Vintage Half Moon inspired by Christian Louboutin

As with my previous Half Moon Manicure Tutorial the steps are the same with a few extra added.

Christian Louboutin shoes are know for their bright red soles, My favourite are the classic black on red just beautiful.

Stunning!! Can you tell I have a thing for shoes 

You will need:

10 French Manicure stickers

Base and Top coat

Nail Polish 1 Deep Red & A Black

Tweezers

Cotton wool buds

Nail polish Remover

cuticle pusher and cuticle remover (if cuticle the situations really bad)

Step 1.

As always start with clean polish free nails, Push back cuticles leaving the nail bed clean and clear.

Step 2.

Apply Base coat to nails and allow to dry 

 Step 3. 

Starting with your Bright Red Paint the underside of your nails just like the underside of the Louboutin shoes.

Step 4: 

Using the french manicure strips  to cover the half moon at the base of the nail 

Like shown below.

Step 5:

Apply a  2 layer of  black Nail Polish i'm using Barry M

Step 6:

Allow the second coat a few moments to dry before removing the sticker.

Step 7:

Finish with a coat of clear top coat and allow to fully dry.

Making Pillow Rollers

Pillow rollers are soft fabric rollers that can be slept in I love them because I hate being uncomfortable and can’t find rollers in the size I want plus sponge rollers make my hair curl to tight and go frizzy so I can make them a large as I want.

They can also be thrown in the washing machine on a 30 wash so I love thing that are easily cleaned

This Pattern will make a medium roller if you use heated rollers it the same size as a medium heated roller.

Equipment

Fabric

Scissors

Ribbon (very thin)

Pins

Stuffing (I used a old pillow)

Cotton

Buttons (I use old shirt buttons)

Sewing machine or needle and thread

Instructions. 

1) Cut fabric to size using a pattern i have very long thick hair so I made 18 rollers

2) Fold in half length ways and pin down the open edge and sew I’m lazy so I use a sewing machine.

3) Concertina one end pin and stitch

4) Turn roller inside out so your seams are now on the inside (I find using a pair of scissors to help to push the fabric back in on itself)

5) Now it’s time to stuff the roller I’m using the insides of an old pillow. First determine the middle point of the roller will be (I just fold it in half and mark it) Now take the stuffing and pack the roller till its half full. The roller should be soft but still hold its shape.

6) Make sure the stuffing is packed in and pin the half way point of the roller and stitch.

7) Now take the ribbon cut it in to approx 3 inch and form a loop

8) Insert the looped ribbon and pin in place and sew in place (I stitch it a few times for strength) I also taper the ends to make the look pretty but that’s just me.

9) Last but not least on the other end of the roller (the stuffed end) sew a button on.

Yes it looks a bit dodgy but works a treat

My 5 things I just cant live without.

OK well we all have our favourite products and essential we cant live without well here is mine.

My first product is a shampoo I'm quite old school and cant live without a bottle of vosene because my hairs long and thick if i don't blow dry my hair my scalp gets dry and chapped resulting in a bit of dandruff. I don't use it all the time as it does strip the colour dye out of my hair but i do use I quite often.

plus i really like the smell reminds me of being a kid as my mums away bought it.

My second is a Bandanna they can cover up a bad hair day (or for lazy girl day hair) or to complete my rockabilly style. This is my favourite one is my Diablo Jo's Dark Tea Tattoo Head Scarf is the best sized and shaped bandanna I have bought so far.

www.diablojos.com

My third is a spot treatment Quinoderm this is probably one of the strongest spot treatments you can get over the counter and my god it burns but I've been using since i was 13 so my skin hardly reacts to it any more. In my teens i suffered with really bad acne which was on may face, chest and back and has left some scarring. It has cleared up but do occasionally have a hormonal break out so i still reach for this.

I tend to apply it of an evening so if my skin does go a little red it gone by the morning and i massively reduce the size and redness of a spot over night. Be warned it does take the colour out of fabric so use your old bedding the about of pillow case i have ruined is daft  

My fourth is Barry M Eye Liner is my favourite eye liner its cheap, its matte black and I love the applicator perfect size and shape for me.

and my firth product is my favourite long wearing lip colour which is Super stay colour buy maybelline in 510 Red passion for the days I want a bright red plastic pout. I tend not to use it to often as it can be quite drying to the lip but its kiss and smudge proof so good for eating out

Happy New Year, The time for fresh starts and new challenge's

Well out with the old and a start to the new, I've decide to make some change to the new year lets say streamline my life just to make it easier to manage with getting my business back on track, being a mum to dilly von stink with another due in 3 months and trying to blog I'm going to take a more organised approach to this.

So blog wise I'm going to blog in a more formatted type way.
My aim is to blog 3 times a week at the least starting next week

Starting with:

Tip Tuesday - A tip i rely on in my everyday life and profession life which helps keep my make up fresh or keeps me organised

Thursday Tutorial - the title speaks for itself

Random Saturday - a random blog post about anything and everything

This is not all I'll blog about this is just my new year commitment. I'm also challenging myself to monthly task
so this month is an instagram challenge called Photo-a-day Challenge starting light nothing to time consuming.

January 2012 Challenge 

Nail Rock ..................Let see how they fair

Nail polish only lasts a day on my natural nails it chips and peels I also don't like my nails painted when short but I got a set of Nail Rock in Leopard print in this months Glossy Box.

I'm a fully qualified nail technician so have had experiences with loads of  different type of nail products such as foils and I used a product similar to these that Avon use to do a few years ago and they were quite good so we'll see how we get on.

Nail rock says they will last up to 7day on nails and 8 week on toes www.nailrock.com

You will Need 

• Your rock nail wraps (mine contained 16 wraps
• Some acetone based remover (noting with conditioners in) I used pure acetone
• Cuticle pusher 
• Scissors 
• Nail file 

I started by making sure my hand were clean and gave my nails a good scrub removing any dirt and oil from the nail.

1. I then worked on my cuticles pushing them back and removing any stuck to the nail plate (be gentle you don't want to tear them just push them back)

*Tip if they really bad soak you hands in warm water to soften then push them back *

2. Then taking a grit fill remove the shine from the nail Plate 

(just until you remove the shine this looks worse as my file sheds dust from acrylics)

3. I then remove the any dust and oil from the nail with acetone 

4. choose the size for your nail

5. Position the wrap and check its in the right place before committing

*Thrifty Tip if like mine your nails are short before the next step cut the top off 

and stick it back on the sheet try not to handle it to much*

6. I then take my hair dryer (it doesn't state this in the instructions but I found it helped)

7. Then smooth over with a rubber hoof stick or a cotton wool bud Checking all 

edges are stuck down and not on the skin

8. Using a file run down the free edge of the nail to finish the tip of the nail 

Application wise there are brilliant there easy to apply 

They look impressive and very neat 

I love the leopard print on short nails so far so good

And this is what was left over 

Then with the left over little pieces I treated my feet while I can still reach

Using the same preparation as I did for my nails

Pick up the small piece of wrap with tweezers
Measure the width against you toe cut and round the edges
and apply to the nail the same as before.

Sorry I hate feet I'm not one for showing my toes

So I will Report Back and tell you how long these bad boys stay on xx


*****UPDATE*****

Its now the 16th December 2011

It only lasted 3 days on my finger nails which for a party or night out are fantastic.
They really are show stopping and a statement so I really recommend them.

But on my toes I'm on week 3 and they still look tidy neat there not lifting and I have clipped my
nails and filed them and there still going strong.
it may sound weird but I have still maintained my toe nails and cuticles, its also come in handy
as it becoming harder to reach my feet as the baby bumps getting in the way.

so highly recommended xx

Long haired lazy girl.........................Overnight curling

Sorry a little porkie pie this is the last post with rubbish pictures I forgot I had a Blog waiting in the wings.

My hair is very thick and long and take ages to heat curl, theirs to much to pin curl and wet sets turn it into a lions main so only tend to use heat to curl my hair  if I'm going out. so to curl my hair more regularly I use this method

You will Need:

• Curvy grips or bobby pins 
• Hair bobble 
• Setting lotion in a spray bottle (I use superdrugs own brand)
• A Brush

BEFORE BED

I start with clean or day old dry hair

1. Take a U shape section at the front of your hair and clip away from the rest of the hair 

(we'll deal with that later)

2. Put the rest of the hair in a very high pony tail 

(think 80's Pineapple) so you have 2 section like this.

The front section i just roll up to keep it out the way I'll re roll it later.

3. Start taking small to medium sections and spraying with setting lotion
(remember this is lazy hair i just grab bits)
and roll in to an upstanding pin curl.

And pin securely with bobby pins

Keep working your way through the pony tail

TOP TIP: I pin all the curls on the top of my head so I can lay my head on any side without
disturbing the curl or my sleep.

4. I then take the front section spray with setting lotion
 and roll it backwards away from my face.

5. I wrap my hair is a scarf just to stop the hair on the back and sides of my head from

becoming fuzzy from the pillow.

TIME FOR BED 

6. time to hit the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sweet Dreams 

THE NEXT MORNING 

Sorry not fully awake yet

7. Start removing all the bobby pins and the bobble

(I leave the front section pinned up till last)

8. Start brushing the curl main out 

Till you are happy with the shape.

9. unroll the quiff section and brush in to the rest of the hair and shape.

its very early in the morning so pull a funny face.

and that's it Enjoy you day xxx