Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel Review + Brow Tutorial

I have been through numerous of Liz Earle's Eyebrow Pencils (review here) now so I decided to try something a bit different.  The Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel has been around for a while but only recently have they added a wider colour range.  Strike was the original which is for brunettes; they have now added Glimpse for redheads; Awe for blondes and Stare for dark brown/black hair.  I went for Strike as although my hair is light brown with blonde through it I prefer my brows to be darker.

Easy Updo Tutorial: High Ponytail

I have been meaning to do this for ages but I've just not had the motivation for doing hair at all recently - college kind of put me off haha, but here we go finally!  It is the precursor to this post here where I did a casual bun but skipped over the first part where I said put the hair into a high ponytail.

This is a method my hairstylist auntie showed me which is good for holding thick hair up in a ponytail when the weight of it can make it droop.  It would also be good for thin hair too though I think as it would give it extra support - just use finer bobbles if you have thin hair.  I haven't tried this on myself (I'm useless with my own hair anyway!) so I can't say how easy it would be so if you are wanting to wear this yourself you might want to get a friend to give you a hand!

1. Brush the hair and decide where you want the ponytail to sit.  Overestimate the height slightly as it can usually end up being a bit lower than where you originally planned it to be.
2. Using a rat tail comb, place the point where you want the ponytail to be and run it from the centre out to the top of the ear and section that bit off, and do the same for the other side.  Now you should have a top and bottom section.
3. Ignore the top half and just work with the bottom section.  Using your brush, get all the bumps out from the hair underneath, brushing up the way towards the top section.  You can spray the brush with hairspray and smooth the hair to hep hold it in place and get rid of flyaways - I forgot...
4. Using a thinner bobble if possible, secure this bottom ponytail as close to the top section as you can.
5. Next let down the top section and brush it.  Then smooth it all back holding it tight and using the bobble you've already got in as a guide.  Hold it in position over the first bobble and brush it all into place, you can use the hairspray technique again to give a smooth finish.
6. Finally place a bobble over the whole bundle of hair, including the bobble you put in first.

Holding the hair up, you can see how it looks from underneath - this is why a thinner bobble is preferable for the first one.  However from the top it just looks like a normal ponytail!  Anyway I hope this helps, if you try this on yourself please let me know whether it's successful or not, I'm sure it could be adapted...

<3

  

College #3: 19th Century Hairstyle

I am putting this under the heading of 'college' rather than the previous hair tutorials I have done because this probably isn't something you would be creating for your average night out!  We are doing 'Postiche and Padding' unit of hairdressing where we have to create styles from 19th, 20th and 21st century.

This was my first attempt at a 19th century (1800s) style which I roughly copied from my research.  It's not perfect but I was quite pleased with it so I thought I'd show you all!

1. I decided on the area where I wanted to fit on the padding.  Because I looked really big I used two pieces.  Then I started pin curling the area.
2. Finished pin curled area.
3. I attached the padding and secured with hair pins.
4. Next I backcombed the hair surrounding the padding to create volume and thickness.
5. I folded all the backcombed hair in, smoothed the top, and folded it in under itself using more hair pins.
6. I took the whole front area and curled it using tongs, then ruched it and piled it on top of the head.

Finished front

Finished back

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Easy Updo Tutorial: Bridal

This updo is slightly more difficult than the other two I have blogged about but still quite simple.  This was my first attempt alone and I am useless with hair!!  It is more of a formal do and I used it in my bridal shoot, it is really pretty if you have little flowers, clips or a tiara to sit just in front of the sticky-up-bit (technical term).

Spot Tia!

1. Put the hair into a ponytail towards the back of the head, in the crown region.
2. Section the hair and backcomb it, repeat until the whole ponytail is backcombed.
3. Smooth over the top section of the backcombed hair, but make sure to keep the texture underneath.
4. Flip the hair over and pin around where the bobble is using kirbies.  Make sure you overlap the kirbies so they are really secure.
5. Gently bring the hair back over again, roll the ends and pin them under.  You can just use the pointed end of the tailcomb or your fingers to shape the hair and try to make it even.

As you can see mine is rather squint from the front but looks quite good from other angles haha!

<3

Easy Updo Tutorial: Casual Bun

This is another of the hairstyles my auntie showed me.  The big bun is a really popular look at the moment and this is an alternative method to the sock bun or doughnut.  All you need is a bobble and kirbies.  Again, this is the second time I have done this, so hopefully with practice it will get quicker and neater.

1. Put the hair into a high ponytail (easier said than done; I can do a tutorial for a really easy way of getting a high ponytail to stay put, especially for thick hair, so just let me know in the comments if you'd like to see this.).
2. Take a section from the top of the ponytail.
3. Backcomb this section.
4. Repeat until all the ponytail is backcombed, spray with hairspray.
5. Spread the hair around a central point and smooth it out using your brush.
6. Using fingers or the pointed end of a tailcomb, swirl the hair round in a clockwise direction until you get a desired bun shape.  Tuck in the ends and fix with kirbies.  To get them secure, stick the kirbies into the hair and wiggle them around before sliding against the scalp.

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Easy Updo Tutorial: Messy Side Bun (Good for thick hair!)

When I started my make up artistry course I had no idea that hairdressing is such a big part of it!  I thought they usually had separate hair stylists, but apparently more often than not it will be MUA who are left to do the hair - which is slightly terrifying!  I've never had any experience of hairdressing/styling at all, I can't even do my own (partly because of how thick/heavy my hair is, it never plays along...) so I am needing as much practice as I can get.  Fortunately my auntie is a hair stylist and she came round to show me a few simple hair styles that I can use

1. Make a side ponytail close to the nape of the neck.
2. Split the hair into three sections.
3. Fishtail plait* each of the sections.
4. Pull out the folded pieces (the bits that you bring over when plaiting) on each side to double the size of the plait.
5. Lastly, all you need to do is take the 3 plaits and wrap them around the bobble in an artistic sort of way!  Then fix them using kirby grips, you might need quite a few to adjust the shape to your liking.  I find the best way to start is to use the middle section first, bring it under the left hand one and over the top.  It's totally up to yourself though.  You just need to play around with it until you're happy with it.

This is only the second time I have done this updo and I quite like it, I'm sure it will get better the more times I practice it.

The reason that this method is good for thick hair is that you have total control over the hair at all times, if you just attempted it with loose hair, bits would be falling out all over the place!

*To do a fishtail plait, split the hair into two and then take a small piece from the back of one and add it to the other section, then do the same for that section.  Obviously it is much easier to understand if you see it so if you still don't follow then just search on youtube for a tutorial :)

<3

NOTD: Red Half Moon Mani

Wee bit of a different NOTD today!  I created a (messy...) half moon manicure using Nails Inc's Victoria and Albert, so I thought I'd do a mini tutorial sort of thing to show you how I did it.

All you need are hole reinforcement rings which you can buy in most stationary shops, and your normal base coat, colour and top coat.  You can also use a base colour after your base coat, then you will have a colour showing through rather than your natural nail - shown below.  Just make sure the base colour is totally dry before the next step!

Then all you need to do is apply the circles to your nails, trying to make them as central as possible.  You can also cut them in half so you don't use as many, I couldn't find my scissors for this one though!  Next you paint around the stickers, taking care as some can still get underneath.  I used two coats then once they were dry, gently peeled off the circles and applied a top coat.  It's also quite easy to get the colour onto the bare area when putting on the topcoat so you just need to be careful with this, always start at the bottom and try not to go over it too much.

Excuse the really old photo on the left, only one I seem to have taken of those nails, so silly!!

You can also do it freehand to create a V shape instead, but I found it so difficult to get the sides even!

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