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MUA: Mary Dawson Model: Manuao Ross

This is the first photo shoot I have shot. Hopefully won’t be my last. I am trying to plan a few more in the near future. When it comes to photo shoots I am not really sure whether it’s better being the model or the photographer I guess being able to do both means you have the best of both worlds.

This will be my last post before I go to Cairns, see you in a few weeks 🙂

Trending | Spring & Summer

I have been browsing religiously for new trends coming up next season. As much as I love buying new pieces, I’d like to save the bits and bobs I bought last season or seasons before. If I can rewear them then I would, assuming we are all probably rolling on some sort of budget for clothes.

I am probably not the only one who notices this but there are always pieces from previous seasons that you can rewear or change around to suit any season.

What I am out to get for next season:

• Trousers– no more of this jeans business. We are working women, we will wear trousers but not just for work. We are talking about pants in brights, pastels, full length, cropped. They are everywhere and they go with everything. Investing in pairs of trousers will be very economical as you can wear them to any occasion and they can be transferable to different seasonal trends in the future. Check out one of my previous post Vintage Rose for an idea of how to style trousers.
• Skirts – Mini, midi, maxi. You name it. They are all in the mix but with a twist. Skirts have been a very big thing for the past season or 2 with midi coming into play last year. We know you have legs so show them off. This season is about slits, bolder fish tail hem lines and more. A major advantage of slits and fish tail hems is that they most definitely accentuate your legs so for us petite girls they do wonders. Minis are still around for early spring go for the knitted patterned skirts.
• Patterns – outrageous bold patterns are everywhere. We are not going for the subtle polka dots and stripes anymore. Any patterned – baroque,palm trees, aztec, chains they seem to be all mixed together. We are seeing less of the florals and more of the bright and powerful patterns.
• Shorts – Knickers shorts are a huge thing. These are super figure hugging shorts (that are extremely short) as they resemble knickers . Probably not everyone’s cup of tea. They are so figure hugging that they create can thigh muffins if you are not toned. This gives more of a reason to do more squats and ins and outs to burn that bum and those legs.

What we can re-use or re-create these looks with:

Maxi Skirt –

• Slits. Simply create slits on both sides up to the thigh. This is an extremely simple re-creation. All you need is scissors, thread and needle.
• Create bold and daring fish tail hemline. No more of those gradual flowing hemlines. We are talking straight lines. Simply get a maxi skirt made of a more rigid material, make incisions on the side and cut the front to a mini length, hem the ends.

Add us on Facebook! And check out my sale as well, I am clearing out my closet.

Michelle

Review: Wella SP Colour Save Shampoo & Conditioner

I am an avid Wella product user. I love so many of their products. They are affordable and makes my hair feel amazing.

This range is great for those of you who frequently colour your hair particularly if you notice your hair colour washing out a few weeks after the colouring has been done. I currently have reddy/purple hair and as we all know reds and purples wash out fairly quickly this product is great to prevent colour shift.

What does it do?

• It protects the colour from shifting and fading. Even if you do get a salon colour job, it is inevitable that hair colour will fade with time and even quicker if you are using the wrong products. The hair will go brassy and untamable if you don’t look after it well.
• Enhance brilliance to increase shine and luminosity of the hair.
• Conditioner also is very rich and moisturises and smooths the hair.

My opinion:

My hair is reddy purple, probably one of the hardest colours to maintain in terms of colour fading and shifting. It has been about 5 weeks since I got this done and yes the colour has faded a little bit but not significantly. The thing I love about this product is not only does it help resist colour fading but it nourishes the hair. The complementary conditioner is very rich and thick so only a small amount is needed. Both products are exquisitely scented – slightly floral. The only negative thing I can say about this is due to the richness of the conditioner I feel like it can weigh my hair down a little bit so it may not be suitable for those with very oily hair.

How does it compare to others?

Wella Professional Colour Brilliance: When I used this shampoo I had ombre brown – blonde hair so this product was really good at enhancing shine. I didn’t notice a lot of colour fading apart from the fact that my blond highlights did get a little bit brassy about 4-5 weeks after I had it dyed. This is inevitable unless you use a silver shampoo or get the blonde bits toned regularly.

Kerastase Reflection Chroma Sensitive Caressing Cleansing Balm: This is a top of the range product. It is so gentle that you can use it as a shampoo and conditioner! I only really used it to maintain my hair during the course of the hair competition (approx 2 weeks). It is a very rich product that doesn’t really foam but still does thoroughly clean the hair as well as boosting colour and shine. I don’t think either Wella Professional Colour Brilliance or SP colour save compares to this when it comes down to preserving colouring but this product is by far the priciest (~$90-100 for 300mL).

Price factor of SP Colour Save Range:

I purchased these on beautybay.com and they were around 13 USD per bottle so that is very cheap! At the hair salon expect to pay around $35-40 per item. So I would highly suggets you buy then from beautybay or strawberry net to save you some $$

Overall verdict:

If you pay to get your hair dyed, you should really look after it to preserve the colour and salon finish look. Colouring isn’t cheap (around $400 for full head foils + base + cut in Auckland anyway). So it’s a good idea to do what you can to keep the colour for as long as possible. Wella SP Colour Save is affordable and great for coloured hair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**There are several things still up for grabs in my sale including beauty products (new) – check it out on my Facebook **

Clearing Out My Closet

As promised, I have begun my clear out! Check out my items for sale on my Facebook.

There are so many items up for grabs, I’ll just keep posting until I have free space in my wardrobe. Many of the items I am selling are NEW and UNWORN.

I am selling items from: ASOS, Topshop, Motel, River Island, Ksubi, Sass & Bide and many more! 

If you are a fan on Facebook you and you mention this, you’ll get 10% off

Here is the link to the SALE

FAQs

Why am I selling these things that are new?

Why am I selling pieces that are unworn? Well for starters most of these things came in post and as in my previous blog post, I have had numerous mishaps with online shopping and thus have accumulated many unwanted pieces!

Can I only buy them if I am living in NZ?

No everyone can buy them. As NZ is far away from most countries, I would suggest that you ask me for a quote for shipping first. Not saying it will be expensive, but it’s better to be safe. I am happy for money to be transferred via paypal if you are not living in NZ.

Will shipping be cheaper if I get more than 1 item?

Yes I will be more than happy to combine shipping for you.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to comment below and I will be more than happy to provide you with an answer.

Michelle

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Note: Not all items displayed here are available in the sale.

Vintage Rose

This weekend has been wet and miserable, it’s hard to take pictures when the sky is super over casted and it’s dark out by 3pm.
Nevertheless I had to take pictures of my gorgeous find this week. Bought this vintage sheer floral shirt with gorgeous vintage buttons just this morning Makes a perfect match with my sky blue trousers that I recently received from ASOS. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my 2 most recent purchases from ASOS, they have made 1 mistake too many. First of all, I purchased some knickers shorts in polka dot they sent me black ones. This time round I ordered size 6 pants they gave me what I would have thought was a size 6 until I tried them on and they were clearly too big. They were very sneaky and deliberately cut the sizing tag off and stuck a size 6 label on top of what was clearly a size 8 label. Not quite sure why ASOS should need to trick their customers, I will be very reluctant to make further purchases from them now. I hope you guys haven’t had too many mishaps with them as I have.

On a brighter note, I will be shooting my first fashion shoot next week (will be behind the lens). I am extremely excited about this and have taken a bit of time trying to plan exactly what I would like to do. Fingers crossed for perfect whether days before the shoot and on the day of course.

I will be heading off to Cairns & Brisbane in 2 weeks! Hoping to get some more sun, do a bit more diving and snorkeling and perhaps explore what I think is my home-to-be. I think we have grown out of our shell here, though I will miss my friends and family, it may be time to move on in life more sooner than I thought.

I am doing a MAJOR CLOTHING CLEAR OUT, will be posting numerous items I am trying to get rid of for exceptionally low prices for my followers. Both international and local fans can get their hands on these. So keep in touch!

Have items from Sass & Bid, Ksubi, Wrangler, ASOS etc..

Add us on Facebook for Sale Deals!!!

Wearing: Vintage Floral Shirt, ASOS Linen Pintuck Trousers , ASOS Lavender Skinny Belt, Steve Madden Traisie Pumps in Metallic Bronze, Mango Bow Clutch,

With Love

The weather was fabulous this weekend. It was sunny, cool and crisp. I headed over to the domain at around 4pm to make use of the amazing late afternoon lighting and just for a breather. It’s one of these days that makes me appreciate where I am and what I am doing. Though my day to day job can be classified as some what tedious and boring at least there’s life outside the work right? It has occurred to me that the people around me don’t have lives outside work and by lives I mean hobbies or things they like to do perhaps on a more regular basis as oppose to shopping, movies, drinking etc. It’s somewhat disheartening to see people who hate what they do but they seem to be stuck inside the square called work and hence that’s all they live for.

Someone once said to me when you’re young you have no money, plenty of time and energy but when you are old you’ll have plenty of money, no time and no energy. That’s why we need to find the balance. What’s the point in working your butt off to earn a bucket load of money when you’ll have no time or health to spend it? Isn’t it more wise to earn some money spend some of it over and over again? I am probably just speaking for myself because I love travelling and that’s all I can think about everyday. But there’s not much time between the time you start to earn and the time when you have a family and settle down. No point in looking back when you are 40 and thinking that you should have done things differently – that is called regret and it’s probably the worse feeling ever.

I am probably just having an almost quarter life realisation, can’t really call it a crisis because I am happy that I have time to travel, work and play.

But honestly, even the slightest thing such as breathing crisp cool air or nature is better appreciated when you are happy. I use to visit this very park where I took these pictures everyday as I parked my car there and walked to uni, but never did I in the 4 years I was at uni appreciate the beauty of the leaves and trees there.

What are your thoughts on this? Comment below!

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Review: Kerastase Fusio-Dose Treatment

The Kerastase Fusio-Dose is an innovative in salon treatment. Don’t judge the book by its cover, the fusio-dose is literally resembles a shot containing an intense concentrate of goodies for your hair.

The problem with previous treatments was that they used a one-size-fits-all model where there’s a treatment for coloured hair, dry hair, oily hair etc.. But what if you have a combination of hair conditions? I highly doubt many people would fork out for multiple hair treatments in the salon.

The beauty of the Fusio-Dose is that you can combine different hair treatments in ONE. The initial dose of goodness is in the concentrate – so this comes in the bottle. There is:

• Concentre Substantif – purple – volume & density. To increase thickness of hair.
• Concentre Vita-Ciment – green – reinforcement to replenish protein. For strength and repair.
• Concentre Oleo-Fusion – orange – renourishment for dry hair. Creating a smooth and sleek finish.
• Concentre Pixelist – pink – colour protection. To enhance colour brilliance.

Then there are 4 booster caps which when connected to the concentrate it releases an intense dose of goodness.

• Ionium – orange – nutrition. The ionium molecules will penetrate the hair to create improve smoothness of each hair filament.
• Ceramid – green -strength. To restore damage.
• Polyphenols- pink – colour radiance. For long lasting colour protection. This booster has anti-oxidants to prevent fading of hair colour.
• Omega 3 & 6 – purple – replenishment. To restore elasticity of the hair.

In my experience, my hair stylist used the Concentre Pixelist & Polyphenol booster in my hair just before the photoshoot to enhance the radiance and brilliance of the colour. I was absolutely amazed by the results of the treatment. As I had the top section of my hair coloured to a deep purple colour, anyone who has tried to colour their hair purple would know how easiy it washes out to a red. I was already reluctant to wash my hair everyday in between the week of the hair show and photoshoot as I knew the colour would be compromised. Once my hair stylist used the Fusio-Dose on my hair before the photoshoot, the colour reverted back to the deep purple that it was the day she dyed it.

I went through about 10 odd Fusio-Dose treatments in the 2 weeks I was doing the competition. My hair stylist definitely looked after my hair well before and after the competition which I am super grateful for.

The actual treatment:

Basically the hair dresser would combine the concentrate with the booster and spray this mixture thoroughly in the hair. Following this is a long head massage to allow the ingredients to seep into the hair (so divine). Then it is rinsed out. The whole process only takes about 10-20 minutes, so it’s not long at all.

Cost:

Now this part I can’t be 100% sure of. I know nothing is free of charge. Though I am not 100% definite of the price, I am sure they are fairly reasonable (perhaps around the 25-40 dollar mark per treatment). However, in saying that, if you pop on to the kerastase website (www.kerastase.co.nz) you can sign up for a free complimentary Fusio-Dose when you go into a kerastase salon. I think I first saw this in Mindfood magazine,  there may also be a voucher in Mindfood magazine as well (not too sure). This can be redeemed until late August.

In a nut shell, these mini treatments are amazing, I feel the difference in my hair. Although I use salon shampoo, conditioner and treatments, this is gets your hair to a different level. I would definitely pay for one when I’m in the salon for a cut or colour.

Michelle

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Top Beauty Buys : Hair Care

Just bought some brand new hair products from Beauty Bay and they just arrived in the post. Have decided to go for the Wella SP Colour Save range + the repair mask this time.

Since I have had done multiple trips into the hair salon these past 2 weeks, my hair has been super well conditioned as the hair stylist use numerous treatment shots in my hair – namely the Fusio-Dose. These are mini treatment shots in a bottle which the hair stylist uses after the shampooing stage. I have many praises for these treatments which I will reveal shortly.

I also purchased a leave in product which has thermo-protection and replenishes proteins that are removed from the hair from bleaching, everyday wear and tear – Kerastase Ciment Thermique.

I’ll detailing the shampoo, conditioner, mask, treatments etc.. very soon.

Michelle

Rough it up

Took these shots a few weeks ago but never had the chance to upload them. If you refer back to my older posts, you will have seen that I bought several jackets from a cute little opshop by where I live.

I have never been a huge fan of denim jackets or leather jackets but this was too good of a buy to be missed. It’s a vintagey style denim jacket with leather detailing in the collar and the panels down the front. It’s super thick so it keeps me nice and warm during these colder days.

I also made quite a few purchases last month. Since Urban Outfitters were doing free shipping last month, I bought several items from them. The items I got were pretty disappointing to be honest, it just doesn’t really reflect what it looked like on the web browser, so I’m not sure whether I want to wear the pieces yet. I also made several spontaneous purchases on ASOS, NZSale, Beautybay this weekend and also several pieces of jewelry which I will definitely post up in a later post! Not quite sure what’s up with this kind of spending, probably because it’s too cold outside and I’m cooped up in bed with my electric blanket on, browsing on the ipad or phone.

On another note, I am booking another holiday to get away from this cold will keep you posted hopefully tomorrow on where I am traveling to. Fingers cross we will book the flights tonight!

Thrifted denim jacket, ASOS top, Crazy kaleidoscopic leggings from Boohoo.com, Doc Martens