Leona gets a va-va-voom-over

Wowza! Leona Lewis is near unrecognisable at the premiere of Justin Bieber's new film, 'Never Say Never'. Gone are the quaint curls and honey-highlighted locks, in favour of poker straight brunette tresses and eye-skimming bangs. Check out the pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1355097/Leona-Lewis-turns-Lady-Gaga-bizarre-lips-dress-designed-herself.html

It seems LA has gone to Leona's head, literally. In fact, she wouldn't look out of place alongside the Kardashian sisters. Call me nostaligic, but I kind of miss Leona-lite.  As I'm sure many of you will agree, Leona has the sort of feline eyes you'd give your right arm, or at least your right eye, for. But while fringes are usually a great tool for drawing attention to peepers, Leona's heavy, blunt fringe is simply too long to flatter. This new look just seems a little contrived to me(that Gaga-esque dress doesn't help perhaps). What do you think Best Tressers? Share your thoughts on Leona's new 'do in the Tress Factor poll. Sx

Rihanna's Secret 'S&M' Weapon



Photo courtesy of http://www.rihannanow.com/; Not for reprint)

I've just got the inside scoop on the secret behind Rihanna's flirty feline eyes...Ardell Lashes, £4.95 (http://www.nailsbymail.co.uk/). On the set of new video, 'S&M', celebrity makeup artist Sharon Gault and assistant Priscilla Ono applied Ardell Fashion, Runway and Wild style lashes on the singer for an ultra-glam, wide-eyed look.

But when it comes to makeup, Ri-Ri doesn't do things by halves, so her lash look was customised by layering sets and adding gems. For long-lasting wear, Rihanna's lashes were applied with DUO Eyelash Adhesive in dark, £7.95 (http://www.nailsbymail.co.uk/).

Now, I've never used Ardell's lashes before - apparently they're the number one seller of false lashes, adhesives and eyelash conditioners - but if there's an eyelash-icon to tempt me, it's certainly Rihanna. Sx

Try a Trend...Feeling Blue

Blue eyshadow has had a bad rap for a long time now, evoking images of lame-o 80s popstars. But blue is back with a cool new feisty look.  As Artistic Director of myface cosmetics, Kabuki, says, 'Classic beauty with a metallic glow is set to be a major trend in 2011.' From pastel to azure, from Nicki Minaj to Katy Perry, the winter blues have never looked so hot. 

Step 1. When applying foundation, sweep over the eye to create a base for your shadow.

Step 2. Apply myface blingtone in bellbottom blues, £9.99 (Boots) across the lid. Press colour into the inner corner of the eye with your middle finger, then using a medium-sized shadow brush take the colour slightly above the crease and wing out towards the hairline.

Step 3. Next line the lower lashes with myface high def eye pencil in electric blue, £6.99 (Boots). I took the pencil out towards the hairline, almost underlining the eyeshadow, to give a graphic effect.

Step 4. Finish the look with lashings of black mascara.  

MYFACE OFFER...HOORAH!

If you buy any blingtone eyeshadow or mascara at Boots, you will get an eye pencil, worth £6.99, absolutely free! The offer runs until 23rd February so hurry, hurry! Sx

How to...Apply a Foam Hair Colourant

Foam colourants are big news. In fact, this less fuss, less messy method is taking the hair colourant market by storm, casting an old fashioned shadow over liquid varieties. Having used (and loved) John Frieda's foam offering, I wanted to put Clairol's Nice 'n' Easy Colour Blend Foam, £6.99 (nationwide) to the test.

When it comes to mixing, colour foams are tricky customers - usually the colourants actually lose the ability to mix and foam when shaken. Take John Frieda Precision Foam, which needs to be tilted from side to side, rather than shaken, to be mixed. Clairol though, have cleverly recognised women's instinct to shake hair colourant so have designed the formula to react well to vigorous movement.

It just so happens that the brand sent me a box full of goodies to equip me for my colouring experience, i.e. a mannequin head, clips, comb, towel and, of course, the Colour Blend Foam in Light Brown. Check out the video below for a brief 'how to' on mixing and applying. Apologies for the stuttering, I'm not good with cameras.

DID YOU KNOW? According to a Clairol survey, 88% of women questioned wanted a colouring routine that is simple.

Overall, I found Colour Blend Foam to be simple, straightforward and fuss free - exactly what I want from an at-home hair colour experience. I might have been using a mannequin for this video (there's no way I'm putting a video up of myself with hairline stains and wet hair) but next time my hair needs a colour, I'll definitely opt for Clairol's foam dye. Sx

The new Batiste Tones

For someone with near black hair (NEAR black, not black, very, very dark brown) finding a dry shampoo that won't turn my hair a ghoulish shade of white is up there with the search for the perfect pair of jeans, i.e. a mission.

Batiste, arguably the Rolls Royce of dry shampoo (despite the minor price tag), has always succeeded, refreshing and revolumising my hair without that inevitable powdery finish. So the launch of the new Batistse Tones Dry Shampoo, £3.05 (Boots), seemed like the UK's number 1 dry shampoo brand was going one step further to address this problem. The shampoos contain a hint of colour to thoroughly disguise greasy roots as well as 'blending in regrowth on coloured or highlighted hair and can even disguise stray greys too,' according to the press release.

Of the three shades - light and blonde hair, medium and brunette hair and dark and deep brown hair - I obviously opted for the darkest one. After reading the instructions - shake the can vigorously, spray roots 30cms away from hair, massage with fingertips and brush - I began spritzing. Within 10 seconds my roots were grey and I'd aged 30 years.

Even after rubbing in and brushing, my roots still looked a little powdery and I ended up having to wash my hair...totally. defeated. the. point. As for masking the odd grey, more like enhancing greys! As with all Batiste shampoos, the spritz was refreshingly powerful and easy to direct into roots but the scent was quite sickly - it reminded me of The Spice Girls Impulse body spray I had when I was 11. I just find it baffling that the regular Batiste dry shampoo leaves no visual residue, yet the new tones do. It would be interesting to see how blondes fair with the light dry shampoo but I'll definitely be sticking to the original Batiste Sx

Would you wear Katy Perry's nails?

Great for itching your scalp, not so great for...erm...anything else. God knows how Katy Perry even posted this picture on Twitter. Love the high shine gold shade though - get a similar look with Nail Rock Metallic Designer Nail Wraps in Gold, £6.70 (asos.com). Sx

Best Tressed Competition Winner

Congratulations to...well I won't ruin the surprise. Here's a video to prove the draw was all fair and square and that. Thanks to all who entered. Stay tuned for more competitions. Sx

The Prize...

Cher's Hair-Mare...

Cher Lloyd has just dyed her mahogany tresses a radioactive red. If that wasn't enough of a hair overhaul, it appears her long locks have been lopped off in favour of a shoulder-skimming bob (she might've fooled us with the old tucked-under trick, mind).

Cher posted this pic of her new 'do on Twitter

It does strike me as, how shall I put this, a homage (blatant copying, more like) to Rihanna but unfortunately for Cher, she lacks the former's Barbadian skintone. Props to her for trying but I definitely think she needs to watch putting too much colour on her hair - the texture definitely looks altered. What do you think Best Tressers? Sx