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Changes to Hair Care with Lee Strafford

Published March 16, 2013 | By myah0159

Hi lovelies hope your okay! If you remember a while back I let you all know that in 2013 I’m changing my skincare and haircare up slightly (I spoke about day cream here) and today I thought I’d share with you a new range called Breaking Hair range that I am trying and testing out for my hair. The range is by Lee Strafford, a celebrity hair stylist, and I’ve really given myself months to fully experience the range and have already repurchased the shampoo!

The range is all about avoiding hair breakage, and helping you grow your hair strong and healthy. It’s aptly named ‘Breaking Hair’ and consists of a hair serum, hair treatment, shampoo and conditioner. I’ve also got a Lee Strafford volumising mousse that I’ve just begun playing around with after using up all my other mousses. As you can see from above the packaging is a really bright eye catching fuchsia pink which I’ve been enjoying having in my shower as I do like bits of pink everywhere! Today I thought I’d talk you through the products I use in the shower, and devote another post to the mousse and serum.

Before I begin I just want to make it clear that I still am a fan of SLS free shampoos and this isn’t an SLS free shampoo. My hair has improved vastly from using SLS free products, I know it’s silly to swap from something that was working for you but I really wanted to use this duo together and I think I was missing the really foamy aspect of using an SLS containing shampoo. Saying that, after I run out my second bottle of this shampoo, I will return to SLS free products just to be extra careful.

Now back to the shampoo, this is the Breaking Hair Shampoo, retailing for £8.99. It contains Vitamin A & E and is aimed at dry damaged brittle and broken hair. My hair had been breaking due to it’s brittle nature and I find that this shampoo is rather nourishing and moisturising. It foams well, cleans my hair really really well (something my SLS free Naked shampoo wasn’t doing) and smells great. Can’t really ask for more except please make an SLS free version and I will be a convert for good! But I do see myself taking a break from SLS free now and again and picking this up again in the future.

Now on to the Breaking Hair Conditioner again retailing for £8.99. This I really enjoy because it really does moisturise my hair, it contains Soy, Amino Acids to strengthen hair and after usage my hair feels really smooth. The one thing that nags me a little bit is the smell, it’s a bit funny and weird, it could just be me. I feel like I can smell the medicinal element of the ingredients? But I adore the smell of the shampoo and wish the conditioner would smell the same. But other than the smell I’m happy with it, it adds gloss and shine to my hair so I’m a happy bunny.

Now onto the hair treatment, the Breaking Hair Treatment, this is my absolute favourite. I tend to take an egg size amount and smother it all over my hair concentrating on the ends mostly. I stick my shower cap and finish the rest of my shower routine off before returning to wash the mask/treatment off. It really is hydrating and I don’t just say ‘it leaves my hair silky smooth’ – it really does. The scent is also really nice and it contains soy and amino acids to help strengthen hair and improve the moisture balance. It’s priced at £10.99 for 200ml and I’d definitely recommend this. Sometimes you can get some really good deals on the treatment at Boots, so keep an eye out for that! Lee Stafford describe this as a ‘luxurious treatment’ and I have to agree. This to me is the winner of the bunch.

You can find Lee Strafford hair range in Boots.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post, I’ve been putting it off because I wanted to get my hair trimmed first (makes sense in my head) but I’ve postponed the hair trim to July so thought it was about time I shared my hair care changes. I hope you all have an amazing day! Tanzina x

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New Purchase: GHD Metallic (and review)

Published January 16, 2013 | By myah0159

Hi you. Today as promised thought I’d share one of my two splurges from the month of December. Before I start, please do believe me I have been trying to behave on the shopping front and I haven’t bought ANY beauty products since September.. well except nail polish remover and an eye liner and that’s practically a necessity. And this was such a good deal that I didn’t want to miss out. And it was red. And I haven’t purchased a hair straightener since 2010. Okay I’ll stop making excuses and get on with the post.

So as you can probably tell from the picture and the title that what I splurged on were these gorgeous ruby red metallic GHDs. I’ve never owned a pair of GHD’s before and I was pretty happy with my current Babyliss Pro Elegance straighteners however I always wanted a GHD. It’s one of those things that I thought I’d get when I was all grown up and I stumbled quite randomly across an amazing deal which pretty much made my mind up for me.

I bought this pair from ASOS where it usually retails for £135 and that is typically how much limited edition GHD’s retail for. For as long as I can remember GHD straighteners have been up there with the best of the best straighteners so I really think this will be an investment. Everyone I know who owns one has never regretted the purchase or given it up. These switch off after 30 minutes of use which really appeals to me as I always get that ‘did I remember to switch it off?’ moment and although I’ll still get that moment, the 30 minute technology will make me feel a little bit better. This limited edition collection also comes with a little carry case for the straighteners and a heat proof mat which is handy.

So how much did I get it for? The GHD’s went down from £135 to £108 which is already a better price than the plain original GHD stylers as they retail for £119 RRP. But that’s not all, at the time ASOS had a 20% off code which I took full advantage off and saved a total of £21.60! Altogether the GHDs cost me just £86.40 which is an amazing price, probably one of the best I’ve come across especially for the new gold plate technology. There were a few GHD deals floating around at the time but they are for the old discontinued plates, and not the gold plates which was what I was after. £86.40, can you blame me for not being able to pass up on that? I didn’t think I’d come across a better deal for a very long time. And it was in red, I’ve said that already haven’t I? Unfortunately the price has gone up on the straighteners on ASOS but it is still less than £135, it is now £115 and you can find it here.

What do I think of it? I’m loving it, I didn’t think it would make as much of difference to my hair as it has, my hair is definitely easier to straighten and it leaves a more shiny and glossy finish compared to before. I really can’t say much other than the fact I think it’s great, and a good investment and I can see this lasting me a very long time. I definitely won’t be repurchasing a straightener for a good long while. I’m very happy with this purchase.

So that is it for my first of two beauty splurges, I’m happy to say I do not regret this at all and if I could go back and rethink this decision I would definitely make the decision to purchase. That’s always a good way to look at things when you make splurges I think. I will do another post soon on my second splurge and it is another hair item that I splurged on but again I think it’s another investment. I hope you are having a good day and guess what? It’s snowing in London! Take care lovelies x

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Event: Elemis FreshSkin & Discovery Kit Review

Published November 11, 2012 | By myah0159

Morning morning. Today I thought I’d highlight products from my most used skin care range which I have using for months and months ..as I mentioned (here). The brand I am talking about is Elemis FreshSkin and I recently attended an event for the brand which educated us on the newest range from FreshSkin.

Before I take you through the pictures like I always do with events I just want to show you this little travel/discovery kit which has been a life saver for me. The problem with skin care is that you can’t live without it and for someone who hates depotting products.. When you travel you have to carry the whole thing with you. This is where this little beauty comes in and helps me lug less luggage across London every weekend! I introduce you to the Fresh Start Discovery Kit (£19.90), which contains products I use in my every day skin care routine.

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The discovery kit was created so people can discover the whole range without having to fork out lots of money only to discover the range wasn’t for them. I find that to be such a clever idea and think much more brands should do that, I know Benefit do it sometimes but it isn’t a part of their permanent collection. Also, it can work as a travel sets as the sizes are really generous and can last you quite some time. Within the kit there are two products I’ve mentioned to before, the Softly Softly Daily Moisturiser and the Peachy Perfect Gentle Cleanser which you can read all about (here). The kit also contains a exfoliater called Skin Glow Exfoliating Face Wash. I’ve actually have the full size exfoliater at home already and have been using it for a while. It’s a lovely every day exfoliator that I adore and coming across it here makes me realise it deserves it’s own blog post so look out for a review soon. Now onto products I haven’t used from the range before.

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There is a night dream called the Dreamy Sleep Night-Time Moisturiser. It doesn’t feel super heavy like I envisioned it would be and I honestly do notice that my skin feels more hydrated in the morning in comparison to other creams I use at night time such as the Softly Softly. It isn’t as intense as my much loved Oilatum, however as my skin has been well looked after for quite some time now I notice that it doesn’t need such extreme moisture as often and is more than satisfied with this night time moisturiser.

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The second item that I haven’t tried from the range is face masks, and this kit contains three sachets of Deep Clean Purifying Face Mask. I’ve used on hence why I’ve only got pictures of two, I couldn’t tell you all about it if I hadn’t tried it right? First impression, I absolutely LOVE it. This is my kind of face mask, does a great deep clean and dries really well on my face. I get that tight face frozen feeling that I crave from masks, and upon taking the mask off my skin does feel super clean and soft. The masks contain natural clays, goji berry extract and frankincense which is great for getting id of impurities and after having to wear foundation and heavy make up over the weekend I definitely needed this. It would be 10 out of 10 if it wasn’t for one problem, the face mask sachets are really really small, at only 3ml, and I really wish they were bigger. There is just about enough for my whole face, but I really do wish there was a little more. 5ml should be minimum but other than that it is perfect. I just checked the full size mask set, and they are over double the size of the masks included in the discovery kit – now it makes perfect sense why they are smaller here, after all it is a discovery/travel set!

Now enough of me rambling, take a look at pictures from the event. We had the opportunity to try out FreshSkin facials and get our nails and hair done.

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Being educated on the latest range by the beautiful Emer, I’m definitely more of a pink girl!

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Potential Christmas pressies maybe?

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The discovery kit!

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See those Essie pinks at the front? They’re exclusive Essie for Elemis FreshSkin nail colour! Gorgeous.

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A beautiful igloo like cocoon where I had my facial done at the hands of the talented Emer

The next few pictures are of my hair, Electric Hairdressing were doing lovely moisturising hair treatments and hair styling at the event and I was fortunate enough to have the lovely Ky Wilson make my hair look super fabulous. He really worked wonders as you will be able to see below. He also is a fellow blogger and you can take a peek into his life (here). He actually works at the Electric salon, and I couldn’t recommend him enough, was an absolute pleasure to meet.

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How super sleek and shiny does my hair look? It felt like silk – no exaggeration

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Shiny, shiny, shiny!

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Ta-da, very retro and glamorous. I absolutely love love loved Ky’s finished work. Please do ignore my face,
I just had a facial so had practically all my make up removed!

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How tidy and shiny and pretty does my hair look? I still cannot get over it!

I liked my hair so much that even though I had no plans for that evening, I made plans! Hair like that deserves to go out, not be wasted at home. I had lots and lots of stares from men, women, girls, pets.. and I knew it wasn’t because I forgot to wear an essential item of clothing, no it was because for once my hair looked amazing. I liked my hair so much, that even though there was such a lack of make up in the picture.. I still made this hair my MakeupAtoZ facebook picture. Yes, that is true admiration.

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The new MakeupAtoZ facebook picture

That is all for today’s post for Makeup A to Z, quite a bit to read I know. I have a very exciting Elemis Fresh Skin give away coming up very soon so keep an eye out for that, until next time have a great day! – Tanzina x

Posted in Events, Hair, Review, Skincare | 2 Comments