The Force Awakens Hair Tutorial

I have just seen The Force Awakens and I loved many things about it. The most spoiler free and beauty blog appropriate aspect was Rey’s hair. Remember, this is the same franchise that brought us the Leia buns so it’s not a surprise there’s another iconic look within the 7th instalment.

This look is incredibly simple. I have recreated a very rough version for you. First you need to pin back the very front section of your hair.

Then your hair will need to be separated into three sections. Take each section and tie it back into an easy loop bun. You can do this by just not pulling the ponytail all the way through.

Do do this for each section and leave two strands of hair free at the front in the ‘side burn’ area.

But for a much more comprehensive tutorial and a neater look, check out this video tutorial.

May the force be with you.

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Great Etsy beauty finds you (probably) had no idea existed

Etsy is a treasure trove of handmade and vintage items. It is more than just crafts and vintage clothes. There at thousands, even tens of thousands, of beauty shops. Because it is all handmade, almost everything out there is organic and vegan friendly. You will find things on Etsy you would never see in shops, some for good reason, but mostly items are original pieces made with love.

For an exhaustive range of sparkly nail polishes, the Vegas based shop ILoveNP has got you covered.

At around £6.82 each, they’re slightly more expensive than a drug store brand, but in which drug stores would you find this colour?

Etsy classic, Portland Black Lipstick Company, does exactly what it says on the tin. Great black lipstick for just £9.54. But they also have a range of other similarly ‘alternative’ colours. Their namesake, however, is their best seller.

For cute soaps that you won’t find anywhere else, go to AubreyEApothecary and Soapopotamus. These guys have soaps AubreyE has soaps shaped like sushi:

Gummy bears

And even coal (a great stocking filler)

And soapopotamus has deliciously realistic looking Cinnamon buns:

Liquid ‘honey’ soap

And a half-dozen of the glazed, please

For just £4.77! Turn your bathroom into a mini bakery.

If price isn’t an object, For Strange Women has a delightfully gothic selection of vintage style perfumes in both solid and liquid form, in beautiful packaging. However the cheapest perfumes start at around £35, or you could spend around £100 on solid perfume necklaces.

Finally, Fat and the Moon is a cosmetics company that has natural beauty products from deodorants to lipsticks.

This lip and cheek stain is just £8.18 and will have you going from zero to vamp in 3.5.

So if you are looking for gifts this holiday season, or just want to treat yourself, don’t forget to make Etsy one of your stops before heading out to the shops. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

Wartime Beauty Tips

The best way to save money on beauty products is to follow some of the money saving beauty tips from the forties. These women knew how to economise as part of the war effort at home, however they still found ways to look glam on a budget. Some of these tips are redundant today because their are so many budget beauty brands that are cheaper and easier than, say, mixing charcoal and Vaseline to make mascara and applying it with a brush. But they’re still handy to know.

Everybody knows of the famous drawn on seam trick (where women who couldn’t afford stocking would draw on a line down the back of their legs to look like a seam of a stocking). However that’s not the only thing these women did to give the look of smooth nylons.

Soaking teabags in warm water and then applying the tea coloured water to the legs would give the effect of tanned tights. Gravy browning was also used, but this seems less appealing.

Vaseline was a 40s woman’s best friend. Used under the eyes at night to reduce bags, or on the eyelids in the day to create a fresh faced look, it was the pillar of ever makeup bag. Vaseline was also used to soothe sore hands after a hard day working in the factory.

To keep hair glowing, women would rinse their hair in vinegar (brunettes) or lemon juice (blondes) after a wash. A homemade conditioning treatment of eggs or oil also worked wonders.

Despite austerity, glamour was encouraged in women. It supposedly helped ‘perk up’ the country, according to MPs. Although this is terribly sexist, women had their own reasons for wanting to glam up. Freedom. It was a mode of self expression in a world on the brink of oppression. Hitler didn’t like made up women, so British women made themselves up as much as they could.

If there was one thing to help achieve this look, it was red lipstick. When this was hard to find, women would stain their lips with beetroot.

You have to admire these women for their creativity and defiance. Even more so the ones doing all these things whilst also flying war planes and getting little to no credit for it. Keep fighting, women!

STAR WARS MAKEUP COLLECTION

Covergirl has released an exclusive Star Wars themed makeup line to coincide with the build up to the new films release. Just like tickets for the movie, this makeup is selling out fast so it looks like you’ll have to be quick to get your paws on it.

The flawless Janelle Monae is one of the faces of this collection, if you needed more of a reason to love it.

The products consist of two mascaras ($6.85), 6 different shades of lipstick ($6.99) and 6 different nail polishes ($5.49).

They are marketing the collection as the Dark Side and the Rebel Alliance, however each different shade of lipstick and nail polish is made for 6 specific looks.

• Stormtrooper (lipstick in Dark Purple)
• Droid (lipstick in Gold)
• Dark Apprentice (lipstick in Red and nail polish in Fury)
• Mystic (lipstick in Lilac)
• Chrome Captain (lipstick in Silver)
• Jedi (lipstick in Nude and nail polish in Speed of Light)

This looks like a fun collection and because it is Covergirl, it is affordable.  If I were stateside I’d go out and bag some of it before it all sells out.

 

 

Home remedies for bleaching facial hair

Deciding whether to bleach that ‘stache is a choice. You can just rock it Frida Kahlo style (one of my idols). But if you do choose to lighten your facial hairs, here’s a home remedy that is less powerful than bleaching, but much friendlier to your skin.

Lemon juice is natures bleach. Just mix lemon juice and honey to form a paste and apply to the area. Leave for 20 minutes before removing (unless you experience irritation).

According to livestrong.com, there are two other fruit based remedies that can also work.

Tomatoes, believe it or not, can lighten facial hair. You just have to rub a cut tomato half over the areas you want to bleach and then leave the juice on for 4 minutes before washing off.

And papayas. You can mix papaya pulp with milk to form a paste and then massage into the dark hairs for 10 minutes. After you have finished rubbing it in, leave it on for 5 minutes before rinsing.

Obviously, because these are all fruits that you can ingest, the bleaching effect is mild. You may have to repeat the process a few times for the lightest results. But it’s all safe to do because it’s food!

Good luck!

The evolution of the eyebrow

From Ancient Greece, to modern day, the eyebrow has undergone quite a lot of changes. Some of the trends are cyclical, some (hopefully) are one offs. But it’s definitely safe to say that eyebrows are not just a modern day obsession.

In Ancient Greece, the unibrow was king

The 1920s saw the arrival of the pencil thin curved brow

By the 1940s some sense had been recovered thanks to the gorgeous arches of stars like Lauren Bacall

This trend has remained as a staple ever since. However there have been variations. For example the bushy brows of the 1980s

They went super thin again in the 90s.

Which brings us to the defined, albeit slightly over made up, arches of today.

But when done properly, they can look pretty peng.

What’s next for the eyebrow?

Expiration dates on makeup

We all know what a bummer it is, when your makeup collection is worth thousands, and then some magazine reminds you that it will be out of date in 6 months and you should throw it all away and start over. That just isn’t going to happen. If I’ve spent money on an item of makeup, I’m going to use it until it runs out. However here is a list of makeup products and when you should stop using them.

Mascara: 2-3 months

Nail varnish: 1-2 years

Liquid foundation: 6-12 months

Perfume: 8-10 years

Lipstick: 2 years (1 year for lipgloss)

Lotion: 2 years

Eyeshadow and other powders: 2 years.

So what happens if you don’t obey these rules? Well with any product you use on your eyes, there is a greater risk of infection. With foundation, more breakouts. But if you take good care of your makeup, don’t share it, store it properly and clean your brushes regularly, you might be able to keep using it for longer. Use your good judgement, and if in doubt, don’t put it near your eyes.

My Top 5 Stars who always have the best makeup

Celebrities, with their personal glam squads, are constantly giving us makeup envy. They can inspire our beauty looks. We all have our personal favourites, but these are my Top 5, in no particular order.

Nicki Minaj

She has winged liner for dayyys. Her looks are always on point.

Ciara

When Ciara does wear makeup, she keeps it very minimal. Its gorgeous and easy to recreate.

And in her free time she doesn’t wear any makeup at all, which is my favourite look to copy.

Rihanna

Her eyeshadows are always a beautiful array of nudes, browns and golds. And great winged liner.

Kehlani

Winged liner, winged liner, winged liner.

Amber Rose

Although we rarely see Muva without her signature sunglasses, we know underneath she is rocking that winged liner.

As you may have guessed, I like winged liner.

Best Makeup Looks from SDCC 2015

Comic-con is a great place to see cosplay at its best. Some of these looks take hours of intricate makeup and special effects skills. These are some of the best makeup looks I’ve seen from this years San Diego Comic-con.

Zombies are a popular theme and it takes a lot of special effects makeup skill to make zombies this scary.

This Mad Max family probably took a lot more than some talcum powder to create this look.

Mystique doesn’t need any help with her makeup.

And somebody actually went as Lorne from Angel!

Deathwok Clan makeup perfection. This fan would fit in perfectly in Pylea.

These Chewie’s Angels are everything

The time that went into that.

Then there’s this guy, who with the help of body makeup, prosthetics and a mask has transformed himself

This drag Joker has the best makeup I’ve ever seen on a villain

And there’s nothing like some body paint contouring to turn you into she-hulk

“Bronde”

One of my pet peeves is when the media gets hold of a trend and names it something completely cringe-worthy, as is the case with the ‘bronde’ trend. It is a ridiculous name for something very simple, that has been around since highlights. The word is a combination of ‘brown’ and ‘blonde’ and all it is is brown hair with very fine blonde highlights. Often painted on balayage style (freehand). It’s a very pretty effect.

This has been a trendy hair colour for a long time, but by giving it a stupid name the media has refocused our attention on it. Which isn’t a bad thing, despite the word ‘bronde’ being inflicted on us. It is actually a fairly low maintenance, yet super flattering look. It’s pretty cheap to get, because you probably only need to ask for a half-head of highlights. And it will only get more natural looking as it grows out, so you won’t need to keep going back and parting with hundreds of pounds.

So even though the name may make you cringe all the way down to your toes, it would actually make a great hairstyle for the summer. Or autumn. Or winter. Or spring.