This is a duo I picked up in LUSH recently, after having a bit of a fail with my previous shampoo of choice (Naked’s Rescue formula since you asked – was just too rich for my hair unfortunately) had left me with greasy roots and rather limp looking hair, whilst still suffering from the dreaded dry ends (as a straightening addict and home hair dyer, I have no idea why I have that problem…)

As you all know I recently switched to being veggie, and also decided to be a lot more selective in terms or which products I use and review in terms of animal testing. LUSH and I have not always been on the best of terms (I find their bath ballistics a little pointless), but I decided to give it a whirl and wondered into my local branch for a mooch. Unfortunately, my leisurely look about was somewhat ruined by the now standard flurry of “offers of help” everytime I so much as looked at a product. (Please LUSH, STOP with the aggressive sales technique, let people have a browse for Christ’s sake!).

Anyway, after a couple of attempts to fight off the sales assistants I realised I had just better bite the bullet, and I asked which haircare they would recommend for me – FYI, my hair is fine, with dry ends, greasy roots and is regularly coloured and heat treated.

I was recommended BIG shampoo and Veganese conditioner, and so I duly trotted home with my purchases like a good little customer. As luck would have it, whilst all LUSH’s products are cruelty free, these two also happen to be vegan, which is a good thing in my opinion…

The shampoo is a bit unusual in that it comes in a pot and is full of coarse sea salt crystals which LUSH say is there to give volume. It also contains seaweed and coconut for softness, lemon and lime for shine, and vanilla, neroli and mandarin for a nice smell.

I actually expected this to make my hair feel a little bit rough, but I was surprised that the shampoo actually turned out to be pretty pleasant to use. The sea salt gives it a pleasantly refreshing feeling on the scalp, and actually does produce a lot of volume, whilst the rich creamy base means it doesn’t dry out my hair. I was also massively pleased with how shiny this left my hair looking. The only note of caution I’d have for this shampoo is that it might not be great on coloured hair – now while I don’t mind a bit of fading because I colour my own hair at home, if you’ve spent megabucks on a flash salon job, you might not be so keen… After a few uses I have noticed that the ends of my hair definitely do not feel as dry as they did, but this could also be due to my use of this…

Veganese conditioner is one of two of LUSHs vegan conditioners (made vegan by the absence of lanolin), which is their lightest formula conditioner, made for all hairtypes, and is designed to give shine without weighing hair down. Initially I didn’t think this would be rich enough to deal with the dry ends of my hair, but I’m happy to say I was proved wrong. Its a light formula, spreads easily through the hair and rinses easily. It has a *bit* of an unusual scent though – I’d say earthy crossed with a mild lemony scent, which you’ll either not mind or find vile. I don’t find it lingers on the hair anyway, so I fall into the “don’t mind”camp. A few uses down the line, and I’m pretty impressed with this – its a great conditioner for fine hair types, and whilst it doesn’t do anything earth-shattering, it doesn’t claim to, and my hair definitely *feels better* since I’ve been using it. People with coarser, drier hair types might not find this rich enough for them.

So overall, I’m impressed by these two hair products – obviously being a beauty blogger I’ll try other haircare, but I can definitely see myself purchasing both of these over and over again. They seem to work well for my hair, and that’s a tough audience to please!

Disclaimer – I bought these products myself.

I’m the first to admit, I’m not a “hair” person. I envy the way some girls can whizz up perfect hair every day with a mere flick of their straighteners. Sadly I lack the time, patience and styling finesse to create nice hair. I feel I’m doing well if I throw on a box dye and remember to get it cut every couple of months quite frankly.

In the past when I’ve managed to force my locks into something resembling a hairstyle, I always feel ever so slightly self-conscious, like “and where the hell do you think you are with your hair like that then?” My sister’s hair is amazing – she has a mass of tumbling curls which pretty much style themselves, or she will clip it into a fabulous updo with one hairgrip and a flower. And she only has to wash it about once a week. The good hair gene however totally skipped me. My mum has wavy hair and my dad and sister have lovely curls. I got flat limp fine hair, which when blow dried looks like a puff of candy-floss, and when left to dry naturally just turns frizzy and sticks under on one side and out on the other side… It’s my beauty no-go zone.

Given how rubbish I am then , it’s amazing how dry and damaged it can get, something I noticed recently – the ends felt like straw and it was in need of TLC! So, after hearing many raves for this I finally managed to hunt a bottle down in Superdrug for the grand sum of £3.99.

The formula contains Argan Oil and is enriched with vitamin E, and you get 50mls in a bottle. Considering you only use a smidge each time, I’m expecting this bottle to last a good 5-6 months.

I’ve been using it on both wet hair prior to blow drying , and on dry hair to add a bit of extra moisture through the ends – I use about 6-8 drops per time, although a bit of trial and error might be needed as the amount you need will obviously depend on condition, thickness etc of your hair…

Initially when using this I did feel a little bit “meh” about this product, as it didn’t seem to be doing much, but I perservered, and did start noticing some positive changes in the condition of my hair. It started to look less dull and more shiny, and the ends definitely started to feel smoother as I continued to use it. This also didn’t make my hair feel greasy at all, but like I say, common sense would dictate not to use it by the roots.

Verdict – This gives good results over time if you persevere with it, but those looking for a quick fix may need something more along the deep conditioning lines… Worked fine on my fine hair, didn’t weigh it down, and very good value for money.

Have you tried this?

As you are aware I’ve been sporting red locks for some time now – I do it myself because its cheap and easy just like me, and you can usually pick up box dyes on offer and do it in your own time so it’s convenient too. Well, apart from the mess that is – I wish foam dyes were available in more vivid shades because they are sooooo much less messy, plus one box is plenty (I have fine hair but lots of it, so it needs about one and a half boxes of conventional liquid dye…)

Anyway, up until recently my dye of choice was the Schwartzkopff Live XXL in the shade “Real Red”, but I was getting a little bit dissatisfied with how long it was lasting, or rather not lasting before I got a washed out shade of brassy gingeriness, Something like this…

This is quite vile, as I’m sure you’ll agree – Now I’m realistic with red hair dye – It’s not going to last as long as brown or various other shades, but also I have to bear in mind that dying it every two weeks (which was how long it was lasting before going all wishy washy) is

A) Bad for my hair

B) A big pain in the arse.

I was also feeling a bit like this shade made my eye brows (which are much darker than my natural hair shade anyway) look like they were comically dark, so I started looking for a darker, but still vivid red shade. And this was what I found…

Obviously the Garnier Nutrisse dyes have been about for a while, but these new “Ultra” versions are new and meant to be more intense/pigment rich etc.

Anyway, one and half boxes slapped on the hair, half an hour, a good rinse and deep condition later and this was the colour I got…

I’m liking this so far – it is darker in real life than the picture suggests though - and it doesn’t seem to have wreaked too much havoc on the condition of my hair either. Time will tell though how well this shade bears up over the next few weeks. If it still washes out quickly, I’m considering giving up on red and going for a more natural chestnut or mid brown shade, for the condition of my hair if nothing else!

Have any of you guys used this range of dye? What were your thoughts/experiences on it?

The Disclaimer Bit – I bought these products myself in Super-dooper-drug, or Superdrug, as normal people call it (Does anyone else call it that in their heads? No? Just me then…). Anyway, I can’t remember the price, but knowing the bargain hunter I am when it comes to hairdye, it was probably on offer, either an introductory price or two for one or summink…

Howdy doody peeps, you may remember some time ago I mentioned the P&G summer online event (see THIS POST for more info…). Well, as with last years event, this one was a big success, thanks to the questions submitted by you lot – funnily enough the most popular question from the poll was about how to achieve a smooth lady like bikini area (Seems the 70′s style ‘fro is still not a good look for “down there” then…)

There were lots of lovely experts on hand at the event, so here’s a couple of extracts from the footage… Firstly, Caroline Barnes, chief makeup artist for Max Factor…

And since you all seem so interested in hair removal, here’s a clip from Nicola Joss, representing Braun and Venus…

You might also remember that if your question got asked on the night then you stood to win a big old goodie bag – to check if you were one of the lucky ones, click on the link HERE and register to watch the event… Good luck! (Winners will also be contacted soon by email!)

Disclaimer – this is part of a sponsored post brought to you in association with HandPicked Media and P&G

After what feels like months of anticipation (but was actually only a fortnight or so…) my Glossybox finally arrived this morning, and fell into my grubby little paws when I got home.

Now I’m sure you are aware of the GlossyBox, after all, it seems to have taken over my twitter timeline several times over the last couple of weeks. But for the uninitiated GlossyBox is a £10 a month subscription service which sends you a box of five “deluxe” sized samples… the kind you’d usually get as a gift with purchase, rather than the crappy little sachets the counter ladies sometimes begrudgingly give you if you offer to sacrifice your firstborn and remortgage your house ask very very nicely.

So here’s a few Piccys;

First thing that stands out about the GlossyBox is how lovely the packaging is – Its like recieving a lovely gift… With love from me to me!

So, packaging aside… whats in the box then? I’m sure you have already seen this on twitter and many other blogs but here ya go!

So thats a full size (30ml) tube of NARS Orgasm Illuminator, worth £21.50, an All For Eve full sized lipstick in “Eve Red”, worth £12.50, a 4ml sample of Bionova bioactive cleanser (admittedly small, but more than made up for by the two full sized products I feel), a 25 ml pump bottle of Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Colour Hold Hair Repair Spray, and a 50ml bottle of Como Shambhala Invigorating Body lotion. Not bad for £10… Lets hope future boxes live up to the same standard, as GlossyBox have set the bar high for themselves!

Top - Orgasm Illuminator, Bottom Illuminator blended out

All For Eve "Eve Red" swatched.

So, as you may be aware if you’ve been following GlossyBox on twitter or through blogs, or on their YouTube channel, the first box was a sell out, so if you missed out on this first box, but you want one, then you’re in luck! Basically shortly after I subscribed to the service I was contacted by GlossyBox offering me a sample box to review – I sensed an opportunity for a giveaway and GlossyBox were happy to agree.

So if you missed out and fancy a box of your own, than leave me a comment telling me you want the box below, and I’ll draw the winner at random a week from now (Midnight on Thursday 26th May) and announce it on here, so be sure to check back! *UK ENTRIES ONLY PLEASE!

If you want to order your own GlossyBox, you can do so HERE.

Disclaimer – I purchased the box shown in this post myself via a subscription to GlossyBox UK, the giveaway prize is a PR sample. The winner will be sent this free of charge by myself.

Regular blog readers may remember last year’s P&G webcast, which gave us all the chance to interact live with their brand ambassadors.

On Thursday 2^nd June 2011, P&G will be hosting a similar event, involving ten P&G ambassadors including…

Caroline Barnes for Max Factor;

Ben Cooke for Herbal Essences;

Nicola Joss for Venus and Braun;

Other brands represented will be Silvikrin, Sebastian Professional, and Wella.

P&G want to know what questions you want answering by voting in this poll;

If you have any other burning questions then leave them in the comments box below, because if your question is picked on the night then you will will a goody bag from Proctor and Gamble, filled with all their star products to try.

As mentioned in my recent post about the new Braun Epilator, I’d love to know what ideas they have for the next model up in the series!

Check back here on the 3rd June to see if you won, and also to have a look at the broadcast…

Disclaimer – This is a sponsored post on behalf of Handpicked Media and Proctor and Gamble.

After I recently got my hair dyed red at the lovely Tommy’s Hair Salon (see post HERE), my hair was finally starting to fade, look a bit lacklustre and generally need a bit of a colour boost. However due to recent changes in my personal circumstances, I can no longer afford swish salon dye jobs. I figurered that since the staff at Tommy’s did a little bleach wash on my hair prior to the last dye, a vivid box dye would probably take better now anyway… Enter Schwartzkopf Live XXL in shade 35 “Real Red”…

Prior to application my hair looked like this… very wishy washy I think you’ll agree…

As you can see, the old dye had pretty mush faded completely, leaving a wish washy paled down brown in its wake…

I have to say, I still prefer the ease of application of the foam dyes, especially the John Frieda one, but they just don’t come in vivid enough colours for me to get the red I’m craving.

The box contains the following; instructions, gloves, developer, creme colour, and conditioner.

So the usual application and leaving on for thirty minutes took place (together with copious amounts of scrubbing dribbly bits of dye from my ears, neck, arms, back, etc… and this was the result (I used two boxes of the dye);

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the result – from what I can tell it looks pretty even, and my hair still looks pretty shiny and healthy, as well as being a step further along the road to pillarbox red. I have a feeling that with repeat applications the colour will possibly become more intense.

If you’re a fan of the XXL live range, then get to Superdrug now, as they are on offer there – you can get two boxes for £7.99, or three for £9.99.