Hairstyle : Mega braid tutorial

Hey loves !
It's been a while since last update , there was a difficulty on accessing the internet lately and i need to have holidays too hoho ^^

But , here we are back with a super mega braid tutorial which i really really like :) First  of all i want to thank Simen for his kind offer to be our model for this hair tutorial :) Try to ignore the glorius beard in the pics and focus on the hair ahahahahha xD

Wanna get this ? Keep on reading  

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Let's get started .. 

• First of all be sure you will have perfectly brushed and uncombed hair :)  

• Try to split your hair in three sections , two sides ( one for each side ) and one on the back side .

Each one of those three hair sections will host two smaller braids .

So in total you will have two braids at each side , so 6 braids in total.

• When you are done with braiding them , you take pairs of two and braid them all together . Act like each pair of two is one hair section when you want to make the big braid . So you will end up with a super mega braid , made of ( 6 x 3 = 18 ) smaller hair sections. 

This is the final result !

There is a beard version of it too because Simen was too unhappy and grumpy and it was the only way to make him smile for a picture !

This reminds me of Simen so we put it here to honour him hohohoho :)

That's all ! Hope you liked this mega braid tutorial and you'll give it a try :)

Have happy holidays and stay tuned for more ! 

Hugs , 

Irina

P.S. If there is anything you want to suggest/ask/request , do not hesitate to contact me :) 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype : 

irina.alexopoulou

LEOPARD MANICURE GIVE AWAY WINNER

Hallo beauties :D

The first GIVE AWAY of a great leopard manicure set of Nail Stickers is over with a lucky winner :D !

I got nearly 40 emails with info of contestants ( ? ) but only three of them followed all three steps required to have a valid entry ( find out the steps and further info on the GIVE AWAY post ) even though i mentioned it several times on each share :S
So the lucky winner was randomly chosen between those three girls who all shared the GIVE AWAY blog post , left a comment at the bottom of the page and sent an email with their name and region.

WE HAVE A WINNER !




And her name is.... number two :  " BEATRICE FOUDOUKI " !!!!

Congratulations girl :) Wish you a New Year full of happiness and success ! Enjoy your leopard manicure !

Thank you , all the participants ( valid or not ) , and also many hugs to all those who supported this first GIVE AWAY try :) Stay tuned because since we got started , more GIVE AWAYS are yet to come among with new articles and topics ^_^
Have a wonderful time and always take care , till next update don't forget to smile beauties :3
Love , Irina

WINTER GIVE AWAY !!!

Hey there beauties :D 

Here comes winter's first breath with December's entrance and Irina's Beauty Advices- blog is celebrating Winter's arrival with you so here comes..... a GIVE AWAY !!!

You can make them all leopard or make a combination as in the picture!

I bet this winter will be full of important and interesting moments so put on your brightest smile and don't worry , i am right here to take care for every single detail...even your nails ;)
So , this GIVE AWAY is a beloved set of Nail Stickers on Leopard Pattern , really easy to apply , super long lasting and it can be removed easily with Acetone ( nail polish remover ) . One of my very favourite choices when it's up to something special ;)

DO YOU WANT TO BE THE WINNER? DO YOU WANT TO WIN THIS AND OFFER IT TO YOUR FRIENDS

What  you have to do ( all three required to have a valid entry ) :

1. Share this article on G+ and/or Facebook

2. Leave a comment below ( on the bottom of this article ) writing whatever you want but be sure you will include you name.

3. Send me you full name,email and country at irina.rhoads@gmail.com using the phrase 'GIVE AWAY' as subject

Entries are valid until 8th December 24:00 ( GMT +02:00 ) . 

One lucky winner will be announced on Tuesday 9th December 2014 through my Facebook Page and the blog ( on a new article ) .

Winner will be informed via email and if he/she doesn't respond within 2 days the gift will go to the next one ( randomly chosen ) .

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE :) 

LOVE

IRINA

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype : 

irina.alexopoulou

Hair : Get high volume wavy hair without heating devices

(super recommended both for straight hair and curly hair that need styling without using hot irons) 

Hallo beauties :3

Today i'm here with a new hairstyle which has been requested some times and it was an issue i was really interested in .CURLS. Let me explain :

My hair is naturally really straight and some times i get bored of it so i thought it would be nice to curl them or make them wavy for a night or something. Then i tried way too many different techniques to do my hair but every time my hair was turning back to straight after 10 minutes max.

Home-made natural options were not so effective and i didn't liked the fact that i had to use 1000000000 different hair products to secure that my hair would resist the moisture and keep the hairstyle i gave to them.

Heating devices gave a more professional result but they have the strong disadvantage of frying your hair upon frequent use. You should also wait until your hair are completely dry before you use them and all in all (in my case) after some time my hair were straight again.

After many years of experimenting i ended up that braiding is the most effective process ( at least it worked really great on me ) BUUUUUUT there are some secrets here that i discovered through practice and gave me the desired result !

Are you excited about this? Keep reading ^_^

First step : 

wash your hair as you normally do :) Ensure that you have applied a moisturising product in any format that you prefer ( cream-washout or leave-in , spray , mousse etc ) - it will make your hair super smooth when they get dry 

Second step : 

brush your hair when they are wet but not right after showering because hair have not the same flexibility and hairs might break if you don't brush them gently

I was really silly at that moment :P Try to ignore it

Third step : 

start braiding your hair FROM THE ROOTS ( this will give high volume to your roots ) and stop your braids around 5cm before you reach the ends. This is the most important step. Also make sure your hair won't be either too wet or too dry when you start braiding . I started braiding around an hour after shower ( didn't use any dryer - just a towel the first 5 minutes to absorb any extra water ) , so they were still a bit wet. The more braids you make the more volume you will get . I made around 15-17 braids. TIP: Some leave-in oil suitable for WET hair will do a REALLY HUGE difference on the final texture.

Fourth step : 

Let them on for as much as you can. I braided my hair 3 hours before going to bed so 3 hours before sleep + 9 hours of sleep + 4 hours since i woke up = 16 hours in total . I am pretty sure it would work fine for way less hours too but since i was sleeping i didn't care that much about it , the more you leave it on the better result you'll get.

Fifth step : 

Solve your hair right before you go to the event/place/whenever you have to go . Your hair will be super silky and wavy . Also the fact that you stopped your braids 5cm before reaching your ends will not spoil your hair length ( curling your hair also makes them look shorter than they look when they are straight ) :D Put on some hairspray both in roots and lengths , headbang a little and you are ready :3

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This is the final result on the first day :)

 I liked the result so at the end of the first day , before going to bed , i sprayed my hair with the hairspray i used earlier and cought them up in a messy bun using a hairband :) I slept like that and in the morning ( day two ) my hair were still super wavy ! )

So here's how it looked like at day two : Extra volume and still super wavy

My redhead friend has naturally curly hair - so the result looks
quite natural as you can see :D

That was it for today darlings :D
Hope you liked my article and that my recommendation will be useful for you :)
If you love such updates show some support and spread them around ^_^
Thank you so much for visiting , come back soon <3
Love,
Irina 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype : 

irina.alexopoulou

Recipes : Low calory - vegan spaghetti

Hallo beauties ! 

I am here , as promised with more suggestions for your in&out beauty !
So today i'm gonna take care of your stomach recommending one of my favourite recipes ...... LOW CALORY spaghetti with vegan ( also low calory ) sause !
If you're interested in enjoying your favourite dish without cumbering it with fat keep on reading !
I used 1/2 pack of black spaghetti ( around 250gr - enough for two servings ) .
Generally black bread,black rise,black spaghetti are preferable for a low calory diet - they get digested better .

For the sause i used :

• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 large onion
• some raisins
• Spices ( ginger , pepper , chilli , sweet paprica , cinnamon , garlic , cary )

Preparation :

Boil the spaghetti as you normally do based on your preference. I didn't pour any salt - black spaghetti have wonderful taste on their own . I didn't use any butter after boiling too.

The sause is super easy to make , you can use a deep pan or any other container you want . Pour just some drops of olive oil and cut the onions in large slices . Then add the onions and raisins in the pan and next chop the tomatoes inside . If you want you can add some extra tomato juice for more creamy format. Last part : spices . Add them in the quantity you want to :3 

Then let the mixture boil in low fire .

When your sause is ready , you can just throw your spaghetti in the container of the sause and mix it.

I served it with a green salad since it helps on digesting . ( On the salad i used only lettuce and poured some vinegar made of apples on it - it's insta fat burning ) !

Xmas towel is epic - :P

Bon appetite :3

Hope you will enjoy this dish as i do :) For more questions/suggestions/anything just feel free to contact me :)

Also if you're interested on health stuff ( both physically and mentally ) make sure you'll check out my Self-Improvement blog !

Stay tuned beauties , more updates are really really close ;)

Love,

Irina

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype : 

irina.alexopoulou

Brown smokey eyemake up + Black-Brown styling combination

Hallo dear friends :)

Today it's been a quite dark day , cloudy enough and i'm really happy since dark weather and cold is my favorite version of it <3
I personally love dark colors on clothing and make up so today I've got the perfect chance to share one of my beloved looks ( make up + outfit ) with you :D

Let's get started :)

• MAKE UP

Eye make up

After preparing my face properly and creating a perfect base for my make up (click here to find out more) , i started working on my Golden-Brown smokey eye make up .

To get this look i used : A beige non glitter eye shadow , a medium and a dark brown eyeshadow ( if you have a pair in a palette it's ideal ) , a golden glitter eyeshadow and of course black mascara .

I used this great example of a palette i found on internet and i put numbers on the colors you could use following the steps below :)

To begin with , i applied the beige eyeshadow as a base across the whole eye lid and then i used the medium brown one to form a horizontal V to the outer edges of the eyelids .  ( In your application be sure medium brown eyeshadow will cover ONLY the outer 1/2 of your eyelid :) We want the inner half to remain beige . )

Next , it was dark brown's turn . I applied it using a thinner brush ; on the outer edges , across the eyelashes' lines ( upper and lower ) and right above the eyelids to increase the depth of sight .

And right after it was my favorite magical touch ^_^  I used my index finger , took a small quantity of golden glitter eyeshadow and tapped it gently on the center of each eyelid ! 

Two layers of black mascara are just enough to give you super sexy eyes ;) 

What i love most on this make up , is that it looks just awesome on any skin and eye color

and it matches a lot with any hair color :) <3 

Blush and lips

Choose an appropriate blush depending on your skin color

 ( light and pink ones are suitable for light skin , coral/pitchy tones are super for olive and medium skin and terracotta/brown/bronze colors look impressive on dark skin )

I mixed a light pink blush with a coral bronze powder to approach better the brownish tone of the whole make up ( if you do the same - use the darker color right under your cheek bones )

Last but not least , comes the lip make up . As far as i have stated , my significant make up product is lip pencil . I used my favorite one , Tommy G , Double lip pencil no.5 - Dark side both for outline and filling ( it's the MUST have of winter in my opinion ) . The color is a dark reddish brown :)

Aaaaaaand voila ! 

• OUTFIT

Nothing would look better than a black-brown combination that matches perfectly to this wonderful make up , suits to anyone and can be worn from morning till evening in all circumstances .

A black blouse with 3/4 long sleeves , a pair of dark colored jeans , dark brown belt , yellow McKninley boots and and leopard printed scarf form my favorite outfit , highly recommended for this make up !

You can put on any coat/jacket you want ( depending on the weather conditions ) which is between beige and black/brown tones :)

Hope you liked my suggestion for a comfortable , elegant , dark style and you got inspired to try more combinations based on your own personal preference ! Feel free to contact me for any suggestion/question/request or even to share your results with me ^_^If you like my updates , stay tuned for more <3Thank you for visiting my blog once again !Till next time , Take careLove , Irina <3

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype : 

irina.alexopoulou

Autumn inspired make up :)

Hallo beauties :)

It's been some time since last update, due to lack of spare time but here we go again :3

Sweet November is here so far , all these orange leaves , lower temperature , wind and romantic atmosphere inspired me to try a make up with warm colours that matched great with the mood of this season , so i decided to share it with you !


For this make up i combined warm tones of reddish,golden and brown colours but let's get started to see exactly what i did :)

• Eye make up

I used a medium reddish base across the whole eyelid , then applied some white eyeshadow on the inner corners and a medium/dark brown eye shadow  which was applied on the outer corners and across the upper and lower line of eyelashes :)

Right after i used a dark brown eye pencil and made the line of eyelashes ( upper and lower ) a little bolder .

The magical touch here was the glitter part ! I used some golden glitter eye shadow right next to the white one ! Next , i put on some ginger glitter eye shadow , just a little darker than the golden i used before , on the center of the eyelid just before the dark brown edge. 

BE CAREFUL with glitter , too much product will make you look like a drug queen or a xmas tree :P

Final step was blending gently all the eye-shadows using a thick brush following the white to brown direction so the result is a nice ombre :D

A layer of black mascara aaaaaaaaaand boom ! Your eye make up is done , so easy ^_^

• Blush and lips

Blush colour will depend on your skin colour , very light skin looks super healthy with a pink blush on it , medium/olive ones work super with peach/coral colours and dark skin is super suitable for reddish/brown blushers :)

I used a super light pink blush :)

For my lips i chose one of my favorite lip-pencils ( Tommy G - Double Lip pencil No.5 - dark edge) both for lip-line and filling :)

It's waterproof , long lasting and i really love this texture for autumn-winter looks :D

• Further styling

You can wear anything you want and makes you feel comfortable , i personally prefered a tank beige top and a black leather high-waist skirt and some loose romantic curls :) Scarfs , gloves , hats , coats and stuff are optional and depend on the weather of your region ! 

Excuse me for the bad quality of these selfies but since my camera has been stolen it's the only way to take pictures alone :) Soon i will have a new camera and better quality pictures :D

---------------------------------------------------------------

That was it :) I hope you equally liked the final result and you will give it a try :DFor any product recommendation/suggestion/question feel free to contact me !Have a wonderful Autumn and stay tuned , more updates are yet to come for you <3Hugs ,Irina 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails 

 irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com & irina.rhoads@gmail.com

Skype : irina.alexopoulou

Facebook : ( click on the word to view my profile )

YouTube Channel ( click here to view my channel )

YOUR QUESTIONS : Health : How to cure Cracked Heels

Hey everyone !

One more requested article is here to help you get rid of a very common issue, torturing mostly women and people who spend a lot of time being stood up!

Cracked Heels are a typical unpleasant condition having its pick during winter and summer. It can be quite disturbing especially for women who'd like to wear sandals but don't want to walk around showing off these cracked heels.

There are many creams on the market that promise to relieve you, some of them are effective indeed, some others are not working at all. If you're clueless about which brand to choose or you are a lover of natural ingredients and homemade remedies, keep reading. I've got you.

First of all let's zoom in the problem and examine why do we have cracked heels.
Our heels crack when the skin on that area gets dry, dehydrated or it's exposed to extreme temperatures. Another frequent cause is the skin damage due to wearing inappropriate shoes, especially when they are worn for a long time. Thus, the skin gets dead and cracks. The key point here to have your skin intensively moisturized in order to help it regain it's flexibility and get rid of the dead cells!

What can you do ?
Scrub and apply moisturizing products on your skin .

Here are some simple home remedies that may help you . I've tried most of them and my heels felt A LOT better in all cases.

1. Lemon, salt, glycerine, rose water foot mask:

 One of the first steps towards having a pair of beautiful feet is to heal them, and that is why this foot mask is an absolutely perfect home remedy for cracked heels.

• Take a basin of warm water in which you’ll be dipping your feet and add raw salt, lemon juice, glycerine and rose water. Soak in your feet for about 15-20 minutes in this water.

• Using a pumice stone or foot scrubber, scrub your heels and sides of the feet.

• Take 1tsp undiluted glycerine, 1 tsp rose water and 1tsp lemon juice and after mixing, apply over your cracked heels. Since this will be a sticky mixture, you can wear a pair of socks and leave on overnight.

• Wash off with lukewarm water in the morning.

• Repeat for a few days till heels are soft and healed.

2. Vegetable oil:

Dry skin on the heels is one of the foremost reasons behind the cracking. This home remedy for dry skin helps combat this problem.

• After washing your feet and cleaning and drying them up completely, apply a layer of vegetable oil on the cracked parts of your feet.
• Wear a pair of thick socks and leave overnight.
• In the morning, wash off and repeat for a few days to get smooth and healed feet.

3. Banana along with banana and avocado foot mask:

• Take the pulp of a ripe banana and apply over cracked parts of the heel and feet.
• Keep on for about 10 minutes and wash off.

You can also create a foot mask at home using a ripe banana and avocado.

• Take a ripe banana and half an avocado, or the flesh of half a coconut (green coconut). Blend everything in a blender together.
• Apply this thick creamy paste over your heels and feet.

As avocados and coconut are rich in several essential oils and vitamins and fats, this paste will help treat cracked heels and keep them soft and moisturised.

4. Vaseline and lemon juice:

• Clean and dry your heels. Once all the dirt is out, soak your feet in warm water for about 15-20 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

• Take 1tsp Vaseline and the juice of a lemon. Rub this mixture over your heels and other cracked parts of the foot. Rub this in nicely, till it gets absorbed in the skin.

• Apply this mixture before going to bed and keep on overnight, wearing a pair of woollen socks, as these socks help trap body heat and increase the effectiveness of the mixture.

• Wash off in the morning.

5. Paraffin Wax:

This is an especially good treatment if you have really cracked and painful heels.

• Take some paraffin wax and mix it with mustard oil or coconut oil.

• Heat the mixture in a pan till the wax melts properly. Allow this to cool at room temperature and once it’s cool, apply over your feet. To get the best results, apply before going to bed and cover with a pair of socks.

• Wash off properly in the morning.

6. Honey:

Honey is great to moisturise your feet and has great antibacterial properties.

• Mix one cup of honey to half a bucket of warm water.
• Soak your feet for about 15-20 minutes.
• Scrub off gently for soft and supple feet.

7. Rice Flour:

Make this scrub that’s great for scrubbing your feet.

• Take 2-3 tbsps of ground rice and add a few spoons of honey and apple cider vinegar to make a thick paste.

• If your heels are extremely dry and cracked, add a spoon of olive oil or sweet almond oil.

• Soak your feet in warm water for 10 minutes and gently scrub it with this paste to remove dead skinfrom your feet.

8. Olive oil: ( baby oil works equally good for me :) )

Found this picture free on the internet , i don't own the copyrights !

Virgin olive oil is one of the most natural ways to get smooth soft healthy heels.

• Apply some extra virgin olive oil with the help of a cotton ball and gently massage your feet in a circular motion for 10-15 minutes.

• Wear a pair of thick cotton socks and wash off after an hour.

• Next, take 1 tbsp olive oil, a few drops of lemon oil or lavender oil in a small bottle and add an equal amount of water to it. mix it properly to get a thick solution.

• Apply this homemade foot cream on your feet a few times in the day and also overnight.

9. Oatmeal:

Take 1 tbsp powdered oatmeal and some jojoba oil to make a thick paste.

1. Apply this over your feet, especially well over the heels and any cracked parts.
2. Leave this on your heels for about half an hour and rinse off with cold water.Pat dry.

Do this every alternate day to remove all cracks.

10. Sesame oil:

• Apply sesame oil on your heels and any cracked parts each night before going to bed. This is a great cracked heels solution for feet.
• Massage well till it mixes in the skin.

Do this every night to get rid of cracks and have beautiful smooth heels.

(Special thanks to http://www.healthdigezt.com/ for being a great source)

Hope these tips have been helpful and let you regain the confidence to walk around feeling wonderful with your soft feet! For more information/questions/requests feel free to contact me ! If you like my blog feel free to share it out there :3 Keep in touch and be yourself , you're beautiful :D 

Hugs ,

Irina 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Google + :

click here

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype :

irina.alexopoulou

Instagram :

irina_lainen_arvoitus 

Pinterest :

Irinä Arvoitus