What I Wore Wednesday: MuradSpace Debenhams Glasgow

Last Thursday Steph and I were invited to learn more about the launch of MuradSpace at Debenhams Glasgow.  MuradSpace is a unique retail environment designed by Murad, Inc., America’s most respected modern clinical doctor’s brand synonymous with high performance, science-based products and services. MuradSpace offers Glasgow the opportunity to experience a skin health assessment inspired by the consultations world-renowned dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad gives his patients.

Clients who visit MuradSpace will receive a complimentary Skin Health Assessment featuring YouthCam, a state-of-the-art skin analysis system. YouthCam’s proprietary software is based upon over 40 years of research by Dr. Murad and measures 5 key skin health markers: fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, redness, inflammation and pores. The end result is a personalised product recommendation that addresses both the customer’s concerns as well as those identified by YouthCam, providing a scientifically-backed path to restoring youthful beauty. 

MuradSpace counters will also carry all of Murad’s 12 solution-based skincare categories, specifically formulated with the Murad recipe of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and hydrators, to deliver glowing, healthy and hydrated skin. 

I was treated to a pomegranate facial at the event and my skin felt amazing afterwards.

Murad takes a holistic approach to skincare looking at your skin from the inside out and taking diet and emotional health into your skin care, too. I love Dr. Murad's approach and especially love his inspirational quotes! If this one is true I'm going to live a long ass time!

MuradSpace counters carry all of Murad’s 12 solution-based skincare categories, specifically formulated with the Murad recipe of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and hydrators, to deliver glowing, healthy and hydrated skin. The 12 categories are: Blemish Control; Anti-Aging Blemish Control, Resurgence®, Age Reform®, Environmental Shield®, Redness Therapy®, Bodycare, Murad Man, Age-Proof Suncare, White Brilliance®, Hybrids® and Pore Reform®.

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What I Wore Wednesday: Spring into Skin with Lush

I'll be honest I fell off the beauty product wagon. I've always been a total make-up snob so I don't know why I thought buying skin care at the grocery store was okay. Luckily for me the lovely ladies of Lush Sauchiehall Street in Glagow reminded me of how their products are not only amazing but all natural, too.

Lush's products are 100% vegetarian (and over 97% of products are vegan) and never tested on animals.  If you've never been to a Lush store before their products are fun, fresh and smell amazing! Spring is a great time to rethink your skin care routine so we got to learn what products would work for us.

We started off the night by making up our very own fresh Cupcake face mask. Some of Lush's products are so fresh you need to refrigerate them (they are kept on ice in store) and this is one of them. It was literally just like mixing up an actual batch of cupcakes except these were good for you! When they say all natural ingredients are used they aren't kidding and obviously in the fresh products no preservatives either.

As well as their amazing skin care Lush is probably most well known for their fantastic bath products like their ballistics.

I always get ballistics at Christmas and then hoard them because I love them so much which I know doesn't make any sense! There are loads of new bath products this season like the Sakura ballistics and Ice Blue soap both of which smell amazing!

The also have tons of super cute Easter themed goodies if you are looking for an Easter basket alternative to chocolate or if you just love cute stuff! I had such a lovely time falling back in love with Lush and when I went to try the mask at home I wound up having some mother and son bonding time too!  

Blondie Boy had to get in on the fun too! He was disappointed he wasn't allowed to lick the mask off though! Blondie Boy has very sensitive skin and eczema and his skin did not flare at all; it just shows how natural and gentle Lush products are!

Lush have also just launched the Lush Kitchen cooking up small batches of exclusive products that they will then ship overnight to you! It will include retired products, limited one-offs and you can even tweet them with your own suggestions! How cool is that?

Are you a Lush fan? What is your favourite Lush product?

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Also the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards are open for nominations. If you like What I Wore Wednesday would you please consider nominating me? This is the last week I'll bug you!

http://www.britmums.com/nominate2014/

You have to enter:

Blog Name: Transatlantic Blonde
Blog URL: http://transatlanticblonde.blogspot.co.uk
Blog Twitter ID: @Melaina25
Blogger Email: Melaina25 @ gmail.com

If you have a second to nominate me I'd really appreciate it. They will ask for your email address but you can opt out of all communications. Nominations close this April 12th, Midnight GMT (7pm EST). 

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Top Tips

If you've never read magazines in the UK you probably don't know about top tips; basically readers write in with their best tips and tricks--except most of the time they feature maxi pads as slippers and are just hilarious. If you haven't checked out the Tumblr Life! Death! Top Tips! you should-- it is hilarious.

I'm going to share some of my own top tips but hopefully ones that are actually useful. These are all things I actually do and recommend to friends; I think they are common sense but whenever I tell friends they've not heard them before so here it goes:

Rinse your hair with cold water at the end of your shower. Someone once asked if I was trying to trick them with this tip but cold water smooths the cuticle down so your hair is less frizzy and shinier. Trust me it works. I just lean my head as far back as possible to get just my hair freezing but you can always just dunk your head in the sink too. I may or may have not done that at a hotel when the shower wouldn't get cold enough for my liking.

Vaseline is an great make-up remover. It is gentle on your skin, conditions lashes and takes off even the most stubborn liquid eye liner. It can be bog standard Vaseline or I've been known to use the lip therapy before as well. I don't advise using it while your contacts are in but if you are taking off your make-up chances are they are out already. In a pinch Blondie Boy's eczema ointment Epaderm works well, too.

I'm always shocked that there are people who wear mascara but don't own eyelash curlers. To me they are a mandatory part of my make-up bag; they gently curl your lashes which makes apply mascara easier and makes your eyes look larger and lashes longer.  Blondie Boy is particularly fond of using mine to do his "eyesies" (don't worry he just put it up to his eyes he doesn't actually properly use them). If you've never used one before get yourself to the Drugstore and buy one NOW.

If you are like me when you paint your nails just as much polish winds up on your skin as the nails. Give yourself a pedicure about an hour before you take a bath. After the bath any excess polish on your skin around your toes will peel off easily because the skin underneath is softened from the bath. Much quicker and easier than trying to paint them perfectly!

Do you have any tried and tested beauty tips that you swear by? If you have one that involves sanitary products I reserve the right to be totally disgusted :)

Pink is the New Chic

It will no surprise to anyone who knows me that I've done this. I've done it before (okay 10 years ago) and I've been thinking about doing it for a few months now. I was thinking about it again with The Hollywood Housewife popped up in my Instagram stream and I thought well she's my age and she's done it so why can't I?

So what have I done? I've gone and dyed my hair pink--not all of it, just a bit underneath--and I LOVE it. I work for myself so really nothing was holding me back and I'm so glad I've done it. So here I am all pinkified. What do y'all think? It is a sort of hot pink, fuchsia shade now and will eventually fade to a gentler bubble gum sort of pink.

My Mom says I look Eurotrash; since I've wanted to be Eurotrash since I was 14 I will take that to be a huge compliment!

I guess I'll know soon enough as NotBlondeHusband and I are off for a mini-break (toddler free!) to Sweden tomorrow! I'll try and tweet when I get wifi; see you Monday!!

PS: Because I like y'all here is the picture from 10 years ago; don't be too hard on me. I swear two pink chunks framing your face was super cool in Ohio in 2002.

No Heat Curls- Tried and Tested

You may or may not have heard of the no heat curls where you wrap your hair around a headband and sleep in it overnight to create curls. If you have you are probably thinking why the hell is she blogging about this that was ages ago and well you are partially right.  I've tried the no heat curls last year and failed on various levels ranging from minor to epic.

Then I saw Morgan from The 818 post about how much she was loving the no heat curls and I thought maybe I should give them a try again and well um yea fail again. I like to hear about other people's triumphs and failures when trying out these things so I give you my no heat curl fails.

#1 First Attempt Mini Fail (June 2011)

This was actually my best attempt but I say fail because I had to put a bunch of scrunching mousse in to get it to look like this. Yes I'm serious- it took both the headband and products to achieve these less than impressive waves.

#2 Second Attempt EPIC Fail (June 2011)

I can't believe I'm actually posting this because it was such a hot mess and I have no make-up on in the first two pictures and therefore am a hot mess myself. After reading around on the internet some more I tried spraying my hair with salt water as recommended for better results. I ended up with a pyramid of crazy clown curls--not a good look. We had to meet NBH's Grandma so after finger combing with wet hands and pinning some back I ended up with the look on the right.

#3 Third Attempt Straight Up Fail (March 2012)

Okay not the best picture but less curly that the first mini-fail and I've got no explanation other than I straightened my hair the day before so maybe that had some effect?

So what do you think? Do I give the not heat curls a fourth (okay actually fifth because on the attempt prior to that last one I wrapped my hair the wrong way but that doesn't count) try or just give up? Have y'all tried it with any success?

What I Wore Wednesday

Trying something a little different this Wednesday! 

Black Feather Earrings- Monsoon

Grey Cowl Sweater Dress- New Look

Black Leather Biker Jacket- John Lewis (Oasis Concession)

Purple Tights- Tesco

Black Boots- Sketchers

Grey Shellac Nails-The Beauty Store

Wavy Hair-No Heat Curls Tutorial

If I made this a weekly thing would y'all link up?

 You could share any outfit from the week.

GOSH Nail Glitter Giveaway!

It's been a while since I've had a giveaway and with Halloween coming up this one couldn't be better timed! GOSH cosmetics have come out with Nail Glitter which isn't only on trend (did you see Kelly's Rowland's glitter nails on X-Factor?) but also is perfect for fancy dress/Halloween costumes at the end of this month.

Click to Enlarge

I gave myself one glittery toe last night and it was really easy and I love how the glitter is matte but sparkly at the same time. I have two pots for two winners of GOSH Nail Glitter. To enter follow the rules as below! Competition closes October 14th.

Transatlantic Blonde was provided GOSH Nail Glitter for the purpose of review and giveaway but all opinions are our own.

Shellac Manicure- The Beauty Store, Glasgow

It's no secret I love a good beauty treatment and I especially love getting my nails done. You've seen me rave about my favourite Glasgow salon before and tonight I was treated to a Shellac manicure by the lovely people at The Beauty Store in Glasgow. Shellac manicures are a sort of hybrid of nail polish and gel nails where you get the best of both worlds.  The Shellac goes on like nail polish but lasts up to two weeks like gel and known of the downfalls of gel such as thick coats or nail damage.

There were over a dozen colours too choose from but I went for one of the newest colour a sort of charcoal grey. I'm loving grey this season and have convinced myself it is the new black. How fab are they? It was dry immediately as well so no chance for me to smudge them!


Blondie Boy was fascinated by them when I came home and kept holding my hands and pushing on my nails. I think he thought he could take the colour off if he tried hard enough. He also learned to say "grey" which was so cute!

The Beauty Store has a whole range of beauty treatments and they've give you the chance to try them all at a reduced rate! Transatlantic Blonde readers will get 10% off their first treatment with the special code "Blonde10" until the 31st of October; just print out the image to the right and take it with you! What will you try?


They are also offering a free paraffin hand treatment with 3 Shellac manicures as a loyalty bonus! They also have a fabulous loyalty card system where you get a stamp for every £10 spent and after 16 stamps you get £10 off your next treatment!


Shellac manicures are £18 before the 10% discount-one of the cheapest in Glasgow!


Transatlantic Blonde was provided Shellac nails for the purpose of this review but all opinions are her own.

Feminist Friday XVI: The Beauty Myth

The Beauty Myth. Oy. I've sat here and thought and thought and thought. I know that the media influences our concept of beauty. I know that the media portrays an extremely warped version of what they call beauty. There is an ever growing pressure on women and young girls to be beautiful and I wholeheartedly think that this is intrinsically wrong and, to some extent, downright evil. No one should be made to feel that their physical appearance is directly linked to their value as a person.


Yet here I sit, a proud and ardent feminist, who wants to be pretty. Yes I want people to think that I am intelligent, but I also want people to think I'm pretty. How the hell do I rationalize that with what I've just previously stated? I can totally rationalize that I like make-up and long blue-black eyelashes, that's easy. Yes, it is society that dictates that long, lush lashes are best, but in choosing to make my transparent blonde lashes lovely and dark I'm not really usurping my feminist beliefs. Yes, I'm buying into the beauty machine that costs us all hundreds a  year, but I'm not giving up any real power.


If I had to choose between being intelligent or being physically beautiful, I'd choose intelligence every time. That doesn't mean that I don't want to feel physically beautiful, too. I could go off on a tangent about what real beauty is, but I've already done that in my Born to Be Beautiful post so you can read that again if you like. I know you are as beautiful as you feel but that doesn't stop me from wanting to feel attractive, too. 


I know that feminists can be physically beautiful. Gloria Steinem is one of the most physically beautiful (and just straight up beautiful) people I have ever seen in real life: she is stunning. She's also an intellectual and political icon and powerhouse. She had the most amazing nails (yes, I noticed so what?), so are you going to say that since she had well manicured nails that she's not a real feminist for buying into the beauty machine? Obviously not.


I think I'm rambling here now but my point is that you can want to be pretty, but still not condone the so called beauty myth. I can use make-up but still disapprove of over photo-shopped and airbrushed images in magazines. I sometimes have trouble reconciling the fact that I WANT to look pretty with the fact that the media PRESSURES women to look pretty. I think what all feminists want is a more realistic portrayal of beauty in the media; a beauty that is all colours, shapes, sizes, ethnicities, sexualities and ages. It's okay to want to look good, but we shouldn't feel pressured to look good. At least I hope so....

Feminist Friday XVI:

The Beauty Myth

Here's how it works. Write a blog about being a feminist mom, raising a feminist child, a rant or anything that falls under the realm of the theme for the week. Come back and link your post and post the button on your blog.


That's it.


You don't even have to be a blogger to take part - just send me your post and I will publish it on my blog for you. You don't even have to include your name if you prefer.


When you've published it, come back on Friday and via a widget thing you can add a link to your post and share it with everyone. The link remains open for 4 days.


Visit others, comment if you like them or feel inspired by them. Just go out and encourage and support other feminist Moms.


The more support you give, the more you will get back! I can't wait to meet and interact with other feminist moms around the world!

JINNYlash Semi-Permanent Eyelash Extensions

If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll know I'm kinda obsessed with my makeup, especially mascara. I love long, lush dark lashes and have tried dyeing and I love the way my eyes look when the lovely Nancy from Brideface applies individual false lashes, but while they look fab they are a one night only deal.  So you can imagine my excitement when I got the chance to try JINNYlash semi-perminent eyelash extensions; seriously I could have peed my pants I was so excited (don't worry I didn't).

JINNYlash is the original, revolutionary technique in semi-permanent eyelash extensions and is suitable for anyone who wants to achieve longer, fuller eyelashes. JINNYlash extensions are renowned for their natural-looking finish and last between five and eight weeks. The treatment involves attaching up to 100 lashes onto each eye and because each synthetic lash is attached onto each natural eyelash, the end result is fuller, longer, natural-looking lashes.

Normally if I'm headed out of the house whether it's to Bounce and Rhyme or a nice night out I need to curl my lashes, put on mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow. I love a defined eye and my eyelashes in their natural state are translucent. If I don't have on mascara you can't see them.  So you can imagine how exciting the idea of full, dark lashes all day, everyday would be to me.

The treatment lasts around ninety minutes and if you wear contacts be sure you have them out as you'll be laying down with your eyes shut the entire time.  I had my treatment at my absolute favourite salon in Glasgow: The Beauty Store.

The Beauty Store is an amazing hidden gem off of Royal Exchange Square and you'll feel like you're in the lap on luxury the moment you walk in the door. The salon is impeccably stylish with black and white wallpaper and sparkling chandeliers; I know they say not to judge a book by it's cover, but you can judge a salon by it's style and you trust me here you are in for a real treat.

I know it sounds strange but it was remarkably relaxing to have hundreds of lashes applied to my eyes and the end result, well judge for yourself but in three words: AH-MAZ-ING. The look incredibly natural, but glamorous at the same time. My eyes look larger and more defined and I haven't felt the need to put on makeup just to leave the house.

I've had the lashes in for a week now and while some have fallen out (there is no way of knowing what stage your natural lashes are in so some will shed) they still look full, dark and lush.  I was planning on flutter my lashes while I shook it at my friend's 30th birthday, but I got sick and couldn't go. I'm still in shock the lashes have stayed put since I got sick basically the evening I got them.

The Beauty Store charges £95 for a full application of JINNYlash lashes and included in the price is a touch up appointment (to replenish those that have fallen out naturally) 2 weeks later! Appointments can be made by phoning 0141 204 224 or you can book online. Let them know I sent you! JINNYlash is also available at the Jinny Salon in London and other fine salons in the UK.

Transatlantic Blonde was provided this treatment to review but the opinions expressed are her own.

Win with Weight Watchers and The Vitality Show

CONGRATS to Emsiecov! Please contact me within 24 hours to claim your prize! Thanks to everyone for their entries and great tips :)


If you didn't win, you can get two tickets for £20!* Click here to book tickets http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/the-show and enter the code 'BLOG' to redeem the offer. *Saving based on door price. Booking and transaction fees apply. To book tickets, visit http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/ or call 0871 230 5569 and quote ‘BLOG’.

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Are you ready to be WOWed? Weight Watchers are exhibiting at The Vitality Show 2011, from 24th- 27th March, at Earls Court London! The Vitality Show is the UK’s largest health, beauty, fitness and wellbeing event for women. I have a pair of Vitality Show tickets and a gorgeous goodie bag, filled with health and beauty treats to giveaway!

To enter the giveaway:

Follow my Blog publicly (link on right sidebar) using Google Friend Connect and comment with your best healthy living tip! It could be a favourite snack, exercise tip, whatever!

Extra Entries:
-Follow me on Twitter and tweet: "I entered to win tickets to The Vitality Show with @Melaina25 & TransatlanticBlonde.com! You can too! http://tinyurl.com/wwvit" and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)
-Follow Weight Watchers on Twitter and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)
-Blog about the giveaway and comment to let me know (1 extra entry)

Make sure to leave each entry in a separate comment.

All entries will be verified and deleted if not valid so make sure to leave the usernames you subscribe or tweet with.

This giveaway is open to all UK residents and is for two tickets only (travel not included). A winner will be drawn at random on March 20th at 12:00 GMT. Winners must contact me within 48 hours or another winner will be drawn. CLOSED.

Don’t forget to visit Weight Watchers at the event on stand E130. Come down to sample a delicious range of Weight Watchers Foods, from scrumptious Muffins to refreshing Wine. You can also pick up our April issue of the magazine, trial the iPhone app (which I love), and chat to WW Leaders.

If you don't win, you can get two tickets for £20!* Click here to book tickets http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/the-show and enter the code 'BLOG' to redeem the offer. *Saving based on door price. Booking and transaction fees apply. To book tickets, visit http://www.vitalitylive.co.uk/ or call 0871 230 5569 and quote ‘BLOG’.

Transatlantic Blonde were provided tickets and goodie bag for this giveaway.