The Second Hair One- Heat Protection Sprays.

 Hi there guys, I've had a hectic week so not sure where and when I'll get chance to post this but it's only a quick one. I am constantly on the hunt for heat protection sprays. As I said in a previous post I have naturally curly hair that I wear straight everyday and have done for years. This means I'm constantly blow drying and straightening it putting it under immense heat. Therefore I need a good defence for it.
 My biggest concern when I buy heat defence sprays is that sometimes they can make my hair look greasy, which is the biggest pain with my freshly washed hair. This might be because I'm spraying it too close to my head or using too much? I'm not entirely sure but I tend to follow the instructions on the bottle so this shouldn't be a huge problem.

The two heat protection sprays I'm using at
the moment.

 The first one is from the Lee Stafford range. As you might be aware I'm not the biggest fan of his products and this is mainly down to the smell of them. I did liken his Poker Straight conditioner to nit lotion in sense of the smell. This product also has that same smell but I shall bypass this as it works. The product I'm talking about is the Poker Straight- Flat Iron spray. This product says it has heat protecting agents in to protect against the immense heat from straighteners. It also has Green Tea which is an antioxidant in, it also has Pantheol in that provides long lasting moisture which is what my hair desperately needs. Finally it has a holding agent in to fix the poker straight hair. While I agree it makes your hair feeling soft and sleek, I don't think it does anything to keep my hair staying straight. I'll use this and by the end of the day my hair will be trying to wave. This could be because my hair is so curly that this product isn't strong enough to stop the curl returning.
 It sprays in evenly, but I find I have to dry my hair straight away or the products drys in a way that makes my hair looks greasy so then once I've finished straightening I'm having to go back and dry shampoo it, which annoys me as I've just washed my hair. I won't be buying this again mainly for the reason it doesn't keep my hair straight which is what I bought the product for and as I said in a previous post I can't stand the smell. But I have read other reviews from people who love the smell so this could just be me? If you do want to try it out head here and you can get it for £6.49, so is reasonably priced. Plus at Boots there is 3 for 2 across all haircare products at the moment.

Lee Stafford Flat Iron Protection Shine Mist.

 The second product is Garnier Ultimate Blends- Heat Protection Milk. It's for fragile hair which I'd say mine definitely is and it detangles hair (every curly haired persons dream.) It also protects the hair from heat of up to 230 degrees. It has protective Rice Cream and Oat Milk which is apparently what protects it from the heat. This is also one of the reasons I bought it I liked the fact it sounded like most of the ingredients were natural and organic. It also says it leaves hair feeling softer, easier to style and shinier. I definitely agree with the first two but I can't say it looks any shinier but that might just be my hair. I love the fact that once I've applied it (to damp hair before drying) it feels so light, it feels like I haven't put anything in my hair whereas with some products I feel like it weighs my hair down. Another thing I absolutely love about this product is the smell. It leaves my hair smelling so lovely, the scent of things I put in my hair is a big deal breaker and this one is definitely worth it. I get whiffs throughout the day and it's literally a dream to smell, unlike the Lee Stafford one.
 I don't really have any negatives it does everything it says on the bottle except making my hair look shiny, the only downsize I'd say if I was pushed to give one is that it's quite a small bottle so I'm not expecting it to last long but I will definitely re buy this one. If anything just for that smell.
 It's really affordable at £4.49 and you can get it here where there's also a 3 for 2 offer on all haircare products at the moment. I would definitely recommend. It does say on the bottle not to spray in dry hair, I'm not sure why and haven't found this one as with my Lee Stafford one you can spray it on hair before straightening aswell as before drying. But to be honest it doesn't feel like it's needed after drying anyway, a little goes a long way.

Garnier Ultimate Blend Heat Protection Milk.

 What heat styling sprays do you guys use? I'm not worried about cost as it seems a small price to pay for the protection of my locks. I have also just done a huge haul on my favourite conditioning range the OGX products, so my next hair post will be featured on that but may be in a while as I need time to try them all out and see how I feel about them. But I'm very excited about it. As always feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Leave any comments and follow. Speak soon.
Xx

The First Hair One.

 Hi everybody and anybody, I hope you're still with me as I have an embarrassing confession, I wrote my "First Hello." I read it over and was so pleased with it, yes that was the perfect way (I say with fingers crossed and my hopes high) to introduce myself. Then I was like "oh God how do I publish it so it goes live?! I like to think I am down with technology (do people even say "down" any more?) But it took me multiple tries to get it up. But I succeeded- Hurrah! I hear you cry. More likely you're like "stop rambling AGAIN and get on with it!" OkOk I get the message.
 I've decided to start with a hair post. I should probably tell you a bit about my hair I guess. I wear it straight 98% of the time, this probably doesn't seem that unusual but naturally my hair is suuuuper curly, like tight curls- finding a picture of me with curls was so difficult, so you'll have to settle with old ones and one fairly recent one.

Ahh yes, younger me stroking a strange dog, looking oh so cool with her
little BlackBerry Bold. But take note of curls.

Me rebelling against my curls by tying them in oh so cool cowgirl style plaits.
Note the Blackberry makes another appearance. you're on holiday you fool. Get offline.

Discovered the art (albeit it, not well) of eyebrows by now.

 So, as you may be able to tell this takes so much time and effort and I've been doing it since I was around 13 so it's about 8(?!) years and countless hours of my life.

It can take a while to get from above to way I like it- straight.
What a lovely mess in the background. Apologies!

 Add onto this I've been dying my hair since it seems the land before time my hair can feel quite dry and brittle so finding good, affordable products to make it feel soft and look shiny can be a hassle, but fear not fellow curl tamers and hair dyers, I have at last found some that work and some that I will be giving a swerve in the future, I want to keep this post quite short and sweet to give you a taster of what I'm like when writing, so I'll focus on two products- both conditioners (sorry!) I also want to apologise for the quality of photos and the layout, I'm working on getting a proper camera and photo taking set-up! So let's crack on...

 I'll start with the one I least enjoyed and have to admit I probably won't be repurchasing this again. Lee Stafford Poker Straight Conditioner. I have to admit I bought this simply because it said poker straight on the front, and whilst not left disappointed per say-it does what it says on the bottle, there were some things that bugged me.

Lee Stafford Poker Straight Conditioner.

 The reason for my disappointment is probably my fault. I built it up to be something that would miraculously get rid of my curls- let's not kids ourselves it's not going to do that. Let's start with the positives. It's reasonably priced- I got it at Boots for £5.99 so it's completely affordable. I also happen to know there's an offer on at Boots at the moment where you can get two selected Lee Stafford products for £10, so if you want to try out his products head here or alternatively head to his website.

I also agree with the fact that as it says it fights frizz, my hair is alot easier to manage and straighten so that's always a bonus. They've also added P2IFTY Complex to help fight the damage from the heat of styling it. I have to say my hair certainly feels in much better condition after straightening, it no longer feels straw-like but I find this wears off very quickly. Another thing it says it does is battle static and this is where I fall out with this product. Because I blow dry and then straight away straighten my hair it can end up that my hair has alot of fly aways and static. This product has had no difference on that, I still find myself annoyingly with static hair which means I end up going over the roots with a comb spritzed with hairspray to try and tame them,

 It also says it has a great fragrance and this is my biggest pet peeve about the products I've used so far. I can't stand the smell. It reminds me of nit lotion (if you live with kids or remember the scent from your younger days you'll know what I mean, if not lucky you.) I honestly can't say that I enjoy walking around and every so often getting a faint whiff of nit lotion. For me this is the biggest turn off and the reason I won't be repurchasing. If scent doesn't bother you and you don't suffer with the almighty annoyance of static then this conditioner is perfect. Pair it with the Shampoo and Flat Iron Protection Shine Mist which I also have and you're good to go. For me it's not bad enough for me to stop using it but it will be a one time buy.

 Onto a more positive note, I have found a conditioner which I absolutely love. I don't have one fault with it. This product is OGX Hydrate + Defrizz Kukui Oil Conditioner.

Hydrate + Defrizz Kukui Oil Conditioner.

 This is definitely one of the best conditioners I've ever bought. It literally does everything it says on the bottle. As soon as you take the top off the fragrance hits you and it literally smells like holidays and summer which I love. As soon as I put this in my hair I could feel it working, once I washed it off my hair instantly felt softer and it stays that way until you next wash it. It again, definitely helps fight the frizz I usually battle with when I'm straightening my hair. This is also the type of conditioner I'd take on holiday with me as this is the only time I leave my hair natural- even I don't have the patience to straighten it when I'm away. It leaves my natural curls looking alot more tame and easily manageable unlike the usual lions mane I'm normally left with. I like that it's humidity resistant aswell as I find when I go away or on those once a year days in England where it's hot and humid my hair is literally impossible to do anything with so normally it's just throw up into a topknot bun. So it will be interesting to see what it's like in those weather circumstances. If any of you know feel free to leave me a comment with your findings. It also leaves your hair looking super shiny (hurrah!) Which is hard to come by with me thanks to all the abuse I've put it through in the past.

 This conditioner is also very affordable, I actually ordered this one off Amazon for £9.16 plus postage and packaging but don't make my mistake because they're in high street stores for alot cheaper, in Boots it's £6.99 and again there's an offer on at the moment where you can get two OGX selected products for £10. There are also OGX products on Feel Unique where you get two free samples on orders over £30 and free shipping on orders over £15 so definitely have a browse on there.

This also lasts ages. I bought this at the same time as buying the Poker Straight Conditioner and where that's nearly all gone this one is still fighting strong. The only downside is it's not an opaque bottle so you can't see how much you have left. That is the only- and it's minor downside I've found, I would definitely 10/10 recommend. 

 Sorry for the short Blog Post with only two products but I hope you've found it useful. I would love to hear your feedback before I start writing my next Blog post. Also any recommendations you guys have. Especially for tackling curly hair in the heat. What are your guys' go to products? Any tips or tricks I should know? I'm hoping my next post will be up next weekend. I'm not entirely sure what it's on yet. I have an unhealthy amount of lipsticks at the moment so might do something to do with them? When I know I will let you all know. Don't forget to give me a follow so you can keep updated.

Speak Soon. X x

The First Hello...

I would say that 95% of my wage goes on beauty products. I should probably be saving up for a car or a flat but I can't help myself. I'm pulled in by the products, reviews, packaging. Everything about beauty products I love. 

 Whilst I'm at work, during the quiet periods I find myself writing my own views and reviews on old scraps of paper or anything that I can write them on and I've just recently found lots of these crumpled bits of paper and an idea hit me. Why not write my thoughts and ideas on a platform where they might actually come in useful to someone? Or where I, myself can go back and read my thoughts on a particular product instead of randomly stumbling across them and then losing them again time after time? So I'm not quite sure what this is going to be yet, I like the idea of giving my reviews on products where you can (and hopefully will) read them. I also like the idea of doing big hauls every month testing everything out and sharing my opinion so you can go out and make a more informed decision. 

I buy high street products so they are affordable for all, whether you be in school and trying to scrounge enough pocket money together to buy something or you be working and instead of being like me you are actually saving for your future and don't have that much to spare, the things I write about aren't that expensive and should hopefully be within everyone's budgets. 

I am also doing this for slightly selfish reasons as I'd love to know all your beauty recommendations. I love experimenting with everything from make-up to hair, nails and tan. However sometimes I find myself getting stuck in a style rut. When I'm running late for work or I have to pick up kids (not mine) from School. It's easy to just stick with what I know works and rush out the door. So I'd love to know your thoughts and ideas.

I work Monday to Friday and my home life is quite hectic but even typing this first introductory blog is seeming almost therapeutic. Sat here, music on writing down the words that I've been wanting to for so long. I feel genuinely excited to start this adventure and see where it takes me. I realise that there are so many wonderful Bloggers and Vloggers out there already and I am just a small voice in this huge beauty ocean but even if just one person reads this and finds it helpful then in my eyes I have succeeded in what I wanted to do. 

So my thought plan? I'm hoping to put up 1-2 detailed Blogs a week and see where we go from there, if you haven't already stopped reading then thank you for baring with me. I fear it may take a while for me to figure out how to work this properly and find my rhythm and style but I've started and that's the main thing. I'm hoping that my first proper post will be up before the weekend is out and the dreaded Monday blues hit us so I'll speak to you all (or anyone) again then. If you have any thoughts or suggestions already or anything you'd like me to write on then just let me know in the comments.

 Ahhhh, I've gone on a ramble and don't know how to end this. STOP TYPING. 

See you soon. Xx