Make it or Break it Another Lauren Hairstyle Braid to Bun



Lauren's hair on Make it or Break it TV show is one of our favorites. We love braids and she always has the cutest braids. So here is another one of our replications of her hair.
I started by making a french braid that started by hugging the front top of her hair and curved around her hair and ended just below the opposite ear.


The picture below shows the braid from the back.

Now pull the remaining hair into a low pony below her ear and include the braid.

Then just make a cute messy bun.

10 Favourite Items In My Wardrobe.

I was tagged to do this by Claire (The Fashion Teller) and i thought it was a fab idea!

You have to pick 10 of your favourite items in your wardrobe, say where it's from, why you like it & any memories of you wearing it. No Accessories allowed :)
I found it really hard picking 10, but i managed to whittle it down eventually.



From Left to Right:
♥ New Look baby pink top with sequined shoulders - A relatively new addition to the wardrobe, but i just love the baby pink colour, and it hugs my figure nicely.
♥ Floaty silk cream top with flowers - I don't know where this is from, it was a charity shop find by my mum & has no label. It also has a cute ribbon to tie at the back. I love this & wear it a hell of a lot.
♥ All Saints dress - I like this because it's unique. It is very baggy and ties in three different places. I like to wear it with a plain tshirt & leggings with either boots or plimsoles.
♥ Topshop rose & bird crop top - I bought this in Leeds a while ago. I love the pattern & the way it looks on. Again, i team this with leggings. :)
♥ Topshop Vintage Lace top - Bought this about a year ago, i just think it's pretty & girly & lace is my favourite.



From Left to Right:
♥ All Saints yellow sequin top - This has a weird shape, but i love it, it hangs in all the right places. I wore this to the Barry M Event last year & on my 19th birthday :)
♥ Vintage stripe dress - This came into my mums shop & i tried it on and fell in love. It looks kinda shapeless on the hanger, but the material is so thick and heavy & i feel really 60's when i wear it. I can't wait until the sun comes back out so i can wear it with pretty flipflops and a flower in my hair.
♥ Primark sequined top - I very rarely love something so much from Primark that it lasts a whole 6 months in my wardrobe. This hangs really nicely & i just think it's pretty.
♥ New Look cropped black blazer - I chose this because it was totally bargainus. It cost me £3 in the sale & it has been a staple to many an outfit since. I love it, it fits perfectly.
♥ New Look floaty spot top & cargidan - I cheated slightly here and put two together. Both are currently in New Look & I am totally loving the nautical theme at the moment.

Hope you enjoyed that small insight into my wardbrobe.
I tag anyone else who would like to do this. I'm sure Claire would also love to see what else you all have in your wardrobes..as would i :)


Review: Lush - Flosty Gritter Bubble Bar

I recently recieved this as a freebie in a goody bag. I had seen it in the shop before, but i'll be honest, i never touched it because of the glitter coating. It looked pretty, but the thought of getting glitter everywhere was enough for me to bypass this completely.



This bubble bar does look super pretty, i hadn't even smelt it before in fear of walking out of the shop with a pink glittery nose, but it smells AMAZING.

It smells like Vanilla & Lavender & i could sniff this all day long.
One thing i was a little apprehensive about was whether or not all this glitter was inside aswell as out..thankfully, it's not, which means most of the bubble bar crumbled into your bath will be glitter free. On first look, this bubble bar does seem a tad smaller than others, especially the comforter, but actually, you'll be surprised by how much use you can get out of this.
The water turned a gorgeous pink & there were no obvious traces of glitter.

This bubble bar is right up there for me with Creamy Candy & Mar Bar.
I will most definitely be buying these again & again.
So there's your lesson folks, do not be a glitter snob.

Another Not Hair Related but Cute

I believe in the tooth fairy

I believe in the Easter bunny

I believe in Santa, too


My Grand daughter ask me this year, "Grandma do you believe in Santa Clause?" I replied without hesitation "Yes Kaylee I do believe."

I believe in all things good. You might ask how the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa are good. In my experience they teach us at a very young age to believe in things we cannot see, touch or smell. They can lay the foundation for believing in greater unseen things as we mature. They help children to believe in their dreams. They help children to have faith in things they can not see.As we realize that the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa are not as we perceived them, we are old enough to learn that their gifts were real and that the love they were given with was also real. By this time we have learned much more about life, relationships and values. If you believe, make someone special a tooth pillow to leave out for the tooth fairy. Help them to believe in their dreams.
Brought to you by http://www.mom-stuff.com/

My 5 Current "Go-To" Blushers.

Throughout the past few months, i have been using the same handful of blushers over & over.
I have quite a nice collection of blush too, but i just keep going back to these beauties.
At some point, I am going to have to give my other blushers some well deserved attention but for now, i will share with you the 5 that are very close to my heart. ha.

P.S I'm sorry about my lack of eye makeup and generally lacking full stop on the makeup front today..but it's all about the blush..right?



Illamasqua Powder Blush in "Tweak"



This blush was kindly sent to me by Alex over at Illamasqua as she had seen it in my wishlist. I absolutely adore the colour of this blush. It's a shade i don't often see. I'd say it was a red based hot pink. I know it looks scary, but honestly, you just need the smallest amount and it brightens up your whole complexion. I honestly think that warmer tones suit my skin alot more than cool tones. I have been wearing this alot during the winter because i think it gives your cheeks a naturally "cold-kissed" glow (been out in the cold) I am one of those people that doesn't go pink when cold, or after exercising, so this is perfect. I'd also like to add that it's the most pigmented blush i own.

Mac's Mineralize Blush in "Daft Pink"



This blush came out with a collection earlier on in the year, and i instantly knew i'd love it. I get so many compliments on my skin when i wear this. It does give you a healthy glow. However, if you don't like small particles of glitter or a sheen..this isn't for you. As my skin is mostly dry/combination, i love a bit of a sheen to give my face more dimension. I'm going to have to slow down with this one, as it was limited edition. If you are after something similar, The Body Shop came out with a mineralize blusher not long ago, it didn't look similar, but had almost the exactly same effect on the skin. They had a few in the winter sale, so you might still be able to find one of those somewhere.

Benefit Powder Blush in "Coralista"



Since I recieved this at Christmas, i have worn it to death. I don't care if coral is typically a summer shade for the face, it brightens up my complexion and softens it. Sometimes pink can get a bit boring & when that's the case, coral is perfect. I think because my skin is a "warm" shade, coral is easier for me to wear. I can't wait until the sun starts coming out so i can really whack it on with my bronzer. haha.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in "Sob"



I love this one when i am going for a "doll faced" look. What i mean by that is just simple pale matte skin, long full lashes, and simple lip & eye colours. This cream blush gives the ultimate dewy effect, it has a gorgeous shine to it, and when paired with flawless matte skin, it looks so pretty. It's got a much blue-er undertone than anything else i own, and for this reason i don't wear it as much as the others. I wore it alot more towards the start of winter when I still had a bit of face colour from the summer, otherwise it CAN make you look slightly cold. I still wear it at the moment though. It looks pretty with brown neutral eyes and a neutral lip colour.

Mac's Powder Blush in "Well Dressed"



A favourite of many, the trusty Well Dressed. A gorgeous milky pink with slight shimmer. It goes on smoothly, blends well & looks good with ANY makeup look. Pale or sunkissed, this blush will suit my skin whichever. The only thing i WILL say about this, is that Illamasqua puts Mac to shame when it comes to pigmentation. In order to get the achieved amount on my face i do have to go back a few times, whereas Illamasqua's blushers are very highly pigmented..and i believe they are around the same price.

What are you're current "go-to" blushers?

Style Heroine: Kim Kardashian

Isn't that a surprise..she's only a hugely vast majority of every young girl's idol?
But seriously, after hours of watching "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", i soon realised that if i could switch lives & looks with one person, i would absolutely choose Kim Kardashian.
Why?

♥ She is absolutely bloomin' gorgeous! Some of you might not agree, and that's fine, we don't all have the same perception of what's beautiful. Personally I think she has the most amazing facial feautures, figure & hair...ever. I'm starting to sound like a lesbiano now, so i will shh..but the pictures speak for themselves surely. I also love that she's curvy. Like Beyonce, she has a real booty, and she's not affraid to show it off. Not all beautiful women are stick think like we see on the catwalks. If anything, i prefer to see curves, it shows a real woman. Her confidence is just as amazing as her beauty, she is really very inspirational & such a sweet person.

♥ She is making a living from being these things..imagine being born so beautiful, you can just smile & make money from it. Sounds like my idea of a fabulous career, who cares if she is a bit vein..i'm pretty sure i would be too if i looked like that. :)


[All Images taken from Google]

♥ Her style. Now, normally, i am one for a bit of quirky-ness. I do get bored of seeing the same old when it comes to celebrities..but i also know, that those who do like to try and be a bit different, can get it wrong just as well as getting it right or becoming the next massive trend. I actually love how Kim just dresses classy..she keeps it simple, yet stylish. You don't have to wear a huge flower in your hair, or hot pants teamed with knee lenght socks. Kim proves that simple dressing is enough, and some of her outfits are absolutely gorgeous! Of course, she has been known to get it wrong aswell...i have seen her wearing a few outfits which have made me wince..and wonder why oh why..but then that's predictable being in the public eye. Kims style is very sharp & almost business-like. She teams crisp/frilly shirts with high waisted trousers and gorgeous heels. When she dresses down she likes to team t shirts with leggings, and long waistcoats. Then she has accessories to die for that top off every single outfit.

♥ Her amazing family. I have always wanted to be a part of a huge tight-nit family. I only have one brother, he will do, but i'd love to have sisters who shared my passion in the same things as me, could go out shopping with me etc etc. They fight, they laugh, they love. end of. It's so cute to watch.


These are a few of my favourite Kim photos..all taken from her personal blog.
The one in the bottom left is one of my favourites, purely because she looks stunning. The dress, the hair, the tan, the sunset..grr. Jealous much? haha


Kim also inspires me greatly with her makeup. She can pull off the smokey-est eyes, and the reddest lips. She can be a bronzed goddess, or a pale beauty. Anything goes.
I know some of you may like to point out the whole "air brush" issue. But she wasn't airbrushed in the Kardashian Series..and even admitted to having cellulite. We're all human :)

Any other Kim K fans out there?


Puffy Braids to Pigtails

Start by making a center part all the way down her head. I put the left side in a holder to keep out of the way while I work on the right side.
Make a small part at the bottom and secure with an elastic (I am making 2 puffy braids up her head)
Make a 2nd puffy braid

Then secure all the hair on the right side into a ponytail.

Do the same thing to the left side.

Then I took another elastic and made sure I didn't pull the ponytail all the way through.

Review: Benefit Powderazzi

It's true..i sing "Powderazzi" like Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi", it was inevitable though right?
I asked Father Christmas for this, and low & behold, there it was under my Christmas tree come December 25th AM. Never underestimate that friendly bearded chap.

I do not own any of the individual blusher/bronzer boxes from Benefit. The reason being, i could never justify spending £22 on one. (I actually believe they have increased them to £23.50 now..boo) so when this cute little box came out around Christmas time..obviously it was a good opportunity to try out 3 different bronzers/blushes all at a very good price.



The three cheek colours included are: Hoola, Dallas & Coralista..funnily enough, the three i was most eager to try.

The first thing i love about this product is the packaging..its bright, colourful, and works. I also like that it's thinner in depth than the original boxes, which in my opinion, are a lot more bulky than they need to be. Of course, a few moths down the line, cardboard is not going to be as pristine as plastic.
The little brush is adorable, but i haven't had to use that yet, i'm going to keep it for emergencys only as i think it's just too cute to dirty up. It is very soft, and i know a fair few people who do use the brushes for applying their blush with no problems at all.



The powders themselves have a surprisingly creamy consistency. I was worried they would be quite chalky, but i was not let down. The girl who was showing me the box before Christmas was saying how these are actually more pigmented than the original. How does that work? Why would they do that? I'm guessing because it's a smaller size, they upped the pigmentation in order to get more uses from it. I have been using this everyday since Christmas and i'd say it's holding up extremely well. I absolutely love Hoola & Coralista. I have had so many compliments on my cheeks and skin when wearing this combination. Dallas i'm not such a big fan of..as of yet. I think it's a gorgeous warm colour, but i want to wait until the summer before i wear this one, as i think i need a bit more colour in my face for it to really benefit me. (HA benefit..get it...hmm)

This cost £25 but was also in the sale after Christmas. I'm not sure you can get your hands on this now, but what i will say is that it was totally worth it & i'm now a Benefit blush/bronzer convert. Maybe this is why they are so expensive?
If you are considering buying a pretty little box in Benefit for £23.50, even if it seems a bit pricey, in my opinion, they are really good quality. The packaging may be a total fail when it starts falling apart, or if it ever got wet..but the colours are so pretty & they are soft & very easy to blend.

Which is your favourite Benefit cheek colour?

Review: Lush - Happy Blooming Bath Melt

I was extremely excited to see that in the latest Lush Times, there was a page of new & exciting products that were soon to be released.
The first thing I have bought to try out is this bath melt.



I am a big fan of the bath melts, a little more pricey they may be, but they are full of beneficial ingredients for the skin.
"This melt is full of Ylang Ylang, Sweet Benzoin & masses of other beautiful frangrances"



The first thing you notice about this bath melt, is the fact it is made up of three slices (if you like)
Yes people, we can get 3 baths out of this little beauty.
Hoorah!
I used 1/3 of the bath melt last night, and my hopes of it being moisturising with only a third were very slimjim, but i was surprised by it's strength. I'm thinking they have upped the ingredients by 3x in order to make it just as good with 3 uses.

One thing i am sort of undecided on, is the scent.
The guy who served me said this was hands down his favourite lush scent ever & i can definitely see why. It smells like Cherry Drops...but, as my brother also pointed out..it has a small tinge of playdough mixed in there too. I'm not really a massive fan of generic cherry smells, they always remind me of cough sweets or vitamins..or even those glacier cherries they used to put in your coke in pubs. (Er..whatever happened to that anyway? I never used to eat them as they are vile, but it was nice to get them in there..someone enlighten me)

The water also turned a pretty pale pink, it did moisturise my body & the smell DID linger.
3 massive ticks.

I am actually pretty impressed by this bath melt, i am still undecided on the smell, but people like different scents. Also, the whole "No bubbles with bath melts" does make me a little sad. Next time im going to add some bubble bar into the bath with it, but for the pursposes of the review i thought i would bathe with it on its lonesome.

RRP: £3.60


Make it or Break it Lauren's HairStyle

This hairstyle was taken from one of my daughters favorite TV shows Make it or Break it. This is our version of Lauren's hairstyle from the last episode.
We started by making a poof in the center of her head.


Then I split the remaining hair in half. I french braided the hair starting above the ear. Keep the braid up high because it is going to end up in a ponytail. Do the same to the other side.

You will have what looks like 3 separate ponytails. The center poof and the 2 french braids.

Then take the 3 ponytails and put them into one ponytail in the center of her head.

Sides up with Twist

Take just the sides of her hair and pull back to the center of her head. The center hair is left down under the elastic.
Take the hair in the ponytail and pull it through to give the twist.

Then we make loose ringlets in the rest of her hair.

Attention Fellow Bloggers - Haiti needs YOU!

As we all know, there has been a devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this week.
Gemma (Gemsmaquillage) a fellow beauty guru/youtuber has recently posted a video on the disaster, and how we, as a community can help, and she is totally right!
PLEASE PLEASE watch her video if you haven't yet.



If we can all spend money on makeup/clothes for ourselves we can all donate to this cause, even if it's just a few pounds, it all makes such a massive difference to those in desperate need.


Click the link below to donate to the DEC:
http://www.justgiving.com/youtubersforhaiti

Read more about the DEC HERE

Click this link to donate to Doctors without borders:
http://www.firstgiving.com/youtubersforhaiti

Read more about Doctors without borders HERE


It's times like these we can all club together to make a difference so retweet my blogpost, retweet Gemma's video, favourite it, rate it 5 stars, but more importantly, donate something.

Thanks so much lovelies!
Let me know if you have donated in the comments

Braids and Poof

To the previous post these are very similar this was the original hair style and then we decided to add the ponytail for a sports event. I forgot I hadn't posted this style yet so here it is.

I guess the first place to start is making a poof in the top center of her head I secured this with bobby pins. Then I made a small french braid on the side of the poof. (I left a small amount of hair above her ear) as shown below.


This is what the style looks like from the top. The poof in the center and then small french braids along each side of the poof.


Below is a picture of the other side.
We just curled the ends of her hair under and left it down.

Braids and Ponytail

To get your spacing on this one it is easier to start with a poof in the front center of her head. Then make a small french braid on each side of the center poof.

The picture below is the top of the head to see what was done the poof in the middle of her head and then the braids down each side (note: there is still a small amount of hair left down above her ears)

The other side view.

Then pull all the remaining hair up into a ponytail
She wanted a big bow so we clipped it on the side of the ponytail.

Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend: Contest Winners

Words cannot express how amazing all the contest entries were & how hard i found it to wittle it down to a handful of finalists.
Each and everyone of you had clearly put alot of thought and effort into your entries so thankyou!

Okay, so i've had many a helper when it came to deciding the winners..my mum has been sat with me for what seemed like hours umming and ahhing.
I also raked Mike Bailey into helping me decide as it was just too damn hard. (for those of you who dont know who that is, he played the character Sid in the UK programme Skins - knows very little about makeup but very good at judging)

If i had it my way, i would have picked everybody, if i was rich enough i would send you all a prize, sadly im not though..i did have to add another runner up into the competition though as it was too hard to pick between two...(i knew this would happen haha)

1st Runner up

Georgie!

Loved the creativity in this one..we especially liked where you placed the diamantes. They look fab, i would actually consider wearing this on a night you know! :)
Well done lovely!
To see Georgie's blogpost on this look & all her inspiration click HERE

2nd Runner Up

Shirley
We loved the colours and the blending in this one..you have skill girl! Also love the glitter liner under your eye and the dusting of glitter on the side. You look a million dollars! (as diamonds are ;))
See what Shirley used & how she created this look on her blog HERE

International Winner

Katinka
I love how glamourous you look :) Also love the gems & glitter and your eyes look FAB! Love the fake bottom lashes too! Well done lovely :)
Follow her blog HERE

UK Winner

Faye
This must have taken you aggges Faye! It's so intricate, feminine & delicate and so so pretty. I love that it's so glittery yet subtle at the same time. My mum also added that if there was an advert for "diamonds are a girls best friend" this would be a perfect promo image, and it really would :)
See how Faye created this look HERE

To all winners: Please email me with address details & if you are a runner up let me know which of the two earrings you'd like :)
Well done to all of you who entered, i really enjoyed seeing everything you came up with, there are some extremely talented girls out there.
Just a note to say this was one of the hardest things i had to do for a while haha
I'm too nice & just wanted you all to be winners.
Please no bitterness or snidey comments, it's all a bit of light hearted fun at the end of the day, and i'm pleased that im able to give some of you something back :)
I think i will do a simply giveaway next time, only because i just hate judging so much haha.

Thankyou once more to all the gorgeous girlies who entered.
I'll be very cheesy now & say you are all diamonds! *puke* hehe