Biosilk Silk Therapy Hair treatment

I apologise these photos are not very good quality at all, but nevermind! Okay, this is without a doubt the best hair product I have used in a long time, if not ever. I've used a couple of different hair treatments I've been impressed with recently, such as the Avon argon oil (reviewed recently here). But this is so much better than anything else I've tried, honestly I can't recommend it enough! I received this sample size (15ml) in my september Glossybox. To be honest I was a little disappointed with this month's glossybox, just because some of the sample sizes were very small, such as the Lady Gaga perfume sample, and the Radial skin care samples. However, now that I've found this little haircare gem I can overlook that!

The Biosilk silk therapy treatment is relatively expensive (retailing at £11.49 for a 50ml bottle), but I'd definitely purchase this product again. I can actually see it lasting a really long time as I've used my sample size a few times now and barely any product has gone, so for that reason the price is definitely justifiable. What I really love about this product is that it's not heavy or greasy at all and doesn't weigh the hair down; this can be a problem with leave-in treatments I always find! Each time i have used this so far, my hair genuinely has felt like silk - so soft and manageable. I was honestly in shock the first time I used it! My hair seems to be in better condition than it has been in years, seriously. It may be a little bit too soon to say, but I think I've found my new holy grail hair product! Anyone else who received this in their Glossybox this month, were you as impressed as me? I'd definitely recommend trying it, it's 100% worth the money!

Insta-Updates

This is a little summary of what I've been up to the past week or so!

From top left corner; 1. Bubble baths on rainy days 2. New essie purchases 3. Food at wetaherspoons mm 4. Cocktail out with the girls 5. The cutest little cat hat! 6. Dessert also at weatherspoons 7. This month's Glossybox 8. Snuggly jumper and coffee 9. Bubble bath and my current read 10. Boyfriend's cat 11. Studded bracelet 12. Night out with the girls 13. Rainy afternoon 14. Leopard print cross nail transfers 15. Costa (it was disgusting...but it looks pretty at least) 16. My top three glitter polishes - see previous post for full review!

Top 3 Glitter nail polishes

Rimmel London rock your colour Glitter top coat in 'Disco Gold' - £4.59 Boots 

Models Own glitter polish in 'Pink Fizz' - £5.00 -link

Technic Nail varnish in 'Carnival' - 99p Bodycare -Alternative link

I thought I would do a post on my favourite glitter nail polishes, and these made the top three! I'll start with the Rimmel glitter top coat. This is the newest glitter polish in my collection, but I can definitely say it's my favourite! It's quite subtle compared to most glitters, however you can build up the amount by applying an extra coat or two. I love the mix of gold and silver sparkles, it's different from other glitter polishes I've tried. I think it goes with pretty much any colour, which makes it the perfect top coat. I've used it as my top coat pretty much constantly since buying it! Defnitely recommend this one!

Now, the Models own glitter polish. I wanted this exact colour for so long, but it seemed to have been discontinued in shops (I'm not sure if it's back again now?), anyway i ended up buying it on ebay and it cost me about £8.00 which is quite steep as they're supposed to be £5.00 but I paid it because I really wanted it. I really love this colour, but it's honestly the hardest nail polish to remove EVER. I remember spending about 40 minutes trying to remove it once, and I think even then I resorted to picking bits off. This is something that really bugs me about glitter polishes; this is also something that stops me from wearing this particular polish as much as I'd like because it's such a bitch to remove! But as far as the actual colour itself, I love it!

Finally, Technic 'Carnival'. I heard a lot about this earlier this year, as it's a dupe for OPI's Rainbow connection. I wasn't willing to pay £14+ for that so when I saw this Technic version for only 99p I immediately grabbed about six bottles! I love this polish, it goes so well with almost any colour, although I think it looks best with either dark colours like navy or black, or nude colours! I won't go into too much detail about this one as Ive mentioned it previously, and I'm sure a lot of you have already heard a lot about it! But it's definitely one of my favourites, i love how bright and multicoloured it is and it looks great on! Right I think thats enough now, this is probably the longest post I've done! What are your favourite glitter nail polishes? I'd love to hear some recommendations as I'm always looking to try more!

Winnie the Pooh framed quote

I was shopping with my nana on sunday and I spotted this lovely framed Winnie the Pooh quote in Home Bargains; for anyone that hasn't heard of it it's a store that sells really cheap home ware! They had about four other different quotes / colours, such as one by Audrey Hepburn, but i absolutely fell in love with this one! I've seen it before and I just think it's such a cute little quote. I'm hoping to move into a flat of my own as soon as possible, so whenever I see cute little homely things like this I can't resist picking them up :) I've already got a few things stored away ready for when I move into somewhere, like the gorgeous floral bedding I picked up from Ikea a couple of weeks back (I think there's a photo of it in my latest instagram 'week in photos' post!).

Aveeno Skin Relief Lotion

I picked this up a couple of months back from Morrisons as it was on offer at half price. It's usually about £5.99 but it was like £2.40 ish. So i decided to try it out as my skin had been quite itchy and irritated around that time and I was looking for a moisturiser specifically aimed at irritated skin! This is the Aveeno website, I would have included a link to this particular product but for some reason I couldn't find it on the site (I'm probably just being an idiot!). 

The product is really thick and creamy which I love, and also it soaks in really well without being greasy at all. It feels amazing on the skin and so moisturising. It's definitely the best one I've tried in a while. It says it contains 'triple oat complex', and I think this is reflected in the smell of the lotion, as it smells pretty much like oats to me! It's not a bad smell but it's not a particularly nice one either... but it's not a really harsh, strong scent so it doesn't really bother me! I would recommend trying this if you have irritated, sensitive, dry or itchy skin, as it's really moisturising. It's great to use on your legs after shaving too, sometimes I find that scented moisturisers can irritate my skin especially after shaving! Have you tried this? or any of the Aveeno range? I definitely want to try other products in their range as I was very happy with this!

Updated Review - Bourjois nail polish remover

After reviewing this product a couple of weeks back (view post here), I decided to write another post as I've used it quite a bit more now. I'm really not getting the hype around this. I thought I'd give it a chance and use it a few more times but I'm just not impressed at all... I've gone back to using normal nail polish remover and cotton wool pads and I feel that they do a more thorough job. The Bourjois stuff is all right I suppose, if you dip each finger in about three seperate times each and twist for about ten seconds each time. I guess this is about the same amount of time it takes to use cotton wool pads but I'm just really not feeling it. The 'one second' thing is definitely false advertising! It also doesn't seem to remove glitter nail varnish very well at all for me, however I know some people have said that it does. I definitely wouldn't buy this again, not understanding the hype really!

Soap & Glory goodies

I picked up these two Soap and Glory products a couple of weeks back in Boots. I'd been on the lookout for a pore treatment / mask and I spotted this one. I'd not really heard any recommendations for it or anything but I usually love Soap and Glory products so I thought i would give it a try. I've been impressed with other products of theirs I've tried before, such as the Scrub Actually and the Righteous Butter. In Boots they had an offer on Soap and Glory (buy one, get one half price), which I think is still on. So I decided to get a lip butter as well, because I'm a self confessed addict and can never have enough lip balms / lip glosses / lipsticks! 

As expected, these products didn't disappoint. The lip butter has a lovely smell (coconut and shea butter!), and is really moisturising. The only negative I have about this product is that you have to use quite a lot of it to get a decent coverage on your lips, to make them feel moisturised. Therefore Ive used quite a bit of it already. The 'facial peel' is amazing! I absolutely love it so far. I've used it a couple of times as a full 'peel' for 15 minutes, and I've also used it a couple of times as a 'quick refresher' like it says on the tub, where you leave it for around 5 minutes. After using this, my skin feels amazing - so so smooth and baby soft, and it also feels really clean. I'd definitely recommend it! As for the actual minimisation of pores, I'm not too sure how far this works, and I haven't noticed a drastic change to my pores - but then again we can't expect miracles, and I have only used it about five times so far! But it's definitely worth it for the way it makes your skin feel :)

Links

The Fab Pore Facial Peel - £8.00 from Boots

Smooch Operator Lip Butter balm - £6.00 from Boots

Week in photos

First row; cinema date with my boyfriend, ear cuff, uni certificate finally arrived, obsessed with these atm - nicest crisps!

Second row; a few cheeky primark purchases, frankie and bennys breakfast mm, new floral bedcover from ikea which I'm in love with, roast dinner my nana made me.

Third row; dressed up for a night out, soap and glory face mask, cute signs in ikea, pistachio cake in ikea cafe.

Bottom row; snuggly afternoons, the most amazing drink ever, my new favourite clothing item - SO SO happy that it's getting cold enough to wear jumpers and uggs etc etc, my favourite alcoholic drink mmm (the best flavour by a mile)!

Panic Button

A couple of nights ago, me and my brother decided to watch the film Panic button after looking through IMDB recommendations. I'd never heard of it before but it looked interesting from the trailer; I noticed that it was about social networking and I always find stuff like that interesting, because it relates directly to something that i used on a daily basis. This isn't really something I'd usually blog about  and some people may be surprised to see this kind of 'review' on this beauty oriented blog, but due to the actual nature of the film i thought it would be fitting on a social networking site!

The film is described as a 'horror' but I'd say it was more of a thriller, it's not particularly scary or anything. However, it's a complete eye opener to how much people within society today actually use the internet, and for what reasons. It's shocking to realise how things you say /do / look at can be seen, or even monitored, and used against you in the future. I get worried sometimes about things I'm saying online, particularly on twitter as my profile is public. 

"Panic Button is a British independent film released in 2011. The subject matter is intended as a cautionary tale on the dangers of online social networking. Four young people win a competition of a lifetime; they head off on an all expenses paid trip to New York, courtesy of social networking site All2gethr.com. As they board the private jet, they are asked to relinquish their mobile phones and take part in the in-flight entertainment - a new online gaming experience."

This is a basic bit of background info about the film, however it's been quite heavily criticised - 'undercooked climax' and 'a lame cyber-bullying metaphor disguised as a mildly diverting Brit flick'. I can understand these criticisms, and the film itself could be improved, however I do think it succeeds in warning viewers about the dangers of social networking. It's actually worrying how much can be found out about a person from their online usage, and I've started to realise I need to be more careful about what I share. I think this film is worth a watch for anyone who frequently uses social networking sites, which, let's face it, is a pretty large percentage of the population in this day and age! Despite it being a pretty low budget, independent film, it makes some fairly interesting points that make you think! 

Mavala Double Lash

I bought this eyelash treatment from Boots last week for £11.00, however it's for sale here for £9.90. This product claims to 'lengthen, thicken and strengthen' lashes, and to be honest, I was a bit sceptical at first. I wasn't really sure it was worth it and wasn't expecting it to make any noticeable difference to my eyelashes. But i've always had short eyelashes and they've been bugging me recently so I decided to buy it as I've never tried anything like this before.

After using it every night (you apply it before bed and leave overnight) for over a week now, I can honestly say I can visibly notice a difference. I try to give my eyes a day off from mascara whenever I can, for example today I'm not wearing any eye makeup, but I really feel like the overall appearance of my lashes has improved. I'm so impressed with this so far and hopefully it will continue to work! I'm not expecting miracles and I know I'll never have super long lashes, but this product has definitely made an improvement. I'd recommend it for anyone with short lashes wanting to improve the condition of them!

 

Advance Techniques Argan oil Leave-in Treatment

I've been wanting to try Moroccan oil for a while now but didn't want to splash out as it's pretty expensive (£12.85 for a 25ml bottle). However, when I was flicking through Avon i spotted this cheaper alternative - which was on offer for £3.00 (usually £5.50) for a 30ml bottle. I thought it was definitely worth trying for that price, and I am impressed with the results after trying it a couple of times.

The bottom half of my hair is in pretty awful condition due to bleaching, dying and styling (luckily my roots are in great condition now as I started growing out my colour a few months ago!), so I'm always on the lookout for hair treatments which will improve the condition of my hair. I've been using John Frieda full repair serum on the ends of my hair for a while now, and I feel like this has helped a lot (I will review it at some point soon). Recently, I've replaced the John Frieda serum with this Argan oil treatment after washing my hair and I can notice the difference already! My hair feels soft and smooth, and much less frizzy after using this. I'd recommend it for anyone with thick hair, or bleached / colour treated hair, but I think it would be a little too heavy and oily for anyone with fine hair. I'm impressed with it so far and I love it when I can actually notice a difference after using a product so this gets a thumbs up from me, and it's definitely worth trying for £3.00 if you don't want to splash out on Moroccan oil!

Bourjois 'magic' nail polish remover

I've heard so many people mention this product in the past couple of months and I have been meaning to try it for so long! I change my nail varnish every couple of days so a product like this is definitely handy, as it's much faster than using nail varnish remover and cotton wool etc! Bourjois 'magic nail polish remover'  claims to remove nail polish in one second; from my experience I think this is a little optimistic, as it takes a couple of times before nail polish is fully removed. When I used this to remove glitter nail polish, it took even longer which I was quite disappointed with, as I'd seen reviews saying it removed glitter polish really easily (which can usually be a nightmare to remove!). I don't think the product should claim to remove nail polish in 'one second' as it's not really accurate. 

Despite this, I'm definitely a fan, and it generally is a lot faster at removing nail polish than using cotton wool. I do however get the feeling it's going to dry out quite quickly so I'm not sure how long it's going to last. Anyone that's tried it, how long has yours lasted? The one thing I really like about this product is that it removes all traces of nail varnish from around the edges of the nail, cuticles, etc, which can sometimes be a problem for me, and I end up with little bits of colour left on! It's also really moisturising to the nails, and leaves quite a nice scent which you wouldn't get with a normal nail polish remover (vanilla and red berry)! So overall, my opinion on this product is kind of mixed. I do like it but I'm not sure i will purchase it again, because at £4.99, although it's not mega expensive, it's a lot more than a standard bottle of nail varnish and a pack of cotton wool pads!

Rescue Oil vs Bio Oil

I recently purchased some Bio Oil but I found that I haven't been using it very much due to it being SO oily. This may seem like a ridiculous thing to say because obviously an 'oil' is going to be oily, but it just completely put me off using it as I found it wasn't soaking in - it just felt too greasy on my skin and I hate that feeling! So yesterday I ended up swapping with my mum as she had a bottle of Rescue Oil, (available to buy here.) and she told me it wasn't as greasy and soaked in a lot faster. I'd vaguely heard of Rescue oil before but I assumed it was pretty much just the same but a slightly cheaper 'knock off' version. 

After trying the Rescue oil last night and today, I definitely prefer it! It soaks in so much faster and is nowhere near as greasy. I was even able to use it on my face, which I wouldn't have dreamed of doing with Bio oil. After a couple of minutes of applying it my skin didn't even feel greasy whereas with Bio oil it felt greasy for hours! I can tell I will get a lot more use out of this product! I'm thinking of trying 'adding a couple of drops to a running bath' like it suggests on the bottle! Have you tried Bio oil and / or Rescue oil? Do you have a preference?

Edit: I actually saw Rescue Oil today in a pound shop for only £1! Absolute bargain!

Week in photos

From left to right:

• I seem to be eating pasta everyday at the minute
• My current read - John Green is fast becoming my favourite author!
• Took my boyfriend to Blue Planet aquarium for his birthday
• Arm candy - I'm loving wearing loads of bracelets recently
• Keeping up with the Kardashians in bed, chill day :)
• Cute mug that was a birthday present
• My new studded phone case - I'm in love!
• New studded bag - only £6 from Primark!
• Another addition to my cross collection - also Primark

Clinique Deep Comfort Body Moisture

Clinique deep comfort body moisture - £18

This is the newest addition to my ever growing collection of moisturisers (I definitely have an addiction!). I generally really like Clinique products that I have previously tried, and this seemed like it would be super moisturising for dry skin. Clinique deep comfort body moisture is described on the website as 'an intensely rich and creamy body moisturiser that provides even the driest skin with relief and moisturisation'. I definitely think it lives up to this claim, it provides my skin with instant relief and my skin feels softer and just generally in better condition after using it. The moisturiser has a slight scent, I wouldn't describe it as unpleasant but it isn't neccesarily a nice smell either!

However, i think it is overpriced at £18 -  I got it at half this price thanks to my friend who works in duty free at the airport (this comes in very handy for the likes of me who is obsessed with trying new products). I definitely wouldn't ever pay full price for this as I feel there are much cheaper alternatives that are pretty much just as good, and although I do like Clinique products i feel that they are all way overpriced! Does anyone else think this?