Yaaarrrgh! This ACEO was inspired by good old fashioned pirates and old school tattoos.
I’ve always really admired that style.
In other news it looks like we’ll be moving house soon although nothing is set in stone yet. What that means is that we (might) be going from having the space of a 3 bedroom townhouse to something much smaller so I’m trying to condense all of our stuff down.
What does this mean to you?
Well I’m going to be selling a lot of stuff over the next few months starting with… my ACEO’s. Yes they’ve been for sale for a while but now they are only $5 with FREE SHIPPING. Click on the pictures below to be taken to my Etsy site or if you don’t want to go through Etsy (or you want to pay in AU$) just email me at [email protected].
Hopefully next week I’ll have all the measurements and photos I need to put all the Lolita etc clothing I’ve moved on from up for sale so look out for it.
Don’t worry I’ll still be doing normal posts too so next week look out for:
Hot Roller/Updated Hime hair tutorial (with no teasing involved!)
Crafting adventure- how to do hime style on a budget
A special video that’s being made… ooow suspense 😉
Today my gift voucher for winning that Nuffnang competition arrived and I can’t decide what to do with it! Any ideas? So far I got the suggestion that I should use it to make a $10,000 ball gown for the Nuffnang awards XD If I manage to get in I totally will! Any other suggestions?
Also special thanks to everyone who nominated me for the Nuffnang awards, nominations are almost over so we’ll find out soon ^_^
Good morning everyone! Continuing my “Hair and Make Up” theme of blog posts this week, today I’m going to be reviewing some of the beauty products I’ve been using lately.
Review- 1000 Hour Eyelash Adhesive:
Background information: I have sensitive skin and allergies such as hay-fever etc. Over the last 3 years I have had a lot of medical problems resulting in be having many tests done. The over use of latex equipment made my allergies a lot worse. As a child I had eczema and I still have moderate asthma. After using lash glue and liquid eyeliner that contained latex for around 6 months I developed a full blown allergy to that. Since then I have been searching for an alternative.
Experiences: I bought this glue from Priceline after seeing it was “hypoallergenic” and did not contain latex. Before using it I did a test swatch on my wrist to make sure there was no reaction. Nothing happened on my wrist so I applied the eyelashes. I wore them for around half an hour to test them out. I took them off and around 2 and 1/2 hours later washed off the glue completely in the shower. My eyes were a little itchy but other than that fine.
The next morning I woke up like this: As you can see I had a very severe allergic reaction. When I woke up I couldn’t physically open my eyes because they were so swollen. Now 5 days later my eyes are still slightly swollen and itchy as all hell. I emailed the manufacturer (who’s name is very comfortingly “ChemCorp”) and received a reply on Monday lunch time asking for more details about what had happened. They also asked me to send the bottle back so they could analyze it. After a couple of emails back and forth this was the response I got as to why it happened:
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Firstly, I would like to apologise for the disappointment you have experienced with our product. Customer satisfaction is something Chemcorp holds in high regards and its of great concern when one of our customers is not 100% happy with our product.
As I am sure you are aware you haveexperienced an allergic reaction. It seems that you indeed have very sensitive skin, particularly in your eye area. We have sold over 50,000 1000 Hour Eyelash Adhesive and yours is the first complaint we have had.
We employ a regulatory company who makes sure all our products conform to all regulatory requirements. When a products is said to be hypoallergenic,
it is claimed it causes fewer allergic reactions. People with severe allergies and/or asthma may still be affected. 1000 Hour Eyelash adhesive has been put through tests specifically designed for sensitivity and allergenicity. All tests returned acceptable results. Hence despite the product being tested satisfactorily for reduced allergenicity and you having a negative skin patch test, you most regrettable suffered a reaction.
In regards to the allergens. Even though a product may contain suspected allergens, if the suspect ingredients are below the “risk” concentration, then it is acceptable and reasonable to describe the product as hypoallergenic.
Our recommendations are that you go to your pharmacy and seek advice in regard to a suitable antihistamine that will help reduce the allergic reaction. Also you should take note of all the ingredients so that you can ensure you will not be exposed to any of these ingredients in the future. We would like to fully reimburse you for the cost of the product and any associated pharmacy/medical costs.
We would like to thank you for alerting us to your reaction. If you would like any further information or have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
Kind regards.
Now I did my own research into the ingredients and it turns out that two of the four listed on the packet are known allergens. So I’m a little bleh on their ability to call it a “hypo allergenic” product when there are 2 allergens in it.
Price: $7.95 (as far as I remember)
Verdict: To be honest I still love the product. It sticks well, it dries perfectly clear and in a reasonable amount of time. When I had a complaint it was resolved in quick and satisfactory manner. That said if you have any kind of allergies or asthma you should seriously think about whether it’s worth developing an allergy to this. BE VERY CAREFUL. If anyone knows of a lash glue which is actually non-allergenic let me know please?
Rating:4/10 (If I wasn’t horrible allergic then the rating would be 8/10) r />
Review: L’Oreal Preference “Scandinavian Blonde”
Background information: My hair was blonde (exact colour as in these photos) with around 3cm of very light brown regrowth.Experiences: Bought this dye to cover the regrowth. It did not. When buying it I made sure to check the color guide, according to that my hair should have turned out the same as the front cover. I put the dye in as per the instructions. The mixture looked suspiciously dark but I gave it the benefit of the doubt…It looks like this in: And you know what? When I washed it out it still looked like that. Very much not a light blonde, much more like an ashy light brown. It also stripped all of the warm tones out of my hair. It didn’t cover my regrowth, it just left a strange line.Price: $12.95Verdict: Very unhappy with the results, not remotely like the front cover.Rating: 1/10
Review- L’Oreal Excellence Creme
Background information: After the complete failure of the “Scandinavian Blonde” I decided to use this to get the natural reds back in my hair.Experiences: Again I checked the swatches on the side of the box and it should have turned out the nice coppery colour on the front. It did not. It turned my hair a medium mousy brown. The one positive thing I have to say about this dye is the applicator comb is awesome! It made the usually painful application process super easy. Normally it would take me around 20min to apply, it took less that 5 with this comb.Price: $9.95Verdict: Crappy colour, good applicator.Rating: 3/10
Background information: This set was a gift from Nuffnang. It is supposed to make your hair softer, shinier and protect against heat damageExperiences: This has actually been really nice. All 3 samples pretty much have a coconut kind of smell, personally I hate coconut but most people find it pleasant so I won’t mark it down to much for that! I thought the texture was nice and creamy and it felt good in my hair. The leave in Velvet Whip was what I was most looking forward to and I was pleasantly surprised. Normally leave in conditioners make my hair really frizzy or stringy, this seemed to be a perfect balance and my hair was soft all day.Price: Samples free from NuffnangVerdict: After using it for a week my hair is softer and smooth.Rating: 8/10
Review- L’Oreal Superior Preference.
Background information: This was the first shade of copper I used after bleaching for the first time. I wasn’t quite ready to go completely blonde so this was a great in between colour.Experiences: This one actually went on exactly how it should and turned the colour on the box! Shock horror! You can see how my hair looked in this post for an after pic.Price: $8.95Verdict: Really liked the colour, though it didn’t have a fancy applicator. Rating: 8/10
Review- L’Oreal Super Blonde Prelightener Creme
Background information: I have used this 3 times, the first two to strip out my red hair dye and the third to correct the mistakes of the “Scandinavian Blonde” etc. Basically it is supposed to strip out dye or lighten your naturally dark hair. Experiences: I can’t say how much I like this bleach. After using it 3 times my hair hasn’t sustained any lasting damage at all. It corrected the Scandinavian incident easily and now my hair is back to it’s blonde glory! It also brought out a lot of the orange tones in my hair. The only thing that I don’t like is that it takes over an hour to complete as you have to apply it in two lots. The applicator also sucks. Other than those two minor flaws I am going to continue using this to manage my regrowth.Price: $14.95Verdict: Love the colour, it’s a little pricey but well worth it.Rating: 9/10
Extra~
Now that you’ve made it through this many reviews you deserve a treat 😉 Here are some photo of me with a lady bug that was in our garden the other day! How cute!Unfortunately around 4 seconds later it pooped on me! EWW!So are there any hair or beauty products you want to see me review?See you next post 😀
Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I have lots to report today, the biggest part of this post is going to be the hair tutorial that I’ve finally finished but other things first…
We’re doing this style today:
But first… remember the post I made about the Nuffnang Coles/Myer gift card competition? Well I won! I couldn’t believe it, I never win anything so this is awesome! They are sending out my $100 gift voucher so I’ll be sure to let you all know how I spend it ^_^
Don’t forget that Nuffnang is also holding the first annual blogger awards so if you enjoy reading what I write feel free to nominate me ^_^ and cross all your fingers and toes for me! I want to go to Singapore!
Next in the news is the guest blog post I did over at Lisa’s blog. I did a summer themed mani with fimo fruit so click the picture below for the full story 🙂
One more piece of news before I get stared on the hair tutorial! This is directly related to the tutorial though, on the weekend I used 1000hour eyelash glue and had a terrible allergic reaction to it. My eyes swelled shut and so I’ve had to photoshop some of these photos to not look completely ridiculous, the photos also saved really low quality due to a glitch in the camera so bleh. I’m going to be writing a review on the lash glue later this week and let’s just say it’s not exactly glowing but I’m waiting to hear back from their customer service department about treatments.
Without further ado, onto the tutorial!
This tutorial is for how to create this hairstyle. I’ve heard this called several different names (double french twists, 60’s rolls etc) but I think the name “Kitty rolls” is cutest because it reminds me of Kitty from “That 70’s Show”! This is a great style for when your hair is a bit dirty or you’re rushed for time.
You will need: -Hair spray (I’m going to review this brand later this week too)
-Bobby pins and a brush – An alice band (optional) First brush out your hair backwards so there is no part.
-Lightly spray the top and sides of your hair. This is just to give it some texture and get the bobby pins to hold. Now you should seperate a section on each side of your head. Imagine drawing an invisible line from each ear and pulling everything in front of the line forward.
Put these two parts to the front and sit the alice band behind them. This is so when we twist everything together you can hide the ends of the alice band. See the placement? Now get some bobby pins ready. It’s good to have them on hand so you don’t have to drop any hair bits to find them. I have a bad habit of opening them with my mouth XD
Start on one side and brush out one of the front sections.
Twist this section backwards.
And then place it (not too tightly) backwards and behind the alice band. This photo has been censored for my frilly peace of mind! It was a seriously bad allergic reaction! Ok now pin it in place. The best way to do this is to open the pin, grab the edge of the twirl and the push the pin into the rest of the hair with it’s open edges towards your face. This is a very sturdy way of securing the hair. Here is a video:
Haha you can here James saying “like so” at the end XD Anyway it should look like this:
Now grab another section of hair a bit bigger than the last.
Pull it upwards and twist it around the last section of hair.
Pin it in place It looks like this: Keep going grabbing sections of hair and twisting them until you reach the middle of the back of your head. Now do the same to the other side! Exactly the same process on the other side until you reach the middle. It should look like this:
And from the side: Now the back part is a little tricky so I’ve got another short video down lower. Grab all the loose hair and carefully brush it out. Spray some hairspray on it to give it some more hold.
Get those pins ready again! Ok with the hair between you fingers, roll it up. Depending on your hair length you might need to roll it over twice.
Hold it there and pin through the holes on each side until it’s secure.
Here is a video:
Ok so you’ve got the back part now it should look like this: See that weird hole in the back, let’s get rid of it!
Here is how it looks from the back, basically just keep adding pins until you’re happy with the shape. The easiest way to do this is to use a second mirror to see exactly how it looks.
Time to decorate now! Get any clips or pins you want to put in the back. The good thing about hime gyaru fashion is that you can cover any mistakes with extra bows or flowers ^_^ Don’t forget to give it a good spray, you don’t want bits coming down during the day/night.
I added two flower pins and a big rose barrette thingy that I made the other day.
And from the side: Finish doing your make up, add a bunch of accessories and you’re ready to go! Taadaa!
Well I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, once you get the hang of doing the twisting it only takes about 5 minutes. I’ve even managed on a train on the way to a job interview once XD
I’ve decided to make this week’s blog posts all about hair and beauty so expect more of this!
Lastly I’ve been considering making full videos for posts like this, would it be easier to tell what is going on in a video? Would you guys be interested in watching videos I make or prefer I just shut up and blog?
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
Yaaarrrgh! This ACEO was inspired by good old fashioned pirates and old school tattoos.
