Nails!

My nails are always painted. Whether its got a crackle coat over, or simply just a plain colour. Your nails can really help just give an outfit a bit of fun to it!  For example, if my outfit is all black, i'll do my nails a purple or red colour to liven it up a bit so it doesn't look so dull!    Recently i've been wanting to do some designs on my nails, just simple ones like stripes or crosses. So instead of wasting my money and buying a crap nail pen, I lent one of my sister to try out, and now i've used it, and think its amazing!!  i'll definitely be spending my pennies on one! Nail pens give your nails a fun look! And the design doesn't have to be professional perfect, it looks good even if you haven't got the best art skills, or if you have a shaky hand!

- Sparkle and Fade grey Base Coat.

- Models own Nail Art Pen in black.  Ive done a simple quick design just to show how easy the nail art pen is to use. It has a really really really thin brush, so you can do any design you want. Pin stripe, crosses, lighting bolts etc.

- I've applied Nails Inc Kensington Caviar top coat  to make the design last longer.

'Wish List'!

Like I said at the very start of my blog in the first post, I will be blogging about make-up, beauty, hair, skincare, recent purchases and sometimes fashion items.

So for this post i'm going to put a few fashion items i'm wanting and will hopefully be purchasing next week (yay!).   If you want to know where any of the items are from or prices, then leave a comment and i'll let you know! :)

Quick and Simple - Brown Smokey Eye

This is what I always use to do for school and college when i'd got up late and needed to be out the house very soon! So for all the people in a morning in the same rushed situation, this is perfect to do as it is so quick and so so so simple! Hope you like it! ( All the links to the products used are in the description next to the pictures! )

- Begin with concealing under the eye. To conceal I have used Benefit Boi-ing in the shade 01. 

- To make things quicker and easier, I use a pallet of brown eye shadows. Try have one which ranges from a dark brown to a highlight colour. I have used Rimmel London Colour Rush Quad Eye Shadow in the shade 002 Smokey Brun. 











- Apply the darkest brown to the outter corner of your eye and the crease, then blend inwards.

- Blend the outter corner dark brown colour upwards into the arch of your eyebrow. Make sure it isn't harsh colour.

- Take a black liquid liner/gel liner and apply from the very outer corner of the eye to just over half way. Don't go to the inner corner of the eye.This will help darken the overall smokey look.  I have used Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in the shade Black Ink. 

Stay as close to the lash line as possible!

- Add a black kohl eyeliner on the bottom lash line, once again from the outer corner to half way. Make the very outer corner quite a harsh black then lighten it off as you draw along.  Here I have used Rimmel Soft Kohl Pencil.

- Where you have applied the kohl pencil, then take the darkest brown eyeshadow again and blend gently underneath the pencil. This will make the look more smokey.

- Curl your lashes, then add your chosen black mascara. Here I have used MAC studio fix boldblack lash mascara. 

- Take your black kohl pencil again and line the waterline. This is optional, but I think it creates a more smokey appearance to the eye and really makes them "pop".













- Take the lightest brown/cream colour in the pallet, and apply that lightly in the inner corner of the eye. This acts as a highlight colour. You can also optionally apply this colour to under your brow to highlight with this look.

- And there it is! When you are actually applying this eye make-up, I'd say it takes around 5 minutes depending on how quick/slow you are with your eye make-up naturally.  It's a really nice look for everyday as it isn't to harsh on the face and it's great how quick and simple it is.  Hope you like it, and if you have any questions just leave a comment below and I shall reply!

How I got lilac hair.

Ok so the easiest way I can think of to set this out is to show you a picture of my hair and then write what the dye was I used to get to that point.  The overall length it took me to get to this colour was probably on average a month.  It could of been quicker, but I was trying to damage my hair as little as possible, so I did 1/2 dyes per week and then did hair treatments in between to keep my hair in good condition! If you have any questions about anything I've done or want any advice on trying to get this hair colour ( or any other ) then just leave a comment and I will reply back as quickly as I can! :) Hope this helps some people who were wondering!  (If anybody wants links to the products I used or sites/shop names you can buy them from or prices, then just leave a comment!)

I'm going to point out now, I am not a professional hairdresser, and do not think I am. I've dyed my hair A LOT of colours for many years now, so I have some knowledge of what products I like/are good and what works/ doesn't work. 

 - This was the colour I had before the dyeing. Dark blonde and Black in my fringe. 

- I used Wella Hair streaking Kit to get the black out of my fringe. As you can see by the photo ( even though my fringe is pinned up ) I have no black in my hair. I was left with a few ginger tones after this dye though.  I would recommend this dye to everybody who is trying to remove a previous colour!

- Here I used SMART BLONDE platinum bleach and toner to try get rid of the ginger tones out of my fringe. It did lift it better, and my roots ( as expected ) went white! But it still remained ginger in my fringe.

- I used LO'real Paris Recital Preference dye in the shade 10.21 Stockholm ( Very light pearl blonde )... you can't tell on the picture but this lightened my hair to a very pale yellow colour. After this ( I forgot to take a photo ) I used  XXL Platinum blonde dye on my fringe to remove all traces of orange. This worked REALLY well, so it meant I was ready to begin toning my hair!

- Here I have applied Directions La Riche White Toner on my hair. I left this on for 45 minutes. The photo below is how it turned out after using this. It REALLY worked and got rid of the yellow tones in my hair! 

- As you can see the Directions White Toner worked REALLY well! I wasn't expecting that from it. It left some lilac tones in my hair which obviously I wasn't bothered about! I really recommend this!!

- Here I have Direction La Riche Silver Toner on my hair. And if i'm 100% honest, it did nothing. If you're someone who is going to follow what i've done, miss out the silver toner! It really did nothing at all! 

- Here I mixed my dye up ready for my hair. I used a cheap conditioner which only cost me 99p ( So you can understand how cheap this conditioner was ). I put as much as I thought I needed for my hair in a bowl, then added about a table spoon and a half of Directions La Riche Lilac, then mixed it with my Stargazer tint brush. 

- I left the lilac dye on my hair for 1 hour, then went and washed it off and used shampoo afterwards to make sure all of it was out of my hair. 

- And this is the beauty that came out after it! I'm impressed with how it turned out to be honest!  I used a lot of dyes, but that was mainly due to the fact I had black in my hair. otherwise I wouldn't of had to of used so many! I love the way this has turned out! and i'm 100% certain i'm keeping it this colour for a while. A bonus of this is when it washes out in 6 weeks-7 weeks time, it leaves it a silver/grey colour which I also love! 

- My hair did stay in good condition because of the products I used on it whilst dying it. I'll give a list of products I used to keep it healthy in another post, later this week!

- If you have any questions then feel free to ask and i'll reply as soon as I can :) 

L-L-L-Lilacccc

Lilac hair is finally here! Sorry for the sh*t quality photo, i'll try upload a better one sometime! But I absolutely loveeeee it! Sometime this week i'll put up a post about how I got it to this colour for the people who want to know and have asked me how.

New Lipstick!

I bought this the other week, and have only just put it on for the first time! I love it! It is Rimmels Lasting Finish Lipstick in the colour 006 Pink Blush. Its such a nice colour, and to be honest i'm not a huge fan of the colour pink, so this was a surprise. It looks great with my lilac hair at the minute! Its creamy and doesn't dry your lips up!  You can get it from Boots, Superdrug or anywhere that sells Rimmel! It's very much a barbie colour pink if you apply a few coats of it, but if you just want to add a little pink tint to your lips its great for that as well if you apply a coat then blot it after. A new daily lipstick of mine!

Eyebrows - The face framers!

Eyebrows- The face framers!

So I use 2 simple products on my eyebrows to shape them and keep them in place!

Number 1 - Benefit Brow Zings! In the shade Medium!  This includes a brow wax, and a powder, and is probably the best eyebrow duo kit I've used. I really like how you can build coverage with the wax and powder, so if you want very dark harsh brows you can, and if you want a light coverage just to slightly define them, you can! its great!

Number 2 - Benefit She Laq! This is make-up sealer. I don't use this on anything but my eyebrows, but it works perfect!! It keeps all the hairs in place allllll day long! Even on a super duper really windy day! It comes with brushes to use with it which is helpful if you're not someone who owns a lot of variety of make-up brushes. Unfortunately the Benefit website doesn't sell this product anymore, so if you're wanting to buy it, your going to have to go on a hunt on the internet for it!

In a few weeks time, i'll upload a video on how I do my brows and what I think works best.

The power of mascara!

The other day I was shopping and remembered I had ran out of mascara.  I don't have a favorite one at all, so I am always mixing it up when buying a new one. This time I went for MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash- ( I'll put the link below ).All I have to say is WOW. Think I found my favorite!  The brush on the mascara wand is soooo good. I'd been looking for one like it for ages. It applies so easy and coats every single lash possible, making them appear nice a long and very dark! Best way to put it, is in a cheesy line.. " it really makes your eyes POP ".  It costs £14.00, and 100% worth the money! Don't think i'll be using any other mascara in future! I loveeee it! 

Hope the pictures help show how good it is! I didn't have any other eye make-up on, so it wasn't distracting from the mascara!
MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash.

My Top 5 Dark Lipsticks!

(Starting at the top)
-Revlon Va Va Violet 
-Revlon Black Cherry
-Sleek Makeup Mulberry
-Mac Smoked Purple
-Topshop Lips Vamp

Inspiration for the Lilac/Silver hair

I give in, i'll subscribe!

Finally when I get paid, I shall be subscribing to GlossyBox!! ... For those of you who have no idea what i'm on about, I'll explain; 

A Glossybox allows you to receive 5 high-end luxury products each month. This includes make-up, perfume etc.   I'd heard about them for ages and ages through people doing videos about them on Youtube and on blogs, and always thought it was a great idea, but never subscribed to get one. But after going on the website ( which I shall link below ), I have finally been persuaded. They're £10 a month  ( I think you can get them other places except the UK )  and to be honest, I think it is completely worth it.  How many times have you bought something spur of the moment, then hated it after, and because you've opened and used it, you can't return it? I do it all the time ( i'll never learn ). But this gives you the chance to try some products out, and if you love one then go ahead and buy it. Try before you buy!.. a motto I always manage to forget :(  The products are wrapped up really nice and not just thrown in to a box aswell, which is a bonus!    They had a Harrods Edition the other month, which if I had of known that was coming I would of subscribed long long ago! 

I'll give an example of some of the brands you get in the GlossyBox, which i'm hoping most people will know of...

Burberry, Clarins, OPI, YvesSaintLaurent, Liz Earle, Lancome, Illamasqua. The list goes on and on and on. So if you want to take a look at the website, here is the link for everyone in the UK... GlossyBox.

Hopefully once i've subscribed i'll let you know what I get in it each month and if I like the products or not! 

It's happening! Lilac/Silver Hair!

So I've been building up to this moment for a few months now!! And finally it's time!! lilac hairrrr!

So this is the dye I've mixed myself. It includes Directions Lilac, and a load of cheap conditioner!

Next week I'll put up directions how to get it to this colour, and include photos of my 'journey' (if you want to call it that) to lilac/silver hair. When I was researching how to get it this colour I found there was lots of information, but no pictures. Lot of websites were telling you to have "pale yellow hair before applying toner "... Ummm, how pale is pale exactly!? So I took photos during and after every dye I applied!

Fingers crossed it helps people who are wanting to achieve that hair colour!

For people who are wanting to know my hair colour before I began to try get it lilac/silver..
I had two colours in my hair. Medium colour blonde, and black.  The black took up a big chunk of my hair though, so It has taken a few good bleachings to remove it and the ginger tones from my hair!

My Hair Saviors!

Over the last 2 months i've been gradually making my hair a pale pale pale pale pale silver/lilac colour! So as you can imagine, a lot of bleach and dying has been involved! My hair was in amazing condition before this all began, so i've tried SO hard to keep that, which meant spending like £30/£40 on hair care products.

I came across 2 products which I have been lurrrving.

Let me introduce them to you...

This is the L'Oreal Elvive Damage Care Repair Shampoo! I stumbled across this in Boots when searching for a repair shampoo! It comes obviously with a million other products, and they all say the usual - " use this shampoo with the damage care condition "... I don't do this at all. But it really has been saving my hair! Before I was my hair I can feel how dry it is due to the bleach i've used, and after i feel how soft it feels. It is designed to target the damaged areas and fill in the gaps and seal them. After using this, my hair feels sooooooooooooooo soft and once i've dried it, it is super shiny! and not greasy shiny like some shampoo makes you have, it gives you genuine shine! WAHOO!
You can pick this up in the UK at places like Boots, Superdrug, Tesco etc. It is roughly £4.00, so not expensive at all!
http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/haircare/women/elvive-damage-care/shampoo.aspx

Introducing my second savior! Boots Coconut & Almond Intensive Hair Mask!
So when I was buying hair dye, I spotted this! I had barely any money left at the time, and as this is only £1.99, I thought BARGAIN i'll get that now. I wasn't expecting much from it as it was so cheap, I just bought it because I figured it would help a little. Turned out to help a lot. You leave it in for 5 minutes, and after that when washing it out, you can really feel the difference. Also when i style my hair after using this, it styles so much easier 'cause of how smooth it makes my hair! For £1.99 not only do you get a great product, you get a sh*t load of it as well! the tub is pretty big! and you only use a little each time so it last foreverrrr and everrrr!   You can obviously only get this from Boots. I'll put the link below!   One thing I disliked about it though was the scent. It lied!!! It does not smell like coconut or almond. I can't even tell you what it smells like, because I have no idea. But it ain't coconut or almond! But other than that, it is super duper!
http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Ingredients-Coconut-Almond-Intensive-Hair-Mask-350ml_863453/

Get to know me!

Hello Again! I'm just doing a quick post to sort of explain a bit about myself to you.... 

So we'll go through the basics; My name is Alexandra, I live in North-East England ( Not to bad, but not my desired place to live ), I'm 17 years old!- I'm going to study Theatrical and Media make-up in September ( can.not.wait ). 

I'm constantly purchasing new things, which means I have no money but will have a lot to blog about! 

 I have a lot of time on my hands which means not blogging one week, is not an option! 

If anybody ever wants to ask a question or request anything then i'm more than happy to reply and do so! :D

I did use to have a blog called ILOVEMU, unfortunately school,college and exams took over meaning I had no time for it anymore, so it was best to call it quits :(

 I've been deciding for agessssssss, whether to start a new blog again, and finally I decided it was time.  So hopefully this one will go as well as my old one! Fingers Crossed. 

Hello and welcome!

Ok, so to get this blog started i'm going to explain what is going to be blogged about etc.

So hello! And welcome to my blog! 
Beauty, fashion, recent purchases,stuff I have done recently, blah blah blahh ... that is the kind of things that you will see on here! And come September I will have some more theatrical/special effects make-up appear on here too! Also I will try upload video's now and again of some make-up tutorials if they are requested for!

I will aim to do atleast 2 posts per week!

I'll say sorry now if the blog doesn't look to presentable at first, but i'm working on it!

Anywhooo, follow and you won't be let down! I promise!
Thank you!