Hair Series: Spin Pin/ Primark Spiral Pins Topknot

When I'm busy doing something, like taking notes in a lecture or bloogging, I always want to keep my hair out of my face. This is a cute a simple style that you can use to pull all of your hair back so it isn't in your face, or you can leave some bits down at the sides and front, and leave it looking a bit messier. You can do this look with normal pins very easily, but I wanted to show how these spiral pins are used.

Again, thankyou to Leonie for lending me her hair for this post!

For this look all you need is your spiral pins (£1 from Primark, for 2) or Goody Spin Pin (£5.50 for 2, here), and a brush. I use a Tangle Teezer (£10.99, here) but any brush will do.

The first thing you need to do is brush your hair out, and then pull it into a high ponytail, using a brush to keep your hair sleek and to make sure there are no bumps. If you are going for a more relaxed, messy look then you can just pull it back with your fingers.

Twist the hair firmly at the base, to anchor it in place. Twist the remainder of the ponytail and wrap it around the base until it is all used up. Tuck the end of the ponytail underneath the bun.

Grab one of your pins, and literally screw it into the bun from the side closest to your neck. You will get a much more firm hold if you push down on the top of the bun as you do this, and try and keep the pin as close to your scalp as possible. Screw the other pin in from the side closest to your forehead, again pressing down on the top of the bun. They warn you on the packaging not to interlock the two pins, as it will tangle your hair, but when I interlocked them accidently nothing bad happened, they just unscrew the same as before!

And you're done! You could spray some hairspray on your hands and use them to smoothe any flyaways that you might have if you need to.

Muji/Travel Haul!

I know that this isn't strictly beauty related, but I love watching travel videos from beauty gurus on youtube, and I'm so excited about my trip that I couldn't resist posting this!

When I'm packing for a trip I love to organise all of my stuff, I'm a bit of an organisation freak! I have loads of different little pouches that I use for all kinds of stuff, from makeup to medicines.

The big white case is a medium Tarpaulin Cosmeic Case from Muji (£3.95, here) which I'm planning to use to transport my shower gel and conditioner just in case they leak in transit, as this is waterproof. It should also be pretty useful for transporting wet clothes/bikinis after trips to the lake and stuff. There is a custom in Uganda of never allowing people to see your underwear (even when you're not wearing it!), so once you have washed your clothes, there is a definite possibility of having to wait a while to dry them. 

These flat pouches are useful for so many things. The mesh ones I will probably use for my first aid and sterile kits, which are pretty huge. The kids at the school I am going to be working in often always have health problems, and trips to hospital with your students are frequent. Last time I was there I was one of the only qualified first aiders, and ended up taking about 10 children to hospital in 7 weeks. Having my kit to treat minor problems in these mesh pouches means that I can see easily what is in there, and makes everything quicker. They are Large Nylon Mesh Cases, also from Muji (£2.95 each, here). The floral pouch was £1.50 from Primark and will probably end up being used to transport my Tangle Teezer and hairbands.

I bought the Large Hanging Travel Washbag (£11.95, here) because I realised that despite having loads of pouches I don't actually own a washbag! We won't actually have bathrooms in Uganda per-se, but there is a little shower cubicle in the corner of each room, with a few nails in the wall, so this should be really useful as I will be able to keep all of my stuff off the floor, and at eye level. this has loads of compartments so I should be able to further organise everything as I pack! 

I learned some good lessons about travelling when I went to Uganda last summer, and many of those lessons related to what you should and shouldn't bring! As I was flying alone for the first time I was very conscious of the fact that I needed to look after my passport and travel documents. I had a little cardboard folder that was provided by the agent I booked my flights through, which I kept everything in. The problem was that it was only really designed to hold a couple of sheets of paper, not a bulky passport and other important documents! This Muji Purple Passport Case (£9.95, here) should be much more suitable, and has enough room for my passport, tickets, cash, cards, even my keys and a pen!

The last thing I bought in my little travel accessories spree is a free standing mirror from good ol' Poundland. Last year the only makeup I took with me was a limited edition Sleek palette that wouldn't be availible when I got back that I bought on the way to the airport. I thought that as I was doing charity work it wasn't a holiday and I wouldnt have any reason to get glammed up. Was I ever wrong! Every friday saw us go out to a local club to dance, and when I was staying with my cousin in the capital I went to some of the most glamorous places I've ever been! I ended up buying eyeliner and mascara while I was there as I didn't want to be walking into casinos and posh restaurants looking like a scruffy backpacker! Anyway, lesson learned. This time, I'm definitely bringing some makeup!! So I bought this mirror as they were in seriously short supply at the lodge, and they were not free standing. For £1, this will do the job nicely! 

Some New Things...

My aforementioned shopping extravaganza did not end with Primark hair accessories, so I thought I'd share.

Sunglasses. I used to have absolutely loads of pairs of sunglasses, and then I went to Tanzania, and then I went to Uganda. The kids there are compleely obsessed with them, so I came back from Tanzania with none of the sunnies that I'd taken with me, but still some left at home. When my trip to Uganda came around the following summer, I took all of my remaining pairs (six in total!) and I came back with only one pair. (see evidence of adorable sunglasses theives below). So, having learned my lesson, I decided tostart stocking up on cheap sunnies from Primark. These were only £2 each and offer full UV protection, which is important. The super pretty Cath Kidston-esque sunglasses case was only £1.50 too!



The two Maybelline Forever Strong nail polishes were impulse buys really, but I really love the colours. they are Ivory Rose and Lilac charm.

Lastly I got a new foundation from Bobbi Brown (review coming soon!). It's a different forula to the one I used to use, and is supposed to be long wearing and is oil free. We shall see!

Primark for Hair Accessories?!

Yesterday I went on a bit of a shopping extravaganza with my friend Leonie. When we left our flats that morning we were planning a day of cluture at the Natural History Museum Bodyworlds exhibit (totally reccomend it!) but we ended up getting round it quicker than we thought we would, and ended up on oxford street until about 8pm!

I had never been to Primark Oxford St before and as it was a weekday we decided that it wouldn't be too busy so we would brave it. I was surprised that I didn't actually buy any clothes, but bought some accessories and quite a bit of hair stuff. I have bought a bun ring from primark before for the bargainous price of just £1, and it was of the same quality as a £5 one from Boots, but they seem to have broadened their selection of hair accessories.

I stupidly chucked all the packaging in the recycling last night when I was in a bit of a cleaning frenzy, so the pictures are without it, sorry! I got the hairbands first, I love these as they come in all sorts of colours, natural and otherwise, and they don't have that annoying metal bit that can catch your hair, and it's only a pound for 30. As someone who is constantly loosing hairbands, that is important!!

The clear and black elastics caught my eye as I like to use the clear ones when I'm doing a more intricate style or when it's important that the band doesn't show. The black ones I probably won't use but I can take them out to Uganda with me where the local women can use them for when they braid their own, or visiting tourists hair. These were also £1 and there are 300 in the pack.

The spiral pins are the thing I was most excited about. I have looked at Goody Spin Pin (£5.50, here) in Boots lots of tims but never bought them because I just couldn't justify spending that much on two glorified hair grips. Enter Primark, with their flagrant copy priced at just £1, and just as good. I'm planning to do a tutorial on these but put simply you pretty much gather your hair in a bun, screw one in from the top and the other from the bottom, and voila, it stays. Much better value and I'm pretty sure the quality is similar.