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London/Chester, United Kingdom

Wednesday 26 September 2012

DIP-DYE DIY


For anyone thinking about dip-dying their hair, this is a really simple, cheap way to do it! Before I dyed my hair dark (I wish I never, I miss my blonde hair loads!) I wanted to dip-dye the ends so I had lavender blonde hair; any Lady Gaga fans will understand my reasoning... Anyway, my natural hair is a couple of inches below my shoulder, so I decided to dip-dye my Foxylocks extensions- which I'm going to do a review on soon because they're AMAZING. This meant that I didn't have to have my dip-dye hair all the time, the colour didn't wash out and I was less scared of it going wrong. To do this I bought Directions hair dye, which you can buy online for around £3-4 and there's so many colours to choose from! I used the violet dye and mixed it with conditioner so the colour wasn't as strong- it came out more lavender.



 I lay out my extensions flat and applied the dye to the hair using a dying brush- I wanted a more gradual dip dying effect rather than a straight divide so applied the dye in a sort of rigid line which I think creates a better effect as it's not such a prominent divide in colour. When the hair had turned to the colour I wanted it to (this only took under 10 minutes as my hair was so, so light) I washed the dye off, dried it and styled them to how I liked! It's not something you have to go to the hairdressers for and is so cheap and easy to do. If you want to do something different with the colour of your hair but don't want to take a risk on your natural hair it's a great idea to use extensions and a quick way to make a change:)

Thanks for reading, Please leave some posts :) 
Ally xox

Monday 24 September 2012

Black/Gold Smokey Glitter Eyes

I done this look for my friend a few weeks ago before I came to uni, but I thought I'd share it on my blog now as it's a make-up style I use so much when going on nights out and it's really easy to do! It's a great way to make your eyes really stand out and can instantly make any outfit/ hairstyle your wearing look dressier. I use the Front Cover Moon Dust Eyeshadow set from Boots (these might have sold out now as I got this about a year ago) but you can still pick these up online. 



Here's the Front Cover Moon Dust set I use 
Firstly, you can apply primer to your eyelid to make eyeshadow stick better ontop (however I don't necessarily always do this!). Next you'll need to apply any black/dark eyeshadow you have to the outer corner of your eyelids and create whatever 'flick' shape you want (it's best to use an angled eyeshadow brush for this)- and colour in only HALF of your eyelid with this dark colour as the other outer part is going to be covered with gold. 
Next I darken the flick shape I've created, so use the black shadow dust from the Front Cover set above, I find it best to put this on in small amounts as it does fall onto your face and is a nightmare to get off if you've just done your foundation! So build the darkness up slowly!
After I've applied the black Front Cover eyeshadow to the flick and half of my eyelid, I dab a bit of eyelash glue onto my finger tip and apply it to the other half of my eyelid, then use my finger rather than an eyeshadow brush to apply the gold glitter from the Front Cover set (using your finger rather than a brush picks up more glitter and it seems to stick a lot better with more coverage). 
Black and Gold glitter dust I use for the look from the Front Cover set
I then put some black eyeliner on my lower lash lines, apply some mascara, stick my false eyelashes on and apply a line of liquid eyeliner to my top lash lines and i'm good to go!  
I love this look because I always have "smokey eyes" for a night out but the glitter just makes it a bit different and it's really pretty for any special occasions, and will be nice for the christmas season coming up! 
Thanks for reading & I hope my description is understandable to anyone wanting to try this!
Please leave some posts & follow my blog if you're not already :) 

Sunday 23 September 2012

Kingston

Fashion Students & a Freshers Night Out!

 For one of our university fresher's nights out we went to Kingston in London to a HUGE club called Oceana! It was a chance for me and my 5 other housemates to really dress up, so understandably as fashion students we were in our element! I chose to wear a new dress I bought a couple of weeks ago from Warehouse (£65), it's a classic, flattering style...nipping you in at the waist and skimming nicely over the hips with a lovely drape. I love the lace sleeves and collar on the dress and the grey against the cream; lovely colours for the autumn/winter seasons! For anybody interested in make-up, I swear by MAC studio-fix- it's great for a night out as it stays put all night and leaves a flawless finish with amazing coverage! In these photographs I am also wearing MAC Russian Red lipstick, Natural Collection bronzer (boots) and Eyelure eyelashes (Intense double lashes). 

I also wore my favourite ring- It's from Pandora and I got it off my sisters for my 18th Birthday!  


I bought these earrings from Next years ago & they're such a staple jewelry item as the neutral colour means they go with so many outfits!
Sorry for such the awful photo quality! Being a poor student I haven't got the money/time to get my nails done properly, I buy a plain Broadway nail set from Boots/Superdrug (around £4), and here I've used Barry M nail varnish in lavender and mint colours, as I absolutely adore pastel colours at the moment! And applied Topshop glitter nail varnish over the top to add some sparkle

Thanks for reading and please leave some posts!
Ally xox

HAIR- How to get SILVER hair :)

So, before I became a poor student and had the time to frequently colour my hair it looked like this.; a sort of mixture of platinum blonde and silver with a hint of lavender tones!

 I absolutely loved my hair this colour as it looked so fashionable and vibrant. It's a colour that works well with any cut, length, texture of hair and really lightens up your features. I was asked a lot how I achieved this so I thought I'd do a blog explaining for anyone who's thinking of dying their hair this colour...

 Firstly, you need to get your hair as light as possible, so if like me you have naturally brown hair you're going to have to use bleach (if you don't want to bleach your hair all in one go, then start lightening it slowly with highlights and toner first, however this will take a long time). I used B Blonde by Jerome Russell to lighten my hair, as this is a powder bleach that can be applied directly to your head so it's a lot easier to do yourself and you get better coverage right to your roots, unlike some powder bleach where it can only be applied by pulling your hair through a hair cap.


You can buy this in Boots, Superdrug, online and in some supermarkets! and it costs around £6
Once you get your hair as light as possible, you have to use a toner on it to eliminate any yellow/brassy tones. I've tried a lot of toners on my hair, it was sort of a case of trial and error, but after much research I find Wella ones to be the best and most long-lasting. My favourite toner was Wella Koleston perfect in colour 12/81 Special Pearl Ash blonde (you mix the toner with 20 Vol peroxide) as this  brightened up my hair whilst putting lovely ashy/lavender tones into it too! If your hair isn't as silvery as you want it to be after the first tone, just put a second one on to make it extra bright. Once you've achieved your all over colour, I would advise you to buy some purple/silver shampoo (L'oreal silver shampoo was my favourite!) to keep your hair looking vibrant and to emphasise the silver/lavender tones.



 You don't have to bleach your hair all over everytime your roots come through, just lighten your roots again with bleach until they turn a pale blonde colour then put toner all over your hair. 
I hope this has helped anyone hoping to dye their hair this colour, I'm not a hairdresser but will try my best to answer any questions :). It's a really eye-catching hair colour but is quite high  maintenance, but doing it yourself rather than going to the hairdressers will save you so much money; if you go to a wholesalers store such as Sally's or m&s supplies, a toner will cost you around £8 and a huge bottle of peroxide about £3! 
Thank you for reading and please leave some posts!
xox

Friday 21 September 2012

If you love Fashion, watch this film!

"He who seeks beauty will find it"

Today I went to the cinema with the other students on my fashion journalism course, to watch a film about the life of the amazing Bill Cunningham. I’d heard of Bill Cunningham before I watched the film, but was never aware of what he did and why he’s such an iconic and inspiring figure in the fashion/media industry. For those of you who also are unfamiliar with Bill, he’s a hugely successful photographer for the New York times, yet lived in a tiny, basic New York apartment for most of his life and refused money for his column saying “you see if you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what to do”. He’s best known for searching the fashion-conscious streets of New York on his bicycle for any creative garments that catch his eye. Bill doesn’t care about fashion status or what’s considered to be ‘in Vogue’ when he’s snapping away, instead he will capture whatever he deems beautiful and worth reading about, which for me shows his genuine passion and understanding of what fashion is really about . He’s certainly not one to covet to some of the money and fame hungry characters in the industry which is what I found so refreshing and sincere about Bill. Despite the generation he was born in, he isn’t discriminating to any gender, sexual orientation, religion or race when capturing his images, he simply adores fashion and will take photographs and write positively about anything he views as innovative or a new trend. He’s an inspiring, forward-thinking and optimistic man, a true artist, and I would recommend anyone who’s interested in the fashion and media world to watch his film documentary!