Hair Care Tips

Maintaining lovely locks can seem a hassle but following a few simple steps can make caring for your hair a lot easier. I use these tips and I feel that this has given me better looking and stronger hair. Everyone has different types of hair from thick to thin, light to dark, short to long, even coloured so it goes without saying that you know what works and what doesn't for your own hair. So here are hair care tips for you all. 

• Don't wash your hair every day. Washing your hair everyday strips all the natural oils that keep your hair healthy and strong. Try and wash your hair at least every other day or if you can leave for 3 days and then wash. At first your hair will be greasy but that is only because it is used to be being washed every day after a month or so it will get used to it and the wash will last longer.
• Use a wide tooth comb on wet hair. When hair is wet it damages easily. To protect hair when wet use a wide tooth comb to untangle any knots. 
• Don't over handle hair. This includes brushing your hair too much, using hot tools and styling tools every day, as well as fiddling and twisting your hair. 
• Protect your hair. When using hot tools including, straighteners, curlers, hair dryers etc, make sure that you use a heat protector. This helps to keep hair protected from the heat of the tools. As well as this try and use the lowest heat setting that you can.
• Cold is better than hot. From using a lower heat setting on tools to the temperature of the water when you wash your hair. The colder the better, as heat will weaken and damage the hair.
• Have a regular hair cut. Even if you want to grow out your hair you must trim it. This is to cut of any split ends and will also keep hair healthy and strong.
• Less is best. Try to use as little products as you can on your hair. Every time you put a product in your hair it will weigh it down. To keep light, weightless hair don't pile on every hair product you can find, only use the products that you really need. Also remember that in every product is chemicals and that putting loads of chemicals on your hair isn't doing it any good. 
• Give your hair a breather. Every now and then just let your hair do what it wants to do naturally. Let it air dry whenever you can and if you aren't going anywhere try not to style it. 

So there are my tips to keeping luscious locks. If you have found this helpful or have any other tried and tested tips leave them in the comments below, as I love to hear from you all.

Love Bella x 

Seasonal Basics

There are different basic items for different seasons and climates. You would need different beauty products and wardrobe items for hot summer months to cold winter months. I have made some lovely lists covering the different seasons and climate types.

Spring/Summer (Hot and sunny)

Products: 

• Sun cream (with a SPF to fit your skin type and a good UVA & UVB coverage)
• After sun
• Hand cream with SPF
• Lip balm with SPF

Wardrobe:

• Sun hat
• Sunglasses (ones with UV filters are best)
• Flip flops and/or sandals
• Light weight clothing 

Autumn/Winter (Cold and wet)

Products:

• Moisturisers 
• Lip balm

Wardrobe:

• Warm clothing
• Warm coat
• Rain coat
• Umbrella 
• Warm shoes or boots
• Warm hat, scarf and gloves 
• Earmuffs (to keep your ears warm on cold windy days)

From these you can add on your own personal must haves and change to whatever climate/ weather you have. If there are any other must haves you think I should know about or would like to share with others leave it in the comments below.

Love Bella x

Hair Care Basics

For the most luscious of locks you have to start somewhere and making sure you have the basics is a must. I have made two lovely lists for you, one covering products and another on tools. The products that you choose should match the needs of your hair. For example if you have coloured hair choose products that will keep the colour and not wash away or fade it. Again if you have a dry flaky scalp choose products that aren't going to irritate and dry out, but do give moisture to the scalp etc. 

Hair products:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Heat protector (especially if you use tools with heat eg: straighteners, curlers, hairdryers)
• Dry shampoo (if you don't like using this product that is fine but it can come in very handy)
• Hairspray (again it is up to you but is also useful to have)

Hair tools:

• Wide tooth comb (to use on wet hair)
• Hairbrush or comb (which ever you prefer, although combs are more recommended to use as they are gentler for the hair)
• Metal free hairbands (this is because the hairbands with metal can damage the hair)
• Hair grips
• Headband/Alice band (good for keeping hair out of your face)
• hair separator clips (very useful for when you are styling your hair)

Let me know if you have any other products that think others should know of and share them in the comments section below.

Love Bella x

Skin Care Basics

I will cover the basic skin care items that are very useful to have. A lot of people go over board on skin care products by buying everything they see. A lot of the time these products are not as useful as they make out and can often promise such wonders but don't actually do much at all. However there are many wonderful products out there. Any way back to basics as I have yet again made another lovely list for you. Covering the items of skin care for face and body, as well as a section on nail care.

Face skin care basics:

• Face wash (yes it can just be soap and water)
• Facial scrub (an exfoliator gentle enough for use on the face)
• Moisturiser (a day cream with sun cream in is also useful)
• Eye cream (this is up to you on whether you do or don't use it, there are eye creams that help with puffy,tired or dark eyes so it can be helpful to have)
• Blemish stick (or other spot treatment. Tea tree and witch hazel are good to look out for in these products)
• Face cloth 
• Cotton wool pads
• Cotton buds

Body skin care basics:

• Body wash
• Exfoliating wash or scrub
• Moisturiser
• Hand cream (hand and nail creams are good as they also help to keep nails healthy too)
• Deodorant
• Body sponge and exfoliating sponge (you can get a sponge with a smooth side and an exfoliating side) 
• Pumice stone 

Nail care basics:

• Base coat
• Top coat
• Nail polish remover (preferably acetone free)
• Nail cutters
• Nail file
• Cuticle stick (to gently push the cuticles back. Try not to cut them as this is bad to do)
• Cuticle oil (this keeps the nails and cuticles moisturised and healthy)

There are the basic skin and nail care items to have in your beauty stash. Remember when buying products, that face and body products are different, as products for the face are a lot more gentle, as the skin on your face is gentler than the skin on your body. Also that the skin around your eyes is thinner and should be treated with care.
Let me know about your basic items or if there is a product that you love or can't live without. 
Love Bella x

Make Up Basics

Here I have made two lists on make up basics. One on make up products and another on make up tools.

The type of make up that you choose is up to you, and whatever suits your skin type. 

This also goes for how many products you choose to have. You may have the biggest collection of lip glosses and mascaras ever, or you may only have one trusty favourite. 

I have only included the basic items that every girl should include in their make up bag. From these basics you can add any other make up items you may wish. 

Make up products:

• Primer -for both face and eyes (this product can get forgotten about but is a very important one to have)
• Foundation or BB cream (this must be the best match for your skin colour as you want it to blend in with your skin tone, not create another one!)
• Powder (translucent is a good option as it isn't adding any colour)
• Concealer (with concealer you want one to match your skin colour and one to be slightly lighter to use for brightening. A green concealer is also good for use on red marks or blemishes)
• Blush (a natural blush that can be worn during the day to add a pop of colour to the cheeks and give a healthy glow)
• Lip balm (to keep lips moisturized. There is nothing worse than sore, dry, cracked lips)
• Eyeshadow pallet (preferably with a dark brown shade that can be used as a liner, and one that matches your eye brows for filling them in)
• Eye brow pencil (or other brow filler or your choice.)
• Make up remover

Make up tools:

• Foundation brush (or beauty blender)
• Powder/blush brush
• Eyeshadow brush
• Angled or straight eyeliner brush (which ever you prefer)
• Eye lash curler
• Tweezers (very useful for false lashes or even splinters etc)
• Brush cleaner (baby shampoo also works just as well as professional cleaners and much cheaper!)

A few bonus items that also are useful to have are:

• Bronzer (this helps to add a sun kissed glow and also used for contorting the face. In matte is best)
• Mascara (apply one to two coats after using eyelash curlers to really open up the eyes)

Have a look in your make up collection and see if you have these basics, or even start up your collection with them. Either way let me know by commenting below about how it goes, or if you have any products that you can't live without or find useful to have. 

Love Bella x

Wardrobe Basics

I have made some lists of the basics that every girl should have in their wardrobe. This covers clothing, shoes, and accessories.

These basic items should be a plain and neutral design. The idea of basics is that they are timeless. Basic colours include: white, black, blue and navy blue, beige, brown and pink. (These colours are down to personal choice but black and white are very recommend colours to include.) Trousers should be in black and navy blue.

Clothing basics:

• T-shirts (striped and small dot patterns are good as well as plain)
• Vest tops 
• Party/evening dress
• Day dress
• Skirt
• Shorts
• Jeans (not too tight or loose fitting)
• Cardigan
• Neutral coloured coat (Trench coats are best)
• Blazer (neutral and fits well)

Footwear basics:

• Flats
• Boots
• Sandals
• Heels (not too high, should be comfortable to wear for a longer period of time)
• Trainers (or if preferred plimsolls)

Accessories basics:

• Scarf
• Belt (can be skinny or wide)
• Watch
• Handbag/purse (day and evening)
• Ring
• Simple necklace and bracelet 

Have a sort through your wardrobe and see if you have your basics, and let me know if this has helped or if you have some other basic items. 

Love Bella x

The Basics

The best place to start is with basics, as without those basic items it can be a bit of a struggle. This goes for a lot of things in life but I will be covering general beauty. From these basics you can build up with more items to create a more personal look for you. You can take from these what you feel is more suited to you, and create your own basics. 

Don't feel like you should get something if you know that you don't like it or use it. However don't be afraid to try out new things, for example a new shade of lipstick, if you don't like it you don't have to carry on using it or repurchase it. On the other hand you may find a new favourite! 

I will cover the basics of: wardrobe, make up, skin care, hair care and seasonal. I will post up each section in different posts. 

Love Bella x

Welcome to my blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. 
This blog is all about living life as a girl with beauty, clothes and general life. There is no guide on how to live life, it is all on the individual, but sometimes it is nice when someone is there to help you along the way. So I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences as well as tips and tricks that will hopefully help some of you. As girls we all need to stick together and help each other out. I hope you enjoy reading my blog.
Love Bella x