Grow Gorgeous Cleansing Conditioner

My lovely friend gave me this for my birthday and I am here to tell you it's a game changer. I was massively sceptical I must admit. This is a 'no poo' conditioner and the thought of not cleansing my hair freaked me out a little.

She gave me clear instructions: soak your hair, use quite a lot, massage in, leave for three minutes, comb hair, rinse out. If you follow these instructions, then you will have amazing shiny hair. I am blown away by it. I had my hair cut and coloured last week and my hairdresser asked me what I had been using to make my hair look so good.

I wouldn't use this every time I wash my hair because I think hair does need a proper cleanse now and then but I am using it every other wash (I wash my hair twice a week) and I love it. It also smells great. Perfect for holiday hair too.

You can read more about it here. You can buy it here (cheaper). And you can thank me below in the comments.

Beauty Pie round-up

I've been a member of Beauty Pie now for just over a year. In that time, I have tried loads of products. My favourite category is serums. I have tried all of these.

It's almost impossible to pick my favourite. The Uber Youth maybe wins but they are all excellent and worth membership alone. Serum is expensive and I seem to canter through it. 

I ordered the sunscreen in my last batch since our summer seems to keep on giving. This is also very good, lightweight, no chalkiness, no greasiness and you can easily put make up over it.

The sheet masks are also really very good. Although they come with a weird layer you need to peel off and this is not made clear except for the fact that trying to put it on with the layer is awkward. I like all sheet masks and these are no exception.

I tried a couple of cleansers and was less impressed. This Japanfusion is acceptable, it smells lovely and works well but I probably wouldn't buy it again. I want them to do an oil-based cleanser as those are my favourite.

This eyeliner in Envy is truly excellent and lasts all day long with no travelling. I got the blue one as well which I like less as it's a bit too blue for me but the quality of these are excellent.

I have also tried the candles (fine but not a patch on my beloved Diptyque), the lipsticks (perfectly nice without being memorable), foundation samples (the jury is out, maybe ok but I prefer to buy my foundation properly at a beauty counter), primer (ok but there are better primers available), retinol hand cream (excellent), five minute facial (reviewed here) and the fabulous Awesome Bronze.

The service is very good, everything comes in a nice box and all in all, I think Beauty Pie is worth the hype. It's exceptionally good value. I really want them to do shower gels as I am obsessed with shower gels.

Sunshine!

This summer seems to be serious. I've become so used to English summers that I tend not to bother with self-tan since it's usually too cold to wear anything to show it off. But after a glorious May, June and July (so far), I decided it was time to move from milk bottle white to off white.

First of all, I tried this.

St Tropez Gradual Tan In-Shower. It's a bit odd as a concept. You wash in the shower, turn off the shower and apply this lotion. Wait three minutes and rinse it off. I went with 'light' and yes, it's for the timid because it took several applications for me to notice anything. Eventually I decided my legs were showing some very natural looking colour. This is great if you don't want any mistakes and want to go slow. It's annoying waiting in the shower for three minutes. I found myself thinking it needed a good clean which isn't very relaxing.

Then last week, I ordered this.

Beauty Pie's Awesome Bronze mousse. This has changed my life. You need a tanning mitt which is no great disaster but it doesn't come with one. You apply this with the mitt and it glides on, it has some colour initially so you can see what you're doing and where you've missed. It dries in seconds. Wait a few hours and then you have a tan. A proper tan. This is quite full on, it's not messing about. I don't mean you are Love Island bronzed but you know you've done something. I've been applying it daily because SUNSHINE. I absolutely love it. It's the best self tanner I've ever used. It doesn't smell, it's not fiddly, you don't get your hands all orange because of the mitt (you do need to wash them afterwards just to be safe) and it's truly awesome. I am not being paid to say this (I wish).

That just leaves the face. I purchased this.

Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster. You add a few drops of this to your moisturiser, mix it up and slap it on. This is subtle and all the better for it. I am still scarred by my St Tropez sheet mask orange face from last summer. This does what it says it will do, it gives you a glow and makes you look sun-kissed. You can do as many drops as you like, I go for three. Again, no biscuit smells and a cinch to apply.

Fake tans have come a long way. I wish you all a safe tanned Summer.

La Roche-Posay Hyaluronic Acid Serum

I've been using this for a couple of months and I really like it. I've become a bit obsessed with serums as you may have noticed. I still rate the Beauty Pies ones as well (more on them in a future post). This one requires one drop, it's almost unbelievable that one drop is enough but there you go. It feels very refreshing and sinks in immediately. It's £37 which is expensive but it lasts for ages because of the one drop thing.

La Roche-Posay is a great brand, I've yet to buy something that disappoints me. I am using the Anthelios SPF 50 fluid in this glorious heatwave we've having and it's brilliant. Non-greasy, easy to apply and light as a feather.

Function of Beauty

I love this idea so much. Function of Beauty allows you to create your own formula for shampoo and conditioner, pick your colour, pick your scent and it puts your name on it.

Obviously, the very moment I heard about this, I was all over it like a rash. You answer a hair quiz, then you select five hair goals, then you pick colour and scent and finally you add your name so they can put it on the bottle. If you use more shampoo than conditioner, you can order a bigger bottle of shampoo and vice versa.

After all that excitement, the only question is, is it any good? I am delighted to tell you yes, it really is. My order arrived quickly (it comes from the US), it comes with separate pumps (which I only found after raking through my recycling) and it smelt divine (I picked feeling (f) ineapple). An important hair goal for me is anti-frizz. Frizz is my mortal enemy and if I can find something that keeps it at bay, I am happy. This does that. And it makes my hair very shiny. I really do love it. It's very concentrated so a little goes a long way.  There are a selection of sizes, my order was £29. Which is not cheap but it's also not eye watering.

It's such a great idea that you wonder why nobody has done it sooner.  It's fun and it works, what's not to like?

REN AHA Smart Renewal Body Serum

Hi everyone! The sun is shining and we've had a lovely May haven't we? Two bank holiday weekends with sunshine has to be the rarest occurrence. I hope you've all enjoyed it.

This recommendation could not come at a better time. This is basically an AHA-based serum for your body. Those AHAs that whisk away dead cells in your facial serums? This does the same for your body. It's brilliant. I whole heartedly recommend this with massive enthusiasm. I've not used such a great product for years. It works immediately. No waiting and patiently using it for weeks before you see a result. I slapped this on my arms and then noticed how soft my elbows were.

It's sold out in lots of places, I got mine from M&S. Yes, it's expensive but it's worth it and you don't need masses of it. It sinks in really quickly, it doesn't leave your skin tacky. Honestly, go buy some.

New hair discoveries

I bought this La Roche-Posay Extra Gentle shampoo for CoverBoy who has to have very gentle shampoo for various reasons. However, it's amazing, I love it. It's very creamy, lathers pleasingly, rinses out perfectly and is very gentle.

I had a small tube of this light weight deep conditioning cream rinse in one of the Cult Beauty boxes. It's really good. It conditions hair deeply but manages to not leave it lank. That is the holy grail of deep hair conditioners. I immediately purchased the large tube.

Together, these work brilliantly on my hair and so I pass this information on to you.

Glossier

Is anyone else slightly perturbed by how targeted digital advertising is? It's so pernicious, you only have to click on Hush once and that t-shirt pops up for the next eight weeks on your Facebook and Instagram feeds. Bobbi Brown pops up with 'take another look' and a picture of the very eyeshadow you're doing your best to resist.

Glossier launched a few months back and clearly I am the target audience because I could not escape it. The thing is, I am not the target audience. This is aimed at the much-maligned millennials. It didn't stop me succumbing to see what all the fuss was about.

The cloud paints are beautifully named. We all know I cannot resist a blusher. I tried hard to not buy this but in the end, I had to have a looksie. I bought it in Puff which is very pink and it's really nice. I think I prefer it to the NARS Liquid Orgasm which I liked at first but I've decided it's actually too pigmented. This you can build up or just leave sheer.

The lidstars are for your eyes. Again, it's about building up to intense colour or having a wash of colour. I bought Herb which is described as a smoky green. The day I resist green eyeshadow will be the day I give up on life. Anyway, it's a doddle to apply and it stays on all day long.

I'm not remotely tempted by the skincare range as I honestly think it's for 20-somethings and my skin concerns are not those of a 20-something.

I am not sure I'd buy anything else but the two products I got are surprisingly good.

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Corrector

As we move into Spring (or today, full blown Summer) then I find I don't want to be bothered with a base. Also, my investment in facials (on which more in another post) means I am after skin that needs less base.

Nothing at all is a little ambitious, especially for work. Yet I find pretty much all concealers to be too cakey and heavy. Then I discovered this by Bobbi Brown. The name drew me in: Intensive Skin Serum Corrector.  This has a serum like consistency and glides on smoothly. It's not actually a concealer, it neutralises under eye discolouration and primes skin for a concealer (yes, I just typed that from the site's description). If you have spots that you want to conceal, this won't do the job well. I use it to cover up unevenness on my skin which it does brilliantly.

I also bought this brush to help apply it very lightly.

I admit, I am a bit obsessed with make-up brushes but that's because they make such a difference.

A round up of a few recent products

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front but rest assured, not on the buying and trying products front. I don't have enough to say about these to warrant a separate post so I am bundling together.

Let's start with Clarins extra firming day cream. I bought this on one of those days when I felt vulnerable and I shouldn't have even been in the department store because I am a liability. Nonetheless, this had caught my eye in the press. It's expensive for a moisturiser, £58. I bought a shower gel as well and received some very generous gifts which helped me feel better about the price. 

This is good. There are two types to buy: for dry skin or all skin types, I went for all skin types. It does feel lovely and my skin looks nice and plump. No issues with applying make up over it either. Would I buy it again? Probably not but it's a lovely treat.

On the same day, I purchased this hydrating eye cream from Bobbi Brown. I needed this even less in my life but it's surprisingly excellent and that's all down to the packaging. I admit I am lazy, messing about with pots and tubes to add eye cream is often a step I can't be bothered with. This is so easy, swipe on and it gives you just the right amount. It's great for travels, it's fab for your handbag to pep your eyes up in the office mid-afternoon. I am genuinely loving it. Also, I have finally accepted I do need an eye cream having resisted them for years. Woe.

I bought a few bits and pieces online from La Roche-Posay which is fast becoming my favourite new brand. This is a face cleanser that I need for the shower. Yes, I need a cleanser for the shower, doesn't everyone? It's great, it does exactly what I need it to do without any dryness whatsoever. It also smells nice and French. I recommend this and it's inexpensive considering the size.

CliniqueFIT Workout 24-Hour Mascara

We've not discussed mascara for a while, have we? I've been meaning to write about this one for a couple of months. This is part of Clinique's make-up range to be worn while exercising. My eyes are rolling so hard, I am giving myself whiplash.

I find it hard to understand why anyone would wish to wear make-up when sweating and jumping about. These millennials and their instagramming ways have a lot to answer for. However, when I read about the range, I thought, I bet the mascara works.

It does work I guess. It's a tubing mascara so you wash it off with warm water, twiddling your lashes as you go. It's nowhere near as good as Lash Power though. This is my mascara of choice and I always have a spare one to hand just in case. Just in case of what I am not sure but the thought of being without it makes me anxious.

This mascara flakes more, it's harder to get off and it's somehow a bit drying on the lashes. It's cheaper than Lash Power and it shows. I've talked myself into throwing it away. Why bother when Lash Power is perfection?