Tuesday 27 November 2012

Is oily hair a problem for you?

For years now I have suffered with oily hair and it drives me insane, if I don't wash my hair every day it is oily and looks like I have poured a bottle of olive oil all over my head! I hate it, it is such a pain and I have tried everything on the market, I am also a connoisseur of dry shampoo I have tried so many, and I have found one I like but it still isn't the same as having clean hair, I can only wear my hair down when I have just washed my hair, even if I wash my hair at night it will be too oily in the morning for me to wear it down and I have to put dry shampoo in it and then put it up in a top knot or pony tail.

In the summer I was on the website Feel Unique buying products for my holiday to Greece and I thought I'd look at the shampoos for oily hair as I am always on the look out for something new to try, I saw that the Phtyo range of hair products had 20% off and they had a couple of shampoos for oily hair, I have read quite a lot of good things about Phyto as a brand so I looked into both the shampoos they had which were for oily hair and then went on to look at some reviews on line also, I decided to buy the Phyto Phytocedrat Purifying Treatment Shampoo as it was on offer and the reviews on line were all positive but to be honest I didn't hold out much hope as in the past other shampoos I have tried haven't worked. 

The shampoo came and the first thing I noticed apart from that is was in a metal bottle was the smell, it isn't a smell I like to be honest, it does smell a bit lemony but also a bit herbally, that's the only way I can really describe the smell, I like fruity smells and sweet smells and this is none of those, but it wasn't so bad it put me off, and I decided to use it that evening in the shower. The directions for use are to massage the shampoo into the scalp and then leave for 2 minutes before rinsing it off, my hair does get quite knotted when I have towel dried it but I can brush it out easily so it isn't really a problem. The consistency of the shampoo is really thin and runny and I have to take the lid off then hold the lid and the bottle in my hand and cup my other hand, pour the shampoo into my cupped hand and then put it on my scalp, it is so runny this is the only way to apply the shampoo to my hair, the colour of the shampoo is a browny colour so not very appealing but that doesn't matter if it works does it? 

The day after I used the shampoo my hair wasn't as oily as it normally would be but it wasn't clean enough for me to be able to wear it down, I spoke to my sister about it as she is a hairdresser and she said that with a lot of the shampoos for oily hair sometimes the hair can get worse before it gets better and to persevere with it. I carried on using the shampoo and was a bit disappointed with it and thought it wasn't really doing much and then one day forgot and picked up the shampoo I had been using previously which was an Alberto Balsam Apple shampoo, I washed my hair with it and dried it and went to bed, in the morning my hair was so so oily it was unreal, making me realise that the Phytocedrat shampoo was actually working. 

I have re purchased the Phytocedrat shampoo twice more since and I have to say it really is good, I can wash my hair now every other day which for me is fantastic, for example I washed my hair yesterday morning and dried and straightened it and this morning my hair doesn't need washing, I will wash it tomorrow but if I didn't have an appointment tomorrow I could probably just dry shampoo it and put it up which before would never have been possible, I am really pleased with this shampoo and cannot recommend it highly enough, the smell and consistency aren't the best but it really does do the job, and the best bit is it doesn't contain silicone or parabens. Here's what Feel Unique say about the shampoo and a photograph I took of my bottle of shampoo.



This antiseptic shampoo regulates the scalp and prevents the spread of oil, providing ultra-oil absorbing benefits.

The botanical active ingredients used in Phyto PhytoCedrat Shampoo (essential oil of citron, tormentil, geranium, nettle, rosemary and sage) regulate the sebaceous glands and decrease sebum secretion. The scalp is perfectly clean and the hair feels lighter and is beautifully shiny. Hair no longer requires frequent shampoos. Helps prevent the rebound effect. May be used on both natural and colour-treated hair.

Hair is left bouncy, soft and shiny.

Directions for use:
- Wet hair, apply shampoo
- Massage gently into a lather
- Leave on for 2 minutes
- Rinse thoroughly
- Repeat if necessary

Active Ingredients
- Essentials Oil of Lemon.
- Geranium Extract.
- Extraction from 9 Plants (48%).

Silicone and Paraben Free 

I am really impressed with this shampoo and would recommend it to anyone who suffers from oily hair, it has worked wonders for me and I will continue to use it, it is expensive at £11.50 for a 200ml bottle but Feel Unique are always having promotions and offering discount codes so I buy it when it has money off. 

Have you tried the Phytocedrat shampoo or any other shampoo for oily hair? What did you think? Do you have any recommendations for me for my oily hair? 

Thank you for reading, much love

Zoe x

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Thursday 22 November 2012

I'd Love That........My Wish List

If you have been watching my you tube video's or following my blog for a while, you'll know I have a teeny weeny on line shopping addiction, ok ok I'll admit it then, it's a mahooosive on line shopping addiction! Since becoming medically retired and basically being bored out of my brains most days, I find myself looking on line rather a lot, and funnily enough my fingers always end up taking me in the direction of my favourite on line shopping sites. I have been trying to be good though with Christmas on the way and me being so behind, but there are a few products I would really really like so I have made a little wish list of them and I thought I would share it with you.


 River Island Rose Gold Watch With Diamante Detail £30.00






 MAC Cosmetics Lipstick In 'Darkside' £14.00




Shu Uemura Loose Powder In Colourless £26.50
MAC Cosmetics Perfectly Plush Brush Kit In Mineralize £39.50




MAC Cosmetics Pro Sculpting Cream In 'Pure Sculpture' £17.50


River Island Watch

I love River Island watches, I have been buying my watches from River Island for a few years now, they always have a watch in stock that I love and I have had my white one for a good while now, and I had the same one in black before I bought the white one so the rose gold colour of this watch is totally different, although it does have the diamante face, as all my watches have had for the past couple of years or so, I think £30 isn't too bad for a watch, it is more expensive than I would normally spend, my other watches have all been around the £20 mark, but I think it's worth it. 

MAC Lipstick in 'Darkside'

Recently I have been loving red or dark red lipsticks, usually I go for nude or pinky toned lipsticks but after trying one of Coles dark red lipsticks on I realised I really liked the look of it and have been getting more adventurous when choosing lipsticks, I really like the look of Darkside, it isn't too dark  and is a lovely plum colour, I have a lot of blue in my lips due to medication I take and really struggle with lipsticks, but after trying Darkside I loved it. 

Shu Uemura Loose Powder

I have extremely dry skin and struggle so much to wear any sort of face powder, but due to medication and always being very hot I am constantly shiny, this is not a good look and I have tried loads of face powders over the years from drug store to very expensive high end products, at the moment I am using the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder, it is ok but I don't love it, for £3.99 it's not too bad, but I thought this before Cole used the Shu Uemura powder on me when doing my make up, it is absolutely gorgeous, I love it, it doesn't look cakey, it's the nicest finish I have had to my skin ever, I was so impressed by it and received a lot of compliments on my skin when wearing it, it is a bit pricey at £26.50 but considering the amount I would use I'm pretty sure it will last a while. 

MAC Perfectly Plush Brush Kit 

I really love the MAC 130 brush but this brush kit is such good value for money, the 130 brush alone is £29.00 so for another £10.50 you get an extra three brushes, which for MAC brushes is excellent value! I love MAC brushes, they are the best brushes I have tried (and I've tried lots) they last well and clean nicely, the 217 and 224 brushes are in my opinion the best blending brushes out there and the 130 is lovely for applying foundation or cream blush or even for blending out the Pro Sculpt Cream.

MAC Pro Sculpting Cream

The Pro Sculpt Cream is lovely, Cole used it on me when she did my make up a few weeks ago and I loved it, I think I would have to practice with it a few times but I really liked the look it gave, and know once I'd got used to it, I'd use it a lot and now Cole gets a big discount on MAC products, it would be rude not to get the odd thing from MAC wouldn't it? 

So there is my wish list, what do you think? Is there anything you would like on my wish list? Do you have a wish list and if so what is on your wish list? 

Thank you for reading, much love 

Zoe x


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Wednesday 7 November 2012

Essie Nail Polishes

As you will know from my last post, I love painting my nails, I file then paint them every week with a different colour and really enjoy doing it, during the summer months I'd say that most of the time I have a french manicure just because it's easy and goes with everything but in autumn and winter I love more muted colours that seem to go well with everything, for the past couple of months I've been loving Essie polishes, I love Essie as a brand and I'd say along with Orly they are my favourite brand, they last for a week without chipping, although I do always put an Orly top coat over them, they look lovely and have some amazing colours, there really is something for everyone, and now they are available at Boots and Superdrug it is much easier to pick them up, although I do still buy most of mine online.

Recently I have been wearing the same five Essie polishes a lot, I always reach for one of them when it comes to my Sunday night nail painting, the five colours I love are, Angora Cardi, Bordeaux, Chinchilly, Merino Cool and Smokin Hot. They are all quite muted colours apart from Bordeaux which is a rich deep red, here's how Essie describe each colour, I have added a photograph of each polish too.


 
Angora Cardi - A creamy deep dusty rose
                                                   


Bordeaux - A deep red wine



Chinchilly - A sleek granite grey



Merino Cool - A sensuous autumn mulberry



 Smokin Hot - Break the rules with this stone-cold fox grey that burns hotter than any flame


The photographs were taken in natural light and do reflect the actual colour of the polish, I would agree with Essie in the most part, apart from with the description of Smokin Hot, they lost me a bit there to be honest. I always thought graphite was a more deep dark grey and Chinchilly is more of a taupe/grey and definitely not a deep dark grey. I would definitely say all the colours apart from Bordeaux are more muted, they are all lovely colours and perfect for autumn and winter, I always get lots of compliments when I'm wearing any of the colours and if I wear them when filming for Youtube I often get asked what nail polish I'm wearing. 

Essie retails at £7.99 which I do think is a little expensive since they are a high street brand, at the moment they are three for two on the Superdrug website and there is free delivery which is a great deal, unfortunately the colour I want isn't on there, so I miss out, you win some you lose some I suppose. The next Essie polish I want to buy is called Miss Fancy Pants, it is a nice taupe colour and again I think it will be nice for the coming months and go nicely with lots of my clothes. 


Have you tried any of the Essie nail polishes? Which are your favourites? What other brands of nail polish do you recommend for me to try? 


Thank you for reading


Zoe x







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Monday 5 November 2012

My Gel Nails - A Gelish Manicure

I love painting my nails. Every week, usually on a Sunday I paint my nails, this is something I really enjoy doing from choosing which colour to use, filing my nails and then painting them. My nails grow really fast and are quite strong, I am lucky in that respect I suppose, but it means that even when my nails haven't chipped I still have to take off the polish and re paint them weekly due to the unsightly re growth I get.

Just after Lissy was born, a friend of mine bought me a voucher for a manicure at my local beauty salon. It was a 'new baby' gift, she decided rather than buy a baby gift she would treat me to something nice for myself, it was a lovely idea and I was thrilled as I'd never visited a beauty salon before, I have now been a client of that salon for over 15 years. I love having a manicure, I also have pedicures, eyebrow and leg waxing but that's another post entirely. I have got to know all the ladies who work at the salon along with many of their other clients over the years, and I thoroughly enjoy going for my treatments. I've never been the most adventurous of people where choosing a nail polish colour is concerned and more often than not in the past would choose a french manicure, but over the last couple of years I have been choosing more colours and think I have now worked my way through most of the pink, coral and red colours at the salon!

Emma, the lady who does my nails told me about a new treatment they were offering called Gelish, a manicure using a gel nail polish rather than regular nail polish. She explained I could either have a full manicure with Gelish or just a file and polish using the Gelish, I opted for my usual manicure, and loved it, from the first time I had a Gelish manicure I loved it and knew it was something I would have often, I loved how long the polish lasted on my nails and how shiny they looked all the time. It's also great because I can paint over the gel with my own nail polishes as long as I use an acetone free nail polish remover to remove the polish, this doesn't damage the gel, so I have the best of both worlds.

When having a Gelish manicure the manicure part is exactly the same as my usual manicure the only difference is the polish used. With Gelish, after the initial manicure is done, my nails are buffed and then a base applied, I then put my hand under a UV lamp for a few seconds, then Emma applies the Gelish polish in which ever colour I choose, at the moment I have Rosy Red a lovely true vibrant red, once the colour is applied I then put my hand under the UV lamp again and then a top coat is applied and again I put my hand under the UV lamp, my nails are dry immediately, I don't have to wait for them to dry, Emma applies a little cuticle oil and I'm done. My nails always look amazing when I have had a Gelish manicure and last for 3 to 4 weeks, I have had around 10 Gelish manicures up to now and my nails always look brilliant and have never chipped once when I have had a Gelish manicure, I always go to the salon to have the Gelish removed by Emma, she removes the Gelish polish by soaking my nails in acetone and then removing the polish by buffing my nails, followed by my usual manicure. 

I usually leave it around a month in between having Gelish manicures, when I first started to have the Gelish manicures I had them all the time for around 3 months but I noticed my nails did start to break more easily, so I started to leave a gap in between and now my nails are fine and very healthy. I would say that if you had gel nails continuously your nails would weaken and break more easily but gel doesn't damage the nail in the same way as acrylic nails do. I had acrylic nails a few years ago and they completely ruined my nails. 

I have taken some photographs of my nails during the 19 days I have had my Gelish polish on my nails to demonstrate how much re growth I have, like I said my nails do grow extremely quickly and re growth won't be the same for everyone as everyone's nails grow at different rates. 


The Day After Application

Nine Days After Application 

Nineteen Days After Application


As you can see the re growth is quite bad now and I am glad I am going to have the Gelish polish removed later this week. My nails are still really shiny and do look nice and from a distance the re growth isn't noticeable at all, but it is driving me mad! I have always been really pleased with my gel nails and will definitely continue to have them done, although since Cole is such an amazing nail artist I do only tend to have gel nails for special occasions now. I still go to the salon for regular manicures because I enjoy the experience of visiting the salon, especially since I have been medically retired and cannot get out much, it is a treat for me to go to the salon and chat with Emma and also the other clients. I really can have my cake and eat it, I have a daughter who is an amazing nail artist and can do my nails for me at home when I want and I still go to the salon for manicures as a nice morning or afternoon treat. 

Have you had a Gelish manicure or any other gel nails? What did you think of it? Would you have it done again? 

Thanks for reading,

Zoe x
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