Products For Healthy, Shiny Hair Under £5

Ask anyone I know and they'll tell you I'm quite obsessive over my hair! I love styling it and recently I added highlights in for the summer so it's really important to me to keep it in healthy condition and protect it from damage. I thought I'd share my current favourites to keep my hair looking shiny and split end free, all of which you can by for under a fiver!

Until recently I didn't think much about what I was using to wash and condition my hair. Herbal Essences has always been my favourite mainly because I really like how it smells. Please tell me I'm not the only one who decides which shampoo to buy by sniffing it! At the beginning of this year Herbal Essences brought out the Clearly Naked line, a range of shampoos free from parabens, colourants and silicones and conditioners containing zero parabens and colourants. I've been using the Moisture range for about four months now and it has made such a difference to my hair! I like to wash my hair every couple of days so not to dry it out and since I've been using it I get barely any kind of greasy build up in my hair. It feels so incredibly clean for days rather than just the one! The shampoo lathers up really nicely and combined with the conditioner leaves a fresh, slightly minty fragrance.

Going 'Bronde' - L'Oreal Preference Glam Highlights Review

I feel like I'm being really daring with my hair recently, you know what with cutting it all off into a short bob and that. But apparently that wasn't enough for me, apparently I needed to dye it for the first time in 10 years too. So I did dye it with much trepidation and low and behold it came out exactly how I wanted it to. What are the odds of that happening! 

Really though I just fancied a bit of a change up for the summer and don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of my natural brunette colour but there's something thrilling about having little streaks of gold through your hair. It just makes me feel all light and summery! And now I kinda want to go blonde. Eeeek.

It was pretty simple to do actually, even for a novice like me! I used the L'Oreal Preference Glam Highlights kit in N.03 for dark blonde to light brunette hair. It's the one from the advert with Jennifer Lopez and her amazing mane telling you to 'Go Bronde!'. Yeah that one. 

It comes with a really easy to use three pronged brush which you squeeze the dye onto and brush through the hair to create the highlights. I started slightly away from the roots for a more natural look and applied light pressure at the top and more pressure at the ends. I also applied more dye to the ends of my hair for an ombre effect. I had to get my Mum to help me do the back of my hair so I didn't leave any big gaps but I think generally if you have longer hair you could quite easily split your hair in half at the back, bring it forward and do it that way without an extra pair of hands. I left the dye on for about thirty minutes as I was worried it would go too blonde although you can leave it on for up to forty minutes. There's actually a really great video on the L'Oreal Paris youtube channel (see here) which shows you the best way to use it which I found really helpful too!

I think this particular shade (N.03) of the L'Oreal Preference Glam Highlights kit has been very popular as it seems to be sold out everywhere I go. I really wanted to get hold of another pack to put a bit more blonde in the front of my hair. Thankfully though I found that the L'Oreal Preference Wild Ombres N.01 kit contains the exact same dye products in the box, the only different being the brush so I've kept the three pronged brush to use with this instead. Boots seems to still have it in stock online however so if you want to try it, I suggest you stock up fast!

Will you guys be changing up your hair for the summer? Maybe you've already given L'Oreal Glam Highlights a try? Let me know your thoughts below!

L'Oreal Preference Glam Highlights N.03 - £7.49 boots.com
L'Oreal Preference Wild Ombres N.01 - £7.49 boots.com

Ellie x

I Finally Did It... My New Short Hair!

I finally took the plunge last week and got the hair cut I've been after for ages, a bob! I've generally always had lots of long, swishy hair which at one point nearly reached my waist so it's completely different to what I'm used to! But I absolutely LOVE it, it's so easy to style and I can wash and dry it in under 10 minutes, who knew it didn't take an hour to do your hair?! In case you want to see what my hair used to look like, click here.

I got my hair cut at Headmasters in Farnham by a very lovely stylist called Brooke who understood exactly what I wanted. I think if we were on different wavelengths I probably would have backed out but thankfully she got it completely. I showed her a few reference pictures of Lily Collins' bob as well as a layered bob by Anh Co Tran, if you're ever in need of hair inspiration then take a look at his website, the man works magic on hair! 

In the end we decided on the length to be just between my chin and shoulders with long layers as my hair is so thick and using thinning shears to take out some bulk and give it more of the edgy, textured look that I was after. She also used the ghd wave wand (I NEED me one of those!) to add in some natural looking waves, at home I use my straighteners and brush it through then scrunch it with Label M sea salt spray. She also gave me some great tips including only curling the top layer of my hair as it's the only bit you're going to see and saves loads of time too. I thoroughly recommend a trip to see Brooke at Headmasters Farnham if you live in the area, I've already got my next appointment booked!

What do you guys think of my new hair? Let me know below!

Ellie x

Growing Out A Fringe - The Topknot

I'm at that awkward stage with my hair at the moment of growing out my fringe. It's driving me nuts I'm not going to lie but I'm determined not to give in and just chop it back in again. It was thick, blunt and started quite far back on my head so it's quite a big chunk of hair I'm growing out which it makes it all the more difficult to keep it out of my face. Currently it's sitting just above my mouth so at that length it's starting to get easier to incorporate into hairstyles and I'm needing fewer and fewer bobby pins. At the beginning however my hair was just a disaster! Once it grew past my eyes I tried pushing it to the side but I hated it, no matter how much I blow dried it it didn't sit right. Then I tried splitting it down the middle and I ended up with awful 90's boy band style curtains, the shame!

The only answer in the end was a good old top knot. I resisted at the beginning because I wasn't a fan, in fact my sister and I would regularly laugh at what we called 'pineapple heads' walking down the street. Slowly though I began to see the beauty of a top knot, my fringe would stay out of my face and there was no styling involved whatsoever. Now I'm a proud pineapple head! My sister's still not a fan but hey, you win some, you lose some.

My top tips for growing out a fringe:

• Booby pins are your best friends, buy lots of them!
• Invest in a strong hold hairspray to keep it off your face, I recommend L'Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray.
• For the perfect top knot, tie you hair up in to a pony with your head upside down. Use a brush to make sure you get all of your fringe tied up. Then you can twist it and pin it into place.
• The messier the better, if hair falls out just go with it. If anyone asks (they wont), it was meant to be like that, duh!
• Make sure to get it trimmed regularly so the hair grows out strong and healthy. I know it seems like it's defeating the object but you don't want it breaking off as soon as you've grown it out. Plus, healthy hair grows quicker!
• Stick with it! The temptation will be there to just cut it back in once it's past your eyes but don't give in, soon you will be fringe free!

I don't want this to put you off getting one however. I'm still a huge fan of a fringe and I absolutely loved mine but I'd had it for four years and I just fancied a change. That and it also made me look super young and with my baby face I need all the help I can get. If you need evidence, every time I go into my local Indian restaurant they offer me a lollipop so now I refuse to go in there, I'm 21 not 12!

I've experimented with tons more hairstyles to help with growing out a fringe which I'll share with you in the coming weeks so keep an eye out!

How To Get Victoria Secret Style, Wavy Hair

I thought it was about time I did another hair tutorial considering the last time I did one it was about 6 months ago, woops! I like to call this look 'Bloggers Hair' because it's how a lot of fashion and beauty bloggers wear their hair, in loose, carefree waves with a middle parting. It literally only takes 10 minutes to do so it's great for first thing before school or work when you haven't got too much time to style your hair as you don't have to worry about it looking too perfect. 

You will need:

• A Curling Iron (at least 1 1/4 inch)
• Strong Hold Hairspray
• A Paddle Brush.
• Works best on medium to long hair.

How To - Loose, Voluminous Waves:

• Put your hair roughly in to a centre parting

• Split your hair in to two down the middle

• Stating from the back (no need to section) curl pieces of hair aproximately 4cm wide making sure to curl in the direction away from the face only. 

• Repeat throughout the whole head of hair.

• Curl from half way down the head only.

• The aim is for it not to look perfect so if there are parts that aren't completely curled then that's ok. 

• Leave for around half an hour or even just while you do your make up for the curls to cool and set.

• Brush through the curls to loosen either with a paddle brush of your fingers, giving it a good shake to seperate the curls for more of a wave.

• Make sure to push it up at the top so it's not flat against your head. A little bit of back combing might be needed at this point.

• Finally give it a good spray with a strong hold hairspray. I like to use good old L'Oreal Elnette hairspray, my Granny always used to use it and her hair wouldn't move an inch! 

There you have it, gorgeous loose waves to rival any Victoria Secret model! What's great about this hairstyle is that it looks just as good the next day when the waves are slighter looser, it's more of a cool, undone look. I've only just started doing my hair this way but now I don't want to wear it any other way. I like that it doesn't look over styled, as if I just woke up that morning and my hair was just the right amount of wavy! Oh and in case you're wondering, I used the Remington Jumbo Curling Iron similar to this one.

Let me know if you'd like me to do any more hair tutorials and what styles you'd like to see!

Wishlist - Good Hair Day

I am obsessed with my hair, you ask any one who knows me and they'll tell you I spend hours styling it and the rest of the day worrying whether there's a hair out of place. I own 6 different styling tools which may be slightly excessive but hey, at least my hair looks good! Unfortunately my hair dryer has now decided to go on the blink, effectively I can't turn it off which is a nuisance to say the least. I've got my eye on the Ghd Air Hairdryer instead, it's like the ferrari of all hairdryers and I would LOVE to own one! There's no way I can afford it at the moment so I'll have to keep on wishing. In fact if I owned everything on this list I would be a really happy bunny, a happy bunny with great hair.

Dove Hair Nourishing Oil Spray - £3.59 boots.com
Asos Floral Hair Bow - £4.00 asos.com
Ghd Air Hairdrying Kit - £109.00 hairtrade.com
Invisibobble Hair Tie - £4.00 topshop.com
Cream Rose Floral Bulldog Hair Clip - £2.99 newlook.com
New Look Oversized Bun Garland - £4.99 asos.com
Oasis Polka Dot Hair Barette - £6.00 asos.com
Moroccanoil Treatment - £13.45 hairtrade.com
Bow Elastic - £3.00 topshop.com

Spring/Summer 2014 Beauty Trends

Braids

Braids were all over the Spring/Summer 2014 catwalks including at Giles, Rebecca Minkhoff and Nicole Miller. Be it a side braid, french braid or milkmaid braid, it's the most on trend way to wear your hair as the weather starts to warm up.

 

Urban Decay shadow in 'Painkiller'

Aqua Liner
Blue used on the eyes was a continuing trend on the catwalks for Spring Summer 2014. Giorgio Armani and Badgley Mischka both went for a wash of sky blue colour all over the lid while Marc by Marc Jacobs chose electric blue to line the eyes. For more of an everyday look swap black liner on the top lid for an aqua blue.

 Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 'In Love With Ginger' - £6.49 boots.com

Orange Lips

I think most of us by now have cottoned on the brilliance that is orange lips. Prabal Gurung, Rag & Bone and DKNY all went for matte orange lips for a modern, fresh look. Don't be thinking you can't pull this look off, there are shades of orange to suit all skin tones. Pale girls should try tomato orange shades whilst those with warmer skin tones should stick to vibrant, neon oranges. 

Defined Curls

Forget loose waves, Spring/Summer 2014 is all about the more defined curl as seen at Maria Grachvogel and Holly Fulton. Both went for a deep side parting with large curls brushed through. Hair was kept looking sleek at the top for an elegant, sophisticated look.

Barry M Neon Nail Paint in 'Lime Green' - £2.99 boots.com

Vibrant Nails 
Go for primary colours and vibrant shades on the nails to complete your Spring/Summer look. It's all about being bold with your colours choices to create a statement with oranges, yellows, greens and blues. As seen at Suno, Rebecca Taylor and Prabal Gurung.

 What are your favourite beauty trends for Spring/Summer 2014? Let me know below!