TIGI - Bed Head+Catwalk

this shampoo+conditioner is AMAZING!!!


both of them are formulated for colour-treated hair, and I think they are definitely one of the better combos to treat such hair. I obviously have colour-treated hair, and I always use either shampoo for coloured hair or conditioner for coloured hair - or both - when washing my hair, but both shampoo+conditioner work just as well, I think.


the shampoo is a gorgeous, rich chocolate-coloured liquid, that smells like toffee+caramel - it`s all you can do to not turn your head and lick the froth off of your hair! SERIOUSLY! I usually lather, rinse then repeat so I get a reallllly foamy second shampoo - and I find that as good as this shampoo is, I STILL have to shampoo twice for the lather to really froth up.


the Catwalk conditioner isn`t as pretty a colour as the Bed Head shampoo, but it smells BETTER ... of bubblegum! YUM! i LOVE bubblegum flavoured things, so this is my favourite conditioner EVER!!! and the best thing about it is the scent stays on my hair well after I`ve rinsed it out, applied other hair products to my hair that have an equally strong scent (such a heat defence cream+finishing serum ...) so I keep getting a wiff of bubblegum throughout the day!


WIN!


and I`m not sure whether it was the shampoo or the conditioner - or a combination of the both - but my hair was DEFINITELY thicker in appearance, and definitely felt thicker, too - which for anyone who had coloured their hair is a BIG deal, because colouring your hair, unfortunately, also THINS the hair ... boo :( so ANYTHING that helps actually thicken it or helps to make it appear thicker is a bonus!


LOVE these two products!!!


I know in the hairdressers they are quite expensive (although, to be fair, the size of the bottles are WAY bigger than normal ones) but I get my from T.J. Hughes - they usually have a large collection in, so if you ever go there you should stock up on the cheaper stuff and try them out! they smell great+they work :)


P.S. no one say anything about how badly my floor needs painting!

Sass&Belle

this sign is super cute+i want it!!!!

and for £2.95, i think i may be buying it when i go to London next :)

Davines

i want these.

that is all.

Kerastase

I recently decided to go to the hairdressers to have my hair dyed `properly`. It was a lovely salon on Smithdown Road called Bleach, and I will go back and do it again. It was a reasonable price to get it coloured, washed, conditioned, trimmed and styled: £65. I well expected it to be nearer the £100 because that`s how much some salons were looking for. 

The only thing that annoyed me was that I was strayed into buying this lovely set above ^ a shampoo+conditioner by Kerastase. No, I`ve never heard of it before either, and don`t even bother asking me how you pronounce it! (I`ve been calling it Kerateese for a sheer easy life!) I was mugged into paying £15 for the mini bottles and the funky silver bag it came in, which I`ve been using a lot more than the shampoo+conditioner.

I was told that the bottles would last roughly three months (I know, THREE MONTHS ... pah!) and that the conditioner is stronger than others for dye-damaged hair, like my own. 

Ok, that`s fine. It`s a colour-treated shampoo+conditioner combo. But don`t lie to me and tell me that it`s some miracle worker that will restore my damaged hair forever - because it doesn`t. It`s a perfectly generic shampoo+conditioner, and I will NOT be paying for it again (unless I go back to the hairdressers as weak as I went in and decide that I`m Miss Moneybags again).

Other than the shampoo+conditioner being totally average, they do smell good - particularly the conditioner, which you have to scoop out of the tub, which I LOVE! - and the silver bag is handy to use as a make-up bag to pop into a handbag. Or to just use as storage in your room for other make-up+toiletries. 

It`s safe to say that I have learnt my lesson, and I will only pay for my colour+cut+blow-dry the next time I go to Bleach! (whose salon I highly recommend, BTW.)

The Body Shop - White Musk

Don`t you just love it when you go the shops for one thing and come home with so much more?!


Well, that`s how I came to purchase this lovely set :) Basically, I only wanted the White Musk eau de toilette to take away with me to Madrid so I didn`t go and buy a new perfume in Duty Free (I know, that`s part of the fun of going the airport ... but I just wanted to take away a perfume that was already familiar to me instead of buying a new perfume that would always remind me of that trip - personal reasons, I assure you. Anyhow, I digress ...) and it was priced £9 - but for £10 was this lovely lilac set. Obviously the only sensible thing to do was purchase the mini set+take it all away with me!


It smells delicious all together (shower wash, body lotion, perfume ...) and the bag it comes in is perfect to pop into a handbag and use as a make-up bag. 


£10 well spent!

Kate+Wills ... my magazine collection :)

Liz Earle - Hot Cloth Cleanser

I had never heard of Liz Earle products until a friend`s Mum had told me about them a year or so ago. She bought them of QVC, but I think they`re only really sold in John Lewis – no Boots points, unfortunately!

I have watched Liz Earle promote her products on QVC and, my god!, she`s so pretty and youthful-looking for a woman of her age. (She`s not dead old, but she is very Mumsey-like … in the nicest possible, complimentary way!) Looking at this woman makes you want to buy her products and look like her!!! (which is obviously the point of them, obviously.)

Feeling brave (and apparently rich …) I headed to John Lewis (after a few mooches around the counter for a few weeks sussing out what products were what, and what was the cheapest to buy, etc …) to purchase my first Liz Earle face wash. Oh, no – apologies. It`s not `face wash` as we mere silly people would believe. It`s face wash that`s been renamed as `cleanser` (I `get` it, but it`s sooo pompous, no?) that works when the cloth is hot (a muslin cloth is also given).  

Yes, it does sound pompous, but it`s actually … good. No, better than good – it works!

Which, for my skin, is fantastic! I have sensitive skin in general, but my face is especially prone to sensitivity - so to hear that this product was gentle on the skin but tough enough to remove all the make-up+mascara that I wear and that the reviews were RIGHT is AMAZING!!!

I don`t think I would go back to washing my face with anything else. Honestly. It`s expensive (I am by no means enough in the safe part of my over-draft to start splashing out on any old face wash!) but if it means that my face isn`t getting stung and burned and blotchy and itchy and rashy and sore and … well, you get the jist! … then that`s worth splurging out every few months.

Speaking of, it really does last that long!

The first load of Liz Earle I bought was the mini Try Me Kit for starters, for obvious reasons. 

It cost £21.45; a lot for minis, I know – but I thought that it was worth the try. It came in a small pastel-green zip bag, with a mini cleanser, exfoliator, tonic and moisturiser, and a muslin cloth. It was so cute! I LOVED the packaging (I think the packaging is half the product, personally) and I couldn`t wait to display it in the bathroom! (I am sad, I know.)

I used the products religiously for a week (I usually do when I buy new products, especially face products) before I decided that the Instant Skin Boost Tonic wasn`t for me, nor was the Skin Repair Moisturiser.

Why, I hear you ask?

Well, dating back to a Clinique incident shortly after my 21^st birthday, I have had an approach to tonics (or `toners`, as I know them as) that would make me seem slightly reluctant to try them. But as I had bought the starter kit, I thought that I best try out the products properly to make the most of them. I LOVED the Gentle Face Exfoliator+Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (obviously I didn`t have the use the exfoliator as much as the cleanser) but the tonic was just a bit … strong, for my face. But in Liz Earle`s defence, they usually are. They usually leave me feeling blotchy and dry (even though the kit was for dry/sensitive skin types).  I think it`s a bit to do with the way my face is designed, and a lot to do with my reluctance to try/the nightmare that I have when I do try toners!

Also, I wasn`t too keen on the moisturiser. It was quite thick (which is fine) and kinda just sat on my face instead of melting in+repairing my skin. Hmm … I don`t know. I might try the moisturiser again, but at the time I didn`t like it, and would always choose Clinique`s Dramatically Different Moisturiser any day of the week!

Overall, if you have heard reviews about Liz Earle`s products – believe them!!! (only if they`re good, obviously) Because the cleanser is AMAZING! I will always buy the cleanser (a 150ml bottle does cost £13.25, but it last for a good three-four months as one pump is enough per wash) and the muslin cloth really makes the difference – far more a luxurious experience than using your hands!

Oh, and it smells lovely :)