Color WOW! Winter Haircare Heroes

Color WOW is a brand that I had heard little about until recently when I was offered the chance to try out a couple of their products. Colour WOW products are targeted at people who colour their hair and want to keep the look and condition as beautiful as possible for as long as possible. I live in Somerset in the South West of England and for those who don't know, the weather here lately has been totally awful with wind and rain throwing itself from all directions and it's sure been playing havoc with my hair so I jumped at the chance to try out some goodies that promise to give frazzled hair some TLC.

I was sent the One-minute Transformation Styling Cream (*) and the Get in Shape 2-in-1 Working Hair Spray (*) from the range in order to smooth my winter hair back to beauty.

The Get in Shape 2-in-1 Working Hair Spray* which retails at £16.50 for 150ml is a non-aerosol formula and instead has a spritzer like you would find on a body spray which is a big plus for me because I hate all the fumes you usually get with hair spray and it has a soft, pleasant scent. The formula is designed to give hair "guts" and strong hold without going dry, crispy or making coloured hair look dull. I use it mostly for my fringe which has a tendency to do whatever it wants and I've found that whilst it doesn't hold it rigid when the wind blows, it does mean that when the wind drops again it falls back into place without being messy or needing constant attention and it really does give it a soft gloss at the same time. Perfect!

The One Minute Transformation Styling Cream*, also £16.50 has given me some mixed results. When applied onto dry hair and just smoothed through I found it made my hair a little oily, maybe because it is designed to give hair an instant hydration boost throughout the day as well as giving styles extra life by replacing natural oils which are lost in chemical treatments and whilst I colour my hair, it really isn't dry. However, I've found that the trick seems to be to run a small amount through hair before blow drying to maximise the styling benefits and give a beautiful gloss with plenty of definition without becoming overly oily.

A bit of  mixed bag for me, I completely adore the hair spray and have done since first use but the styling cream isn't as much of a hit for me. I enjoy it now I've worked out how to use it, but I'm not sure I would personally pay £16.50 as it just isn't that suited to me. You can pick up the Color WOW range in Space NK, I'd like to try the Root Lifting Spray next.

What do you think of the sound of Colour WOW products. Are they something that you'd look at?

Annie xx

New Hair

Oops, life has really gotten in the way the last few days and I've been too busy going out and having fun so haven't popped up a post! I'll be back properly tomorrow but for now I thought I'd show you my new hair style :)

What do you think? It feels so much lighter after having it long for ages. Also so much easier to manage!
Annie xx

TIGI Bed Head Blonde Bombshell Giveaway!

So it's been a little while. I had a tonsillectomy on Monday morning so for the last few days I've had zero energy and lots of pain but earlier on I managed to gather a bit of energy to take some photos for posts for the next week or so which means I can blog to distract myself :)

I've loved the Bed Head range from TIGI for a long time. I like that the products are reasonably priced, good sized and the tongue in cheek style makes me smile.

The Blonde Bombshell* kit is the perfect one stop gift for both natural blondes and those who colour their hair. Containing three full sized products; the Dumb Blonde Colour Combat Shampoo, Dumb Blonde Colour Combat Conditioner and the Dumb Blonde Colour Combat Leave-in Conditioner it is a good all rounder.
Colour combat technology helps to not only lock in the true colour and keep it vibrant but it also deep conditions and works to actively strengthen the hair.

Now, if you're a regular reader of my blog then you'll notice that I am a brunette telling you all about a gift set designed specifically for blonde hair. That is because I was lucky enough to have been sent this kit to pass on to you guys and I'll be honest, I'm actually kind of jealous. I love TIGI Bed Head products and have used the Colour Goddess collection which is designed for brunettes and trust me, the lucky winner is in for a treat.

So how can you win? Simple. All you have to do is fill in the Raflecopter form below and when the competition closes on 8th December I will select a winner at random and post out the prize. I'm afraid the giveaway is for UK entrants only and I will be checking entries to make sure there's no cheating!

Good Luck!

Annie xx
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Childs Farm Top-to-Toe Kit Review

The summer holidays are well and truly here and over the next few weeks many of you will no doubt be jetting off to lovely sunny places for a week of relaxation. This post is one for the mummies among you who have little ones going with you.
Childs Farm is a brand specializing in organic products that are as natural as can be and is the only childrens brand to use argan oil in their products.

The Top-to-Toe Kit (*) is a very sweet little set that contains the signature products from the brand including the shampoo for luscious locks, conditioner for unruly hair and bubble bath for sweet dreams all of which are in lovely bright packaging that kids will love but is also conveniently 100ml's so suitable to take as hand luggage on a plane. The clear zip lock bag also means you can just throw it into a suitcase as it is with no worry about transferring into a different bag!

The bottles have well designed, easy to dispense caps that are easy for both grown up and little hands to open and close and the design means that they won't flip open in a suitcase and make everything else in the luggage all soapy. The only thing that surprised me slightly with the design of the kit is that the bubble bath has the same design which means its not the quickest way to get lots of bubbles quickly!

As you'd expect from Childs Farm, all of the ingredients are soft and gentle on all skin types. The formula is also paraben, SLS and mineral oil free and uses no artificial colouring. One thing that does bug me is that despite all of these great claims, the products cannot be classed as vegetarian due to the addition of glycerin which readers of my blog will know is a real niggle of mine (why would a company not make such a simple change in order to open their product up to so many more people?!) especially with companies who go out of their way to make sure their ingredients are high quality, and in this case, organic. They also support the RDA which is a charity helping disabled children learn how to ride and look after horses.

Despite my little ingredients issue, this is a really sweet kit that smells beautifully of fresh fruity goodness. Retailing at just £9.35 on the Childs Farm website it also makes a lovely gift for childrens parties, or if you have a niece or nephew with a birthday coming up over the summer or going on their first holiday. Lots of prospects :)

Annie xx

(*) This post contains a PR sample however that does not affect my opinions and I will always be totally honest

Tangle Teezer Hair Brush Review

The Tangle Teezer is one of those rediculously over raved products that beauty bloggers all seem to go on and on about and for a long time I just didn't see how a hair brush could be so worth the hype surrounding it. After months of fascination though I caved in and bought my own to try and I haven't looked back since.

 I have very thick hair that has a tendency to get tangled easily and is a general nightmare to brush yet the tangle teezer manages it with ease and there is no pain as it does so. Yay!
The design of the bristle formation and length is meant to be the reason that the tangle teezer is so effective and I have to say that after a google search there seems to be a certain magic to it because there are lots of people wondering why it is such an effective brush. I guess it simply is! I also think that the handleless shape helps too as it stops you tugging as much on hair as you brush and stops you putting hair under as much pressure so you get a more even brush but like many others, the magic really does just escape me.

(Excuse the chipped nail varnish in the photo above)
Despite not fully understanding this brush, I really do love it. It makes brushing my huge mane a breeze and the design is comfortable to hold despite me being a lefty! The price tag may put you off a little- it did me for a long time- but after splashing out I have no regrets and wish I had sooner. I picked mine up from Space NK for £10 however the tangle teezer is widely available for prices around that figure and there are lots of really nice colours and patterns available.
My only complaint is that I find it a little tricky to get any shed hair out of the brush but thats just me being fussy since my old hair brush was more sparcely bristled.

Have you used the Tangle Teezer? What do you make of it? Worth the price tag and hype?

Annie xx

Macadamia Nourishing Leave-in Cream Review

My super thick, super long mane needs lots of attention to keep it looking shiny and feeling healthy but I'm one of those people who likes quick fixes as I don't tend to have a lot of spare time to invest in pampering and styling my hair so the Nourishing Leave-in Cream seemed the perfect option for me.

I'd heard a lot of amazing things about Macadamia products, especially the deep repair masque so I was really excited to give the leave-in cream a go and I haven't been disappointed.
The cream is really simple to use; all you have to do is squeeze a little bit into your hands and work it through towel dried hair and style as usual. Simples! The cream is designed to be able to use after every wash and is balanced enough to use on all hair types.

The cream is thick and silky smooth to touch and glides through the hair really easily, melting in and all the lovely argan and macadamia oil in there give great shine and softness as the hair dries. I also find that I get good definition of all the different layers in my hair when using this which is rare when using texturizing products on my hair as there is just so much weight to it.
Price wise, I don't think that this product is unreasonable. For a tube this size (60ml) you will pay around £5-6 and for a 300ml bottle feelunique ask £15.95 at the moment reduced from £18.95. As you need a fairly small amount of product this works out pretty reasonable, and for the effect I am more than happy to pay that.
So overall, if like me, you have a lot of hair needing a lot of attention, but do not have a lot of time then I couldn't recommend this more.

Have you tried the Macadamia Nourishing Leave-in Cream before? How about any other Macadamia products? What do you think of them?
Annie xx