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

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

Beauty Baking: An Introduction

Beauty baking may seem like a strange idea, and nope, I'm not making my own beauty products. What I mean by beauty baking is ingredients used for effect.
When putting a product together, any company worth its salt will pack it full of ingredients that will be beneficial to the skin/hair/nails or wherever it is being used.
When I buy a product, especially for my skin which is very sensitive, I always check the ingredients to make sure that it uses ingredients that I know are going to work well for me.

However, unfortunately, a lot of people don't really have much of an idea about what ingredients will be the most beneficial to them when dealing with a skin complaint or their super dry sore scalp. So what I want to do is break things down a bit and help spread the ingredients love by focusing a few posts on how they're used and why they are so fab for you.

I haven't 100% decided yet how to group these posts but I'm thinking of splitting them down into hair, dry skin, oily skin and combination skin. I can also do posts on a particular skin complaint such as eczema or psoriasis if people would find that beneficial, just let me know :)

But for now I will just leave you with the number one rule.

When choosing a product for use on your skin or hair, always choose something using as many natural ingredients as possible. You are far less likely to have a nasty reaction, the product will have more benefit to you and more of the money you are paying out will have been used sourcing these fab, natural ingredients than making the nasty chemicals that fill some beauty products.

Annie x

Review- Perfectly Pampered Strawberry Oil Hair Mask

Hello,
Bath time has always been a time to relax and indulge so what better way than to treat your body to some nice lotions and potions.
Perfectly Pampered Spa Hair Masks by Montange Jeunesse have been designed with this in mind so last night whilst enjoying a bubble bath I gave one a go.

The mask I tried from the range was the Volumizing Strawberry Oil Hair Mask (*) which includes (of course) strawberry oil, marine and plant extracts.
Now, I am very critical of products that you use in the bath, solely because it is a place to relax and I like products to be simple, easy to use, and effective so that I don't spend my down time being peed off with something that is more hassle than it is worth.
I do have to say that things didn't start out great with this mask. Wet hands in the bath mean that slippery plastic foil packets aren't easy to open so I ended up using my teeth to break the top open. This wouldn't be a problem if you happened to keep a pair of scissors next to the bath but somehow I don't think many people do so that is something to be aware of.
My next complaint with the product is that you are instructed to coat the mask over all of your hair, paying particular attention to the roots so that the volume enhancing ingredients are right at the root. Now, unless a)you are a man b)have a cropped bob or c) have a pixi crop this will not cover all of your hair. I have thick hair that falls to my waist and I was only really able to cover my scalp with the contents of the sachet and would have needed another two to cover my full mane. BUT, that said, I have to say that being the shallow, volume full hair lover that I am, I did end up still falling for this product because it has left my hair the softest and shiniest that I have seen it in a very long time. I have definitely been left feeling like the mask has done a world of good to the health of my mane. And as for volume? I have loads! My hair looks full of life, bouncy and very...alive.

(forgive the lack of makeup and the cat mountaineering across my shoulders) This is a quick shot of how my hair looks after being brushed and allowed to just dry of its own devices over night. No products, just a little "jushing" so as you can see, the mask has left a lot of volume at the roots.

I do still stick to my earlier gripes with the packaging and how a little more product would have been helpful but over all, I have been thoroughly impressed and would gladly use Montange Jeunesse hair masks again and again.
You can pick this one up from Fragrance Direct for just 85p.
What do you think? Is this a mask that you would try?
Annie x

*Received from BBU for review but my review is 100% honest.