I don’t know why I keep taking pictures of myself in Deansgrange Public Library.
I think I am still a little squicked by my revolting cuticles, so here’s a picture of The Hair, which received a dollop of Morocanoil’s Curl Defining Cream and an air dry.
I’ve just approved a comment from a reader about how much she loves this stuff too, and since I actually had some in The Hair, and here I am working away with full access to photographic capabilities, it just seemed like kismet.
I’m not going to take another picture of my bath, because A) it is manky, and I can’t be bothered wiping it down for the internet, and B) I think there may be even more product in there? Let’s just say I could wash the hair of South County Dublin with the shampoo and conditioner I’ve got in there, and also give at least half the people intensive hair masks.
L’Oréal Paris Hair Expertise combines many of my favourite things, not the least of which is Paris and Hair. Their new Ever line offers three different programmes for the different situations in which we may put our hair: EverPure for those who colour-treat; EverSleek for those whose frizz is an issue; and EverStrong for hair that is brittle and fragile.
At the L’Oréal Studio, I was prescribed the EverPure Line:
Clockwise from left: Lasting Moisture Leave-in Créme; Moisture Shampoo; Moisture Conditioner; UV Filter Protective Mist; Reinforcing Intense Mask.
So the gig here is that this is a line you can buy in a chemists or a Tesco, and it fills the gap, price-wise, between the bargain stuff that can sometimes be perfectly fine, if not totally great {L’Oréal’s own Elvive springs to mind} and the salon stuff that costs a bomb but gives you gorgeous, shiny hair. The prices range from €8.49 for the S&C up to €10.49 for the Mist, so you’re not talking ‘break the bank’ here.
Plus, the shampoo and conditioner is highly concentrated, and despite being sulphate-free {sulphates are chemical compounds and they make all that lather}, you need very little to get a good going over.
I enjoyed a shampoo and deep condition, and the scent of the stuff really sent me. All the lines make great use of botanical oils, and mine features rosemary, juniper and mint.
I got a lovely blow dry as well, so will be reporting back when I do this myself. The shine was impressive, I must say, and The Hair felt as soft as it does when I use the really pricey S&Cs I’ve got to hand. Since I’m trying to get another day out of the styling, I’ll be availing of the Mist, which isn’t something that I would normally bother with, and see if it spruces up the ‘do.
There’s a serum that hasn’t been launched yet, and the only thing I would say is, whither the styling cream?
I went through this phase a couple of years ago, when I was putting product into The Hair in order to turn its waves into curls.
Eh. The Hair is in no way curly a’tall, and the waves, they are mainly half-hearted, they don’t know whether to go for it or just give up. Also, the texture of whatever curliness I did manage to conjure, well, it was pretty cripsy. Looked nice, but ooh, do not touch because: ouch. When I got my first flat iron I was like, Okay! Flat is where it is at! and I have been very satisfied.
Then I got given Morocanoil’s Curl Defining Cream. I got a lot of Moroccanoil stuff and you may have noticed that I have been using it over the past few weeks. I had forgotten about this, because I have pretty much given up on the notion that The Hair would benefit from curl-inducing product. I decided to try it though, because how do you know anything until you try something? And, look:
I think that is pretty good! You can’t reach through the screen, but believe me when I say that if you could, you would touch soft hair. I know it looks a little crunchy, at left, but that’s only because it is still damp, and the sun, it is blinding on the highlights.
I didn’t do anything but squinch The Hair up, from time to time.
This is perfect for the times when you go away for a long weekend and simply cannot be bothered to do the whole routine. Like, you’re down the country, and there’s going to be an open fire, and you can dry your hair in front of it. Two pumps of this stuff, depending on the length of your hair, of course, and you’ll squinch the night away, and! And you will have lovely hair in the morning, if you wind it up in an elastic.
This is next-day, post-rosette, been-under-a-riding-hat hair, at right. I think that is pretty good, too! I used a wide-toothed comb to fluff it up, and that is all. I would go out into the world with that hair.
As do all Moroccanoil products, it smells delish, and The Hair felt extremely silky. The flyaways were minimal, too.
I you are one of those betches lucky, lucky ladiez who have naturally curly hair, but hate the frizzing and the tangling, oh, how highly I recommend this. Me, I’m just happy to have the wavy option back in play, but with a degree of softness I hadn’t dared allow myself to imagine. {<The Hair, it makes me come over all melodramatic, like.}
€30 (via http://www.beautyfeatures.ie)
This is a new launch from the fragrant French firm, who are celebrating 150 years in the smelling-good biz.
Snap! The colour of the bottle is a dead giveaway. This is gonna smell orange-y.
Snap! The bottle gives good squirt, which can be an issue. It doesn’t spray all over the place {sorry, my mind just wandered there for a sec…} but you do need to cup the palm or else you won’t get the full benefit of the pump. Insert filthy giggle here.
Snap! Yup, orange-y, and kind of light-yet-smokey? Your nose may tell you something different. Let’s just say floral, which again, no surprise, it says fleur right there in the title!
Snap! It applies beautifully. I do love a dry body oil, they feel so luxurious and sexy. The skin on my right forearm felt very soft for quite a long time.
Snap! Then, I cheated and used it after my shower, and this mitigates the snappiness of the judgement, but the oil applies really well to the dry bod, and I’m going to use it on the damp bod next time. The scent is not my style, so it’s gives my a bit of a headache — I prefer darker, woodsier fragrance — but the resulting soft skin is worth it.
It also says you can use it on your hair. Hmmm…
Roger & Gallet Huile Embellissante in Fleur d’Osmanthus, 100mls €26.50
How much fun does this look like???
My answer: LOTS.
As a life-long fan of Lush Bath Ballistics, I am delighted to announce the some of the brand’s crack compounders, are comin’ to town to help you craft you own wee fizzy bath thing. In the olde dayes, we used to call them ‘bombs’ but I think for humanitarian reasons, they changed the name — this is nothing less than you’d expect from the all-natural brand.
You have three choices:
Blackberry Bath Bomb to lift you up with bergamot and frankincense; Think Pink with reassuring tonka and vanilla; and Space Girl, an intergalactic, glittery bath ballistic scented with grapefruit and bergamot oil and filled with popping candy that is truly out of this world.
I am definitely going to make the Blackberry one. Oh, but, I love vanilla, so Think Pink, maybe? Clearly, Space Girl suits me down to the ground…
The compounders are in residence at the Henry Street shop from 1 to 5 pm this Saturday, 5 May, and in the Grafton Street premises on Sunday, 6 May. That’s this weekend, bath enthusiasts! It is free to do this thing, to learn how to make your own ballistic and then take it home! Don’t miss out!
For more info and to book, ring the Henry Street shop on 01 873 5735 or the Grafton Street Shop on 01 677 0392.
Once upon a time, I used a non-aerosol hairspray that will not be named. I used it because it absolutely froze my hair into submission. Like, I could walk out on a day like today {rainy/blowy, for all my foreign readers} and my skin would wobble like on that Memorex advert, but The Hair would not move. Which was the point.
But then, should anyone want to run his fingers through said coif, there’d probably be blood, because the hair was so crispy, it would cut a bitch. {Bastard? Eh.}
This was so many years ago, I would prefer not to say.
I would still like my hairstyle to have some hold, but I’d rather not look like I’ve had my head shellacked. I’d also prefer that the product actually smell lovely, which I think we might agree that one of the more popular hairsprays on the market does not. Also! I’d like a bit of body, too, please.
Is this too much to ask?!? Not if you’re talkin’ to Moroccanoil’s Luminous Hairspray. During the hair fashion show — at the Westbury, BTW, very fancy — this can of miraculousness was employed rather relentlessly by the stylists as they crafted each new hairdo. Hmmm, I thought, I bet their hair is going to break right in half. I mean, that was a lotta hairspray to be sprayin’ on the same head, over and over.
When I got home, the first thing I did was shake up my sample of the product and — if you’ll excuse for a moment, I’m just gonna give my hair a little blast — ahhhhh. Wow. The typically delicious Moroccanoil scent meets a spray that is light yet strong, and if you direct it at the roots, you get a nice bounce without any gunk at all. Which is all a girl can ask for, really.
Oh! I didn’t ask for this, but you get shine, too! Magic!
€21/£16.65
Nope, no way in hell.
Putting cream on my dry hair!?
No way will it — oh.
Gotta love my open mind. Oh, yeah. Show me a product and my immediate reaction is, ‘Hey, that is great! I can’t wait to experiment with this thing that you are telling me is going to work a treat!’
Not so much — at least not where my hair is concerned. We all know by now that the hair {or, better, The Hair} is of primary importance, and a bad hair day is enough for me to hide under the bed, or even crazier, jump back in the shower and start over.
Last Sunday week, I attended a Moroccanoil fashion show. Again, as this fashion-y business is new business to me, so I was wondering how they do a hair fashion show? They do it like this:
Models model clothes and hair, and then stylists make changes to the hair using the sponsor’s products.
Now, Moroccanoil are the original creators of argan oil-based products, and continue to innovate. Their signature treatment can be perceived to be ‘the’ oil, the one that opened up the whole ‘let’s use oil on our hair’ market.
I love the way it smells, and using the oil as a pre-blow dry styling product is like weaving silk into the very core of each individual hair on your head.
But when the talk turned to the Hydrating Styling Cream, I was like to close my ears entirely.
That is a cream. And you’re telling me to put it on my dried hair? My hair that I have just put oil in, and let me tell you, how much risk was involved in that!
I even saw it in action, on the lovely tresses of representatives of the brand, and still I did not believe.
But I wanted to. Why? Who knows, except that anything that I can discover that gives me silky, lovely hair is to be sought. So I pumped out a dab, such a wee dab that it should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for Smallest Amount of Hair Product Ever Dispensed, and I smoothed it onto the ends.
Ooh. It was nice. It didn’t feel greasy, it didn’t weigh the hair down, and it smelled gorgeous.
Okay. Since I was just sitting around, and I wasn’t going anywhere that evening, I pumped up some more, and like a wild woman, applied it about halfway down the hair shaft and combed it through.
Oh, wow. Now, my hair on that day was second-day, unstyled, no dry shampoo — nothing special, not going-out-into-public hair, and I have to say, the cream gave it such a lift. I would never show you pictures of my hair in that state, so forget it. The thing is though, I felt like it revitalised the locks that had been going limp, and if pushed, I might have made a run to the corner shop for some buns, if I had to. I don’t think I can say any better than that.
You can of course use this on damp hair as well, and I’ll do that next. And see the can the model is holding, in the picture? That’s Moroccanoil Luminous Hairspray, and WAIT until I tell you about THAT.
€28.45/£22.85/$31; available in select salons.
Yay, free thing!
NEOM Luxury Organics, on the back of the Dublin edition of Exclusive Magazine, are offering a free NEOM Organic Pillow Mist (worth €12) if you say the following magic words: Exclusive Neom Mist. Uh, you have to be buying something else at the time, you can’t just rock up to the counter, let’s be clear about that.
I don’t know if you have the same taper-and-tealight obsession that I do, but these ones are good for you and your home: made from vegetable wax and essential oils, they release only healthy scents that freshen your living space and your head space. Candles in general burn off the toxins that are made in the making of them {yuck}, and they also release soot, which is not nice.
These look nice:
The one on the left is a travel candle (€16.25), and the three-wick job is the Home candle (€50.80). To put that last into perspective, because, whoa, 50 squid: the candle weighs 1kg. ! Me, I would very much like to fire up this bad boy, the Sensuous Home Candle, with its infusion of my personal faves, ylang ylang, frankincense, and patchouli.
Brenda McCormick, editor of Exclusive, says, “I am a bit obsessed with NEOM candles, and since discovering them no other candle will do me at all. They smell so natural as they burn, and I love the fact they’re designed to work as aromatherapy treatments, too.” She also suggests checking out the body oils. I quite fancy the one called Refresh, infused with the essence of Sicilian Lemons & Fresh Basil. I’d quite fancy a holiday as well, apparently.
I’d say the pillow mist runs along the same essential oil lines, meaning: it is soothing and natural, and also, bound to help you if you have trouble falling asleep. In general, I’m finding that room fragrance is really quite refreshing, without being gross like those sprays you get at the supermarket.
Don’t forget the magic words! Exclusive Neom Mist; this offer is only available in Brown Thomas, Dublin.
Go here for a look at the entire issue!
Right? You know what that means? If not, get this:
On the British isles, it is a tradition that women may propose marriage only on leap years. While it has been claimed that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, this is dubious, as the tradition has not been attested before the 19th century.
Wha’? I don’t even — it’s an Irish thing? This is from Wikipedia; naturally, I took that with a grain of salt and went off a’googling. Now, it occurs to me that the internet is just a massive self-fulfilling prophecy, in that information is taken from one website and put in another, because where else are we going to get our information, and everything you see on a screen is true. Right? I don’t know, it just hit me, that this is so, and made me wonder about the things we think we know… I’ve always been easily led, but today is the day I question everything.
From about.com:
St. Bridget’s Complaint
It is believed this tradition was started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose. According to legend, St. Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February during the leap year.
Plus the whole Sadie Hawkins thing started in a comic strip? Really?
I didn’t really get Lush’s Leap Frog Bath Ballistic. I mean, he smelled fantastic, and was made of all of my fave essential oils: jasmine, neroli, ylang ylang, sandalwood and rose. < Seriously, all of them in one place, I couldn’t believe it. He looked to be a good size, one that would keep fizzing until he melted, rather than fizzling out. LOL.
The Leap Frog’s particular thing is that he comes with a special message inside. Now, let me tell ya, there is nothing like the promise of a secret thing inside another thing to get me going. Or a prize of some sort! Lucky Dip, Cracker Jacks, piñatas — holy wow, watch me go for it.
The special, secret message, though, has to do with being a female and popping the question to the male? I have no use for such a message at this stage, but: I HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE FROG. And if I got the special, secret message that’s supposed to help you go about proposing {???} then I would put it aside for future use. Maybe. I already been married, sistuhs, so, you know, no big deal.
BUT I HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN THE FROG. I needed a bath, anyway. Are you the kind of person who needs baths? I prefer showering for cleanliness, but need baths for relaxing and unwinding. So, into the bath I went, with the Frog, who was as fizzy and fragrant as promised and although this was a scenario designed to create the relaxing and the unwinding, I was completely focused on the disintegrating Frog, waiting for the SPECIAL MESSAGE.
When it appeared, I couldn’t read it anyway because I had the candles going and I didn’t have my glasses. Did not relax or unwind much because I COULDN’T READ the special message that I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.
<This is what I got!
Okay! I am down with this! I actually had a dream a couple weeks ago about a dude called Robert! WILL THIS SPECIAL MESSAGE COME TRUE?!?!?!
€3.50/£2.95/No sign of this in the US
Are you superstitious? Don’t go here.
*I first posted this on 23 January — what was I thinking? I was thinking, ‘Hey, I get stuff from Lush all the time, and never seem to stay caught up with reviews.’ So there I was, being all efficient, and this got buried. So here it is again, a little over a month later. Still no sign of Prince Rob, *sob*.
Having only just rapturised about the Jo Malone Red Rose Home Candles, I have been presented with this:
Hmm, interesting! The elegant box, a signature of the brand, has had its colours swapped: black box instead of cream, with cream accents and cream-coloured ribbon… Is this a new thing?
Yup, sure is. The Jo Malone Home Collection launches in April of this year, and I should probably be waiting to write about it, but I simply can’t contain myself.
I love home stuff, and when I’m in the US, I could watch HGTV for hours and hours and hours {and do.} I already love JM candles, as I’ve said, so the addition of anything to this line is going to make me want to curl up on the sofa and breath in the scent-y goodness.
Okay, I’m looking at the list of new elements in the range, and may wait to revisit closer to the time, but look at these!
These are the Limited Edition Scent Surround™ Sachets (€25/£20), three to a gorgeously designed box, and are infused with the world famous Lime Basil & Mandarin scent. I used to do a line in lavender sachets, which was a bit matronly, but I don’t know, I read it in a book or something, and there weren’t any real alternatives. Now, though! I can lash one of these in the knickers drawer and just exult in my LB&M scented pants.
The Scent Surround™ line also includes Limited Edition Drawer Liners, Room Sprays, and the thing I am most dying to test, the Diffuser. It’s one of those things, with the sticks? Only in LB&M, Red Roses and Pomegranate Noir.
Since I’m moving house, I’ll be saving all this up for when I get settled in. I think they will go some way to helping me nest in even faster than usual.
Bright & Beautyfull! 