Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!

Let us say goodbye to 2013 and hello to a bright 2014! Time to say goodbye to the struggles and hardships that we may have faced in the past year and hello to a year of light and joy.

My wish for all of you this year is a year filled with laughter (lots of it), happiness and love. I hope that all your dreams come true and that you reach you goals.

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions because by the 2^nd week, we have probably broken all of them. So I rather make a dream map for my year ahead. I do this every year and follow the advise of our very own Fairy Godmother. I enjoy the feeling of letting my creative juices flow by cutting and pasting, to create my dream map. It includes dreams and goals I have for the year. No matter how big or small.

It also includes a WIG – Wildly Improbable Goal. It’s a goal that is 50 % possible and 50 % impossible for you to achieve. It must light you up, get you excited and make you nervous at the same time. It will make you feel like you have butterflies in you tummy, make you feel like you couldn’t possibly do that, but you know what? YOU CAN DO IT!! No matter what that inner voice tells you!

I will post a picture of my completed dream map, so I can share with you all my goals and dreams for the year.

Here is an Irish Blessing for you that resonated deep within me:

Lots of Love

Shalane

A daddy's letter to his daughter by Dr Kelly Flanagan

Daddy's love...

Hi Dolls

Today while going through Facebook, I came across this article on All for Women and it had me in tears! It also got me thinking about how we has women degrade ourselves thinking we always need to please a man! How we need to serve him and keep his interest... When what we really need to do is just know that we are interesting!
Read this beautiful letter below:


"Dear Cutie-Pie,

Recently, your mother and I were searching for an answer on Google. Halfway through entering the question, Google returned a list of the most popular searches in the world. Perched at the top of the list was "How to keep him interested."

It startled me. I scanned several of the countless articles about how to be sexy and sexual, when to bring him a beer versus a sandwich, and the ways to make him feel smart and superior.

And I got angry.

Little One, it is not, has never been, and never will be your job to "keep him interested."
Little One, your only task is to know deeply in your soul - in that unshakeable place that isn't rattled by rejection and loss and ego - that you are worthy of interest.

(If you can remember that everyone else is worthy of interest also, the battle of your life will be mostly won. But that is a letter for another day.)

If you can trust your worth in this way, you will be attractive in the most important sense of the word: you will attract a boy who is both capable of interest and who wants to spend his one life investing all of his interest in you.

Little One, I want to tell you about the boy who doesn't need to be kept interested, because he knows you are interesting:

• I don't care if he puts his elbows on. the dinner table - as long as he puts his eyes on the way your nose scrunches when you smile. And then can't stop looking.

• I don't care if he can't play a bit of golf with me - as long as he can play with the children you give him and revel in all the glorious and frustrating ways they are just like you.

• I don't care if he doesn't follow his wallet - as long as he follows his heart and it always leads him back to you.

I don't care if he is strong - as long as he gives you the space to exercise the strength that is in your heart.

• I couldn't care less how he votes - as long as he wakes up every morning and daily elects you to a place of honour in your home and a place of reverence in his heart.

• I don't care about the colour of his skin - as long as he paints the canvas of your lives with brushstrokes of patience, and sacrifice, and vulnerability, and tenderness.

• I don't care if he was raised in this religion or that religion or no religion - as long as he was raised to value the sacred, and to know every moment of life, and every moment of life with you, is deeply sacred.

In the end, Little One, if you stumble across a man like that and he and I have nothing else in common, we will have the most important thing in common:

You.

Because in the end, Little One, the only thing you should have to do to "keep him interested" is to be you.

Your eternally interested guy,

Daddy."

We need to change our perspective ladies! If the men in our lives can't live with it then they need to live without it! We are worth more!

Enjoy your weekend!

Love Shalane
xoxo

Katy Perry ~ Dark Horse

Katy Perry - Prism

I knew you were
You were gonna come to me
And here you are
But you better choose carefully
'Cause I'm capable of anything
Of anything and everything

Make me your Aphrodite
Make me your one and only
Don't make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what'cha falling for
Baby do you dare to do this
Cause I'm coming at'cha like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back

Mark my words
This love will make you levitate
Like a bird
Like a bird without a cage
But down to earth
If you choose to walk away, don't walk away

It's in the palm of your hand now baby
It's a yes or no, no maybe
So just be sure before you give it up to me
Up to me, give it up to me

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what'cha falling for
Baby do you dare to do this
Cause I'm coming at'cha like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back

She's a beast
I call her Karma
She eat your heart out
Like Jeffrey Dahmer, be careful
Try not to lead her on
Shawty's heart was on steroids
Cause her love was so strong
You may fall in love
When you meet her
If you get the chance you better keep her
She swears by it but if you break her heart
She turn cold as a freezer
That fairy tale ending with a knight in shining armor
She can be my Sleeping Beauty
I'm gon' put her in a coma, woo!
Damn I think I love her
Shawty so bad
I'm sprung and I don't care
She got me like a roller coaster
Turn the bedroom into a fair
Her love is like a drug
I was tryna hit it and quit it
But lil' mama so dope
I messed around and got addicted

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what'cha falling for
Baby do you dare to do this
Cause I'm coming at'cha like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back


Love Shalane
xoxo

Personal Post

My angel - Robert

So true

Need to do this more!

Hey Dolls
As I sit here writing the post I know it's going to be very personal. I have been going through a lot of emotions lately. Some days I'm up and others I'm crashing to the ground at 150km per second. In the past 5 years my life has changed so much, I've changed so much and it feels like it is all catching up with me in this present moment.

What I'm going to post right now, is not something I have every openly spoken about. I know there are a lot of women in my same position, but somehow I feel like I am alone. As you guys have probably seen in many of my personal post, I have a son. His name is Robert and he is the light and love of my life. He is 3 and a half years old. And I am a single mom. Not by choice but by circumstance.

I was in a relationship with a guy that I thought loved me. We were together for 4 years. I moved down to the Eastern Cape to be with him and left my whole life behind. I never planned to get pregnant. Not that I didn't want children but because I felt like we weren't in the perfect place in our relationship. Sitting here now, thinking back, I should have seen the signs. He was a mommy's boy and could do nothing for himself. Mommy washed his clothes, made him food. But being so young and naïve and in love, maybe I just didn't want to see the signs.

I fell pregnant when I least expected it. Our relationship was at its lowest. We were only seeing each other every 2 weeks. I was still on my birth control, so till this day I still don't really understand how I got pregnant. I found out on the Monday morning that I was pregnant, when my period still hadn't come. I took the whole week to tell him and when I eventually got up the courage (I was really scared to tell him. We weren't communicating like a couple does) his reaction took me totally by surprise. He didn't even need time to think about it, he just looked me straight in the eye and told me he wasn't ready for a baby and that if I wanted him in my life, I needed to have an abortion. My heart shattered into a million piece. I know I wasn't ready for a baby, but to have an abortion was the last thing on my mind. He left, and didn't say anything else to me.

My dad was living about 180kms away from me and I called him immediately. My dad is my rock through everything that has ever happened in my life. He told me he would be there to fetch me as soon as he finished work. I had never cried so much in my life. I was all alone in a small town and I was so vulnerable. As soon as my dad arrived at 12 o'clock that night, I had vowed that I would never shed another tear again until after my baby was born. To cut a long story short, I found out 3 months into my pregnancy that he had met another girl and that they were really serious. Again it felt like my heart, that I had just managed to kinda piece together, was being shattered again. But I still didn't cry. I didn't want my unborn baby to feel my pain.

I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy in Jeffery's bay on the 3 of May 2013. I was 23. As I lay in the hospital bed, with my little boy nursing on my chest, I shed my first tears. 9 months of emotions built up inside of me, tears running down my face. My mom had come down from Johannesburg for the birth of the baby, and when she came in for visitation, I was shaking so badly that she took my little angel and placed him in his crib. She then gave me the biggest hug I have ever had. She told me that I had to be strong for my baby. After a good cuddle, I once again put my emotions away.

I had my son on the Monday and was out of the hospital on the Wednesday (I had an elective c section as I lived 180kms from the nearest hospital and my placenta was laying low), on the Friday afternoon while I was relaxing at the lodge my mom was staying for the week, I was posting of Facebook about my little angel. I happened to land on his new girlfriend's page. (Ok maybe it wasn't by accident) What I saw on the page, broke not only my heart but my soul too. His new girlfriend was pregnant and they were planning on getting married.

That had to be the lowest time in my life. The lodge,where my mom was staying, was on the beach, when I found out about the news, I asked my mom to look after my son for a little while. I needed to clear my head. I walked out on to the beach and screamed at the top of my lunges (luckily there was no one on the beach). Sinking slowly on the ground (my wound was still really sore) I cried my heart out. I think I must have stayed there for a long time. My step dad, came and gave me a big hug. He is the type not to say anything. I went back to my son and to this day I have never cried about it again. I get sad sometimes but for the sake of my son I don't cry.

To this day, I have not heard anything from my son's father. He hasn't contributed anything to his son. Not a cent. I did go to the courts to apply for maintenance but they said that he would then have the right to see my son every school holiday or whatever was arranged between us. And he didn't want my son, so why would I send my child there to a person who didn't want them. His little girl is now 2 and he seems to love her so much…

My son is at that age where he is asking "where is my daddy"? At the school they are learning about parents and so forth and I am honest, I don't know what to tell him. My mom often cries with me when I tell her about it, and we both just can't believe that a man would give up his own flesh and blood like that. The people in the little town have speculated that it is not my ex's son but if you see my son and his father together, there is no denying it is his son. I'm not the type of girl to jump from one guy to the next, and because of that I haven't been with anyone since I got pregnant. If I'm honest with myself I will admit that I don't trust any man. I'm scared of letting myself get to close to anyone, scared of getting hurt again. I also don't want my son to get attached to anyone who doesn't plan on loving him forever.

All these emotions have been wreaking havoc on my soul. I seem to be thinking about it so much lately. I have even started crying myself to sleep. It's hard for me, waking up every day, looking at my son, seeing his father in him. Some of his mannerisms are exactly like his fathers. I don't really have anyone to talk to, as my parents are partial to taking my side, or in my father's case he just doesn't want to talk about it.

I wish every day I had someone to talk to, someone who understands where I'm coming from… So it feels good letting this out, telling people what is really in my soul.

Have a good night ladies.

Love Shalane
xoxo

Song of the day ~ Royals by Lorde

Lorde - Royals

I've never seen a diamond in the flesh
I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies
And I'm not proud of my address,
In a torn-up town, no postcode envy

But every song's like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin' in the bathroom
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room,
We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams.
But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash.
We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair.

And we'll never be royals (royals).
It don't run in our blood,
That kind of luxe just ain't for us.
We crave a different kind of buzz.
Let me be your ruler (ruler),
You can call me queen Bee
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule.
Let me live that fantasy.

[Verse 2]
My friends and I—we've cracked the code.
We count our dollars on the train to the party.
And everyone who knows us knows that we're fine with this,
We didn't come for money.

But every song's like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin' in the bathroom.
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room,
We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams.
But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash
We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

And we'll never be royals (royals).
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us.
We crave a different kind of buzz.
Let me be your ruler (ruler),
You can call me queen Bee
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule.
Let me live that fantasy.

Ooh ooh oh
We're bigger than we ever dreamed,
And I'm in love with being queen.
Ooh ooh oh
Life is great without a care
We aren't caught up in your love affair.

And we'll never be royals (royals).
It don't run in our blood
That kind of luxe just ain't for us.
We crave a different kind of buzz
Let me be your ruler (ruler),
You can call me queen Bee
And baby I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule.
Let me live that fantasy.

ING...

Morning Ladies

I sw this post during the week on Cocktails and Memories  and I thought it would be fun to do this.

MAKING ~ christmas decorations
COOKING ~ cupcakes for my angel boy!
DRINKING ~ warm cuppa java.
READING ~ SA's awesome blogs!
WANTING ~ winter to come! (Don't like summer)
PLAYING ~ cars with my 3yr old son, Robert...
WASTING ~ time worrying about stupid things
SEWING ~ Nothing at the moment
WISHING ~ it was christmas already!
ENJOYING ~ my son's mew found vocabulary... Very amusing how he talks so much!
WAITING ~ for winter. I'm sorry I have getting hot, I'd rather snuggle up!
LIKING ~ Miley cyrus new look and vibe.
WONDERING ~ what the new year will hold
HOPING ~ to get more makeup for my kit this christmas
MARVELLING ~ how amazing it is to have my little human in my life!
NEEDING ~ chocolate croissants from Fournous Bakery in Hyde Park! (Death by Fournous Bakery)
LOVING ~ blogging and my son!
SMELLING ~ freshly brewed coffee in the morning
WEARING ~ jeans and a red pepulum top
FOLLOWING ~ tons of blogs
NOTICING ~ how unfortunately friends change
KNOWING ~ Madeleine Botha - best Makeup Artist and Mentor anyone could ever ask for!
THINKING ~ about my makeup career
FEELING ~ in between feelings right now
BOOKMARKING ~ ellieloveblog one of m fav blogs right now
OPENING ~ vital mini rice cakes - balsamic vinegar and sea salt flavour
GIGGLING ~ at my son, who wants to do every thing himself but can't and gets frustrated.
WATCHING ~ Cars 2 and Monsters Inc

Hope you enjoyed the post.

Shalane
XOXO

I love Winter!

I love Winter!

xoxo

TAG |How much is your face worth...

Makeup...

Happy Chooseday Everyone!

Yesterday while going through my favorite blogs, I came across Pink Peonies post called "How much does your face cost?" and I thought it would be an awesome idea to see how much we actually spend on Makeup daily.

Here is my list of all the items that I use most mornings...

(From left to right on the photo)

1. Makeup For Ever Star Powder #930 ~ R295

2. Makeup For Ever Star Powder #902 ~ R295

3. Makeup For Ever Compact Eyeshadow #92    ~ R330

4. Makeup For Ever Compact Eyeshadow #309 ~ R330

5. Inglot 10 shade Eyeshadow Palette ~ R890

6. Stila in the moment palette ~ R395

7. Stila in the light palette ~ R395

8. Physicians Formula Highlight Powder ~ R195

9. Catrice Sun Kissed Bronzer ~ R55

10. Kryolan Setting Powder ~ R70

11. Essence Brow Styler ~ R35

12. NYX Super Skinny Liquid Eyeliner ~ R129

13. Smudge Highlighter pencil ~ R30

14. Essence Kajal Pencil Black ~ R15

15. Essence Kajal Pencil Brown ~ R15

16. NYX Eyeshadow base ~ R99

17. LA Girl Gel Eyeliner ~ R39

18. Essence 16 Hour Concealer ~ R30

19. Garnier BB Cream ~ R70

20. Catrice Infinite Shine Lipgloss ~ R55

21. Essence Lip Pencils ~ R15 each x3

22. Catrice All Round Waterproof Mascara ~ R45

** please note that I don't wear all this makeup everyday, but this is more or less what I uses weekly.

My total is: R 3887.00

Wow! Holy Cow! I never realised that it was so much! Oh well... :)

Love Shalane
xoxo

Celeb Style Tuesday - Demi Lovato

Love Demi!

Good Morning Dolls

A new feature on my revamp of my blog will be my Celeb Style Tuesday… In this blog post I will post a collage of my weekly favourite celeb style icon. This will be local and international celebs.

My first celeb is Demi Lovato. She seems to have grown from young girl who used to cut herself to an amazing young woman who knows what she wants. Her style is very eclectic and she seems to go from boho chic to rocker without any hassle. I love that her hair style is always very natural, not over styled and done up.

What do you guys think of Demi? Let me know in the comments.


Love Shalane
xoxo

How to clean your makeup brushes tutorial

Step-by-step tutorial...

Hey Dolls

I hope you had a great weekend…

Today I'm going to be showing you how to clean your makeup brushes. A lot of ladies don't know how to do it, but it's not actually that hard.

Things you will need:

1. Dirty Brushes
2. Baby Shampoo (it is the gentlest for. the hairs of your brushes)
3. 100% alcohol (can be bought from your local pharmacy)
4. Towel
Method:

1. Firstly, let the water run just a little bit, then wet just the bristles of your brush. (Whatever you do, don't let the silver part and the handle of your brush get wet. This will loosen the glue that holds your brushes together and your brushes will be ruined.)
2. Next squirt a little bit of the baby shampoo on the palm of your hand.
3. Taking your brush in your hand, gently make small circles with your brush and create a lather.
4. Once you have finished, run the water again, and again wetting only the head of the brush rinse the shampoo from the brushes. (Make sure you rinse all of the shampoo out of the brushes.)
5. Taking a towel, gently squeeze out all of the water. Don't swirl the bristles around.
6. Lay them off the edge of a counter with towel underneath, to stop them rolling around.
7. Once they are done, spray the brushes with 100% alcohol. This will kill all the remaining bacteria from the brushes.

Hope you enjoyed my short, but easy tutorial.

Have a lovely day.

Love Shalane
xoxo

When it rains, look for rainbows...

Inspirational Monday

Morning Dolls…

I have been on and off from my blog like some Hollywood relationship, but I have realised that I actually really love it so I proposed and it happily accepted. It was a short engagement and we eloped. We are now happily married and you will now be seeing me regularly, like every day.

I know it is very cliché to have a Monday Inspirational post but I like starting my Monday morning with a quote or phrase that will help me through the weeks' rough times.
This weeks' quote is "When it rains, look for Rainbows. When it's dark, look for Stars."

For me this means something like there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. So basically always look for the something in the bad situation that will give you hope. Even if it's the smallest piece of hope! There will always be a small star or light rainbow…

Enjoy the week ahead ladies…

Love Shalane
xoxo

Before and afters

Reddit Before and after picture

Fanous models Before and Afters.

Hey Dolls

I don't know if you ladies have seen the photo above doing the rounds on social networks like Reddit (where it started), Facebook, twitter… So here is the story. The photo was posted on Reddit by someone called Water_anus. The photo shows a picture of a woman's before and after, having had her hair and makeup done. The one on the left shows her without makeup on and I would say she is a beautiful woman. She has a beautiful face and beautiful hair. The second photo shows her after having her makeup and hair done by a professional makeup artist. Yes her eyes do look amazing now, not that they didn't before, but it just shows the talent of the makeup artist. Her hair was also styled beautifully.

Now this photo has caused such a debate amongst the users of Reddit, some saying that "This post shows to not trust one's looks," and that wearing makeup is a betrayal. Some are praising the makeup artist and hair stylist for the amazing work that was done.

So where do I sit on this debate? I don't think that there was anything wrong with what was done to the lady. I think every now and then a women deserves to be given a makeover. Not that she needed but maybe she just wanted to feel special?? And people want to get their panties in a knot about this ladies before and after, when most of the models look kinda the same in their before and afters. So why aren't they judging them… My thought on this is that we shouldn't judge a woman on how she looks because I can bet you know when we all take our makeup off, we all look kinda like she does in her before photo…

I would love to hear what you ladies think about this story.

Have a lovely week!

Love Shalane
xoxo

Garnier BB Cream for Oily to Combination Skin

Garnier BB Cream Packaging

Garnier BB Cream Sleek Tube...

Hey Dolls!

So on Saturday I popped into Clicks to go and get the Garnier BB cream for oily to combo skin, as I was already using their normal one, but it was just to oily for my skin!

What I loved about the product at first glance is the tube. Its small and thin and although it contains 10ml less than the original, you don't need to use as much!

What they say:

Anti-Shine
Blurs skin tone & imperfections
Evens skin tone
Moisturises
SPF 20 UV Protection

Contains:

Ultra-absorbent Perlite
Mineral Pigments

What I thought of the product:

I love this product. It was easy to apply and matched my skin tone effortlessly! Within a few seconds I could see the size of my pores minimise and my skin tone looked clearer. (I have small pigmentation marks under my eyes from my pregnancy) At about lunchtime when I usually would have had to use blotting papers to take away the oiliness, I had absolutely no shine or oiliness. My skin doesn't feel tight, which it thought it would!

I would recommend this product to anyone who has combo or oily skin. If you are looking for a little bit more coverage I suggest using this as a primer and then layering your normal foundation over it.

You can buy Garnier BB cream for combination to oily skin from Clicks or Dischem for only R69.95!


Have a lovely day!

Love Shalane
xoxo

Hunk of the Week #2

Sebastian Vettel! HOT!

No 1! 4th time World Champion! 

Hi Dolls

So I have chosen 2 hunks for the week.
My second choice has to be Formula 1 four time Champ, Sebastian Vettel! I have to admit that I have always had a thing for racing guys, with their racing overhauls tied around their waists. They just look so hot!

Ok, sorry back to Sebastian. This past weekend in India, Seb took his 4th consecutive World Championship. Wish is really impressive and makes him even hotter. A guy with so much passion and determination! And also really down to earth, in a meeting with him after the race, the interviewer asked him who he dedicated his win to - and he said he would probably dedicate it to his parents, his girlfriend... But most likely his girlfriend!

A guy who does that is a gentleman and a hunk in my book. You don't get guys who are dedicated to his work and to his family and girlfriend anymore. Glad to know there are still a few good ones left....

Have a lovely day all!

Love Shalane
xoxo

Hunk of the Week #1

Patrick Lambie !

Hi Dolls

So I've decided to start a few weekly features, and one of them will be Hunk/s of the Week.

And to start us off I decided to choose a star from my favorite rugby team... The Sharks! Currie Cup Champions 2013 ~ Patrick Lambie!

There is no denying it, he is really hot and he can play. But he is also a really down to earth guy, who just loves to play rugby. I don't see him getting a big head like some of the other players.

He also recently got engaged to his long time girlfriend, Kate. I hope they will have a beautiful life together!

Here's to Pat and the Sharks! Well done Boys!

Love Shalane
xoxo

Sally Hansen Nail Growth Serum Results....

Nails After using the treatment

Love how my nails look!

Sally Hansen Nail Growth Serum

Hey Dolls

I'm so sorry I've been away for so long. Had a few things to sort out. But I'm back now with a vengeance.

So my last post was about the Sally Hansen Nail Growth Serum, well today I want to show you the results. This really is a miracle serum.

Not only are my nails stronger and my cuticles smoother, but my nails feel healthier. I have never been a nail biter but have always had weak nails. And as you can see in my pictures, my nails have grown well. No they are not how many inches long, but I say slow and steady wins the race.

This product can be bought at Clicks and Dischem for R89.95


Love Shalane
xoxo

Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Serum...

Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Serum Gold Bottle

Bottle comes with a dropper

Packaging

Sorry state of my nails... :(

Hey Dolls

I hope you have been well. I am so glad that spring is here and that we don't have to don jackets anymore! So in keeping with that, i decided that wear acrylic tips just wasn't for me anymore. I have decided to grow my natural nails. And to say that my nails are in great shape would be a blatant lie. They are terrible, thin and well i hate them.

Last night when I went to Clicks, i stood in front of the nail section for what seemed like an hour because I couldn't seem to find anything that really jumped out at me. That is when i saw this baby hiding behind all the other Sally Hansen products.  The Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Serum. On the packaging it says that your nails will be 59% longer in 2 weeks and that your cuticles will be instantly smoother.

It contains Concentrated Peptide Serum enriched with Biotin which enhances natural nail growth.

Directions: Apply daily. Massage one drop (from the cool little dropper) on each nail and cuticle. Can be used on bare nails or over any nail colour.

It retails for R 79.95 at Clicks.

I will be giving this product a test for the next 2 weeks and I will let you know the outcome. Heres hoping for longer, stronger nails.


Love Shalane
xoxo

Fifty Shades of Grey Casting Uproar...

Fifty Shades of Grey

Charlie Hunnam

Dakota Johson

 

                   

Yummy....

Hey Dolls

I hope you have been well.  Seems like spring is finally here and we can now put away all those big jackets…. J

So on Monday, after much anticipation, the main cast of Fifty Shades of Grey was revealed.  Dakota Johnson as Ana Steele and Charlie Hunnam as Christian Grey. This has caused a lot of drama on the social networks as many people and fans had other actors in mind.  Now unfortunately, we as fans cannot change the minds of the casting people and the directors, even though we would like to think that we can.

Many people are saying that after reading the books they cannot envision these two actors playing the parts. But in my opinion how can we say that they will not portray the characters in the books if we have not even given them a chance to play these characters.  We cannot judge them on the way they look now as they can change their looks to fit the characters in the books.

Let’s have a little look at these two actors:

Dakota Johnson is 24 years old. Her mom is Melanie Griffith and her dad is Don Johnson. Her step dad is Antonia Banderas. She started out as a model and then moved into acting, which she naturally would. She has acted in movies such as The Social Network starring Justin Timberlake, and Beastly. She will be in a string of new films like Need for Speed and Cymbeline and of course Fifty Shades of Grey.

Dakota aka Ana Steele

When she was cast everyone disliked her because she didn’t look like Ana Steele. Now if we take a moment to refer back to the book, we will see that Ana is a bookworm, who likes to read old British Literature and is quiet dorky. She has brown hair and doesn’t really fuss over her appearance. When I first saw the picture of Dakota, I saw a blond Hollywood starlet, but that was because that was the photo that everyone decided to use for the press release.  If you go and search for Dakota on Google and you will see a dorky young girl who is perfect for the part.  She doesn’t look like one the Hollywood starlets at all. She doesn’t really fuss with her look, like Ana. She looks like a normal young lady, who is in university, barring that her parents are famous. With a little Hollywood magic (hair dye J ) she will look just like Ana.

Charlie Hunnam is 33 years old. He is a English actor and screenwriter. He has acted in series like Queer as Folk and as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy. He has also starred in movies Pacific Rim and Green Street.

Charlie aka Christian Grey

I thought that there was backlash about Dakota being cast as Ana but wow the fans really reacted badly when Charlie was cast as Christian.  Referring back to the books, Christian has copper coloured hair and grey eyes. He has chiselled good looks and is well built. Now when we first saw the picture of Charlie, they again took the worst photo in my opinion, and used that as the press release I also thought that he was too old and didn’t look like Christian.  And when fans go and Google Charlie they will see a scruffy biker boy, the character he portrays on Sons of Anarchy. Which doesn’t help the situation either. But if you look at his pictures him when he has shaved and cut his hair he is actually not that bad looking. Well he is actually hot. Christian’s character in the book calls for a troubled soul, who was tormented in his childhood. And from what I have read about Charlie on Wikipedia, he also had a rather horrid childhood. Which kinda makes him perfect for the part, well I think so.

So in conclusion, I think these two actors are perfect for the parts of Ana and Christian. I think we need to have a little more faith in them and give them a fair chance to prove that they can make this movie a success.

As for me, I will be reading my Fifty Shades of Grey again, envisioning these two playing the parts.

Have a lovely weekend my lovelies….

Love Shalane

xoxo

Burst Brushes

Burst Brushes

Foundation Brush and Blending Brush

Blending Brush

Foundation Brush

Hey Dolls

So recently, while at the Pro Beauty Expo, I bought myself 2 new brushes from Burst Brushes. They are situated in Midrand and have and online store from which you can purchase all the brushes.

The 2 brushes I bought were the FD 05 stipling brush and the BB 01 blending brush. These brushes are made of superior quality and have a very sturdy handle.

The stipling brush I bought is made of high quality snthetic hair and is extra soft. It has a large round head and is great for giving foundation that airbrushed finish.

The blending brush I bought is made of Siberian squirrel hair. It has a fluffy dome head great for blending in eyeshadow so no harsh lines will be visible.

I will definitely be buying more Burst brushes for my collection. If you would like more information about the brushes please go and have a look at their website www.colourburst.co.za

Rating: 10/10

Love Shalane
xoxo

Pro Beauty 2013

Environ Free Samples

Guinot Free Samples

Revlon Professional Uniq One Free Sample

Moroccan Oil Free Samples...

Hey Dolls …

I hope you have been well. This has been a hectic past few weeks but I'm eventually getting back into the swing of things. This past weekend I attended the Pro Beauty Expo which is held every year in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The expo is for Professionals in the Beauty and Hair sector and the public can also attend. It is held at the Gallagher Convention Centre from the 1st – 2nd of September. For More information you can head over to their website www.probeauty.co.za

This is the second year that I have attended the expo, and I enjoyed it so much last year that I had to attend this year again. In the beauty section of the expo you had exhibitors like Kryolan, Bodyograph, MUD, Alila/Graftobian, Burst Brushes, Matis, Guinot, basically most of the big names in beauty and also beauty schools. In the hair section of the expo you had exhibitors like GHD, Moroccan oil, Revlon Professional, TIGI and Paul Mitchell.

There was also a Makeup, hair and nails competition, which is always big fun to watch. On the hair side they have 2 ramps where shows are held the whole day. Free samples are also given at most of the hair stands.

Most the exhibitors have Show discounts which is really cool. If you are interested in hair and beauty, I would say definitely go to the show. The things that you see there are amazing.

Hope to see you guys there next year.

Love Shalane
xoxo

Stila In the moment palette...

In the Moment palette colours

Stila in the moment

Purples...

Neutral colours...

Hi Dolls

So recently I purchased the Stila in the light palette and I was pleasantly surprised. It is a great palette for bridal makeup. I know for a fact that most brides also like to wear purples for their wedding so I bought the Stila in the moment palette.

All I can say is WOW. There are such beautiful colours in this palette. From subtle purples and bright purple to a range of neutral colours that will complement the purples.

The formulation is highly pigmented and goes on like a dream. It is also very blend able. What I also like is that it can be used dry or wet to create a beautiful liner. The 2 palettes work so well together that you can use the browns from the in the light palette with the purples from the in the moment palette.

I would definitely recommend this palette to any beauty lover or makeup artist.

The palettes retail for R395 from selected Woolies, Truworths and Foschini stores, nationwide. or you can order online.

Go to the Stila SA Facebook page, and click on their About Page, to locate your nearest stockist!

Rating: 10/10

Love Shalane
xoxo

10 Day You Challenge: 1 Picture of Myself

This is me....

Good Morning Dolls

Today is the last day of my challenge, I have enjoyed letting you into my little bubble. I hope you have enjoyed getting to know me as well.

So here is the picture of Me, myself and I.


Love Shalane
xoxo

10 Day You Challenge: 2 Songs

Leona Lewis ~ Better in time

    

Good Morning Dolls

My challenges are almost over. For my second last challenge I have to tell you my 2 favorite Songs.

2 Songs:

1. Better in Time ~ Leona Lewis - this song helped me get through my breakup with my son's father.

2. Pon De Replay ~ Rihanna - this song brings back a lot of memories of a holiday that my cousins and myself spent in Durban. It's one holiday I will never forget!


Love Shalane
xoxo