CATCH UP TIME!!!

Hey Guys!

I'm so sorry we haven't been posting recently! So much has been happening the past few weeks. I went on holidays <3, Kitty got a part time job....

NIKITA GOT ENGAGED!!! WOOOO!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

That is all...

Stay Beautiful!

- Lauren

Giving the Co-Wash a go!

Hey guys :)

As you may or may not have gathered so far; I have a lot of trouble with my hair. It goes frizzy, fluffy, dull and all round annoying!

I just finished my exams and have learnt that you find out quite amazing stuff when you are avoiding study. One of the things I found out was this concept of the co-wash.

It's a way of washing your hair without shampoo. I thought I'd give it a go.
This is the post that got me very interested in this idea.
http://www.venusianglow.com/search/label/conditioner-only%20washing
And yes I know it is halfway through her experiment.

The idea of the co-wash is to allow your hair to embrace its natural curl without harsh chemicals causing damage. I'm still researching the best ways to do it but what I've been doing so far is:

The first two days I did a huge rehydration, my hair was very dry and gross, especially because it is winter.

After these days I did plain water washes with no product which I would never have done before, if my hair got wet it got washed.

I started alternating between water washes and conditioning washes and found they were great. My hair was smooth, it had nice waves in it too.

About a week or week and a half into this my hair got grossly oily and I couldn't help but use a little shampoo on my roots. It helped a lot. I had a bit of a read and found that the first month or so is the hard part because your hair needs to adjust.

I sadly didn't take a before photo :(
But I had my hair trimmed and layered today so hopefully with my neater hairstyle I'll be able to see more fantastic outcomes of this co-wash experiment.

If you guys are interested in giving it a go or finding out more, this girls blog does a far better way of explaining co-washing than I can.
http://www.venusianglow.com/2010/12/how-does-conditioner-only-washing-work.html

I hope you enjoyed,
If I stick with this, which I hope I will, I shall keep you all posted.

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful!

Frame the Windows to Your Soul

Hey Girls!

I've been meaning to write this for a while.

Mascara; it can add volume, length or just colour to your eyelashes depending on its application.
I've experimented with a lot of mascaras and have found a few I love.

There's a lot of different mascaras that I've tried. Please find in the above image from left to right the mascaras as follows:

Australis Lash Magnitude Volumising Mascara; Revlon Custom Eyes; Rimmel Extra Wow Lash; Maybelline New York XXL Volume and Length; Unknown; Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara; Covergirl Lashblast Volume; Nude by Nature Magic Mineral Mascara; ECT Mascara Extra Volume & Long Lash; Clinique High Impact Mascara

It's been a while since I've used some of these products but I will do my best to cover most of them.

Revlon Custom Eyes: I use blackest black. It is a pretty good product. I have found it to sometimes be clumpy but it is fixable with proper application. It has two options, Length and Drama and Length and Definition. I personally cannot see a difference but all in all I quite like this mascara.

Maybelline New York XXL: Is pretty cool. Firstly you coat your lashes in the white substance which adds length and then follow with the black on to add volume. I find this can clump quite easily but much like Revlon's, it can be fixed easily as well.

Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara: This was a sample I received. It is quite liquidy and very hard to get any volume from it. Despite this, I quite like is. It has a curved brush for better application. It also doesn't clump very much which is fantastic!

Covergirl Lashblast Volume: This mascara is really good for a natural day look. I've got black-brown. It doesn't clump, it has very little volume or length BUT when you don't want to look like you are wearing makeup but feel you need some colour in your eyelashes, this is perfect for the job.

Nude Magic Mineral: I used to love this mascara. It was the perfect natural looking colour and consistency, but after it ran really badly one day at uni I have gone off it. I will need to retry it with a coat of my clear waterproof sealer over the top to see how that goes.

ECT Mascara: This is a weird one, I don't even know if ECT is it's brand name. Nikita and I found this at a priceline store for $5 and we tried it out. I love it. The substance is runny allowing for little clumping. I have experimented with adding length and volume with it and it is quite effective. For a $5 mascara it is absolutely fantabulous!

TIME FOR MY FAVOURITE!
Clinique High Impact Mascara: I use the colour black. I love this mascara; it doesn't clump very much; it has the right consistency - not too runny, not too thick; I can make it look natural, thick, long or any combination.


Mascara can range from $5 to $50 if not more. It is important to remember that price does not always mean quality. My $5 mascara is one of my favourites, but my $40 mascara is also one of my favourites.

When picking out a mascara, you should look at what you want it for, the colouring, your budget and what your natural eyelashes are like, thin, thick, long or short, different eyelashes will react differently. Nikita has long eyelashes and I have very short eyelashes, you can easily see a huge difference in our lashes, even when we are wearing the same mascara with the same method of application.

If you have the budget, I encourage you to try out a few different one. If you don't, that's OK. Do your research and make a decision. If you get it wrong the first time, don't worry, all makeup need to be replaced occasionally and you'll get another chance.

I hope this gave you a bit of insite into different mascaras.

Until next time,

Stay Beautiful!

Lauren

Autum to winter

Hey girls,

 So this has taken me a while to post but we did a mini photo shoot, showing some ideas for Autumn to Winter fashions.

So here we go!

So here is a picture of me. I am wearing a high wasted skirt with polka dots. I paired it with a black cami and some black ballet flats. I love this look for Autumn because its so versatile. You never know when the weather can change.

So what I did to change this outfit to a more winter look was.

I added a bright red over sized blazer for warmth and for a pop of colour. I did role up the sleeves for this look but you can leave them out if you like. I also added some woollen stockings as well.

That is how I changed this look up a little. I love this outfit and am loving blazers at the moment.

So this is Laurens look.

Lauren is wearing a longer top that comes down to mid thigh. She paired it with her favorite pair of jeans, black boots and a black scarf.

How she changed up the outfit.

She added a leather jacket to make this outfit warmer for those colder days. You can also wear the scarf with this outfit.

Well I hope you like these outfits. Sorry you cant see whole outfits in the photos. Also these photos have not been edited at all. :)

Stay beautiful.

Nikita

Wardrobe Replacement!!! :D :D :D

Hey guys!

I'm so excited! For the past few months I've been slowly replacing my wardrobe. That might sound kind of stupid, but considering I've had the same clothes since between grade eight and grade ten, if not longer; that's between 6.5 and 4.5 years!

I'm really excited about this. I'm a huge Kmart fan actually... I never used to be, but their clothes are getting better in quality. Half the time you can get exactly the same at Kmart as you can at Target for a third of the cost.

For example: I bought a shirt at Kmart for $3 (on sale, full price $15ish), when Target was selling an identical shirt for $25-$30 (I can't remember exactly).

So today I'm going to share a few of my latest buys with pricing, shop, and maybe a bit of a spiel.

Cardigans and Tights

It's winter in Australia and I've never been too worried about a light jumper thing, as I'm very much into hoodies. But above are some cardigans I've bought and liked.

1) This green cardigan is $15 from Temt, I bought the medium. It sits at about hip length with pockets. There is a collar around the neck and the arms are three-quarter length.

2) The green tights were $10 at Target. I didn't realise the were the same colour as my green cardigan.

3, 4 & 5) These cardigans are $15 at Valley Girl, I got the small. They sit at hip length with pockets and full length arms. I originally bought the black one but loved it so much I went back for the  dark magenta and grey. They are incredibly warm for how light they are. They also come in a purple, white/light grey and pale green.

6) These tights are the same as #2 and are the same colour as #5.



Skirts

1) This ankle length skirt is from Kmart for $10, reduced from $19!

2) This is a tightish skirt I got from Valley Girl for $15 reduced from $20. It is a bit smaller then I would like, but the skirt has room for larger hips than mine.

3) This red skirt I also got from Valley Girl for $15 reduced from $25. It isn't very clear in the photo but there are ruffles at the top which I quite like because it hides my stomach a bit.

4) I got this from Target for $22, it was reduced but I cannot remember what from. It's a pleated skirt that sits just above the knee and is really cute worn with black tights.

Shirts

1 & 2) I got these from Kmart for $8 and a red one on special for $5. They are awesome, the sleeves aren't too short and the green shirt helped me through to 3am at Relay for Life over the weekend!

3 - 6) I got these from Kmart as well. They are $6 and have been around for quite a while.

BED SOCKS!!

My bed socks were $12 from Target and they are so so warm with grip on the bottom. I wish I new how to knit socks!

Anyways, I just wanted to share my new stuff! The good thing about this is it should last a few seasons (or another 5years).

I think it is time to go through all my old stuff and give some away to lifeline! Or I could do a clothes swap! If you've never done it before and are interested, get a group of friends together (the closer to your size the better) and each put the clothes you don't want on the table and see what you can find of theirs that you like! At the end of this, if there's anything nobody wants, donate it!

Until next time!

Adiós Bellas Damas (I think that's right)

Stay Beautiful!

Nails

Hey Girls.

I recently purchaced the OPI Holland collection. I purchaced the dutch trats mini pack. The colours are so cute and wearable. The colours are;

I have a Herring Problem, Red lights Ahead...Where?, Kiss Me on My Tulips, Pedal Faster Suzi.

So in this turorial I used Pedal Faster Suzi and I think in Pink which is not from this collection.

Firstly I preped my nails by taking my old nail poilish off and making sure that you fix up and breaks and chips.

I then used I think in Pink and painted all of my nails.

I then wanted to use my new collection, especially Pedal Faster Suzi!

So I painted my ring finger with this colour over the top of I Think In Pink

The finished look..... You can't really see the ring finger that much but it does look so pretty.

So leave a comment below and tell me what your favourite nail look is.

Stay Beautiful

 Nikita

Lovin' the Bun!

Hey girls,

It has only been recently that I have really grasped the simple bun, before then it was this thing I had to do to my hair every week for ballet and never really much fun. BUT I'm loving it at the moment and I'm going to give you a quick how-to and you can develop your own style from there.

Step #1 - Prep

This step is optional. I prefer to wash my hair before putting it in a bun. My hair is so thick, to try and restrain it with a hairband whilst dry is annoying.
As I said this is an optional step but this bun can be worn for two or three days with barely any need for maintenance, so it's a good idea to wash it.



Step #2 - Tie it back

This is the easiest way to start a bun. There are many other ways which range from having bits separated from the rest or not using a hair-tie at all.
You can have your ponytail at any height, remembering that the height of your ponytail will be the height of your bun.
If you are having trouble getting it to the height you want, bend over as though you are going to touch you toes and use gravity to get your hair to the desired height OR lie on your back on your bed with your head hanging over the edge and do the same.

Step #3 - Bun it! Pin it!

For this step you twist your ponytail around your index finger while also spinning it around your ponytail (I'm sorry I couldn't get more photos). I Pinned the end into the bun with a bobby pin but you can also use bun pins doing this step to secure it.


Bun Pin

Using bun pins secure the twisted hair in place. I make sure I get the bun pin to sit firmly under the hairband. To finish off the bun I use my bobby pins to secure any lose hair and my fringe.


Buns are awesome. They are so versatile. You can have them plain, add a scrunchy, ribbon or a big clip. As long as you can get your hair into a ponytail you can make a bun (I have seen it done with incredibly short hair).

This was just a starter bun, you can do so much once you've learnt the basics. I have platted my ponytail and put it in a braided bun and you can created two buns using piggytails.

If you wear the bun high enough you can even sleep with it and wear it again the next day. I did that Saturday night, I woke up Sunday and put a few extra pins in and neatened up a few spots and had it for another day.

You're hair won't knot while it's in the bun either!

I love them!

So, that was a quick how to.

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful
Lauren