French and Fishtail Plaits

These two plaits are simple to style once you have the hang of it, it just needs a lot of practice and patience. I thought i would blog about them as they differ from your normal plait and add a bit on interest to your hair due to their complex appearance. (not complex to style)


1. French Plait

French plaits are pretty much a normal plait except they are 'more attached to the head'. In my opinion this one is harder to style than the fishtail but you may disagree. You can use french plaits anywhere on the head, i.e- could have them coming from the side, straight down the back, or even just the fringe. (depending on length of hair) Short layered hair will obviously not go into a french plait, so you do need a bit of length, and having layers can cause more difficulty as shorter bits may stick out and cause the plait to look messy or uneven.

This plait is just done straight down the back, and to start, brush your hair so that its scraped back. If you have a fringe and want to leave it down, then do, and just scrape back the rest of your hair. Take a small section from the front and start plaiting that as you normally would do with a normal plait. Only cross over the strands ONCE each, and when you come to cross over the strands again, add a bit of hair from the next section and keep joining sections of hair whilst plaiting. On the side view photo you can see how the different sections are woven into the plait. French plaiting is just a normal plait but adding more sections of hair each time you cross over the strands. Once you get to the bottom, you can just normal plait until the ends of your hair and secure with a hairband. 

The exact same process applies for wherever you want the plait to be, just scrape your hair in the direction you want the plait in.

2. Fishtail

The difference with a fishtail is that it only really uses 2 strands of hair, rather than your usual 3. Again you can have a fishtail plait at the back of your head or to the side. To start, divide your hair into two sections. Then take a small piece of hair from the back of one of the sections, and cross it over to the other section. Hold in place. Then take a small piece from the opposite section (again at the back) and cross over to the other section. This plait gets easier the further down the hair you get as it can be fiddly to get it tight and neat at the top. Carry on crossing over your sections until you have no hair left to cross. If you take bigger sections whilst crossing over you end up with a different looking plait than you would with small. Either way works, it's just down to personal taste!

- As this is fairly difficult to explain over text, i may put up a youtube video demonstrating the processes. Information on how to find it will be in my next blog post if i choose to film.

Product Review: Sephora Mango Body Butter

Hellllooo!
So on my first ever blog, i mentioned this product that i bought whilst on holiday in France. If you live in the UK then you will know that there sadly isn't a Sephora :( I'm not 100% sure of all the countries that do, but the 2 that i know for definite are the USA and France, so if you're wondering i would google it :).
The body butter i have bought comes in a variety of different scents, i spent ages sniffing them all and decided mango was the most delicious.

So as you can see from the photo above, the tub is 200ml, which in my opinion is quite a lot, as i've used it many times and hardly any seems to have disappeared! The lid is just a screw on, so it's not hard to open and close. ( i hate products that are hard to open) I like the packaging, it's simple but looks quite classy, and the tubs are coloured to your scent. By this i mean if you were to buy strawberry your tub would be pink, etc. Obviously it's very hard to describe a scent, but just think exotic, mango (obviously) holiday, cocktail smells, just a reallyyy fruity smell, so if you like those sort of scents then this is for you!

The actual butter itself is really moisturising, and even though it is heavily fragranced, i haven't had any reactions to it, and my skin can be quite sensitive. The scent sticks with you for hours which i like, as i like to smell nice! And so does the moisture, my skin is left feeling soft for ages. One thing i wouldn't recommend is applying this to your legs straight after you've shaved them/waxed them. It. Stings. Apart from that, i would say it's perfectly fine to use anywhere, except the face. I would say my skin type is a little on the dry side, more when i just come out the shower, so i found this really 'locked in' some moisture and i'm very happy i bought it :). Would definitely repurchase this product if it was easy to get my hands on, and i'm not 100% sure on the price but i remember it being in the 7-10 euros region. So it is very affordable!
Let me know in the comments if you've ever tried Sephora's Body Butter range, and tell me what you thought! <3

4 methods of curling your hair

Before i started my course at the Make-Up Bus Ltd, i used to curl my hair by simply using a curling wand, or using my straighteners. Other times i would tie my hair into a bun, let it dry, and take the hairband out resulting in curls. However i have learnt some new methods, that are fairly simple and thought i would share them with you! :)


1. Velcro Rollers.

Velcro rollers have been around for a while, and are more effective if used in damp hair. The pictures i have shown are used in dry hair, so the curl won't be as effective. In my opinion, this is the hardest method to use as the velcro likes to stick to any stray bits of hair in the way verryyy tightly and can sometimes end up in a tangled mess, but with practice and time, you shouldn't have a problem :).

My course gave me this model head, (real human hair) which is a little freaky, so apologies, but it is much easier for me to practice on rather than myself, and is easier to show you what i'm doing step by step. In the picture above i have placed 6 of the biggest size rollers i own, which aren't the biggest ones you can buy but hey ho. You should separate the section of hair on the top of your head, from the sides of your head, and take small pieces of hair at a time and roll the roller down it. Be careful and keep the ends of your hair tucked into the roller or you will end up with nasty looking straight ends with your curls :(. Once rolled down, the velcro on the rollers should enable it to sit on its own roots without the need of using pins or clips to keep it in place.
Once you have finished your 6 big rollers, (use less/more depending on the length of your hair), start to pay attention to the sides of your head. Again, i have used the biggest size for the first layers at the side, as the hair is thicker at the top as there's more of it. Once you get a bit lower, move on to the medium size, and continue the same process. You may even have to roll some in at an angle to fit them into the gaps you may create. This is perfectly fine!

Once you are happy with it, carry on rolling the sections of hair left, using the very smallest size for the hair sections at the bottom of your head. Or use the small rollers for any thin sections. You should end up with a full head! To finish off, you can either, spray your head with water and then blow dry (if placed in damp hair already then obviously you can skip out the water stage), or spray your head all over with setting spray and leave to dry. Then take out the rollers one by one, and you should have lovely curls!

2. Heated Rollers.

Heated rollers are applied in the exact same process as the velcro rollers, except from the fact that they will not stay in place on their own and clips will be needed to hold them in place! As they are heated, they will provide a far more effective curl, and by effective i mean, more obvious and tighter curls. Be sure to use a heat protecting product to avoid any possible damage to your hair, and wear cotton gloves to avoid burning your hands whilst putting them in. The picture i have shown of the effect it gives, is when i lightly brushed the curls out, in order to style the hair into an updo. Do not brush your hair if you want tight curls.

3. Cool Sticks.

Cool sticks is just what i call them and what the teacher at my course called them, they could have many other names! Cool sticks can also be used in either damp or dry hair, and amazingly, they can give proper corkscrew curls without the need of your hair being damp or without using heat (hence why the name is cool sticks). They are applied in the same process as the rollers in regards to sectioning, but are slightly different to use. 

They look complicated, but all you have to do is wrap the hair round the stick (the sticks will be straight at this point) and again make sure the tips/ends of hair are tucked away, and then tightly roll the stick down towards your scalp. (hate that word) Once you have reached your..scalp.., realllyyy tightly roll the stick so that it hurts, and then fold the ends of the stick up. If you don't roll them tightly, they will not sit in place and will just flop about and do nothing to your hair. Beauty is pain!. Here i have used only 2 different sizes, bigger ones on top, smaller ones on bottom. To complete, spray with setting spray, and the longer you leave them in, the more effective your curl will be.

I put them in my sister's hair, but being 11, she was very fidgety and didn't want them in long so i took them out as soon as i put them in. However my sister's hair is naturally dead straight with no movement in it, so you can see from the short time they were in, they have already created a wave, and slight curls. I proceeded to putting them in my own hair and ended up with ringlets!. 

4. Hot Sticks.

Easy to guess what these are, exactly the same as above except for the fact they are heated ones! They will give a more defined curl, and will last longer. Make sure you wear cotton gloves to avoid burns!.