Bump It Up! A Tutorial

If you've read my review on the Scunci Hi Styles, you'd probably remember that I promised a tutorial. Here it is! Hope you find it helpful.

What you will need

•  Scunci Hi Styles
• A couple of bobby pins 
• A tail comb 
• A bottle of hairspray 

Step 1  Work out where you want to place the Hi Styles. I chose around half to three quarters way in, at the top of my head. I started teasing the hair in front of that (they are going to cover/conceal the Hi Styles).

 Step 2. I had separated the portion of hair into two sections. Here I am teasing my front section.

Teased hair!

Step 3. Hold your portion of teased hair up vertically. Place the Hi Styles on top of your head, directly behind the teased hair.

Step 4. Pull the teased hair over the Hi Style to conceal it. Make sure you don't pull too tight or the teeth will show through. With one hand holding your hand in place, grab a bobby pin with your other hand and secure it. Use another bobby pin, inserting it from the opposite direction to criss-cross the two pins. 

It will look something like this at the back.

Step 5. Hairspray the bump and then gently run your hand over it to smooth down any flyaways.

And there you have it. This is how I cheat volume into my hair.

What do you think? Are you interested in more hair tutorials?

Bump It Up! A Review

My hair is very difficult to tease and doesn't not hold volume very well. It's coarse and heavy and drops faster than a hot potato on bare hands (did that analogy make sense?!?). I've tried it many times at home with a rat tail comb and a couple of different hair brushes but to no avail.

I even asked a hairdresser for advice on how to tease my hair. She gave me a sympathetic "Yea, hair like yours is very hard to tease". She grabbed a rat tail comb and said, "you use this!". Then she proceeded to yanking a lock of my hair up vertically and tugging the comb up and down against my hair vigorously. She was so distracted and rough with what she was doing that I swear I was going to be bald by the end of the appointment. I stopped her after she gave it a couple more goes. It was really hurting my scalp and ineffective at giving my hair more volume. Despite this unpleasant experience, I was not deterred from teasing my hair. 

I decided that I needed to cheat if I wanted to get my hair anywhere near as voluminous as Bridgette Bardot's. Enter Scunci Hi Styles... and Double Lift  & Tease Comb. The former was specifically requested by me; the latter was unexpectedly thrown in by the PR agent. I am impressed with this comb. It has been the only comb so far capable of getting my hair teased. Of course, the effect created on my hair still isn't as prominent as those with fine hair but still! It has made a huge difference! So I have the PR agent to thank for adding this extra goodie to my parcel.

As for the Hi Styles, I must admit that despite being an "easy to use" item, I struggled with it. I had trouble hiding the teeth and my hair kept falling down on the sides. Anyway, I persisted and kept practising. Soon enough, I figured out my own method of making this tool work for me. So I'm pleased with this product as well. Below is a photo of the end result after using the comb and the Hi Styles.

What do you think?

 Both these products are available at Priceline. The comb retails for AUD5.95; and the Hi Styles AUD9.95, which I think are very reasonable prices. I will be creating a tutorial for these two items very soon. The question is, would you guys like it in written (with photos) or video form? Please let me know if you have a preference!

Thanks for reading. Have a lovely day!

Please note that although this is a sponsored review, these opinions are honest and solely my own. I will not falsely write a good review on "bad products" or "products that I do not like".

Lauren Conrad Style Top Bun with a Hair Donut (Tutorial & Mini Review)

Please allow me to introduce to you my awesome friend, Marj. She is a fun-loving, free-spirited and cheerful girl who has kindly agreed to be my model for this hair tutorial.

Remember the post that I made some time back about buying a hair donut? Well today, I will show you how to use it (hopefully) to do a Lauren Conrad Style Top Bun!

Stylebistro.com

I will also do a quick review on the hair donut at the end of this post. So let's begin!

Marj has very long hair. The photo above is to give you an idea how long it is. She would need a hair donut that is at least medium-sized or larger to "fit all of her hair in". Before we started, I brushed her hair and prepped it with Aveda's Light Elemenets Smoothing Fluid to make her locks smooth, soft and shiny.

Step 1. Tilt your head forward and gather all of your hair into one big bunch. If you have a fringe, you can leave them out.

Step 2. Lift your head back up and tie the bunch of hair into a high pony tail. The position of your ponytail depends on where you want your bun to sit. For example, If you want your bun to sit directly on top of your head, then your ponytail should be on top of your head. In Marj's case, she did it a little towards the back of her head.

Step 3. Now, grab your hair donut and put all five of your finger through the centre of the donut. Start pulling your hair/ponytail through the centre. It's similar to how you put on a scrunchie (except you don't twist the donut and loop it around).

Step 4. Pull all of your hair/ponytail all the way through and make sure that the donut is sitting against your head.

Step 5. Next, tilt your head slightly forward and spread your hair over the donut and smooth them down as evenly as you can.

Step 6. Start by taking a lock of hair and pull it diagonally across and backwards (making sure that the donut is covered by the hair). In the process, start tucking the hair under the donut. Keep one hair on top of the bun to have better control and to make sure the bun will turn out smooth.

The photo above is a side shot of the previous photo.

Step 7. Pin that lock of hair down with a bobby pin. Make sure you direct your pin towards the centre of the bun and make sure pin will end up hiding underneath the donut.

Step 8. Continue with the same process (Step 6 & 7) around your head/donut. Make sure you stick with the same direction. Don't worry if there is "leftover" hair (the remaining length of your hair). Just gather it and combine it with the next lock and it will eventually get tucked in under the donut/bun. If you've already covered the whole donut with hair and you still have some lengths of hair left out, just twist it a little and tuck it around and under your bun. Pin it in place to avoid your bun coming undone.

Step 9. Pin up any loose/stray hair (that are too short ot be included in the bun).

And there you have it! A Lauren Conrad-esque top bun!

 

It's okay if the do looks a bit messy. It just makes it look effortless. Doesn't Marj look pretty? I think so too!

Review: Overall, this is a good little hair accessory to have but it is expensive at AUD10. You can make a sock bun, which would be cheaper, but the size won't be as big and the shape won't be as smooth. Not that it really matters. The quality is decent and I think it will last me a very long time (fingers crossed). My sock buns are fraying where I had cut off the toe area.

I would like to thank Marj for letting me play with her hair.  I would also like to thank RLD photos for taking and editing the photos. If you liked the photos in this post, please feel free to like his Facebook page! He will be uploading extra photos in the near future.

What do you think of this hair tutorial? Was it helpful? Would you like a sock bun version of this tutorial? Please leave a comment below! Thank you!

Sweet & Sassy Saturday: April Haul

So you know about the Sigma makeup brushes that I bought but those weren't the only things that I bought this month.

One fine day, when I should have stayed in the library to study for an upcoming quiz, I went to David Jones. I'm sure a number of the staff there know me by face now. I think I visit that place way too frequently. Anyway, I was avoiding the Bobbi Brown and MAC counter as much as I could (although I did stop to enquire about a MAC lipstick) because I've been to their counter so many times I feel bad for not buying from them more often. I headed over to the Laura Mercier counter, which I had only ever been to once and never met the counter manager there before. Also, I've heard Sam from Pixiwoo praise LM products on a few of their videos and I wanted to look at their famous tinted moisturiser.

I was swatching their tinted moisturiser on my hand when the LM lady approached me. She was so friendly, talking to me about the product, colour matching me and applying some on my face to get a feel of it. It was so light that I could barely feel it but pigmented enough to cover the redness on my nose. She said that my colour is Sand and it really was a perfect match for my skin, even my boyfriend agreed. At first, I went away to inspect beauty products at other counters, choosing to buy the tinted moisturiser another day. Then, as I discussed about it with my boyfriend, he said that I should get it if I liked it so much. Plus, Laura Mercier has had a price drop and it made it all the more a good deal. So I went back and told the LM lady that I changed my mind. She was more than happy to sell it to me.

That day, I also stopped by Estee Lauder. They had set up a display promoting their Idealist Even Skin Tone Illuminator. As I was examining a bottle when the counter manager, who was also very friendly, came over to talk to me about the product. I was really curious for I've heard and read some good reviews on it, particularly from Emily (Emily's Anthology). The lady was so kind to give me a couple of samples to trial it for a few days. I have yet to give it a go. I'm hoping that it will remove the acne scars that I have and even out my skin tone in general. Getting a radiant glow out of it would be a bonus. I will post a review once I've trialled it, so stay tuned.

I've been wanting a hair donut for a long time now. I finally bought one from Price Attack because it was the cheapest I could find ($10) compared to other stores. I could have easily bought one from eBay for $2 but I'm keeping my promise. I apologise for the terrible photo. I've also made a sock bun and I will be doing a comparison between a store bought and a homemade hair donut soon. I will probably accompany that with a tutorial.

Summary: 

• Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer gives a lovely sheer coverage. Sheer enough to feel like but pigmented enough to even out skin tone.
• Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skin Tone Illuminator sounds very promising. Will trial and review it.
• Hair donut: Store bought versus homemade review and tutorial to come.