redken hair cleansing cream: review

Redken Hair Cleansing Cream - RRP £13.65

Hello everyone. I've had a weird week; Tuesday was awful for a few reasons and then I started my new job on Wednesday so my brain is a bit all over the place. I'm working in a completely different industry and having done the same thing for so long it's been a bit of a shock as I've got so much to learn. Can't really complain though because that's exactly what I wanted. I'm really excited for the next few months and everyone I've met so far is lovely. It will probably mean a bit less time to focus on blogging though, but I have a few posts planned and pics taken etc so I'll be as active as I can!

Enough babbling, on to the review!

I bought this product because it had ridiculously good reviews on Makeupalley. I'd never really got on with clarifying shampoos as my hair is so ridiculously dry and coarse; they'd just dry my hair out more. For that reason I ummed and aaahed over getting it for ages and decided to go for it one day (a payday, no doubt). Read on for my thoughts!

bouncy hair with Dirtylooks HK hair extensions and Sleep In Rollers

I've worn HK hair extensions since they were known as Headkandy and sold on their own site by the same name. In the last few years they've moved over to dirtylooks.com but the quality hasn't changed, they're the nicest extensions I've ever worn and are lovely and thick.

As my hair is naturally so thick I have buy two sets at a time; what I'm wearing at the moment is just under two, as I cut the ones I was wearing at the top of my head to blend in with my layers, and they're too short now that my hair is finally growing. My hair is naturally just past my shoulders, and I wear the 16-18in extensions. 

I can't wear extensions straight because they don't blend well with my natural hair if it's humid and starts going a  bit frizzy, but I was getting bored of just wearing them waved with a wand all the time, so I dug out my Sleep in Rollers and thought I'd give them a try.

There's two ways I use them on my extensions, and I love both effects.

empties + mini reviews #1

Hellooooo! I am in fact not dead, I've just been getting iller and iller. I'm better again now though.

So, I've been planning an empties post for a while, as I like reading them because you get to see more about what people use regularly. I saved up all my empty packaging and here we are!

glossybox august 2012; international superstars

I saw on my blogroll that others had recieved this box today and was slightly surprised that mine hadn't been delivered yet, and then when I got home I realised when I'd cancelled and resubbed earlier in the month I'd put my home address and not my work one! Silly!

However, I wasn't too excited as I'd (as always) peeked through other people's boxes, and I have to say I was not overwhelmed at all.

This month's theme is International Superstars, which I assume is olympics related. It supposedly contains "cult" products from a selection of countries.

Onto the products:

Alessandro Pro White Nail Polish (top right)

Germany

this is a clear polish with UV blue added to it, which is meant to make yellow nails look whiter. Now this is virtually useless for me as I always wear polish, but I may wear it over other colours for clubbing.

I can't work out if this is full size (10ml) or not, but if it is it's worth £7.50.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil (top left)

Japan

this is a water soluble cleansing oil, which was the only product I was particularly excited about in this month's box. I haven't yet checked the ingredients but it smells a hell of a lot like pure Vitamin E oil. I used it to take my makeup off just now, and it did quite well, although I wouldn't say it did any better than pure Vitamin E if I'm honest, and it left my eyes very cloudy and slightly watery after use.

This is a 30ml sample, full size is 200ml and retails at £18.50

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press on Manicure (far right)

USA

I've had these in a previous Glossybox (February, possibly?), and didn't find them particularly great. They're good for a quick manicure, but really do not last well. The main reason I'd buy them would be for some of the very nice prints they have, like the leopard ones, but these are basically a gold, red and purple water marble effect, which is a) pointless and b) rather ugly in my opinion.

This is a full size product with 24 nails, retails at £7.99

Vera Valentini L'ombre á Paupière Margarita (middle top)

Spain

an eyeshadow palette containing 6 beige/browns and 4 greens. although the packaging of this is VERY tacky and cheap looking, I thought I could put it to some use as I wear a selection of neutral eyeshadows on a daily basis, but the quality of this is just horrific. All of the shadows are incredibly powdery, and give virtually no colour payoff whatsoever. I wasn't expecting the sponge applicatior that comes with it to be particularly great, but I tried to swatch with it and it doesn't pick up any product at all! It really does look and feel like "toy makeup" that I got with one of those plastic doll heads that you used to be able to get and apply makeup on. Awful.

This is a full size product and the RRP is £3.85

Lipcote (bottom left)

UK

Lipcote is a lipstick sealer that has been around for absolutely yonks, I remember my mum using it when I was young. I have purchased it myself a couple of times and never really got on with it; it does keep lipstick on but always wrinkles no matter how wide I keep my mouth after applying it! It seems that they've tried to re-brand this recently, which I remember them doing when I was younger by adding glitter. I had a purple one, it was vile. Anyway, I tried this just now and I still don't much like it.

This is also full size, RRP £3.99

Glossybox Lipstick in Glossy Pink

Glossybox Special

So this is another product Glossybox have manufactured themselves as an "extra" product. It's a kind of dusky pink, which looks horrific with my hair as expected, which isn't their fault. The texture is okay,a little bit waxy, but it smells very very cheap. The packaging is very clunky and horrid. The Glossybox logo is printed on the top but it's wonky, which I find a bit strange... Tbh I wish Glossybox would put more effort into the prodcuts that go into the boxes rather than making their own stuff to grow their brand, it's a bit cheeky.

They claim this is worth £9.50, which is an absolute joke.

I'm sorry to be so negative but I really don't like this box. I've seen people raving about it and I can understand that most of the products are pretty usable for people (including myself I guess), my issue is that Glossybox claim to provide "5 luxury samples. None I wouldn't consider any of these luxury other than the cleansing oil.

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures, but I just wasn't remotely excited enough to take a picture of each product.

I could only afford one sample box this month so went with Glossybox instead of Joliebox, because I did them the other way round last month, but to be honest I really wish I hadn't. Although for some reason I haven't got round to posting any of my Jolieboxes, I have found them highly superior to Glossybox lately, and I'm disappointed I gave up what is probably going to be a better box for this one.

Have you got this box? Am I alone in my disappointment? What's your favourite sample box?

xx

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st tropez dark mousse: review and comparison

I'm currently running a giveaway of either this or the original bronzing mousse; enter here

Yeeahh wooohoooo I got it!

This is the St Tropez Dark Bronzing Mousse, which is the much awaited dark version of their cult Bronzing Mousse.

This also comes in the lotion and spray forms. I purchased this one because although I find the lotion lasts better and is more moisturising; it takes far too much effort to blend it in properly, whereas I've got so used to the mousse it only takes me around 10 minutes.

Although it's generally agreed that the St Tropez is one of the best available fake tans around, one thing that I think puts a lot of people off is the price, to which this is no exception. It retails at £33 and only contains 200ml and when compared to the original, which is £31 and 240ml (there is a smaller bottle), actually makes it seem cheap (maybe not quite).

At the moment though, most St Tropez products are up to £5 off in Boots, including this which had the whole £5 off, so I paid a slightly less eye watering £28.

Now I love my fake tan, I am a constant shade of orangey-brown, usually brought to me by the St Tropez Bronzing Mousse, but I really don't find the colour to be dark enough. On a Sunday I exfoliate all my tan off and then apply 2-3 coats 2 hours apart throughout the evening, but then still have to apply another on the Monday, which gets really annoying and expensive, as you can imagine.

With this, I think I could probably use 1 coat on the sunday, and then top up again on either the Tuesday or the Wednesday, and then more as it faded..

When I was looking for information about this I couldn't find anything directly comparing it to the original, so I thought I'd do a little experiment for you.

Above is the original Bronzing Mousse and the Dark both squirted on a bit of kitchen towel, and the 2nd picture is 10 minutes later. As you can see, the original has a brown undertone but the dark is an undeniable dark green!

don't worry, these are just the colour guides!

I decided to do one leg in the dark and one in the original (I wonder if you can guess which one is which?) to have a direct comparison between the ease of application and colour result of both products.

I prepped my skin as normal, exfoliating with gloves in the morning and epilating my legs, then moisturising with oil, and then when I got home from work I exfoliated again, just moisturising my knees and feet, and gave my skin a couple of hours to chill.

When actually applying the products I used a new mitt from superdrug. The original applied slightly streaky as always, which I tend to just ignore after a certain amount of rubbing, or you will actually make yourself streaky.

Putting the dark (or green) tan on was hilarious. It was actually dark green. It's exactly the same texture as the other one though, so it was fine.

I then buffed, and went off to bed. In the morning I rinsed them off and moisturised, and was left with this. As you can see, the dark is considerably darker than the normal one, but still not great. I do wish I'd been able to do this post last week so I could have used my arms, but there was no way I was going to work this week with half my body dark and the other half less dark! 

The problem is my legs just don't take to tan that well, and the first coat always just seems to seep into my follicles, as you can see. I do also think I may have overbuffed, as the colour came out a lot darker on my body. The original doesn't seem to have done anything, and the dark colour is barely there.The lighting here is terrible, but as I've said my legs are rubbish at fake tan anyway.

Do keep in mind my legs were deathly white before; both products take a lot better on already lightly tanned skin.

I do think the dark mousse makes the original leg look a lot paler than it normally would, one coat of the original would definitely be enough for a lot of people, despite it looking pale.

The rest of my skin, which already had 2 layers of the original tan applied the previous day is the perfect colour for me, it's a gorgeous dark brown. I didn't talke a before picture of my arm because I am a moron.

I can't wait until the weekend when I can scrub everything off and just see how the dark turns out alone on my body.

I also used this product on my face, which was fine, it didn't seem to do much different than the original on my face for some reason, other than be green before I washed it off!

sooo, here's my natural colour, the colour guides and my finished tan(s)

A clear difference is how much guide colour washed off from the dark one. I find this makes it easier to apply, but there is no way you could go out with it on. It also might be a bit of a shock for people showering in the morning; a lot are confused by the colour coming off the original! But don't be scared of the guide colours, they're harmless. Unless you're a white towel or sheet, in which case you're dead.

Overall I really like this product and will continue to purchase it, but I do wish they did it in the standard bottle sizes, as I feel a lot of people would be more willing to buy the small one to try, and then the bigger one once they loved it.

I'd say if you already use the original and are considering buying this, but scared it'll be too dark, just go for it. It is quite a lot darker if you apply it thickly, but is probably the equivalent of two thin layers of the original when applied thinly with a mitt.

I hope this is helpful for those of you not too sure about this product, and sorry if it doesn't flow very well but I've been back to work this week and I'm knackered this evening, but I really wanted to get this post up.

Also, how muscular do  my legs look in those pictures?! I'm assuming it's because I had to take them whilst bent forwards if that makes any sense, and therefore they were tensed to stop me falling over...

Has anyone else tried this?

Am I going OTT with my tan?

Give me answers!

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montagne jeunesse dead sea mud spa mask: review

hey guys!

I have a non nail post for your today at last!

I absolutely love skincare. I am obsessed with my face to the point of insanity; and I have to be pretty ill (self inflicted or not) to leave my make up on over night. I moisturise myself so much I can't hold a phone without it slipping off my face. That was a lie but you get my point.

I do a face mask at least once a week, but I try to do one on a Sunday and one on a Wednesday. I just think that the skin needs a little extra attention every now and then, whether that be a deep cleanse, a moisture boost, or just a bit of a pamper for the sake of it.

I'm sure you've at least heard of Montagne Jeunesse, but in case you haven't they're a skincare company that sell a huge selection of face masks, and hair and body products. I first noticed them because of their fun ingredients and natural ingredients, including fruits as well as the standard clay and herb based masks.

I've always found their products to be of a good quality, and especially good as most of their facial sachets are under £3, which means you can pick and choose what you fancy at any particuar time, rather than having loads of big tubes of products you don't really like (one day I'll show you my facial skincare drawer. it's a perfect example of this!)

So, as I said, their products are all made of natural ingredients, as well as being vegetarian approved (some are vegan), and paraben free. They also list all of their ingredients on their website, which I think is a very very good sign; there's nothing worse than a company who's scared to tell us what we're putting on our skin. Montagne Jeunesse is proud of its uncompromising natural credentials and ethos for ‘Conservation of Energy, Protection of Animals and the Environment.

So, this is one of two new fabric masks from Montagne Jeunesse, and I'll be reviewing the other one soon. They're both natural clay based masks soaked into a bamboo fabric mask, which claim to deep cleanse your skin, as well as brightening it up a bit.

I washed my face with my usual cleanser, using a muslin cloth to remove any dead skin (I always do this before a mask, and recommend you do too!), let skin dry and then got on with application.

Now, I've never used a fabric mask before so was a bit scared, and having read others' reviews on this expecting it to be massive on my face... which it wasn't, so I clearly have a huge face. 

The only issue I had with the fit of the mask was the nose area, as you can see from the above picture it's a got eye, nose and mouth holes (thank god!), and the nose area covered the middle of my nose but not the crooks (?!) on the sides, which is where I personally find I need the most extra cleansing. I did manage to get it to cover these areas but it took a bit of manouvering. 

The mask is really quite wet, I was expecting it to be drier, but it wasn't wet enough that it would drip. It felt very cooling on, but I couldn't help but feel a bit like a burns victim, although I assume this is something to get used to with fabric masks in general. It was very pleasant on the face, cooling and comfortable.

The mask smells really lovely and fresh, but unfortunately this made my eyes water slightly, although they do tend to do this with most strongly scented (natural or otherwise) products, and it died down after a few minutes.

Once it was safely on my face and my eyes had been dabbed appropriately, I sat down with my book and chilled for about 20 minutes (they recommend 10-15, but I got too into my book!), and then inspected it in the mirror. My face was feeling a little bit tight but not too bad, as the mask hadn't entirely dried like classic clay based masks. The chin had dried quite a lot and detatched itself from my face but this was possibly due to tea sipping. I'm not sure if this is meant to dry out entirely, but I doubt it as it would fall off your face I imagine! 

I peeled off the mask and was pleasantly surprised to see a very small (slightly green) residue on my face, which washed off really easily, which is my usual gripe with clay masks. I absolutely cannot stand the feeling of when you get the dry mask wet, I know that sounds so bizarre but the feeling of my skin suddenly releasing makes me shudder. This wasn't an issue however and I was all cleaned up in a couple of seconds, with some help from a trusty flannel.

I then let my face dry and toned/serumed/eyecreamed/moisturised (told you I was into it) as usual.

MY GOD MY FACE WAS SMOOTH. I did the mask a good few hours ago now and my face is still insanely soft, it's amazing. I've had a good inspection with my magnifying mirror and my pores look a lot clearer as well, especially around my nose.

Both of the new Clay Spa masks retail at £1.49* (absolute bargain), and are available in Boots from mid August, and Asda from September. They can be purchased now from the Montagne Jeunesse website here.

Okay, I saved this until the end in case any of you have nightmares, but here is me laughing at how much of a weirdo I look with the mask on:

*This product was sent to me for review but all opinions are my own.

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notd: nailgirls metallic leopard + review

Two posts in one day? WOW! At the moment I'm lucky if I manage one a week!

I've been fancying having leopard nails for a few days now, and was therefore thrilled when I recieved these two beauties in my July JolieBox!

nailgirls are a London based company owned by two sisters. They own a salon and sell all of their nail polishes in there as well as on their website.

These two are from their Olympics themed Medal Collection, one is a true gold foily shimmer and the other is a bronze with a slightly less sparkly finish. I tried them both on seperately earlier and I love 'em! The gold base literally only took one coat, I am so impressed! There's also a silver in the collection.

My leopard nail tutorial is HERE!

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divaderme lash extender: review

I'm obsessed with my eyelashes. I'm constantly on the lookout for a mascara that will give me the huge, thick, black lashes I'm after, which I'm sure is a journey you'll be joining me on with this blog.
I generally apply about 7 coats of mascara in the morning before work, which takes absolutely forever. I go through phases of wearing falsies but I absolutely suck at applying them on my left eye, so they either stick straight up or poke me in the eye slightly, which is fine for a few hours but after a day of staring at a computer screen my eyes are all red and horrible.

So when I saw Divaderme's Lash Extender (lashes in a bottle) on Wowcher for £15.99 (I think) instead of £42, I had to get it.

Read on for my review...