My Hair Care Routine

At the moment, I am reasonably happy with my hair care routine.

That's not to say that I definitely won't change anything soon, but what I am doing is simple, easy and starts my day well. 

Every second day, I wash my hair using the Sunsilk by Teddy Longer and Stronger shampoo and conditioner. I know that this seems too often to some people, but as my hair is short the oil really changes the way it looks as soon as it is there. I like my hair clean and fresh. 

My hair is also super fine. I'm giving this shampoo and conditioner combo a go to see whether it really can help my hair to become stronger and healthier. It uses protein and calcium to strengthen the hair follicles and is meant to help the hair to grow right from the root.

As I'm growing my hair just a little bit at the moment, I am really hoping this can help. 

I'll give you a full review when I am ready.

ADD PHOTO HERE

After I have stepped out of the shower and towel dried my hair, I spray some of the Tresseme (CHECK SPELLING) heat protectant spray and blow it dry. I do allow my hair to dry a little more before blow drying, it just alleviates some of the time and heat needed to dry the hair. 

ADD PHOTO HERE

Once dry, I add a small amount of the Tresseme Hair Spray (CHECK NAME) to style with, and leave it for the rest of the day. This hairspray doesn't leave my hair too crunchy (as long as you spray it from a distance) and holds for hours. If I need a touch up during the day, I reach for the Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original. I don't currently own one though, will need to pick one up from Priceline in the next few days. 

Scent!

I love delicious smells. And gosh, these are amazing. I have one old and one new to show you, what I like to think of my young and sophisticated scents. 

First of all, we have the Cacharel Natural Spray Perfume in Scarlett. 

This is the older, more mature scent of the two, with a lovely musky yet fruity scent, fresh and vibrant yet it still makes me feel older and beautiful while wearing it. Instead of masking your scent, it seems to adapt to you, adding instead of hiding what is already there.

This one is not actually a perfume, but is a body mist by the Body Shop. In Pink Grapefruit, this is exactly what it describes. Probably thought more of as a summer scent, I am still enjoying it as we head from Autumn into winter. There's not much that I can actually say about this, because it is exactly what it states, and perfectly captures the scent of the fruit.

The Dance Mini Video!

Yes, it's finally here. The video I worked on to promote the DanceMini dance floor on its tour of Australia.

Thought I might actually show you the results!

Dance Mini - Eyes Edition

And here we go again with another Dance Mini themed blog post. 

This time the focus will be on the eyes.

I've narrowed this field down to the three most used products over the weekend.

First of all, I used one of my current favourites as a base. On some people, I chose to use the Australis Eye Shadow Primer, a good quality cruelty free product. But for the most part, I used the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded. I talk about this product in more detail in my march favourites, but as a basic overview it is a creme eyeshadow base that hold well and doesn't crease.

I chose to use this particular champagne colour as it is light, and simple to use. When you begin with a light base, it is easy to build bright colours.

I used this not only as a base for eyeshadow, but also as the inner corner highlight that we are all looking for these days.

Secondly, I used the Colette Hayman eyes palette in this lovely set of four colours. As the shoot was orange themed, I wanted to use a peachy tone that was natural but added an orange style accent to the look. This palette is particularly good to use on fair skin, and looked absolutely beautiful on one of the contemporary dancers, who had strawberry blonde hair. It really brought out her eyes. 

The gold in this mix is actually my favourite colour at the moment, with a green base (sounds scary, I know) and golden highlights. 

The quality of this eyeshadow palette is stunning. The shadows are smooth and very easy to blend with very little fallout.

Last but not least, I used this palette to create any other eye looks that I felt were necessary. I bought this from a make up artist website, but you can find similar ones on ebay for a very cheap price. Great for a starter kit.

Annoyingly, early on I peeled off the stick on label, and so can't actually tell you which brand mine is.

Having a palette like this sometimes can seem like it was sent from the gods. With a great range of colours that are easy to mix to find your perfect match, I find myself reaching for this to solve a range of challenges. I use this to fill in eyebrows of most shades, add a matte highlight, line the eyes or to create a beautiful eye look. I highly recommend finding yourself one of these.

Making masks!

A short introduction to this post. A week ago, I had a call asking me to make two masks for a video shoot of a film clip for The Acfield's new song, Grabbed Me by the Heart.

Heres a link to the song - https://soundcloud.com/pricewarmusic/the-acfields-grabbed-me-by-the

Isn't it just lovely?

I thought I'd do a blog post on how I made the two masks, why I used the techniques that I used, and hopefully to inspire you with the urge to make something in the future!

(A shot of one of the final results)

Personally, I love to work with wire as a base. I find it super flexible and easy to mould to most shapes. 

I began by measuring out the face shape from a basic design. The shape and design of these masks was actually quite specific, they needed to have strong lines and be large in size, while still being lightweight and easy for kids to play with. 

I then went over the design with a sharpie, and began to mould the wire into the basic shapes required, taping them down to stabilise them as I worked.

Next, I removed the shape from the paper, and soldered the wire together. You can get a basic soldering iron and solder from Bunnings and other craft stores, I bought mine off of Ebay a while ago. It's not the best, but it gets me there. 

When soldering, make sure to wear the appropriate PPE. 

While working, the wire surrounding the soldering point will become quite hot so be careful not to burn yourself. I am making myself some protective finger tip gloves to work with. 

After this point, I covered the mask in a thin foam layer. You can buy sheets of this foam in A2 size at Lincraft. Using foam glue, I moulded the foam to the shape of the wire. While the glue set, I held the mask together using masking tape. I actually ended up leaving the masking tape on for the rest of the process, as it didn't affect the final result. 

The final step in creating the base was adding something for the paint to hold to. I chose to use very delicate layers of tissue paper, as it was light and would grip to the shape of the mask well. Usually I would choose to use something a little sturdier, but as I needed these masks to be large but super light, this seemed to be the way to go. 

Once that was dry it was time to paint!

Finally, I added a thin layer of a flexible varnish to give it a little more strength and attached the sticks that would allow the children to use them. 

When the film clip is ready, I'll post it on my blog.

Dance Mini - The Face Edition

Continuing on the current theme, I thought I would show you some of the face products I used on the dancers for the Dance Mini shoot. 

There are four products I stuck to over the weekend. Using a range of colours and mixes, I found shades and weights to suit each of the talent at each of the varied locations. 

First, I'll talk about the powder and concealer. 

Using the Maybelline Mineral Power concealer, I coloured the dark circles of sleepless nights, and minor blemishes. Using different colours and weights I worked on a range of people. The consistency is creamy, it brushes on well and has light, buildable coverage. 

Secondly, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte powder in 001, translucent. I was able to use this on most of the dancers. It truly is an amazing product. Being a dance shoot, I needed to use my fair share of this to keep people looking cool, calm and collected. Smooth and finely milled, I find that this doesn't create a cakey look and blends easily into the skin, giving an almost airbrushed finish. 

For foundations, I worked with two products, somehow again from Rimmel and Maybelline.

For the men and some of the girls, I chose to use a BB cream over a foundation, or I mixed the two together to create the right shade and consistency. 

The BB cream I chose was the Maybelling Dream Pure BB Cream. This comes in two options, for oily skin and normal to dry skin and a reasonable colour range (although for me, it doesn't go quite light enough, and at the other end of the spectrum, doesn't suit dark skin). I find that the colour is not too orange - something I have found in many BB creams in the past. The consistency is similar to a tinted moisturiser, with a slightly heavier colour payoff. It blends into the skin like magic.

For foundation, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte foundation in again, a range of colours. This is a pretty heavy foundation, and not one I would recommend for dry skin. But as the shoot was dance themed, the talent were sweating, so anything to keep them looking as healthy and matte for as long as possible was great by me. If the dancer had dry skin, I mixed it with the BB cream and it added some moisture back to the consistency. For more on this foundation, see my march favourites.

Dance Mini - Lipstick Edition

A sneaky little post about the lip products I chose for the Dance Mini shoot.

The car was orange. I'll say that again, the car was orange. The idea for the shoot (especially for day two) was that the main colours would be black and white, with accents of orange. So naturally, I leant towards the orange lipsticks.

First on my list (and top left) is the Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in 910, Shocking Coral. 

Although not the most orange of the lot, it is the smoothest and most moisturising of the lot. This lipstick seems to suit most skin tones (and I have to say that it's definitely my lipstick of the moment).

Secondly, and centre, there is the Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 210, Coral in Gold. This has reigned supreme in my favourites for a very long time. I've been wearing it for years, and so when I had the chance to use the same colour on a film shoot I took the opportunity as soon as I could! The colour is beautiful, orange with lovely gold shimmer. The lipstick lasts for hours, something I can't say for the Maybelline one above. 

Lastly in our line of lipsticks, is the MAC Lustre in Jest. A bit of a deeper colour, with some brown tones and again, the gold highlights. Although this one doesn't really suit me, it is perfect for darker skin tones. The quality is beautiful, and it should be for the going price.

Lastly, an honourable mention goes to the Dior Kiss lipgloss in 245. This is the old packaging, but I believe it is still the same product. The sheen is stunning, but it does feel a little sticky on the lips. 

I used my holy grail product, the Lucas Paw Paw ointment to keep everybody's lips healthy and fresh for the three days. 

Home made zucchini bread

At first, when I found this recipe, I was a little sceptical.

Sweet zucchini bread? Sounds odd. But I had a problem on my hands, in the form of a giant zucchini that I had to work out what to do with it all.

See the issue? 

So far, I've made four meals (including this bread) out of the one zucchini, and I think I may have enough for one more. But I'm quickly running out of ideas.

Anyway, enough about the mega zucchini. 

This bread is delicious, best served with a little ricotta or avocado spread on top, or as I have been mostly eating it, a good amount of butter. 

I found this recipe online: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_bread/ 

but as I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, I adapted it to suit my pantry. 

Ingredients:

2 Eggs, beaten

1 1/3 cup raw sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

3 cups fresh grated zucchini

2/3 cup melted olive oil spread

4 teaspoons baking powder

Large pinch of salt

3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sultanas

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

2. In a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, olive oil spread and zucchini. Give it all a good mix. 

3. Add the walnuts and sultanas.

4. Mix the baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon and flour together and then add, a little at a time, to the mixture.

5. Add the mixture to a well oiled pan. I used two pans as it is what I had on hand, and froze the second loaf once it had cooled. Bake for 60 minutes, but check at 50. Use a metal skewer to test if the bread is ready. If the skewer comes out clean, its done. 

6. Turn off the oven and leave the bread in to brown.

7. Turn out onto wire racks to cool, spread with your choice of deliciousness and enjoy!

So simple, uses one bowl and a couple of measuring devices and tastes great.  

DanceMini

Evening everyone.

Just thought I'd give you all a good update on my work over the last weekend. 

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be called by the guys at Tooth and Claw (I'll link their website below) about work as a make up artist for a shoot with Mini Cooper and VICE magazine. Of course, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and dove straight in!

On Friday the 9th, I grabbed my suitcase full of supplies and made my way down to the Melbourne Pavillion to join the talent and crew. From there, the weekend started rolling. It felt great to be back on set working with some exceptionally talented people, both dancers and crew. 

Over the three days, at three locations, I did makeup and some basic styling for some incredible people. 

The makeup was fairly natural, and I tried to keep it true to each of the dancers personal style and dance type. We had five different styles of dance (at one point all happening at the same time), and so keeping the talent looking like themselves was very important. 

The hours were long, and the time passed both quickly and slowly depending on what was happening in the space. 

There's more to come during the week when I highlight what products I used, how I packed my kit and other bits and bobs to do with the shoot. 

The video should be up by the end of the month, and so I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, the last video I shot with Tooth and Claw is on their website, here;

http://toothandclaw.com.au/

Have a good look around on their website, their stuff is always incredible. 

My current favourite nail polishes

These two nail polishes are glorious. To begin with, they have the cutest names of any nail polishes I have ever heard - Absolutely Shore (left) and Bikini so Teeny (right). The names alone make me smile.

Absolutely Shore is the palest seafoam green colour that ever did happen. When I first bought the product, I really hated it. I put it away in a drawer for a while and ignored it, until one day I decided to give it another go. 

(Apologies for my funny hands, this is what I'm talking about!) 

This time round, I've been a little more patient with it, and have forgiven its initial streaky-ness by adding a few more layers. The colour itself begins sheer, and I can imagine it would look great on a white base, but it is super buildable. I have around 3-4 layers on and it is now a solid colour. Lovely. 

Somehow, it manages to make my sausage like pink fingers look longer, fresher and more elegant. I feel like I have hands when I wear it, which sounds silly, but my hands are one of my features that I fear. 

Bikini so Teeny is a dark pastel. Its similar to a lavender in colour, but with a little more grey added. The colour only needs around two layers to become true. Again, the colour surprises me by pulling the focus of the red tips of my fingers to the nails themselves. 

Review: Natio Acne Clear Spots

I thought I might just do a little review on a current favourite of mine, the Natio Acne Clear Spots. 

I have been using this for around 4 months now.

Usually, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with spot treatments. As someone who isnt prone to many pimples (lucky, I know), I tend to freak out a little when I get one and reach for the nearest pimple treatment handy. 

In the past, I have used the clearasil spot treatment, and found that there isnt much of an effect. So when I picked this product up, I wasn't too hopeful. It sure caught me by surprise!

The application is simple, just squeeze a little out of the tube onto your clean fingers and dot onto the spots where you need it. A little goes a long way, so be careful only to take a little at a time. 

I tend to apply in the mornings after my moisturiser but before my makeup, and at nights at the end of my makeup routine. Sometimes, for particularly bad spots, I also add a little Lucas Paw Paw ointment on top of the spot and treatment, and by morning it has soaked into the skin leaving a fresh moisturised area around the blemish.

Usually, the size of the spot has at least halved by the next day. The first few times that I used this, the spot disappeared overnight. For more stubborn spots, it might take a couple of days. 

I am so excited about this product! I have a couple of spots now, so I might just pop off to add some of this miracle to my face. 

Brush Cleaning - Step by step

I am about to do another shoot with Tooth and Claw Productions, and so needed to give my brushes a good deep clean before using them over the weekend. 

This photo is of just a few of my favourites. 

You will need:

- Olive Oil.

- Detergent. Try to opt for one that isn't too harsh, and is made of fairly natural ingredients. Today I used the Green Action Peppermint Dishwashing Liquid, whic is phosphate free and smells divine. 

- Warm water

- Paper towels. Choose a softer super absorbent towel. I only had cheap crunchy ones today, and the result was that I had to use more to make it work. 

- One large plate or a few small ones. 

1. I always begin by setting up my area. Brush cleaning can take a little while, so I tend to put on a youtube video (I love the Essie Button Vlogs) and clean off my table. 

In three separate bowls, I add a small amount of Olive Oil, Detergent and warm water. 

I line the bowls up in the order that I have listed them, and place my plate with two paper towels layered on it after the water. 

2. Now that the space is set up, I begin.

First, dip your brush in the olive oil. I like to swirl it around on the side of the bowl, it keeps your hands clean. Once I have done this I lightly wipe the brush on a spare piece of paper towel and then clean the swirled edge of the bowl with the same towel. 

3. Next, swirl your brush in the detergent in much the same way as you did with the olive oil. Repeat the steps with the paper towel and move onto step four. 

4. Lastly, swish your brush around in the warm water. I find that you will need to change the water in the bowl fairly often throughout the cleaning process. If you like, you can run the brush under warm water instead. Try not to use hot water as it can melt the glue in the shaft of the brush and you'll find that the brushes will begin to lose hairs. Place the brush on the plate with the paper towels to dry.

Tip: Try to dry your brushes tilting or hanging down. I don't have a way to hang my brushes without crushing the bristles, so I lay them down using the lip of the plate to tilt the bristles down. If the brushes are dried flat or with the bristles up, the glue may become unsettled and the brushes just wont last as long.

I try to clean my brushes before and after each shoot, and do a basic clean of my most used brushes once a week. If you'd like to know how I do a basic clean, let me know and I'll do a post. 

Poppy Lane

Time for a quick Poppy Lane update.

For the past few days I've been getting a little crafty, making patterns and testing out new bits and pieces to start selling on my shop in the coming weeks!

I'm pretty excited, are you?

March Makeup I'm Mad For

Just a little snippet into the makeup I've been loving for the past month (or months, I've been stuck on a few of these for a while). 

Each of these items has well and truly earned its place on the shelf in my bathroom, whether for prettiness or practicality, these are the bomb!

So without further ado, here they are;

1. Natio Mineral Pressed Powder - Bronzer and Enhancer in Warm Day

Now that its coming into the cooler months, I'm in need of a bronzer and highlighter that instead of making me look too sunkissed, just gives me a healthy glow. And I've found the perfect duo! 

These two products are the softest, silkiest powders I have ever felt. Yes, ever. 

The Bronzer is a fairly dull brown, and without the lovely shimmer running throughout I would almost be ready to write it off as boring. But the shimmer absolutely saves it. 

Now usually I don't love shimmer in my bronzer, finding that it can go past glow and become scary shiny throughout the day. But this doesn't seem to do that. I've been wearing it for over a month now and whenever I use it - both to contour and bronze (yes, this product is just that good) - I feel like my skin looks refreshed, vibrant and healthy. Brilliant!

The Highlighter is a pale pink colour with cooler undertones. The shimmer particles (thats what I'll call them, I can't think of any other way of describing it) are so fine that instead of looking like an awkward chunky glitter it just looks like a lovely glow. Not too dewy, fine for the cooler weather, and a powder that lasts all day.

2. Natio Blusher in Peach Glow

Again with the Natio! They just seem to be hitting the spot for me at the moment! (Don't let me get started on the pimple cream, I'll go for days.)

This blush, like the highlighter and bronzer, is the silkiest, loveliest, smoothest powder I have yet found. I find myself feeling a little special as I put it on, and it adds a super natural flush to the cheeks. It's difficult to go overboard with this (although it is a powder, so remember to tap your brush before adding it to the face) and the glow mentioned in the name is less of a shimmer and more of a natural blush. I use the Real Techniques stippling brush to apply, although I'm not in love with the method and as soon as I wash my brushes I'll be looking for a new one to apply with. 

3. Rimmel Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting Concealer in 010 Ivory

Wow, that's a mouthful of a name! I don't know about the skin tone adapting part of it, but the rest of the name is absolutely true to its word. 

My skin has been super tempremental lately, really oily in patches on one day, then completely drying out the next. I'm putting it down to weather, but I'll be swapping out a few of my skin care products to see if it helps. 

This concealer handles my crazy skin fine, it covers the dry patches without a fuss, and even seems to stay on the oiliest of days. The colour, 010 Ivory, matches my skin well but may be a shade too light for my chin and the darker areas of the face. I particularly like to use it as a pick me up under my eyes.

4. M.A.C. Paint Pot in Lets Skate

Sorry guys, this one was a limited edition paint pot from a little while back. If youre lucky, you might find it on Ebay or a similar website. 

Because its a limited edition, I wont say too much about it, just that it is super smooth, creamy, glittery and makes me happy. 

5. Revlon Grow Luscious Waterproof Mascara in Dark Brown

This mascara promises a lot of things. It promises to condition your lashes. Tick. It promises to make them grow longer. Tick (although I can't know for sure, the effect hasn't been super dramatic). It promises to make them look thicker. Tick. 

I feel like this mascara has done aye okay by me. It is a real bugger to get off though, make sure you have some good eye makeup remover handy when using it. I've been using the Garnier Micellair Cleansing Water and its working just fine. Although, if anyone has any reccommendations, let me know!

6. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze and the Barely Branded

Anyway, these are on a lot of peoples holy grail list. And for good reason. The super creamy stay all day formulation is easily the most blendable cream style eyeshadow I have used in a long time. I tend to swap between using my fingers to apply (mostly if I am using it instead of a primer) and brushes, and both seem to work well. The fingers have a bit of a headway here, the warmth of your skin will melt them a little and make it slightly easier to work with. 

7. The Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent

This pressed powder has been in my makeup kit for a long time. So long that I am almost hitting pan (although you wouldnt tell by the photo, good one camera!). The powder is smooth and seemingly colourless, so much so that I have used it for photo shoots on people with much darker skin than mine and it looks fine. Beautiful in fact. It takes away shine, leaves glow and leaves you with the feeling that your face may or may not have been magically photoshopped - blurring the pores and blemishes. 

I think this one might be in my makeup kit for years and years to come!

If you actually made it through all of that, thanks! If you'd like me to add some links to where you can pick up the products, let me know!

I'll be signing off here for today, see you tomorrow with a quick Poppy Lane update