Organic Surge First Class Face Mask

Organic Surge First Class Face Mask* - £8.49

It's rare that you'll find a dual-purpose face mask that actually delivers on both of it's promises. However Organic Surge's First Class face mask manages to give pores a deep cleanse whilst also rehydrating the skin. I often find that clay masks can leave my face feeling tight & dry. This one never sets on the skin so it's not sucking out all the good moisture, just the excess oils & grime. One of the key ingredients is sweet almond oil which is brilliant at moisturising the skin without re-clogging pores. Chamomile and marshmallow are the detoxifying ingredients here rather than acids so this is a nice natural alternative to hardcore chemical skincare products. It doesn't really make too much difference to active breakouts but they do feel slightly calmer & less inflamed. Instead I find that it minimises pores, reduces blackheads and evens out my skintone by reducing any redness present. The result is brighter, healthier looking skin that feels hydrated & incredibly soft. I simply smooth it on with a foundation brush, leave it on for 15 minutes and it easily rinses off without much effort. It's so gentle on the skin & there's no fear of antagonising your skin further by having to scrub off a dried on mask.

This thick white creamy mask is infused with organic rosemary & lemon essential oils so it has a light zingy fragrance that is very refreshing & uplifting. It's great for when both your skin and your mind need a boost. My mum always goes on about rosemary being good for memory & relieving stress so aromatherapy-wise, this is a great choice. It features a plethora of other natural oils which are suitable for sensitive skin. I know a lot of people love the Origins Drink Up range for hydration but their Intensive Overnight Mask has sometimes broken me out. I've had no such problems with the First Class face mask because it is working to detox the skin at the same time. Like all Organic Surge products, this mask is free from parabens, mineral oil, SLS and other harsh chemicals. I do struggle to find good skincare on a budget but Organic Surge's products are always so affordable. I love how much calmer & healthier this makes my skin look. If your skin type normally stops you from using detox masks then this more hydrating offering could work wonders for you. It's a lovely treat for skin affected by the Winter weather too.

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NSpa Bloom Eau De Toilette

NSpa Bloom Eau De Toilette* - £8

We all know NSpa for their wonderful bath toiletries, then they launched a surprisingly good skincare range and now they've dipped their feet into the world of perfume. Considering how gorgeous the rest of their products smell, it was only a matter of time. They recently brought out three new fragrances: Pure (a fresh scent), Orient (an oriental scent) and Bloom (a floral scent). I'm firmly a floral kinda gal so they kindly sent me a bottle of Bloom. This fragrance features notes of rose, jasmine & tuberose as well as being infused with essential oil of vetiver. The result is a fairly sweet & sophisticated combination that would be hard to peg as a budget buy. I actually really like this & have been using it a lot lately. Bloom is intended to be a dupe for Escada Especially Escada EDP. I've never actually tried that one before but it must be a good'un if it smells anything like Bloom. If you consider that a 50ml bottle of Bloom costs a whole £38 less than a 50ml bottle of the Escada perfume, it's well worth trying.

In general I try to buy EDPs whenever I can afford to because they tend to last a lot longer on the skin. These are only eau de toilettes yet the scent manages to linger for a good portion of the day, I would estimate it to be around four hours. The scent isn't overpowering at all so the staying power is impressive. These products are so cheap that they're great for just keeping in your handbag for a quick refresh when you need it. The NSpa fragrances cost £8 each or you can currently get them on offer - 2 for £10. NSpa products are always a nice treat when you're doing the weekly shop. Plus with the upcoming Christmas season these would make fantastic stocking fillers or secret santa gifts. You can purchase NSpa products from Asda both online & instore.

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Bleach London Parma Violets Hair Update

Bleach London Super Cool Colours Parma Violets - £5

A lot of people have been asking me how my hair looks now it's faded a bit so I'd thought I would post a little hair update for you all. Incase you missed it, two weeks ago I ruined my hair by dyeing it with one of Bleach London's Super Cool Colours in the shade Parma Violets. You can see how the original results looked in this post. Basically I was annoyed because it looked incredibly dark, patchy and had loads of random blue bits instead of being a pastel lilac colour as Bleach had claimed. If you Google the London blogger event they held you can see pictures of their wall of dyed hair samples. Parma Violets looks completely different to the results I had. I figured it was a problem with the dye and turns out I was right. A few days later Bleach recalled Parma Violets and removed it from the shelves of Boots. I don't know if they ever released this information publicly or not but they got in contact with some of us who had complained about the product. Here is the information they sent to me via Twitter:

"We are sorry you have experienced problems using Parma Violets, this product has received similar feedback from other customers so we are removing it from stores to investigate an improvement in the colour formulation and its fading effects. Parma Violets is a mixture of blue, red and orange - Blue is the dominant colour so it stays longer on the hair, as the red/orange washes out faster, this is dependant on the different conditions of the hair. You can try and strip the dye with Washing Out Liquid or any other strong shampoo - Meanwhile if you are looking to get your hair back to purple you could mix I Saw Red and Out of the Blue, or Rose and Blullini for paler colours. A pink based colour will neutralise the green. If you wish to take your complaint any further this needs to be taken up with Boots Customer Care, the phone number is 0845 0708090 and the email is boots.customercare@boots.co.uk. You can also go in to any store and get a refund on this product, or exchange for the other colours, perhaps one we have suggested above. I hope this helps, let me know if we can help any further."

Luckily I had kept both the bottle & the receipt so I went straight back to Boots & got my 500 Boots points back, no problem. However this still doesn't fix my hair so I am tempted to make a formal complaint to Boots. I think I'll see if it will go on it's own first though. After four washes my hair has now faded to a sky blue colour. There's not a single purple tone left in my hair. It has turned my ends quite silvery which is pretty cool. I would've washed it more but I don't want to completely ruin the condition of it. I want this out of my hair as quickly as possible so I've been washing my hair with Vosene as recommended by Carlyn. It's a medicated anti-dandruff shampoo containing salicylic acid that really strips the hair. I think it has helped to fade my hair but it has left my hair feeling rather dry even after using some deep conditioning treatments. I really need to get my roots done soon but the blue needs to go first. Otherwise my hairdressers are blates gonna bleach bath the rest of my hair & that's the last thing it needs! None of the colours my hair has been since dyeing it with Parma Violets were bad but they definitely were not lilac and that's the problem. If you still have a bottle of this laying around then you should take it back to Boots immediately for a full refund. Even if you have used some of it or have lost the receipt you'll still be able to at least get an exchange. Obviously this only applies to this first batch & if you're reading this post in a few months time, they will have probably fixed it by then. None of the other Bleach London products are affected by this recall & as far as I know there are no problems with the other dyes. It's just my luck that I chose the dodgy dye!

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