Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

MAY

Change is as good as a holiday, right?




Remember way back when, when hope was high and life worth leaving? When I dreamed that love would never die? And God would be forgiving?
March 2015 guys, March 2015. Remember when I said I’d fallen in love? It never died. When it comes to chocolate brown hair, my HEART WILL GO ON AND OOOoooOOOooON. I didn't let go, unlike Rose #Jack5ever

 



So come May, my gorgeous friend @hairbyprue helped me take the plunge. 



And the cut. it was a tad Kylie J but I loved it, and still do! Going brunette was a little tricky considering how light my balyage and blonde were, but Prue did an amazing job getting the colour down. We went short because I basically said “cut off the dead hair” not realising HOW dead my hair actually was. 




In the end, I had a colour, cut and vibe that was very much needed for #kickass2016.

Tweet tweet xx

Sheer Glow, Sheer WOW

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
WOW.
Oh wow.

Species Sparrowtus Dorkius
This is my face approx. ten minutes after I visited the lovely ladies at Mecca and had my make-up done. It hurts my heart to say that my beloved Inglot has either changed its formula, or my skin has changed, or something weird is going on with the universe, because my favourite YSM foundation just isn't what it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it looked beautiful, but three hours into a working day and my nose was a trainwreck, and no matter what primer/setting powder/finishing spray I used, it didn't help.

So I ventured to my happy place, to my beloved Mecca Maxima, to find something with the lasting power of my Australis Stay Put, the colour match of my Bobbi Brown Longwear, and the finish of my Inglot YSM. Easy job right?

I wandered around the aisles, looking at NARS in particular, because a lot of my work friends have been recommending it to me. I meant to get some samples, but the lovely Mecca girl saw me hovering and offered show me how the NARS Sheer Glow would look on my face. I explained my situation (with work, and getting sick of bad colour matches), and even mentioned my little allergic reaction (UGHHH), and within five minutes I was hooked, because HOLY SHIZBALLS, it's the best colour match I've ever had.

I know, I know, I promised I'd use up my other foundations before I bought another new one, but hear me out. The NARS Sheer Glow, in Mont Blanc, is literally the best colour match I've ever found in a foundation. The only other times my make-up has looked this perfect is when it's been done professionally, and girrrrl that can't happen daily. Australis Stay Put will still be my go-to in summer, and when I have a tan, and I think my Inglot will be perfect for nights out because it has no SPF. I did end up using up all of my Bobbi Brown, but I'm so glad I didn't repurchase. I've been using my NARS for about four days and I'm so, so impressed, I still can't believe how well this product is sitting on my skin.

This is my mug wearing Inglot YSM foundation in 41

If you look at my hairline you can see that shade 41 isn't quite matching my skin tone. Even the tiny bit of neck visible under my scarf doesn't match my skin. This is first thing in the morning, so as you can see the finish is quite matte and flawless.
NARS doesn't have any of these problems, at all, and is still matte, and perfect. It matches my skin tone so well, and I haven't had to conceal anything!

I still use Bobbi Brown concealer under my eyes (because these nine hour shifts and six day streaks are killing me folks) and set my T-Zone with my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. AND THAT'S IT. The only comparable experience is using my Australis Stay Put foundation, but that product did need to be set occasionally with more powder throughout the day (because summer and sweat and ick). I've struggled with blemishes throughout my teenage years (and unfortunately to this day) and I can't believe that I don't need to conceal any of my blemishes or redness. It's actually incredible! 


I think I love you. 

Keep in mind I've only been using this foundation for a little under a week. For all I know, in the next two days my face could blow up and becoming a blemished, horrible mess, but I'm feeling hopeful!

My face today - no filter, still can't believe that finish!

Stay tuned little birds, because I have some news about the inversion method and my hair! And remember how I said I needed a new, better cleansing method? I think I've found it!

Bottom line: if you're looking for a sheer, buildable, full coverage foundation that offers near perfect colour matches, NARS Sheer Glow could be the one for you!

Until next time, 
Tweet tweet xx

Grow baby, grow!


Hello my little birds!
So I've started a process that I want to blog about and share with you, simply because in my own research and YouTubing I haven't found a clear, billboard like, HUGE sign saying "YES THIS WORKS" or "NO IT DOESN'T". I've only really found "SORT-OFs" and "FOR ME, YES". 

It's called the Inversion Method and I'll admit, when I first read about it I was a little sceptical, and scared. Oil? In my hair? But oil make grease? Greasy hair bad? How...? Then I watched this little clip on YouTube by Evin Yalcin and heard that you actually don't have to use oil, but you can rely on your hair's natural oils instead. I find my hair can get quite greasy on its own, so the idea of putting more oil in there isn't very appealing. 
Essentially you flip your hair upside down, looking down, and give yourself a scalp massage for four minutes. At first I was a bit half-hearted, I mean, standing with your head almost between your legs rubbing your head isn't a daily activity, you know? But then I remembered something about myself -
I LIKE MASSAGES. 

So even if this method doesn't end up working for me, I'm getting a lovely mini-massage each night, and I'm ok with that! 


The reason I want to grow my hair out is two fold. For starters, at the moment it doesn't feel entirely healthy - my ends are splitting, I know I've done too much in terms of colour and bleach to it this year already, and it's just a bit of a hot mess to deal with.
Also, I'll admit, I haven't totally gotten over my love, my obsession... the chocolate brown hair.
I mean the gloss, the depth, the shine, how healthy it looks.... ah!
I already know, however, that I can't do another thing to my hair colour-wise until it's healthy again, and I was considering lobbing it all off, but that won't really repair any of the damage I've done. Also, I don't want short hair! As much as I adore a bob/lob, I know they don't really work for me. I'd feel silly chopping it all off since I've been growing it since August last year. 

 
On the left is my hair circa 2013, when it was still mostly blonde and the longest I can remember it being. On the right is my lob from August 2014. I did love my lob, and at the time it was exactly the style I needed, but it's taken a long time to grow out.

I've been looking up home remedies and other solutions for growing long, beautiful hair, and I've discovered three main themes.

1) OILS & PRODUCTS
2) FOOD
3) WATER

OILS & PRODUCTS
Obviously everything you put on your hair will affect it, its growth, and its strength and condition. I've spoken in the past about using John Frieda products to protect my colour, but I haven't been taking good enough care of my scalp. That's right folks, dandruff. Ick, I know, but it has to be said, and it's one of the main downsides to colouring your hair - a dry, flaky scalp will often ensue. Whilst various shampoos, including caffeine and coconut milk shampoos, are suggested for stimulating growth, I feel I need to get my dandruff situation under control first. Which leads us to oils! Aside from the inversion method, all of my favourite YouTubers rave about coconut oil and its benefits for your hair. Recently Kayley Melissa spoke about using coconut oil as a scalp treatment for conditioner, and said that it was far more effective than any other shampoo she'd used. Other top rated oils include Argon Moroccan oil, jojoba oil, rosemary oil, olive oil, and other essential oils too.

FOOD
You are what you eat, and to get healthy, beautiful hair, as well as healthy, beautiful skin and internal organs (woo! internal organs!), a diet full of rich, nutritious foods and proteins is highly recommended. Eggs, avocado, fish, fresh fruits, and vegetables, are all vital to growing strong hair. I'll admit, my diet is in desperate need of an overhaul (one too many coffees and cakes I'm afraid), so I've already been moving to these changes anyway for my own health. Now as an added bonus, I'll have beautiful hair to boot! A lot of beauty bloggers and YouTubers also recommend taking a multivitamin or hair supplement to boost growth, but I want to try adjusting my diet first before I start adding in any sort of extra pills or potions.

WATER
Water. Water, water, water. Seriously. The human body can't do jack without it. It's important for fostering hair growth as well as cell renewal and all those other lovely things our bodies do for us to you know, keep us alive. The human body is 70% water! It's so important to hydrate, and being exposed to fake air and heavy indoor heating has really taken its toll on not just my hair, but my skin and general health as well. A good tip I find is to keep a bottle of water with/near me at all times. Even just watching TV, working, or blogging, if I have water near me, I'll drink it without even thinking about it. Before you know it you'll have downed your 8 glasses (or 2 litres) without even realising!
Tea is also a good way to get water into your system, and a great idea for winter time when drinking cold water is super unappealing.

So here we are - I've been using the Inversion Method for three days now (it's Monday), so I'll be back on the blog this Saturday to give you my results. An inch to four inches in a week? My hopes aren't high, little birds, but I am a bit of an optimist. Make sure you're following beautybyasparrow on Instagram for updates and inspo!

Until next time,
Tweet twee xx

Back to Basics (and a bit of balyage too)

I bit the bullet and went into my hair dressers last week. The re-growth situation was out of control and Mumma Sparrow let slip at her appointment that I was considering chocolate brown and my hairdresser suggested I come in straight away for a consult before making any major colour changes.

And boy am I glad I did!

I always try to arrive early for my hairdressing appointments, just to make sure I’ve given my stylists all the time I can to get my hair right. I’m also one of those people who prefers to be super early for something than running late, and usually I need to take my hair out of its bun/pony tail/braid and brush it out before my appointment starts.

The colour wheel I'm sticking with
Baby Sparrow - natural colour!
I sat in the chair (same one as last time I think?) and got a good look at all the colours available in the Nak soft colour range. Re-growth is a real pain for anyone, but I’ve reached my point over the last few months where as much as I love my blonde, and I love being a light, almost platinum blonde, I can't deal with REGROWTH. OH MY GOD. NO. Over it, so, so over it. I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching (oh that sounds really douchey, I’m sorry) the last few months and it’s lead me to wanting to be as honest with myself as I can and, funny as it sounds, I want to get back to something like my natural colour, something I haven’t seen in, oh, about five years?




This time around a different team member took my appointment and I’ve got to say, he’s brilliant. All of the team are, and no matter who does my colour it always comes out looking superb, but the end result was so, so perfect, I couldn’t be happier. The base/root colour was a mix of 6.7 and 7.7 with 10 Vol, worked down and painted by hand. The light, almost white blonde my gorgeous girl Prue perfected during the pink period was left alone, and became the ombré tips to the darker shade.




The other wonderful thing about ditching the blonde foils and highlights is the time is cut in half! Anyone who’s ever had their hair colour treated or lightened to blonde will tell you that about three magazine’s worth of time is taken up with waiting, waiting… waiting…
This time around I was sitting only for about half an hour, forty minutes, before I was taken up to wash.

While my colour was being done my hairdresser and I had a good chat about life, relationships, and of course, hair. I was a little concerned about my colour, simply because I’ve done a lot to my hair over the last six months, but he reassured me that going darker would look great, but also wouldn’t do any more damage. I’d mentioned earlier on the blog that I’ve got very, very thick hair, and that has been my saving grace throughout all my colour changes. Whilst he had noticed some breakage, my stylist reassured me that my hair was ok, and would recover. He also talked about how porous some hair can be, and that I’m lucky mine isn’t too much so. The big problem with taking your hair down from a bleach-blonde shade to anything remotely darker is that your hair can turn green. Depending on how porous the hair is, what shades of blonde are involved, what type of dye, what amount of Vol is in the hair – it can all lead to a big, green-ish, unhealthy mess. Luckily when you’re working with an experienced colourist using good quality products, those disasters can be easily avoided!
Blonde hair mid. Jan 2015
Pink hair Feb 2015














As you can see in the above photos, although my hair looked pretty, the texture was quite dry and damaged near the ends, so it was really important to stop bleaching and colour treating my hair for a little while.


Let me tell you guys, it’s hard to feel attractive when your head is piled up with dye and you’re wearing what is essentially a high quality garbage bag.




Once the dye was washed out, my hair was thinned a tiny bit on the right side of my head (the heavier side of my part), as to the left of my part, my hair is that tiny bit thinner, and so much easier to handle! Having the two evened out has helped A LOT in the last two weeks alone. Then my hair was blow dried, and given a slight wave/curl, and voila! Done!




It’s actually quite a subtle change – I wasn’t greeted with the shocked gasps and screams that came with my first attempt at balyage, nor the squeals of going to back to blonde, but a lot of people do love it (including yours truly) and I couldn’t be happier, honestly. This colour is going to be so much easier to maintain, so much easier to style, and it’s got the right hint of blonde to be going along with. Stepping down to a darker shade for Autumn/Winter is also pretty exciting, and I feel a lot more confident going along with this season’s trends now that I have the hair to pull them off.

 




Until next time my little birds,

Tweet tweet xx
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