Lush Hair Extensions Update!

Hello♥

As you may know, in January, I posted a hair extension show and tell. You will know if you read that post, I am obsessed with hair extensions! My hair has actually grown significantly since I started wearing them when I was 14 but I do still wear extensions, mostly on nights out or at weekends now, but they are still an important item in my life and I really couldn't do without them now!

So, today, in this post, I am going to update you guys on the extensions I bought from Lush in January, how they are holding up, then tell you about the new set I bought from Lush just last week.

The Old Set

I bought this set of extensions in January this year and they have lasted me quite well. As I said above, as my natural hair has grown quite a lot, and because my work requires me to wear my hair up, I haven't been wearing hair extensions quite as much as I used to. Therefore, unlike previous sets, I haven't been wearing these extensions every single day, however I do wear them literally every weekend and most nights, so that gives you an idea of how long these extensions have lasted me.

(The Old Set Now After 10 Months Wear)

This particular set I bought in Deluxe 24" #2 Darkest Brown. 

With Lush, which I have now had six different sets of extensions from, I do find they have some split ends from brand new. As a personal preference, I like this as my natural hair does have split ends like most peoples' and so I think they blend better than all straight non-split extensions. One of the cons however, in my own opinion, of these extensions is that they don't remain consistently thick from clips to ends. This though, has to be one of the only bad points of these extensions for me.

(Condition of Extensions After 10 Months Wear)

Now, as you can see, when the extensions are about 10 months old, there are a lot more split ends and the ends are very dry, however, that really is expected when the hair has been curled, straightened, platted, waved, brushed, washed, etc, etc, etc and they are still wearable as I still use them along with a newer set to create thickness.

(How Ends Look After 10 Months of Wear)

The clips are literally my favorite thing about the extensions, they are larger than most other extension clips which is good because they are wider and they pull much less than the littler, more narrow ones. They are much more comfortable on the head and in all honesty are one of the main reasons I re-buy these hair extensions. Until last month, the clips on this set have lasted very very well. Only one clip has broken and that only happened last month, so i'm very happy with them.

(One Broken Clip After 10 Months Wear)

The New Set

Last week, i re-purchased from Lush. I bought the exact same set other than that I bought them in #4 Dark Brown because I've recently changed my hair colour a little.

As you can see, between the old set above and this new set, the new set is a lit longer as the old set lost a little of it's length over time through splitting, these ones are a little better and have less split ends.

A few comments I would have though are that this particular new set of extensions have shed quite a lot since I got them. I don't know if that's a weft problem with this specific set or if it's just shed a lot more than any other set I have bought from them however, they are still thick and weigh about what the site says they should so, that's all good!

However, one of the clips in this set, that I was so impressed with in previous sets, doesn't work! This is a  bad point for me as the clip doesn't work meaning that i'll have to replace it myself. I'll insert a picture of the broken clip:

As you can hopefully see, the little teeth on the comb of the clip are sort of crushed. This makes the clip only able to half shut and it doesn't grip the hair well at all :(. In the right-hand picture I've tried to compare the faulty clip (top clip) to a working clip (bottom clip) on the same set. You can see there is hardly any space between the teeth and the silicone band on the clip even when the clip is open, so it doesn't slide into the hair and doesn't keep the weft in your hair well.

However, as the extensions are as described on the website and they are still some my favorite extensions, things like this happen and it's easy enough for me to probably just sew a new clip on.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I still really love Lush hair extensions and I would most likely still re-purchase them. However, as I do find the longer sets from them a little on the thin side (although they do weigh as described!) for me personally, I would really like to try the Ultimate Deluxe set! 

I enjoy the softness of the extensions and I am so happy with my set I bought in January that have lasted me this long and are still wearable.

 I would definitely recommend Lush hair extensions if anyone is looking for some new hair so you can click to the exact extensions I purchased right here. They've also just launched their Holly Hanan range so if you have brightly coloured hair these are the extensions for you!

 I am always happy to hear your suggestions on hair extensions you recommend I should try as I am always on the look out for new extensions to feed my addiction so please me me know!!

Thank you all for reading!

A♥

Pictures of August!

Hello! ♥

As I haven't posted much this month (or last for that matter but we will let that slide!) I thought it would be a nice idea to share with you what August has consisted of for me in pictures!

You may, if you follow me on instagram (Ashlee_yy), have seen some of these already as I'm rather obsessed with taking pictures and uploading them to insta! Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Explanations from top left to bottom right:

The first picture is the beautiful view on one of my runs along the rail way track. Literally one of the only things I love about living in the countryside. 

Then we have my new white blazer and pink top. Obviously I've shopped a lot during August, as I do every month! But this has been one of my faves, I've wanted a white blazer for the longest time and this topshop one is just beaut!

Nandos. What more can I say, I'm obsessed!

New top, but most of all fave lipstick! You all know since I bought Rimmel's Apocalips lip colour I haven't been the biggest fan, but this month it really is growing on me in the colour galaxy and I have to admit it has been my most worn.

Eggs. I have been trying to eat healthy, workout loads and hopefully loose my fatty wee tummy! I used to hate eggs but I've been experimenting and I can honestly say, I no longer despise them.

Pink sky at night. See, the most beautiful thing about countryside living is the views. So pretty!

Scone with eyes? Yes, I'm mature. You will have seen from my birthday haul that my sister got me these edible eyes and obviously I've been sticking them on all of my families food.

This has been one of my favourite hair styles this month, so easy to do, so comfortable and still looks cute. Sometimes I just wear the doughnut alone but I think the bow adds a girly cute touch to boring outfit days.

Lastly, my new Chanel nail polish phone case. I've been loving this thing to bits. Its downfall would be that it scratched so easily but, what did I expect for under a fiver? 

Anyway, there has been my favourites for the month of August!

Hope you enjoyed them,

What have your favourites been this month?

A♥

Sleep In Rollers Review!

Hey Guys ♥

I am such a bad blogger, you can all virtually slap me right now! I, once again am so sorry that i've been missing in action on here for a while, life is busy busy! 

Anyway i'm here again with a bit of a beauty product review. Sadly, i've not done many beauty reviews of recent, mainly because i haven't been finding many new beauty products i'm actually loving! This is sad for me as usually i don't find this a problem but, nothing new is standing out for me just now :(!

However, i have eventually jumped on the Sleep in Rollers bandwagon! I use normal rollers ALL the time, but as i tend to go out on Saturday nights, and i work during Saturday afternoon, i don't really have long enough to leave them in and have a good curl. 

I had heard loads about Sleep Rollers since last year and debated whether to buy them on and off and eventually just never did. However, i have eventually invested and decided to give them a wee go!

If you don't know, Sleep Rollers are basically a softer velcro roller with a squishy sponge center to makes them comfortable to sleep in, basically giving you amazing hair from the minute you wake up! So i put the rollers in my previously blow dried, clean hair. I did however, use a spray bottle to dampen each section and after rolling secured each section with a kirby grip.

This is what i looked like before going to bed (please ignore my makeup-less face!):

Then, for the sleeping. I must admit, and if you follow me on twitter already, you will know i found this difficult to begin with and genuinely threw a little diva strop.

Basically, when you first put your head down to sleep they feel awful! You have to sort of move the rollers around slightly to get them in a comfortable position. Now this is all fine and good if you are a heavy sleeper and are able to sleep in one position all night, but if like me, you wake up at any noise and move around all night like a worm, these are hell to begin with. I moaned and moaned to the point where i was almost ready to rip them out, throw them across the room and eventually get some sleep. However, somehow, at about 01:30, i managed to fall asleep. 

I think i woke up around three times during the night and eventually got up from bed at half seven. In the morning they don't hurt but some do feel a little tight for the first little while. 

Although i absolutely hated the feeling of these in my head when i first went to bed, i would say that i did get used to it once i had found a position comfortable enough to sleep in and did fall asleep with them in. I think after a few times of wearing them to bed i will probably get more and more used to them and be able to get a longer sleep with them in. Someone even suggested to me that you sleep with one of those long, curved pillows and i can see how that might be a bit more comfortable, so if you are having trouble sleeping with your sleep rollers in maybe give that a shot!

Anyway, i left the rollers in while eating my breakfast and doing my makeup in the morning, got dressed, then began taking them out. 

One tip i would say, is to try really hard not to comb the section after you have removed the roller, just twist your hair around your finger and let go, spray it with hair spray and leave it for a while, then if you want to comb it try using your fingers gently through it first or use a really wide-toothed comb. Doing that helps the curl stay and stops it dropping. Here's me just before taking the rollers out:

This, is how my hair looked when i took the rollers out without brushing through:

Then for a function i went to, i styled it with a flower but i only managed to get this really awful picture while the sun is shining right in my eyes and i look really weird but, i don't mind you guys seeing me weird haha!..

Then later, i was still impressed with the volume of my hair and the body it still had after the day:

Overall, i really love the effect the rollers had on my hair and in my own opinion this outweighs all the bad points! I actually think if i kept wearing them and got used to them i would be able to get a better sleep with them in and therefore would mean that the only con i found with them (sleeplessness) would be gone!

Have you tried Sleep In Rollers?

Do you love them, or not a fan?

A♥

Who Likes Short Shorts...

...apparently I do, even when its snowing outside! 

Yes, today, I really wanted to wear my denim shorts and new crop top, so, despite the snow, I did it! Just so you all know, I did wear two pairs of tights and I did wear a coat, I didn't freeze to death, in fact absolutely no one saw my crop top as I didn't remove my jacket once!

So I only went to town for a couple of hours but I thought before I left I would take a few quick pics! I'm not feeling amazing today so please excuse the lack of my face, I just wanted this ootd up as I have loaaads more planned to come!

So my top is from Primark, it says j'aime with a little Eiffel tower, it was £4, my tights are also from Primark, I have two pairs on each were £2, and my shorts are from River Island and were £25. Literally love these shorts too much! 

T

My little zipped Chelsea style boots were in the f&f sale and only cost me a tenner! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos with my jacket on but, I just shoved my Mango boyfriend style jacket over with my faux fur sole and my black mittens to keep my hands warm!

Hope you like, as I say, more OOTD's to come, loads!

Hope you're all well, lots of love

♥

Spring Series #1 - Babyliss Volume Waves!

Hello ♥

I'm starting a little Spring Look Book where i am going to post Spring inspired hair, make-up and fashion posts to give you some fun ideas and hopefully you can share some with me too!

Today, i am focusing on hair. Spring always makes me think of the beach and picnics despite how cold it is probably going to be here in Scotland! So today's post is really loose beachy waves styled with Spring in mind!

For this look, I let it my hair air dry, hence my lovely messy top knot bun on top of my head. Then, i sprayed with heat protection, brushed it out, sprayed my hair with a little hair spray to dirty it a bit and make it less soft after washing and then it looked like this, i'm a lucky (or unlucky in my eyes) one and my hair drys pretty naturally straight.

Then i get onto the waves!

I should probably have done a video to represent this but, i'm not confident enough for that yet! Basically, i'm sure you all know how to curl your hair, but as you can maybe see, i really hate using the clamps on curling tongs as they leave a massive kink in the bottom of my hair so i don't use it, instead, i just wrap hair from to the bottom the top as i would with my wand.

I just sectioned my hair and used the Babyliss Volume Waves on each section at 200 degrees. I used this curler instead of my wand as it has a much thicker barrel and creates the loose waves i am looking for in this look rather than the tighter curls my wand creates. Unfortunately  i am doing this tutorial just after washing my hair, meaning it is too soft to really hold the waves well. I would reccomend using second day hair for this to work better!

This is how my hair turned out:

You can see that the hair is not curled, but rather really loosely waved and has a little bit of a nice curly flick on the ends. I usually would leave my hair like this as i really like the messy, loose wave effect this curler gives and i think it just looks casual, effortless but still pretty.

However, as this is part of my Spring look book series, i thought i would add a few simple things to make this look a bit more Spring appropriate and cute.

For this first look, i have pinned up by backcombing underneath and used a little pink bow to keep it together at the back. I realise you can't see the bow very well in this picture but you get the idea ;).

This second look (excuse my squinting in the sun) is obviously just using a big flower to clip my fringe to the side. Even thought it's basic its a really cute classic look and would look really pretty for S/S teamed with a cute little dress and flats or even a floral top and jeans.

]

Then finally, for these two looks i've used two little different coloured flowers on the left picture which i think is really cute and even more flowers could be layered using different colours and sizes! The right picture is just a tiny little peach coloured bow which isn't pictured amazingly but rather than clip anything back with it i have just slid it in and kept it simple.

I also think using a floral headband or tying the styled hair up with a floral band would be really cute so i will have to invest in some of those to style like this!

Do you like any of these styles?

What would you like to see next in my Spring series?

A ♥

Feeling Kissable with Denman D3 Pink Kiss Hair Brush!

Hey Beauties♥

I recently received a very exciting package in the post and I have to share it with you guys as it is absolutely beautiful! I get super overly excited about anything pink or glittery - its a girl thing! And so when I was sent this by the lovely people at Denman I knew instantly that I would love it!

You probably have all heard of Denman as they are a pretty well known company due mainly to their amazing hair brushes! I haven't previously owned a Denman brush however I've heard amazing things and have always wanted to try one! So, when I was contacted about reviewing their new D3 Pink Kiss hairbrush, I obviously jumped at the chance!

The brush is a romantic twist on the famous Denman classic D3 hair brush which a lot of you have probably tried or already own as it won best all rounder in the "Your Hair" product awards 2012! This version is different in that it is sparkly pink with little silver kisses over it, it's a girly girls dream of a brush!

Putting It To The Test!

The Denman D3 Pink Kiss brush has an anti-static rubber pad to give you maximum grip and control while blow-drying and is designed to smooth, shape and polish the hair, so naturally, I thought I would put this to the test for you guys! So, I washed my hair and took some sexual photos of myself in a towel!

The first thing about this brush that I love is that it did not tug my hair at all despite it being wet, which I find most of my other hair-brushes do. It glides through my hair like a dream and doesn't feel as though it is snapping my hair as it goes.

I blow dried my hair as usual using the brush to style my fringe rather than using my roller brush like I normally would. In all honesty, I didn't think this would shape my fringe the way I like it at all, but it really did! This is pretty much how drying my hair went:

After blow drying, this brush had left my hair super shiny and soft, good enough in fact, that i didn't even bother straightening or styling it at all! Definitely reccomend. Here's the end result, me loving my Pink Kiss Brush!

Overall, i feel as though this is my new brush crush! Its stylish, cute, really girly, effective and small enough to fit in your handbag so you can take it anywhere you go!

Whats more, as valentines day is now upon us, this pretty little hair brush is the perfect gift if your after something to hint to your lad this February! Or even a little cheeky valentines gift to yourself at only £7.31 and it comes with a beaut free lip balm! Have beautiful, kissable hair, and lips!

If you have an questions about this hair brush then feel free to ask me in the comments and i will try answer as best i can or you can contact Denman with any questions you have in one of these ways:


And you can buy this exact hair brush with your free cute little lip balm if you're interested by clicking here!

Have you tried any Denman brushes?

If so which ones do you recommend i try next?

 I'm tempted to try their Head Hugger Brushes!

A♥

Show&Tell - Hair Extensions

Hello♥

If you know me, you will know I'm madly obsessed with hair extensions, I have worn them nearly every day since I was 14 and I am now coming up 23! I can't even count the amount of sets I have bought nor do I want to know the amount of money I've spent!

I have bought from many different companies and over time I've become more and more fussy about how I want them! However just under a year ago I bought a set from lushhairextensions.co.uk and fell in love.

I then needed a new set recently, bought from somewhere on reccomendation and hated them so it just shows what someone else rates,you might hate! Anyway, needless to say I went back to lush and this time ordered a 24" set rather than my usual 20" as my natural hair is getting a lot longer!

When the extensions arrived, although I ordered the deluxe set, I knew they wouldn't be thick enough for my fussy standards but I have a 20" set I can use to layer and thicken them. The set is lovely and long though! Lush do do a thicker ultimate set however I didn't go for these as I wasn't sure if 24" would be too long for me so I just stuck to deluxe!

Lush make a lovely effort and send your extensions in a nice pink bag with their own lush hair extensions tape, very cute! This is what the extensions look like:

This is what the hair looks like and as I've just washed my 20" set I've put a quick length comparison in for you to see as well!

My comments on the hair is that I love the quality, I hate extensions that are super shiny as I think they just look unnatural and awful against my real hair but these are not like that! They have a natural look and feel and so blend with natural hair really easily. They are easy to style but if I am going to be honest I would say that the ends of mine this time round did go quite dry quite quickly! I still love the quality though as they are more natural than a lot of other extensions I have previously purchased.

I styled the extensions and put them in my hair and even curled they are still really long. This is them in my hair without adding my old set for extra volume:

Then this is what they look like when I've layered my 20" set (which is a bit old and ratty tbh, but I tried to blend!) with my new 24" set, didn't get great pics though:

What I might do when I have some more money is buy a 22" simple full head set to blend with and thicken these up, just cos' I'm far too fussy!

If you want extensions i definitely recommend you try lush! You can get them here: lushhairextensions.co.uk and you can even use their free colour matching service if you are unsure about what shade to go for!

I am happy to review more hair extensions for you when I have the money to buy more if you would be interested?

 I'm determined to try a Halo! Must get my hands on one of those to review when I get money!

What are your fave clip-in extensions? Have you tried lush? 

A♥

MUA Pro-Base Fixing Mist Review!

Hey ♥

I hate spending a lot of time on my face and putting a lot of effort into my makeup, just for it to come off in a few hours, start going patchy and uneven and generally awful by the end of the day.

Because of this, I have tried a few 'fixing' sprays including those such as Urban Decay All Nighter Fixing Spray which i love but its not something I am able to splash out on all the time at £19 a bottle! 

When browsing my local superdrug recently I saw this little fixing spray in the MUA counter for £4 (will usually be £5) and thought I would give it a go.

Basically, this is designed to be sprayed over your finished face of makeup in 'horizontal swishing motions' until you feel you have enough coverage and clams to have a staying power of up to 8 hours, so I though I would put this to the test for you guys!

I put on my usual amount of a makeup for a normal day and used the spray as instructed to do so on the bottle. This is what I looked like (the lighting makes me look really white but, there's not much i can do, sad face!):

So four hours after, I had been outside, back inside, eaten lunch, had a coffee, done a few bits around the house. I took a picture of my face as soon as i got back in the house and this is what I looked like (still so bright! I do have bronzer on, it is still on, haha!):

And 8 hours after the application of my makeup, the max this product claims to last, without any touch ups to my make-up, I looked like this:

Some of my lipstick had obviously faded and looked a lot less vibrant in real life but i do have to eat and drink and no fixing-spray can stop that, haha! I won't lie to you so i will say i did put a bit more coloured lip gloss on after a little while, that's the only touch up i did! I also apologise for the crap pictures, the lighting is never on my side. I do have bronzer and blusher on which you can't really tell but, they stayed on pretty well all day with not much fade.

Overall, I quite like this product. In all honesty I think it lasts just as long as more expensive brands. I personally feel however, that the staying power of all products of this kind depend on what type/brand/amount of makeup you are wearing.

I do not regret this purchase and I think for the price it is a good little product and I would most likely purchase it again. I have noticed other brands, such as Collection, have a spray like this out at the moment and so I may have to give that a go too and have a little comparison!

Do you use products like this? If so let me know about them!

A ♥

Little Beauty & Fashion Haul!

Hello m'lovelies!♥

I'm going to review some products over the next wee while and put up some ootd's as well as more nail diaries as you have given me a good idea of what you want to see from some comments on my giveaway post! (Which BTW, you can still enter in the post below, what have you got to lose!?!)

So, as you know by now, I cannot resist a shopping spree and although I didn't pick all of this stuff up at once, i've gathered it all in one post to show you guys what my money has been going on this month!

Rambling aside, here's the haul!

Starting with makeup/beauty:

So what we have here is:

MUA fur effect nails in 'fuzzy fluff'.

MUA pressed powder in 'shade 1'.

MUA pro-base fixing mist.

Maxfactor facefinity foundation in 'natural 50'.

L'oreal Paris perfect clean foaming scrub.

OPI in 'Casino Royale' and 'GoldenEye'

I am planning to review the mua pro-base and fur effects, as well as the foundation seen but if you want a review of anything else just let me know!

OK, I've been trying not to spend too much money on clothing as I spend wayyyyy too much but I have bought a couple of things you might have already seen on my instagram but here they are:

I'm in love with this Lashes of London dress since I received it and even better it was in the sale! I'll feature it in a night out outfit post very soon!

The Chelsea style boots were in the sale from f&f at tesco and were only a tenner! The bag is also from f&f and was a steal at £15. I'm really loving f&f stuff recently its lovely and so reasonably priced!

Batman cartoon style dress - couldn't resist this after it was pictured on Cheryl Cole and Jesse from little mix! Love it.

I've been buying some other random things this month and I've been loving them all so I'm throwing them in here with this haul too:

Large hair doughnut from superdrug.

Hair extensions from cliphair. These are actually not long enough for me but unfortunately I have taken them out of the packing once and so can no longer return them. I am actually selling them if anyone is interested as they are no use to me, brand new never worn!

That's all I've been buying recently and I'm now trying to stop my spending addiction and start saving! So if you have any amazing saving tips then share please!

Have you been purchasing anything exciting recently? I'd love to hear about it if so!

♥

Pastel Hair!

Hey Ladies ♥

So i don't know about you guys, but when i get bored i get really crazy ideas in my head and just decide to do random things.

Today, my random decision was to 'chalk' my hair after seeing images online while searching for dip dyed styles.

I have had loads of questions on how i did this since i posted a picture on various social networking sites so i thought i would do a quick blog post showing you a few simple steps so you can do it too!

I'm not going to lie and say this was quick and easy though. As i have really dark hair it took me quite a while and the pink was a nightmare but if you bare with it and do it a couple of times it is really quite simple and effective! So here goes :):

What you need:

A spray bottle filled with water (unless you're blonde, don't bother with this if you are).

Soft Pastel Chalks, or Hair Chalks.

A towel.

A brush.

Latex Gloves.

What you do:

Basically, you get your pastels and you pick your colours. I'm using a pink one and a blue one from this set i picked up for £3.99 from a shop near me called "the works" but you can find cheap sets like this online.

Then you have all your stuff ready and put on your gloves (this isn't essential but your hands do get pretty minging!). Also wear old clothing, it does transfer onto them, even when you're finished, but it washes off.

This is when it gets messy! What you want to do is get scared, like my face clearly demonstrates in this picture.. and make sure, like me, you have a towel around you to protect your clothing and neck.

(haha! No shame!)

So you want to section your hair into small sections and spray each section with water as you go. As i said, if you are blonde you probably won't need the water as the chalk is going to take to your hair much easier than it took to mine! I needed a lot of water!

While the section is wet, you want to run your chosen colour of chalk over it in one direction down the hair. Chalk is going to dry your hair a bit so make sure you don't rub up and down as this will matte your hair, just rub in one direction. You might need more water at this point if you are using more than one colour like i did.

Once you have finished that section, just move it out of the way and let it dry while you move onto another section. You want to do this all the way round your head to all the parts you want coloured and let it all dry.

When your hair is dry, it will probably literally be quite dry as the chalk drys your ends a bit and mine ended up looking like this:

Wait until your hair is completely dry and brush through. Brushing is going to cause chalk powder to go everywhere so do it over a bag or some paper or something, then use some form of heat tool (curlers, waver, straightner) to style and seal in some of the colour!

Then you have to clean up the major mess this makes, haha!

And you should end up with something like this :):

If you don't want to use artist's soft pastels like me you do get actual hair chalks online like here but i reckon they are just really the same thing!

I wouldn't reccomend street chalk as this probably isn't going to be pigmented enough, particularly for dark hair like mine.

Some people worry that this is bad for my hair but the worst i think it has done is dry the ends slightly! It washes out fine and hasn't seemed to have done anything else!

Obviously this isn't permanent and will wash out as soon as you want.

Overall, i really love the effect i ended up with and i will definitely try chalking again despite the mess i made!

Have you or are you going to try hair chalking? Make sure you send me pictures on twitter if you do!

A ♥