Hair | How To Do A Fishtail Plait

Lately I've been trying to do more hairstyles that are still easy to do in the morning's and don't take too long to do. For the past few months I've been stuck in a ponytail rut, and I desperately needed to get out if it. So every day I try and do a different hairstyle, even if it's just up in a bun, down with a headband, or a fishtail plait.

When I first saw fishtail plaits, I immediately thought it would be so difficult to do, but in fact it isn't. It might take a few tries to get it looking perfect, but I quite like the messy look anyway. I did try and film a video to show this, as it's easier, but it came out awful so hopefully my words will do it justice.

1. Brush hair to one side.

2. Using your hands, seperate the hair into two. (For a normal plait you would do three).

3. Simply take a small amount of hair from the end of one segment, and cross it over to the other section.

4. Then take a small amount of hair from the second segment and cross it over to the first.

5. Repeat until you've got to the end then tie with a hairband.

That's really it! At first I found it a bit fiddly as you have to hold two sections plus cross a bit over at the same time, but you get the hang of it.

Here's the finished look:

I've done it quite loose here, but you can create a tighter plait too (which also looks amazing). And if my words don't explain it well enough, there's plenty of videos on Youtube showing you how.

What other simple hair ideas are there? I need inspiration!

 

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Review | Hairy Jayne Handmade Hair Care

Being someone who wants to set up my own business myself, I am always extremely keen to help get those smaller businesses 'out there'. I think it's so important to support smaller businesses no matter what, and I sometimes think you get a much better, personalised service (although there are larger companies that do that too).

Hairy Jayne is a an experienced hairdresser who decided to make her own hair products with her bare hands in her studio not far from where I used to live. She has used hair friendly products to create a simple yet gorgeous hair care range. Care and consideration has gone into the whole process and the bottles and packaging can all be recycled.

Having such wild and unruly hair allows me to try all sorts of products and give them what I believe 'a true test'. My hair will well and truly let me know if it doesn't like something (not through conversation, but simply by doing the complete opposite to what I want it to do) and so many products end up in a box never to be used again.

The Hairy Jayne Perfume with Heat Protection* is something that I will be using all the time. As my hair is so difficult, I only tend to wash it once a week, so I don't often have that 'new, freshly washed hair' (although it isn't dirty, let me clarify). I also use hair straighteners often and so heat protection is a vital part of my routine.

 

The perfume can be applied to freshly washed hair, or can be used in between washes to give your hair a pleasant aroma. I decided to give a true test and waited until Day 6 before using. I was worried it would weigh my hair down, however I needn't worry. The first thing I noticed was the instant gorgeous smell of grapefruit, may chang and jasmine. It is, no word of a lie, the most gorgeous smelling hair product I have ever used. It also left my hair feeling incredibly soft and throughout the day I kept sniffing my hair to find the scent still as strong.

I would really recommend you having a look at her website - you are guaranteed to like the look of something, also if you live in London she also does hairdressing and the information is there as well.

All Ditzy Glamour readers can get 10% off all Hairy Jayne orders with the code BLOG10

*product was sent to me for review

Review | Lee Stafford Dry Shampoo

I have always been the biggest fan of Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment, but never tried any other of his products. For Christmas, I received a travel set, with a shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo and dehumidifer in. They are all the perfect size for travelling with.

The product I was most excited about was the dry shampoo, as I consider dry shampoo to be a life saver. To give it a true test, I left my hair until it was really greasy (for research purposes, not laziness, I promise!) and sprayed it all over my hair.

I was quite shocked at the instant transformation. It looked like my hair had been washed and it really soft. I was quite shocked at how well it had worked, especially considering the state my hair was in before. Usually, if I haven't washed my hair for a while, I have to tie it up to hide the messy state it's in, but after using this dry shampoo I'd happily wear my hair down.

The only downside is that it doesn't have much of a scent and therefore my hair still smelt quite unclean. I'd prefer it if it had a bit of a scent that left my hair smelling fresh as well as feeling it.

What dry shampoo is your favourite?

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Review | Batiste 'Paisley' Dry Shampoo

Batiste has fast become one of my favourite brands, from the products itself to the people behind the company who are behind their Twitter account. They are rapidly expanding and I'm pretty sure there is now a dry shampoo for everyone (although I can't wait to see what they bring out next!)

Batiste Paisley* is one of their newbies and has a fruity scent with a musky twist. The packaging and product itself are both inspired from the Hippy Chic catwalk trends and the gorgeous scent leaves your hair looking and smelling cleaner for longer.

I love having Batiste products on my shelf being displayed proudly as they always look so lovely - and they last such a long time as you only need a few sprays to get a cleaner look.

What is your favourite Batiste ever? I think this one is on par with Batiste Cherry.

Batiste Paisley is £2.99 and sold exclusively at Superdrug.

*product sent to me for review

New Hair

Up until last year I had never dyed my hair, but I took the plunge and went a darker brown. Slowly, it grew out and I got bored of doing it again for a while. As it's a new year, new start blah blah blah, I thought I'd do it again. When I went to Boots to get my normal dye (Nice'n'easy Shade 120), I noticed they had a new colour out that was more what I wanted (Nice'n'easy Shade 131), and I can safely say I'm really happy with the results.

It's a lot darker than I'm used to and I was worried I'd look 'washed out' and pale, but I don't. The only problem I have is matching my eyebrows to my hair, but I went to MAC and asked them to match an eyeshadow to use. She recommended 'Mystery' which is perfect.

Me and my hair have a very serious 'hate-hate' relationship. I've never liked it and I always struggle with it. However, I decided I need to embrace it as it's never going to change. People tell me every day to wear my hair naturally curly, but I don't think I ever could. I've straightened my hair since I was 15, and it's a habit I don't want to break.

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Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment

 'For hair that never grows past a certain length'

After reading about this product on many blogs, I was intrigued as my hair has struggled to grow other the past 3 years after getting it cut quite short (for me anyway), and then endless amounts of hair straightening. I also struggled with losing quite a lot of my hair. To give you an idea, I lost around the size of a Creme Egg amount each time I washed it, and also I ended up covered in hair every time I brushed it. Although it wasn't a scary amount, it still caused my hair to look terrible, feel terrible and ultimately, never grow.

I was slightly put off by the £7.19 price tag, especially considering you had to use an egg sized amount each time (it only contains 200ml), but I figured if it helped my hair to grow, it would be worth the money.

The packaging says:

+ Vital hair and scalp complex helps to reduce hair loss.

+ Improves follicle health which in turn increases the ability of the hair to anchor the scalp.

+ Soothing formulation reduces irritation and moisturises the scalp.

+ Addresses hair and scalp ageing at a cellular level.

+ Improvement in tensile strength to give body and texture by penetrating the hair reaching the inner cortex.

+ Improves volume and feel of the hair.

Not only is the packaging gorgeous, pink and modern, as soon as I opened it, I was overcome by the most beautiful scent. I can only describe it as 'what the hairdresser's smells like'. Nothing beats your hair smelling good and this certainly does the trick, if nothing else! After shampooing, I applied this to my hair and left for 5 minutes, then rinsed and used conditioner as normal. I noticed a dramatic change in the way my hair felt immediately. It was so soft and it still smelt amazing. I'd also noticed that slightly less hair had fallen out, but I didn't want to love the product before I'd properly tried it out.

 

I've now been using Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment for just over a month now and I am so happy with the results. Hardly any hair falls out whilst washing or styling and my hair always feels so smooth and looks a lot healthier. The question you're probably asking is 'Has your hair grown past a certain length?' I wasn't expecting to have ankle length hair the next day, I was expecting it to grow a little faster, and it has. I'd say my hair has grown by about 1cm which may not seem a lot, but considering I've felt like it hasn't grown at all in years, I am very very happy. I will definitely continue using this to ensure it helps to grow my hair. Whether you're looking to grow my hair, or just improve it's condition, I seriously recommend getting this - totally worth the money.

 

In the words of Lee Stafford:

"If the earth's not nourished, you'll never grow beautiful flowers"

Treat your scalp with care, and your hair will be very thankful for it. Have any of you tried this? What other Lee Stafford products would you recommend?