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Archive for the Hair Category

Hairy Jayne

By Helena on March 13, 2013

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to try the Hairy Jayne Hair Perfume with Heat Protection. It recommends using it if you don’t wash your hair every day but I always do so have mainly been using it if I am going out in the evening and haven’t washed my hair since before work. I also use it on days when my hair is frizzier than normal as it is good at calming it down. Hairy Jayne have a few different scents for their hair perfume but mine is the neroli, vetiver and patchouli. The smell is quite strong when you first apply it but it quickly fades to a more subtle scent. The hair perfume costs £11 for 50ml but is lasting me well so far as you don’t need to spray much due to the strong scent. I’d definitely recommend it and have been impressed by how good it is at minimising my frizz!

I was also sent a sample of the Treatment Conditioner in the same scent. Again, I was impressed with this as it left my hair feeling lovely and soft. I’ve tried a few treatments recently and this is the only one which seems to have had any effect on my hair! You can buy the hair perfume and a full size treatment in a gift pack for £17.50.

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged conditioner, frizz, hair perfume, Hairy Jayne, heat protector, neroli, patchouli, treatment, vetiver.

Indola Innova Hydrate Lightweight Treatment

By Helena on February 5, 2013

This is one of the most disappointing hair masks I’ve ever used. The description on the tub sounded perfect – suitable for dry, curly hair, hydrates but doesn’t weigh down hair. Exactly what I need. However, this made no difference at all to my hair, if anything it seemed to make the ends feel even drier than normal! To start with I only used a small amount which I left on for 10 minutes. That didn’t work so the next time I took a big handful of product instead. Still didn’t work. I even left the mask on overnight but it made no difference! I started to use the conditioner as a regular daily one but it still wasn’t really hydrating enough for my hair.Has anyone else used this treatment? I have read other reviews (like this one from The Sunday Girl) which have been brilliant so maybe my hair is just too dry! You can buy Indola mainly in salons and can find stockists here.

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged conditioner, hair mask, Hydrate, Indola, Innova, Lightweight Treatment, treatment.

Winter Essentials

By Helena on January 8, 2013

Hand cream: I think hand cream is an all year round essential but I find that I especially need to use it during the winter. Neutrogena have some really intense but affordable hand creams which are perfect for protecting your hands against the cold. The Nourishing Hand Cream (£4.09 for 75ml) is light enough for everyday use and the classic hand cream (£3.85 for 50ml) gives extra moisture.

Body Lotion: I am always looking for good body lotions. I like to use the Body Shop body butters – I had the Coco Butter for Christmas which is gorgeous – but they are quite expensive. I tend to swap between using my fancy moisturisers and more everyday ones. I think the Vaseline range are great and are really affordable at £4.49 for 400ml from Boots. I’ve also used the Aveeno Skin Relief Shea Butter (£5.49 for 200ml at Boots) a few times as well. This winter though my favourite has to be the Dove Winter Care Cream (£3.29 for 150ml) which smells amazing and makes my skin feel really soft. They also have a body lotion version which costs £3.99 for 250ml.

Lip balm: This winter my favourite lip balm has been the Lanolips 101 Ointment which costs £11.22 for 17.5g. It’s so good at repairing chapped lips. The Qsilica Paw Paw Rescue Ointment is a similar but is cheaper at £8.95 for 25ml.

Hair care: My hair gets really, really dry in cold weather if I don’t use a good leave in conditioner. Over the years I’ve tried so many different leave in conditioners but the best by far is the Advanced Techniques Quick Touch Leave In Conditioner from Avon. It is really light so doesn’t weigh down your hair or make it look greasy and it is really cheap! I use it almost every day to control my frizz and stop my hair drying out. Another brilliant product which I’ve only found in the last few months is the Carino Miracle Oil from Aldi. It contains argan oil which is very moisturising and it good for keeping hair looking healthy. It is also much cheaper than proper argan oil!

What are your winter essentials? I would love to know!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Body, Face, Hair and tagged Advanced Techniques, Argan Oil, Aveeno, Avon, body butter, body lotion, Body Shop, Carino, Dove, hair care, hand cream, Lanolips, Leave-In Conditioner, lip balm, Miracle Oil, Neutrogena, Nordic Berries, Norwegian formular, ointment, Paw Paw, Qsilica, shea butter, Vaseline, winter care, Winter Essentials. | 2 Comments

Carino Miracle Oil

By Helena on December 20, 2012

Carino Miracle Oil contains argan oil which, despite all of the hype, I haven’t actually tried out yet. The main reason I haven’t tried argan oil yet is the price. I’ve had bad experiences with hair oils in the past so didn’t want to spend lots on argan oil which might not even suit my hair! Miracle Oil was one of the “Special Buys” from Aldi back in September and only cost £3.99 so was much cheaper than proper argan oil. I was a little worried that the oil would leave my hair looking greasy but it is actually really lightweight. I use a few drops on the bottom inch or two of my hair after I’ve washed it. I get very frizzy ends but the Miracle Oil makes them look much better. I think the oil has made my hair stronger as well as I haven’t had it cut in a while and I’ve got far fewer split ends than I would normally have after leaving it so long to have a hair cut! I also sometimes use the oil on my hair once it’s dried to give the curls a bit more definition.

As Miracle Oil was a Special Buy it is hard to get hold of as it was only available until the stock ran out. Hopefully Aldi will run it as another Special Buy sometime soon as I would definitely buy it again!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged Aldi, Argan Oil, Carino, Miracle Oil, special buys.

Wedding Hair from THX

By Helena on October 31, 2012

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram might know that I went back to Cardiff last weekend for the wedding of one of my best friends. It was a really lovely day and the bride looked so beautiful! We were so lucky with the weather as well – it was sunny all day and warm enough to wear our dresses outside for all of the photos. It felt more like June than October!

Anyway, the reason for the post, other than showing you some wedding photos, is to tell you about how I did my hair. As you probably already know I have really curly hair naturally but it tends to be much curlier at the front and annoyingly flat at the back. For a while now I’ve been looking for some tongs to get the back of my hair to match up with the front and I finally got around to getting some just in time for the wedding. I went with the THX Hold Tight 19mm Curling Tongs which you can get from Tesco for the bargain price of £21.94. The tongs heat up really quickly and you can start off with them not too hot and keep increasing the heat until you find the one that works for your hair which is great if, like me, you are paranoid about burning your hair! The barrel is the exact right size to match my curls at the front which makes the back look much more natural. You can see from this photo how curly the front is (sorry about the colour – it gets dark early up here in Aberdeen so there is no daylight left when I get home from work!). The other photo shows the back of my hair after I’ve used the tongs on the top layer. It makes the back less flat and the curls more defined.I’m so pleased with these tongs at would definitely recommend them!

Has anyone else tried anything from the THX range?

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair, Random and tagged Curling Tongs, curly hair, Tesco, THX, Total Hair Experts, wedding.

Lush Trichomania

By Helena on September 26, 2012

I bought this solid shampoo from Lush after seeing Mallory’s video on how she looks after her curly hair. I’ve never really found a shampoo that I love and tend to flit between brands, just buying whatever is the best value at the time. As much as I enjoy looking around Lush, I’ve never really bought much aside from the bath bombs and an occasional hand cream so I thought I might as well try something that had been recommended. I was a bit unsure about the shampoo being solid but it is actually so easy to use. At first I tried rubbing it between my hands like the woman in the shop told me to but I found it hard to get any sort of lather that way so now I just rub the whole bar over my hair. It lathers up really well and, even though I’ve been using it for a few weeks now, the bar still seems to be the same size as when I first bought it! Trichomania contains coconut which is good for dry hair and I’ve found that my hair is definitely easier to control since I started using this shampoo (and it smells so good as well!). I used to spray my hair with leave in conditioner once it was dry and sometimes during the day too if I was having a particularly frizzy day but I’ve hardly touched my conditioner spray in weeks. This is the best shampoo I’ve tried in years and I think anyone with dry, frizzy hair should give it a go.

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged dry, frizzy, hair, Lush, shampoo, solid, Trichomania.

Summer Essentials: Hair Care

By Helena on August 8, 2012

My hair doesn’t cope all that well on holidays. The sun makes it go dry and frizzy and the chlorine just adds to that. I’ve got a few products this year which will hopefully help my hair out in Thailand!

Mark Hill Anti Humidity Spray & Anti Humidity Spray

Both of these products are from the Holiday Hair range. I really love the bright summery packaging! If the anti humidity spray works it will be amazing while I’m away as my hair tends to get quite big when it’s humid – think Monica from Friends! The protection spray is supposed to protect your hair and scalp from drying out so hopefully it will be another way to calm down the frizz.

Lee Stafford Climate Control Protection Spray & Miracle Shine Spray

I’m not entirely sure that I will end up using the Climate Control Protection Spray as it is quite similar to the Mark Hill Anit Humidity Spray. It leaves my hair feeling a bit more stiff that the Mark Hill version as this one is actually a hairspray. I think it might stay in my drawer for next year! The Miracle Shine Spray contains Argan Oil which works well with my hair type. It leaves it looking smooth and soft so I hope it works this well when I’m in the sun!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged Anti Humidity Spray, Mark Hill.

It’s a 10 – Review and Giveaway

By Helena on May 7, 2012

A couple of months ago I was sent a range of hair products called It’s a 10 which offer 10 haircare benefits (hence the name!) ….

Detangles
Imparts incredible softness
Reduces frizz
Build up free
Preserves hair colour
UV protection
Hydrates hair and scalp
Restores shine
Infuses strength and vitality
Thermal styling protection

I was sent the shampoo, hair mask and leave-in conditioner and I’m really impressed by how good they are. Even after I’ve used the shampoo, before I have used the hair mask, my hair feels softer and less tangled than usual which has never happened with any shampoo I’ve ever used – normally, if I don’t condition my hair, there is no way on earth I could get a comb through it!

My favourite product from the range is the hair mask. I’ve been using it every day in place of my normal conditioner and it has made a big difference to how healthy my hair looks and feels. The hair mask is very moisturising so I’m not sure everyone would need to use it daily, but even if you have normal, unfrizzy hair it would be a nice product to use maybe once or twice a week to give some extra hydration.

I use the leave in conditioner after I’ve applied a bit or serum and my hair is dry to just get rid of any last bits of frizz. It’s a handy product to have because I find that I can miss bits of my hair with the serum so it’s there as a back up! It’s also good to have when your hair needs a bit of a touch up during the day.

Using all three products leaves my hair really moisturised but even just using the mask on its own makes a massive difference to my hair. Below are some photos taken when I’d been using the range for a week or so. Most of the products I’ve used in the past haven’t been able to make my hair look that smooth and soft!

You can buy this range from Sally Express but I’ve also been offered 5 of the hair masks to giveaway to my readers. If you’d like one, just leave a comment telling me which of the ten haircare benefits would help your hair the most.

You must be a follower of my blog to enter – you can either follow with Bloglovin or Feedburner (link on the sidebar) or on my new Google page.

You can also get some extra entries if you ….

Like my Facebook page

Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway, including the link to this page and @hels89 so that I can see it

I will randomly choose 5 winners on Monday 21st May.

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Giveaways, Hair and tagged competition, conditioner, frizzy, giveaway, hair mask, It's a 10, shampoo. | 31 Comments

Overnight Beauty Moisture Balm

By Helena on December 14, 2011

I had the Umberto Giannini Overnight Beauty Moisture Balm for Christmas last year and have realised that I never got around to reviewing it!

I try and remember to use it at least once a week and I’m just about to run out after using it for nearly a year. You need to apply it evenly to dry hair. That means I have to brush my hair which makes it extremely frizzy (you probably won’t have this problem if you haven’t got curly hair!)…..

….. but after I’ve been in the shower the next morning my hair feels much softer and is easier to control. I think it’s also helped with split ends as well.

I think this product is perfect for hair like mine that needs extra moisture but according to the bottle, it is suitable for all hair types. Has anyone else used the Overnight Beauty Balm?

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged curly hair, dry hair, frizzy hair, hair repair, Overnight Beauty Moisture Balm, Umberto Giannini.

Wondercap

By Helena on November 30, 2011

A few weeks ago Gail McJorrow, the creator of Wondercap, offered to send me the Wondercap Pamper Pack to try out. Having really curly, frizz filled hair I jumped at the chance! Wondercap is like a shower cap which you heat up in the microwave and then wrap your hair in after applying a conditioning treatment. I think this is a fantastic idea as I usually leave deep conditioning masks on for over an hour to make sure they work properly. Using the Wondercap for a few minutes has the same effect.

The Pamper Pack includes lots of bits and bobs: a wide toothed comb for combing conditioner through your hair, a microfiber towel, a conditioning treatment and of course the Wondercap itself with some disposable shower caps which you wear underneath. I didn’t think the conditioner from the pack was really that good in itself but the great thing about the Wondercap is that you can use it with whichever conditioner works for you. The cap isn’t so hot that it hurts your head and it stays warm for a long time – ages after I’d taken it off! The first time I used the Wondercap I ran downstairs in a towel in the middle of my bath to microwave it but you don’t actually need to do that as it stays warm long enough for you to heat it up first!

Wondercap is originally from New Zealand but there are a couple of places in the UK which stock it; Michaeljohn and Victoria Health. This is a brilliant product, especially for anyone whose hair need that extra bit of conditioning!

This entry is filed under Beauty Reviews, Hair and tagged comb, conditioner, conditioning treatment, microfibre towel, New Zealand, Pamper Pack, Wondercap.

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