The wet brush

I have been a tangle teaser girl since they launched loyal to the core I have one for work and one for home use, the only complaint I have is the fact that when it comes to really thick hair can take a little extra time to make sure all the knots are out as I feel it doesn't get through all the hair.

But recently I found the wet brush and I decided to give it a try my chief tester is my 6 year old daughter who is very fussy about what brush I use as her head is so sensitive, she has only ever let me use the tangle teezer so it was a challenge just to get her to let me use the wet brush, but by the time I had finished brushing her hair she was hooked told me it didn't hurt her at all and that she will only use that brush from now on, and I have to say there were no tears while I was doing her hair which was a first.

Image credit http://www.simplyfoxy.com

 So the next up was my eldest who has really thick hair and it doesn't just knot it seems to matt and stick together it has to be brushed thoroughly and I normally I take it in small sections, literally bit by bit, so I took the same wet brush and began in sections but to my dismay it did not glide through her hair like it did her sister's have to say that disappointed me, but I had feeling this might happen so I had purchased the paddle wet brush a bigger version and viola, it worked I still brushed her hair in sections as its become habit for the last 10 years but I have noticed in the last few weeks that I can brush her hair in 3 sections instead of little bit by little bit its great, I use the bigger brush on hair I tried both and I find it works better on my hair than the smaller version I love it,

I have to say it has made my mornings so much easier and I would be lost without it I cant recommend these brushes enough.

Available from selected salons,

Boots,

Superdrug,

And Online.

Blend Skin Focus Sponge

Sorry I know I've been away for a while, the youngest decided to tap dance across my laptop need I say more, I have to use my phone to write and it's just not the same hopefully Santa will be nice to me and bring me a shiny new one. 

So I wanted to come back on and talk about the buff & blend skin focus sponge, I normally don't use blending sponges as I don't like them they seem to remove my makeup more than blend it, but the buff & blend skin focus sponge is amazing and latex free, I have never used anything like it I thought it would be like every other blending sponge but it's really not, it does exactly what it is supposed to it has a flat side so you can really blend around the eyes and nose with ease and when I was done my makeup was perfect and flawless, I have been using it now for 2 months and It has become my holy grail of blending sponges, I love it.

I would recommend this sponge to everyone it's not mad expensive and works like a dream 

It's available to buy from Buff & Blend for €7

FOUNDATIONS AND SPF

Ok girls we all know how important it is to find the right foundation for our skin type, and I can tell you I have like many girls have gone through my fair share of foundations, trying to find the right one for me.

But I always end up coming back to my good old faithful Estee Lauder double wear,  I suppose the reason behind it was, I started wearing it about 10 years ago and it lasted all day, especially in the salon where it can be hot and sweaty and I felt like a hot mess, but to look at me or my makeup you would never think it, as always my faithful double wear was perfect and flawless so it stuck with me all these years,
but it has one major flaw which I call the Casper face, yes girls you all know what I'm talking about, you get ready to go out put on your tan, makeup, you look and feel stunning, flawless, amazing, you have a great night, well until you look back at the pictures and boom you have a big white face and here is why.

(Here's the technical science bit)

Now the most common reason for this is Titanium Dioxide which is an ingredient used as a colorant to add whiteness to color cosmetics, Used mainly for the face so it can help to better help cover flaws and imperfections, it is also a very effective ingredient in sunscreen that protect from all UVB and UVA rays, so how it works is by creating a barrier on the skin that scatters the light away, therefore protecting it, now the other ingredient that can cause it is called Zinc Oxide, which is used for the exact same reason as the Titanium Dioxide, only it protects on its on from the entire UV spectrum, but don't worry it's easily solved with a simple solution.

Go for a makeup without an spf, and use a stand alone sun screen specifically designed for under your makeup as a base and primer, I believe clarins and clinique have some excellent products to help along the way.

Any question just leave a comment below or you can contact me via Facebook my details are all here xxx.

PAMPER DAY

The hubby surprised me with a pamper day and I'm not going to turn down a few hours of kids free relaxation no way, so on Friday the 30th of September of I headed for my day of me time, I headed to

Lucan Village to a brand new place called Julia's Day Spa, I arrived a 3 o'clock and was greeted by Carla my therapist for the day, Carla was so friendly and professional she led me into a beautiful beauty room where I filled out my client consultation forms, afterwards Carla then went through the consultation form and explained all treatments to me and then we began, I started with a full body massage and went on to an Indian head massage and a facial to end it was 2 hours of pure relaxation, and when my treatments finished there was tea or coffee and chocolate waiting for me talk about heaven, and to be honest it was amazing I had the best Indian head massage I have ever had in my life.

Carla went above and beyond to make my day as relaxing as possible and she really did, the day spa is beautiful decorated with soothing music playing to help aid your relaxation.
Everything about this spa is perfect from the moment you walk in till the moment you leave, I would highly recommend Julia's Day Spa, 

At the moment they have vouchers available on pigsback Click here and are valid until the end of November.

There Facebook has all their information check it out her click here  pop over and have a look.

Nkd pre shower tan

We all like to be a golden goddess when it comes to fake tan and I have had my fair share of tanning disasters like most of us which I think is fair to say, once I got a spray tan for wedding and I turned into an umpa lumpa I was bright orange and to top it off I then took an allergic reaction, I started blistering across my back and chest it wasn't pretty and there is photographs to prove it, I can laugh now but my skin was raw from trying to scrub that tan off and that was he morning of the wedding so when it comes to tan now I'm so careful about what I use and I always patch test it first.

I decided to try a new tan the nkd pre shower tan, as usual I shaved/waxed exfoliated and moisturised etc... 

I then followed the instructions and applied the tan using the palm of my hand to rubbed it in to my skin in circular motion, I then set my timer for ten minutes and waited, I have to admit it was the longest ten minutes of my life once the timer went of I jumped into the shower now it says on the back not to use any kind of moisturising shower gel or cream so I didn't to be honest I just rinsed it off until the water ran clear as it says,

I then still following the instructions patted myself dry it was all so easy and from start to finish took 30mins how easy was that, well it was to good to be true because it is supposed to develop then over the next few hours but mine didn't, it didn't develop at all I was the same pale milky white Irish skin color  8 hours later as I was before I started which really disappointed me, I wasn't expecting to be a golden goddess but I was at least expecting to look a little sun-kissed but only my palms looked tanned even though I had scrubbed those clean, now this tan is a gradual tan and can be built up but for it not to take at all it was so disappointing, I just wouldn't use this tan again not happy with it.

                                                               

Salon coloring

This might seem like a boring post but recently after experincing a salon not doing it correctly, I feel it's important for you all to know why salons do patch tests.

So the story is I decided to treat myself to a color cut and blowdry and went to a salon near me to have a patch test as is common practice, the girls were very nice and asked me to have a seat and someone would be with me shortly which I did I know how busy they can be, I was waiting for about 10 minutes and was watching what was going on around me, a stylist who had been doing highlights approched my with some left over color and proceeded to do the patch test and told me to wait 48 hours, if no reaction occurred I could come back and have my color done no problem.

Only there is a problem as I am a hairdresser I knew what she was doing was wrong and here is why, first thing she didnt take any of my details so no record of me having had a patch test, then she used a color that was left over which is wrong, so it could give a false outcome, when a salon patch test's it for health and safety reason's your safety as an allergic reaction is not pleasent and in extreme circumstances can lead to hospitalisation, so I decided inform as knowledge is power.

Don't be afraid to ask the stylist to explain what they are doing,try and avoid having your color done if you have had a tattoo or henna  within the same ten day period as this can cause a false reaction, as tattoo's and henna have p.p.d.(p.p.d. is a chemical found in hair color, tattoo's and henna among other thing and thats what causes the reaction) having both done within ten days can cause a p.p.d overload causing a false reaction, a patch test should be applied to clean dry skin either behind the ear or in the inner crease of arm, only the hair color should be applied and not a mix of the color and developer together, it should be left for 45 minutes and then rinsed and pat dry and watch for a reaction, make sure the salon takes your details either by client card or computer so they have a record of your patch test, and most importantly return to the salon after the 24hr period and show the salon/stylist the results so they can also be added to and your record can be updated.

Please dont risk your safety make sure your salon know what they are doing always get patch tested insist on one when visiting a new salon.

Leave in conditioner

With summer coming it is time to pay special attention to our hair girl's, prevention is better than cure, throw in a holiday here some hair color and highlights there and not to mention the heat styling to, we need to be using something to help protect our hair from it all and have some budget friendly products that can help.

my first is an oldie but a goodie I absolutely love these 2 little products from HASK it's the Argan oil and the Keratin protein oil, I love these oils I use them in my hair wet for help with frizz, heat styling protection and then dry to keep my hair smooth, I use them all the time no matter what other products I'm putting in my hair one if not both of these go in my hair when wet and a little bit of argan oil when dry to help control the frizz I adore this product and have been using them for years I would highly recommend them, (TIP when using any product oil or wax based products on your hair place in the palm of your hand and rub together to warm up to room temperature then apply to your hair it activates the product and created even distribution) you can pick them up in most chemist's and all Penny's nationwide.

I have 2 leave in conditioners that I love to use the first is my GARNIER Ultimate Blends, heat protection milk, I love this product it smells amazing it not only detangles and conditions but it protects the hair up to 230 Degree's heat styling but with out that that stiff or sticky feeling which some heat protection spray's can leave behind, you can get it in boots at only €7.29 its a great buy and again a little goes a long way.

My next leave in conditioner is my hair saviour it's Revlon Uniq One leave in conditioner this is my one and only have to have can't live without leave in conditioner, it has 10 benefits, its repairs dry and damaged hair, provides frizz control, provides color protection with UVA & UVB filters,to name just a few I can't brush my hair without this product its amazing, two or three spray's is all it takes and I'm sorted til my next wash, this is my no.1 go to highly recommend I normally pick mine up in capital hair and beauty supply in park west the 150ml bottle ex.Vat is €8.95, but it's available in all Revlon salon's stockist nationwide and worth the investment.

Both of these leave my hair feeling soft nourished and help keeps the tangles at bay they are are top beauty buy in my book let me know what you think or what you favourites are.