Summer Nails

This week I decided to get in to the summer spirit and go for some bright nails. I'm loving this vivid orange Gelish colour called 'I'm Brighter Than You' it has been really popular with my clients and I've been dying to try it myself. I've had lots of compliments about them and surprisingly it looks great with so many outfits and colours, I think its a colour I will be referring to through out the summer! 

Celeb Style: Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner certainly has a style of her own, her quirky individualism makes her stands out from the rest of the Kardashians/Jenners. Although her style choices aren't particularly something I would go for myself, I would say Kylie is a trend setter. She is definitely the wild child amongst the sisters, she shocked us all when she cut off her luscious locks in exchange for a choppy bob, and her hair has seen a rainbow of colours from blonde dip dye to green highlights and now she is rocking a vivid blue-do! The thing I'm loving the most about Kylie lately is her makeup, she has been looking absolutely flawless in her recent Instagram posts. Her makeup is simple yet SO effective, I can see she is going for bold brows and lips, light foundation and contouring, a really neutral eyeshadow and lots of individual lashes, which look slightly clumpy - in a good way! Something that has become apparent in these images is Kylies plump lips, she has denied all rumours of having any surgery or lip fillers and I do believe that Kylie hasn't undergone any surgical procedures but I definitely think she has had lip enhancements, either that or she is massively overdrawing her lips and in that case she needs to give us some tips! 

I love all of the Kardashian/Jenners but I have to applaud Kylie for having a style of her own and not fading in to the background as I once thought she did and I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next!

#Iwishmyselfieslookedlikethis

17/05 OOTD

90's style 

Vest - Victorias Secret PINK

Jeans - Zara

Shoes - River Island

Favourite Hair Product

As much as I love makeup and beauty products I must admit I have never been as obsessed with hair products, which is probably because I have tried so many from various brands which show no results. However there is one product I do love which is Herbal Essences 'Beautiful Ends'. I cannot recommend this product enough, I have been using this product for a long time now and urged so many people to buy it. Unlike most other hair products I have tried I can tell a difference when I use this, it really does what it says on the bottle. When I use it my hair feels so much softer, the ends don't feel dry, my split ends are less noticeable, it controls frizz, and lets not forget to mention it smells gorgeous!

http://www.herbalessences.com/en-UK/beautiful-ends/split-end-protection-cream

I apply 'Beautiful Ends' after I have washed my hair, I dispense about 4 pumps of the product and use my hands to distribute the product from the mid-length to the end of my hair and I leave it to absorb. It is a cream formula, which spreads easily through out my hair, it absorbs quickly and it doesn't leave my hair feeling sticky or heavy. This can also be used on dry hair but I prefer to use a lighter product on dry hair like a serum (the one I am currently using is Umberto Giannini 'Miracle Worker' which is a best seller from their range, I think it is good but not brilliant). Herbal Essences also sell a 'Beautiful Ends Split End Protection Intensive Mask' which I would love to try. 

http://www.herbalessences.com/en-UK/beautiful-ends

Unfortunately at the moment my hair is not in its best condition, if I forget to apply 'Beautiful Ends' my hair feels dry and the split ends are terribly noticeable to me and the ends of my hair doesn't seem as thick. I've recently been looking at some old holiday photos from 2012 and my hair was in a much healthier condition back then. I treat my hair the same now as I did back then but I think the reason for this is that my hair works in a cycle; it will be in good condition for so long and then I begin to get a lot of split ends which I need to keep on top of, I have recently had just under an inch trimmed off my hair but I think I need another inch or maybe even two cut off to get rid of all those loathed split ends. 

I want my hair in good condition for my holiday this year so that it is easy to work with and I don't have to style it every night. Lately I have been straightening and curling my hair a lot with GHD's which I know I need to cut down on as heat protection is not strong enough to prevent my hair from heat damage. I've also cut down on washing my hair as much, I went through a phase of having to wash my hair everyday but I have realised that doing so makes my hair dull and dry, so I now wash it every other day. I am going to continue to use 'Beautiful Ends' and I am also going to buy the 'Intensive Mask' to use on my hair once a week and hopefully doing so will contribute to me getting my healthy hair back! 

Tenerife 2012

In this picture I applied 'Beautiful Ends' and left my hair to dry naturally and scrunched it slightly with some moose. 

If you can recommend any other products or have any tips or tricks on how I can rejuvenate my hair feel free to comment below!

New MAC Eyeshadows

No shopping trip is complete with out a visit to the MAC counter. I'm a MAC addict and in my opinion you can never have too much make up. As much as I want to buy everything in sight when I am there, since Christmas I have been concentrating on filling up my MAC eyeshadow palette, I have finally filled up one side of the palette with neutral colours and I am now beginning on the second side where I am opting for a mixture of colours from purples and pinks to blacks and greys; any colours I think will be popular and look good on different eye colours and basically any colours I just can't resist.

 On this visit to the MAC counter, I bought 'Quarry' which I have been wanting to pick up for a while after hearing MUA Tanya Burr recommend it and put it amongst her 'Top 10 MAC eyeshadows' this filled the last slot in my neutral palette.

I then began to look for brighter and bolder eyeshadows, with me having green/blue eyes a lot of colours work with them and make them 'pop', in particular purple. The eyeshadows 'Stars N Rockets' and 'Plum Dressing' immediately stood out out to me. I haven't yet used these eyeshadows as I have been busy but I can't wait to experiment with them and use them with different colours to create some gorgeous eye looks. 

 Choosing eyeshadows (or anything) at MAC can be quite hard and a little overwhelming as there is so much choice, but the staff are always very helpful and can advise you as to what colours will suit you. 

If you would like to ask me for some advice on MAC eyeshadows or on anything else you would like to know feel free to leave a comment or contact me through facebook, twitter or instagram! 

I will soon post some pictures of me wearing these eyeshadows and I will also be writing a post on my favourite MAC eyeshadows in my palette.  

 'Quarry' (soft muted plum brown)

'Stars N Rockets' (purple with pink pearl) 

'Plum Dressing' (pinky plum with metal)

Met Gala 2014, My Favourite Looks

The Met Gala is the fashion worlds most anticipated event, every year the event is given a theme and this year it was 'White Tie and Decorations'. As always the red carpet in New York was graced by many celebrities and style icons in the most beautiful and outrageous fashions, but for me, of all the big names and alluring dresses, Kendall Jenner, Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Rihanna made the cut!  

Of all the Kardashian/Jenner clang it was only Kendall and sister Kim who made an appearance on the red carpet, and although we are so use to seeing Kim K looking stunningly glamourous at big events (and almost everyday) it was Kendall who outshone her sister on this occasion. Surprisingly Kendalls elegant gown was from none other than high street brand Topshop, but ofcourse this dress was custom made for her. Kendalls satin mermaid style dress was blinged up with a Chopard diamond choker necklace and there is certainly nothing high street about that. We have seen Kendall and sister Kylie growing up before our eyes on 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' but I can say Kendall truly looked like a women on the red carpet, so elegant and sophisticated. Her look was finished off beautifully with simplistic hair and makeup which complimented her dress.

Supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whitely donned head to toe Balmain on the red carpet, and as I dream of a wardrobe filled with Balmain in years to come this look was bound to make it to my favourites list. The Victorias Secret models daring short dress featured gold embellishments and fierce leopard print and leather panels and her gladiator heels looked made to match. Rosie opted for minimal accessories with only chunky golden hoop earrings, she went for sleek straight hair and as opposed to the 'out there' dress her makeup look was neutral and flawless.

Rihanna is always a stand out contender on the red carpet. Her look was on par with the white theme as she looked 'elegant with an edge' in this on trend cropped two-piece. Rihanna was one of the few A-List celebs on the carpet to be dressed by top designer Stella McCartney. I am in love with this ensemble, I can see that so much thought has been put in to this creation, from the shoulder pads to the cut-out back, the ruching and trail of the skirt. In company with the dress Rihanna rocked a diamond choker and several rings and her hair looked the most natural I have ever seen it. 

Gelish

Originally I aimed to carry out acrylic nail services in my salon after passing my Nail Technology course at college but I then later decided against it when I came to realise how time consuming the treatment is and I also became conscious of the damage the process of applying acrylic does to our natural nails. Although some people still do prefer acrylic nails, I have found a lot of my clients have turned against them and now prefer to enhance their natural nails with gel polish. 

Gel Polish is applied like a regular nail polish with the 3 steps; base coat, colour coat and top coat but the service requires a little more preparation to ensure beautiful nails that should last 2 weeks. 

The benefits of gel polish are that you don't have to wait for it to dry, it just simply needs to be cured under a UV or LED LAMP and after that you are ready to go with no worries of smudging, chipping or denting the polish. As with any treatment after care is important so if you want to maintain the perfect manicure I would advise you to steer clear from strong chemicals (like acetone or bleach) which may cause the polish to peel, or if you must do so, wear gloves to avoid direct contact with your nails. 

When your nails have grown you will be able to visibly see the growth and it may be tempting to start picking away but you should not remove gel polish by peeling it off, this will damage your nails and make them brittle and weak.

Gelish after 3 weeks! 

Removal of gel polish is also easy, this can be done at a salon or at home. To remove, finger nails need to be soaked in acetone for around 10 minutes, after that you will be able to see that the polish has lifted from the natural nail and you should then push off the polish with a cuticle tool. To finish, a buffing file should be used to smooth the surface of the nails and remove any remaining traces of the polish. 

I started collecting gel polish for my salon just before Christmas, there are many different brands of gel polish but after doing my research and test driving products from various brands, I decided to stock Gelish by Harmony Nails. What I found with Gelish is that it can last longer than other gel polishes, with some of my clients it has lasted 3 weeks! But the main reason I picked Gelish is because of the huge colour range. 

So far I have 19 colours (I have a sheer colour painted on another colour wheel) which have all been really popular with my clients. Gelish often bring out new colour collections but instead of buying a full collection I prefer to choose the colours I like and I think my clients will like and also colours they have requested. Some of the most popular colours in my collection are the glitters, which looks lavish all year round. When choosing colours I go for what is in demand at the time, for example at Christmas I ordered shades of red, where as now it is coming to the summer I have started buying bright and vibrant shades which are highly sought-after. When it comes down to buying, Gelish is quite expensive so I try to order about 4 colours at a time. I order online so I go through the many colours and narrow it down to my favourites. I think the next colours I buy will be a silver glitter, turquoise glitter, yellow, coral and a red/pink. 

If you are one of my clients what colours would you like to see in my collection or if you use Gelish yourself what colour would you recommend?

'Carnival Hangover' and 'All That Glitters Is Gold' with Swarovski crystals

'My One Blue Love' and 'All That Glitters Is Gold' with Swarovski crystals

Quote Of The Week

May Makeup Wish List

Starting from now, once every month I will be creating a makeup wish list. In the collage above I have put together some makeup items I am hoping to buy in the near future.

1. MAC 'CANDY YUM-YUM' Lipstick - I keep eyeing up this colour when I am at a MAC Counter but have not yet bought it, last time I chose 'Pure Zen' over this because I was looking for an every day colour. 'Candy Yum-Yum' is a very popular colour from MAC and has some great reviews. It is a very vivid, almost neon fuschia colour, if there was ever a shocking pink this is it! 

2. NARS 'Turkish Delight' Lipstick - Basically this colour is a favourite of Kim Kardashian so I have to have it! I usually buy MAC lip glosses but I'm dying to try some NARS products and with this being a big seller from the brand I think its a good place to start. This would be the perfect every day lip gloss and it would also look gorgeous with some smokey eyes.

3. Stila 'Dusty Rose' Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eyeshadow in - The Stila metallic eye shadows come in a range of colours, but at around £33.00 per pot they are rather pricey so I have picked my favourite colour from the range and hope to eventually build a collection. Although this product is expensive I have read reviews which say the eyeshadows are worth every penny. I have seen various youtubers using this product and I must say they do look gorgeous! 

4. MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter - I am currently using Rimmel 'Wake Me up' concealer as my under eye highlight and also as a highlight when contouring, I have almost ran out of that so I am planning to replace it with MAC Prep + Prime as I have heard great reviews about it. I am usually happy with MAC products so I am sure this wont disappoint. 

5. MAC 'In Anticipation' Pro Longwear Lip Pencil - If you are going to buy a MAC Lip Pencil I would definitely go for a Pro Longwear rather than a regular lip pencil. The Pro Longwear pencils stain your lips so the colour lasts hours where as I feel the others wear off really easily. The colour 'In Anticipation' is versatile and could be used with nude pink lipsticks as well as bright pinks. I think this lip pencil would be a useful addition to my makeup kit.  

6. MAC 'Retrospeck' Eyeshadow - Another product I have heard good reviews about and again I have seen a lot of youtubers referring to this colour, in particular Tanya Burr. However I have heard this colour looks better against lighter skin tones so I will have to ensure this colour will work for me before purchasing. I have space left for one more eyeshadow in my MAC neutral palette so this is possibly the colour I will go for. 

7. Crown Brush 10 Colour Concealer Palette - This is a very popular product used by many beauty bloggers and youtubers. There are a lot of similar products on the market but I want to go for a brand I know of. This palette will be great for concealing but I will use it mostly for contouring, there will be a shade to work with for all skin tones so I can use this on clients as well as myself. 

8. Benefit 'Watt's Up' Highlighter - I only wear a cheekbone highlight when I am going for a full on makeup look for a night time or special occasion and when I do I use MAC 'Gleam' eyeshadow. However I am looking for a more subtle high light and I prefer cream highlighters as I think the finish with a cream is more 'glowy'. I have tried Benefits 'High Beam' and 'Moon Beam' highlighters in the past and I loved those so I am sure this one will be gorgeous too!