On-Trend: The Alternative Top-Knot!

Hey Beauty Lovers! I call this hair style the alternative top-knot because it combines two hair trends in one. I came up with this look when I was trying to do something new with my hair when it was insanely windy outside and the rain was pouring down. Top-knot is one of my most worn hair styles, it's super effortless and very quick to make regardless of what your hair looks like that day. And obviously it's great for a bad weather day as it looks pretty cool and stays put! 

So to create this look firstly I spray a bit of Bumble and Bumble White Hair Powder into the roots, which is a dry shampoo and it helps to create a bit of volume and texture. Then I separate the top half of the hair into the classic top-knot. To find out how I create the perfect top-knot click here! Then the lower half I separate in the middle and holding the hair up from one side I create a braid and use one of those tiny elastic bands on the end, repeating the same process with the other side. So then you have two braids that you need to bring together in the centre and fix them in place with bobby pins, the end you want to tuck in around the base of the top-knot and also fix them in place with bobby bins.

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How-To: The Perfect Topknot with Bumble and Bumble!

Hey Beauty Lovers! Today I decided to share with you how I create my perfect topknot. Everyone has their own way of wearing it, but I prefer my topknot quite loose, slightly messy and with some texture. I can never get a perfect topknot when my hair is silky smooth as it just falls flat around the crown and I don't think it's a particularly flattering look. So I make sure my hair has some texture, which gives it a bit of volume and holds a good shape. To create that texture I use a dry shampoo and a salt spray. I use the Bumble and Bumble White Hair Powder spraying it a good few times into the roots and the Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray, which is a salt spray I spray just a couple of times through the length. 

For the actual knot I use a simple hair tie and a couple of bobby pins. I simply pull up the hair into a ponytail at the top of the crown where I'd like the knot to sit, then I twist the ponytail and start to loosely twirl it around to create the knot. Only when I'm happy with the shape of the knot I then fix it in place with the hair tie and with bobby pins I take care of any hair that is sticking out. And that's it!

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Updated Review: Bumble and Bumble Blondish Hair Powder!

Hey Beauties! Since I have fresh highlights in I decided to let you know my thoughts on the Bumble and Bumble Blondish Hair Powder. Basically it's a dry shampoo for blondes. In my previous review I have mentioned that it's great for making your grown out roots look blonder. However, now that my roots are much lighter I realised that this dry shampoo would only be good for dark blondes or like I said if you have very dark roots and no time to get them done this dry shampoo will also be great. However if you a true blonde I would recommend the regular white Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder. Currently I'm still using this one but mainly because I want to use it up, it works for me on the day I know I will be washing my hair. I tend to wash my hair in the evening, so if in the morning my hair look greasy I will just spray it to get my hair to last until the evening when I have time to wash it. 

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Summer Haircare: Beach Waves!

These are the three main haircare products that I use during summer to style my hair with. The hair style that I go for most of the time during the hot season is beach waves because it's so effortless and easy to do. After I wash my hair while it's still damp I apply Percy & Reed No Oil Oil for fine hair right into the roots and middle length, it gives my hair a gentle lift. Then I spray the Bumble and bumble Surf Spray, it's a salt spray that gives you that sexy seawater+sun matte-ish texture separating hair into strands. 

And finally after my hair is dry I spray through the Paul & Joe Body & Hair Mist to keep my hair smelling gorgeous and to give it a little bit of shine. The subtle scent of orange flowers is truly delicious, a citrusy uplifting summer scent! When I was on the fright I read this article about hair scents becoming a new trend. There is something about hair that makes a scent last longer than skin does! Remember that scene in SATC Movie 2 when Carrie sprays a fragrance into her hair at the flamboyant wedding of Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marentino?!

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Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo Review!

This is another hair product which is talked about so much by beauty bloggers and I decided to also give it a go. The whole point of this shampoo is that you use it once a week to really give your hair a deep cleanse. Especially if you like dry shampoos or generally use lots of hair products between hair washes quite often you can get a build up and regular shampoos don't always remove all that heavy build up. I found that this Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo really cleansed my hair thoroughly leaving the scalp feeling super fresh, especially after I had a ton of the Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder, I used the White one on one day and next lots of the Blondish. If you haven't read that review yet click here!

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Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder!

I have seen quite a few bloggers rave about this Bumble and bumble Hair Powder and have finally tried it myself! It's a dry shampoo in White and Blondish, there is also one for brown hair and one for black hair. The White Hair Powder is the classic, and I love the texture it gives you in-between hair washes. The other day my hair for some reason looked very flat and roots were getting greasy so I sprayed the Hair Powder and next day my hair looked literally lifted up with dry and clean feeling roots! From all the dry shampoos I have tried I must say this one seems to work best. As far as scent goes, it reminds me of a full-on hairspray, I wish it had a nicer scent, apart from that it's a fab dry shampoo! Also because I have highlights I decided to try the Blondish Hair Powder as well, if you have grown out roots this actually comes in handy as it has a darkish blond natural looking tint to it. If you are into dry shampoos I'd really recommend you try this one.

UPDATE: The Blondish Hair Powder does stain the pillow cases, but washes out fine. Also it gets a little messy when washing the hair, so I would recommend using it only if you want to lighten up the roots and want some extra bit of blonde tint.

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My Haircare Routine + Styling Tips & Tricks!

Hey beauties, this is the look I wore today for the A La Carte 40th Anniversary event in Shoreditch, which I will blog about tmr as the exhibit will run from 22-26th of May - and if you are a beauty junkie like myself then I think you should really check it out! As it was my lucky hair-day today and a hair blogpost was requested a few times on Instagram I decided it's perfect time to share what I do to my hair, what products I use and how I style it! First of all I shall point out that my hair is very naughty and mischievous, it certainly does not behave perfectly every day... My hair is fine and has an oily roots and dry ends tendency, it's straight but not stick straight, it has a light wave to it. Naturally it's a [very] dark ash blonde, and I get highlights done about twice or three times a year. I have found an amazing colourist at my local Trevor Sorbie salon, next time I see him I will ask if that's ok to share his info and will do a separate blogpost. Now get yourself a nice big cup of tea or coffee as this will be one long blogpost!

Before I went to Trevor Sorbie, I tried pretty much all the salons in Hampstead. I am very particular with how a salon should be and how I feel about it, and I find that Trevor Sorbie suits me perfectly, the people working there, the hairstylists and stuff are really cool, so I am finally happy to have found a salon that is on the same wavelength. Having said that I am not someone who will be making monthly appointments, no no no. I literally get to a hairsalon few times a year. I like my hair to have a life on its own in-between the salon visits. I like the roots to grow out and get grungy [within reason], I don't like my hair looking the same all the time. 

That of course means I trim my own fringe, in fact I had no idea how hard it is to find someone professional who knows how to do it properly, so off I went to Boots and got a pair of professional scissors... Also I do trim the ends, which is a good thing to do if you want to keep your hair looking healthy, even if you just take off half an inch. In fact I was once told it's good to do that once a month at least. I'm not too anal about it, like I said I just let it grow and get wild.

Something I have realised over the years is that my hair definitely looks much better if I wash it in the evening, style it and then sleep on it, which may sounds odd, but it works! If I am too tiered to wash my hair before going to bed, and do it next morning - I know I will have bun-worthy hair for the next few days, it just ends up looking frizzy, then flat, and fringe is all over the place. I am also very against washing my hair daily, I actually think it damages the hair, and makes it only get oilier at the roots the more you fondle with it. I wash my hair about three times a week, and style it once and forget about it until it needs a wash, I don't do anything to it in-between washes. 

Another trick I have learned works on my hair brilliantly is to not brushing it between washes. So it only gets brushed after I wash it when it's still damp, I love the Tangle Teezer, it's a-mazing for long hair I have no idea how I lived without it before!! And then when I blow dry my hair I brush it out with the big round Trevor Sorbie brush. And that is it, literally! The idea of brushing dry hair makes me cringe, it brakes the hair, makes it frizzy, and on top of that makes the scalp very greasy, so no, my hair started looking a lot healthier and thicker when I stopped brushing [about ten years ago, yes!].

Now onto hairproducts, I make sure to have a few shampoos and conditioners at hand, and rotate them all the time. My hair reacts better if I use say a volumising shampoo and conditioner one day, then next time switch to a colour correcting, and then a softening. I have stopped using the cheap shampoos looong time ago, recently I decided to try the good old Pantene Pro-V and absolutely hated it, so now I strictly wash my make-up brushes with it and bath my cat, they haven't complained.....

Here are the haircare products I am really enjoying currently [for the past few months]: 

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo & Conditioner - great all time products. John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone-Correcting Shampoo - I used this one every couple of weeks, it's one of those purple shampoos and a must-have if you have blonde highlights! Together with it I use John Frieda Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Moisturising Conditioner - them together are great if I need a lift, makes blonde hair look shiny and fresh again, almost as if you had new highlights done!

Redken All Soft Shampoo & Conditioner - been trying these out, and really loving them, full review coming soon! I actually washed my hair with these two product last night, really makes my hair super soft, yet stays in shape. And finally Bumble and bumble Thickening Shampoo & Conditioner - this range is great for when my hair is feeling and looking really limp and flat. In terms of hair masks, at the moment I'm loving the Redken All Soft Heavy Cream and Percy & Reed Superglossing Mask - I do them few times a month.

Now then, styling products! I also rotate and mix them up depending on how my hair is feeling. But lately I've been enjoying John Frieda Luxurious Volume Fine To Full Blow-Out Spray, Lee Stafford Volumising Mousse and Sea Salt Spray, Redken All Soft Supple Touch, Percy & Reed Bodifying Cream and Volumising No Oil Oil. And finally not really a styling product but something I would really recommend to anyone with long hair is the Phyto Secret de Nuit, lovely hydrating regenerating night treatment for dry ends.

And finally just in case you wonder what I actually used last night to style my hair with: 

After washing my hair and brushing it through with the Tangle Teezer I always twist it up in one of those towel-turbans, forgot to mention, doing this gets the moisture out of your hair, so by the time [say in 20-30 mins] I am ready to blow-dry, my hair won't need too much heat. Then I applied about five pumps of the Redken All Soft Supple Touch softening cream-spray for dry/brittle hair into my palm and then applied it onto mid-lenghts and ends. Then Lee Stafford Volumizing Mousse mainly into the roots and mid-lenghts. Followed by Lee Stafford Sea Salt Spray, this is great for that beach babe look and a bit of texture. And finally never forget a heat spray, currently I am using Toni&Guy Prep Heat Protection Mist. And then I start blow-drying my hair until it's 90% dry, then I used the Trevor Sorbie medium big round brush just doing the top two sections at the back and on the sides. Hope this helps!

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Bumble and Bumble Thickening Range!

In London we are suffering the worst weather in history, in the past few months you can literally count how many sunny days we had... This is so depressing... Anyways with dehydrated just about every single part of the body now also my hair started looking totally dull and flat... The windy weather just makes the roots go greasy very quickly and hair ends up looking terrible... So I realised my hair needs a nice boost! I tried a few products from the Bumble and Bumble Thickening range and really like the texture and volume it creates! 

The Shampoo and Conditioner made my hair look voluminous and shiny... It didn't weight the hair down, leaving it looking fresh and bouncy... Also for extra bit of texture and volume the Thickening Serum is great for thicker and stronger strands - it works over time just like skincare... It's a nightly leave-in treatment, you only need a few pumps - massaging the serum into the roots and through damp or dry hair... Thumbs up!

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Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray...

October has been so far a lot about hair products, and I will be featuring quite a few more... The reason being is that the transition from summer to fall tends to make my hair a bit difficult... I have long, highlighted hair that goes frizzy, flat looking and totally uninspiring at times... Having a good hair day is important for women especially, hair is our asset and therefore it has to be in good if not great condition... It all starts with a good shampoo and conditioner and hair masks, I just did a blog post on my new found beloved Lush shampoo & conditioner, just click here to read more... Then it goes into different hair products that would suit your hair according to what it needs that particular day, also have discovered a bunch of Percy & Reed Volumising products that work fantastically, click here to check them out... 

In between washes I sometimes need a little bit of texture, or even straight after I was my hair when it lacks that je ne sais quoi I like to use a sea salt spray sometimes... Basically what it is is a styling spray that helps to create a textured, slightly matte hair look, just think of the day you spent on the beach, the sea water is really nutritious for your hair but also it leaves it looking sexy and a little wild... But then you always have to wash it because you also get a bunch of sand in it... Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray does exactly that, without the sand bit... I like to spray it on completely dried hair, so either after blow drying it or on second day hair, then I just scrunch the hair up a little to create that wild-ish texture et voilà(!) - I look like I've just come from the beach, in the middle of autumn living in London... Miracles do happen, eh?

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