Batiste Dry shampoo review

I decided to try dry shampoo as I wanted to wash my hair less often than I had been as I felt it was drying out due to shampooing, conditioning and blow drying routine.
Upsides:

• quick and easy to use, simply spray onto hair
• left hair full of volume and as if it had just be washed, no grease or oils visible
• it is a healthy alternative to shampooing and stripping your hair of natural oils
• It saves time and really soaks up unwanted oils and is a quick fix to greasy hair
• Relatively cheap (around €3.99)

Downsides:

• When initially sprayed onto hair, if hair is darker than blonde like my hair it can leave behind a white residue

which turns dark hair a grey colour until you take the time to massage into your scalp and brush through. For blondes it can lighten the colour of your hair.
I have tried the dark blonde/brunette dry shampoo which adds a hint of colour, while trying to combat the white residue the above original leaves behind I felt it was not as refreshing, It left my hair quite chalky and it did not feel as cleaned.

• The can, if I use 5 days out of 7, will only last me about 2 weeks. 

Overall, there are more benefits than disadvantages and I really love it <3

Love L xx

If you are washing your hair every second day you may be overwashing!

Your hair needs its natural oils. If you wash your hair on a daily or bi daily basis you will be doing your hair no good. Since I started my Biotin challenge (post below) I have washed my hair twice a week MAXIMUM. I use Batiste dry shampoo on days when it feels and looks greasy, this product is brilliant :

It soaks up naturally oils and you can apply it to dry hair so you do not have to wet your hair whatsoever! Another reason why I feel your hair will grow faster and longer and healthier by avoiding washing it as much as possible is that when you wash your hair and brush it through while it is wet it is extremely prone to breakage. Hair is at its most fragile while it is wet, by avoiding a wash this allows the hair to recope from the previous wash and it really really loves its natural oils!!
When I do have to wash my hair I use one of these:

It is called a tangle teezer and it costs about ten euro, it can be bought from any Boots pharmacy.. It is a brilliant invention as it is very delicate on tangled hair. It causes less breakages then the average hair brush and I promise, it will make your life a lot easier after coming out of the shower as this video explains:

 

Any questions just ask!
Love L xx

Biotin

Have you spent a fortune on products such as shampoo and conditioners but haven't got anywhere?
Then you are like me.
I spent years and years trying to find a product which would miraculously change the condition of my hair and allow it to grow, I must say I haven't found anything as good as Biotin.

Recently I got so fed up of getting nowhere with the growth rate of my hair that I realised that I must be doing something wrong, there must be something missing.
In my initial research I found that what you are eating and your diet is equally if not more important as what you put on your hair.
Biotin is a part of a group of B vitamins, it can be bought in most health food stores and some pharmacies. It is well known for improving the health of nails and hair and from my research many people are using the supplement for this purpose.
I began taking  around 2000 mcg of Biotin(€8.00) on the 27th of February (two tablets daily) so it has been just over two weeks and I must say the condition of my hair is a lot better, I can see a better shine from my hair and when my hair is wet after washing it I can see ALOT of baby hairs after growing from my scalp. This is not usual for me so I put it down to the intake of Biotin in my body. It feels a lot stonger and thicker, I have not really noticed much hair growth as of yet as I got my hair trimmed the week after beginning taking Biotin ( I wanted my hair to have no breakages so I can monitor the growth rate) but I will let you know how it goes after one month. I definitely notice a difference in condition which is the most important thing to consider before trying to grow your hair
I read up about Biotin beforehand and many articles told me people had not experienced side effects from the product regardless of how high the dosage.
One thing I will say is that on my first week of taking the supplement, with a meal as it instructed, I did experience headaches. However, I then started drinking more water during the day and especially when I took the supplement and I have not experienced any form of headaches since. I feel water is hugely important for Biotin to actively make a difference to your hair. Without enough water in your body, Biotin and any other supplement cannot be absorbed properly in the body. People have complained about break outs of spots and acne on the skin while taking Biotin, I have experienced nothing like this.. I even think my skin has become clearer since taking the supplements. However, I have never really been prone to acne or spots so I suppose its different for everyone.
I would strongly recommend taking these supplements, as you don't have much to lose and I swear by it, it has helped my hair AND my nails (They have grown a lot, judging from the regrowth from my level of nail varnish).
Other things I am taking while on Biotin are B- complex vitamins(with folic acid 400mcg) and copious amounts of green tea( around 6 cups a day, trust me it is great for not only your hair but also your skin.. I will post about green tea soon!). I also try to only wash my hair twice a week, using dry shampoo to refresh.
Please comment, if you have questions just ask :)
Love L xx

The Balayage Phenomenon (L'oreal Paris Wild Ombre review)

I love Bayalage. It is so easy to maintain and because I have dark roots I am able to let my natural colour grow down while still having beautiful light, beige tones at the ends. I went to the hair salon to get it done for the first time, I have had balayaged hair since August I have only had to touch it up twice since. For me it is a lot easier to manage than blonde highlights as you must keep touching up the roots whereas with balayage you do not have to worry. My hair really does not like being coloured as it gets very dry and broken from bleach. Please remember that balayage is bleach, you can not achieve this colour technique without bleach so please be aware that it is going to damage your hair somewhat. To maintain this colour I have let my natural hair (light brown) grow down and have only coloured and touched up the ends of my hair with:

 

(L'Oreal Paris - Wild ombre)
This product can be purchased at most pharmacies such as Boots.
It is around 8 euro and well worth the buy
At first I was a little sceptical about putting boxed bleach dye into my hair as I have had my fair share of bad experiences with chemist hair dyes. I used the middle colour above as it best matched my natural colour and roots.
APPLICATION:
The product was very easy to apply, I just put it on my ends( up to cheek bone) and used the hair comb with was included to brush it through. It must be applied when the hair is dry and must be left in for between 25-35 minutes. I left mine in for around 25 minutes because I felt that the longer I left the product in my hair the more damaged my hair would become. After the 25 minutes, I washed the product out, applied the included shampoo and washed, dried and low and behold I was delighted!
My hair had beautiful tonal lights,it was the perfect product to touch up already professionally coloured hair and it saved me a fortune! My hair was moderately dried out after but no more than if I had it done professionally. There is no need to worry about getting the product evenly around your hair as it contains technology which subtly fades the lighter tones into the darker tones.
I would highly recommend this product as it is quick and easy to use and does not leave much orangeness in your hair.
As with many blondes, after a certain amount of colouring it is prone to brassy tones to conquer this I used :

Lee Stafford bleach blondes. (review to follow).

To care for my balayaged hair I use the following products:
* Aussie Luscious long leave in conditioner
*L'Oreal expert Absolut repair
*I try to alternate shampoo (mane n' tail/pantene) I generally try to only wash my hair twice a week using Batiste dry shampoo to refresh(My saviour!!!!)
*Macadamia hot oil treatment (by HASK)
*Keratase Elixir Ultime oil


Thanks for reading, remember to comment
L xx

First Post : Hair History

For years and years I have wanted long lushious thick hair, that of course has yet to happen but I have come a long way.
One of my main problems was over use of flat irons, curlers, hair driers, washing my hair every single day and dying it every colour under the sun. My hair is thin so it is prone to damage and colouring it really really does not help it. While it was coloured it was often hard to even remember what my natural hair colour was.. (a light brown with auburn tones) I wanted anything but my natural hair colour, my mum used to say "oooh your natural hair colour will suit you more than any other"( as little as I want to admit, I have a feeling she may have been right). However, I was a rebellious teenager and at around 15, I decided to take my hair colour into my own hands with a purchase I had made at Boots pharmacy.

What a disaster this lightening spray was, due to my auburn tones... it turned my hair ginger and far from the bleached goddess on the box.. how deluded I was to think my hair would go this blonde colour from a cheap 7 or 8 euro boxed bleach. The product left me with not only an all over head of orangeness but also left my hair dry to the point it resembled a candy floss like feel and began to become completely damaged at the ends. I would never in a million years recommend this product the people who are not naturally blonde.

In order to fix my situation I turned to a darker hair dye with the aim to return to my natural colour. It was Herbal essences..

This dyed my hair a very very dark brown which was verging on black. It took a lot of washes to get it to fade to a more desirable colour. One thing I will recommend is to choose a shade which is one shade lighter when buying a box dye because it will more then likely go black if the shade is too deep.
Without going into too much more detail my hair has been a rich red, blonde, brunette with highlights, plum... you name it...and currently it is balayaged like this:

I will write a post on this hair colour technique and what products I use to help maintain it.

With regards to my hair length, it has always been very difficult to grow my hair very long. It on average grows down to my boobs and always tends to get split so I have to cut it and it never really gets longer than that. When I was blonde my ends were extremely dry so I decided to cut it into a bob, which has taken ages to grow back to boob level(about 2 years in total inc. cuts). In a determined effort to grow my hair past this length I have recently purchased a few products (biotin, b-complex, folic acid, green tea) all of which I will write about in following posts.
Thanks for reading, remember to comment
L xx