Competition: Win an Aussie Hair summer pack!

Hi guys,
Did you know that every day is a reason to celebrate? Aussie have launched their new Aussie-versary Limited Edition Range (because who doesn't need an excuse to buy their favourite shampoo in pretty bottles) to celebrate, erm, something Australian, and they're inviting everyone who has hair to celebrate with them. You can celebrate literally anything, no matter how big or small!

Today i'm celebrating the fact that my new Sarenza shoes have just been dispatched, and that I just ate soup for lunch without spilling it down my blouse!

What are you celebrating today? I have a whopping seven Aussie summer packs (including your choice of product from the Aussie-versary range) to give away, and all you have to do to win is follow the blog (using the box to your right) and tell me what's giving you cause for celebration.

But hurry! The deadline for entries is at midnight tomorrow (19th August 2011)

Love, Tor xx

PS - Even better, everyone who wins a pack will have the opportunity to take part in a challenge, with the chance of one person winning 10 tickets for themselves and 9 of their friends or followers to Aussie's HUGE Summer party in October!

Aussie's lusciously light summer soiree!

Hi guys,
On Saturday Aussie hosted their lusciously light summer soiree for all of the lovely Aussie Angels: this was quite an event, as for the first time, all the angels from the North and all the angels from the South were brought together.

It was lovely to see so many bloggers all together in one room: it's very weird to recognise someone who's blog you've read but never met. You feel like you know them, and have to remind yourself that you don't!

We had our hair's done, ate a 'lusciously light' salad, and indulged in plenty of gossiping! My hair looked a little touseled but Amie (my sister and VIP guest!)? Her hair looked incredible:

It was a nice day, made better because we got to hang out with the always hilarious Jenny from The Style PA. I am still a massive fan of Aussie products (I wouldn't write about them if I wasn't!) although their new lusciously light products are a little too light for my hair. I think because my hair is unmanageably thick I need something more: if you have finer hair and find your shampoo and conditioner sit too heavy on your scalp though, this is the product for you!

The Three minute miracle will always be my go-to product when me hair is feeling coarse and in need of a little TLC: It's my favourite Aussie product by far, and the one I find myself recommending over and over again!

Thanks, of course, to Aussie for a nice day out.

Love, Tor

Competition: Join Team Aussie Angel!

Hi guys,
This is a competition for all you lovely people that have blogs of your own. Aussie are running a competition to let 10 lucky readers from across the Angels blogs be part of the Aussie Angel activity. Yes! You can join in the Aussie fun this Spring and join us on our journey to Lusciously Light hair.

As you guys know, i've been a proud Aussie Angel for over a year now: I've even put together a montage to show you how much fun it is!

All you have to do to get involved is answer the below question in the form of a blog-post on your own blog. Then tweet the link to the Aussie team @yummyhair (so they know where to find it!)

Winners will be chosen by the Uncover Aussie team based on the most creative response that reflects the Aussie spirit. This means videos, pictures, stories or even songs can be their blog post entry – just as long as they answer the question. It's as easy as that!

The question is: “Put a spring in your spring! Tell us, how would you lighten up your life? #AussieLight”

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday 20th March. Good luck!

Love, Tor xx

Bonfire night on the London Eye with Aussie

Hi guys,

Sorry for my absence- i've been at wedding planning HQ (aka my mum's house in Skegness) to organise wedding things, and check out all the exciting crafty stuff mum's been working on for the wedding: it was an amazing few days!

But now it's time to get back to business! I know bonfire night seems like ages ago, and we're all officially thinking about Christmas (the Coke advert has been on the telly, so that must be true!) but nonetheless, here's a recap of the amazingness that I got up to on the night:

Aussie had invited us to the London Eye to celebrate bonfire night with them, combined with the launch of their new take the heat range. I had never been on the London Eye before, so it was especially amazing for me: London looked beautiful, and I kept saying over and over how awe inspiring it was that this city is where I live! I just wished my camera was better, because every time I tried to take pictures the flash bounced back off the thick glass! The only bad thing about the evening was that I couldn't stay longer and hang out more with the other Aussie Angels: we had to head to Norwich at 6am the next morning to make a 9am appointment, which meant no late nights or drinking for me because of the early drive. Boo!!

Here's what I wore for the occassion:

Cardigan: Miss Selfridge, Dress: Topshop, Belt: Primark, Shoes: Topshop. I fancied this up (very slightly) from a work outfit to an evening one by piling on masses of jewellery!

As I mentioned before, we were challenged to wear our very best hair, but the rainy day meant that mine had fallen flat before I arrived at the event. Still at least I liked my outfit. Head to toe in black might not be the most flattering colour combo, but it will always be my favourite!

Love, Tor xx

Taking the Heat with Aussie!

Hi guys,
As you can see, my bathroom shelf is like an Aussie (and Soap and Glory) shop. I've tried, and loved, all of their products: I love the peachy smell their coloured-hair products has and how easy to comb my hair is with just a little spritz of their leave in conditioner. My favourite product so far is the shine serum, which leaves my hair glistening and smooth, but not greasy at all.

So when Aussie sent me some of their new "Take the Heat" heat styling products and an invitation for me and my heat styled hair to an event on London Eye on Bonfire night, I knew i'd have to get creative. They also sent along this video, to give me some hair-spiration:

Determined to put the new "Take the Heat" products to the test, I decided to try something new with my hair (and something that i've never tried before, so it probably looks a bit ropey!) I decided to curl my hair using my straighteners. I know it's not a new phenomenon and people have been doing it for ages, but as I own curling tongs, I never saw the need to learn how to do it. However, having tried it, it really does give a different kind of curl. Here's how it looks:

Dodgy self-taken picture alert (and I hadn't put my mascara on either, so it doesn't look like I have any eyes!) But what do you guys think? The products made it feel really soft (so soft I had to add hairspray as I didn't trust it to hold!) and I quite like the softness of the waves. I usually wear my hair poker-straight but I quite like the curled look. Would love to hear your thoughts! Do I go straight or curly for the Bonfire night party?

Love, Tor xx

Aussie colour mate tribe party

Last night was the Aussie colour mate tribe party: All of the Aussie Angels have been divided into tribes according to their hair type, and of course the colour tribe was the one for me!

We were asked to come in costume as our colour idol, and who else would I choose but Lady Gaga? So with the help of an awful lot of make up, some empty coke cans, thirty hair pins, and more than half a can of hairspray, I Gaga-ed up! My beautiful guests Amie and Louise went as Lily Allen and Audrey Hepburn respectively. We met with our other tribe members, and enjoyed a range of cocktails whilst having a demonstration of a handy updo that looks chic without applying heat to damaged coloured hair:So far so good. But things were only going to get better....

...The evening's entertainment was truly outstanding!! Drag queen Lady Gaga and drag queen Beyonce came to meet us and perform; i'd never seen a man do the splits whilst shaking his booty before! It was a sight to behold! I fell slightly in love with Gaga, although it's slightly upsetting that he looked better in his costume than I did (and had considerably more impressive legs than any other woman in the room!) We had an amazing time.

De-Gaga-ing this morning wasn't quite the nightmare I was expecting: I shampooed twice using the Aussie colour mate shampoo and then absolutely drenched it in the colour mate conditioner and left it for five minutes. It combed straight through and felt smooth and soft. I also tried one of the tips we were told by the stylist: I only conditioned the bottom 2/3 of my hair. Usually I condition it all, but apparently it leaves the hair really heavy. Well I can't believe what a difference it's made: my hair has bounce and a little volume it doesn't usually have at the roots!

Such a fun night out, and great hair tips to boot: what more could you want for an evening?

Love, Tor xxx

Do you have yummy hair?

Hey guys,
Yesterday I went out with Hannah (London Rose) and Amy (Lipgloss86), and some of the lovely Aussie girls to find and pap girls that were having yummy hair days, and spread the Aussie Angels love!

Spreading yummy hair days magic outside yummys cafe - It was funny at the time!

I seemed to make a beeline for all of the ladies with coloured hair, and by the end of the day everyone could guess which girls I was going to want to photograph: some of these beautiful redheads almost made me reconsider being blonde, although I also discovered some new shades of blonde i'm desperate to try, so there'll be no drastic changes just yet!

The girl in the top left corner has the best hair I have ever seen, and the girl in the top right has what will be my next shade of blonde: it's gorgeous!! I couldn't believe there were so many girls looking so fabulous on a Sunday morning: i'm lucky if I can get out of bed and put a brush through my hair! Having said that, it's only when you're really looking at people's heads that you notice how much bad hair there is about: not that you can really judge on a Sunday (that would just be cruel!)

Are you having a gorgeous hair day? I'm not, as i'm trying to grow out my fringe and i'm absolutely hating the way it looks: I say at least 3 times a day that i'm having it cut, but I still persevere! If you have hair you want to share then send me your pictures: it would be soo fun to do a readers edition of the yummy hair days hunt; plus it means I could covet new hair styles from the comfort of my own computer!

Love, Tor xx

Self indulgence: Aussie Angels photoshoot

At the end of last month I wrote about the Aussie Angels photoshoot I went on, and told you I would share the pictures when they arrived. Well, they're here so I suppose it's time to share! It seems very vain to post loads of pictures of myself (hence the "self indulgence" in the title) but bear with me:

The theme of the shoot was new season nudes and florals. I wore two outfits: my peach lace blazer over a scalloped top from Primark and a black body con dress from Topshop. Then a dress from Topshop with my Topshop Trophy jacket on top. The shoes are from Office (they are the only light coloured heels I own, which makes me think I might need a new pair of heels for this summer) and the leggings are George at Asda. The oversized cameo jewellery was a Christmas present.

I much prefer the second set of pictures (with the trophy jacket) Being cutesy suits me much more than trying to be sexy, and I think I felt much more relaxed that time. Plus the deer is adorable!

At the time I felt like I was wearing far too much make up (a lot more than I would normally wear!) but I know you need more for the camera and I trusted the lovely make up artists and I was right to: the make up has photographed really well and makes my skin look flawless. Normally I have dark bags under my eyes that are so big you could carry shopping in them! It's also weird to see my eyes without their obligatory ring of black liner around them, but these photos could persuade me to try something new. I especially enjoy the vibrant green under the eye line.

My hair is very sixties (my favourite decade of them all) and was beehived at the back and curled around my face. I was amazed that they got the beehive to hold all day without causing any damage to my hair: like I said in my last post, I didn't even realise Aussie did hair products other than shampoos and conditioners, and i'd never tried them but they really seemed to work their magic, and they smell incredible (obviously!)

And here I am with some of the other lovely Angels: they're all such great girls, and we had a really fab day!

Its so nice to have a professional picture of yourself: it's like looking at a better more well groomed version of you, and it makes you feel a bit better about yourself if you're having a bad day. It's also a great momento of the Aussie Angels experience - and something to show the grandkids when they think their Nanna is old and uncool!

Love, Tor xx

Aussie Angels photoshoot

On Saturday I took part in the Aussie Angels photoshoot. It was an early start but everyone was so chirpy and excited that it didn't feel so early; in fact that was a theme that continued all day and it flew by: 6 hours felt like 10 minutes!A professional hair stylist and make up artist made us all look picture perfect and the photographer was incredible, making us all feel at ease. The make up artists were using MAC products. This is a brand i've overlooked in the past, but the make up looked lovely and stayed on all day, so it's definitely one to look out for in the future. Obviously our hair was styled using Aussie products. I've used the shampoos before but never the products and I was pleasantly suprised; obviously they smelt lovely (this is Aussie!) but they also held all day; in fact i'm still wrestling to comb out my beehive now!
The theme of the shoot was new season nudes and florals: I wore three different outfits and the focus was definitely on creams and lace, with all the fashion blogger choosing to bring something lace along. I also got a chance to be photographed in my Topshop trophy jacket, which I was very excited about! My favourite outfit was worn by Christina from a sense sublime who looked very editorial in sheer fabrics posing with an umbrella. Amy from Lipgloss86 had enviable hair and make up: her hair is naturally dark and glossy, so it photographed really well!

There were loads of snacks throughout the day (I spent the whole day grazing!) and then afterwards we all went for dinner. I wasn't feeling my best as I still had a hangover from Lady Gaga (meaning no wine or champagne for me!) but it was a really great day. It was such fun, and lovely to meet some more of the Angels that I hadn't met before.

I can't wait to be sent the pictures, and am really excited to share the final results with you guys!

Love, Tor xx

Primark pick of the week: The nudes and florals edition

Having spent a week looking at what we'll all be wearing next winter (and possibly channel it into our wardrobes now, given the horrible weather) it's time to go back to look at what we'll be wearing in the spring and summer; they're fast approaching, and the high street knows it!

Primark is full of sandals and swimwear, which feels weird when it's snowing outside, but now is the time to think about buying it; Primarks leather gladiator sandals sell out every year and if you're budget is tight you'll want to get them before they're gone! If you can't plan that far ahead they also have a great selection of Spring macs and patterned blazers.

This post though is for all the Angels going to the Aussie event next weekend, where the dress code is new season florals and nudes: if you want to buy something new then Primark has you covered!

After months of the price point slowly creeping up the Primark price point is starting to decline again: The floral and mesh dresses above are only £5 and the scalloped lace top is only £8. Despite having spend a week lusting after high end clothes, i'll always love Primark: It might not be where you would go for your classics or basics (this is where you should spend your money) but it's perfect if you want an ontrend wardrobe pick-up, without breaking the bank.

Love, Tor xx

PS - Do you know they're still not letting you take photos in Primark? I can understand why they wouldnt let you take pictures in a designer or wedding shop, but wonder who would be photographing and then stealing Primarks designs!!

Aussie girls night out and competition winner

Last night I enjoyed one of the best events I have ever been to thanks to this blog. But before I tell you all about it, i'll get "the business" out of the way first: the winner of the Aussie competition is Make do Style Kate. Aussie will be in touch next week to let you know what the prize is; I hope it's a good one - I haven't even been told what it is yet! Those guys are so mysterious!

So back to last night: Aussie organised a Girls Night Out at Mayfair club Mahiki. As always, my sister Amie accompanied me as my VIP guest and we spent our night partying with all the other Angels, particularly Jenny (the Style PA) and her wonderfully entertaining VIP guests.

The entertainment

When we arrived we found a make up artist setting up, preparing to either touch up our exsisting make up or compltely reinvent our looks. This was incredibly well received and although I didn't have my make up done (due to wearing hideously long false lashes that I didnt want to fall off!) Amie did, and the results were really fantastic! About an hour later and a magician arrived: his fast hands had us all squealing and trying to work out what he'd done, and he was also very very funny and wonderfully entertaining.

The drinks

The best question would probably to ask what didn't we drink and the drinks flowed liberally all night! A treasure chest full of Champagne cocktail, a canoe full of shorts, and beautifully presented cocktails with great names! I especially enjoyed my lovers cup (though I chose to drink it myself rather than find a lover to share it!)

The goodie bag

As if the drinks and entertainment wasnt enough, the Aussie gang also gave us goodie bags: a lovely vanity case filled with Max Factor make up, and lush Aussie hair products!

The fun

OK, so the pictures for the drinking and the fun are very similar, but the drinking was fun!! We also danced until the wee hours to some very bad cheesy music. Finally, the outfits: Amie is wearing dark denim jeggings with a sequin top from Primark. I'm wearing a velvet skater dress from Topshop with a feather and suede wasitcoat and a feathered headband.

Thanks to Aussie and the 1000heads team for a very enjoyable and well planned night!

Love, Tor x

PS - The official photographer for the evening was Sam Whitney: I think you can tell which photos here are his and which are mine!!

PPS - Sorry this post wasn't very faaashion, but I had so much fun that I wanted to share!

New competition: From brief to bra

I hate shopping for underwear - finding something pretty that I can wear smoothly under my clothes and that actually looks right is a nightmare, because I have a heavy chest but a narrow back. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could take the pattern from one bra, add it to the shape of another, and then embellish it to your own special requirements?

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Well thanks to this new competition from SimplyYours, you can!! Simply Yours, the plus size lingerie specialist (and producers of the genius Gok Wan shapewear) is running its first ever design competition "From Brief to Bra".

If men designed bras....

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They want to find out what you look for in a lingerie set - and what better way than to ask you to put your ideas to paper and submit a design? They want you to let your creativity flow and design a lingerie set perfect for curvalicious women. The winning design will feature in the Spring/Summer 2011 catalogue and be sold at SimplyYours.co.uk!
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The competition is being run through their Facebook page and I for one will be giving it a go; it would be easy to find the perfect bra if i'd designed it myself!!
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Love Tor
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PS - Don't forget to enter my fantastic Aussie competition - it ends on Friday!!

What Aussie would look like if it were a frock!

Ok, so here are the things I know about Aussie: It smells really good. It makes my hair incredibly soft and shiny. It contains Australian ingredients. Did I mention it smells really good?

This means that when putting together an Aussie outfit it has to be sweet (but not sugary sweet!) lightweight (i've never seen a picture of anyone in Australia wearing a far coat) and full of lots of different textures, like all the different hair textures the brand looks after.

There are lots of different Aussie girls (from goths to glamour models) but i've decided to style the outfit to what would suit me because a) i'm an Aussie girl and I use their products and b) i'm constantly at my own disposal! So here it is:


The outfit is a party outfit because I reckon the Aussie girl is a party girl: so first off she gets killer heels. Office £50.
Then i've used the feather skirt I tried on last week because the colour reminds me of the colour of the Aussie conditioner I use (could I be more literal!?) Topshop £75
I've teamed it with wet look leggings (wet like my hair after a shampoo, you could say!) Topshop £20.
Then i've added a simple rock-chick top from River Island £34.99, and a sparkly clutch from New Look.
For jewellery I went simple with earrings (to draw attention to the hair of course!) from New Look as well.
Oh, and dont forget the obligatory kangaroo and pint of Fosters: I couldn't do an Aussie outfit without it!

This was fun! Think you can do better? Then enter my competition here to try this yourself!

Love, Tor xx

Aussie Competition: Enter now, you know you want to!

Being an Aussie Angel has been so much fun, and i'm so glad they asked me to get involved! The best thing is the little suprises, like this biscuit tin that arrived in the post this morning.

In it was a Tim Tam (which I am munching on as I type!) and a personalised card inviting me, and all of you guys, to take part in a competition!

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I think this could well be one of the most fun competitions I have run on this here blog, because it involves us all getting creative! Here is the blurb, from the Australian horses mouth itself:

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"We know you're really a clothes horse (not a hair horse) and we want to know what Aussie really means to you. What beyond the Mmmmm, the Aaaaah? What if Aussie were an outfit? What would it look like? What would the care label say? Show us what an Aussie tailor would produce. Ask your community (that's you guys!) to do the same. Revel in your collective awesomeness"

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So there you have it! All you have to do is be a follower and let me know what an Aussie outfit would look like in the comments. You can either describe it in words or upload a link to a picture; i'm working on mine now and will reveal all this afternoon. I think this could be a whole lot of fun!

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In the usual Aussie cryptic way, I have no idea what the prizes are, but they're sure to be awesome! The competition closes on the 30th November, so get creative now!

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Love, Tor xx

UPDATE: Most prizes will be UK based "experiences", BUT further to a bit of discussion, International readers are invited to join and if they are chosen as the winner, we'd be able to substitute the "experience" prize with a gift we could send in the post.

I'm an Angel once more!

Hi guys,

Saturday was the second in a trilogy of Aussie Angel events (I wrote about the first one last month) and it was a really good one! Myself and two guests (I took my two younger sisters Amie and Lucy) were invited, along with a group of other Angels and their guests to have our hair washed and blowdried at Adee Phelan's very fancy salon in Covent Garden, all with yummy sugar-smelling Aussie hair products, of course! Adee was the best hairdresser from The Salon; did anyone else love watching that show (it was on channel 4!)? Anyway, back to the event. We truly were pampered, and had our hair washed and massaged (that was the best bit) then blow styled however we wanted it to. I looked bloated and rather pasty (the result of not being able to exercise or leave the house) but my sisters looked gorgeous:


Lucy had a high volume Rachel-from-friends 'do and Amie looked sleek and glam with her rock-chick headband.

Sneaking a glass of champagne on top of my tablets wasn't smart or clever. I just couldn't say no.
After the blowdrys and champagne and nibbles, the rest of the angels went on for cocktails and gossip and fun. But I had exhausted myself so much with getting to the salon, avoiding being bumped into on route and generally leaving the house that my sisters took me straight home. Still, definitely not a bad way to spend my first afternoon out of the house since my operation. And its always nice to meet the other Angels and their guests; Kristabel brought her lovely mum; don't they look alike?!


Everyone's hair looked great, and more importantly (for me at least!) smelled truly fantastic and it was a great evening - thanks Aussie!

Love, Tor xx



PS -Here is a gratuitous pic of the hairdresser that did Amie's hair. He certainly wasn't hard on the eye, and I believe my sister was seriously contemplating asking him to marry her! An added bonus of the evening!

I'm an Aussie Angel....

...we're like Charlies angels, but much more obsessed with our hair!

It started with an email; an intriguing email from a lady called Lauren asking if I wanted to take part in a secret project. As the email was filtered to my junk mail I thought it was spam, but my curiosity got the better of me and I replied; i'm glad I did. Although the next email from Lauren left me as confused as before, I was officially an Aussie Angel and looking forward to a wonderful girly adventure!
. My first mission was to go on a treasue hunt for an amazing Aussie gift pack. On Friday I was sent a key and a clue (see above!) and worked out that on Saturday morning I would have to go to the Kensington Farmers market on Sydney street; once there all I had to do was unlock the stilo and claim my reward!
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A stilo by the way, is a big box full of goodies (see below!)

Aussie were more than generous with their goodie box; it contained a topshop gift card, a voucher for spa treatments and lots of yummy smelling aussie hair products for me to share with my family and friends. And because I was the first to uncover the treasure (the other angels must've all been at home washing their hair!) I was also given a pair of Wella Professional straight shine hair straighteners! How lucky was I?

You can find out more about Project Angel at the Uncover Aussie microsite; create especially for the project! And obviously a huge thank you (thank you thank you thank you!!) to Aussie for asking me to get involved.

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Glossy hair but no face - it's too early for make up!

I've heard great things about Aussie products, and they smell good enough to eat, but because of my bleach blonde hairs desire for colouring enchancing product, i've never tried them: this is the perfect opportunity to give it a go, and I will report back letting you know how I get on!
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Keep checking back for the next installment of my Aussie adventure!!

Love, Tor x