L'oréal Paris Thicker Hair Collection

Sorry for all the review posts lately, I've got a few non-review post ideas for over the next few weeks, but I'm more than happy to take suggestions on what you'd like to see!

When I was younger I had such long and thick hair. 

I used to love it so so much, despite that it would get tangled in knots constantly, and the fact that it was so long that I could barely do anything with it.

That was, however, until I got to an age where I could dye my hair myself.

When I got to about 17, I had mastered dying my hair pretty well without it being too patchy, and I developed an almost OCD for roots coming through.
This starts to happen only a few weeks after dying your hair, so every 3 weeks I found myself re-dying it. But I wouldn't just touch up the roots, I'd re-dye my whole head.

After a few months of this, when I'd brush my hair I'd find a lot more would be falling out in comparison to normal, and when I'd wash it, I'd find a big clump in the drain.
Now to begin with, I wasn't concerned in the slightest. 

'My hair is thick and long any ways, doesn't matter if a bit falls out'.
But when it was still happening a year after I had stopped dying my hair regularly, I began to panic.

4 years later, and I'm glad to say that I still have long hair (not quite sure how, but I am most definitely not complaining)! I dye my roots every 3 months at the most, and since I have an ombré effect on the lower half, I re-bleach probably about every 5/6 months.
It's not very thick any more though, so I thought it was time to experiment.
I recently stumbled upon an advert for L'oréal Paris Elvive - Fibrology Thickening Shampoo, Thickness Booster, and Thickening Conditioner. Like all adverts, they made the products seem so amazing and fast working.
Normally I don't get scooped in, but I thought I'd take the chance with these as they're a new range so I would have to wait a while before reading any reviews.

Surprising, they're not expensive products. The shampoo and conditioner are both 400ml bottles, both costing £3.99 each. The thickness booster was fairly costly in comparison at £5.99 but only being a 30ml bottle. However, when I bought these they were on a 3 for £10 offer at Boots, so really, I only paid £2 for the booster.

The 'science' behind the increase of hair thickness in these hair products, is that there is a fair amount of Filloxane in them. The filloxane is meant to penetrate the hair fibre and expand it, remaining in the fibre and increasing expansion wash after wash.
These products claim to increase the thickness of hair, giving it more body and bounce, which is exactly what I wanted.

Directions on how to use them are fairly straight forward. You use the shampoo like a normal shampoo, which I must add, smells incredible.
It's fragrance is really sweet and creamy. To be honest, I don't buy things for the way they smell (except obviously perfume etc), but it does help if things don't smell rank. Especially if it has a lingering smell.
Once you've rinsed the shampoo out, you apply the thickness booster to the whole of your head. It comes out really thin and runny so it's hard to determine how much you need (and since I have long hair, I'm running out after only 5 or 6 uses). You only need to use the booster twice a week at the most, so depending on your hair length, you might be able to get a month or two worth of booster. 
Without washing the thickness booster out, you then apply the conditioner on top, and let it do it's magic for a few minutes, then wash it all out.

I couldn't see a difference after the first or second wash, but after the third, I actually started to notice that my hair seemed to have lot more to it.
I've been using the shampoo-conditioner combo for about 2 months now, with the booster once or twice a week, and I can honestly say I'm impressed.
My hair feels and looks so much thicker, and because of this it seems to have more volume. Not sure if this is something it claims to do, or if I'm just drying my hair differently, but it just looks so much better than usual.
SO happy with the results, especially because it was a sort of 'spur of the moment, hope and pray' purchase. Plus, because the bottles are so big, I won't be running out any time soon of the shampoo or conditioner.
I'd rather not have to pay the whole £5.99 for the booster, so I'll see how it goes without it for the next few weeks. If results are still good, I won't be repurchasing it as an assisting product.
You can also get a hair mask in this range, so when I do come to repurchasing the shampoo and conditioner, if there is a similar offer to last time, I'll try that out and see how that fairs in comparison.

Hope you're all well, and are enjoying the start of Summer!

xox

Soap and Glory Archery

After watching a few beauty hauls on Youtube recommending this brow pencil, I decided to delve into Soap and Glory's makeup collection. Usually I don't tend to go for their makeup since it's often quite expensive, but I've heard such great things about this product that I just had to try it out!

I had a fair amount of trouble trying to get hold of this colour though. The Boots store near where I work only had the colour 'love is blonde' for weeks, and my hair is naturally a medium brunette colour, so I definitely could not get away with that shade.
This is the Soap and Glory Archery - Brow tint & Precision shaping pencil in shade 'Brownie points'. 
It retails at £10, which for an eyebrow pencil I thought seemed a bit much, since I usually use Rimmel London - Professional Eyebrow Pencil in shade 002 hazel which retails at about half the price. 
But like I said, I had heard such great things about it that I thought I'd give it a try.

On one side of the dual ended product is a fine felt tip like pen, and the other, a pencil that you twist up. 
Although I think I might have gotten a dud felt tip side, as the tint doesn't come out properly (which sucks as that's what I was most looking forward to using), I can still use it, it's just quite faint. Or is that how it's meant to be? I'm not sure, I was expecting it to come out a little heavier so that I wouldn't have to go over the same spot a ton of times.
After reading online however, I think I just need to stand it felt tip side down so that all the tint rushes to the nib. I'll try that tomorrow and hopefully it'll be a-okay!
The pencil side however is just right. It's just your average pencil, maybe slightly more waxy, but the colour is almost exact to my eyebrow colour, which almost never happens to me with makeup. It seems quite flimsy though, and I've heard a lot of people mention that their pencil end has snapped after a few uses. Thankfully it hasn't with mine yet (touch wood!), but I'll be disappointed if it does since you can't exactly sharpen it.

I've also been using the tint and shaping pencil, with the Soap and Glory Arch De Triumph - Brow shaper and Highlighter crayon. I love this highlighter to just pop under the brow arch to make the eyebrow stand out more. It retails at £9 which for this good of a brow highlighter, I think it is more than worth the money. It's a big pencil so you'll get a lot of use out of it, so it's a bargain really.

For the fact that my tint and shaping pencil may be broken, I am a bit unsure of whether it's worth all the hype. I guess I'll just have to see if I can get the felt tip end to work properly before I make a decision on outting the Rimmel brow pencil. If I can, it is most definitely something I will be repurchasing, and I do think it is an excellent product if you're looking for a more natural brow. It's really quick and easy to use, and it makes your brows look amazing without making them stand out in all the wrong ways. And teamed with the highlighter crayon, your brows are good to go.

xox

Toni & Guy - Nourish Reconstruction Mask REVIEW

Hey Guys!

I'm forever getting bored with my hair, which in turn means that I'm forever destroying it.
I've never quite gone too OTT with the bleach, but I not too long ago I did have the ombré effect in my hair, and I've recently decided I wanted it back.

In all honesty, I should just buy wigs because my hair is in such terrible condition from bleaching my ends and dying it so many different colours over the last 6 years. (Yikes!)
I rarely straighten my hair, other than if I my fringe has dried totally crazy. And I never really curl my hair unless it's a special occasion. Wow, my hair seems always the same and really boring, I really should start to experiment with hairstyles more.
Usually, I just tie my hair up in a bun on a night, and when I take it out the next morning its pretty wavy, so it's not like I apply a lot of heat to it.
But the bleach has made my hair waaaay dry and a bit limp looking.

When I decided it was time for the return of the ombré, whilst buying the bleach, I thought I'd be sensible and try out one of the many damaged/dry/replenishing hair products that are available. 
As I'm sure it is for most, Boots is my go to store when it comes to looking for new products, since it has a lot to choose from.
I've been using a few hair products from VO5 recently, but nothing that's completely wowed me. If I'm honest, I haven't given them a fair trial as I'm so flaky when it comes to trying new products (and lazy when it comes to taking care of my hair/skin etc.), so I will try them out properly over the next few weeks.
Because of this, I decided I'd venture over to the Toni & Guy products for a change and bought the 'Toni & Guy Nourish Reconstruction Mask'. I think it was about £10 which is a fairly reasonable price for the fact that it does exactly what it's meant to, and you can get a good few uses out of it before it runs out (depending on the hair length). However, usually I wouldn't spontaneously buy a product that I haven't read reviews on, if it costs more than a few pounds. To me, spending £10 on something I haven't read up on, means that if I don't like it and won't use it, then it's a waste. If that happens with more than one product, imagine all the money you've wasted over time.

This hair mask however, is AMAZING!
You have to leave it on your hair for 3-5 minutes, so I shampoo and condition my hair as normal, then put the hair mask on and wait for it to develop, while shaving my legs or something.
After one use I could already feel and see the difference. I had bleached my ends, and was in a full on panic mode because they were so dried and frazzled that my hair just looked and felt like I had grabbed a handful of hay, and glued it to my head.

I was honestly shocked at how much of an improvement the mask had made after literally one use. My hair still felt and looked a little dry, but 100 time better than before I had used it!
I've been using it every two or three washes, so as to not overuse it, but to keep the damage to a minimum, and I have to admit, my hair no longer feels repulsive. It looks and feels so much healthier than it has in such a long time. It's still damaged, but that is to be expected if you use dyes or apply a lot of heat.
It doesn't make my hair greasy at all, which is something I was worried about. It leaves it soft and bouncy, and it smells great!

To anyone who has dry or damaged hair, that just needs some life putting back into it, I would definitely recommend this product! It may seem a bit pricey for a hair mask, but it does the trick so fast that it's completely worth the money in my eyes.

Does anyone have any other products that work wonders on dry and damaged hair?

xox