Beauty in the Big Apple

Well, I've just got back from New York (lucky me!) and I'd expected to come away with a real haul of beauty stuff but to be honest because of the exchange rate, the fact we were going to all the big department stores (Macys, Bloomingdales etc) and the fact that it's New York so it's expensive, make up and stuff wasn't much cheaper!

On my shopping list was: Dior foundation and nail varnish, Chanel nail varnish, Demeter, Tigi, Nails Inc, OPI, perfume, Clinique exfoliator, mascara and superdefense moisturiser, Bobbi Brown Vitamin B Face Base and Prescriptives Super Line Preventer Extreme . Instead - this was all I got (in the way of beauty products, I mean):


And two of those were gifts for other people, and one was a free gift from Clinique (the make up remover)...how pathetic am I! Clinique was much cheaper there though. Did anyone know Prescriptives were closing down by the way? That's what they told me at the counter when I was buying - might be worth stocking up/waiting for clearance bargains from there if you like the stuff.

Some other New Yorky stuff - I got a manicure done in a salon just off 5th Ave (called Nardi's, based in the 4 star Lombardy Hotel) and it's fab, I got it done on Friday and the colour is still perfect, a really nice red by Essie. Two of my friends paid $30 for a beauty package thing there so I just tagged along for a mani! :-)

I was also pretty disappointed in Sephora - they're EVERYWHERE and I was really looking forward to going but when I got there, there wasn't much in there I couldn't have bought elsewhere, and again it was no cheaper than buying it in the UK.

But still, I had a fab time and did plenty of other shopping, spending and sightseeing. Quite sad to be back in grey old Manchester!

Battle of the Batistes

I love Batiste dry shampoo- it's a godsend when you get up late/can't be bothered washing your hair/are travelling somewhere.

I started off using Lee Stafford dry shampoo but quickly graduated to Batiste once I'd spotted the Tropical scented one. I loved it. Then I noticed the Diva and Boho fragrances - both gorgeous too! Weirdly my favourite is Boho (I'm not what you'd call a Boho girl), though I haven't tried Blush yet (which I assume is florally?)

Now I see they've brought out sprays for brown and black hair (no more white powdery roots!) but as a blondie I won't be trying these; strangely they are like £1 more than the normal ones?

Fishtail plaits/braids

I recently taught myself how to do fishtail plait (also known as herringbone braid) and I love it - it's a bit fiddly to get the hang of at first but looks great.

How to:

1. Start with tangle free hair
2. Decide where you want your braid to be - down your back/to the side and position hair there (it might help if you put your hair into a ponytail at this point using those clear elastics, you can always remove/cut them at the end if you want them out)
3. Divide ponytail into two equal sections
4. Pull a thin strand of hair from the outside left section and add it to the inside part of the right section. Pull it as tightly as you can.
5. Repeat this until braid is finished Secure with a small band (a clear elastic again should do the trick.

If in doubt, Youtube has plenty of videos that will give you a step by step.