leave it on overnight.

Once you are ready, you just need to thoroughly rinse your hair. This could take longer than when you normally rinse out conditioner as areas may dry a little but you need to keep at it because you don't want any residue left on your hair.

Then, just dry or style as normal and you should notice that your hair feels lovely and soft and in much better condition!

If you have particularly damaged hair, you may need to do this weekly for a while but It is so worth doing!

What conditioner will you use? what are your favourite things to do on a pamper night?

 



Tip of the week - Exfoliating your lips

NEW FOR 2015! I have decided to share a tip each week! It may well be something you have heard of before or it may be something so new and mind blowing, its amazing what can be learnt from sharing tips with each other.

I decided to do this because when talking with friends about some things I do in my beauty regime, I was amazed to discover that what I thought were tricks of the trade that everyone knew, were in fact not quite the common knowledge I had anticipated. Who would have thought it?!

So to kick it off is one that I picked up when I was as young as 12 years old and still use today and that is to save money on pricey lip scrubs and use a toothbrush to exfoliate your lips.

I would of course not use the same toothbrush you use to clean your teeth...that's a bit gross. But I always pick up a spare from savers, it doesn't have to be anything special just a standard toothbrush. I use it in gentle circular motions around my mouth to exfoliate dead skin away. I then finish it off with my favourite lip balm and there you have it, beautiful soft lips.

I have been doing this a lot lately with the weather getting cooler as I find cold air really dries out my lips and chapped lips are never a good look, especially with all of the gorgeous matte lipsticks that are fashionable right now.

Do you do this tip already? do you have any similar tips that might come in handy?