Poundland bargain - Oz Botanics Heat defence

Hey Dolls, 

I was traipsing through my local Poundland (on the hunt for Aussie 3 minute miracle....couldn't find it) and stumbled across this little heat defence spray.

I am a huge supporter of heat defence spray, as in my late teens and early twenties, I had always wanted long hair, but straightened it every day with no heat defence.  But, because of this it never grew.  Now I only straighten once a week and always use heat defence, and finally it's actually grown pretty darn long.  So ladies, if you want long hair, I really do advocate looking after it with spray, otherwise it breaks and stays short.

 So here's my review:

Price- an absolute bargain, there's not many beauty products you can get for a pound nowadays.  I've seen Oz botanics heat defence online for around the £5.00 so I got a big saving.  Also, my usual heat defence is Elnett which costs £6.00 so looking after hair is a pricey business so its nice that it's not breaking the bank.

Product - a light mist that doesn't leave your hair greasy at all.  You need quite a lot though, I know it's cheap but it's a small bottle and I used up to the sticker on the first ever use.  But honestly, I use the same amount with Elnett so it's no big deal.

Did it work - well this is the thing that bugs me.  I don't know this brand so I'm not sure if it is reputable. I hopeit worked otherwise I've just killed my hair.  I guess it's something you have to risk with unknown products you find for a quid eh?

Oz Botanics Heat Defence left my hair shiny though which is a great plus and with no greasiness.  I reckon you girls in the UK who can get your hands on it should try it out for a quid as there's nothing to lose.  But, I probably wouldn't recommend its full price of £5.00 as it's such a small bottle and for just £6.00 you can get a huge Elnett.

What heat defence do you ladies use??

Kisses Fiocco Bianco xxxxxxxxxx

MAKEUP OF THE DAY

Hey there pretty ladies,

I haven't done a makeup of the day in the while, so I thought I'd share with you a makeup look which I've been doing a lot recently which focuses on quite a pale base, matt nude eyeshadow,dark eyebrows and bright pink lips.

  The base:
As the summer isn't here yet and a whole Winter has passed leaving me with very light skin, I feel that fake tan doesn't look so good as it isn't building on any base and comes out too orange.  I've therefore used a foundation close to my skin tone (Benefit Playstick in Tea Party with primer underneath) and dusted it with finishing powder to set.

Then for a bit of colour I used Benefit Hula on the cheekbones and nose using the brush it comes with

 

 The Eyes:

In the above picture you can see I've chosen a skin coloured matt eyeshadow (the above is from a Givenchy pallet.)  I think with bright lips its important to not over do it with heavy eyes, hence the nude eyeshadow. You may be thinking that I could have just not put any eyeshadow on at all if I wanted a 'natural effect' but the truth is, most eyes have a lot of red on the lids from the blood vessels and can really make you look tired if they're not covered in a matt neutral shade of eyeshadow.

I also lined under the eyes with gray eyeshadow (still from the same givenchy palet)  and finished with Benefit They're Real Mascara.

 Eyebrows

I filled in the gaps in my eyebrows with a light brown eyeshadow and an angular brush to give a smoother finish to the brows and to fill in the ends which are a bit sparse.

To finish I used a bright pink YSL Golden lipgloss in 4 Golden Fuschia.  I have these lipglosses in about 5 different shades as I love the brush, the textures, the smell and the packaging.  As lipglosses go, these are my absolute favourites.  As you can see in the picture below, the gloss really sparkles and adds shine.

And that's it! I hope you guys like my Makeup of the day and has inspired you to try out a similar look! xxxxxxx

Freshlook Colorblend Contact lenses in Gray

Morning my beauties!

Today I thought I would give a little insight into my favourite coloured lenses.  I naturally have hazel eyes, but I always play around with coloured contact lenses - green, gray, brown, blue - you name it, I've probably tried it! When I have these lenses in I just wear a flash of mascara and some eyeliner as I want to show of the coloured lenses and not distract from it with heavy eyeshadow.

They're great fun if you have to wear contacts anyway, giving you perfect vision whilst at the same time making your look complete.  I always use freshlook colorblend contacts (available here from vision direct) as they don't completely change your eye colour, as the name suggests, it blends your chosen colour with your real colour.

This is my current favourite colour - it's Gray by Colorblend.  I've tried the Sterling gray before, but that was more of an ice gray and though looked incredible, it wasn't very believable.  I always like to retain an element of natural (yeah yeah I know coloured contacts aren't the height of subtlety) and this shade of Gray could be almost believable that it was my own.

I wear these both for work and play, as I love playing around with different looks and need to wear contacts anyway.  If you're someone who wear lenses, you should definitely try them out, as they're not too expensive  and a great way to make the most of bad eyesight!

I get mine from www.visiondirect.com as they have always been reliable and have a great price: £24.00 for one pair or £40.00 for two.  Compared to normal clear contacts its actually quite a great deal and has made me quite the slave to them for the last three years or so!

Have you guys ever tired coloured contact lenses??? How did it go, do you still wear them?

Lots of love
Fiocco Bianco xxx

Istanbul 2014

Hello my lovelies, 

Sorry it's been such a while since I've written a post - I've been away to Istanbul.  Such a magical city and with even more baklava (99% of the reason I wanted to go there!).  It was a great 5 day escape but with so much of the city to see I've been left wanting to go back for more.  But the highlight of the trip was the amazing hand made burek these ladies made!

Pictures speak a thousand works so I've put a few my my favorites below.  It was pretty chilly so I'm hiding away in my fur trim jacked and jeans.  Such a fail safe outfit in chilly weather especially when going on river cruises!

 Even though it was cold there was crisp blue sky and the sea was a stunning dark blue for the whole trip.  We couldn't resist a boat ride along the river and it was so good we ended up doing it twice and at a bargain price of just £5.00.  So if you get the chance, make sure you go for a river cruise!

There was such an incredible sunset it really made Istanbul look enchanted with its mosques under the glow of the sun and the chanting running through the city. If you go, make sure you check out the fishermen passing there day on the bridge!

The blue mosque in all its glory

We literally ate over 2 kilos of baklava here!

Turkish coffee - don't drink it until there end otherwise you'll eat the beans!

Have you guys ever been to Istanbul?  It was such a great city break and such a last second decision to go but I would recommend it to everybody! Now to hit  the gym after all that baklava and kebab! :P

Lots of love

Fiocco xxx

Spring Must Have - Ark's Vintage Levi's Denim Shorts

Wow, so yesterday was the first day of Spring...I don't know if it was official or not, but it hit 18 degrees  and was the first time the sun's been out for a while.  As its a bit of a rarity to enjoy a sunny Sunday in the UK, especially in March, I spent it how the rest of the country did - crammed into a traditional pub garden to enjoy a refreshing drink under the much needed sunshine!

Too hot for leather jackets

However, I was completely inappropriately dressed in jeans, strappy top and a leather jacket and just sat and baked. It made me think that it's finally time to get my spring/summer wardrobe out. Though, there's a staple that I'm missing that I believe is an absolute must have for not just this Spring/Summer, but for many many to come.  A pair of Vintage Levis Denim shorts.

I've always been a huge fan of denim shorts in the Summer as they go with everything and are super comfortable.  But, these are the absolute classics.  I was having a browse on www.ark.co.uk and they have a lovely choice in all different sizes and at the bargain price of £19.99.  This suits me as every time I go to a Vintage shop in Spitalfields market they're always way over-priced AND out of my size...unless it's the most hideous design ever.

Ark Vintage Levi's Denim Shorts in Dark Wash

I love the look of the dark wash Levis denim shorts with frayed bottom edges.  I think they have the most classic styling and are best for Summer with bright loose t-shirts. Because of the high legged shorts feature (they're jeans cut into shorts) I think its best to match with a more covered up top as otherwise it might be just a bit too much on show, and hey, it's never going to really get much hotter than 18 degrees over here.

For a slightly more dressy feel, I would match these high waisted Ark Levi's Vintage shorts in black with a white top and a big pair of Chanel Sunnies.  (My own are full of salt since taking a swim in them last summer *cry*).

Black Ark Vintage denim shorts

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So there you have it, the must haves on my Spring/ Summer shopping list!  I love that because they're classics they'll never go out of style.  And because they're from the brand Ark, you can choose the pair in the colour and size perfect for you, and not left to chance in the more expensive vintage stores.  Check out their full collection (here).


Do you guys own a pair of Levi's Vintage shorts?? Let me know what you match them with!

Lots of Love

Fiocco Bianco xxxxxxxxxx

*Sponsored Post

OPI Navy Shatter - Worst Polish EVER

I thought I'd try out OPI Shatter in Navy for a fun new manicure now we're coming into spring.  I'm in love with navy and couldn't wait to try out their navy shatter polish over a light pink Nails Inc shade called Elizabeth Street. Excuse my grotty and dirty pink Nails Inc bottle - this is one of my favourites and has had its fair share of applications.

SO here we have below the two polishes I thought would make the perfect Navy and Pale pink shatter effect:

I applied my under coat first of light pink and waited for it to completely dry.  I then undid the lid of the OPI shatter and saw OPIs classic creamy consistency polish and applied a light coat over my dried first pink coat, excited to see the shattering take place.

The first hand shattered the first 4 nails but not the thumb.  I waited and waited but nothing happened? I had redipped the OPI navy shatter polish in its bottle after my fourth finger and this seems to have deactivated the active shatter effect!?  On the nails it did shatter it was quite a nice effect, but the pail pink which was showing had a bit of a blue tinge and wasn't as crisp a pink coming through underneath as I had expected.

 Then, I went on to my second hand.  Not one nail 'shattered'.  Honestly, I was in shock, How can OPI one of the most respected nail polish brands have created a shatter polish which worked so badly!?  It was absolute rubbish and honestly, one of the worst polishes I have ever seen.

 Look at the results below.  I didn't even neaten up the edges before I took this picture as I knew I was going to head straight for the polish remover as there was no way I was heading out the house with one set of nails semi shattered, and the other not at all.  Very very disappointing OPI!!

How RUBBISH is this!??!?!

I mean SERIOUSLY what is that, coming from a polish that has a RRP of £11.00 from www.asos.com.  I bought the navy, but I had been contemplating at the time purchasing this beautiful Emerald Green (here) and the classic black. I thought I would see how I got on with the navy and thank god I saw how it doesn't work at all as now I definitely will not be purchasing another OPI shatter.  Considering how much I love their normal polishes, I have now been put off trying some other OPI special collections after these disappointing results.

Not cool OPI. Not cool.  Have you guys had similar results?!?! Let me know!!! xxxxx

Burberry Scarf to Make an Outfit

Hello Ladies!

Sorry for the absence... I've been moving house over the last two weeks...absolute organizational nightmare.  But now I'm back and settled in so you'll see new backdrops for the pictures!

Today I'm going to show you a Burberry scarf that I've recently purchased...don't go getting any ideas, day in day out I live in the likes of Zara, but, just like having a nice bag, the same goes for accessories, be it a LV watch, a Prada clutch or whatever it is you have you eye on.

Burberry Ivory Check Silk Cashmere Scarf (here)

I decided on a Burberry scarf. I love real British brands and Burberry really represents that for me and I just love its iconic Burberry check.

I chose this ivory check silk cashmere scarf as not only is it deliciously soft and great for our awful British weather, but brightens up any outfit. It retails here at £250 but I will definitely get a lot of wear out of this beautiful accessory.  It just adds zing to a plain outfit like I've got on below.

I wore it with J Brand Black skinny jeans (this season), khaki shirt from H&M and Zara leather jacket (last season).  The scarf really brightens up the dark colour pallet which I'm used to and adds such much needed class :p !!

Sometimes its worth splashing out on the odd accessory as it really makes you feel special in an otherwise normal outfit.  I would recommend taking a look at Burberry's collection of scarves (here) as they have their iconic check in both the classic colour combinations or a little bit brighter in colours to suit your personality.

Lots of love,

Fiocco Bianco xxxx