Review: Soap and Glory 'Glad Hair Day' Range

I've mentioned these products before in passing and just said that I really like them, but I thought they deserved a little more praise now that I am formally obsessed with them. The 'Glad Hair Day' range from Soap and Glory consists of three products: shampoo, conditioner (regular), and intense conditioner. These 250ml tubes costs £5.50 a piece, and I bought mine on a '3 for 2' deal (Soap and Glory are great like that), meaning that I got the full set for £11 - not bad, not bad.

Oops, I made such a cock-up with the picture above: "Give your moody hair the heave-ho.." - It should say 'mane' Hannah, not 'hair'! Can't you read? Silly moose. Anyway, onto the Glad Hair Day shampoo. Since this has a 'no build up' formula it's supposed to give the hair amazing shine and be suitable to wash your hair with everyday. I don't wash my hair daily, but I have found this to be the perfect shampoo for what I can call 'everyday use', i.e. in my eyes this is for the washes where you don't want anything special; you don't want it super clarified and squeaking clean right down to the core, you don't want it super strengthened, smoothed or frizz free with an intense formulation, you just want it freshened up. Ideal for those times when I'm not going anywhere special and my hair doesn't need to look amazing; it's probably going to be thrown into a messy bun until the next time I wash it so I just want any excess oil shifting from my head (tehe, yummy). You might wonder why I love it then if it's nothing special? But it's the whole packaging with it's vintage style images and quirky slogans that easily please me, and then the amaazing fruity fragrance (heavily raspberry based) that fills the room and lingers on the hair makes it super yummy. A little blob goes a long way because it lathers up well and can keep my hair clean for around 4 days.

Now, I don't think much to the regular conditioner and don't think it's that great at all but that's probably because it's targeted towards finer hair types and I've got a big, thick frizzy mane that could never be described as fine. But if I use the intensive conditioner (aimed at those with thicker hair) with every wash then that becomes a bit too much and my hair can be overloaded. That's why it works ideal to have both of them and use them alternatively on each wash to create the right balance, and another way that I sometimes use them is a blob of the regular, a blob of the intensive and mix them both together in my hands before applying to my hair and that ends up working out perfectly! Soap and Glory needs to come up with a middle of the road formula.

The times when I use the intensive conditioner, though, is when my hair feels at its best and this is one that I know I will 100% use again and use as a weekly treatment for my hair as it leaves it in the smoothest and softest conditioner ever; not bad for a high street conditioner!

So, I may not have made this set sound all that special but the intensive conditioner is the absolutely star of the show with this range and the one that I would hands down recommend. If your hair is thicker or more damaged than mine then it may be suitable to use as a regular shampoo, but if your hair is like mine (or finer) then it makes a great occasional treatment to really work at smoothing and strengthening the hair!

Another win for Soap and Glory!

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Topshop Lips | 'Firecracker'

It's no secret to anybody that I'm a fan of Topshop's make up line and if you have not tried anything from them yet then I urge you to, even if it's just a little pink nail varnish you pick up I assure you that you'll fall in love and keep going back for more! This is my fourth lipstick from Topshop and I bought it the other week after lusting after it for such a long time. Topshop's lipsticks cost £8.00 (but £7.20 if you have a student card), which makes them one of the higher priced lippie lines on the high street (although some from Revlon are now creeping up to this mark), but their quality is above and beyond their price tag and they can give Mac more than a run for their money. I'd rather have two Topshop lipsticks than one from Mac!

My shade of choice was Firecracker, and no, your eyes are not deceiving you - this is a bright orange lipstick. Bright orange. It looks a little bit red/orange in the photographs and also in the bullet when you see it in real life, but oh no no no this is just orange. There's no denying that it's a bold statement colour to be wearing, but if you want a splash of colour on your lips then why not go all out? There's no pictures of me wearing it because I'm a little camera shy, so I hope this picture will suffice:

That's a little bit of lovin' from me to you right there! Isn't the colour just amazing? The finish on Firecracker is 'Velvet' which means that it is smooth and creamy with about the same amount as shine / gloss that you would get from a balm. The pigmentation is far from compromised by the velvety formula though and just one sweep gives a medium coverage on the lips which is great if you want to wear this more subtley, or a couple more sweeps can easily build it up to the full works of full and opaque coverage. The wear time is pretty good too and lasts for a few hours but leaves a gentle stain of colour on the lips, although be careful when you apply it because I smudged this onto the skin around my mouth and struggled to get the orange stain off! Definitely just looked like a had coldsores or had been messy eating my spag bol!

It's not one for the faint hearted, but it is an amazing statement lip colour that makes a change from classic red and would look amazing on holiday and on hot summer days (that's hard to imagine when it's currently snowing!) because I can just picture it complimenting tanned skin incredibly well. Hurry up sunshine so I can get some more wear out of this beauty!

Is this a lip colour you think you'd be dabbling in when summer rolls around?

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Review: The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream

Hello boys and girls. Today's post is about a moisturiser that hasn't left my daily routine ever since the day that I bought it (ages and ages ago - it's lasting forever!), and it is an affordable God send product for anyone like me with skin that is slightly on the oily side; either all over or in patches. One of The Body Shop's best sellers, this mattifying day cream is from their seaweed line which has combination skin in mind as it is supposed to find a happy balance for dry and oily areas of skin.

This 50ml pot costs £10.00 full price, but it is also available in a smaller trial size 15ml pot for just £4.00, and The Body Shop constantly has offers running too; whether it's 3 for 2 across all skin care or 20% / 30% off the whole store, it's unlikely you'd ever be splashing out the full £10 for a tub of this, but even if you did, it's more than worth it!

Having skin that tends to increase in oiliness as the day goes on has always been a bit of a pesky situation with my face and I have never been able to find the right kind of moisturiser than would suit me and in particular my oil slick of a forehead (yeah, nice). For a long, long time I always used to skip the step of moisturising and just more or less never bothered about it but have since learnt the importance of proper skin care and now know that even oily skin needs to be well moisturised! If you have this problem, then let me introduce you to your solution..

A cream than can cleverly moisturise all of your dry patches, whilst also balancing and mattifying the oily patches to give a shine free finish on your face, all while being perfectly nourished and hydrated. Fancy little trick that. 

I'm not sure how clear it is from the image above but this moisturiser is a gel formula and is a little bit sticky in texture but is extremely lightweight upon the skin, feeling refreshing and soothing upon application, and sinks in nicely to reveal an appropriately matte finish upon the skin to be able to use as the perfect base for the day's make up. 

I've got funny skin; some days it's really oily, some days it's like the Sahara desert and sometimes it's a mixture of the two like a patchwork quilt which definitely makes for hard work finding a suitable skin care routine! This is the perfect moisturiser and base to use on the days when my skin is oily and is 'combination', but on those days when my skin seems more dry I opt for a more intensely nourishing moisturiser, also from The Body Shop, from the Vitamin E range.

If you have oily skin and struggle to find something to control your shine throughout the day,

or need a balancing moisturiser than won't allow your make-up to slip and slide,

then this is one product that's worth trying out!

If you're considering it, next time you pass The Body Shop be sure to pop in and grab yourself a small £4.00 tub to test out and see how you get along with it.

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Review: Palmers Cocoa Butter Natural Bronze Body Lotion

Everyone feels better with a tan don't they? Life just seems a little bit brighter when your skin looks like you've been hanging in the Bahamas for the past week instead of the reality of sitting in the office or your classroom. I'll always love having a tan but have found the process a bit of a faff to keep up regularly (I'm super lazy), so always stuck to instant for nights out (good old St Moriz) and then spend the rest of the week looking like Casper's little sister.

When it comes to gradual tanning lotions I have memories stapled in my mind of school days where the girls (myself included) used to coat their bodies in Dove Summer Glow and more often than not make a total hack job of it and be walking around with bright orange streaks down their legs getting progressively more prominent as the week went on - not a great look to be sporting really! 

I gave gradual tanners another chance when I picked up Palmer's Natural Bronze lotion while it was in a half price sale after Christmas (usual RRP is £5.35 from Boots: link). I love the Palmers regular cocoa butter body butter; it's the most nourishing and beautiful smelling product I've ever put on my body, so I was hoping that this would be the same except it would leave me looking golden and beautifully tanned. It does still smooth and nourish the skin and doesn't leave any tacky residue behind which I love, and also it comes with a pump dispenser - something that I'll always be a fan of (small things). The main difference though is that it most definitely does not smell beautiful. It is as far from sweet cocoa butter as you can possibly imagine! A lot of fake tans have that biscuit/beef crisps lingering kind of smell and this one is no different. I don't mind it and can happily live with it, but it's not a scent that my boyfriend can put up with! Oh dear. Looks like this is just one to use when he's not around then. So, if anyone knows of any good fragrance free tanners just like this one then let me know!

With the tan itself I have never had any problems with it being streaky/stripey/patchy/blotchy and it has always come out lovely and even all over and although it is pretty dark which shocked me for a 'gradual' tan, it still looks a natural shade and isn't orange. The lotion comes out of the bottle white and looks like any other moisturiser so it can be hard to tell where you have or haven't applied it yet but as long as you're careful with how you apply and make sure to rub it in well and blend it in carefully at your hands and feet (often my downfall is failing to blend at my hands), then you shouldn't have a problem. The tan takes a couple of hours to develop and fades away gradually and evenly with each shower. You can reapply every day or every other day to build this up to a deeper and darker tan, or because it comes out so dark with one use you could use it the night before a special occasion and be prepared to be asked where you've been on holiday!

Cheap and cheerful at just over a fiver and doubling up as both an everyday moisturiser and a natural tanner this is an amazing product that I'm sure I'll repurchase, providing I can get my boyfriend to put up with the smell!

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Recreate Ashley Roberts' DOI Look With OSiS

A couple of weeks ago Immediate PR tweeted asking if any beauty bloggers would be interested in recreating a looking from Dancing on Ice using OSiS hair products. The look they were asking us to recreate was Ashley Roberts' plaited hair look from the DOI Sunday semi-final and I immediately expressed interest in this challenge. It's taken me a little while to be able to master this look but now that I've perfected it I am huge fan of this braided crown and think that it looks very sophisticated, although not so much with flashes of bright blue running through it, but it is the perfect way to make an up-do look a lot more interesting. 

I was sent the following products to use to recreate Ashley's look:

- OSiS Curl Me Soft curl cream

- OSiS Magic anti-frizz shine serum

- OSiS Sparkler shine spray

- Schwarzkopf Silhouette Color Brilliance hair spray

How I Recreated The Look:

Step 1: Wash hair and apply the Curl Me Soft curl cream whilst the hair is damp.

Step 2: The look works best on lightly curled hair, however I am on a heat styling ban so made the best with my natural mane; it still worked fine.

Step 3: Split the hair into two equal sections and starting from the nape of the neck, begin braiding the hair in the style of an inverted French braid (plait it under, not over), working from the bottom of the head and around to the front.

Step 4: Once braids are complete, secure with a clear elastic and run Magic anti-frizz serum over to smooth down any frizz and flyaways.

Step 5: Cross the braids over the front of the head and secure in place with a couple of kirby grips.

Step 6: Hold hair in place with Silhouette Color Brilliance hair spray.

Step 7: Complete by spraying all over with Sparkler shine spray for the ultimate dazzling look and you're ready to go.

I'm a huge fan of hair braids and my styles of choice are most often a plain and simple fishtail or French braid, but after speaking to Melissa (from Pretty Little Obsessions) about the best way to complete this look she gave me the tip to use a Dutch braid instead (an inverted French braid), and also to enlist your mum for a bit of help getting it started! I'm so glad my mum and I have learnt how to do this look, I can't wait to wear it again! I've also loved using the products too and will continue to use them as well as trying more things from OSiS; I have my eye on their DustIt powder.

Thank you very much to Immediate PR for the chance to be able to recreate Ashley's DOI look!

What do you all think of this braided style? 

Is it something you would recreate yourself?

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Review: Redken Radiant-10 Multi Benefit Treatment Spray

Hi guys, happy Friday! I hope that none of you have had your days disrupted by snow too much, but just in case you're snowed in tonight then you can have a read about my favourite leave-in conditioning spray that does just that, but so much more as well. It deserves to be in a league of it's own. If you're looking for a hair product that will do basically everything, then enter Redken Radiant-10.

Available from Feel Unique for £22.10 (worth the price, I promise), this spray in treatment is from Redken's line designed for coloured hair (Color Extend), and although my hair's only form of colour is the bleached ends I still reap all of the benefits that this product offers. Despite the full name being a bit of a mouthful (Redken Color Extend Radiant-10 Multi-benefit Treatment Spray), there's nothing but goodness to be found in this bright red bottle. Redken say that the formula combines the richness of a nourishing lotion with the lightness of a spray and that it has 10 benefits for the hair; hence the name Radiant-10. I would agree with the claim that it is a nourishing lotion in a light spray because if you're spraying onto dry hair then it won't make it feel 'wet', and if you're spraying it onto wet hair then it doesn't feel weighed down and full of product once it's dry but it does feel conditioned.

Some of Redken's 10 claims are a little bit hard to judge, such as 'shields from environmental aggressors' - I don't really know how much of a comment I can make on that one.. but the others I can definitely vouch for, no matter how subtle the effects may be. It works amazing well at detangling my hair and I always use just a couple of sprays of this when my hair is damp before attempting to get a comb through it, which ties in with improved manageability. Of course they're stretching it a bit by saying that 'nourishes dry ends' and 'provides lasting moisture' are two separate benefits; surely they're the same thing, right? But it doesn't matter because it works. My favourite aspect of this spray is how well it works at reducing frizz and fly-aways and makes my hair super silly soft! Then you get everything else that comes with it too: strengthened hair fiber, restored color vibrancy and infused shine. 

As you might be able to tell I am a huge, huge fan of this spray and it's made the life of my hair so much easier, mainly for it's detangling attributes and for minimising frizz. Multi-benefit treatment spray is definitely an appropriate name for this one. 

Regardless if your hair is coloured or not, this is an amazing conditioning and detangling product in a lightweight spray that everybody needs to try!

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Lush Empties and a Free Fresh Face Mask

Hello! I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but as well as being completely against animal testing, Lush are also completely in favour of recyling to the absolute extreme and are a brand with amazing ethics that I fully support. All of their packaging is made from recycled plastic and they have a recyling, or 'empties' scheme for their customers to encourage further reuse of empty packaging. It's very simple; return 5 clean and empty pots to Lush and you will receive one of their Fresh Face Masks worth £5.95 absolutely free!

I finally emptied 5 pots (shown to the left) so gathered them all up and headed off to Lush to trade them in for my freebie.

'The Jilted Elf' Shower Jelly - From the 2011 Christmas stock, this is shower gel in jelly form. A fun novelty but not all that practical when it slips and slides out of your hands and down the drain!

'Cupcake' Fresh Face Mask - A mask targetted for oily teenage skin that smells just like chocolate.

'Love Lettuce' Fresh Face Mask - Full review can be found here.

'Mask of Magnaminty' Face Mask - For times of trouble this peppermint mask is perfect for calming angry spots and perking up sluggish skin.

'H'Suan Wen Hua' Hair Mask - Full review can be found here.

I traded all of these empties in for a fresh face mask of my choice: Catastrophe Cosmetic, a blueberry based spot fighting, calming and cooling mask for regular maintenance of the skin to keep it in tip top condition.

Have you taken advantage of Lush's recycling scheme yet?

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Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment and Oil Infused Hairbrush

Okay, so oil treatments have taken over the land of hair care, that's no secret to any of us. I'm a big fan of hair oils, and have tried and tested quite a range (I own 12, that's an obsession gone too far, I know) but 'Macadamia' is one brand name that keeps on popping up again and again when people discuss their favourite hair care products; it's been named as a rival to 'the original' Moroccan oil treatment in the quality stakes, but beating it in terms of price (for comparison 125ml of Macadamia oil will cost you £23.95, whereas 100ml of Moroccan oil will cost you £30.45).

Macadamia combine two natural oils (Macadamia and Argan) that have been proven to help maintain the health and strength of hair, as well as adding shine. Perfect for hair that is damaged either through length and daily wear and tear, bleach and other dyes, or excessive heat styling, then Macadamia's natural oils could give you and your hair that has seen better days a helping hand and a little nourishment boost.

Healing Oil Treatment

The healing oil treatment is raved about by many and is a favourite of lots and lots beauty lovers everywhere. It can nourish hair, protect, smooth frizz, reduce drying time (how? I'm not too sure!) and even extend colour. Sound like a miracle in a bottle? Well it is. Don't be fooled by how I only have a 10ml size bottle and think that this will be gone in a week.. this has been going strong since December! As with most oils just a little blob is needed, rubbed into the palm of the hands and then massaged through the mid-lengths and ends when damp or dry to transform the condition of the hair. I don't know how I ever lived without oils before now. I normally rub one 'pea sized' blob of oil through the mid-lengths while my hair is wet and then another through the ends once it is dry to make my hair smooth, frizz free, shiny and soft - everything that you could want your hair to be! Also, because it doesn't weigh the hair down and make it greasy I can also apply a little bit more as a shine 'top up' on the days inbetween washing. 

I chop and change between my two favourites: this one and the Moroccan oil, and I have to say that the Moroccan oil is actually slightly preferred. I would still recommend Macadamia oil as it works fantastically, is exceptional high quality professional hair care and is also cheaper than the Moroccan oil, but just for me and my hair Moroccan oil is the winner. Little factors come into play such as a preferred scent and slightly more intense formula meaning less product is needed just means that Macadamia is beaten to the winning post.

Oil Infused Brush

An oil infused hair brush? I don't know about you but that doesn't seem to be something that you hear about every day. This is a really good quality paddle brush (my favourite type to use for my huge mane of hair) with a strong wooden handle, clean and basic design, and plastic bristles. I purchased this mainly out of curiousity and how it would be able to work. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it, but the entire pad and bristles are infused with the same natural healing oil treatment that I have just discussed above. The brush isn't sticky, oily or greasy to the touch and I assume it is only infused with a small amount to avoid overload onto the hair. It is an ingenious idea in my eyes, why haven't more people thought of this yet?! To be able to brush and detangle your hair at the same time as treating it? It glides through the hair without a problem, no tugging at all and leaves it looking sleek and manageable. The effects aren't quite as instant and obvious as they are when directly using the oil treatment but I'm not seeing any downsides to using this brush. One thing I'm not sure about is whether or not the oil will run out? Can it stay infused forever or will I eventually be left with just a hair brush? I'm yet to find this out! 

I bought this set from a seller on eBay that included the 10ml bottle of the treatment and also the hair brush for £15.99, but unfortunately this seller doesn't appear to be selling those products anymore. If you are interested then you can purchase the Macadamia Oil Treatment in a larger size of 30ml for £10.75 from Beauty Bay here, and the infused hairbrush for £16.75 here. Even if you're not sold on the idea of the hair brush then just the oil is worth giving a go and there's a whole range of other products from them on Beauty Bay, including shampoo, conditioner, masks, combs, etc!

Are you a Macadamia fan? Which of their products have you used?

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