John Frieda Everlasting Blonde Colour Preserving Duo

Now as you all know (or if you don't you will now) I am a huge Lee Stafford fan when it comes to my hair and taking care of it and have been now for the past year or so.
 But now and again I think to myself that stepping out of my little comfort zone and trying different brands is a good idea and I should really expand my collection of hair products (even though I don't even have enough space for them all as it is... it's a girl thing right?)
So when I was contacted recently about trying out some NEW products from John Frieda my hair and I jumped at the chance!

I'm going to be honest since watching a video from Fleur De Force a few years ago about a certain John Frieda range and the effect it had on her hair I have been a little reluctant to use their products. BUT saying this my mum had been using the same products for years and years and swears by them, so I suppose it is just personal opinion/experience. 

After reading the description for this certain shampoo and conditioner though - I was sold! 
These are the Everlasting Blonde, Colour Preserving, shampoo and conditioner and I have been using them for the past 3 weeks or so.
I have probably been using them only around twice a week even though it says to use every wash but I have to say I am highly impressed with the results.
These products are made to help maintain a bright blonde colour and are recommended for all shades of colour treated blonde hair.

I have my hair coloured every few months with a full head of highlights and I always try my best to keep the colour the same as it is the day I leave my hairdressers chair!
Sometimes my hair tends to fade and the blonde may become slightly duller/darker and just doesn't look like that vibrate light blonde I started with, so in the past I have used a number of different products. 
I've mentioned before the bleach blondes range from Lee Stafford which act like the "touch of silver" shampoos and conditioners that take out of the brassy or yellowy tones from your hair and are a purple coloured product.
 I was surprised to see that these products weren't also purple but I was actually kind of pleased as I find they dry my hair out alot. (FYI I have cut down using the bleach blonde range alot and only use them around twice a month now).
This month aswell I started wearing extensions again so keeping my hair the same colour is something I am desperate to keep up - extensions that don't blend are my worst nightmare. (I use Lush hair extensions in shade #60 'Lightest Blonde' and they are 18".)

After using this duo my hair feels silky smooth and soft. And not only is it shiny but and I can see a real difference in the lasting of my colour.
I last had my hair coloured at the end of August about 5 weeks ago and my blonde is still really bright and the tone is great.
I am soooo pleasantly surprised by the effect these products have had on my hair and I am so glad I went for it and tried them out! I definitely think this will be on my list of things to repurchase - hopefully it will help me stay away from the hairdressers (and the bleach) a little bit longer.... although unfortunately they will never cure my roots!
I believe these are £5.99 each from Boots but I'm sure prices vary and you can find out more about these here.


(***Disclaimer : This product was kindly sent to me by the lovely people at Forward3D. . All thoughts, opinions and ideas are always my own and I would never include an item or product on A Yellow Brick Blog that I didn't truly believe in.)

Sleek True Colour Lipstick - MYSTIC

Now, where I live there is literally nowhere for me to buy Sleek (totally unfair right), so for me it is a case of waiting to head over to the "mainland" or looking at google images or YouTube for a better look of things and to get a rough idea about what I am ordering online.
So being in London earlier this week mean that it was a great time to have a look! I didn't really have long so I just picked up this lipstick which stuck out the most for me from everything - it is called Mystic and I am obsessed.

This is one of the True Colour lipstick's by Sleek and it is a matte colour. 
The shade is a gorgeous bright purple-pink, a colour which I have been lusting over for so long and until now I just haven't found the right shade for me.
I keep seeing girls rocking gorgeous bright purples on their lips and I knew I had to have one sooner or later!


As this is a matte lipstick the formula is a little different to other lipsticks I own and I definitley recommend making sure you are free from any dry skin on your lips before applying, a lip scrub or just using your toothbrush will do!
The lipstick itself can also become a little flaky too but too me it is something I will get over. Saying this, once the product has been applied it totally non-drying, something you wouldn't expect from a matte lip colour - in conditions the lips and feels fantastic, I think it is mainly down to the vitamin E contained in the product.

The colour is highly pigmented and the staying power is just fantastic. As you can see from the photos I couldn't wait to use the product before I took photos... (something I tend to try and do)... and after wearing it a couple of times I can say it is going straight to the top end of my favourite lip products at the moment!
 The purple is so different to anything else I own and really stands out and I think it would really suit a number of different skin tones.

I only own a couple of Sleek products but I have always been overwhelmed with the quality of the brand espically for the price. This lipstick is only £4.99 so I will without a doubt be investing in more of the colours throughout the range - have you got an recommendations?

Have any of you tried out any purple lipsticks or glosses? I really really want to try out more, I think they are gorgeous! Let me know if you have any favourites that you think I should try!

21 Hours In London

This is probably going to be one of the quickest posts I've ever done......
If you follow me on twitter you know that Thursday night and Friday daytime I spent in the good old city of London.
I love going to London and always find it so much fun whatever I'm doing! I had a couple of friends over from the states so they came to visit me on the island and I then traveled back up to London with them for a little adventure!
My trip was such a short one, I was only in London for 21 hours.... which is funny as it was my friend from Florida's 21st birthday but I had work Saturday so had to head back early on Friday evening!
I thought I would share some of my (very touristy) photos with you guys and a couple from the island, so... if you are from London I'm very sorry this is probably going to be extremely boring for you! But living somewhere so small like I do staying in London is so exciting, a totally different way of life!

TOP TO BOTTOM - Big Ben Baby | Front Door At Buckingham Palace | Liz's Crib | Taking The Girls To Sandown Beach, Isle Of Wight | The Girls Having Their First Ever Fish & Chips On The Isle Of Wight | The Birthday Girl & I Outside Buckingham Palace.

Nail Shades For Autumn

Well now that the temperature has dropped a fair bit (I am a tad chilly) I have come to accept the fact that Autumn is officially here and summer/heat will be just a distant memory for, at least, the next 8 months.
So along with the weather change comes new fashion, new scents and new colours for me to indulge in. I love getting back into darker,warmer and richer colours especially when it comes to make-up!
I love dark and vampy colours and I think they look amazing both in make-up and clothing! 
So in this post I thought I would share a few of my favourite nail polish shades for the Autumn months (I have sooo many so I just picked a few out of the bunch!) , heading away from the brights and neons and getting out those dark, warm colours!

1. Barry M Gelly Nail Paint - Lychee
A nude is perfect for all seasons in my opinion. I have praised this polish before on my blog and am still just as in love with it. To me it is the perfect nude colour and it is really opaque aswell unlike alot of other nudes you can get on the high-street which are jut a pale water that need 1000 coats to get any form of colour on your nails!
2. Barry M Nail Paint - Mushroom
A classic Barry M polish that I'm sure you have all owned at some point! Probably one of the first Barry M polishes I bought and it is still going strong! I love all the earthy colours in Autumn!
3. Barry M Instant Nail Effects, Foil - Gold.
A fabulous metallic colour, amazing consistancy and great overall effect! I love using on just one of my nails (normally my ring finger) alonside another colour or doing nail art  - it looks great!
4. Barry M Nail Paint - Raspberry
Moving on from bay pinks and bright pinks for Autumn I love darker pinks like this raspberr colour! Another Barry M polish that I have had for years but this one is still one of my favourites - always looks amazing with a matching lip aswell!
5. Maybelline Colour Show by Colorama - 104 Noite De Gal
A brand new polish to my collection this week! I have been looking at these polishes for ages and had heard they were really good quality for the price (only £2.99!) so I went ahead and got this gorgeous dark purple shade I have it on at the moment and it is so amazingly thick and shiny - I love it.
6. OPI Kardashian Kolor - Listen To Your Momanger!
I got this for Christmas 2012 from my best friend, it is a lovely cross between a royal blue and a navy. I love Barry M's navy and thats up there too with my favourites, but I love that this shade is a bit different and not as common.
7. Barry M Gelly Nail Paint - Watermelon
Another new addition to my collection for this season. A dark teal shade perfect fingers and toes and of course it's a Barry M Gelly so it's going to be great, cannot wait to wear it!
8. Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Varnish - Shameless
Now I know they aren't called this anymore and have now just settled for "collection" but I did get this a good few years ago and what a bargain it was! From Fragrance Direct it has probably been one of the best beauty bargains I've ever got - it was 25p!!!! Yup, mental eh? It was such a bargain and has been one of my favourite polishes ever since!
9. Models Own - Black Swirl
Now I could have just picked a usual black (as I always rock a black nail in these up coming months) but I love that this one is a little different. I bought it on a whim on ASOS when it was in the sale, I think it was only about £2.50 and I love it! Such a gorgeous black metal-like colour with the slight look of silver in it!
10. Barry M Nail Paint - Grey
I think this is a must for everyones nail polish collection, once again this is a shade I've had for years and years and still love to death! It is an easy go-to colour which goes with so much! 

What are some of your favourite Autumn/Winter shades? I definitely want to expand my nail polish collection even more before the end of the year!

Kirstie's Travel Diaries #10 - Venice Beach, Santa Monica & YouTubers

Catch up with #9 here.

DAY 10 (09/03/12)

Friday morning , the sun was shining and today we had decided to finally head down to the BEACH! Venice Beach to be precise and not forgetting Santa Monica!
We thought we'd ask at our hotel desk for the best way in getting to the beach, with traffic in LA being crazy busy we decided taxi probably wasn't the best idea as if we got stuck in traffic we could be paying hundreds of dollars! After speaking to them we headed off to the bus stop on Hollywood and Highland where we were to get on a bus and head to a bus station to change.

This bus came and we got on, a little nervous as to be fair we had no idea where we were going and knew no-one.
After what seemed a lifetime of stopping at a million stops on the same never-ending road we ended up at a bus depot type thing (aka we had no idea where we were). We actually got off at the wrong stop and had to walk  little bit to get there - we weren't having much luck at this moment.

Luckily a friendly bus driver advised us on where to go, so onto another bus it was and on the home straight to Venice Beach. Again, this wasn't a short journey but finally after over an hour and a half we were there - Venice Beach!

Obviously I'd seen Venice Beach so many times before, TV, Films, YouTube so this made it all the more exciting - recognising so many views and "sets"! 90210 sprung to mind!

One thing me and my friend had been dying to do was put our feet in the Pacific Ocean. I think it comes from us watching the movie Crossroads so many times and Mimi in it saying "I wanna travel all the way to California and dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean..." - have you guys seen that movie? I hope so - it's a childhood favourite of mine, got to love a bit of Britney!
So we did it, headed straight onto the beach and straight to the sea - now there was noway I was going in for a swim because.... erm... Sharks! So feet was enough! 

We walked alotng the beach for a little while and then decided to head back onto the walkway to check out everything there!
Venice Beach is a busy place and there is so much going on, stools, musicans, shops, cafes - the place is buzzing and we loved it!
There was so much to look at and even though I've heard people I know say before that it is a bit "dodgey" I didn't feel uncomfortable or on edge at all, I was loving it!
Walking along we suddenly noticed something we had definitely seen on TV - one of the model's homes from American's Next Top Model!!! (I can't remember what cycle it was - but I loved the season where they lived here - it is the most beautiful home with the most insane view!)

We could see the Santa Monica pier so thought we would walk along to there, taking in the beautiful views as we went!
We'd been walking for a while so we stopped and got a drink, it was probably the hottest day for us since arriving in the US... it wasn't even that hot and my poor pale skin wasn't coping well.
We set off again, getting closer to the pier - we could see the Ferris wheel and couldn't wait to hop on!
Whilst walking towards it all I suddenly noticed a camera crew - cameras, mics etc and then I suddenly saw who they were all pointed towards.... CarlieStylez and HeyKayli from YouTube!
If you haven't heard of them... where have you been? I have been watching the Shaytards probably for around 3 or 4 years now and with them being sister and sister-in-law to the family I have been subscribed to their channels ever since they started and of course to The Moms View.

I knew exactly what they were doing down in Santa Monica - filming Moms On The Loose!
I begged my friend to wait with me until they had stopped filming so I could go and speak to them and get a picture  call me sad/crazy but I knew there was noway this opportunity would ever come again!
I think we probably looked like weirdos sat down on the beach wall about 10m away waiting for them to finish interviewing  group of guys and at one point I thought we should probably just leave but after little while they finished up and the guys left.
So, like a crazy fan girl I went over and asked if I could have a photo with them - yes I'm that girl. #awkward
Thankfully they were so so lovely and happily had a couple of photos with us, not only this but they asked us to be on The Moms View.

 This terrified me but of course we said yes! We were filmed answering a few questions - which I totally ballsed up and sounded like a complete fool and I still cringe to this very day about it but.... oh well! 
It was so amazing meeting them both (although they did think I was about 16... god damn my young baby face!) as their family to me are such amazing role models and I can honestly say they were so lovely and I even still get to speak to Carlie on twitter now and again which, to me, is just crazy -she is such a sweetheart. 

After that seriously exciting moment we carried on up to the pier, passing the famous rings (that I always see in the Shaytards videos) and more!
Finally we were there - Santa Monica pier.

 A few years ago I would have never imagined I would have been this far from home, having the time of my life and seeing sights I never even dreamed I'd be able to see.

 We got some lunch (chips) and chilled for a bit - we had walked a fairly long way in the heat! Then it was time for the Ferris wheel! All we kept thinking was.... this is where Spencer propsed to Heidi in The Hills haha!
I swear to god that wheel went round about 500 times but definitely gave us enough time to get lots of lovely photos of the view! Why don't I live here?

Time was getting on and we knew that, with traffic, we were a good hour way from our hotel we thought that going back to the bus was the best plan.
Now.... where the bus stop was - we had no idea! There was noway we were walking back along to Venice Beach where we had come from so we went to the little help/police desk thing at the pier!
The officer kindly looked into all the bus times for us - which was like writing down chinese to us - we had no idea where we were going, or even which way!
 We actually stood on the wrong side of the road for about 30 minutes until we realised the bus we needed was across the other side - blonde moment.
We then had to run for our bus when we saw it - highly embarrassing  We were finally on a bus (and luckily had a seat) and it was packed.
It took us over 2 hours and 2 buses to get back to Hollywood and by this time I never wanted to see a bus again!
We had a quick dinner and took some photos up on Hollywood Boulevard and went bck to the hotel for an early night - what a day!

NEXT POST - LA Ink, Pinkberry & watching David Beckham!!

Kirstie's Beauty Buys Of The Week #2

I first did a BBOTW post back in June and had a great response to it so after buying a few new bits over the past week or so I thought I would go ahead and do another one!

Everything in this post was actually bought from Boots (minus Glamour), I am obsessed with the all the deals they always have on, I am all about saving money and if there is a way for me to get some discount on something I am all for it!

Now, I used to have a serious serious addiction to magazines. I am not kidding I would buy at least 6 a week. It was bad. But a good few years ago now I realised that I didn't actually read them all cover to cover and actually I knew alot of the stuff in them already because of the internet (I spend quite alot of time on here ya know!)

That being said I'm not saying I never buy them! I love curling up with a magazine and looking at the beauty  the fashion, he bargains and the interviews!

So each month I normally pick just 1 or 2 of the monthly magazines! This month it is Glamour. I am such a fan of Glamour, I first started reading it years ago when I used to steal my Mum's (who is also a known magazine buyer/hoarder like myself) and seeing as it as just £1 I couldn't say no! 

This issue is really thick and I know it's the sort of thing that I'll be able to pick up throughout the whole month and still have something to read in it! Not to mention the gorgeous Nicole on the front and an awesome free sample of Rimmel's new foundation that I've been dying to try before I purchase!

Since I found out about this new product from Real Techniques I have been waiting and waiting for it to be released.

 So as soon I saw it had popped up in my local Boots store I didn't even pause to consider and I flung it straight into my basket! So far I have only tried out one of the eBay cheap beauty blenders which cost me about a £1 and even though it wasn't bad I can already see and feel this is going to be a million times better!

 It is so so soft and after trying it out with both some of my new CC cream and my True Match foundation I can see how much better the quality is! It gives such a lovely flawless finish and I may have to jack in my brushes for a bit while I'm totally in love with this! For £5.99 I am really happy with this purchase!

Autumn is officially here (well where I live anyways.. Brrr!) so it's that time of year here lips start to become extra dry and chapped! *Queue the thousands of lip balms and butters I will be hoarding over the next few months!*

 This is one of the lip butters from Nivea and this isn't my first. I first mentioned these in my July favourites post after buying the Vanilla and Macadamia version and falling head over heels for it. These lip butters are just as good if not better for your lips as vaseline and they all smell so incredible (which is what drew me to them in the first place!) You won't get bored of putting these on to help soothe your lips, in fact you may become addicted!

Like I just said, Autumn is here and along with the changing of bare legs to tights and t-shirts to jumpers comes the changing of nail and make-up shades.

 I'm not saying that I completely ditch my bright corals and pinks over the Autumn and winter period but it is the perfect time to get out those deep, warm, rich colours from your make-up collection and rock the sultry,vampy look! 

I've always been a bit of a wimp when it comes to really really dark colours as I thought they never suited me. But over the last year or so I've slowly been teaching myself to come out of my wimpy shell and try and rock as many different shades as possible!

This had lead me to this - Barry M's Lip Paint in shade 156.  This is a gorgeous deep purple shade and I thought it would be perfect for the up coming months! I think the swatch actually looks a little lighter on my arm than it will on my lips and I am actually a little annoyed at myself that I didn't include a lip swatch - sorry girls and guys! I cannot wait to try this out on a night out, I'm thinking of wearing it with a really simple eye, maybe just fake lashes and no shadow! Have any of you got this shade?

I mentioned in a previous post this week how much I am loving Seventeen's products at the moment. They are normally a brand I will overlook and not really bother looking at as I would rather stick to the stuff from brands like Rimmel and Barry M which I know I love. But recently I have been so pleasantly surprised with the stuff I have bought from them and have a long list of products from their range that I want/need to add to my collection!

This is their new CC Cream which retails for £6.99. I have been wanting to try out a CC Cream for a while now as I love the thought of all the redness and fatigue vanishing off my face!

 I have been looking at so many in all the drugstores and once I saw this one I knew it was the one. This is literally as good as my True Match foundation which I use everyday, I love full coverage and a matte finish and this does it all! I was worried a CC Cream may have left me a little shiny but this stuff is fantastic. I bought the shade medium, although with it coming to the cloudy/rainy part of the year now I'm thinking I probably should have bought the light, so I may have to invest in that one too! 

Lastly it is a repurchase. The Eylure Naturalites false eyelashes in 107 are my go-to lashes every single time. 

Now and again I will stray to the 101's but 107's are my ultimate favourites. If you ever see a photo of me and I am wearing fake lashes 99 times out of 100 it will be these! I get through so so many pairs and it seems silly to always be forking out for them but I love them so I just don't mind spending the money!

My natural eyelashes are so short and I am alwasy moaning about them so when I am doing a full-face of make-up with eyeshadows etc (normally for a night out or big event like Bestival) I always like to complete my look with a pair of these!

Now the reason these are in my beauty buys of the week this time is because they were, of course, on offer! All make-up & make-up accessories are BOGOHP at the moment AND these packs of 107's have a FREE extra pair in them! Meaning that instead of paying £21.40 for 4 pairs of these I only pay £8.02 - basically only £2 a pair! That will keep me going for a while!

What have you bought recently that you have been loving? Have you bought any of these?

Deborah Milano Natural Blush - 01 Chocolate

Now you all know I'm just really a blush fan, for some reason I've never really liked the look of it on me. It may be because when I was younger I always used to have red cheeks and hated it!
So... I always like to go for a brown/coral toned blush if there is one instead of a pinky shade! So when I saw Deborah Milano had a "chocolate" coloured blush I thought perfect! I am the bronzer queen - I love them.
I first encounered Deborah Milano a few months ago and did a post on a lovely lip colour - you can read it here.

First of all I love this packaging, the shape is so cute and unique.. (sounds stupid but it really reminds me of those shells you skim along the water at the beach...) and it comes with a little brush too. I'm going to be honest here, I will probably never ever use this brush but it is great if you are on the go and really don't fancy carrying around your usual brushes, but for me I'd rather lug around my Real Techniques or Zoeva.

The love the shade of this bronzer it is pretty so wearable and would be perfect for a variety of different skintones. 
It is mostly a matte colour but there is a slight teeny weeny bit of shimmer in there - reminds me slightly of the "chocolate" bronzer from Bourjois (what a coincidence haha!)

A little bit of information straight from the Deborah Milano site - 

Natural Blush is enriched with precious gem dust: Amethyst,Mother-of-Pearl, Coral, Tourmaline, Amber, Jade and Ruby. Precious gems are bursting with the minerals and trace elements that skin needs, and are especially gentle on sensitive skin types.The unique formula blends flawlessly into skin, leaving a luminous, matte finish that lasts and lasts.

For only £6.90 I think this is great value for money! Deborah Milano have such lovely products and if you haven't tried any yet I really do recommend them!

What are your favourite bronzers? I have so many I struggle to choose one to wear in the morning!

(***Disclaimer : This product was kindly sent to me by the lovely people at Deborah Milano. All thoughts, opinions and ideas are always my own and I would never include an item or product on A Yellow Brick Blog that I didn't truly believe in.)

SEVENTEEN Skin Wow! 3 Way Highlighter

I'm back! Well.... To be fair I haven't really been gone but I feel like I haven't properly blogged in forever! (Reading back my last two posts I'm horrified at my crap writing and awful sentence structure.... I do apologise I have been extremely tired!)

 In the last 10 days I've moved house, gone to Bestival and when I haven't been getting drunk in a field or building a dressing table I've been working full-time - life has been busy!

But I've vowed to myself to keep up the blogging as I have soooo many posts in my head that I need to get into my laptop and onto the Internet!

Today's post is a beauty post! ('Yayyy' I hear you all cheer!) And it is all about a new highlighter that I have fallen completely and utterly in love with -
Seventeen Skin Wow! 3 Way Highlighter. (I just wanna say sorry about the bad quality of my photos today - lightning in my new place is apparently not on my side!)

I spotted this a good few days ago and as soon as I saw the name it drew me in!
I am such fan of highlighters and I love finding new ones to try out, the dewy/glowing skin look is my favourite - I die with jealously everytime I watch Tanya Burr's videos - seriously how does your skin glow like that Tan? Amazing.

This is one of the new products from Seventeen who I have to say I am LOVING at the moment. They are on top form with their new prime and conceal range and this particular product is called the Skin Wow! 3 way Highlighter.

The first thing I love about this product is the fact it is in a pump bottle, I do not own any other highlighters that are and I think it is the perfect way for distributing it.

It is called the 3 Way highlighter as it can be used in 3 different ways. (funny that eh?)
Perfect as a primer before your foundation, just blend a small bit all over your face after moisturising  - this will give your face a gorgeous radiant base!

Secondly, you can mix a small bit up with your foundation and put it on together - again and fabulous way to go from drab to fab in seconds!
And... my personal favourite - using it simply as a highlight, only putting it on certain areas of my face such as my cheek bones and brow bones. I alwasys do this after I have applied my foundation and before I apply bronzer! It gives my skin such a pretty and natural glow.

I would definitely compare this stuff to High Beam from Benefit (a personal favourite product of mine that I have used for years and years) it's pearly pinkish iridescent colour is so so similar and I think it works just aswell!

Just one pump is enough and probably even too much for one use but it is so easy to adjust how much you use at one time (the second photo is probably only about a 1/4 of a pump!) ! I personally think this bottle will last me ages and for the price of only £5.99 it is such a bargain compared to other similar highlighters out there!

Do you use highlighters? What are your favourites? Any bargains out there?