The Beauty Drawer: February 2013

Monday, 18 February 2013

Riri For River Island

As one of many million Rihanna fans I'm using this blog as a perfectly good excuse to talk about her. Over the years Rihanna's style has changed dramatically and she's come far from her 'Pon De Replay' days transforming into a style icon. I regularly stalk her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, just to see what's look she's rocking next. From her latest Terry Richardson shoot to those pictures, the woman just oozes sex appeal and boasts the confidence we all wish we had. I'm not saying we should all go about flashing our nipple rings but I just love her 'I don't give a phuck' attitude and how she's comfortable with her own body (which anyone in their right mind would kill for).

Picture tweeted by @ElleUK

This years London Fashion Week saw Rihanna debut her own 120 piece Spring collection for River Island which unsurprisingly received great reviews from anxiously awaiting critics. Crop tops, varsity jackets and thigh-high splits were among some of the styles that reflected Riri perfectly. I also spotted most of the models wearing body chains similar to the Jacquie Aiche one that Rihanna never seems to take off.

The models wore barely there makeup minus MAC 's Ruby Woo lipstick, very Rihanna-esque. Elle tweeted a picture of the models getting prepped backstage (left) which just added to the anticipation.

Also, am I the only one lusting over Rihanna's hair right now, long ombre waves, what's not to love? It's seriously making me want to reach for the hair dye. I went for a DIY ombre look before Christmas and although it turned out well, I got bored of it quickly. The dye I used to cover it is no doubt wearing off and you can notice the dip dye look peeking through in my first outfit post.

Below are a few of my favourite looks from the collection that reaches River Island stores on March 5th - definitely a shopping day to mark on the calendar! What did you think of her Spring pieces? Will you be rushing out to buy them?

Shirts tied at the waist, crops tops and caps? Rihanna's 90's grunge style needs to be in my wardrobe.

Pictures taken from fashion.telegraph.co.uk

Someone get me a pair of Manolo Blahnik 'Chaos' sandals ASAP.

Pictures taken from fashion.telegraph.co.uk

If, like me you weren't invited to sit front row at River Island's show then you can catch up with the video below:

Oh, you're welcome.

Hannah x

♥

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Thursday, 14 February 2013

Babyliss Thermo Ceramic Rollers Review

For Christmas I was given the BaByliss Thermo Cermaic Rollers as a surprise present from my mum, I'm guessing she'd listened to 'I want rollers' enough times to end up buying me a set! I'd wanted rollers for a while now but just never got round to buying them, so many brands and I wasn't sure what to go for.

The last time I owned something from BaByliss it was their Trio Crimper in the mid 90's so at first I was a little sceptical then I realised things have moved on alot since then. My housemate Natalie asked me to put them in for her before she headed on a night out, so I of course I used the opportunity to blog.

Before & After

The BaByliss set comes with 20 heated rollers of 3 different sizes, large, medium and small. 10 'super' clips and 20 metal pins are also included to keep the rollers in place.

I found them really easy to use - you simply plug them into the mains, switch them on and adjust the dial to your preferred temperature. I used the maximum temperature to ensure tighter curls and left them for approximately 10 minutes to heat up; one roller comes with a heat sensor that turns white when they're ready to be used.

Natalie's hair is a similar length to mine and normally I'd use 16 rollers for my full head; large rollers on top and gradually getting smaller to obtain a voluminous look. I started with the top of Natalie's head, securing the large rollers with the 'super' clips, working with the medium rollers around the mid section then eventually the smallest at the end. Normally I'd wash and straighten my hair the night before using these to reduce frizz however, Natalie's hair was still damp from the shower. BaByliss recommend using these on either damp or dry hair so we sprayed some Pantene Pro V Heat Defense Gloss Spray for Fine Hair and got started.

For easy application I placed the roller half way up each section of hair and wound the ends around it before rolling it to the scalp; this means that shorter pieces of hair are less likely to fall out.

Natalie kept the rollers in for 20 minutes, this is 5 minutes longer than the recommended time but helps the curl to last all night. I sprayed hairspray whilst the hair was both in rollers and out; because of Natalie's length the curls need all the staying power then can get.

After combing through a couple of curls with my fingers, here is the end result:

Personally I think Natalie's hair ended up looking better than mine ever does, the results are amazing. In the past if I wanted curly hair I would have used my GHDs but these are so less time consuming, I can put them in and have my makeup done before I take them out... because of this I've been wearing curly hair on a daily basis now.

If I had to rate these I'd give a solid 5/5, I just can't fault them. They're easy to use, heat up quickly, come with clips and most importantly give great bouncy curls - plus they're only £29.99 in Boots.

Rating: 5/5

♥