Prom Prep #3

I love having my hair in a high ponytail - it's just something I find easy, flattering and comfortable and what I consider to be very 'me'. However, as much as I wanted to just throw my hair up in its messy home for prom, I opted for a slightly fancier variation.

I first curled my hair using my Remington Pearl Curl Wand (a must-have tool for stubbornly straight hair) and then by flipping my hair forwards, I french braided upwards securing it all in my favorite high ponytail. Of course this would've looked more detailed and intricate if I had blonde of highlighted hair, like the pictures I'd seen on Google, but we had to make do.

(Although it now looks like my efforts were wasted, I am the type who like have their hair over their shoulders, so I would've pulling it forward during the night.)

I think some form of up-do is perfect for a strapless dress as well as allowing me to showoff my last minute earrings purchase from literally the day before prom.

Sigh, how I miss feeling like a princess already.

Lara xo

Prom Nails

Prom Prep #2

I initially had huge visions of doing something intricate yet delicate for my leavers' ball to match the effort I'd put in creating this butterfly design for my prom 2 years ago. 

However, it just was too much for the very classic style dress I had chosen and even the white tips I was attempting looked glaringly fake and tacky. Despite this I do still want to share a little trick that I put to the test, which is using the little white ring hole reinforce stickers designed for filing paper. By cutting the stickers in half and then using one for each nails the rounded edge creates the perfect guide for a neat tip. Simply paint white (or any colour), ensure you wait until fully dry, and then gently peel the sticker away leaving a neat, crisp edge.

In the end I opted for a nude colour base by NYC followed by a subtle glitter top coat by OPI. Whilst not quite as exciting as I originally intended, I think the end result oozed elegance, especially against my Accesorize navy clutch bag . Shame it just took me 2 hours of indecision before I reached this point!

Lara xo

Face of the Day | Leavers Ball Make Up

Prom Prep #1

It's the day before my sixth form leavers' ball so, for someone prone to stressing like me, a practice run of my make up is a necessity. 

 I wanted to keep it quite natural but still a bit different from what I would normally wear. I went for a navy eyeliner from Eyeko as I love the tones it brings out in my eyes and, even better, I got it free with June's Glamour Magasine. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for this month's Glamour magasine too which offers a mini Clinique freebie;  either their high impact mascara, dramatically different moisturiser or a choice of 2 different chubby stick shades. To compliment the navy I chose brown and copper shades of eye shadows creating a winged edge. This was the first time I used the tape method to help achieve a crisp line and I must say it worked pretty darn good!

Products used:

• Benefit Porefessional Primer
• Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation in 'Light Beige'
• Mac Prolongwear Concealer in NC15
• Rimmel Clear Complexion Transparent Powder
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer
• Too Faced Blush in 'Raindrops on Roses' (A Few of my Favourite Things Palette - Limited Edition)
• Benefit High Beam
• Real Techniques Core Collection Brushes

• Mac Paintpot in 'Utterly Becoming' (Limited Edition)
• Urban Decay Naked Basics
• Benefit She's so Jetset Palette (Limited Edition)
• Mac Eye Shadow in 'Amber Lights' and 'Mulch'
• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in 'Navy'
• Maybelline Falsies Mascara
• Mac 219 Pencil Brush
• Set of 4 eye brushes only £3.38 on Ebay

• Maybelline Baby Lips in 'Peach Kiss'
• Elf Studio Matte Lip Colour in 'Natural'

Hopefully I'll be able to duplicate this tomorrow!

Lara xo