My take on the Indie/Boho Festival Look

HI GUYS ♥

Today I have majorly bad hay fever!!! No joke, my eyes look like mini kebabs. Just think of small little pita breads. That is exactly what my eyes look like, all swollen, itchy and damn right horrible. I love the summer but I don't like what comes with it and I am actually looking forward to fall/winter now. And that is saying something as I DISLIKE the cold!! Ha. True story.

Whilst I have been stuck inside on this gloriously warm day instead of soaking up the sun I decided to start messing around with my hair. I am loving the indie/boho look at the moment it's almost 'hippy' and so carefree, it's the perfect look for summer and the festivals. I have never been to a festival myself and I would LOVE to go, but up until recently I have always been working or at uni so it just hasn't happened. I just think festival goers always look so cool and unique and I am all for anything that is different. I am a super fan of the hair styles and the fashion so I decided whilst I had some free time on my hands to do my own take on this look.

See for yourself :) 

Flower hair band: Claires Accessories

Lipstick: MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer in 'Criminal'

Eyes: Rimmel Exaggerate liquid eye liner in black

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Kohl pencil in black

Miss Sporty Studio Lash Mascara in black

Brows: MUA Luxe Powerbrow Pencil & Highlighter in dark brown

Foundation: Maybelline Super Stay 24 hours in 010 Ivory

Primer: NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer

Highlighter: MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

Blusher: Collection 2000 Blush in 'Trouble

I am super into the flower hair bands that are around at the moment, they are so girly and pretty and in my picture I am just wearing mine with a drop sleeve vest. It's an understated look with high impact. I have teamed this band with a messy, unkempt braid and I love how my highly pigmented lipstick played off the blue of the flowers. It's vibrant, summery and ideal for a festival as you won't have to have sweaty hair stuck to your face. Always a plus!! I do have to apologise about this photograph as for some reason the saturation has changed on upload. Whoops. 

Recently, I went to an audition and I wanted to go dressed a little more girly with a strong hint of indie/boho. I tend to stand out with my image anyway but I was going for the more " I just threw it on" kind of look this day. And I decided to go for a plain white dress, leather studded jacket and some mock Dr Marten boots. I wore my hair simply down, with the sides pinned back and a yellow flower, halo hair band sitting on top.

My look was complete and here it is. 

Wow I am loving the 'peace' pose too by the look of it. Ha. 

Dress: H & M 

Jacket: H & M (studded myself, see my previous blog post on 'how to')

Boots: H & M 

Halo Flower Hairband: Claire's Accessories

Lipliner: Rimmer Exaggerate 024 in Red Diva

Lipstick: Rimmel 'Kate' Collection 111 in Kiss of Life

Eye Makeup: Same as before 

Face makeup: Same as before

Silver Heart Ring: Claire's Accessories. 

This was my take on the indie/boho festival look and there are a million and one other ways you can re-create this look yourself. I am a little bit of a rocker so obviously I had to darken this look up a bit and include my trusty leather jacket. :) I really like this little dress as it's all floaty and doesn't cling to all the wrong places. And the hair band, well I keep trying to wear it with everything, I need to get some more!!

And today... I am channelling my inner Lara Croft with my own version of the French plait. I name it 'The Rugged French Braid' oh, and please excuse my sticky out ears!! 

Your non-traditional plait

My head looks weird in this picture :D

I hope you enjoyed this post and until next time.

 ♥

How to Hair: 6 Easy Steps to Surfer Style Beach Waves

Performance shot - making waves. 

This season is all about experimenting with your hair, the simpler the better and that's cool with me. I love the whole 'bed head' unkempt, minimal effort kind of styles at the moment.

 My hair is actually naturally blonde and I used to bleach it a lot for a few years until I went on a television show and they completely ruined my hair by back-combing the hell out of it until one side snapped off completely. Naturally I was devastated and thought it was time to go dark. Now I look like a bloody vampire. Ha ha. (Don't worry I am planning on going back to a 'natural' blonde pretty soon!) The point I am trying to get at is that I am trying to get my hair into a nicer state than it currently is, as it has been through a lot, so I don't straighten my hair and only blow dry it once a week if that. The hair style I have been loving and have spotted a lot of celebrities fashioning is the surfer style, beach waves. It looks super laid back and so effortless I am a massive fan! It is natural looking and it doesn't matter what you are wearing or what makeup you have on the hair goes with everything. Even better in my eyes. 

So, I have put together a 'how to' post on how you too can achieve this look yourselves and it is sooo easy!! Trust me. I have been doing it a lot, even when I had blonde hair...

Ignore my awful 'selfie' but how awesome does the hair look?!

 Okay so here it is, pay attention. :) 

Step 1:
I find the style holds better with just washed and blow dried hair. I use L'oréal Elvive Full Restore (5) shampoo and conditioner to help with the condition of my hair as it's colour damaged. So shampoo, condition and blow-dry. But before you blast your hair you need to add some key products.

Step 2:
Comb your hair through with a 'wide toothed comb' like the ones that they use at the hairdressers. The reason for this is because you reduce breakage by using a comb as using a brush will damage your hair (I used to work at a few hairdressers). It takes a little longer to comb through, but it will be worth it in the end as it will be less knotty. 

Step 3: 
Now you need to add your product. I tend to use a thickening product in my hair first to give extra body and volume to my hair. I already have quite thick hair but it is also fine and I find my hair 'drops' really quickly. So if you're anything like me you will love this product, and it is TIGI Catwalk's volume collection in 'Your Highness' and it's a thickening gel. It looks like this if you want to purchase it. Oh, and it lasts AGES!! 

You can get it from your local hairdressers at around £10

I use around 2-3 pumps of this product in my hair, the first two pumps concentrating on my root area and the third pump in my length and ends and comb through so it's spread evenly. This product achieves fullness and awesome manageability. I have tried so many thickening products but this is by far the best and lasts until your next wash. You do need to blow dry the product in though and don't put too much in one concentrated place as it makes the hair sticky. 

Step 4:

Next, if you have damaged hair like me or you just want to keep it in good condition I would recommend Moroccanoil treatment (light). I put this in after the thickening gel and I spread it generously through the length and ends and sparingly around the root area. You don't want greasy roots now do you?! I think this product works super good and it leaves my hair feeling amazing afterwards, and I actually found my hair grew a lot quicker whilst using this product. The only downside is that this product has a hefty price tag and retails at around £30 in the UK. I have been told there are other alternatives such as Argon Oil which is a lot cheaper and you can get it practically in any shop. I actually saw some today at £1.50, but I have never used it so I am unsure to whether it will be as good as the Moroccanoil. 

If any of you have used the Argon Oil let me know what you think of it!! You can get Moroccanoil at most hairdressers and the bottle lasts a long time. I have used mine so I am on to a mini sample bottle but this is what you are looking for. 

The £30 bottle contains a pump and is a lot larger than this. 

Step 5:

This last product I sometimes use for this style but I find it can be quite drying on my hair, so don't use it often. But never the less this product does what it says on the tin and it is Lee Stafford's Beach Babe Salt Spray. It contains Dead Sea salts and 26 minerals, and leaves your hair with the 'just got out of the sea' feel, minus the bits of seaweed and sand. 
I tend to spray around 5-10 pumps of the product onto my hair and then rough it up a little. You can get this product in stores like Superdrug and Boots in the UK and Boots are currently having a 3 for 2 offer at the moment and this product is £7.99. Like I said I don't always use this, it just depends whether you are wanting a more smooth or rough/dry textured finish. 

You can spray this into dry hair too. :)

Step 6:

Finally, this is where the fun bit begins. Once all of your chosen products are safely thrown into your hair blast your hair off with the hair dryer. There is no need for a fancy blow-dry (as this defeats the whole style process)and then set up this bad boy...

www.argos.co.uk

Yes, that's right this is the magical machine that will transform your hair into a mystical mermaid's. I have this exact waving machine and it is frickin awesome!!! It's called Andrew Barton- Making Waves Triple Barrel Hair Waver. It's from Argos in the UK (unsure if you have this shop around the world?) and it's currently priced at £24.89, and it's ideal for creating the beachy/festival look. It heats up to a nice 180 degrees and has 10 temperature settings and also cools very quickly. This is a must have product for all you ladies who are a bit Indy/Boho or even if you want to try something new like I did. 

You literally section your hair off and the amount of hair you chose to wave in each section is up to you. Experiment. I tend to do bigger sections and the odd smaller one to shake it up a little and make it more natural. You do this around your whole head and this is what each section will look like. 

Move the barrel down each section of hair to create the wave.

And that's it, it's literally that simple to create this look and your hair looks amazing either up or down. I have a lot of hair, and if you do too, be prepared to be working on your hair for up to an hour. With that said, it equals out as it will stay like this until your next wash. Low maintenance or what!!  

Excuse the state of my room!! 

As an added tip, if you want to add more volume to your finished surfer chick style then this is the product to use. It's Batiste Dry Shampoo and I get it in 'a hint of colour - dark & deep brown. It comes in different fragrances and ones for blonde and dark hair. It also has an one that is specifically for volume and that works wonders (it's called Volume XXL). The one pictured is just to refresh hair and not to volume a such. Currently it is £3.99 in superdrug for a 200ml can. Go grab it it's a steal. A must have product!!

I hope you liked my 'how to' blog post today?! It would be a lot easier posting this as a tutorial on my YouTube channel but currently I don't have a really good camera to film it on. :( 

If any of you try this out for yourselves send me your pictures or even comment so I can see how you guys have achieved the look. 

Thanks for reading ♥ 

Primark Haul // A Summer Fashion Must Have!

Life imitates art.

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I was meant to upload this post yesterday, but decided I would do so today as I could get the pictures I needed as the lighting yesterday was poor. Well, I got up this morning and we had yet another storm, which meant I couldn't go outside to take my pictures. So, I took them inside instead. I hope you don't mind :) 

Saturday, I went into my local Primark with my parents as my mum wanted a bag. I don't know about you and whether you share the same annoyance as me, but I cannot stand busy shops on a weekend. There are too many people in every aisle, screaming kids and it's just plain uncomfortable. Basically I wanted to get out of the shop A.S.A.P as it was overcrowded. I had only gone into town to get my guinea pig some veg and wasn't planning on buying anything but I then came across this... 

Primark mini pastel pink satchel

How awesome is this little pastel pink satchel?! I was instantly drawn to it and I LOVED the black lining which emphasised the colour even more. It was safe to say, I was now not leaving this shop until I had found more colours. 

I want and love sooooo many things at the moment it makes me feel sick in my mouth at the thought. I REALLY need an Apple Mac, DSLR and a normal compact digital cam for my vlogging, and it just isn't going to happen right now with their maaaahooooosive price brackets. But this little ray of sunshine cheered me up a little. 

I was on the hunt for a specific colour, and that was MINT. I am loving this spring/summer colour at the moment. I am highly pale and don't wear fake tan hardly ever and I find mint is such a flattering colour and makes you look slightly tanned. Well on me it does anyway :) I went trudging through the store and there it was my perfect little bag. 

Primark mini mint satchel 

 ♥

I instantly fell in love, and for a mere £6 this bag is ideal for anyone on a budget or even if you aren't. 

I randomly came across this brand of bags that are online the other month and they are AMAZING it looks like you are carrying an actual cartoon bag. The colours are so vivid and the black outlining creates the illusion that you are in a cartoon strip.     This is what this bag kind of reminded me of. I couldn't decide between the pink and the mint but opted for the one that stood out the most and my lovely mum brought it for me. (That was the mint colour, in case you hadn't of guessed).

I have a smallish Primark where I live so it doesn't always stock everything the bigger stores have. If you live by one of their superstores then I am sure they will have these in stock, but they are selling out quick. 

Hurry up guys grab yours whilst they are still around!!! They have the two colours that I have featured and a lemon colour. I have done a quick photo sesh on how I have styled my bag and you can see what I have teamed it with below. 

The cute little compartments :) 

Does anyone even hold it like this...Ever? Ha ha.

Teamed with a high shine mac. Stand out central!

It even goes with the low-key mint tee. Highly practical. 

It's such an awesome size too and would be ideal if you are going for a meal, day out in the park or even out clubbing. Either way this is definitely a fashion must have and for the price you cannot go wrong. 

I will briefly also tell you that I brought a bag myself from 'Primarni' (another word for Primark) as I needed a new 'every day one', as the one I currently have from H & M goes everywhere with me and it's casual. But I decided I needed a new black one that was a little smarter looking.

And I found this bad boy.♥

This bag is super cute, isn't too bulky and is big enough to carry everything I need. AND it was only £8. Bargin!! I think it looks more expensive than it actually is and black goes with everything, lets face it. A must-have staple in my eyes. This was the second from last bag in stock in my store so again if you like it, go grab it soon as it won't be there for long. 

Oh and finally, I also picked up the t-shirt I am wearing in the pics on the same day. Again from Primark, in mint (although it's showing up lighter on my camera, but it is the same mint as the bag), the style is 'My Neppy Tee', I got it in a size 16 so I had the baggy/slouch fit and it was £4. :) 

I hope you enjoyed this mini Primark haul and that I have convinced you enough to go out and purchase these pieces yourself. And I will see you in my next post.

♥