Dressed up Ponytail

You may have noticed I'm very low maintenance when it comes to my hair, I wash it, let it air dry and then pretty much leave it alone! So I often fall back on a bun or a ponytail when I need to do something with it, but putting your hair up in a ponytail doesn't have to simply be functional it can also look really chic with just a few additions!

My make up was actually really minimal, no foundation, just concealer, mascara and a great matte red lipstick. Mac Russian Red is clearly the star here so I keep everything else simple so I can pull off such a bold lip for day time

And to jazz up my hair itself I just take a small strange from the pony tail ad wrap it about the hair tie. I don't normally even bother using a hair grin to secure the piece of hair, I typically just secure it by putting the end back through the hair tie. An easy way to make it look like you put in some effort!

I've been wearing this way more than I probably should as the whole thing takes literally 5 minutes and yet I think I look pretty put together!

Bold Lips

Something about having lighter hair just seems to play down bold lips. Take the beautiful Russian Red, there's something so luxuriously retro in the opaque matte finish that I adore. But with my natural dark brown hair it's relegated to the occasional night out, as it just seems too much during the day

Now my hair's lighter Russian red just doesn't seem so 'sexy', and I feel like I can pull it off during the day. Not that I whip it out very often since New Zealand's dress code is pretty relaxed (it always makes an appearance when I head over to Sydney or Auckland though it)

I'm really torn at the moment on what to do with my hair. Although I do like the grown out look it's going to get to the point where I need to decide what to do with it. I'm currently leaning towards going a little lighter ready for the USA - something about having light hair (possibly even blonde) in California just seems right!

 The only complaint I really have with Mac's Russian Red, is that it's a bit of a pain to apply without a lip brush - and I detest needing to use a brush with lipstick. But that's really my only complaint, it's matter so lasts beautifully, and unlike a lot of mattes it feels creamy and doesn't dry out my lips

I'm so glad I went with Russian Red rather than Ruby Woo as I debated for a solid week, going to the mall in Dubai almost every day to try the two out… Having said that I can't rule our Ruby Woo somehow finding it's way into my make up bag at some point!

 Red isn't the only lipstick that I've found myself feeling more confidently wearing since I lightened my hair. Mac's Pink Nouveau is another lipstick I wore only every so often with my darker hair but now it definitely comes out at least once a week!

Pink certainly seems like an easier colour to wear than red but honestly I find this so much harder to pull off than the classic retro red. I do love it for days when I want to keep the rest of my make up super light and simple - a bold lip is just the perfect way to make it look like you've put in some effort!

Cashew Nut by Garnier

Last week I decided to dye my hair – nothing dramatic, just a subtle tint to make my hair look a little bit more vibrant. I ended up using Garnier Nutrisse Crème, which I hadn’t used before but I’d heard lots of good things about it and the idea of a ‘fresh & Fruity Fragrance’ definitely drew me (who wouldn’t try to avoid the smell of normal hair dye?)
I picked up Cashew nut and I was expecting my hair to look something like the second picture, maybe a little darker as my hair doesn’t take dye that well..
Anyway onto the product.. The fruity scent was definitely present as soon as I opened the box it was just as described, fresh and fruity, but once applied onto my hair you do get the classic hair dye smell. And the length of time this takes to work is also a little let down, it takes 25minutes, and 35 for it to cover a lot of gray or resistant hair..

I left it on for 40minutes just to be extra sure that it’d work on my hair and this is the result..
It’s definitely not the colour on the box but there is a slight red-ish tinge to my hair, with it seeming to be most obviously red at my roots (typical). In daylight I don’t think my hair looks different even after a few washes with the darkness washing off..

Overall I do quite like my colour at the moment as it is very subtle and the colour shows up really nicely with flash photographs and on nights out but during the day it’s a bit of a disappointment really!

Have any of you tried this hair dye?
How did you get on?! xx
P.S I'm 18 tomorrow!!! :)