Sunday 29 April 2012

Please Let Me Grow My Wings #AussieAngel





Me with my favourite Aussie product, the Luscious Long Leave-In Conditioner. 


Hello beauties. For those of you who follow Aussie on Twitter will know that they are recruiting ten lucky people to become a part of the fabulous Aussie Angel Team. I can't tell you how excited I was when Aussie Tweeted explaining all the details about the recruitment. For me becoming an Aussie Angel would be a bit of a dream come true! When I first started my blog I always told myself that if any opportunity could be available to me though doing a blog, becoming an undercover angel was going to be the most amazing and something I would love to be a part of.

I've been a fan of Aussie products for a long time and I promise you when I say that having an obsession with hair care and just hair in general that I've pretty much tried all the products Aussie have to offer and they are by far some of the best hair care products you could ever get your hands on. I remember when I was around fourteen and my mum had bought me home a sachet of Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle and from the moment that I used it on my hair I was in love. The delicious smell and the adorable kangaroos that will we always recognise to be Aussie got me hooked and I've been using Aussie ever since.

We all strive for those fantastic hair days which we all know can be few and far in-between, but Aussie really help with making a fabulous hair day very achievable everyday and they certainly are spot on with their motto:

'There’s more to life than hair, but it's a good place to start'

I couldn’t agree with Aussie more! If your hair is doing everything you want it to do, and its swishing in all the right places then it can defiantly give you that much needed confidence or make your day a million times better.

Aussie have a product for every hair type and as a consumer we are really spoilt for choice! So to help you hair lovers make the right Aussie hair choice and as part of my competition entry I’ve reached out to my nearest and dearest to find out their hair dramas. Hopefully some of my answers will help you choose the right Aussie product for you! Enjoy beauties and please let me know which Aussie product you will be trying next.


Q. I can’t live without my hair straighteners, but it keeps damaging my hair…HELP!

A. It's difficult for the modern woman to live a life without heat, unless were going for the eighties look. However Aussie's Take The Heat Range are a lifesaver for singed locks. Give your hair the TLC it deserves with Aussie's Take The Heat Shampoo & Conditioner which will prime your hair ready for heat and give it all the protection it needs. To show your hair just how much you love it be sure to add in some of Aussie's Take The Heat Leave In Spay which will guarantee to be your hairs best friend and take the heat off those scorching straighteners. 


Q. Every time that my hair has been coloured, it seams to fade too quickly, what can I do to stop this?

A.  Your coloured hair will most defiantly thank you by treating it to Aussie's Colour Mate Shampoo. Not only will it make your hair colour pop by making it vibrant, it will also help to maintain your colour for much longer. Its gorgeous peach smelling formula will transfer onto your locks so much that everyone else will want to smell your hair. Follow with Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle for Coloured hair, which will help to reconstruct any damaged hair though colouring. Do this and I can assure you that people will want to know your secret


Q. My hair has always been a dry and frizzy mess! What can I use that will help tame it?

A. With Aussie's Frizz Miracle Shampoo & Conditioner frizzy hair can really be a thing of the past. No longer will your pesky flyaway’s get the better of you, as you will be able to keep well in control of your hair. The scented Australian Blue Gum shampoo and conditioner will leave your hair feeling super soft and make you and your hair feel good. For an extra treat give your hair a dose of Aussie's Anti Frizz Conditioning Milkwhich will make your hair flyaway free for the whole day!


Q. I would love to have my hair full of volume just like Cheryl Cole and Kim. K, but my hair always falls flat. How can I get this look?

A. Give your locks that volume boost it needs by adding Aussie's Aussome Volume & Conditioning Mousse to towel dried hair and style as normal. This mousse can add as much or as little volume as you need and is certian to create loads of bounce and movement in your hair, so much so that you certainly wont need any wind machine. Once your hair style is Kim. K ready be sure to add Aussie's Aussome Volume & Gloss Spray which will lock all your volume in and keep your hair swishing all the way from morning till night.


I hope Aussie and all you Aussie fans have enjoyed this post and a big good luck for all those entering.

All my love 






Share:

Wednesday 25 April 2012

This Girls Gotta Have Em | Stylestalker


Hello beauties, I hope you all having a fantastic week so far. As you know its Wednesday which means another 'This Girls Gotta Have Em Post'. So as usual I was doing the rounds of all my favourite fashion sites and although there were some lovely new bits that caught my eye, I didn't really see anything new or exciting in terms of fashion; it's all the same stuff but with different variations. So I thought I would turn my attention to some different sites that I've not showcased before. I stumbled across Stylestalker, an Australian clothing label. After seeing some of their fabulous dresses featured in OOTD posts by a few bloggers recently and was completely blown away. A few clicks later and I was browsing though everything on their website and I just fell in love with so many items. I've only decided to showcase three of my favourite pieces, but I really recommend you check their site out (www.stylestalker.com)and see what you think!



From left to Right


Lithium Maxi Dress $229.00

I am in love with this maxi dress, I think its simply stunning. The style kind of reminds me of a Miss Selfrdige dress I posted a few weeks ago (here) which is probably why I like this dress so much. I love it when a dress has contrasting textures, especially when leather is combined with with soft floaty fabrics just like it has been done with this maxi. The black and white accent colours running though the fabric make this so eye catching and to top it off the two side slits running through the length of the skirt around the legs makes this dress something really special. I would just love to have this in my wardrobe.

Shanghai Dress $149.00

This blue print oriental dress is most defiantly eye catching and I think would make the perfect statement dress. The wide neck line and long sleeves makes this dress so wearable for spring time and its ones of those that can be dressed up or down, which is always a great thing to have in a dress. I've seen the Shanghai dressed showcased as an OOTD in a few blogs and all I can say is that is stunning on and looks so much better than what the picture is showing. This dress would look brilliant paired with some back heeled ankle boots and a chunky necklace. 

Lithium Blazer $229.00

I am loving this blazer and as you can see it repeats the same black and white patten as what you can see in the maxi dress. I think that this is such a great statement blazer and as its black and white it can be paired with almost anything. Although it comes across as  very striking, its something that would look very feminine on and you could dress it in so many ways to suit your personal style. This is a great must have item and I can imagine if you started rocking this out and about, people will defiantly be noticing and wanting one of their own.


One thing you might have noticed is that the prices are all in Australian Dollar's and I have no idea what that is converted too Pounds, however if you are thinking of purchasing anything they do ship internationally and will give you the conversion price at the checkout. As always beauties I would love to know your thoughts, and if you've checked out the site please let me know what your favourite items are. If your still not convinced here are a few pictures of their most recent collection as part of a look book.







Please note that all images have been taken from the Stylestalker website and all links have been attached. 

Share:

Bargain at Boots

Yesterday I popped down to my local Boots to treat myself to a Boots Meal Deal Lunch (any excuse to go in there). Apart from needing some much needed food, I was also running low on my concealer. Normally I'm a huge fan of the Collection 2000 lasting Perfection Concealer which seams to be a bit of a cult item in the beauty world. 

However, before popping the Collection 2000 Concealer in my basket, I stumbled across the small clearance section stand in my Boots and there was loads of Myface Cosmetics that was going really cheap, including the new concealer I bought.


I pretty sure that all the Myface beauty bits were selling cheap because Boots are discontinuing this line of makeup. I can't say that I've really tried a lot from the Myface line in the past other than a blusher and lip gloss (which I loved) but I know that the products weren't that cheap. I found out that the Myface Concealer I picked up was supposed to be sold at £7.99 but I got it for £1.99, which is even cheaper than the Collection 2000 one so I got myself a right bargain. 

Not only was this concealer cheap as chips, but so far I'm really enjoying using it. For a start the packaging is very sleek and simple. I like the fact that you can see right though to the concealer and that there is no writing that will smudge away on the plastic. Although the white lid will probably get dirty within a few days, I love it when a company uses white packaging on their products.


The Myface concealer wand uses a doefoot applicator which makes applying this concealer easy and gives you a lot of precision. 


As far as colour goes, I had to take a bit of a gamble. Due to the concealer being in the clearance section, there weren't any testers that I could use to do an in-store swatch. I decided to go with the the shade 112 for Fair skin and I have to say that my gamble paid off as the colour is almost perfect. It would be great for pale/light skin tones and those of you who really want your eye area brightening up.


As with any concealer, use and coverage are really important. To be honest I didn't know what to expect when I bought this. I was hoping that for the original price that it would be a decent product that did the job, and now having tried and tested it, it certainly does. I have quite bad under eye circles as I never get enough sleep and this concealer defiantly helped to cover the darker areas. 


This is defiantly a full coverage concealer as the consistency of the product is fairly thick and has an almost cakey feel to it. If your not a fan of heavy concealers then I wouldn't waste your money on this. 


But if you do like a full coverage concealer, then for the price the Myface concealer is brilliant. I was a bit worried with it being so thick that it wouldn't blend in very well and I found that it did take quite a bit of dabbing and patting for it to blend in completely, but once it had it looked lovely on. One good thing is that although it feels heavy to the touch it  doesn't feel heavy one applied or slide though out the day.


So all in all I'm super pleased with my bargain at Boots and if your wanting to try out the Myface concealer I would hurry up and check the clearance section of your local Boots. I've checked on the website for you beauties and there selling all the Myface cosmetics really cheap, including the blushers which are really good, you can find the link here.

I hope you enjoyed this review beauties and as always I would love to know your thoughts



Share:

Saturday 21 April 2012

Zebra In The Savanna | NOTD



Hi beauties. Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend! I was playing around with some nail art designs the other day and came up with this cute little zebra design that's super easy to do and I think you nail art fans will most definitely like it. 


This nail art is a zebra printed design with a little twist. I've had nothing but compliments on my nails when sporting this look and what I love about it, is that you can always spice things up by changing the colour of your polish around. 

I've always wanted to have ago at doing zebra print nails, but to be honest the thought of trying to draw strips over all 10 nails was daunting, especially when it would come to doing that pesky right hand. So I came up with the idea of alternating a different polish with the zebra print. It was much more pleasurable painting my nails, knowing that I only had to draw zebra stripes on four of my nails and I really liked the outcome. 

To achieve this look you will need to get your hands on:

1. A white nail polish

2. A colour you want to alternate the zebra stripes with. I've used Models Own in Coral Reef which is a gorgeous mix of bright orange/red. I think with this design the brighter the polish the better, but it would look cute also with some cooler colours such as blue. 

3. A black nail art pen for the zebra stripes. I've used the back pen from the Rio Professional Nail Art Kit (review here), but you can get your hands on loads of good ones these days, I know Topshop and Models Own do some good ones. If you don't have any nail art pens to hand, a good liquid liner or thin tip marker pen will also work.



To start off, you just need to paint your nails alternating the white polish and your other chosen one. I started off with using Coral Reef on my thumbs and worked my way out to the little pinkie. In the pictures I've done two coats, but do as many as you think is needed.


Once your polish has thoroughly dried, get your nail art pen and get ready to add some stripes to your nails which are painted white. When doing mine I didn't really use any sort of guidelines, I think as long as you paint a stripe that doesn't reach the other side of your nail you will be just fine. I did find this bit a bit tricky, but the important thing to remember beauties that there is no right or wrong when doing animal print, just go with the flow and see what outcome you get. 


If any of you would like a guideline to go from there are loads of zebra print images online, or you could use the one I've found. As you can see mine is nothing like a real zebra, but it doesn't matter.


Once your stripes have all dried, just seal it all with a top coat to add some shine and to keep the chips at bay and your ready to go show your stripes off to the world!


I hope you liked this zebra design lovelies. As a lot of you know I have a huge obsession with anything nail art related, so if you do decide to have a go at this or have some of your own designs I would love to see them.



Share:

Thursday 19 April 2012

I Can See the Sea | OOTD

Hi beauties. Today I have a quick little OOTD for you. Over the weekend my sister and I took a trip up to Newcastle to see my nan, she's not well at the moment but its seams to be good news as she is well on the road to recovery. My nan has a caravan right next to the beach in South Shields and seeing as I'm stuck in the midlands with no sea around me, going to the beach whilst I'm up there has always been a must. 

This outfit is not what you would call a beach outfit,  it just happened to be what I was wearing the day we decided to get fish, chips and ice cream by the sea side. I had a lot more layers on than what you see in the post as it was freezing, but I braved the cold winds so you could take a look at the top which I have been loving recently. 




 


Top: River Island £14.00
Wet Look Leggings: RIver Island £40.00
Bracelet: Pandora
Nail Polish: Models Own Bloo Boo (NOTD here)


Share:

Wednesday 18 April 2012

This Girls Gotta Have Em | Topshop


Hello lovelies. Today I am back at Topshop wishing I had many of there new items that have just arrived in stock this week. Topshop have some gorgeous pieces that I would just love to get my hands on. The spring and summer lines are in full swing now and I am loving all the bight pretty colours, its just fabulous!




Left to Right


Liberty Print Vivienne Dress by Jones and Jones £75.00 

My first pick just had to be this beautiful flowered print dress. It is a little on the pricey side, but for me is a classic timeless dress that could be worn any spring/summer and would never date. I adore the vintage style print design on this dress, plus the added netting at the bottom which gives this it some shape and movement.  One thing which I think really makes this dress a bit special, is that it does have quite a revealing design at the back! I don't know about you beauties, but I really like dresses that show off a bit of back rather than the chest area! Men may disagree with me, but I just think its much more sexy! 




As you can see it's so pretty and Topshop have not gone too over the top with the detailing at the back. I think it could be worn easily in the day or the evening depending how you want to dress it. I just love this piece and out of all the items on today’s wish list this has to be my favourite!

Coral Lurex Bandeau Bikini £26.00

This coral bikini really should have my name written all over it. I am a massive fan of coral colours and this bandeau bikini has gold shimmers running though it. I could just imagine wearing this by the pool or beach and it would really make your tan look amazing. 

Bird Print Tie Playsuit £36.00

This playsuit is ever so pretty with its little red parrots printed all over it and would look fabulous on, I can imagine. I've see a lot of tie tops come out this season, but I've never seen one incorporated into a playsuit and I have to say I quite like the idea of it. I love the classic beige colour used for this playsuit and think it would work amazingly on with some bright orange wedges and matching accessories.


Lipstick Brooch £12.50

I saw this lipstick brooch whist looking though all the new stock and being a lipstick lover I just had to give this brooch a little spot on this post. This would look lovely pinned onto a nice blazer or shirt, the perfect accessory for any beauty blogger me thinks!

Scallop Tassel lace Vest £28.00

Pretty and pink, this lace vest top would look lovely paired with some denim shorts. I am loving tops like these at the moment as they are so easy to wear, yet they have lots of detailing on them which makes them a lot nicer than your average vest top. 


Bandeau Dip Hem Dress by Oh My Love £45.00

When I saw this leopard print bandeau dress on Topshop I immediately thought 'I want this for my holiday', It's lush! I am a huge fan of leopard print and love that the print has that extra pop of colour thrown in. This would be lovely to wear on summers evening or really dressed up with a leather jacket and chunky jewellery for a night out.

WHAMM Espadrille Leather Wedges £65.00

I'm really pleased that this seasons shoe is all about the wedge. I'm terrible at walking and heels and wedges make my feet a lot happier. These white ones would go with anything and everything and could take you though all the way through till the end of summer

Scuba Skater Dress £46.00

I love the yellow shade of this dress, it’s gorgeous. In the past I would have not been brave enough to wear a colour which is as bright as this one. However I have been finding myself a bit more adventurous lately and I would like to think I could make this dress work for me. It reminds me of a dress that I saw Blake Lively wear in Gossip Girl and this is the main reason why it caught my eye as I loved the outfit she had on then. This would dress would look amazing paired with some bright turquoise jewellery for a bit of a contrast!



I hope you enjoyed today’s picks beauties and as always I would love to hear your thoughts!




Share:

Sunday 15 April 2012

Bloo Boo | NOTD


Just have a quick NOTD post for you lovely lot today. Now spring is in full swing, I just love wearing all the pretty bright polishes and it makes me so happy looking down at my nails and seeing a pretty colour there. A lot of you may guess, it’s the simplest things that bring a smile to my face!



One of my favourite nail polish brands has to be Models Own, not only are they reasonably priced at £5.00 but I find the application of them is always brilliant. This week I've covered my nails in Models Own Bloo Boo which is a gorgeous baby powder blue and is just perfect for this time of year. Please excuse the state of my nails in these pictures they are in a terrible state right now, but I think you beauties will love the colour!



As you can see when the polish has been applied to the nails it comes up a bit brighter than what it appears in the bottle, however this is not a problem for me as right now the brighter the polish the better!


As much as I love this polish there was one teeny thing which did disappoint me. On a closer inspection at the polish in the bottle you can see that there are little flecks of iridescent blue and purple shimmers. These flecks of shimmer look ever so pretty especially when you catch the polish in the light. However this really does not transfer on to the nails, which is a shame as this is what got me excited when I saw the bottle on the Models Own Shelf.

I've tried to capture it in this picture as best as I can. If you look where the light is shining you can see these small flecks of shimmer. I would have loved this look on the nails. However it's not a huge deal as I still love the polish as it is. As far as blue nail polish goes, I find Bloo Boo is a really wearable blue and it’s not too 'out there'. It does dry slightly matte, but a good top coat will always give it a bit more shine.
Overall I love this polish, it stands out, will go with a lot of outfits and I always get loads of compliments when I wear it. Do you own this polish? Let me know beauties, I would love to know your thoughts.

Share:
© Miss Sunshine and Sparkle | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template Designed by pipdig