How To:

 Am I seriously writing this post?

How to cut a fringe?

This is the most straight forward of all of the home-haircare-related projects! Right?

Wrong! At least for me anyway...

No matter how hard I tried I always used to balls up my fringe when I tried to cut it at home, I either cut it too short and with a weird bowl-effect or I cut it lopsided.

After trawling YouTube for ages I found a brilliant method used over and over again, which involves a clever little trick that guarantees a straight, Zooey Deschanel type fringe (I wish) every time.

This is all you need! (and a comb, of course.)

No fancy sheers or razors required, just a super sharp pair of scissors.

1) Brush your fringe forward, plus any other stragglers that you wish to include to bulk out your fringe, if you have thin hair like myself.

2) Once you have your desired amount of 'fringe hair' clamp it together at the point where you want your fringe to end. Always cut your hair dry, if you cut it wet, it'll probably dry about half an inch shorter... and you'll end up looking like the lady from National Accident Helpline.

3) Taking the hair in the opposite hand in which you use to write, twist over and hold it flat against your head.

4) Cut in a straight line, slowly and carefully, just below your fingers. It's always better to leave your fringe slightly longer, so you can correct any mistakes... which are unlikely with this technique!

Look how much I lopped off!

Wash your hair as you usually would and leave to semi-dry in a towel...

To achieve a really thick, glossy fringe, these are the products I will usually reach for!

Umberto Giannini is a firm favourite of mine, I've been using his products for soooo many years and will always ALWAYS put his 'Instant Beauty Leave-In Conditioner' on my hair. It is a lifesaver when it comes to split ends.

Nick Chavez and KMS are two wonderful little volume and thickness boosting products I received in my Birchboxes, I will definitely be buying the full-sized versions of these soon... would you believe that I received KMS's 'Add Volume' in January and there's still loads left? A little goes a long way with luxury products!

After blow drying my hair, here is the finished look!

A dense, glossy fringe that frames the face and hides unruly eyebrows.

This is so easy to do at home, and is a great little trick to add to your at-home beauty regime which saves you lots of pennies!

Let me know if you use this technique, and tell me how you get on!

Love,
Laura xxx

Retro-Baby!

The retro/pin-up style depicts romance and kookiness! 

Big animated eyes defined by dark liner and bold bright lips make a proud statement, whereas soft delicate blush and gentle eye makeup creates a whimsical and romantic illusion.

After researching tonnes of photos of people in 'Pin-Up Era' make-up we decided that the rusty reds and muted nude lipsticks we had set aside were not going to be up to scratch for this blogpost.

So, after a quick mooch around Boots, a few new purchases were made...

Bourjois: Rouge Edition- No10

Rimmel: Apocalips
MUA: Lip Liner- Red Drama

Such vibrant, retina-burning reds!

My lovely friend, Lara, achieved this gorgeous look by wrapping a headband around her head and then tucking her loose curls into it, she pulled out a few tendrils at the front to get this beautiful glamorous style. 

As it will soon be festival season, this hairstyle would look amazing with some flowers woven into it to bring out your inner hippie!

Bright lipsticks are a must when going for a retro look.

I am wearing a brilliant new foundation by MUA, 'Undress Your Skin', a random purchase of mine this morning, it covers and blends so well, I will definitely be buying more!

Lara is wearing Rimmel's Apocalips, the colour was amazing and really clung to her lips, the only (hilarious) downside is the amount of product that ended up on poor Lara's teeth. No matter what we tried there was always a few splodges of the sticky lipgloss-style product on her teeth. Not a great look for clubbing, or for a date! 

False lashes, high arched eyebrows, bright lips and big bouncy hair are the key ingredients for recreating this fun look. The lighter the foundation and powder, the better. Anything to achieve  flawless skin, so the attention is bought to the eyes and the lips, is a must.

This is such an easy look to create and would be great for the Summer!

Love,

Laura xxx

L'oreal Wild Ombres Review

(Excuse my face! Baby N was kicking the hell out my ribs whilst I was taking photos, so it was hard to look chirpy and delighted!)

I bit the bullet and ombred my hair last night! I'm so glad that I did!
It was a pretty easy process but I'd been putting it off for so long. I asked my hair-savvy followers on Instagram if they'd had any experience with it before and I got some really helpful advice, along with some mixed reviews.
I bought two packs from Boots for £6 each, which is pretty good, considering it's only going on half of my hair!
(Disclaimer!! I'm 9 months pregnant and it has come to light that dying your hair during pregnancy is absolutely fine and poses no health risks to you or your baby. Of course, your skin and allergies change whilst your 'with youngling', you should always do a 48-hour patch test before dying all of your hair, you should ideally be doing that anyway, baby or no baby. Apart from that caution, it's fine, I even asked my midwife when I was a few months along, she replied 'What do you think happens to hairdressers when they have their babies?' Good point!)

I chose shade No1 and No3. I planned to see how blonde the first shade made me, if it wasn't blonde enough then I would add the second shade a few days later, after giving my hair a bit of a break!
I loved the wild-themed packaging, and the models, as usual, are gorgeous. giving women, myself included, the delusional thoughts that the hair dye will also change their face to look like them.

Inside the box was the usual plethora of gloves, creams, dyes and powders to help lighten the hair. It came with a caution that instructed that you shouldn't inhale the powder... which was the first thing I did. It was hard not to when it rose from the packet like smoke. I spluttered a bit, but apart from that assembling the dye was very easy.

This was my hair colour before, please excuse the quality of the lighting, I've mentioned in previous posts how photo-taking in my house during night time is a no-go area. My lights make everything look yellow and orange!

The dye was easy to apply, you're given an application brush which you load with the dye and comb through your hair. I have medium to long hair so started my gradient just under my ears. I noticed my hair started to lighten straight away. I left it in for 45ish minutes, it was very obviously a lighter colour than the rest of my hair towards the end!

My shampoo and conditioner of choice at the moment is TREsemme's Keratin Smooth, which is great if you have hair that gets bullied by you on a daily basis!

Here's the end result! I wish I'd blended it a bit better, there are a couple of places where the line between brunette and blonde pretty much STARES you in the face. If I curled it it would be hidden, but I can't be bothered! I love the subtle colour it's created, I was so worried that it was going to go bright ginger!

I'm impressed with the first half of my ombreing journey! I plan to add the second shade into the ends of my hair in the next couple of days. I think it'll be more blended then and look more professional.
I'm a huge fan of this hairstyle, its a bit different, although everyone's doing it now! It adds texture and colour to an otherwise boring shade of brunette!