Rush Hair salon!

I had a haircut!! Arrggghhhhhh! I am so so scared of hairdressers, just because I always seem to blow so much money on a cut and style that I didn’t even ask for, its just never how I want it to end up. However, last week I went with my friend to Rush at Lakeside, to watch her have a hair transformation; she decided to try out red hair (from brunette) and to have a trim.  She looked gorgeous at the end, the hairdresser did the best job and I was jealous, her hair looked healthy, with a gorgeous cut and colour! So I booked my own last week.
I haven't had a hair cut in a year and my hair (before the cut) it was pretty much all the same length.  I loved it like this as I could plait it and no random hairs would fall out, and because it was all one length, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t wearing extensions as I think people assume that most girls with platinum blonde hair do wear falsies.  BUT, as I had no layers, my hair was completely flat and lacked volume and style, I did need a change. 
So these are my before and after pictures -


The Experience – Everyone in the store was lovely, very friendly.  The woman at the desk sat me down with some magazines, took my coat and offered me tea etc whilst my hairdresser was finishing off her last client.  I wasn’t waiting long when my hairdresser sat with me and we discussed what I wanted.  I asked for ‘More volume, I want some short layers so I can give my hair more style, I want to keep the length, but I don’t mind a small trim’. 
She was lovely and told me exactly what she was going to do with my hair; Wash it with some kerastase products to ensure its really conditioned, then whilst its wet she was going to trim the ends and add a few random layers all over, then she was going to dry my hair and cut a few shorter layers in.
The wash was lovely and relaxing, I think I had a work experience girl doing it though, but she knew what she was doing and did it well.  Then back in my seat, my hair was combed through… which was pretty agonizing and painful… My hair is dry, yes, but I can comb it through fine at home.  The brush and comb got full of my hair very quickly, which ended up in it making more knots in my hair, yet she didn’t empty the brush out… which I thought was odd.  Another thing which annoyed me was, she blow dried my fringe into a centre parting, when I told her I wanted to keep the side parting… so at the end when she styled my hair, it obviously kept falling back into a centre parting, which was very annoying and didn’t need to be like that. 
Over all I think I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes in the salon.  To be honest I wasn’t very happy with the end result, I always feel too shy to say anything like ‘can I have it shorter, can you change this please’, so I just kept quiet, which is probably always my downfall. 

In the second image above you can see how long the ‘shortest’ layer is… Not short at all, which I was quite disappointed with cause it hardly volumizes my hair, I wanted a lot shorter than that.  Also, quite a lot of length was taken off my ends which I wasn’t too happy about, along with the fact that its cut in a dead straight line, I’m more of a messy hair chick, not a dead straight line chick, if you get me!
I paid for everything myself, although I had a 50% off voucher from the friend who had her hair done before me (Recommend a Friend scheme).  So I ended up paying £22 for the cut, which without the discount would have been £44, which is extortionate. 
I’ve gotten used to the change now, and I do like it, it definitely needed some change and shape, which it now has.  I’ve since washed my hair, and to be honest it kind of does look exactly the same as it did before, no one has noticed the change, which, paying £22 for, I would want people to notice.
Conclusion – The staff were lovely, the salon itself was nice and clean and well laid out, but it is a bit over priced and I didn’t get exactly what I asked for, even though I made it clear at the beginning.  I enjoyed my experience there, although I wouldn’t go back unless I had another voucher.

My Barry M Swatches

I’ve been buying Barry M Dazzle Dust pigments since I was 17 and used to be addicted to them. I’d never before seen such a wide variety of colours and such good quality products for reasonable prices.
I decided today to swatch the ones I have for you and tell you what I like about them etc.


Top Row – L-R 64 (Fushcia), 74 (Purple), 34 (Cherry)
Bottom Row – L-R 29 (Yellow Gold), 44 (Bronze), 3 (Pink Gold)
64 – A vibrant pink, very bright, have only used this doing make-up for a theatre production.
74 – A nice deep redish purple, very charming, but again, would not wear this out unless blended smoothly with a black. Could wear this as an eyeliner though?
34 – I actually have two of this colour, and I have no idea why as I’m not too keen on it, it kinda looks like a bruised eye colour? Its a dark purple with blue speckles.
29 – A bright yellow, good for dramatic smoky brown eyes.
44 – The perfect bronze shade in my opinion. This is definitely one of the more wearable ones from my collection. I’m making a mental note to wear this shade more!
3 – The most adorable pink which shimmers gold in the light. So girly!

Top Row L-R – 14 (Khaki), 13 (Pale Green), 92 (Aqua Gold), 69 (Saphire)
Bottom Row L-R - (GLITTER DUST) 15 (Gold Iridescent), 4, 10 (Silver) (DAZZLE DUST)(Grey), 11 (Charcoal)
14 – This is a moody green pigment, very emerald and attractive.
13 – A cute pale green, very easy to blend.
92 – I’ve never worn this, again, it was for a theatre production of A Midsummer Nights Dream.
69 – Ugh, this colour is so gorgeous!! Its a blue which turns purple depending on the angle you look at it, its so pretty.
15 – A gorgeous shimmer which sparkles gold in different lights, I adore this colour and use it as a base on my eyelids, all the way up to the brow bone for definition on nights out. You could also use this as a cheek highlighter possibly? I will swatch it next to MAC’s vanilla pigment soon for comparison.
4 – A silver glitter dust, which in my opinion is toooo glittery. Literally chunks of glitter where everywhere after I used this. Its so pretty though, use for special occasions?
10 – Another one of my favourites, a gorgeous silvery grey, great for smoky looks. I like blending this over 15, with a touch of 11 on the edge for the perfect glamorous look.
11 – A dark dark black with a hint of white glitter shimmer, although not glittery at all and nice and easy to blend. Although it is very pigmented so you only need the tiniest amount!
Conclusion! - I only wear about three of these shades when going out at the most. Barry M are famous for having the loveliest colour collection and I’m so grateful that we have this choice on the high street, but obviously not all these shades are wearable on a day to day basis, but its good to have the choice. Slowly, make-up brands have been catching up with Barry M and creating new pigment shades (Gosh, for example), however Barry M’s cute packaging, originality and good pricing will always make them my favourite high street make-up brand.
I have a few of their lipsticks which I will be swatching for you all soon! XXX
P.S I was recently VERY lucky to win a competition by http://www.beautyjunkielondon.com/ to review clinques instant lift for brows – pencil. She wanted someone with dark eyebrows and a make-up blog to review it as her eyebrows are quite pale and I won through random generator! Once I get the product I will mail her the review and you will be able to see it on her site! Thanks Beauty Junkie!! XX
P.P.S – All the photographs are my own, please include a link to my blog if you are to use them anywhere else, and send me a link to where you’ve posted it. I bought all these products with my own money.

New Cid Cosmetics Reviews!

I was recently introduced to the New Cid range and I haven’t looked back since.  I think they might just be my new favourite makeup brand!  Read on to see why.

i-glow (Shimmery blush) in Coral Crush

When I first starting seeing this on blogs I fell in love.  I knew I needed it in my life and I absolutely adore having it in my possession.  Its absolutely stunning and just perfect for all year round!  Its a shimmery rose gold blush with golden veins running through it which gives you the most beautiful glow.  I’m ill at the moment (I have a cold) but I’ve been wearing this daily and it’s really putting the life back into my dull face.  The compact is handy as it has a big mirror inside.  I just love this blush, it retails at £24, which is pricey but I suspect its going to last forever as its domed shaped and I haven’t even made a dent it yet.  Its also nice and pigmented so you don’t need to use lots!

i-smoulder (Smokey eye pencil and shadow) in Ember

Seriously now, New Cid have got it going on.  This product is just GENIUS!  So it has a kohl pencil on one side (shaped skinny one side and thick the other as you can see in the photographs above – perfect for achieving thick or precise lines, see swatches for proof).  And then an eyeshadow on the other end, already on a sponge for easy application!  What more can you ask for!!!?  There is a pressed eyeshadow powder in the lid of the sponged side so that every time you close it and open it, its ready to go and coated with shadow. 

These smoulder pens come in ten different shades, ranging from silvers to purples to blue.  What I love doing is applying the shadow all over my top lid, then lining my eyes with the pencil.  You can even apply the pencil and then smudge the shadow over the top for a gorgeous and easy smokey look.  £17.50 – great investment I think, especially for when your travelling, you don’t have to carry around multiple products.

i-flick (Double ended liquid and kohl liner)

Why isn’t every makeup brand doing this?!  Another genius product, a liquid and kohl liner in one, pretty self explanatory but incredible for someone like me who uses both liquid and pencil eyeliner daily.  This has really helped me narrow down my makeup bag when out and about.  The liquid side has a felt tip like nib, but better because its moveable so it allows you to easily line and follow the shape of your eye (if that makes sense?).  £18.50 and only available in black I believe. 

i-groom (Eyebrow grooming pencil)

My new favourite eyebrow grooming product.  This has a eyebrow pencil on one side and a grooming brush on the other.  Normally I just pencil my brows in and always forget to comb them because I can’t be bothered digging the comb out, but with this it makes it so easy as they are together.  This only comes in ONE shade (Neutral), and it apparently matches everyone!  I think this is true – my eyebrows are really dark and it still fills them in perfectly.  The pencil has a waxy texture so your brows stay in place all day and its very gentle so its almost impossible to over do it with this, but easy to build up.  Again, a slanted pencil so that you can achieve thick or skinny lines.  £15.50.

i-gloss (Light up gloss with mirror) (shade Honey Pot).

I think this may be the prettiest lipgloss I own.  I have the shade ‘Honey Pot’ which is absolutely perfect for everyday use because its neutral but with gorgeous gold shimmer undertones to it.  The applicator is a brush instead of a sponge which is fab and the brush also lights up when you apply it for easy application (you can see the lights in the photograph above!).  The case also has a mirror on the side.  I’ve been trialling this on top of every lipstick I own and it suits them all. £16.

(will review primer in a separate post!)

What I think: If you can’t tell by all my gushing I am now a complete New Cid Cosmetic fan, I honestly can’t find any faults with any of the products I have tried. 

The fact that they are all perfect for use on the go is just perfect (especially for me who travels between my flat in London & my family home in Essex every week).  The prices may look a bit expensive at first, but if you think about it you’d probably pay £10 for an eyeshadow and £6 for a kohl pencil anyway.

Are you eyeing any of these products up?  What’s your favourite ‘on-the-go’ product?

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