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Beauty, Features, Opinion peice, Reviews

Review: Blonde for summer? Trust Lisa Shepherd London and get 30% off your first visit!

By Elisabeth on June 13th, 2011
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Photo: Lisa Shepherd London

I went bottle blonde many years ago and have since varied between California blonde, Nordic light ash blonde to once a peroxide platinum nightmare where I actually did think my hair was going to fall off (Note to self: don’t bleach at home…)

Before the New Year I fell in love with my roots and let my natural colour shine through, which meant by the time May came around my hair looked more like Drew Barrymore’s dip-dye than Daryl Hannah’s Kill Bill blonde.

That said, hippy chic has never been my thing so when summer hinted that it was just around the corner I felt an urge to go back to my Scandinavian roots and go all-over blonde once more. However, since it was weeks until payday, I decided to book myself in at a ‘cheap and cheerful’ salon just minutes from where I work called Vannoli Hair. After all, how bad could it be? It’s only a bit of colour…

It went wrong, all kinds of horrible wrong.

Having opted for a light ash blonde, my roots were at first bleached to ensure the hair would get an even, all-over colour. As a colour addict, I know that sometimes the shades can look different while developing, but nothing – and I mean NOTHING – could have prepared me for what I was about to see. Looking back at me from the mirror was Madam Mim; my hair had gone dark ashy! Naturally I kicked up a fuss and said I would not be leaving looking like that and demanded them to strip the colour from my already over-processed tresses.

When I finally left – four(!) hours after starting what was now a colour catastrophe – my scalp was burning and was showing signs of small sores. Once home the actual horror dawned on me: apart from feeling like a scouring pad upon touch, my hair now had an awkward yellowish tint!

The next morning, in sheer desperation I pleaded to the Gods of Hair to fix my misfortune – through the modern means of Twitter of course – and was thrilled when the wonderful Wahanda and Lisa Shepherd Salon answered my call for help.

By the end of the day, I’d had my colour consultation and was booked in for an appointment the very next morning.

Arriving at Lisa Shepherd London’s cool, calm central London premises on a sunny Saturday – it recently won Salon Interior of the Year 2011 – I was met with welcome smiles and a relaxed atmosphere that made my stress levels drop a notch or two. I immediately knew my hair and I were in good hands.

Photo: Lisa Shepherd London

Director of Lisa Shepherd London, Jason Cocking – who joined the company seven years ago and became one of Lisa Shepherd’s Art Directors before setting up the London venture – met me with a calm smile and knew exactly what had to be done.

After conferring with their Colour Director Sarah, Jason explained that he would only be colouring the yellow roots, leaving the more distressed tresses alone as they already had a nice blonde shade. The Swartzkopf colour, mixed right in front of my eyes, offered an intense coolness to my still burning scalp. Once all yellow strands of hair had been covered, I spent the next half hour flicking through magazines, browsing the net and sipping a lovely ice cold drink in the ‘break-out’ area, with Jason regularly checking in on how the colour was developing.

Rinsed and blow-dried straight, the end result was a lovely blonde colour. I was so pleased that I’ll happily admit I almost cried. I then understood even more why Jason is such a hit with celebrities – he has previously styled the hair of Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, Cat Deeley, Zoe Ball, and Nigella Lawson – as his down-to-earth manner and colouring skills combined definitely are worth the indulgence!

To lend from Shakespeare, if clothes make the man, then hair definitely makes the woman; I left the salon feeling like an A-lister with bouncy, blonde locks and a bright smile. I know where I am going when my roots need a touch up!

Here is the result of my hair colour rescue!

Photo: Elisabeth Edvardsen 2011

To celebrate that summer is here the wonderful Lisa Shepherd London has kindly offered a 30% discount to all ShinyStyle readers for their first visit. To take advantage of this amazing offer, simply quote ‘ShinysStyle’ when booking your appointment.

Lisa Shepherd London
24 Mortimer Street
London
W1T 3JP

For appointments call: 0207 467 9560 or email london@lisashepherd.co.uk

If you are thinking about going blonde for the summer Jason offers some advice:

“When choosing a blonde shade there are some things which must be considered: your skin tone, the natural depth, your lifestyle and how you are able to maintain the look with salon visits. Everyone can achieve that celebrity blonde look.”

“When choosing a blonde the best way to work is with a neutral base and placing tones within it. With rosy skin tones, such as Lady Gaga, work with light pastel blondes. On a neutral face tone, like Jennifer Aniston, work with golden lights and if you have olive or yellow based skin tones stay away from golds, like Gwen Stefani.”

For more advice check out the video below for top tips from Lisa Shepherd on choosing the right colour and tone for you.






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Fashion Crush, Opinion, Opinion peice, Red Carpet

Fashion Crush Top 5: Five movies you should dress like

By Andrea Petrou on September 8th, 2010
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By Emily Borrett

The first person whose style I ever truly loved was Ariel from the Little Mermaid – I wanted her cool shell bikini, despite only being about five – and then a little later on in life the Japanese twins from the Simpsons, Sherri and Terri.  I stand by that still – anyone who thinks it isn’t cool to wear a shell bikini or match their clothes and accessories to their hair colour is wrong. Little television addict that I was when I was a child (apparently I used to come home from school and mournfully wail to my mother that I “hadn’t been watching”), it would be fair to say that film and television has had a hefty influence on my style over the years. And admittedly, some former fashion crushes of mine have not stood the test of time. Two examples of the most cringe-worthy that come to mind were my obsession with Columbia in the Rocky Horror Picture Show many years ago -which lasted far too long and caused me to dress like a fat burlesque dancer – and my Disney Channel phase at the age of about 9, when I really dug Lizzie McGuire’s “neon brights and pedal pushers” look.

Wardrobe horrors aside, there have been some pretty iconic dressers in movie history that I still take a lot of inspiration from when I’m getting dressed in the morning. All of the women listed below look dope. All of their films are super-stylish, and if you haven’t seen them, you should, if not just for the clothes.

5. MIA WALLACE IN “PULP FICTION”


Uma Thurman’s character in this movie is like a monochrome queen. White shirt, black capris, milky skin and the sleekest black bob in history (soz, Anna Wintour). Classic styling, classic Chanel colours – she’s like a weird fashion cat that I want to catch and then keep prisoner in my house, so that it can teach me how to dress well and dance like it’s the 50s.

It’s a completely different kind of sexy to the kind that was at the time all over the covers of Vogue, in the form of super-women such as Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. Instead of whipping out her legs or boobs, Mia Wallace draws you in with her hypnotic eyes and the smile of a cat who just got the five-dollar milkshake. And so she should, it’s a good look for her. I’m depressed that my bob will never look like that.

4. MADONNA IN “DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN”

Hey guys, remember when Madonna was really, really, really cool? In the eighties, way before she started to look like Popeye and show off her crotch all the time, Madonna was in a movie called Desperately Seeking Susan, in which she  got to act cool on screen for a couple hours and basically play herself. Except in the film she’s meant to be someone called Susan, not Madonna.

All the biggest fashions in the past couple of years like leather, lace, sheer clothing and chunky gothic jewellery – “Susan” wore it first. She did all the things you (probably) only dream of doing, like hanging out in weird cabaret bars, sleeping with the Mafia and getting arrested for trying to bunk cabs. You know, bad girl stuff. And she got to wear Jimi Hendrix’s jacket while she was at it too. Despite the film’s silly plot and dialogue it’s one of my comfort blanket films – if you’re into eighties and new wave fashion you should probably watch it.

3. CHER IN “CLUELESS”

“So what did you do in school today, Cher?” “Well… I broke in my purple clogs.” I love to watch Clueless every few months or so because it’s like a warm bubblebath for my brain. It leaves me feeling girly, bubbleheaded and happy for at least a week afterwards. I like the 90s soundtrack and the amount of brightly-coloured plaid they all wear (both the preppy and the British Heritage trend nailed in one, well done, Dion and Cher).

Cher deserves to be on this list not simply because she was rocking knee high socks and loafers way before the likes of Alexa Chung and Daisy Lowe, but for her sheer dedication to fashion. She really fought for her plight – it’s not many girls that have a computer programme to decide their outfits each morning. And it’s certainly not many girls that have the chutzpah to argue with a gun-toting mugger when they think their Aliya dress is in danger of getting dirty.

2. GRACE JONES IN “A VIEW TO A KILL”

The movie itself wasn’t the greatest James Bond of all time, and certainly not the most stylish one – that honour should go to one of the sixties ones – but Grace Jones deserves to be on this list because she’s fiercer than a shaved mongoose, and better than any of the big-haired blonde heroines that got to snog James at the end. Also, I don’t want her to beat me up.

I have yet to see someone that can rock Lennon shades, a buzz cut and hooded sportswear quite the way that Miss Jones can. The likes of Lady Gaga, Kelis and Amber Rose haven’t got anything on this woman.

1. HOLLY GOLIGHTLY IN “BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S”

To not put Holly Golightly at number one of this list would be like ignoring a massive, Chanel-clad elephant in the corner of the room. Queen of the up-do, costume jewellery and the trusty little black dress, it’s a style that is still massively referenced nearly fifty years on. You don’t need to look like a film star to dress like Holly Golightly – though it helps – which is the genius of the styling in this film. All you need to get a little of Audrey Hepburn’s style is a sharp black dress and shades, and voila – fashion magic. The beauty of her clothes is in the simplicity.

These are just some of my personal favourites – if you’ve got a cinema fashion favourite that you want to add in the comment box, do it! ShinyStyle wants to know who your fashion crushes are.



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Features, Opinion peice

Why bare legs are a national style crime

By laurenbravo on March 23rd, 2010
3 comments

wenn2711201.jpgLauren Bravo writes:

Fact for the day: did you know that in France, a girl wearing a winter coat with a miniskirt and bare legs is said to be dressing “a l’anglaise”? It’s true, I heard it somewhere.

Now, I’m not suggesting we should all be cowering with collective national shame – after all, our oh-so-chic Gaelic cousins have never quite understood British style endeavours. Across the channel, fashion rules prevail with the force of William the Conqueror. No black with brown or navy, no cleavage, no garish makeup, no dyed hair, non non non! We, meanwhile, are categorised by our somewhat ‘laissez-faire’ attitude toward dressing (I believe in translation that means “falling headfirst into a wardrobe and wearing whatever comes out stuck to you”), complete with daring ‘dos, colour clashing and yes, maybe, a little flesh-flashing when the mood takes us.

But I can’t help feeling that on this occasion, maybe we should pay heed to les femmes françaises. Because if they think that the English are a nation of under-clothed Cinderellas, wandering numbly through the snow with our legs out, I’m afraid I’m inclined to agree with them. Zeut alors.

Unseasonal bare legs are becoming something of an epidemic, sweeping the country like a monster from a ’50s B-movie. It’s practically sport, on an average night out, to keep a tally of every girl you see sporting the stilettos-and-blue-veined-stubble look, complete with massive coat poached off a man under the guise of helpless femininity (Why these blokes never just say “You should have dressed for January then, you silly bint” will remain an eternal mystery). Bonus points if it is raining, or she is walking barefoot and carrying her shoes.

Why, then? Aside from a lyrca allergy or maybe malaria, I can’t find a single reason for bare legs with a mini before June. Our shops are well-stocked with tights of every colour and print imaginable, leggings are still riding first-class on the trend train, and this season we have the additional pleasure of socks to toy with – yet so many women still plump for the chicken skin and hypothermia.

Obviously British Weather is partly to blame. In our flighty climate, particularly during these transitional months, it’s hard to know what to wear. Put on the big coat and the sun will come out, put on the little jacket and it will start snowing as soon as you get to the bus stop. And this is coupled with our traditional hardiness, and proud optimism where the onset of summer is concerned. It’s the same reason we go out and buy a Calippo as soon as we hear a bumblebee, and spend our bank holidays sitting on pebble beaches under a blanket saying “Well, isn’t this nice?”

Then there’s the celebrity factor. Celebs do bare legs all the time, and yes, most of the time they look ruddy gorgeous.But as far as I can deduce, being famous means you become suddenly impervious to weather. You don’t feel cold, or wind, or rain, and so you can stay committed to the cause of leg-baring on red carpets throughout the winter months. As an antidote to this deception, I suggest you look in the mirror before a night out and ask yourself: Am I a celebrity? Am I going to the Brits? Or am I in fact a normal girl, going to a Wetherspoons in Chorley?

On that note, ladies, think of all the great reasons there are to keep your legs covered until summer. For starters, the obvious: you won’t need to shave! You’ll save so much time! Take up crochet or something (in fact, crochet yourself some long johns, there’s a plan). Then the almost-as-obvious: you will be WARMER. You can stop borrowing coats from men, you won’t have to do that frostbitten hobble to the kebab shop, and hell, you might not even NEED the kebab because you won’t be losing as much of your body heat through your thighs.

There are also style kudos to be earned – much as the WAG contingent of our glossies has been trying to persuade us otherwise, true fashionistas know the truth: miniskirts were just made to be worn with tights. Think about it; it’s the reason they were both invented in the ’60s. With tights you can go even shorter, cover your modesty, save yourselves from blisters, make a handy tea strainer if needed, and avoid people asking if you’ve ever witnessed an English November before.

Yes, I am prepared to add this matter to the list of Things the French Get Right, under steak, Chanel, cheese and Thierry Henry. Come summer, you can frolic around as bare legged as you like. But for now, I will say zis only once: leave the goosebumps on the frogs’ legs, and keep yours under wraps.

Photo: The Saturdays out on the town in January. Yes, January.
Credit: Will Alexander/Wenn.com

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