The Chelsea Blow Out

Letting someone else style my hair is one of my favourite things, up there with fresh Krispy Kreme Donuts and Sunday mornings in bed. Despite being happy to spend ages on my makeup in the morning, I hate doing my hair. It takes ages, it makes my arms ache, and it never looks as good as when somebody else does it. So, when an invitation to the Richard Ward Salon dropped into my inbox, I said yes rather quickly. It worked out kinda perfectly too, since the appointment was for the day before my birthday, meaning I had awesome hair, and I didn't have to do anything to it!

The salon is located in the heart of Duke of York Square, just a few minutes walk from Sloane Square station, and very close to the best Zara I ever did shop at. From the outside it looks pretty small, but inside is one of the biggest salons I've ever seen, with separate rooms for washing, cutting and styling, colour treatments, a beauty salon, as well as a very well stocked bar. My coat was whisked away to a cloakroom and I was offered pretty much any drink I could have asked for (typically, I'd just drank my body weight in green juice at Jo and the Juice, so I politely declined, for fear of having to leave the blow dry half way through to go to the bathroom). After a few minutes in the waiting room/bar area, I was introduced to Salon Director Matt, who chatted to me about my hair, how I like it styled (anything that looks good) and the condition it was in (terrible). He decided the best course of action for me would be to use the Keratin Sleek shampoo, and Keratin Rehab mask to give my tired locks a little TLC. What followed was the best head massage of my life, I swear I could have fallen asleep in the chair and slept for a week, it was total bliss.

Post sleepy hair wash, I was back in the styling room, where Matt spritzed the lengths of my hair with Keratin Shine spray and the Keratin Bulking mist, which definitely gave my hair the volume and shine it so desperately needed. From there he got to work with a big old roundbrush and hair dryer, and within 20 minutes, I had the big bouncy hair that Disney dreams are made of. He even trimmed my fringe back in for me, which was greatly appreciated!

You can visit the Richard Ward salon for the Chelsea Blow Dry experience for £25, perfect for special occasions or when you just want to feel fancy. My hair lasted four days of looking fab (with a little dry shampoo help at the roots), and it looked great in my birthday pictures! It was also a seriously luxurious experience, I felt thoroughly pampered when I left! I'm definitely going to be heading back for my graduation, that's for sure!

Turning 21

 I was pretty nervous about turning 21, in my head, 21 is a PROPER adult, no getting away with being a teenager anymore. But in actual fact, when it got to the big day, I was less stressed about getting old than I was last year! I was lucky enough to be able to bag the day off on my birthday this year, despite it falling midweek, and the boyfriend managed to steal some time away too. What resulted was a very chilled out day indeed!

I woke up to presents and homemade eggs benedict, a breakfast favourite of mine. It was a little weird not being with my parents, but knowing they were coming up in the evening made it all okay!

I had tickets to visit the Sky Garden last month, but something came up which meant we weren't able to make it. So we rebooked for the morning of my birthday, and despite the fog, the views were breathtaking. All my photos of the views came out shocking, but it was a great experience. The Sky Garden is located on the 35th floor of the Walkie Talkie building, just round the corner from Bank station. It's free to visit but you do have to book. I'll be honest, it was a bit of a let down as the botanical garden it's marketed as, a few palm trees does not a botanical garden make, but it was worth the trip for the view.

I tried to take a few outfit snaps, because I really quite liked my outfit, but the light was weird and they all came out with me looking rather squinty. A shame because it was super comfy and perfect for the weather too (sunny, around 12 degrees with a touch of wind!). I find dressing for this time of year really hard, to coat or not to coat? 

There are two restaurants and a cafe inside the Sky Garden, the pastries looked particularly delicious but came with an eye watering price tag, so as we left we picked up a Krispy Kreme to satisfy the old sweet tooth. It was a pretty beautiful day, despite the fog around the Walkie Talkie building, so we ended up strolling along the Thames, just enjoying the view, wondering past St Pauls, the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre and Borough Market. 

We were both pretty tired from a busy few days, so we decided to head home after that, to finish packing for Paris, and snuggle up and watch a few reruns of Mock The Week, before my family turned up! We all ended up going for a couple of cocktails, before stuffing our faces at Wagamama, and getting a fairly early night, since we had to be up early for Paris! Not the most exciting of 21sts, but it was perfect for me!

TOP - GAP | SKIRT - ZARA | NECKLACE - PRIMARK | JACKET - NEW LOOK | SCARF - ASOS | SUNGLASSES - STEVE MADDEN | BOOTS - PRIMARK

3 Ways To Wear Your Hair Up

Ever since my hair has gotten that bit longer (I think it's safe to say I'm out of the 'lob' zone now!), I've been really enjoying finding different ways to wear my hair up. I love wearing my hair down, but it's just not practical for everyday, and the traditional pineapple bun does nothing for me! I thought I'd talk you through the three ways I've been styling my hair recently, I really love them!

THE TWISTY BUN

I really couldn't think of a better name for this. This is definitely the most fiddly of the three looks, but it's probably my favourite, I think it's so pretty, and I can see this working for an evening event or a wedding too. To do this, I like to use a big 'alice band' but you can do it without too. I split my hair into a half up half down ponytail, and place the hairband round my head, under the ponytail, so the bottom section of hair is underneath it, and then let the ponytail down. I then gather all my hair into a loose low ponytail in the middle of my head, along the line of the hairband, and secure with a hair tie the same colour as my hair. From there, you twist the ponytail in on itself, this photo explains it better than I can, but I like to make mine messier than this! I just keep twisting until I'm left with the very ends of my hair out, and I use 101 grips to hold it all in place! I like to keep my fringe and a few pieces of hair loose around my face, but that's totally down to personal preference!

THE DUTCH BRAID BUN

If you know how to dutch braid, this is easy as pie. Sometimes I do this with the braid going across the top of my head like this, or sometimes from the other side going around the back of my head, you can really play with this a lot. I simply dutch braid (the same as french braiding, but you cross the hair underneath instead of over) from my parting down to just behind my ear, on the side that has more hair (if you have a center parting you can use either side!), and then gather the rest of my hair into a loose bun at the bottom of the braid. Simples! I like to pull the braid apart a little to make it look bigger and chunkier, and pull out a few strands of hair on the opposite side so it looks more casual! If your hair is longer than mine, it looks really nice to continue the braid with the rest of your hair instead of gathering it into a bun, but mine's not quite long enough to look good like that, the end of the plait ends up being too skinny for my liking!

THE BRAIDED PONY

This is my go-to for the gym, travel and desk days, it's comfy and it keeps my fringe off my face. You simply dutch braid the top midsection of your hair, gathering as much hair as you can from the sides, until you reach the crown of your hair, and just pull the rest of your hair into a ponytail. Again, I like to pull out the braid a little and mess it up, but that's just personal preference!

What are your favourite updo's?

A Pre Disney Haul

I'm pretty sad to be home from Disney, it really is the happiest place on earth, I'm sure of it! Before I overload you with photos from my trip, I thought I'd show you the bits I picked up prior to leaving, with a long weekend of Disney in mind!

My parents took me on this trip for my birthday, and originally, they weren't going to tell me until the day we left, but excitement got the better of them. I'm so glad because it meant I got to feel all the pre-Disney anticipation and excitement, and plan my Disney wardrobe! The day they told me we were going to Disney, I headed out shopping with my Sister, and found these Mickey Mouse PJ's in the H&M sale. They were the last pair, they were in my size, and they were a steal at £4, so it was obviously fate, and they came home with me, and went straight into my suitcase ready to be worn at Disney!

Also in the clothing department, I picked up two tshirts from Primark. The first one is this adorable monochrome Mickey Mouse number, that's just perfect for knocking around Disney. It's slightly oversized and incredibly soft! I also picked up this Despicable Me one, because I couldn't resist! I'm normally a ten but I picked both up in a twelve so they'd be slightly oversized, and more comfortable for rushing around a theme park!

I was having a bit of a handbag dilemma, I wanted something small that I could wear across my body, so it wasn't annoying throughout the day, or too heavy, but I also wanted the option to carry my big DSLR camera on some of the days. None of the bags in my wardrobe fit the bill, but then I spotted this number in H&M last week, and it was perfect. The strap is long enough that I can wear it across my body or satchel style, it holds my camera, but it's still incredibly compact! It was also a total steal at £12!

I've been looking for a smaller purse for a while now, my Michael Kors purse doesn't fit into any of my smaller handbags, and I end up just chucking my cards and cash in loose. I wanted to make sure everything was secure for five days at Disney, and I finally stumbled across the perfect purse in Accessorize. It's a gorgeous beige saffiano 'leather' with bright yellow lining, and it says 'lucky pennies' on in gold, so cute! It's got sections for cards, cash and coins, but it's still super compact. 

Not very exciting, but I made sure to stock up on blister plasters before I left, I knew I was in for five long days on my feet, and that I'd end up walking miles, and they definitely came in handy! I love the Compeed ones but they are eye-wateringly expensive. Unfortunately, the Boots own ones fall straight off my feet after five minutes!

I finally managed to track down a tin for my Lush Shampoo bar, just in the nick of time, they've been sold out everywhere! I find it so much more practical to travel with shampoo bars instead of normal shampoo, they take up less room, and this handy tin keeps it compact and perfect for on the go!

I also picked up these Elegant Touch Minnie Mouse nails! Because where else would you wear these?!

Possibly a little excessive but I was excited!

Nail Polish Rental?

I've tried a lot of beauty subscription services, and while for the most part I've enjoyed them, I've always found I lost interest after a couple of boxes, because I don't really need any more makeup. I know, I know, tell me that when I walk down Oxford Street, but if I'm gonna add to my collection, I'd rather pick out products I know I'll love.

The one thing I do keep buying however, is nail polish. I've got tons of bottles sat there that have been used twice at the most, and then I got bored of them. My polish tastes change so regularly, and I'm pretty fickle with my manicures, so there's a thousand and one polishes in my room just sat there wasting away, while I keep buying more.

Clearly I'm not the only one with these habits, because someone's come up with a solution! Coloristiq is a monthly subscription service, where three bottles of nail polish are sent directly to your door for you to enjoy, and after you've used them a few times, you send them back in the same box, and they send you out a new selection! The idea being that nail polishes will no more be abandoned in your bathroom after a single use, and you'll save money by not constantly buying new polishes.

They sent me over a box to try and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. In my box was an OPI Glitter topcoat called I Don't Speak Meek, a princessy irridescent glitter that looked perfect over my pink mani. There was a gorgeous orangey red China Glaze shade in Pop The Trunk, I've never tried these polishes before but I was blown away by the lasting power! The third was my favourite, Essie's Damsel In A Dress, a gorgeous deep purple with a hint of a metallic finish. Beyond gorgeous. When you sign up to the service you can set a wish list of shades to try so your box will always contain colours you'll love as much as I loved mine!

The lovely folks over at Coloristiq have given you lovely lot a discount code to use, so if you head on over to their website and sign up, enter the code BedKitchen1, you'll get the cost of your first box refunded, so you can try it out and see if you like it!

Are you a nail polish hoarder like me?

The lovely team over at Coloristiq gifted me this box so I could try it out and let you guys know if it was worth it! As always, this doesn't effect my review at all!