Hair Dye: Attempt No.1

I was in Wilkinsons today (a cheapy shop which most normal people do try and avoid)
and i spotted their array of cheaper hairdyes and just thought "oh eck, im just going to grab one and go for it"
I normally like to find the packets with gorgeous girls with amazing glossy long locks..but today i was strictly looking at colour.
I knew that if i bought the lightest i could get away with without going totally ginger, it wouldn't go the colour on the front of the box but i wanted something that would at least lift the colour of my hair. It was left on for 20 minutes, and i sat back and watched, with my fingers crossed that it wouldn't go wrong.

The result?









Well, it's hardly a massive difference is it?
£3 well spent? I'd say so.
It's definitely lighter than before...with some tinges of ginge? (although it's actually not that bad, but im so paranoid, im walking around my house complaing of having a ginger tinge & i think i'm driving my mum mad)
It was an experiment at least...i know that really..a box dye is not going to achieve the colour i want unless i keep re dying it. Im thinking a trip to sallys and a bit of peroxide is actually a better bet, and if that fails..im going to have to fork out for someone to do it properly.. *grimace*

It's a start anyway! You don't get anywhere if you dont experiment ;)
♥

Injecting a bit of "Caramel"

For quite a while now i have been somewhat unsatisfied with my hair colour.

Around 10 months ago i had my hair coloured (only semi permanently) and a few highlights put through the front of my hair...i used to be ALOT more experimental with my hair; dying it darker & highlighting it myself when i was bored of the same old...even cutting it shorter.
I am really happy with the length..could possibly do with some more choppy layers and the ends trimmed but i can do that myself.
The colour?
I have always played it safe and gone darker than my natural shade...in all honesty..my natural hair colour is just bleurgh...it's not a deep dark shade, nor a light golden brown..just kindof ashy & boring.
Ultimately i'd LOVE to have my hair a colour like the images above which have been saved on my computer under the file "Hair" for months & i keep looking at them & trying to muscle up the courage to actually do it.
I was actually flicking through the Jan 2010 Cosmo & the model's hair on page 119 is EXACTLY how i want my hair to be. (if you have that mag to hand)
I know that really you should go darker for the winter & lighter in the summer, but honestly, my complexion is pale enough as it is..if i went any darker i think i'd look ill...i love having highlights because they actually bring warmth to my face...I'd love to look a little more "healthy" through the cold months.
To be honest though, the images above aren't THAT far from my natural colour, i guess it would just be a tinge of blonde-ness.
So yeh...thinking of actually just going on a whim and buying a hair dye tomorrow as an impulse.

Any advice on going lighter by a few shades?
Or even any box's of dye that you think could achieve something similar would be greatly appreciated..i dont fancy going down the bleach route..i can happily bleach my brothers hair..but i dont know if i could do my own haha.

♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Christmas Eve

This bubble bar (to be crumbled under running water for bubbles galore) smells delish.
It has a perfumey/floral scent to it.
It includes Jasmine & Ylang Ylang so has it's calming properties.
It can either be a very comforting smell, or a very fresh one.
It also turned my water a gorgeous blue colour (this was without the yellow), with a smidgen of the yellow, it went a not so nice green..
When i first used this, i wasn't that blown away by it..but the second time i realised that actually, it has a really nice scent that Lush do not already produce in the bubble bar range, and sniffing away at it now, i've decided that it shares my love with Candy Cane, both very very different however.
This bubble bar also has irredescent glitters which make the bubbles look pretty but does not stick to the skin (unless you were to use a body butter or something including oil)

I really like this bubble bar, and will be buying a few more before the christmas range becomes extinct.

rrp: £2.50

♥

LUSH Boxing Day Sale.

As some of you may, or may not be aware, a large proportion of Lush stores across the UK & USA hold post Christmas sale's.

Last year, in the UK, the sale was simply "Spend £20, get anything free", so people were walking out with free "Lush Legend" box sets worth £97.
However this year, they have sorted out this steal, & now it's box sets within a certain date/price, or simply pick anything from a massive box full of stuff.
In my local Lush shop, the massive box was full of Xmas box sets, and bags which were stapled so you couldn't see inside, but i think most had a 500g Snow Fairy & various other Xmas items.
In the US, the sales are a lot more exciting (in my opinion anyway), & their deal is simply
"Buy one, get two free" - erm..yes please UK?
(If anyone actually knows why we don't have this promotion in the UK, let me know...I'm intrigued)

I've never been shopping on boxing day, but this year, i had nothing to do, my family were meeting with friends and doing a local pub crawl & my brother went off skiing.
So me & my cousin drove into the city (which at 11.30 i thought would be manic..it seriously wasn't..it was more quiet than an average day).
I went straight to Lush, thinking everything would be gone, but it was surprisingly quiet & lots of choice for the free gift.

This is what i brought home with me...


[3 more Star Melts (yeh, i think im obsessed), 2 So White Bath Ballistics, Medium Olive Branch showergel (my mum threw my other FULL one away because she thought it had gone funny where the two colours dont mix...urgh), Candy Cane Bubble Bar, Mr Butterball Bath Ballistic & Sex Bomb Bath Ballistic]

And i got this Stardust Christmas Box set, worth £24.95 for free :)
(It was actually the one i had in mind for getting so yay)

The box contains:
♥ 100g Snow Fairy Showergel
♥ Fairy Tail Sugar Scrub
♥ Candy Cane Bubble Bar
♥ Star Melt
♥ Snow Fairy Solid Perfume
♥ Angel's Delight Moon Soap
♥ Double Fast Luck Emotibomb
♥ 10% Discount

I'm glad i decided to get out of bed & go to Lush, i managed to get myself an absolute bargain.
I could have kept it & given it as a gift, but..that moon soap was too hard to resist...
If you haven't already been to your nearest Lush & would quite like to grab a bargain, im pretty sure they will still have stuff left...mine did & i think they will for at least a week.

What did you get in the sale & did your Lush have any other promotions?
♥

Christmas Day

Hello Everyone!

Thought i would show you a few snaps from yesterday.
Hope you all had an amazing day!

[Me & my younger brother, who is now bigger than me - hence the sulky face]

[Nice face Joe]

[Don't really know what i was doing here, think i was flexing my "muscles"]

[My Grandad carving the Turkey]

[How freaky are these masks?]

♥

Previous Nights Glad Rags

Some of you may have watched me & my friend Becca getting ready for a night out on BlogTv a week & a bit ago now. Sadly, i took hardly any photos, so i have waited for some to surface on facebook so i could show you what i wore.

I appologise they aren't "Lookbook" standard but you get the general idea?

[pretty sure my friend would KILL me if she knew i posted this. I don't look that dapper myself, but it shows my shoulder up close. The things i do for you guys. P.S Check out my "claw"]

[Me & Josh..erm..why is my bum sticking out so much? As far as i'm aware..i was standing pretty normally]

What I wore...
Dress: New Look
Tights with small silk bows on back of ankles: QS (yeh..cheap as chips)
Suede high heeled Boots: New Look

I'd also just like to note that i wore the "Nicola" lashes from the girls aloud range, and have come to the conclusion i hate them, they don't suit my eye shape at all...unless i had a dud pair..they just looked ridiculous, and i wouldn't say my eyes were too small either. Very strange.

♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Candy Cane

Bubble bars are one of my Lush necessities. I feel lost without a bubble bar to crumble into my bath.
This has to be one of my favourite. I love the shape, i love the colours & i adore the smell. Many have said it smells like creamy candy. I don't have that at the moment so i can't compare. Both have a very sweet "candy" smell to them though. I do know i'd rather pick this up than creamy candy though, think it's slightly bigger too!
If you're not familiar with bubble bars, you simply crumble a small section under running water. I found that if you crumble it under a very very fast running tap (as my hot water sort of dribbles out my tap at the moment - so i have to use a blast of cold to produce my bubbles) then it will produce better quality bubbles, and more of them.
I honestly have nothing more to say about this beaut, i have repurchased a few already & i do find the smell lingers & leaves my skin softer than normal.
Love love love this.

rrp: £2.35

♥

It's Christmas!

My favourite time of the year is finally upon us.

When we whip out the decorations, light the candles, eat as much chocolate as we possibly can, crack open the champagne and cheeselets & snuggle up to watch endless amounts of christmas films on the tv.
I just thought i'd share with you some of the little christmas details in my house & the gorgeous views we had today (it was perfect christmas weather in my opinion)

I seriously love where i live. The snow & ice has mostly melted as the sun has been shining all day, but there is still a chill in the air. My favourite winter weather & a prettyiful sunset to top it off.

How do you decorate your house for christmas?
♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Snow Fairy

I WILL finish these Christmas reviews before christmas (lol) & then when Lush do their crazy "buy a massive bag of xmas lush stuff for only £20" you will pleased you read these reviews ;)

Snow Fairy is something which produced a massive amount of hype last year, and all year this was probabaly my most anticipated xmas lush product as i wanted to see what the fuss was about. I don't think it's AS amazing as some people made it out to be, but i do love it none the less.
If i've never tried a shower gel in lush before, i buy the smaller bottle just to test. If i like it, i will go back and buy the biggest bottle. I will be doing this with Snow Fairy. :)
The scent is extremely sweet and bubblegummy, something which would probabaly go down better in the summer, but a very nice, girly scent never the less.
It also has small irridescent particles of blue glitter, which makes it look so pretty in the bottle.
It does leave my skin feeling very soft, and the smell lingers all day.
It also lathers well, for all you lather freaks out there. ;)

100g (small) - £2.95
250g (medium) - £5.95
500g (large) - £9.95

♥

When PR is spot on.

This isn't normally something i would write, but as you will see from this post, i felt the need to express my happiness :)

Some PR companies are LOVELY, and others? Well, i have had a handful of companies pushing themselves on me in a very formal way to review their products..& of course, if i don't feel comfortable in the way a company is dealing with it, i won't respond or review.

PR relastionships are important, i feel anyway.
Personally, i can really tell the difference between a company who just wants a mention, or someone who actually believes i will enjoy trying something which could be of interest to me.
The other day, i recieved an email from a guy called Robert who has a business called Zuneta which he runs along with his sister. The email wasn't asking me to check out his website, or to review anything. He simply said he was a fan of my blog, and that in celebration for their first year in business, he would like to share his christmas spirit along with a handful of other bloggers and send out a gift. He was extremely polite and informal & really very friendly. Something that makes a nice change from some other emails i recieve. I guess as he does his own PR, he doesn't need to be pushy, he's simply advertising his business...fair play to him.

This morning, my dad brought up a cute little package for me, along with a christmas card, which was signed by Robert & his sister.I think i found this so lovely, as it's the personal touches which make something that little bit more special.
The gift was wrapped up with a little bow inside lots of tissue paper and inside was an eyeshadow duo.
I've never heard of the brand "Hourglass", but MY GOD, these eyeshadows are amazing, the pigmentation is Nars standard (if not better) & im not just saying that.

It is seriously the cutest little duo ever & i will be buying more from their site. I know that people tend to steer clear of new brands, but personally i love to find something different.
Im sad i didn't discover this a little earlier as they would have made great presents.
I will do a proper review on the shadows once i have played around with them a bit more. & no, i dont feel inclined to do so because they are lovely people, they haven't asked for a review, but these shadows have highly impressed me, as well as their great appraoch to PR.

PR has had some bad coverage in the past few months or so, alot of people being fed up of seeing the same things being reviewed, and i can totally understand this.
but when you get a little family run web company like this, making effort just to introduce themselves and just getting everything right, is really very refreshing.

A great start to my day which i thought i would share with you all & please remember, if a PR company want to be involved with you & your blog or youtube, make sure you feel happy with them. You don't have to accept anything from anyone.

Have a spiffing Friday everyone :)

♥

Hair of the Day - Cheryl Cole Inspired

Who's hair do i envy?
Cheryl Cole's, whether it's all her own or not..i think it looks amazing.
I know i will never have hair that will be as high a standard as hers..but i'll give it a damn good shot...plus..mine is all real baby. ;)

To achieve this voluminous style, i simply backcombed and hairsprayed the roots on the crown and sides of my head then gently combed over the craziness (to take it down a notch)
and using straightners (a flat iron) i turned in any layers towards my face to give it a much softer look.
I really despise mega straight, flat long hair, there has to be some oomph in it, or i will approach you in the street and ruffle it up...consider yourself pre-warned.

♥

Review: Lush Christmas - Jingle Spells

Jingle Spells Bath Bomb is one that Lush describes as a "hangover cure"
I did not have a hangover when i chose to bathe in this...just so you know.
Hmm, what do i say about this?
It's...blah
It's nothing special, and honestly, i HATED being in the bath with tonnes of stars (yeh, there's more inside)
They kept landing on me and itching me or making me flinch (like you would if you thought a spider was crawling on your skin)
When would anybody really choose to bathe with tonnes of little stars? they will just end up going places you dont want them to..like your belly botton on between your toes..jeez people, where did you think i meant. ;)
The scent was nice. It's a very refreshing & comforting smell, which is possibly why it would make a good hangover cure. It smells of Juniperberry.
The best thing about this Bath Ballistic was the fact it turned the water dark purple & left my skin feeling slightly softer.

I won't be purchasing this one again, the stars ruined it for me personally, i thought i'd be able to cope with the few on top...but it came with many a "bun in it's oven".
If you are a ballistic person, and dont mind stars...this might be one to give a sniff because the smell was lovely.

rrp: £2.75

♥

Hair & FOTD

I used my remington spin dryer today (it was half price in Superdrug & i'd been eyeing it for a while, so i bought it)...a scary looking contraption which blowdry's and curls the hair at the same time. I love this thing, it's my new favourite, i just wish i had it in the summer so the "beach" waves would have been more fitting.

I first blowdryed my roots with my head upside down (this is such a vital step, otherwise you end up with masses of frizz on the top of your head..it's not a good look)
I then used Aussie curl definition serum through my damp ends and taking small sections of my hair i blowdryed. There are videos on youtube demonstrating the process, its not that difficult anyway tbh.
Afterwards, i used "Bed Head After Party" through the curls & also using a straightner i defined the wave where my fringe was being stubborn.
Personally, i love it. It's the Mary Kate & Ashley wave i've always had to achieve by letting my hair air dry...which takes FOREVER. So now i can cut down the time using this handy contraption. You can also determine how tight and how loose the curls are by how long you heat the selected pieces of hair. Although it does drop out slowly anyway, unless you use lots of hairspray.


On my face i am wearing...

E Y E S
♥ Too faced shadow insurance
♥ Sunday Best L/E Mac Shadow on inner corner
♥ Star Violet Mac Shadow blended in
♥ Showstopper Mac Shadow in crease
♥ Maybelline Pule Perfection mascara
♥ Chanel eye kohl in "Ambre" (a deep bronze brown)

F A C E
(not that you can really see)
♥ Eve Pearl salmon concealer
♥ Benefit erase paste on top
♥ Bare Escentuals foundation in medium
♥ Bare Escentuals Faux Tan bronzer to contour
♥ Illamasqua Cream Blush in Sob
♥ Benefit Moon Beam to highlight brow bone & cheek bone

L I P S
♥ GOSH Darling Lipstick
♥ Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lipgloss in "half naked"

Hope you like my FOTD.
I really like my hair like this, it's alot more natural looking, and i think it's alot softer and prettier than dead straight hair or perfect curls. I will be wearing my hair like this alot more often
♥

2000 Followers & Blog Contest - CLOSED

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Oh my goodness.

I have 2000 blog followers.
This is madness i tell thee.
I only started this for a bit of fun & i'm so so greatful so many of you enjoy reading the things i have to say or like looking at my ugly mug once in a while. :)

So, i always said, if i ever reached 2000 blog followers, i would hold a contest..and to be honest, it's a very good time to have it.

I'd been thinking for a while what i could do to involve everyone & to get all your creative juices flowing.
As some of you may know, (or may not), Moulin Rouge is one of my favourite films.
I love the costumes, the glamour and more importantly, all the sparkly bits and diamonds.
So, for this reason..my blog contest is simply called...

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend"

Because, lets put it this way...they are.

Now, i know some of you may be scratching your heads like "seriously Zoe..how i am supposed to create a makeup look around diamonds"
well i'll give you some ideas i had come up with myself...

• You could quite literally just do a vampy Satine-esq look - Go all out with hair, makeup costumes..what ever you fancied.
• Use sequins on your face/around eyes
• Encorporate Diamonte's on eyelashes or around eyes
• Glitter & lots of it..or, if you want to be more subtle, then thats fine :)
• Or, even get geometric with the shaping and cut of diamonds
• Use of the reflective colours in a diamond

These are just a few examples.
I know alot of you will read this and think "oh well i cannot be arsed to do this"
Please don't think that you need to do any of this above, just show me something sparkly & pretty or moulin rouge themed. You dont need to go all out with wigs and dresses but i want to see some creativity. All my A Levels are in Photography, Art & Textiles, so i'd like to see how everyone can produce something different as i am a very creative person myself.

But most importantly, just have fun with it.

The rules are as follows:

• Produce a look based on the title of the contest
• Send me images by E-mail with the subject "Diamonds are a girls best friend" or simply link me to your blogpost in the comments below if you want to publish it for others to see. Include a very brief description of why you chose to do what you did.
• You do not have to do the makeup on yourself if you don't wish to, plaster your friend in glitter instead :)
  
• Contest will end in a months time, so that will be the 1st of January 2010 at midnight GMT (woop)
• Please don't be stingy & get someone else to do it for you, it ruins the fun & is betrayal. haha
  
• I will be judging the contest entries, along with my friends & family

CHANGES

• There will be a first prize for those who live in the UK, and a first prize for those who live overseas & one runner up who can live anywhere in the world. :)
  

That's all you need to know folks.
What better time of the year to get your sparkly makeup out? AND, if you're like me, and you always want to glam yourself up with reams of glitter, but never feel you can as it will be too O.T.T, this gives you the perfect excuse.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED - NO MORE ENTRIES

Get Creative Guys & Dolls
Love you all tonnes
♥