Prom Prep: Tan

I absolutely love the Dark Mousse from He-Shi which I reviewed over on the lovely Sarah's blog! You can have a read here.

If you don't want to spend too much or would prefer a lighter gradual tanner rather than a dark instant, Dove's Summer Glow won't leave you smelling too fake and it's under a fiver. If I can't be bothered with all the faff of proper fake-tanning, I always head for this!

Prom Prep: Sweet Sixteen Photography

In my lovely hometown of Essex (no really, it's not quite as terrible as TOWIE makes out!), there is a fabulous photographer, Studio Rochford. They do wonderful portrait photos in their studio and off-site at weddings and events but they have also recently started Sweet Sixteen Photography where they offer a fun photoshoot for your and your friends. There are formal prom dress/suits shots, portrait photos and also fun, laid-back group ones too. The location of the shoot is absolutely gorgeous (my Mum and Dad got married there) and the sunny weather we're having now would make the day (and the photos!) even more fabulous.

"Celebrate this amazing chapter of your life. Enjoy a photo shoot with a difference, held at a premier Essex venue with award-winning photographers. We will bring out the inner fashion model as we produce glamourous portraits of you in your prom attire. A quick change into casual clothes for relaxed,fun photos with the friends who share your life. Finally we explore your interests and capture the creative, sporty, talented you!"

My beautiful friend Grace (the face of my Prom Prep series, as you'll see in the sidebar!)

The quality of the photos are great and the ladies who take the photos are really lovely. If you've got a few friends, a gorgeous prom dress and a bit of cash to spare, I'd give this a go! Gorgeous photos to remember your teenage years by and a great day too.

To find out more or to book, head to www.sweetsixteenphotography.co.uk

Prom Prep: Eyeshadow/Eyeliner

I had first planned on a purple smokey eye to match my purple prom dress but then I thought that might be a bit too matchy-matchy so I think I am going to go for more neutral, metallic look.

I definitely plan on using my NAKED palette from Urban Decay as there are 12 colours (some matte, some shimmery) and they are all ridiculously pigmented. Even if you're going for colourful eyeshadow, 'Virgin' which is a pale, almost white, colour works perfectly as a highlight.

If your budget doesn't quite stretch to Urban Decay, Natural collection have a great range of colours with surprisingly good pigmentation for £.199 each and the No7 solo eyeshadows are great too - but a little bit more pricey.

Natural Collection (Barley) and No7 (Thunder)

 

 

My 2 favourite bases for eyeshadow are definitely the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and the Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows, which are also great on their own for a slick of long-lasting colour.

UDPP/Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Sippin' n Dippin'

Blended in - UDPP/Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Sippin' n Dippin'

And for eyeliner, the best one I have tried in a long long while is the new Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner. It's only £5.99 and I'd say it's possibly even better than the MAC gel liner and it comes with a really great liner brush.

Lee Stafford Argan Oil Range Review

The new Lee Stafford hair care range I was sent to review popped through my letterbox just in time, as my poor old hair was getting very dry indeed. No thanks to my daily straightening sessions.

The likes of VO5 and TRESemmé have started to incorporate Argan Oil into some of their new products and Lee Stafford has poured some of this magic oil from Morocco into an entire range for us!

So the night it arrived, I headed to the bathroom and gave it all a go! Oh, and if you don't want to read the entire review, skip to the bottom of the post as I've done a quick overview (positives and negatives).

Nourishing Shampoo £10.99

I'd have to say the shampoo is probably my least favourite of the four products as I'm just not a fan of the consistency. It has a thick gel-like texture and I found I needed quite a lot to cover my whole head and lather it up enough. As I have to use so much, it does mean that I really have to make sure I wash all the remnants out.

Deep Nourishing Treatment £14.99

Luckily, the Deep Nourishing Treatment really impressed me! On the tub, Lee Stafford himself(!) advised me to use this in between the shampoo and conditioner; so of course, I followed the master of hair's instructions! I worked the treatment from my roots to the ends of my hair as intructed and left it for the 5 minutes advised. When it came to washing it out my hair did feel much less tangly and very very soft!

Nourishing Conditioner £10.99

The conditioner worked just I would expect any conditioner to work but luckily, I didn't need as much product as I did with the shampoo.

Miracle Heat Defence Spray £12.99

Now is the time for a confession. I hold my hands up (not literally, that would make typing a little difficult) and admit that I haven't used any heat protection spray on my hair for years. I hope Lee isn't reading this; it would probably put him in an early grave! But after using this one, I realised how important it is as after blow-drying and straightening, my hair felt much less, well, frazzled.

So, the negatives:
- The shampoo seems to be a rather odd consistency
- I did notice a lot of hormone-harming parabens on the ingredients list
- It's all rather expensive

And the positives:
- The Argan Oil itself is reasonably high up on the ingredients lists
- The combination of the four products did leave my hair feeling soft and looking noticeably less dry
- All the products have a nice exotic smell but it's not too strong, so it doesn't interfere with any perfumes


Although I wasn't particularly impressed by the shampoo, the other 3 products did work well and they really seem to be giving me the TLC my hair needs at the moment. If you like the look of the new range but your budget doesn't stretch far enough to buy the whole range (which has just hit Boots), I'd say your best bet is to try the Deep Nourishing Treatment.

Prom Prep: Blusher/Bronzer

I must admit, I'm really not much of a blusher girl. Ever since I was little I've been stuck blessed with very red, rosy cheeks so I never really felt much of a need for blusher so I've avoided it at all costs. Now though, my bright cheeks have toned down a bit and my foundation covers most of the colour up anyway. As I've got more into makeup, I've started to experiment and now, as prom gets ever-closer, I thought it might be time to give blusher another chance.

I rather like my myfacecosmetics blush in Lady Monaco - a lovely girly pink colour. It is really pigmented but it blends really well and has a lovely silky feel. Unfortunately, It comes with a terribly cheap brush which, although may be useful on the go, is an odd thin shape so stick with a normal shaped blusher brush - Charli found a great inexpensive one which you can read about here! But overall, the acutally blusher, which is £9.99 is lovely.

I'm really into cream products at the moment and both Topshop and Maybelline do some gorgeous cream blushes.

I've heard (and seen) great things about the Nars Laguna bronzer and there is also a cheapy version from Sleek which seems quite popular; these are matte ones. However, I love shimmery bronzers in summer and Natural Collection do a gorgeous one for £1.99.

Natural Collection bronzer in Golden Glow

Week In Photos #1

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[01] I turned 16 on the 10th and me and my friends went out for dinner. We had a lovely time. I'll be posting some more photos later on!

[02] My NAKED palette is possibly one of my best makeup purchases ever and I've been wearing it non-stop this week.

[03] I bought these cute bug earrings from H&M - at £3.99, I couldn't resist.

[04] I renamed my tumblr and I made a little logo to celebrate. You can see my tumblr here.

[05] It's been raining half the bloomin' time where I am and I found this photo on my computer from Spring and it just seems so weird how lovely the weather was then and how yukky the weather is being in what is supposed to be the height of summer!

[06] The new Lee Stafford Deep Nourishing Treatment is doing wonders for my dead old hair. Look out for a review.

[07] I've been wearing Revlon's Pretty in Papaya on my toes for a good 2 weeks and it's still looking good as new!

What do you think about doing 'Week in Photos' posts? Would you like to see more?

Geek Chic

Today has been a busy day! Along with the million and one other things I had to do, I made it my aim to sort out all things geeky. We got the wi-fi router at home up and running which now means that The Fashion Freak has gone portable; I can now finally use my laptop which has been sat collecting dust for the last 6 months!

A photo of me from my GCSE Art project which I thought was rather fitting for today!

I also got my domain name sorted. Being an idiot, a few weeks ago, I decided that buying a domain through Google was too pricey and restricting, when infact being a complete techno-fail, it would have been a rather good idea. Instead, I used a private domain name site and probably ended up spending more money than I would have done with Google! Linking the new URL with Blogger/Google was all rather confusing, but we got there in the end!

So that's that. I am officially http://www.thefashionfreak.co.uk/!

Bite me

I was recently sent six of the seven lipstains and balms from Revlon's new Just Bitten range (you've seen the interesting 'Have you been bitten?' TV ad haven't you?) and I couldn't wait to steal borrow my dad's camera to take some photos and write this review for you!

Left to right: Gothic/Beloved/Forbidden/Frenzy/Passion/Flame

The lipstain applicator is like a thick felt-tip pen which, although is a little rough on the lips, makes for very easy and neat application. But ladies, it is a lipstain so please don't attempt to apply this on a bustling tube or bumpy bus. You have been warned!

I love that they have included a balm. A slick of the balm is good as an even base for the colour and also, as the stain is rather drying, it helps add a bit of moisture and gloss. If you're trying to be savvy and organised or just don't have much space in your make-up bag, I also think that the balm could be could for taming brows, but it seems to be very fragile so be careful when you pop the lid back on. I snapped one of the balms right off, not knowing how fragile and easily meltable they are!

My two favourites of the six shades I have are probably Passion and Gothic, with Flame in at a close third place. Passion is a barbie pink and although the packaging is bright, it is probably one of the most wearable. It makes a nice change to the common bright red lipstains.

But, I must admit, I do like a good bright red lipstain! And Gothic is a gorgeous deep red.

I took these two photos minus the balm just so that you can see the true colour.

So, the colours are all very pigmented and covered my natural lip colour well. So far, the stains I have tried seem to stay fullly-on for a good 4 hours before beginning to fade which, although isn't all day, is much longer than a normal lipstick would.

They are currently £5.99 in Boots, an average price for Revlon, which I'd say is reasonable considering the pigmentation and good staying-power. I'm just interested to see how long the lipstain 'pens' last as unlike a lipstick, there's no way of telling when it's going to conk out on you.

So, I'd go and pick one up if you've got £5.99 to spare but remember, don't apply it on public transport! Unless you've got a steady hand or you fancy the vampire blood-dripping-down-chin look!

Outfit of the Day - Blue for the beach

Top - Miss Selfridge

Denim cut offs - TK MAXX!

Ring - Some random shop in France
Tribal-style sandals - Matalan

On my toes...Pretty in Papaya by Revlon

NOTD: BeautyUK Jade

The BeautyUK polishes are of a slightly thinner consistency than what I am used to, but they apply beautifully and dry amazingly quickly! In this photo (courtesy of my now dead camera), I only have 2 coats on and as you can see, the colour is completely opaque.

Talking of colour, it is an exact match to the colour you see in the bottle and it doesn't darken or lighten once it has dried. The polish lasted a good 3 days without chipping and it probably would have lasted a lot longer had I not taken it off. Incase you didn't know, I get very impatient with nail polish and change it every few days!

You get 9ml of product for £1.99 which I think is fantastic, especially considering the range of colours available and the quality of the polish itself.

My first BeautyUK nail polish. And definitely not the last! BeautyUK, give yourselves a pat on the back.