Behind The Times - Ombre Yey or Nay?

I need your help! I am about a year late on this one but....with what feels like the constant annoyance of my roots, I've been thinking of a change - possibly a slight ombre?! This softer ombre is technically Balayage, a technique where they paint the colour on to your hair. Ombre and balayage hair is a trend that's been everywhere for quite some time now but it doesn't seem to have gone away just yet either. 

Whilst I'm not really a fan of the very strong ombre effect I have started to consider maybe a slight blond ombre hair-do is the answer to my root woes?! I seriously feel I barely get two weeks out of my solid blonde look before I'm back to having a dark line down the middle of my head. We've all spotted it in my photos I'm sure (No, I don't already have ombre hair, at least not the intentional kind!). I hate it.

Part of my brain thinks getting my hair ombred (is that the term? not sure...) is the lazy way out and the other part totally accepts that it is and in-fact loves the idea for that very reason. I'm envisaging that 'I just spent a month on the beach' kind of look. Here's a few inspiration shots of the kind of ombre I'm considering...

Whitney Port & Kaley Cuoco - Beautiful Blond Ombre

Slightly darker ombre - AnnaLynn McCord & Bar Rafaeli

...and some mere mortals rocking the look. Nice to know you don't have to be a celeb for it to look good!

So, here's the thing, I have an appointment for a cut and colour tomorrow morning!

Now...if I was a normal person I could just go there, ask the colourist to give it a shot, see what I thought for a few weeks and then get it changed back if I didn't like it. 

Saaaaaadly, that plan just DOES NOT fly with me!

You see, I have a slight phobia of having my hair done. I wrote a post a while back, 'Getting To The Root Of The Problem' about my anxiety over having my hair done and where it stems from. So considering a new colour/style is a massive decision for me! I'm quite concerned that it could end up too dark and a bit grungy for my style or I might feel it looks unkempt? Or...am I simply just way too late to get on this bandwagon??

So, I'm turning to you ladies and hoping you'll help me decided by giving me some advice....

What do you think of the Ombre/Balayage look?

Have you tried it and if so, what are your thoughts, do you like it? Any tips?

Most importantly, do you think I should try it or not?

xxx

Celebrity Red Lipstick Love & MAC Ladybug

Red lipstick has been something that I have admired from afar for a long time but for some reason I've just never got round to trying it myself. The closest I've come has been the odd slick of red lip-gloss every now and then. The trouble is red lipstick can be quite daunting, it's a bold statement and if you get the wrong shade or pair it with the wrong makeup look it can look hideous. The word 'clown' comes to mind.

Done right though it can look amazing, adding a striking pop of colour to simple makeup looks or that final touch to a glamorous outfit. If you need some convincing there's plenty of celebrities who I think look fantastic wearing a red lip. Taylor Swift, Leighton Meester, Lauren Conrad, Natalie Portman, Blake Lively, Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson are my personal faves!

There's a lot to consider when picking a red lipstick, most importantly is hair colour and skin tone. To avoid a circus worthy red lipstick fail you should chose shades based on your coloring:

Those with fair coloring or blonde hair should generally avoid bluish tones or very dark reds which can make you look washed out. Opt for something warmer with a slight yellow hue like MAC Lady danger or Cockney.

If you have a darker complexion or are more tanned then it's likely you can wear both warm tones and cooler tones of red. I think that MAC Red and Russian Red look great on those with a darker complexion.

I finally faced my fears and picked up my first really RED lipstick. Given my coloring I opted for MAC Ladybug which is a yellowish red shade in a Lustre finish.

MAC 'Ladybug'

Tentative testing.

Mwwaaaaaaaah!!

What do you think of red lipstick, do you wear it often? Any great tips for not looking like a clown in it?

xxx

Color Blocking Celebrities & How To Do It Yourself

Color blocking has been all over the place since spring this year and it seems like it's set to stay a while longer. The trend involves wearing, as the name suggests, blocks of single, bright and bold color. To be 'color blocking' you need to be wearing at least two colors obviously but I'd recommend you don't wear more than three or four because you'll risk looking like a rainbow. Not such a great look.

Here's how the trend worked for spring/summer this year.

I've seen some great examples on celebrities. Louise Roe wore the below look which I absolutely love!

Another celeb who I saw wearing the color block trend the right way is Giuliana Rancic, a host and producer on E! News.

Featuring on the cover of Marie Claire's September 2011 issue is Sarah Jessica Parker working a clashing red and pink dress. She looks great despite wearing the two colors everyone, everywhere, always warns against putting together.

Even though the pairing of red and pink looks great here I don't think it's necessarily the easiest thing to get right. Be careful if you're going to brave it. Sarah Jessica Parker clearly thought she'd worn it once so why not do it again. Appearing in New York at the David Letterman show I thought she looked far less in vogue. I've read some people's comments online about her outfit saying they loved it. Personally I saw it and thought 'woaaah'. It could be the white pointed toe stilettos or it could be all the rest.

It takes a very brave women to try and pull off flared high-waisted hot pink trousers let alone that red frilly, ruched, high neck thing she's wearing as a shirt. Sadly (because I usually love her fashion sense), I don't think she achieved it but maybe it's down to personal taste. I felt she looked like a bad 70s throwback mixed with a Spanish Flamenco dancer.

What do you think? Love it or hate it?

It seems that color blocking is set to stay a little longer too. The trend was in many of the fall fashion shows. The colors are a little more 'Autumny' but the concept is still the same.

It also looks set to still be around next year too, although slightly toned down the trend was evident in the Spring/Summer 2012 fashion shows last week.

  

 

I also came across pictures of color blocked hair recently! Taking the trend just a bit too far I think!!

The hair isn't something that you're realistically going to be trying but if you want to try color blocking your outfit there's a few simple rules to go by.

How to Wear the Color Blocking Trend.

• Choose 2-4 colors. Anymore and it gets too complicated.
• Don't combine more than one color blocked item of clothing. If you're wearing a color blocked shirt don't also wear a color blocked skirt and color blocked shoes. You'll look like a Rubix Cube. Trust me!
• Wear different colors entirely not different shades for the best results. If you wear colors that are too similar then the effect won't be the same. The whole point is to contrast the colors.
• Keep accessories simple and minimal. The look is all about the colors, you don't need a tonne of bangles creeping up your arm and definitely avoid lots of different colors of jewelry, once again you'll just over complicate the look.

If you follow those simple suggestions then you should be safe ;)

It's not a trend for the faint hearted though so if the idea of color blocking your clothes scares you too much then you can always pick a gorgeous color blocked handbag or pair of shoes as a nod to the trend.

The cheapest and easiest way you can incorporate color blocking is by color blocking your nails. I tried it this evening and I think it looks pretty good. I'll post some pictures and do one of my oh so simple how to do its tomorrow, so check back then. Right now I have to get some kip though, I'm so tired and tomorrow is Terrible Tuesday, wish me luck!

I hope you have a great morning/afternoon/evening depending on where you are in the world!

Goodnight!

xxx

Hacked - Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively!

So that's another week down and another week I've written less than I was aiming to. Yesterday evening I totally intended to write a post and instead totally fell asleep on my sofa at about 8.30pm. Yeah, I'm rock 'n' Roll!

It's all good though because I'm here now, just to prove my total rock'n'rollness, on a Friday night. Actually it's going to have to be a short one because the boyfriend and I are supposed to be having a movie night. There's a few things that I've been wanting to post about lately though. Firstly the whole celebrity phone hacking malarkey (yeah, fine, laugh at me, I'm British and I like that word!) seems to be going cuh-raaazy!

It seems that no-one in the world of celebdom is safe at the moment. The latest victim is Scarlett Johansson, whose iPhone got hacked and now there's pictures, (easy to find with a simple google search if you're curious) all over the Internet of her bum and rather perky lady friends! Yeh, I looked, shame on me. Curiosity got the better of me, as it often does!

Scarlett Johansson at the 2011 Oscars looking absolutely fantastic with her clothes on.

Now we know what she was up to.

But the reason I wanted to post about this is because, unlike (I suspect) some other celebs haven't done, she's come out and admitted they are actually pictures of her.

A while ago alleged nude pictures of Blake Lively (Serena Van Der Woodsen in Gossip Girl) were on the Internet. She vehemently denied they were her. I didn't see the fully fledged stuff but I saw some of the censored ones, on Perez Hilton I think, before she got her lawyers onto people to stop using them on their websites. What I saw looked a heck of a lot like her. So much so that I'd be willing to bet my accessory collection on them actually being her and boy do I love my accessories.

Blake Lively aka Serena Van Der Woodsen. Did not pose nude. Apparently.

But this shot, also released by the hackers, looks a heck of a lot like her, so where did it come from?

Blake Lively or an excellent look a like, you can make your own mind up on that one!

Anyway I have a lot of respect for Scarlett Johansson for being honest about this. Then again, if my butt and boobs looked as good as hers I'd probably have no problem taking the rap for it. That girl basically has my dream body! I mean that in the I-want-to-diet-down-to-have-a-body-like-that way not the I'd-like-to-tap-that kinda way ;)

The FBI is investigating and apparently thinks it could be the same people who were responsible for hacking Jessica Alba and Vanessa Hudgens phones. Why on earth do all these celebrities keep all these pictures of themselves on their phone when they know it's happened before to others and could easily be them next?!

Someone really ought to warn them!! 

I heard that they found pictures of a semi-naked Justin Timberlake on Mila Kunis's phone though, so on second thoughts, maybe we shouldn't so we can see which other male celebs they can dig up?! Ryan Renolds....please?!

Good job I'm not concerned with what Ryan Renolds is wearing - what the hell is that?!!

Just one more totally gratuitous shot. Okay...I'll stop now.

Other than that whole debacle I also wanted to talk about color blocking and some cute accessories I picked up recently. I told you I love accessories! Those things will have to wait until tomorrow now though, struggling to keep my eyes open. I know I've already said it twice in this post but I really really am just too rock'n'roll!

Have a fabulous Friday everyone. Feel free to leave me a comment and if you do let me know which male celebs you wouldn't mind getting a cheeky peek at!  ;)

xxx