Afro Hair & Beauty Live Event Review

Those who follow me on twitter or Instagram would know that I had been looking forward to Afro Hair & Beauty LIVE 2014 for ages!

Despite being a bit tired from the day before as I had attended Curvoloution and Top Model of colour I was up bright and early. Due to my late night I dint get to roller set my hair the night before so I  had to quickly do it in the morning then rip the curlers out as I made the mad dash to the door.

Obviously my curls didn’t last

When I got to the design and business centre I went to the press desk to collect my press pass where I was greeted by a very Cheerful Jessica

ME: HI I am Lee-Anne Weise and I am  collecting a press pass and some tickets

Jessica: Oh Lee-Anne! I have been waiting to meet you won Loads of tickets!!

I probably should have mention that after a series of late night twitter and Instagram sessions (Thanks prednisone) I entered a load of comps to win tickets for Afro Hair & Beauty LIVE 2014 and actually ended up winning about 5 sets of tickets!!

I can’t say than I never win anything any more

 

Me in my Spell magazine T'shirt

First stop once I first went to the Spell magazine stand as they wanted to give me a goody bag as part of my prize (Thanks guys)

I then did a walk round taking note of stands I wanted to go back to.

Of course I had to say hi to the guys at the ORS stand and take a few selfies for their wall.

Beautiful textures has a stand this year and after missing out on getting a sample of the naturally straight texture manageability system yesterday I crossed my fingers that I would get one today.

FYI I'm not super tall I'm standing on a chair

 

Right next to the Beautiful textures stand was the Afro Hair and Beauty Live Bloggers' Lounge which was hosted by UKnaturals.

I have to say I had an amazing time in the bloggers lounge and ended up staying in there much longer than I anticipated talking to bloggers taking pictures and tasting the yummy goodies they had on offer.

The rest of the day I had to say was a complete blur!

I had my hair and scalp analysed at ORS which was interesting and kind of scary at the same time as you see the hair strands close up which showed where my hair was healthy at the routed and as it went down the strands of my hair you could see the damaged from where I preciously relaxed my hair on a regular basis.

I also had a talk with the Patricia Ramgolam-Singh, of Concept Hair in Birmingham about the impact my lupus medications having on my hair and what I could do about it.

I was impressed with how knowledgeable she was about Lupus I normally get the blank stare lol

I was advised to wait until my medications are stable before I consider any kind of chemical treatments for my hair and in the meantime I should take some supplements and improve my diet which is something I had  already started to do so I was happy to know I was going in the right direction.

I had seen a few products that I liked throughout the day but I had promised myself that I would not do any impulse buying but instead I would take the website address for the products, do some research and then decide if need to make a purchase.

The following day when  went back I did end up buying some Shea butter and a subcription to Black hair and beauty but I needed those!

In the afternoon it got crazy busy and over whelming so I ended up leaving about 5pm and

Off to Afro Hair & Beauty Live day two

 I went back early the next day with the intention of taking photos and checking out some of the seminars which I did.

Check out my photos from the day.

Did you go to Afro hair and beauty live?

What did you think of the day and did you make any interesting purchases?

Top Model Of Colour Event Review

Despite a full day at Curlvolution next stop was London’s Grand Connaught Rooms to attend Top Model of Colour Season 8 which is hosted by Mahogany Models Modelling Agency.

Over the years I have seen how TMC not only gives its contestants platform to start their modelling careers but gives them a first-hand look at what the modelling is like. It makes me smile when I see the previous contestants in magazines and gracing catwalks further in their career. Yu only have to look at TMC Season 5 winner Nana Afua Antwi who has since been in magazines such as Black Hair Pride and Fabulous Magazines, walked in London Fashion Week for Matthew Williamson and is the face of E'lon Cosmetics in America

I welcomed the Malibran Organic Prosecco at the exclusive VIP reception while I unwound and mingled with the guests and lusted over the African print skirts the staff were wearing.

The contest was hosted by the very charismatic Gayle Thompson attendees were entertainment by Mekeart Tribe traditional dancers and sets

from singers P.Nology from The X Factor 2012 and Antix while judges deliberated over who out of the 18 beautiful contestants would ultimately be crowned Top Model Of Colour.

Final 5 contestants

I would like to mention that TMC is the only competition in which contestants are provided with hair styling, make up and wardrobe, which I feels evens the playing field and takes a bit of financial pressure off of the contestants.

I remember talking to the contestants at a recent beauty pageant that I attended (I won’t say names) and I was shocked about how much they spent on their outfits make-up and hair some of them even came with their own stylists and make-up artists!!

TMC Judges 

I didn’t envy the judges for having to make such a difficult decision (even though I was rooting for my cousin Aisha to win)

Miss Aisha got through to the final 11 but didn't win still proud of her though

After fun filled evening which included a demonstration of how to rock the catwalk by Mr Mahogany himself

B Kiane Ashman‐Swaby was announced as the winner

Curlvolution Presents Luv & Learn Your Hair with Taren Guy Event Review

 Saturday morning found me up bright and early heading to Canary Whalf to  Curlvolution in the Hilton hotel.

With all tickets being sold out weeks prior to the event I was excited to attend.

Curvolution came to a start with the host motivational speaker Action Jackson getting the crowd to quote some affirmation’s (I’m ashamed to say I have forgotten what they were)

I was especially excited to see Taren Guy who I had been following on Youtube for some time and inspired me to start my own hair journey.

I was as happy to observe that she is as warm and welcoming in real life as she is in her videos, giving her honest experiences, opinions and insights.

Next up was a Q&A session with Felicia Leatherwood and Pam Hogan and we were introduced to a new product by Beautiful Textures called naturally straight.

They were also giving away free samples of the product but by the time I got to their stand they were totally tapped out L (Don’t worry there is an happy ending to this story in my next blog post don’t worry)

I also went Contouring and highlighting seminar hosted by make-up artist and Vlogger Giselle Ali and sponsored by Sleek cosmetics I found this class very interesting as I had always been amazed by how people have managed to transform their faces using contouring methods. I especially like the fact that Giselle advised that women of colour should avoid over contouring their faces and masking their African features.

I learnt a lot of interesting tips about applying foundations, eyeliners and experimenting with primers.

I also left with a wish list of products that I would like to try.

Attendees of the seminar were also treated to a goodie bag containing products from Sleek!

My goodie bag contained the Sleek Face Contour Kit in Dark WOOP WOOP!!

Back to the main room to unfortunately catching the end of the Curlformers demonstration just in time for Action Jackson to give a way prizes!

(I also should mention that I especially liked that time was assigned for the vendors to come up and talk about their products)

To end the da there was a panel discussion with Taren Guy, Felicia Leatherwood, Debbie Blake,  Emma Dabiri of The diasporadiva, and Gina of Natural Belle

Which covered everything from the panellist hair journeys, hair products and their thoughts the relaxed/texturized vs natural debate.

I found the discussion very enjoyable and what I took from it is being natural doesn’t just mean not having chemically processed hair it is more about taking care of yourself using the best products possible which also includes what you put in to your body.

The panellists also pointed out that everybody’s hair journey is different but we should still support and encourage each other.

In all I found my day at Curlvolution 14 inspiring and enjoyable and can’t wait to attend  next year

Cruella Velvet Matte Lip Pencil By NARS Review

I have no idea when or where I got this lip pencil but I figured it was about time I tried it out.

The colour is a very nice  deep based red which I matte without being drying on the lips and highly pigmented.

pencil with white background

Pencil with black background

I couldn’t really get my head around the idea of a lip pencil as opposed to a lip stick but the thin tip made for a neater application as I was able to line my lips before filling them in.

Swatch without flash

Swatch with flash

However I am not in love with having to sharpen the lip pencil

I will defiantly be wearing this colour more often

What is your favorite red lipstick?

Candy Yum Yum By Mac Lipstick Review

        I love pink and I couldn't wait to try out Candy Yum Yum however when I first tried it out   some one (My Mum) told me it was too bright and put me off wearing it.

However the beginning of spring, and a new hair style inspired me to try it again and I have to say I’m feeling it.

Some times a girl needs a little Shocking pink in her life right?

What MAC says

"The Lipstick dreams were made of" is back so you can get your fix of the vibrant, matte pink of Candy Yum-Yum. The colour most coveted by Makeup Artists and enthusiasts alike in M∙A∙C By Request is now available to you permanently. Enjoy!"

The pink is very bright and defiantly not for the faint of heart but I absolutely love it. Like the Ruby Woo it’s kind of drying on the lips so I wouldn’t wear it too regularly but I am dying to try it with a lip gloss over the top.

This is defiantly going into my Summer Lip colour rotation

What is your must have lip shade for Summer?