Saturday, 4 December 2010

101 things in 1001 days project

Okay first of all SORRY, because this is really off-topic and I will post again something relevant soon I PROMISE.

BUT,
you should totally check out this site:
http://dayzeroproject.com/

You can sign up in about 30 seconds and create a list of 101 things you want to do/achieve in 1001 days.
It also provides loads of ideas for you and you can track your progress etc.

I've just started making my list, you totally should too! [And tell me if you, it's on my list to influence someone else to join aha]
http://dayzeroproject.com/user/Jasminexo

xo

Tuesday, 2 November 2010

Quick note: Poll & Blog Suggestions

Heyyy just a quick note to say I've put up a poll > > >
And you should vote in it ahaa, because I don't really know what people want to read atm?
You can select multiple answerss, so go ahead :D

Alsoo I have a formspring if you want to write down any other suggestions or ask me anythingg♥
http://www.formspring.me/jasminechelseax

Love youu
xo

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Coloured tip nails :)

Sooo i thought i'd do a little post on one of my fave easy mani's to do
It basically involves leaving most of your nail nude and painting cute coloured tips to make them pop :)

So here's how:
1) After applying a clear base coat, paint a few coats of a colour which is similar to your skin for a mannequin-hands effect. I use OPI Samoan Sand :) You could skip this stage and just use your natural nail colour as the base but I like the ultra-nude look Samoan Sand gives me :)

2) Leave the base colour to dry for a good amount of time (so if you're using nail guides they will not pull off some of the polish when you take them of). Then, using nail tip guides (or free hand if you dare!), paint a layer of colour on the tips.

3) Leave to dry and wack on a top coat to keep it looking glossy and chip-free, and ta-dah you are done!!

Here are some of my favs, purple (fav colour ever!) and hot pink:
(Not gunna lie these are very messy, did the purple free-hand in a hotel room with my nails in the worst condition they have EVER EVER been because surfing destroyed them so bad ;/ BUT WHATEVER :))





Samoan sand looks two totally different colours in these photos, it's more like the first not sure why it appeared so dark in the second set of photos but ohwell :)

Hopee you like!
xo

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Cleaning clip-in hair extensions

A while back I posted about my clip-in hair extensions - click here to see the original post - and I thought I would do a post about how to maintain your hair extensions and keep them looking nice and healthy so you can use them for longer :)

When many people think of hair extensions, especially the clip-in variety, it conjures up images of ratty, scraggly strips of obviously artificial hair, -shudder-, but by buying good quality real hair extensions and taking good care of them you can do your bit to help stop this prejudice!! And generally have some better looking extensions aha, which I suppose is probably the main reason you're here :')

My method of washing extensions is quite, erm, thorough as i'm a bit OCD about them looking nice and stuff - some people just shampoo and condition like normal but as extensions aren't attached to your head and so have no way of getting your natural oils they tend to dry out a lot more, so imo normal washing isn't really sufficient for them. Extensions tend to dry out rather than get greasy.

Q&As at the bottom of the post!
So lets get started :)

1) First of all, comb your extensions so they are smooth and have no knots. Fill your sink/bowl/whateveryourusing with lukewarm water and add some conditioner and mix it in. Then put your extensions in and leave to soak for 5 minutes.

2) Next gently rub a mild shampoo through your extensions, combing the product through with your fingers. Being gentle is vital as you don't want hairs to fall out - this will make them go scraggly more quickly. I tend to squeeze the product into the extensions rather than rub.

3) Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water, then squeeze out excess water. Next put conditioner on. My conditioner is for coloured hair which will stop the colour fading, so no giveaways with a dodgy colour-match! Remember to use plenty of conditioner on the ends as this is the part that will dry out the most.

4) Rinse again and squeeze out excess water. Next apply a hair treatment or masque (Aussie 3 minute miracle deep conditioning treatment is fab!) and leave on for at least 10 minutes (I often leave it on for about 30-45)

5) Rinse off and squeeze again. Now lightly comb through your extensions and lay them out to dry (you can hang them from a shelf by pinning them down with a book or heavy object, or I spread mine out on a towel on my bed). Leave them to air dry as it is better for them than using heat. As they dry I tend to spritz them with a bit of leave in conditioner, focusing on the ends.

6) When dry, they may look a bit wavy or not how you want them, so just use heat to style them how you want. Then you're ready to clip-in and go!


Q: How often do clip-in hair extensions need washing?
A: Hair extensions should be washed when they are looking dry and perhaps a bit ratty, which is generally after 5-6 wears.

Q: Real hair or synthetic hair?
A: REAL HAIR ALL THE WAY. It may sound gross, but they are so so so much better than fake hair extensions, which are truely awful. They look and feel fake and plasticy, and tend to end up ratty and trashy no matter how good care you take of them.

Q: I wash mine regularly but they look really scraggly and bad?
All hair extensions are eventually going to look past their best, they're just no substitute for your own hair unfortunately! Taking good care of them really does help extend their life though :)

Q: Should you use heat protection or hairspray on clip-in hair extensions?
Sure! If you're worried about drying out or damaging them, you can use pretty much any product designed for your own hair on your extensions if they're made of real hair too. Don't overload them with products though as it might weigh them down or change the way they look for longer than you intended!


Hope I helped! Love for hair extensions♥

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Half-moon manicure tutorial

This week I had to cut my nails drastically - they have been in awful condition since I went surfing on holiday and since then i've been covering up the damage with polish but they were all splitting and peeling and I couldn't hide the damage anymore so unfortunately they had to go :(

After leaving them nail polish-free for about 5 days I really couldn't stand the sight of my tiny 'naked' nails anymore aha...so i decided to paint them, and to make up for the previous plainess I wanted to make them more interesting with a half-moon (or reverse french) mani :)

Here's what I came up with: (before cleanup sorry aha)


I used:

OPI Rumple's Wiggin & Max Factor nailfinity 882 Angel Nails (metallic silver/purple colour)

How to do the half-moon manicure
1) Remove previous nail polish and apply a clear base coat

2) Once base coat is dry, apply the colour you want as the half-moon, so here I applied the metallic purple/silver colour from Max Factor. This is quite opaque so I only needed 1 coat, do more if you need to but try to use opaque colours otherwise you will end up with looads of layers of nail polish which will peel.

3) Wait about 15-20 minutes for this layer to dry completely, and then stick on nail guide stickers where you want the half-moon shape to be at the base of your nail. The sticker protects areas you want nail polish free. Here's a (pretty bad, sorry!) photo explaining what I mean:



4) Apply your main colour (here I used OPI Rumple's Wiggin which is a lilac) from the nail guide sticker upwards, and leave to dry. Once it is fully dry remove the sticker and apply a top coat to seal it :)

Tah-dah! You are done :D

I've tried doing it the other way around and putting the main colour on first, then using tips to draw on the half-moons but even with the tip guides this gets quite messy and it's difficult to get the right shape, so this technique works better!

There are soo many combos you can try out, google image 'half-moon manicure' for inspiration!

Thanks for reading!

What do you think of half-moon manis? What colour combinations do you like?
xo