Current Haircare Routine

When it comes to haircare my main concern is trying to stop my hair from looking dry and straw like. I've been bleaching my hair this colour since 2006 with a one year break in 2009 so I've tried a fair few treatments in my time. I've noticed the last few times I've washed & styled my hair its been looking better & healthier than ever, even more so than when I sported my natural hair colour. I think I've finally got my haircare routine locked down to these few products so this might be helpful to anyone with dry or damaged hair.

L'Oréal Professionnel Serie Expert Silver Shampoo / Tigi Bed Head Urban Antidotes Resurrection Shampoo & Conditioner / Neal & Wolf Harmony Intensive Care Treatment*

I've used an absolute ton of different purple shampoos but the L'Oreal silver shampoo is the best one if you just want to eliminate all signs of brassyness. I found that many others would leave my hair tinted rather than just white blonde. Clairol Shimmer Lights often left my hair with blue tones & Lee Stafford's offering made my hair really pinky. Purple shampoos are normally quite drying too but the L'Oreal one keeps my hair feeling soft. I picked up the Tigi Urban Antidotes duo in TK Maxx but you can find them just as cheaply online. I really like all the Tigi duos because the bottles are so big they last for months. I used to use the Dumb Blonde ones but switched to Urban Antidotes as these are specialised towards extremely damaged hair. Over time this duo has definitely helped to strengthen my hair and reduce breakage. They also have the most amazing bubblegum scent. A product I recently introduced into my haircare routine is the Neal & Wolf Harmony Intensive Care Treatment. I received this at a blogger meetup and when I tried it I couldn't believe the difference it made! It has worked so much better than every other conditioning treatment I've tried including those expensive Kerastase ones. This is a must buy product if you have dry or damaged hair. It just makes my hair look so healthy & glossy. Neal & Wolf are a brand I definitely need to investigate more because if the rest of their products are as good as this I am converted!

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer

I am rather lazy when it comes to my hair so I don't use this product very often but when I do, the difference is just incredible. Elasticizer is a pre-shampoo treatment so it is a bit of a faff to use. You have to wet your hair, apply it, put on a shower cap and then leave it in for ages before shampooing it off. You can leave it in for just 20 minutes or overnight if you prefer. I like to apply it to the ends of my hair and leave it overnight before washing it out in the morning. It restores your hair to almost virgin condition making it feel silky & sleek. This product can also help with hair growth if you use it often enough as one of the main ingredients is castor oil. It is very expensive for a hair treatment but worth every penny.

Kérastase Ciment Thermique / Moroccanoil / Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine / Alterna Caviar Rapid Repair Spray

I'm still using my Ciment Thermique & Moroccanoil combo as my blow dry base products. Together they give me the perfect amount of heat protection & moisture. A couple of months ago I added Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine to the mix and this stuff is basically a good hair day in a tube. You can use it on wet or dry hair to add definition and lots of shine. I've started to use this through the lengths and ends of my hair before blow drying and it just completely renews my hair. It makes my ends look super healthy, like I've just had a trim even though my last hair appointment was a few months ago. So much love for this product! After I've finished drying my hair I like to use a bit of the Alterna Caviar Rapid Repair Spray to add even more shine & get rid of any fluffyness. I've never come across a finishing spray as lovely as this one & it smells divine to boot!

Babyliss Pro Speed 2100W Hair Dryer / Babyliss Big Hair Rotating Styler

I always have to blow dry my hair as I cannot stand having wet hair. Air drying would just make my hair stringy and lifeless anyway. I don't really like to use a curler or straightener so blow drying allows me to get the shape I desire. I know its not the best thing to do to your hair but I only wash my hair once a week and use heat protection products every time so I guess its not too bad. First of all I blast my hair with my hair dryer and run through it with my fingers. I use a Babyliss Pro Speed hair dryer which is really brilliant. I'm pretty loyal to Babyliss when it comes to hair dryers, they always last me years. Theres a newer model of this now but this one is still going strong. When my hair is almost dry but still a bit damp I switch over to my Babyliss Big Hair styler to add volume and shape. I couldn't live without this styler. It just gives you a perfect blow dry without all the effort of sectioning your hair and drying it against a round bristle brush which can be quite tricky to do by yourself. I never used to be able to do it as well as my hairdresser but Big Hair really does help to give you that professional blow dry at home look.

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October/November Favourites

Clarisonic Mia
Back in October I decided to get myself a very early Christmas present in the form of the pink Clarisonic Mia. I don't generally get many proper spots anymore but I do get some bumps under the skin on my cheeks and forehead which make me look spotty even though I'm not. After reading some reviews I wanted to give the Clarisonic a try in an attempt to get rid of these bumps. I've been using it for less than two months now and my skin already looks a thousand times better. All the cleansers, toners, exfoliants and face masks in the world haven't done as much for my skin as this one tool has. Theres so much to say about this so I'm gonna post a full review later.

Moroccanoil
I got this bottle of Moroccanoil free in my Cosmo Blog Awards goodie bag. I'd previously tried a mini sample bottle and really liked it then but felt I had to use it very sparingly because the bottle was so tiny. Plus it didn't have a pump so I pretty much ended up pouring out most of the bottle every time I used it. The full sized bottle does come with a pump so I can get the amount I want out. This stuff just makes your hair look so shiny, its a really incredible product. I'm willing to use anything on my hair in an attempt to avoid cutting it and this seems to be doing the trick nicely. I want to give the Moroccanoil shampoo and conditioner a go next.

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel
Everyone's favourite shower gel is finally back in the shops! I'm a bit Snow Fairy mad and buy any Lush product which smells even vaguely similar. I've bought two of the big bottles and think I'm gonna go back for a third because I can't bear to be without this product. Pink, sickly sweet & sparkly, what more could you want in a shower gel?

Frédéric Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream
Another really fabulous hair product is the Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream. I apply this to my hair just before I blow dry it to add extra shine & fight frizz. It does a similar job to Moroccanoil but in some ways I actually prefer this product. Because its a cream its a lot heavier so it does a better job at smoothing everything down. It really helps your hair keep its shape once blow dried. The secret ingredient in this is olive oil which forms part of the 'Encapsulated Shine-Release Complex'. I can really tell the difference when I use this because it makes my hair properly glossy and lustrous, not just shiny. The only things you have to be careful about is how much you use and where you apply it. If you use it anywhere near your roots it'll make your freshly washed hair greasy again. Same goes for if you use too much of it. Its an expensive product so I guess its a good thing that you only have to use a tiny amount to reap the benefits of it.

Nailene Ultra Adhesive Tabs
I normally use Nailene's Ultra Quick Dry nail glue to apply my falsies but when they would eventually fall off I hated the glue residue that remained on my nails. Charlotte posted about these nail tabs as a way of sticking on falsies without damaging your own nails. These are such a great way of applying nails. As well as not damaging your nails, they feel very strong and you don't have to deal with the inevitable mess of getting nail glue all over your fingers. Thats the worst feeling ever, makes me shudder thinking about it haha. They cost the same as the Ultra Quick Dry nail glue and will last about the same amount of time so I'm always gonna use these from now on.



The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
If you know me at all, you'll know that I absolutely love video games. I have been waiting for ages for this game to come out. I'm a big fan of the Zelda games even though the only one I've ever managed to complete is Phantom Hourglass. I've been spending almost every night playing this since it came out last week and its such a blast. I got the 25th anniversary limited edition pack which comes with an awesome gold Wii motion plus remote and a CD with some of the classic Zelda songs on it. The motion controls are a nice touch. Its so much fun being able to slash away with your remote and watch Link do the same on screen with his sword. If you have a Wii, you need this game in your life!

Vogue's Fashion Night In Haul

The 1st of November was the date of Vogue's Fashion Night In where various online shops were offering discounts, competitions and special gifts to people logging on to their websites. The only one that grabbed my attention was the goodie bag being given away by HQ Hair to the first 300 customers to spend £20.


To get the goodie bag I ordered these two products from Bumble & Bumble; Prep and Quenching Complex. I already knew that Prep is a great product. It detangles your hair, is a great base product for blow drying and it helped my hair to grow quicker. I ran out a while ago and never had the funds to repurchase it until now. It is quite possibly my favourite hair product ever, I can't recommend it enough! I tried the Quenching Complex last night and my ends look like they're in really good condition, I can barely see my many split ends. It feels really light and my hair doesn't feel greasy at all. I think this could be a life saver when I get my hair bleached again (aiming for next week, fingers crossed!).



The 5 free items came in this pretty Paul & Joe tote bag. There was a sample bottle of Moroccanoil which is something I've wanted to try for ages, a sachet of Frederic Fekkai's Colour Care hair mask, a tube of Philip Kingsley Scalp Mask, a bottle of Philosophy's Purity facial cleanser and a mini Nars Multiple in South Beach.


I already own a fullsize Multiple in Copacabana which is a shimmery white colour, perfect for highlighting. This sample size is so cute & dinky and fits right in my makeup bag. South Beach is a beautiful golden bronze. I'm so pale so I was worried it might be a bit dark on my skin but it blends out really well to a light golden shimmer.


I've not tried the Philosophy cleanser yet but I'm excited to try it out as I love their products. I already bought this Philosophy Kiss Me Tonight lip treatment from their QVC store and it makes my lips amazingly soft. You're meant to put it on overnight and when you wake up the next day you're left with super soft lips. You can also use it as a regular lip balm. It will be so worth the money this Winter as my lips get so dry in the cold and it works well as a lipstick base too.



Ignore my goon face but check out my shiny hair!! This is purely down to the Moroccanoil! I used a tiny drop all over my hair when it was damp and after blow drying it my hair was so shiny and frizz free. When this bottle runs out I think I'm gonna have to invest in the full size version but because you need such a tiny amount this should last me quite a while.

Did anyone else get anything good from Fashion Night In?