A Blonde Moment

So to begin my blonde celebration I’ve chosen to start with one of my faves.  There is no one cooler or chicer than this lady.  She is my absolute, number one style icon. 

Lady Penelope.

 

Yes she is a puppet, yes she is off Thunderbirds. And No I don’t care about either off these things.

Lady Penelope is just the epitome of the cool blonde.  Calm, elegant, always looks fabulous even under the tensest situations them crazy puppets get themselves into.

I love her sixties bob, I love her sixties makeup, I love her pink co-ordinates, I love her car, I love her big fur coat, I love her cigarette holder, I love that she smokes, I love her accessories, I love her Mondrian number.  I love her.  She is properly excellent.  And underneath the calm, poised, glamorous exterior, she’s a total badass.  She could have the rest of those thunderbird puppets for breakfast and look utterly F.A.B whilst doing so. 

And she’s a lady, a real one.  She needs to be on the cover of Tatler right now.   Step aside P-Middy you commoner, Lady P. is in the house.

 

Na Na Nananana Tangle Teezer

(Title has to be sung as in "na na nananana afrocircus"...off the newish Madagascar...with the zebra ...and the wig ...no?... ok sorry... slopes off out the back door...)

So while we are on the subject of hair I just had to mention what is possibly my best buy ever.

 The Tangle Teezer. 

Granted having someone raving about a Tangle Teezer is nothing new, but there is a reason for this.  They are FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!! Seriously.

As I have mentioned in my previous post, I am a curly.  When I was my hair and leave it to its own devices I resemble Helena Bonham Carter, which is awesome if you Helena Bonham Carter and can afford to wear Vivienne Westwood and are married to Tim Burton.  I sadly am not.  I kind of need my hair to be vaguely manageable.  I’m not fussy, just being able to put it in a neat bun for work is all I ask.  Every other brush/comb/fork (hey it works for Ariel!) either rags my hair into a splintered mess or just gets plain stuck.  Neither is ideal.  However the Tangle Teezer merely laughs in the face of my tangled bird’s nest of a Barnet and effortlessly glides through my hair as if it were the mane of a My Little Pony toy called Cupcake. 

They are also excellent for backcombing and creating the much beloved Patsy Stone beehive, in the dark days of pre Tangle Teezer for me sporting a beehive meant accessorising with comb matted into the bump, which isn’t necessarily the look I was going for.

They also come in some fabulously camp colours… purple sparkle, gimmee.  Be warned once siblings/nieces/nephews/friends/boyfriends clock yours it will go missing. 

Anyway I could go on and on about the wonder of the Tangle Teezer but nothing will prove my point more so than these pictures.  

FYI I am available for ad campaigns.

 

Now run along and get thyself a Tangle Teezer then brush and brush and brush and brush your hair.  please feel free to sing whilst doing so, in fact i actually encourage it, and if you can surround yourself with small, chirpy animals thats all the better. 

Go have your Rapunzel moment xxx

 

A Blonde Moment

So recently I’ve gone back to my roots.  My natural blonde roots.

 After a year of being ginger and a two year dalliance with the dark side I’ve gone back to blonde.  The root maintenance of every two weeks was getting abit too much to take and it was time for a change. 

Now I’ve been colouring my hair since I was about 14, highlights, low lights, full colour but until 4 years ago hadn’t really strayed from various blonde hues.  What inspired the change well I suppose 2 things really…

1.        I have ALWAYS wanted to be a brunette. All the best people are brunettes, Belle, Princess Jasmine, My sister, Sporty Spice, Jet from gladiators, Pocahontas, Anne Boleyn.

2.       I was super pale at the time and pretty anaemic so dark hair would have totally washed me out so decided upon red.  I would be a hybrid of Joan Holloway, Florence Welch, Axl Rose and Lizzie Siddal.  

So I went red and it was awesome and then I got bored bit the bullet and went jet black.  And I loved it, but the root and brow maintenance was a nightmare. Light roots on dark hair don’t work.  And the whole fair eyebrow dark hair look? Amazing in Vogue, in real life Grima Wormtongue …seriously.  And yes tinting and root touch up is easy, but if you have a somewhat lax approach on beauty like I do, then it’s not a great situation.  And as much as I loved my sleek black bob, there’s no denying I’m a curly Blondie. And them blonde curls are gonna reveal themselves no matter how much dye and ghdness you put upon them. 

Surprisingly I found going from black to blonde surprisingly easy ( helped by the fact that my hair seems to adore bleach, yes even my follicles are peculiar), and that it seems my hair is lightening itself, it’s like its finally allowed to be itself and is thriving.  Which makes me feel like I’ve been really mean to my hair and feel like a bad parent, but then I remember strands of cells and keratin don’t have emotions.   Best part is my roots are barely visible after 8 weeks.  Mainly down to clever hairdressing genius by my fabulous cousin, but also cause there’s not a whole load of difference to the highlights and the realness.

So to fully embrace my reblondening and to celebrate my roots if you will I’m going to be blogging about my favourite blondes in a “blonde moment” feature as I have spent my childhood obsessed with brunettes it’s about time I celebrated my own heritage, so to speak. 

Who is your favourite flaxen haired wonder?

 

Where i gush sycophantically about the goddess that is Lisa Eldridge...

I love Lisa Eldridge.  When I say I love Lisa Eldridge I mean it.  I properly adore the woman.  I’ve been borderline obsessed now for about 6 years when my graphics teacher introduced me to her work when doing a project on typography.   If you don’t know who Lisa Eldridge is Google her website, there you will find the key to eternal joy.  Her website contains the most wondrous makeup tutorials known to man. 

And no Lisa is not a YouTube makeup artist.  How very dare you make such insinuations, we are no longer friends.  She has over 20 years’ experience under impossibly chic belt.  She is one of the revered makeup artists in the world.  She works with top designers and a list stars.  Her work is featured in Vogue, Elle, Glamour to name a few.  Her work is instantly recognisable yet amazingly versatile. 

She’s started her blog a couple of years ago, it shows us mere mortals how to really apply makeup and get some of that a list sparkle.   Her advice is golden this is a lady who really knows her trade.  She understands every single little molecule of the face and works with it.  She knows formulations and technologies in all the lotions and potions like a scientist.  I’m pretty convinced there is witchcraft involved somewhere along the line as she is too amazing.

But I don’t just love her on skill alone.  She’s lovely, like properly lovely.  She’s so nice you want to have afternoon tea with her she’s just a delight.  Her makeup for meeting an ex tutorial is perfect.  Everyone should watch it and feel uplifted and beautiful afterwards.  It’s like having your best friend talk to you about makeup. 

I also adore her aesthetic on beauty which is to enhance your own natural beauty don’t cover it up.  Work with what you’ve got.  So called imperfections are often what makes your face all the more perfect.  Also not to over pluck your eyebrows …this is soooo important but that’s a whole other issue.

She is also utterly gorgeous.  She is so pretty.  But the type of pretty that radiates from inside.  Don’t get me wrong she’s gorgeous her features are flawless but she glows with that inner beauty seen most often on Disney princesses.  And she has the best wardrobe ever. And I really really want her rings, (William Welstead and Solange Azagury-Partridge look them up, lust after them, sob uncontrollably in the knowledge you will never be able to afford them…just me ok then.) And she wears really nice nail varnish.  And I like her hair.

ANNND  you can totally trust all her recommendations because there’s no sponsorships or advertisements cos quite frankly she doesn’t need that.  And her recommendations are worth their weight in gold.  Yes she is works for No7 and Chanel but she only recommends the products she truly believes in.  And quite frankly Chanel makeup is divine we’d all use it all the time if we could.   She uses products from Tom Ford to Collection 2000 making it totally affordable for the rest of us. 

The one thing I will say is approach with caution these videos are utterly addictive.  I don’t think I’m the only one who squeals when she uploads a new video…am I?   You will also have a shopping list as long as your arm and your bank balance will take a pretty serious hit.  But you’re gonna look amazing and it’s all thanks to Ms Eldridge.

lisaeldridge.com

Blog, Blog, Bloggity, Blog

So a month ago I turned 25. Twenty freakin five. I mean what the bajingo....I cannot be 25. I feel about 12 ...at a push. But its true I have been around for 25 years, which my mum kindly pointed out is half way to 50.
Ok in the grand scheme of things 25 is not old , its not old at all. However when your younger you imagine by 25 you've prettty much achieved the goals you've set out for yourself. Your an established, accomplished, self reliant individual.
Erm no. Not at all. Not one bit. Like not even close.
I am 25 and I still haven't mastered the handstand, hoverboards aren't invented, I can't last a night out in heels and probably most annoying of all I haven't transformed into she-ra yet.
So at 25 I've decided to share my non sensical ramblings with the world, or you know the three people I have shamelessly bribed with mars bars to read it. Mainly because my phone bills are getting extortionate due to my messages about feminist rants , raves, objectifying handsome men and videos of baby monkeys riding on pigs and my friends are getting fed up of it. So for my bank balances sake and my friends sanity I'm starting this blog.
From now on shits about to get weird...apologies in advance.
Xxx