Makeup of the day and hair of the day

Hey Dolls, 

I haven't done a makeup or hair of the day in forever!

I have been loving this eye of horus mascara in black - this is a little gem of a makeup brand and I have been using their liquid eyeliner a lot too including in the below pictures.  The mascara retails for £18.00, which I think is a good price to pay for a decent mascara.  It separates and lengthens without leaving lashes clumpy. I also love having makeup in my makeup bag that not everyone has!!

So I went pretty natural on the face - I was using B50 foundation from YSL in the Teint Touche and followed by Hula bronzer from Benefit.  The look as all about the lashes so I wanted to keep my skin as natural as possible and also finished with a super nude Chanel lipstick.

I have been obsessed lately with Chanel's Rouge Coco moisturising lipsticks.  They leave a little shine on lips which looks great and is comfortable to wear. I am using Colour 400 Louise

To finish thhe Makeup of the Day is of course Hair of the  day!  I have been using:

 Kérastase Chronologiste Revitalizing Shampoo, Care Conditioner And Balm Treatment Trio

This fabulous revitliasing hair trio is currently discounted on Lookfantastic by £25 - so make sure you don't miss out. The third step - the hair mask is my absolute favorite of the three.  My hair was so glossy and shiny after using it when usually I have very dull and dry hair.  My brush went straight through without too much problems on tangles which makes it an absolute winner for me and has become a firm favourite!!  It is definitely worth the money in my opinion and a must-have for those with long hair prone to splitting.

So there we go! My hair and makeup favourites for the day!

Stay tunes for more as I have been discovering some beauties this month!

xxxxx

Taming Wild Hair with Denman Animal Print Brushes!

 Hello Ladies!

I'm sure lots of you have long, wild hair like me and choosing the right hairbrush is crucial in managing it was well as making sure you don't damage it.  There are some hair brush styles that I know either won't get through my hair or will get completely tangled in it - for example round hair brushes.

But, I have found the most practical and most stylish hair brush yet which I love having on hand in my handbag!  It's a bright pink leopard print classic styling brush (available here).  For years I've been a huge fan of Denman Brushes as they really seem to be able to get through my thick, coarse hair and now they have a  funky collection of animal print brushes that are perfect for taming wild hair!

Denman Pink Leopard Print Brush available here.

I went for a bright print Denman Leopard print brush as I love how girly it is and perfect for pulling out your handbag.  But this animal print isn't just fashionable but AMAZING for wild hair (ahem, like mine :p).  It's great for every day grooming and calming down frizz as its round nylon pins prevent breakages and get through tough tangled hair.

I matched my Denman Hairbrush with a bright pink laura mercier lipgloss!!

 This Denman Classic Styling Brush comes in a number of florescent colours and is available in both Zebra and Leopard print so you can choose the print and colour that matches your personality and style best.  This is an amazing brush for tackling tangles and is great for smoothing hair straight after the shower.

They RRP at £8.68 and are available from Boots, Superdrug, Sainsbury's & John Lewis as well as from www.denmanbrush.com

*Product sent for consideration and review

Tutorial: Wavy Hair with GHD's V Classic Styler

Hey Ladies!!

For special occasions I tend to pull out the 'wavy hair' look.  But, it wasn't always so easy discovering how to do it.

For big bouncy curls, I would reccommend curling tongs, whereas for a relaxed, wavy hair look, I've come up with the following tutorial using GHD's V Classic Styler as I think it looks a little more natural whilst adding volume to your hair.

 Tutorial

1.) After washing and rough trying you hair, pin up the top 3/4 of your hair with a hair band roughly where your ears are.
2.) Comb it and spray on a heat protector.  I like BB Spray de Mode (link) as it protects the hair against heat whilst acting as a hair spray to hold the wave in your hair once styled.
3.) Turn on your GHDs and wait for them to fully heat. (Best when even the outter plastic is hot too).  I would recommend *these* as my GHD V classic styler has lasted 3 years and they've been working perfectly to this day.  They are reliable and reach the heat needed  as well as creating lovely round waves because of the barrel shape.  They are also currently £20 discounted.
4.) Taking 1 inch strands of hair, run the straighteners down your hair shaft in a downwards fashion.
5.)Take the hair strand again and when you run down to half wait pause and twist the GHDs 90 degrees so your straighteners are now twisting your hair in a different direction.  Slowly pull the GHDs down at this angle.
6.) This should create a slight wave.  If it is not wavy enough do it again.
7.) When happy with your wave spray it with hair spray and move to the next one.
8) When the first quarter of your hair is done unclip the next quarter and keep doing so until finished.
9) When done run your fingers through your hair to make it look more natural.

And that's it!  Hope this helped!

Let me know if it works for u!

Love fiocco bianco xxx

BIG HAIR - Batiste XXL Dry Shampoo vs Plumping powder

Hey my lovely ladies, 

I love big hair, and getting into the Christmas Season, the bigger the better!  To achieve the big volumous hair look, I used to back-comb a bit with some hair spray, but that can leave you a bit sitcky and crispy in the morning.  This is why I've started to achieve big hair with dry shampoo, which leaves your hair refreshed and looking good in the morning.

Batiste have launched their XXL range including plumping powder and dry shampoo.   I decided to try them out to see which was better for super huge hair!

Batiste XXL Plumping powder vs dry shampoo

Winner - Batiste XXL Dry Shampoo (link) - I love this as it is an easy spray that cleans your greasy hair whilst adding some va va voom.  It is a very light formula that blends into your hair easily with no white patches.  Also, in the morning you can't feel that it was there, but does give you the volume you need when you add it which lasts all night.

Loser - Batiste XXL Plumping powder (link)  - technically, this gave a lot more volume.  So if your looking for the biggest hair then I would reccomend this.  However, as formulas go, I prefer the Dry Shampoo spray as it is lighter than the powder.  This powder provides more oomph but you can feel it in your hair the next day which is why it didn't win the battle for me!

But, if you're looking for big hair this Christmas, be sure to try one of these Batiste  XXL out, as its a great way to add volume with none of the stickiness of hair spray!!

The RRP is £3.99 and is available from Boots and Superdrug.

*PR Sample

AVEDA Smooth Infusions Review

Good Morning!

I've had the pleasure of trying out Aveda's Smooth Infusions range (link) which is specifically designed using plant technology to smooth the hair strands.

Review

Results 10/10: I'm just going to dive right in there with the most important part of this review, the results - this Smooth Infusions range REALLY smoothed my hair and made it considerably sleeker. It contains Tamanu oil to restore the moisture balance and organic aloe, maize and guar bean to smooth the follicles. Though as I was washing my hair I could feel the conditioner smoothing the hair strands, it was only have rough blow drying it that I could see a definite improvement in my hairs condition and smoothness.  This meant I could skip heat styling which is normally a must have for me - excellent news as I can try and restore my hairs health a bit!

Packaging 9/10  I love the sleek & minimalist packing of this duo and lives up to the Aveda image of quality.  It has a matt finish and a beautiful duck egg colour which keeps in tone with its focus on plant infusions   

Heat protection 10/10 I don't know why, but this Smooth Infusions range somehow hasn't sung out at the roof tops that the range protections against surface heat damage! A wheat protein creates a protective barrier  - this is hugely important nowdays with all the heat styling that is used on a daily basis.  I love that heat protection is incorporated into the product as it means you feel a little less guilty when you blow dry!

Perfume 7/10 This won't be everyone's cup of tea but it is mine.  You can't help but notice the potent, herbal perfume of Sandalwood that this range has.  For me it is beautiful, yet and reminds me of the plant elements that are working together to protect the hair, whereas for other it may just be a bit too heady.

Summary - This is a beautiful brand with a beautiful product which really works.  I love that my hair is protected from heat styling and at the same time eliminates most of the need for it as it smoothes and calms my dry frizzy hair.  Aveda's Smooth Infusions Range is excellent for anyone with dry / damaged / flyaway hair :)

It retails

Product details - Aveda Smooth Infusions Shampoo* (250ml) RRP £16.50, Aveda Smooth Infusions Conditioner* (250ml) RRP £18.50. Available online from www.aveda.co.uk or  Aveda salons and spas.

*PR samples sent for consideration and review

Protect Saturday night hair

A night out definitely takes its toll on your hair.  I mean, it goes through some seriously stress in order to get it primped and preened to perfection.  And for you guys like me with unmanageable, wild hair, it needs some industrial strength GHD's and curling tongs to get it looking anywhere near half decent.

When using a lot of heat on your hair, it is ESSENTIAL that you protect it.  I've learnt this a whole 10 years after destroying my hair.  I not only used heat styling every day but I also I felt like heat protection was over rated.  As a result my hair never gew and was like straw.  But, for the last year I have been using heat protectiong products and my hair is now soft to touch and has grown so much.

Routine

After washing I always use a detangler - Aussie's luscious long leave in conditioner does wonders.  I then reccomend using Aussie's heat protector.  Just rub this silky cream through your wet hair and then Elnett's heat protector on dry hair which is ready to be straightened.  This gives the ultimate protection.