Did I feel blue?

Howdy,

So I had this pout paint by Sleek sitting in my makeup box for two months. One day I came home and though what the dickens am I waiting for?! So obviously I wacked some on, no mixing or altering and now I know what people mean when they say love at first sight. Blue lips will forever be a part of my staple looks.

The paint is highly pigmented and you only need a very small amount to fully cover the lips (even with juicy ones like mine). All I needed was the size of one and a half grains of rice. The other thing I love about this is that it blends so well with anything. I mixed it with a purple and got the most gorgeous violet colour. The other colours in the rang will definetly be purchaced. I can't wait to get mixing!!

Hope you like and if you have any questions, comments or suggestions comment below.

Remember to always be the best you.

Rhianne xx

The Vitality Show! Did you miss it?

Howdy to you all good people.

Sunday 24th March I toddled along down to Earl's Court to what I can only describe as the health frenzy aka the Vitality show. The excitement in the place was palpable as we entered and my friend and I prepared ourselves for more freebies than we could ever imagine.

I think at this point I will back track slightly and say that although, yes, freebies are always tempting they are not what drew me to the show. I had seen it advertised in basically every paper I had read since the beginning of January (slight hyperbole but fit for purpose), and I was curious. What was it? Who goes there? and so and and so forth. So to cut a long story short I hit the website and decided that I wanted to go and with tickets discounted to £10 how could I say no. It wasn't until my colleague mentioned the freebies that I got very excited.

 

So onward.

The building was busting at the seams with a health, fitness and nutrition section which accounted for most of the floor space there was also a large health and beauty section (obviously my favourite) and a holistic health area.

The health fitness and nutrition section yielded a variety of healthy snacking options and a lot of competing granola bars. There were countless types of exercise stalls including Pilate's and yoga complete with free demonstrations. A meditation area seemed to complete the area encouraging the whole healthy self, spirit, mind and body. The whole area was fascinating and what I got out of it was that being healthy is not boring and you do have options. It lit a little fire in me and got me thinking about my health.

Health and Beauty!!!!

 



Bomb Cosmetics and their super duper
bath bombs.

Sally Hanson nail clinic.

Hazaa!!! When we made it around to the health and beauty section I truly felt at home.  From hair demonstrations to a nail clinic I knew I was bound to come across something I loved. For anyone who has been to a large scale show or event you know how it is on the last day. Hoards of people scouting for the last freebie, elbows thrusting and toes being crushed. Yet, it was worth it. Bags full of testers and samples for £1, £2 and £3 and countless wellbeing talks. I felt truly in my element. I spotted the the Sally Hanson nail bar in the hopes of getting booked in for a manicure and was faced with the 'Fully Booked' sign although disappointed my spirit was not crushed and in the space of ten minutes I had accumulated eight bags of varying size and weight. Obviously the time had come for a condensing session. After eight bags became 2.5 and a handbag, I wandered along in to the holistic section full of personal coaches, psychics and (I was truly shocked) a Jesus corner. It was really great to see a group of Christians representing and fully in the mix.

There were a few things that stood out at the show for me. One of them was a product at the Amy Child's stand (Yes The Only Way is Essex star). She had a  range of products available for sale, including a hot pink hooded dryer. Yes I said it. A hooded dryer *swoons*.

My hooded dryer!

Just a tangent for those naturals who don't use heat on their hair, air drying can be irritating sometimes. You go to sleep with a semi- wet head of hair and dreams of how wonderful your hair will be in the morning. Sunrise rolls around and... your hair is still damp rendering your extravagant doo null and void. This is my experience and it is beyond frustrating. With that in mind I had been thinking of investing in a hooded dryer both for drying and steaming. When I saw this baby I knew I had to have her. It folds up neatly in to a little hot pink bag with drawstrings on the top. When fully extended you put your hair dryer into the spring nozzle section and away you go. I will give the dryer a full review very soon.

My magic brush!

The second item of note was a magical brush I got my hands on. Yes, it looks like a weapon of torture but it posses the ability to detangle hair without brushing conventionally. 'What are you talking about Rhianne?' I hear you cry, well that's exactly what I said to the woman doing the demonstration. She said ' You just roll the brush along the hair and Bob's your uncle.' With eyebrow raised (yes singular) and hand on hip I proclaimed  'Yes lady, that is all well and good with your straight flowing locks, bus as you can see I have very curly hair.' She insisted it would work and so I insisted that I try it. (Please note my hair
had just come out of perm rods and was just headed in to the frizzy stage). I was proved very wrong. The brush worked! For real real. So they were £10 each or four brushes for £20 and I bought the four so I could give three away!!!!!!  I will do a review of the brush and then I will have my first blog give away. Exiting right? Do not miss out! Watch this space.

So all in all the Vitality Show in my opinion was a success. I learned so much about my diet and health I discovered some beauty products and tips I will not live with out and I will certainly be buying a ticket for next years show.

I would encourage you if you can, next year, go have a look, and enjoy! It's worth it.

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post and remember to always be the best you!

Rhianne xx

Best twist out ever! Coming to a head near you.

Best twist out of my life? But how Rhianne I hear you cry....

Well it was all thanks to the old faithful... coconut oil. Yes you heard it right. The one people cook with the one that is cheaper than most conditioners at £2.50 a tub.
I guess all that's left is the how and that is always the most exciting part *winks a lot*.

Threw in a length check for good measure!

So I started out with the trusty wash using my conditioner mix (post of products will follow shortly). I was going to just do my normal glycerin and water spray and Shea mix and let my hair air dry but I thought hey, haven't done a DC (deep condition) in a while, so, it had to happen. Next option was what to deep condition with? I'd heard rave reviews about people DCing with coconut oil and so I decided to give it a whirl. Sectioned my hair, applied coconut oil liberally, flat twisted the sections, slapped a plastic cap on, and then came the bit I really enjoyed, a movie and a nap. I left it in for about three hours. When I woke up and washed the oil out, with lukewarm water; my hair was unbelievably soft. Akin to the skin on a baby's bum soft and it was compliant *insert shocked face*.  I know my hair to be difficult and refuse to do what I want. However it did exactly what I told it so I decided to go all out.
My Shea mix and Cantu leave in were worked in to each of the sections and I proceeded to flat twist (medium twists) using Ecostyler gel (olive oil) for hold and my trusty Denman brush  modified for Afro hair) for smoothing those curls.

Result? As the title denotes, the best twist out of my entire life. This is not hyperbole I promise. It was springy, well shaped, and the definition was tip top. Now I am not one for rocking a twist out just as it is, no pins no bows, but this one was worth it and all thanks to my £2.50 tub of coconut oil!

People have been asking quite frequently (often stopping me in the street) what I use in my hair, what I do to it at night, how I make it curly ect. So watch out for the next posts which will be....(insert drum roll)....... products! From shampoo, sealant and everything in between!

If you have any questions post in the comments and I will surely get back to you. :)

Thanks for reading and remember to be the best you.

Rhianne xxx

Hello good people hope this finds you in good health and high spirits.

So, I have found in my day to day life that my hair has become a topic of conversation, not intentionally by it still shocks me sometimes.

My waeved hair.

Natural kinky curly hair has come into focus in the UK over the last ten years and now it would seem nearly everyone (I meet anyway) is on a natural hair journey. For me going natural was an accident. I had a friend who used to practice weaving my hair, and I had various weaves in for a year plus. In that time I relaxed the parts of my hair that would be on show (the front back and sides) and pretty much neglected the rest of it. Towards the end of 2011 I went for the box braid look and absolutely loved it, I kept the style till February 2012 and when I was unble to find someone to re do my braids I took them out, and there it was. My untamable, dry, head of hair. I didnt know what I was going to do with it! So I did what I knew best. Washed my hair with my generic shampoo without dividing into sections, didn't bother conditioning (couldn't be asked). I then attempted to detangle the matted mess atop my head, which took in excess of an hour. I left half of my hair on the floor of my bedroom,  it was a ball the size of a fist. Then I applied oil and grease to my hair and scalp and blowdried on high heat with a paddle brush. I looked at my hair and though what an utter travesty. Why isn't my texture nicer? Why can't my hair be longer? My hair is not good hair.

The first fight/ wash with my
natural hair (February 2012)

I then had what can only be described as an epiphany. Why shouldn't I be able to wear my hair and be happy? Surley this is a part of being content with myself. It spiralled from there. I needed information.  I needed to know what to do with my hair, how to style it, how to manage it and how to appreciate it. So obviously I went to the place that can teach you everything. YouTube! Since last february I have watched countless videos, read countless articles and blogs and consulted many many books and soaked up the information. One year on I am a different person for it.

One of my staple styles for 2012 (wash and go)

Although my routine is by no means perfect and I still get breakage and make mistakes my hair has taught me lessons in one year that I had been trying to learn my whole life. Embrace you. The way you are is not a mistake and people will always appreciate you being yourself.

I know it has been a very long one but this is the first in my natural hair series! Very excited to share my routine, favourite products and tools and many more nuggets of gold!

Please share  and spread the revolution! :)

Ciao for now and always be the best you!

Rhianne XxX

Hey y'all,

So this post is going to be about my outfit of the day (OOTD), hair of the day (HOTD) and face of the day (FOTD) and it is well and truly overdue. I loved the day I took these pictures because I was having a terrible hair day but I still managed to make it work *does a little dance*. So without delay, here it is....

Please excuse the shower puff in the back,
You know how we be doing bathroom
modelling.

The FOTD was a very slightly smoky eye and a nude lip. However, because we like to keep it jazzy I added a dark lip liner (currant, MAC) for a bit of fun. 

I was going to Church so I wasn't looking for anything too extravagant and this look was just right.

Hair of the day...

So it is a sad story, but I shan't bore you with all that, I'll give you the short (ish), sweet version. I wanted to try a twist out with quite small twists, to see what kind of definition I would get, to see if it would last longer and if it was easier to style. So I went on ahead and did my twist out on the Saturday night. On Sunday, I did my makeup then started taking down the twists all excited about how I was going to style it and I was met with a crazy defined but uncontrollable head of hair. I wanted to have it out to show off some of the definition but it was not happening.

These pictures were taken by my dear
brother who neglected to tell me my hair
 was trying to escape.

  

So after fighting with my mane for twenty minutes (!!! for me it was like a life time) I grabbed all the bobby pins I owned and set about tucking it all away. To be honest I wasn't expecting much but when I finished I was beyond happy with the result.

 The front was rolled almost like I was going to do a quiff and the back was simple rolled up. So simple, yet elegant, and I will definitely never underestimate up dos again.

 So onto the final piece in the jigsaw, OOTD.
Now I've been thinking about getting healthy and loosing weight for a while, so I've not been buying clothes unless it was absolutely necessary BUT, when I saw this dress in River Island, I fell in love. I'm a curvy girl so if I'm wearing something clingy it has to be strategically done and the panels on this dress, did me justice (even if I do say so myself.) It's midi length so it's not to short and to top it all off it was only £35. I will happily wear this dress until it gets too big for me or it falls apart, which ever comes first.

My accessories from top to bottom, earrings are from Primark, Necklace is Aldo, bracelet is Primark and my watch is also from Aldo.

So it has been a long one but I hope you enjoyed.
Ciao for now and remember to be the best you.

Rhianne xx

Glasses from Claire's Accessories

What up home skillets!

Bow from Aldo

So this is ridiculously late considering that we are now approaching the end of January BUT, I like the pictures so much I still want to post them. 

So at Christmas, to get all the staff and customers in the festive mood    my manager suggested that we dress up in reds and greens, which, I initially thought would be a lot of hassle. It did, however, turn out to be a lot of fun. My favourite day was Christmas Eve. I had made it up in my mind to go all out and do something special. The natural conclusion? Mrs Clause. Yes I went to work as Mrs Clause complete with with red dress and snowflake on my face. It was well received and the day was a lot of fun.

Earrings from Superdrug

My hair I kept in a simple quiff and puff (my best to date even if i do say so myself). For me, the accessories really did make this outfit.

 

I do love a bit of dressing up :D

Hope you enjoyed the look and remember to be the best you.

Rhianne xx

Howdy y'all,

 

So this was big hair week for me. The Christmas atmosphere had my spirits high and the excitement at work was palpable and to be honest it propelled me to do the best hair and makeup!

 

Just a quick bit about my hair then and then on with the good stuff, my hair is natural (not chemically processed) and has been for nearly two years. On the hair typing system I fall into the 4A and 4B types. The back half of my hair, being 4a, has a much looser curl pattern than the front and as a result doing simple styles tends to make me look a tad unhinged, the kind of look I generally avoid.

 

So Sunday I decided to hit church and as it happened I was in a bit of a retro mood so I pulled the front of my hair down to my forehead to create a  full curly fringe. I then used a scarf, procured from Primark, to tie a bow into my hair in a 50s housewife style and the most important part of course, fluff! I stretched the hair secured by the scarf so it was just poking over the top.

 

My makeup was very understated with a defined dark brown eyelid crease and nude lips and the usual under eye, nose and forehead contouring. (I will be posting a more in depth makeup routine shortly.)

 

My outfit also had a retro theme to tie it all together.

My black body I got from Select which is one of the hit or miss shops.  Can look a little tack at time but has some real gems at times.It has a black mesh cut out along the cleavage line and the sleeves, this section also has small black fuzzy dots.

 

My skirt was a Gap pencil skirt that I bought from Sawgrass Mills whilst on holiday. Finally my shoes!

 

 

My favourite part of the outfit, I got them from Primark and they were an absolute steal at £6. Although  I do love the leopard print, what pushed me over the edge with these was the bow detailing on the front of the shoes. Makes me want to say 'Fabulous' in a Gok Wan voice!

(Yes those are Strawberries on my toenails! One of the nail art designs I am attempting to perfect.)

 My accessories were simple (pictured left) I had two faux pearl bracelets. The smaller one has silver balls with diamante detailing spaced evenly through the bracelet. My brown Aldo watch on my right wrist (picture right). Finally my Aldo earrings which for me gave a nice polished finish (pictured below).

So that was my OOTD one week late. Hope you like :)

 

So, ciao for now and remember to be the best you!

 

Rhianne xx