Boho Love

Anyone that knows me well enough knows how much I love all things Boho, Gypsey and Hippy … especially makeup and hair styles that make ME look like one of the above three. I think it’s the care-free spirit, big pretty smiles and wild flowers mixed with loads of layered jewelry on top of flowing white dresses and bright pop’s of colour that I just crave!

And in celebration of my mood today, paired with pretty braids and soft makeup i’ve blogged on a easy simple how-to below for you to achieve this look in under 10 mins at home too. It makes getting beautified in the morning so much easier and a lil more time efficient.

My favorite “Boho” look over the past few weeks has been easy-to-do princess crown plaits, keeping the hair off my face while I’m working. Whats better is that its super simple … I let my hair dry naturally so it creates soft fly-always (that we usually blow wave out) and a slightly wind swept effect. I’ve then French braided each side from my side parting. Picking up larger sections from the top with my little pinky and a tiny bit at the bottom and braiding. When I reached the ends I tied them together with a tiny plastic band (you can find these at any chemist). Finished with a touché of my all time favourite, Sabastian hair spray and in 5 mins I’m sporting a cute boho, carefree style and a big smile to match! Add flowers if you want to add a little more oomph or a sparkly hair piece/band for the more dramatic. Perfect for the night out too to save even more time to have another bubbles. Gorgeous!

To compliment the hair I’ve created a beautifully soft makeup look. I added a very light layer with my foundation brush, MAC matchmaker #3 over top of my MAC primer SPF 50+. Leave at least 5mins between each layer. Perfect for these gorgeous “Summer” days. Under my eyes I’ve brightened up with Bobbi brown corrector & concealer, just using a 1/4 pea size. Whats worse than seeing dark circles is seeing too much concealer to try and cover them. I always recommend to try and stay as healthy as possible to reduce the darkness in the first place. Simple. With MAC blush in Peachy and my eyes swept with a soft sweep of MAC eyeshadow and finished off with three coats of Covergirl Masaca, leaving each coat to dry a little in-between for the little more dramatic lashes. Giving me a super soft natural makeup. Notice I didn’t use powder, my skin tends to become super dry so I’m careful not to put to much powder of my face to avoid dry patches. Blotting powder through out the day helps if any shine occurs. To vamp up the look a little you can add feline eyeliner with flicks and some falsies, and if you’re even more daring some coral lippy which is the color for the season!

Have a play tomorrow morning and let me know how you go. Then Stop and smell the flowers, you will never get another day like today.

Ashlee xxx

Morning inspiration <3

I can’t get enough of this pic – its popping up everywhere! Super cute x

Staple. Favourite. In Love … what more can I say? Peter Thomas Roth Skin Care has stolen my heart.

Its true … PETERTHOMASROTH CLINICAL SKIN CARE has stolen my heart!

I was introduced to this amazing skin care by Stephanie Coulter, The Beauty Guru (check out her blog here, she’s full of fabulous finds and advise! www.beautyguru.co.nz/blog/.

I was complaining to her as every woman does about the constant dryness and she suggested to try her little beauty secret, the Glycolic Acid 10% moisturiser – so willing to try anything and everything, to which I nearly have, whilst some have been great I’d yet to found the ideal solution … until now. The results have astounded me and I want to now share it with the world!

Dry skin is a problem I’ve battled with my entire life after to many years enjoying water and snow sports, even through I have always been a supportive advocate of sunscreen I figured out eventually that I’m not so great at re-applying sunscreen after I’ve done my makeup in the morning, and some claim it should last 8 or so hours, I would prefer knowing it WILL last the day to help me battle those nasty UVA and UVB rays.

I apply the moisteriser twice daily, morning and evening, and I can honestly say my skin has never been better! Not a dry patch in sight as well as my pigmentation has faded to a cute sun-kissed look that I had always wanted. Needless to say I am one happy little miss!
The moisturiser uses a patented time-release form of glycolic acid to help regenerate and increase you’re cell turn-over in you’re epidermis while helping diminish the appearance of fine lines and other aging signs all while smoothing out you’re skin, especially on you’re nose and forehead, it’s softer than ever before! I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Ingredients and instructions:

• 10% Glycolic Acid (AHA) exfoliates surface dead skin cells and stimulates cellular turnover.
• Vitamins A & E , Anti-oxidants, protect against free radicals.
• Aloe Vera soothes and hydrates the skin.
• Mucopolysaccharides moisturize the skin.

After cleansing and toning (toner option for the extremely dry skin), apply to face as needed once or twice daily. Carefully avoid the eye area and you’re lips as I learnt the hard way… although I do have super soft lips as well now, they did hurt a little as the top layer peeled (Ouchy!) Follow with a good sun protection, in NZ I always recommend a sunscreen with at least a 30+ spf as our sun is a lot more damaging without that pesky ozone layer depleting on us!

Which brings me to the next product … as you can tell I was pretty ecstatic with the results so I went investigating further and found the solution to all (well not all, that list would go on forever!) my needs.

Introducing the Instant Mineral SPF 30
It’s in the COSMOPOLITANS Top 100 Beauty Buys and I can see why!
It’s a mineral powder in a convenient brush applicator that you shake a little and gently brush onto the skin. Perfect if it’s a hot day and by 12pm you feel like you need a little more protection without putting more makeup on, ruining the makeup you’ve already applied by having to re-apply sunscreen or just for instant touch-ups without having to bother with the greasy residue left on you’re hands.

The mineral sunscreen is talc-free , transparent matte with a SPF 30. Helping to prevent sunburn, skin damage, freckling (yippee!) and uneven discolouration. Ideal for skin types and all skin tones.

Ingredients and instructions:

• Titanium Dioxide provides UVA/UVB protection.
• Zinc Oxide provides UVA/UVB protection.
• Mica, a transparent mineral, reflects light creating the illusion of smoothness and radiance.
• Iron Oxides, natural salts that give the powder its neutral, transparent appearance.
• Vitamins A, C & E, anti-oxidants, protect against free radicals.
• Willow Bark Extract, a natural source of salicylic acid which enhances cell turn-over helping to improve the appearance of photo-aged skin.
• Corn Starch helps absorb oil.
• Silica helps absorb oil.

Remove cap and press bristles lightly against the skin to release the SPF 30 powder. Use alone, over moisturizer or make-up on face, hands and décolleté. Reapply as needed. To close – pull from the bottom until the sleeve is released and the brush is enclosed. Replace cap and push bottom until brush returns to its original position

Purchase online at www.peterthomasroth.com (or you can also find these on ebay.com as well)

I would love to know how you go with the products so please comment if you give them a go!

Ashlee xo