London calling...

If you follow my on Twitter (you can send me a follower request here) you will know that on Wednesday I trundled up to London to see The Wizard of Oz at the Palladium. I was so excited to see it, we had booked tickets after seeing Danielle Hope win Over the Rainbow last year. The show was just as good as expected, Toto completely stole the show though in my opinion, although I am slightly biased and love westie dogs!

The weather held out for us briefly, luckily everything was so closeby to the Palladium it was handy. Of course a trip to Oxford Street would not be complete without a mosey around Topshop hehe.

We got the later train home because it was off peak and so much cheaper (try £9.50 instead of £45.00!) so we stopped off in Garfunkels for some food and I found some US magazines in WHSmiths in Victoria Station so all in all I was a happy bunny!

Now onto the purchases, nothing major but I love them all! First up is this pink feather print blouse from Topshop. It was actually in the tall section and I am more along the lines of 5ft 4 but hey ho! Then I went into Lush and couldn't resist buying the Dorothy bubble bar and also Pop in the Bath, which I haven't pictures because I broke into that for my bath last night.

I can't wait to go back up to London again soon. I'd love to see Legally Blonde next I think, has anyone seen it? Or do you recommend any other shows?

Hair haul and sneaky peek at my re-blonded locks

I picked up Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Grunge Glamour Tousled Salt Spray and Backcomb In A Bottle in Boots today two for £7.50. I'm excited to try both and I'll let you know whether I like them or not. I seem to be really into buying hair products at the moment, because of course I don't already have enough! I took it as an underlying sign that I wasn't hair happy and booked in for a half head of highlights at a new hairdressers today and am loving being back bright blonde again!

The salon was gorgeous and the owner was so lovely and friendly, such a refreshing change from what salons can be, they used Tigi products too which is an instant turn on for me because I adore their products. I remembered on Sunday I'd seen some Tigi Dumb Blonde shampoo in TK Maxx and after I'd had my hair done I went back to buy it and low and behold it had gone :( I should have bought it when I saw it but obviously I didn't know I was having my hair done then. I did find a bottle of Tigi Fashionista though which is for colour treated hair so I picked up a bottle of that instead. Definitely going to keep an eye out for Dumb Blonde though, I remember I used it years ago and loved it. You can get it quite reasonably here.

This is how my hair looks. I always think hairdressers dry it quite flat and then of course go over it with straighteners on top of that so excuse the flatness, but you can see the colour quite clearly I think.

Oh how I've missed being blonde, life seems so much better now haha!

Collective shopping purchases from the week

I simply can not stop myself from buying things at the moment. I'm acting like I've suddenly come into some money, which is definitely not the case! 

These are the bits I've managed to accumulate this week. Nars Sheer Matte in Deauville, John Frieda Go Blonder shampoo and lightening spray, Batiste Blonde dry shampoo, Got 2 Be Collagen hairspray and Bionsen lip balm. 

I'm also presently clothes obsessed too. I want everything on the Miss Selfridge and New Look websites. Have been restrained enough to resist the sales in Topshop and Next, but only because I'm going to London this week. I want to pop into Lush while I'm there also to pick up some bubble bars. What are your current favourites? I was thinking Dorothy for sure seeing as I'm seeing The Wizard of Oz while I'm there and an oldie but a goodie Blue Skies and Fluffy Clouds.

What have you been buying this week? I think that my weekly recaps have pretty much died a death so I'll be leaving them for the time being but might do some iPhone photos of the week every so often.  

Don't forget to enter my giveaway ladies! 

Overexposed in South Beach and Mavala

I had an appointment with someone for work earlier this week and was struck by the gorgeous colour she had on her nails. I couldn't keep my eyes off of it! She wasn't the type of person I'd usually strike up a nail conversation with but with some luck she got onto the subject of her nail lady and then I asked what colour she had on and low and behold it was Overexposed in South Beach by OPI. We then proceeded to talk about nail polish for the next half an hour or so!

She also mentioned that her nail lady uses Mavala base and top coats and her polish stays chip free for days and days. I have to say I love Mavala's Cuticle Remover but I never thought to try any of their other products. I'm definitely going to have a closer look at them in Boots the next time I pop in.

Have you tried Mavala base or top coats? What do you think?

My no straightener mission

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Something I've been toying with lately is how to curb my straightener addiction. I've had a pair of GHD's since I was 17 which is way back in 2002 (oh my god I am getting old!) and have had about 3 pairs of them. The first was called "Good Hair Days" and they caught fire because the cable didn't rotate and then I have a second pair which are in my office at work and then a newest pair which I have at home and use religiously. 

Lately I've been noticing the need to wash my hair every day because it's been becoming flat and lifeless so out of interest over the past week or so I've been blow-drying my hair and haven't' so much as touched my GHD's and low and behold thick, voluminous hair which has stayed that way for 2 days and I probably could have even stretched it to 3 although I get a bit weirded out and need to wash it at the 2 day mark!
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These are the products that I have been using to achieve straight but voluminous hair with just my blow dryer. Lee Stafford Poker Straight Overnight Treatment (once or twice a week), Toni & Guy Protein Protection Mist, Organix Coconut Milk Serum and Tigi Bed Head Control Freak Hair Straightener. For tools I use an Aveda Paddle Brush and a Andrew Barton Round Brush.

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I shampoo and condition my hair as usual and then towel dry it. I will spray the Toni & Guy Protein Protection Mist all over which makes it much easier to brush through my hair and I do this with my Aveda Paddle Brush (the only type brush you can safely use on wet hair) then I will apply one squirt of Organix Coconut Milk Serum to the ends of my hair and liberally spray Tigi Bed Head Control Freak Hair Straightener all over.

The drying method I use is to do my fringe first with my Andrew Barton Round Brush and then the whole of my crown using the same brush to get volume at the roots and then I tip my head upside down and dry the whole of the underneath with my Paddle brush and I'm done. 

I will say that my hair does now for some unknown reason easily dry straightish so you may need to tailor this routine slightly if your hair is a bit unruly. Also my hair is freshly trimmed which makes the whole process a lot easier. If I was to leave my hair to dry naturally it would be a little bit wavy but essentially straight. The texture of my hair is fine, but there's quite a lot of it. The years of highlights and straighteners have definitely taken their toll on the condition (although it's pretty good considering) I can only imagine that cutting out the GHD's completely will help immensely.

Are you dependant on your straighteners? Fancy going cold turkey like me?

New Look and Boots "hauling" / shopping!

I really dislike the word haul. It's just a bit stern if you ask me, so I went shopping and these are the bits I bought. Firstly, is it just me or do you hate shopping alone? I feel so lonely and sad all on my tod moseying round the shops. My favourite shopping partner by far is my mummy, she's my shopping companion but she also knows when I need to have a browse alone too. Who's your favourite shopping partner? Anyway, onto the goods.

This pretty peach sleeveless blouse from New Look which was £18.99.

Grey butterfly patterned racer back top which was £12.99 also from New Look.

Finally some essentials from Boots. Cotton pads, Toni & Guy Protein Mist and some Oilatum. Now back to the clothes, I'm not 100% sure about the grey top. I need some more patterned bits in my wardrobe but I'm just not sure about this top so I might return it, we will see. I'm really liking the clothes in New Look at the moment though, the store in my town is pretty teeny and even they had a good selection.

Have you bought any nice things from New Look lately?

My Bobbi Brown favourites

(image courtesy of Bobbi Brown via Google)

When I updated you all on my makeup bag challenge there was quite a bit of interest in my Bobbi Brown products so I thought it would be fun to share with you my favourite products.

I've not tried a BB foundation that I've 100% loved yet although I do use their Skin Foundation in the summer and think that's good for a sheer sort or coverage. I do however love their Corrector and Creamy Concealer for undereye circles. The Corrector in particular is amazing!

Sheer Loose Powder for setting. I like this powder because it's yellow based and very soft and blendable. Does not cake either.

Shimmer Blush in Pink Sugar and also Matt blushers in Pale Pink and Nectar. BB blushers are beautiful. The majority of the colours are universally flattering and they're also very pigmented and last a very long time, see the old round containers? Old but still going strong!

Eyeshadows. By far my favourite of Bobbi Browns products in particular the shimmer wash eyeshadows (I may have accidentally said they were the metallic ones before but my favourite are definitely the shimmer wash ones) which are amazingly soft, pigmented and bendable. Also available are metallic and matt shadows. You can also buy a customisable palette to click the shadows (and other BB products) into which is much easier than depotting Mac shadows as you can click them back into their single pots at any point. I regret so much depotting my Mac shadows because I always drop the palette and now I'm left with only about 75% of my Mac shadows because some have shattered from being dropped. I tried to swatch the colours I have for you ladies but I'm awful at "swatching" so apologies for my poor excuses for swatches.

(image courtesy of Bobbi Brown via Google)

I really recommend BB brushes too. They were the first proper makeup brushes I owned and they are really amazing quality. But don't do what I did with the powder brush. I didn't ask the price before I agreed to buy it and was met with a shock when the till rang up the price!

I'd really love to try the new Rich Colour Glosses they have come out with as their lip products I've never really tried.

I have to just add quickly that Bobbi Brown was the first high end makeup brand I experienced. My mum bought me my first grown up foundation (oil free even finish compact) years ago and it opened my eyes to how amazing the brand is. I've collected the products I have now over the years and even been given things as gifts. I have more BB products but these are just my favourites out of the range so far.
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* apologies for the complete lack of my own photos ladies, my camera has been playing silly buggers lately.

What's your favourite makeup brand? Do you like Bobbi Brown?

Bare Escentuals Well Rested... or not quite so well rested

Image courtesy of Google

Being a sucker for punishment I decided that it was essential that I bought Bare Escentuals'  (Bare Minerals or whatever you prefer to call it!) Well Rested concealer. I'm sure you've all seen Michele1281's video where she waxes lyrical about  the product, if you haven't then I will link you up with it here. She claims that it's better than Benefit's Powderflage which is sadly now discontinued although I have seen it still avaliable to buy on the Benefit website.

You can either use the product as a straight up concealer for you undereye circles, a eyeshadow base or a highlight. I wanted to use it to set my Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer (BB recommends their yellow powder but I don't get on with this around my eye area).

The brush I have been using with it is a much neglected Laura Gellar double ended brush from a QVC kit many moons ago. It has a large shadow brush and then a blush brush on the other end. I use the shadow brush to concentrate the product on specific areas and the larger brush to dust over the whole eye area.

The product itself is... okay. I generally don't like the loose powder products that Bare Escentuals come out with, I know it's their whole concept! But I find them messy and I end up wasting too much product and I also end up with a very messy powder covered dressing table!

It illuminates my undereye area to some extent but I think it makes the area look powdery and slightly cakey. It's certainly not the miracle product I was hoping it to be. It does seem to last all day but then again it doesn't really cover what I need it to cover so that statement is really a bit pointless! I'll continue to use it and see if practice makes perfect but at the moment its a no no.

Have you tried Well Rested? What do you recommend for undereye circles?

Hair growth tips

As a general rule my hair grows extremely quickly, which is one of the main reasons that I went back to my natural colour because it simply wasn't worth the time, effort or money to keep up with the highlights. I'm not afraid of cutting my hair, because I know it'll grown again, so it's at it's shortest at the moment. Overall I realised there must be something I'm doing right so I had a think and these are the positive things I do that I thought I'd share.

I eat a lot of protein eg tuna, chicken, salmon, eggs and nuts. Protein is said to promote healthy hair and nails (I've always had nails that grow fast too).

I've used an Aveda Paddle Brush since goodness knows. Probably 12 or 13 years old. I use it to brush my hair when it's wet because I heard that its the only kind of brush that can be used on damp hair. I've had no problems and would never consider buying another brush for this purpose. Sure I have a small handbag brush but I'd never not use a paddle brush.

I always use a spray leave in conditioner on my towel dried hair before I brush through. Always have done and always will. I first fell in love with one by TIGI when my mum first took me to Toni & Guy for highlights when I was 15 - 16, sadly they don't make it anymore but I've found some others which I like including Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat, TIGI Rockaholic Born To Rock and Tigi Catwalk Daily Fast Fixx.

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That's really all I do. I don't use heat protectant all the time (naughty naughty) and I do use GHD's most days. I think it must be the above things that I do, which I have done for many years which have helped with my hair growth. I would say the protein one being the most important tip to take on board.

Do you have any hair growth tips?

NOTW You Don't Know Jacques by OPI

This is the colour that graced my nails last week. It's one of my favourite colours by OPI and I don't think I've ever done a NOTD or NOTW with it!

Do you like YDKJ?

Mac Mineralise Skinfinish Natural... meh

Have you ever tried one of those iconic products that everyone raves about and repurchases time and time again and just thought...meh? Well for me that product is Mac's Mineralise Skinfinish Natural.

Without a doubt the worst powder I have come across for my skin, and I'll tell you why:-

It oxidises on my skin. It either oxidises my foundation or the powder itself. If you are unsure what oxidise means basically it's when a product reacts with oxygen and turn a horrid orangey / yellow. Or they can even react with your own skins PH, but obviously this you will not know until you actually use a product. For instance my holy grail foundation is Mac Studio Fix Fluid. It is perfection for me however, if I use a daytime moisturiser with SPF in it, the foundation oxidises like crazy on my skin and hence the SPF must alter the PH of my skin or some such.

It looks incredibly cakey, almost chalky in places. My usual Bobbi Brown Sheer Loose Powder never does this, it melds with my skin and is hardly detectable but keeps shine and oil at bay for hours.

It causes the dreaded "flashback face" in photos. As did Nars Sheer Glow for me (another product that I disliked) I believe this is because of the minerals or SPF in the MSF although I'm not completely sure but I know it causes it!

So there are my reasons why I dislike Mac's Mineralise Skin Finish Natural. I appreciate that there will be some of you who love the product and it works for you perfectly, but I just wanted to highlight how we are all very different and something's that work for some don't work for another, so don't feel bad if they don't, just go back out there and find something that works for you, you don't have to follow the crowd!

Do you have any products that you don't rate?

What I use to take care of my nails

The one thing that has made a dramatic difference to how my manicure lasts is good nail and cuticle care. The bits I use are pretty affordable and easy to find on the high-street. My weekly routine consists of removing last weeks nail polish and then pushing back my cuticles with Badger Balm Cuticle Balm and a Ms Manicure Hoof Stick, or if I've got some cuticle growth on the nail then I'll use Mavala Cuticle Remover. Sometimes I'll use Ms Manicure's Cuticle Trimmer, but only if I've got any untidy edges. I'll trim my nails quite short using Ms Manicure Clippers and then file them with a bog standard emery board to smooth any rough edges.

To summarise these are the bits I use and the costs (most of the bits can be bought from Boots) :-

1. Badger Balm Cuticle Balm - £4.00.

2. Mavala Cuticle Remover - £5.62.

3. Ms Manicure Handy Dandy Mani Set - £10.20 or a Set The Scene Set £5.10 (they don't do the set I previously bought).

4. Ms Manicure Washable Emery Board - £2.03.

The most expensive bits are the tools, many of these you may already have so they wont set you back as much money, but keep in mind that assuming you don't lose them, they will last you a long time. Both the balm and cuticle remover have lasted me yonks now, I can't see having to repurchase either any time soon, so once you've invested the initial money you wont have to for a while.

TIP - If to begin with you have trouble pushing back your cuticles then I would highly recommend soaking them in a bowl of warm water. Do this a few times and it will definitely help.

My nails look so much nicer when I take care of my cuticles. I never go to a salon for a manicure, I always do them myself and often people mistake them for one done at a salon and I'm sure it's all down to the way I look after my cuticles and nails. I really enjoy my weekly routine, it's very therapeutic and doesn't take me long at all, I usually do it while watching the tv and then paint my nails in whatever colour I feel for the week ahead.

How do you look after your nails?

I've been down this road before...

I've been getting so annoyed lately over my cleansing routine. You'll probably laugh but I find myself constantly buying either cleanser, cotton pads or eye makeup remover - all at varying times during the month. Barely a week goes by where I don't need one or the other of the aforementioned products. Then in a moment of completely clarity it dawned on me what I needed... Philosophy Purity cleanser! 

I used this cleanser religiously for many years during my teens. It removes even waterproof mascara so you don't need a separate eye makeup remover or cotton pads because you rinse with water. It's not too dissimilar to Liz Earle in that it removes all your makeup and cleanses but in my experience it lasts a lot longer than Liz Earle. I bought mine from QVC because I had been sent an 'easypay' coupon, but you can buy it in lots of places. I think that QVC is a good place to buy it from if you're unsure because of their 30 day money back guarantee even on beauty products so you can use it and see what you think and don't feel you've wasted your money if you don't like it. I can't see you disliking Purity though. It lasts an age, smells fresh and clean, doesn't sting your eyes, cleanses deeply but gently.

Also when I used it with my Clarisonic it was amazing, and I really am not keen on my Clarisonic at the moment so it'll be interesting to see how I find it.

Have you tried anything my Philosophy?

A "grocery haul" of sorts

It did make me chuckle when I saw all kinds of grocery hauls pop up on YouTube the other day. How funny I thought, and the proceeded to watch them all lol! Anyway, this is what I live on during the week at work so not a full on "grocery haul" which I wont do, but I find it hard sometimes to think of food to take to work and more often than not I end up traipsing to the shop and buying Twixs and Galaxy Caramels, but I think I've got it down to a fine art now.

Bagels, love these with cream cheese and ham, or Dairylea for my lunch and then I follow that with an Activia yoghurt. For snacking both mid morning and afternoon I like to take something like the Go Ahead bars or Mini Cheddars because they are individually packaged so it's easy to bung on your bag and I'll pick a different one each day. Grapes are for general snacking and putting in the freezer (yum yum!) and I also like apples but forget to get some this week. The 7Up Free is my current beverage of choice and I'm completely addicted!

What keeps you going during your working week?

Sometimes the cheapest products are the best...

When I was drying my hair the other morning I thought I should share with you all one of my little hair secrets. One of my all time favourite products is Pantene's Enhanced Layers mousse. Time and time again I have had people in real life (lol) ask me how my curl stays in my hair all day and it has to be down to this product which costs a teeny £3.00 something.

I told a lot of people about it at work and friends, then I ran out of the mousse to went to but some more and couldn't find it anywhere. Eventually after scouring all the Boots and Superdrug's within a 15 mile radius of my home I found some (luckily on offer) and bought a load of them so I'm good for the time being! I didn't think I had told that many people that it became out of stock haha!

It probably doesn't actually do what it says on the can "... to achieve beautiful, stand out layers" but for me it gives body, volume and amazing hold to my otherwise flat head of hair. I'd be the girl who within 10 minutes of curling her hair would have poker straight locks again but not when I use this mousse, it really defines the curl and holds my style perfectly. Obviously what works for me may not work for you, my hair texture is fine but there's lots of it and it's naturally now pretty straight with the odd wave or kink. I use my Babyliss Conical Wand to achieve the curls and they last FOREVER and look glossy and healthy.

I really hope they don't discontinue this product, as I say I've had trouble getting it in the past but am stocked up for the time being! I've found that my favourite website Chemist Direct stocks it here so if need be I can order from there in the future.

What are your favourite high-street hair products? Do you like Pantene?