Evening Jolly to PAKS

After a recommendation during a High Fashion Masterclass with this lady I decided to take a wander to PAKS. It is a cosmetics and hair care shop, well there are several actually, mainly taking up a road in Finsbury Park. They specialise in Afro Caribbean and Asian hair but trust me, there is PLENTY for us white folks too! I literally took in a breath when entering the second store- the first was just hair extensions ( I say JUST hair extensions, it was a decent 30feet by 30feet wall hugging space of JUST hair extensions). SO yes, I breathed in heavily then breathed out again, quite loudly as the Asian guy at the counter asked if I was OK. After trying out some lippies ( not reaaaaally the reason I was there, but when in Rome...) I found just what I was looking for, then found more, and more and before you know it I had filled a small basket with these goodies :)))))

Yes that's right 99p! These are amazing for holding curls or straightened hair to one particular side of the head WITHOUT ' denting' the hair.

Everyone LOVES a doughnut, well I DO... £1.99! These are a fab neat cheat for buns, simply attach to any height or positions ponytail and wrap hair in sections around this little gem as neat or as dishevelled as your heart's desire.

£2.29 bargain. Denman are a real quality brand that have been round for years and years so I was well chuffed to have found these Thermo Ceramic Self Grip rollers. Simply use as you would normal rollers ( I'll be using grips anyway to practise) and blow dry to activate the tiny Ceramic Plates in the roller. Fab for coiffed fringes, loose waves and volume.

Very tempted to use a pair of Fiskars but I'm sure these £1.99 set will do me fine for trimming Falsies. 

These I believe as well as my straight pins have been the best bargain of the day. You can often find these in Boots, but the pricing is ever so slightly different- *hint hint*. These you use after and during tonging/ curling hair. Make sure you use them UNDERNEATH the curl rather than on top or you could end up with lovely dent shapes set into the hair. Not a very sophisticated look.

By far the cheapest comb I have ever bought. These tail combs are great for sectioning/ prepping hair. they also double as freeing up knots when passing hair through straighteners. Price is particularly fantastic as combs I see as being pretty disposable, they're very hard to clean after a day of hairspray, endless hairstyle changes and extensions.

My second best bargain of the day! Yes that's right a POUND of pins for £3.99! I bought some the other day from Charlie's in Shepherds Bush, and I didn't get half as many- No regrets as they were a different colour, but £3.99!

Now as much I love a Chanel, MAC or Clarins Lippy or two, I do LOVE a bit of Sleek. The pigment is fantastic and they really do have quite a bit of staying power, better than almost every designer brand I have tried. I will also be going to PAKS for the 99p lippy! I tested on the way home and was of very similar quality to Sleek. 

Outlandish Shades can be mixed with neutral lippies for more of a 'day look'.

Again a little trick the above lady taught me, these are fab for making a ponytail more of a convenience than an inconvenience! Once you have your combed through hair ready to go into the usual elastic, slide hook number 1 into the hair and wind round until quite solid, hook the other end into the ponytail- scalp end, not tail end. Finish by wrapping a small amount of hair over the elastic to create a 'hair band' GENIUS! ( and so very very polished)

Ok so this was from Boots... Trying this out as my V05 has almost disappeared and I don't like the nozzle, a review is to come! £3.56 Buy HERE

Another one I wanted to try from Boots, a new brand I've sort of seen around. Lets see shall we. £4.07 Buy HERE.

HELSINKI and Finnish Country Land

OK, So whilst in Finland I became very accustomed to the Finnish way of living! This involved midnight fishing, day and night Saunas and Lake Swimming! I can really see why these Northern Europeans have such amazing skin. They lead a somewhat stressful professional life in the city and have these stunning backdropped country homes. Whilst staying with the man's relatives 2 hours north of Helsinki I found I LOVE this kind of lifestyle. The first night we went swimming in the 'local lake' at get this, MIDNIGHT. Still set in beautiful twilight this was a lovely end to a first night in the countryside. The man's relatives then got us to try the 'sauna-lake in the evening' combo. This involved first starting up the sauna, this can take around 40 minutes, you boil the water, burn the wood in the fire and wait, and wait, until the sauna room hits 80'. Yes that's right, 80'! Then comes the splashing water bit, and oh dear LORD... The man's dad nearly KILLED me with steam heat- The British skin isn't used to it.  You also have the option of using the equivalent of liquid air freshener on the rocks for clearing the senses, sinuses or de stressing. So after spending 10 ish to however many minutes you can handle in the sauna you then RUN the 30 odd metres through the above picture to the lake and JUMP!

After spending 10 ish minutes in the cool lake you then sprint back to the sauna and do it all over again! Until you feel like all your skin has repaired itself and grown anew. Finish by using the boiled fresh sauna water and a yummy moisturiser. Lovely jubbly...

:::Turning Japanese:::

Ok, so as a Make Up Artist, my kit is my living, it pretty much as well as every other professional and ability factor guarantees my future work. That's why it's insanely important not only to keep your kit CLEAN but ORGANISED! These wondrous 'travel' bags and containers have been pretty much an organisational ocd freaks miracle. Ok, so they're not specifically for make up or sfx artists kits, HOWEVER if you're willing to be open minded and just think of the space and practicalities of them this selection have been VERY useful.

The bag with the shoes is £7.95 and from what I can tell is cotton. Which means WASHABLE! This I will be using for hair accessories storage, hairspray cans, brushes and in a separate bag electrical implements, such as straighteners, hair dryers and tongs.

The Large Tarpaulin bag is £5.95 and very roomy. I now around 4 of these and counting, I buy gradually as they are a tad pricey but I think It's an investment for my kit, they are clean tidy and semi transparent. I think I may need another 2.

The smaller Tarpaulin bag is £3.95 and IS defined as a cosmetics case on the Muji Site. It's a fab little starter case for make up beginners, enthusiasts or if you're much more of a pro/ intermediate user is great for your lipsticks/ nail varnishes/ smaller items.

Medium Mesh Pouch is £2.50 and is some sort of nylon I think. This is particularly useful for any kind of liner i.e. lip or eye as it's a great size. also good for any adhesives you may have that are small, i.e. eyelash adhesive. This could also be good for carrying samples.

BUY HERE

Apologies for the picture... turns out there are settings on my phone I cannot adjust correctly yet ;)

A little gem from using my Boots points ;)

I have discovered a legend! I had become a little fixated on Vaseline and tended to use it a little much lets say. It had it's uses by all means but I found that while it really did moisturise it also looked very SHINY. Now this is not so much a problem for the ladies if it's the shiny look you want. HOWEVER when it comes to having photoshoots, co operate events, commercials etc with gentlemen involved you need something that's not only moisturising but MATT. Not every man in the world wants to look like he has GLOSS on. This has some lovely ingredients that not only moisturise but don't sound scientific and threatening not to mention for the vegans/ veggies out there it's friendly for their lip nourishing needs. It feels nice and matt as mentioned but also nourishing, no grease, easy to smooth into areas and feels nice and tingly but DOESN'T sting. A FAB treat for your holiday/ make up kit and general lip moisturising needs! BUY HERE

Airport Duty Free Yumminess!

I GOT MY SERUM! Yes, in case you hadn't been reading my previous posts, my skin was in desperate need of Clarins' Bi Serum. Just before a little jolly to Finland ( more about that later on) I found myself at the Heathrow Duty Free sections oogling goodies. Unfortunately I couldn't find my Kiehl's Skin Tone Correcting moisturiser, what I DID find however was the Bi Serum. HEAVENLY! With around £9 off I couldn't resist. This little gem will be refreshing dry patches of skin tone everywhere! A walk around the corner of Clarins at Heathrow led me to the MAC counter. After meeting the very informative Lan Nguyen on a Make Up MasterClass at Charles Fox, I was highly recommended to purchase MAC Fluidline Eyeliner in BLACKTRACK. I don't usually like gel liners as I find they set too quickly and you can't get them off after. It's soooo long lasting, easy to use and remarkably easy to take off, it's fab for those dramatic gothic- evening looks/ heavy photo shoot looks. This was 20% off RRP so I decided to take a chance with MAC and buy! I am yet to use the eyeliner as yet but look out for a future review! I was so so so tempted to go absolutely nuts and buy alll the beauty products from Duty Free that I wanted but then remembered I was going on holiday and had a flight to board!

Press Samples... :)

First time lucky with my press samples. After being briefed for my shoot with The Kensingston and Chelsea Review I decided to use a fairly neutral yet edgy 70's inspired colour palette. Luckily the Press Department at Clarins- ( how did you possibly know I LOVED CLARINS?) were VERY generous... As you can see above ;)


In total I managed to add to the shoot the FABULOUS Hydra Quench Cream ( the BEST moisturiser I have EVER used for dry skin) , Hydra Matt Lotion for Combi Skin ( not pictured), Skin Illusion Natural Radiance Foundation 103 the best light weight foundation I have ever used, 107, Eye Contour Gel, Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, Blush Prodige Illuminating Cheek Contour 06 Spiced Mocha with the new Mosaique Collection:  Summer Bronzing Compact, ( Both FABULOUS for all over shading, contouring and even as an eye shimmer shadow) and finally Rouge Prodige 103 Miami Pink ( I used this as more of a lip stain). See what you think of the results below!


With massive thanks to The Press Office at Clarins. You helped to polish off a great shoot for KCR! All beauty and skincare credit for Photoshoot- Made for Chelsea for KCR, Clarins.