Goodbye Money, Hello GHD's!

This is what I came home to today!

The ghd IV styler that I have been using for the past 18 months has been slowly deteriorating over the past two weeks, and on Saturday morning it gave up completely.

Unfortunately I had purchased it off EBay - what a mistake - so no guarantee!

I am a straightener-aholic and absolutely cannot live without my ghd's so in a total panic I got straight onto ghdhair.com and ordered a new pair with money I just don't have at the moment! However, they are totally worth it.

These beauties are the Gold Classic Styler and will set you back £119. You do get free delivery though, and a free hairbrush- the choices are Ceramic Vented Radial Brush, Natural Bristle Radial Brush, Paddle Brush, Oval Dressing Brush, De-Tangling Comb and Tail Comb.

I went for the paddle brush and it's lovely - very happy with my choice!

I also want to add that these arrived in record time - ordered Saturday morning, here by Tuesday afternoon, no complaints from me!

The Gold Classic Styler promises a cooler, lighter body, smoother plates and a professional finish. I've had a quick go with them and they are so light and feel so smooth over my hair...can't wait to try them out properly!

What are you absolute beauty must haves?

P.S.

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway here!

Enter My Giveaway! NOW CLOSED!

I've reached 50 followers, so to say thank you I'm doing a tiny little giveaway!

1 pack of Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps in Pink Velvet Leopard

1 tube of Soap & Glory Hand Food 50ml

1 pot of Soap & Glory Flake Away 50ml

and

1 pot of Soap and Glory Righteous Butter 50ml

1 pot of Body Shop Body Butter in Wild Cherry 50ml

1 bottle of Barry M Nail Paint in Bright Red 10ml

 - You must be a follower of my blog

- Leave a comment telling me something fun/interesting/random about yourself!

- Don't forget your name and email address!

- 1 entry for a comment

- 2 entries for posting about it using the either the top image or the image below

- 3 entries for posting the banner I've got in my sidebar and linking back

(let me know if you do any of these!)

Giveaway open until Monday 28th February 8pm!

The winner will be chosen at random.

Good luck and thank you for reading my blog!

Soap & Glory Slimwear Review

Soap & Glory Slimwear – Slenderizing Body Balm 200ml

£9.00

They Say: "An amazing puff-draining, triple action peptide balm that targets problematic 'orange peel' areas and firms, contours, smoothes and reduces the appearance of cellulite. Heavy thigh? Vigorously massage-in Slimwear every morning after showering by using circular sweeping motions from your knees up toward your inner thighs. Those more dedicated to the cause can reapply each evening for around-the-clock anti-orange peel action."

I Say: I've been using this religiously every morning for the last four weeks, as well as regularly going to the gym, eating (semi) healthily and drinking tons of water.

Have I noticed a difference? Well, my thighs weren't terribly dimply before I started to use it; I could only see cellulite when I sat down and squeezed my thighs, but this is enough to upset me! The balm itself has a lovely smooth texture and a slightly menthol scent to it, which I quite liked - it's not strong and unpleasant smelling.

I have been using a grape sized amount for each thigh and I spend around 30 seconds rubbing it into each leg. The balm soaks in fairly quickly so there's no danger of your clothes sticking to you if you choose to get dressed right after applying it. It did however leave green patches on my white towels after I wiped my hands before washing them - fail!

After a very close inspection of both thighs, I can still see a couple of dimply areas - when I stand up and my legs are straight they look smooth and lovely.

I'm not sure if they feel much firmer, but they are very soft, so if nothing else at least I have very hydrated moisturised legs!

All in all, I want to say that this balm has made a difference, but with the exercising, eating masses of fruit and drinking a lot of water, it's hard to say if this would have made a difference on its own.

After using this every day for a month there's still half, if not more left in the tube so at £9.00 for 200ml it's great value for money. I would repurchase because I don't want to neglect my thighs, and a little extra help is better than nothing!

3 monkeys for this product due to the massive stains on my towels!

Have you used this? Do you think it's made a difference?

Happy Hair Days - Natural Shampoo & Conditioner

Usually at the weekends I stay at my boyfriends house, and in the interest of saving space in my overnight bag I never pack shampoo and conditioner; instead I just use whatever my boy's mum has in her bathroom. This morning I was having a lovely soak while my boy was out playing football and I spotted these on the edge of the bath:

Happy Hair Days Pomegranate & Ginger Moisturising Shampoo and Conditioner 300ml

What caught my eye was the claim on the front of the bottles: NO Parabens and NO Sulphates.

I've seen quite a few blog posts recently about the effects of parabens and SLS which can be found in many personal care products. If I'm honest, I never paid too much attention to what these are, but today I had a little look on Google to get some information.

Parabens are found in a variety of everyday products - cosmetics, deodorant, face cream, shampoo and toothpaste. The biggest risk from parabens seems to be from the use of products that require a prolonged exposure to skin, such as skin creams and facial lotions. The longer that the parabens are on the skin, the more opportunity there is for parabens to be absorbed. One of the biggest areas of concern is the effect of parabens on breast cancer.

Sodium lauryl sulphate, or SLS causes the products in which it is used to “foam up” and lather. SLS and its close cousin Sodium laureth sulphate (SLES) can cause scalp and skin irritations, dried out skin, irritated eyes, and swelling of the hands, face and arms among other irritations and skin problems, and can dry out and damage hair follicles.

(credit)

So I thought I'd try this shampoo and conditioner out.

Despite having no sulphates, this shampoo foamed up really well and I didn't need to use any more than I usually would to cover all of my hair. The pomegranate and ginger smell is quite strong, but very lovely!

The conditioner also didn't disappoint. It has a good thick texture which I loved and it spreads easily and evenly through my hair. Once washed off my hair felt clean and soft and after towel drying, my hair was smooth and tangle free and I had no problem brushing it out.

The smell didn't linger too strongly on my hair after washing the products out but I caught faint scents of it while brushing it out which was nice.

Having never heard of this brand before I Googled for it but unfortunately couldn't find any website. It is, however, sold at Boots for £3.99 for the shampoo and £4.07 for the conditioner; I'm not sure of the reason for the difference in prices! Both bottles are 300ml which seems like pretty good value for money to me.

As well as moisturising shampoo & conditioner, they also do smoothing s&c in pear and blueberry and glossing s&c in lemongrass and basil which all sound equally as lovely.

I'm definitely going to be purchasing these on my next shopping trip - I hope this review was helpful!

Sunday Nails - Grey As Cement

Avon Matte Nail Enamel in Grey as Cement 12ml

£3.00

I love this colour! It's very classy and perfect for work and a night out.

I'm wearing two coats here but one coat would have been enough.

I applied this last night and I'm a bit disappointed that by this morning it had already started to chip at the ends of the nail - a matte topcoat would solve this problem but I don't own one so I'll have to reapply.

What do you think?

Giveaway?

So my first week in my new job is over, and what a quick week it's been! Being able to walk to work in ten minutes everyday feels so much better than an hour's drive to work there and back - usually by Friday I'm exhausted and ready to drop but tonight I feel full of energy! I've had a good session at the gym, and I'm hoping that no more stress and tiredness will mean no more dull, dry skin.

I've had the new office to myself today so I've mainly been listening to Radio One and just relishing the peace and quiet!

When I logged into my account today I was very happy to see I've got 47 followers! I'm so grateful that I've got readers and followers because I really love my little blog and I'm glad there's people who like it too; I appreciate every comment and reader so so much!

SO...I think when I reach 50 followers I'll have a little giveaway just to say thank you!

Would you be up for that?

No7 Total Renewal Review

About a year and a half ago I was having Micro-dermabrasion treatments every six weeks because the size and visibility of my pores was making me miserable - I even went to see a doctor but they couldn't do anything. It was my boyfriend who found the clinic for me and I was so desperate I paid almost £400 in total for all of my treatments. The results were amazing; my skin is no where near as oily as it used to be and the difference in the size of my pores is 90% better - I gained a lot more confidence after these changes!

A couple of weeks ago I was at the No7 counter and I spied this:

 No7 Total Renewal Micro-Dermabrasion Exfoliator 75ml

£11.00 (I got mine for £6.00 with a No7 voucher)

It promises to "reveal fresher, clearer, younger-looking skin, within just 4 treatments." Obviously I know this isn't going to compare to having a professional treatment but after reading thirty five star reviews on the Boots website I wanted to give it a go.

The back of the bottle tells me that micro crystals are used to sweep away dull cells to improve appearance from the very first use, and the very detailed instruction leaflet specifies that you have to massage the exfoliator in circles, starting with your forehead, then cheeks, then downward stokes over your nose and chin.

I've been using this twice a week as specified for the last four weeks. It feels a lot nicer than a regular exfoliator - the beads are more like tiny grains of sand and you only need a gentle touch to avoid the product being too harsh on your skin.

I probably use double this amount to cover my entire face and I like to scrub for a good couple of minutes to make sure I cover all areas. After rinsing the exfoliator off, it feels like I have shed a layer of skin! My pores are thoroughly cleaned out, my face has a nice glow about it and it feels silky soft to touch.

Since I started using this the condition of my skin has greatly improved - my large pores are still hanging around but at least now they given a proper deep clean out. I would buy this again without a doubt, even without a No7 voucher - I can see this tube lasting another few months so you are definitely getting value for money.

Have you tried this product? What are your thoughts on it?