Shaking the Foundations

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL, PEOPLE.

I haven't had a chance (or the moolah) to get my Holy Grail foundation, my adored, my beloved Inglot YSM Creme foundation for MONTHS now. And as anyone who has ever struggled to find the perfect foundation will tell you, those months you go without,  they are the worst!

So these months wandering the wilderness of the Priceline aisles and Mecca, I've come across a few wonderful, and a few not-so wonderful, substitutes. The process of choosing these foundations, and using them, has taught me two things -

ONE: WOW. WOOOOOOOOOW. WOW THERE ARE A LOT OF FOUNDATIONS. SO MANY FOUNDATIONS. JEEZ.  and
TWO: I AM SO PALE.



















Above are swatches on my arm of my current foundations in natural light and shadow. No prizes for guessing which shade is my 'tanned' one!

From wrist to elbow, the foundations I'm currently using are Dream Pure BB Cream by Maybelline New York, Revlon Nearly Naked, Bobbi Brown Long Wear Finish, Australis Stay Put in Nude and Natural Beige.


Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream with 2% salicylic acid has been a favourite of mine for a while now, since I graduated from my old fave, Dove tinted moisturiser. This is a product I use on days off, when I'm heading to the beach, and quite often in summer. I find the finish is light enough to not feel cakey, and the colour is a good match too (I use the light shade, no surprise). I still find I need to conceal under my eyes, and redder blemishes, so this isn't the 'one stop shop' it claims to be. I'll often use a powder on top too, just for a little more coverage and a less dewy finish. With SPF 15+ and a moisturiser-like texture, this is my pick for easy days relaxing or shopping.







Revlon Nearly Naked foundation  is a liquid formula designed for light coverage and a 'natural' finish. I received a sample pack of these foundations in a copy of Girlfriend aaaaggeees ago, and when I used the little testers I found 'Shell' most closely matched my skin tone. Something must have happened between then, and me buying the product, because 'Shell' doesn't match my skin tone so well these days. Whether I chose the wrong shade (I was tossing up between 'Shell' and 'Ivoy') or the colour mix changed slightly, I'm not sure, but I do know that there's other parts of this product that I don't like.
For starters, liquid foundations on dry skin are a nightmare. Your poor skin is so desperate for moisture it'll suck up your foundation, meaning clogged pores and a not-so-flawless finish, and I find the formula to be quite sticky. I have to give it a solid five to ten minutes to set before I pop on any kind of powder. Where my skin dries out the most, around the nose, it turns patchy quite quickly, and I find I do need to re-apply.
That being said, once the foundation is set, and if I'm having a good skin day, it does sit quite nicely, and doesn't leave a dewy finish. It's similar to my Stay Put foundations in that it does indeed STAY (perhaps that's why it's so sticky?), but it's a product I rarely reach for these days, as I know it'll just leave me frustrated.

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Foundation is by far, one of the most expensive products I've ever bought myself.
One frantic afternoon before a shift at work, I bustled into Mecca and essentially cried "HELP ME!". I'd run out of my Inglot, had no BB cream, and needed to look work appropriate (i.e. NOT like a troll from a Disney film). I was so panicked and stressed about not having any decent make up, I bought the foundation, primer AND concealer to boot.
Oh my little birds, how I wish I'd waited.

There's something in this product, whether it's the formula, or my skin, or my primer, or the weather (??!?) that makes it turn CRAZY on my nose. The rest of my face remains set and flawless, but my nose, for whatever reason, turns into a blotchy trainwreck. Lately I've been using it simply because the colour match is so perfect, and that's upsetting too. For a foundation to match so well, and then to leave a part of my face patchy, it's just disappointing. I've found, however, that using my Rimmel Stay Matte powder and Australis finishing spray, that I can stop the nose-patchy business, most days. Warm Ivory is an almost identical colour match for my skin, and in winter, when there is no fake tan or mass amounts of bronzer, having a good colour match is even more important.
To the right you can see a close up of my arm swatches. Bobbi is the third stripe and even from a distance it's clear which product is sitting a little better. Above it is the Revlon foundation, but believe me, it looks a lot more yellow on my face than any other product does.




Now y'all know how I feel about my Australis Stay Put 16 Hour foundation. I have raved about this product, I didn't use anything else this summer, and I've tagged it about a million times on Instagram. I think, though, I've also mentioned the issues I have with this product, and the main one, the big one, that I can't ignore or excuse, is the colour match.

To the left is the shade 'Nude', and whilst you can see it's in the same colour wheel as the other products I've discussed, it's still significantly darker than my Bobbi or Revlon foundations. It's the lightest shade Australis currently have on the market, and lemme tell you, being too pale to wear the lightest shade of something is a real bummer. In summer I could get away with it, as the liquid/creme foundation buffed down fairly well with my Rimmel powder, but once the weather turned cold and the sun started to hide away, I was one cake faced little lady.

For events, or nights out, or functions, I'll still use this product, as the more dramatic lighting calls for a stronger foundation, but alas, I've shelved my fave until the summer comes back.

Finally we have another Australis Stay Put 16 Hour foundation,
 the first one I ever bought, in Natural Beige. Considering I often describe my skin tone as beige, you can imagine how bummed I was to discover this was NOT in fact my perfect match, outside the Priceline lighting. This is in fact my 'tan' foundation; a lot of beauty bloggers have a different foundation they use when they're wearing a fake tan, and this is mine. Simply looking at the swatches above, you can see why. It's SO DARK. It's so, so dark! I wouldn't even call it beige, I'd call it... not beige? Tan? Natural Tan? Yeah that sounds better, because that's the colour all my friends are, naturally, during summer (while I'm over here wearing my broad brim hat and reapplying invisible zinc, because I'm the pale whale). Again, I love the finish of this product, and I love that it does what it says, it STAYS PUT. Especially in summer, when sweating is a bigger factor, it's great to have a product that doesn't smudge or roll off during the day, especially during a long haul shift followed by a party (something I did quite a few times over summer 2014).

BB cream and powder
Australis Stay Put in Nude 
Bobbi Brown in Warm Ivory

I'm planning on buying a new Inglot foundation as soon as I use up my Bobbi Brown (I HATE wasting products I've spent a lot of money on, so even if it's not 100% right, I'd rather use it than waste it), and I'll be posting lots of pics to Instagram, and on here, as soon as I do. Y'all will probably hear me squealing in delight, because as Loz Curtis says, when you find your Holy Grail, there's literally nothing better.
Funny story: the last time I went to Inglot (March 2013, I KNOW RIGHT?), I walked in and asked the lovely counter girl for the YSM foundation. Then I MIND BLANKED and FORGOT what shade I was. Completely forgot, I'd been using this foundation for THREE YEARS and I FORGOT.
The lovely counter girl took one look at me (wearing my BB cream, by the way) and said "Yep, 41."
I AM A 41. THIS GIRL HAD NEVER SERVED ME BEFORE. Inglot, I don't know how you train your staff or what you do, but YOU DO IT WELL. It was insane. And also insanely wonderful, so big thanks to Inglot girl if you're reading this and remember me from two years ago (probs not, but worth a try!).

That's it for me little birds, as always, if you disagree or want to share, please feel free to comment!

Until next time,
Tweet tweet xx

AContour Review: I'm sad!

Ughhh I hate to write a bad review

Not that this is a bad review, as I'll explain below I don't think this is necessarily a bad product, for a lot of different reasons, but I need to be honest, even if it does make me feel bad!

From the get-go I need to emphasise how much I LOVE Australis cosmetics, from their ethos, to their packaging, to the fact they're Australian made and owned, down to their colour variety and price point... Ah so much love!

Alas, the AContour palette didn't stir up quite the same feelings in my heart of hearts.


The packaging is typical Australis black and pink, sleek and exciting. I was so, so happy to find this in BULK at Priceline I can't even begin to tell you, and down to $16.50 from a cool $20? Score!
Australis themselves say; 
"Define your features and shape like a pro with these six powders designed to contour and highlight the face, taking your daily make up routine next level! This palette is formulated to provide a natural, healthy glow for any skin tone offering a contouring trio and a highlighting trio."

 A cool concept, and one I was very eager to try out. The palette is made up of six shades, three light, and three dark. My first attempts had me choosing the VERY wrong shade and having to do some damage control with a make-up wipe. The trios are powders, which I'll admit did surprise me, because for whatever reason I thought it was a creme palette. 

Ah, brand new make up, how I love thee! 

I've been using shade six to create shadow, and shade two for highlighting. Below are swatches on my arm in both natural light and shadow to give you an idea of what they look like against my skin tone. 
 

The powders are extremely pigmented. Holy sh*zballs, are they pigmented. That saying, less is more? Well almost-nothing is more with these bad boys. Buffing has become my technique of choice when using this palette, as unless you've buffed, you have a very zebra-line-ish looking face.

Which brings me to the pros and cons of this palette.
I wouldn't say it's a bad product - the quality is excellent, and up to the high standards I've come to expect from Australis products. Vegan friendly, make-up bag sized, aesthetically pleasing, compact and cute. The powders haven't upset my skin which is a miracle on its own, and I can absolutely see why so many bloggers and YouTubers have fallen in love. It's handy - you've literally got all the shades you could need for any skin tone, and there's even a little how-to on the back in case you're unsure.

That's my face with some AContour powders happening - look at my nose in particular!

 THE PROS
Easy to use, nice size, sleek packaging, and I can imagine that when I have a bit of a fake tan happening and a slightly darker foundation, the shades would absolutely help me in my contouring. I also think that for a function, or an event, where make-up can be that little bit heavier, these powders would be a godsend. Great for dancers, and performers; for clubbing, and for formals and socials, where there will be more dramatic lighting and a greater need for sculpting and highlighting, I would absolutely be reaching for this palette!

THE CONS
Remember the whole, extreme-pigment-and-buffing thing? Does anyone really have a spare ten minutes in their make-up routine to be doing that extra legwork? I know sometimes I don't, and the great thing about my Maybelline Dream Sun bronzer is that I literally whack on a little bit and it does the job. The AContour powders need that touch more effort and technique, to stop them from looking garish and, dare I say, drag queen-esque? I'm all for a glam contour and Kardashian-esque sculpting, but I can't be sitting in front of my mirror buffing and negotiating with powders every morning. I got stuff to do, people to see, places to go!
Speaking of places to go, as much as I'd like to say I have a full, busy, buzzing, and fabulous social calender, I really only go out maybe twice a month, and only one of those things will be a formal/dramatically lit event. Realistically, that greater need for highlighting and sculpting would only really come around three, maybe four times a year for me (seriously guys I have no life).
Now in summer I do tend to rock a fake tan, and have a bit more of a social life happening, so I can sort of foresee myself LOVING this palette in spring/summer 2016, when I'll need to look my selfie/photo best. For now though? Again, maybe three, four times this autumn/winter I'll need a heavily contoured look, at most.
The other thing about a cream palette, or cream-based products (such as the Maybelline FITme sticks) is that they're buildable. Whilst I love that Australis have delivered a strong, pigmented and good quality powder, for me, it doesn't leave a heap of wriggle room. I don't find the powders to be buildable, and as I said, having to buff a colour down to match your foundation/skin tone is a lot of extra work in the mornings.

Bottom line - this is NOT a bad product, it does as it promises, and it doesn't upset my skin or ruin my make-up. That being said, I expected to love and be wowed by the palette, and that hasn't happened either. I honestly think a cream-based palette, or a good, stick foundation with a light concealer works better as a contouring kit than six shades (most of which this pale whale can't even use).

What do you think, little birds? Used the palette and love it? Swear by it? Hate me for even uttering a bad word against it? Please let me know in the comments!

Until next time,
Tweet tweet 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

That's My Face

The face in question



So last night was a big night, my little birds. I'd been invited to not one, not two. but THREE different 21st parties in three different suburbs. Unfortunately I could only make it to two, but still - two twenty-firsts in one night is pretty intensive! That's twice the hugs, kisses, food, drinks, singing and dancing, and twice the amount of meeting a whole bunch of new people and hoping they'll like you and that you look ok and that your dress looks nice and not like you're a Christmas Ham shoved into a sock...

Christmas hams aside, I needed to make sure my face was looking a-ok, because remember - two twenty firsts ALSO means double the photos!

Here's how I achieved the polished look above; I wanted something fairly matte, with a dramatic eye, and a pink, vintage feel to it.



(1) Alll About That Base
I began with my Face of Australia matte eye primer. Whilst 'matte' may sound like it'll dull down shimmer shadows, it doesn't at all! If anything my metallic and glitter shadows pop that bit more with this as the base. I apply it all over the lid, and under the brow bone, with my ring finger. I then smoothed on my Cetaphil daily moisturiser SPF 50+, because it's my must have, daily moisturiser, and I always wear it under my make-up. I then topped it off with my Nude by Nature Airbrush mineral primer



 



(2) The Eyes
I like to use a neutral, matte shade under any eye look, so I powdered my whole lid, particularly the inner corners, with 'Heaven' from the Too Faced naturals palette (top, pale shade). I then followed using the same blending brush, with Chi Chi's Bases palette, using the peach shade (third colour from left) over the main part of my lid. I then used a light pink, and layered 'Silk Teddy' (pink shade) from the Too Faced palette over this. I switched back to the Chi Chi shadows, using a darker pink from about the middle of my lid to the outer corner. I then went back to the Too Face palette, and used 'Push Up' (beside Silk Teddy) in the outer corners. Then I created a cut crease using the shade 'Chocolate Martini' (bottom left corner), blending with my ringer finger to soften the shadows together.



My finished eye 'look'
(3) Liner & Brows
For a more vintage, lasting look, I took the Maybelline New York Hyper Glossy liquid liner in 'Blackest Black'. I used a different technique last night for my winged liner, using a diagram I'd found on Pinterest instead of my usual swipe out-to-in, then do the wings and hope they match up. I was pretty happy with the results, but I always find new techniques a bit daunting because I am such a creature of habit!

I then used the amazing Max Made's guide from the Sportsgirl Masterclass to perfect my brows and I was so, so happy with them! #datbrowgametho



(4) Conceal Don't Feel
Firstly I used my Maybelline Age Rewind under eye concealer, making two large triangles under my eyes and onto my cheeks with the product. I then followed this with my Almay Blemish Correct concealer in 'Light', a make up bag staple since I was fifteen. At the moment my skin is behaving fairly well, however, I've found quite a bit of redness under the skin. I'm putting this down to possibly having my showers too hot, or stress as it hasn't been an easy few weeks for this little bird!

(5) ***Flawless
Ah, the part I love most! Foundation time! Using my Real Techniques foundation brush, I buffed my Australis Stay Put foundation in Nude all over my face, making sure it blended into my hairline and underneath my jaw as perfectly as possible. I then went over the still visible blemishes with some tiny dots of concealer again.

(6) Trunking... Or 'the thing I really, really, really need to practice a bit more'
Boy howdy. I was so inspired and so, so excited from the Max Made session (seriously I'm probably not going to to shut up about this for like, ever) that I was desperate to try as many of his techniques as I could. I took my Benefit They're Real! mascara and attempted 'trunking' my eyelashes. I ended up with a bit of a clumpy mess in the end and had to blot quite quickly, and quite a lot, to get my lashes looking their usual curly best. I also applied a coat of the Sportsgirl Fibre Lash mascara, just to really thicken up my lashes and make them look as gorgeous as possible.

(6) The Final Countdown
Ah, the bit I love second most! Powdering and contouring! I applied a tiny bit of foundation over the concealer I'd put on before my mascara, and then buffed my face and neck with the Rimmel Stay Matte translucent powder. I LOVE THIS STUFF. SO, SO, SO MUCH.
I then took my bronzing brush (which is quite small and not so fluffy), and my Maybelline Dream Sun bronzer and contoured like a demon; my cheeks, my forehead, my nose, my chin, no where was safe! I then followed with my Chi Chi blush in a medium pink colour along the apples of my cheeks.
I then took my kabuki brush and my Nude by Nature mineral blush/illuminator, and swept it gently across the tops of my cheeks and down my nose.




(7) The Finishing Touch
I spritzed my face with the Australis Finishing Spray, and was ready to leave!

In the car I quickly applied my Nivea lip balm, before carefully, carefully applying my MAC Chatterbox lipstick. Then it was time for a quick selfie before partying the night away! (Chatterbox on the right)







I hope that all made sense my little birds, I'm going to try and do more of these tutorial-style posts in the future

I hope you've all had a beautiful, beautiful weekend,
Until next time.
Tweet tweet xx

Max Made Masterclass (or the time I dorked out like a pro)

Surprise! My last post I mentioned a surprise and here it is -

On Friday night I was lucky enough to attend the Max Made Masterclass at Sportsgirl, Bourke Street!



I arrived good and early, and like the major dork I am, took a seat in the front row. Sportsgirl staff were handing out sparkling water and I was so excited to find a pen and notebook in my bag. I'm a huge nerd so by the end of the masterclass I had about twelve pages of notes and sketches that I'm going to share with you all! 

Waiting for Max to come out and start teaching!

Max came out with his stunning model, and I was so excited to hear we would be learning how to master the Folk Rock look, the gold smoked eye. 
Gift Bag Goodies + the Bold in Gold cheat card 

My first impressions of Max were that he was tall - very tall - and I could immediately pick him as a make-up artist. The on trend ripped denim, shiny black t-shirt, cool loafers and healthy tan, as well as the confidence - this was someone who knew his craft and OWNED it! 

The products used for this look included the Metallic Eyes Bronze edition palette , the Bronze Me jumbo bronzer, the Get Cheeky blush palette in Pyramid Rose, the Blink Big fibre lash mascara (which I've previously blogged/raved about!), the Draw the Line liner, the Pencil it In Brow Pencil (which y'all know I've been loving since 2013) and the Duchess lipstick (which I got in my goodie bag! Yay!).

Max picked three gorgeous girls who also had the look replicated by a team of three make-up artists whilst Max was talking and teaching. I was sitting quite close to them, and I can tell you each girl had a different skin tone and hair colour, and this look was incredible on all three of them!

 
Max the Master at work

One of the most important features of this look were the brows. Max gave some great tips on how to master the bold brow, and if you can follow my little diagram you'll see what I mean:
I tried these tricks last night for my brows and THEY WORKED. Essentially you take your pencil and line it up vertically with your nostril - that's point 1. You then position your pencil diagonally from your nostril, and that's where you make your arch, point 2. Then, you take your pencil to the very, very outside of your nostril, and make point 3, and join the dots - voilà! Perfect brows!


More diagrams of How To...

Max also taught us the technique of trunking, where the mascara wand is used to create "roots" in the lashes before applying your usual two coats. I did try this technique last night but I think I need more practice, as I just ended up with a big clumpy mess that I hurriedly had to fix before leaving. 

Just to give you an idea of how AWESOME this guy is, HE TOOK MY MODEL PHOTO FOR ME! 
(which was lucky because I was actually WAY too short to even get anywhere close to her face for a photo)

Then the class was over! Everyone rushed up for photos, and then rushed out, and I waited patiently with my little notebook and asked Max what his NUMBER ONE, ABSOLUTE tip for beauty would be, and he said.... 

"Contouring. Contouring gives you structure, it's so, so important. And brows, brows give you the bone structure and frame the eyes, they're so important."

After that I walked away practically squeaking in excitement. I called the Little Red Blogger to thank her (she tagged me on Instagram and I was able to get a spot super quickly!), and was nearly walking out of David Jones when I realised I left my goodie bag back at Sportsgirl! Luckily it was still there and all the staff were really lovely about me being my dorky self. 

And to top off what was seriously one of the most exciting Fridays, the MAN HIMSELF liked and commented on my Insta post! 

Don't mind me, just over here freaking out...

OH and that's another thing! Beauty By a Sparrow now has an official Instagram! So for updates, daily thoughts and photos, follow me @beautybyasparrow 

Until next time my little birds,
Tweet tweet xx


P.S. I met a lovely blogger, from Melbourne Fashion Journal at the masterclass, so check them out for their take on the evening! 

Going to the Dark Side

I've fallen in love.

I know, I know. I can already hear what you're all saying. So soon? When? How? Are you already over your last love? 

What can I say? When you know, you know... 


Ash blonde balyage, you will always have a place in my heart, and haunt my dreams, but I can't deal any more. 

I can't deal with the re-growth, the maintenance, the cost, the whole kit and kaboodle. I do love being a blonde and I think it suits me quite well, but a student budget and champagne tastes - and hair! - just doesn't work out. 

So I was trawling through Pinterest (don't we all) and minding my own business, when 
BAM!


Oh. Oh my. 

Luscious, dark, rich, chocolate brown curls. Goodness gracious me. 
I've written before about how ashy blonde-brown my natural hair colour is, and whilst I still believe an ash blonde balyage would have worked with my natural tones, there's something about the richness and depth of this brunette shade that I can't resist. 


Anne Hathaway is bae

Melbourne is quickly moving into more autumnal, wintry weather, and the less sun I see the less I feel summery, bubbly and blonde-like, and the more I'm attracted to auburn, brunette shades. I'm also loving pale skin against rich, mahogany and cocoa palettes, and as we move into winter and fake tanning becomes far less necessary, I think my own pale skin would 'pop' a little more against a brunette shade. 

I'll admit I'm a little scared. Stepping down from gold/blonde to brunette isn't as easy as TV would have you believe. That being said, last February my hairdresser managed to get me down from a brassy-gold to a quite dark, dark almost black-brown without too, too much drama or damage. Even if I have to first go down to a caramel-brown before I can get to the chocolate-auburn shade, I'm more than happy for that to be the process. 


More than anything, I feel I need a change. Going to pink a few weeks ago gave me a taste that I want more of - something different, something new, and something that will hopefully be a little less intensive than maintaining my blonde, currently. I'm overdue for a trim anyhow, so at my next session with my hairdresser I'm going to get her advice and tips for going down to such a dark, warm shade. 
In the meantime LOOK AT IT IT'S SO PRETTY 


I mean come on. And with Easter next week, it's never been a better time to do chocolate! 

I haven't been this obsessed since I found Sportsgirl lipsticks and that's really saying something. Also I'm planning to travel at some point this year, and I know that a darker, brunette shade is going to be so, so much easier to up keep while I'm away than any blonde could ever be. 

"BUT WHAT ABOUT BALYAGE?!" I hear you cry. I know, I know. I do still adore the soft, feminine feel of a well done balyage ombre, but as I said, I need a change, and I know the more that I try to do to my hair at once the more damaged it will be. And just because I'm not doing a balyage immediately, doesn't mean I can't or won't in future. This year's big hair trend is a new technique called baby lights, where, like balyage, whisps of colour are painted, free hand, through the hair, particularly closer to the face, to give them impression of sun kissed, youthful lockes. 

Baby lights with balyage 

And just to confuse myself that little bit more I found these gorgeous photos on Pinterest that have now got me, once more, considering a BIG CHOP



I MEAN IT'S ALL JUST SO PRETTY

I'll keep you posted my little birds, and whatever I decide to do with this crazy mane of hair, I just want it happy and healthy.

Til next time, 
Tweet tweet xx
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