Tuesday 24 May 2011

John Frieda 3 Day Straight & Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo Review.

I bought this last week and I was excited to use it! It claims it's a semi-permanent spray with heat protection, which claims to block out frizz as you straighten. Each strand of hair is wrapped with keratin protein, which seals the hair, preventing frizzing.

                                                    RRP £6.99

Well I washed my hair on Saturday morning and spritzed my hair all over with the 3 day Straight, it says to spray between 8-15 times but I think I did around 20 as my hair is so thick.  My hair didn’t feel as nice as it does after applying Frizz-Ease so I didn’t have high hopes for this. However after blow drying and straightening , my hair did actually feel really nice.

I am actually quite impressed with this product, each day my hair kinked up slightly but not nearly as much as it would if I hadn’t used this.  I sleep with my hair up so by the morning I usually need to straighten quite a bit each day. I still feel like I would need to, but just a very small amount, I’d run the straighteners through a couple of times just to iron out the kinks. But for the sake of this experiment I didn’t, although I didn’t feel I really needed to too much. I wouldn’t agree that 3 days is ‘semi-permanent’ but I do actually think this is good.
                                                          Day 1

                                                          Day 2

                                                          Day 3



Three days for me is a little long as I do like to wash my hair every other day, so I used a dry shampoo. In the past I’ve used the  Charles Worthington Balancing Act Dry Shampoo which I didn’t get on with at all. It felt like I had talc in my hair, I couldn’t run my fingers through it after and it smelt quite strong, I think I bought it for the pretty pink packaging! However  I was lucky enough to be sent  the  Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo in the week which is lovely, it’s actually just the opposite, it has a delicate fragrance, and I feel no build up in my hair.



It contains nettle extract which regulates the activity of sebaceous glands, micronised powders with avery powerful oil-absorbing capacity, and cyclodextrins. It claims to absorb excess sebum and allow you to wash your hair less often with liquid shampoo in the case of greasy and very greasyhair.

It’s apparently a favourite of  ChloŃ‘ Sevigny, Mischa Barton ,  Kristin Cavillari and Gwyneth Paltrow says  “This stuff’s great when your hair needs a little spiffing up, especially when it’s starting to get a bit greasy. If you want to maintain a blow dry or don’t have time to do a full wash and blow out, this really does the trick. It gets right to the roots and brings back volume and makes your hair less oily.” So if it’s good enough for the A-Listers, it’s good enough for me!!  

The RRP is £7.50 and available from John Lewis.










Wednesday 18 May 2011

Sun Kissed Looking Skin Anyone??

I’m a massive fan of having a bit of colour, but being naturally fair it doesn’t come easy to me! I love a spray tan but that could become an expensive habit if I do that as often as I love to!
I’ve not always got the time or patiences  to apply self tan, so I opt for a gradual tanner. I’ve tried a few but my favourite for sure is the Garnier Summer Body, I use the Light Sun-Kissed Look, around £3 for 250ml but it’s on offer everywhere at the mo. I prefer this one to others as it’s the perfect colour if you’re very pale like me, it smells lovely and fruity and it’s very easy to apply! I’ve tried others such as Dove, I found with the lighter one the colour wasn’t deep enough and even on my skin didn’t show too well but the darker lotion was too dark. I used the St Tropez Everyday Gradual Tan Mousse, it was a couple of years back now, but I don’t remember being blown away with it or wanting to buy it again, and at around £20 it’s a lot more expensive than the others.   

I apply the Garnier Summer Body most days, I feel like I look healthier. On the first day it just takes the edge off my milky white complexion, by day 3 I look like I would if I’d applied self tan without the streaky marks!!  I apply a rich body moisturiser to my elbows, knees and ankles, just as I would if I was self tanning, to avoid orange patches on the dry areas. Then smooth over my body in circular motions, keeping my fingers together rather than apart which helps in avoiding any streaks.  I love the result, it’s a very natural looking colour, which makes me feel a whole lot better about my body!!
For my face I use two products, both of these I love, they are both self tanners but they are very natural looking and easy to use so I use them most days too. In the evening before bed I’ll apply the L’oreal  Sublime bronze tinted lotion for fair skin, it’s around £9, I use about 3 pumps of this, it gives me a lovely healthy glow.
In the morning I’ll give my face a quick spray of the Garnier Ambre Solaire Dry Face Mist for Light to Medium Skin, it’s around £6 but I’ve seen this on offer in a few places at the moment. It’s great, it give you a light dusting of colour, it dries instantly and you don’t need to rub it in, so this is fab if you’re in a rush. You don’t need to use both of these products, it is a little indulgent of me really, I just have them both on the go as I love them!!

Not a good Diet Update!!

Well, I’m keeping this one short and sweet!! I’ve lost.....1lb this week. I think there are a few reasons why, I’ll try not to make too many excuses though!......1. I have simply not committed myself, 2. I’m not weighing ingredients out, 3. It’s been that time of the month where a girl just has to eat chocolate.....Nuff said! 

I’ve gotta commit if I don’t wanna lose your interest in this! So I promise to be a good girl and have no excuses next week.....

Current Weight -  11st 3lb  (-1lb)

MoroccanOil Review & Cheaper Alternatives!!

Right it’s about time for an update, Ok so MoroccanOil, I’m afraid I’m not a lover!! Yes, my hair feels soft after using it, but just as it does after using a deep conditioner or John Frieda’s Frizz- Ease! Yes, it smells yummy, but that only lasts while my hair is wet! It claims to cut drying time in half, this would have been ideal for me as my hair is long and thick so it’s a right mission to dry.....but nope, I didn’t notice a difference! I have highlights every 8 weeks and I straighten my hair almost every day, so maybe I just have very dry hair and need to be using it for longer to feel the full benefit, but I’ve been using it for a month now and I’ve almost finished the teeny weeny bottle!  It’s a nice product but at £9.99 for 25mls that’s an expensive ‘nice’!!

A friend of mine recommended it to me, it works for her and I’ve read rave reviews, but my conclusion is that I get the same result from products that are a fraction of the price!
These are two products I love.....
I bought this Herbal Essences Seductively Straight Intensive Mask, I love it!! I always have a deep conditioner in my bathroom, so I’ve tried lots. But I was pleasantly surprised with this, it’s not  a shampoo/conditioner brand I normally go for, but it was on offer in Tescos a couple of weeks back, I think I got it for £1.96 (RRP £4), so I thought I’d give it a go!!  It’s gorgeous, it smells delish, it apparently has pear and silk extracts, not sure if that’s what I smell but its yummy anyway! It says you should leave it in for 5 mins but I always leave deep conditioners in for about 15 mins, not sure if this makes any difference but I like to anyway. My hair feels super silky after, I highly recommend this one!!

I’m sure everyone has heard of John Frieda’s frizz-Ease but for those who haven’t, it’s fantastic. My hair is.....well I like to say curly, but it’s not, it’s frizzy, so this is perfect for me. I put about a 10p amount into damp hair, comb through, then I just rough dry (as I’m useless at blowdrying), then run the straightners through it. It tames my hair beautifully and feels lovely and soft, if I didn’t put anything in my hair, it would straighten fully and would end up frizzing up through the day! It’s normally around £5.50 for 50ml, so a great price!!
So if you have tricky, kinky hair give these two a go!!

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Quick Diet Update!!

I really wanted to do a post today on ‘Products that didn’t work for me’ but I’ve had a bit of a hectic day so I’ll do that tomorrow!
Anyway, rather disappointingly I’ve not lost a single LB this week, I’ve not stuck to it completely though, but I did totally cut out chocolate last week (which is REALLY tough for me)! However,I did go to breakfast with a girlfriend on Saturday, we both had Pancakes, crispy bacon and maple syrup........then a curry on Saturday night lol!! Mmmmmm......3 guesses why I’ve not shifted anything!! I think I’d better get more serious!!
Today I had is a bowl of Bran Flakes  with half a chopped up banana, when I got back from the gym (good eh?), I had a Muller Light Yogurt, a corned beef and salad sandwich and a packet of Light Choices crisps for lunch and  Spag bol with Quorn tonight for dinner! Lets see how long I can keep it up!!
Current Weight : 11st 4lb (Still)

Friday 6 May 2011

A Not So Sucessful Shopping Trip!!

This morning I thought I’d take a cheeky look around my local town while my Teddy was at school for the morning. I specifically went to pick up a great little offer I saw in OK magazine yesterday. Impulse are teaming up with Barry M and doing limited edition packs of body spray and a full size lip gloss for £3 (worth £6)!! However the Boots near me is quite small so didn’t have them, I was a little gutted, but the offer is available in Tescos and Superdrug too from the 11/5/11 – 7/6/11! Larger stores of Boots have the offer available now until the 17th of this month!!  There are 3 to choose from, Into Glamour which comes with a Clear Sparkle gloss, Tease with a Nearly Nude gloss and Very Pink which comes with a Pale Pink gloss!! Take a wild guess which is my favourite!! Lol!! So get your glam butts to the shops, come out smelling sweet with luscious lips!!
I then had to have a look in Superdrug, I went in there looking for Sleek make up but they didn’t have it, but OMG I found myself on the Famous By Sue Moxley stand!!! They eyeshadow palettes are to die for!!! I really had to pull out the willpower on this one, the whole range is really reasonable but I think my husband will cancel the joint account if I buy any more make up!!
Anyway, I’ll tell you a bit about it anyway.  Sue Moxley is a British television presenter, fashion model, beauty editor and celebrity Makeup Artist, (she’s also married to David Van Day, which has taken the coolness off this a bit!) who created her own make up line for Superdrug in November 2007, I really don’t know how I missed that!! Anyway, prices range from around £4 for Lip glosses to £12 for complete palettes! I fell in love with an eyeshadow palette Cafe Culture, it has 4 beautiful shimmery colours, a subtle creamy gold, a deep chocolate brown, a taupe and I think a khaki. I’m going from memory here so I might be slightly out. The quality was amazing, the eyeshadow was so highly pigmented, it just glided on perfectly, the colour was so strong, I was very impressed! At £9 not a bad price too, I really wish I’d got it now, especially as it was 3 for 2 too! I think there was another four eyeshadow palettes in the range! I wasn’t as impressed with the range of lipstick and glosses, the polishes looked alright, they did have some lovely pearlised blushers though.
 Ah man I really want that palette!!

Thursday 5 May 2011

White Glo..........No!!

I've been using the White Glo toothpaste for about 3 weeks now and I've almost finished the tube, I'm not that impressed though! It doesn't seem to have made any difference really, so I'm a little disappointed! I get a better result with Arm & Hammer Advanced Whitening, its around £2 cheaper and often on offer in Tescos and Wilkinsons.
 
Well, that's saved me a couple of quid anyway!!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Here Goes.......

Right, I've decided to go with Weight Watchers. After speaking to friends, family and asking on good old Facebook, it seems to be the favourite! So far today I have used up 11 points and have 18 left for the rest of the day.  I think we are having Seafood Linguine, which is fairly low in fat I think, I'll just have to limit the amount of pasta I have!

I'm new to the whole Pro Points change, so that'll take some reading up on but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it!
Does anyone who has already tried it have any advice for me??

Ok so here goes, today on 4th May I'm 11st4lb (boooooo). I'm going to weigh myself every Wednesday and track it on here!!

Wish me luck

x x

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Diets, diets, diets........am I really going to do this??!!

Ok so, after a week in Norfolk I ate a LOT of fish n chips, ice cream, fudge and Cromer crab. It's all caught up on me and I put on 3lb in that week!! Not Good at all, considering i'm not exactly a size 10!!

I can't quite believe I'm agreeing to this but, in the next couple of days I going to look into a diet that suits me, my routine and that I can work around my family. I'm then going to weigh (eeekk) myself every week, track my weight and report in to you each week on here!
I can't really commit to a weigh in class each week due to the kids etc, but this will be the push I need!

I'm going to Centre Parcs on 1st July with all my skinny girlfriends, size 8-10 friends.....booo!! So that gives me 10 weeks to get this lumpy size 14 body into a sexy size 10-12........OK I'd better not get ahead of myself!! If I do this sensibly I should lose around 1-2lbs a week, so in theory I could lose 10-20lbs in that time!!

So who thinks this is a good idea? Can anyone recommend a good diet for me? Does anyone want to join me and track their weight in my comment box each week?? Who's with me?!

So I'm not quite ready to reveal my weight to the world right at this precise minute, I have to syke myself up for that!! I'll check in, in the next couple of days with which diet I have gone for and my dreaded weight!! I might even add 'Before' and 'After' pics! Eeeekk!!

I will not be neglecting the beauty side of things.....no way, far from it!! I had a little spend up a few days ago, got a few new bits to try!!

Wish me luck x x x

Sunday 1 May 2011

Babyliss Conical Wand!

Hello ladies, so I’m back from my holiday with my little family! It was lovely, but the sea air does nothing for my locks, even with the Morrocan Oil!! It was so good to get back and give my hair a deep condition, I feel like me again!! Anyway....
....I thought I’d get back into the swing of things by telling you about my favourite ever hair tool, the Babyliss Conical Wand!! It’s fantastic if you want lovely wavy, tousled curls!
It’s so easy to use, I find it far easier to create curls than using straightners.  All you do is hold the tip of the wand which is protected from the heat, wrap your hair around for roughly  15 secs, let your hair fall and there you go, you have a perfect curl!
The smaller the section of hair, the tighter the curl, as I prefer a looser, more natural curl , I wrap round a thicker section. I spray each section with a flexible hairspray, once I’ve done my whole head I run my fingers through to create a natural look.












It has 25 heat settings, I usually have it on 23. I kid myself thinking I’m damaging my hair less from not having it on the hottest!
It comes in pink and black, it also comes in two different sizes. Its measured tip to base so the smaller is 13 – 25mm and the larger is 19 – 32mm. I went for the bigger, to create larger curls and of course the pink one.....I love pink!!
I got mine for around  £21, but they can vary. I’ve seen them on some websites for £32, so shop around!! Mine came with a mat and a glove to protect my fingers, you do have to be careful as they get very hot!!!
The Conical wand really is fantastic, as I think if gives you a sexy summery, beachy look! Perfect for the time of year!! I’ve had mine for a couple of years now and love it!!