If you follow my blog regularly than you'll already know that my natural hair is extremely curly, so to keep it in good condition I don't very often use heat on it. However, when I do I want to know that it's well protected and will stay straight a good few days. Due to this over the past year or so I seem to have developed a little routine when I'm planning on straightening my hair. 

The first thing I'll do is wash my hair with a good cleaning shampoo and conditioner to make sure it doesn't have any left over residue of products in my hair because I'll be covering it with products soon too so I don't want any unnecessary dirt or products in there making it look any more greasy than it needs to. 

I hugely recommend Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky shampoo and conditioner as a purifying shampoo and conditioner they really get all of the dirt out of your hair and leave mine feeling squeaky clean without drying my hair out.

The next thing I'll do is cover the ends of my hair in a leave in conditioner. The one I've been absolutely loving lately is the 3 Minute Miracle Luscious Long from Aussie. Despite the fact your'e supposed to leave this in for 3 minutes I'll usually tie my hair back and leave this in for hours and hours before washing it out. Even though it always leaves my hair super soft when I do this I really get that just walked out the salon feeling.

Next comes serum for wet hair, as my hair naturally forms strong ringlets it does have the tendency to look very frizzy so I'll use my John Frieda Frizz-Ease serum which has it's own full review and has been mentioned so many times on my blog already that I wont go into too much detail here.

Then I'll use some form of straightening treatment I'm almost always using one of these three when I'm straightening my hair. My John Frieda 3 Day Straight is one of my all time favourites and I've had it for years, the only negative I can think of is that it does have the tendency for feel a little sticky but this does wear off after a while.

The Body Shop's Macadamia Straightening Balm, is another one of my favourites it leaves my hair feeling soft and shiny as well as smelling amazing it was the smell that sold me on this in the shop because it's just such a nice smell, it's really true to macadamia so if you like the smell of that you'll love this.

Iv'e left my favourite of them all until last, the Phil Smith Total Treat Argan Oil Hair Transformation Cream. This is so good! I honestly don't think I've ever enjoyed or loved a product so much from first use before. It makes my hair feel so soft that it slides through your hand and smells just the right mixture between clean and a nice perfume. It keeps my hair straight for days, but not an uncomfortable poker straight like some products.

Now, after I've blow-dried these into my hair at a downwards angle, I'll top up the heat  protectant. Even though the straightening treatments I use have a built in heat protectant to them I'll always add more just so I'm safe in the knowledge that my hair is truly looked after, because I'm so into taking care of my hair. 

The one I use is VO5's Heat Protect Styling Spray, which, again I won't go into too much detail about as it's been featured in my rainbow tag post. I then just go through my hair in sections with my straighteners and

make sure it's all nice and straight.

 

Then, I always smooth down the ends with some serum for dry hair. One that I've been loving to bits lately is the Loreal EverSleek serum, which has a full review too. 

Last but not least just before leaving the house I'll spray some of this Tresemme Salon Shine Argan Oil spray through my hair which I really do think makes a noticeable difference. It really adds shine and has a light weight feel to it.

I know this is a lot of steps but I really like to take good care of my hair. So if you'd like to see any more hair based posts then leave your requests in the comments below and let me know along with any requests for anything else you'd like to see. 

xxx

A Teeny Tiny Haul:

Whilst on holiday in Dorset, I didn't really do any shopping other than food shopping, mainly because it wasn't that kind of holiday but also because we all needed a relax and I don't like the thought of dragging my boyfriend around shopping other than on special occasions.

The first thing I got was a cute and cosy Christmas jumper from Store Twenty One. I know it was October when I got this but I have such a love for Christmas any time of the year and just look how cute it is! A cute little Rudolph with a girly bow, would you have been able to leave it lying there in the perfect size AND on sale in the store? I know I didn't.

Secondly, if you follow me on instagram then you'll already have seen this but its a little vintage style ice cream tin from a souvenir shop. It goes with the vintage style cutesy decor that I'm beginning to introduce to my bedroom. I've been using it to store cotton wool pads in too so it has a use. I'm really not one of those people who likes the look of random figurines and clutter all over their shelves and desk. 

And, other than a few gifts I couldn't resist for my best friend, that's all I came home with from the week. It seems so strange to say that I'd usually be cramming bags back into the car when packing to come back home from the shopping I've been doing but I guess this was an off week! 

xxx

Have picked up anything you'd recommend from the shops lately? Or have you been relieved of the shopping bug for a while like me? 

Grapefruit to Grape, Final Thoughts and a First Impressions:

Within the past few days I've come to the end of my usual daily face scrub and started using a new face wash. As the first was the Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub and the second was Garnier Fresh Essentials Refreshing Daily Wash with Grape Extract, I thought it would be a good idea to write up my overall impressions of one and first impressions of the other.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear:

One of my absolute favourite things about this product is it's amazing smell. Pink grapefruit is my all time favourite fruit and the smell of the product is really true to the fruit, so it smells really fresh and clean and is perfect to help wake you up in the morning.

It also has a very gritty texture so it's good for getting rid of dry skin patches and any dead skin cells, I would always feel squeaky clean after a good scrub with this.

I always use my face washes with a flannel for a little extra abrasion and so I really know that I'm getting deep into my skin and giving it a good cleanse.

As for cleansing and removing blackheads, which is what the product claims to do, I have to say that I did notice quite a bug difference in my skin in particular the blackheads that can tend to pop up on the nose and cheek area.

So, all in all it's a huge thumbs up from me and I would 100% recommend this to anyone with a similar skin type to me (mildly oily to combination) and would almost definitely purchase again in the future depending on whether or not some other products get in the way beforehand.

Garnier Fresh Essentials:

As with the grapefruit scrub, the first thing that drew me to this product was the amazing smell. It actually smells of grapes! Really fresh and clean just what you want from a daily wash. Whereas previously I was using a scrub this is just a clear gel wash, which I think is better for me personally at this time of year as my skin is much less oily now it's getting colder, it's usually sunny and hot weather that breaks my skin out into it's oily phases. So this is going to be much more gentle on my skin than a scrub which is something that I've noticed already from early uses.

I do get some abrasion with it however, as I do use a flannel with my daily washes as I've said before. I find that this provides just the right mix of gentle cleansing and scrubbing.

This wash creates much more of a foamy lather than the Neutrogena scrub, which again for me is better in these winter months, but it's all about personal preference and skin types when it comes to choosing skincare.

Overall, despite the fact I've currently only used this wash once or twice, so far I'm really enjoying using it its amazing at removing makeup, so who knows it could be being added to my shopping list again in the coming months.

That's all for now, If you would like a more in depth review of the Garnier face wash after I've used it a little more then please do let me know in the comments. As always I hope you all enjoyed this post, and I'll see you all next time!

xxx 

Monthly Favourites: October:

Tresemme Salon Finish Firm Hold Hairspray: 

 I've got the largest bottle of available and I've had it for over three years and I'm yet to finish it! If your'e  looking for a product that will last you forever and is nice and affordable then look no further. It has a really firm hold with the thinnest layer of spray. All in all it's good but I have to warn you against applying too much of this without it leaving you with sticky wet looking hair, which is never a good look.

nspa Raspberry Milkshake Bath and Shower Gel:

I love the smell of this product so much it really does smell of raspberries, and makes me feel fresh and clean. I've used it as both a bubble bath and a shower gel, when used as a bubble bath it makes hundreds of lovely smelling bubbles, and when used as a shower gel it foams up really well and makes my skin so soft.

Sleek Kajal Eyeliner: 

This is another product I've had for years but got lost in the back of my make up collection. Towards the beginning of  the month I pulled this out for the look I wore to the Rocky Horror Picture Show and fell back in love with it all over again. It lines both the tight line and the water line instantly and creates a nice dark black, which lasts hours on end without smudging.

Wet n Wild Trio Eyeshadow: 

Sadly the names of this product has rubbed off but I had to add it to my favourites because I've been wearing it so much lately. I've put a link to where you can buy Wet n Wild products anyway, because they're so hard to find in the UK. The colours are so highly pigmented and smudge really well so if you can get your hands on them I would recommend picking some up.

17 Powder Brush:

This is a nice thin brush so I've been using it through my T zone as a setting brush to keep my foundation in place. This one in the picture is the old packaging as I've had it for a while but I don't the brush itself has changed too much,

Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush:

This is the perfect brush for a higher coverage of foundation, without it looking like your'e absolutely caked in make up. The shape of  the brush also means that you can get into all the crevices of  the face well meaning that you can get into all of the areas of your face. 

Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Daily Scrub:

I won't go into too much detail about this product as it has a whole review of it own and it's already been in my pamper evening routine post. But, what I will say is that this is an amazing smelling and feeling scrub which I wholly recommend to anyone with oily skin like mine. 

That's all I've been really loving this month, I hope you enjoyed this post. As always if there's any products you've been loving this month then please let me know in the comments along with any requests for future posts. 

xxx

Step by Step: Winged Eyeliner:

 First of all I have to say please excuse the fact my face looks so dirty  in these pictures, I don't know what happened here but I promise I'm squeaky clean in person!

But anyway, on to the point..

Step 1:

 Line your eye with a thin line of eyeliner, go slow and steady with this if you're just starting out then this could take a while to perfect but stay calm and keep trying. Believe me if anyone knows how stressful it can be going wrong and having to try over and over again then I do!

 

Step 2:

Create a line going diagonally into the line you just made where you want the wing of your eyeliner to be.

Step 3:

Lastly you're going to want to go over and join everything up, basically paint over the lines you  just made in a sweeping motion until you're happy with the thickness of the wing, I went a little thicker than usual to make it easier for you to see in these pictures.



That's all you need to do just three simple steps to a dramatic winged liner look. As I've said before this is going to take practice but it will be worth it when you have the ability to do this in a rush or on more of a regular basis practically stress free. But if it does get you annoyed and worked up just remember that everyone had to learn and practice to get good at it and plenty of people still have off days where it all goes wrong, just stay calm and keep practicing with different types of liner too. There's pencils, gels, liquids, liner brushes, angled brushes, thick lines and thin ones. The list is almost endless just experiment until you know which one works best for you and until then, good luck!

xxx

I hope this post has helped a few of you out and if it has I'd love to know in the comments?