One of the problems of being a makeup junkie

Hello my Lovlies!

I have a small confession - I am a huge makeup junkie - and theres nothing that makes me as mad as expensive makeup that has nasty packaging. The number of times I've bought products or brands purely because of their products.  Chanel is my personal favorite as it looks just as sleek and new after 6 months just by giving the packaging a once over with a makeup wipe.  On the other hand, you have NARS - I love their products, but man I can't stand the rubber packaging which gets so dirty.

So here's where the extent of my snobbery can be seen - with YSL. I love their sleek look perspex plastic and gold lids with their trademark label.  Unfortunately though, after a few months of rough and tumble in my makeup bag they can end up looking like the one on the right!  And I can't bare it.  It's kills my soul.  And it means I purchase new ones!

The nasty chipped gold lid looks so cheap even though it was 75% full! I felt like I was forced to buy a new one just so it had that beautiful new feel again.  There's no point having a beautiful YSL lipgloss if it ends up looking like like the one one on the right... I mean come on!

Are you girls with me on this one, or am I completely unreasonable!?!?!  I mean it's still 3/4 full but I can't stand its nasty appearance!  

Oh dear - I need a life. But hopefully you makeup junkies understand!

x
xx fiocco bianco
x

Saturday Night Special: great back-combed hair with Denman

Waheey! So Saturday Night is here! Are you lovely ladies up to anything nice?

This evening I'm going to a club  in Chelsea.  There will be a lot of glammed up people there so I want to make sure my hair looks its best!  I'll be going for the back combed look as it's a great way of adding fun and volume to your locks.

I've had a few emails requesting how I do it, so here's a simple guide using my must have tools from Denman and Elnett:

You will need:

•  Denman Large Porcupine Grooming Brush (D81L)
•  Denman Dressing out brush (D91)
•  Elnett Satin Extra Strength Hair Spray
• Elnett Heat protect Spray (straight)

Preparation

I think back-combing hair looks fab on freshly washed hair.  Try not to do it on greasy hair otherwise it can look slightly tramp!

1. Shampoo and condition your hair (I like Aveda's Smooth Infusions range (see post) which smooths and protects)
2. Protect your hair before blow drying with Elnett's heat protect spray.  There is absolutely no excuse not to protect your hair when all it takes is a spritz of this lovely smelling product, as not doing so leads to severely damaged dry hair.
3. If your hair is naturally smooth, then leave it be and go to the next stage. If (like me) the thought of leaving the house straight after a blow dry scares you, then run your straighteners quickly through it. Don't worry, it's still protected by the Elnett spray.

The Back combing

1. Brush through with a Denman porpupine brush (or similar). This lightweight brush is great for adding shine and conditioning the hair as well as smoothing out tangles.
2. Use the plastic pin on the  Denman dressing out brush to divide your hair  into two halves, about 2 inches below your natural parting and clip the top half up.
3. Taking an inch strand at a time, use the other end of the dressing out brush to gently back comb four or five times.  *You only need to back comb from about 2 inches from the root upwards.
4. Straight after back combing one strand, set it with a spritz of Elnett hair spray and move to the next strand.
5. After this half had been back combed. Unclip your hair and let it fall in to it's natural parting.  In the same way as previously, take one inch strand from either side of your parting and repeat the process and set with hair spray.
6. Use your fingers to gently run through your hair and push it upwards in order to achieve optimum  volume!

Hope this was useful! Have a great Saturday night girlies - photos of my hair from tonight will be up in a blog soon to follow!  xx x x

PR samples: 

*Denman Large Grooming Brush retails at £12.47 available from online or Boots, Superdrug, Asda and John Lewis

*Denman Dressing out brush retails at £2.87 available from online or Boots, Superdrug, Asda and John Lewis

Disappointing results from Ombre Dip Dye by L'oreal

Hi my Lovlies!

I've been away in Italy all this week, it was soo good to be back by the sea and eating lots of delicious creamy croissants!!! I also went to Sephora and had a crazy haul - you'll be seeing lots of it in the upcoming posts!  But, today is all about the results I had from L'oreal Paris Ombre Range - retailing at £6.99 it's their first dip dye kit.

I'm going to put it out there - was was hugely disappointed by this Ombre dye kit.  I couldn't see much of a result except for an orange tinge on my hair and it being left completely dry and crispy - far from the cool dip dyed look it promised  -  months of restoring it back to health with Aveda were ruined in seconds.

When I've dip dyed my hair in the past, I've not used a kit, but lightened it with lightening powder and then put on a ash gray blonde on top to give it a natural blonde sun kissed look.  Where this L'oreal Ombre kit goes wrong is that it just pulls the natural colour out of your own hair, without putting a nice blonde shade on top of it after.  This kit would be so much better if there was a second stage, whereby you apply a  blonde dye to the post lightened hair.

This way, hair could look healthy and beautifully sunkissed in the blonde shade you want.  NOT just an orange, damaged version of your own hair which is the sad reality!  I'll leave you with the pictures so you can judge for yourselves!

Have you guys tried it?? How were your results, I'm hoping they were much better than mine, let me know!!!!
xxxxx fiocco bianco xxxxxx

Exciting, Ethical & Luxury Beauty Brand MYDDFAI

Morning ladies, 

As you probably know, I've spent the last couple of years living in Italy.  This gave me a thirst for products which exuded luxury and artisanship.  Of course I'm wheeled in my the big names that you see so often on the shelves, but what really gets me excited, is products that have been produced laboriously by hand. So let me introduce you to MYDDFAI, the Welsh, luxury ethical cosmetics brand.

This Welsh luxury ethical cosmetic brand, Myddfai, creates beaaautifully delicious spa / luxury bathroom products. Based in Carmarthenshire, they manufacture luxury cosmetics with the aim of improving the lives of the people in the community throuogh involving them and using local sourced natural products.

I love how special these products make me feel, as I know I am one of just a few lucky people who know about them. Best of all, they're not just locally made, but they are paraben and cruelty free.  I think these would make the perfect gift at Christmas to a mum, friend or sister, as they ooze luxury and make you feel pampered.  

 Their Mountain Dew Whipped Shea butter is to die for - it has an almost sugary texture under it warms on your hands and body then melts in.  The fragrance is a secret - but I'm sure it comes from the mountain dew which  every morning at 4.am they collect after a jaunt up the local mountain!  I mean  really, can you get any more spoiled than that?

I also got given some delicious little hand and shower creams which like the shea butter ooze luxury and melt into the skin.

The star of the show was Myddfai's creamy whipped shea butter made form real mountain dew!

 I honestly honestly honestly am crazy about these products by Myddfai.  Yes they are a PR sample, but I don't care, they are EXTRAORDINARY. And I would love you guys to check them out as they deserve it both on quality and ethics.

So please take a look at their site: http://www.myddfai.com/Bath-and-Body/Myddfai-Toiletries-Range

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Lots of love,

Fiocco Bianco x x x x

*PR Samples BUT WILL DEFINITELY REPURCHASE :)

My Top 5 mascaras!

 

Morning my delicious ladies!

 

I hope you're all having a lovely week so far??

 

I opened my mascara draw the other day and was a little bit disgusted at myself at quite how many mascaras I own.  Often I buy a mascara to try it out, hate it, and never use it again.  I can't bare to throw it out so I just accumulate dozens upon dozens of mascaras.

 

BUT, there is a plus! I have discovered some exceptional mascaras.  Below are my top 5, but made up of just three brands.  Below is a quick summary of the best points of my top 5 mascaras to help you make your descions when buying!

 

From Top downwards in order of favorites we have:

Benefit Cosmetics badGAL lash RRP £17.50

10/10

• FAVORITE MACARA
• Good price considering the quality
• Creates huge lashes without clumping
• No fallout

DIORshow blackout waterproof RRP £23.00
9/10

• second best mascara
• LOVE how black this one is
• lasts all day
• loses a point on price as it is a little steeep when badGAL lash produces the same effects for much cheaper.  Then again I prefer to see dior in my makeup bag....you pay for the brand I guess

DIORshow waterproof RRP £23.00

8//10

Instantly transforms lashes - great for when running late

very black

seperates, lengthens and volumizes

down point - after a couple of months the product dries out (badgal lash doesn't do this)

Also it is a little pricey for a product that dries out quickly

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real RRP £19.50
8/10

• best point of this mascara is its applity to seperate and lengthen
• Creates very elegant long seperate lashes
• It lost two marks as I prefer heavy, volumized black lashes, compared to elegant long seperate lashes.  If you prefer a less heavy look, then this mascara is for you.
• Beautiful foruma, no fallout

Lord & Berry Scuba extreme RRP £12.00

8/10

• Considering its cheap price this mascara works very well at creating thick, volumized lashes
• I don't like the colour - it isn't black enough, it is like a black / brown
• Fantastic application though which I cannot fault

And there we have it - my top 5 mascaras!! I hope oyu gugys found this review useful, let me know!!!

Fiocco Bianco x x x x

Review of Bella' Pierre shimmer powder eyeshadow in earth

Morning you beauties!!

Here's a review of bella pierre's shimmer powder eyeshadow. I've written another post before on their primer, face powder and blush (here) so I was excited to try their shimmer powder eyeshadow too in Earth.

Colour: 10/10 The colour is a shimmery (not glittery)  rose gold colour which I've absolutely fallen in love with.  It's a beautiful neautral earthy tone, that can be worth during the day when lightly applied or for the wow factor at night when applied all over.  The shimmer is called Earth but it isn't brown at all, more of a bonzed gold.  My swatch probably shows you the colour much better on the third picture though!

Product:This is a really highly pigmented shimmer eyeshadow and I love how it stays on for hours even without primer.  It is a little messy to apply so try to pack as much product onto your brush before you apply.

Application: I used a small angular brush and lined the eyes (both top and bottom lid) and then smudged it a little with my fingers to give a golden shimmer to my eyes.  I think this eyeshadow goes great with lashings of black mascara as it really brings out the lashes when you have such a golden shimmer behind it.

Alternative uses:  I also think this is a great product to be used as a highlighting shimmer on the cheeks or right on the inner corner of your eyes when creating a smokey eye effect in order to bring out the colours.  I've also read that Bella Pierre eyeshadow shimmers can also be used as a liquid eyeliner by first wetting your hand a little then dipping your product packed brush into it before drawing it across the lid.

I would definitely recommend this particular shade from the Bella Pierre eyeshadow range as I personally think its a great colour to really bring out the best or dark long lashes.

 Bella' Pierre shimmer powder eyeshadow in earth* retails at £12.99 from HQ hair (here) and is well worth the money as these powder eyeshadow shimmers usually last well beyond a year.

*PR smaple sent for consideration and review

Classic Brit Awards OOTD

Hello Honeys!

Hope you're well and are having a beautiful week!

I had the pleasure to receive VIP tickets for the Classic Brit Awards last night.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little apprehensive as it's not like I know a whole lot about classical music, but oh my gosh was last night incredible! (I think its going to be shown on ITV Saturday at 10.20pm if you fancy seeing it).

There was Lang Lang - the amazing Chinese pianist who opened the Chinese Olympic Ceremony, Nicola Benedetti - simply gorgeous, and the star of the evening - Hans Zimmer aka the guy who wrote the sound tracks to over 150 films including The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean,  The Dark Night Rises, Inception & Sherlock Holmes.  It was so incredible I really would recommend it to anyone!

Clothes

I wore my favorite lace LBD from H&M, black zara leather jacket and a Moschino brown leather bag.  I left my hair in natural waves and kep my makeup light and sparkly.

It was such a beautiful evening and the Classic Brit Awards are definitely something I'd like to see again.  Oh - and Myleene Klasse's dress was just WOW.

Have you guys ever been?  Or are you gonna watch it ??

Fiocco Bianco xxx

FRENDS Taylor Gold Headphones - perfect Christmas gift for Her!

Boy oh Boy did I treat myself!

Remember I told you guys about me working just off Oxford Street and the temptations that is causes me!  I was just schmoozing around Selfridges.....as you do of a lunch time...and I find myself staring face to face with the most beautiful headphones that I had ever seen - Friends Taylor Gold Headphones (link).  They're made of white leather and plated with gold metal and are just the perfect accessory for any occasion as well as giving beautiful sound quality.

These would make the perfect "Christmas gift for Her" - but unfortuantely I have no self control and got them for me without waiting to be gifted them!

FRENDS Taylor Gold Headphones from Selfirdges

I can't stop admiring them, even the box they come with is just stunning!  But lets look at the practicalities:

The Frends Taylor Gold Headphones come with the following great features:

1. Jewelry inspired design
2. Genuine leather & hand crafted metal
3. Soft touch fabric cord
4. Three button mic with volume, music + phone control
5. Memory foam ear cushions
6. Premium 40mm driver

These would make an absolutely great Christmas gift as they're beautifully designed and great to wear every day to both listen to music and to make your outfit absolutely perfect!

They RRP at £170 and are available from Selfridges on Oxford Street or online from www.wearefrends.com .

Nair Brazilian Spa Clay review

Hey Dolls, 

I've recently tried out Nair's Brazilian Spa Clay* facial wax strips so I thought I'd give a little review on it!  The pack comes with 20 wax strips, 2 cooling pre-wipes to prepare the skin and 2 moisturizing post wipes. 

I loved the pre wipes. I thought this was a really great touch as I've tired lots of home waxes before and not all of them contain these pre wipes which cool your skin and prep it for action.  They really prepare your skin which I find really important when your about to wax something as delicate as your face!  

Though only down point with regards to the wipes is that there is only two of them - and seeing as I won't be using 10 wax strips per time I feel like there isn't enough of them included as I will probably only use a maximum of 4 wax trips per time. 

I love the tiny little wax trips - they're the perfect size for all those awkward places :P .  They also have an absolutely lovely scent to them which makes it feel like you're having a real at home spa treatment.

Results:

They worked really well in removing all the hairs quickly and efficiently.  There is a little pain involved but only as much as to be expected with waxing.

It also leaves no residue at all which is a hugely important factor for me.  The wipes therefore serve only to moisturize and not to wipe globs of wax off as I have had to do in the past with other brands.

I would definitely recommend these Nair Brazilian Spa Clay wax strips it is currently on sale at Boots for just £3.79 here when it has a RRP of £5.69 which makes it a bargain which should be snapped up now.  Especially when you think how much you spend on similar treatments as spas, this can definitely save you lots of money.

RRP £5.69 - Available from Boots, Superdrug and Asda nationwide.

But currently on sale at Boots (here) for just £3.79

*PR sample sent for consideration & review