Let's Go Lashes/The Nail Base review

As you may have read in one of my earlier blogs, I love having long and beautiful lashes without the hassle of having to clog them up with a bucket full of mascara. Becky from The Nail Base in Widnes, (where I regularly go to get my fabulous statement nails done), very kindly asked me to come back and help her out with a temporary lash extensions course she was taking; I was very happy to oblige and let her practice her technique on me in exchange for a fab set of new lashes! I have to admit, I am so chuffed with the outcome.

I had previously visited The Nail Base to get this amazing new LVL Lash treatment (see my previous blog for more details) and due to the quality of the results, I jumped at the opportunity to try out these new Let's Go Lashes (2 week temporary lashes). I have had lash extensions previously in the past, and to be frank I was not entirely impressed with them - they were supposed to last for about 6 weeks, and looked fab for about 2 until they begun to fall off and leave me with bald spots. I felt much more at ease at The Nail Base than I did at the spa I had previous set of lashes done; Becky was very accommodating, gentle and sympathetic in considering how delicate the eye area is, and how certain eye and lash treatments can feel uncomfortable. I must admit, I felt virtually no discomfort during this treatment, but that may be because I am used to applying a lot of eye makeup and I am not squeamish around that area.

The only thing that may deter people from this treatment, is the fact that the lashes are applied with your eyes open - initially it is a strange sensation, especially with being able to see the tweezers so close to your eyes. To be honest though, having experienced the application of lash extensions both with my eyes open and previously with my eyes shut, I much preferred having them applied by Becky with my eyes open. I felt like I was much more aware of what was happening and how far into the treatment I was. It did also help considerably that Becky explained everything she was doing during every step of the treatment. The lashes are applied with the eye open due to the fact that we are supposed to have around 5 sets of lashes, (I was surprised to find that out!) and by applying them in between these sets, the resulting look of the treatment is a lot more natural.

So here are the results of the treatment:

My lashes before Let's Go Lashes - baring in mind I have had the LVL Lash treatment, so my lashes were pretty long to begin with...

Sorry for the rough pic! 

My lashes with Let's Go Lashes - my lashes are visibly longer and look extremely natural in my opinion!...

Two days on from the treatment, I have not lost any lashes as of yet; natural lash fall is expected, but I should apparently only lose about 4 or 5. Let's Go Lashes are made of silk, meaning they're super soft. These lashes are supposed to last about 2 to 3 weeks, which is a much more realistic estimation compared to the 5 or 6 I have been promised by previous treatments. Due to the recommended time span of these lashes, I think they are fab for holidays or special occasions. They are themselves water proof, but they do not react well to the oils and chemicals in waterproof mascara or oily makeup wipes, so that is something I am required to look out for when wearing the lashes.

The price of that lashes is yet to be confirmed, but if you are interested in the treatment, I would recommend following The Nail Base on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theglitterranch?fref=ts

As well as lashes and nails, they do a variety of treatments that I would definitely recommend checking out. I seriously cannot praise The Nail Base enough for the quality of their work and the friendliness of their service; I have been visiting Bon and Becky since I was 16 and I have not once been disappointed with their work.

Thanks a lot for everything girls! You really are fab x

Dye Day Friday

So, I have always been a big fan of the tie dye pattern from quite a young age. I think it's quirky, colourful and a great Summer and festival fashion staple. I decided to give it a crack myself and spruce up some of my old white tshirts I had lying around.

 I thought the best place to start was to check out some forums and tutorial videos on youtube - I will post some of the best videos and tutorials I could find at the end of the blog for anyone else who wants to give it a go themselves! To be honest I wouldn't really advise giving it a go without visually watching someone else do it on youtube. I tried to dye a spiral into one of my shirts without watching a youtube tutorial first, and went at it a bit blind with written instructions and it didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. The good thing about tie dye is though, even if you do mess the pattern up a bit, it still looks pretty sick.

 After reading up on how to tie dye (and only doing a half arsed job at watching tutorials), I went to Hobby Craft to see if I could pick up a kit or some equipment. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a specific tie dye kit, and Hobby Craft only provided dyes and salt; I was a bit sheepish trying it for the very first time, and was worried I wouldn't do it right without solid instructions and products, so I decided to order a kit off of Amazon. This is the kit I used:

 It costs £17 from Amazon and includes red, blue and yellow dyes, a pair of gloves, elastic bands and enough salt product to dye up to 5 shirts. I think this is pretty good value considering you can literally buy plain white tshirts from Primark for like £3, and I have seen some vintage shops sell hand tie dyed tshirts for about 20 to 25 quid. It's a fun thing to do and it's pretty fab wearing a tshirt that you know you've dyed yourself.

 So all apprehension aside, I sat myself out in the garden on top of a bin bag and gave it a go; it is actually surprisingly so much easier than I thought! The pack came with clear instructions and steps that is perfect for beginners. Basically, all you have to do is soak your shirts in this warm salty solution for about 20 minutes, wring them out, fold or scrunch them up, hold them in place with elastic bands and start to dye your shirts however you like.

 I then left my tshirts in plastic bags for about 24 hours, rinsed them and hung them up to dry. Here is how they came out:

 I don't think that's too shabby for my first time! I plan to do it again and hopefully achieve some more ambitious patterns and cleaner results. When I get enough practice in, I'm hoping to start to sell a few (for a good price of course), so watch this space :)


Recommended links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZGwVMs5lBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbjWkiQ5DtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGldlCg4Sf4

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-tie-dye-an-old-white-shirt-or-a-new-shirt-/step2/Presenting-your-choice-of-dyes/