My 'kinda 40's' look...

At the moment I'm really into my traditional and country themed stuff, be it clothing, food or hobbies and I thought it was time I gave the hair a go too!
I was supposed to go to a 40's weekend with my other half back in September (but due to work I couldn't go in the end) hence why I originally looked into 40's hairstyles and make-up.
The 40's make-up look was very similar to my every day look, I was just missing the red lipstick. However, I've stopped wearing eyeliner altogether at the moment and have started wearing my Lush lip tint 'it started with a kiss' every day. Since I had vintage inspired makeup, I felt that my hair was sadly lacking (what's new?) so one morning I played around with some styles and was fairly pleased with the result, which you can see below...
Please note that there is an alarming amount of flyaways and general yuck going on as I currently do not own a single can of hairspray and didn't use any other products! The top picture was taken after I'd been out to get some material for a quilt which is why it looks even more windswept!

It's not the best that has ever been done but it was my first attempt at something like this and I never use grips so this was quite challenging! Realised just how pale I look in the bottom picture, and I can promise you I'm not a vampire! Honest! 

What I did was I split my hair into two sections at the back (you might be able to get away with just one section if you have shorter/finer hair than me) and armed myself with lots of bobby pins. You take one section and twist it slightly at the end before rolling upwards towards the head, keeping it low to the neck. This can be tricky but teasing the hair that will form the innermost part of the roll will help it roll up easier. Holding it in place you then need to slide your pins through either side of the 'sausage' shape until you are satisfied it is secure. Any stray hairs can be tucked in and pinned into place. 

You then need to do the same with the other section so that they meet in the middle and look like one long roll.

Previously I had separated my fringe from the rest of my hair, back-combed the top of it then twisted it up into a small slanted quiff pinned to one side. 

Finally give it a spritz with hairspray (I really should buy some) and finish with a flower if you like or a vintage slide. This took me about 5 minutes to complete-I'm not a fan of time consuming hair routines!

You can't see it in the photos but my hair is also a brilliant reddish copper colour :)

Lush lip scrubs, balms and tints

As you can see I have quite a few Lush lip products! Although my apple pie flavour one (which I think is called 'Lip squeak' or something similar) is missing at the moment! I've been using Lush lip balms for about 5 years or so now, and I've recently started using their lip tints and scrubs too. As you may know Lush specialise in 'fresh, handmade cosmetics'. Most of their products are Vegan and contain products that are ethically sourced. They try to use as many natural products as possible and are against animal testing (yay!) preferring to test their products on humans. Which is only fair and right as  far as I'm concerned, although my female ferret Lola has a thing about rummaging through my make-up bag pulling everything out, she doesn't actually need to wear any of it! But anyway that is getting onto another topic! 

I'm going to talk about three of my favourite lip products at the moment: 'Sweet lips' lip scrub, 'Whip stick' lip balm and 'It started with a kiss' lip tint. As much as I like the lip tints and the fact that they contain moisturising ingredients, I still find they cling to dry patches so I'm going to talk about the scrub and balm first as I use these to prepare my lips for tint. 

Sweet lips scrub.

Sweet lips is one of Lush's tasty lip scrubs. It has a gorgeous vanilla chocolate scent and the taste reminds me of walnut whips! It's a vegan product, and as you would expect is perfectly safe to lick off. You simple take a small finger full of the scented sugar and rub it into your lips, removing any flaky dry skin as you do so. Then you can simply lick the remainder off and it tastes great! As you can probably tell from the packaging compared to the ones on the Lush website or in-store, I've had mine for ages; a little really does go a long way! I probably shouldn't but I still use mine and it's perfectly fine. It currently retails at £5.25 which is very reasonable considering how long it lasts. It leaves your lips really smooth, ready for lip balm!

Whip stick lip balm

Whip stick has to be my all time favourite balm! With its chocolate orange flavour who wouldn't love it? I first had this balm when I was eighteen, I bought it again a couple of months ago and now use it every day. Not only does it contain real dark chocolate, sweet orange oil and cocoa absolute for flavour, but it also contains soothing oat milk, shea butter and honey. This one is vegetarian not vegan, but they do have vegan balms too. This works really fast to tackle sore, chapped and flaking lips. Mine were getting on my nerves as they were so bad, but as soon as I started using whip stick I noticed an improvement! This is definitely one for the 'Terry's chocolate orange' lover who wants to avoid a few calories! It's £5.50 but your money will be well spent, these balms last such a long time and they work wonders on your pout. 

It started with a kiss tint.

I'm still not entirely sure why, but I had to have this lip tint as soon as I saw it in 'The Lush Times'. Lush say 'Because one day your prince will come. Didn't every girl want to be Snow White, with those kissable red lips-well, now we all have the chance with this apple and cinnamon lip balm tint.' 

It does contain soothing and smoothing agents much like the balms, but I still found it would cling to dry patches; this is why I now use it over Whip stick. Although it looks very red in the tin it applies as more of a pinkish red, as you'll see in the photos below. The photos aren't a great representation of the colour, lighting will also play a big part. The best thing to do would be to try a tester in store and step outside with a mirror to see if you like the result. I wear mine fairly sheer, which also affects the colour, but you can build depth by layering. This is a tasty one too, with white chocolate, fresh red apple infusion and cinnamon. It helps soothe lips with extra virgin coconut oil, organic rose hip oil and shea butter. This is also £5.50 at the moment, and will probably last even longer than the balms, depending on how much you use obviously! Here is the balm on me...

So there you have it, three gorgeous lip products from Lush that are also the only lip products I use at the moment! To check out Lush's other products please visit their website.

Badger Balm: Natural body care

I've been in love with the Badger company and their products for several years, since I was a teenager and I first began to seek out products not tested on animals. I love them so much, partly because of my love for animals, partly due to the fact that they are all natural and mainly because they just work!

Badger is a family run business in New Hampshire U.S. Badger balm came about when back in 1994 Bill Whyte sought a solution for the cracked and bleeding hands that he and his carpenter friends were suffering from.  He mixed some beeswax and olive oil, a little bit of experimentation later his hands were healed, and he made batches to give to his friends and colleagues to try. Bear paw was created.
As the new business was just getting started, and Bill was about to have tins made to sell his 'Bear Paw' balm, disaster struck. Although he'd checked the trade mark registry to see if the name was taken there was in fact a hand cream that had been around for a little while called Bear Paw.
Luckily this was probably actually a good turn of events as the name Badger came to him. Badger being a healing totem, The root gatherer who possesses great knowledge concerning the root and herb kingdoms-perfect for a budding organic business!
They are now a USDA certified organic facility, using fair trade certified cocoa butter and ethically sourced ingredients. They also proudly display the leaping bunny logo, declaring that their products haven't been tested on animals. From 'Bear Paw' and the very humble beginnings to the now internationally known company that produces everything from lip balms and body balms to aromatherapy balms and sun cream, Badger Balm is a nature lovers dream. The products are so natural, they're even safe to eat!
They now have 20 different types of lip balm, three types of everyday moisturiser, foot balm, baby products, three types of antioxidant body oil, face oil, facial beauty balm, anti-bug balms, sticks and creams, sun creams and after sun balm, three massage oils, three varieties of sore muscle rub, sore joint rub, aromatherapy balms, chest rub, 6 soaps, Badger Balm hats, tote bags, posters, three hair oils (coming in September!) and of course the original Badger Balm for hands, in scented and unscented. I think that's everything!

I've just ordered some Badger balm 'for hard working hands', sore muscle rub and sore joint rub for after my days at the zoo! Unfortunately Badger Balm are not currently taking orders from outside the U.S. via their main website badgerbalm.com but they do provide a list of International distributors that stock Badger products and recommend an online store that ships internationally, Uncommon scents, who I placed my order with. You can use sites like Amazon and Ebay but the range is sadly limited and far pricier for some products than if you were to buy elsewhere. I really want a Badger tote bag, and I'm hoping I can find one on one of these sites! I can't wait to get my new badger goodies, they're good value for such good quality, natural products-and they really do work! I've had their foot balm for ages, I honestly can't remember how long now, it's still going strong and still works as well as it did the day I bought it!

Badger Balm are also on Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to 'like' and 'follow' for updates and sneak previews.
I'll do a little review once I get my new products!

My Badger foot balm.

Dr. Jart + BB cream review

What is BB cream? Also known as Beauty Balms or Blemish Balms they offer a wide variety of skin enhancing/conditioning properties as well as a light coverage. Most creams moisturise, prime, conceal and have some level of sun protection. Some of the fancier Asian brands I've seen also have anti-ageing benefits and skin lightening.They were originally created by a dermatologist for facial surgery patients, to provide some cover while nourishing the skin and encouraging healing. Normal foundation wouldn't be beneficial to post surgery/laser treatment skin whatsoever. It became huge in South Korea and Japan,  starting with Korean actresses and celebrities. It's now being introduced over here with major brands like Maybelline and Loreal producing their own creams.

Before even starting to blend you can see the huge colour difference 

Mostly blended and I have a lovely orange patch!

The search for the perfect BB cream led me to Dr. Jart + water fuse beauty balm. I really wanted an Asian brand called BRTC but it was a bit extravagant for what I wanted it for (a light coverage for my days out in the heat at the zoo where I volunteer). I wanted to steer clear of brands such as Maybelline as I was sure their BB cream would be just as orange as their foundations! I saw this pop up on an online search and read a few customer reviews. They claimed that it was suitable for virtually any skin tone, and a couple of customers commented on how brilliant it was for pale skin. It has an spf of 25, reasonable for a BB cream and water fuse technology, to try to help lock moisture in your skin. 

It goes on really smoothly, doesn't feel greasy as it's water based and has quite a light feeling. Leaving the colour aside for a minute, it looks really natural, like you're not wearing anything on your skin. It's very sheer, but you can possibly build coverage, otherwise it really will look like you're not wearing anything!

It blends fairly easily, but I keep finding darker patches after I've apparently blended it properly, so I'd definitely check it before you go out anywhere!

Now, the colour...It is too dark for my skin, plain and simple. I don't know how pale these people from the reviews are, but they're clearly not as pale as me. To be fair, once really blended, it is passable, but I have to wear a very small amount and really blend it in, so it doesn't really do much for my complexion and it seems fairly pointless wearing it! If you have medium to fairly pale skin this will probably be perfect for you. If you have very fair translucent skin like myself then you will be better off buying an Asian brand, as the pale look is extremely hot over there.
I'm now using it as a primer under a very thin layer of my pale 'Dainty doll' foundation, and it does a great job!
I bought mine from Boots.com at the reasonable price of £13 reduced from £18 for 50ml. If you think this cream is perfect for you and want to know more then please click here to visit the product on the Boots website.
I better start saving for that dream cream! *Sigh

Lush 'Caca rouge' henna hair colour review.

My hair before the henna...Ignore the lack of makeup haha!

Yes, yes, I do know what Caca means, and to be honest it does look like it when the henna is mixed with water, but trust me its not! Caca rouge is Lush's reddest henna, for a vibrant result.
I decided to try henna as I really want to get a natural redhead (okay, ginger) finish. I did some research on-line and was generally impressed with the results that people were getting. One advantage for me was that it was far cheaper than getting my hair coloured at the salon and also that the henna would be better for my hair overall.
Henna has been used for various reasons since the bronze age, and we typically think of henna now as in henna tattoos, many people don't realise that you can use it to colour your hair. Lush's henna is sourced from Persia, which is seen as the best quality and gives redder tones, even though it can be harder to get hold of.
Lush sell their henna in blocks rather than powder form, as they have added cocoa butter to try and leave the hair feeling soft and healthy. They are £7.95 for a 325g block, depending on the thickness and length of your hair you may get two uses out of one block. I just about got two uses out of mine, I made the first batch too thick!
Basically before you even start you need to make sure you have the following, or something similar!

• Bain marie/saucepan and heatproof bowl for melting your henna and keeping it hot (I just use a plastic takeaway box and boiling water in the sink!)
• A sharp knife to cute the henna block (Or if you're fairly strong you can break it up like I do)
• A non metal spoon (Apparently metal interferes with the henna)
• Old towels, newspaper etc
• Old clothes that you don't mind getting stained
• Rubber gloves
• Hair clips
• Vaseline or Lush's Ultrabalm
• Cling film
• Hair dryer
• A warm towel
• A willing friend to help with the application!

You need to allow yourself at least half a hour, probably nearer an hour depending on how much hair you have for the application of the henna, at least 4 hours for the henna to do its stuff and then a good 20 minutes or so to wash the stuff out! I'm not going to sugar coat it-It's messy, time consuming, fairly smelly (it brings on a migraine for me) and yes it does look like you've smeared poo in your hair! 

What I would do first (I didn't do this and regretted it) is to cover the floor with newspaper or old towels, as this stuff gets everywhere, even when you don't mix it as runny as they say to!

You need to pop the gloves on and break your henna up into fairly small pieces, please don't feel that you need to grate it, unless you have nothing better to do with your time then it is totally pointless! If broken into pieces about the same size (or even a little larger) as chocolate squares then you will have a completely liquid gloop within 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure it will take you far longer than that to grate it!

If you are lucky enough to own a bain marie then use that, or a saucepan and heatproof bowl. I did my application in the bathroom so neither of these was really appropriate. Instead I poured a little boiling water into my plastic tub of henna pieces and the rest into my bathroom sink before sitting the tub in the sink. You want to keep the henna as hot as possible for this whole process, which to be fair doesn't happen when you do it my way, so be warned! 

Take your spoon and start turning the henna pieces in the water and chopping at them with your spoon. They will soften and start to break up fairly quickly. The instructions tell you to mix it to the consistency of double cream, but anyone who has come across double cream will know it really isn't that thick and I didn't fancy having it dripping everywhere, so I made it up a little thicker.

Some people add paprika, cinnamon and even red wine to the henna to try and boost the colour. That's entirely up to you but I'm not sure how much truth is behind it!

Apply some Vaseline or Ultrabalm around the hairline and I would cover a wide area if I was you as this stuff really does get everywhere, staining clothes and skin. The skin staining doesn't last too long, only a few hours as long as you try and wash it the best you can.

Start at the back with your hair clipped up out of the way and henna small sections of hair at a time. You need to really work the gloop into the hair, paying particular attention to the roots. You will kind of get a dreadlock effect if you're doing it properly.

Once your hair is covered you should wrap it in clingfilm if you want the reddest results. I gave mine a quick blast from the hairdryer after wrapping it to try and get some heat in there, as heat is what will bring out a redder finish. I then wrapped it in a warm towel for the same reason, but you probably wont look as strange answering the door with a towel on your head as you would just with clingfilm and a poo colour on your hair! Don't worry if the clingfilm goes green, this is normal and your hair isn't doing the same thing!

After at least four hours you can remove the clingfilm and start to wash your hair! I really soak my hair first, the water runs orange for what feels like forever. I shampoo twice, which removes most of the gritty bits. I really concentrate on the roots as the cocoa butter can feel and look greasy if left in. I then condition my hair twice, which helps the last bits and pieces slide out quite easily, before rinsing thoroughly until the water runs clear. Even while towel drying you should be able to see a difference. Blondes and greys will go a very vibrant ginger, and darker hair colours will likely have a reddish hue to them, or a dark copper finish. 

My hair didn't go as light or as ginger as I was hoping for. It's still copper and quite vibrant but it's just not the 'wow' change that I was expecting. Please excuse the scruffy hair (I'd just dried it quickly before bed) and the henna stained top but this is the best picture I could get of the colour, as it doesn't show up well in photographs indoors (another disappointment).

After henna

To check out Lush's range of henna hair colours please follow this Link :)

If anyone else out there has used henna or a similar colour dye to this then please share your experiences! I have to say that I probably won't bother with this again just yet and I will try another chemical dye to try and get that ginger colour that I'm after! Sorry Lush....

Update! It has been one month since my last henna application, and I've discovered it is very vibrant in the sunlight! Even after all this time it's still bright copper! I have some root growth though so I'm going to re-apply soon or try Loreal's Mango intense copper...But anyhow, here is a pic of my hair outdoors about two weeks after the second application.