Mermaid Chic

Have you ever watched The Little Mermaid and been jealous of her beachy locks? Gorgeous flowing hair down her back with a slight wave to it. I certainly have, look at it!

Well this product I'm about to talk about creates the mermaid chic effect and I LOVE it! I've had it for a few months now and every time I've used it I think to myself how amazing it is, and how I must remember to blog about it. Well here goes, it's the Tigi Catwalk Session Series Salt Spray (£9.99).

This has to be one of my favourite hair products of all time, I have blogged about it before but I wanted to do it all over again. If you are a beach bunny who loves the laidback chic look then this is definitely the product for you. I love looking glam but I like it to be pretty effortless which is why I love dry shampoo and other quick fixes. This spray is so easy to use to create the beach bed-head look with tousled locks a mermaid would be jealous of, or you can use it to give your hair texture in a chic up-do.

Not only does it give you beautiful waves but it fights frizz and humidity, and gives your hair definition. A definite must-have for the summer.

For me it scores 10 out of 10 for its ability to give you fab hair in a second.

Available from http://www.feelunique.com/p/TIGI-Catwalk-Session-Series-Salt-Spray-270ml

Penny xx

Just Peachy

Hello everyone, and how is 2012 treating you? Mine is not too shabby so far, and I'm off to Center Parcs in a weeks time! I'm off to a great start for a fun and exciting 2012, and I'm even more excited after having just read the latest Vogue. It seems that the trends for 2012 are absolutely stunning and I cannot wait for the sun to come out to showcase all the beautiful colours. There's a multitude of different looks for spring, all beautifully feminine but my personal favourite is the pastel shades that light up any dull January.

Jason Wu and Dior have shown some fabulous designs but unfortunately quite out of my price range. However, one way that we can all achieve the runway look this spring is to adopt the peachy cheeks that the models were sporting on shows for Stella, Versace, Louis Vuitton and many more. It is a fantastic way to brighten and lighten the complexion in exchange for the usual bronzing powder. Flattering for all skin tones and warms the complexion.

Dust a peach tone into the apples of your cheeks and take it up towards the hairline, lifting the cheek bone and sculpting the face. YSL have brought out a gel cheek colour that looks very natural but if you are going for a more pronounced look then opt for a powder, Luster from Nars is a gorgeous apricot colour that would look great on any-one.  Pair with a dewy foundation base for that fresh glow, my favourite is Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint (£21), providing a radiant base.

Comb a light layer of mascara on for fluttery lashes and there you have it, a simply beautiful look for spring 2012. For that added oomph be brave with bright lip gloss.

Penny xx

Get your 2012 face on!

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had an amazing evening, I started 2012 as I mean to go on with a fried breakfast! Every year I make resolutions I know I will never keep so this year I'm just not going to bother with them. Although having said that, I am trying to save to move in with my boyfriend later in the year. We want to get a mortgage together which means save, save, save. At a recent appointment with the bank my boyfriend and I were very embarrassed to find out we spend approx. £500 on food in a month! How cringe to have to tell your bank that most of our money goes to Nandos.

As one of our spending cuts we saved money this NYE and went to a good old-fashioned house party, which no doubt meant today was going to be a complete write-off. I was right, here I am now watching Richie Rich curled up in my duvet with a face mask. I thought I'd do a quick blog about rejuvenating your skin after a rough night.

I always recommend taking your make-up off before bed (but I know this isn't always possible!) and drink water before bed, and as soon as you wake up. Your skin will be dehydrated after a long night so you need to put the moisture back into your skin. I use an Avene water spray to perk my skin, the fresh water is soothing and anti-irritating - perfect for hungover skin. This next step is cheap and easy, I slap on Nivea creme onto my face and just let it slowly soak in. It's so thick it leaves your skin feeling plump and hydrated. I wouldn't recommend this as a regular beauty routine because it's too heavy to use daily on the skin and will leave you with those annoying under the skin spots, but when your skin is thirsty it is great to use once to inject some moisture into your tired skin. It leaves you with a glow as if you've had 8 hours sleep, and at only £1.11 you can't go wrong!

Beauty with Bare Minerals

Being a lover of all things beauty can sometimes have consequences. I flit in between products I use because I get so excited about others on the market. Therefore, my make-up 'bag', more suitcase, steadily increases and I forget to use those little gems that I found a few months ago because I'm already salivating over Dior's summer colour pallet for 2015! Slight exaggeration but you get the point. Saying this, one brand that I never fail to forget and will always use is Bare Minerals.

I was recommended Bare Minerals by a friend who works for Champneys, she said that she had very bad skin and ever since using Bare Minerals her spots cleared because the powder was so pure. A make-up that was helping bad skin, surely not? As you may know, it does not take much to persuade me to try a new make-up brand so almost instantly I found myself at the local Debenhams purchasing the mineral powder from Bare Minerals.

I spoke with the skincare advisor on the counter and she helped me pick a shade that matched my skin tone, I wear Medium Beige N20, but you can also go online and do it if you're too busy. I have to say it's one of the best products I've ever bought. It's so easy to apply, you tap a small amount of powder into the lid and then buff your brush into the powder. Tap off any excess powder and then with small circular motions buff it into your skin. It gives an even, luminous finish. It conceals any little nasties without looking like you're wearing any make-up. You just feel really fresh and natural. My boyfriend always comments when I'm wearing it, he says he likes me looking natural but little does he know I've got foundation on it's just so amazing that you can't tell!

It gives a slight sheen to the skin so it looks as though you have a natural glow about you - as if you have drunk about 10 litres of water that day! I would recommend this for all skin types. I have dry skin but the powder doesn't dry it out as I expected, it actually moisturises my skin and glides into the skin perfectly. I would also highly recommend it to help blemished skin because my friend swears by it to help clear her skin. It's even so pure that you can sleep in it - ssshh I actually do sometimes *beauty sin*

I can't recommend this product enough, it's £23 which I think is a small price to pay for gorgeous skin. I always feel so confident when I'm wearing it because my skin looks luminous and natural but I know the powder gives amazing coverage so all my blemishes are covered.

I always pair this my all-time favourite Bare Minerals product - All-over face radiance in Tropical Radiance. I've raved about this before in another blog post but I'll just give a little summary now - it's amazing!

I use this almost everyday because I like to look tanned but I don't always want to pile on the fake tan. You apply this powder the same as the foundation and buff it all over your skin and the coral pigments in the powder lift your natural complexion so you've got the 'just got back from the south of France' look about you.This is £19 and there are many different shades in the collection to lift your natural complexion so I advise you to get down to your local department store for a consultation.

Everyone should have Bare Minerals in their life.

Ballerina Bun - 2012 Trend

With the new year fast approaching I thought it would be a good idea to start scouting the magazines for trends we will see coming our way. While I'm always looking for the next beauty trend, I always seem to get lazy with my hair and just leave it to however it decides to hang that day.

I have naturally very thick hair and generally quite a lot of it so I tend to leave it down quite a lot and just mess it up at the roots - and that is my attempt of styling my hair. Due to this horrid laziness one of my NY resolutions will be to take pride in the appearance of my hair and get up just 10 minutes earlier to ensure it looks decent.

Donna Karan - Ballerina Bun

One trend that is going to continue to be big in 2012 is the ballerina bun as seen at Donna Karan shows for AW12. This style looks so sophisticated and stylish, perfect for work and an evening with friends - even works well as a bridal style. Definitely one to learn how to do.

For this style you need:
1 hair bobble
Hairspray
Hair brush
Lots of hair pins

To get started brush all your hair into a ponytail at the crown of your head, secure this ponytail with your bobble. Hairspray your hair while stroking your hair back towards the bobble so all your little frizzy bits around your face are stuck down!

Next, split the ponytail into four even sections. Take the first section and brush it upwards and spray it loads with hairspray. Then roll it outwards towards your hair into a little roll (if you have long hair roll under itself) and secure with as many bobby pins as you need. Do this with other three sections, but make sure you can't tell the sections have been split into four. It needs to look seamless. Spray the finished piece with loads of hairspray to keep it stuck. It takes a lot of practice but gets a lot easier honestly! Your hair should look like a big doughnut. See my attempt below!

It's a great style and makes you feel very glam. All in all the style takes around 5-8 minutes to do so go glam for 2012 ladies xxx

Love Luxe

Hello everyone, hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Hasn't it flown by? Sadly my boyfriend is back to work today so I'm all alone so I thought I'd blog and then maybe pop to the sales... I already seem to have bought two pairs of boots even before the sales arrived, which is slightly naughty.

Anyway, with Christmas been and gone I thought I could focus all my efforts on NYE. My motto with a new years look is the more glam and glitz, the better. Luxe is the perfect NYE look. Think gold, think glitter, think dark vampy lips, et voila!

Barry M paint pots are brilliant for creating this sort of look because they have such a selection of glitzy colours that are highly pigmented. My tip for using these is to use a flat eyeshadow brush, dip into the pot and lightly tap the end of the brush so all excess comes off. Otherwise, you will look like a pantomime dame. Gently blend the shadow into your eyelid. To define your eyes, take a dark brown colour to softly create a line along the lash line using an eye liner brush. This gives the illusion of longer, fuller lashes.

To create more glamour, I always recommend using false lashes on an occasion like NYE. I have used many different lashes in my time but my favourite ones I've used, which I am currently working my way through is the individual lashes from Eyelure. You can apply each lash to where it is needed so your lashes look long and lovely but still look and feel really natural.

Stick to your usual evening foundation base so you feel comfortable and confident in your own skin. I usually go for a dewy base and set it with mineral powder, so when the camera makes an appearance you can be sure the light will bounce off your face giving you a gorgeous glow. If you use a matte foundation but still want that 'glow' use Benefit's High Beam. Dot it along your cheekbone to have the glow of a supermodel.

Next up for lips, the darker you dare to go the better! Start off by prepping your lips with a soft toothbrush, gently rub on your lips to remove any dead skin. Next plump and soften your lips using my old favourite Creme de Rose from Dior. Choose a lip colour that will complement your complexion as not everyone can wear a deep berry shade.

Pale skinnned beauties should opt for pinks and light coral shades. However for an evening when you are trying to vamp it up a bit opt for a red shade. When choosing a red shade it's all about the undertones of your skin to be able to get it right. Pink skinned girlies should always go for a cherry red.

Olive/medium skinned lovelies can be more daring with their lip colour, berry colours are extremely flattering. Reds don't always work very well for olive skinned girls but if you really want to wear red then stick to bold, fire-engine red. But make sure you apply with a lip brush to slowly build up the colour. I'm olive skinned so I have extremely pale skin in the winter with a yellowy tinge and then if I'm in the sun I go a lovely colour. Red really doesn't suit me so I tend to stay well away from it. But I do love purple shades and a burgundy berry colour from Rimmel.

Dark skin darlings have it the best because bright and bold look absolutely stunning in contrast to the dark skin. Deep plum colour is extremely flattering for an evening look, or if you want to go for red then a deep re is the best way to go.

Bobbi brown always says the best lip shade for your skin tone is just two shades darker than your natural lip colour. When you go shopping for a new lipstick, apply to half of your lip and see how much darker it is to your natural colour. It's as easy as that.

Bare Sienna

How does she do it? Even sans make-up Sienna Miller manages to look pretty hot. OK so her hair could do with a little attention but you couldn't accuse her of hitting the ugly tree could you now?

It's not really very fair as unfortunate others like me scare young children with our bare faces. However, I do believe that being motivated to complete a rigorous skincare regime I think you can be confident enough in your skin to leave the house without your warpaint. And confidence = beauty.

In the new year I am updating my skincare regime to something more hardcore and all signs are pointing me in the direction of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. So many people I have spoken to about it absolutely swear by it so I'm very intrigued. I love the idea of cleansing your face with a cloth everyday, and have used this technique with Eve Lom before. I loved the feeling of being luxuriously cleansed every day.

I can't wait for 2012 to start my first NY resolution - to treat myself to Liz Earle.

A girl's got to look after herself xx