Review: Schwarzkopf Essensity Intense Repair Mask

My hunt for the perfect hair mask to quench my parched hair's thirst is somewhat of an ongoing adventure, though I gotta admit that this one's a pretty serious contender.

As far as texture goes, this hair mask is absolutely spot-on. It's got enough slip to massage into hair easily, but is also thick and creamy enough not to drip out of the hair while you leave it to sink in.
I used this every other wash instead of conditioner and it worked an absolute treat on my hair.

It does that wonderful thing of being really nourishing but without making the hair feel heavy afterwards. It adds shine and it even seems like my hair didn't take quite as long to blow dry afterwards.

The only downside? The pot is on the smaller side, so it really didn't last that long - about a month of using it 1-2 times a week and it was gone. It's definitely something I'd look to repurchase, though!

Review: TRESemme Platinum Strength Instant Rescue Shot

Even though TRESemme is not normally a brand I gravitate towards, I love the idea behind this little one pop hair mask. There are times when your hair just needs a little extra boost, but you don't necessarily want to invest into a whole big tub of hair treatments and for those times this is just ideal. It's like a face mask in a sachet, just applied to haircare.
The little mini tube has a lid that snaps off, so once it's opened you've got to use the whole thing, but I found the amount to be absolutely perfect for my shoulder length hair. If you've got short hair you would probably be able to get two applications out of it, although it might go a bit dry and crusty at the top if left opened for a long time.

I love a product that does exactly what it says on the tin and that's what this is. I smoothed the silky cream over my hair at the start of my shower, did all my other showery bits, stood under the water aimlessly for a bit (I can't be the only person doing that) and then rinsed it off. The results were smooth and nourished tresses and my hair ends in particular had really benefitted from the extra TLC.
I think this would be a brilliant product to pop into your suitcase when going on holiday and every last millimetre of luggage space is valuable.

The TRESemme Platinum Strength Instant Rescue Shot is an absolute bargain at £1.99 each.

Neal & Wolf Ritual and Harmony Review

It's been a while since Neal & Wolf sent me a few of their haircare products to try out and review. I'm not entirely sure what took me so long to finally write up this review, as the two products I'd like to talk about today are genuinely brilliant and were an absolute joy to use!

Let's start with the Ritual Daily Cleansing Shampoo. I'll be honest with you right away and admit that I did not use this every day - but that's because I never wash my hair daily for two reasons:
1) It's not that great for my hair type to wash every day.
2) I'm way too lazy for that.

The shampoo has a very pleasant, slightly sweet salon scent (I get a good whiff of almond in there), though the smell does not linger on the hair once it's been washed out. It lathers really well and while there's normally not much I'd say about a shampoo, I do have to admit that this is somehow better than my usual cheap drugstore varieties. While it gets my hair perfectly clean, it doesn't make it feel stripped or straw-like like it often does with other shampoos. My bleached and treated hair wouldn't forgive me, but I reckon that with a normal hair type you could get away with skipping conditioner every once in a while and still end up with soft hair.

As for the Harmony Intensive Care Treatment I've already mentioned it a few times, but I simply cannot sing its praises high enough! I use this deep conditioner once a week, apply it to hair in the shower and let it do its work while I shave, exfoliate, etc...
It leaves me with silky and soft hair that is not greasy or heavy in any way. It does not sit like a film on hair to make it smooth like silicone-heavy hair masks often can. Hair feels really, deeply nourished and I get a lot less frizz, even in this horrible humid weather.

As for the packaging, both products look very elegant and luxurious on my bathroom shelves with their sleek packaging and I'm quite happy to have them both on display.

Personally, I always struggle to justify spending money on high-end hair care, but these two products have really been a bit of an eye-opener for me. I didn't see the benefits straight away - it probably took about 3 to 5 washes until I realised that my hair condition had just improved a lot. I'm already on my second tube of Harmony and I cannot think of any hair types that I would not recommend these to. They restore and they nourish, but without being too heavy even for fine hair - something I'd been looking for and could not find in many other products for a very long time.

The Ritual Daily Cleansing Shampoo retails at £10.95 while the Harmony Intensive Care Treatment goes for £12.95 (but you can also buy a gift set containing both products for £19.95)

Monthly Favourites: June 2013

Last month has been absolutely brilliant for discovering new products that I really, really like, so it was about time to whack em all into one neat little post just in time for the monthly favourites!

1) Neal & Wolf Intensive Care Treatment

For months I was absolutely obsessed with Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle and while I still think it's an absolutely amazing product, I've now found something that's just as good (or perhaps even better?) for my frazzled tresses. It leaves hair silky smooth, soft and easy to work with without making it all sticky or weighed down by heavy ingredients. What's not to love?

2) Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 Rose Tender

For years I used to avoid cream blushes, as they'd leave a shiny, slobby film on my cheeks that would slide off after about half an hour tops. Oh, how times have changed and the latest cream-to-powder formulations cannot be beaten for longevity and workability. On the high street, this new Bourjois formula is my new favourite alongside my beloved Topshop blushes. I'd say the Topshop ones are better for bright, heavily pigmented colour, while those that are after a more natural and easy-to-use colour are best off with Bourjois. You can read my full review here.

3) Models Own Nail Polish in Pink Punch

I bought this shade back in December, but now that the sun's finally out it really comes into its own. I am absolutely obsessed with neons at the moment and this colour just glows in the sun light like there's no tomorrow. It also looks brilliant against tanned skin and makes me happy every time I look at my finger tips. Lasting power is about average and depends heavily on the top coat you use with it.

4) Palmers Cocoa Butter Body Scrub

I'm not a massive fan of the Palmers Body Butter and to be completely honest I only picked up this scrub because that's the only one that wasn't sold out in my local Superdrug. And I'm completely blown away. It's like a rich body butter that dissolves into creamy, gooey deliciousness once on the skin, with loads of little scrubby particles suspended within. It smells absolutely amazing and satisfies my need for proper mechanical exfoliation all the while being soft and gentle on the skin. Cannot possibly recommend this enough.

5) Amie New Leaf Exfoliating Polish

Anyone else notice that face and body scrubs pop up quite a lot on my monthly favourites lists? Admittedly, I do love that stuff quite a lot. This one came in last month's Beautecobox and I loved it from the moment I opened the little tube. It smells like Solero ice cream and really gets my skin squeaky clean, but without causing any irritation. A perfect product for in-the-shower scrubbers who need something a little stronger that won't wash off straight away.

Lee Stafford Treatment for Hair That Never Grows Past a Certain Length Review and Blog Update

How ironic that I'm posting about this just a day after having a major portion of my hair chopped off at the hair dresser's. There's also a bit of a personal blurb affecting this blog which I've stuck at the end of this post in case you're interested in reading that.

The name is quite a mouthful - it's never a good sign if it doesn't even fit into the title bar on Blogger! When it comes to the packaging I love the hot pink design, as it stands out nicely among my mostly white shower goodies, but I absolutely hate the mixed upper and lower case writing. I feel it's childish and cheap, but of course the packaging is sturdy enough, so it won't crack if you accidentally drop it in the bath. The lid is a screwtop type of lid, so it's safe to throw into your suitcase and take it on holiday with you.

I was stood in Boots for a while, torn between this and the same brand's Argan oil mask, but seeing as I'd already heard a few good things about this hair treatment this one popped into my basket. It also helped that at £7.99 it cost almost half as much as the other one. For that price you get a decent 200ml tub which will last a fair while. It's slightly more expensive than the likes of Herbal Essences and Pantene, but I'd still place it at the lower end of the price spectrum.

The product inside the tub is of what I would call your typical hair mask consistency. It's fairly thick, creamy and rich. Sticky enough to stick to your hair, but you still need to be careful not to grab a huge amount or the majority will end up down the plug. I expected the scent to match the pink packaging and be something incredibly sweet and sickly, but as a matter of fact it has a quite herbal scent which is not particularly noticable once it's on your hair.

The instructions state that you should use an egg sized amount on your hair every time after shampooing, then leave it on for 5 minutes, rinse off and use conditioner as usual. You're supposed to do this every time you wash your hair until its condition improves and then continue using it just once a week.
Obviously I didn't do that. I found that an egg sized amount of product was way too much, even when my hair was longer, as I mainly used it on my tips and only used a tiny amount on my roots, because I didn't want to make my hair all flat and limp. I also only used it once a week from the start.

Now, about my hair... I tried growing it, but the ideal of a long, thick, luscious mane never came true for me. As soon as my hair gets to "that certain length", it loses all its life and becomes flat and dry. Any products that combat dryness make it even flatter, whereas any products that combat flatness make it even drier. A lose/lose situation.

This treatment seemed to make a difference from the very first time I used it. My hair felt nice and moisturised and though it wasn't as silky smooth as some other treatments make it feel it didn't weigh my hair down either. It seems to provide that perfect middle ground between rich enough to make a difference and grease-inducing.

I feel I need to point out that this treatment does include silicones, but unlike some other drugstore hair masks I tried it didn't seem to cause silicone build up on my hair, despite the fact that I've now used the majority of the tub. Unlike those other masks it also doesn't give you that initial high shine that wears off after a day. Instead my hair literally feels a bit thicker and the results last a few days.

What it didn't do was make my hair grow longer. My tips were simply beyond repair, so I got them cut to just about shoulder-length. I actually have high hopes for this product and I feel that if used regularly it could help hair to stay healthy for longer and as a matter of fact grow past that certain length.



In other news:
Unfortunately this will be the last post for a while from me. I know they've been a bit sparse lately, but that's because I had a small backlog of posts which I wanted to spread out as much as I could. Well, this is the last one I've had as a backup.

You may have heard me moan about an arm injury before, which I've been having trouble with since last summer. It turns out it's a lot worse than anybody thought and the only way I'll ever be able to use my right wrist properly again is to have some major surgery, which I can't get on the NHS. I'm currently in Germany to have it done privately, but even here the first doctor I went to refused to do it and just told me to learn to live without my right arm.
I'm now going to go see someone else and if they go ahead with the operation I'll be off the radar for a couple of weeks. If they don't then I'll probably be back to full time blogging in about two weeks, though I'll obviously be pretty upset.

I hope you can stick with me through these depressing times and I promise I'll be back as soon as this is all over.

Edit: I've now found out I'll be here till mid-April, so towards the end of next month normal blogging shall resume with a few new categories thrown in for good measure!