The Answer to your Fine Hair Woes?

 Hi All :)

Well, as you all know my hair is very fine but I have a lot of it. Until very recently, volume wasn't an issue for me since I was straightening my hair every day, but since THIS post I've been wearing my hair naturally and volume has become more important. So step forward  Paul Mitchell  Lemon Sage Thickening Spray.

 You spray it all over, comb through and then style as normal. It smells lovely, not too overpowering and most importantly, your hair doesn't feel like it has any product in it.

Does it work?  Yes it does! It adds lots of volume to my fine hair which I never style, I just let it dry naturally. This is the result (the same pic I used the other day). Now I'm in my wavy hair phase I can't see me being without this!

 I don't think my hair looks fine at all!

A definite winner of a product. 200mls is £11.50 ish and a little goes a long way. Highly recommended.

Mac for Rodarte Collection Final Update. #rodartemac

I am thrilled to be able to share this update with you all. This statement 's original source is over at Temptalia

MEXICO CITY, México, July 29, 2010 – In response to public concern over the limited edition MAC Rodarte makeup collection, set to launch in fall 2010, MAC will donate all of its global profits from this collection to a newly created initiative to raise awareness and provide on-the-ground support to the women and girls in Juarez. MAC and Rodarte are deeply sorry that this makeup collection was so offensive to the people of Mexico and concerned global citizens.

This announcement follows a meeting last evening in Mexico City with MAC executives and Mexican government officials, including CONAVIM (Comisión Nacional Para Prevenir y Erradicar la Violencia Contra las Mujeres/National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence Against Women.)

During the meeting, held at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this collective group committed to working together on the overall direction of the new initiative to help the women and girls of Juarez and to raise global awareness of their plight. MAC executives reiterated their deep regret and reinforced that it was never MAC’s or Rodarte’s intent to minimize the suffering of the women and girls of Ciudad Juarez.

In the coming weeks, MAC and Rodarte will be consulting with members of CONAVIM´s advisory board, as well as other local and global experts, to develop a comprehensive framework that provides grants to local and international organizations with a track record of improving the lives of the women and girls in Juarez.

“We are deeply sorry and apologize to everyone we offended, especially the victims, the women and girls of Juarez and their families. We have heard the response of concerned global citizens loud and clear and are doing our very best to right our wrong. The essence of MAC is to give back and care for the community and our initial handling of this makeup collection was not reflective of MAC’s values. MAC and Rodarte are committed to using these learnings to raise awareness on this important issue and to leverage our unique platform to help the women and girls of Juarez,” said MAC President John Demsey.

“Rodarte is committed to using creativity for positive social change. As designers, we strongly feel it is our responsibility to use ideas and actions for the good of our global community and are truly sorry for the offense we have caused. We are raising our voices in support of the strong women and girls of Juarez and joining others who are working internationally to improve their lives,” said Kate and Laura Mulleavy, designers of Rodarte.

I am beyond proud of everyone's contributions to this campaign, whether you spread the word, signed the petition or wrote a blog post, whatever you did, well done! I also feel rather emotional about the whole thing, what a fantastic result.

On a less cheery and more selfish note, whilst in effect the community pulled together to work wonders which was a fantastic achievement, some huge divides were created. I myself have been left feeling elated about the end result but bitterly upset about some aspects of what has happened. I've learned some very valuable lessons.

As a direct result of the personal hurt I feel, I will be taking some time out of the community, or more specifically Twitter and concentrating my efforts on my blog and commenting on the blogs I read and love.

Guest Blogging @ Dainty Dollymix Today

Hi Everyone!

No blog post on here from me today (other than this one), instead you can read my guest post over at Dainty Dollymix today where I talk about my experiences with Viva La Nails nail art items...

See you there?

Mini Me Konadicure

This post might be contraversial, I don't know! But today my 3 year old decided she wanted to be like Mummy and now we have matching nails. I'm secretly delighted but also secretly disgusted I've let my 3 year old have her nails painted... ah well, it's the Summer holidays and it is cute!

It does however highlight how horrible my hands are!

Blue Skies Konad Nails

I know I know, most of you will have seen this manicure elsewhere, when you have clouds on your Konad Image plate it's hard to be original!


Don't look closely, it's very shoddily done. I was swearing like a trooper doing it. Really struggled to pick up the images fully, or stamp them fully despite cleaning with remover plate and disk and stamper, as well as lightly roughing up the stamper... anyway, I give you my blue skies konadicure! Its poorly executed but I think it's pretty regardless :) The blue is Essie Lais of Luxury.

I'm thinking polka dots next! :)

Into The Groove FotD or How to not wear Lipstick.

Hi all, haven't done a FotD for a while, I get so embarrassed about my lack of skill and I'm so self concious about my fat face and double chins it really puts me off. But anyway, putting my insecurities to one side here's my face of last Saturday. Pulled out some of my Mac In the Groove bits and had a play. I used Fresh & Easy Mineralise Shadows. I also tried out I Like It Like That lipstick for the first time. It's quite obviously not the right colour for me so expect it to show up in a blog sale soon! Anyway, here's some pics for you!

 I love the shadows, but in real life this look was really full on, that pink is PINK. Not that you can tell terribly well from the pics, but it was a lot more subtle without Primer Potion underneath. The last pic is teh closest to actual colours, but still washed out.

As I say, the lipstick was clearly an error of judgement so I'll probably be putting together a blog sale in the not too distant future!

New Max Factor Accessories!

Max Factor have recently released a range of accessories including make up brushes, tweezers, nail files, eyelash curlers, that kind of thing. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a selection of the products.

First of all I love the design, the metal items are matt black and the brushes are super shiney and tactile. They all look very stylish.

Powder Brush £14
This is my favourite of all the items, big, soft. fluffy, picks up a decent amount of powders and distributes it lightly and evenly with no shedding.

Eyeshadow Brush £6
Neat little brush, perfect for putting a wash of colour over the whole lid, picks up a lot of product so you have to tap or blow off the excess. Again, no shedding, brilliant for the price!

Lip Brush £6
Love this, metal brush, does the job perfectly. I find lip brushes are the worst for shedding usually, there is nothing worse than brush hairs stuck in your lipstick, but that problem ususally rears its ugly head after a fairly long time, so watch this space!

Tweezers £8.50
Another stylish product, they do a good job of gripping and pulling out the hairs. I must confess I struggled a little short fine hairs, but then I always do.

Eyelash Curlers £8.50
Unfortunately the only product I simply couldn't get on with at all. In short the curved bit you put your eyelashes in is too long for me. I don't have small eyes or anything but the whole thing won't fit in my eye socket, therefore I can barelyget it anywhere near the tips of my lashes and I have long lashes! If I do manage to wedge it in and clamp half my lashes, the other end pinches my skin as it closes. I can't recommend this particular product at all unfortunately. Never had this problem with lash curlers before!

There are 6 more products in the range, brushes, nail clippers and a nail file. Overall, I'd say this range is kind to your purse and well worth checking out. It's a basic range, there are only two different eyeshadow brushes, but if you are starting out a brush collection or just want to fill yours out, theses are definitely worth looking at. Except the lash curlers, unless you have very large eye sockets!

Estee Lauder Surreal Violet Eyeshadow Palette

Hi everyone, I've posted a lot about whats going on at Estee Lauder recently, I've discussed the Blue Dahlia collection, I've shown you some of the Pure Colour Glosses, some of the Pure Colour Eyeshadows, the Blue Dahlia Eyeshadow Palette and the Surreal Violet Nail Varnish, and now I'm able to show you the Surreal Violet eyeshadow palette. This is due out in just over a week, at the beginning of August and is £34...not cheap, it is however, very lovely.

Here's some swatches, I borrowed Chloe's arm for these :)

 There's a grey, a dark dark purple, a violet purple full of iridescence and shimmer, a lovely pinky purple and shimmery frosty palest pink. All lovely shades, the addition of the dark shade and grey make the purples wearable for me, I feel I can't wear purples normally.

I immediately set to putting it all on my eyes, and as usual I've failed to capture how beautiful these shades are and how vibrant they are on my eyelids. You'll just have to trust me on this. I also failed to move my hair out of the way... oops!

Sorry. I am ashamed at my photography skills... just believe me, this is one heck of a product and I'm hard pushed to choose between it and the Blue Dahlia palette.

 

Do you think you might like either of these? I think they are fab and if you were somewhat more skilled than me (which wouldn't take a lot) you could create some absolutely fantastic looks with them.

My Hair, Advice Needed Again!

Hi all,

I'm in hair limbo again! It needs a cut badly, it also needs colouring badly since all my brown has nearly washed out revealing the blonde and roots underneath... so my first question is, grow it or keep it short?

My second question is, while it's in limbo, I've been straightening it every day and today for a change I didn't. To me it feels messy and I'm missing the shine, but I think its perhaps a bit more flattering? What do you prefer?
Straighter (god what a horrible picture)?

 or more natural?

What say you lot! help!

Essie Haute As Hello :)

My nails are slowly recovering. I think it aws my extra strength nail varnish reover destroying them. I've gone back to a moisturising polish remover and things are definitely much better. I've got tatty cuticles ane one very very stumpy nail but I needed to get some cheery colour on them anyway. Perhaps Essie's Haute as Hello is a little too cheery. You can't tell but this is neon. Super uber neon. It's alo very lovely. It looks nothing like the colour it is in the bottle wguch is flatter, paler, duller... it'd be fabulous for anyone with a tan and less ideal for those of us who could do without attention being drawn to our messy fingers!

Anyway! Pics! This is outside in poor light. Doesn't look neon does it?

This is inside, under electric light, brighter but not nearly bright enough!

 It's lovely anyway! What say you?

Further Mac/ Rodarte Information

Hi All,

I just wanted to let you know that although it might seem that the momentum over this topic has passed, behind the scenes a few bloggers have been very busy.

If you are not satisfied with the $100,000 donation then please, please head over and sign this petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/macrodarte/ demanding further action.

If you feel so inclined, please spread the word, put it on your Facebook page so your friends and family can see and on your blog, and anywhere else you think might be of benefit.


Thanks for taking the time to read and subject to any further statements from Mac, this will be my last post on the subject.

Frizz Free Hair from Avon

Sorry for all the hair related posts at the moment! Here's another!

"Avon Advance Techniques Lotus Shield Frizz Control Lotus Shield is a world’s first from Avon – scientifically proven to help keep frizz at bay for up to three days, this wonder product works by providing an invisible shield against frizz-inducing elements such as humidity. The water resistant technology repels moisture providing you with a frizz and fuss free finish with results that last."

I'm sure if  you read my posts you'll already know this by now but my hair is very fine but there's a lot of it. It's not straight, but it's not curly either and it definitely gets frizzy in wet or humid weather.

It's both of those things in Devon right now, so it was timely to receive this sample. You wash your hair as usual, towel dry a bit and then apply to your hair and comb through, allegedly it works for three days, even if you wash your hair - that sounds impressive.

My hair dried nicely sleek and shiny which is a great start! I've been out into the damp and rain several times, and yep, still frizz free. Very good!

Did it work even after a wash? Yes it did! It's impressive but you have to wonder how you get it out of your hair if you use too much or don't like it given that it doesn't wash out!

Thats not a concern for me though, I'm impressed, no frizz after a trip out in the rain? Yes Please!

For such an effective product the price is low, I've spent considerably more in the past on products trying to fight the frizz. £7 from Avon. Highly recommended.

Andrew Collinge Brunette Shampoo & Conditioner & Firm Fix Hairspray Review

Now these things were sent to me a long time ago and neither of them were suitable for me, so I farmed them out to my Mum and Sister.

First up I give you my Mum's short but very sweet review of the Andrew Collinge Firm Fix Hairspray.

I'm using Andrew Collinge Salon Shine Hair Spray as we speak, and I love it. It gives my hair a great shine and brushes out very easily. I have thick hair but unfortunately, it tends to droop quite quickly and doesn't keep a style (unless it is VERY short). However, this spray keeps the look from dawn til dusk. I shall certainly be buying it again.

Next we have my sister's review of the Lustrous Brunette Shampoo & Conditioner

So...I was running out of my fave salon shampoo and conditioner, I have rubbish hair and no money to replace them. Boo! But much to my pleasant surprise my lovely big sis went in to her magic bathroom, came out and handed me some new Andrew Collinge products to trial! "Awesome", I thought to myself...."dodgy hair rescued from several months of herbal essences finest..again!"

I ran myself a luxury bath, bought a copy of fave trashy mag, and chillaxed for a bit before using my new products as part of my Friday night pamper :-). the bottles looked really stylish on my bath and the packaging neat and simple. I was excited about using them becaue they looked like a treat.

I poured out the shampoo and washed and rinsed...it doesn't smell of much but lathered up really nicely. I felt confident I was gonna have luscious shiny hair afterwards. I used the conditioner, which again went onto my hair really nicely and left my hair feeling suitably conditioned whilst wet (I could run my fingers through the knots that had previously existed!).

Following this I wrapped my head in a towel and continued to pamper for a little while (mmmm lovely Lush products...Fabulous mrs fox bubble bar, No.13 soap and some sugar scrub of a delicious flavour!).

When I had finished sorting my body I returned to my hair...now towel dried nicely and ready to finish off with the hair dryer during some minimal styling. Already I noticed it felt dry and straw-like to the touch. Sometimes with my pants hair this is the case until it is blow dried to 'fake good'. Sadly for Mr Collinge this failed..and my hair maintained a frizzy, dry and definitely poorly groomed look. Gutted! Tried again a few times, using varying amounts of product, smoothing products, and no blow drying etc, to no avail...each time = frizz and dry looking hair. Will not use again :-(..herbal essences (or any equivalent on supermarket offer) for me !


So there we have it! Many thanks indeed to Mum and Julia for their reviews!

Clinique Fall Trend 2010 Review - The Mascara is AMAZING!

"Bigger Brighter Eyes in an Instant"

This is the title of the Clinique Fall Collection and very nice it sounds too! The promotional pic up there isn't very inspiring is it? Don't be put off though, I have a few bits and they are very lovely.

The collection is released on the 1st of August and is quite large, including cream shadows, liners, mascaras and lip products. I won't discuss them all because this post would go on forever, instead I'll talk about the lovely bits I have!

 So there are two Ltd Edition Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Intense Plum and Intense Chocolate (£13), two Vitamin C Lip Smoothie Antioxidant Lip Colours in Pear-fection and Running Latte (£13.50) and the Limited Edition High Impact Mascara in Brightening Black (14.50).

Here's swatches of all but the mascara:

 L-R: Quickliner Intense Intense Plum, Quickliner Intense Intense Chocolate, Lip Smoothie Running Latte and Pear-fection Lip Smoothie.

I want to suggest you click and enlarge that swatch picture because Intense Plum Quickliner is really stunning. It's almost black, with vibrant purple hints... as a dark line it's special, but blended out with the smudger it's really lovely too. The Quickliner in Intense Chocolate has an almost metallic effect too. These are really fab, and whats more, they last all day too without smudging. Very impressive.

The lip smoothies are lovely, Running Latte, is a natural nudey colour, and by which I don't mean a pale nude, I mean a "my lips but better" shade, lovely. Pear-fection is beautiful. Really really beautiful. Probably it's a frost or a shimmer by definition, but I just love it, and normally I wouldn't touch a frost. The consistency of these is lovely but a word of caution, you only need a little, they are easy to overdo and you end up with thick layers of sticky gloss, one or two little swipes are all you need for a none sticky glossy finish. Very pretty.
Here's Pear-fection on my lips:

 Pic doesn't do it justice. It's SO pretty.

I've saved the best til last though. I'm in love with a mascara. The new Limited Edition High Impact Mascara in Brightening Black. The name is a misnomer... take the want out to the daylight to look and it's actually blue. Navy blue. You can't really tell when it's on your lashes, unless out in the sunshine, it otherwise looks black. I'm not sure whether it brightens my eyes or not but this is mascara love. I'm going to have to buy back ups of this one. I can't bear to think what I'll do when it runs out and I can't get more. Anyway, I took lots of pics and have managed to narrow it down to the following:

 It's thickening, adds length, defines lashes, no clumping, absolutely a holy grail product for me and I totally love the fact that it's not quite black. Absolute winner of a product.

To summarise, not the most exciting range to look at but actually there are some fabulous products, I like all the bits I was sent but I love the Intense Plum liner and am besotted with the mascara. Fab!

An update on the Mac/Rodarte Collection Situation

After the mass blogging session the other night many of us bloggers have been waiting patiently, or impatiently in some cases, for some kind of response from Mac and indeed Rodarte. Late last night (UK Time) statements were released by Mac and Rodarte and you can read them below.

STATEMENT FROM M•A•C COSMETICS ON THE M•A•C RODARTE COLLECTION

We understand that product names in the M•A•C Rodarte collection have offended our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry.  We continue to listen carefully to the comments we have received and have the following plans to address concerns:

 We are committed to donating $100,000 to a non-profit organization  that has a proven, successful track-record helping women in need and that can directly improve the lives of women in Juarez in a meaningful way.

We are changing the product names in the M•A•C Rodarte collection.

As we have done in the past, please be assured that we will communicate details regarding our progress in this matter.

STATEMENT FROM RODARTE ON THE M•A•C RODARTE COLLECTION

We recognize that the violence against women taking place in Juarez needs to be met with proactive action. We never intended to make light of this serious issue and we are truly sorry.

Helping to improve the conditions for women in Juarez is a priority for us and we are thankful for all the comments calling attention to the urgency of addressing this situation.

So there we have it. The response we've all been waiting for. I've got several thoughts on this and it may come out as a bit of a brain dump I'm afraid.

Firstly, I'm delighted that the companies involved listened and acted. The power of protest is really special, although I appreciate they will not just have been dealing with our mass blog posts of complaints and Twitter campaign, but also complaints from consumers. I don't think we (the blogging community) can take all the credit, but I feel we did a fantastic job at raising awareness and letting our feelings be known, loudly and clearly which can only have helped to influence the decisions made by Mac.

Personally, I am pleased that the product names are being changed. For some people this was not so much of an issue, but for me, I think this is a fantastic result.

The donation of $100,000 is not nearly enough. Really it isn't. They could have done better. I would also like to know where exactly this money is going, to which charitable organisation. I guess this information may be revealed further down the line. I am disappointed that proceeds from the products are not going to be donated in addition. As such, I won't be purchasing.

I think for me, it is now time to let this subject drop. I suspect there will never be an outcome that will suit everyone, if they were to withdraw the collection there are people who would say that they are missing opportunities to raise awareness, I'm sure that there are people who wish for the whole line to be withdrawn, there are people who will be satisfied with the response at it is, and people, like me, who wished for a little more.

I won't be boycotting Mac entirely, although had the above statements not been issued, I think that would have been my only option. I will be boycotting this collection. It was ill conceived and if my money isn't going directly to the cause then I'm not interested.

As of tomorrow, normal service will resume on my blog, but if there are any further updates, I will be sure to post them.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

Mac for Rodarte Collection Fall 2010. #rodartemac

You may have already heard about this issue, you may not, regardless, I'm going to tell you.


There is a new Mac Collection on it's way. A collaboration with fashion house Rodarte. The products, to my tastes, look super pretty, in fact from the little I've seen, I want it all. 

 (Image courtesy of Temptalia)


But behind the sacharine sweetness of that beautiful looking lipgloss lies a far darker story. Product names are things like Factory, Juarez, Ghost Town, Softly Drifting, Sleepwalker...if this hasn't got alarm bells ringing for you yet, then like me yesterday, you must be unaware of the situation in Juarez.


100's or 1000's (depending on which source you believe) of women have died in Juarez since 1993. Juarez is in Northern Mexico and is famous, for want of a better word, for these murders. Bad enough that this was ever turned into a fashion line, but now a cosmetics line. A cosmetic line inspired by the abduction, torture and murder of women. Now I'm not going to dwell on what is going on in Juarez, there are fabulous resources if you want to learn more, and I highly recommend http://www.chicanafeliz.com/Juarez/AMR4102703.pdf


I have conflicting thoughts about this collection. Firstly, I think it should never have come into being in the first place. Secondly, I object to the product names.  However, now it's here, I don't think it should be withdrawn. Until I heard about this yesterday I had never heard about the atrocities going on and have since been thoroughly educated, I spent two hours reading about it last night and today have read more and watched videos too. I view the silver lining of this cloud as a raising of awareness. If the collection bought the issue to my attention, then it will do so for others. I do not however believe this was the intention.


Plenty of people have complained and as such, both Rodarte and Mac have issued statements which are below.

‘M·A·C Cosmetics Statement:

We understand that product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection have offended some of our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry. We are listening carefully to the comments posted and are grateful to those of you who have brought your concerns to the forefront of our attention. M·A·C will give a portion of the proceeds from the M·A·C Rodarte collection to help those in need in Juarez. We are diligently investigating the best way to do this. Please be assured that we will keep you posted on the details regarding our efforts.’


'Rodarte Statement:

Our makeup collaboration with M·A·C developed from inspirations on a road trip that we took in Texas last year, from El Paso to Marfa.  The ethereal nature of this landscape influenced the creative development and desert palette of the collection. We are truly saddened about injustice in Juarez and it is a very important issue to us. The M·A·C collaboration was intended as a celebration of the beauty of the landscape and people in the areas that we traveled."


I have objections with both of these statements. Re Mac's statement, I don't think a portion of the proceeds going to help the situation in Juarez is enough. All profits shoudl be given. As someone said to me, quite correctly, they can afford it. I find the Rodarte statement laughable. A celebration of the landscape and people? That's a joke right? The collection names alone are evidence that that the products are inspired by murders. Ghost Town, Sleep Walking, Factory (read up on the subject to understand the relevance of this). And lets have a little look at the promo pic shall we?

 So a corpse like model stood next to a shadowy ghost of a figure.... but of course, thats just inspired by the landscape! I just wonder who they are trying to kid?


So will I buy? In all likelihood no, because I'm skint, I will be watching to see what happens in terms of donations to aid the situation. I'm hoping for all profits to be donated instead of a shoddy "portion".  I differ from many in that I hope this collection is not withdrawn, as I simply think this is superb for raising awareness, even though that was not, I believe, the intention. I would also like to see some products renamed. Eyeshadows and nail varnishes should not be named after atrocities.


So to summarise. Tasteless collection, ill thought out, but now it's out there, there are opportunities to correct the wrongs by raising awareness, changing product names to be less offensive and by raising funds. Lets just hope the parties involved do the right thing.


I'm not the only blogger posting my views on this today, lots of us have something to say, albeit slightly differing opinions but generally all disapproving, try this lot:

www.beautymouth.com

www.mizzworthy.com
www.britishbeautyblogger.com

www.bangsandabun.com  

www.big-fashionista.blogspot.com

www.vexinthecity.com

www.sofarsochic.co.uk

www.londonmakeupgirl.com

www.lesalondebeaute.com
www.getlippie.com

www.londonbeautyqueen.blogspot.com

www.kraseybeauty.com

www.makeuploveer.blogspot.com

www.the6inchstilettos.blogspot.com

www.sparklesandbows.blogspot.com

www.healingbeauty.co.uk

www.reallyree.blogspot.com

www.just-nice-things.co.uk

www.makeupadviceforum.com

http://www.makeupsavvy.co.uk/