REVIEW: No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser

Hello lovelies!

I have a very weird relationship with No7. Every so often I’ll find an absolute gem (like the Cleanse and Car eye make up remover which I absolutely swear by) but I only ever have a good look at the display when I have a £5 off voucher burning a hole in my purse.

I’ve read mixed reviews about the Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser, however at £3.75 with a voucher (£8.75 normally, for anyone who’s maths is as terrible as mine) I thought it would be rude not to give it a whirl, as by this point I’d bought enough eye make up remover to fill a child’s paddling pool.

The product comes in a box with a small muslin cloth, however the one I picked up was without a cloth, so I can’t pass comment on the cloth that comes in the box as I had to pick up a pack from my local cook shop. I assume its the same thing, apparently muslin has a LOT of uses!

The directions on the box / bottle tell you to massage the cleanser onto your face then soak the cloth in very hot water, wring it out, lay the cloth over your face to open your pores, remove the cleanser off using the cloth in a circular motion, then splash your face with cold water and pat dry. Now most of you will know by now I’m always in a rush, I much prefer an extra 5 minutes in bed to sitting in the bathroom with a lukewarm cloth on my face, so when I read the instructions I was less than inspired. It all sounds like too much effort to me.

When I actually used the product, it was much easier and much less effort than I expected. The cleanser is really thick and luxurious feeling, and a couple of pumps is plenty for each use. I tend to use it in the shower after I’ve slapped conditioner on which means that I’m probably not getting the cloth as hot as I should, but it seems to be working fine for me. I’m not sure my skin looks any more radiant, but it definitely feels softer, something which is probably more attributable to the cloth than the cleanser - I’d be insterested to try out the cloth paired with different cleansers. I’m not sure I’d buy this product again at full price, but I’d definitely re-purchase with another £5 voucher.

xxx

REVIEW: Inika Mineral Foundation Powder

Hello ladies (and gents)

This review is the second product I received in the September Mypure Bloggers Parcel, Inika Mineral Foundation Powder. This product is available here and retails for £24.99 for an 8g pot. I was lucky enough to receive not only the foundation, but also the Inika kabuki brush which is available here and retails for £22.99, and a cute little gold make up bag to stash the brush and foundation along with a few other handbag essentials.

I was really excited to try this product, as I'm a big fan of mineral foundations. I like the way that the coverage can be built from barely-there to medium coverage without feeling mask like or heavy. I also like the feeling that my skin can breathe, which is something I sometimes struggle with when it comes to liquid and creme foundations.

Having read up on Inika, I learnt that the company are Australian and have a firm belief that women should be aware of what goes into their products and therefore goes onto their skin. I was also pleased to find out that this is one of the few 100% natural mineral foundations on the market at the moment.

When I cracked open the packaging I was pleased to find that the colour I was sent was a good match to my skin tone, and that the packaging incorporated a sifter – I've had many an accident with loose products which don’t include a sifter (Barry M Dazzle Dusts, I’m looking at you).

My favoured application method is to tip a bit of product into the lid and swirl the kabuki in the lid to pick up the product. I then tap off the excess and buff the foundation into my skin in a circular motion. I used the Kabuki supplied with the foundation and I was really pleased with the results. My skin tone was evened out and there was no cakey-ness or heaviness. The kabuki is fantastic, 100% certified vegan and 100% certified cruelty free. As it is retractable it is perfect for your handbag/makeup bag and the bristles won’t get damaged.

I’d definitely recommend this product to anyone who like me, doesn't like heavy foundation or anyone who is looking for a lighter foundation than they would usually use, perhaps during the summer or on a holiday.

xxx

REVIEW: Lovea Tahitian Monoi Moisturising Hair Mask

This is the first of the two products I was sent by Mypure for review this month. It is priced at £7.99 for 300ml which I think is a reasonable price for a conditioning mask.

Once again, apologies for the lack of photo. There were no camera issues this month, but rather product issues, which will become clear as you read on.

I’m a big fan of deep conditioning treatments, they’re a product that I’ve been well acquainted with throughout my various degrees of blonde-ness. My absolute favourite is Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor. I’m fairly confident in saying that there is no product on the planet that will ever come close to it – its perfect (for me at least). That said, I’m a bit of a product tart and I’m always open to trying out new products so I was eager to give this a whirl. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I loved the smell, but unfortunately the product did nothing at all for my hair. The packaging recommends leaving it on the hair for 20 minutes, and as the packaging said for normal hair, I decided to give it an extra 10 minutes. I could tell as soon as i started rinsing my hair that the product wasn’t for me – my hair felt worse than it had before I’d put the conditioner on! Luckily my 3 Minute Miracle saved the day once again!

Having had a look at the Mypure website, perhaps I would have fared better with Lovea Burkina Shea Moisturising Hair Mask as it seems to be more geared towards my hair type – maybe next time?

In the interests of fairness, I gave the product to a friend who has completely untreated hair to see if she had any more luck than I had. (This is where the photo issue comes in – in my wisdom I completely forgot to take a photo before handing it over!)

Here are Amy’s thoughts:

“I have long-ish, naturally dark hair. I don’t really use much of anything on my hair and apart from a quick blast with the dryer I barely use heat on it as my hair is completely poker straight. I use a deep conditioner maybe once a month, mainly because I like to have a pamper night, though I’m not really sure my hair needs it! So here goes with the ‘review’. First of all – the smell is lovely, I'm not exactly sure what it is, but its a definite plus! I left the conditioner on for an episode of Gray’s (about 45 minutes after I’d skipped through the ads), and though it took quite a lot of rinsing out, I was pleased with the condition of my hair afterwards. I rough dried my hair with the dryer but left the majority to dry naturally, and the next morning it felt really silky. The only complaint I would have is that it did not rinse very well.”

So there you have it – the product is great for normal hair, but not so great for bleached/damaged hair.

xx

Hello lovelies

Sorry I’ve been so rubbish lately but I’ve had a lot going on both at home and at work and unfortunately my blog is always the first thing to slip – sometimes there just are not enough hours in the day! Things seem to have calmed down a bit now (either everything’s going to be ok or its just the calm before the storm!), so from this day forward I’m making a concerted effort to get my blog groove back.

Stay tuned!

xxx

TAG: It’s all about me!

I’m sure you all probably know more than you wanted about me, however the gorgeous Rosalyn tagged me

1. What's your favourite make up brand and why?

Urban Decay, because I've yet to find a product I don't love.

2. How many nail polishes do you own?

*counts* 36. I don't think that's too many…….is it?!

3. What is your greatest achievement in life?

Probably getting my degree/LPC. Its a boring answer but its the truth!!

4. What job did you want to do when you were a kid?

I always wanted to be a doctor, up until I was about 14 and I discovered a hidden talent for arguing. From then on I decided that I could probably carve a career out of it and decided I wanted to be a solicitor.

5. Do you have any other hobbies, apart from blogging?

Snowboarding, football (watching, not playing - if you’d seen me kick a ball you’d understand this), travelling and cooking/baking

6. What's your idea of a perfect weekend?

My ideal weekend is generally a 3/4 day weekend to be honest! I'd start by going to the cinema on Friday night with the girls, and maybe for a few cheeky cocktails afterwards!

Saturday: a lie in, followed the football (I'm lost without football!), then home for a night on the sofa with the Mr, with a take-away curry, bottle of red, a dvd and some Ben and Jerrys

Sunday: A Sunday lunch cooked by the Mr (with me as sous chef), then a nice long walk in the peaks

7. What's your favourite item of clothing?

I don't really have a favourite item of clothing, I don't really get to attached to clothes. If I had to choose one I would probably say my signed 2004/2005 Sheffield Wednesday shirt (not that I wear it, its currently framed and hanging in my spare room). Or my Mulberry Bayswater.

8. What's your biggest beauty problem and what do you do/use to combat it?

My biggest problem is probably my dry hair, which, admittedly is due to the bleach! I tend to combat it by using Aussie 3 Minute Miracle once a week – I love that stuff!!

My questions are:

What are the 3 beauty products you couldn’t live without?

What is your favourite nail polish brand?

Do you dye your hair?

What is your favourite clothing shop?

Who is your style icon?

Where is your favourite holiday destination?

What is your favourite TV show?

What is your favourite song of all time?

What is your most prized possession?

Do you have any pets?

I tag:

Carla

Beth

Phoebe

Sinead

Steph

Sinead

Liloo

xxx

Toner Fail: A Cautionary Tale

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may well be aware of a teeny tiny hair disaster I had a couple of weekends ago. I'm a great fan of toning my hair at home in between bleaching sessions, and I've been doing so successfully for well over two years. My current toner of choice is L'Oreal Luocolor P01, which thanks to my Sally's Trade Card I get at a bargain price.

I was down at baby brother's this weekend and my mum had kindly offered to slap the toner on (I have a tendency to miss patches at the back when I'm doing it quickly) so I took her up on her offer. The only problem was I hadn’t realised that I was all out of Luocolour releaser - oops. As I didn’t know where the nearest Sally's was, I thought that I'd pop into the local boots to see what they were offering toner-wise. I spotted this Jerome Russell toner which came in two colours - champagne blonde and ice blonde and chucked the Ice Blonde version in my basket. If I remember rightly it was about £3.

THIS WAS A MASSIVE MISTAKE.

I toddled back to my brother's flat, changed into my PJs and got mummy bear to slap it on. I wasn’t too alarmed when it looked yellow on my hair as the Luocolour toner applies as creamy yellow colour and then gradually turns lilac once applied to the hair. I left it on for the recommended 20 minutes and shampooed it off as normal. When I left the bathroom my mum dissolved into giggles - I thought It was something to do with the mascara halfway down my face, but oh no it was my hair. I didn’t have the foresight to take a picture of it, but I looked very similar to this chap:

Yes, Big Bird. My hair was less ice blonde, and more sunflower yellow. After rolling on the floor with tears of laughter running down her face, my mum went off to locate a Sally’s to try and rectify the disaster. Luckily there was one less than two miles away (typical) and she came back with a bottle of releaser. Twenty five minutes later, my hair was back to its former glory (PHEW).

The moral of the story? Steer clear of dodgy 3 quid toners, unless you’re looking for a banana-coloured barnet!!

xxx

REVIEW: A'kin Jojoba & Lavender Conditioner

This is the second of the products sent to me for review by Mypure, it is billed as providing light conditioning and natural lustre to fine or oily hair’. Now my hair is quite fine, but oily it ain’t. In fact its very, very dry so I wasn’t really expecting too much from this product!

All in all I was pleasantly surprised, the conditioner was definitely very light but it did put enough moisture back into my hair for it to feel more like hair than straw (which is its usual texture), but not quite enough for it to feel as soft as I’m used to. I really liked the lavender scent too (which again surprised me) especially when I applied the product and left it to work its magic while I read a book in the bath as it was wonderfully relaxing.

The main gripe I have about this product is the packaging, the bottle was extremely difficult to squeeze one handed, due to the narrow oblong shape of it.

I wouldn’t buy this product again, as it wasn’t really right for my hair and I can think of lots of other products that I could buy for £7.49 which are more suitable for me, though I’m sure that for those with oilier (is that a word?!) hair it would be a great buy.

xxx