A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I’m pretty rubbish when it comes to styling my hair.  I’m growing out a bob at the moment, not on purpose… I’m just too lazy to make the appointment for a trim.

As the layers are getting longer, the increased weight is starting to have an effect on my roots… weighing them down and increasing the slaphead factor – not an encouraging look.  I was offered 2 different styling products to have a play with and after a couple of weeks experimenting on just how to get the best out of them, I thought you might wanna have a read of my observations.  If you don’t… whatever, just don’t bother darkening my door again.

Clynol Move Massive Volume Spray (£6.75)

Technology: Pro.VolumeForce.Complex, with Panthenol and volumising resins.

Benefit: Volumises the hair, providing strong yet moveable hold.

Usage: Spray evenly onto dry or damp hair and style as preferred. Leave-in.

I’ve used this on both wet and dry hair and I prefer the results I get from using it on dry hair.  I lift sections from the front backwards, spraying quite generously before taking my hairdryer and giving my hair a quick upside-down blast at the roots.  I then take my brush and coax the hair back being careful not to flatten the roots with the weight of the brush and once styled, the root lift seems to stay in place for a good few hours before dropping.  I particularly like the Clynol Move Massive Volume Spray for when I’m styling my hair into an updo, the effect seems to be more apparent and gives some great ‘flathead’ avoidance.

I like, that as a spray, it’s easy to use and great to reach for in a hurry.  I’ve used it successfully in conjunction with my Batiste Dry Shampoo (again before pinning my hair up) and it really freshens up my style.  It smells great and most importantly, is completely non-sticky

Neäl & Wølf Elevate Volumising Lotion (£11.95)

Goodbye to drab limp locks, and hello to luxuriously thick hair, filled with body. ELEVATE has been designed to leave hair stronger, fuller and give more control.  Designed to improve body and texture while enhancing shine and manageability.  Specially selected ingredients complete the effect, reducing static and adding a spectacular glossy finish.

The more traditional serum format that I’m used to…  Just aswell really, ‘cos there aren’t any usage instructions on the bottle… however, being a salon brand rather than one for numptys like me, this is possibly understandable.  I initially didn’t notice many benefits from using this product until I started applying it a touch more generously.  After towel-drying my hair, I squeeze out a good 10p-sized blob and apply throughout my roots.

When I first started using this, I was nervous of making my roots greasy… but I needn’t have feared.  I add more product (10p size at a time) until I’m happy that I’ve applied a nice even amount throughout.  Then I flip my head over and blow-dry upside down, encouraging the air to pass through my roots and teasing with my fingers to encourage more lift.

The result is BIG hair, and I’m sold.  It takes a little more work than the Clynol, but the results are more dramatic if you take the time.

I’d happily use both products for different situations.  The Clynol is great for a lower maintenance lifestyle, which to be honest is me (most of the time).  But if I wanted to bring out the big guns, I’d reach for the Neäl & Wølf Elevate.

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Overall I was impressed with both products, sadly neither lasted the full day… but in honesty, I didn’t expect miracles.  All volume had flattened significantly by lunchtime, earlier if I was naughtly and didn’t stop playing with my hair.  I’d also recommend that if you ARE going to use these styling products then it might be wise not to overload your hair with too many other products at the same time.  Keep it to the minimum to achieve the best results.

Do you have any tips for bringing the 80s back to our barnets?

Leila has my mother’s hair.  It’s blonde, fine and very very floaty.  It kinda skims the top of her head, resting about an inch above the scalp in thick swathes of unstylable defiance.  If I brush it around the shape of her crown, it springs back…. floating, floating… always floating.

Of course, it’s beautiful… and I love it.  It’s getting long now and I lie with her twirling it gently around my fingers whilst she simultaneously grabs handfuls of mine, a look of frantic curiosity on her face.

I could deploy the old tried and tested method of spitting on my hands before swiping my palms over her barnet… but really… that’s just disgusting isn’t it?  She may be small and kinda stupid but that’s no justification for styling her with gob.

Enter Original Sprout, who make an entire line of Children’s styling saviours from Curl Calmer to Styling Balm.  I’ve got my eye on the Children’s Hair Gel.

They say:

Loved by Babies & Up, our Ultra Clean & Light Baby Hair Gel is made of nourishing emollients & gentle botanicals, smoothing frizzies, taming flyaways & supporting curls softly. Thermal Protectants keeps hair safe from styling & enviromental aggressors.

There’ll be no “styling aggressors” in this nursery *puts the straighteners down* but this has gotta be better than spit right?

And just ’cause this is about the only day in the year I can like TOTALLY get away with it:

…is my hair dye.

I’ve been using Superdrug’s Colour Performance for the best part of 5 years and simply haven’t found anything better for the price.

It’s a permanent dye which is gentle on my sensitive scalp.  A few others that I’ve used in the past *cough Excellence Creme cough Nutrisse* have irritated and left my scalp sore despite patch tests.  Colour Performance leaves me with no irritation at all.

I generally either plump for the shade shown (3:0 – Natural Rich Darkest Brown) which is a very dark brown or (4:0 – Natural Dark Brown).

One of the reasons I give these hair dyes so much love is because the browns are ashy in tone.  Red or mahogony based browns tend to clash with the pink tones in my skin, so I’m happier with these ashier shades which are surprisingly hard to find on the high street.

Dying my hair is a chore I hate the thought of, but once I’m done… I’m always left wondering why I left it so long.  This dye is foolproof and has consistently returned great results for me *whispers* even over my dodgy grey roots… I’ve unfortunately been going grey since I was 19 *sniff*.

And then there’s the price… I usually buy 2 of these at a time when they’re on offer. 2 for £5.  I think individually, they’re around £3.20.  Amazing.

I actually had a mini panic attack when I saw these new packs on the shelf:

Colour Radiance 10. I emailed Superdrug, worried that it meant they were discontinuing my beloved Colour Performance.  “Of course not”, was the reply… “they’re very popular!” Phew!

Have you ever tried Superdrug Colour Performance or Superdrug Colour Radiance 10?

…. Ceona!

This traumatic episode in Ceona’s life had me and Mr. L wiping tears from our eyes.  Sorry Ceona, we were laughing WITH you.

14 year old me: Muuuuum. I want a perm. Muuuuum, I really want a perm. Pleeeeeaseeeeeeeee!

Mum after years of my begging: Ok, we’ll speak to the hairdresser.

Hairdresser: No. No no no. It won’t work. Your hair is too thick, it will fall out. No.

Me: Hairdresser, I want a perm. Oh please, please, pretty please. I won’t blame you if it falls out.

Hairdresser: Oh fine. I’ll do it.

Hairdresser gives me a trendy spiral perm. Hairdresser repeats through the whole thing that it will fall out. Hairdresser uses extra perming solution.

Result: I end up with the tightest spiral perm you have ever seen. I am, in fact, Spuggie from Byker Grove (google it youngsters). I am mortified. The hairdresser is delighted and thinks it’s fabulous. I retreat home and burst into tears.

My sister, bless her, does me a french plait. And I wait for the perm to drop. All my friends have bad home perms that drop into cute waves.

Mine does not. Mine grows out very, very slowly. I use industrial quanitites of mousse to control it. I have crispy hair too. At one point I have straight hair to the tops of my ears and tight curls underneath. I do a home dye. I neglect to read the bit about permed hair taking dye more strongly. I have two tone hair.

Eventually, I get a bob.

You’ve won some lovely Aussie products, please can you email me your details so that I may pass them on to the lovely bods at Aussie?

Thanks for sharing everyone xx

So, 8 of you sealed my Aussie ‘Hair Mare’ fate.  But when I dug out the promised photo, it kinda didn’t look as bad as I remembered, you can see for yourself… it’s bad… but it’s not a patch on The Agassi is it?  I decided it was only fair to share a few more. Upping the ante as it were.

So… as promised… my shameful hair mares…

A). Honestly?  I’m too busy looking at how tight my necklace is to concentrate on the hair.

B). In my defence, I look about 7.  This is my MOTHER’S shame, I’m not carrying this one.  Who lets a 7yr old have a perm anyway?

C). OK, this is the spiral perm… but it’s hard to see.  So let’s concentrate on the bum head parting instead.  Not only that, so much mousse… those curls were crusty. and flammable.

D). Dec 31st 1999. Man I thought I looked cute. I was… um… *counts*… 18.  Old enough to know better.  That spidery hairpiece took about 3 hours to ‘attach’ too, so it’s not like I had made a rash decision.  Just a bad one.

Since my last post, Aussie got in touch… and want to send one of you lovely ladies some product to steer you back onto the path of hair righteousness.  If you’ve already commented to confess your secret hair embarrassments, you’re in.  If you’ve yet to share your secret barnet shame… better do so now, ‘cos only Aussie can help!*

*well… Aussie or a great big sombrero.

I’ve already told you about my triangle hair… and my spiral perm from 1992…

Now it’s your turn…

Aussie, Agassi and me want to hear about your hair mares!

Go on, tell me about your nightmare ‘dos!’

If I get five horror stories I’ll upload a pic of the spiral perm.  And let me tell ya, it makes Agassi look coiffured to perfection.

EGO Professional are a haircare company that manufacturer a number of styling tools including: 2 types of straighteners, curling tongs and a hairdryer.  I had the opportunity to try a set of their hair straighteners for potential review, and I have been putting them to the test throughout December.

Back in November, I tried the Cloud 9 straighteners, and whilst I was very pleased with their performance at lower temperatures… I was concerned that they tugged a little more than I had expected.

I was curious to see how these EGO Professional Hair Straighteners compared as they are both marketed as salon quality irons, both with a RRP of over £100.

The packaging is simple, a blackened red box housed in a plain white cardboard sleeve, it simply doesn’t have the ‘kerb’ appeal that the Cloud 9’s had with all that sleek black and turquoise.

A few things about these irons from the “blurb”:

Take statement styling to a whole new level with Ego 1″ irons. Featuring fully adjustable heat settings, a polished exterior and ribbed outer body, these fabulous irons utilise heat boost technology to deliver a consistent, optimum temperature in seconds. Whether you want to simply straighten or create amazing waves and curls, all the inspiration you need is now in your hands.

Let’s take a closer look at the irons…

I was a little confused by all that ribbing.  I’m used to sleek smooth barrels for optimum curling, and I even commented to their PR that I didn’t understand how the ribbing could help create curls at all.  Reflecting on my comment… I think that I was hoping that it might lay a foundation and soften the negative review I was sure would transpire after attempting curling.

As you can see, the ribbing covers the whole of the barrel from the tip to the base of the ceramic plates.

The controls are very simple, comprising of two features.  An on/off switch and a dial which controls the temperature of the irons.  Disappointingly simple really when compared to the Cloud 9’s flash LED enhanced interface.  It took a little more “peering” to ensure that I had selected my desired temperature setting.  Not generally a problem, but in the dark winter I did have to angle the straighteners towards the window to get the light to fall on them so I could tell how hot I’d set them.  I’m being finickity, but it made me appreciate that sleek interface of those Cloud 9s. 1-0 to the Cloud 9s.

Back to the design of the Big Ego Hair Straighteners, I captured some close ups of various aspects of the tools…

The barrel is a matte red, unisex in appearance and not smooth or at all ‘silky’ to the touch.

The Big EGO Hair Straighteners boast ceramic 1″ plates, overall build quality is very solid and not at all flimsy to the touch.  They heat up in a matter of seconds, easily as fast as the Cloud 9’s leaving me barely enough time to spritz my hair with my chosen heat defence spray!

The power cord (at 10ft) is more than long enough to allow for a great reach and the swivel connector ensures that you can use them without having to contort your arms into weird and wonderful positions.

Slightly more important than the swivel connector though, is the glide.  Oh god, do they glide? Swish! Straight down the hair shaft without a single pull or tug… Ah-mazing.  I’ve tried with dry hair and damp hair and I simply cannot make these babies give my hair a yank.  Smooth as silk.  1-1, that’s a tie folks!

But how does they perform?

Here’s the obligatory ‘before’…

Same as my C9 trial, I went to bed with wet hair… woke up like an explosion in a mattress factory.

And after…

Hello sleek bob!!  (please ignore the weirdness that is the layers my hairdresser has cut into the back of my head – yet another reason to ditch her).

This is at 150 degrees (or as close as I could tell on the dial).  I wanted to use the same temperature for comparison purposes.  I was able to achieve this finish in around 13 minutes, which is longer than the Cloud 9s but to be honest, I *think* the time difference was at least partly down to me being more cack-handed on the test than the fault of the straighteners.  Out of fairness though, I’m gonna have to give the Cloud 9’s a point for speed.  2-1 to the Clouds.

The final thing I wanted to try was curling, I actually curled one side with my Cloud 9s and the other with the Big EGO hair straighteners, and instantly… I preferred the C9s.  I found the Big EGOs awkward to use with the ridges on the barrel.  I actually gave up halfway through after getting annoyed with them.

And then I tried a couple of weeks later…

Oh my word.  I don’t know what ‘clicked’… but my hair seemed to find a natural path through the channels in the ribbing, the strands wound round the barrel with ease and I was left with defined but smooth waves, kinda like my before picture but tamed.  Whilst the C9s curl admirably, these seemed to leave my waves with greater definition.  And I’m (rightly or wrongly) putting that down to those funny grooves.

2-2 – feel the tension!

Both straighteners leave my hair feeling soft, shiny and smooth.  My hair hair feels almost ‘conditioned’ once straightened and I’ve not noticed any damaging effects from regular use (although I always ensure I use heat defence spray, and mostly use the irons at 200 degrees or below).

One last thing…

Price.

The Cloud 9’s retail for around £129, the Big EGO’s around £109.

3-2 to the Big EGOs.

Two very good pro styling tools, both with great capabilities… but that glide… those waves…

The Big EGO Hair Straighteners are where I’d put my money.

You can purchase the Big EGO Hair Straighteners online and Feel Unique are currently offering them for £99.99 delivered – bargain!

Dudes… seriously, I’m in trouble.  I’m going up to the in-laws in about 4 days and I look like an idiot.

Some of you may have heard my constant occasional bitching on twitter about my hairdresser’s phobia of thinning shears.  I plead with her every time to thin out my layers… and everytime she makes this big show of taking her scissors and half heartedly snipping at the ends.

And everytime I walk away looking like this..

…and worse still, I tip the bitch!

Desperate times call for desperate measures and I bought a pair of these from Boots:

How in the name of God do I use ’em?  Blade down spikey bits on top and try not to go all out Edward Scissorhands on my head right?  I think I’m less likely to get carried away if I use ’em on dry hair too…

Anyone used thinning scissors on themselves? Any tips or IN THE NAME OF GOD, DON’T DO IT!’s for me?

I am seriously gonna look for a new hairdresser, but a half decent one is freakin expensive in this pony-loving, barbour wearing, land-rover driving county I call home and I refuse to pay over £25 to have less than a cm chopped off the ends.

I’m thinking of buying one of these wandy things (or at least making a last minute plea to Father Christmas for one)…

All the cool kids seem to be using them and I’m fed up of living on the edge of society 😉

Do you use one?

I got sent some info on Diva Professional Styling and it was the conical wand in particular that caught my attention.

It’s freakin’ purple!

It gets props from me just for not being pink man….

It has a titanium barrel and I notice that one of it’s main competitors has a porcelain one… anyone with a brain care to share what they know about the differences between titanium and porcelain barrels?  I promise not to yawn openly 😉  Joking aside, I genuinely am interested.  I shall ask the PR lady and get back to you on that one.

So, apart from crisping up my hair and removing my fingerprints with the searing heat are there any other pitfalls I should know about?

What?

Oh hai spiral perm!  Please go back to 1993 and die.

I actually had something simillar in Year 8 (is it still called year 8?) … not quite as big, but equally um… crispy.

Check out the Diva Titanium Hot Wand online at Sallys – guaranteed not to make you look like a 90s reject (unless you erm… want to)

Cloud Nine got in touch to offer me a pair of their new straighteners for potential review and with a high maintenance chin length bob to tame every morning, I’m not ashamed to admit that I very nearly bit their hands off.

Now, I know that this is probably the 50th review you’ve read of these straighteners (no exaggeration), and I do apologise… so when I was putting them to the test, I tried to approach it from a slightly different angle.

I’m no expert hair straightener and I’m sure many of you would fall into this category too.  In all honesty, I’m far too busy worrying about how my makeup looks to care *too* much about my hair.  Obviously, I’d rather not look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards when I visit clients… but for me, it’s all about the eyeshadow.

Unfortunately, the dragged through a hedge backwards look is *exactly* the one I sport on my head when I wake up every morning.  Example? Oh ok, then…

So with this time-pressed, hair straightening novice method of review I wanted to present to you an 8 minute hair straightening challenge.

Why 8 minutes? Well, because that’s approximately how long I get before baby L. notices that I’m not right up there in her face singing songs and dancing like a loon for her entertainment.  I also figure that I can never be arsed to spend much longer on my hair in the mornings anyway.

Ready?  Let’s have a look at what I got sent first then…

Nicely presented packaging is always a good thing and the turquoise/black combination is very sophisticated.

GHDs hmmmm, I’m sure it’s a selling point… but Cloud Nine, you’re advertising those competitors of yours every step of the way!  I can’t read anything about you without someone, somewhere mentioning GHDs in the same breath.  Fair enough, but don’t you do it on your packaging too!

To me, that’s saying… “Look, we should be as good as 1st gen GHDs…”

Oh… well I’ll just go buy a set of GHDs then… these sound like they should be as good as, but I’ll play it safe and go for the tried and tested option.

Is that the best you can be?  Come on!  You’re Cloud Nine!  Be a tiger, grrrr….

*and breathe* sorry… but as you might be able to tell, I’m bored of the GHD comparisons already.

Right, what else does it say…

“Less heat, more style”, “…without the need for searing heat.”

Oh ok. well my straighteners are usually set at a hair-frazzling 230c, so I’ll keep that in mind for testing…

I’m all for secret ingredients…

Swivel Cord (boring), Heat Guard (whatever) – Next!

Universal Voltage (blah, blah – no actually.. that’s quite useful for international jet-setters such as myself *cough*), Hibernation Mode – so I don’t burn the house down (at least not with the straighteners), Box Contents – yep, the postman didn’t nick anything.  Good, good.. moving on…

Slide off the cardboard sleeve and you get…. another box!

Aha! Finally!

Still loving the turquoise.  Minimalism is ‘in’ it seems…

We want… we want… we want…

Is that all they could come up with?  What about peace among mankind?  I would at least have added a few Dior shadows to the list (no, I’m still not over them).

Variable heat settings – useful!

Sparkly shiny plates!!

I should at this point probably mention that build quality feels good.  It’s all sturdy stuff despite being surprisingly lightweight.

I also like how ’rounded’ the casing is… it makes for easier, smoother curling.  The plastic on the tips of the straighteners are grooved/ribbed which makes for an easy grip on the tips if curling with both hands on the barrel.

Everything you get…

Right, enough of that… let’s straighten!

I set the temperature to 150c (Less Heat More Style remember) and the Cloud Nine’s heated up in literally 5-10 seconds, which quite frankly is just showing off and actually didn’t give me enough time to find my straightening spray. Boo! 😉

Now listen up to this bit… It’s a negative and up ’till now my review has been a glowing one.

I thought that these dragged a bit.

Not a huge amount, not like my Remington Wet2Straight that I wanted to throw through the nearest window for literally pulling strands of hair from my poor screaming barnet.

However, I did feel a little bit of tugging especially when I reached the ends, they simply didn’t glide quite as easily as I would have hoped for £129 straighteners.  Ho hum.

Anyway, back to this whole 8 minute thing…

Ta-Da!  I like it… It’s not poker straight which I presume is ‘cos I’m using less heat… but that also means that it’s not completely flat and lacking in volume (which was the only end result I could get from my 230c ones).  It should also mean that my hair stays healthier despite frequent use.

I normally wash and blow dry my hair (whilst curling under with a round brush) and only after that do I use my straighteners, so to be fair on the Cloud Nines, they were really up against it to be used straight on my dry bed-head hair.

They performed admirably, I would totally let clients see me like this…. and all in 8 minutes (oh, ok it was closer to 9).  Not bad, not bad at all.

Mostly, I’m impressed with the flexibility of styles I can get from these straighteners depending on the temperature used.  I also found them pretty good for curling and I was pleased with the amount of shine they left on my hair.

Now, if only they could perfect ‘the glide’… hopefully this will be their main focus when designing and building the C9’s mkII.

As for me, I’ll be consigning my old ones to a backup drawer somewhere.  Hello super quick, unfrazzled natural looking straightening!

As a Batiste-lovin’ brunette, my one and only issue with the product was the insane amount of “distribution” I had to do everytime I used the dry shampoo.  It was a tiresome but critical step to ensure that I didn’t make myself look like this little Romeo…

Oh Mon Cheri! xx xx xx xx xx xx (sorry.. I’m having a Pepe Le Pew moment)

Anyway, I wrote about the new range of Batiste dry shampoos for dark hair a few weeks ago, and got the opportunity to see how I got on with the new product.  I’m glad I did, because could I find the coloured range in the Boots stores nearest to me?  Could I hell.  The shelves were bare!  I think that my experiences with hunting the stuff down are being echoed throughout the land.  Hopefully as it becomes a more established feature, stock numbers will increase.

Now, I don’t know how complicated this stuff is to produce, or what goes into it.  All I know is that it needs to perform one simple task.  I need it to dry up any oils that are weighing my hair down at the roots and making it look flat and dull, and in an ideal world, it’s gonna achieve that one thing without any additional side effects.

I swatched it for ya! Ha!

It’s most definitely brown!  The lighter patch in the middle is where I got a bit heavy handed and went back in for a 2nd spray.  As it dries, the colour deepens, so the paler spot didn’t take long to deepen to the same shade as the surrounding colour.

It works aswell as the original formulas, smells fine enough and does what it’s supposed to without making me look like Cruella de Vil.  It’s better than other generic dry shampoos and in my experience, works just aswell as the more expensive varieties.

This really is a staple for me, something that I purchase over and over.  Finally, I can be a little more sloppy with it when I’m in a rush.  Woo ha!

However…

I go through this stuff pretty quickly and I noticed that it’s priced up at nearly £3 in my local store compared to the original (and other scented varieties) which are priced at just above the £2 mark.  So that’s a 1/3rd more expensive and I would love to find out why.

To be blunt, as much as I’m impressed with the product… and truly can’t fault the way it works.  I won’t purchase it now I’ve got the ‘novelty’ factor out of my system unless the price comes down in line with the rest of the brand.

Perhaps if a can of it lasted me longer than 5 minutes then I’d pay a bit more without noticing the hit to my purse.  But if I’m repurchasing this a couple of times a month, then I think I’d rather get a bit of arm ache and spend my £3 saved on a Eggnog Latte instead 😉

Have you tried it yet?  What are your thoughts on the pricing?

Fellow dark-haired lovelies, RUN to your nearest stockist for Batiste’s latest brainwave (it’s a good’un!)

Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo!

This promises to solve the only problem I’ve ever had with dry shampoo!

Props where it’s due, Batiste have done so well to revamp their image in recent years and have become a cult favourite the world over.

I’m all for quick starts in the morning and since discovering Batiste I can’t remember the last time I had to scrape my hair back in a ponytail.

Just one thing… what about the redheads?

Are you a dry shampoo fanatic?