WINTER BEAUTY PRODUCT EMPTIES - DECEMBER 2014

Philosophy The Gingerbread Girl Shower Gel, Bubble Bath & Shampoo, 480ml £14.00 – This took me so long to use up, just because the bottle is so big. I received this as a Christmas present as everyone knows I love gingerbread. This is a multi-use product, but I just like to use it as a bubble bath. It creates lots of bubbles and smells lovely, I currently have the Christmas Cookie version on the go. Would I repurchase? Yes I love Philosophy formulas.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Shampoo & Conditioner, 250ml and 200ml £2.79 each – This duo is a basic shampoo and conditioner which do the job but aren’t anything special. I like the coconut scent and they did make my hair feel sleek and smooth. This range is suited for dry, frizzy hair and it definitely did tame my flyaways. I did a whole blog post on this range, here. Would I repurchase? Maybe not this scent, but I would try other products from the range.

Chloe Eau De Parfum Spray, 30ml £36.95 – This is my all-time favourite scent. I will forever repurchase this and will never be without it. I have tried most of the Chloe fragrances and haven’t found one I didn’t like, I’m currently really enjoying the See by Chloe fragrances. I love how cute the bottle is and looks pretty on any dressing table. Would I repurchase? Yes, forever.

Chloe Perfumed Shower Gel, 200ml £19.95 – I wouldn’t normally buy an expensive fragrance shower gel, but this was on offer at the time. Being my favourite fragrance I really enjoyed using it and saved it for special occasions than using it every day. Would I repurchase? I would buy this again if it was on some kind of offer and it’s great as a gift to buy someone their favourite scent in a shower gel version.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (In both old and new packaging), 30ml £9.99 – This is one of the first drugstore foundations I tried and fell in love with. I don’t like that they changed the packaging, as the old packaging pushed up any remaining product and you could see exactly how much was left. The colour is a good match for my pale skin and it gives me a light/medium coverage which doesn’t look cakey at all or oxidises throughout the day. I like the way it looks on my skin and I like that the bottle comes with a pump. Would I repurchase? Yes, Bourjois do some of my favourite high-street foundations.

Redken Blonde Idol Shampoo, 300ml £9.90 – I have really been enjoying Redken shampoo and conditioner this year. This shampoo is especially designed for blonde hair and helps to prevent my highlights fading too quickly. I like the scent and it foams up really nicely, I have reviewed this fully on my blog, here. Would I repurchase? Yes, I’m currently using the Diamond Oil range.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation, 30ml £6.99 – I really like how well this foundation matched my skin tone. For a drugstore foundation it is really pale and perfect to use all year round, unlike the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation which is a little too bronzed for me during Autumn/Winter. It so affordable and has an SPF 18 which is great to see from a high street foundation. Would I repurchase? Yes, it’s a good affordable foundation.

Vo5 Refresh Me Quick Dry Shampoo, 200ml £3.59 – I have raved about this dry shampoo again and again, I always go back to this brand. It’s really affordable and I know it works for me. I’m currently using another brand and not enjoying it so much, so will have to return to this one after I’ve used it up. Would I repurchase? Yes, I always make sure I have one at hand.

Soap & Glory Orangeasm Body Butter, 300ml £10.00 – This product has to be one of my favourite discoveries of 2014. I have really been enjoying Orange scented products and you can always rely on a Soap & Glory body butter to keep your skin moisturised and hydrated. I have reviewed this fully on my blog, here. Would I repurchase? Yes I would buy any of the Soap & Glory body butters.

Soap & Glory Heels Genius Foot Cream, 125ml £5.50 – This is another product I use all the time, nothing seems to work as well as this. It’s a thick cream which I like to massage into any dry areas and cover with socks in the evening. My feet are left feeling super soft and it makes me feel so much more relaxed. Would I repurchase? Yes this is holy grail for me, I've restocked up by buying the Annual Soap & Glory Star Gift at Boots!

Have you tried any of these products? What would you replace them with?

REDKEN BLONDE IDOL SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER

I mentioned in my everyday hair care post back in July that I was using the new Blonde Idol range from Redken. Now that I have nearly used up these hair care products, I thought I would review them properly in their own post. I have enjoyed using Redken products in the past, especially the All Soft and Extreme range, so when I saw this range for blonde hair was being released I knew I had to give it a go.

Redken knows that no two blondes are the same that’s why they have brought out two conditioners in the range, one for cool blondes and one for warmer tones. The new formula has the exclusive Kera-bright system which balances and brightens to guarantee no brassiness. The shampoo has to be my favourite out of the two, like other Redken shampoo’s their really moisturising and gentle. This daily cleansing shampoo is sulphate free and I tend to use this every other time I wash my hair. It leaves my hair super soft and brings my highlights out more than before use. I have read reviews saying the formula is not as good as Redken’s discontinued line Blonde Glam but my hair has preserved it’s colour between trips to the hairdressers. It lathers up nicely for a sulphate free shampoo and contains violet leaf extract and lactic acid which helps to strengthen and boost shine.

I chose the custom tone conditioner for cool blondes. The clever convention allows you to choose how strong or weak you want it by changing the dial weekly to adjust colour deposit. The dual chamber releases conditioner from one side and violet pigment from the other, to condition, strengthen and help preserve tone. I find the product itself lovely and I really like that you can adjust it yourself. But the packaging lets the conditioner down, the bottle doesn’t dispense enough product, so you have to press down quite a few times to release enough product for my long hair. It would also be nice to know how much product I have left, as I’m sure one side will run out before the other. I would buy this again for the product, but I hope they improve the packaging. The packaging also means you get far less conditioner (196ml) than shampoo (300ml).

They also have some other products in the Blonde Idol range which I haven’t tried, like the BBB spray which is a lightweight, leave in or rinse out conditioning spray, which helps to balance, beautify and brighten blondes. They also have a hair mask in the range which is a nourishing rinse out treatment. I will definitely have to give these a go after really enjoying the shampoo and conditioner, but they seem to be hard to get hold of in the UK. I ordered these haircare products online at HQHair, you can buy the duo for £21.35 here.

Have you tried Redken haircare?

CURRENT EVERYDAY HAIR CARE FOR THICK LONG BLONDE HAIR

My hair is naturally light/strawberry blonde, but I do get blonde highlights every eight weeks. My hair is thick and quite long at the moment, so I like to use products that will help maintain moisture and shine, whilst still keeping my colour. I do use other products such as hair masks and other styling products, but these are the ones I reach for every day at the moment.
Redken Blonde Idol Shampoo 300ml & Conditioner 196ml, £21.35 for the duo - I have enjoyed Redken hair care in the past, especially the All Soft range. Blonde Idol is the newest collection from Redken, which has one shampoo for all blondes and then a violet conditioner for cool blondes (which I have), and a gold conditioner for warm blondes, to get rid of brassiness. The great thing about this conditioner is that you can customise the tone to increase colour deposit or adjust every week to maintain newly coloured hair. I haven't seen a dual chamber treatment on the market, so using this for the first time was very exciting. I'm really enjoying this shampoo, it smells great and really lathers up, even though it's sulphate free. It helps to boost shine, so my blonde hair looks brighter, meaning I can go longer between salon visits.

Grow Gorgeous Cleansing Conditioner, 190ml £19.49 - This is a newer product to my routine, it claims to do 12-in-1 as it combines foamless cleansing and deep conditioning in one step. I have the version for blonde hair but you can also get a non-colour one, they both help to rebalance the scalp and restore the hair. It claims to add shine, reduce frizz, make styling easier and add volume, among other things. When I first used this, I don't think I used enough at the back of my hair as this part was a little greasier by the end of the day. My hair is thick so I think this will work better with fine hair. I have continued to use this and have liked it more and more each time. It's a great product to use in-between full washes, but I don't think I'm convinced just yet to use it every time.

Kerastase Ciment Thermique, 125ml £14.62 - This leave in heat protectant has been a favourite for a while. The scent reminds me of that classic hair salon smell. It's great at smoothing and detangling the hair and also strengthening the ends. It also has thermo-activation which increases the effects when used with heat. I like to use this and then brush it through with my Tangle Teezer, I will always repurchase this.

Charles Worthington Volume & Bounce Texturizing Spray, 150ml £6.99 - This is a product I use after straightening my hair. It's great at lifting the layers and giving my hair some 'grit'. I spray this straight into the hair and play with my hair until I'm happy with it. If you love big hair, you will love this!
Toni & Guy Classic Shine Gloss Serum, 30ml £7.19 - I then finish with this product, which I received in a Glossybox. It helps to smooth down my ends or any fly away pieces. I put a drop of the serum into my hands and then smooth it into the lengths of my hair and it's left feeling super soft and healthy.

What haircare products are you currently using?