Me good at Up-styles??????Never.........well actually maybe yes!!!

The phrase " I Love to learn new things" is an understatement when it comes to me. Once it is creative in anyway I am sold and will always try my hand at it. So when I seen that the Dublin College of Hairdressing was running Up-style Courses I had to give it a go. 

Last year I took a hairdressing course but had to leave after only a few short weeks because of unforeseen circumstances so I didn't get to learn too much. I have never been very good at doing hair at all. Because I have naturally curly hair I never had the need to learn GHD curls or anything else fancy so when it came to up-styles I was a complete and utter virgin.

Louise is the owner of DCH. I have known Louise for years and know that she has worked incredibly hard to fulfill her dreams of having her own college so this in itself was a selling point for me because I knew she would only teach to her highest ability knowing that she has made her dreams come true. 

On the morning of the course I was surprisingly nervous. Maybe its because it was something new for me or maybe because I was putting myself under pressure to be good. I am not sure but whatever it was the butterflies were in full flight in my stomach that morning. 

Once I got in to the college Louise offered my some tea or coffee and I met the other girl who would be on the course and the nerves began to settle. The other girl was currently working in a hairdressers and I knew by looking at her beautifully tonged hair that she would breeze though the course, but that was great because she would be good motivation for me, the newbie. 

1st up-style-Basic using natural curl of hair

We started off with GHD curls which surprised me because I thought it was an up-style course but Louise informed us that no matter what up-style you do you should always have some sort of curl in it as this will make the style hold better. So Louise demonstrated how to do the curls and then let us have a go. I was a disaster to say the least but Louise was in no way inpatient, infact I dunno how she coped with me. She showed me as many times as I needed and stayed with me until I got it. She really put me at ease and eventually I got some sort of a reasonable curl.....Hooray!!! 

2nd Up-style-Using rollers to create volume

Louise then showed us how to do a basic up-style and as the day went on we moved on to more advanced techniques. The most impressive thing about the whole day was that she didn't show us how to do the old fashioned french roll type up-styles but more the modern up-styles that you would wear to a special event or even on a night out if you like that short of thing.....

3rd Up-style-Classic

My favourite style of the day had to be the last one which was the curly Mohawk. I have admired this hairstyle for years and always expected it to be complicated and way too difficult for me to attempt but again Louise showed us how to do it and we both came up with amazing results.

4th Upstyle- Vintage

Louise is a very calm and laid back person which really makes you feel at ease. She really encouraged our own creativity. If she didn't think something would work she would show us how she felt it would look better but never made you feel silly for not doing it right in the first place. She has an amazing approach to teaching and I should know because I went in to the course knowing nothing and I was honestly shocked at how well I did. I cannot recommend this course and any other of Louise's courses enough. I have no doubt this girl will shine. But the nicest thing about it all is that she has worked her little bum off to get what she wanted and so she deserves all the success she gets. Hard work always pays off in the long run. Her enthusiasm and genuine excitement about teaching is so inspirational that she had me walking out of the college thinking I wanted to be a hairdresser. Maybe I will leave that one until another day.........

5th Up-style- Curly Mohawk

Louise Offers a variety of courses from Dublin College of Hairdressing. From basic beginner courses to refresher and advanced training for qualified hairdressers aswell as ITEC certified courses. Her prices are so reasonable and the cheapest I have seen around, but don't let this turn you off because the standard of teaching is second to none and you will definitely get value for money in doing these courses. This up-style course ran from 10am until 4pm and it cost a very reasonable €85 (this is just an introductory price though).Louise was so kind that she sent us home with a lovely little kit of two different combs (a pin-tail and a backcombing brush) and a very large box of hair clips. Oh and to top it all off she gave us very informative handouts that we could read at home to get more info or to brush up on anything we had learned in the course. She didn't leave any page unturned. I walked in knowing nothing and walked out at 4pm knowing how to create beautiful up-styles aswell as not being afraid to try new things and reassurance that if something goes wrong that it can always be fixed and sometimes mistakes turn out to be the nicest creation. 

You can get more information on the college and the courses at http://www.dublincollegeofhairdressing.ie/. You can also find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dublincollegeofhairdressing.

Also a little side note, if you like this website and are interested in getting your own website done the designer of this website can be found at http://www.jcit.ie/ or at http://www.facebook.com/jcitdublin.

I hope you found this informative and be sure to check out the websites above for more information.

Have a lovely evening

Anita xxxx

I got ZINCed and Loved it!!!

When I was invited to Zinc Hair & Beauty to try the Cocoa Brown Spray Tan by Marissa Carter and 3D Browz of course I was only delighted to give the treatments a go and even happier that it was at Zinc Hair & Beauty because I know how friendly and highly skilled the staff are there.

Zinc Hair&Beauty 637 South Circular Road.

When I walked in I was pleasantly greeted by the owner Lisa who was busy with a client and she asked me to take a seat and Tanya, the girl who would be looking after me today would be with me shortly. I was only seated and Tanya took me into the treatment room where she explained that she would do my 3D Browz treatment first and she asked me to lie up on the treatment bed. Ahhhh finally I can relax!!!!! Tanya then assessed my current brow shape and asked me what type of shape I would like and what colour tint I wanted. She also recommended that she gives my brows more definition. I knew I was in capable hands so I told her to do what she thought would suit me best. She then applied the tint and left it settle for a few minutes. Except for a split second Tanya didn't leave the room while the tint set which I thought was great because we got to have a chat about the Decoderm makeup that Zinc stock and use in the salon (review here) and she also was telling me about the new range of Decoderm nail polish that they got in in the last couple of days. I found her very easy to talk to and interesting at the same time which to me is so important when you are spending time alone with someone.

When the tint set Tanya then advised that she would wax, thread and trim my brows to the shape which would best suit me. Tanya was super quick at this and so the treatment was virtually pain free (even the threading which I don't particularly like). Once that was all done Tanya then wiped my brows and applied some sort of liquid (sorry not exactly sure what) which I think maybe sealed in the brow colour. She then showed me the finished result in a mirror and I have to say I was delighted. They looked much more defined and even though I had zero makeup on and I was as white as a porcelain doll I didn't look too bad because my face had definition. I was really delighted. I was very happy to see that the colour wasn't too dark and it blended well with my hair colour because for me their is nothing worse than having two huge thick, dark brows that just look like caterpillars on your face.

 Tanya did explain though that everyone has one eyebrow that can cause problems and needs more work and mine is my left one (don't I know it, it has caused me problems for years) so she explained that I should come back every six weeks and get them done and she will work on the shape and get them more uniform. I will definitely be doing that!!! I am a perfectionist and can see that my left brow is slightly thicker than the right and it will bother me for awhile but I have to take the advice of Tanya and trust her that by regular treatments this will be rectified over time. 3D Browz cost €30 per treatment at Zinc and they recommend you get the treatment done every 6 weeks to get a perfected result.

Brows Before being 3D Browz'd

After being 3D Browz'd

Next Tanya brought me into the room for my spray tan and told me that there was a hair net, disposable undies and some moisturiser to use if I felt I had dry patches. Seriously, does any other salon give you that much care??? None that I have been to anyway. So Tanya left me to get ready to be sprayed. When she came back in she asked how dark did I want to be and I said as dark as possible and she explained that like the Cocoa Brown 1 Hour tan the longer you leave it on the darker it will be. So she suggested leaving it on for 3 hours and then just giving it a light rinse and moisturise well. When Tanya finished spraying my whole body she then went over my legs a second time. I was taken back by this but thrilled because we all have had experiences where the tan takes beautifully all over the body and not on the legs so Tanya explained that by spraying them twice that this wouldn't happen....Hooray, its like she read my mind. Before I got dressed Tanya gave my skin a quick blast with a hairdryer to make sure I was dry all over(again another first for me)...although there was very little drying needed because the tan seemed to soak into my skin instantly.

The tan itself had the usual Cocoa Brown smell of Tahitian Gardenia (review of 1 Hour tan here) which is so pleasant rather the usual disgusting curry smell of other fake tans. The colour itself was almost instant, I felt I could go out on the town without even rinsing it off. A great thing when you have to go out in public after getting sprayed!! When I was on the way home the tan did start to run on my arms and legs which freaked me out a bit but it didn't make any difference at all so I would say this was only the colour guide running. The tan developed in an hour and I could see it getting darker up to the three hours after when I washed it off. I LOVE the colour of the tan, its dark enough but yet looks so natural. There wasn't a streak in sight (except for a tiny bit on my palms and bottom of my feet that shouldn't have been there...think this was my fault) and even the rougher areas like my ankles, knees and elbows were all perfect. This is down to the great work of Tanya and also the fact that I prepped my skin the night before with Cocoa Brown's new Tough Stuff body scrub (review here) which is available from Zinc for €3 for a 50 ml Sachet. I love the lack of fuss around this tan, you go in, get sprayed, get dressed almost instantly, have no sticky residue and wash it off after three hours (or one hour if you want a lighter tan) and you have perfect, streak free tan that lasts for days. It costs €20 to get a Cocoa Brown spray tan at Zinc.

Before                 After application      3 Hours later

Overall, my trip to Zinc Hair & Beauty was very pleasant, I got amazing services with impeccable results and got to meet some lovely people and try some great treatments along the way. I was so happy to have been ZINCed and plan on making it a regular place to visit to be beautified. Thanks for having me ladies and see you soon!

You can visit Zinc's website for more information on their staff and services they offer. http://www.zinchairandbeauty.com/

Love and Kisses
Anita xxxx