My Tips for Dry/Frizzy/Damaged Hair

As a qualified hairstylist, I am always giving my friends and family advice on hair care. I have dry curly hair which is long so it is prone to damage. I thought today I would share some of my tips andfavourite products with you.

• A hair oil will become your best friend. For years I have been using Macadamia Oil. There are some cheaper oils out there, but for me they don't make much difference. I have even used high end oils that have made little to no difference on my hair. If you want your hair to be it's best, Macadamia Oil is the way to go.
• When using heated tools on your hair, always use a heat protection spray!  Heat from styling tools damaged your hair so much and can even lead to your hair breaking off, and no one wants that. I don't use a hairdryer that much, I mainly use GHDs or curling tongs, but if you are using GHDs on a regular basis (I know how addictive they are) then you need to use a heat protection spray. After you have styled your hair, rub a serum or styling cream through the ends to give you a smoother look. My favourite is Tigi After Party. This is expensive but a little goes a long way.
• Use hair masks and reconstructive conditioners on a weekly basis. Doing so will actually repair your hair rather than just making it look repaired, which is what normal conditioners do. My favourite masks and reconstructive conditioners are L'Oreal Elvive. They leave your hair feeling amazing and they do make a difference to your hair. They have a wide range, so you can have a play around and find your favourite. A lot of people rave on about Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. I have seen people have fantastic results with that product but personally I hate the smell and I find the product feels plastic-y.

I hope my tips have been helpful top you and if you would like to see any other hair tips i.e for colour hair or oily hair, then please let me know.

Illamasqua Haul

If you don't already know, or live under a rock, Illamasqua do an amazing sale each year just after Christmas. I have been wanting to try some more Illamasqua products for a while so I thought the 50-70% off sale was a great time to stock up. I was mainly interested in purchasing a blusher (I am blusher obsessed) and one of their liquid eyeliners.

 

I ordered Cream Blusher in Laid, False Eyelashes in 013, Medium Pencil in Sophie, Precision Ink in Wisdom, Liquid Metal in Solstice and Reflection Eyeshadow Palette

Precision Ink in Wisdom: This eyeliner is such a beautiful colour. I saw the swatch online but didn't think it would look that nice in person. It does. Wisdom is a lovely bronze colour packed with sparkle. I can't wait to try this with various looks as I love experimenting with eyeliners. Next is Medium Pencil in Sophie, this is just a standard black eyeliner pencil, an essential for every make up bag. Despite this being called a medium pencil, it produces a very thin line. I will probably wear this mostly to work on a daily basis, and possibly on my water line on an evening look. I think this pencil would be great for someone who struggles with applying eyeliner neatly or in a thin precise line.

 

At the top we have Cream Blusher in Laid. This is my first Illamasqua blusher and I have wanted one for the longest time. In this picture I have swatched it twice as the colour is very soft. I don't tend to like cream blushers as usually they feel cheap and don't blend very well but this is not the case here. This formula is very smooth and lightweight. Laid can be used as a wash of colour or built up for a stronger effect, so I imagine this will look beautiful on most skin tones. I am impressed and will hopefully be trying out more Illamasqua blushers soon. If you have any shades you think I would love, please let me know.

 

Underneath we have swatches from the Reflection Palette. These colours are very shimmery so I imagine they would look great on a night out. They give a wash of colour but can be built up for a bolder look. These shadows aren't very powdery which is great as I hate fall out from shadows. The top shade makes a great highlight colour. I have wanted to try this palette for a while but I thought £34 was a steep price to pay.

Last but not least is Liquid Metal in Solstice. I am sorry about the rubbish picture it is so hard to photograph! This shade is actually more wearable than I imagined. It looks stunning and I love the consistency of the product. I have never been fussed about trying these Liquid Metals I just thought for £7 it was worth a try, but now I would love to try out more shades. I am away in Liverpool next week so I think for a night time look this would look amazing with a deep purple lipstick, such as Illamasqua ESP.

If you would like to see any looks using the products mentioned please let me know.

L'occitane Christmas Presents

Some of my regular readers will be familiar with my love for L'occitane. It will also not surprise them that I received quite a lot of L'occitane presents this year.

 

 

 I have no idea what this lovely pink box is called as it did not come with a tag or label. Inside this beautiful box is Neroli and Orchidee EDT 7.5ml, Body Milk 50ml, Repairing Shampoo 75ml, Conditioner 75ml and Almond Shower Oil 35ml.

I have never had anything from the Neroli and Orchidee range as it is fairly new. It smells amazing and I would describe this as a floral with a musky twist day time scent. I have used the Repairing mask before but not the shampoo and conditioner so I can't wait to try them, the small size also makes them handy to travel with so I will probably save them for when I go away. I have always wanted to try the shower oil as I love the Almond Milk Concentrate by L'occitane.

 

This is the Ultra Rich Face Scrub with 10% Shea Butter. I have never used this before but before discovering the Immortelle range, I used to use the Shea range. I prefer to use a creamy scrub on my face rather than a gel as creamy scrubs tend to feel gentler on the skin. I can't wait to try this.
 

 

If you have been with my blog for a while you will know how much I love this toner. My mom bought me another bottle for Christmas as she knows I have fallen in love with this. It has the most beautiful fragrance of freshly cut flowers and gets rid of any dirt or make up that your cleanser didn't pick up. If you have skin that is easily irritated by fragrance, then I would recommend the Shea toner, as that is fragrance free and is very gentle on the skin.

This is the Immortelle Milk Make Up Remover. I asked my brother for this as I thought it would be a great accompaniment to the toner. The great thing about this cleanser is that it can be used with or without water.

Happy New Year

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year! I'd love to know what you got for Christmas and what your New Year's Resolutions are. For Christmas I received a lot of beauty gifts such as Lush, Kardashian Beauty and Philosophy which I will be blogging about soon.

My Party Season Must Haves

The day is nearly upon us! These are a selection of my must have items to get me through the party season, whether it's going out on Christmas Eve or NYE, or for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Lancome Idole Ultra 24h Foundation
This foundation is probably the most expensive I have ever owned, but it's worth every penny. I recently went up to a Lancome counter and said I was looking for a longwearing, matte foundation with medium to buildable coverage. This is great as you can go from working all day to partying all night without having to reapply which is why I think this is such a must have for the party season. It's also fantastic at hiding the signs of partied-out skin the next day.

Avon Glimmersticks Eyeliner in Sparkling Silver
I bought this a couple of months ago ready for the party season. It adds a touch of glamour to any eye look without looking overdone. This looks great both applied neatly and smudged. I will be wearing this on nights out over the next couple of weeks as I think it looks great and can easily turn any day look into a night look.

Lipcote Lipstick Sealant
I would say this is an essential of mine all year round and I use it every day. This is great to make any lipstick last for hours. If you are like me and love wearing red lipstick around the festive period, I recommend you try this.

I hope you all have a great Christmas!

No7 Eyeshadow Palette Review

First I would like to apologise for not posting for a while. I have been working full time and also been applying for jobs and getting ready for Christmas. Now onto the review.

I was in Boots doing some Christmas shopping and I spotted this. It's the biggest palette I have ever seen so I wouldn't recommend it for travel. There are 20 shades in this palette which include a perfect crease colour and a perfect highlight colour. There is a fairly even mixture between shimmery shades and mattes. The colour scheme is neutral and includes mainly browns, silvers and pale pinks. The shadows are really pigmented, but they do crease so I would recommend a primer as they are not as long lasting and crease proof as Clinique shadows. I went back and bought one of these for my mother because she uses No7 and I know she would use all these colours.

Available at larger Boots stores at £20.

November Favourites

Can you even believe that it's already December? I am already so giddy for Christmas! Here are my favourite products of November.

First up is Real Techniques Complexion Sponge. I didn't have high expectations from this as I thought surely a sponge is just a sponge. No. I was wrong. The different sides and points to this sponge allows you to do every part of your face. This blends in foundation and concealer so well and doesn't leave any streaky lines, and also makes the foundation set quickly, so you can apply powder as soon as you've done. The only downside to this sponge is that when you have cleaned it, it takes forever to dry, so I have two so I always have a clean one to hand. £6.99 Boots

Another Real Techniques product I have been loving this month is the Shader Brush. This is perfect for defining the crease and also blending out eyeshadow. When I want a simple, natural look, I just sweep light matte brown eyeshadow into my crease. £7.99 Boots

How could I not mention the Nails Inc Alexa Chung Xmas Set?! I picked this up at Harvey Nichols Xmas Beauty Event and I am so glad I did. I have enjoyed trying out these colours and mixing them with the different effects. My favourite shade would probably be the dark blue shade. If you would like to see photos of the nail looks I have created please let me know.

What have been your must have products this month?