Essential Products for Hair Straightening

Having naturally very curly hair (and unfortunately having resented it for most of my life), I've straightened my hair thousands of times. Doing so is really not great for your locks. It makes them dry and dead if you don't make the necessary preparations, which I learnt the hard way.

Over time, I've managed to restore my hair to a reasonable state. Here are some of the things I use to keep my hair nice while maintaining my apparent addiction to heat styling.

Shampoo and conditioner for damaged hair - Using a specific type of shampoo/conditioner that was tailored to my needs significantly improved my hair. The effects gradually stop having such a strong effect as your strands get used to it, but even then I still use it to maintain my hair and prevent any more damage. If your hair is still in need of some repair, switch up the brand for a bit or try out a hair mask. I use: Toni & Guy Cleanse Shampoo and Nourish Conditioner for Damaged Hair

Leave-in conditioner - This serves a similar purpose to using regular conditioner, but I find having something else to help and protect my hair while it's dry is really helpful. A lot of leave-in conditioners are also marketed to help avoid and mend split ends, which is really helpful as straightening makes them appear a lot faster and more frequently. You also only need a really small amount, so one bottle lasts you ages! I use: Bed Head by TIGI Ego Boost Split End Mender/Leave-In Conditioner

Heat defence spray - Heat defence is a MUST! It's the most important step in preventing gross, dry hair when straightening. I spritz some through my hair before blowdrying and then again before straightening. If you don't use anything else on this list, make sure to at least pick up some of this stuff! I use: Lee Stafford ArganOil Miracle Heat Defence Spray

Dry shampoo - This is probably the least essential item for hair straightening specifically, but I still rely on it pretty heavily. I the oiliness of my hair is a lot more noticeable and comes about faster when it's straightened. Instead of finding the time and effort to wash my hair more frequently, I use dry shampoo to make it last for just a day longer. It can also help with volume, as my straightened hair gets a lot flatter than my curly hair as well. I use: Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush

I hope that this post has been helpful to some of you! I'm unfortunately staring finals in the face over the next few weeks, so posting may become a little less frequent, but they'll more than likely come and go faster than I'm prepared for as it is. Till next time!

xx

Wishlist Wednesday: Spring Is Coming!

Writing out and posting wish-lists is a bit of a strange thing to me because I constantly try to be content with what I already have in life. But on the other hand, I love looking though other people's wish-lists, favourites and hauls. I guess I really am a sucker for nice things. So, think of this less as a "list of things that I really want desperately", and more of a "list of things that I don't happen to own but think are great and want to share with you (and also wouldn't mind owning at some point in the future)". I would've run with that, but "Wishlist Wednesday" is a bit more to the point.

In the southern hemisphere, it's starting to warm up. The bugs are coming out, the sun is starting to shine, and the hay fever has started to annoy. Hay fever and insects aside, I love spring (as I'm sure I've said before). It's the time of year when I love wearing swishy skirts and tell myself to embrace actually wearing light colours instead of just admiring them. Spring is of course also great for reading in the sun, and it's slightly more acceptable to parade around in a flower crown.

Without further ado, below is a collection of things that I think are lovely, and also happen to be very bright and spring-themed.

1 - Band of Gypsies Maxi Dress in Boho Patched Print from ASOS // 2 - ASOS Field Day Leather Flat Sandals // 3 - Flower Crown from Dan and Phil Shop // 4 - Too Faced Natural Eyes Eye Shadow Palette // 5 - Beaded Chiffon Kimono from Forever 21 // 6 - Dogs Dogs Dogs Phone Case by Andrea Lauren on Redbubble // 7 - Vintage Classics Austen Series // 8 - Carla Geo Print Cap Sleeve Shift Dress from Boohoo

I hope you liked these few little things and that you're now excited for spring! And if you don't live on the southern part of the globe and are preparing for autumn instead, I'm sorry. But at least your holidays are seasonally appropriate.

See you next time, when I'll probably be doing Tutorial Tuesdays or something because I apparently can't let day-of-the-week series go.

xx

Favourites Friday #6

Yep, it's that time again. I make one of these favourites posts whenever I feel like I'm excited about enough things to do so: which can be every couple of weeks or every couple of months, depending on what life's been like. 

Semester recently started and uni has been picking up speed rather quickly, to the point I've already felt majorly stressed out two and a half weeks in (which is just a fantastic sign, isn't it?). It felt like the perfect time for me to find some time out and revisit some of the things that have made me happiest over the past few weeks and, of course, write them all down for you.

I hope you like it!

1 - Frankie Magazine issue 67: This absolutely beautiful issue came out about two weeks ago (so there's still plenty of time to pick up a copy, don't worry), and I had to take a moment after my first flick through. The cover art is gorgeous, the poster it comes with is all kinds of pastel wonderful, and it comes with one of two available art cards: the one that I got depicting a bespectacled lady holding a dog, which is just me all over. It's not only aesthetically pleasing as heck, but it holds up to its usual Frankie standard of great writing that will make you laugh and learn. What's not to love?

2 - Sunny days: Winter is still technically hanging around, but we've been having some slightly warmer weather recently. I'm always a sucker for winter, but every single year, without fail, I'm reminded how much I love early spring. I always feel happier and more motivated once the sun comes out. I wish the entire year could just be early spring.

3 - CHVRCHES' album 'The Bones of What You Believe': I've known of CHVRCHES for a while, but I'd never actually listened to them before a week or so ago (I genuinely have no idea why). This album is the perfect mix of upbeat and relaxing for it to be amazing at all times. If you've not listened to them before, please go and do it now. (Their new stuff is really good so far as well).

4 - Sephora Collection Classic Line 24HR Felt Eyeliner: Prior to buying this, I'd been using the same drying out liquid liner pen on and off for years, so arguably anything is gonna trump that. But this liner is an improvement on anything I've used before. The nib is quite sturdy so it's not going to drag all over your eye, and I've so far not even noticed a smudge after wearing it out all day. It took a bit for me to get used to using it, but now that I am, I don't think it's ever going to fail me.

5 - Strawberries: Bit of a random one, but since I've been starting to eat healthier, strawbs have been my constant companion. I crave fruit quite a lot, but I definitely crave strawberries the most. And their pretty much always available, so I'll probably be stocking up A LOT.

6 - iamamiwhoami's album 'Blue': Another electronic album, but this one is much more chill. It's also magical. I can't even describe the feeling of awe I felt when I first listened to it. Some songs have an FKA Twigs vibe, others feel slightly more like slow alternative pop (is that a thing? It is now), but all of them are brilliant and worth a listen.

That's all for this round. Let me know if you like any of these things, and feel free to tell me what you've been loving!

xx

Favourites Friday #5

Welcome to another edition of it being Friday and me liking things. A few things have been happening since I lasted posted one of these - semester ended which means I've been on holiday for a month, and during that month I also had a birthday. I've been pretty happy and relaxed and have felt like I've been able to sit down and enjoy things. So here are the things that I have been loving:

1. Long Knitted Cardigans - It's winter down under, and I'm not a fan of freezing, so I've been digging into my pile of knits. I recently bought a long black knitted cardi from Bonds (that's unfortunately sold out), which I love. The above one is from ASOS, which I would love to own as well.

2. Books Kinokuniya Sydney - I've raved and raved about this frickin' book store a thousand times, and I'm gonna do it again because I've been there quite a bit recently. Every time I go I just don't want to leave. I actually think I could just curl up in a corner and live there. They house all my literature, comic and Japanese book needs. I'll be loving it till I'm dead.

3. Gold studs, of all kinds - I'm not a big flashy earring person, so naturally I own 5000 pairs of studs, especially now that I have more than one piercing in each ear. Gold has slowly become my favourite metal over the years. I just think it looks classy (and goes really well with black, the colour I wear the most, naturally). I get most of my studs from Lovisa because they're cheap and have some really nice designs to mix and match, but the above pairs are from ASOS and are similar to ones that I own.

4 - Parks & Recreation - Okay, so here is the part where I admit that this is the first time I've watched Parks & Rec (late again, I know). Parks & Rec is part of the Holy Trinity of shows that Michael Schur has worked on (the other two being The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which are both incredible), so it's about time I saw it. It's so so funny, I've been laughing out loud a huge amount. I'm only up to the end of season 2, but I have a feeling that it won't take me long to finish the series.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - For those of you that don't know, Skyward Sword is a game for the Wii that was released in 2011. I've recently finished it for the second time, and I'm still in awe of how beautiful it is. I love the Zelda series, but Skyward Sword is such a magical experience. It's one of the longest games in the series, so it takes some dedication, but it's also pretty addictive and will probably have you playing it for 6 hours a day, even the second time around.

6. Sephora Pomegranate Face Mask - I went to Sephora for the first time the other week as it only opened in Sydey recently, and I've been quite impressed. I have really terrible skin that breaks out constantly, but the morning after I used this mask, it looked calmer and brighter. I was actually kind of happy with it for once. So naturally I went back and bought more. I need a whole stash.

7. Walk the Moon's album Talking Is Hard - I think we've all heard (and jammed hard to) 'Shut Up and Dance', and with good reason because it's a really good song. I went and listened to the whole album and was not disappointed - every other song on it is just as good, some are maybe even possibly better. It's great listening for almost every situation.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my favourites and check out some of the things I've mentioned!

Till next time,

xx

Everyday Makeup

Uni is back and life is rolling on, which means that the number of days I wear makeup per week has increased. I personally prefer to wear at least something to cover up my skin when I leave the house because I have the skin of nightmares (I'm not even kidding, I'm pretty sure people have had terrible dreams about having skin like mine), but I also don't like to go completely all out for just an ordinary day. Over break I decided to cut down on the products I use to save both time and effort, and just stick with the things I like to wear the most. So here they are!

After I moisturise my face (right now I'm using Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel), I apply a pump of Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation and blend with my fingers (the most underrated makeup tool, apparently). If I'm having a particularly bad skin day, I'll mix it with some Garnier Pure Active BB Cream, which does darken it (depending on your skin tone, I just happen to be super pale), but it also creates heavier, more matte coverage.

Next I cover any still-visible spots and the area under my eyes with Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, and blend it in with the Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush. I then powder over the concealer with the much loved Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder using the Real Techniques Your Base Flawless Powder Brush.

Next up is blush: you can of course use whatever you like, but I tend to use the nice pink of the Chi Chi Mosaic Blush in Pink Peach, applied with the Real Techniques Multi Task Brush. I skip bronzer most days because I prefer having rosier checks to looking more bronzed.

I'm lucky enough to have naturally thick eyebrows (thanks, dad), so I often leave them as is after combing with the Real Techniques Brow-Lash Groomer, but I sometimes use the matte brown in the Chi Chi Classics Palette and an angled brush to fill them in a little. It's also just a really great all-round natural palette that you can use for any eyeshadow needs.

I'm a bit of a mascara addict, so I don't go out without it. At the moment I'm using the Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara in Blackest Black, which I apply liberally to my top lashes, with just a touch on the bottom ones, too.

The final step, and the one that ties everything together, is lip colour. This is the thing about my makeup routine that I change the most, but the products I frequently use include the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, Candy Apple (worn below) and Red Velvet and the Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial. I tend to shy away from lipsticks because I don't have time to be constantly touching up, and even if these products do wear off, they do so pretty naturally so you don't have to worry about it smearing everywhere.

That's my finished look for my average day! Having written it all down, it does seem like quite a lot, but it makes me feel nice so I'm prepared to do it all. 

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my makeup bag!

xx