Current Haircare

It's been a while since I did a post on haircare so I thought it was about time I update those of you that don't watch my videos and missed my recent ramble on the subject (I will link it at the bottom of the page for those interested). My shampoo and conditioner has been the same now since I think October time and I've only just had to repurchase a bottle of each. I never genuinely thought that it made a difference what shampoo you used, conditioner, yes but not shampoo. Aussie changed that, the Miracle Moist range is just fantastic. I try not to wash my hair more than twice a week so as not to lose the natural oils it needs to stay healthy but every time I do I use this and I think it's really helped the condition improve. 

Every other was I use an intensive masque. If my hair is particularly dry I will add a deep treatment to the ends of my hair over the top of my regular Miracle Moist conditioner. Both the 3 Minute Miracle and the Macadamia Deep Repair work well for me but if I had to choose the Macadamia would win. I hate that as it's so much more expensive but it's super moisturising and it really helps to smooth and control frizz.

Talking of smoothing.. Oils! I recently repurchase the 125ml bottle of Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment as well as a 100ml bottle of the Moroccan Oil. After using each for a few months now I would say I prefer the Macadamia in wet hair as a leave in treatment and the Moroccan for styling and smoothing fly aways. Both are great but the Moroccan is heavier and easy to accidentally over-use and look greasy where as the Macadamia is lighter and more like a serum so it's my oil of choice. 

Lastly I've only recently really started using heat protectant. I know that's very naughty of me but I just didn't do it. These are the the ones I'm using at the moment. The Aussie isn't the best because it squirts a concentrated stream of liquid which saturates one spot of hair whereas the Trevor Sorbie gives a wider mist. Either way I tend to spray them on my brush and run that through my hair so as to avoid weighing my hair down with unnecessary excess of products.

So that's everything I'm using right now. I recently tried a few things from the new Mark Hill range at Boots and you can expect to see a mini review of that soon. I only used the shampoo and conditioner once and it's definitely not going to make it in my regular rotation. I'm an official Aussie convert and Macadamia Oil products do wonderful things for dry, damaged hair so if you're looking to improve the condition of yours I would strongly recommend you give them a go!

Miss BB

Macadamia Deep Repair Masque - REVIEW

I have mentioned this in videos before but thought it deserved it's own individual review! I have raved about the Macadamia Oil products and get so many questions about which I would choose if I had to only pick one. Until now I've said time and time again.. the oil. It is versatile, you can add it to your regular conditioner, you can use it as a leave in treatment or even for styling. I love it... however.. I'm swaying a little bit toward the deep repair masque at the moment. I've never used anything that's given me such an amazing instant result before. A serious hit of moisture when I need it most. I will say that I always follow up with the oil as a leave in but the oil alone doesn't do for me what this does! The directions state you shouldn't use this more than twice a week but I try not to wash my hair more than that anyway as the shampoo can strip your hair of the natural oils it needs to stay healthy so I tend to use it every time I wash it. don't put it all over my head, I generally use my regular Miracle Moist conditioner from Aussie and then add this to the ends of my hair. Alternatively I might mix the two together and then apply it root to tip.

Part of the reason is because it's so rich and thick and I worry that my roots will be greasy and part is because.. well... it's not cheap! I am a huge hair product lover but I've never been one to spend massive amounts of money on haircare. I hate that I can't find something that does what this does from the drugstore and am looking in to the Argan Oil range and various others to attempt to replace it at a cheaper cost (watch this space) but until then I will buy this because it works and I can't put a price on that. My hair is looking the best it ever has, it feels healthy, it feels strong and it's all down to the discovery of Macadamia Oil. I've talked you to death about hair oils by now and I know there are those of you still unwilling to put grease in your hair.. I get that, try this! This is the ideal alternative for those wanting the smoothing, hydrating effect without the worry of looking like you've pulled a shift at your local chip shop. If your hair is coarse, dry, over-processed and heat damaged it will love this and I promise you will too!

When it comes to the texture, its thicker than anything I've ever put on my hair before. It's thicker than any body butter I've used so tricky to describe. Its smooth but you can see from the picture where I scooped the product out. You leave it on your hair for at least 7 minutes.. I would recommend longer if you can. If I'm paying ££ for something I'm not going to wash it off after 7 minutes. You don't need much though, a little goes a long way so it's still good value! The smell disappointed me, it's not bad at all in fact it's pretty much what you would expect a shampoo/conditioner product to smell like but I love the angel-esque smell of the oil and it's not the same.

The RRP is £23.95 and you can definitely pay that online but I found it on CheapSmells for £16.25

(link)

That's for 250ml but next time I will go for the 500ml for sure, RRP £36.75, but on CS it's £24.95

(link)

I am SO obsessed with this that I bought the travel sized products to take away with me and it includes the shampoo. I'm yet to try it as I'm so hooked on my Aussie but once I have I will of course review that for you too! You can get smaller versions of everything on Cheap Smells so if you don't want to shell out straight off the bat you might want t check those out. I would 100% recommend everything I've tried from the brand so far and having tried Moroccan Oil and been disappointed I'm pleased to have found an oil that works for me! 

PS

If you're really non-committal you can buy a 10ml bottle of oil for only £4.50 (link)  but it's not the best deal on the site and I swear you will use a bigger one!

Miss BB

My January Favourites

It's that time again! Last year I wasn't great at putting my monthly favourites on my blog as well as my YT channel but it's a new year.. new start, those of you that don't watch my videos might appreciate my new commitment to the monthly posts. 

A lot of what I've used throughout January has been in my regular routine for a while, I haven't made many changes since it's all kinda working for me right now. I'm totally in love with my skin and hair care routines for the first time maybe ever so it's really just cosmetics that I switch out from time to time and even then.. the Garnier BB cream has had me hooked for 6 months.

Skincare

Liz Earle Cleanser 100ml £13.75 here

Clarisonic Mia £120 here

Soap & Glory Pulp Friction £8 here

Body Shop Shea Body Butter £12.50 here

I am absolutely obsessed with my Clarisonic.. I'm not convinced the Liz Earle does anything special for me but the fact I can remove my makeup in the tub is awesome!! I will be trying some drugstore variations this month. S&G Pulp Friction is fab.. keeps me as smooth as can be the only down side is that it's such a pain to clean out of the bath afterwards.. if it wasn't I'd probably use it twice a day. Lastly the Shea Body Butter... ahh the smell, it just melts in to your skin and is fantastic value for money as a little goes a really long way! Totally changed my mind about The Body Shop Body Butters, I used to think they were a total rip off but this one is great!

Haircare

Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo & Conditioner £3.99 each here

Macadamia Natural Oil 125ml £23.95 here

The combination of these three products have totally rejuvenated my hair. I never thought I'd find a shampoo and conditioner I genuinely valued, intensive masques and treatments, yes but not run of the mill shampoo and conditioner. I tried very cheap, I tried very expensive nothing did anything special until I tried Aussie. Luckily they are very affordable as well as being super effective.

You may recall me mentioning "Project Hair" which I started at the beginning of the year, well I've had a lot of questions lately about how I've improved the condition of my dry, damaged barnet and you can look forward to a comprehensive hair post very soon!

Base

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector (BB Cream) £7.49 here

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19 here

My Garnier still reigns supreme as my favourite daytime "foundation" but this month made way for a brand new concealer. I've lost count of the amount of recommendations I've had to buy this so I finally caved. It's a similar consistency to YSL touche eclat and great for the money but I do think while I'm surviving on little sleep I need a touch more coverage under my eyes.

Cheeks

Miners Bronzer/Blush Blend in Sunblushed £4.99 here

Only one product this month but this has been a long time love of mine! Not many people are familiar with the brand (or at least not since they were around in the 90s) but there are some great, affordable products to be found there. This gives just enough glowy colour to do the job of a bronzer and blush in one.. I wore it at my wedding, that's how much I love it!

Eyes

Loreal Volume Million Lashes Luminizer £11.29 here

Rimmel Exhaggerate Liquid Liner £5.29 here

Rimmel Brow Pencil in Dark Brown £2.99 here

The mascara has served me well over the last three months, used almost every day it does exactly what it says on the tin. I plan to repurchase the Maybelline one bu one this month to really test which is my all time favourite. The liquid liner is back. It's been my go to look since Christmas, it's a quick way to open up my eyes and look more awake in the mornings and this particular liner has been a firm favourite for more than 5 years! The Rimmel brow pencil is the same.. I never strayed from this from the ages of maybe 15/16 to 23 when I discovered brow powders. I've recently returned to my old faithful because quite frankly.. it's easier!

Lips

Miners Matte Factor in Peach £3.99 here

Another one from Miners, my friend StyleSoCoy recently did a review of this range you can check out here. I love that these are easy to apply, long wearing and non-drying and still so inexpensive. My favourite everyday shade is peach (more pink in my opinion) but I love them all.

So that's it for January.. well this is actually February (oops)

I love these posts because in a years time I could be using something else that's not doing it for me and I can look back at my own recommendations.. plus it's always interesting to see what consistently makes the favourite lists. Sometimes you just use things for months without really thinking about how great they are or why you're repurchasing.. next month I'm bringing in shower gels and such.. an under-appreciated product in the beauty blogging world in my opinion but I love mine!

Miss BB

Wedding Countdown - Beauty Bootcamp

4 DAYS TO GO

Here's a little peek at the beauty regime I have been following in the run up to the wedding. As you know it was all booked last minute and so I had little notice to start looking after myself but I've been using most of these things for around two weeks now. Some are part of my usual routine and others have been brought in to up the anti for my "beauty bootcamp" 

Facial Skincare

I now religiously use Liz Earles Hot Cloth cleanser with my Clarisonic mia every evening. I use the original hot cloth to remove my eye makeup and my mia to polish the rest of my face. I have a full "first thoughts" post on the Clarisonic here and although I still don't feel like I've had it long enough to give it a proper review I can tell you that so far I LOVE it! It leaves my skin so soft and I honestly believe it's shrinking my pores. After I've cleansed I use S&G's Wish Upon A Jar which is sold as a 21 day collagen treatment to be used every three months but I've been using it off and on since I bought it and since the start of this month it's been firmly in my every day routine. The best thing about this cream, other than it's genuine magical powers, has to be that you can use your regular moisturiser on the top. I don't tend to need that but as and when I get a breakout I can use my Clean and Clear dual action moisturiser to neutralise is. Although I find that my skin needs a little more moisture lately the Clean and Clear remains one of my all time favourite products.. you can watch my rave review here. Lastly I use Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream on any super dry patches but more often, my lips. It's officially winter out there now and for me this is a must have.

Bodycare

Other than my regular body lotion (Garnier 7 day Moisture - Shea Butter) I have been experimenting with the above two products over the past fortnight. The Loreal Cellulite gel is something I'm hanging a lot of hopes on because if it works it will be a staple in my bikini prep before we go to Vegas in March. My Wedding dress is short.. just above the knee and my pregnancy cellulite still lingers and is (no joke) also all the way to my knee so I'm doing the crazy lymphatic massage and all that jazz in the hope this will diminish it before the big day. Does it work, who knows? I'm not sure it would be feasible to gather accurate before and afters but I figure it only matters that you think it's worked, right? As Gok would say.. "It's all about the confidence!"

The Palmers Gradual tan is up for discussion. I used it last week in preparation for my hen do and loved the result but I'm not sure I want to be fake tanned, let alone risk it going wrong. Most of all I don't want to make Lee look even paler beside me.. he's practically translucent as it is!!

Teeth Whitening

Very briefly.. I know this works, You can see my review and results in this post. I only started using them on Monday night so I'm not sure what effect they'll have in 5 days but it's another last minute attempt at improving my overall appearance. I have pretty yellow teeth and always have, I don't drink coffee of red wine I'm not a smoker, there's no rhyme or reason but I've never had white teeth so anything that can help is something I'm willing to try.

Haircare

I'm going to do a comprehensive current haircare post very soon because I've found my perfect products but this masque is one thing I've recently added to the mix that I am totally in love with. It advises to use it a maximum of twice a week but having read and watched reviews I know that some people use it in place of their regular conditioner on a daily basis. I'm sticking to the recommended usage for two reasons, 1. I add macadamia healing oil to my regular conditioner every time I wash my hair anyway and 2. it's not cheap! I can't afford to use this as a conditioner!!! It does leave my hair soft, shiny and manageable and I will be using this the night before the wedding to give my hair an extra bridal-worthy gleam.

Phew.. that was a longer post than I anticipated and it's very much my bedtime now but I hope you enjoyed it and can get some tips for your own "beauty bootcamp"... whatever the event.

Miss BB

Hair Oils : Macadamia vs Moroccan

Prior to the "big hair oil boom of 2011" the only mainstream hair oils I'd heard of were the old classics from VO5. Before Moroccan oil started popping up all over the blogosphere I did try 100% Argan oil having seen various reviews online but it did very little to improve the appearance of my hair and absolutely nothing to improve it's condition in the long run. I was disappointed. I went on to sleep in various natural oils over the course of the year, none of which seemed to have any impact whatsoever. So when the new designer brands burst on to the scene you can see why I didn't jump for joy at the prospect of hair restored to it's former glory as everyone else seemed to. It took me until last month to try the raved about "Moroccan Oil" and after just one use I was sold. I put off purchasing for months because it was so expensive. I knew what I was buying when I placed my order but I had no idea how tiny 25ml really was until it arrived in it's TINY box. That said you do only need the smallest amount. For my shoulder length hair I used a dollop about the size of a pound coin and that may have been too much. It made my hair sleek and smooth, I used the residue from around the bottle neck to tame any flyaways after styling and it might just have been the best my hair had ever looked. I couldn't stop staring at my shiny, swishy hair. I was at the mirror every chance I got. It really did do what everyone said it would.... HOWEVER. After about a week of using it I could feel the residue in my hair. The product builds up and the shine is lost. A good clarifying shampoo would no doubt rectify this but if your hair is dry the last thing you want is to be adding a good cleanse to your regular routine and losing any precious moisture you've managed to retain.

I do like Moroccan Oil and I wont be throwing away my teeny tiny bottle of it just yet but if I was to recommend to you a hair oil that would be it. 

Macadamia Natural Oil. Now that's something special! Both of these products are less oil in texture and consistency than they are serum. The difference between the two for me is how easily they build up. So far the Macadamia hasn't come anywhere near to heavy on my hair, I can't feel it at all whether I use it mixed in with my conditioner, on damp hair or as a finishing product.. My hair gleams and feels like silk just as it did with the Moroccan but I can't accidentally put too much in.. trust me I've tried! I need a similar amount of product to get the same result but it's lighter.. oh and it smells gorgeous! Both oils smell nice, I would describe the Moroccan as a kind of sweet mint scent, The Macadamia smells really similar to Lee Staffords products which if you're familiar you'll know smell great (he even launched a perfume it was so popular). 

Now on to the price comparison. We all know it's cheaper to buy in bulk but when it comes to these two products you really have no choice, 

The Macadamia Natural Healing Oil Treatment 30ml £10.75 here 125ml £23.95 here

Moroccan Oil Treatment 25ml £12.85 here 100ml £30.45 here

Since I got the Macadamia Oil I haven't used the Moroccan equivalent and I will say I'm as surprised as anyone with that turn of events. When I loved the Moroccan Oil as much as I did and saw the other online I thought it looked like a rip off of my new hair love.. little did I know it was the oil for me. 

It won't be the case for everybody of course. Remember everyone's hair is different, just as skin care is not universal hair care is often specifically targeted to certain hair types. Mine is thick, dry and damaged from heat styling and over use of bleach and home hair colours. If you have fine, fly away hair this might be the last thing you'd want. Fair enough.. this is just what works for me.

I know that neither of these products are pure oil and both contain nasty silicone's which are oh so dreadful for your hair but if it can make my hair look and feel as fantastic as it does I really don't care! I'm sure lots of people will read this and have their conflicting, no doubt superior opinions to mine but this post is me sharing with you my experience of these two oils.

Have you tried either of these yet?

Leave me a comment with your thoughts, it's always good to share.. your experience may be very different from my own.. that doesn't make either one of us wrong. It just makes us different!

Miss BB