The Key to Healthy Skin

10km run this morning followed by a day of organising and food prep. 

My clients always ask me about my skin care routine, there are four things I do for my skin; 

I undertake Regular exercise, 

 follow a clean diet, 

 use cosmeceutical skincare products like the ones recommended at Mediskin and 

I have regular professional treatments for my skin. 

Visit www.mediskin.ie to book in for a FREE skin consultation. 

Debs Season- Hair

Debs season has arrived and I have had a request from one of my readers to do a post with some ideas for Debs Hair and Make up and some tips on preparation.

Below are some cool hair ideas!

How to master the fishtail braid:

http://loveprotectreflecttheskinyourein.blogspot.ie/2013/04/fishtail-braids.html

Fishtail Braid

So I am STILL growing out my fringe!!

It's such a nuisance and at a length where it's very difficult to manage. Trying to vary my hair for different nights out is not easy when it's at this length.

Sunday nights look was a Back combed quiff with fishtail braid! 

Simple up style in five mins! 

Click on the link to see how it's done!!

http://loveprotectreflecttheskinyourein.blogspot.ie/2013/04/fishtail-braids.html 

Cool casual hair look

Hair which was curled from the previous day was simply brought up into a Loose French Braid, then turned into a small bun with the excess long hair. 

Simple look for the day after a big night out!!

Blowdrys

               Another Blowdry from 

                 Grainne Flannagan 

                   at Reds@revive!

 

                    #blondehair

                        #reds

Another Jess Masterpiece

Another look created by Jess at

  REDS @ Revive

 in Milltown, Dublin

01 2604781

http://www.revive.ie/?page_id=239

A french braid upside down at the back of the head leading up to a high donut.

The braid was then folded to look like a bow under the donut.

Hair was backcombed to create extra volume in the donut and to create more texture.

As  I am still trying to grow out my fringe, Jess backcombed the hair at the front and sprayed it into place to look like it was all the same lenght, the longer hair was then braided and pinned into the donut at the side.

This is a great look if you are wearing a high neck or collar as it shows off your outfit.

Jess is great at helping me choose different looks for my hair each weekend based on what outfit I decide to wear... She has an amazing eye for detail and still manages to do these up-styles in a matter of minutes!

#lovingreds

#jessisamazing

A different variation of a braided donut!

A great casual look.

Summer Hair Trends

Here are a few fun hair ideas to try out for the Summer!

The first look is a French braid taken from the front and braided right around the head into a long plait. The plait is then pinned into a flower like shape to one side.

It is a twist on a Rita Ora inspired look!

I wore this look to my Beautiful friend Ciara O Driscoll's Rose of Tralee Regional Finals.

Ciara is the Rose of Scotland for 2013.

The second look is a take on a high ponytail.

 

Its inspiration is taken from a Kim Kardashian look.

Both looks are complements of Jess at Reds@Revive at
5 Milltown rd, 
Dublin 6.
012604781

If your not into upstyles, a good curly blowdry can look great and if done well can last a couple of days, so they are great if you have a couple of things on over a weekend or you are going away for a few days!

Grainne Flannagan at Reds@Revive is great, her curly blowdries last me at least 3 days!

Day 1 

 Day 2

Day 3

The price of upstyles vary, it depends on the length of the hair and how long it takes the stylists to put the hair up. 
Expect to pay between €40-€65 for a good upstyle.

Curly blowdrys are usually more expensive than a regular blowdry, again depending on the length of the hair,

€25- €35 is average. 

Wedding Season!!

Wedding season is most defiantly among us.

This means new dresses, bags, shoes not to mention having to get hair and make up done professionally.

Here are some hair inspirations for wedding upstyles!

Fishtail Braids

Loving this.

So easy when you know how!

One of my friend's, Emma, is constantly pestered by my friends and I to do our hair on nights out as she makes it look so easy. She is great at braiding hair and I could never seem to pick it up. 

This is a look she created for me for my cousin's wedding last year. She had it up in five minutes!

I still haven't mastered it on my own hair but with this tutorial I found the fishtail braid so easy to try out on my friend!

 Happy Braiding :)

 

This is another variation where the hair was loosely curled first!

The same technique was used for the braid.

Change it up!!

Having a hair salon attached to our Clinic is great! 

The stylists give me great hints and tips.
I am usually very boring when it comes to my hair, I have had it styled long and blonde for years. The day before going on my travels to Australia I decided on a total change and cut my hair to a short bob. I found it very difficult to manage and blowdry properly. 

Since then I have let it grow back to it's long boring self again. 

Having had the same look for years Alan Bruton (the managing Director of Reds) convinced me to try another new look. Knowing a short cut was out of the question, he layered my hair and cut in a thick, long fringe. I have to say at the beginning I was very nervous as I really felt it wouldn't suit me and I am not the best at managing new looks. 

It took some time and a lot of practice but I have finally mastered the art of blow drying my own hair!

Its very important to use the correct type of brush. I have a variety of different sized round brushes. I use the smaller one on my fringe and medium to large ones on the rest of my hair. I picked these up in Hairspray, 7.99Euro for the smaller ones, 9.99Euro for the large ones. 



I purchased my hairdryer from Peter Marks, it is the same dryer the stylists use in salon. It's called TurboStratos 3800. It cost 59.95Euro. A good hair dryer makes a huge difference to your styling experience. A higher wattage rating will give high power to produce a strong, steady supply of air. Also make sure that the dryer itself is not too heavy. To get the best blowdry, take small sections of your hair at a time and use a medium sized round brush, rolling it as you move the drier down the length of hair. I use soft rollers on the top sections to give some extra volume. 
For a straight and sleek look go for a paddle brush. If you want more volume with 'soft curl' ends use a round brush. The larger the round brush, the more volume. Try avoid metal bristles, these can be quite harsh. Hairdressers are trained to use them. We may end up with a lot of breakage if we don't use them correctly.

It is very easy to get frustrated with blow drying your own hair. I almost gave up trying to do it as it can be time consuming. But, keep practicing.
Always try to air dry your hair a little first, if you start with very wet hair, you may need a lot of time. It also leads to too much heat on the hair.
When hair is wet apply your serum to help contain frizz/ protect from heat. I am now addicted to Redken hair products. I have everything from their shampoo and conditioner, to their mask, even my hairspray and mousse are Redken. Having blonde hair it's difficult to keep the ends from splitting and becoming dry but since I've started using Redken, it hasn't been an issue. I like to start with the back of my head as it is trickiest part.
 Go over each section a couple of times until it is completely dry. If you leave it wet, it will frizz up and affect the overall finished look.

Recently two of my cousins cut their hair in aid of 

The Rapunzel Foundation.

The Rapunzel Foundation is working to boost the level of hair donation in Ireland. They are doing this in order to increase the supply of the high quality untreated human hair which is used in the manufacture of wigs for people with alopecia and long term hair loss. Across Ireland the Foundation is creating an awareness of alopecia, a condition which can often have a social stigma attached to it due to a lack of understanding and information. 
The Rapunzel Foundation is financially assisting children and adults with alopecia who wish to wear a secure, comfortable, natural-looking human hair wig.

The donation needs to be 12 inches in length and untreated (no colour or highlights). It takes 20- 25 ponytails of hair to make one wig!

Their new fab looks!!

I'm so proud of them as not many young women would be willing to do this. Both had been growing their hair for years but are now loving their haircuts! 

http://www.rapunzelfoundation.com/rapunzel-support.html